#so the bat kids have an aunt/uncle who looks younger than them

[favoritebatfam]

Okay, I can’t be the only one who has a picture in my head of child Bruce being adopted by a fae, and almost stolen.

In my head, Bruce is like 9 or so at the time. I read somewhere that the fae tend to take kids sometimes to raise them or to have them as pets. So I’m imagining this super powerful fae who got attached to a child of like a witch or something, and is raising this kid in this weird in between place between the fae realm and human world.

So the kid probably explores and ends up finding Bruce and befriending him.(Maybe there’s an entrance to that dimension in the cave that becomes the Batcave, and Bruce is exploring.)

So Bruce is unceremoniously adopted by this sort of fae child and it takes a little while for either of their respective adults to notice. The fae notices and is debating whether or not they should take Bruce, but then Alfred notices.

Alfred is British, and the British have so many myths and stories about the fae, so there’s no way Alfred doesn’t become convinced they are about to doom his kid to a life as a slave.(Bonus points if this leads to Alfred having a tiny crisis about being Bruce’s father figure and not wanting to replace his parents)

I’m not 100% sure about the rest of the au, but I can clearly picture in my head the fae kid sitting with Bruce at a table, eating cookies, while Alfred and the Fae being have a ‘conversation’(I’m imagining that thing where character a is oblivious to character b and character c having a full out brawl.) Bruce and the Fae kid eat cookies while their respective guardians duke it out.

Years later, Bruce is asked by the kids about the iron brass knuckles in the cave, covered with something.

[kaidatheghostdragon]

You know what mixture of AUs i havent seen here yet? Danny x Bruce with de-aged clones!

Bruce and danny are near the same age and meet pretty early in batman's career, maybe even before dick was adopted. Danny is a single dad of infant/toddler twins ellie and dante. (To make them young and at the same age, i imagine they were rescued after both taking serious damage and retreated to their cores, and remerged as newborns about the same time, but i also want to leave this open for others to flesh out.) Timeline-wise, that would probably make them somewhere around jason or tim's age.

So now we have an au where the bat kids are collected into a stable home where bruce and danny are also raising ellie and dante. Bruce is much closer to WFA characterization right from the get-go because danny would whip him into shape.

Tim probably gets adopted because one of the phantoms sniff him out, either living alone in the neighboring mansion, or following the bats and ghosts on patrol.

Talia either stole bruce's (and/or danny's) dna or drugged bruce (it didnt work on danny) to create damian. If bruce was drugged, danny is on a warpath and might even find and rescue damian at a much younger age.

Jason's timeline is the most difficult to predict, and i will forever simp halfa jason, so he's gotta die no matter what changes. I dont think that's terribly difficult because the joker specifically targeted him to lure him out (assuming i understand canon correctly - also this is definitely true in the UtRH animated movie canon). If jason isnt interested in finding his biomom in this au, joker will just find a different bait. Would be cool if danny is able to track down jason's ghost during the six-month down time and brings him home, and a potential point of angst if he revives without his memories as a ghost (and is lost for a while before danny tracks him down again.)

(Danny probably doesn't have the no-killing rule like bruce, so he'd have no qualms killing the joker and detaining/destroying his ghost. If not danny, then jazz would. Bruce conveniently looks the other way.)

Batman mythology in this universe is inexorably linked to phantom mythology. They both help each other out with vigilante stuff. Danny's team (sam/tucker/val/jazz) visit often and are considered aunts/uncle to the batkids. Batfam is highly liminal because they are part of danny's fraid. They might even develop liminal powers, if that's your kind of headcanon.

Danny may or may not be ghost king, but i like the idea that he's the crown prince and wont be coronated for several more decades. He's got time and all the resources that position affords him. Danny still gets hounded by the observants, but the batkids have made a game of pranking the annoying eyeballs.

Danny is a founding member of the justice league and of jld (the rest of his team might be as well). Batman is much more knowledgeable of the supernatural because of danny. I like the idea of constantine being more terrified of phantom than batman. He still gets called on for advice because he's the demonology and magic expert, while danny specializes more in ghosts and Realms technology.

Ellie and dante are not allowed to join the vigilante scene until they turn 12 (they managed to argue it down from 14), but because of their powers (and potentially retaining memories and experience) there are numerous occasions before then that they functioned as a sort of vigilante retrevial unit - zooming out and retrieving anyone who was injured or otherwise hit their emergency beacon and bringing them straight back to the cave. They might have even done this once or twice during justice league emergencies.

I'll leave their vigilante identities open to discussion, but im partial toward a really old drawing i remember seeing here on tumblr, someone designed a pink batsuit for ellie with exaggerated bat ears, and a sort of glider cloak that attached to her belt or her wrists to disguise her flight as gliding. (If someone knows the post im talking about, please leave a link so the artist can be credited!)

As for danny's old team...

Jazz works at arkham, helping to reform the place and causing many of batman's rogues to reform a bit earlier. She is the expert called in by the justice league to formulate ways to both detain and to help various rogues globally. She especially likes the flash because of the friendly attitude he has towards his own rogues.

Sam is a humanitarian. If she has plant powers, she's using them to establish food stability in poorer nations, helping the people there become more self-sustaining, as well as providing relief for disaster-stricken areas whose farms need to be completely rebuilt and regrown. Jazz introduces her to poison ivy, and the two end up joined at the hip, helping to reform ivy much earlier. (Would it be weird to make this au have sam x ivy and jazz x harley?)

Valerie probably stays in Amity Park to be its designated hero since danny moved out. If the fentons are good, she works alongside them as the fentons also develop tech for the justice league. If they arent, im gonna assume theyre the reason dante and ellie got de-aged, danny absconded with their cores to keep them safe, and the rest of team phantom descended on the fenton parents like hungry wolves. When the dust settled, valerie and her dad were left in charge of protecting amity and with ownership of fentonworks.

Tucker is a freelance hacker slash tech expert, and will kit out any vigilante's tech and security free of charge. His unique blend of magitech is very difficult to counter, making it all-the-more sought after. He probably helped set oracle up and maybe even trained/mentored barb to some extent.

There are lots of other potential changes, but ill stop here.

[papaemeritusthefifth]

Imagine if once a year the ministry allows some of the ghouls' family to spend a few days. After someone pleaded with Secondo during his era, he decided that it would be a great team building exercise and can improve morale. They had families in the Pit, after all. So now they have a few days each year where the families are invited to stay. In light of this, here's a few family dynamics!

Swiss: Has a great relationship with his family. He's one of the oldest in his extended family, so he is immediately swarmed by a few kits. He's great with the kids and is happy to help. He's closest with his brother, who is only a couple years older than him.

Phantom/Aeon: Is an only child, and it shows. Such a mama's boy. There's a moment during the first year with the new summons where their families show up and suddenly the older quintessence ghouls take a knee. A regal woman is standing in the smoldering summoning circle and Omega greets her with a solemn "Your Highness, we were not expecting you." This tall being regards everyone with a cold stare. They hear an absolutely ear piercing "MAMA!! :D" as Phantom rushes to hug her. And that is how everyone finds out that our favorite bat is related to a Prince of Hell. Despite this...shocking revelation, Phantom is on his best behavior for the next few days. It's clear he knows all the proper etiquette and is making a show of teaching everyone. Somehow, this ghoul who cannot figure out what kind of animal the Pink Panther is has a deep and extensive knowledge of court attire and manners. Dew is flabbergasted the entire time.

Mountain: Parents aren't in the picture anymore, so he grew up with his aunt, uncle, and two cousins. They were always disdainful towards our boy and treated him as such. Any gifts he received - if any - were only bribes to get him to do their bidding. When Mount was first summoned, he was quite reserved. Kept to himself and never accepted invitations for pack bonding. He warmed up to everyone over time, but no one wil forget those first few months. He is one of the few who doesn't have family visit.

Rain: Isn't close with his family. They haven't done anything wrong, but they just aren't as close as some others. His family visits but moreso out of responsibility. This is a family that is entirely neutral towards each other. Of course they love each other and keep in touch, but their letters are months apart and moreso to keep everyone up to date on large events. If you look closely, you can see Rain eyeing Swiss with his family with a glimmer of envy.

Cirrus: Has a small family, just her fathers and a younger sibling. They are the closest team you will ever see. Constant messages sent back and forth. When they visit, they immediately jump into the middle of a conversation as if that's how it always was. She gets majorly mischevious in the way that only siblings can bring out. You can visibly see her relax when they visit, and you realize how much being away from them takes it out of her.

That's it so far, but believe I'll be thinking up more soon!

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Assigning Names to Characters from The Underland Chronicles who's names were 'never disclosed"

written because names and there meanings interest me, as does greek mythology, hystory, and plays, and I had a couple Saturdays where I had no plans and writting this was a fun way to pass the time.

Character from Luxa's Paternal Family... basically everybody except Nerissa and Henry

Luxa's father the former King of Regalia, Judith's husband. So Luxa's name means "Light", which in the underland goes hand and hand with "Life". I have heard the fan theory that, because of how closely associated the two are then it is possible that all of the first born heirs have names that mean light. So I googled male names that mean light and I picked Lucius or King Lucius because it has a latin root just like his daughters.

King Lucius and Queen Judith's bonds. Yes I know it is never stated that either characters had bonds. But humans having bonded relationships with the bats seem more common for them than marrying other humans. Even Suzanna Collins herself admitted that you have to be close with a bat to survive long in the underland. Anyway I always assumed that the pair had bonds, who died with them during their final battle. i have also always head cannoned that the King's bond was named Zeus for obvious reasons, and that the Queens bond was named Venus, because Aurora surely cannot be the only bat in the underland to have a Roman deity name instead of a Greek one.

Luxa's paternal uncle, Nerissa & Henry's father: The younger royal brother. At first I was going to give him a name that meant light like his brother. But since Nerissa's name means "Sea Nymph" and Henry's name means "House Ruler" I do not think that "spares" have the same naming tradition as the first borns. So I considered other words that have important enough symbolic meaning to name a prince after: Darkness, Torch, sword. when I looked up names that mean sword I discovered that the name 'Owen" has two meanings. It means both "noble/ well born" and 'young warrior". So I would say Prince Owen is a very fitting name for the Prince of a military based society.

His Bond: a female bat named Styx a minor goddess/river in the underworld. My reasoning is, again, that Nerissa's name means "Sea nymph" and it does not really fit with Henry "House Ruler" and Luxa "Light" name scheme. But if one of her parents had a bond who was named after a mythical body of water then they could have lead to a touch of inspiration. I picked "Styx" because while it does not sound anything like "Nerissa" as far as pronunciation, it being the river that runs through the underworld does give it a sense of mischief and tradgety, that envelops Nerissa & Henry's branch of the royal family.

Nerissa & Henry's mother, Luxa's paternal aunt by marriage. She is an interesting one. I had to remember that, like Judith, she married into the royal family instead of being born into it. I also do not think that her and her husband's marriage was arranged at birth (Luxa, Nerissa, and Henry do not have fiances). This means that while she probably did not have a name meaning "Princess" she could theoretically be named anything. I want to name her " Princess Cleo" partly after Cleopatra who was a very historical women, and also because it means 'to praise or acclaim". That is fitting for a women who married into royalty and became a princess.

Her Bond: Achilles a brave and powerful soldier, who slipped up in battle once and died tragically. Another name that fits both the power and the tragedy of this team and this family. Also feel free to imagine this character as Nerissa and Henry's goofy gay uncle.

Characters from Gregor's family

Gregors Dad. Lee Campbell. Despite being heavily explored/featured in the books he is famously never given a name. I have seen fans in posts and fanfics give him names like Andrew, Steve, and Lee. While I am partial to the name Steve, I went with Lee. The Campbell kids physical descriptions are vague at best, but when you look add up what we do get (they have brown eyes and light brown skin, Boots hair is a mess of dark curls, Lizzie wears her hair in braids) most fans agree on the interpretation that they are biracial kids. Their dad's race is never specified (his face is near identical to Gregor's , and while he used to have dark hair its been gray since his time with the rats) and Lee is a name that works with multiple races you want to imagine him as

Gregor's Grandmother: Dorothy Campbell. Her family and friends shorten her name to either Dora or Dottie. Another member of Gregor's family who is never actually given a name in the books. There is one scene in CotWB, when Gregor and his parents are getting everyone up to evacuate the apartment because the rats are in the walls, where Gregor's dad is talking to grandma and he calls her "Mama" so she is likely the kids paternal grandmother, and their dad's mama. I am really glad that the dad being missing for 2.5 years did not cause a rift between her and Grace then. You know that these two women needed each other during that time, and the kids needed both of them.

I am naming her Dorothy after Dorothy from the wizard of Oz. Both are women who grew up on a country farm, then move to a strange and wondrous land that they enjoy parts of, but ultimately they never quite take to it.

Greogr's bonus grandmother, Mrs. Cormaci. We know her last name but not her first name. According to Google Cormaci as a surname is most likely either Scottish or Irish. Awesome because Morgan is a Welsh and Irish name. It also is the name of many magicians throughout literature. While Mrs.Cormaci is not specifically mentioned to have psychic powers (other than her tarot cards) and has a almost magical talent for knowing what Gregor will need in the future. So as far as I am concerned her name is Mrs. Morgan Cormaci

Names for Characters from Luxa's Maternal family.... a couple bats and her uncle's lover

Names for Bats bonded to York and Susanna

York mentioned having a bond in GatCoC, who since childhood I have headcannoned was named Hercules. York is described as being a muscular giant, and so anybody who carries him in battle has to be very strong. Since he is not bonded to Ares he can be bonded to Hercules

With Susanna I never thought about her having a bond as a kid, but I guess she would have one. She is a doctor and an older sister, so let's say she has a bond named Apollo.

Hamnet's first bond. @deliver-the-light already did a poll on what her name should have been, and Eurydice was the name that won the poll. I like that myth, so I will honor the poll and keep that name.

Hamnet's lover, Hazards mother, and the women who maybe could have been an aunt to Luxa and Howard, had she ever gotten to meet them: Well first lets talk about this women. It was from her that Hazard inherited his two overland traits: curly black hair, and lime green eyes. Black hair and green eyes are actually a rare combination. Most people with black hair have either blue or brown eyes. According to google she would most likely be Irish or Scottish. Another notable thing about her, she once lived in New York City, or at least she had parents who lived there. She also wanted to take Hazard to visit at some point, which implies that there was a chance she could get back to the overland, and chose to stay in the jungles of the underland. Now New York is a difficult place to live with its over population, high cost of living, high crime and pollution rates. But the Underland jungles are also a difficult place to live. There was something about Life in the overland vs life in the underland that led to her choosing to stay in the Underland jungles. She didn't just love Hamnet, but also this wild world he lived in. Or her life above ground was so wild that she felt more secure in the underland? Because of all of this I looked up a female scottish or Irish name that means "Wild'. Her name is Fia.

Also if you have read another post I made you will know that I am a fan of the theory that She was Mrs. Cormaci's daughter. Finding out that there are cannon reasons to suspect that the two have similar/the same heritage is adding to that. Let Mrs. Cormaci see Hazards face either in a picture, from the party, that Gregor shares with her, or have him come up for a day visit, and meet her in person. Have her send/show Hazard a picture of her daughter with Fia Cormaci's name written on it and him get all excited because yes that is his mother. Then let Mrs.Cormaci and Hazard form a relationship and eventually complete the circle, by giving Hazard an actual chance to chose which world he wants to live his life in.

Last thing since I was thinking alot about Hamnet's family I used that opportunity to look up alternate meaning to "Hazard" and try and find justification for why loving parents would name their son something that means "Danger" and threat". Alternate meanings include "Venture, put forward, chance, risk" Hamnet is named "Home", I just named Fia "wild" and these definitions make Hazards name fit perfectly with his parents and their story.

[liviavanrouge]

Untouchable

Tarza: These were for me?

Livia: *Holds the muddied up box, broken cookies, torn flowers and the dirty handkerchief inside* Y-Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-

Tarza: *Places a hand on her head* Go rest, my granddaughter...

Livia: *Looks up her eyes wide* But, I was supposed to give you your gift! I-I owe you this, don't I!?

Tarza: Not right now, I have some business to take care of, Livia...

Livia: *Bows her head and walks away* Yes...I understand..

Tarza: *Looks at the nearest guard* Bring me those boys...immediately and call upon the rest of the family..

~~~~

Harris: *Trembles, his eyes wide*

Markus: *Grips Harris's sleeve terrified*

Hoax: *Gulps, then bows his head*

Tarza: *Stares them down, Scone, Spencer and Mandrake standing with him*

Larkson: *Stands to the right of the elderly men the rest of Livia's uncles standing with him* Disgraceful

Vinaya: *Stands to the left of the elderly men, Livia's aunts with her* Shameless...

Jabarri: *Sits in front of their grandparents, the rest of Livia's cousins sitting with him* How dare you...

Lilia: *Stands to the side, looking at the three boys*

Markus: S-Sir...

Spencer: You destroyed something precious to us...

Tarza: That cannot be forgiven...

Hoax: What d-did we do...

Tarza: You destroyed the gift my grandchild promised to make me....

Harris: SHE'S A HALF BLOOD! A DEMON CHILD! YOU WOULD'VE BEEN CURSED, TEACHER!!!

Tarza: What'd you call my grandchild....

Harris: *Flinches* I-I...

Fidget: Hey, hey...repeat what you just said

Jabarri: *Scowls at them, a vein popping into view* Yeah, give me a reason to mute you...

Alan: They called her a demon child...

Snake: Hey....you guys must have a death wish...

Noalin: *Cracks his knuckles* Pops, let me destroy them...

Jun: Not this time, son

???: LADY LIVIA IS ENTERING!

Livia: *Walks in and bows her head* Everyone....

Vinaya: Livia! Don't be ashamed sweetheart!

Lilac: Raise your head, Liv...it's alright...

Livia: *Shakily raises her head*

Lilia: Little Bat...tell us from the beginning about what happened...and who did what

Livia: I was on my way to see grandfather, I had my umbrella too!

Mandrake: *Signs in relief* She didn't forget it this time

Livia: ...I ran into these three on the way there, they called me half blood, demon child, monster and more, they the-

Markus: SHE'S LYING!

Hoax: *Trembles, looking down*

Harris: TEACHER!! SHE'S A LIAR!

Hoax: It's not a lie...

Markus and Harris: Hoax?!

Hoax: *Drops down to his knees and bows his head* I allowed Harris and Markus to pick on Livia, I knew we wouldn't get in trouble because she was soft on us because we're younger than her!!!!

Hoax: I knew she wasn't gonna snitch on us!! So I watched as they destroyed teachers gifts! I'm sorry, I should've stopped them as the eldest of the class!!

Livia: *Gasps, grabbing his arm* Hoax, stand up!

Hoax: NO! I HAVE MADE A GRAVE ERROR! I DIDN'T THINK!!

Livia: Everyone!!

Larkson: If this is true, the one who should be bowing is not you...but the two beside you

Harris: BUT-?!

Tarza: If you wish to stay in my class, then apologize...

Hoax: Huh? *Blinks as Livia brought him to his feet and dusted him off*

Harris and Markus: *Sits on their knees their head bowed* We apologize for destroying your gift to teacher

Livia: *Stares at them* It's okay! You're just kids!

Hoax: *Flinches as his stomach growled* Oh...

Livia: *Giggles* Family, may me and Hoax be dismissed, we're both very hungry!

Benjamin: *Nods smiling* Go ahead

Livia: *Walks away with Hoax then looks back as the doors closed*

Harris: What...

Markus: *Stares in shock* He....

Livia and Hoax: *Smirks smugly at them, having teamed up on the two* Have fun~~

Markus and Harris: *Stares in disbelief, then looks down*

Tarza: Let's conduct the punishment for these two....

@anxious-twisted-vampire @yukii0nna @writing-heiress

[chiiwifruit]

I didn't usually interact on here because I'm happy in my own little bubble, but this struck a chord with me.

Anon, as an autistic person, I find you pedantic at best and ableist at worst.

OP does not need you to explain why you thinking faking a smile is sad. OP understands that you think faking a smile = faking joy, and that finding that sad is natural.

But as an autistic person, smiling is not how I express joy. Smiling is a social nicety. I experience joy, but my joy may look different from yours.

I often feel awkward when I smile, but i don't find that sad. To me, a smile is communication. To me, i learned to smile in more often during conversations so that my friends would stop constantly asking if I was mad at them. My face is naturally stoic. I don't emote much, and when I do, it's to communicate. Because I learned as a child that if I didn't smile, my friends didn't understand that I enjoyed spending time together, and it make them sad or insecure. I didn't want them to feel that way, so I smiled more. Yes, it was put on. It was deliberate. But that does not mean it was insincere.

In the same way, i learned to pitch my voice different than what is natural to me so that friends, coworkers, and specifically my mom, would stop pestering me about what I'm upset about. I'm not upset. This is just how I talk.

In my case, it's called masking. Because I'm not doing it to not seem weird, it makes my life easier, and helps people understand me better.

Two of my younger brothers had to be taught to smile. Specifically taught, because it doesn't come naturally to them. One just turned ten and just got his autism diagnosis. The other isn't diagnosed, like me, because apparently you don't stim if you don't hand flap and the fact that he sniffs literally everything does not count.

The older one smiles only at family members and close family friends. To him, it's an expression that means "I like you" not "I'm happy". People always ask how we can tell when he's happy. For him, happiness is a calm, relaxed posture, quietly doing something he enjoys.

For the other, he does smile as an expression of happiness, but more as a prelude to laughter. Because his happy looks like goblin laughter and body slamming things and people.

I have an uncle by marriage who I saw every day after school because he and my aunt would babysit us. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him smile. People thinks he's mean or scary, until they realize that's just the way his face is. He's in his fifties and diagnosed as "Texan military brat", and that's enough for most people. He didn't smile at his kids weddings. He doesn't smile when holding his grandchildren, or playing with his dog, or when he'd dangle me and my sister upside down and swing us around. He didn't smile when he taught me to throw a softball or swing a bat. But I think he was happy.

Now, OP's experience and reasons probably differ from mine. But I wanted to provide insight on why these asks and comments on a deeply autobiographical comment that happens to be projected on a fictional character would be hurtful or offensive.

It's not about the art.

I don’t get how interpreting someone faking and practicing a smile as sad = weird to u lol. Like anyone would consider that sad …………

The reason I don’t view the act of practicing expressions, or in this case a smile, is because this is based off my own experience. In the comic I am using Akechi as a little puppet to project my own experience onto. While I don’t mind people viewing the comic as sad—as I stated before—I merely asked people to not be weird about it because it is my own experience that I personally don’t view as sad. I understand how some people may interpret it which is why I put a disclaimer explaining how it is a personal experience and I rather not have people being freaks about my comic. I don’t mind if people view it as sad because to an extent it is, but he was never faking a smile, just practicing. I honestly don’t know how many times it bears repeating but that comic is based on a personal experience that I did when I was younger, I thought it would be fun and other people could relate. I understood some people wouldn’t get the main message and see it as sad so I put a disclaimer. I did a entire breakdown of the comic explaining other headcanons I gave to Akechi that aren’t explicit but provides context and which are just from my own experience; these hcs further explain the comic and why its not sad he practiced a smile. Either you get it or you don’t because I’m sick of people trying to tell me how I should feel about my own experience. Do your own research while your at it.

[farfromharry]

Beth [ 17 ] | Dad!Eddie Munson fic

Seventeen, Birthdays and makeups

Word count - 7417

Warnings - minimal angst ig, language?

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

November 1995

It had been two whole months since your fight with Beth and the two of you still hadn’t made up. It wasn’t like you hadn’t tried, you definitely had— her? not so much— but you were unable to put so much of a focus on it when you had a very needy newborn to take care of. It was tearing Eddie up inside, he was basically begging you daily to take action, but nothing changed. 

The perfect moment arose as Eddie’s birthday approached. You and Tulip wanted to do something sweet to celebrate Steve and your husband’s shared day of birth– despite the fact the younger man would probably hate that with everything in him. However, it wasn’t up to them, so the two of you planned it all out as a delightful surprise. 

Before the actual date, closer to mid November than late due to Tulip’s impending due date, the four of you– plus your lovely kids– were going to stay in a house overlooking Lake Ontario for a couple days. It was a long drive, almost thirteen hours, which was completely unbearable to the heavily pregnant woman, but you were doing it for your husbands not yourselves. Bat would be staying with Wayne for the duration, the man having quite the soft spot for the feline. You had tried to worm him onto the trip with you, but it’d been met with a hard no from Steve.

The original idea had been that you had the chance to talk with Beth on the drive, when there was nowhere for any of you to run, but she had convinced her pseudo aunt and uncle to allow her to go with them. You were unaware until the time for you all to leave came, your heart sinking as she climbed into the Range Rover beside the two car seats containing the Harrington twins. “What are you doing?” Eddie asked, glancing between his daughter and his best friend. 

Tulip looked a little worried she’d overstepped. “She asked if she could come with us, she said she wanted to spend time with Halley and Lyra. Is that okay?”

You could tell your husband was going to say no, push his daughter to sit through a very awkward car journey for both of your sakes. It was honestly quite selfless of him to be willing to sit through so much tension for so long just so you had the opportunity to make up. However, though you appreciated the sentiment, you were still nervous that forcing this on Beth was only going to make her resent you more. “That’s fine, Tulip. She loves those girls,” you jumped in, ignoring the look Eddie shot you. “Plus, it’ll let Lola sleep if she’s with you.”

There wasn’t much more to debate, and you missed the longing look the nine year old sent in your direction. You wanted to get on the road as quickly as possible and no one would argue with you about that. 

Once inside the privacy of Eddie’s old van, he brought up what had just happened, even as you tried to ignore him by busying yourself starting the shitty engine and such. “Why did you do that? This could have been your moment.”

You were avoiding eye contact with him and he knew it. Instead of looking into those puppy eyes, which you knew would have you spilling your darkest of secrets. As you responded, you quickly checked on Lola, made sure she was okay and still sleeping calmly. “I just thought she’d be happier with them. We have time to talk at the house.”

He noticed you were getting yourself worked up again, and in an attempt to make you feel better, place his hand over one of yours. The look on his eyes was full of love and sincerity. “We’ll fix this. She loves you just as much as you love her.” 

With that you started the engine of the van, leading the way to what would be your home for the next few days.

The first day you arrived, none of you had the energy to do anything. After so much traveling, and pulling over thanks to Tulip’s tiny pregnancy bladder, you were all exhausted– well, all except Lola who had taken many many naps during the journey. It was late when you pulled up outside of the large house, almost nine in the evening which was definitely past all four children’s bedtimes. They were taken straight to bed, Eddie carrying a sleepy Beth while Steve was tasked with carrying both of his twins. The three were staying all in one room, while Lola would be with you and your husband so you could keep an eye on her. 

You and Tulip sat yourselves down to finally have some rest. She stretched herself out on the couch, hands cradling her bump as she tried to fight her drooping eyes. She didn’t want to fall asleep without Steve by her side. This second pregnancy– she wouldn’t admit it happened in the first too– had found her a lot clingier with her husband, specifically when she got tired. It had become almost an impossible task for her to try to sleep without the man somewhere nearby or with a hand on her. 

You had taken a seat in the armchair across from the couch, blanket thrown over yours and Lola’s laps to keep you warm. The November chill didn’t seem as harsh with the warmth from the blanket and the crackling fire. 

Tulip was practically passed out by the time the two men came back down the stairs. She had been watching on as you amused your daughter, your fingers tickling her pudgy belly to hear those happy baby giggles that made your heart so warm. At the sight of his sleepy wife, he was grinning like an idiot, taking big strides over to the couch so he could join her, maybe stroke her hair or hold her as she napped. 

He was careful when he lifted her head to rest it in his lap, trying not to shake her too much in case he roused her out of the content daze she was in. 

In the meantime, Eddie was joining you and your daughter in the roomy chair, beaming at her when she babbled mindlessly to him as he sat down. In a motherly move, you threw some of the knitted blanket over his legs, hoping to keep him cozy. “How’s Beth?” you asked, adjusting your position so your husband could wrap his arms around your frame, tucking you into his side while Lola rested between you happily. 

“She’s okay. Tired. Would probably be better if her mom had said goodnight.” You scolded him under your breath, not wanting to have a conversation like that when your friends were right there. Steve could probably hear everything you were saying. The way he was looking at you both as he subconsciously drew circles on his wife’s arm, told you exactly that. 

It wasn’t his place, but his curiosity got the better of him after he watched the two of you whisper-yell at each other for a few minutes. “What’s going on with you and Beth? Did something happen?” 

You sighed, sinking further into your seat as you hoped to avoid the question entirely. Despite Eddie’s encouraging nudges to just tell him, you were praying the other man would simply lose interest and change the subject, or that if you were silent for long enough he would get the gist that you didn’t feel like answering. Eventually Eddie’s elbow in your ribs became far too irritating to ignore, scowling at him as you prepared an answer for Steve. “She thinks now that we have Lola, I don’t love her cause ‘I’m not her real mom,’ which is crazy.” 

“Is it though?” he asked, seeing the confusion spring on your face. “Crazy, I mean.”

Hearing those words coming from the dad of two, soon to be four, didn’t fill you with much confidence. You were beginning to rethink everything you had felt the last couple months. Was Beth in the right? Were you really picking favorites? 

“I know newborns are clingy, trust me I do– but kids feel left out, it’s not crazy or absurd for her to feel that way.” He wasn’t intending to make you feel bad, but that didn’t mean guilt wasn’t bubbling up in your chest. “I’m not blaming you– either of you. Just something to think about.”

The conversation was cut short when Lola began to babble excitedly, almost like she knew what you were talking about and wanted to make the mood lighter. Whereas Eddie was happy to entertain her in an instant, the smile on your face was much less excited and a lot more forced as you tried to pretend to be unbothered by the information Steve had just relayed to you. That same mood continued for the rest of the night, not that anyone really noticed. Or if Eddie did, he didn’t bring it up.  

The next morning, after everyone was refreshed and feeling much more wide awake– and you were less upset about your conversation last night, you all decided to go swimming. Eddie wasn’t particularly happy about that decision, he was a big hater of anything water, but he was at least a bit grateful that it wasn’t by a beach— god he hated the beach.

You and Tulip had opted to stay out of the water for a little, to her the thought of swimming while almost full term with two babies wasn’t a pleasant one. As for you, you were just happy to observe everyone having fun. Eddie was trying to introduce your five month old to the water as gently as he could, while Steve was occupied with the three kids. He was attempting to teach Beth how to paddleboard, making sure he gave her extra attention after the news he was made aware of the night before. He didn’t want her to feel left out for a second. His own two girls were paddling just a short distance away with their floaties high on their arms, giggling away as the two twins splashed at each other. Although Tulip wasn’t obsessed with the idea of them being ‘on their own’, she did accept that Steve was close enough that he could jump in at any time if they needed him. Plus he was a certified lifeguard, that got him brownie points too. 

As for you and Tulip, you were trying to narrow down the plans for your husbands’ joint birthday surprise. The two of you wanted to throw a mini party, but details had yet to be discussed. Now was the perfect time. 

“What kind of cake does Steve like? I was thinking if he and Eddie don’t like the same, we could make two,” you said. You had slipped in the ‘make’ part so casually that she almost missed it, but luckily she did hear it. Up until this point she hadn’t considered the fact they would be homemade. 

“I thought we were just buying them. Are you making them?” Owning the diner, she assumed you knew how to cook pretty well. Eddie had mentioned to her in passing before that you were the one in the relationship that cooked; he was notoriously just as bad as she was when it came to the skill. They never took the opportunity to learn, or really had to thanks to Petal, unlike Steve and you. 

You chuckled. “Me? We’re making them,” you confirmed. There was no way in hell you were making two separate birthday cakes yourself. She might have been heavily pregnant, but the least she could do is pass you the ingredients. 

The woman pouted, deflating in her seat. “Why me? I can’t bake.”

“He’s your husband, ‘m sure he doesn’t care how good it is. Surely he’d love something made by you.”

“I can guarantee he wouldn’t. He wants nothing home cooked by me, ever.” Her confession made you giggle. You didn’t know to what extent her skill was, didn’t know one time she had set off the smoke alarm burning a meal for Steve, but in your eyes she couldn’t be as bad as your own husband. That was up for debate though. “Did you at least get him a gift?”

She gestured to her large bump, widening her eyes a little like it should have been obvious. You knew she wasn’t much of a material gift giver, so you don’t know why you expected any less. “He’s getting nothing more than his daughter,” she shrugged. 

“D’you think it’s too late for me to try that one on Eddie?” you asked, playfully. You’d already gotten the man you loved a gift, combat boots to replace his old, worn out ones and a signet ring with his children’s fingerprints (shaped into an adorable heart) to commemorate him turning the big thirty.

As Tulip looked over to Lola, she grinned, turning back to you with the same happy expression. “Maybe just a few months too late. But ‘m sure if you're adamant enough you could convince him.”

He must’ve noticed the glances the two of you had been occasionally sending his way, because his eyes were fixated on you both firmly, even as Lola whined for his attention. Or at least that was what he thought she was beginning to blubber for. The woman beside you obviously had to take every opportunity to tease her best friend, even if the intense staring wasn’t bothering her as much as she let on. “What’re you looking at, ugly?”

He rolled his eyes, ignoring the way you didn’t even try and protest to her words. Instead he chose to fire back where he knew it would strike a nerve. “Look Lols,” Eddie cooed, bobbing the girl in the water carefully. Her eyes followed where he was pointing, as did all of you that were curious, until they landed on Tulip on the deck. “A beached whale.” 

There was a series of gasps from you and the two other adults. It was the first time Steve had taken his attention away from the kids since you first got into the water a couple hours back. There was a proud grin plastered on the metalhead’s lips, but it would be quickly wiped away at the threat of death from the woman. Although he did try his hardest to prevent it, not exactly in the most moral way though. “You can’t hurt me, I’m holding a baby,” he announced, holding Lola up to where the two of you could see her better than before. 

“Are you using your infant as a shield?” Steve asked. 

He held no shame as he nodded. But just like clockwork, the girl in question began to cry, her gaze searching for her mother. You were quickly on your feet, meeting your husband halfway so you could tend to your baby. “Not anymore,” you grinned, taking the little girl whose arms were outstretched to you. Her eyes had been growing much more watery as her feeding time approached. Unfortunately for your husband, that meant he no longer had a shield stopping his best friend from giving him a piece of her mind.

If it wasn’t so much work for the pregnant lady to even think about, she would have attempted to kill him in some way– maybe drown him for the convenience of it. He was lucky, this time, but that didn’t mean he’d be protected the next. 

That didn’t mean he was safe from her children though. In an attempt to protect their mother’s honor, the two little girls went right for him. They made battle sounds as they basically threw themselves at him, knocking him back in the water. The sight produced a lot of laughter, none of it from Eddie though who was being used like a jungle gym by two four year olds. She cheered them on, ignoring her best friend’s playful pleas for her to call back her army. 

They ceased a little while later, growing bored of their Uncle Eddie and ultimately deciding they needed to bother their dad again– though he was more than happy to have their company. That was when your husband decided to take to entertaining Beth, trying to make sure the girl felt included to the best of his ability. 

He’d noticed how she had stayed away from him when he had been cradling the five month old, barely even looked at him in fact. This wasn’t the relationship he expected his daughters to have. She had been much more interested in hanging out with the Harrington twins. The two four years being more like her sisters than Lola was. It broke his heart to think, and he couldn’t even imagine how it made you feel. He noticed the looks, the frowns that you thought no one saw when you looked at her. When you first properly talked to Eddie about Lola, you gushed to him the idea of the two girls being the bestest of friends– the way you wished you could have been with a sister if you had had one. To know that fantasy of yours was rapidly going down the drain must have been ruining you inside. 

If anyone had taken to counting the longing looks you and Beth sent to each other throughout the day, they would have been up in the millions by now. It was clear to everyone that you both missed each other, and no one had any clue why you were letting this mini feud go on for so long. No one was more confused than the father of the child himself. 

Most of the day, besides lunch and the frequent bathroom breaks– specifically for Tulip, was spent in or beside the lake. All went well for the most part, but it swiftly came to an end when Steve brought up the brilliant idea of putting the grill to good use. Any single one of you would die for the Harrington man’s cooking, especially his currently pregnant wife. The second the words left his mouth, it was like a competition of who could get out of the water faster.

You would have joined them, had it not been for the man blocking your way on the deck. He thought it’d be fun for the two of you to have your own swim in the lake, just the two of you. And you would have agreed, had he informed you it was going to start with him tackling you in off the deck. 

“What are you doing?” you asked, eyeing him warily as he approached you on the end of the dock. Your eyes were narrowed in his direction, suspicious of every move he made closer to you. He shrugged, trying to act as innocent as he possibly could, but his acting skills could use some heavy work. The mischief in his eyes was blatant, and only someone with an ulterior motive would smile at someone like that. 

He wanted you to think he was only going in for a hug, and maybe if you hadn’t already suspected he was up to something, you might have. When his arms reached out for you though, you took a step back, pointing your finger at him sternly as if to tell him to quit while he was ahead. Your motherly authority didn’t work on him though, he knew all the weaknesses you possessed that would convince you to forgive him in the long run. “I’m not doing anything, I swear.”

“Eddie,” you cautioned. 

Your warning was completely ignored as he lunged for you, tackling you into the lake below like his plan had been all along. As the two of you emerged from underneath the water, he was giggling like a mad man, putting a little bit of distance between the two of you so you didn’t kill him straight away. He’d experienced enough attempted drownings for one day. 

The sound of his laughter was contagious, but you were supposed to be mad at him. You were trying your hardest to hold back the laughter that desperately wanted to leave your lips, but it was becoming close to impossible the longer he grinned at you with that dreamy smile. 

“You’re an ass,” you complained, chuckling towards the end of your words. He didn’t care, you could call him anything in that moment and it wouldn’t change the love he was feeling for you. Not even when you splashed him as some sort of payback. When he finally deemed it safe, he closed the gap between you, his arms snaking around your torso under the water. Yours looped around his neck, the two of you now so close that your noses almost brushed against one anothers. 

If you had looked hard enough, you would have seen Tulip standing at the door of the house, video camera in hand as she caught the sweet moment on film. There was a warm smile on her face as she captured the sight, but the little girl next to her was staring at you both in almost a hateful scowl. Beth couldn’t help but wonder why you had enough time for Lola and her dad, but not for her. Did you love them more than you did her? She didn’t know what she needed to do to get attention from you at this point, but she had a feeling that the empty spot on her wrist where her half of your matching bracelets used to be, might help. Losing it wasn’t intentional, but surely it would only work in her favor. 

The two of you planned on getting out early, but were given reassurance from Tulip that her and her husband could watch your kids. That was all you needed to be given the green light to act like carefree kids for a little bit. 

Eddie might have been turning thirty, you close behind, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t take a second to feel like the twenty year old kids you used to be– only this time without a toddler to care for. If you and him had started dating earlier, back in highschool, maybe you would have gotten more moments like this. Moments where you frolicked in Lover’s lake, splashing each other in the hot Hawkins summers to cool each other down. Where you made out under the school bleachers and maybe made fun of the jocks. Where you went on late night drives together to get away from your overbearing families. 

None of that was to say that you didn’t love where you were with him now, or that you didn’t love the child that became yours when you and your husband got together. But sometimes you wondered briefly what would have been of your relationship if Beth wasn’t involved from the beginning, if she had been born later– come from you instead of the wretched woman she had to call her birth mother. If you and Eddie had just been regular, non parent, twenty year olds dating, would you even still be together now? 

“Hey,” he whispered, bringing you out of your head. You flashed him a smile, brushing some of his wet hair out of his face. His bangs were blocking his view from how the water had shaped them. He resembled a drowned rat a little you thought, but you wouldn’t tell him that. “You looked a little in your head, y’okay?”

You nodded. “Perfect.”

The next day was party day. The first thing the two of you did was send your husbands out on a wild goose chase with your kids. You didn’t care what they did, as long as they were gone for long enough for the two of you to make two cakes and put up some decorations. 

You started with Eddie’s, a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. It was simple enough, bland even, the kind of thing you were always whipping up in the diner. That was where his love for the flavor cake had stemmed from, all those nights together the two of you spent eating leftover cake after closing. Who was there to tell you no? The owner? 

Although the baking would have been easier with four actively working hands, you still appreciated the way the woman was handing you ingredients as you required them. You tried to encourage her to join you, you tried so hard, but you hadn’t realized how truly poor her skills were when it came to baking. All you’d had her do was crack an egg into a bowl, and somehow there had been more shell than yolk, so you allowed her to continue sitting it out. It was going to work best if you baked and she just sort of sat there, sneakily tasting the batter. 

“So, where’d you learn to cook like this?” she asked out of curiosity. 

“I was alone a lot as a kid, and my mom had a lot of cookbooks lying around, so I pretty much taught myself the basics so I could survive,” you explained. You didn’t mean to make the mood so sullen, but she did ask. “After that, the diner’s old owner and his wife taught me. I started working there when I was fifteen. They basically raised me for a while, so they were happy to teach me.”

The woman frowned. She didn’t know how she managed to do it, but almost every person she had befriended had a sad, difficult, upbringing. It really put things into perspective for her, but she worked to make sure none of her friends, or her kids, would ever have an experience like that. “Maybe you could try and teach me, if you’re up for it. I know both me and Eddie would benefit from a great teacher.”

She delved into a story about a time where Steve had attempted to teach the pair when he and Tulip first moved in together. Apparently it ended in tears and an almost fire because they were just that terrible– though she didn’t tell you who the tears were from. You had your suspicions though. From that day on, he had banned Eddie from basically ever stepping foot in their kitchen again and Steve was now the designated cook for the Harrington family. 

While Eddie’s cake was in the oven, it was time to start on the other mans, confetti cake with strawberry icing. You’d learned from his wife that it was his favorite, though you didn’t sell it at the diner. That led to a bit of a time wasting conundrum where the two of you had to scour through various cookbooks the place housed for some sort of recipe. It definitely deducted some time that would have been very useful, but that didn’t matter now, there was nothing you could do to get it back. 

When everything was in the oven, it was time to decorate the place with the minimal birthday banners, balloons and such that you sneaked onto the trip. This was where Tulip’s help really came into play. Your job was sticking up banners so the woman didn’t have to stay on her feet for too long, while she took to blowing up the colorful balloons. You already knew Lola was going to have a field day when she saw the bright inflatables. To be fair, so was your husband. The last thing you had to do was ice the cakes, and you had to do it rather rapidly if you wanted it to be finished by the time the pair walked through the front door. You didn’t do anything special, nothing more than a happy birthday for Steve, and a happy thirtieth for Eddie. 

It was safe to say when the two walked back through the door, they were surprised. Both of you had made sure not to spill a single thing to any of the kids. You knew them all too well, if you told them anything, there was no doubt at some point during the day they would relay the information back to their dads— on accident or not. You couldn’t risk it. And you were glad you hadn’t when you saw the look on their faces.

“Surprise,” you cheered, engulfing Eddie in a tight embrace before doing the same for Steve.

After moving away from the brunette, your husband pulled you back to him, itching to have his arms around you. You leaned back into his embrace, watching the kids run in and immediately take to the decorations around them. You turned in his hold, grinning up to your husband. “Happy birthday, honey.”  The smile on his face couldn’t have been any bigger if he tried. Instead of verbally responding, he was drawing you in for a sweet kiss. 

When you pulled away, you leaned away from him. “I can’t wait for you to see your gift.” Even though the man was turning thirty, he was still a child at heart, even more so a boy. You knew he had turned your words into something they didn’t mean based on the smirk on his face. “Oh? Why? What is it?” You rolled your eyes at his insinuation, walking away from him, taking the babbling baby with you as you went. 

From your place against the counter, you could see your friends and family enjoying themselves. Beth was singing along to a song on the radio with your husband, the pair mimicking the guitar in the background with matching grins and similar laughter. The Harrington twins were arm-wrestling (and winning) with their father while their mom watched on fondly, her hand resting subconsciously on her bump. And Lola was chatting to herself and giggling in your arms. Eventually, you could see the growing restlessness in everyone, especially Tulip who just wanted some cake. 

Handing Lola to a passing Tulip, you made quick work of placing the candles on both of the cakes and lighting them. Steve and Eddie turned to you after you’d dimmed the lights, eyes lighting up as you walked to the dining table with two cakes in your grasp. Being a waitress really paid off at this moment. You set them down and motioned for them to blow out the candles, the camera you had tucked in between your arm and ribs recording. 

The kids were more than eager when they finished, basically jumping on you to cut the cakes. When you did so, you made sure to serve them the dessert first. When Beth begrudgingly walked up to you with her hand out, you swallowed. The blue jewelry piece that usually adorned her wrist was gone, and it made your heart constrict. You knew that she was less than pleased with you, but you never expected her to do such a thing. That bracelet, as childish as it may have seemed, meant that she had finally accepted you. You had placed so much importance on it and you didn’t expect her to just rid herself of it simply because she was mad at you. 

With a terse smile, you handed her a slice and watched with a heavy heart as she ran off without a second glance. Steve was behind her in a makeshift line. Having seen the interaction between the two of you, he couldn’t help but ask. “You okay?” 

“‘M fine,” it was an obvious lie, but he didn’t push. He gave you a stilted nod before turning back to his little family. You couldn’t stay in your pity party for too long, this night was about the man you loved and one of your best friends, your feelings could wait. Plating a piece for yourself, you joined Eddie and Lola on the couch– the man doing his best at keeping the infant from getting into his slice. 

Despite this being Eddie’s second baby, he had no idea if they could have sugar this young. Did that stop him from feeding his Lola some of the icing off of his cake? No. The two were sitting together on the couch, her situated comfortably in his lap. He had been trying to eat the slice of birthday cake you cut for him when she had shown a sudden interest in the food. Rather than wind up with a baby hand right in his food, he decided to offer her some of the chocolate icing. He only took the tiniest bit on the edge of his finger, bringing it to her mouth for her to try. He wasn’t surprised to see that she loved it. They basically ended up sharing it. 

The party went well for the most part, despite the prominent ache in your chest the whole time. You didn’t mention it to anyone, just plastered on a smile and let everyone else enjoy the party.

It was that night getting ready for bed when you decided to bring up what had been bothering you. Eddie had noticed, he always notices when something’s off with you. But as usual, he didn’t push it. You could be just like Beth at times, the more he pushed the more defensive and reserved you became; the problem was never solved that way. So he reminded you he was there, but overall let you come to him.

You had been brushing your teeth in the room's adjoining bathroom while he was on the bed with your youngest daughter. Her tiny feet were planted on his stomach, her back leaning against his bent legs, and her small hands clasped in his. He was singing some silly, made up song to her, and she was loving every second of it. She was bouncing along in an attempt to dance as well as a small baby could, she was also giggling loudly at the joy her father provided her with. He was just as happy, cheeks hurting from grinning so hard as he watched her. His new ring, the birthday gift from you, was sitting proudly on his ring finger just above his wedding ring, his shiny new combat boots tucked away in his bag so he couldn’t forget them. 

It should’ve been a moment you watched with silent awe, heartfelt father-daughter bonding time that made you coo. But you were unable to swim out of the thoughts that were drowning you.

Your husband didn’t notice at first, too preoccupied with the little girl. It wasn’t until you called him that he realized you were ready to confide in him, and it was his time to listen. 

“Honey?” Mocha eyes flickered over to your figure, standing there looking like you were holding on by a thread. One look at his sweet face and you were spilling everything. “She took off the bracelet.” There were tears lining your eyes as you spoke the words. The matching blue bands you and the little girl had around your wrists meant everything to you. She had given you yours the day you married your husband, it was the something blue Eddie had told her you needed. She’d been more than happy to oblige. You noticed it was missing when you had handed her a slice of cake, the space on her wrist was barren, no longer resembling yours that you wore so proudly. 

At first he was unsure what you meant, but then his eyes flickered down to your hand that was messing with the familiar fabric on your arm; that’s when it clicked. “Sunshine,” he frowned. Amusing Lola was no longer his biggest priority. The sounds of your cries filled his ears as heart moved the girl to the makeshift crib in the room with urgency, hoping she would fall asleep so the two of you could talk.

Once she was okay, his brain was set on taking all of your sadness away. That was all it was thinking about; you, you, you.

His first plan of action was moving you to a more comfortable place. He led you to the large bed that sat in the middle of the room, the two of you taking a seat together. Your fingers were intertwined with his, his thumb rubbing soothing circles over the back of your hand. “Talk to me.” 

As he listened to you cry, he made a decision. He was going to be the one to put his foot down, take the first step to getting his family back to how they were before this whole, silly mess. He was positive he could make more progress in a couple hours than either of you had in months.

“It’s been two months, Y/N. You have to make up.” You were slightly shocked by the sudden turn in his tone. Before he had been comforting, sweet and understanding to what you were feeling. But now it was like he was sick of hearing it.

You frowned. “I’m trying, Eds,” you defended. You knew it was futile; he was right. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me.” 

He didn’t mean to get angry, he hadn’t intended to at all, but he was sick of hearing the same excuses over and over. If there were less excuses, from both sides, and more actual talking, this would have been resolved days after it happened. “You’re not trying hard enough!” The reaction on your face was far from what he was aiming for, and also considering the baby sleeping in the room, he knew he needed to take a second to breathe. As soon as he felt more relaxed, less angry, he was trying again. “I love you both, but what you’re doing is hurting me too.” 

You hadn’t really thought of it like that before. In your eyes the ones suffering had been you and her, you didn’t bring into consideration that both Eddie and Lola must be struggling because of it too. He must have seen the realization cross your face. “You’re the adult here. She’s only a child, she doesn’t know what she’s doing.” 

He was right, and you knew it. After Eddie put his foot down regarding the fight with Beth, you had no choice but to talk with her, whether she wanted to or not. He essentially all but locked the two of you in a room together and demanded you fix things if you wanted out. She’d been stubborn at first, attempting to call his bluff, but soon realized this time her dad wasn’t going to give in. 

You were the first one to break the silence. “I don’t want to fight with you. I hate that you’re mad at me, Bethy.” She was pouting, just sitting there with a sad look on her face like her father had committed the most unspeakable act she had ever seen. How could he lock her in a room with you right now? She sort of felt betrayed. “Beth, please look at me.”

When she finally did, it was obvious she was fighting tears. She didn’t mean to cry, she was trying her best not to, but the whole thing was so overwhelming. She didn’t want to face the possible idea of you admitting that you didn’t love her. It was such a scary thought. 

“Tell me what’s going on,” you pleaded. 

“I didn’t think you cared about me.” Those were basically the first words she had spoken to you in months, and they hurt to hear. 

You frowned, timidly reaching for her hand. At first you were scared she would reject it, but she was actually happy for you to hold it. “Why wouldn’t I?”

She sniffled, roughly wiping at her tears with her other hand. “Because you care about Lola more.”

If you were talking to anyone else, you probably would’ve scoffed, maybe even laughed at how ridiculous that sentence was. But you knew she was fragile and feeling particularly sensitive, so it would be the absolute worst thing to do.

You shuffled closer to where she was sitting on the bed, wrapping your arm around her shoulders. You weren’t as hesitant this time, not now that she was crying and you felt the overwhelming motherly urge to comfort her. This time around you were also more certain she wouldn’t try and reject your love. “No, I don’t,” you promised. Not a single part of you wasn’t telling the truth. 

She was still trying to find a way to support her worries though. “But, she’s your real daughter, not me. You love her more than me,” she ranted. “You only half love me.” 

“There’s no such thing as half love,” you told her. “She might have been the first baby I gave birth to, but you were my first daughter, Beth. I’m your mom just as much as your dad is your dad.” Maybe that part was a gray area. You weren’t her mother, you hadn’t birthed her, but you were sure all you had done to raise her over the years would classify you as her mom. You had been the one to show her love and care. You earned that title. 

Her wide brown eyes flickered up to yours, tears still lining her waterline. “Do you promise? You love me just as much as Lola?”

“Of course I do. She just can’t do a lot for herself right now, she’s really relying on me and your dad.”

It seemed like the majority of the issue was solved. She had the knowledge of a promise that you loved her just as much as you loved Lola, and that was all she was really asking. Over the next few days she would come to see it in real time too. You and Eddie were certainly going to be more careful about distributing your time between kids. Plus pushing the two girls to bond so Beth could see her baby sister wasn’t all that bad— maybe then she would see how needy the little girl was and understand your side more.

Now that all was essentially calm and sorted, you had the chance to ask about the one thing that had been plaguing your mind for hours. “What happened to your bracelet?” you asked, timidly. You were rather scared to know the answer.

“I lost it,” she admitted, through a sad cry. It made you feel slightly better to know she hadn’t taken it off out of spite, though it meant it was completely gone now. But you could always make another. “It fell off when we were swimming. Can’t find it.” 

“S’okay,” you reassured, offering her the warmest smile you could muster in the moment without crying yourself. “We’ll make new ones, together.” 

She nodded, but she was still very visibly upset. You wiped away some of the tears staining her face, not caring that your hands were now wet. With as much strength as she could, she produced a smile, her own way of telling you she was okay without words. You knew her so well. So well in fact, that you were already anticipating the moment where she would crave your comfort. Ever since being a toddler, you observed when she got sad and cried she often liked to be held after. It wasn’t a problem for you. 

When the moment came only a few short minutes later, you assisted her in climbing into your lap, the girl wrapping herself around you like a koala to bamboo. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her breathing still uneven from the tears. “I love you, mommy.” 

Her apology wouldn’t take back the two months of time that you had missed together, but that was perfectly okay. You believed you could make up for that. All that mattered was that it was all in the past and everyone was forgiven and happy.

You shook your head, securing your arms around her tightly. Having her back in your arms for the first time in months felt surreal. Her head was tucked into your neck, one of your hands lightly resting on the back of it. Your other rubbed over the expanse of her back, like you were checking to see if she was even real. “I love you so much, Beth. You’re my little rockstar.” Your lips pressed to her temple in an affirming kiss, hoping she could feel the love that was currently radiating off of you. There was no better feeling than having your baby back safe and happy in your arms.

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

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[the-broken-truth]

Broken-Style Remix: Platonic Yandere Bruce Wayne + Bat-Family & Dakota (Part 2)

SUBTITLE: FIRST BLOOD MEETS LAST BLOOD

Quick Summary: Dakota - completely unaffected by the revelation of Bruce Wayne being her father - goes to aid her aunt at the family bakery for Berry Rush week. All seems to be going well...until a very familiar face shows up in the customer crowd.

Broken: I had a few people asking for a part two and I was thinking about what words to weave. Now that I have them, let them weave together.

Previous Part: Blood Ties

[Sunday - Blake's Bakery - 8:40 A.M. (20 Minutes before opening)]

"Where do you want me to put this table, Auntie Rani?!" Dakota asked as she carried a large white folding legs table in her hands; it was larger than her but the girl was lifting it like it was nothing! What the hell was Marissa feeding that girl?!

"Over by the window but adjacent to the door, 'Kota!" said a woman bringing out another smaller table and sitting it in the center of her bakery - now, there were more chairs just in case people wanted to seat and enjoy their baked goods.

The woman was Rani Blake - The Younger Sister to Marissa Blake, Aunt to Dakota, and Owner of the Blake Family Bakery, and the two of them were preparing the shop for the most amazing but overbearing week of the year: Berry Rush Week! For 7 days, the Berry Pastries and Drinks were sold at discounts but they were so popular that this week was known as the busiest week of the year and they made the most money because of the traffic.

"Okay, that was the last one." A buff man with rusty red hair placed a box on the counter before wiping the imaginary sweat off this forehead.

"Thanks for getting the shipment off the truck, Uncle Tobias." Dakota said as she slid the last chair under the table in the corner.

Tobias Blake was the eldest of the Blake Siblings followed by his brother Ethan Blake, then his sisters, Rani Blake and Marissa Blake. He was a mountain of a man with his body looking like it was built for war - which might be true considering that he was an Army Veteran. He served 2 Tours and came back with a few scars but he managed to find a woman who loved him with everything she had - scars and all.

"It's alright, Kota." Tobias said as he ruffled Dakota's hair, much to the young girl's embarrassment.

"Uncle, I'm not a baby anymore." Dakota said as she swatted her uncle's massive hand away from her head.

"It doesn't matter if you grow you, you are still our baby niece." Tobias said with a smirk on his face, Rani chuckling too.

"Speaking of babies, did you tell me that your wife is expecting?" Rani asked.

"Oh, yes! Tori told me that she's expecting twins! A Boy and a Girl! I'll have my prince and my princess!" Tobias beamed with a light blush on his face. Dakota opened her mouth to speak again when the sound of a familiar automobile pulled up in front of the store - she looked to the window and frowned as she saw the Wayne Limbo parked outside.

'Is he back again? I told him I don't need a father in my life.' Dakota snarled in her mind, but it soon faded when the driver walked around to open the back door...and a rather small kid walked out.

He looked just like Bruce Wayne but a lot younger - around the same age as Dakota herself but younger. He had the same hairstyle as Bruce and his eyes looked the same but his were emerald green instead of sapphire blue. He wore a black turtleneck with back pants and boots with his hands behind his back before walking over to the door but didn't make a move to open it. The driver opened the door, he came in, and the driver closed it before standing in front of the door to keep others from coming in.

He looked at Dakota's family before his green eyes locked with Dakota's blue eyes and he walked over to her before stopping a few meters away from her before opening his mouth and with the most pompous voice Dakota ever heard before saying...

"Hello, Sister."

Dakota narrowed her eyes.

"Let me guess - Damian Wayne, Son of Bruce Wayne." Dakota said.

"Correct - it's good to see that you are at least aware of your younger brother." Damian said with a smirk on his face.

"Just like I told your father - You aren't my brother, you're just a stranger that I happen to share paternal DNA with." Dakota said, causing Damian to scoff and look at Tobias.

"Who is this?" Damian asked.

"This is my uncle - Tobias Blake; he and my other uncle are like fathers to be and played the paternal role in my life." Dakota explained, making Damian glare into her eyes but she was not afraid by this.

"He and this other 'uncle' are not your fathers - Bruce Wayne is your father and you need to accept that, Sister. Come with me back to Wayne Manor and sit upon the throne that is meant for you." Damian said as he held his hand out.

"No. I want nothing to do with the Wayne Family - just leave me alone." Dakota said. Damian exhaled and placed his hand down before walking over to the owner of the shop and handing his card to her.

"I heard my sister makes delicious muffins - have 12 cases delivered to Wayne Corporation," Damian said. He waited for the order to be paid for and his card returned before he looked at Dakota, "I will be here every day while this event is going on - to remind you who you are and what is destined to be yours. You will come home to us, Dakota Wayne." He started heading to the door.

"My name is Dakota Blake." Dakota said.

"Not for long." Damian left.

Dakota took a sigh of relief before the first real customer entered.

WILD BERRY RUSH WEEK BEGINS!!!

[End]

[lunmelia]

Some more Team Free Will raising Jack

Taking a break from recording all of Dean and Sam’s injuries, time for some more raising Jack headcanons

----

It takes a village to raise a nephil. Cas, Dean, Sam and Mary manage as best they can, but once Ketch hands Gabriel over and they convince a handful of angels to be on their side, it becomes significantly easier. Mostly everyone, even Gabriel, are still pretty clueless though. No one’s ever really attempted to raise a nephil before. Except maybe the Queen of Sheba, but there’s basically no evidence of how she was raised, and the angels don’t know a thing since she was somehow successfully hidden from them. So, really they just gain additional babysitters who can give only theories on how to raise Jack. But nonetheless, the bunker becomes Raising Jack Central, angels popping in and out, some staying permanently, hunters visiting and pitching in, even some demons wanna check out the child of the devil, though they’re promptly told to fuck off.  -- The angels react to Jack in different ways. Some immediately want to kill him, he’s an abomination and that’s just what they do to nephilim. Some approach him cautiously like he’s a ticking time bomb. Some look like they want to vomit at the sight of him. Some look at him with hope, like he’s their new saviour. Some look at him like they’re just confused, trying to figure out how and why he exists. One of the confused angels held Jack, turned him this way and that before they tipped him upside down and gave him a shake. That resulted in an explosion of sound as Jack started crying, and Dean, Cas and Sam jumped in to snatch Jack from the angel. Dean held Jack closely to his chest while giving the angel the stink eye and Cas fussed over the baby.  -- Jack was kept in and around the bunker for the first 7 years of his life, raised by angels and hunters who are human but sometimes don’t act like they are. He was mostly kept in the bunker and the house because it takes a lot to convince a nephil to not use their true voice when they have a tantrum. By the time Jack reaches 8-years-old, he finally understands that if he wants to scream and cry with his true voice, he has to do it in the safety of the bunker.  -- Being raised in a secluded bunker and a house by angels and hunters is just another cause to how weird Jack is. He either blinks too much or not enough, and he sometimes looks at you like he’s inspecting your soul (which he is). And he just sounds. off. Most of the time he sounds american, but no one can pinpoint where in america. He almost sounds like he’s from everywhere in america. But sometimes he sounds like he’s from england. His teachers can’t tell if he’s pretending or if he really does just sound like that. They become even more confused when they meet Dean and Cas, and Sam, and Mary because they can clearly tell where his guardians are from, so why does he always sound so off?? -- Sometimes he calls Dean and Cas dad or father, but actually he just calls them Dean and Cas a lot of the time. He understands that they’re his dads, but no one else ever calls them dad?? Everyone else refers to them as Dean and Cas, those are their names, so he just. calls them by their names. simple as that. On the same note, he actually refers to Mary as ‘mom’ a lot because Dean and Sam, and sometimes even Cas, call her that all the time. It actually took him a longer time to understand that her name wasn’t mom but Mary, than it did to understand that his dads’ names were Dean and Cas.  Other kids ask him why he doesn’t call his dads ‘dad’ and he just shrugs and goes ‘those are their names’.  -- Jack with his insane dad Cas and his equally insane uncle Sam. Jack, as the first nephil who is being actively raised by hunters and angels alike, is a complete mystery. And Cas and Sam love a mystery. They never do anything that will physically or mentally harm Jack, but they do perform tiny little experiments. Dean comes home one day and finds Cas and Sam lying flat on their stomachs on the floor, a two-year-old Jack between them and they’re all staring at a pencil. Dean: ... what are you doing? Sam: trying to see if he’ll move this pencil with his mind Dean: *flashback to that one time he walked in on Cas jumping off a roof to see if Sam could catch him with his telekinetic powers* Dean: oohhhh no. no no no no you don’t! you’re not experimenting on my baby! -- Sam: ... I wonder what would happen if I drank nephil blood? Cas: ... we’ll wait until Jack’s older for that one -- Dean: yeah he hit the ball and it just went... it disappeared into the sky. He broke the bat Sam: you WHAT!? Cas: how far do you think the ball went? Jack: personally I think it went into space Sam, getting up from where he was sitting: we gotta test this right now -- 16-year-old Jack: ... could I escape holy fire? Cas and Sam: *eyes slowly widening* Dean: don’t you dare- Sam: I’ll get the holy oil! Cas: I’ll get the lighter, Jack go stand outside Jack: okay!  -- Did you ever have those friends in primary school who were smaller than you but they were so strong they lifted you up and spun you around? Because I did. Anyways Jack lifts Dean up when he’s like 11 because uncle Sam told him to and Dean just screams.  -- Eileen being able to be around baby Jack when he’s throwing a tantrum because she literally can’t hear him. She holds him and smiles and Jack goes quiet and frowns because even though he’s a baby he knows the difference between a human and an angel, and the humans are always either wincing when he cries or wearing things in their ears, but this human is just holding him and smiling? Huh?? So he just becomes quiet around Eileen because he’s so confused as to why she’s not reacting and he starts to become excited whenever he sees her and she’s definitely his favourite aunt. -- Sam and Eileen’s kids are just as weird as Jack. Maybe a little less so, but look they were also raised around angels and hunters, have an angel as an uncle and a nephil as a cousin. They’re a bit weird.  -- If Sam and Eileen do have multiple kids, Jack definitely holds all of them at once and parades them around like “look! look at my cousins! I have cousins! these are my cousins!!” with a beaming smile. He’s so happy to have cousins because he’s always been the youngest! He’s never been around kids that are younger than him! He’s so curious and when he held his first-born cousin for the first time when he was 5 he just stared in awe because it was the first time he’s seen a baby! Babies are tiny! And their souls are so bright! He couldn’t stop staring and asking questions like “how did they come out?” “what do they do now?” “can they see? they haven’t opened their eyes” “do they know who I am? Do they know who you are? Should I introduce myself!? Have you guys introduced yourselves? What if they don’t know you’re their parents you should probably introduce yourself” 

[louiseleblancdiggory]

I just read the pregnancy rowaelin angst and it made me feel so many things. Would you write a second part, where Aelin actually find out she's pregnant again and is all happy but also scared to tell Rowan? And then the first ultrasound happens? Maybe they already have an adopted child and they are so excited to become a sibling and it's all cute and fluff. ❤️

This is so sweet. Like so fucking sweet it gave me toothache. I threw as much fluff as I possibly could because as I said, pregnancy is something personal to me and I love happy endings. It’s fucking long but I hope you enjoy every single second of it. This is the part one!

Warnings: literally none, it’s just really cute

Safe haven 2

--

Aelin was resting against the hood of her car, arms crossed and eyes scanning the crowd for…

“Mommy!” A little girl screamed from the school’s door. Her inky black hair bounced as she ran to Aelin, her green eyes shining with excitement. “Mommy, here!”

Aelin’s face broke into a wide grin as she jogged in her daughter’s direction and grabbed the little girl in her arms. She immediately peppered her daughter’s face in quick kisses, earning delighted laughs.

“Hello, Aurora. How was your day at school, baby?” Aelin asked, standing up with Aurora in her arms. The girl hugged Aelin’s neck fiercely, resting her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Made any friends?”

Aelin fought a smile when she saw Aurora blushing and smiling sheepishly. “His name is Lachlan, and he’s new to the school. He speaks nice.”

“Oh, he does?”

“Yes. He said is how people speak where he come from. Some kids made fun of it, but I think it was pretty. Just like daddy speaks a little different too.”

Aelin nodded, kissing her daughter’s crown. For all her excitement and free spirit, Aurora was awfully shy around anyone who wasn’t her family or people she knew since her adoption. Her best friend, Aedion and Lys’s daughter, was a year younger so they couldn’t be in the same class. Rowan and Aelin had been hoping for weeks now that Aurora would make at least one friend in school. She was six and smart like her dad, which caused her to feel a little bit different from the other kids.

Aelin couldn’t wait to see the relief on Rowan’s face that their baby had made a friend.

“So now you guys are friends?”

“Yes!” She smiled excitedly and clapped her hands. “He said he’s gonna bring me some candies from his kingdom tomorrow, and I said I would bring a picture of Fleetfoot.”

“That’s so great, baby.” Aelin smiled, putting Aurora in her seat and buckling her up. “We’ll find the most beautiful picture of Fleetfoot to show Lachlan.”

Her daughter squeaked with delight, and Aelin laughed as she opened her window and closed the door. She stood on the side walk once more, looking around again, searching for someone else.

“Mom!” A teenage boy called her.

“Nino!” Aurora shouted from the backseat. “Nino, I made a friend!”

Nino smiled at her voice, his friend group smiling too. They all waved at Aelin as her son jogged in her direction, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. Although Nino was adopted, everyone liked to joke he had gotten Rowan’s genes. His and Aurora’s green eyes were the exact same shade as Rowan’s, and Nino was becoming as tall as his father.

He waved back at his friends and they were shouting their goodbyes as they walked away.

“Bye, aunt Aelin!” Evangeline shouted.

Aelin smiled at her and waved back. Evangeline had been Aedion and Lys’s ward much before Aelin and Rowan had even considered adoption. Eva was much as Lys’s daughter as Nino and Aurora were her kids.

“How was your day in school?” Aelin said, getting in the car as Nino took the passenger seat.

“Fine.” He said, and Aelin only raised a brow at him. He sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. “I bombed math.”

Although she should be pissed, should act like the strict mom and reprimand him from bombing another math test, Aelin had to fight a smile. “Your dad is gonna eat your liver with a spoon if you keep failing math exams.”

“Mommy! That’s disgusting!” Aurora said, and Aelin looked back to see her frowning her whole face with disgust.

Aelin laughed, and so did Nino.

“I know, I know. Evangeline also barely passed, Malik did worse than I. Phedre said she could teach me.”

“Oh, she did?” Aelin was absolutely certain that her son had the biggest crush on one of his best friends, Phedre. Whenever Eva came to their houses with Aedion and Lysandra, she would also tease her cousin endlessly.

“Mom.”

She batted her eyelashes innocently. “Yes, sweetie?”

“Stop that shit.” Aelin also knew she should reprimand him from cursing, but she fully believed that a sixteen year old boy should be allowed to say some curse words here and there. Never in important occasions, but both she and Rowan were fine with it during their daily lives.

Aelin only snorted, and silence fell upon the car.

She quietly looked at her two kids, Aurora playing with a doll she had found and Nino typing something on his phone, and a small smile played on her lips.

When Aelin learned that she would have difficulty getting pregnant three years ago, her world fell. She didn’t want to base her whole life on that fact, but it was like seeing some of her biggest dreams getting crushed right in front of her eyes. Even when Rowan started explaining to her how the adoption process would be, a part of her was still sad by the prospect of not getting pregnant.

It hadn’t taken them too long to go to foster care. Aelin had to admit, she was only half paying attention during the beginning of their visit, her mind still heavy with a sort of mourning. She still remembered the feeling of being completely devastated, and only Rowan’s pine green eyes had taken her out of her stupor.

She stopped mid track when she again saw Rowan’s pine green eyes staring at her, only it wasn’t Rowan because he was walking behind her. Aelin took in the little three year old sitting on the floor, playing with two old dolls.

That moment had been Aelin’s epiphany.

It was like a whole new path had been revealed to her, a striking realization that she might have dreamed of getting pregnant, but that wasn’t all that there was. She could keep trying, but she wouldn’t waste away in grief.

“Who’s she?” Aelin’s voice was low, and the social worker stopped talking to Rowan, both of their heads turning to her. “The little girl with black hair. What’s her name?”

“Who? Aurora?” At that, the girl smiled at Aelin and Rowan, extending one of her dolls.

For the first time in a week, Aelin’s smile was genuine. Her heart was beating so fast, hope blossoming where grief had been. She approached the girl and seated on the floor with her, taking the doll and starting to play. She felt Rowan’s soft gaze on them, and also heard the whispered words with the social worker.

“How old is she?”

“Three.” The woman responded. “Although our highest demand is for babies, Aurora would have a greater chance being adopted if she didn’t have an older brother. Not everyone is willing to take in two kids, much less when one who is so much older.”

“How old is he?” Aelin said, turning to look at the social worker and Rowan standing behind her. Aurora seemed content with playing with Aelin’s doll even though Aelin wasn’t moving it.

“Dominique is thirteen. We all call him Nino because Aurora couldn’t pronounce Nick, only Nino.”

Aelin stared at Rowan, and he stared right back. They had come here to look for babies, that’s for sure. Aelin wanted to be there every step, wanted to see every phase. They didn’t even know what they would do with a teenager. Or with two kids at once. But Aelin’s heart had almost burst out of her chest when she took a look at Aurora, and the thought of just going home and never seeing her again hurt.

“Can we meet the boy?” Rowan asked, not taking his eyes off Aelin.

“Of course, just a second.” The woman wandered off, and Rowan came to sit by Aelin.

Aurora eyed him suspiciously, but relaxed when he gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’m Aelin, this is my husband Rowan.” Aelin gestured between them, her voice soft so she wouldn’t scare the girl.

Aurora smiled at them, and was opening her mouth to say something when her brother entered the room.

If Aurora had been Aelin’s epiphany, Nino had been Rowan’s.

Rowan looked at Aelin and both of them shared a secretive smile.

And that had been that.

Rowan got all the papers to bring the kids to live with them and then the adoption papers. It was strange in the beginning, the new addition to the house, but they soon feel in such natural normalcy that Aelin sometimes wanted to cry when she thought of it.

Nino absolutely loved Aelin, but he adored Rowan. His father was his role model, and Nino did everything to build a relationship with Rowan as fast as possible. They went to hockey and football games together. Rowan always took Nino to practice, and they would always go out just the two of them after to eat something. Aurora was closer to Aelin, but she adored her father just the same and had him wrapped around her little finger.

There was so much love on Rowan’s eyes when he looked at their kids that Aelin’s heart skipped a beat.

She loved her family so much that sometimes she felt she could die from it.

“Mom?” Nino woke her up from her memories. She parked the car in front of Rowan’s clinic, and when Nino started taking off his seatbelt, she put a hand on his wrist. He looked at her puzzled, but didn’t say anything. He rested against the seat again, playing on his phone as Aelin took Aurora out and walked in the clinic.

Rowan was a surgeon, but he sometimes did some clinic consults. On those days, Aelin would bring the kids to spend the day with him. She waved at Fenrys who was talking with a patient, and he waved back and winked at Aurora, making her giggle at her uncle.

“Dada!” Aurora shouted the moment she saw Rowan’s silver head, and his head snapped up with a smile already on his face.

“If it’s not my two favorite girls in the whole world.” He stood, walking to them. Rowan took Aurora out of Aelin’s arms and bent down to give her a kiss. He gave another quick one before standing straight again. He gave a peck on Aurora’s forehead and she laid her face on his shoulder. “Where’s Nino?”

“Sick.” Aelin lied. “I’m taking him home. Nothing serious, just a little headache and nausea.”

Rowan’s brows instantly furrowed, and he looked to the entrance as if he could see his son sitting inside the car. “Want me to check on him?”

Aelin laughed. “He’s not that sick and would hate the fussing. He’ll be better once you go home, but for today is only you and Aurora.”

He nodded, still not fully convinced.

“Actually, Aurora has something to tell you.” Aelin said with a smile. “About her new friend.”

Rowan’s face broke into a curious smile and he looked at his blushing daughter. “Oh?”

“His name is Lachlan and he speaks nice.” She said shyly.

Rowan bit his lip not to laugh, and Aelin did the same. She stepped closer to him, giving him another kiss. “I’ll see you home. Love you.”

“Love you too, Ace.” He called after her as she left, immediately turning to his daughter to hear about her new friend.

The moment Aelin got into the car, Nino looked at her. “So, what are we hiding from dad?”

“Why would you think that?”

“You say you know me because I am your son. Well,” he shrugged. “I know you because you’re my mom.”

She smiled at that, but it slowly fell. “It’s a secret, Nino. And I really need you to keep it.”

He was suddenly serious. “You can tell me whatever, mom.”

She blew a breath. “I’m pregnant.”

He stared at her for a few moments before a smile broke on his face. Nino had known since the beginning how much his mom wanted to get pregnant. It had never made him feel less wanted or loved, and he couldn’t be happier for her right now. “Mom, that’s amazing! Why can’t dad know?”

“What if I lose it again, Nino? I can’t put your dad through it again. I remember the miscarriages from years ago and although he doesn’t think so, I knew the devastation on his eyes. I never held for more than three weeks. I’m so sorry to put this weight on you, sweetheart, but I just couldn’t go to the ultrasound alone.”

“It’s no weight, mom. Of course it isn’t.” He was still smiling at her. “How long?”

“I don’t know. The treatments mess up my periods so I haven’t had one in two months, but that doesn’t mean anything. I started getting morning sickness a few days ago, so maybe a week.” Aelin was tense, her palms clammy as she started driving to the hospital. “I’m so nervous, Nino. It crushed me three years ago, and I haven’t had a pregnancy scare since then.”

“You had three years of treatments, mom. Everything is gonna be alright and Aurora will have a little sibling to pick on.” Despite her tension, Aelin laughed. Nino was always calm, always a steady presence. His reassurance made her calmer, even though she wished she could call Rowan. He was the only one who really knew how to soothe her nerves.

The last few days had been torture. Her hands had been trembling when she bought a pregnancy test. Trembling even more when it came back positive. She wanted to tell Rowan so, so bad. Wanted to have him by her side as she discovered if she would be able to hold it or not, but she couldn’t bring herself to break his heart again. They had been so happy for the past three years with Aurora and Nino that Aelin wouldn’t dare to break his peace.

In the waiting room, Nino talked to his mom about anything to distract her. Aelin forced herself to listen about his classes, about hockey practice, about how Malik, his best friend, had gone to the infirmary after Evangeline accidentally decked him during gym. How he and Phedre had laughed their asses off while watching the scene.

She was smiling softly at her son when the nurse came in, asking her if she was ready. Just like that, all her calm disappeared. Her heart was beating so fast that it was all she could hear as she walked entered the room.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Whitethorn. How are we doing today?” The doctor asked as Aelin laid down. He rode her shirt up to expose her belly, applying the cold lubricating jelly onto her skin. “Your son?”

“My oldest, yes.” Aelin answered automatically. She was too nervous to elaborate further. Nino was sitting on a chair by the bed, elbows on his knees while he stared at the black monitor.

“So let’s get over with it, shall we?” He said with a smile, asking her a few questions before putting the transducer against her skin. Immediately the black screen lit up, and the doctor stared at it, moving the thing across her belly.

Aelin couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screen, trying to understand what was going on. Her heartbeat was steady but so strong that she could feel her whole body shaking with it. “So?” She asked after a few moments.

The doctor was silent, still analyzing what was on the screen. When he turned to her, he gave her a smile. “Everything seems fine, Mrs. Whitethorn. Because of your treatments your period was irregular, and that was most likely what stopped you from noticing the pregnancy earlier. Judging by the size, you have two healthy and strong babies inside of you for two months now. I would still recommend biweekly visits just to make sure nothing changes but... The pregnancy seems fine, nothing apparent to worry about. Congratulations.”

Aelin’s whole world stopped at that moment. She could feel her cheeks dampening, her mouth letting out a small sob but she wasn’t really there. Her mind was spinning and she had never known this feeling. She wanted to put her hand on her stomach, above the two little things she could not even feel but knew that were there.

“Would you like to hear it?”

She nodded, her eyes glued to the monitor. When Aelin first heard the two soft heartbeats twining together, she was fully crying. It was like hearing the response to so many questions she didn’t even know she wanted the answers. It cracked a damn inside of her, and she closed her eyes, basking on the sound of her babies’ heartbeats.

She turned to Nino and he was smiling at her. “Damn, now I have to share my heritage with two more people?”

Aelin laughed out loud, the sound merry to her ears. “Can I record it? To show my husband?”

“Of course, and if you want a picture we can provide that.”

Aelin nodded eagerly, and held onto the recording and the pictures all the way home. When they arrived, Rowan’s car was already parked in the garage.

“Where were the two of you?” Rowan asked the moment Nino and Aelin stepped inside. “And I thought you were sick.”

Nino smiled at his father, speaking to him as he went up the stairs, his voice gloating. “I knew first.”

Rowan’s face was a mask of confusion as he watched his son disappear. He turned back to Aelin, sitting on their couch. “Knew what first?”

Unable to help herself, tears started falling from her eyes and she went to him. He immediately grabbed her in his arms, holding her on his lap. Even not knowing what was going on, Rowan whispered soothing words to her and rubbed her back.

He gave her a strong kiss to the forehead. “Fireheart, what happened?”

She wordlessly took out her phone, looking for the recording. He watched her intently, worry showing on his face.

Rowan was a doctor, he would understand what that was without her explaining, she she silently played it. It took him a moment of listening to the recording to understand what it was, for the expression on his face to go from worry to absolute exhilaration.

He put a hand on her stomach, the other one going to the back of her neck to hold Aelin in place when he kissed her. His lips were warm and soft against hers, and Aelin sighed in complete happiness as she hugged his neck. She could feel the smile on his lips, all the love and happiness he was feeling in that kiss.

“You’re pregnant?”

She nodded cheerly, her eyes watering again. Her tears started falling the same moment a single one fell from Rowan’s eye. “Two months, Ro. And they’re fine, healthy and big and strong.” She laughed, kissing him again. “We’re going to have two more kids, Ro.” She showed him the picture of the ultrasound, the two little things laying next to each other.

He grabbed the picture with one had, staring at it in awe. When his eyes fell upon Aelin’s face, the expression changed to so much love and adoration it knocked the air out of her lungs.

He boomed a loud and happy laugh, standing up with her in his arms and sweeping around. Aelin was laughing, her arms tight around his neck. “I love you. I love you so much, fireheart. I love you so fucking much sometimes I think I’ll combust from it.”

She was crying again, holding onto Rowan as if he was her life line. “I love you too, Ro. I love you so much that just looking at your face makes me loose my breath. I love you so much that I think it’s impossible to love you more, but it happens every day.” Aelin kissed him, euphorically and sloppy.

“The two of you are disgusting. Find a room, for fuck’s sake.” Nino said from where he was standing at the stairs, Aurora in his arms. She was beaming at her parents, and Rowan held Aelin with one arm as he extended the other one to their kids.

Nino smiled and went up to his father, hugging his side as Aurora threw herself at him. She was blabbering about the babies, about being an older sister and Rowan, Aelin and Nino were quietly laughing at her. Aelin, still holding one of Rowan’s hand, pulled Nino into a hug. “Thank you for going with me, Nino. You’re the best son I could ever dream of.”

His cheeks turned a shade of pink but he hugged his mom back, looking at his father. “I knew first.”

Rowan faked impatience, narrowing his eyes. The intimidating effect was completely ruined by Aurora in a pink tutu in his arms, pulling his hair in all directions. “You’ve gloated already, boyo.”

“I’ll never let you forget.” Nino was grinning, his arm around Aelin’s shoulder. She bit her lip to hold her laughter.

“Gods help me.” Rowan muttered.

“You could even say I am mom’s favorite man in the house.”

“You’re asking to get grounded.”

“Lost your position, old man.”

Rowan rolled his eyes. “How was your math test?”

“Actually,” Nino said, taking his arm off his mom’s shoulder and backing up a step. “You can have the favorite man position.”

“Nino Galathynius Whitethorn.”

“It’s all yours!” Nino shouted to his dad as he ran up the stairs.

Rowan looked exasperatedly at Aelin, and even with all her efforts she couldn’t keep her joyous laugh from escaping her lips.

“He gets being shit at math from his mother.” Aelin shrugged.

Rowan huffed a laugh. “The bunch of you will give me silver hair.”

“Dad!” Aurora shouted from his arms. “You already have silver hair, duh!”

This time, when Aelin’s laugh rang out, Rowan’s did too.

Tags:

@abookishfreak @faerie-queen-fireheart @in-love-with-caramel-macchiato @jlinez @courtofjurdan @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @ladywitchling @maastrash @morganofthewildfire @queen-of-glass @bilkul-sharam-nahi-aati

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 5

Here is the long awaited Chapter 5. Also, due to my own desire, all of the temporary heroes will have suits fashioned after outfits from “Avatar: the Last Airbender”.

Con trai means “son” while Con gài means “daughter”, or at least that’s what the website I found them on says. (the website is www.vietnamesepod101.com if you’re wondering)

Also, I made a typo in chapter 2/3 with Marc’s pronouns but since then, I’ve changed it. I hope you all will continue to receive this fic with the same enthusiasm you have thus far.

Jason danced around his kitchen with Damian on his hip, his sisters sitting on some of the kitchen counters. Bobby Day’s “Rockin’ Robin” poured into the kitchen from his bluetooth speaker.

Tim wandered into the kitchen, one hand rubbing at his eye and the other on the wall, and ran into Steph’s legs. “‘ephanie?”

“Hey Tim.” Steph gently pushed Tim in the direction of the fridge and laughed as she watched him stumble to the fridge.

Jason ruffled Tim’s hair as he walked passed and smiled. “Good morning Timbers.”

“Good morning Uncle Tim.” Damian murmured from where his head was resting against his dad’s shoulder.

“Wha-?” Tim turned to look at the pair. “When did-?”

“Just went through yesterday.” Jason smiled. “Don’t worry too much.”

Tim nodded and got his glass of water before returning to the girls and settling between them. “Have you told Dick yet?”

Jason shook his head and opened the oven door to peek at the muffins he was baking. “No. But he, Wally and the kids are supposed to come over for lunch today.”

---

Jason carefully pried the sleeping form of his son off of his hip and passed him to Roy with a smile before looking at his brother. “So, Dickiebird, how are you holding up?”

Dick shrugged, playing with Mar’i’s hair to distract himself, before smiling. “I’m fine.” He glanced over at Wally for a moment. “Wally and I have been helping each other with this single parent thing.”

Wally smiled before turning to watch Jai and Iris chase each other around the dining room table. “Dick’s a great help with those two, they always have so much energy.”

Jason chuckled and shook his head. “Of course they have so much energy, look at who their father is.” Jason was about to say something when someone knocked on the door. “Give me just a moment.”

Wally and Dick sent him a pair of thumbs up as he stood up and walked towards the door.

Jason opened the door and simply raised an eyebrow. “What can I help you with Mr. Wayne?”

“There’s a French class coming to Gotham. They’re staying in one of the company hotels in the heart of the city. You and your brothers had best be on your best behaviour since Dick is the tour guide for their tours through the company buildings and you’re the acting bodyguard for their tours around the city.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Hey Dickiebird! I didn’t know you signed up to give some tours to some hoity toity French kids.”

“I didn’t know I signed up to give some tours either.” Dick leaned on the wall next to the door. “When did either of us sign up to help you?”

Bruce sighed and looked at his two oldest sons. “Don’t do it for me. Do it for Alfred, he would like it if any of you came around.”

“Mmm, no can do B. My son is the child of a rogue and the grandchild of a rogue, my sister is the child of a rogue, my sisters are children of rogues, my brothers and I associate with rogues. Alfred is more than welcome to come around. You can give him my address and then forget it.”

Dick nodded and slung an arm around Jason’s shoulders. “When is the French class supposed to be here?”

“They’re flying in on Saturday but don’t start their tours until the following Monday to allow for them to get used to the time change.

---

Jason nervously tapped his foot on the floor, hoping and praying to whatever deity came to mind first a certain god of destruction that everything would turn out alright. He took a deep breath, shook out his hands and knocked on the door to the apartment.

The door opened and Selina appeared, dishevelled hair and shirt falling down her arm. Selina was sleepily rubbing at her eye with the other hand still held the door, just open enough she could see whomever was at her door but not open enough that anyone could see into her apartment.

“Aunt Selina?” Jason whispered while praying again to the deity. “Do you remember me? I’m-”

Selina let go of the door to wrap her arms around Jason, pulling the much taller boy against her chest. “Oh Jason. Why didn’t you come to me immediately after you breached city limits?” She pulled back just enough to hesitantly trace her fingers over the scars that marred his otherwise conventionally handsome face. “My poor bird. My poor, poor, little bird.”

“Aunt Selina. I’m fine now. Dick and Tim have sided with me against Bruce. I know how much you care for him and I understand if you’re taking his side, I just, I needed to see my Aunt Selina one last time.”

“Jason Peter Todd. I’m not the Joker. My one goal in life isn’t to be the Bat’s one and only. The day he brought Dick on the scene I decided then and there that you all weren’t his birds. You were mine. And cats are just as likely to attack bats as they are birds.” Selina’s fingers paused on top of a set of three very faint white-silver scars just under his jawline. “I am sorry that I ever caused you pain my little bird.”

---

Jason nervously straightened things around his apartment, Damian, Roy and Lian sat on the couch watching his mad dash around the apartment while Stephanie and Cass sat on a pair of counters with Tim standing between them. Dick, Wally, Mar’i, Jay and Iris were nervously looking out the window as Jason continued to clean.

Dick, Wally, Mar’i, Jay and Iris suddenly scrambled away from the window to sit down around Damian, Roy and Lian.

A few minutes after they sat down, a firm knock came at the door. Jason brushed the dust off of his shirt and approached the door. Jason opened the door and smiled. “Hi Aunt Selina. Hi Grandpa Alfred.”

Alfred smiled at Jason and glanced down at the covered dish in his hands. “I made my key lime pie.”

Selina simply chuckled. “Little bird. At this point, I’m your mom. Just call me Mom.”

-*-*-*

Thana looked at her friends, Chloé steadfast in her loyalty, Nino firm in his friendship, and Kim unshakable in his protection, and smiled. “I love you guys so much. You are my family.”

Chloé smiled and wrapped her arms around Thana. “We love you too.”

Nino and Kim joined their hug, the four friends uniting in their found family and solidifying their bonds. “You’re our family too Thana.”

---

Desgracia watched as Marc took a deep breath before looking at Kaalki. “Kaalki, full gallop.”

Marc was encased in a pale brown light. When the light disappeared, they stood in a loose-fitting gray bodysuit with brown knee-high boots with dark orange-red bands around the top of the boots and around the ankles, dark red wrist gauntlets covered in orange horseshoes with dark golden yellow bands around the top and bottom of the gauntlets. Over the gray bodysuit, they had a dark red tunic which crossed over their chest which was hemmed in a red-orange. The bottom half of their face was obscured by the turtleneck of their gray bodysuit while they had a dark orange-red domino mask with light gray eye lenses. The domino mask had a thin golden yellow outline, akin to glasses, while their hair had reddened. While their hair had previously been pitch black, it was now a dark chestnut that had lengthened to resemble Sesshomaru’s.

“What’s your name?” Desgracia’s eye lenses were blue-green and flicked over his suit in vague interest.

“Ma-”

Desgracia’s eye lenses darkened to green and hissed. “Hero name. We don’t use names in the field.” A gruff voice repeating the same words to a much younger version of her older brother sounded in her head.

“Oh, uh, um.” Marc frowned and tapped their chin in thought.

“Well, you’re using the Horse Miraculous so it should be something horse related. Poulain, because you’re new at this so you’re like a foal.”

“Poulain rouge.” Marc smiled and shook out their shoulders. “Poulain rouge because my hair is more red now.”

“Welcome to the team Poulain rouge.” Desgracia smiled and leaned over to ruffle their hair.

“Thanks.”

---

Thana sat under the stairs which lead to the second floor of the school, sketching an outfit for a client when another person tripped over her legs. She glanced up to see it was Marc before looking back down at her sketch.

“Sorry. I didn’t-” Marc started before Thana cut them off.

“Would you wear this?” Thana pushed her sketchbook towards them and tapped her fingers on her leg.

Marc looked over the sketch and nodded. “Yeah. Looks good. Who’s it for?”

“A client. Hey, you’re good at writing, right?” Thana looked at them and seemed to be imploring them to answer.

“Yeah?”

“Could you look over my website and figure out what’s wrong with it?” Thana smiled. “You can come over to Chlo’s to look over it. Well, Chlo’s or Kim’s.”

Marc nodded. “Sure.”

---

Thana and Marc followed after Kim as he walked into his home.

“Mẹ! Mèo con and our friend came over, I hope that’s okay.” Kim called as they entered the house. Kim and Thana toed off their shoes on instinct while Marc just copied their movements.

“Con trai. Con gài.” Kim’s Mẹ wrapped the two up in a hug before pressing kisses to their foreheads. “Ni hao. I’m Kim’s mom, and Marinette,” Kim’s Mẹ noticed how she flinched at the use of the name and corrected herself, “Thana has practically become my daughter.”

“My name is Marc Anciel.” Marc shook Kim’s Mẹ’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am.”

“None of that ma’am stuff. Just call me Mẹ, those two do.” Kim’s Mẹ was, arguably, a very attractive woman. She had short black hair and warm caramel brown eyes and she was just a few centimeters shorter than Kim. “Come on in.”

The three teens smiled at the woman before they went back to Kim’s room. Thana pulled up her website and moved out of the desk chair to allow Marc to look it over.

Marc looked over the website while Kim and Thana did their homework. “Are you sure you want the whole webpage to be gunmetal gray? You could mix it up with the background being light purple so the gray stands out.”

Thana nodded and let out a quiet “huh”. “Hey Marc? Do you care if I hug you?”

Marc’s eyes widened and they smiled shyly. “Sure.”

Thana wrapped her arms around Marc. “Thank you so much.”

---

Desgracia looked over the field, making sure each of her teammates weren’t being overwhelmed with this Akuma’s minions, when she saw the Akuma gunning for Poulain rouge.

Desgracia lept from the rooftop, landing on her toes in front of Poulain rouge and glared at the Akuma. She twirled her baton in her hand, keeping it low enough to not hit Poulain, before she looked back over her shoulder at Poulain. “Go get Monsieur Punaise. Tell him to hurry.”

Poulain nodded, turned around and ran to get their fearless leader who had one fear and it was Desgracia.

By the time Poulain returned with Monsieur Punaise, the Akuma was barely holding on. Monsieur Punaise called for his Lucky Charm, a plane ticket (specifically one for the flight they were taking soon), before deakumatizing the Akuma and throwing the Lucky Charm in the air with a call of “Miraculous Monsieur Punaise”.

Desgracia wrapped an arm around Poulain’s waist before jumping away, leaving her more even tempered teammates to assist the Akuma victim.

Desgracia landed on a rooftop and put Poulain down on the rooftop. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. He didn’t get close enough to take a swipe at me.” Poulain rouge chuckled and shook their head. “Don’t worry about me. Are you okay?”

“Poulain. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. All damage dealt in the battle was rendered useless and disappeared when Monsieur Punaise cast his final charm.” Desgracia cupped Poulain’s face in her hands. “You have to be on guard at all times in battle. I won’t always be here. You need to trust your teammates to protect you in battle.”

Trâu landed on the rooftop and chuckled. “Desi, you can’t just kidnap our Foal.”

Desgracia turned her green eyes on him, however after assessing him as no threat her eye lenses turned back into their normal blue. “Trâu. I didn’t kidnap them. I just needed to ensure that they were fine.”

Taglist

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @lilkymilky @susiej1118 @thatonecroc

[oversimplify-it]

Tagged by @whyhellosims! Thank you so much!! 🥰 ❤️

Rules:

1. Pick a sim of your choice 2. Tell us about them 3. Tag someone else (if you want to!)

I cut out a few questions, like the ones that I didn’t have a well thought out answer to or that would be too spoilery for 2.B.A Grandmaster, but naturally I picked Augusta!! Below the cut, because it’s a little long!

Name: Augusta Lucille When is your sim’s birthday? I made Augusta in-game on February 24th - but I haven’t officially decided if that’s her in-universe birthday or not! Martial Status: Never married! Does your sim have any nicknames? Brook’s nickname for her is Gus (she wouldn’t protest to other people calling her that though), Gusto is a nickname given to her by her cousin, Xavier calls her “Pup” sometimes (baby bats are called pups)!

Do they have a job? Nope 😭 Where does your sim live? Forgotten Hollow presently! Before that, Glimmerbrook for a time, Britechester while she was attending University, and Brindleton Bay when she was growing up! Who does your sim live with? She lives alone at the moment! What environment did your sims grow up in? She grew up with somewhat stern parents, but given that she was the youngest of her siblings, she was a little bit spoiled. I don’t want to go into too much detail, as I would like to go more in-depth in my story in the future, but she had a mostly good and happy upbringing. 😊 What is your sim’s favorite food/drink? Plasma - naturally! Augusta doesn’t eat much else, though she hasn’t completely lost her taste for other foods. If they have one, what is your sim’s favorite color? Black! Is your sim introverted or extroverted? Definitely introverted, though she attempts to come across as extroverted. Is your sim a pet person? Not really - but I do think she would enjoy having a cat around! Does your sim have a best friend? Her best friend is Brook! They’ve known each other for years. Are they planning to go or have they already been to college? She graduated from Britechester University some time ago! Does your sim have a favorite TV show? She doesn’t own a TV at the moment, so I’m gonna say no 😂 Does your sim like books? Yes! What is your sim’s personal style? Sort of a blend of old-fashioned, preppy, and gothic? Skirts, button-up shirts, sweaters, dark makeup, things like that. T-the kids are calling that Dark Academia right ...? 🥴 What kind of music does your sim listen to? Classical and orchestral types of music, as well as some soft, lamenting indie music probably! What is your sim’s favorite type of weather? Light rain, overcast skies, and mild temperatures! Does your sim have any siblings? Yes, more than one, but we’ll learn more about that later I think. Does your sim get along with their family? Some members of her family, yes, others, not so much. As we’ve already seen she doesn’t think incredibly highly of her Aunt Myrtle and Uncle Howard, and she was teased by a few family members when she was younger. 😭 What does your sim look for in a romantic partner? She probably hasn’t thought about this much, but I think she would be drawn to people who she can be lowkey with, and someone she doesn’t feel the need to bend over backwards to impress all the time. Don’t get me wrong, she would bend over backwards to impress them, certainly, but not needing to would be good.  😂 What is a flaw your sim has? You know, I rewrote my answer to this question like 6 times? Then I walked away for three hours ... - Augusta gets tunnel vision. She has big ambitions in life, and she guns for them, but sometimes she neglects things in the short term. More so to her own detriment than to others, but it’s a flaw nonetheless, even if she’s usually the one suffering for it.

Honestly I took out so many questions so I don’t think I should tag anyone and spread my gutted version of this tag 😭 but thank you for reading this far, if you did!!

[mysterycheerio]

Lights Up, on Washington Heights up in the break of day…

Peter closed his door, keys rattling in his hand. Across the street sat his little corner shop - the coffee shop he had worked in since he was small, and in front of it, the gang of graffiti artists painting the roller door in front of it.

The customers were gathered around, watching the artist, mumbling to themselves in disagreement for the pseudo Banksy.

Frustration filled him, and he ran towards them, shouting, "Hey, HEY!"

They ran off.

I wake up and I got this little punk I gotta chase away,

He entered the shop, asking the polite customers to bear with him a moment while he got everything ready, humming to himself as he did his chores.

Pop the grate at the crack of dawn, sing while I wipe down the awning-

He stepped outside, flipping the sign to 'open', and said in a good-natured tone, "Hey, y'all, good morning."

Piragüero, the man selling a sweet, shaved ice type dessert, called a 'piragua', rounded the corner, like he did every day, "Ice cold piragua! Parcha, China, Cherry, Strawberry, and just for today, I got mamey!"

"Yo, Piragüero! ¿Como estas?"

"¡Como siempre, Señor Parker!"

He smiled as the old ladies brought in their grandchildren, pulling them up to the desk. He greeted them the way he knew the ladies wanted.

"They call me Peter, and you prob'ly never heard my name - reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated," he said in a sing-song voice. The guardians began to shop, leaving the children at the front of the store listening to his story - how he's a first generation immigrant, who now sells coffee in his little corner shop.

He went into the back for the second, talking loud enough so that the kids could hear him. He opened the fridge and sniffed the milk, checking to see if it was still fresh, but all that met his nose was the scent of putrid dairy.

The door opened, and in stood Maria Carbonell, known to the community as Abuela Maria.

"Abuela, my fridge broke," he said, voice hinting at desperation as he tried to speak quietly so the kids wouldn't hear him, "I have café but no con leche!"

She smiled, "Try my mothers old recipe: one can of condensed milk."

They walked back out, winking at the kids, "Nice!"

"Ay, Paciencia Y Fe!"

He turned his attention to the kids, "That was Abuela, she's not really my Abuela but she practically raised me, this corner is her esquela," he said, the kids laughing as he turned on the spot.

"Excuse me," a middle aged man said politely, "Can you tell me how to get here?" He pointed at a picture of downtown.

"Ah, you're probably thinking, 'I'm up shits creek'. Have you ever been North of 96th Street?" He shook his head. Peter figured as much, "Well, you must take the A train, go even farther than Harlem, to Northern Manhattan. Get off at 181st and take the escalator. And you're there!" 

"Thank you so much," he said, grateful, before holding his hand out to one of the kids and pulling him out of the shop, "Come on Michael."

"But dad, I want to listen to the man's stories!"

He smiled.

Soon the kids had to depart with their guardians, and he gave a friendly wave at their departure.

I'm getting tested, times are tough on this bodega, two months ago somebody bought Ortega's. Our neighbours started packing up, and picking up, and ever since the rent's went up-

"It's gotten mad expensive," a kid said, making small talk as Peter handed him his coffee.

"But we live with just enough," he said, smiling.

"Amen, brother."

Next up to bat, the Starks! They run the cab company, and struggle in the barrio, see - their son Harley is off at college, tuition is mad steep, so they can't sleep, everything they get is mad cheap.

"Good morning, Kid," Tony said, hand in hand with his wife, Pepper.

"Pan caliente café con leche!" 

Tony nodded, "Put 20 dollars on today's lottery-"

"One ticket, that's it!"

"Hey, a man's got a dream."

Peter laughed at the couples banter, when Pepper addressed him, "Don't mind him, he's all excited cause Harley flew in at 3 am last night-"

Peter set down the drinks, "Don't look at me."

They took their drinks, and as a parting message, Tony said, "Underoos, come over for dinner, there's plenty to eat!"

Peter barely got five seconds before he heard the sound of distinct chatter, "So, then Yesenia walks in the room-"

"-Uh huh."

"She smells sex and cheap perfume, it smells like one of those trees that you hang from the rear-view!"

"No!"

"It's true! She screams 'who's in there with you, Julio!' Grabs a bat and kicks in the door, and she's in bed with Josè from the liquor store."

"No me diga," the younger of the two said.

"Wanda and Nat, going to the salon?"

Nat nodded, and the two chorused, "Thanks Pete!"

Monday is a busy day for him, to say the least. 

The bell on the door dings for the umpteenth time that morning, but instead of a customer, it's a small, black boy, fourteen, who's rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Miles, you're late," he says, his tone annoyed, but Miles knows there isn't any real bite behind it.

"Chillax," he says, making his way to the back of the store, "You know you love me."

He rolls his eyes.

Me and my cousin running just another dime-a-dozen, Mom-and-Pop, stop-and-shop and oh my god, it's gotten two darn hot-

He turned on the AC. The weather man said this summer will be one of the hottest in history.

People come through for a few cold waters and a lottery ticket, just a part of the routine, everybodies got a job, everybodies got a dream. They gossip as I sip my coffee and smirk, the first stop as people hop to work.

That's his day really. An endless blur of one dollar, two dollars, one fifty, one sixty-nine, I got it, you want a box of condoms what kind?, that's two quarters, the New York Times, you need a bag for that? The tax is added.

Like he was saying to Miles when he first came into his life, "Once you get some practice at it, you do rapid mathematics automatically."

Miles then comes out of the back, preparing himself to work the counter so Peter could do the coffee's - Peter was the only one who knew the secret recipes that kept the customers coming- successfully snapping him out of his thoughts.

"How are they today?"

"Practically everybody's stressed, but they press through the mess."

Miles nodded.

"You ain't got no skills," a voice said, as they walked into the store.

"Ned!"

Ned smiled, leaning against the counter. Peter and him were best friends growing up, so naturally, Ned was a regular in the shop, despite working long hours for a boss that didn't respect him.

"Yo, let me get a-"

"Milky way?" Peter guessed.

"...Yeah. Let me also get a-"

"Daily news."

"And a-"

"Post."

"And a most importantly, my-"

"Boss' second coffee, one cream, five sugars."

Miles wrinkled his nose at Ned's boss's absurd amount of sugar, and Ned began to talk to Peter about his job while he waited.

"I don't get it! I'm the number one earner! He can't keep me on the damn back burner-"

"Yes he can."

"I'm making moves, and I'm making deals, but guess what?"

"What?"

"Ya still ain't got no skills!"

"Hardee-Har," he said, sarcastically, pouring the creamer in.

"Has Michelle shown up yet?" Ned asked Miles, who was smiling.

"Shut up!" Peter said hastily.

"Hey, dude, don't be upset. You should tell her how you feel. Buy the girl a meal,on the real, or you ain't got no skills."

The doorbell dinged. This is why Peter was so anxious to be talking about Michelle. She normally came in around this time. Right now, she was looking at the ground, phone to her ear.

"Mr. Johnson, I have that security deposit. I've been saving to make a down-payment, and pay rent… no, no, I won't let you down-".

Ned whispered to him, "Here's your chance, ask her out."

"-I'll see you later, we can look at that lease," she said, before hanging up.

"Do something, make your move, don't freeze!"

"Hey," he said, buzzing with nerves.

"You owe me a bottle of cold champagne," she said, her voice soft and soothing. Despite this, her words made a heavy feeling form in his gut. It was something they'd thought about years ago, but only if-

"Are you moving?"

She shrugged, "Just a little credit check and I'm on that downtown train."

He tried to shake off the sad feeling, "Well, your coffee's on the house."

"Okay," she said with a smile, before turning to leave.

"Peter, ask her out."

"No way," Miles said.

But Michelle turned around, "I'll see you later… so…"

And with that, she left.

"Oh, smooth operator, oh damn, there she goes," Ned teased, before taking a look at Peter’s still kinda sad face, "Hey, dude. Take five, get some fresh air, a walk outside. You look exhausted, lost…"

"I kinda feel that way," he joked, but was it a joke?

Ned looked at him with sympathy, "Hey, the whole neighbourhood is struggling, and times are tight, and you're stuck to this corner like a streetlight…"

Ned looked at his watch, and rushed out of the shop, saying he was gonna be late and bidding adieu to the two guys, but Peter could say it back, his friends words bouncing around in his head.

Yeah, I'm a streetlight, choking on the heat. The world spins around while I'm frozen to my seat. The people that I know all keep on rolling down the street, and everyday is different so I'm switching up the beat.

Cause my parents came with nothing, they got a little more, and sure, we're poor, but yo, at least we got the store. It's all about the legacy they left with me, it's destiny, and-

One day, I'll be on the beach with Miles writing checks to me.

That's what he wants to do. His parents died, along with his aunt and uncle, leaving him in the care of Abuela. He longs to go to a beach, and reconnect with his roots. A better life, one where he isn't stuck serving coffee's.

It gets more expensive every day, in their little corner of the world. 

Turn up the stage lights, we're taking a flight to a couple of days of what it's like-

In Washington Heights.

[vln-vibes]

Watchtower Woes

Week 1 Day 4 of Maribat March

Special thanks to @little-kitty-kanny , @ethelphantom and @the-navistar-carol  for beta-ing for me

It was a normal day at the Watchtower, well as normal as a space station for superheroes could be. The Watchtower looked down upon their home planet, making it seem so big yet so small amongst the sea of stars surrounding them. Today it was just Wonder Woman, Black Bat and Ladybug on monitor duty.

“Sister.” 

Ladybug, otherwise known as Marinette Drake nee Dupain-Cheng (the 23-year old designer behind the Lady Luck designs by MDC company), turned to see Wonder Woman looking at her with concern. She and Diana were rather close as the Amazonian princess had practically taken her as blood sisters when she learned of a new Ladybug; seeing as her mother had once worn the mantle as well.  Diana had also been her business partner when her company first began to take off.

“Are you feeling alright? You seem to be under the weather”

“She’s right,” Cassandra Cain-Wayne added in “Your center is off, you seem uncomfortable.”

“I’m fine. It's been a little stressful with the upcoming line with Wayne Enterprises,” Ladybug sighed, finding herself massaging her temple, feeling a headache already developing. “That and the team has been acting strange lately, I’ve been trying to investigate the cause, but the Miracle Book isn’t saying much, and I can’t exactly ask Master Fu anymore”

“How so, Ladybug?” Diana asked, taking a seat next to her while Cass took charge of looking through the security footage for them, still focused on the conversation.

“Well, most of them have gotten dangerously overprotective of me. Just yesterday Roi Singe took a hit for me against Hawkmoth 2.0’s latest creation. I asked him about it afterwards, and he just said that nothing could harm me? It was rather strange, especially seeing as Ryuuko and Abeille got more ruthless afterward. Chat was also hissing at people who approached me,” she explained with a troubled look.

“Even as civilians, Viperion, Monarch, and Paon were coddling me: Mari are you warm enough? Have you eaten today? No, Mari, let me get you a natural juice instead of coffee. It’s been so frustrating having to deal with their constant  babying.”

“It’s honorable for your team to care for your well being” Diana commented, heavens knew  how the JL got  whenever one of their members was  ill or was unable to perform their duties. Ladybug’s eyes just seemed to water at the implication, wiping the tears before they even fell.

“B-But that could just mean they don’t trust my abilities… what if they think I’m not worthy of being leader or even worse… of being Ladybug?” 

Diana did her best to console the younger woman while Cass looked at her skeptically.

She had seen the sudden change in emotion Ladybug had gone through like whiplash, from tired to content to worried to saddened. As Diana combed through Marinette’s pixie cut, Cass continued to think of the things happening these past few weeks.

Tim had once asked Barbara if there was anything that could help with back pains, stating that Marinette had been experiencing some rather hard period symptoms.

She recalled Adrien purring along with Alfred the Cat when they had gone to Wayne Manor last week along with Tim and Conner. Even Ace and Titus were acting like her personal bodyguards, not too different from normal, though Damian admitted that it was a bit more overkill.

Just last month for the Wayne Charity Gala, during the ladies’ final fitting, she had complained to Steph that her own dress felt a little tighter than she expected... though not unbearably so, so she had just decided to leave her own dress as is.

Had it really been so obvious?

She needed to recheck whether Tim deserved the title of Detective after this. Cass stepped out of the room momentarily to make what was potentially a life changing call.

“Robin and Superboy, do you read?” she knew her baby brother, almost eighteen years old, would be hanging out at the Titans Tower in the east coast with Superboy, now sixteen, but seeing as it was a quiet day and the other Titans: Green Lantern (Milagro Reyes), Nightstar (Mar’i Grayson), Scarlet Flash and Kid Speed (Dawn and Don Allen), and Speedy(Lian Harper) would be on standby.

“Is something the matter Black Bat?” Damian responded almost immediately.

All Bats were rather keen on making sure their comms were on in case of emergencies, even when silenced, they’d have the notifications on to see who was trying to contact them.

“Do you mind coming to the Watchtower with Superboy, there’s something concerning Ladybug𑁋”

“Is she alright?” she almost giggled at how concerned her brother was before keeping her cool and responding.

“I believe she’s alright but perhaps not aware of her condition”

“We’ll be there in a minute”

Not even a full minute after stepping back in with a much calmer Ladybug, did she hear the announcement of Robin and Superboy’s arrival before the two skid into the communications room with the three heroines.

“Robin and Superboy? I wasn’t aware you boys would be passing by today,” Diana asked curiously as Damian just puffed up.

“Black Bat called about checking Ladybug’s condition” he said eyeing the scarlet hero to see if anything was amiss; other than her red rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks he found nothing unusual.

“My condition? Cass what are you talking about?” Ladybug asked confused and a bit protective.

“Superboy,” Jon perked at his name before turning to Cass “Can you hear the heartbeats in this room?”

“Uh sure…” to say he was confused was an understatement. He was rather familiar with their heartbeats, having known them for years at this point. He could hear Diana and Damian’s rather war drum like beat, Cass’ steady and rhythmic beats, Marinette’s calm and slightly faster than usual heart and then there was𑁋

Wait, what?

“That’s weird” he whispered to himself before focusing again. Sure enough it was still there a soft echoe of duhn-duhn… duhn-dun as the fifth heartbeat. But he had never heard it before… and it was coming from…

Oh duh!

“Holy schmoly! Congrats Ladybug.” He flew up to her and gave her a huge hug, conscious of his strength now more than ever. Ladybug seemed confused while Cass smiled at her.

“You’re expecting!”

Suddenly everything made more sense, Marinette thought in that moment of realization, as she felt Diana give her her own congratulations along with Damian, who wished to both brag and inform the rest of the family.

This was really happening.

“Can— can we see Doctor Mid-Nite or Doctor Thompkins, please?” she heard herself whisper. The group looked at each other, Diana contacting the Watchtower’s doctor while Damian called for Tim and the rest of the Bat Family to come as soon as they could; was that overkill? Perhaps, but no one that was even associated with the Bats could be anything less than dramatic. Jon was the one who called Conner who called Adrien to go meet them at the Watchtower as well.

Half an hour passed and Ladybug found herself lying on one of the Med Bay beds with Doctor Thompkins, the woman having to be pulled until they mentioned Marinette requesting her assistance, making the last few configurations to the ultrasound machine.

“Are you ready, dear?” the kind doctor asked.

 Ladybug lifted her uniform, which she learned she could do at that moment, nearly squirming at the cold gel spreading at her softening abdomen.

“As ready as I’ll ever be” she laughed nervously before taking a deep breath. She couldn’t help but close her eyes, unsure if she wanted it to be true or not, before hearing the curtain open. Tim looked disheveled, most likely having come out of a W.E business meeting he had mentioned yesterday evening.

“Mari, what’s wrong!?”

Duhn-duhn…. Duhn-duhn… duhn-duhn

Marinette had never heard such a life-altering sound, feeling the tears swell in her eyes as her husband looked dumbfounded.

“Is— is that?” Marinette could only nod before being enveloped in a hug by him. He whispered sweet nothings and reassurances to her as the beautiful sound echoed in their heads.

“God, we’re going to be parents, sunshine”

“So it would seem, moonlight”

“M’Lady what’s—!” Chat Noir had sprinted from the zeta entrance having heard the far too soft heartbeat coming from the monitor, the Bats not far behind him. Suffice to say that the Watchtowers usual quiet was interrupted for the rest of that evening as cheers and congratulations went around the Med-Bay.

They would later learn that she had been nearly three months pregnant by the time they found out, explaining her team’s odd behavior due to the animal characteristics of the Miraculous. However, the worst news was to come a week later on one faithful morning.

“Oh kwami, get that away from me!” Marinette exclaimed as soon as she came out of their room in their studio apartment in Gotham. The scarlet hero having to rely on Pegasus for travel to and from Paris for the time being. Not that her team even wanted her on the field in the first place at the time but she was anything if not stubborn, a necessity for the Wayne family.

That was how the coffee obsessed duo discovered that Marinette and baby were disgusted by the mere smell of coffee. Truly, it was the hardest part of the pregnancy.

Six months later, when Thomas Louis Drake-D.C was born, his aunts and uncle would continuously call him the ‘Second Coming of Christ’ for doing the impossible and getting his parents to cut off their caffeine addiction, much to their annoyance. 

For now they were just a family of three, looking at the infinite stars of their baby’s eyes.

My AO3

Ko-Fi

[kristoffsloveisntfragile]

The Christmas Spirit

Rating: T

Word Count: 7,107

Pairing: Kristoff/Anna

Summary: Modern AU; It’s Christmas time and Anna and Kristoff are finally having their first Christmas together, at the Bjorgman house. This is the first time Anna really has met the whole family, in one place. Anxiety and a feeling of overwhelmed come over her, but that doesn’t stop her heart from being in love with his family. And that surely doesn’t stop Kristoff from still being in love with Anna.

Notes: IS CHRISMAS YALL!!! Hope you all enjoy! I’ve actually been working on this for literally 6 ish months, and I feel like it’s pretty perfect for how long I’ve been working on it. Again, hope you enjoy, and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to yall!

It was the holiday season and Anna and Kristoff had been dating for almost two and a half years now. Anna lived a state away from her family so this year she decided that she would do something independent for the holidays. Maybe a year away from her family wouldn’t be so bad? It didn’t hit her until later that she really had no other plans. She had the Christmas tree set up in her apartment, of course helped by Kristoff. They set it up and that night they put on a Christmas movie and decorated the tree. Their hands full of glitter and eyes burnt out from staring at the lights on the tree for too long. That was fun, but Anna didn’t formally invite anyone to hang out with her for Christmas day, so she assumed she would spend the day alone, maybe Kristoff or Elsa popping in to say hello and maybe give a gift, if they had bought one. Anna couldn’t tell if it was the maturity making her not want gifts this year, or the fact that she was spending it alone was. Either way, she didn’t really mind it, a peaceful Christmas this year is what she needs. At least she thinks.

“So what are you exactly doing for Christmas?” Kristoff asks after he washed down his bagel with his coffee. They get breakfast together at a local coffee shop at least 3-4 times a week before work.

This perked up Anna, usually as they wait for their food they catch each other up and when they finally sit down to eat they plow it down, not really any talk to be had, they just want to fill up their stomach to get through the day so they can hopefully see each other after work.

“Oh, nothing. I think this year I’ll have a peaceful Christmas day to myself. I mean, if you want to come by and stay for a while, I wouldn’t mind.” She sipped her coffee as she finished her statement.

Kristoff was confused as ever, “A...peaceful...Christmas...day? Where is Anna and what have you done with her?” This made Anna smile. Yeah, she knew it wasn’t like her, but it was like this fresh wave of maturity was washing over her. “I’ve never heard you put those kinds of words together. You’re really not going to do anything on Christmas?”

“Well, Christmas doesn’t have to be chaotic. It is named ‘the most peaceful time of year’ for a reason.”

“Well, you’ve never been with my family around Christmas. We like to go all out.” Kristoff leaned back in his chair. Then got that look on his face, Anna knew that look, he was getting an idea.

“Hey, why don’t you come over with me to my parents for Christmas!” Kristoff looked excited.

“Really? Won’t like, all of your family be there? I’ve never really seen all of your siblings in person. Of course, except Roxanne.” Anna said.

Roxanne was the third oldest, behind Kristoff by 8 years, a senior in high school, smart kid, does well in school, but liked to kind of do whatever she wanted. So when Anna would have the occasional dinner with Kristoff’s parents, she would see Roxanne come out of her room with her car keys and say to her family “See ya, I’ll be back at midnight.” And her family wouldn’t really bat an eye, Kristoff would just say the usual, “Don’t do anything I haven’t done!” and continue the dinner conversation.

“Well yeah, so this time you’ll finally get to meet all of them. And probably some of my grandparents too. You’ve made quite the impression to my family.” Kristoff raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve talked about me?” Anna asked.

“Are you kidding? Of course I have. They all love you out of the description I tell them.”

Anna, now curious, leaned forward and said, “What do you say?”

Kristoff leaned forward too and said, “Well, I describe you as the perfect woman in the world. With the most amazing color of hair, paired with the most indescribable color of eyes that just somehow match,” Kristoff had taken her hand, and Anna sighed, loving what she’s hearing. “I think they think you’re smaller than I described but I can’t tell.” She laughs. “And...there’s just so much about you that I’ve described to them. Like all the sweet things we do that make me love you even more...like that thing we tried last month.”

Anna swiped her hand away and swatted at his shoulder, “I’m kidding!” He remarked. “Most of them don’t understand...you know.” Anna knew he was kidding. But still.

They ate most of the rest of their food, and Kristoff looked up and said, “Sooo.. was that a yes?”

“Hm?” Anna hummed with a mouth full of food.

“You know, my offer? You just kind of let the conversation drop after I said that my family loves you. So?” Kristoff crumpled up his bagel wrapper.

Anna had been thinking about it since the moment the words left his mouth. Her mind was already set on staying home and drinking all the hot chocolate she could and watching all the Christmas movies she had. But, it couldn’t hurt to change her plans, especially if it was for her boyfriend.

“You know what? Sure, I’d love to. Nothing I would rather do.” Anna said and wrapped up her garbage as well. They got up and threw their stuff away, stepped outside the coffee shop, pecked each other on the lips and went their separate ways to their work for the day.

~~~

A week later, it was Christmas. Dinner at the Bjorgman family was happening around 7, but since the family liked to spend time together, especially around the holidays, the “party” was happening all day. Kristoff was picking up Anna around 5 though. Anna was getting ready, not too dressy, but not too looking like she didn’t want to be there. A classic casual blouse, leather jacket, jeans, and knee high boots. She looked in the mirror and decided she needed some jewelry. Dainty bracelets and necklaces worked. She then saw her pajamas that were strone across her bed. Part of her wished she could change back into them and just curl up on the couch. But the fact that she was spending Christmas day with her boyfriend, who she loved very much, and is now meeting the rest of his family, she couldn’t be happier.

She waited in her living room for a text or call from Kristoff, and was watching ‘The Santa Clause 2’ with Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was nearing the end of the movie, it was her favorite part. When Santa, or Scott Calvin as his real name, finally gets back to the North Pole but before he makes his round to drop off gifts to every child in the world, he has to marry the one he loves. Although rushed, Anna loves how sincere they still were in their vows, and they weren’t just marrying each other because he needed to be Santa Claus. They had a real deep connection.

Her phone chimed and it got her out of her trance. The text read, “Outside babe.” She turned off her TV, and made sure everything was off and locked and met him outside in his car.

She hopped in the car with a big smile on her face, with a quick ‘hey’ and put her seatbelt on.

“My, my. Aren’t you a giddy one?” Kristoff remarked.

“What? I’m not allowed to be happy to be meeting the rest of my boyfriend’s family?” She leaned towards his face, expecting a kiss anytime soon.

“No, it’s just...I’m happy you’re happy.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. And then they drove off to the Bjorgman household.

~~~

They pulled up to the household and Anna saw all of the cars that filled up the driveway and even spilling out to the sidewalk.

‘Lot of people then..’ Anna thought, and bit her lip. She got out of the car and Kristoff was getting a couple things from the back, Anna went around to see if he needed help.

“I think I’m good…” Kristoff said with his hands full of presents. “Oh, wait, can you grab those little boxes? On the floor?” Anna did as she was asked, and then shut the car door. 

“So like, are all of these for the kids?” Anna asked as they were walking towards the house.

“Yep, just a little warning, I think there are more kids than you’ve imagined. Yes I have my younger siblings, but my aunts and uncles also have kids and they’re here too.”

“Wow...seems like the Bjorgman’s are...busy.”

“Ohhhh, yeah” Kristoff stretched out, laughing at the end of it, so did Anna. “Oh, since this was kind of last minute, I did put your name on the “From:” part of the tag on the presents, so people would think that you were, you know, nice enough to think of the kids.”

“Hey, I would’ve gotten stuff if you had said something. It completely slipped my mind to get stuff for them...but thank you for doing that anyway.” Anna giggled.

As they approached the door, Kristoff warned Anna about the second step, as it always seems to get slippery every year. Anna then rang the doorbell, but not long after someone was at the door. Bulda, with a very big smile and 3 kids attached to her.

“Anna! Oh my dear it’s so good to see you!! I’m so glad you came!” She gave Anna a very big and tight hug. Then went to Kristoff and took the huge amount of presents out of his hands and went into the other room. It wasn’t long before his hands were full again with the kids that tagged along with Bulda.

“Hey guys, hey look, look. There’s someone I want you to meet. This is Anna.” He was crouched down to their level, but looking up at Anna. Anna then crouched down too.

“Nice to meet you guys. What’s all your names?” Anna asked.

“I’m Maxine.” Maxine said proudly.

“I’m Jake.” Jake said.

“I-I’m D-D-Daisy-y.” Daisy, the youngest, managed to get out.

“She’s just learning how to talk. But I’m so proud you know how to say your own name!” Kristoff looked at Daisy and hugged her as she giggled.

“You’re really pretty Anna.” Jake said.

“Oh! Why thank you.” Anna was flattered, since she knew that kids told the truth most of the time.

“Okay kids, go play, I think Uncle Mike has a game of musical chairs going for the younglings.” Bulda peaked their interest, and they all ran off towards a different part of the house. Anna and Kristoff got up to see Bulda again, and she was already going in for a hug with her son. “Hello dear so good to see you. Was the drive okay?”

“Ah, it was okay. As long as I had my girl along my side, it was never boring.” Kristoff remarked.

“Yes, while it was a good drive, it did seem long and I drank a whole bottle of water, so if you don’t mind I’m just gonna use the bathroom.” Anna excused herself.

“Oh by all means!” Bulda said as she took off.

Kristoff started walking towards all the people before he was pulled by the sleeve by his mother. 

“Well, is tonight the night?” She asked.

“Look, ma, I don’t know honestly. Yes, I very much want to do it, but I think she’s a little overwhelmed by all the people. We are a big family. If I’m going to do it tonight, I don’t think it’s going to be here.” Kristoff said, in a hushed tone.

“Okay, okay. I’m just so excited!” Bulda started to get worked up.

“Ok, shh, ma, you’re starting to jump, think about your ankle.” Bulda looked at it and brushed it off, and then Kristoff went back to what he was going to do, see the rest of his family.

~~~

A little time has passed, Anna met all the kids (she thinks- there’s just so many of them) and met and talked to a majority of the adults, with the same story of where she works and ‘why the hell do you like this troublemaker of a kid?’-Kristoff. 

She found herself with a small glass of champagne and was standing by the sink talking to Roxanne. She found a little comfort in talking to her. She wasn’t completely new to Anna, but there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other.

“So, anything new at school happening?” Anna asked

“Wow, what a new question everyone hasn’t asked me yet.” Roxanne joked, but there was a hint of truth behind it.

“Oh sorry, I mean no offense but what else is there to ask an 18 year old. It’s your senior year, you should be having fun, making memories. We all wanna hear about your experience, and be there for you during the big moments.”

“Yeah, well nothing is really happening, not until the new year hits anyways, all the interesting sports start in the spring, the musicals, testing, dances, etc.” 

“Yeah, I hear you. So there’s really nothing else going on for you?” 

Roxanne shook her head, “No, nothing much.” But she looked at her feet. Anna knew exactly what that meant, she even does it herself. She was hiding something.

“So there is something new.”

Looking up, Roxanne was kinda shocked, “How did you know?”

“I’m a girl just like you, the subtle hints you just gave, I’ve done them before. What’s up, you can trust me you know.”

Roxanne breathed in, and turned to really face Anna. “Well, it is my senior year, and..I’ve never really had a relationship.”

Anna knew exactly what she was getting into with this conversation. “Oh I see, and, is there someone you’re interested in?”

“Well, the thing is, I’m bi, so I’ve had crushes come and go. I’ll see someone who is interesting or cute, but I’ll get scared because, well if it’s a girl, what if they don’t have the same interests as me, and if it’s a guy, well...you know.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a whole ordeal. The only thing I can say, in your situation, it seems best for you to make a friend first, and then see if they would like to take things further. You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re rushed to find someone. When you know, you know.” Her gaze wandered over to Kristoff who wasn’t far from them.

“Is that how you felt with my brother?” Roxanne smiled.

“Oh yeah. I mean, before we started dating, you heard tale of me right?” Roxanne nodded. “So yeah, we met, became friends, and from there we found something. And look at us now.” Anna smiled. 

Roxanne looked down, still having a smile on her face. “Yeah, you guys do have something special. I feel like you’re the hot topic tonight to be honest.”

“Really? Me?” Anna asked.

“Oh yeah, are you kidding? Kristoff doesn’t stop talking about you when he’s over, the only time that does come to a halt is when you are over too for a dinner or something. But since everyone is here, I don’t know, I feel like you’re just an easy topic for Kristoff and the family to talk about.” Roxanne explained.

Kristoff came over and cut between them, as they were still at the sink. He rinsed a glass he had and set it in the sink, and while he was, he said, “Hey, my two favorite girls.” He stepped back and instinctively put his arm around Anna. “What are y’all talking about?”

“Oh nothing, just, girl stuff.” Anna said, looking up at him with admiration.

“Yep, so no boy can hear it.” Roxanne teased. 

“Ah, I see. Well, no matter, how are you enjoying the night?” Kristoff asked, but mostly to Anna.

“I’m doing fine, your family is really friendly, it’s nice knowing that I don’t have to put up a fake persona for them.” Anna said.

“Of course, our family loves people for who they are. Unless they’re clearly a douche.” He chuckled.

“Well, there is one person who puts on a “fake persona” once a year for the-” Roxanne started to say.

“Shhhhhhh” Kristoff cut her off.

“What? What are you talking about?” Anna was confused and curious.

“It’s nothing.”

“But you’ll find out later.” Roxanne whispered to Anna, all giddy.

Anna was still confused, but she trusted Roxanne’s word that she’ll find out later.

“We should head into the living room soon, the Yankee Swap will start soon and with how many people are here, there won’t be many seats that are on cushion.”

“Good call.” Roxanne said and started heading towards the living room. Anna and Kristoff soon  followed.

A few minutes later, Kristoff’s mom turned down the Christmas music, and got everyone into the room, she got the room to quiet down.

“Okay everyone time to start the swap! Now, I asked everyone to put all of the gifts in the other room, so Derek can you go get them?” Derek nodded and got up to go to the other room.

“Actually before we start I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Kristoff said and got up.

“Okay, just so you know you might get a bad number for the picking!” Bulda joked.

Shortly after, Derek came back with a big bag full of the swap gifts. He started to take them out of the bag when Bulda started to explain what the rules were.

“So, the rules are simple. We are going to pick a number out of this hat,” She grabs a hat full of numbers. “And just go in order. You can pick any gift, and once you get it you open it. And if you’re in the later numbers and you pick a gift but you want something someone has who went before you, you have to battle them! That’s my twist to the game, to battle them, you must play a quick game of charades!!!” Everyone was either a little more intrigued, or groaned how boring they thought that game was.

“To actually win, if the person you want to battle doesn’t get your word or phrase or whatever it is, you can get their gift. But if the person gets the word right, they don’t give up the gift. Everyone got it?” Bulda finishes.

As she finishes, Derek is finishing up with placing the gifts near the tree. 

“Hmm, Derek are you sure that’s all the gifts?” Bulda puts on a voice. And loud enough for the next three rooms to hear.

“What do you mean? There’s more???” Jake asked with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice.

“Oh yes, I know there is. I wonder where they all went though…”

Just as Bulda says that, Anna hears Roxanne snicker. She’s again confused, but just then, she sees a big red blur come through the threshold. A big resounding “Ho Ho Ho!” followed. Anna knew immediately it was Kristoff, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her boyfriend with a fat suit and probably a 3x large red, furry jacket. She started laughing with Roxanne, and most of the adults who also knew it was Kristoff. The kids on the other hand, lost their minds. As for them, Santa was in the house, the night before Christmas.

So many, “OH MY GOD IT’S SANTA!” and, “I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES” and just screaming for joy in general.

“Hello kids, yes it’s me Santa, I wanted to come by before I start my rounds and give you the first presents before any other kid in the world gets theirs.”

“Wow thanks Santa!” One of the kids said. 

Anna couldn’t help but laugh, as she had never heard the voice that Kristoff was putting on. But she held it in as best as she could, so she wouldn’t ruin it for the kids.

“Don’t worry, if you come back every year, you’ll be able to suppress the laugh. But it will still be hilarious, but you’ll be able to put on a fake ‘oh my God, wow’ smile.” Roxanne leaned over to Anna and whispered. 

“How long has he been doing this?” Anna asked.

“Since, he was like 16. He grew drastically like when he was 13 or 14. By 16 he was like 3 inches shorter than he is now. So he could pass for it. Our dad used to do this, but both he and Kristoff knew that at one point he was gonna have to stop at one point, so he took over. He loves doing it though.” Roxanne explained.

“Wow. He never said anything about it. And we know almost everything about each other.” Anna remarked.

“Maybe he wanted to surprise you.” Roxanne said.

They went back to watching Kristoff play Santa to his younger brothers and sisters, and some of his nieces and nephews. He really did look like he was enjoying it, bringing joy to them seemed to instantly put a smile on his face, and his soul. Anna loved seeing him so happy that he was making his family happy. 

“So here’s all the presents for you kids-” ‘Santa’ started to say,

“But, we’ll all have to wait for the Yankee Swap to be over, then you can open them. But for now, Santa has to go, say goodbye kids.” Bulda says.

All of the kids yelled “Goodbyee!!” and as Kristoff was kneeling to pull the gifts out of the bag he brought in, some kids ran over to hug him before he left.

“Okay children, I’ve really got to get back to the sleigh and start delivering the rest of the presents. Merry Christmas to all!”

“AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!” All of the kids screamed back. 

Anna thought to herself, besides Kristoff dressing up as Santa, that was also a tradition they had. She saw as he left, and all the kids were still buzzing about it.

“Okay, okay kids settle, if you wanna open your presents you gotta play this game first.” They all quieted down, but still a little joy left in their eyes.

As Bulda was going around the room letting people pick their numbers, Kristoff came back, and immediately the kids said “Kristoff you missed it! Santa was just here! Look at how many presents he gave us!”

“My Kristoff, you were in the bathroom for a long time that you missed Santa!” Bulda exaggerated. 

“Oh well, maybe next year I’ll catch him.” Kristoff said as he was heading back to his seat next to Anna.

“And who knows, maybe he’ll bring a certain Mrs-”

“Shhh.” Kristoff hissed at his mom. Bulda returned to passing out numbers. Kristoff had looked back to see if Anna had caught that, but he doesn’t think she did, because Anna couldn’t stop smiling at Kristoff, and he raised a brow and asked, “What?”

“Oh nothing, it was just really special seeing Santa here tonight.” Anna said through a smile.

“What are you talking about?” Kristoff smiled, playing along with the joke.

Anna laughed, “Nothing.” Neither one of them really knew what the context of that conversation was, but they were just both so happy with the buzz that they felt between them and the buzz that was in the room. Anna knew right then and there that she didn’t regret coming to the party tonight. Kristoff quickly kissed her cheek and returned to the game that was starting.

~~~

The game and the present opening seemed to happen so fast that it was all blurry to Anna. In a good way though, there was so much laughter from the charade portions, and all the jokes, and the kids, and the fact that she couldn’t get the image of ‘Santa Kris’ out of her head. They could all tell that the party was coming to an end. All the kids were asking where the desserts were, so they were occupied eating those, the adults were getting their kids presents or their own gifts they got, all packed up and ready to go to the car, and all the food was being portioned to be taken home, since there was way too much to keep at Buldas house. 

Anna was nursing another glass of champagne and talking to some of Kristoff’s relatives when Kristoff came over and, again, instinctively wrapped his arm around her.

“You ready to go babe?” 

“Aweeee, do we have to? It feels like we just got here 10 minutes ago!” Anna whined, but deep inside of her she wanted to go home and snuggle up next to Kristoff while watching more Christmas movies.

“Ah, we don’t wanna burden my mom by staying here.” Kristoff glanced over at his mom who was finishing up with giving some food to Kristoff’s cousin as they were leaving. His mom must’ve caught the end of that because she looked over and came over.

“Oh, are you guys leaving soon? I can pack up some stuff for ya if you want!” Bulda said.

“Thanks, but we won’t need a lot like your packing with everyone else-”

“Maybe just the desserts and some of the pasta would be good for us to take.” Anna finished Kristoff’s sentence, then laughed.

“Honestly, if you took as many desserts as you wanted there would still be enough for everyone else to take some home. I may have made a little too much for today.” Bulda exclaimed.

“No, no don’t worry, we’re more than happy to take those desserts off of your hands!” Anna laughed again, intending some kind of joke, but in actuality, she was eyeing the cheesecake she’s already had two big slices of.

“Oh then by all means, I’ll pack some stuff up for you.” Bulda turned around and went to work.

“You know I was trying to get her to not pack as much food for us to take home. She’s a busy woman enough as it is.” Kristoff said to Anna in a hushed voice.

“Well, it’s not like she’s complaining, I mean sure it is busy work, but it’s Christmas, is it really hard work if you enjoy it?” Anna questioned back. Kristoff gave her a look of defeat, but still worry behind his eyes. Anna knew what to do.

“I’ll go help her then, some one-on-one wouldn’t hurt our relationship right?” Anna handed her champagne to him and walked towards Bulda.

“Hey there, do you want some help packing up the food and stuff?” Anna asked.

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t wanna burden you by helping me.” Bulda brushed away Anna, but she wouldn’t back down.

“Oh come on, I insist. Plus, didn’t I hear something about your ankle? You could use a break, or at least some help.”

Bulda gave in, almost like she even forgot about her ankle hurting. “Oh sure, what’s the harm of you helping, right?” She laughed, “Just take some of these buckets, and follow me.” Anna did as she was told.

Anna followed her to the dining room where some of the food was kept, but mostly the desserts. 

“Wow, I honestly forgot how many there were.” Anna remarked.

“Yeah, like I said, I may have made too much. But I guess I say that every year, and everyone goes home happy. That’s what really matters to me.” Bulda said with a smile.

“That’s really sweet.” Anna said, her heart melting a bit at what Bulda just said.

They packed up some sweets while chit-chatting a bit, they eventually got the topic of Kristoff.

“Oh I couldn’t stop laughing when he came out.” Anna said.

“Oh, imagine me, the first time he did it after Pabbie stopped, I couldn’t stop laughing. It was just so funny seeing a 16 year-old do that.”

“Wow, he must’ve been really tall to pull that off.”

“Oh yeah, the summer before 9th grade, poof, grew a foot and became 6 ft. No idea what happened to this day. But it added to his character.”

“Oh yeah it did.” Anna laughed. “Probably one of the first thoughts that came across my mind when I first even glanced at him was ‘Wow look how tall he is.’ Of course, that’s coming from me, 5’2” here.” Anna laughed some more.

“Awe, well you two fit perfectly together. The height difference just makes it look even cuter.”

“Yeah..” Anna got lost in her thoughts for a second. 

“You two are really happy together.” Bulda admired Anna’s look of loss in thought.

“Oh yeah.” Anna blushed a little. After all she was still talking to Kristoff’s mother.

“You know, Kristoff told me…..Oh no, I shouldn’t tell you.” Bulda waved her hand and went back to finishing up all the packed up desserts.

“Oh well you gotta tell me now!” Anna laughed.

“No, no, I’m sure it’s gonna happen...soon?”

“What do you mean?” Anna asked, confused as ever.

Just then Kristoff poked his head in the dining room to say, “Hey, I just went to warm up the car, so whenever you’re ready.” He smiled.

“Oh we just finished dear, just a little catching up.” Bulda said. It wasn’t a lie, but Anna still felt there was something unsaid.

Bulda turned back to Anna and said, “Just, remember how happy you are with Kristoff.”

“Of course I won’t. I never will. But what did you mean-”

“I’ve said too much, if I say anymore Kristoff will kill me. Just, enjoy the rest of your night dear.” Bulda said, putting a hand on Anna’s arm.

Anna and Kristoff took all of the food that she really wanted, Kristoff and Anna said their goodbyes and gave their hugs to everyone who was left. They made it through the dropping temperatures outside into the warmed up car, and started their drive home.

But Anna couldn’t help but question what Bulda meant by “It’s gonna happen soon”. Anna couldn’t think of anything important coming up. With Christmas tomorrow, and New Years in about a week, there was nothing else of importance going on. She looked over to Kristoff and tried to think if there was anything coming up for him. She couldn’t.

Kristoff noticed she was staring. “What’s up babe?” His eyes went back to the road.

“Nothing, nothing, just….is there anything important coming up?”

“...You mean something other than Christmas?” He laughs at his own little joke. “No, why?”

Anna wanted to say because Bulda had said something was gonna happen, but then remembered her saying “If Kristoff found out he would kill me”. Is it something Anna is supposed to know, and he isn’t? Or the other way around?

“Oh, I don’t know, it just seems like there’s something I’m supposed to do. Maybe it’s something for work.” Anna said.

“Well, you got a whole week off, it can’t be that important.” Kristoff reached for Anna’s hand and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb mindlessly.

Anna smiled. Of course she lied about the thing being for work, but she decided maybe it was good to forget about it. Whatever the thing is Bulda talked about, it will happen when it happens.

~~~

After the long drive, they head to Anna’s place, they both take off their boots and sweaters, Anna takes off all the jewelry on her body, and heads to her room to put it all away, Kristoff not far behind her. 

Anna was standing in front of her vanity, sorting everything away when Kristoff slithers his arms around Anna and just hugs her. “Finally, no relatives or younger siblings to interrupt our alone time.”

Anna huffed and smiled. “Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about just coming back here and relaxing all night. Well, maybe not the whole night,” Anna turned around while still in his arms, “Tonight was pretty fun with your family.”

“I get it. Being there is fun, but sitting on the couch watching movies and drinking hot chocolate in the dark. Sounds exhilarating.” Kristoff smiled, then leaned in for a kiss.

Anna liked the idea of that, but she wanted to be comfortable. When they parted, she said “I like that, let me just go wash everything off.” She got out of his arms and headed to the bathroom.

She washed her makeup off, cleansed her face, brushed her teeth, and went back to her bedroom- which she had then found that Kristoff had changed out of his day clothes (she had some clothes that were Kristoff’s left behind here for nights like this), She switched to her pjs and found that Kristoff had everything set up for Anna to just snuggle in with Kristoff. The movie, the drinks, the blankets, the apartment just being lit by the very dim hallway light.

“Wow, how long was I in the bathroom?” Anna asked jokingly.

“You weren’t gone long, I just work very fast.” Kristoff said, inviting Anna onto the couch with his eyes, which she gladly accepted. Kristoff went ahead and put on The Santa Clause 2, the movie Anna was watching before she left. She didn’t say that out loud, she didn’t mind that she was watching this movie again. She was just happy Kristoff was around this time. 

~Near the end of the movie~

Anna’s body was practically glued against Kristoff’s, her ear hearing his heartbeat, and her upper body moving along with his breaths.

They got to the part that Anna was watching before Kristoff picked her up to go to the party. When Santa needs to marry Carol before taking off for the night. She just loved the scene. 

“You know before you came to pick me up I was watching this movie, really just having it in the background, and this is the scene that I saw right before you arrived.” Anna said. They always just said what was on their minds a lot of the time. 

“Hmm.” Kristoff hummed. Anna just thought that he was starting to fade because of the warm drinks, the dim lights. But really, Anna had no idea that he was just choked up on what he wanted to do next.

It was the scene where Mother Nature had pronounced them ‘Man and Wife’, they kissed, and Scott Calvin once again became the one and only Santa Claus.

Anna hummed against Kristoff’s chest, “Man I just love this movie.” Anna tried to snuggle deeper into Kristoff more. 

He laughed, “Yep. I would’ve enjoyed it a little more if I didn’t have to fricken pee in the second half,” Kristoff started to laugh, and Anna joined, but mostly started to get up so he could move. “But it was just too comfortable and relaxing that I could wait. But I’ll be back and we’ll put on the next one.” Kristoff pecked Anna on the lips and went to the bathroom. 

Anna was smiling. She just loved the nights like this. It doesn’t even have to be Christmas for them to have a night where they just watch movies and drink hot chocolate. It was just more special tonight because it was Christmas, and they were spending it together. 

Anna decided to just get the next movie going so that they can start when Kristoff comes back. She went to put their mugs in the kitchen, she didn’t think they were gonna have any more, so she just grabbed some water instead for both of them to have. By the time she gets back into the living room, Kristoff is coming out of the bathroom. 

Anna looks up and sees that he looks a little zoned out. Confused, she asks, “Everything okay? You seem a little...unfocused.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about somethings.” He said and sat down on the couch, not laying where he was before.

“What kinds of things?” Anna trying to lighten the mood, (she thinks that is what needed to be done) she leans closer to Kristoff, putting her hand near his chest.

“It’s just-- nah it’s stupid, forget about it.” Kristoff tries to laugh it off, but Anna won’t let go.

“Well obviously it’s something. C’mon, you can tell me anything.” Anna pleaded in her own cute way.

Kristoff was hesitant, looking back and forth between Anna and his hands. He took a deep breath as he was about to reveal what felt like a lot to him.

“Look, Anna, you know I love you, so very much,” Anna started to get nervous. Why would he be saying that now? “And, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been thinking about the future.” Oh thank God.

“Really?” Anna couldn’t contain her grin. Just hearing the word “future” come out of his mouth, made her giddy. The fact that when he says it and she’s there with him in his mind's eye, made her happy.

“Yeah, but, lately, I just feel as though...I’m not...not good enough.” He struggled to get through the sentence, because while he did think it, it was hard to admit it out loud.

Anna was taken back from this. Her mind instantly flashed to all the times when Kristoff took care of Anna when she was sick, when she was having an anxiety attack, or when she even needed a hug or a kiss. And then she thought about all the times she saw him take care of her sister, Elsa. Sure, they weren’t super close, but if Elsa needed something and Kristoff could do it, he did it. Her mind flashed to all the memories of when Kristoff was there for his family, heck, some moments from the party flashed across her eyes. Anna was very confused and honestly a little hurt from thinking that Kristoff wasn’t good enough.

“What...the hell are you talking about?” Some seriousness in her voice, but she couldn’t help but have a bit of a smirk at the edge of her lip.

“Huh?” Kristoff was now confused.

“You think you’re not good enough? First of all, very vague, you’re good at your job, you’re good at being a boyfriend, you’re good at being a son, a brother, a cousin, hell even a damn human being. You are a good one- no! You’re a great human being Kristoff.” Anna was talking like a motivational speaker, and Kristoff couldn’t help but smile, from mostly being told that he was a great person. I mean, how would you react?

“Kristoff, I don’t know what thing you have going inside your head to make you think that you’re not good enough. Tonight alone showed how much you’re an amazing human being. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, point them in my direction….and I will gladly punch them in the face.” Kristoff officially laughed at that part.

“Well, okay, I don’t think we need to go that far-”

“No I’m serious!” Anna said, still with a smile on her face. “I will do it if anyone says that to you ever.”

Kristoff looked deep into her eyes. He could tell that she meant it. And forever will. “That’s so good to know.” Kristoff still had a look of nervousness. But he pushed it away with a smile, and lunged toward Anna for a kiss. She gladly accepted it.

She was about to fully be on top of Kristoff (to enjoy the moment even more), but Kristoff started to move away. Anna broke the kiss as she could start to tell what he was moving away.

“Wh-what are you….” Anna was confused as to where he was going, until she saw he wasn’t going far. He was on one knee, and slowly but surely pulled a ring from his pocket. “Woah, woah-” Anna suddenly lost her voice. She didn’t have the words.

“Anna, it’s so glad to hear you say that all about ‘how great a human being’ I am. But honestly, I’m the one who’s with an extraordinary human being.” Anna started to tear up. “I love you with all I am,” He opened up the box, “Will you marry me?”

Anna barely let a breath in between before she jumped onto him screaming, “YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes!” She felt him catch her as she was basically on the floor with him too. “Oh my gosh!” She pulled back, looked at him and couldn’t contain her excitement as she went to kiss him all over his face.

Kristoff couldn’t stop laughing out of happiness, and just let her excitement run wild. When she pulled back once again, he finally got a chance to get her left hand, and slip the ring on it.

“Oh my gosh, Kristoff it’s beautiful!” She said while admiring it. “This must’ve been a lot, how long have you been wanting to do this?” She asked.

“Well, the idea has been poking around for about a year and a couple months,” Anna breathed out a laugh. “But I didn’t officially buy the ring until like a month and a half ago.”

Then she put the pieces together. If he’s been wanting to do this for well over a year, he must’ve been telling his family he’s been wanting to. 

So that’s why earlier Bulda said ‘If I say anymore Kristoff will kill me’ Anna thought.

“...Did you tell your family about that? Because now that I think about it they’ve been dropping hints all night.”

“To be fair they’ve been dropping hints the whole time. Tonight was probably more than ever because I had said something about wanting to do it tonight, maybe even tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m very glad you did it tonight.” Anna wrapped her arms around Kristoff’s neck and went in for a long and heartwarming kiss. Anna felt his hands come up around her waist.

At one point they got back up on the couch, but it was all in the blur of kisses, hugs and snuggles. Putting on the next movie, that they barely paid attention to, tangled in each other's arms.

“Hey, when you said you were thinking about the future,” Anna heard Kristoff hum, “Were you...I don’t know...thinking about another family….one that….we can start?” Anna tried her best to turn her head to see Kristoff’s reaction.

His eyes were wide, but she could see that there was a hint of promise. “Hmmmm…..maybe we’ll talk about that in the New Year.” Kristoff smiled, but the thought definitely didn’t leave his mind for a while.

[dhwty-writes]

Chapter 6 - Stories, Smiles and Secrets

So, I have been informed that the last chapter was sad. I'm sorry (I'm not). As compensation there is- uh... 'checks notes* fluff? It's that what you call it? Yes, there's fluff in this chapter! Enjoy! Thanks @persony-pepper for betaing this chapter!

Summary: The poacher is found and Jaskier does what he does best: telling stories. 

Read on AO3

Part 1 | Part 6 | Part 8

Jaskier almost fell out of his bed when the doors burst open without any warning. "Wha's happenin'?" he slurred, trying to regain his balance as well as his dignity.

"I have come to tell you, brother," Janina announced and cruelly ripped the curtains open to reveal bright sunlight, "that Cousin Fiona and I have just led a delightful conversation over the breakfast table. While you were," she raked her eyes over him and wrinkled her nose in disgust, "still sleeping, great gods above and below, the sun rose half an hour ago!" 

He suppressed a groan and swung his naked legs over the edge of his bed, ignoring Janina's shriek: "Good gods, I did not need to see that."

He rolled his eyes at her and dragged himself to a standing position. "Be glad I'm wearing a shirt at all," he grumbled, not even attempting to smooth out his appearance. There was no way he'd be able to match Janina's impeccable countenance in these early hours. "From the top," he demanded as he pulled on a dark green silk robe, one of his most prized possessions, "you had what with the girl?"

"A conversation," she said smugly and sat down on the chair he normally deposited his dirty laundry on. 'Serves her right,' he thought smugly. "Ten whole minutes."

"That's impressive." Were it any other hour, he would be howling with laughter. "You do realise that I had plenty of those, right?"

"She didn't say a single swear word."

He raised his eyebrows. "That's not really what I call 'in her good graces'," he grumbled, unwilling to admit that it was far more than he had to show for it.

"It's progress," Janina insisted stubbornly.

"Well, congratulations to you, dear sister." He winced. "Coax a smile out of her next and you have won." Jaskier clamped his mouth shut. 'Why the fuck did I say that?' he asked himself, 'Why the fuck don't I ever think before I talk?'

The smile on Janina's face told him that she had hoped for an outcome like that. "I'll hold you to your word," she purred and spun to leave.

"Fuck," he whispered, his brain working hard to catch up with what was going on. She was already out the door when he finally got his mouth to work again: "Janina!"

She peered back into his room. "Yes?" When she was batting her eyelashes like that, she looked almost adorable.

"Don't you dare threaten my witcher again," he hissed. "Or Fiona, for that matter."

"I-"

"No, Janina," he interrupted her harshly, "one misspoken word and never seeing the inside of this castle will be the least of your worries." He stood, throwing all he had picked up on by observing Geralt into looking as menacing as possible. "Never forget, sister, in here our power might match but you don't want to face me out there. A word from me and you can forget about your precious reputation. Is that understood?"

It was impressive how she took it all with a straight face. "Quite, my lord," she answered coldly, the slightest quiver in her voice betraying what went on  inside her head. "May I go, Lord Pankratz?"

"You may."

She spared him a long calculating glance. "Just so you know it," she whispered, "you are turning into father. You even look like him."

Jaskier was glad that the slam of the door drowned out his shocked gasp as he staggered backwards, his knees growing weak. 'Sweet Melitele,' he prayed silently as he flopped down on his bed again, 'anything but that.'

'Surely it can't be that bad,' he thought, but when he tried to think back on his behaviour in the past few days, it made him sick.

"Fuck," he cursed again. 'No wonder the princess doesn't like me. I wouldn't like myself either.'

For the second time that week he was already dressed when Jakub came to collect him and quickly sent him away with the food he had brought. The words of his sister weighed heavily on his mind and stomach, and he found himself entirely incapable of eating anything as the words of his letters blurred before his eyes.

There were a lot of invitations from his varying neighbours he had to decline, feigning excuses about his father's recent death while they really were about hiding Cirilla and Geralt. 'I've got to do something to make her descent less obvious.' Hiding her in plain sight hadn't been his worst idea so far, still the possibility that some nobles had been to Cintra in the last few years and had caught a glimpse of the princess. But there still was a month to figure that particular obstacle out.

Midday was approaching rapidly when a knock on his door announced a visitor. "My lord," Borys, one of his guards, greeted him with a bow when he stepped inside. "We have found the poacher."

Jaskier raised his gaze expectantly from the letter he was penning. "Well," he looked around. "Where is he?"

As answer, there was the sound of commotion rising to his study and he rushed to the window to see a scrawny lad kicking and screaming, straining against the iron grip two of his other guards had on him. Marin was shouting orders and gesticulating wildly while the culprit drew quite the crowd. There were stable boys hooting and hollering, not quite obvious who they were cheering for and one of them seemed to shout something bad enough to earn him a clout on the ear from Wiktor. Geralt ushered Cirilla to the side  – they had just been training  – and pressed the two wooden swords into her hands while exchanging a few words. With a sharp nod the princess sprinted across the courtyard, disappearing from his line of sight  – into the armoury probably.

Then, Geralt stepped out of the shadows and his demeanour changed to what Jaskier called the Scary Face. From up here it looked almost a bit like a bird ruffling up its feathers. The thought made him smile benignly. The boy stopped struggling as soon as he saw the witcher looming above him.

Jaskier turned away. He had seen enough. "Have him brought into the hall," he ordered and went back to his desk to at least close his inkwell  – no need to waste the good ink by having it dry up.

By the time he got to the hall, his captive was already there, kneeling before the dais surrounded by no less than four guardsmen and a witcher. Jaskier clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Now that won't be necessary, I think," he decreed. "Leave us, please."

"My lord," Marin began warily, "talking to him alone would be highly inadvisable, in my opinion."

"Right," he answered as he took his place standing before the dais and placed his hands on his hips. "Which is why the witcher stays. The rest of you leave."

There was a fair share of reluctance on all parts but most of all on Geralt's: "I am not some common guard, my lord," he growled.

"Indeed, you aren't," Jaskier answered as soon as the three of them were alone in the room. "I just think the lad might appreciate a more private environment."

The kid laughed, high and clear. "For what exactly, my lord?"

"Ah," he said and leaned back against the dais, looking his captive over. "Not a lad at all, it seems. I am impressed, little girl. Do you have a name?"

"Alina," she answered. "And I am not little."

He raised one of his eyebrows. "How old are you, Alina?"

She raised her chin defiantly. "Sixteen."

"Right," Jaskier snorted. "How old are you?" he asked again.

There was hesitancy in her eyes before she cast them down and mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What was that?"

"She said she'll be fourteen in a moon's turn," Geralt answered for her. "My lord."

His eyebrows shot up. "Now I'm even more impressed. Cut her loose, witcher, Alina and I will have a nice conversation about how she learned to hunt."

The witcher grunted something Jaskier had long learned to interpret as surprise, but did as he was told all the same before retreating to one of the mighty columns that supported the ceiling. Alina rubbed her wrists slightly, obviously torn between looking at Jaskier in confusion and not wanting to anger him by doing so. "Get comfortable," he prompted and waited until she sat before him with crossed legs before he continued: "Who taught you how to hunt? I've seen your traps, they're wonderfully crafted."

She scoffed. "As if I'm going to tell you that."

"I'm not going to hurt you," he tried to assure her, "I'd have already done that if I wanted to. So? Any other master huntsmen or -women I need to know about?"

"Just me," she answered. "Now."

"And your father died when...?"

She flinched visibly. 'Ah.' He was onto something there. "My mother," she said after a while, "died a year ago. She's the one who taught me."

"I am sorry for your loss. Your father?"

"Ask yours," she shot back.

"Then I am doubly sorry that my family has caused you pain. Do you have any siblings?"

"Two," she admitted. "They're both younger than me."

"And there's no one left in Lettenhove to take care of you? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins? Maybe in some other town?"

She shook her head and there was the tiniest of sniffles.

"Oh dear," Jaskier said softly, fighting the urge to wrap her into a tight embrace. "I am so very sorry." He sighed heavily. "Go to the kitchens, Alina. You will receive a warm meal and food to share with your siblings. You will be taken care of for the winter."

She blinked in surprise. "Aren't- aren't you going to punish me, my lord?"

"I do not appreciate it when my game is being killed without my consent, that is true," he amended. "Therefore, you will come back in spring. I believe my huntsman is looking for a new apprentice."

She could do nothing but stare at him, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

Jaskier waved his hand at her. "Go now. You must be hungry." Still at a loss for words the young girl scrambled to her feet and rushed out of the room.

"Why'd you do that?" To his shame Jaskier gave a start, Geralt's voice much closer to his ear than he expected. "My lord?"

He turned to the witcher who stood barely two paces away from him and quirked his eyebrow. "Why did I do what?" he inquired.

Geralt gave a non-committal shrug Jaskier usually translated as 'whatever', but to his surprise he even elaborated: "Send her off with food. Promise to train her. Not punish her."

"She was hungry," he explained, "with no hopes of earning money. And she was scared."

"She could have lied," he suggested.

"Why should she?" Jaskier responded without hesitation. "I firmly believe that accused are innocent until proven guilty."

"To escape her rightful punishment? To steal from you?"

"I have plenty to share, it is no trouble at all." He fiddled with his signet ring, waiting for a response. It didn't take long for Geralt's silence to wear his patience thin: "Well, has she?"

"What?" Amusement made the lines around his eyes crinkle.

"Lied, I mean."

For that Jaskier was even rewarded with a tiny smile. "No, my lord. Not as far as I could tell."

"Good." Honest relief flooded through him. 'How terribly embarrassing it would have been,' he thought, 'to discover that my judge of character has betrayed me now.' Then, another thought appeared in his mind: "Do you think cousin Fiona is well enough to go riding with me today?"

"Hmm," Geralt made, thinking about it for a while. "I guess. Give me... give me an hour with her, my lord. I'll bring her to you."

He clasped his hands behind his back and nodded curtly. "I'm looking forward to it."

Geralt was a man of his word and not one hour later there was a timid knock on the door to his study and Cirilla entered, her eyes cast downwards. "Lord Julian?" she said so quietly he almost couldn't hear it. "I wanted to apologise. For disappointing you."

He smiled widely. "Oh, you mustn't. There is nothing to apologise for. The gods know I wouldn't look forward to spending all my time with old fools such as myself or our resident witcher."

She tilted her head, apparently unsure how to respond to that.

"Can I maybe tempt you to go for a ride with me now?"

She nodded eagerly. "I would like to."

"Good!" Jaskier leapt out of his chair and skidded over to her, offering her his hand to take, which she respectfully declined. That was just as well for him, same as the stoic silence she offered in response to his incessant babbling on their way to the stables. Geralt had to have alerted the stable hands, for they were already waiting there with Dancer and Dreamer, the two beautiful mares his sisters called their own. Both had recently received new saddles—he had discovered that, while saddles couldn't be embroidered once they were done, they could be branded, so now he had a saddle with buttercups and Cirilla one with little lions.

They rode out the gates at a leisurely pace, much slower than the breakneck speed Jaskier had grown fond of. But this ride wasn't solely for him; rather it was for the information Geralt had revealed to him on the previous day: Charming Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, the Lion Cub of Cintra with pretty gifts, was a futile attempt. The reason why he couldn't get her to like him was that she thought he didn't like Geralt. 'And that I am a total ass to everyone,' his brain added helpfully.

They had long left castle and village behind when he tried again: "Would you like to hear a story, cousin Fiona?"

"I would prefer not to,” she answered coolly. 

"It's a good story, I promise." She scowled at him. "And I am sure you have heard it before, though surely not from a raconteur as skilled as I am. Let's see, what do we need? Right, a stage: imagine the most beautiful place in the world. There are miles upon miles of fields with flowers, in every colour of the rainbow. Can you see it?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Good. Now, the actors. We have a Hero, of course, because every story needs one. Large and fearsome with a mighty sword and a mightier shield he uses to protect the Innocent. Ah, there's another character. The Innocent, who ask the Hero to save them from the Villain. There's a Devil in this story, and a King. And... well, there's also me."

"You?" she asked sceptically. "Why are you there?"

"No reason in particular," he smiled at her. "I am just... the Narrator, if you will, the most unimportant character there is. The story would have transpired just the same." His smile grew sad. "There just wouldn't have been anyone to tell it after. But let's not think of that." He cracked his knuckles drumming out a rapid rhythm on the horn of his saddle in lack of a lute to play. "Once upon a time in the late summer of 1247, there was a mighty Hero in a town at the edge of the world. A beautiful year that was, and there were many beautiful places, though none quite as beautiful as where we set our stage. And I was just- I was travelling the continent, looking for a story to tell. Not necessarily mine, just any, really. That's what the Narrator does, right?"

Cirilla didn't answer.

"I was in a beautiful little town, singing not quite so beautiful little songs, when it happened: the Innocents cried out to the Hero. The Hero accepted, of course. He set out to slay the Devil. And I followed him. Always in search of a story to tell, just as I told you. The Hero didn't want me there, of course; he was, hm, a lone wolf, if you will." He quietly laughed at his own joke. "Did I listen? Of course not."

"That's stupid," the princess interrupted him. "And you're telling the story wrong."

Jaskier smiled. 'Finally.' He knew his talent hadn't abandoned him. "Is it? Why so?"

"You're not the Narrator! You're just another Innocent, and the Hero is trying to protect you!"

"Am I? I'm not sure. You are never just one thing, clever girl. A hero in one story is a villain in another."

She scowled. "Well, then what is the truth?"

"The truth?" He contemplated that question for a while. "Why, my dear Cirilla, I believe the truth in this story is completely inconsequential. As is in most stories."

"That doesn't make any sense," she huffed in annoyance.

"Let's see if I can make it make sense." Jaskier thought about it for a little while. "It doesn't matter if the story I tell you is true or if I have made it up," he said finally. "Truth is not what stories are for."

There was a sparkle in her eye, akin to what he'd call curiosity. "Well, then what are they for?" He felt himself reminded of his days as guest lecturer in Oxenfurt. She wasn't even that much younger than the youngest of his students, although he'd always preferred to teach the older classes.

"That is the question every master poet asks themselves," he gave the same answer as always, "Why do we tell stories? Why do we listen to stories? What makes a good story? I fear I cannot give you one true answer as little as I can give you one true story. I can, however, give you the answer that is true for me."

He took the lack of an answer as an invitation to continue: "Stories are for emotions. They are to make you weep and laugh, to make you shout in anger and yelp in surprise. To make you feel wonder and terror and hate. And love. Above all, stories are there to make you fall in love. With the world, with the future, with the past. Love for the villains and the innocents. And for the heroes, of course."

Cirilla grunted, obviously displeased with the answer. Jaskier almost gave up when she didn't offer another reply. But then, to his surprise she asked: "How does the story continue?"

That put a smile on his face as he urged the horse up another path to extend their ride. That would take a while. He continued to give another rendition of his and Geralt's first meeting, a bit truer to the actual events than what he relayed in his first famous ballad. But with her he didn't have to fear that any harm would come to the elves of Dol Blathanna.

Once he had finished, she was silent for a long while. Then she said: "The Hero is Geralt." It was not a question.

"He is."

"Then the story is not a good one," Cirilla said decisively. "I know the ending and it is not a happy one. You hate each other."

Jaskier smiled softly. "Oh, my dear princess. That is exactly why I told you this story. I know this might look like a grim ending but I promise you, it is not. If there had ever been a time to hate him it was there in that shitty tavern in Posada, when he was the Butcher of Blaviken. Before I came with him. Before I had made him the White Wolf. Before I had spent half my life in service to him and his heroics."

"What did he even do to make him hate you so?"

Jaskier flinched at the wording of that. 'I don't hate him,' he wanted to say. 'Not for a long stretch.' Instead he asked: "Shouldn't you ask him that?"

"I did!" Cirilla insisted. "And he tried to explain. But I don't think he even knows what he did wrong."

His heart clenched painfully and suddenly he had the pressing desire to weep. 'You lying bastard, as if you don't know' he thought and felt the anger flare up again. "Then it is not my place to tell you."

"But he hurt you?" Jaskier turned, surprised at the genuine concern in her voice. 'Maybe she doesn't take that much after Geralt after all.'

"Yes."

"A lot?" She blinked at him with large puppy eyes and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and embrace her.

"Yes."

"As much as my grandmother when she-" Cirilla's voice broke and she gulped.

"Oh my," Jaskier breathed. "Oh, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of that, dear girl, I-"

"It's alright," she whispered, her voice thick with tears. "But it's nice to know that we have something in common."

Jaskier winced. "No, it probably hasn't hurt quite that much. But very nearly."

"Why?" she asked agonisingly. "How?"

"Sometimes the people we love most are the ones to hurt us most," he answered honestly.

She stared down at the reins she clutched tightly in her hands. "I still think it's a sad story."

"Oh, but you're seeing it wrong. We are not done yet; look around you." He spread his arms. "All the players are on the stage again! I think we are merely entering the second act. And I believe we might live to our happy ending yet."

She grunted and rolled her eyes, the spitting image of Geralt.

Jaskier couldn't help but laugh. The sound seemed to startle her. Did all sounds startle her or did he just laugh that little? "I see you are taking after our resident witcher."

"And that is a bad thing," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Not necessarily, no." He granted her a quick smile. "He's got a lot of good qualities. "

More silence followed as they ducked beneath the branches of a tree. Soon after Cirilla remarked: "You never say his name."

'She's very perceptive, that one.' Now it was him who stared at his hands, twirling his thumbs idly. "I suppose I do not."

"Why?"

He sighed heavily. How could he even begin to explain that? "I have shouted his name to every corner of the continent," he said thoughtfully. "The one you know and half a hundred others you surely will have heard. All to erase one unsavoury moniker. And it hasn't gotten me anything but rejection. I guess he has to earn it again."

They rode in silence for a while. To his surprise it was Cirilla again who spoke up first: "So you love each other?"

"I wouldn't know about him. But I guess I do."

"You don't kiss."

That startled Jaskier and Dancer snuffled when he pulled on the reins too harshly. "No, we don't. Never have."

"My grandmother and grandfather used to kiss all the time," she said with the innocence only a child could possess.

"I fear I cannot imagine that."

"It was gross."

He laughed. "That I can imagine. How about a faster pace?" he asked when they left the hill trail they had been on. When the princess nodded her assent, he pressed his heels into Dancer's sides, prompting her into a slow trot, not so fast that Cirilla couldn't follow. To his surprise she quickly sped past him and it was on him to catch up to her again, cursing and panting when he did.

"Cousin?" she asked, her voice lighter than ever before. "What about your name?"

"What about it?" he asked surprised.

"He said you forbade him to say it."

'Ah. That.' That truly wasn't his proudest moment. "I did."

"Why?"

"In part just because I was angry. In the beginning also, because I thought I could soothe my pain like that. I am no longer who I was with him and I can never be again."

"And now?"

"Now it's just fun to look at him trying to avoid saying it." He winked.

There was a smile tugging at Cirilla's lips. And then, for the first time since her arrival she laughed. It was a glorious sound, sweeter than any music he'd ever heard, as if sent from Melitele herself  – he swore he would treasure it for the rest of his life. "You're mean!"

"Only a little," Jaskier replied and laughed, too. It was the first true laugh that had passed his lips since- since the Dragon Hunt truth be told. "But don't tell him, I want to see him dance around it for a little longer."

She drew her fingers over her lips, signifying her silence. Then, she asked: "What about me?"

"What about you, dear child?"

"What should I call you?"

"You, my dear, may call me whatever you like." He smiled brightly. "Though I think I'd like it best if you called me Jaskier."

"Jaskier," she said, tasting the sound of the name on her tongue. "I like that. It sounds pretty."

"I was very pretty when I chose it."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed it with all those wrinkles."

Jaskier placed his palm on his chest, gasping in mock-hurt. ‘She and Yennefer would be a great fit,’ he caught himself thinking. "Now who's the mean one?" To his never-ending amazement Cirilla laughed again. "What about your name. What should I call you?"

"Ciri. It's what everyone calls me."

"And you would like me to belong to that chosen few?" he teased.

"Yes, Jaskier," she answered. "I would like that very much."

"You know what I would like?"

"Hm?"

He leaned over to her so he could whisper in her ear even though they were still a few good paces away from the gatehouse. "Sneak in the kitchen and steal baked apples."

Ciri gasped a little. "We can do that?"

"Pfft," he answered and sat upright again, "who's going to stop us? The lord?"

"Isn't your cook going to be angry?"

"That, my dear," he tapped her on the nose, "is half the fun." He swung from his saddle and extended his arms to help her down. "Come with me?" he asked and this time when he extended his hand, she took it.

Once they had raided the kitchen for baked apples and other sweets  – very unsuccessful in their attempt not to get caught  – he led her to the North Wing, past Armoury and Dining Room and Study, to the floor where his personal quarters were along with two other bedrooms. He pushed the door to the smallest of the three open and Ciri nearly dropped the plate she was carrying.

"What is this room?" she asked in wonderment as she stepped inside. There was a narrow bed on the other end as well as a desk, but above all it was littered with toys  – dolls and tin soldiers, a rocking horse and several toy swords, stuffed animals and balls and drums and everything a child could wish for. "Jaskier?"

"It's, um-" He cleared his throat. "It's my room. It was, rather. Until I was your age. A bit older maybe. I couldn't move you in here for propriety's sake, I'd never hear the end of it but you are welcome to come here anytime you like. Or the four bedrooms above, they're my sisters'. I'm sure they have more dolls and suchlike if you'd prefer tha- oof."

The air was pressed out of his lungs when Ciri hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered quietly and he gently stroked her head. "Can we stay for a while?"

He gulped. "Of course, little one. As long as you like." He sat down on the thick rug in front of the fireplace and watched the little princess flit around, seemingly eager to try out each and every one of the toys while he helped himself to the sweets they had abducted. Despite the host of toys in this room, he didn't have a lot of happy memories connected to this place. 'Maybe it's time to make new ones,' he thought.

"What are those?" Ciri shrieked in delight and showed a box to him.

"Oh!" he answered gleefully as he gingerly accepted the chest. "My puppets!" He had almost forgotten about them. "I invented my first stories with those."

"Can you tell me one? Or two?" she asked eagerly as she sat down.

"As many as you want. Let's see, I guess I'm a bit out of practice, but-" He dug through the chest, searching for the right puppet. "Once upon a time," he said impassioned as he tugged two of them free, "there was a Prince living in a tower. It was guarded by a fearsome Dragon..."

After no less than five of his earliest inventions his throat was sore from all the talking  – how had he been able to sing for hours, gods, what had his life turned into?  – and begged for mercy. Ciri, ever the lenient princess, granted it to him, moving the puppets about by herself for a while. Oh, what would he give to hear the story that bloomed in her head, a story about a knight with a fool's hat riding a kelpie with a prince no less?

"Jaskier?" she asked, hugging the prince close to her chest.

"Yes, Ciri?"

"What about the Narrator?"

"What about him?"

"In your stories," she explained, "everyone deserves to be loved. Even the villains. What about the Narrator?"

"I told you, my darling," he said softly, "his fate is inconsequential to the story. It doesn't matter whether he is loved or not."

"That's not true," Ciri whispered and for a moment he feared she would begin to cry, "Without him there would be no story at all. No happy ending." She hugged the prince closer. "And... it matters to me."

"Oh, my sweet darling girl," it was all he could do not to burst into tears, "the world doesn't deserve you." She looked very confused at that, so Jaskier offered: "Would you like another story?"

It was already getting late, Ciri was bedding her head on an embroidered pillow hugging a toy emperor tightly, and Jaskier could scarcely speak anymore when a quiet knock at the door announced Geralt. Ciri blinked sleepily up at him and Jaskier nodded curtly.

"I take it you had a pleasant afternoon?" the witcher asked. “And evening.”

"Very," Ciri answered and yawned as he leaned down to brush the hair from her face. "I like Jaskier."

Geralt gaped, though Jaskier could not say whether it was for the statement or the name.

He smiled contently and stood, walking over to the door.

Geralt cleared his throat. "You do not need to leave, my lord." 

"I know," he said softly. "But I believe you have a lot to talk about." He hesitated at the door and looked back over his shoulder. "Sweet dreams, Ciri. Goodnight, Geralt." The look he got from both of them was priceless.