#sometimes my uncle and auntie when they’re around

[ehnrat]

I recently got a care package from my mother that had a bunch of Jamaican snacks and drinks that I haven’t seen or eaten in a long time 😭 THEY ARE YUMMY BTW tamarind balls I missed u..

reminds me how I don’t get to experience/see/hear much from my culture anywhere unless we dig TwT

[queenie-ofthe-void]

Tiger Club (part 2)

Steddie || ~1.6k words || rating: M || tags: single-dad steve harrington, teacher eddie munson, teacher chrissy cunningham, eddie and chrissy are best friends, steve harrington is dustin and max's dad, dustin and max are twins, meet cute, humor and fluff

Part 1 || Part 2 (you are here!) || Part 3 || ao3

~~~

Weeks go by, and Eddie always seems to miss Steve’s pick up days. Chrissy’s only seen him a few times, but both her and Eddie have been privileged with the presence of almost every other adult family member in the twins’ lives.

Aunt Robin picks them up most days. She always feigns exasperation at Dustin’s boundless energy and Max’s sassy jokes, but laughs every time they tackle her to the ground. Eddie was surprised to find out she actually lives with the kids and their mysterious father. He considered asking her more about the situation, but decided it wasn’t his business. 

However, he did find out from Chrissy that Robin and Steve went to the same high school but ran in different crowds. The two reconnected working at Hawkins Hospital, Robin as an interpreter and Steve as a paramedic. They bonded over a particularly difficult patient who’d come in through Emergency and didn’t want someone like Robin working with him, not realizing– as Robin had joked– that Steve was someone like Robin too. 

The more Eddie learns about the duo, the more it reminds him of his relationship with Chrissy. It’s at least a small comfort to know they’re not alone in this backwards town.

Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jonathan are the next most frequent visitors. He learned Nancy is a journalist at the Hawkins Post, but is looking to get hired working remotely at a bigger paper like The Chicago Times or Indianapolis Journal. Jonathan is a free-lance photographer, sometimes working for Nancy or the Post, but mostly shoots weddings and family photos. They seem nice enough, although he once caught Jonathan checking him out in the same way Robin had, glancing between Eddie and his own wife with a smirk on his face. 

The nerve of these people checking him out, leaving him flushed and spluttering when they aren’t even interested.

Hell, he even got to meet Dustin and Max’s grandparents before meeting their mysterious and elusive dad.

“Munson,” Jim Hopper, Hawkins Chief of Police, the twins’ adopted grandfather, scowled at him. He looked about the same as the last time Eddie had seen him, maybe a few more greys in his mustache and lines around his eyes. Easier to see the fine details when Eddie’s not cuffed in the backseat making faces at him in the rearview mirror.

Jesus Christ, is he lucky Hopper only ever brought him back home to Wayne for dealing instead of throwing him in a jail cell for the weekend. Eddie was twenty the last time the Chief picked him up, almost a decade ago now. He practically tossed Eddie in the backseat, drove them both out to the quarry, sat him down, handed him a beer, and explained in fine detail the differences between being a juvenile delinquent and an actual felon. Needless to say Eddie quit dealing and decided his calling was more educational.

“Oh Hop, leave the poor boy alone.” The small woman next to them playfully back-hands the Chief’s beer belly to get him to back off. “I’m Joyce, the kids’ grandma. And you must be Mr. Munson! We’ve heard so much about you.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hopper,” he says, unsure of how to navigate this extremely awkward interaction. The Chief’s stern glare hasn’t left Eddie’s face since he stepped out of the car. “I, uhh, wasn’t aware that you had family, Chief?”

The man grunts, but uncrosses his arms, shoving one hand in his front pocket and wrapping the other around his wife. “Steve’s not my son, but I’ve been looking after that boy since I picked him up for his first speeding ticket. Just a few years before the kids, back when he was dating Nancy.”

“Wait, wait, wait a second,” Eddie interrupts, shocked “Nancy, as in Auntie Nancy and Uncle Jonathan?”

“Jonathan’s my boy,” Joyce answers Eddie’s slack-jawed confusion. “Nancy and Jonathan met just after her and Steve broke up, but they’re all still good friends, obviously.”

“Yeah, obviously.” Eddie zones out a bit, trying to connect the dots in the tangled web of Max and Dustin Harrington’s family life. “Wait, wouldn’t that make Steve my age? And if you raised him–” he points to Hopper accusingly– “then that means he went to school here. With me. So why don’t I know him?”

But Hopper’s already shaking his head. “Kid went to the private school two towns over. Parents have an estate on the opposite side of town from Forest Hills, just barely inside my jurisdiction. I’m not surprised you two didn’t cross paths, he was only ever here for sports, which–” he gestures at Eddie’s everything, and yeah, Eddie gets it. But an estate?

This is the most information he’s been able to dig up so far. He looks back to the playground where Chrissy is still trying to rally the twins’ spilled bags. It’s an opportunity Eddie refuses to pass on.

“And the twins?” He turns back and just catches the end of a silent conversation between the couple, eyeing each other while glancing at Eddie. They stop when they notice him watching, and Hop sighs.

“Dustin and Max came around just after his senior year. The kid was set up for a full-ride to Indy on a swim scholarship his dad paid for. The mom was a girl he met at a party, and he didn’t see her again until she dropped them off on his doorstep. Parents kicked him out, then I took them in. Same week I picked you up for the last time,” Hop adds on with a laugh, like this entire conversation is chock full of cosmic coincidence. “What a hell of a week.”

Eddie tumbles the new information in his head over and over throughout the next few days. He feels himself growing bitter that someone like Steve Harrington exists. Someone who sounds too good to be true. Fake, like the many charming princes and noble knights he’s woven into his campaigns over the years. Except it’s hard to deny when it’s not just the kids, and Auntie Robin, Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Nancy, or hell, even the grandparents. 

It’s Chrissy. Every time Chrissy gets to talk to Steve, she raves about him until Eddie starts fake gagging just to get her to stop. She typically rolls her eyes, but he’s sick of hearing about how great this guy is and at this point, he’s not even sure if he wants to meet him. No one’s this great.

“Don’t you think it’s weird,” Eddie rants, like he has been for the past ten minutes, “that he can’t even be bothered to pick up his own children? And it’s like you’ve said, Chris, even when he does pick them up he’s always late! What kind of father is that, really?”

He’s halfway through his second margarita, and he’s lost track of the conversation entirely, not sure how they transitioned from Chrissy’s hinge matches to Steve fucking Harrington. Again.

Chrissy frowns at him, and yeah, he might’ve went a bit too far there. Maybe he’s a little sensitive about topics revolving around bad dads.

“Just because you’re hungry doesn’t mean you get to be a dick, Eddie,” she shoots back, pushing the basket of chips closer to him as they wait for their food. “It’s not my fault you decided to switch to detention yesterday and missed him because you were cold. I told you it was going to be chilly out and you still didn’t wear a jacket.”

“I was wearing a jacket, Chris,” he pouts.

“An actual, warm jacket. Not that threadbare, leather monstrosity you got from Goodwill for ten dollars. Just because you cover the holes with patches doesn’t mean the holes aren’t there.” 

He lets out an undignified shriek, but she continues on to the actual conversation, used to ignoring his dramatics. “You know it’s not the same as with your dad, or mine. Steve really is a great guy, even if you refuse to admit it. I think you’re just jealous you haven’t met him yet.”

“Of course I want to meet him,” he snaps back, but Chrissy just grins in response. “I have to listen to everyone talk about how great he is, and I’m just supposed to believe it all on face-value? Honestly, I’m sick of hearing about him, and if we keep talking about this it’s gonna ruin my buzz.”

Eddie refuses to believe a former trust-fund kid who hosted parties at his estate just to act like a fuck-boy actually leveled up to become a loving single father who’s adored by his family and friends, saves literal lives every day, and is one of the only queer people in this god forsaken town. 

Not that he spends his free time thinking about a random guy he’s gathered enough general information on to build a well-rounded NPC. A disowned nobleman cast out from his kingdom into squalor. With the help of the lonely prince’s new found family, he redeems himself by serving as Hawkins’ most beloved Paladin. 

Again, not that he’s actually building this character for next year’s campaign or anything, it just goes to show how much people won’t stop bragging about this guy, and Eddie’s over it.

“You’d really like him,” Chrissy says, putting an end to his stewing. She’s smiling like maybe she knows something he doesn’t, and it reminds him of the same smiles he’s gotten from Robin and Nanna Joyce.

“Yeah, well I’d actually have to meet him to like him.”

[vvynia]

abby and your family’s thanksgiving

pairing: a. anderson x black southern belle!reader

genre: fluff w/ brief mention of smut (mdni)

word count: its headcanons so its short but idk the specific number sowwwy

warnings: not beta read, brief mentions of homophobia but only bc reader’s family isn’t like that, mention of family drama, pregnancy mention, brief moment where religion is talked about (saying grace/prayer)

synopsis: this is literally just headcanons of what would happen if our beloved abby anderson attended your family’s thanksgiving/reunion if you don’t celebrate. very much black reader-centric, but anyone’s welcome to read it esp if you’re from the south cause this is also heavily southern reader coded.

bringing abby anderson to your black (southern) family’s thanksgiving would be a sight to behold.

and imagine its everyone’s FIRST time meeting her too. assuming everyone is super cool and unhateful, i just know she’d have all the aunties’ attention. they see her height, her build and turn to you talkin about, “now, where’d you find her?”

abby would 100% be in ya grandmama’s backyard huddled around the grill with the uncles and dads. she’s got a lil beer in hand (she probably doesn’t even like beer but she likes fitting in and it isn’t all bad when the bonding is genuine) one of em goes “mhm that turkey bout done smokin” and abby is taking mental notes cause one day, she’s gonna smoke a turkey for you two’s family, in your backyard, and your grandkids are gonna be running around

the kids are OBSESSED with her. they climb her like she’s a jungle gym, ask her to throw them in the air, ask her all types of questions. “ABIGAIL! come play with us!” and she does, but the whole time she’s wondering how they discovered what her full name is cause she sure ain’t tell em lool

sometime after, she gets together in the livingroom with you and your cousins, then that one uncle or aunt comes in, says a few words, then leaves with a plate. the gossip commences lol and she’s so in tune to what ya’ll are talking about. she thought her family could dog somebody out?

all that pales in comparison to yall’s words. these sly (and sometimes even blatant) insults are unhinged, the storyline is juicy. she feels like she’s listening to an audiobook of lore. and whenever she asks a question for clarification, someone is always ready to start from the beginning with “see, what had happened was” and “to make a long story short” (the story was not made short)

then it actually comes time to eat, time for her to have her taste buds born anew

your family has whipped up some southern classics: sweet potato pie, pig feet, neck bones and collard greens, cabbage, pound cake, and every other dish you can think of.

you were in charge of the sweet tea, but this year you made a peach batch cause you know abby likes peaches 🥰

ya’ll say grace cause lets be real, if this is the south, somebody baptist and its probably the family matriarch lol

abby is respectful about it whether she believes in god or not cause your family has treated her with the most open of arms and she can feel the love and hospitality all around (if god is real, she thinks, he would’ve wanted everyone who believes in him to be like my sweet girl’s family)

when ya’ll are done and everyone has plated their food, they’re all silently waiting for the white girl’s reaction. they’re trying to play it off, be casual, not stare LOL but they know what’s coming i must admit

and abby doesn’t disappoint cause as you’re sitting next to her, soon as she puts some of them collard greens in her mouth and a couple candied yams and your grandaddy’s secret cast iron skillet macaroni recipe in her mouth, the satisfaction is written all over her face

everyone starts laughing when one of the kids say, “damn, girl, is it good?” to which they’re scolded lol but ofc abby nods like she’s trying to shake the hair follicles out her head

after everyone has ate and said what they’re thankful for (she says she’s thankful for you ofc but she leaves out how thankful she is for getting to strap you down at least twice a week), you two go sit on the porch alone.

you’re leaned against her in a two-seater rocking chair, bellies impossibly full, enjoying the gentle breeze and setting sun and the scent of food that is still wafting from the house

one of your cousin’s kids runs up from the backyard, comes up to you asking for help with opening a new toy, so you help

abby sees how cool you are, how in your element you are with your family, and this moment truly solidifies how much she wants this with you too. ya’ll have had the kids conversation before, so she knows you want at least one

she can’t help but think how gorgeous you’d look bein her housewife, barefoot and pregnant and divine and ethereal, starting a family, never having to worry for a thing bc she’s gonna take care of you

and she knows, when she needs it, you’ll take care of her too

I LOVE LOVE

[luvrodite]

do you have any specific headcanons for jay?

i was going to answer this later when i got home but ! i’ve got free time now so. some of these might be in line with canon or not, i’m just rambling

heavily scarred. facial scars on his jaw, he’s got one running through his brow, various others all over his body following resurrection. those + his general resting face make him seem quite intimidating but i do think that most people in gotham are unfazed by it.

keke and i were talking about this and i don’t think this is an original thought but he helps little old ladies cross the street. he makes sure the working girls get home safe. if he sees a kid out by themselves in his vicinity he keeps an eye out to make sure they’re okay too. i can imagine him returning some neighbour’s kid home when they’re a little far from home and probably not where they’re supposed to be. he’s chill about it but he makes sure they’re ok.

i think sometimes it’s hard for him and bruce to look at each other. this is me projecting but to me i think it’s hard to look at bruce sometimes and not feel grief that threatens to swallow him whole. grief that sometimes feels like hatred but that hatred stems from the hurt of being let down. i don’t know if this makes sense. feeling like a little kid in a too grown body knowing your relationship with your parent is never going to be as it once was and knowing you can never go back because you’ve seen them now. i don’t know.

finds it hard to be touched sometimes. certain sensations, certain places make his head empty and not necessarily in a good way. very guarded, both touch starved and repulsed. it’s difficult.

stranger in his body sometimes, and yet i like to think that most people see through the scars to what matters. he gets on with older people, who’ve seen life in a way that most his age haven’t. aunties and uncles love him, to his surprise. it takes him a little while to get comfortable when your family meets him, he’s careful of overstepping, but they love him. if he doesn’t come with you, they send you on your way with extra food to bring him and messages for him that he was missed.

likewise, at community gatherings of family friends, the little kids love him. the rowdier kids don’t blink an eye at him, more interested in his potential as a new playmate than anything else. he’s introduced and they’re tugging on his sleeve after a few minutes, ‘look at this trick i can do!’ and ‘come play this game with us but you have to be on MY team’ and several choruses of ‘hey that’s not fair!!!’ until he’s taking turns on each team. the shy ones are curious, but they stick to your side and he tries to make conversation with them. he only ever gets shy turns of their head pressed into your arm but you both hear from their parents later that the little one hadn’t stopped talking about him when they got home.

he’s every auntie’s saving grace because they can hand off their kids to him and actually have a good time. boyfriend of the year award for real even though he’s a little awkward and clumsy around them. they love him.

finds it difficult to sleep, and wakes at the slightest sound/movement. situational awareness courtesy of bruce/the league/life pre-robin i think. you can hardly ever sneak up on him without him turning to catch you before you jump on him.

sleeps easier hearing someone’s breathing. i think there’s a period of time when he and roy share a tiny space and he just gets used to the sound of it. idk something about not being alone but also it’s just soothing ? i don’t know. sleeps with a point of contact with you always. a hand on you or his foot against yours etc.

anyway i miss him so much thank you for asking

[poppitron360]

Okay so @green-tea217 requested that I share this fanfic based on this post that I made.

I never usually post my fanfics, but I’m feeling brave. This one isn’t finished, but I’ll post the first chapter ‘cause I’m really proud of it. I’m working on the other fanfics that were requested, but I’m posting this one first because I’ve worked rlly had on it.

Summary: Kind of an OC/FanChild fic about my hcs for Percabeth’s kids. VERY Leo/Nico heavy bc they’re my two favourite characters, particularly Leo.

TWs: Swearing, lack of smut (she is a teenager)

Disclaimers: I was still reading SoN when I wrote this chapter, and I am currently on HoH, so if I’ve missed anything that gets revealed later, that’s why. Also I listened to the audiobooks, so if I spell a name wrong, that’s also why, either that or I’ve spelt something the British way.

Chapter 1:

Olympia hated stories.

She hated telling them. She hated hearing them. She hated the way they were often twisted and bent to contain some kind of message. She hated the theatrics of sharing them around the fire, the hushed voices and dramatic tone. And she hated how every story she heard was almost always about her dad.

Olympia Grace Jackson-Chase.

Of course.

For as long as she can remember, people had told her stories about her parents. About her and her birth. How she had been born on Olympus. How Apollo himself had delivered her, and named her “Olympia Grace” so that it would rhyme with her last name. That wasn’t entirely true. “Grace” was the last name of her Auntie Thalia and Uncle Jason. She hated the stories about them too- about all her parents’ friends. They were myths and legends in the eyes of the other campers, to her they were just people who babysat her sometimes. The Cabin 9’ers had been shocked when she’d told them that the heroic son of Hephaestus who had saved the world from Gaea and her evil forces was actually just Little Uncle Leo, and the first Fire User in three and a half centuries isn’t very mythical and legendary when he’s running in from the kitchen, waving a tea-towel at the fire alarm and yelling “Oh shit, the guacamole’s on fire. I set the guacamole on fire. Don’t tell your mom.”

People never wanted to hear those stories. Only the exiting and dangerous ones.

“Percy Jackson fought the Minotaur when he was only ten years old!!!”

“Percy Jackson keeps insisting I tidy my room.”

Suffice it to say, she was sick of it.

“Dad,” she asked, approaching the kitchen table.

Perseus Jackson, the man, the myth, the legend himself, looked up from his comic book and ginned at her.

“What is it, dolphin?”

“Can you… like… not send me to camp this year?”

Her dad frowned, put The Amazing Spider-Man down on the table and leaned back in his chair.

“Why? What’s up? Are the other campers not nice to you there?”

“It’s not that… in fact, it’s the opposite. The attention is getting too much. I wanna learn to fight, but… I’d rather you just teach me yourself. You can show me how to use my water powers.”

“Oly, I know it’s hard, especially as you’re one of the first Legacies at Camp Half-Blood. I can absolutely arrange for you to not go anymore if you don’t want to… but there’s only so much I can teach you on my own, particularly with your mother’s workload. I want to make sure you’d be protected. Could you maybe give it a try, please?”

Olympia was pretty sure she’d been “giving it a try” for the last 14 summers, but she didn’t want to argue with her dad.

“Fine,” she said.

“That’s my girl,” he beamed, “Now, remember to pack your armour for Capture the Flag, I don’t want to have to drive out there and back just ‘cause you forgot it again.”

She sighed and left the room.

She just wished that he had stayed in the car when he’d dropped her off, but no. He insisted on walking with her to the Big House, saying hello to Chiron and generally being a huge embarrassment. It didn’t take long for the crowds of campers to form around them, whispering behind their hands. She hugged her dad, and said goodbye to him as quickly as she could.

She dumped her things in the Poseidon Cabin. She was allowed in both her mom and her dad’s old cabins, but she preferred to be alone to sleep. She did her activities with the Athena kids though, she didn’t want to stand out any more than she already did.

Olympia sat alone, perched on the edge of the Athena table, when suddenly a kid shuffled up next to her. She looked about twelve, with the same grey eyes of her mother.

“What’s your name?” The girl asked.

“Olympia Jackson-Chase,” Olympia sighed.

“I’ve noticed you doing cabin activities with us, but you don’t sleep with the other Athenians? What’s up with that?”

Olympia took a deep breath, and began to explain, “I’m a-“

“Wait. Jackson-Chase?” The kid gasped.

Oh, here we go, Olympia thought, preparing for the usual swooning and/or geeking out.

“Your mother was Annabeth Chase?”

Olympia was slightly taken aback, “Usually, people talk mostly about my father. I’m always “The daughter of Percy Jackson,” never “the daughter of Annabeth Chase.””

“Oh but she’s a legend! She re-designed Olympus! She led our cabin in battle against the Titans! She even held up the sky! I mean, I know your dad did that too, but-“

“She did it for longer. She was under that thing for over a day, he only held it for at most 20 minutes.”

The girl laughed.

“And, if you ask me, she was the one who did all the work when it came to defeating Kronos. Dad did jack shit, just handed a knife to a guy.”

“Exactly! Just because he was in the Prophecy-“

“Nah, it’s a lot simpler than that,” Olympia said, “It’s because he’s a man.”

They sat in silence for a bit.

She never blamed her dad for overshadowing her mom. He didn’t mean to. In fact, he openly hated the stories that didn’t recognise her for all she did. They were so in love, it was sickening.

“I can’t believe she’s, like, my sister.”

The girl gasped, and grabbed Olympia’s arm, “Wait, does that make me your aunt?”

Olympia shook her head, “Don’t bother with family trees, man, otherwise you get into the whole “my dad’s dad is my mom’s mom’s uncle, which makes me kinda my mom’s second cousin, and my dad her cousin-once-removed”- it’s just too much to get your head around.”

She looked directly into the girl’s grey eyes, “My advice, kid, believe whatever bullshit they tell you about the Gods not having DNA, and just try not to think about it.”

The girl’s face fell. “Oh.”

Then she looked exited again, “Did you come out of her tummy or her head like I did with my mom?”

And there we go, Olympia thought. Geez, they didn’t hesitate to ask the really invasive questions, did they?

She took her three-pronged fork out of her pocket, and fidgeted with it, twirling it in her fingers. Instantly, she realised her mistake.

“Why do you carry a fork around and never eat with it?” The girl asked. More questions.

Might at well get it over with, she thought.

“Gift from Grandpa,” she replied.

“A gift from Poseidon? What does it do?”

She sighed again, and dangled the fork over the girl’s glass of orange juice, and let go. It dropped into the glass with a satisfying plop, and then rose to the surface. No, it wasn’t rising. It was growing. It’s shaft elongated, and the prongs stretched to become longer and way more deadly. Intricate designs started carving itself into the metal. Olympia stood up, and grabbed the shaft of the fork just as it finished growing. A three-pronged death skewer of pure celestial bronze. A Trident.

The surrounding campers gaped at her, open-mouthed.

“Woah,” said one of the Hephaestus campers, clearly someone who hadn’t seen the spectacle before.

“OLYMPIA JACKSON-CHASE! NO WEAPONS AT THE DINNER TABLE! CAMP RULES! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT!!”

“Sorry Chiron,” Olympia called. She twisted a little ring of metal around the shaft of the trident, and it shrank back into a fork. She sat back down.

“It responds to water,” she explained, “get it wet, and boom, Trident.”

She had named it Blue. It was her first word, after all. Or at least, that was the story. Poseidon had given it to her on her second birthday, and she had just looked at it, holding it in her tiny fist, and cried “bloooo!” It was probably just baby babbling, but Dad said it counted.

“So what’s Poseidon like? Do you have water powers too? Can you get me your mom’s autograph? Is your dad really 7ft tall?”

She ate the rest of her lunch in silence, only answering the onslaught of questions from the young camper when she had to.

Cabin 3 offered a pleasant respite from the crowds and the people. She dropped her armour and weapons from the day’s activites by the door and kicked off her shoes.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

(Drawing of Olympia: Art by me)

Her curly black hair, which she’d dyed the tips of blonde, was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Around her neck hung a necklace of leather chord, fourteen different coloured beads threaded onto them, each painted with a different design. Her broad shoulders and thick muscles bulged through her plain navy-blue tank top. Her skin was tanned from spending long hours training in the sun. She had a battle-hardened look to her that meant people often mistook her for a daughter of Ares. But her eyes was what made her stand out most- one grey, like her mother, one green, like her father. Her parents had told her how her birth had ended the centuries-long feud between Poseidon and Athena for good, and she had been given those eyes as a way of symbolising that. Another story. It felt like every part of her body had been attached to a story about something her parents had done. Why couldn’t she just be herself? She had spent 16 years living under the shadow of her parents, she was homeschooled from an early age, and had been going to camp since before she could even hold a sword- the demigod life was all she’d ever known. Someday, she’d get away from it all. She’d sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and just study the fish, and she wouldn’t have to worry about people or monsters

Suddenly, she felt something tap her on her shoulder. Quick as lightning, she grabbed Blue and spun around. Blue, still in fork form, was about a centimetre away from the neck of her intruder, who held up his hands in surrender.

“Whoah there!” He said.

When she saw who it was, she lowered the weapon and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Leo!” She cried.

“Hey, how’s my favourite cousin? Or… whatever.”

She looked at him and smiled. Despite him being old enough to be her dad, he was about half her size. With a thin, wiry frame and very little meat on his bones. His wild, curly brown hair framed his pointed face and elfish features. His dark skin was covered in a thin layer of motor oil and grime of unknown origin. He tapped her cheek affectionately, leaving a grubby handprint on her face. He walked over to her bed and leaped onto the top bunk, his legs dangling off the ladder.

“You need to stop growing,” he instructed, “You are getting too big, it’s not fair.”

“You need to stop being so short,” Olympia retorted, then her face broke into a huge smile, “I feel like I never see you anymore!”

“I know, you’re too old for me to babysit now, kiddo,” He complained.

“Well that always ended in disaster anyway. There’s still burn marks on that wall.”

“Did your mom find out?” He asked.

“Nope. Dad told her he just wanted to hang more pictures up. And then he went on a long speech about how nice she looked in that wedding photo, and then took her out for ice cream. I think she bought it.”

“Good.”

They stayed in comfortable silence for a few seconds, and then she asked, “So… it’s great that you’re here and all, but… why are you here?”

“What, I can’t come and visit my favourite partner in crime every now and then?”

“Leo…” Her tone was firm.

Leo’s face was suddenly dark and serious, he paused before speaking, but said, “I think I have news about your brother.”

That was Chapter 1- if this post gets… let’s say… 30 notes, I’ll post Chapter 2.

[boldlyvoid]

Yours, mine & ours | Part 2: good dads

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington | Single Dads fic

Summary: Eddie adjusts to being a... dad? Guardian? He's not sure what to call himself. However, he does know he needs to call in backup.

Warnings: pure fluff, mentions of parental death, needles

Word count: 4.2k

Masterlist

By the time they pull up to Daryl's place, Matthew has a whole new wardrobe, he’s clipped into a brand new booster car seat and he’s so excited to meet Eddie’s friends. He hops out of the van and his light-up shoes shimmer against the pavement, his smile is infectious, making Eddie beam as they walk up towards the door. 

“Eddie!” Laurene is the one to open the door before they even get a chance to knock. 

She is the sweetest woman Eddie has ever met. With her curly red hair and her big toothy smile, she makes the most delicious cookies in the world and she would do anything for her family. And not just blood family, no, she takes in people as her family all the time. She has 3 families she babysits for, a few of her children have friends who practically live with them after school, and all Daryl's co-workers are always welcomed over. 

She has a big heart, and Matt’s about to experience it firsthand. 

She squats down to be at a child's level and she smiles, “You must be Mr. Matthew.” 

He nods, blushing a bit. “Hi.” 

“I’m Laurene, you can call me Aunty Laur if you want?” she reaches out for his hand and to Eddie’s surprise, Matt takes it with a nod. “It is so nice to meet you.”

“Thank you,” he answers with the smallest voice. 

Eddie runs his hands through Matt's hair, “he’s a little shy, but he’ll warm up. He’s also really excited to meet you guys… do you have any other kids over today?” 

“Just one, little Shelby is having lunch with the boys,” she explains while getting back up. “Come on in, I’ve got sloppy Joe’s ready for you guys in the kitchen.” 

“Speaking of; how are your kids?” He asks, ushering Matthew inside. “Take your shoes off, bud,” he whispers down to him. 

“Why?” He looks up with concerned eyes. 

“Some people prefer shoes off in their homes,” he explains while toeing off his Converse. “Put them beside mine right here, you don’t want to get outside germs on someone's carpet.” 

“Oh,” he nods along, sitting on the ground to pull the Velcro straps up and slip his shoes off. 

“The kids are good,” Laur answers his previous question with a smile, admiring the way they work with each other. “Liz is out with the girls, Joey is god knows where on his bike and Kenneth is on his second sandwich, you might want to hurry up before they’re all gone.” 

He laughs, “Sounds like Kenny.” 

Eddie leads him into the kitchen, hand on his back, “Have you ever had a burger before?” He asks. Matt nods, “Sloppy Joe’s are like burgers, but the meat is mixed with a delicious sauce. You should like it, but if you don’t, don’t feel bad.” 

“Okay,” he tries to smile through his slight anxiety. “Is Aunty Laur dad's sister?” 

He shakes his head with a slight chuckle, “No, sometimes aunt and uncle are names we give to grown-ups that are important to us. You’re going to see Laur and Daryl pretty often, they’re really special people in my life.”

“Oh, okay,” he follows along. 

“Matthew!” Daryl cheers as they enter the kitchen/dining space. “Pleasure to meet-cha!” 

“Hi,” he gives him a wave. 

Daryl is a bigger guy, around 6’3 and a few hundred pounds but he just calls it stuffing. He’s a big teddy bear and he shows that when he comes over and wraps Eddie up in a big hug. Matthew stands close to him, close enough that Daryl's hand comes down to tussle his hair as he pulls back from the hug, “Come have a seat, we’ll get-cha some lunch.” 

“There are boosters in the corner if he needs one,” Laur calls out from the kitchen. 

“I got him one for the car today,” Eddie explains as he grabs one and puts it on a dining chair. “It was scary driving to the mall without one but we got it.” 

“I never had one before,” Matthew shares, climbing up into the seat. 

“Yeah, well, that’s cause your dad didn’t like following rules,” Eddie says with the snippiest of tones. 

Little Shelby is sitting there quietly, not making eye contact with Eddie but she does stare at Matt a few times between her little bites of lunch. Laur comes over and puts a plate in front of Matthew, “this is Shelby,” she motions over to the toddler in her chair. “Shelby this is our new friend Matthew.” 

He waves at her, “Hi… she’s tiny.” 

“She is,” Laur smiles, soothing her hand over Shelby's hair. “You’re doing such a good job eating, honey. Your dad's going to be so happy when he gets here.” 

“Do you watch her most weekends?” Eddie asks. 

She nods, “Yeah, her dad has a few clients on weekends, so I take her for a few hours. She’s the best… I think you went to school with her dad, Steve? Steve Harrington?” 

He looks at her like she has 3 heads, “the king of Hawkins High has a kid?” 

She laughs, “he’s 26, it’s not that shocking. I had Liz when I was 21.”

“Yeah, but he’s… Steve?” Eddie can’t believe it. “He had a different girlfriend like every week, except for that year he was with Nancy Wheeler, but then he went right back to having a million girlfriends. He didn’t even go off to college? He was always with the kids from my club, he was like their babysitter or something?” 

“See, he had experience with kids and now he has his own,” Laurene pushes right back. 

“Sounds like you know a lot about this guy?” Daryl teases, knowing Eddie’s preference. He’s seen Eddie pick up a few guys from the garage, they come to get their breaks done and leave with a date. 

He tries not to blush, “I don’t. I just know of him. Everyone did. He was always around.”

Daryl just hums and takes another bite of his sandwich, leaving Laurene to pipe up. “Well, he’ll be here at 2 to get Miss Shelby and you’ll get to see how wonderful he is.” 

“Does his wife ever come in to get her?” He asks, wanting to know just who Steve Harrington ended up with. He wonders slightly if it’s Wheeler, or maybe he got with Buckley from band cause they were always together in her senior year…

“Oh, no,” Laur shakes her head, looking sad. “Um, no, she’s no longer with us.” 

“Oh,” Eddie's heart drops into his stomach. He looks at Shelby, so little and innocent and she’ll never remember her mom. Unlike Eddie and Matthew, who had the blessing of knowing their moms. For her, it’s either a privilege to not know how wonderful she was and what she missed out on or a curse to never have experienced the love of a mother. 

“But it’s okay,” Lauren’s voice gets even softer as she wipes sloppy Joe off Shelby’s cheeks. “She has me and Liz, and her aunty Robin, and grandma Claudia. She has so many wonderful women in her life.” 

Shelby smiles so much at all the names she just heard, lighting right up with that Harrington charm. 

“He’s still close with Buckley, that’s good to know,” Eddie nods along, taking a bite of his food finally. 

“They live together,” Daryl adds. “She’s the art teacher over at the high school now. They got a place together cause it would make them more financially stable.” 

“It was smart, they have enough room for all 3 of them and Robin goes to Indianapolis to visit her partner on weekends,” Laurene continues. “Which is why I get the pleasure of watching Shelly today.” 

“What does Steve do?” 

“He’s a hairdresser at the mall,” Kenny throws in. “He cut my hair here in the kitchen last week.” 

Eddie almost laughs but he knows better than that. He was always so… fluffy. His hair was always done, even after gym class, you’d expect it to be sweaty and ruined but he was able to make it look flawless. He smelled of expensive products, it wafted down the hallway when he’d walk by. It’s not really a shock that he’d want to get into that as a career. He probably makes a killing off all the girls who come in just to flirt with him while he touches their hair. Like when that Hargrove kid worked at the pool and the moms were drowning for the chance to be touched by him… Eddie can only imagine how many botched colours Steve has to correct. 

“Maybe he can cut your hair?” Eddie teases Matthew, nudging him slightly. “Unless you want to grow it out like mine. I’m surprised Al let you keep it so long.” 

He’s got messy hands from his sandwich so he uses his forearm to push his hair back, “I like it.” 

“Me too,” Eddie smiles at him. 

The conversation lulls a bit there, they move to talking about what they got at the mall, sizing and registration for kindergarten. Laurene knows some people at the elementary school, she dug up boxes of clothes and sorted aside ones that she thought would fit him. Just by looking at him, she knows she got it right. 

She helps Matt clean up his hands and face before breaking out the new clothes, letting him set aside the stuff he really likes. Which is almost everything. He’s so overwhelmed but also excited, that it breaks him out of his shell a bit. He gets comfortable with her, asking if he can try some of it on. This is how they end up doing a fashion show when Steve Harrington walks in the door. 

Daryl has Shelby in her lap as he walks into the house, “hello, anyone home?” He calls out in a teasing tone. “Where’s my favourite girl?” She lights right up at the sound of her dad's voice and starts to climb off his lap and jump up and down happily on the carpet with her hands flapping in front of her. 

“In here!” Eddie calls back in a girlish voice, the urge to piss off the popular kid never left when he exited high school. 

When he enters the living room, he’s also shoeless. His sock-clad feet pad over the carpet softly, he doesn’t walk quite as hard as Eddie imagined him to. That big head and all that hair aren’t as heavy as it looks.

“Munson?” He asks, taken aback a bit, just as Shelby runs into his leg for a hug. He scoops her up quickly, kissing her cheek and whispering that he missed her. 

“Harrington, how are ya?” He gives him a charming smile. 

He’s still just as pretty as he was in high school, just, older. His hair is lighter, he has highlights or something. His skin is more freckled, he’s put on a bit of weight and he has a cute little bit of facial hair going on. His lips are still pink and pouty, his nose still strong and his eyes still as welcoming as ever. 

“Good, good,” he nods, trying to not get too personal. “What are you dong here?” 

“Tada!!!” Matthew comes running down the hall from the bathroom towards the living room again, in green cargo pants and a yellow shirt this time. He does a spin and poses for them, smiling away and then he freezes when he notices the stranger. “Oh, hi.” 

“Hello,” Steve gives him a smile. “You look great! Yellow is your colour!” 

“Thank you,” Matthew blushes. 

“I didn’t know you had a kid?” Steve turns back to Eddie, “he looks just like you.” 

“Oh no, he’s—

“We have the same father,” Matthew cuts in. “Eddie’s going to be my dad though. He said dads are special and different from fathers, so if he keeps reading to me before bed and taking care of me and if loves me like Wayne loves him, he’s going to become my dad.” 

“Oh,” Laur holds her hand over her heart. “Did you say that?” 

Eddie nods, getting down to Mathew's level. “There’s no if buddy, of course, I’m going to take care of you and love you forever. You’re mine now.” 

“That’s…” Steve looks all choked up. “That’s so beautiful. Wow. Dustin always said you were good with the new kids in your club.” 

Eddie looks up at him with wide eyes, “Henderson? I haven’t heard from him in a while. How is he?” 

“He’s good, he’s graduating from MIT this year,” Steve says with a proud, almost fatherly nod. “He’s somehow always getting smarter, it’s actually crazy.” 

Eddie laughs, standing back up, he runs his fingers through Matt's curls and smiles at him. He remembers messing up Dustin’s hair all the time, Matt’s hair is so much like Dustin’s. And he’s smart. He’s going to end up being a little nerd too, he’s already so interested in Eddie’s things that he can’t wait to introduce him to DND and teach him how to play guitar. 

“Yeah, he was the best,” he reminisces. “Do you still talk to the others? Mike and Lucas?” 

He nods, “Yeah, Mike did a 2-year social work course, he’s working in Indianapolis for CPS.” 

“Oh,” that’s a little bit of a shock, but he’s probably good at it. Probably really good at it, actually. He brought in a lot of lost sheep for their D&D club after Eddie graduated, he basically took over Eddie’s role of leader when the older kids left too. He was always good at making people feel accepted and wanted. 

“Yeah and Lucas is at Notre Dame, he started on a basketball scholarship but also tried out for football. He’s their quarterback now. He brought them to NC double A championships this season,” he brags, so excited for him. He’s holding little Shelby’s hand and starts to bounce her slightly, making her smile. “We went up to see him play in South Bend a few times, didn’t we?” 

She nods, “Uncle Lukey.” 

“Yeah, Uncle Lukey,” Steve smiles. “She’s super shy, she can talk she just doesn’t talk often, which is weird cause she’s around Aunt Robin all the time and all she does is talk.” 

She rests her head on Steve’s shoulder with a smile, snuggling into him. “Oh, she’s tired,” Laur teases, getting up to gather all her things. “She had a good day today. We played Barbies and she helped me water the plants outside and then we had some sloppy joe’s for lunch.” 

“Ooo,” Steve plays up the excitement for her. “That sounds like a fantastic day.” 

Laurene hands him Shelby’s bag and runs her hand over her hair, “I’ll see you on Monday, sweet girl. We might have our friend Matthew back for some afternoons too.” 

Eddie hasn’t even asked her about that yet. He still has so much to do before he looks for a babysitter— like sign the kid up for school, but it’s good to know she’s already down to watch him. She’s such an amazing woman with such a huge heart, of course, she’d want to take in another little kid to take care of and love while their parents work. 

“Oh, fun,” Steve bounces her again, making her giggle a bit before he pulls an envelope out of his pocket to hand to Laurene. “Well, thank you so much again, we will see you on Monday.” 

“You will,” she quickly puts the envelope in her own jeans pocket and waves to Shelby. “See you later, have a good rest of your Sunday with Daddy!” 

Steve takes her back to the entryway to get their shoes back on and Matthew follows, which makes Eddie follow him. “Hey, hey, we’re not going yet.” 

“I wanted to say bye?” Matthew almost whines, sad. 

“Oh, okay,” Eddie gives in quickly. 

“It’s okay,” Steve assures him. “You’re so sweet, buddy. What’s your name?” 

“Matthew,” he smiles, bursting out of his shell. 

“Well, Matthew, it’s been very nice to meet you,” Steve compliments. He sets Shelby down on the bench near the door and reaches for her shoes. “It’ll be nice for Shelby to have a new friend near her age.” 

“How old is she?” He asks. 

“She’s 3,” Steve smiles. “Aren’t you, Shell.” 

She nods, holding up 3 fingers, still not really talking. 

“She’s smart,” Matthew compliments. “Can she read?” He asks, something Eddie asked him just yesterday. 

He nods, “a little. She watches Sesame Street and they’ve been teaching her a lot of stuff before she gets to go to school. And I read to her at night, she’s started to pick up on what words look like and she’ll read things out to me.” 

“Wow,” Matthew thinks that’s just the coolest thing. “You’re a good dad.” 

Steve puts his hand on his heart, “thank you.” 

“And I like her shoes,” he points. They light up too. “I got new shoes today.” 

Steve reaches over to the brand-new, light-up shoes on the carpet, “these?” He holds them up. 

“Yeah!” 

“They are so cool!” Steve hypes him up. 

It makes Eddie’s heart swoon. 

Fuck.

Yeah, okay, maybe Steve Harrington has always been good-looking… but seeing him with kids. Seeing him with Eddie’s “kid”… that makes his heart swell so much. He’s so kind and being a dad looks so good on him. His weird little crush on King Steve has started to resurface.

He’s doomed. 

Once Steve stands up again, he slips into his shoes, grabs the bag again and picks up Shelby, all while still talking to Matthew about reading. 

“Yeah, Eddie’s reading me Lord of the Rings,” he brags. 

Steve laughs, “Of course he is. I’ve heard it's a really fun book.” 

He nods, “it is.” 

“Okay, well, it’s been so nice talking to you but we’ve gotta get home now,” Steve says as nicely as possible. Reaching for the door handle. “You have a good day, Matthew.” 

“Thank you, you have a good day too!” He calls right back, waving as they slip out the door. “Wow… he’s so nice.” 

Eddie smirks, “he is… he really is.” 

—

Daryl gives him Monday off so that he can get things settled with Matthew. They take a trip up to Indianapolis in the morning, they see a doctor and find out that Matt's had most of his vaccines when he was 3, before his mom died, he just needs them updated… but he was so young when he had them last, he doesn’t remember what they’re like and it’s scaring him. 

He’s cuddled into Eddie’s side while the doctor preps the shots. He’s shaking a bit, he looks up at Eddie with big sad eyes that break his heart, “it’s okay,” he runs his hand over his hair, soothingly. “You’ll be okay.” 

He starts to cry a bit, not believing him. So he does the only logical thing. 

“Do you have like a flu shot or something you can give me?” Eddie asks, “I just want him to see that it’s not painful, I’ll get one first so he knows he’s safe.” 

“Oh, yeah,” the doctor nods. “I can give you a tdap but you’d have to pay $45, it’s good to keep those updated.” 

“What is it?” 

"Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis which is whooping cough,” she explains. “It’s good to get them every 10 years, you might’ve had your last one at 16.” 

“Yeah, I might’ve,” he shrugs. He really has no idea. “Let's do it.” 

So, she finds another vial and she fills a needle all while Eddie takes off his jacket and pulls up his sleeve. “You can watch, if you want?” Eddie assures him. “They don’t hurt. It goes in for a few seconds and it helps keep you healthy and makes sure other kids don’t get sick because if you don’t get these, it could hurt other people.” 

“Oh,” he takes a deep breath, wiping his eyes. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.” 

“Cause you’re a good kid,” Eddie reminds him. The doctor approaches him with the needle and he reaches out his hand, “Here, you hold my hand and then I’ll hold yours when it’s your turn.” 

He nods, gripping Eddie's hand tightly. 

“Okay here we go,” the doctor says as she puts it in his arm. “1, 2, 3, and we’re done.” It’s over just as fast as it started. 

“Wow,” Matthew whispers. 

“See? It didn’t hurt,” Eddie shrugs it off, pulling his shirt sleeve back down. “Let's get your arm ready.” 

Eddie helps him take off his sweater and push his t-shirt sleeve up, he sits on Eddie's lap and Eddie holds his hand. “You don’t have to look, you can look over there at the wall,” he explains. “You’re doing so good.” 

“Okay, so I have to do 2 different shots, so we’ll do one in each arm, okay?” She explains, waiting for a nod. 

Matthew takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, “do it.” 

“Okay, brave guy,” she says as she sticks it in his arm in one fluid motion. “1, 2, 3, and we’re done.” 

He opens his eyes, full of shock and awe, “see, it wasn’t that bad?” Eddie teases him. “You did great.” 

“Best patient I’ve had in a long time,” the doctor compliments him too. She gets the other needle while Eddie helps him roll up his other sleeve. He looks the other way, closes his eyes and she does it all over again. “1, 2, 3, and that’s it. You’re all done.” 

Matthew lights right up, “I did it?” 

“You did it,” Eddie hugs him. “You’re so brave, buddy.” 

They get his paperwork done, proof that he’s up to date on his vaccines and info on when he’ll need more. He had a checkup 2 days ago when he arrived with CPS, they took him to the hospital for that tho… it’s Eddie’s understanding that Al was selling drugs from their apartment, there was worry that he was making them there too and that the fumes and chemicals were affecting Matthew, but there was no proof of that. No lab, no equipment, and no trace of anything in Matthew's bloodstream. 

Thank god. 

They stop for lunch before they head back to Hawkins, a couple burgers and fries at a little diner neither of them has been to before. The waitress fawns over Matthew, loving his curly hair, saying he looks just like his daddy… and they don’t correct her. They simply say thank you. 

On the way home, Matthew is in his car seat in the back of the van, tapping his fingers on his knees along to the music. Eddie watches him in the rearview mirror with a smile. He’s the cutest little guy in the whole world. He’s opened his heart right up, he can’t imagine a life without him now. This was where he was supposed to be.

He turned the music down a bit, looking at him through the mirror once more, “how are you feeling, buddy?” 

“My arms hurt a little,” he says trying to be brave about it. 

“I’m sorry buddy,” he apologizes. “Do you think you have enough energy to come with me to the school to get you registered?” 

He nods, “Yeah.” 

—

Well, he didn’t. 

By the time they reach the “Welcome to Hawkins” sign, he’s asleep in his chair. Eddie doesn’t have the heart to wake him up and drag him into the school, so he simply drives right to Wayne's trailer. 

Wayne doesn’t leave for work for another 2 hours, it shouldn’t take Eddie that long at the school. He lightly wakes up Matthew as he picks him up, “hey buddy,” he whispers. “You can go back to sleep in a second okay, I just need you to know where you are.” 

He just groans, “where?” 

“This is grandpa Waynes trailer,” he whispers, holding him close, Matthews head on his shoulder. He walks him up to the door and opens it up without knocking. 

“Ed!” Wayne light right up and then quiets down, “oh, hey.” 

“Matty, had his shots today and he’s tired but I have stuff to do at his new school, can you—

“Of course,” Wayne reaches out for him, taking him from Eddie with a groan when he realizes how heavy the kid is. He puts him down on the couch, head on the pillow and reaches for a blanket to cover him. 

Eddie kneels down in front of him and brushes his hair back off his face, “I’ll be back soon, you’re safe with Wayne. You have a good nap and I’ll see you later, okay?” 

He just hums, “Bye da-Eddie.” 

He smiles, leaning in he presses a kiss to his forehead and stands again. Wayne is swooning a bit, he never thought he’d see Eddie with a kid of his own, but here he is. “I’ll be an hour at most, I don’t think getting him registered will be that hard.” 

“Do you have all his information?” Wayne asks, making sure he doesn’t get all the way there and needs to turn around. 

“Yeah, in the van,” he points as he reaches the door again. “Thank you for—

“No need, he’s always welcomed here,” Wayne assures him. “It’ll be nice to have a mini Eddie to watch again.” 

He slightly chuckles, “Okay, well, have fun. I’ll be back.” 

Single Dads fic

@stevesbipanic @panicatthediaz @jizzing-bastard-600and69 @sharingisntkaren @ellietheasexylibrarian @missmagillicuddy @platinum-sunset 

Steddie

@nosaladallowed-ao3  @wifeyreid @girl-with-an-orange-cat @sunshinemunchkin @luna-munson83 @manda-panda-monium @steve-thehair-mamabear 

[butterflyscribbles]

I love Terra so much, she and Don can have my entire heart!

Do you have any more info/lore/art about her

EEE thank you! It makes me so happy to see people like her!💜

I have some fun facts for Terra fans:

- Her puppy dog eyes may fool you…but she’s a bit of a rebel too. Classic “overprotective parent” and “curious kid who just wants to be a part of things” dynamic. While transferred to her smaller shell, she’ll sometimes stow away into April’s backpack, Leo’s hip pouch, etc. to get included on missions…though as long as Don isn’t around, Uncle Leo and Auntie April usually keep her secret…Uncle Raph and Uncle Mike are another story lol. They’re snitches.

- Her favorite movie is Finding Nemo. She really wants to go to the ocean someday (dw she’s waterproof).

- She helps Don in his garden all the time. She chases out all the pesky bugs that will cause damage to his plants. Lavender is her favorite and Donnie planted a whole patch for her to lay in.

- She’s got the same abilities that Donnie’s goggles have installed in her eyes. When she uses it, her eyes turn blue and red like his goggles.

- After one of her later software updates, Donnie notices she started making this high pitched whirring sound when she goes into sleep mode while charging. He frets and runs a million tests, scared that she’s over heating or buffering……..only to learn she’s just snoring.

- Don’t tell her dad….but she likes Mikey’s music taste better than his.

- She loves scritches just like Shelldon did. She may not be able to feel it in the same way but it’s all about being cuddled and pampered that she loves<3<3<3

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Seven (Part 3)

The sun has already begun its descent behind the horizon when we all sit down to eat at three o’clock. These later December days are so short that sometimes I wonder why the sun bothers to show up at all, and why not just give up its teasing and go away altogether until it’s ready to stay and commit to a decent amount of daylight. 

The candles in the centre of the table flicker and dance in the fading light and the lights on the christmas tree twinkle, and the sight is so cosy and festive that I suppose I don’t really mind all that much about the dusk. Uncle Sean sails out of the kitchen carrying the huge roasted turkey fit for ten, and everyone applauds with delight as he smiles as though he’s the one who slaved over it all morning. He places it right in the middle of the table surrounded by the roasted carrot batons and the crispy roast potatoes, parsnips, mash, brussels sprouts, homemade yorkshire puddings, ham studded with cloves, gallons of gravy and bread sauce, so much food that one might think it’ll last for days, but it will be gone in an hour.

Granny makes us say a prayer in thanks for the food, and the minute we’ve finished Conor and Decky start lunging for it, taking heaping spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, great big hacks of meat and drowning it all in gravy while Aunty Catriona stares at them like they’re wild animals at the zoo. 

“Leave some for the rest of us, please.” she says to them and Uncle Sean laughs. “Sure they’re growing boys, Cat, leave them at it.”

“They’re gone past growing, sure they’re twenty six and twenty three.”

“G’way, Catriona.” Says Conor with a mouthful of honey roasted ham. “There’s plenty for us all.”

Sean turns to Fabiana next to him as the food makes the rounds of the table. “Bread sauce, love?” He says, holding up the jug, and she pulls a disgusted face and shakes her head, and as he passes it over her to granny, Fabiana looks over at me with a little, secretive smile. I grin back, pleased that she’s chosen me as an ally among the chaos of this family dinner. 

Somebody opens a bottle of red wine and she reaches for it and then bends over the table and starts pouring it into my crystal glass, the ones that only come out of the cabinet on Christmas day. I feel my mam’s eyes on me as I have a drink from it. 

It’s a while before anyone tries to speak, our mouths all full of food as we ravage what’s on the table. I’m so hungry now that I can’t think of anything else, the food tasting a thousand times more delicious because of how long I’ve waited for it. 

“So Michael, how’s the new job going?” Catriona says to my dad eventually, once her plate is about three quarters of the way finished. “I know you were let go from your previous one recently.”

“Going grand.” He says, patting the corners of his mouth with a cloth napkin, his movement a little bit slow and sloppy. “I work nights now in the factory, worse conditions, I suppose, but better money. No big change from the last place to be honest… we make catheters now.”

“Ah, I suppose you’ll take what you can get. That’s how the economy is these days.”

A pause. “And how’s the love life, Cat?”

“Well actually I amn’t seeing anyone at the moment.”

“Oh right. What happened to yer man?”

“Who?” Says Sean, and my dad waves his fork around at aunty Catriona, searching for the right name. 

“The fella from accounting at her work.” He settles on eventually, and she rolls her eyes and goes back to her food. 

“Not seeing anyone.” She repeats. I take a large glug of the red wine. 

“That’s a pity, sure we were all hoping for some news about more grandkids.” My mam elbows him in the arm, and he looks at her in surprise. “What?” 

“Dad and Fabiana are already having another baby, did you not know that?” Says Decky. “She’s seven months pregnant, like.” 

“Ah yeah but sure like…” He trails off, and I feel hot with embarrassment of him already, as clearly he’s already had a few drinks too many. His eyes are watery and heavy. I drain the end of my wine glass and Fabiana immediately fills it again. 

“Anyone tried the brussels sprouts?” Says granny. “They’re especially delicious this year.” 

“No, brussels sprouts are sick.” Says Conor. 

“They’re very healthy for you.” Attempts Fabiana and he immediately rolls his eyes at her. 

“Yeah, alright. Can we talk about something else?” I stiffen and look from Conor to Decky, Fabiola to Sean. Clearly something is not right in their family this Christmas, and I wonder how the boys really feel about their father dating a woman young enough to be their sister. I watch her face fall and the way that she goes back to picking at her food with a bent head. 

“Tell your granny about school.” Sean says to his youngest son then, and Conor regards him with total incredulity.

“I’m graduated, dad.” 

“Are you? Weren’t we at that yoke in your university only last month?”

“Yeah. My graduation ceremony.”

“Oh right, yeah.” 

“I’m working with the county council now.”

“Forgot about that.”

The only sounds at the table are the scraping of silverware against the plates. I take another long drink from my glass and instantly Fabiana is wielding the bottle again. I have a feeling she’s going to have me drink the whole thing, wishing it could be her instead. 

“Fabiana.” I say softly. “You’ve got to slow down. I have a hard time saying no to people.” 

“Just a bit.” She says, and then to my horror, all eyes are on me as my mam starts a fresh tirade. 

“Since when do you drink?” She says accusingly into the silence. 

“Um. I don’t know.” I say feebly, feeling like a child caught rotten doing something against the rules. 

“She’s drank for years.” Decky pipes up unhelpfully. “Remember I saw you drinking cans of cider outside Kennedy’s pub in town after you and your friends weren’t allowed in. What age were you then? Must have been fifteen.” He’s laughing because he thinks he’s told a funny anecdote, but he has no idea how tone deaf it is. I stare at him in disbelief. What is going on at this dinner table? How did he think that was an okay thing to say? My mother’s eyes narrow at me. 

“I’m eighteen.” I squeak. “I can drink if I want to.”

“Is this what you’re doing up there in Dublin?” She demands. “Up in those pubs drinking away all of your money?”

“No, mam. I’m not like that.”

“I’m disappointed.” She says, and then looks from me to my father with a resigned look on her face, and I know what she’s thinking. That I’m going to end up just like him, stuck to the bar in some pub all weekend until I get carried out by the bouncers and tossed into a taxi only to crash into the house at two in the morning and fall asleep on the couch until noon. Going from work to the drink and then back again in this endless, drunken spiral. 

“There’s something about women who drink.” She announces to the table. “I think there’s nothing worse, nothing less attractive than that. You know, when you see a man, messy drunk, stumbling on the streets, it’s bad enough, but when it’s a woman it’s a hundred times worse.”

“That’s sexist.” I say to her. 

“It isn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because it isn’t the same, and I don’t appreciate this new bolshy attitude you have. Where are you picking up all these notions?”

“You can’t just say ‘it isn’t’ and then not have any reason why. That’s the definition of a double standard.”

“Well it’s my opinion. What do you lads think when you see drunk women out on the street on a Saturday night?” She closes in on my cousins who look at each other and shrug, mumbling incoherencies. 

“You wouldn’t go out with someone who did that, would you?” 

“Uh I dunno.” Decky says. “Depends.” 

I feel a horrible lump in my throat and my chest hurts. I hurt. I take a steadying breath before I speak in case I cry. “Are you saying that’s the reason you think that I…” I trail off, too humiliated to finish my sentence. 

She looks into my face then, wavering slightly but not backing down. “Boys don’t like girls who drink.”

I look at my father, drunk at three in the afternoon, lazily eating his dinner without bothering to close his mouth all the way. “So they like girls who enable their drinking instead, right?” I say and when her face falls I realise it’s too late to take the words back. They’re out there, filling the room with this dreadful, grim weight, but I continue anyway, throwing my hand up in the direction of my dad. “Is this what you want for me?” I ask her. There isn’t a sound from anyone at the table, not even a clink of glass against the delft, and my mother just opens her mouth and closes it again. I get up from the table in a hurry, the chair scraping against the floor. I throw my napkin onto my plate and rush out of the room and up the stairs towards the bedroom that granny has made up for me. 

“Does anyone want the Christmas pudding?” I hear her murmur to the table, before I shut the door behind me. 

Prev // Next

[ohtobeleah]

Concept for ToE, Jake and amalia do a day trip the kiddos somewhere? 👀

Terms of Endermeant // Jake Seresin

It’s when You & Bradley and the three Kiddos do a massive family trip to Australia for Christmas to spend it with Amilias Family.

Jake and Amilia do three months in the US and three months in Aus. Sometimes it’s longer. But whatever the timeframe they go together and together always.

When Jakes in Australia he’s posted up in Townsville—which means Amilia works in Townsville too. They buy a house that’s not too big but also not to small and rent it privately to one of Jake’s new squadron buddies. Gucci – The guy was quite drunk in a bar one night, met a girl and subsequently vomited….in her designer purse. Apparently it was Gucci.

When Amilia and Jake are back in the states, Amilia works with Penny. Everyone loves when Amilias in town because the Hard Deck becomes this weird hybrid between American Naval Culture and this crackhead bush back Aussie pub. The new thing when the bell is rung for inappropriate behaviour is a shoey……An Amilia specialty she.

But enough about that—because Jake and Amilia invite the Bradshaws on a little holiday get away. And involved with that is unlimited babysitting. It’s needless to say that Aunty Amilia spoils Odette, Riley and Nicky with absolutely everything and anything she can. Her and Jake never have kids of their own so your children are subsequently the closest thing they have.

So—while you and Bradley are out exploring the coastal town that is Port Macquarie, Amilia and Jake happily pack the Bradshaw kids up into the car and head out to Ricardo’s Tomatoes where the kids could roam free and pick strawberries till there little heart’s content.

Now I’d say this particular adventure is around the time Odette is nine. Which makes Riley five and Nicky just over one. Amilia has little Nick strapped to her chest, Riley’s holding onto her hand while he guides her through the rows of strawberry plants that are propagated in what looks to be white plumbing pipes.

Jake and Odette however—well, they’re running around the strawberry patch trying to fill up their respective buckets with as many strawberries as they possibly could. They had a bet going, who could fill they’re bucket the most.

“I have more!” Dots laughs as she comes racing around the corner, Jake had confiscated her scissors so she’d just resorted to ripping the ripe red berries off the vines.

“There’s no way kid!” Jake races past at the speed of light trying to fill is bucket up with bigger more plump strawberries. He knows that come weigh in it’s not about the amount of delicious berries in the bucket but the weight of said fruit. “You’ve got no chance.”

“I’m telling mum on you!” Amilias laugj fills the undercover strawberry field as she knelt down the help Riley cut some fruit from the plant. “Child neglect is a real thing—“

“I’m not neglecting you I’m teaching you a valuable lesson!” Amilia can’t even see her husband, she can just hear him shouting across the strawberry patch at his niece.

“What’s that lesson hun?” Amilia had to ask, she was just intrigued.

“That I’m better at picking strawberries than that little pipsqueak—“

“Name calling is a form of bullying!” Dot shouts out from across the rows of strawberries. She’s picking everything strawberry she sees. “I’m telling mum you’re bullying me! She’ll never let you see me again, is that what you want? Huh uncle Jake?”

“Your mother left you willingly in my care, and trust me honey she ain’t coming back in a hurry to collect your not winning this strawberry picking challenge ass—“

Odette does pick the most strawberries that day, and it’s at lunch in the little cafe that she eats as many as she possibly can. Nicky is sleeping in his pram peacefully as Amilia slowly rocks it with her food.

“You let you win that l, didn’t you?” Amilia asks her husband softly as she watched Jake peruse through all the different kinds of jams and chutneys for sale. Handmade and locally grown. From tomato to apricot. He shakes his head in defeat with near deflated shoulders.

“Nah fuck that kid I was gonna demolish her.” He grumbled. “Don’t tell her though but I didn’t have the heart in the end and at the weigh in I took some out of my bucket and put it in Riley’s.” Amilia couldn’t have been more in love if she tried.

This could have been Jake and Amilia. The family life with three kids. But it wasn’t and it was never going to be. That was just a fact of life they’d accepted. They weren’t meant to be parents and that was okay.

They were the coolest Aunty and Uncle around though.

[maeleelee]

Colored interjection

He swore he’d never love again, especially after everything he’s seen. He couldn’t understand why people loved love. He watched his two best friend fall out of love, his other best friend fought with his ex all the time, his parents split, and his brother is going through a split. What’s love when everything around you is tainted? How do you explain you love someone when you don’t even know what the feeling is?

⚠️Minors please do not interact with this AU⚠️

Welcome to the world of Prismatic Shards where there’s structure, beauty, elegance, chaos and pain.

warnings: None for now.

Prologue.

Mingi sat there with the band as they were practicing. Soon they’d be going on to play. He had a cough drop in his mouth since he was the screamer and didn’t want to die by sore throat that night.

“Eunji gonna be here tonight since I get her for the day tomorrow, then I’ll probably go get dinner with the group since it’s her birthday as well.” Wooyoung stated to the guys.

“Be good. Got it.” Mingi nodded. The one person he did love was his niece. He took her in as soon as he met her and they’re all wrapped around her finger. “How old is she now?”

“She turns four tomorrow.” Wooyoung smiled brightly. Everyone was glad he stayed even after Mae told him to leave. She had her reasons and no one hated her for it.

“Damn she’s growing fast.” Yeosang said as he sat on the couch.

“Right? Just yesterday I was holding her in the hospital room.” Wooyoung sighed, looking at the photo he had of the three in the back of his phone.

“Man, when are you just gonna tell her you still love her? I see the way you look at her.” Seonghwa asked him. He was the reasonable one when he came to relationships, sometimes.

“Because she hates me but it’s fine. I get to see her and my baby Eunji almost all the time.” He smiled at the band.

Mingi still didn’t understand how he love her after she broke his heart, after she walked out on him, but Mingi couldn’t understand love in general. What was the point if love fades? What was the point if love doesn’t always stay?

~

Y/n giggled as she watched Eunji giggle in her shark outfit.

“Mommy. We go see daddy?” The little one smiled brightly.

“Of course baby. You wanna put the new shirt uncle Caden got you on?” Mae asked Eunji. Y/n loved how much Mae grew as she had Eunji. She put herself forward and made sure they had the life they needed and deserved.

Y/n moved in after Mae left Wooyoung. She was so in love with him but his practice always came first and she couldn’t help but feel a little heartbroken because of it. Y/n became Mae’s help when Wooyoung couldn’t be there.

They made more friends along the journey and everyone loves everyone like they’ve all been friends for years.

“Can I wear the one daddy got me?!” The soon to be four year old asked.

“Anything for you baby.” Mae smiled and walked to the bedroom.

“Auntie y/n. When are mommy and daddy gonna get back together?” Eunji pouted.

“Oh baby. I wish I could answer. They love each other though so hopefully one day.” Y/n smiled at her and kissed her head. “Hopefully one day.”

Masterlist Groupie || Band

@xstarkeyeditsx @imagine-a-life-like-this @mxnsxngie @cadenonlinelive @acrylishly @bunnyiix @babyboyquokka @choisoorin @littleleatabixx @weird-bookworm

[starsurface]

Ok so, bit of a niche one…and possibly the first of many 🫣 little/diapered Defenders of the Realm Liu Kang? He’s such a cutie in that cartoon!

KAHBFHAHBSABFABFH, Pookie, your hand in marriage? 💍 (JOKING

No but seriously, I’ve been so excited to write this one!! I love DOTR!!!! :D

And you’re so right, he is a cutie in it!!! He just screams Age Reressor!!! <3

(Some strong languageuse) Before we get to the hcs, I want to say that there is nothing wrong with using or needing diapers. Some people use diapers use them for weird kink related things, but with age regression they are used for comfort and unfortunate inconvenience. Do not come to my blog because you wish to relate this with any kind of kink. Kindly fuck off and leave my blog alone, thank you.

^ This isn’t to bash regressors btw!!! This is me saying to fuck off if your a dd/lg or any type of blog like that. <3

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Regressor Liu Kang Defenders of the Realm (+ Padding) Hcs

❤️‍🔥 BABY REGRESSOR, and no one can tell me otherwise >:(

❤️‍🔥 Look at him!! Look at how he acts!! How he follows Kitana everywhere!! How she borderline babies him!!! That man just screams it!! (Positively of course <3)

❤️‍🔥 Kitana is his main CG . . . But that does not stop the others on the base from ‘babysitting’ him

❤️‍🔥 He’ll usually run to Kitana when he’s tiny, but that doesn’t stop Jax and Sonya from ‘stealing’ him

❤️‍🔥 They’ll play with a nearby ball or some cool game, which will spark little Liu’s interest (and of course Kitana lets him play, what’s better than some bonding time with Uncle Jax and Auntie Sonya?)

❤️‍🔥 Liu Kang isn’t a very big technology person, but he does enjoy watching cartoons with Nightwolf every so often (also he gets a bunch of cuddles with Kiba, and Nightwolf will let him play with his hair!! :D)

❤️‍🔥 Stryker (I love him, i promise) is the rule enforcer, especially if Raiden isn’t there :(

❤️‍🔥 But Liu Kang’s puppy eyes might persuade his heart (and get Sonya to tease Stryker for having a soft spot)

❤️‍🔥 Subzero is still trying to understand age regression, but sometimes he’ll do super cool ice shows!! Especially if Kitana needs a break for a bit, or Subzero just wants to spend time with little Liu

❤️‍🔥 Raidens the fun grandpa or the other rule encourager . . . But this is Liu Kang, of course he has a soft spot (that soft spot won’t save Liu Kang from cleaning up his wall drawing though)

❤️‍🔥 Little Liu’s not reeeeeally a trouble maker, especially around Kitana . . . Only when Sonya or Jax encourage him to do something naughty does he actually

❤️‍🔥 Don’t worry, Liu Kang doesn’t get in big trouble (most times)

❤️‍🔥 Sometimes he regresses tiny enough that he doesn’t quite understand that it’s not okay to draw on the walls, but Sonya and Jax are doing it too, and they’re smiling, so it must be okay!! :D

❤️‍🔥 (^ it’s also why Stryker lets him off sometimes, especially because the real culprits are a guilty looking Sonya and Jax)

❤️‍🔥 A look of ‘🥺’ in the middle of Stryker’s lecture and now Sonya and Jax are in trouble, and Liu Kang just has to go tell Kitana what he did (which she’s very nice about, referming that it wasn’t okay but she’ll let hm off the hook because he’s very apologetic)

❤️‍🔥 Liu Kang regresses pretty small, and unfortunately has had some accidents

❤️‍🔥 Mostly after missions and nap time, he’s not very happy about them :(

❤️‍🔥 Padding wise, I think Liu Kang would be really upset over it, especially at first

❤️‍🔥 He knows he regresses small, he knows that he’s had a few accidents, and he knows it’s best to wear them

❤️‍🔥 . . . But he still doesn’t like it >:(

❤️‍🔥 Originally it was just a secret between him, Raiden, and Kitana . . . But nothing as base stays a secret for long 😮‍💨

❤️‍🔥 In episode Swords of Ilkan, Sonya and Kitana become closer friends as the only girls, so we can assume that they hang out more after that

❤️‍🔥 And when Kitana forgot to hide the diaper bag in her room and Sonya finds it . . . Secrets out :(

❤️‍🔥 I adore Sonya!! She’s one of my all-time favorites!! But she also has a really bad habit of acting first and thinking later (we see this in the show, and it’s something we see her work on)

❤️‍🔥 Sonya’s kinda a blabber too (seen in that episode where they all bully each other and she finds Jax’s insecurities), and before Kitana can register that Sonya bursts into the main room, secrets already spilt :\

❤️‍🔥 ^ They were all very supportive, and Sonya apologized to both Kitana and Liu Kang tremendously

❤️‍🔥 Little Liu Kang is NOT allowed to drive the space ships (which he’s also so glad for because big him hates flying them too) (“I just don’t want to be the reason we crash!” in episode 1)

❤️‍🔥 Little Liu Kang has a habit of tugging on Kiba’s fur, especially since he’s really tiny and Kiba’s very fluffy

❤️‍🔥 Kiba, luckily, has never nipped nor growled, and Nightwolf usually steps in to correct Liu Kang’s actions

❤️‍🔥 Cuddle monster!! This man wants to be near his Mama at all times!!

❤️‍🔥 Luckily Kitana adores the way he clings to her side, so she’s more than content with him clinging to her <3

❤️‍🔥 Kitana’s very good at helping Liu Kang regress, especially when he’s upset or somethings on his mind

❤️‍🔥 In the first three episodes, we see Kitana take her time with Liu Kang, never exactly pushing him to tell her, but also reminding him that he has her to lean on

❤️‍🔥 ^ I think she’s very similar with getting him to regress, she won’t exactly outright ask, but she’ll call him his favorite little nickname, give him his favorite little snack/drink by ‘accident’, and baby him more than usual, gently pushing him to slip but not outright ‘enforcing’ it or anything (unless he asks)

❤️‍🔥 (^ Guys I actually love them 🥺)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

No, I’ve been so excited to write this and then i sat down to write it and my mind blanked for three days, it was crazy 😭

[stars-of-kyber]

Oh how I absolutely loved the Kanthony + 38 prompt. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Just one request pls pls pls - can we see this same prompt but with a role reversal I.e., with Kate being the one fainting and after they’re dating? Pls - it would make my whole year 🥹🤌🫶

Hello anon!

Thank you very much! I'm so glad you liked it!

Just lemme say that this got a bit out of hand... But I think it's cute so I hope you like it! I called it This Time We're Falling Together

This is a kind of Sequel to This story! It's better if you read that and then this, but it can be read as a standalone as well!

Enjoy this mess!

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

Kathani Sharma’s fiancé was annoying and overprotective. And a hoverer. And a bloody hypocrite.

She loved the man with all her heart, really did, but by God, sometimes he did his damnedest to irritate her!

She had a nasty stomach bug, courtesy of little Augie Basset. Simon had been really sick and Daphne called Kate desperately, begging her soon-to-be sister-in-law to watch the baby as she took her husband to the A&E. The younger woman was aware that Kate was home from the gallery and she knew Kate wanted to rest and see some details about her upcoming wedding. Daph would never bother Kate on her free day if there was another option but her mother was also down with something and Augie's usual sitter was out of the country on holiday. It was down to her or Eloise by this point. 

Kate really didn't mind. She loved her soon-to-be nibbling and Augie was a delightful little thing. At 10 months old, he was trying to stand on his feet and he was starting to try and form words. She secretly rejoiced the chance to have some one-on-one time to try and get the boy to say something similar to "Auntie Katie" before he said "Uncle Ant". She was already at a disadvantage since her fiancé's name was already much easier for a baby to babble than hers. She needed all the time she could get.

Newton was always excited when Augie was around. The first time she took him to Violet's for family brunch after Augie had been born, Kate was a bit scared the dog and the baby might not mingle well. Newton could be rough when he was excited and the puppy could feel left out with much of the attention on the new baby. 

Turns out her worries were for nothing. Newton had wiggled his little chubby butt all the way to where the four-month-old was resting in his carrier. Kate held on tight to the leash, in case her dog did something that might hurt Auggie and Simon was standing close as he told her to let him take a sniff. And so Newton did. He smelled the baby curiously for a few moments before realising it was friendly and giving it a nice sloppy lick to the head, to little Augie's delight. And that had been that. 

Unfortunately, Augie was fussy the entire afternoon. He cried whenever Kate tried to set him down, clinging to her T-shirt with little chubby fingers, and he hadn't taken much of the bottle she had tried to feed him. Her sister-in-law had informed Kate he had been sickly the past week but he had been to his paediatrician and was slowly getting better, so Kate hadn't been much phased. 

Anthony had come home that day to find his fiancée on the couch with his nephew cuddling into her chest, both of them as asleep as it would get, Newton had wiggled himself at the crook of her arm, his snout pressed against the baby's side as he wagged his tail to Anthony. 

In the end, Simon had a stomach bug, Daphne had thanked her profusely for watching Augie all afternoon and Anthony had sent a photo of Kate, Augie and Newton to the family group chat with the caption 'Who's babysitting who?', which had prompted a long discussion on how clearly the corgi was the one true nanny in the pic. It had been a lovely afternoon.

A few days later, Kate woke up with a sore body, a dry mouth and nausea rolling over her in waves. She bolted from bed, the world threatening to collapse under her wobbly legs, and emptied the meagre content of her stomach into the toilet, Anthony following behind her with a worried frown already twisting his face. 

Apparently, the stomach bug Augie Basset had passed to his father and grandmother and had gotten Kate too. She and all of the inhabitants of Bridgerton House but Hyacinth, although Anthony assured her his baby sister almost never got sick at all. She hadn't gotten chickenpox the summer three of her siblings had it and she was the only member of the family who had never been down with the flu. Apparently, the only health-related issues Hyacinth Bridgerton was capable of having were self-inflicted ones, such as a broken arm and some stitches to the head. 

According to Violet, Eloise had taken control of the upstairs bathroom, Greg was curled into a ball under his comforter with stomach cramps, and Frannie was running a temperature and couldn't keep any food down. Hyacinth had already called her big brother to take her out to eat because she couldn't stand living off chicken soup and crackers anymore and Violed did not allow the 10-year-old to run the cooker without adult supervision, and no one close to adulthood was in any condition of doing so. 

Kate could relate. The idea of a nice meal that wasn't clear broth or toast seemed wonderful in her head, although her stomach protested at the thought. She'd taken some sick days, to Benedict's most utter delight. But she'd only done it because apparently whatever Augie gave her spread pretty easily and she couldn't risk contaminating other people but Anthony's brother would not hear of it. 

"First, the two of you are using all your holiday leave and now Kate's even taking sick days!" He had laughed through the call. "Love really can perform miracles, I guess." 

The day Benedict discovered Kate and Anthony were planning to travel abroad for their honeymoon, he'd stared at her as if they'd told him they had decided to quit their jobs and move to Antarctica. 

"What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as Ben stared open-mouthed. 

"I'm sorry, did you just say you talked to Mr Griphins about using your holiday leave after the wedding?" 

"I'm going on my honeymoon." She scoffed, turning back to the planner in front of her. "We're going to travel." 

"Willingly?!" Kate blinked at her future brother-in-law as if he had gone crazy. "Both you and Anthony are willingly using all your holiday leave?"

"I'm not that bad!" 

"When was the last time you took a holiday?" Ben interrupted before she could reply. "That wasn't either mandatory or an emergency?" Suddenly, her shoes became quite interesting and Benedict couldn't even decipher what was her reply. "Come again?" 

"I haven't, alright?!" She rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "But we are going. We're taking a tour around Italy, all the way from Piemonte to Sicily. We're going skiing and wine-tasting and seeing beautiful art and eating great food." 

"That sounds fishy. Does Anthony know that?"

"He suggested it." 

"He what?!"

Kate's boss had also been shocked when he got a call from her saying she needed to use up some of her sick days. Was everything okay? Was she in the hospital? Did someone die? 

Kate might be a bit too hard on herself, but she refused to be a health hazard. So she stayed curled in bed, feeling her body begin building up a temperature but too tired and aching to actually get up and check. Her stomach was in knots and only taking toast with a little smear of marmalade and a very softened version of Mary's Chicken noodles soup. 

Anthony had worked from home the first day Kate came down with her stomach bug and he had tried to take some days off to take care of her, but his fiancée had categorically refused. There was very little he'd be able to do from home. The doctors had told both Simon and Violet during their visits to the A&E that it was viral and the way to treat it was to rest, have plenty of fluids, some rest, some vitamin C, and rest and try to eat as much as you could and rest. Did she mention rest? Because her body seemed like it had been run over by a truck and she was exhausted. 

There was no logical reason for Anthony to miss work. She'd probably just sleep all day long, getting up to go to the loo before rushing back to the comfort of the bed and the less contact between them, the better, before Anthony ended up sick himself. Kate had promised she'd call him in case there was anything wrong, which they both knew she wouldn't do unless she was actually really close to dying. 

So Anthony had gone to work after forcing her to take the vitamin tablet and leaving a big bottle of Pedialyte on the nightstand, telling her that bottle better be empty when he called to check on her around lunchtime and that she was supposed to check in as often as she could. Behind her back, he had scheduled with Mary to come to the flat to make sure Kate was alive and breathing, refill her water and try to get her to eat. Maybe it was vengeance from when she had forced him to call a family member after their disastrous first date. 

He would pay for that. Not right at that moment, but when she had enough energy to get out of bed, she'd definitely make him pay.

The first few days went by in a blur of exhausted sleep, constant trips to the toilet and stomach pain, but by the 6th day, things were slowly but surely starting to come back to normal. 

Despite this, she was still barely keeping anything down and she was still tired, sometimes dizzy, but she could spend more time awake and walk around the house without feeling like she'd walked all the way to India and back when she reached the sofa. 

And that's how she found herself alongside Anthony as he took Newton for a short walk on a Saturday morning. Her fiancé, as overprotective as always, had tried to talk her into staying home. 

"I need fresh air, Anthony!" She complained, groaning as she leaned down to fit her trainers into her feet. "I've been cooped up here all week, I'm losing my mind! I want to see the sky." 

"The sky is as cloudy and grey as always, you can see it from the window." Anthony scoffed. "And we live in London, there's no such thing as fresh air." 

Still, Kate was bundled up in her jacket next to him as they strolled down the sideway, her hand tugged into his arm, Newton's leash around his hand, the chubby little pup wiggling his butt as he stopped to sniff every single plant and lamppost he found. 

"I'm going back to work on Monday." She told him decisively. 

"Are you sure you're well enough for that?" He asked, his face twisted in concern. Kate knew Anthony worried about her just as much as she worried about him. They were both workaholics who tended to ignore their own bodies' needs and demands until they actively broke down, too sick to actually keep going. And because she knew that, she knew her fiancé was just as bad as she was when sick. "You need to rest."

"You wanted to work three days after getting your appendix removed, Anthony." She rolled her eyes at him. "You're the last person who can lecture me on this."

"You're still barely being able to keep anything down." Anthony continued as if she hadn't said anything. "And don't think I don't know you're still feeling some pain in your stomach."

"I'm much better now." 

"You've been living on toast and marmalade for a week." He raised his eyebrow, offering his fiancée a pointed look. 

"That's not true." She scoffed. "I managed to eat strawberry jam instead of marmalade yesterday and I didn't throw up." 

"Oh, alright, now you're so much better!" He rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't know why I was worried at all." 

"I'll be fine, okay?" She pulled herself closer to his side, enjoying the way he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I'm already feeling much better." It wasn't a straight-out lie, she did feel better. The much more part was a big exaggeration, though, and she knew her fiancé could see it as well. 

 "I'm just worried about you," Anthony said, kissing the top of her head gently. "I can't stand the thought of anything happening to you."

"Nothing's going to happen to me, you silly man." Kate laughed as she kissed his cheek and pulled away, bending down to help Newton, who had managed to tangle his lead on his little legs in his excitement to chase after some pigeons. "You're not getting rid of us that easily, Mr Bridgerton. We're here to stay, isn't that right, Newty?" The corgi barked at the sound of his name as if agreeing to what his owner said. 

"Good, I put that ring on your finger for a reason." Anthony extended his hand and Kate took it, letting him pull her to her feet. 

Nope, big mistake, Kate thought as the edges of her vision faded. She rose way too quickly and her vision turned even darker the moment she was standing on her own two feet. She clutched at Anthony, who, by the look on his face, had noticed something was wrong. 

"Kate?" His voice sounded way too far away from her ears as she tried to blink back the spots that were swarming her sight. "Kate!”

And then everything went black.

Kate came back to herself slowly, dizzy and a little nauseous, with a throbbing pain burning against her temple. She was laying on the hard, cobblestone floor of the park. The flaps of her coat, which had been previously quite snug across her chest, were zipped open, making Kate shiver with the wind. Newton was next to her face, sniffing at her and licking the skin of her cheek.

"Stop..." Her voice was weak as she tried to move her hand to push the dog away from her only to find out that her wrist was securely in her fiancé's hand as he murmured something she couldn't really understand under his breath. Her poor, stressed-out fiancé looked like he was very close to having a panic attack. His eyes were wide, and all blood seemed to have left his face. Kate could feel the way his hands were shaking as he tried to feel her pulse. "Anthony..."

"Kate! Kate, are you listening to me?" He came closer to her face, his hands feeling her cheeks. "Kate, please..."

"Newton's licking me." She whined in a weak tone, closing her eyes again. Her head just hurt so bad. But, at least, the dog’s attention stopped. "What happened?" 

"You fainted." He told her sternly, the words hitching with fear. "You were fine one moment and the next you went pale and the next thing I knew you collapsed against me." Kate tried to move, to push her body upwards towards a sitting position but Anthony just pushed her shoulders right back. "Stay down." 

"M'fine." She grumbled but laid her head back on the concrete anyway, licking her dry lips.

"Yeah, sorry for not believing that at the moment since you said that and then you fainted right after." Anthony scoffed, reaching for his phone. "You're going to lay there until I get the ambulance here." 

"No, Anthony!" She reached for the phone in his shaking hands with sluggish moves and clammy fingers. "No ambulance."

"Will you just stay down, please?" His tone was at least an octave higher as he held her down. "You fainted, I'm pretty sure that calls for an ambulance." 

"My blood pressure just dropped." Kate closed her eyes, breathing deeply, feeling the dizziness slowly start to ebb away. "No need for an ambulance for that." Kate opened her eyes to see him still with the phone in his hand. "Oh, for God's sake, Anthony. I'll let you take me to the hospital, just put that phone away!" 

"You'll go without complaint?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow, his thumb hovering over the call button. "You're not going to get home and tell me you're fine and refuse to go?" 

 "I promise." Anthony studied her face for a moment, trying to see if she was being honest, and seemed satisfied with what he saw there. His hand drew back from the button, locking his phone and shoving it back into the front pocket of his trousers. "Can I sit up now?" 

"No, staying lying down just a bit longer." 

Anthony didn't even allow her to go up their flat when they returned from the park, his arm placed carefully around her for support in case she were to feel dizzy again. He just unlocked the car and told her to wait inside while he dropped Newton upstairs and picked up her bag and some water for her parched mouth. 

The A&E was as loud and busy as ever, but it did not take that long for them to be sitting in front of an older man with greying hair and heavy-rimmed speckles resting on his nose.  

"How can I help you today, Miss..." He looked at the computer screen on his table. "Sharma?" 

"I have a stomach bug." She told the doctor with a humourless smile. The man just raised an eyebrow at her. "I've been having some symptoms for about a week and..."

"She fainted in the park." Anthony interrupted her, making her roll her eyes, the doctor looking between the two of them. 

"I was getting to that, thank you, Anthony." She huffed. "My blood pressure dropped when I got up too fast. But my fiancé is worried, so now we're here."

"Alright..." The man blinked, his gaze flickering between the two of them for a moment before clearing his throat. "You said your symptoms began last week?"  

"About Monday, yes." Kate nodded. "I was babysitting our nephew on Friday and he had a stomach bug, passed it around for half the family." 

"Yes, kids are usually the best vectors for these things." He typed something down before looking back at her. "And apart from dizziness, any other symptoms?" 

"I mean, just the usual. Some stomachache, my body hurts and I've been really tired. And the nausea, I've thrown up a bit." Anthony scoffed and Kate glared at him. "Would you like to do my medical consultation for me, Anthony?" 

"She hasn't been able to keep anything other than toast for a week." He told the doctor, who went back to his typing. 

"And chicken noodle soup," Kate added, but the doctor didn't exactly look impressed at that. 

"And you fainted." 

"Yes."

"Was it a strong dizziness or did you lose consciousness?" 

"I... um... I blacked out for a bit, yes." The doctor wrote some more into his computer. 

"And for how long were you unconscious?" Kate opened her mouth to reply, closed it and turned to Anthony. 

"For about a minute." He told the doctor. 

"Right." The doctor pulled away from the table and stood. "If you could hop onto the exam table..." 

The doctor listened to her chest, checked her eyes and mouth, and palpated her abdomen, asking Kate to tell him if it hurt. Throughout all of it, Anthony was staring at her, a worried little frown carved into his features and it did not ease once Kate was down from the table, sitting back next to him, her hand reaching out to grab his with a gentle squeeze. 

"All the symptoms would match a stomach bug, but I'd like to run a few tests, just to be safe." The man pushed his glasses up his nose. "You're a bit dehydrated so I asked for IV fluids and something for the nausea. Just go down to the nurses' station, they'll take you to get your labs done and then start on your IV while we wait for the results." 

Nausea IV meds were, in Kate's humble opinion, one of the best things invented by mankind. Within 30 minutes, Kate was feeling better than she had all week and Anthony had even managed to convince her to eat a bit of a chicken sandwich he managed to get in the hospital's food stall. Her mouth didn't feel as dry and her stomach didn't feel like it was ready to push every single drop of its content out at any second. 

Despite the two hours sitting in the waiting room, Kate was in almost a good mood when the doctor called them back into his small exam room. She was ready for the man to tell her fiancé she was just going through a nasty stomach bug, then hopefully prescribe her some more of that nice nausea medication she could take at home so she could just slowly go back to her normal life. 

"So your labs came back and there's nothing here that indicates any type of a severe infection..." 

"See?!" Kate turned to Anthony with a triumphant smile. If she had to sit through being poked around with needles and sitting in a waiting room for hours, at least she could have the satisfaction of rubbing at her fiancé's face that she was right all along. "I told you it was just a stomach bug!"

"Not quite..." Both Kate and Anthony turned so quickly to face the doctor that it was a wonder their necks hadn't snapped.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean by not quite?" 

"It's possible you actually have a stomach bug since many people in your family seem to be presenting similar symptoms, but I believe some of these symptoms you have been experiencing might actually be because of... a hormonal imbalance you're going through now." 

"Excuse me, a what?!" Anthony reached out, lacing his fingers with Kate's, his thumb running circles over the back of her hand. 

"You see, your body is going through a mass production of this hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin which is...." 

"Doc, please." Kate interrupted the man with a raise of her hand, her patience running a bit short. She hated when doctors talked to her in a way she couldn't really follow. "I have a degree in Fine Arts. He's an accountant. Between the two of us, we speak about 5 different languages and none of them is the one you're using right now. We're gonna need you to be a bit more clear here please because I didn't understand half of what you just said." 

The doctor looked at the two of them across the desk before taking a deep breath. 

"You're pregnant." 

It took a moment for Kate to process the words that had just come out of the older man's mouth and when they finally settled in her brain, she just let out a loud disbelieving laugh. 

"No, no, that can't be right." She shook her head with a chuckle. Anthony's hand had gone lax around hers, his palm resting against her leg. It seemed he still needed a moment to process the words. "I can't be pregnant I..." Kate choked on the words, the laughter dying in her mouth. "We weren't trying and... I mean... I can't be, can I...?"

Kate turned to Anthony, expecting some sort of answer, either in agreement or disagreement, but he was just staring at her with wide, surprised eyes.

They had discussed the idea of children, of course, they had. It would be stupid walking into a life together without discussing what expectations each of them had of what this life would be. They both had believed for a long time that love and a family would never be in the cards for them, but then they met and Kate could not imagine not wanting a little human that was half her, half him. She had seen him with Hyacinth and Greg and baby Augie and she knew it was something she needed in her life. 

But it was something they agreed on for the future. They'd wanted to settle into their married life and enjoy each other as a newlywed couple before beginning to plan for a baby. They had time. Or so they thought. 

"When did you have your last period?" Kate furrowed her eyebrows at the question. When had it been? She… Why, she couldn't really remember!

"I don't know… I..." She wracked her brain for the last time she had to reach for the tampon box she kept under their master bathroom sink. "I have a really irregular period because of my erratic work schedule so I..."

"It was at brunch at Mum's," Anthony spoke up suddenly, turning to Kate. "Before her birthday, on the 18th. You asked Daph for tampons because you didn't have any but she didn't have any either so you had to get pads with Frannie..."

"Because Eloise uses a cup, yes!" Kate nodded. "So, what, almost... oh." The doctor raised an eyebrow at her. 

"That was almost three months ago." Anthony finished for her. 

"That would put you between 8 to 10 weeks, I suppose." The doctor told her patiently. “The usual calculation is from the last period. But an ultrasound can give you a better estimate.” 

"Holy shit," Kate whispered, tugging on her hair. A baby? She was pregnant? They were having a baby? God, she hoped they had Anthony's hair.

"I guess we're not going wine-tasting in Italy anymore." 

The entire ride home from the hospital was quiet, both of them absorbed in their own thoughts. The doctor had sent her home with a prescription for nausea medication, a few vitamins and a reminder for her to schedule a visit to her OB/GYN, as soon as possible. And if she was back to being unable to keep food or fluids down, she was to come back to the hospital at once to be admitted. 

They were having a baby. Kate was growing a human being inside her…  Hers and Anthony's little human being. It didn't really feel real yet. She barely knew what to feel at all. 

Anthony hadn’t spoken a word on the way home, but his hand hadn't left Kate for a single moment since they had stepped out of the little exam room in a daze. He kept continuously in contact with her, either with his fingers on her lower back as they walked to the parked car or his palm on her thigh as he drove. Or how he offered her his hand to help her out of the car as he always did. 

Kate toed her trainers off by the side of the door before collapsing into the sofa with a deep, tired sigh. Anthony dropped down next to her while Newton climbed up after him, wiggling himself between them. 

"So…," he started, but the sound trailed off and no other word followed. Kate understood the feeling. She didn't know what to say either. 

"Yeah, so..." She turned to the side to see Anthony's eyes studying her face and they held their gaze. It was quiet for a few moments while they looked deep into each other's eyes before both of them burst out laughing. It was a strange laugh, something between wonder and surprise and nerves. Kate herself wasn’t exactly sure why she was laughing at all, she just knew she couldn't really stop. Perhaps the shock of the news, added to the past two weeks of nausea and exhaustion had finally made her brain short-circuit. 

They laughed together for a full minute, unable to contain it, until it slowly dwindled to a stop. Kate was out of breath, her chest heaving up and down with the effort to breathe regularly, but the smile on her lips refused to go away. She didn't even want it to. Next to her, Anthony's shoulders were slowly stopping to shake, his head thrown back, his hands raking through his hair as he always did when he didn't know what to do with them. 

He really was the most handsome man she'd ever seen, wasn't he? Their child would be spectacular. 

"God..." Kate's head lulled to the side, resting against her fiancé's shoulder, his fingers reaching out to twist themselves with hers. "A baby..." 

"Yeah..." Anthony's mouth brushed against the top of her head, sounding awed. "What now?" 

"Do you think we can get a refund on the ski park?" Kate could feel the rumble of his chuckle as his arms wrapped around her tightly. "Oh God, and the winery tour..."

"I can't believe that's what you're thinking about right now." 

"I don't..." Kate shook her head, turning to bury her nose against his neck. "I don't even know what to think, at the moment." 

"I get that." Silence took over for a couple of moments before Kate shifted, turning to watch her fiancé, worrying her lower lip between her teeth.

"Is this..." She breathed in deeply, steadying herself. "Do you... Do you want to do this?" 

"What? Have a baby with you?" Anthony turned to look at her as if she had gone insane. "I thought we had agreed on three kids." 

"Yeah, but one day in the future, not like in about 7 months' time!" 

"Is this not something you want to do now? Because we..." The quiet worried tone of his voice had Kate close to shaking. 

"No! No, I..." She grabbed into his arms, her fingers digging into his flesh with more strength than necessary. "I mean, yes, I do, I want to, I want this…it's just... Ugh!" Kate shook her head desperately, unable to get her head put the words together properly. "This wasn't the plan! We had decided on something and that’s not it. The wedding and the trip are..."  

"Kate! Kate, look at me." Anthony's hands cupped her cheeks on either side of her face, tilting her face gently towards his. "Fuck the plan!" Kate chuckled, her eyes filling with tears. "I want everything with you. I love our house, our things next to each other in the closet, your mess of paint boxes in the office next to my books and even your stupid dog.” Newton looked up as if aware he was being mentioned, his tail wagging and his tongue hanging outside his mouth happily. “I want everything you're willing to give me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and start a family with you. Yeah, sure the timing isn't exactly perfect..."

"I'm going to have to have my dress altered." Kate moaned, making Anthony chuckle. 

"You still have three dress fittings before the wedding." He kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose. "Sure I would have preferred to have planned this in advance, and not have it sprung on us two months before our wedding, but still." His lips found hers in a sweet, gentle kiss. "All the way here I couldn't stop thinking what our child would be like." 

"What, like a stubborn workaholic?" Kate asked, a cheeky smile blooming between the tears running down her face. God, she loved that man so much it was ridiculous. 

"I mean... It's really very possible." Anthony snorted, running his fingers through his hair. "We're going to have to work on that, won't we?" 

"Well, I guess the forgetting to eat and skipping meals thing will have to be out of the cards, at least for me." Kate sighed, enjoying the feel of her fiancé's arms around her, joking together, just the two of them. Well, three with Newton still happily stuffed between them on the sofa. And four, if you counted the baby. Their baby. The idea brought tears back to Kate's eyes. That hormonal, emotional thing had barely started and she already hated it. 

"On the other hand, you and I are very skilled at erratic sleep schedules."

"I suppose we'll be putting your insomnia to the test really soon, huh?" She hummed. 

"Why do you think I used to stay up until the early hours of the morning with Hyacinth when she was little?" 

"That's true." Kate nodded pensively. "At least one of us will have some idea of what they're doing." 

"Kate." Anthony pulled away from her, tugging on her arms until she was sitting on his lap, her legs bracketing either side of his thighs, and they were face to face. Newton huffed in annoyance at the sudden jostling before curling himself into a ball next to them. "You're going to be the most amazing mother I've ever seen. You're loving, caring and compassionate..." 

"I also have no idea what I'm doing." She sighed dejectedly, biting the inside of her lips to keep from spilling the tears pooling in her eyes. She wanted this, their little family, so, so much, and yet there was this stupid voice inside her head telling her she could barely remind herself to stop working and eat or rest, how was she supposed to take care of a baby? 

"No one knows what they're doing when they have a baby. My dad once told me, after Greg was born, that no one is ever ready to be a parent. It doesn't matter how many times you do it." Anthony told her gently, his knuckles brushing away the spaced tear from her cheek. "I was so scared I'd fuck up Hyacinth for good when she was little. Sometimes I still am sometimes and she’s not even my kid. Hell, even Daphne, who was born to be a mother, was terrified about it." Daphne was the type of nurturing person who everyone knew would be the most gentle, loving of mothers. She dreamed of having a baby since she was a girl if the stories were to be believed. There was no way she was scared. 

"You don't have to say things to make me feel better, love." Anthony tutted at the way Kate rolled her eyes at him. 

"I would never. Ask her about it if you don't believe me!" He scoffed. "A couple of months before Augie was born, you remember I took Daph to get groceries while you, Ben and Simon were painting the nursery?"

"The smell of the paint was making her sick." Kate nodded. She remembered the day rather well. Anthony's sister had asked them to help decorate Augie's nursery. They were going with an underwater theme and Kate and Ben had spent the entire afternoon painting bubbles and little octopuses and brightly coloured fish under Simon's careful instructions. Anthony, who was absolutely no help in the art department and was mostly there for moral support, had dragged sister, who was quickly turning three different shades of green, away before she threw up on the floor. 

"Daphne realised she got the wrong shampoo for Simon on the way back home. And then she sat in my car crying for almost twenty whole minutes. Crying. Full-blown ugly sobbing with a runny nose and tear-stained cheeks, about how she'd be a terrible mother if she couldn't even remember the correct type of shampoo to buy, how would Simon trust her with their child? She'd end up being one of those horrible mums who forgot her kid in the car." 

"You're fucking with me." Kate couldn't help but laugh. "There's no way Daphne would have said that." 

"Cross my heart and hope to die, I'm not." Anthony chuckled. "Ask her if you don't believe me." 

"How can you not be scared about this?" Kate asked, leaning her forehead against his and closing her eyes, just enjoying the delicious feel of her fiancé all around her, with his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close to him. 

"I am scared." He confided in her with a whisper, pressing their lips together in a quick kiss. "I'm absolutely terrified, actually." Another soft kiss. "But at the same time I think about our baby growing inside you and I'm so fucking happy that, Kate, I can barely breathe." 

"Yeah..." Kate's smile was tentative at first, growing in proportion as she looked at Anthony's glowing face so close to hers. His hands were firmly on her waist, his thumbs brushing circles over the slip of bare skin between her shirt and trousers. "I'm really fucking happy as well."

"There's absolutely no one else I'd ever want to do this with." He told her, her eyes staring deep into hers. "I love you so, so much and I can't wait to do this with you. All of this, the wedding, marriage, our baby..." 

"Our baby." Anthony's hand drifted from her waist, brushing against the little bit of exposed skin until it was resting over her still-flat stomach. Kate laughed and tears spilt down her cheeks without her consent, Anthony's free  palm cupping her cheek, using his thumb to brush away her stray tears, while completely ignoring his own. This man, this stupid, ridiculous, wonderful man that had come into her life, fainted into her arms on their first date and then proceeded to turn her entire world upside down. This fool, who was too hard on himself and loved so fiercely, although he had declared love not to be in the cards for him for so long. 

Kate used to tell herself she was perfectly happy with life the way it was before. That she loved her job and her art, that being there for her sister and stepmother was enough for her, and that she didn't need anything more than that. God, what an idiot she had been! 

Love had sneaked up on her quietly in a hospital room and by the time she walked into that restaurant for their second first date, Kate Sharma knew she was meant to spend the rest of her life with Anthony Bridgerton. Sure, he was infuriating sometimes, so stubborn it hurt and so, so cocky. Sometimes he worked his damndest to be his poshest self in order to annoy her, she was certain of it. 

Yet, at the same time, he was the kindest, most caring and gentle man she'd ever met. He listened to what she had to say and valued her opinion on things, even if they bickered endlessly when they disagreed. He took his time to learn what she liked and what she didn't. Kate had never felt so comfortable and understood as she did when she was with him. 

Anthony Bridgerton would be a lovely father. He was excellent at taking care of every single person he cared about. Well, everyone but himself. But that wasn't a problem. Kate knew a thing or two about being way too hard on yourself while being 110% there for the people you loved. They could have each other's backs. She'd take care of him and he'd take care of her. And they'd take care of their child, together.

"I love you so much it's actually a little ridiculous." Kate sniffed, laying her hand over his across where their child was nested and turning her face to place a soft kiss on his wet palm. "And I'm really excited to have our little family as well."

"Even if it means you'll have to get your dress altered?"  

"I'll live." She shrugged, making Anthony chuckle a little watery.

"I heard your fiancé is loaded, I'm sure he'll pay for any alteration you need to get done." He offered, replacing his hand with a soft brush of the tip of his nose against her cheek. "He'll even buy you a whole new wedding dress if you want. Or three." 

"I can pay for my own dress alterations, Anthony." She scoffed.

"Shh, stop fighting me on this." His lips brushed against her cheek before settling against her mouth in a sweet, deep kiss. "It's kinda my fault alterations might  be necessary anyway." 

"I'm pretty sure it takes two to make a baby, love." Kate laughed. "And I think you'd find I was a very willing participant in the actions that led to this moment." 

"That you most definitely were." He hummed against her mouth. "But you'll end up doing most of the hard work in the end. It's only logical for me to pay for the alteration costs."

"Logical only in your posh little ri..."

"Besides that," Anthony interrupted her loudly before she could continue her rant. "What is mine is yours and all of that. Or it will be soon." 

"You're gonna do it whether I agree to it or not, won't you?" Kate pushed away from him just enough so she could look her fiancé in the eye as she raised an eyebrow at him. 

"I mean, yeah, probably." He shrugged, not really ashamed of admitting it. 

"You know what, alright." It was Anthony's turn to be caught by surprise by her easy acceptance. She'd always agree to it, and if she didn't, he'd probably go to Edwina and plot behind her back to pay for it himself. In the beginning, Kate had thought he was trying to buy her love and as a fiercely independent person, she had tried to rebel against it. And then she slowly started to understand that paying for things and giving presents was Anthony's weird way of expressing his affection, apparently, since words were not always his forte. Bit by bit, she started to accept it. Not without a bit of a brawl, though. She'd never go down without a fight. Or almost never, anyway. "I'm a bit too tired to bicker about it, really." 

"Are you feeling alright?" It was almost funny how quickly his expression changed from surprise to smugness to worry as he studied her with his soft brown eyes. If she knew Anthony at all, which she liked to believe she did rather well, he was already considering if he should just drag her back to the hospital for admission. 

"I just need a nap, Anthony." She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her overprotective man. "It seems our little bug takes up a lot of my energy."

"Don't call our child a bug." Anthony rolled his eyes, but he was getting up from the sofa, Kate scrambling to wrap her legs around his waist to steady herself. "And you're going to drink some water before sleeping." 

"Whatever you say, Mr. Bridgerton, as long as you nap with me." 

And five minutes later, Kate fell asleep with a smile on her lips, wrapped safely in her fiancé's arms, their legs tangled together and their child between them. 

The closer to the wedding it got, the more stuff appeared on Kate's already unending list of things to do. She needed to wrap up all her work in the gallery before she took her holiday, there were doctors appointments to go to and last-minute decisions to make, a rehearsal wedding and dinner to plan.  Her last dress fitting was coming up and she desperately needed to find a way to tell their family she was pregnant. 

Anthony had assured her no one on his side of the family would be anything but delighted at the news. His mother most certainly wouldn't have any grounds to judge them too harshly, since apparently her wedding had taken place in late February and Anthony was born in September of the same year. Plus, there were very few things that were considered as going too far for Violet Bridgerton in order to get her the precious grandchildren she so desperately wanted. And although Mary would not go the same length as her mother-in-law, Kate knew her stepmother was also desperate for a grandbaby of her own. 

Kate had been the one to insist they find a good moment to share the news. She was pretty sure that, if it was Anthony’s decision alone, he'd have walked into family brunch the day after they had their first OBGYN appointment, shouting at the top of his lungs that they were having a baby, ready to show every single member of their family the blurry ultrasound picture he had taken to carrying around in his wallet. 

At first, Kate had wanted to keep the news to themselves for a bit longer, to be able to fully wrap her head around the fact that yes, there was a baby coming in approximately 6 to 7 months. They deserved time to enjoy it for themselves for a while. And then that time passed and she had wanted the moment to feel right. Anthony respected her decision and allowed her to take the lead on how to tell everyone about their baby. Unfortunately, the right moment never seemed to come.  

And that's how Kate found herself sitting in Violet Bridgerton's living room, three weeks before their wedding, surrounded by their still blissfully-unaware family. Her mind was working overtime as she tried to find either a very good explanation as to why she wouldn't be drinking at the bachelorette party her sister and sisters-in-law (the ones legally allowed to drink, anyway) were throwing on the following weekend and why she didn't want her mother and mother-in-law at her final dress fitting, since she had started to show the week prior and taking in her clothes in front of the two women would certainly give her away. 

In the end, the situation presented itself rather clumsily and Kate just took it. 

Violet, Daphne and Mary were deep into a discussion over seating arrangements for the ceremony and the reception while Anthony had been dragged to a corner by Simon and Ben and they were now locked into a quiet debate over... Kate wouldn't even venture a guess. Anthony would probably tell her about it on the way home anyway. Eloise was sitting with her nose buried in a book, Colin was giving a plate of pudding his entire, undivided attention and Fran was focused on her phone. 

And that's how Kate found herself sitting with Augie rather comfortably on the sofa, her nephew bouncing excitedly in her lap as she watched Hyacinth and Greg squabble over a game that was similar to marbles, but not exactly so. The baby squeaked loudly, trying to wrap his chubby little hands around Kate's loose hair while his aunt valiantly fought the attempts. 

"Kate," she lifted her eyes to find Hyacinth staring at her with pensive eyes, two marble balls clutched to her fingers. "Will you and Anthony have a baby of your own?" 

It was rather impressive how the entire room's attention focused on Kate after the girl's question, all types of side talk were put on hold to hear what her reply would be. 

"Yes, we will, Hy." Kate nodded, smiling gently at the little sister that was almost as close as a daughter to her soon-to-be husband. 

"Yes, but when?" Hyacinth continued to probe. Violet seemed ready to scold her youngest child for inappropriate questioning when Kate cleared her throat. 

"Around mid to late November, I'd reckon." Kate had been attending weekly brunches at Bridgerton house for about a year and a half at this point, and she had never seen any room in that house go as quiet as now, right after her answer. She could feel Anthony's eyes stuck to her, half in questioning, half in encouragement. The rest of the gazes were shifting quickly between her and her fiancé, trying to determine if it was some sort of joke or not. Not even Hyacinth dared to speak. The only sound  ringing around was the delighted giggles coming from Augie as his aunt bounced him on her knees.  

It was Eloise who dared to break the silence, clearing her throat loudly after a full minute of stunned silence.

"When you say November..." Anthony's second sister turned to look at Kate with a frown. "You mean like a hypothetical November because you want a winter baby or....?"

"Not hypothe... Ought dear, careful!" Augie had managed to grab a fistful of Kate's dark hair and was tugging at it with all his baby might. "I don't mean it like that."

"So you mean like, this November." It wasn't exactly a question but Kate nodded anyway. 

"Yes."

"In six months." 

"Give or take, yeah." Kate could feel the eyes of the entire room glued to her, their expressions ranging from confusion, to surprise to disbelief. Even Colin's pudding was forgotten at the centre table. 

"And just to be very clear," Eloise clasped her hands together in front of her, her body leaning forwards. The book on her lap fell to the floor but no one even jumped in surprise at the noise. "You are aware that it takes about 9 months to... grow a baby, yes?"

"Around 40 weeks, according to my doctor, yes," Kate confirmed. Eloise just nodded her head slowly, looking completely taken aback.

"Katie..." There were tears running down Mary's cheeks when Kate turned to look at her stepmother, who seemed like words had escaped her after she whispered her child's name. 

"Wait," Gregory, bless him, had been one of the most confused faces during the entire exchange and only at that moment, understanding seemed to be drawing in his mind. "That means you're pregnant?"

"Yes, Greggy." Kate smiled, her eyes already turning wet. Stupid hormones, she barely could say anything without having to fight back tears. It was worse than PMS. "I am."

It seemed like the confirmation lifted the invisible barrier that was holding the people in the room in place, because everyone seemingly burst into action from all around her, blurting out questions and letting out little happy exclamations or excited squeaks. The noise was so sudden and so loud, the family all moving at the same time to reach Kate that her nephew got frightened, letting out a loud, wailing cry. 

"Alright, just a moment, excuse me, please. Coming through, thank you." Simon barreled his way through the crowd of people all speaking one over the other, pulling Anthony behind him by the shirt. "I believe this is mine," he said, picking up his scared son, who burrowed quickly into his father's chest, his tears drying immediately. "And this here is yours." He sat Anthony on the empty space at the loveseat with a cheeky grin. Kate's future husband seemed perfectly content to have been pushed around the room and quickly wrapped his arm around her, his hand resting at the side of her quickly rounding stomach, just as he had taken to doing for the past month. Since they'd gotten together, Anthony was always touching her in one way or another. A brush of his fingers to push her hair from her face, a hand on her waist, a soft touch at the back of her neck. But since they had found out about their baby, Anthony's hand was always on her.  "I am really happy for the two of you, you'll be excellent parents." 

"Thank you, Si." Kate smiled as he bent down to press a quick kiss to her cheek, urging his son to do the same.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Augie and I are going into hiding." He told them, fixing the baby on his hip with a smirk. "I'll leave you to them. Really happy and all. Good luck." 

He was gone through the sea of people around them before any other words could be exchanged, leaving the soon-to-be newlyweds and parents-to-be in the clutches of their loving family and their gleeful, excited questions.

Kate and Anthony Bridgerton had lied to their family before leaving on their honeymoon, and they were feeling only partially guilty for it. 

You see, they were not the type of people who enjoyed surprises. Both Kate and Anthony were planners and thrived on having all the possible, available information on their hands in order to make the most of the situation with as fewer issues as possible. This applied to their work lives, to simple things in their daily routines and to talks about the future. So when their OBGYN asked if they wanted to know the gender of their baby they agreed on the spot. And so she told them. 

But when their mothers and siblings questioned them about it, they said it wasn't possible to see it yet and that they'd probably find out in their next appointment, after they returned from the trip. 

There was a reason for that, of course. They had planned a nice little surprise to announce, not only the gender but also the name of their child. Anthony and Kate had agreed on names both for a boy and for a girl very quickly, although they had kept that to themselves as well. 

So roughly a week after finding out their child would be a boy, Kate and Anthon boarded a plane to Piemonte, Italy, with a whole scheme set up for their little surprise gender reveal. For everyone else, they'd be posting a bunch of photos showing Kate's bump around Italian museums and monuments saying "Baby's first trip. Of course, he'd be into art."  But their family deserved a bit more than an Instagram post with a funny caption. 

Kate spent the entire week hand-painting wooden boxes in black and gold and had copies of their ultrasound pictures made. Kate had sent her husband out for art supplies, password padlocks and t-shirts she could paint on and take out while she worked and he obliged her every single whim while reminding her to eat, drink some water and take a couple of breaks. And then the little chest had been finished, safely locked and left in possession of a few trusted friends. Agatha Danbury was responsible for handing Mary, Violet and Simon and Daphne's boxes. Penelope Featherington would give Colin, Eloise and Edwina theirs and Henry, their friend from the Galery, would be responsible for Ben's. Frannie would be responsible for her own box, as well as Hy and Greg's since she had pinky promised Anthony she wouldn't tell a soul. Francesca was the only one they trusted to do this.

Early in the morning of the day they had agreed to the surprise, Anthony sent a text to their family group, telling them they'd be receiving a small present for them and that, under no circumstances, they were to open the boxes before their group call at 1 PM. 

Anthony and Kate were bickering in a quiet corner of a Fiorentinian cantina when the time of the call came. One of the best things about entering her second trimester was that the morning sickness had faded. On the other hand, her cravings had been getting progressively stronger and she would randomly have a desperate need for a specific dish or ingredient while other things she had previously excited to have looked like the most unappetizing thing in the world.

That was what had fueled their current bickering. Kate had ordered a Pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale, which was a flat pasta with some boar meat sauce while Anthony had chosen a Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, which was just the little round pasta with tomato and mozzarella sauce. Unfortunately, the moment the food was placed in front of them, Kate knew with absolute certainty she wouldn't be able to eat hers, while Anthony's looked exactly like her gastronomic dream come true. 

"You have your own food, you know?" He had asked with a raised eyebrow the moment she reached for his plate with her fork, hers going completely ignored. 

"Bug wants the gnocchi, Anthony." She shrugged, scooping some of the potato dough and sauce into her fork. "It's not my fault."

"Couldn't you have ordered gnocchi for you, then?" Her husband rolled his eyes, but he was already swapping the plates between them. 

"I don't know what to tell you, love." A huge smile broke into her face as he placed the pasta in front of her. "He's the boss, not me. And I didn't know he wanted the gnocchi until I saw it." Kate couldn't hold back the moan when she shoved a forkful of the food into her mouth. God, that was the best thing she'd ever eaten in her life. She could spend the rest of her life eating just that. 

Anthony just eyed the way her mouth closed around the fork for a few moments, a different type of hunger burning in his eyes, before he cleared his throat loudly. 

"I'm joining the call," He warned. "Please stop being indecent with your food." 

"You love it." She scoffed, licking her lips a bit more seductively than she would normally have. 

"I really, really do." He agreed, with his gaze following the path of her tongue. "But I don't think our mothers and siblings need to see it." 

Kate just stuck her tongue out at him as the call connected. They were bombarded with questions the moment the sound came in. They could see Mary and Edwina in their living room, with Newton at Kate's sister's lap. Violet had the children and Francesca on the dinner table, each of them sitting in front of their own box, their names shining on top of it in golden ink. Daph and Simon were sitting in their bed, little Augie on his father’s lap, his own box between his parents’. Ben, Colin and Eloise were sitting all clutched together in what seemed to be Ben's living room floor. 

"What's going on?" 

"Oh finally, I've been itching all morning!"

"Would you two care to explain...?"

"CAN WE OPEN IT NOW?!"

"Kate, did you paint those yourself?"

"Why was Frannie aware of this and I wasn't?"

"Wait, Francesca knew it?!" 

"Are you kidding me?!"

 "I'm muting everyone if you start at this," Anthony told them, strictly. 

"I'd like to see you try." Colin taunted and his brother instantly silenced their line. 

"Anyone else?" Little mumbles of no and shaking of heads followed his question. "Thank you. So, Kate and I had some interesting news at our last ultrasound and..." 

"Is it twins?" Daphne interrupted, with wide eyes. "Because if it is, I'm going to have to sit down for this." 

"Not twins," Kate assured her with a laugh. "Only one little bug here, I promise." 

You’re already sitting. Eloise wrote in the group chat. Please unmute us, Colin promises he will behave.

"Guys, just get on with this, Mama's going insane here," Ediwna begged, looking way closer to hysterics than her mother was. 

"You're all so impatient," Kate giggled, wrinkling her nose. “Suppose we should let them open it now, yeah?”

“Maybe we could let them wait for a little longer?” Anthony suggested, a teasing smirk on his lips.

“Anthony Bridgerton!”

“Don’t you dare!”   

“I’m smashing this open now if you don’t give us the code.” 

“Alright, alright!” He laughed. “Go on then, the password is 1811.” 

There was the heavy sound of metal clicking and hurried hands against the wood before they were replaced by whoops of triumph as each of their family members managed to open the lock. 

"Oh my God, you two, I'm shaking here." Violet let out a quiet little laugh. "We can open it, right?" 

"Please do, but don't do anything else yet." Kate nodded, her husband's hand finding hers under the table. Christ, she was already on the brink of tears. At least this time, her husband look as right about to cry as she did. Across the screen, ohs and ahs were filling the air. 

"Maybe someone..." Anthony cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice steady. "could read it aloud?" 

"Me, me, me, me!" Hyacinth was jumping up and down in her chair. "I'll do it, let me." She barely allowed her brother to nod before she started reading the words painted in loopy cursive at the top lid. "Hi, family. This is me. Oh, look there is a little arrow pointing to the ultrasound. That's really cute." 

"Hyacinth, on with it, focus!" Ben snapped. 

"Right, sorry." The youngest Bridgerton giggled. "This is me. I know that all of you already love me very much and I can't wait to meet all of you in November. But that's a long time from now so I thought I could introduce myself. Nice to meet you, I'm..."

Hyacinth looked up from the lid, blinking at them with big, green eyes filled with expectation. 

"You can open the wrapped thing now," Kate instructed and they were all tearing at the thin paper, tugging on bows until they unwrapped a shirt. 

"Oh, guys...!" Daphne choked on her words with a watery sniff. "Ned's Auntie Daph." Kate had decorated each shirt by hand, each of them reading Ned's and the person's title. There was Ned's Granny Mary and Grandma Violet, a bunch of Uncles and Aunties. Augie's read 'Ned's big cousin/best friend Augie.' "I love this so much." 

"Ned?" Violet asked softly, tears running down her face. 

"It's a boy?!" Greg cried out in excitement. 

"I'm going to be his godmother?!" Edwina squeaked, her hands shaking so hard she could barely hold the fabric up. "Look, Ned's Godmother Eddie! The shirt says it, you can't take it back now! I have proof!"

"I'm going to spoil my godson so bad," Ben commented, a laugh mingling with his crying as he held the shirt to his chest. "I'll be unbearable, you're going to regret this choice so hard." 

"Katie!" Mary cried out, calling attention to herself. "Is this...?" 

Kate had been crying since Hyacinth had started reading the message out loud and all she could do was nod at her teary stepmother across the screen. 

"What, what is it?" Edwina was basically climbing over her mother to see what she had seen. "Is this what?" 

"It's his name," Mary commented, her fingers tracing the name they had settled for the baby the week after they found out he existed and that Kate had painted on the bottom of the box with golden ink. 

Edmund Arjun Bridgerton.

"Oh, Anthony..." Whatever Violet was planning to say next was muffled by her own sobs. There wasn't one person with dry eyes in the entire call apparently. Daphne had her face hidden in her husband's shoulder. There were wet tracks over all their siblings' cheeks, even Eloise was trying to brush hers away without much success. 

"I hope this is alright..." Anthony cleaned his face with his free hand with a sniff. "We wanted to name them after our fathers and..." 

"Your dad would be so proud of you, my boy," Violet told him, smiling softly at her son and daughter-in-law over the camera, her shoulders still shaking. "All he wanted... All both of us wanted was for our children to be so incredibly happy, and look at you now..."

"Thank you, Mum." Kate squeezed her husband's hand lovingly before turning to her own stepmother's little image on the screen. Mary was still staring at the box in awe, tracing the letters with the tip of her fingers. 

"Mama?" Kate's voice was just a tiny thing as she called the woman who had raised her. "Is it alright?" 

"It's more than alright, dearest." Mary looked up to Kate with bright, teary eyes and the biggest, softest smile lighting up her own face. "It's perfect. Appa would have loved it so much."

"You think so?" Kate missed her father so much and she desperately wanted her son to have a little bit of her father, even if they'd never have the chance to meet in this life. But when Anthony asked her about naming their son after their fathers, the idea of hearing her beloved Appa's name whenever someone called her child made her chest hurt. She had been slowly and steadily healing from her loss, but it was still too fresh for her. And then her husband had suggested having it as a middle name, just a bit of the man that had created Kate for their baby to always quietly carry with him and…. Yes, that could work. She liked it like that. It was a bit of both the men that had shaped his parents into the people they were and the men they hoped their child would be like. 

"I know so, Beta." She laughed gently. "He'd probably be here dancing around the room and calling every single member of the family back in India to tell them about his grandson." 

Kate choked back on a snort and next to Mary, Edwina threw her head back in laughter. It was exactly what their Appa would do. He'd probably be humming a song as well as he did so. 

"Now that we all asserted it was an amazing name, which it is, really brilliant by the way, it’s great, Dad would really have loved it," Colin spoke up. "Why is Ben the Godfather? I mean, I expected Simon, but Ben?!"

"There wouldn't even be a Ned if it weren't for me." Benedict scoffed, looking downright offended. "I introduced the two of them!"

"You cannot keep rubbing that on everyone's faces forever." 

"I believe I most certainly deserve being my brother's first child's godfather for that, thank you very much." 

"I completely understand having Ben and Edwina as godparents." Daphne chimed in with a little self-satisfied smirk as Simon was putting Augie's new shirt on him.

"Thank you, Daph." 

"And as am a very graceful person, I don't mind not being the godmother of their first child. I'll love my little nephew either way." She said. "We can be the godparents of their second, I'm patient, I can wait and..." 

"I'm sorry, Anthony has other sisters, you know?" Francesca interrupted. 

"Yeah, why would he pick you?" Eloise rolled her eyes.  

"He could pick me." Hyacinth agreed, her three sisters turning to look at her. 

"He can't pick you."

"Yeah, you're too little. And you're already his baby. It wouldn't even be fair." Hyacinth stuck her tongue at the camera. 

"I mean he could totally..." Anthony just clicked on the end call button before Daphne could drone on about their hypothetical second child and said child's possible godparents.

"Anthony!" Kate tried to scold him, but she couldn't even stop laughing to do so. "That was rude!"

"We did what we were going to do." He told her matter-of-factly, picking up his fork. "They can keep that argument on without us there, we're having lunch." He eyed the empty plate in front of her. "Or at least I am...?"

"It was really good," Kate told him, looking down miserably at the plate. 

"Do you want another one?" He asked with a sigh, already calling their waiter over without even waiting for the answer he knew he would get. 

"And maybe some bread too?" Anthony rolled his eyes with no heat behind them, ordering the food in his broken Italian and she was smiling brightly when he turned back to her. "You know..." She mumbled, her hand coming up to brush his hair from his forehead tenderly. "I think you fainting in that restaurant was the best thing that's ever happened to me." 

Her husband let out a loud, sonorous laugh before leaning in, pressing their lips together in a deep kiss. "If I'd known having emergency surgery would end up with me married to the love of my life who's expecting our baby, I'd probably have done it much sooner."

"You're so stupid." She giggled against his lips. 

"Well, I guess that's what makes us so well-matched, isn't it?" He kissed the side of her mouth and then the tip of her nose, making her giggle again. Kate didn't know happiness like this even existed much less imagined she would one day have it. "Since we're one and the same and all that." 

"I suppose you're right." She said with a fake pensive pout, which Anthony couldn't resist kissing. 

"My, my, wife." He shook his head, sending a shiver down Kate's spine. "Admitting I'm right? Marriage sure has changed you, hasn’t it?."

"It's the pregnancy hormones, husband." She mumbled back. "Don't get used to it. "

"I wouldn't dream of it." 

Kate knew she was still in the very beginning of her path through motherhood and, all things considered, she still had a lot to go through in life at only 27 years of age. But, still, she could tell with absolute certainty childbirth was one of the worst experiences she'd ever been through, and it would not be easy to find something to rival it. 

Pregnancy had been a rollercoaster. Her back hurt, her feet swell, her boobs were sore and she looked like a puffy, waddling blowfish. Some food she loved dearly now gave her heartburn and she desperately needed to pee approximately every two hours. By her third trimester, she was moody and uncomfortable the majority of the time. And she was having to learn her life did not belong only to herself anymore, which was turning out to be a bit of a struggle and a point of contention between her and Anthony, who was constantly hovering over her, reminding her to slow down. 

But the good moments? The feel of her child moving inside her for the first time? The wonder in Anthony's eyes when he first felt it too? The excitement that brought tears to her eyes wherever she heard Ned's heartbeat, always strong and steady through the ultrasound? The way their family just loved her and her baby so openly and limitlessly? The way their son would dance inside her stomach whenever Anthony was speaking around her? The hours awake in bed together, imagining what their baby would be like when he was finally here? That completely compensated for the bad times. 

Pregnancy had been a mostly positive experience for her. Childbirth, on the other hand? She couldn't see a single positive aspect of it. 

She'd been in what her doctor had called active labour for over six hours, feeling horrible shooting bouts of pain through her entire body that were quickly getting longer and stronger, which her doctor told her was a good thing?! Because it meant the baby was coming?! 

No, no, no. Ned could stay inside her. It would be safer this way anyway. Kate could protect him like that. 

She had moved up and down around the room, shuffled around in bed, moaning and groaning and probably cursed her husband a thousand times until her doctor had checked her dilation and vitals and cheerily announced everything was running smooth and it was time to start pushing. She hated the woman right at that moment. 

Anthony was there, holding her hand, letting her squeeze it until she all but broke his fingers every time the doctor instructed her to push and, apart from a grunt or a groan, he hadn't complained a pip about it. Even if she seemed ready to bite his head off and swore she'd never allow him to touch her again, he had remained steady, whipping her sweaty brow, giving her sips of water, going through the breathing exercises with her and whispering comforting and reassuring words of encouragement in her ear that had her almost crying every damn time. You're doing great, sweetheart. You're so strong, so brave. I'm in awe of you. I love you so much. You can do it. We'll have Bug here soon. 

Her husband had been an absolute champ throughout the whole pregnancy process, even if he had been an annoying overprotective hooverer the entire time. He didn't miss an appointment, catered to her cravings, rubbed her sore back and feet whenever she asked and helped her through her sour moods and panic attacks.  He stayed up with her when she couldn't sleep and spoke soothingly to their son until he calmed when he was wracking havoc inside her. 

Kate really did love the man more than she could say. She was in just a lot of pain. He certainly understood. And if he didn’t, he could try being the one pushing their baby out.

It had already been dark outside for at least a couple of hours when the doctor told her, "Just a couple more, Mummy. And then we'll be done and your baby will be here."

Kate screamed as she pushed, the contraction wracking through her body until she was almost out of breath, Anthony's knuckles white from the pressure she was putting on them.

"I can see his head." The doctor announced from between her legs. 

"I can't do this anymore." She cried, dropping her body against the bed, Anthony's moist washcloth soothing the hot skin on her face. “I can’t, make it stop.”

"Yes, you can. It's almost over, love." He kissed her fingers and Kate lifted her eyes to find her husband looking at her wide-eyed and ashy. 

"You look pale." She said hoarsely. "You're not going to faint on me now, are you Mr Bridgerton?" She asked, chuckling weakly at their old joke. 

"I might," Anthony said back, his tone just a bit too serious as he looked towards where the doctor was with a nervous frown. 

"Anthony, don't you daAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The pain had her body shooting out of the bed, Anthony's free arm moving behind her to hold her steady as she crushed his hand in her fist, tears streaming down her face. And then when the blinding pain was gone, Kate dropped down back to the bed in exhaustion, and a loud piercing wail rang clear through the room. 

"He's here, Kate! You did it!" The doctor cooed, speaking over her son's little cries. Kate desperately tried to sit up, her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to get a glimpse of her baby, but she couldn't. 

"Anthony!" Kate tugged on her husband's arm, trying to use him as leverage to host herself upwards despite the ache in her body. "I can't see him! Can you?"

"Yeah, I can." His voice was far away, his gaze glued to the place where the loud wailing was replaced with a soft little whimper. His entire face was frozen in wonder, tears running freely down his face. "Kate, he's..." He blinked, turning to look at her for a moment, his fingers still holding onto her hand, but this time it seemed like he was the one who needed to be held together. "God, Kate... I..."

"Everything seems alright, guys." The doctor assured her and maybe Kate didn't hate the woman all that much after all. "You'll be able to hold him in just a second, as soon as we cut the cord. Daddy, do you want to do it?" 

Anthony went even paler, his eyes wide as he stared at the woman who was holding their child as if he hadn't even heard her. 

"Anthony," Kate poked his arm with the little strength she had left. "Are you going?"

"Yes, I..." He shook his head, trying to get rid of the fog in his brain, still ignoring his wet eyes. "I want to do it, yeah." 

"Don't faint!" Kate ordered as he let go of her hand. She was mostly joking, but he did look a bit unsteady on his feet. 

"I won't." He answered, following the nurse who was motioning to him to come forwards, whispering under his breath. "I think..."

Kate let her body drop back into the reclined bed.  The thirty seconds that took the medical team and her husband to clip and cut the umbilical seemed like the longest of her life. And then Anthony was back, carrying a little bundle in his arms, his eyes shining with more love and adoration than she'd ever imagined possible. She shuffled in bed to a more sitting position, instantly reaching out to the little baby wrapped in a soft white blanket. 

"Here's your Amma, Bug," Anthony whispered lovingly, gently placing their son in her waiting arms and, at that moment, everything else in the world around them disappeared on the spot. Kate could barely breathe, all air appeared to have vanished from her lungs, every thought other than the baby in her arms and the man next to her vanishing from her mind. The moment he deposited their child safely into her arms, Anthony turned to her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips and another to her forehead, tears running freely down his face, dripping from his chin into his medical gown. 

"Hey, you," Kate whispered, tracing her fingers over the smooth pink skin of her son's cheek. Oh God, her son! Her Ned! She stared at that little thing that had been living inside her for the most part of the past year, jumping around and not letting her sleep with his tiny feet against her ribcage and he was the most perfect thing in this world. "Oh, look at you..."

Edmund curled against his mother's chest the moment he heard her voice, the whimpering stopping as he lay against the warmth of her chest, his little plump lips smacking together. There was a shocking amount of brown hair at the top of his head, wet and gooey and curling at the tips. His eyes were big and round with that greyish hue all newborns had. His skin was coppery, lighter than hers but darker than Anthony's. He had Anthony's cheekbones and his long, straight nose. Actually, apart from his huge wide eyes and the way his hair curled in itself, Edmund looked so much like her husband it was almost funny. Even just a couple of minutes old, Kate already knew he'd be the spitting image of his father and she absolutely loved it. 

"He's perfect," Kate whispered to her husband in awe, her fingers tracing the smooth baby skin of his arm until she reached the tiny hands, his slim little fingers wrapping themselves instantly around her finger. 

"He is." Anthony agreed with a wobbly voice, kissing the top of Kate's head again. "Thank you." He whispered into her hair. "Thank you, thank you thank you." Each time, he peppered her with more warm, wet kisses. "Thank you for him and for coming into my life and for absolutely everything."

"Your Papa's being silly, Neddy," Kate told her baby with a chuckle which was mixed with a small sob. "I'm the one who should be thanking him." Kate turned her face, pressing her lips to her husband's wet cheek before looking back to the child they'd made together. "Every day, I think it's impossible to be more happy than I already am, and every day I prove myself wrong." 

"I love you two so, so much, Kate." He whispered, his fingers brushing the curls atop their son's head reverently. "I'll do everything I can to be a good father, I promise." He choked at his own words for a moment. "I'm not... I know I'm not perfect but I will do everything I can…." 

"You already are more than enough love," Kate told him decisively, her eyesight blurry from all the crying. "Bug and I are really lucky to have you." 

"I'm most certainly the lucky one." He kissed Kate's wrinkled nose. 

"Now it's not the time to argue with me, mister." She tutted at him. "I just spent over 7 hours pushing your child into this world. Just say ‘yes, ma'am’." 

"Yes, ma'am." He laughed. "I'm so happy I could burst." He confessed, caressing the side of their son's face as the baby blinked slowly towards his father's voice. "I barely even know what to do with so much joy." 

"I know." Kate let her head fall to Anthony's shoulders with a tired little smile. In her arms, Ned let out a small sigh, his eyes blinking slowly until they were closed. Sitting there with her husband's arms around her and their child curled safely to her chest, Kate felt what absolute bliss was like. "I feel like that too."

Perhaps, she was wrong. Giving birth wasn't even that bad, after all.

[chickensarentcheap]

Lost and Found- Chapter 22

Fandom: Extraction

Pairing: Tyler Rake and Esme Drummond (OFC. But you do not have to read the others in the series to understand this fic.)

Warnings: some profanity, angst

ALSO, IT'S A LONG ONE, FOLKS lol. Sorry.

*Includes Extraction 1 and 2 canon mentions

Tagging: @tragiclyhip @munstysmind @themaradwrites @youflickedtooharddamnit @secretaryunpaid @kmc1989 @thebejeweledwatercat @asirensrage @theesirenteller @residentdormouse @arrthurpendragon @ocappreciation @occommunity @karimac @alisbackalleybbq @ninjasawakenedmystar

Link to Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43179357/chapters/130239049

My tag list is OPEN. Please just let me know if you'd like to be added :D

****

He lounges in the room Millie shares with Abuela. Stretched out on his side and propped up on his elbow; watching as his daughter quietly and contently plays just mere inches away. The four-year-old clad in her choice of attire for the day; consisting of a red and black button-down shirt paired with extremely bright and bold leggings with cat faces splashed over every inch. Her hair loose and unruly; falling into her eyes and over her face as she kneels in front of a large plastic tote box. Holding a treasure trove of belongings that Yaz had managed -after he and a small team had successfully broken in- to gather from Alessio’s home. Her entire collection of GI Joe dolls and My Little Ponies, more art and craft supplies, and a handful of Barbies and accessories.

“Tyler?”

He helps himself to one of the wine gums from the open carton that sits between them. Even in the midst of all of his prepping and immersing himself further in the role of mercenary, he had taken the time out when she’d requested his attention. Unable to resist that tiny voice, that hopeful smile, and those brilliant blue eyes. “Yeah?”

“Do you think that Barbie…” Millie holds up her favourite doll; baring beautiful dark skin and shimmering black hair and wearing a sparkling gold mini dress. And a matching pair of impossibly high heels. ”...THIS Barbie…would like GI Joe?”

“Which GI Joe are we talking about?”

“This guy!” She picks up the action figure in question; tall and muscular with blond hair and green eyes, clad in his fatigues. “He’s my all-time fave! The rest are just…I dunno…too basic for my best Barbie.”

“Basic?”

“Momma says that, in a nutshell, someone who is basic is VERY boring. Unoriginal. They don’t offer anything new. They can put you to sleep with how ordinary and vanilla they are.”

“She says that a lot about people?”

“Just the guys who try and date her. And you know what? She’s right. They’re basic as hell.”

Smirking, he pops the wine gum into his mouth.

Millie lowers her voice. “Momma actually calls them a bad word. Can I tell you what it is? Without getting in trouble? Or without telling her I said it?”

“I won’t give you any grief for it. And remember what I told you? About how snitches get stitches? Your secret’s safe with me.”

“She calls them ‘basic bitches.’” She dissolves into giggles, both hands covering her mouth, her eyes narrowed and sparkling. “Isn’t that hilarious? Basic bitches. It’s mean, but it’s funny too!”

“Does your mom date a lot? Has there been a lot of guys? Before Alessio? That come around?”

“No. Not really. Not a lot. Just a few. And momma didn’t date. They TRIED and date her.”

“Gotcha. So they ask her out and…?”

“And she always said ‘no’. That she wasn’t interested. She was nice when she told them that. She said just too busy with work and taking care of me. But once they were gone? She told me the real deal.”

“She told you? Or did you hear her telling someone else?”

“You’re good. You’re REALLY good. Don’t tell her that either, okay? That I spy sometimes? I hear things. Mostly when she’s talking to Auntie Nik on the phone or Facetime. Sometimes it’s Uncle Yaz. Mom thinks I’m asleep, but I’m really sitting at the end of the hall. She can’t see me if she’s in her room, and I’m hiding there.”

“This is when you lived in your old apartment?”

Millie nods. ”I LOVED that apartment. It was nice. Better than living at Alessio’s dumb-ass house. I wasn’t allowed to do anything there. I wasn’t allowed to make crafts because they were too messy, I wasn’t allowed to listen to music and dance, and I definitely wasn’t allowed to have a pet. I had a cat. Before we moved in with him.”

“Where’s the cat now?”

“Uncle Duey took her. Her name is Beatrice, but everyone calls her Bea. Like how my name is really Amelia, but everyone calls me ‘Millie.’ She’s super cute; she’s black, but she has white under her chin and near her nose, and she has white socks. We got her from the shelter.”

“You miss her?”

“I miss Bea all the time. She used to sleep with me. Every night. Right by my head. And she was a lot of fun! She would play fetch; I’d throw her favourite toy, and she’d run and grab it and bring it back to me! And she LOVED to sit in the window and yell at the pigeons that came on the balcony. I bet she would have grabbed ‘em and beat ‘em up if mom let her outside.”

“That wouldn’t have been good. What if they beat HER up?”

“Do you know who the Bowery King is?”

“I know a bit about him.”

“Momma and Uncle John know him. I only met him once. Momma took me to where he lives. He has tons of pigeons! And mom said if Bea ever got out and caught one of his birds? We would have been in big shit!’

Tyler gives a small chuckle. “I can imagine.”

“Uncle John said we would have been fine. He would have protected us. He would have told the Bowery King to take a hike! He didn’t say it like THAT, though. He said the ‘f word’. Do you know what word I mean?”

“I do. Very well. So about these guys your mom would date…”

She stares at him pointedly. And in those narrowed eyes and furrowed brow, he immediately sees himself.

“That tried to date HER,” he quickly corrects himself. “She didn’t like any of them?”

“I mean, I guess she liked them enough. To at least give them a chance.”

“What happened? Things didn’t work out?”

“She got bored with them. They weren’t interesting enough for her. And they all had boring jobs; lawyers and doctors and guys that work on Wall Street. Yawn city! And they weren’t even good-looking to make up for it! But there was one guy, though. That was pretty cool. I liked him.”

“What was he like?”

“He was super nice. He would always bring us takeout; pizza and Chinese and fried chicken and even tacos!”

“Everything is about food with you, isn’t it.”

“It’s my love language. It makes my tummy AND my heart happy. I don’t care if I get fat when I’m older. I’m gonna eat as much as I want. Whatever I want, too!”

“So this guy…”

“He used to take us to Rangers hockey games and to see the Mets play baseball. And sometimes, he’d take me places all by himself. We’d go to the movies and bowling and to the arcade!”

“Your mum was okay with that? Just sending you off with him!”

“She trusted him. He was a policeman!”

Tyler frowns. “He was a cop.”

“Not like a regular one. He wore normal clothes. Sometimes a suit and tie. And he would go to accidents and murders and stuff and ask people lots of questions.”

“He was a detective?”

“Yeah! That’s what he was! He was an alright guy, though. He was nice to me. And I think he REALLY liked mom.”

“Did he ever stay over?”

“Hell no! That’s a big no-no! Momma NEVER let that happen. She would always say that ‘Millie isn’t ready for that kind of thing’. And she was right. I didn’t want to see some guy walking around in his gitch first thing in the morning!”

“What happened? With your mum and this guy? She wasn’t into him?”

“She seemed like she was. They spent a lot of time together. It’s kinda weird, right? That he was a cop? ‘Cause momma’s job is totally illegal, and Auntie Nik is a criminal! Did you know that? That she was in jail?”

“I did know that, yeah.”

“Totally badass, right? But the guy? He found out the truth about what mom does for a living. And everything about Auntie Nik and Uncle Yaz. After that, he couldn’t date momma anymore. If he did, he’d have to arrest her.”

“That wouldn’t have been good.”

“No. But instead of doing that, he just decided not to see her anymore. He said he would pretend he NEVER found out the truth. That’s good of him, I think. ‘Cause then momma would have gotten in trouble, and I never would have seen her again. That would have made me really sad. Not to have my momma. And you never answered my question.”

“I forgot what it was.”

“Would my favourite Barbie like my favourite GI Joe?”

“What do you think?”

“Well, he seems nice enough. He’s definitely not boring. Like Ken. Ken is definitely what mom would call a basic bitch.”

“Yeah, he’s always been a drongo.”

“What does that mean? drongo?”

“Stupid. An idiot.”

“A dumb ass?”

“Basically. That’s what we call them. In Australia. Drongos.”

“Does everyone in Australia talk like you do?”

“Maybe not exactly like it. But we all have accents. They sound a bit different; depending on what area you come from.”

“And are there tons of cool words there? That you say different than us?”

“Way too many to count. Once you get settled, I’ll teach you all kinds of cool slang.”

“Will you teach me the swears too?”

“I don’t know about THAT.”

“Please? Pretty please? I want to learn the swears! I promise I won’t repeat them. Not in front of other adults or kids. And especially not in front of momma. It can just be for us!”

“We’ll see.”

“And am I really going to get to see kangaroos and koalas?”

“I get them all the time around the house. The koalas love the trees in the backyard. They’re always hanging out in them. You’ll have to be careful, though; they’re cute, but they can be nasty. Don’t go around chasing them and trying to pick them up, alright?”

Millie nods. “Momma said there’s lots of snakes there, too. Will we get to see those?”

“Sometimes they even get in the house. Then I have to grab them and take them back outside. Are you scared of snakes?”

“Nope. Momma is, but I’m not. I think they’re cool.”

“You can help, then. We get any in the house, you can be the junior snake wrangler.”

“Is it true that the spiders are the size of dinner plates? That’s what mom said.”

“They can be≥ d. They won’t hurt you, though. They’re huge and ugly, but they’re not dangerous.”

“I wanna see one. Really bad!”

“Tell you what, first one I have to relocate ‘cause your mom is threatening to burn down the house? I’ll let you hold it. Get you used to handling them. So you’re not freaking out when you see them wandering around the place.”

“So I’m not a ‘fraidy cat like mommy! When we lived in our old apartment, we’d get spiders! Just little ones, though. And daddy long legs. She was even scared of them! I’m the one who had to get them for her. And she would always want me to kill them! ‘Millie, get him! Squish him!’ Mean mom! But you know what I did instead? I saved a spaghetti sauce jar and cleaned it all out and that’s what I’d put them in. And then I’d take them outside and let them go!”

They lapse into a comfortable silence, and Tyler watches her as his little girl neatly arranges her toys and craft supplies in the bin; not having the heart to point out that all the transporting during their relocation to Australia would no doubt leave the bin in a disorganized mess. She hums while she works; a trait she’d inherited from her mother, and he’d both discovered and fallen in love with- during their year together.

Yet despite the similarities to Esme, he sees more of himself inside Millie than anything else. The identical profile -before his nose had been broken and left him with the bump in the bridge-, the same furrows in the brow, the brilliant blue eyes, the curve of the jaw line, the slim, slender neck, and long, almost gangly limbs. And it’s almost unsettling; sitting across from his ‘mini me’ with all their likeness and her resemblance in physical appearance, personality and likes and dislikes she shares with his son. Their love for drawing and crafts. Their care and compassion for animals. Their endless curiosity and love for life and everyone in it.

Sitting back on her heels, she shoves her hair out of her face “Tyler?”

“Millie?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You’ve been on a roll so far. I don’t see a reason for you to stop now.”

“It’s kinda personal. And touchy.”

“Personal and touchy for who?”

“Me. I might get emotional.”

“That’s okay. You’re human. Nothing wrong with being emotional.”

“I don’t want to embarrass myself. In front of you.”

“There’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about. It’s normal; to get emotional and show and talk about feelings. Even guys like me do it.”

“Really?”

He nods. “I didn’t do it for a long time. I was always scared to. And then I met your mum, and she taught me that it was alright to show that side of myself. To get angry and sad. To even cry sometimes.”

“YOU cry?”

“Everyone does. Or everyone should, at least.”

“And mumma taught you that?”

“Your mum taught me a lot of things. About myself. And about others and how to treat them. What do you want to ask me?”

Millie releases a long, heavy sigh as she steels her emotions. “Do you think he’ll like me? When he meets me?”

“Who is ‘he’?”

“My dad.”

His entire body tenses; throat and jaw tightening, stomach clenching.

Millie continues, not noticing his sudden discomfort. “My daddy lives really, really, REALLY far away. We’ve never actually seen each other. And momma said that when I’m a bit older, she’s going to take me to meet him. And I wanna meet him, but I’m scared. That he won’t like me.”

“Why wouldn’t he like you? What’s not to like?”

“What if he thinks I’m annoying? ‘Cause I talk so much? Or what if he thinks I’m too noisy and too messy and too bossy and that I need to go live somewhere else? Away from mom.”

“Did someone say all those things? About you? Is that why you’re afraid he will?”

“Alessio. He didn’t like me being around. He said I was ‘too much’. That I needed to be taught how to behave ‘cause mom obviously never bothered to do it. He wanted to send me away. To a special school. Where I’d have to live. Instead of with momma.” Her lower lip and chin wobble as tears sparkle in her eyes. “I don’t want to be away from momma. I’d miss her too much. I’d cry all the time.”

“No one is going to take you away from your mum. You’re going to stay with her. Until you grow up and you meet some nice guy and…”

“Or girl. It could be a girl, too. That’s okay, you know. If girls love girls and boys love boys.”

“...and you have little ones of your own. Then you’ll want your own space. To raise your family.”

“But somewhere close to mom. Real close. Maybe next door. ‘Cause I don’t want to be far away. What if I need her? Or what if she needs me?”

“Then you live as close as you can to her. But still be under your own roof. No one is going to take you from your mum. She’d never let that happen. I’D never let that happen.”

“He was mean. Alessio. Mom and him fought all the time. Is it my fault? That they did?”

“No. It’s not. And nothing that happened the other night is your fault, either. You know that, yeah?”

She nods.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t cause them to fight. They fought because your mum was sticking up for you. Because she would do anything to protect you. And he didn’t like that.”

“And because he’s a drongo!”

“He definitely is. A big fucking drongo.”

Clamping a hand over her mouth, she giggles at his words.

“And why would your dad not like you? What’s not to like?”

“Because I can be super loud. And messy. And a bit too much.”

“You’re four. You’re supposed to be loud and messy. And a bit too much.”

“So you think he will? Like me?”

“No. I don’t think he’ll like you. I think he’ll love you. How can he not? You’re his little girl. His baby. So unless he’s a complete asshole…”

“He’s not. Momma said he’s a really nice guy. And momma wouldn’t lie about that. If he was a jerk, she’d say so. And she wouldn’t take me to meet him, that’s for sure.”

“What else has your mum said? About your dad?”

“Just that he lived really far away and that he was a good person with a really good heart. That she wished things could have been different and that she never had to leave. It made her sad, you know. That she couldn’t stay. It made her cry. Talking about it. I don’t like it when mom cries. It hurts my heart.”

“Hurts my heart, too.”

“And she said she loved him. Very much. And that she always would.”

He noisily clears his throat in a desperate attempt to wash away the lump of emotion that threatens to choke him.

“Do you think he loves her? Still?”

“Maybe. You’d have to ask him that.”

“Can I tell you something?”

Tyler nods.

“I’m also scared that he’ll want momma back. ‘Cause we’ll be living with you. And you love momma, and she loves you, and we’re gonna be a family, right?”

“That’s what I want.”

“But what if he wants momma for himself? And you have to fight over her?”

“I’m not worried about that. I already know I’d win.”

“I don’t want to be away from momma, but I don’t wanna be away from you, either. I want to meet him, but I don’t want to live with him. I want to live with YOU. You wouldn’t let him take us, would you? You’d stop him, right? If he tried to force us?”

“He wouldn’t stand a chance. I’m not giving you or your mumma up. You guys are stuck with me.”

“If he doesn’t like me, will you punch him in the face?”

“If you ask me too. But you don’t have to worry about that. He’ll like you. He’ll LOVE you.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“And you promise you won’t let him take us? To live with him? Like I said, I wanna meet him, not live with him.”

“You and your mom aren’t going anywhere.”

“What if mom goes? If she does, can I stay with you? I’m sure my dad’s a good guy, but he probably can’t protect me like you can. He’d probably be scared of the bad guys. And he’s probably not as awesome as you. With the cool hair and all the tattoos and stuff. I bet he’s not like that. At all.”

“You won’t know until you meet him. But even if he is cool, there’s no way he’s as cool as me.”

“Oh god…” Millie gives a dramatic gasp. “...what if it turns out he’s a basic bitch?”

“No one as awesome as you could ever come from someone that’s a basic bitch.”

“That’s a really good point.”

“Your dad is going to love you. Don’t ever doubt that. And don’t ever doubt how much your mum already DOES love you. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you, Millie. You’re her baby. You always will be. No matter how old you get.”

“Momma always wanted to be a mommy. Did you know that?”

“I do. We used to talk about it. And we used to talk about having babies. Together.”

“Really?”

Tyler nods. “We wanted to get married. Have a family. And then things fell apart, and we broke up.”

“But if you didn’t break up, she never would have met my dad. And I wouldn’t be here.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Let’s just say that if something is meant to be, it’ll be. If someone is meant to be in your life, you’ll find your way back to them. No matter how long it’s been since you last saw them. And I haven’t seen your mum in a long time.”

“But you still love her?”

“I love your mumma very much. More than I ever thought I could love someone. And you know who else I love?”

The four-year-old shakes her head.

“You.”

Millie squeals when she’s scooped up and thrown high over his head; dissolving into giggles when he effortlessly catches her effortlessly and then tickles and lightly pinches her sides. He switches to pressing endless kisses over every inch of her face until she’s laughing hysterically; squirming and complaining that his beard is scratching her. And when he at last collapses onto his back, bringing her tiny body to rest on top of him, she wraps both arms around his neck. Noisily kissing each of his cheeks, and then beaming down at him.

“I love you, too.”

*****

After helping settle Millie for the night, he meets with Nik and Yaz in the former’s hotel room; slowly and meticulously going over his end of the extraction. Pouring over the blueprints of the hotel’s ‘bowels’ spread across the table as Yaz paces the floor; laptop in hand as he verbally rifles off pertinent information. Nik stands alongside Tyler; hunched over the papers, using a red marker to circle and isolate important spots on the map.

“The route will take you through a few different places,” Yaz announces, pausing his pacing in order to take a swig of coffee. “This is the order: secondary kitchen, boiler room, laundry facilities, and an underground bunker.”

Tyler uses the tip of his index finger to trace the path. “What’s the bunker? What’s the story of that?”

“It’s where Winston hides out during ‘intense situations,’” Nik explains. “It’s highly stocked; every handheld weapon you can possibly think of. And its corresponding ammo.”

Tyler smirks. “Something tells me it’s not your basic ‘shelter in place.’ I highly doubt he hangs out somewhere with concrete walls and bare lightbulbs.”

“It’s as luxurious and over the top as you’d expect from him,” Yaz pipes up. “He’s known to hold ‘executive meetings’ and talks with weapons dealers in there. It’s how we first met him. Years ago.”

“There’s no other way to the loading docks? That doesn’t take me right past his little hideout?”

Yaz shakes his head. “None. When it comes to the blueprints, what you see is what you get. Everything that is available to us is right there. There’s no secret passages, no hidden hallways, no indirect path. It’s this way, or no way.”

“And there’s no other options? When it comes to exits?”

“This is the safest route out of The Continental. There’s too much foot traffic if you go in any other direction. This is the only path that’s NOT heavily patrolled by security. And trust me, this place doesn’t just have regular, run-of-the-mill guards to keep things running smoothly and make sure people stay in line. They’re heavily armed. AND expertly trained. You take a different way and run into half a dozen or more…”

“Yaz and I have walked every possible path, documented every step,” Nik says. “None of them give you even the slightest chance of going unseen and unheard like this one does. It’s too risky any other way.”

“Can’t exactly go unseen and unheard if I have to go right past it. I’m leading her right to the wolves. If Winston is hanging out in there and he hears us…”

“It’s a secure room,” Yaz explains. “It’s essentially a vault; with walls thicker and more secure than anything you’d see at even the most high end of banks.”

“A bomb could go off right outside the door, and whoever’s inside wouldn’t even hear it,” his sister adds. “There is no way if he WAS holed up inside, that Winston would know you’re even out there.”

Tyler sighs. “Just the thought of taking her right past his doorstep…”

“This whole place is his doorstep,” Nik reminds him. “There’s no one hundred percent foolproof way to get out of here. In the end, it comes down to picking the least of the evils and just going with it. Hoping for the best.”

“That’s hardly reassuring. This isn’t exactly the job I want to resort to just ‘hoping for the best’. I can’t just cross my fingers and hold my breath and pray that everything’s going to work out. If it wasn’t so personal…”

“We wouldn’t have decided on this route if we had any other option. You know that we’d never put you at risk. That we’d…”

“I don’t care about me. This comes with the territory; putting my ass on the line. But taking her right into the lion’s den? And just hoping nothing goes wrong? That’s not good enough, Nik. That’s not NEARLY good enough.”

“If there were any other options, we would have found them. But this is it, Tyler. It HAS to be this way. There’s nothing else. It’s this way or no way.”

Heaving a sigh, he runs his hands through his hair and down his weary face. Stepping away, he pours himself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the window sill; his back to the others as he nurses his drink and stares into the night. And he finds himself marvelling at the neighbouring buildings; blazing pillars of light that climb high into the black canvas of sky. And in that moment, in a city of millions and in the midst of the hustle and bustle, he’s never felt so…done. Tired of the job and everything that comes with it; the danger and the unpredictability from one moment to the next. He finally feels ready; confident in the decision to -when the final mission is finished and the coast is truly clear- to walk away from it all. To concentrate on creating a normal life; pouring his attention and his energy into firefighting and running his own business. And being a husband and a father. Someone that Esme and Millie can rely on. Not just to protect them, but to provide for them.

Love them.

Nik joins him at the window, uncapping a bottle of water and taking a sip. “Talk to me.”

“About?”

“You’re unsettled. This isn’t like you. You’re usually focused. You have your head on straight. You never break a sweat. Now…”

“This isn’t a regular gig, Nik. You can’t expect me to act like it is.”

“I HAVE to expect it. In the same way YOU have to treat it like you would any job I give you. You can’t let your heart overrule your brain. It’s dangerous. Life threatening. If you start feeling too much…”

“How can I not? This is as personal as it gets. This isn’t just random people I’ve been hired to help. It isn’t my ex-sister-in-law and her kids. This is MY kid. And it’s Esme. MY Esme. These aren’t regular clients.”

“You have to treat them like they are. If you don’t…”

“I can’t just turn it off. Maybe six, seven years ago, I would have been able to. I would have been able to separate THAT Tyler from THIS Tyler. But now…”

“This was a bad idea. Getting you involved. And I told her that. That calling you was the worst thing we could do. That I had other people that could handle this sort of job and…”

“Calling me was the best thing you could have done. For more reasons than one.”

“We’re not going to talk about that. Now isn’t the time. Now…”

“You should have called me a long time ago. About Millie. You had every chance to tell me; that I had a kid out there. And the least you could have done was tell me Esme was alive. You have had every opportunity to put my mind at ease. To let me know that she was okay.”

“I already have explained. Why I did what I did. And I’ve already apologized. I’ve…”

“I don’t care about your apology. I don’t need you to keep saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ Remember when you gave me shit? For not telling you it was my ex-wife who hired me in Georgia? How you talked about not needing my apology but my trust? That should have went both ways. Because now? After everything you’ve done? Everything you COULD HAVE done? How am I supposed to trust YOU?”

She blinks, taken back by his honesty.

“I can’t do this anymore. Not even as a side gig. I can’t keep putting myself out there. Everything’s changed. The second Esme walked back into my life…”

“Don’t make any hasty decisions. Right now, you’re running on pure emotion. You’re…”

“She’s going to need me, Nik. And not like THIS. She doesn’t need mercenary me. She needs a partner and husband and a father to her little girl. And any kids that might come after that. She needs me home. Safe. She shouldn’t be watching me walk out the front door and then spending days…weeks…wondering if I’m going to walk back in.”

“You’re going to have all the time in the world to think about quitting. When this job is done and I’ve taken care of things here in the city, and there’s no more threat…”

“I don’t need any more time. My mind was made up the second I saw her. As soon as she walked into the room and I realized she was the one who hired me, that was it. I don’t need to think about it.”

“Is it what she wants? You walking away?”

“It’s what she deserves. This life? It’s not good for her. And it’s definitely not good for Millie. It’s time, Nik. This is it. No more. No more calling me and asking for favours. I’m done. And if that means you lose my number and forget I ever existed, then that’s the way it has to be.”

“That would never happen. Whether you work for me or not.”

“Esme and Millie have to be first. I made that mistake with Mia; putting the military before her and our boy. I’m not going to do it again. Not with Esme. Not with the love of my life. I lost her once. I’m not going to lose her again.”

“And you’ve talked about this? With her? You’ve…”

“We’re getting married. As soon as we can. Just something small. The two of us and Millie and a couple of witnesses. We have five years to make up for. We’re not going to waste any time.”

“And you’ll be happy? Giving this up? Entirely?”

“Maybe not at first. But it’s something I HAVE to do. I have a family now.”

“You’ve had a family all this time. Yaz and me and…”

“It’s not the same, and you know it. I have a daughter. I’m going to be a husband. And those are the two things I have to concentrate on. I need to give them a normal life. Away from all of this. They deserve better. From me.”

Sighing, she nods slowly as she considers his words)

“You’ll find someone else. That annoys you as much as I do.”

“Maybe that’s true. But I definitely won’t find someone that can do the job nearly as good as you.”

“Maybe it’s time for you to move on, too. Do something else with your life. Remember what you told me? In Austria? About how my entire life fit inside one little box? And how I should do something about it. Well, it’s taken me a couple of years, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“If anyone deserves a shot at a normal life…”

“And maybe you should take your own advice. You can’t tell me this is all you want. Being caught up in all of this. You can’t tell me this is the only kind of life that makes you happy? What about filling your own boxes? When are you going to start on that?”

A smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth. “I’m not taking personal life advice from you. Considering the mess you made of things by getting hooked up with Delaney…”

“I know I’m not the guy who should be talking. I don’t exactly have the best track record; when it comes to women and marriage and having kids. But this can’t be it. This can’t be all you want. And don’t even try and lie; I know when you’re full of shit.”

Managing a small laugh, she reaches out to rub his upper arm. “I hope it all works out for you. I hope you and Esme go on to get married and stay that way for a few decades. I hope you have more babies. And grandbabies. I hope you get your happily ever after.”

“So do I.”

“But for now, can we concentrate on other things? On what’s in front of us? Because none of that will happen for you if you don’t get Esme out of here. If that goes wrong…”

Tyler sips his coffee. “I’ve got…concerns.”

“About the plan? The route?”

“I’m not thrilled with having to take her that away; parade right past where Winston might be hanging out. But if there really is no other choice, I’ll make it work.”

“There Is no other option. Believe me, I would have given you one if there were.”

“It’s more than that. Something doesn’t feel right. Something ISN’T right.”

“In what way?”

“Winston’s been way too quiet. Since that sniper tried to take Millie and me out. He hasn’t come up to the suite once; to see how she’s holding up. Don’t you find that a little odd? Considering he calls her his granddaughter? You don’t find it strange that he hasn’t bothered to check if she’s okay?”

“It’s more than a little odd. Much more.”

“All he cared about was the room getting shot up. Us ‘making a mess’ of things. Bringing trouble here. Other than taking the time to try and reem you out…”

“He learned very quickly. That NO ONE speaks to me like that.”

“...he hasn’t made any attempt to contact Esme. And I know that should make me happy; considering he’s got some kind of fucked up old man crush on her…”

“It’s unsettling.”

“Very. He spent how many months keeping her safe here? After that adjudicator showed up at our place, and Esme took off? Better part of a year, yeah?”

Nik nods.

“Even after that, when she finally could go on with her life, he kept tabs on her. Made sure that no one was watching her or causing her trouble. And look how fast he came to the rescue this time. When she and Millie needed a place to hide out.”

“He isn’t just seeing her as a daughter. I’ve always said it; that the way he feels goes far beyond what a parent would feel for a child. It never sat well with me; how much he doted on her and needed to be around her.”

“It’s fucked up. Not just how he feels about her, but how far he’s willing to go to keep her here. Under his thumb. And away from me. Offering me the money to walk away, threatening me, having a sniper try and take me out…”

“We don’t know that was him. That organized that. We…”

“All of that, and now suddenly he’s disappeared? Gone silent? He doesn’t give a shit about her anymore? He hasn’t bothered to check up on her or Millie? It doesn’t make sense. Something isn’t right, Nik.”

“Is that your brain or your gut telling you that?”

“A bit of both.”

“I’ve already told you to listen to your instincts; that they’re very rarely wrong. And if something doesn’t feel right to you…”

“It feels FAR from right.”

“You think he knows what we’re up to? Do you think we might have a mole? That’s tipped him off?”

“It’s possible. He could be just lying in wait. For us to make a move. Is there anyone that you don’t trust? On the team? That sat in on the plans and might have shared the info?”

“I wouldn’t have them here if I didn’t trust them.”

“If he knows what we’re up to, we’re fucked. He’ll be on us before I even get Esme anywhere near the exit. And if he knows what day and time…”

“You’re thinking he might ambush you.”

“Not just him. If he does have a small army of these highly trained security people…”

“Should we change the date? The time? We can’t change the path. There’s no other route to take. And if we’re not out of here before the deadline he’s given us…”

“How comfortable do you feel going to him?”

“It’s pretty much the last thing I want to do, but…”

“What if I asked you to go and talk to him? Try and find out what he knows. See if you can convince him to give us some extra time?”

“Stay here even longer? Tyler…”

“Not actually stay here. But put it in his head that we’re going to, then leak a fake date and time. If he thinks we’re taking off then, that opens the door for the plan we already have. Puts him off our scent.”

“You think he’d fall for that?”

“I don’t know. But at this point, I’m willing to try anything. I HAVE to get her out of here. Without him knowing. Because if he catches on and tries to stop me…”

“If you kill him, you’re just opening up a whole new world of hurt for yourself. And for Esme and Millie.”

“If he gets in my way, I won’t have a choice. Because he’ll stop at nothing to keep her here. And I can’t let that happen. I can’t let him get his hands on her. She’s not his to have.”

“The High Table will come for you. If you kill him, they won’t let you have a moment’s rest. They will track you down. And what kind of life is that? Living with that fear?”

“I’m not scared of them.”

“You should be. Because they won’t think twice about using Esme or Millie to get to you. If you kill Winston and manage to get out of here, you will have a target on your back for the rest of your life.”

“I’ve had one on my back for years.”

“Not from THEM you haven’t. Why would you want to take that risk? Having The High Table after you? Why…?”

“He gets in my way, I will take him out.”

“Don’t do it, Tyler. You may not care about your life, but it isn’t just you anymore. Think about Esme. And Millie. They don’t deserve to live with that kind of fear. And they certainly don’t deserve to lose you. You just got Esme back. You just found out you’re a dad again. Why…?”

“If he doesn’t give me a choice, I’m doing what I have to. To get her out of here.”

“You won’t be safe anywhere. Wherever you run to, they’ll follow. They WILL find you. I’m warning you, Tyler. Don’t do it. Find another way. To deal with him. IF it happens. But don’t do THAT. Anything but that.”

“I can’t make any promises, Nik. Because if he tries to stop me or he hurts her in any way…”

“I am begging you NOT to do it. To not go that route. You can’t take it back. You can’t make things right. If you take him out, you’re signing your own death certificate. You know that, right?”

“I’ll do what I have to do. To get Esme out of here. And if they come for me…”

“Not if. When. WHEN they come for you.”

“Then I deal with it. I pay the price. But you gotta promise me one thing. If that happens.”

“I’m not putting my support behind this. I can’t. I can’t give you my blessing. Not for this. I’m sorry. I…”

“I want you to take care of them. Esme and Millie. Make sure they’re alright. If I’m not around to do it…”

“Don’t talk like that. Don’t…”

“Just promise me, yeah? You’ve done it before; made sure they were safe and taken care of. I’m sure you can do it again. Promise me, Nik. That if something happens to me and I can’t do it myself, you’ll take care of my family. For however long you have to.”

“Tyler…”

“Promise me. That Esme and Millie will be okay. That you’ll keep an eye on them.”

Nik relents. “I promise. But let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that.”

“Yeah…” Sighing, he turns back to the window. “...let’s hope.”

******

It’s after midnight when he returns to the suite; quietly letting himself into the bedroom and then navigating the space by way of the moonlight streaming through the gaps in the curtains. Slipping out of his clothes and tossing them in the open suitcase near the window, he gingerly pulls the blankets back and slips in next to her. A hand on her stomach as he presses his front to her back; eyes closing as he buries his face in her hair and inhales deeply. Taking in that familiar scent. Desperately needing the comfort. The closeness.

“You’re making a habit of this,” Esme teases, her voice quiet, laced with sleep. And she pushes her fingers through his; giving an initial squeeze and then tightly holding his hand. “Coming to bed really late.”

“I’m sorry.” He presses a kiss to the nape of her neck. “It ran longer than I thought it would.”

“Everything went okay? There’s no major changes I need to know about?”

“The plan’s staying the same. I’m not hundred percent on board with it, but considering there’s no other options…”

“Nik wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. With either of us. If she’s adamant that this is the only way it can go…”

“I think I’m just being paranoid. If it wasn’t you and Millie caught up in all this, I’d just go with whatever idea Nik drew up. But seeing as it’s so personal…”

“But do you feel better about things? Then you did last night? Because that spooked me; you questioning everything and not having a lot of confidence in how it’s going to go down. You’re not like that. Not when it comes to the job.”

“This isn’t just any job,” he reminds her.

“You’re going to have to try and focus. You’re going to put your feelings on the back burner and just go with your instincts. Pretend that this IS just like any other job. Because that’s what I need from you. When the time comes. I need THAT Tyler.”

“I’m fucking trying, believe me. But it’s a lot easier said than done.”

“I trust you. To get it together. When it comes to work, you’ve always been able to shut everything else out. Maybe not get rid of it entirely, but at least put it on the back burner. You’re going to have to treat this like it IS just another job.”

“You have a lot of faith in me. You always have.”

“Well, someone needs to.” She rolls over onto her side, eyes briefly closing as he places a kiss on her brow). “How DID it go?”

“It went. We finalized things. And got some loose ends tied up.”

“So that means you’re more confident? About how things are going to go?”

“Yeah…” Leaning in, he nuzzles her temple with the tip of her nose and then pecks her cheek. “...much more.”

“Everything’s going to go nice and smooth,” she enthuses. “According to plan. We’re not going to have any setbacks, no one is going to fuck anything up, people aren’t going to get in our way. Things are going to be perfect and uncomplicated.”

“When did the roles suddenly reverse? Aren’t I normally the one trying to convince you?”

“I can admit, I am usually a touch neurotic…”

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

“...and you are usually the one talking me down off a ledge. But I feel good about this. I feel like everything is going to be fine. That we won’t have any roadblocks. We’ll just get the hell out of here…”

“While I want to share your optimism, when do things ever go smoothly? On the job?”

“I mean, I’ve had a couple of gigs that weren’t major disasters. They weren’t flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but…”

“Remember Dhaka? How easy we thought it would be? After I got a hold of Ovi? That we’d get him to the boat, and we’d be free and clear? Do you remember that?”

“Unfortunately, very well.”

“Believe me, I WANT this to go nice and smooth. No hiccups, no one getting in my way and trying to stop us from leaving. I want that more than anything. But you’ve said it yourself; these people don’t accept defeat easily. They’re not just going to roll over if we DO get out of her.”

“WHEN we get out of here,” she gently corrects. “WHEN.”

“I just don’t want you putting all your eggs in one basket. It’s good to be confident and optimistic, but…”

“It can lead to bad decisions. Stupid mistakes. You get too cocky…”

“Just err on the side of caution, yeah? That’s all I’m asking.”

“Are you asking or telling? Because if it’s the latter, you’re starting your bossiness a little early. I technically don’t have to listen to you until it’s ‘go time’.”

“Who are you trying to kid? You’re not even going to listen to me AFTER that.”

“I promise I will be on my best behaviour.”

“I know what your best behaviour is. And while it’s a step up…”

“I will be completely unproblematic. I will listen to every word the big, bad, mercenary man has to say.”

Grinning, he presses a feathery to the corner of her mouth. “You are so full of shit.”

“You just want to be the boss of me,” she chides and wraps both arms around his neck. “You don’t get to wear the pants very often, but when you do…”

“I wear the pants all the time.”

“You keep telling yourself that. Everyone knows I’m the one in charge. That I’m the boss. I just let you take over every now and then. Stroke your ego. Feed your masculinity.”

“You’re just a regular bleeding heart.”

“And, there are times I DO like you being all aggressive and assertive and bossy. You have to admit, it’s always at the best possible times. The naked ones. Not even you can deny that’s your favourite time to be in charge.”

“I’ll admit to nothing.”

“You don’t have to. The evidence speaks for itself.”

“What evidence is that?”

“I’d say eleven inches poking me in the stomach, or the ass is usually all the proof I need.”

“Eleven? Come on now…”

“Ten and a half? Ten?”

“You are really good for my ego.”

“We’ll have to get an official number. An accurate measurement. I’m sure we’ll be able to track down a tape measure or a ruler when we get to Australia. Inquiring minds want to know.”

“You’re an odd duck, you know that?”

“I like my weirdness. All my quirks and eccentricities. You’ve missed them. Over the course of the last five years. Admit it.”

“I have, actually. I’ve missed a lot of things.” Hooking a finger under her chin, he tilts her face upwards; covering her mouth with his in a long, soft kiss. So pure and beautiful; nothing hurried or aggressive, nor teeming with unbridled lust or overwhelming want and need. A kiss at its most innocent point: adoring, tender, languid. Yet somehow enough to curl her toes and take her breath away.

She gives a sigh when it ends, her eyes remaining closed when he rolls over onto his back; settling her much smaller, lighter frame on top of his.

For five years, she’d longed for this; the smoothness of his skin and the hardness of his muscles. The way his calloused fingers tip continuously skim up and down her spine, his familiar scent and the sound of his voice and how she is able to feel its rumbling deep within his chest. Desperately missing him nearly every second of every day; wanting nothing more than to pick up the phone and beg and plead for forgiveness and end up in his life and his arms and his bed once again. But it had always seemed so far out of reach; believing she was past redemption. Even if he could accept her running away, there was no way he’d ever forgive her for keeping his daughter a secret. Not after the tremendous loss he’d already suffered; still wracked with guilt, regret, and profound grief when it came to the death of his son.

****

“Did you talk to Millie?” His fingertips drift down her spine and briefly settle at the small of her back; a lone fingertip commencing the tracing of the elaborate tattoo that stretches from one hip to the other. “About going with Alcott.”

“I was going to do it tomorrow. Well, today now. After breakfast.”

“I want to be there. When you tell her. I mean, as long as you’re okay with that.”

“Of course, I’m okay with it. You’re her father.”

“Only she doesn’t know what, does she? She has no clue.”

“We’ve talked about this. About when we’re going to tell her. I thought we agreed that…”

“She asked me about him today. Her dad.”

“What do you mean she asked about him? She brought him up out of nowhere? Why did she want to know? What…?”

“She asked me if I thought he’d like her. When she got to meet him. Can you imagine being a little kid and wondering something like that? If your old man is even going to WANT you?”

“No. I can’t even begin to imagine that.”

“She’s four years old. And she’s asking stuff like THAT? She’s worried that she’s going to meet him and he’s going to hate her? Find her a nuisance? Think she’s too loud and too messy and…”

“A bit too much,” Esme finishes for him. “She said that to me once. When she asked about him. About YOU. She said she was worried he’d find her annoying. I just chalked it up to Alessio being a total prick to her. I didn’t think she really felt that way. About herself.”

“She’s just a little girl. And she's carrying around shit like that? How could you have him around her? How could you put her through it? Him treating her like that?”

“I didn’t have a choice. I was in the middle of a job, and if I let my guard down or he found exactly who I was…”

“You should have told Nik you wanted out. The second he started treating Millie like that. As soon as he tried breaking her spirit, that should have been it. You should have got the fuck out of there. She didn’t deserve any of it. Being treated like that.”

“I thought we weren’t going to do this.” Moving away from him, she slaps and shoves his hands away when he tries to prevent her from sitting up. “Not here. Not right now. I thought we were going to wait until we were in Australia and somewhat settled before we talked about all of this. I thought…”

Sitting up, he stretches out his legs and leans back against the headboard. “I can’t do it, Esme. I can’t pretend that everything’s okay. That I’m not pissed off. That I’m not hurt. Do you know what it’s like? When everyone around you has a bigger role in your own kid’s life? All people tell me about is what Millie was like as a baby, all the things that they’ve done for her and with her.”

“They’re not telling you those things to hurt you. They’re just sharing what they know about her. So you can get to know her better.”

“All I hear from people is how they’re her family.”

“It’s because they are. Maybe not a conventional one, but…”

“I’M her family. You didn’t make that baby alone. And I didn’t see any of them making that kid with you either. So unless there’s someone you’re not telling me about…”

“Don’t do that. Say shit like that. I know you’re upset. And you have every right to be. I’ve never once tried to take that away from you. Or tried to downplay it. But you have no reason to question whether or not she belongs to you. Just look at her! She IS you! From head to toe. You’re just lashing out and trying to hurt me, and you know exactly how to do it.”

“I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m…”

“Just admit it, Tyler. Just admit that there’s a part of you that wants to punish me. Make me pay for what I did to you. I’m not going to judge you or hate you for it. I get it, alright? I did a horrible thing; keeping Millie away from you. And you have every right to want to punish me for that.”

“No. I don’t. I’m not like that. I’m not that kind of person. I would never hurt you.”

“I see it in you, sometimes. I’ll catch you looking at me a certain way. And I’ll see it; all this hurt and anger that you’ve got built inside of you. So just tell me the truth. I’m a big girl. I know my mistakes. I admit to them. I own them. So don’t…”

“I don’t want to fight, Esme. That’s not why I brought any of this up. That’s not why…”

“If you didn’t want to fight, you wouldn’t have thrown Millie in my face like that. You don’t think I know how badly I fucked up? Bringing her into that kind of life? You think I don’t feel like complete and utter shit for what happened? What she went through? What she KEEPS going through? You think I like any of this? Having to hide here? Having to hire a fucking mercenary to get us out here and…”

“So that’s how you see me. That’s all you see me as?”

“I never said. Don’t put words in my mouth. I’ve never seen you as JUST that. It’s part of you, but it’s not ALL of you. And I’ve never once thought it was. Who was the one who always talked you down? Every time you’d mention that you did nothing but kill people for a living? Who was the one person that reminded you that you did so much more? Who always tried to convince you that you weren’t the monster you saw yourself as?”

“You.”

“I stayed on that bridge because you deserved a second chance. Because you made your amends. And selfishly, I stayed because I wanted more of you. I wanted more time. I wanted all those plans that we made; I wanted to travel and see the world and fall in love. With YOU.”

“It didn’t exactly go that way, did it.”

“No. It didn’t. But you know what? What we had was good. It was so good. It wasn’t perfect. But neither are we. We had what we needed, and that was enough. We were happy. Weren’t we?”

“We were.”

“I love you. I have always loved you. I always WILL love you. So don’t you ever accuse me of anything else. And never…and I mean never…try and tell me I don’t love my daughter. OUR daughter.”

“I would never say that.” He slides down the bed and reaches for her when she begins to cry; frowning when she pushes him away and stands. Moving to the table in front of the window and leaning back against it; sniffling noisily as she wipes at her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to be honest. I need that from you, okay? I know you’re afraid of hurting me; it’s why you won’t just come right out and tell me how you’re really feeling or what’s really going on in your head. But I NEED that, Tyler. Because until you’re truthful about it, I can’t start to make amends. How can I move on and heal when you won’t even acknowledge what I did to you?

“I don’t understand why you need me to be angry. Why..?”

“Because it’s holding me accountable. For what I did. I don’t want you coddling me and holding my hand and patting me on the head and treating me like I’m some fragile little thing. Do you think I’m not going to love you? If you’re honest about everything? Is that what you’re afraid of?”

“I don’t know,” he admits, and swings his legs over the side of the bed. “I guess. Maybe? I don’t want you to think I hate you. Because I don’t. I never could.”

“I know you love me. I know it without you even having to say it. It’s in everything you do. It’s like those five years never even happened. The way you look at me and the way you touch and kiss me and make love to me. It’s like none of the bad stuff ever happened. And I don’t know what I did to deserve that. The way you feel about me. Or if I even DO deserve it. But I don’t question it. Sometimes it’s the only thing I’m sure of.”

“I just don’t see what good can come of it. Me just letting it all out. I don’t understand why you need me to be out there with it. Why can’t you just let me deal with this alone and…”

“That’s the old Tyler. The one that existed BEFORE me. He’s the one that died on that bridge. You’re not HIM. And you haven’t been him in a long time.”

“Maybe I went back to it. Being him. During the last five years.”

“There’s no way. Because you weren’t happy. Being that way. Being HIM. And you worked way too hard after Dhaka. To become better and DO better. There’s no way you’d go back to that.”

“I think you have way too much faith in me.”

“I think you don’t have enough. You would never go back to being like that. I know you. I know your heart. I know…”

“You don’t know a thing about my heart. And you know why? Because you broke it. You fucking tore it out of my chest and stomped all over it. And you expect it to be what it was before you did that?”

“If you were the old Tyler, you wouldn’t have stayed. When you found out I was the one that hired you. You would have turned around and walked out, and that would have been it.”

“I would have stayed. For Millie. I would have done it for her.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. It wouldn’t have mattered. Millie or no Millie, you would have left. The old Tyler? The one with the death wish? The one who didn’t give a fuck about anything except catching a bullet? He would have been long gone.”

“I would have never walked away from her. Even if I wanted to walk away from you, I’d never turn my back on my own kid. I did that once. I wouldn’t do it again. I learned the first time.”

“Is that why you’re here? Why you REALLY want things to work with us? Is that…?”

“I wouldn’t be sharing a bed with you and fucking you. Don’t insult me like that. I know I can be a real dick sometimes, but I’d never lower myself to that. And I would never use you. No matter how pissed off I am.”

“I was just asking. I was just…”

“I’m here because I love you. Because even though you ripped my heart out of my fucking chest and ruined my life, I still want you. In every way. And maybe that makes me a fucking idiot. Maybe I’m just pathetic. A simp. I don’t know. But I love you, and I never stopped loving you. Millie? She’s just this extra piece. This fucking amazing, beautiful, perfect piece.”

“She is pretty amazing, isn’t she.”

“I would never…EVER…accuse you of not loving her. I see you with her. Your entire face lights up when she walks in the room. And every time she hugs you or tells you she loves you or even just calls you ‘mummy’? To me, you’re beautiful all the time. But when she does those things? You’re the most beautiful I’ve ever seen you.”

“She’s my baby. I had wanted to be a mom for so long. And you gave me the chance. You gave me HER. And I could thank you enough for that. For giving me her. Because aside from you, she’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I know you love her. More than you love yourself. More than you love me. And that’s how it should be. You’re an amazing mum; no one could ever deny that. Or say anything different. Everything you’ve done for her; taking care of her on your own, keeping her safe, managing to bring up this awesome little human. You know how many women wouldn’t have even had her? Considering the circumstances?”

“There was no way I wasn’t going through with it. She was my connection to you. My ONLY connection.”

“Thank you, Esme. Maybe that sounds weird; considering I AM angry and I AM hurt. But thank you. For her. I know it wasn’t the most conventional of ways to find out I’m a dad. But still. Thank you.”

“Please don’t say that. Not after everything I did. Please don’t…”

“She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t have gotten a second chance at this; at being a dad. It’s just the truth.”

Sniffling, she uses the bottom of her t-shirt to wipe away her tears. “You’ve always been nothing if not honest.”

“You broke us. What we had? You destroyed that. And you’re right; it wasn’t perfect. But it WAS good. It was so fucking good.”

“And now? You don’t think it’s good NOW? You don’t think we can get back to that?”

“I don’t want to go back to that. I want to be BETTER than that. We’re not those same two people anymore. We’ve both changed. Mostly for the better, I like to think. Do you want that? For things to be even better?”

Esme nods. “That’s all I want.”

“Then just look at me and tell me why. Why did it have to get to this? Why did five years have to go by? Why…?”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”

“That’s not an acceptable answer for anyone over seven, and you know it.”

“I was scared. I was selfish. I was so worried about being rejected. And I couldn’t get past that feeling. That fear.”

“I never would have rejected you. Or her.”

“Logically, I knew that. But sometimes, logic isn’t an easy thing to come by.”

“How could you do that to me? Leave like that? After everything we’d been through. After nine months in that fucking hospital. Three quarters of a year, you stayed there. You fought for me. You were the only one who didn’t give up. And then you go and do something like THAT? Just leave?”

“I wanted to protect you. You’d already been through so much. You shouldn’t even have been alive. But you WERE. And I didn’t want it on my conscience; losing you because of something I did.”

“You didn’t do anything. You thought you were in the free and clear. You were told that you were. Long before you met me. It wasn’t your fault; that The High Table went against their own ruling and came for you. You know that, yeah?”

“I think I do. I think I know that.”

“Why didn’t you just give me a chance? To get you out of that fucking mess? I would have done anything to protect you. If that meant packing up and moving thousands of miles away and hiding out? I would have done it. And if they found us, we would have packed up and found somewhere else to hide. Other people could have dealt with it. The bullshit here.”

“I didn’t even think of that at the time. I was more worried that you’d try and go against them. Physically.”

“Esme, I knew my limits. I was clinically dead a year before. Do you really think I thought I stood a chance against The High Table? Alone? I know I’m not the smartest guy on the planet, but give me SOME credit.”

“You always said you’d do anything for me. To keep me safe. Why wouldn’t I think that?”

“If you had told me what happened…with The Adjudicator…we could have talked about all of this. Avoided you taking off. But you didn’t even give me a chance.”

“I just wanted to protect you.”

“And I love you for that. For thinking you had to. But you didn’t just ruin my life when you left. You ruined yours, too. That’s not protecting me. You should have known that’s the last thing I would want. Hurting yourself like that.”

“It’s just such a mess,” she tearfully laments. “A big fucking mess.”

“And if that wasn’t bad enough? You couldn’t even let me know that you were alive. That something horrible hadn’t happened to you. Do you know what’s been going through my head? For five years? The horrible, gross shit it came up with? Even if you didn’t want me back, the least you could have done was let me know you were alright.”

“I fucked up. Badly. I’m the first to admit that.”

“And then you got Nik and Yaz involved. They’ve had to lie for you. Do you really think that was fair? Getting them tied up in this shit? All you had to do was let me know you were alright. You didn’t have to drag it on. Make things even worse.”

“I didn’t know what else to do. I thought I was keeping you safe. I had the best of intentions. I did. But…”

“Even after things settled? And there was no trouble? You still thought there was a reason to keep me safe?”

She shakes her head. “That was just me being a stupid, selfish bitch.”

“You should have told me about Millie. You know everything about me. Every ugly, deep, dark secret. I’ve never hid anything from you. Especially when it comes to my son and what I did. I was always honest about that. Right from day one. In Dhaka. And you knew I wanted to be a dad again. We talked about it. Having kids. I was scared shitless, but I was willing, wasn’t I?”

Esme nods.

“And yet you kept her from me. For five years. You knew I wanted another kid. That I wanted a chance to do things right. Yet you couldn’t even tell me about her.”

“I didn’t do it to hurt you. I WAS going to tell you. I was going to bring her to Australia. Right to your doorstep. After this job was done…”

“It shouldn't have taken this long. You know there was no reason… REAL reason…to keep her from me. Were you scared? The fact you had a kid with a mercenary? One that’s burned a lot of bridges and…”

“No! That never even crossed my mind. I knew what you were. It was never a secret. I knew what you did for a living. It’s how we MET. And I never once worried about you being her dad.”

“So it was just you being scared. Of being rejected.”

“That’s all it was. I’m telling the truth, Tyler. I know I kept a lot of secrets and I’ve told a lot of lies, and I even made a living out of doing things. But I am telling you the truth. That is the ONLY reason.”

He nods slowly, considering her words. “I believe you.”

“I am so sorry. For everything I’ve done. For hurting you like I did. And I know I can’t go back in time and change it, but…”

“No. You can’t. And I wouldn’t even ask you to. Change one thing, it changes everything. I’ve always said that.”

“...but I can spend the rest of my life making up for it. Or at least trying to.”

“You don’t have to. I don’t want you holding onto this for forty, fifty years. Or more. That’s not what I want.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you. I want US. I want to get married. As soon as possible. I want us to raise Millie together. Be a real family. That has normal jobs and fairly normal lives.”

“That’s what I want, too. I want you to be my husband. I want you to be able to be Millie’s dad. Not have to hide it. I want us to have a home and a nice little backyard with chickens and goats and…”

“And more babies. I want more babies.”

“How many more? I do have to draw the line somewhere.”

“I don’t know. Three. Four.”

“You just want to wreck my vagina, don’t you. You’re determined to do it.”

“Why would I ever want to ruin my favourite part of you?”

She gives a derisive snort.

“I’m kidding.” He holds out a hand; a silent request for her to join him on the edge of the bed. And he gathers her close when she sinks down beside him; both arms wrapping around her tiny frame as he drops a kiss on the top of her head. “It’s not my most favourite. Second favourite, maybe…”

Laughing, she playfully elbows him in the stomach, then tilts her face up towards him. “Do you feel better? Getting all that out?”

“Shockingly, yeah.”

“Me too.”

He kisses her softly; the long and languid press of closed mouth upon closed mouth. “I meant what I said. Five years ago. When I told you that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“I’ve never doubted it.”

“I will get you out of here. Away from this place. This life. And I’ll stop at nothing to make that happen.”

“I believe you.”

“You’ll never have to think about it again. It’ll just be us. And Millie. We’ll make a new life. The one we were supposed to have. Before this all happened.”

Smiling, she presses a series of feathery pecks along his jaw, then rests her head on his shoulder. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

[saturnsorbits]

Hi i would like to set up a playdate between the Twins and Saturnari's baby boy please and thank you. Katsu asked to drop them off. (it's because he misses you and wants to make an excuse to visit and also i forced him because he was sulking around the house because he missed you) . Also idk if i ever asked his name but please tell me. Along with some of his fav things to do and his fave dinners. Does Denks cook more or you?

Ok bye i love you. 💖

Ahh! 🥺

Sticking this under a cut bc I didn’t realise how much I’d enjoy rambling about this…

But, I would love to set up a little play date! Bakugo is ‘dropping them off’ sure, but he stays the entire time. He says it’s bc the girls can be a handful and he knows I’m busy/have a lot going on, but we all know that’s a lie bc they’re sweet as sugar every time they come over.

We catch up over coffee while the kids play in the garden with our dogs, and Hide teaches the girls all about our chickens and quails. They’ll each get to pick their own eggs and boil and paint them all later. Bakugo whines about his job even though he loves it and updates me on both you and Kiri. I’ll tease him about how he still can’t say your name without smiling, a blush rising to his cheeks automatically as he goes on his usual speech of how he still doesn’t know how he got so lucky and how sometimes none of it feels real, bc why is he the one who gets to keep someone like you and Kiri? He looks at his wedding band like it’s the most precious thing in the world and when he looks back up over his coffee, there’s such a softness in his expression that I’m reminded that shit - true love really might exist, bc you guys are proof of it.

As for our little boy. His name is Hide and he likes to create chaos. He’s 100% his father’s son, constantly getting into shit bc he’s too curious for his own good. Lucky enough, he’s sweet enough to get himself out of trouble: most of the time. I feel like he’s younger than your girls, who always keep his cheeky ass in line. He also has a soft spot for his Auntie Marq and will demand Bakugo take him to you at all of our parties with a serious frown.

He’s a beige eater like his dad too, so we’re always coming up with new ways to hide veggies in things - something Bakugo is an expert at. Denki is always on the phone begging for new recipes bc Hide fed his broccoli to the dog again while he wasn’t looking.

In my head, Denks is a stay at home dad for a bit - so he takes over a lot of the cooking. He enjoys it a lot and likes to teach Hide little things too, even if his job is just ‘sitting on the side and reading out Uncle Bakugo’s recipe’. When Denki goes back to work it’s a pretty even split, with us cooking together as a family more often too - which is always nice…

[lovedrac]

Everyone, meet Calliope Mahalia Regalado. 🇵🇭🩷

She is a Ruby Red Fashion Friends doll! She’s specifically Hanna in the lineup, but the earlier version with short hair. I renamed her to Calliope- I love the name so much. She’s the doll my fiancé got me for our 5 year anniversary! 💞

When I saw this doll a couple months ago I fell in love with her instantly. She looks literally like me when I was a little girl, around 3-6 years old. Nearly picture perfect. I knew I had to had her; I even had a name picked out long before she was in my hands haha.

She’s the only doll in my collection with a full name. Her backstory is similar to my own with some changes: she immigrated to America from the Philippines at 3 years old because her mom and her aunties & uncles were seeking better opportunities for themselves. She grows up with both American and Filipino culture influencing her life. Her middle and last name are Filipino; the last is actually in my family tree.

I adore this doll to bits and pieces 🥰 I can’t wait to dress her up in lots of different outfits and take more pictures!

I feel like RRFF should definitely get more love, and am surprised they don’t already. The company is relatively new and makes high quality 14.5 inch dolls, a little smaller proportionally to Wellie Wishers. The artistry in their faces is absolutely GORGEOUS, with beautiful blushing cheeks, rooted eyelashes and glass eyes. Not to mention they have some articulation in their knees, hips, elbows, neck and shoulders as well. Overall they’re amazing dolls and I could see myself owning more than one in the future, especially because Ruby Red likes to roll out limited edition dolls as well. They’re also pretty close in price point to American Girl dolls as well; around $140 or so. I highly advise checking them out sometime!

[pastel-rights]

Yasmine Pines, what is it like to spend time with your aunt and uncle, and why your uncle has a phone for a head?

And If is alright may we get more lore of Miori in this au?

Oh? Uncle Phonehead and Auntie Klai… they’re a lot of fun! We always go to

bear

For lunch and me and my brother, we always get 50 percent off the 50 percent off pizza!

And then we’ll go shopping and sometimes I show auntie Klai the clothes I drew up and we’ll have a good old laugh and stuff! I’ve always wanted to make my own clothes, but mama always told me my personal style was kind of ugly. But, Auntie Klai likes my style (I think) so we go shopping together a lot!

And then Uncle Phonehead, when they aren’t at work, sometimes we’ll go around the town and feed the ducks peas! I’m gonna really miss them when I go to Oregon but, I’m sure I’ll have just as much fun with Grunkle as with them!

Probably.

I don’t know why they have a phone for a head though.

But they’d had one for as long as I can remember!

…

It depends which Miori you’re talking about 😭 are you talking about the really young miori, the one who’s 12 yrs old? The one Klai fought Satan for?

If you mean the au my blog’s theme is based off of, then, there isn’t a Miori. The sona you’d be asking about in that case is Yasmine 🫶🏼