#still not over that clem pic but i’m trying

[httpiastri]

neck, hands, pretty face = thumbs up 😚😚

[chilling-seavey]

OKAY SO I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS ONE TIME MY DAD GOT A NEW HAIRDO AND MY BROTHER WAS A BABY BACK THEN AND HE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE HIM AND JUST CRIED WHEN MY DAD CAME NEAR HIM SO BLURB - ABM BABIES REACTING TO THEIR DAD'S NEW HAIR COLOUR

Based on timing, it was more Florence than the girls who had an interesting reaction but you’ll see why...

Also reference pics from the day that my heart shattered:

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Daniel had booked a haircut appointment for the weekend after Christmas so Flora was left alone with the girls while he was gone. Since she had just started showing at the eleven-week mark in her pregnancy, Clementine and Penelope were excited to actually start to talk to their baby brother or sister. Florence spent the time Daniel was gone stretched out on the couch with her socked feet up on the coffee table, her sweater pulled up over her stomach and the teeny tiny swell of her stomach showing to the little girls on either side of her who had their little hands resting against her skin.

Meanwhile, a few blocks down in the city, Daniel had honestly just wanted to get a haircut; his brunette swoop starting to fall in his eyes no matter how much product he tried to force into it.

“Any colour today?” the barber asked casually.

Daniel stared at him through the mirror as he draped the cloak over him and fastened it behind his neck.

He ruffled a hand though his dark wet hair for a moment, “I’ve never thought about it.”

“Blonde might suit you.”

“Blonde?” Daniel’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“A very light blonde.” the barber nodded, grabbing one of the magazines to show an example of a style. Daniel looked between the picture that was held out to him and his reflection in the mirror, trying to picture it.

“My wife only thinks I’m getting a trim.”

“Is she in charge of your hair?”

“Well…no.”

“So?”

Daniel pursed his lips in thought for a moment, staring at his reflection and then glanced back down at the reference picture. He bit back a small smile, “What the hell. Let’s do it.”

Florence was so busy with the girls she didn’t notice that he had been gone much longer than anticipated. They were sitting on the living room floor all together, playing with the girls’ toys when he came home. The sound of the key in the door and the footsteps in the hall had the girls’ heads snapping up.

“Let’s go see Daddy’s pretty haircut!” Florence smiled to them and the girls jumped up to greet him at the door.

Daniel was in the doorway to the living room before they could run to him though and the girls stopped in their tracks, their excited smiles falling. Florence turned to see what their shock was all about, her entire face falling in shock at her husband and his new look. No one spoke for a moment.

“Do you like it…?” Daniel asked cautiously.

“You look silly, Daddy.” Clementine giggled.

“Thanks, Clem.” Daniel snorted.

Daniel turned to Penelope who was stood, stunned, in the middle of the living room and she slid behind Florence’s legs. He tried to step towards her but she moved away from him shyly.

“Hey, bug, it’s still Daddy.” Daniel whispered to his youngest who wanted nothing to do with the strange blonde man in her living room. She slunk around the coffee table to hide under the piano in the corner, out of sight.

Florence still hadn’t spoken, staring simply deadpanned at her husband with a completely unreadable expression. Clementine rushed right over to him and he crouched down to let her touch his now fully blonde hair.

“Ew.” she laughed, ruffling her hand through it.

“Ew?” Daniel chuckled, scooping her up in his arms. “I think it looks pretty cool!”

Florence stepped past him to head down the hallway and he grabbed her wrist to stop her, catching a glimpse of the tears in her eyes.

“Flora-”

“Don’t.” Florence spoke as strongly as she could, refusing to even look at him as she pulled his wrist from his grip.

“Sweetheart. Hey.” Daniel put a hand in front of her, stopping her from walking away.

Simply the gentle touch of his hand had her bursting into tears – loud, wracking sobs – and she slumped against the wall with her face in her hands.

“Oh my…okay.” Daniel set Clementine down and ushered her back into the living room to play so he could tend to his wife.

Florence only cried in response, hot tears pouring down her cheeks as her shoulders shook.

“Hey…look at me.” Daniel whispered softly, trying to pull her hands from her face.

“No! You’re ugly!” Florence cried.

Her bluntness startled him and he watched with wide eyes as she turned away from him as she cried.

“Flora-”

“Does it wash out?”

“…No, it’s permanent.”

“Oh God!” Florence wailed, sobbing like she had just been told of a death in her family, true sorrowful sobs echoing down the hallway until Daniel was worried the neighbours would think he hit her or something. He had never seen her so…emotional.

“Sweetheart…my love, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay? But you’ve got to calm down.”

Florence’s head snapped towards him, a stormy mix of anger and sadness in her eyes as she shouted, “How can I calm down when my husband looks like a fucking Q-Tip and is going to for the rest of his life?!”

“Okay, okay, don’t…don’t swear in front of the girls.” Daniel whispered, pulling her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She cried into his shoulder, clinging onto the back of his hoodie with trembling hands as her tears soaked through the material. Thank God his mother talked to him about expecting brash pregnancy hormones for the first trimester otherwise he would think his wife was honestly insulting him. “Not the rest of my life. I promise.”

“Our baby is gonna first look at you like this!” Florence leaned back just enough to push her hand through his blonde hair. She hesitated for a moment, her hand raising to her mouth, “I’m literally going to vomit.”

“Oh, Flora, come on.” Daniel scoffed at her dramatics.

“No, I’m serious.” Florence pushed past him to the powder room, dropping in front of the toilet to throw up. Daniel came up behind her to pull her hair back for her while she was sick; that wave of morning sickness timed too perfectly.

Clementine appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe for a moment until her parents glanced over at her; her mother slouched over the side of the toilet still looking a little green.

“It’s okay, Mommy.” Clementine said softly, “You’re a big girl; you can learn to like Daddy’s silly hair. Just like me.”

Florence cracked a small smile in the direction of her eldest, “Thanks, Clemmy.”

“Go get your sister and I’ll take us all for ice cream, okay?” Daniel offered.

“Oh God-” at the mention of ice cream, Florence was bending over to throw up again, sending Clementine rushing out of the room and back to the living room.

“Okay.” Daniel sighed, grabbing a cloth from the counter and bent down next to his wife to wipe her mouth for her.

She audibly groaned in distaste when she looked at his hair again.

“I think your pregnancy brain made you lose your sense of taste because I look pretty good.” Daniel teased.

“No. I miss my pretty brunette man.” Florence pouted, pushing her hand through the side of his freshly cut and dyed hair.

“It’s just hair. It’ll grow back.” Daniel assured her, leaning in to press a sweet kiss to her forehead. “And I’m still me.”

Florence just pouted.

As promised, Daniel took his three girls out for ice cream (Florence just had a tea) and the whole time, Penelope was avoiding the heck out of Daniel. She barely even wanted to look at him with his new hair; so confused as to why he suddenly looked so different. But by the time her naptime came around, she was perfectly tired and raising her little arms up to him to be carried upstairs from the car regardless of his scary new hair colour. Penelope was already half asleep on Daniel’s shoulder by the time he reached her room and her little hand was clinging onto the front of his hoodie when he laid her down in bed for her nap.

“Dada.” she whined sleepily when he pried her hand off his sweater.

“Right here, bug.” Daniel whispered softly, pressing a kiss to her head as he tucked her hand under her blankets, “Dada loves you.”

Florence had tucked Clementine in for her nap and the young parents met in the hallway between the girls’ rooms once they had fallen asleep. They stared at each other a moment and Florence eyed his hair again, pursing her lips and crossing her arms over her chest as if contemplating if she actually liked it or not. Daniel waited.

“I hope it grows on me.” Florence stated flatly.

“Me too.”

Her bottom lip quivered and she took a deep breath, running her hands over her face to calm down, “Okay, stop, I’m gonna cry again.”

Daniel chuckled and stepped closer to her, “Your reaction was worse than the girls’ which surprised me.”

Florence only pouted as he took her hands in his, “You look too different.”

“I’m not different.” Daniel tisked softly, stepping closer and leaned in to kiss her ever so softly. She stayed perfectly still, even when he opened up slightly to capture her bottom lip between his two and kiss her deeper. After a few seconds, she melted into the familiarity of his touch and his kiss and she raised her arms to drape around his shoulders, slowly kissing him back. Daniel smiled into it, giving her hips a small squeeze as he pulled back slowly, brushing his nose against hers. “See? Still me.”

Dazed from the gentle passion of his kiss, Florence only hummed, shuffling closer for more, and her fingers tangled in the back of his blonde hair, pulling his lips back on hers.

[lawrencegarte]

here’s my review of all the items in the walking dead definitive edition box! minus the statue because i am poor and could not justify buying it to myself. i wish tho. i wish i had that statue.

but yeah here are the non-statue items and my reviews of each! :)

first up is the ericson’s shirt! i got an xl and it fits me quite well, and i do like the material the shirt is made of. i feel like the grey is an odd choice though since we never saw that colour in game, and i also feel like the distressing just makes it look like i’ve put the shirt through the wash too many times. overall i wish it looked different but i do still plan on wearing it out, so it’s definitely not a complete wash!

7/10

Disgo Brogle..... i love this little dude. he’s so funny. whoever came up with disco broccoli deserved a raise instead of being fired without severance pay. the only thing that i don’t like about this guy is the frayed edging on his lapel! it bugs me a lot, specifically i think because the whole point of these products being delayed was quality assurance, and this quality was NOT assured! it’s an easy enough fix but he’s still gotta get some points deducted

8.5/10

kenny’s hat! tbh it looks a lot better than i thought it would. i can’t say too much about it because i barely got a chance to try it on before my sister seized it but she seems to like it a lot lmaooo

9/10

god i love the tiny clementine. i don’t think this picture fully captures how tiny the fourth and babiest clem really is. she’s so small. i’ve always thought this was such a weird product, and i still do! but it is nice to see her growing up through use of an interesting visual medium, and i didn’t take pic but the back of each doll has the logo from the game she’s from which i think is a nice touch. i’m a little nervous opening it tho because the outermost piece feels a little tight and i’m scared of splintering the wood, but it’s still a nice collector’s piece!

7.5/10

the last piece that was originally slated to ship is these pins! i really love the clementine, i think she’s just so cute and i like that they decided to put her in her sweater and have her hair cut short. her drawstrings are also a super cute detail! love her....

lee looks... funky. i can’t put my finger on what’s wrong exactly but i think he looks a little off. it might be those nose lines? like he’s not exactly bad, per se, but he isn’t great

clem gets a 9.5, lee gets a 7

and now we’re onto those extra goodies we were promised for the shipment delays

first is... this. whatever this is. like, it’s an enamel pin, but i think this emblem might be something from the original walking dead comics...? searching this pin brought me to a product not found screen on the skybound store so i guess it’s out of production. idk, i wanna be appreciative but i kind of wish they hadn’t included this cuz it’s just gonna take up extra space in my incredibly cluttered house lmaooo

1/10

and last but not least, it’s rosie! i do like rosie and i think this pin is very cute. i kind of wish it was a character from another season instead tho, like maybe s2 kenny, or javier. this box is very s4-centric overall, and it does make some sense seeing as this was the only season skybound actually worked on, and typically the latest season (or book or movie or album) is what a company is going to focus on merchandising, but i feel like with a “definitive edition” boxset there should be more from each season. and s3 is very glossed over both in s4 itself and this box! which i get cuz it wasn’t great, but i feel like it should still be honoured. most people i know who play twdg do like javi, at least.

but anyway rosie! she’s good!

6/10

i think for the box as a whole, i rate it a 7/10, and i think that definitely has to do with the fact that it was delayed by like... 5 months? so i had a lot of time to hype myself up and that’s never, ever a smart or good thing to do and is just begging for disappointment. but that doesn’t mean i don’t still love this box! i definitely don’t regret buying it because i am such a huge fan of the series and am just so in love with how much the team behind this box cares about their fans. it’s clear that this wasn’t cheaply put together, as evidenced by the quality control delay, and i do really appreciate the love and effort put into these items, even if i do have critiques. i’m really happy i finally received this and get to hold disco broccoli at night <3

[take2intotheshower]

CLEM - SOME BEDTIME THOUGHTS

CONTAINS SNEAK PEEK SPOILERS

OK, so I was mulling over @kate-dammit-run 's great idea last night about Clem trying to warn Jane by dropping Avery's name into the phone call. Which got me thinking about this and other Clem things.

1. He sounded genuinely surprised to learn Jane had a daughter. "I gotta say, I was surprised to learn you had a daughter. Though it sounds like you were too." If true, he wasn't party to Roman's Berlin deception 6 months earlier - or at least not when Jane first called him.

2. Roman can't have been sure Jane would turn to Clem to find her daughter after he got Rossi to deliver the papers. It would have been more logical to assume she'd approach Patterson for help, especially if Roman had found out from Clem about his and Jane's one-night stand in Paris. The last thing Jane would be expected to do is bring a former lover back into her life and re-live whatever guilt she felt about it, and at a time when she was in a happy place (or so she thought) with Kurt.

3. But Clem can be bought, and Roman/Tom has lots of money to tempt him. Did Roman bribe Clem to contact him if he ever heard from Jane again? Was this part of a back-up plan? Roman already had Kurt where he wanted him over Berlin. His tattoo feed blackmailing of Kurt was going well. Roman didn't know if or when Kurt would cave in and confess all to Jane. Once Roman heard Jane had contacted Clem to ask him to trace her daughter, was it his intention for Clem to break the news about Kurt killing Avery when he reported back to Jane? And if Jane hadn't called Clem, had Roman put in place another means of letting her find out about Berlin once he'd got Kurt to do all he needed him to?        

4. Clem said "Hey? That's all I get? I mean, after everything we've been through, I was hoping for at least a 'what's up?' '' But surely Jane at least followed up on her first call to Clem by sending him a copy of Rossi's papers? Otherwise he would have had zero information to work with. Did he even know she'd been going by the name of Remi Briggs when she'd had the baby 18 years ago?

5. Clem and Jane didn't just have that one meeting and night of passion in Paris 10 months ago. We know from the sneak peek that they worked a dozen successful K&R jobs together. So it must have been on a different trip to Paris when Jane got seriously injured. Was that when Clem might have been recruited by Roman? Did Roman "help" Clem save Jane after the explosion?

6. Clem told Jane "I did some digging, I found something. Six months ago, Avery was in Berlin." No preamble about "I discovered your daughter was called Avery." This is why I like Yas's theory so much. It's an obvious mistake. The question is whether Jane - thinking of nothing else but Avery since Kurt's confession - would be sufficiently on the ball to pick up on Clem's slip. Or could it be that Clem had got so wrapped up in the search that he just forgot that Jane wouldn't have known her daughter's name? However, most little details like that on this show are dropped deliberately.

7. Why did Clem fly to NYC to tell Jane what he'd found unless he had an ulterior motive? He could just have sent it to her (and been paid by wire transfer for his trouble). It didn't sound like he had made a startling discovery that he could only tell her about in person. "Six months ago, Avery was in Berlin. After that the trail kinda..." All very casual. And then Jane responds with "I'm sorry, I should have called you sooner, but uh - Avery's dead." No reaction from Clem. Nothing at all. This is VERY suspicious. Clem already knew Avery was dead, but he hadn't intended to say anything? If Roman has been running Clem, there would have been a number of different scenarios to plan for. Such as when Team FBI are likely to discover that Avery is still alive. That would mean Clem having to be briefed to be non-committal until he'd learned the extent of what Jane knew. After that, he could react appropriately to any fresh news she received. So did Clem go off-message with his Avery name-drop?

8. Clem needed to be in NYC to be conveniently at hand when Jane (with or without Kurt) goes off to rescue Avery. He is an expert at retrievals. On this occasion it would be very logical for Jane to rope Clem in to help.

9. And so to Jane's "This is my daughter. Okay, I'm running this. And I don't want Kurt there." She does have a cold ruthlessness to her nature that we've seen from time to time. She speaks her mind. There's no pretence with Jane. Her "You should have stayed" to Kurt was cruel and unforgivable, but spat out in the heat of her grief. Her instinct is to act alone whenever she smells danger and when she thinks she's the best man for the job. Perhaps she considers Kurt a liability right now - too involved, too emotional. He blundered badly in Berlin. He was naive to trust Avery. Perhaps she thinks his presence would only make matters worse. Clem does these kind of rescue missions all the time. They might get into some really dubious areas which the FBI/CIA would be best not knowing too much about. And - perhaps just as importantly for Jane - Clem is expendable should it all go wrong.

10. In conclusion, Clem fully deserves to be on the Shady List but Jane's motives for freezing Kurt out in that brutal way are a mystery. At least we know from the promo pics that Kurt gets to go, and his Mr. Grumpy face suggests he is not at all happy about the Jane-Clem relationship - whatever that might be.

The problem now exercising me is how weak, dominated Roman - who spent all his life letting his mother and sister do his thinking for him - has now become an evil genius with all the strategic skills of a chess Grand Master.          

[peaceasshcle]

here, lemme just-- get all of my thoughts out there. WARNING: THERE’S A LOT.

the flashback in the beginning was nice. i know it was meant to be kinda sad and whatnot bc of their dad getting cancer but lemme just say that javi’s “hey, i was reading that!” and david’s “oh my gooood!!” was cute. also, i couldn’t stop focusing on how #tragic david’s outfit was, but that’s why i love his outfits bc they are tragic, so...... anyway, moving on. i was SO FUCKING RELIEVED TO SEE KATE AGAIN!!! her beautiful face wasn’t messed up at all and i was so glad!!! she just straight up hugged javi and completely ignored david and it’s like, you’re not even gonna ask david if he’s okay? really? bc my kate would’ve. but i digress-- i was glad when gabe finally started coming around and realizing that david wasn’t all that he was cracked up to be, but i got really mad at all the times when gabe would get hit by david. accident or not, it pissed me off. david breaking fern’s arm and shooting rufus made me uncomfortable, lol. and like, i get why he did it, but still. that whole situation could’ve been handled better. i’m at least glad that he didn’t let kate and javi get shot. i stood beside my brother and it was a nice moment and made me happy, but i couldn’t be too happy bc i knew everything was gonna get fucked up by the end of the episode. i felt bad about ava, a little, but tripp was my husbando™ and i didn’t want him to die (even tho he did gdi) and so she was rightfully pissed off at me. she said she’d pick david over me anyway so i didn’t feel too bad. the bit where david’s like, “kate walked right past me and hugged you. why is that?” and i’m like, MY KATE wouldn’t have done that, i’m sorry!!!!!! but i couldn’t actually say that so i just went with, “ask her yourself.” bc lol nah son. but then the fact that she’ll hardly speak to him, just-- kate why? i mean, i kinda get it, but still. ALSO GABE TELLING JAVI THAT HE WANTS TO BE LIKE HIM GAVE ME SO MANY EMOTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!! MY BABY BOY IS GROWING UP SO FAST!!!!!!!!! the scene where ava saved my sorry ass and proceeded to die fucked me up, dude. i thought she’d last longer than that. and david’s reaction was just so-- idk. but i get it bc people handle grief in different ways. but the whole thing with the group going across that edge spiked my anxiety and i was just hyper-aware of kate the entire time. the helicopter scene didn’t help my anxiety lmao. i was just glad that we all survived that bs. plus when javi finally gets up there and he’s like, “great job everyone. just like how we rehearsed!” and kate’s like, “i think we can do better! lets go back over there and try that again!” and it just-- i laughed so hard, fffffff. the walker scene was gross af, but the fact that JAVI LITERALLY TALKS TO ONE OF THEM KILLS ME JUST-- walker: *looks at javi, makes guttural noises* javi: *looks at walker, makes guttural noises back* i died laughing at that, okay? it was fuckin’ great. and the scene in the garage-- HOLY FUCK. kate slapping david and proceeding to break up with him and THEN GOING OVER TO KISSING JAVI (AND JAVI KISSING HER BACK LIKE THERE’S NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER) LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK????? KATE!!! THAT’S NOT HOW YOU DO IT!!!! (i mean, i told david that i was in love with her afterwards, but still...) ofc that set david off, and he attacked me, but i refused to fight him. i kept telling him that i loved him, and then he warped gabe upside the head with a fucking wrench and didn’t even fucking bat an eye. like, i’m sorry, but even if i was seeing red and was trying to kill someone, the moment that happened, and i realized that i’d just hit my son UPSIDE THE HEAD WITH A FUCKING WRENCH i’d immediately snap out of it and try to apologize to my kid or something at least. i also felt like gabe agreeing to go with david was ooc af, but the writers did that shit on purpose. otherwise how could they get those separate endings they wanted sooooo bad, y’know? i went with kate, and i don’t regret it at all. i trusted clem enough to get gabe back safely and i just knew that if i left kate, she’d die and i wasn’t having that. so i went with her and helped her clear out richmond with the HELP OF MY MAIN MAN JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT’S GOOD, MAN???? I MISSED YOU BRO!! YOU LOOK HELLA GOOD LIKE THAT, DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!! but yes, so we did all that, and then clem’s back and she’s GOT GABE AND HE’S ALIVE AND SAFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but then we find out that DAVID’S FUCKING DEAD AND IT’S LIKE WTF?! NO! WHY?! bc as much as i might’ve not always liked david, i never wanted him to fucking DIE WTF?! also the fact that gabe’s like, “dad said for us to take care of each other.” seriously FUCKED ME UP, MAN. like damn. so kate and i go to his body (which i really hated looking at, btw. too much sad.) and she grabbed his dog tags, while proceeding to tell me about what david wanted and ish. and i was like, fuck man. that’s fucking sad af. we respected his wishes, buried his dog tags, and i said my peace and KATE DIDN’T HAVE SHIT TO SAY AND JUST SMILED AT ME AND LEFT HER FUCKING RING THERE AND I’M LIKE WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK -- and then we put up david’s pic on the memorial wall, and say a few more words, and kate brings up the fact that she wants to have a BABY??????????? naturally, i was like, ‘fuck yeah, babe.’ but still, lollllllll. i didn’t see that coming at all. AND THE BIT WITH JESUS HOLY FUCK. him thinking javi was flirting and i’m like, “heyyyyyyy boiiiiiiiiii how you doin????” bc fuck yeah. sorry, i’m weak for jesus, man. i fuckin’ ship it. and then the “hey, uh, jesus?” and “hey, uh, gabe.” IT WAS SO FUCKING CUTE OMG. THE HAIRCUTTING SCENE WAS ADORABLE TOO!!! being able to tease clem about gabe, and giving her hope about aj, AND giving her that adorable haircut???? A+++++ i loved every bit of it! tho i will say that clem has some big ears, lmao. i still love her tho. <3 THE HUG SHE GIVES GABE, THE FACT THAT JAVI AND KATE HAVE THEIR ARMS WRAPPED AROUND EACH OTHER, AND THE WAVES THEY ALL GIVE EACH OTHER, I’M JUST-- LOVED IT. and the ending scene with her looking like a total badass with that new haircut and jacket????  👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit Clementine’s story will continue... like omggggggggggggggggggggggg. though i do wonder when they’ll finally let clem rest, lmao. and OKAY!!! i’ll now take this opportunity to say that it killed me how ooc Kate was at times. like, the fact that she didn’t at least look at david and ask him if he was okay didn’t seem like something she’d do, imo. also her ignoring david for that long and only talking to him when they’re fighting??? mmmm no. i don’t approve. the fact that she loses her shit and slaps him and breaks up with him and  THEN goes over and kisses Javi just to add more salt to the wound felt soooooooooooooooooo ooc for her. MY KATE would, at the very least, attempt to have a civil conversation with david. she wouldn’t have ignored him for so long up until that point. she might’ve been nervous to bring the topic up and that’s why she was ignoring him, but i feel like she would’ve pulled him aside after a while and talked to him calmly about the situation. she would’ve picked a better time to do it than when she did in the game. she just-- she would’ve handled it so much better than they had her do, bc that whole thing was a fucking mess. that wasn’t the kate i’d been led to believe. also the fact that she just stops caring about him at all? like, you loved him once, enough to marry him! You even admit to loving him once. so you mean to tell me that you have not even the tiniest shred of emotion left for him? unrealistic. blocked. but no, for real-- i could understand it in some situations, but it just find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t care about him at all. kate and david’s relationship reminds me sooooo much of my mom and dad’s and even though they have their issues and aren’t in love with each other anymore, and even though they don’t always get along, they still care about each other, so i’m like??? sigh. oh well... also the fact that she doesn’t say anything at david’s funeral, and just lays her ring down on the dirt pile? ooc. i feel like she would’ve at least said something. anything would’ve been better than the silence. and then to top it all off, she tells javi that she wants to start a family with him, and i’m like???? you were literally just talking about how glad you were that mariana wasn’t there to suffer through that shit and now you’re telling me that you wanna have a baby? idk. i just didn’t expect that from her. i still love kate, and i’m very weak for her, and everything else that i didn’t mention about her seemed p in character to me, but yeah. those are just my thoughts on that. and lastly, david seemed to be mostly ic throughout the game, but i feel like there were plenty of moments where he was wayyyyyyy OTT. like, whoa. like, i know that the game was trying to use him to show more depth to his character, but would also turn around and use him for confrontational purposes. also the fact that even if you don’t pursue kate, AT ALL, he STILL doesn’t believe you when you tell him that, and he loses his shit and tries to kill you. david’s character could’ve been handled better as well, i think. but yeah, i think that’s about it for now. i’ll make another post later if i think of anything else, and i’m sorry that this is so long, but i had a LOT of thoughts about this, so...

[petitprincess1]

Demencia Cult Society

Summary: Clemencia makes a small little video to show you this little society that honors that one true savior of Hatsville: Demencia~

Characters: Clemencia, cult members, Demencia (in pics), White Hat (briefly), and Black Hat (briefly).

Words: 1, 294

Warnings: Implied sexual content, a bit of blood and gore, slightly dark comedy, and cute craziness.

I wonder if I’m making too many Dem posts…nah. Sorry for any grammar or punctuation mistakes that I may have missed.

Static crackled across the screen a few times, along with the sound of an adorable but sinister giggle that got louder the more the screen flickered between black and static. This went on for a few seconds before it finally showed the image of a dark room and the only thing in frame was a half unicorn skull that was pink and blue and a half lizard skull that was red and green. It was in front of a heart that was filled with nails and the skull itself was crying rainbows. There also was the sound of low humming echoing throughout the room, creating an eerie and foreboding feeling as that all that seemed to be.

Luckily, that was cut short by a pink and blue haired unicorn witch rising into frame, sticking her tongue, while her eyes sparkled with extreme excitement. Even her white unicorn hoodie seemed to have twinkle in its eyes. She greeted, while pulling on the drawstrings on her pinkish orange jacket, “Hello there, my soon-to-be lovely puppet! Clearly, you’re here to join in on our special society about our divine ruler, the most alluring temptress, our chaotic savior…DEMENCIA!”

She squealed as her horn shot off a beam of light above her that showed a clear image of a red and green haired lizard hooded woman pulling the head off of a rat, even showing the spinal cord getting yanked out as small bit of blood got on her hand and poured out of the wound. The unicorn hood’s eyes now had hearts in it, as well as the girl as she gushed, looking up at wondrous image with a lovestruck gaze, “Oh, isn’t she truly magnificent~? Of course, the only true answer is yes!”

She then went on, turning her back to the screen, “It only makes sense that I, Clemencia, tell you more about our great, gorgeous, awe-inspiring, powerful,” her breathing became ragged and heavy as she started trailing off, “deliciously and horrifically evil but oh so adorable oh my god I just want her in this room right now so I can pull her-”

The screen went to static for a few seconds before Clemencia appeared once again, now having ten or so half-naked men and women behind her all lying behind her on cushions, whose faces were covered in shadow by their green or white hoodies that had a blue or green ponytails sticking out from behind the hoods. They all smoked sweet raspberry and tea leaves from a hookah, while Clemencia zipped her hoodie and pulled up her white skirt, apologizing, “Sorry about that, I had to work off a bit of steam~” She winked, pointing to the half-naked people behind her.

Clemencia then grinned as she continued putting back on her clothes- now, it was her purple and blue stockings, along with her purplish-grey shorts -and exclaimed, “And what better way for you all to know more about DCS, Demencia Cult Society, than with~!”

She started reaching into her poofy blue ponytail and then her smiled dropped when she couldn’t find what she was looking for. The unicorn witch turned to the people and asked, “Where did my art supplies go?”

One of them answered, “Sorry, but you gave them to the kids, so that they could draw on the future members, remember?”

Clemencia blinked at them before turning back around and groaning, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes as well as her hoodie’s eyes following suit, “Fiiiiinnnneeeeaaa! I’ll just let Slug’s stupid pictures take my beautiful art’s place, but Demencia would never approve!”

She then made her horn glow and caused the screen to turn into static for a few seconds before the DCS’s half unicorn and half lizard skull logo to pop up, while Clem started, “Welcome to the Demencia Cult Society, where we worship our one and true goddess, Demencia,” the next picture that came up was of Demencia within her hair, scaring a bunch of heroes into a corner and crawling towards them.

The next image that came up was of Black Hat, holding the Earth in his hand, and White Hat, having the Earth entangled in blue strings like it were his puppet. She added, “Of course, we could never forget about our true Overlords!”

Then, within a blink of an eye, the image quickly changed to Black crushing the world in his hand, while White tightened up the strings to the point where the Earth was cracking due to the pressure. The twos’ voices came from out of nowhere as their visible eye darkened to show a red and blue pupil and smiles widened till they practically took up their entire faces. They both threatened, “W̷̧͘è̵͜͜͞’͏͡ĺ̢͟l̷̢̡͢͝ ̡́͝͞n͘é̷̕̕͞v̸̨͡͠e̷͢͏r̸̴̀̀͘ ́͘͟l͠e͞͏͏͜ţ̶̸́͞ ̷͜͠y̷̷͟͢ǫ̷̀͘͞u̧͘͡͝ ̶͟f̵̛̕͢o̷̡r̡̧g͜҉͘҉e͏t̀̀͜!”

The next image that showed up was of the cult all grouped together, holding onto large books that had their cult symbol on it as well as black waxed candles. The cult still had Clemencia and Demencia hoodies and ponytails, as well as having cloaks that looked like a combination of their jackets. Some, not all, of the women wore Dementia’s torn pink leggings, shredded black crop top, crop top jacket, and purple skirt. Clem continued in a cheery tone, “Our friendly little cult will do whatever will please our savior. This includes, but is not limited to:”

An image showed a terrified, shaking lower-level hero that was gagged and tied up, while Dementia’s shadow loomed over them and Clem listed, “Sacrifices,” another image showed of the cult in a truck shooting ray guns and flamethrowers at both heroes and villains, “surprise parties,” cult members were up at a mic in the middle of a pentagram that had candles around it, “poetry hours annnnnnd-”

The screen flickered to show Clemencia before she giggled and went behind the camera, revealing the group half-encircling a girl that was strapped onto a stone table with a gag in her mouth. The unicorn witch spoke as the group hummed lowly and she zoomed in to see clearer, showing a cult member with horns on his hood that was holding up a horn that was burning red at the end of it, “Group rituals! We got a little hatchling getting prepared to join our little nest, we just need to finish the little ritual and-”

“MAGGIE!”

Everyone stopped and turned to the voice, seeing a woman hero, who look terrified, and White Hat, who was indifferent, by her side. She screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

Everyone stared at her before a one person removed the ball gag from Maggie’s mouth and she scoffed, “I’m trying to become one with Her mom. You just wouldnt understand!”

When the gag was placed back in her mouth, the female hero was practically hyperventilating before White snapped his fingers and the woman fell back, making him grab her before she fell to the floor. He carried her in his arms before deadpanning, “Next time, Clemencia, have your stupid rituals in the basement.”

Clem whined, “Awwww, but that’s where you keep all your prisoners and it smells like despai- Whitey! Don’t walk away!!”

The screen then turned to static again before showing the Demencia Cult Society’s logo, while the witch finished narrating, “Well, because we made White all gwumpy, we gotta finish our little video here! Since this video is basically your initiation before the ritual, come and find us at the location hidden throughout this video. And if you suddenly change your mind and wish to back out…well then…”

The images flickered to a static filled image of the cult members with various weapons, eyes slightly glowing from the darkness within their hoods, and Clem holding an axe hammer, smiling insanely wide, “We’ll come find you…”

The video clicked off with Clemencia’s giggle, along with the low humming of the cult.

I apologize if this isn’t as good as my other fics.

[chilling-seavey]

Anything But Mine - Lucy’s Birth Story

A/N June 24th is an important day in the ABM universe...I figured we can take a little read to find out why! Hope you enjoy 🧡 + be forewarned about plenty of fluff included here 🥺 

A/N2 Also this pic of Daniel omg you can’t tell me it doesn’t look like him seeing his new baby for the first time 🥺 all that emotion in his expression

T/W Idk if this counts as a trigger warning but there are detailed descriptions of labour and delivery!

W/C 8.6k words

Daniel kept himself busy after the wedding to support their little family, spending long days in the studio with his university friend, Jack. Money was tight but comfortable and with extra funds that Callum managed to get from his and Florence’s parents back in LA, they had purchased a three-bedroom apartment as soon as possible. Clementine and Penelope loved their home, playing on the balcony as much as they could in summer as they said the 56th floor made them feel like the Queens of the city. Once the end of November came around, they were often stuck inside due to the weather starting to drop, playing under the grand piano in the living room.

Florence was cleaning up from dinner when her phone rang. Daniel always called when he was leaving work.

“I can’t wait to come home.” he said right when she answered. She could hear him getting into his car in the background.

“Me too. We missed you at dinner.” Florence replied, wiping her hands on the dish cloth that was hanging over her shoulder.

“I haven’t even eaten yet.” Daniel sighed. “I’m so tired.”

“Pick up something to eat on the way home.” Florence suggested, glancing to the two young girls across the room before she added, “and I need you to pick up something from the drug store if you can.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“A pregnancy test?”

The silence on the other end made her smile softly. She could picture his face exactly; his wide eyes and discrete smile.

He was quiet a moment before speaking, “Yeah…I can definitely grab one. Do you think-”

“We’re not jinxing it, Dani.” Florence chuckled.

“No, of course not.” Daniel smiled widely. “I’m on my way.”

Every evening when the front door opened and Daniel came in from work, the girls dropped what they were doing and ran for him, throwing their tiny arms around him. This night was no different as he bent down to greet his daughters, pressing equal amounts of kisses to their heads. Daniel glanced up at Florence who was stood in the archway, leaning against the wall. He stood up and handed her the small bag from the drugstore with a wink, leaning in to kiss her once.

“Thank you.” She whispered.

“Daddy! Can you play with us?!” Clementine asked loudly, bouncing on her toes.

“I think it’s almost bedtime, Clemmie girl, don’t you think?” Daniel brushed a hand through her messy blonde hair.

“No.” Clementine frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Tomorrow I will. I promise.” Daniel assured her. “We’ll have story time tonight in the big bed, okay?”

The girls shrieked excitedly and ran off down the hallway towards the master bedroom. Daniel took the moment of silence to hug his wife, sharing their quiet ‘I love you’s, before he was called by the girls down the hall.

After two storybooks amongst a mound of pillows and the duvet, the girls started to drift, wrapped up in his arms. Florence took Clementine to bed and Daniel took Penelope, tucking them into their beds in their own rooms. The two young adults met back in the hallway, standing with a few feet between them.

“I’m like…a few weeks late.” Florence said.

“That’s a good sign.” Daniel replied.

“Not for sure though.” Florence added.

“That’s okay. Do you want me with you?” Daniel asked her quietly.

“Of course.” Florence nodded.

They found themselves in the ensuite, staring at the unopened box of two pregnancy tests on the counter. They stood there a while, Daniel waiting for Florence to make her first move. He glanced at her.

“They won’t tell us anything if you don’t take them.” Daniel chuckled.

Florence took a deep breath and took the box with her to the bathroom. She shut the door and got to work. Daniel sat on the counter waiting for her, finishing the now cold take-out from McDonald’s he picked up on the way home. She came back out and washed her hands, leaving the two tests in the opened box between them.

“I don’t know why I’m nervous.” Florence whispered, leaning her hands on the counter.

“I thought you wanted another one?” Daniel frowned, pulling lightly at her arm so she moved to stand between his legs.

“I do. So bad. Maybe I’m nervous that it will be negative.” Florence sighed.

“So we try again.” Daniel shrugged, taking her hands in his. “And again and again and again-“

Florence rolled her eyes at him through a smile, letting him press a kiss to her lips. They fell into silence as they waited, hands together.

“I’ve never been with someone when I do this.” Florence admitted. “It’s kind of nice.”

“Isn’t it?” Daniel smiled.

“Thank you for being here.”

“You’re my wife now, remember? I gotta be here with you for everything.” Daniel said, taking her face in his hands. “No going through things by yourself anymore.”

Florence took the front of his shirt in her hands and pulled him in for a lingering kiss.

“Can we look, yet?” Daniel finally mumbled against her mouth. “I’m dying here.”

“Yeah.” Florence said, picking up the box again. She dumped both tests into her hand, hiding the screen face down. She passed one to Daniel and kept one for herself.

They both stared down at the hidden tests in their hand before looking back up to each other.

“I’m nervous!” Florence shrieked quietly, bouncing on her toes a little.

“Count to 3, okay?” Daniel smiled, reaching out his one free hand to hold hers. “1…2…3…”

They both turned the screens face up in their palms, each showing a clear pair of solid pink lines.

“Dani…” Florence breathed, squeezing his hand.

“2 lines is good, right?!” he asked quickly, looking up at her.

“So good.” Florence nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

“Oh my gosh.” Daniel whispered, hoping off the counter to wrap her in a tight hug. “We’re gonna have a baby. Together this time.”

Florence laughed lightly against his shoulder, staring at the positive pregnancy test in her hand, “I love you.”

“I love you so much.” Daniel smiled.

“But seriously, Dani.” Florence pulled back from their hug, “I’m worried. Penelope came so early. The doctors said it was from the stress I was constantly in and I don’t want that to happen again. We lucked out with her health but-“

“There’s no reason to be stressed this time.” Daniel assured her, brushing her hair back form her face, “I’m going to be with you through everything. Every doctor’s appointment and everything.”

“Don’t promise that.” Florence chuckled. “You have a job.”

“The last two times you had to do so much on your own. I want to be here for everything. We’re going to do it right this time. I promise.”

~~

Christmas was only a few weeks away and keeping such a big secret was agonizing. They had planned the announcement for Christmas and swore themselves to secrecy. Daniel had to somehow see Jack almost every day at the studio and not say anything. Their first obstacle was telling their two girls who they knew had to be told first. Christmas Eve brought the perfect opportunity, the small family back in Vancouver with Daniel’s family for their annual Christmas visit. Still in their dresses and stockings from church, Clementine and Penelope were each handed a wrapped box as the family of four sat on the rug in front of the lit Christmas tree and warm fireplace, Daniel’s parents and siblings sitting around the couches. It was always a tradition to open one gift on Christmas Eve so this wasn’t unusual to the girls.

Clementine, who was closing in on 5 years old quickly, tore open the paper excitedly, her 18-month younger sister desperately trying to keep up. Inside the boxes were a set of pyjamas for each of them. The candy cane patterned sleeves and trim on the shirt matched the pants, Florence and Daniel both having their own matching pair in their room. The girls’ had writing on their shirts, however, the I’s of the red lettering were peppermint wheels reading ‘Big Sister’.

Clementine could read hers easily, the fact easily understood since she had been a big sister for 4 years. Penelope simply stared at hers, the 4-year-old not quite grasping full words yet.

“What does it say, Penny?” Florence asked.

“I dunno.” Penelope giggled shyly.

“Hers says ‘Big Sister’ too.” Clementine said. “That’s wrong. She’s the little sister.”

“She won’t be for long.” Daniel said through a smile.

“Oh my gosh!” Anna shrieked, clapping her hands over her mouth. “You’re pregnant?!”

Florence laughed and nodded lightly.

“No, you’re not!” Keri gaped.

“Yes, we are.” Florence giggled as Daniel pressed a kiss to her cheek, tucking his arm around her shoulders to pull her close.

The adults got up to share eager hugs and congratulations, a few happy tears being shed in the process. The young girls stared blankly at them, not quite grasping what was happening.

Christian bent down between the girls, “You guys are going to have a little brother or sister.”

“A baby?” Clementine looked up at her parents.

“Yeah, Clemmy girl, a brand-new baby!” Daniel smiled, sitting back on the rug again.

“Are you happy?” Florence asked as she joined him.

“Yeah.” Clementine shrieked suddenly, tossing the tissue paper in the air and nearly hitting Christian in the face.

“What about you, bug?” Daniel asked their soft-spoken second daughter. “You want a brother or sister?”

Penelope’s little smile brightened at his gentle acknowledgment, her rosy cheeks hiding behind her new pyjamas as everyone looked at her. She nodded gently, her soft giggle muffled by the clean fabric.

“Mommy’s having a baby, Nell!” Clementine yelled, tackling her younger sister onto the carpet.

“Clem, you’re more excited than all of us combined.” Florence laughed, grabbing the eldest by her waist and pulled her onto her lap.

“Do you want to see a picture of the baby?” Daniel asked the room.

“Yes please!” Penelope kicked her legs in the air, her red dress flying up by her head.

Daniel pulled her towards him by her ankles before taking her hands so she was on her feet. She draped her arm around his shoulder and the rest of the family gathered around behind them as he unlocked his phone to open the email from the doctor’s office. The black and white image of the little blob filled his screen.

“Wow.” Clementine breathed, leaning over to get a better look as the room awe’d gently. Penelope pulled the hem of her dress up to bite at, her wide blue eyes scanning the still image awestruck.

“Who do you think it looks like?” Daniel asked, gently pulling the dress out of her mouth.

“Me!” Clementine shouted.

“You?!” Florence laughed.

“Where is the baby?” Penelope whispered, leaning her head on Daniel’s.

“In my tummy.” Florence said.

“Why?”

“Because that’s just where babies grow.” Florence shrugged.

“How did it get there?” Penelope yawned.

“Yeah! How did it get there?” Clementine added, looking between her parents.

“Oh, Lord.” Christian laughed loudly, stepping back and headed for the kitchen, “I’m going to get a drink.”

Daniel chuckled nervously, telling his daughters, “A little magic from the wedding.”

“Do I get some too?” Clementine asked.

“Not until you get married which isn’t for years and years from now.” Daniel said.

“Many, many years.” Keri jumped in, scooping up her granddaughter. “Even more than your Mommy and Daddy waited.”

Daniel glared playfully at her, making the adults laugh.

“Why don’t we get into our pj’s and then have story time by the fire before we have to get into bed?” Florence suggested.

And that’s what they did, the four of them changing into their matching pyjamas for their last Christmas as a family of four, cuddled up on the couch with a picture book, their extended family joining with mugs of tea around the living room too. Daniel had his arm around his little family, lazily twisting a strand of Florence’s hair around his finger as she read out loud.

It was the one night a year the girls didn’t want a second book, eager to get to bed so Santa could come. The girls were tucked into bed and things in the living room were taken care of by the adults before they were off to bed themselves, cuddled up together as light snow filled the city below.

~~

The new year came with fresh starts and busy days. Penelope needed to move into Clementine’s room since they needed room for the nursey. Florence wanted to get started early, often waking up early to work, Daniel finding her pushing an entire dresser down the hallway at 6am. He constantly had to pull her back to bed, trying to convince her to let him take care of the big things.

The girls loved to talk to the baby, pressing their sticky hands to her small belly anytime they could. They shared many stories too and Clementine often came home from Junior Kindergarten with paintings for the baby which would be put safely in a book.

Each doctor’s appointment was finished with glowing reviews, everything progressing smoothly and, as promised, Daniel was there for each and every one. It was at their 20-week ultrasound that Florence was handed the sealed envelope that contained only a folded piece of paper. For both her pregnancies, she waited until the birth to know the gender since she didn’t feel the need. This time, Daniel insisted on a gender reveal party, giving Michael and Luke Clifford the privilege of finding out first and planning the whole thing.

It was during March Break when spring was starting to poke through the melting snow and Clementine would have the whole week out of school. All their family and friends came, even Daniel’s family flew in for the week, everyone dressed in either blue or pink for which ever gender they guessed.

That morning, Daniel came into the ensuite bathroom in all white, buttoning up the final button on his collared shirt.

“Where’s your colour?” Florence asked from her spot at her dressing table, fastening her earring.

“I don’t want to wear a colour because I don’t want to make the baby feel bad if they’re not what I guessed.” Daniel shrugged, leaning down next to her. “I’m going to be happy either way.”

Florence glanced at her sky-blue dress in the mirror and pursed her lips.

“You look beautiful.” Daniel whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek, his hand falling to her swollen belly.

“Maybe I should wear white too.” Florence said.

“You don’t have to.” Daniel chuckled, moving to the sink to brush his teeth.

“I was thinking boy because I haven’t had any morning sickness this time but my other two I did.” Florence said quietly, eyeing her dress before looking back to him.

“So stay in blue.” Daniel answered through his toothbrush.

“No…I’m going white too. We have to match.” Florence tisked, getting up from her chair to find a white dress in her closet.

Her sudden stop made Daniel frown, “What’s wrong?”

“I think I felt a kick.” Florence breathed, setting a hand on her stomach. Daniel got rid of his toothbrush and joined her, setting his hand next to hers. Sure enough, a tiny flutter moved under their palms.

“We have a tiny dancer on our hands.” Daniel smiled softly.

Florence let her right-hand fall to the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair, staring at his wide eyes and parted lips, his expression full of awe.

“I love you.” Florence whispered.

“I love you too.” Daniel grinned, leaning in to kiss her.

“Are you almost ready in there? We need to get going soon!” Callum called from the hallway.

Florence quickly switched into a white dress and heels and they joined their little family in the living room. The girls were both wearing light blue overalls with pink undershirts since they both kept switching between ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ every five minutes. Callum and Aidan both went with blue.

“You’re cheating!” Clementine shouted, pointing at her parents’ white outfits.

“We can’t break the rules if we made them.” Daniel said with a wink.

Michael and Luke had everything set up in the ballroom space of the apartment building, the same place Clementine had her first birthday. Everyone was already there, helping themselves to snacks and drinks. It wasn’t long before Daniel and Florence were directed to the front of the room, Clementine and Penelope joining them beside a large black balloon held by Michael. He handed it to the two little girls, giving them the instruction to hold tightly to the string so it wouldn’t float away.

When the room was quiet, Luke passed over a safety pin to Daniel and one to Florence. On a count to three, they were to pop the balloon and the confetti inside would reveal the gender.

“I’m nervous again!” Florence giggled.

“It’s a boy and I’ll bet money on that!” Callum called from the front of their small group.

“Willing to make that a bet? $50. It’s a girl.” Christian held out his hand.

“Deal. I know my sister.” Callum shook on it. “It’s a boy.”

“Ready?” Daniel smiled to his wife.

“So ready.” Florence leaned over to kiss him, the two girls between them laughing excitedly.

“3…!” Luke started. “2…1…!”

The pop of the balloon filled the quiet room and pink confetti rain down on the family of four. The little girls shrieked excitedly, jumping up and down in their own world. Beside them, Florence was more than shocked, falling into Daniel open arms.

Despite the shouting and laughing that took over the room, it felt like it was just the two of them. She could feel a tear fall onto her shoulder and Daniel held her tighter.

“I love you so much.” He whispered, his voice wavering.

“I love you.” Florence smiled, taking his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his.

“I believe you owe me money, Mr. DiCaprio!” Christian shouted over the excitement in the room.

~~

The remainder of the second and well into the third trimester was spent with Daniel waiting on her hand and foot. Florence didn’t like it at first, feeling badly that he was doing it all, but Daniel insisted, doing everything he could to keep her relaxed with her feet up. He took Clementine to school every morning and picked her up on his lunch break, he took charge of bath time for the girls and cleaned the apartment, and even (tried his best) to make dinner every night.

Florence really missed him throughout her last pregnancy as he was such a comfort through the end of her first, being the only thing to help her sleep in those later months. She basked in it this time, though, refusing to let him get out of bed until he was almost late for work. Not that he complained, he would have given anything to stay like that all day.

Even as summer came around and the apartment was always sweltering, Daniel had his arms around her like he would never let go. It was a vision of love and protection Florence never knew she really needed.

And one June morning, no earlier than sunrise, Florence awoke suddenly. Daniel’s arm was draped lazily over her waist with his bare chest pressed to her back, soft breaths let out against her neck. Sweat was pooling at her hairline and she gently slid his arm off of her and he shifted sleepily onto his back. Florence sat up, pushing the heavy duvet off of her to try and get some cool air. It wasn’t unusual that she was extra warm during her final few weeks as growing a full-term human wasn’t an easy task, so she merely took a second to catch her breath.

A small sharp pain made her flinch, pressing a hand underneath her swollen stomach. It was only when she started to make a move to get out of bed that she noticed the wet sheets. Her discovery was punctuated with a warm cramping spreading over her hips.

Florence looked to her right where Daniel laid, his brown hair sticking up in all directions and lips set in a small pout as he slept soundly. She gave him a small nudge, “Dani.”

He shifted tiredly to face the other way, pulling the blankets higher over him.

“Sweetheart.” Florence pulled them back before shaking his arm. “Daniel.”

He rolled over to face her, blinking open his tired eyes to try and focus on her, “You okay?” he asked groggily, reaching a hand to her arm.

“My water broke.” Florence whispered.

Daniel’s still half-asleep face took a second to register what she said before his mouth was falling open. He looked down to her lap that was still covered by the duvet.

“Ok. That’s okay.” Daniel jumped out of bed, almost tripping over his own feet as he scrambled to her bedside in only his underwear, tugging on a pair of pyjama pants in the process. “Are you hurting?”

“A little.” Florence frowned. “She’s 3 weeks early, Dani. We did everything right I don’t know why-“

“Hey.” Daniel took her face in his hands. “It’s okay. Remember the doctor said 37 weeks is fine. That we should expect early because of last time. 37 is good.”

Florence nodded.

“I’ll call the midwife?” Daniel offered.

“We need these sheets changed first.” Florence frowned.

“Of course. Do you want me to take you to the living room?”

“I can go if you take care of this?”

“Okay.” Daniel tilted her chin up to press a kiss to her lips.

“I’m sorry.” Florence mumbled as he helped her to her feet.

“Nothing you need to apologize for, darling.” Daniel smiled, “You’re having our baby today.”

Once Florence made it to the living room, she sat herself down on the couch and called the midwife. It was barely 6:45 in the morning and by Florence’s reflection of her state, the midwife said she would come by for 8, telling her to time and note any contractions or important details.

As soon as they hung up, a sharp pain shot through her side and Florence gasped, clutching onto the back of the couch. Of course, it was just when the girls woke up, rushing out of their shared room and down the hall to the master bedroom like every morning. But they found it empty, bed striped and lights on...but empty.

Clementine and Penelope stopped in their tracks, smiles fading with confusion.

“Good morning, my girls.” Daniel greeted them sweetly as he walked back into the master bedroom from starting the laundry.

Smiles back on their faces, the two girls rushed him with hugs until he scooped them both up in his arms.

“Where’s Mummy?” Penelope asked quietly, her head resting on Daniel’s bare shoulder.

“In the living room. Let’s go say good morning.” he carried his two girls across the apartment. Florence was still on the couch and he set the girls down so they could greet her. The last morning of just the four of them.

Florence was forcing a smile through her steady pain, welcoming her daughters’ innocent smiles and excited hugs and kisses.

“Uncle Callum is going to spend the day with you, does that sound nice?” Florence asked as Penelope curled up on her lap. Clementine skipped off after Daniel to help him prepare breakfast a few feet away in the kitchen, shouting her agreement to that statement with excitement.

“What about you?” Penelope whined gently.

“Dad and I have to get ready to meet your baby sister. We think she’s going to be here soon.” Florence explained.

“Today?!” Clementine shrieked from her spot on the kitchen counter.

“Maybe.” Daniel smiled, petting her hair back from her face as she dropped two frozen waffles in the toaster.

“I want to meet baby sister.” Penelope whispered.

“Me too.” Florence smiled, pressing a kiss to her head.

When breakfast was ready, Daniel called the two girls to the kitchen table, setting two plates in front of them with glasses of apple juice. Florence stayed on the couch, another small contraction washing over her. She held tightly to the couch cushion to avoid making a scene in front of the girls, eyeing the clock on the wall that read 7:23.

Daniel finished cutting up the girls’ waffles before he joined Florence in the living room. He bent down in front of her and set his hands on her stomach.

“How are you holding up, sweetheart?” he whispered, glancing up at her with worry in his light eyes.

“Alright so far.” Florence breathed, pushing a hand through his hair.

“Do you want breakfast?”

“No. I’m okay. You eat.” Florence smiled.

“I’m too excited to eat.” Daniel admitted quietly, leaning up to kiss her as he stood up again. “Callum should be here any moment now.”

“Okay.” Florence sighed, taking his hands in hers.

He leaned down to kiss her once more before heading back to the girls.

“Daddy!” Clementine shrieked through a mouthful of waffle, “We can see your boobies while we eat!”

“Then don’t look.” Daniel teased, pressing his finger in her side to make her squeal with laughter.

“Yucky!” Penelope added, sliding off her chair and ran off towards the kitchen with her plate before he could grab her. Sure enough, he scooped her right off the floor, blowing a raspberry against her shoulder. Penelope squirmed in his arms, trying to push his head away from her through her laughter.

The knock at the door had Clementine running for the foyer, Penelope wiggling enough to have Daniel put her down to join her sister.

“You two get your bags and kiss Mommy goodbye.” Daniel instructed, steering them towards their room.

He opened the door for Callum and Aidan, gesturing them inside with a tired welcome.

“Gosh, Dan, pull up your pants. Do you always walk around like this?” Aidan tisked, eyeing his friend’s bare torso and Calvin’s band that was peeking out from under his plaid pyjama pants.

“No wonder my sister got knocked up again.” Callum teased.

“Oh, Callum George, stop it!” Florence called from the living room. The young men joined her, Callum greeting her with a kiss to her head.

“Uncle Cal!” Clementine called, running over to him and threw her arms around his leg, her tiny suitcase discarded in the middle of the room. Penelope stuck with Daniel, curling one arm around his leg shyly.

“Good morning, Clem.” Callum smiled, picking up his niece and sat her on his hip.

“Mommy’s having baby sister today!” Clementine said proudly.

“I know! That’s why you’re going to have a sleepover with us!” Callum explained.

“You excited, Nell?” Aidan asked the youngest, crouching down to her level.

“Yes.” she smiled shyly, her dark messy hair falling over her eyes.

“Shall we head out then?” Callum said. “Center Island won’t wait for us!”

“Center Island?!” Clementine shrieked, her mouth falling open excitedly, looking between him and her mother.

“Yeah! So lets say goodbye and get going!” Callum bent down so she could kiss her mother goodbye.

“Behave yourself, you.” Florence chuckled, kissing her daughter’s head.

“Come here, Penny.” Florence said to her youngest who slunk away from Daniel to climb up on the couch to hug her.

“Have fun with Cal and Aidan, okay?”

Penelope nodded, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Call if you need anything or if anything happens.” Aidan said to Florence, bending down to hug her.

“I will.” Florence agreed.

They headed towards the door, Aidan taking the small pink suitcases in hand.

“Come on, bug.” Daniel said to Penelope, holding out his hand to lead her to the foyer.

“I want to stay with Mommy.” Penelope frowned.

“I’ll take good care of her for you, I promise.” Daniel said sweetly, “You get to go have fun with you sister while we do all the work. When you get back to Callum’s tonight hopefully you can see pictures of baby sister.”

“I want to see her now.” Penelope whimpered, setting her little hands on the baby bump.

“Me too, bug.” Daniel pressed a kiss to her head. “Soon though.”

“Callum and Aidan are going to make sure you have so much fun today.” Florence promised, petting back her daughter’s hair. “Maybe even buy you an ice cream.”

Penelope tried to hide her cheeky smile behind her hair.

“Come on, Nell!” Clementine shouted from the foyer.

“Kisses.” Daniel requested softly, puckering out his lips. His youngest giggled and kissed him once and offered one to Florence before sliding off the couch. She ran after her sister to get her shoes on.

With the girls out of the house, the moment the door closed, Florence let out a pained groan she had been holding in since she woke up.

“What can I get you?” Daniel asked softly, returning back to his place in front of her, running his fingers through her hair.

“Nothing.” Florence breathed, pushing herself up from the couch ungracefully. He helped her with a hand around her waist. “I’m just going to walk a bit before the midwife gets here.”

With her pacing the hallway, Daniel tidied up the master bedroom a little bit, singing quietly as he worked. His soft voice always calmed her and she let her eyes close as she took one slow step at a time down the hallway.

When the midwife arrived, she helped Daniel get the bed re-made and Florence to lay down again. She checked her out a little.

“Looks like you’re already 5cm. Seems like you’ve been in labour for a few hours now. I’m surprised it didn’t wake you.” she chuckled.

“Gosh...it hasn’t been that bad.” Florence said.

“That’s good then. Being able to get as much rest as you can is important. Contractions are steady?”

“Every 5 minutes.” Florence answered. “Short though.”

“That’s okay. Let’s see if you can sleep anymore.”

“I don’t think I can.” Florence admitted.

“Too excited?”

“Just a little.” Florence smiled.

Daniel came out of the walk-in closet in jeans and a white t-shirt with his hair brushed and face shaved. “How are we looking?” he asked.

“Halfway there.” The midwife said.

“Oh, that’s so good!” Daniel smiled.

Florence shifted in her place, whimpering slightly as another contraction came upon her. Daniel climbed next to her and took her hand in his. She leaned on his shoulder with her eyes shut tight, clinging onto his hand.

“They’re getting worse?” The midwife asked.

Florence nodded.

Daniel let his free hand press softly against her cheek and kissed her hair, resting his head on hers. He rubbed his thumb in soft circles over hers.

Florence wanted the calmest and most relaxing birth possible, opting for a home birth for optimal comfort over the unpleasant hospital. The midwife was familiar with home births and throughout the preparation had given good suggestions. Daniel purchased an entire store worth of unscented candles.

Labour was slow but definitely calm, Florence finally getting in the bathtub to try and lessen the growing pain. The bathroom was dimmed to candlelight as she rested with her eyes closed in the warm bath, Daniel sat on the floor against the counter with his guitar on his lap, playing away slowly. His soft voice filled the silent apartment, keeping his eyes on his labouring wife across from him. Her blonde hair was damp at the ends where the water reached, her fingers tightening their grip on the edge of the bathtub, the water sloshing slightly as she flinched in pain.

Daniel hated seeing her like that, small tears welling in his eyes as he kept his voice steady, plucking gently at the guitar strings.

“Dani.” Florence whispered into the air.

He was at her side in an instant, brushing her hair back from her face, his other hand resting over hers, “I’m here, sweetheart.”

Florence licked her lips slowly, her eyes still shut, “Hurts so bad.”

“I know, baby.” Daniel kissed her head. “You’re doing so well. I’m so proud of you.”

“Can I have some water?”

“Of course.” Daniel reached behind her to the half empty glass, switching hands to rest it against her lips. She took it from him, a shaking hand holding the glass as she sipped. She handed it back to him and he set it down before shifting so he was sitting on the tile floor, kissing her hand.

She fluttered her eyes open, smiling weakly at him, holding her hand against his cheek.

“I love you.” Florence sighed.

“I love you so much.” Daniel leaned in to press a kiss to her pouted lips.

“Can you help me out? I’m kind of chilly now.”

“Of course.” Daniel got up and helped her carefully stand up in the tub, taking her hands to steady her as she stepped onto the bathmat. He draped a towel around her and dried her off, helping her out of her wet bathing suit.

“Sorry, I just-“ Florence leaned forward, tightening her grip on his shoulders and let out a trembling groan.

“Good girl.” Daniel whispered, rubbing his hands over her back. “Breathe through it.”

She let out a steady exhale followed by a soft inhale. When the contraction passed, she stood back up, offering him a pout.

“Let’s get you dressed.” Daniel chuckled. He reached behind him to the counter, grabbing her a clean nursing bra, getting her in it gently. He left the towel draped around her waist, one arm taking hers and the other grabbing his guitar, helping her back to bed. The midwife gave her a second look over, timing the contractions at 2 minutes apart, lasting almost 30 seconds.

“We are moving things right along!” she said. “We’re between 7-8cm now. Doing just fine.”

“I could feel her moving down.” Florence said tiredly, offering a smile to the room.

“That’s good.” the midwife said, pressing her hands to her belly to check the baby’s position. “She’s a well behaved little one too.”

“What time is it, Dani?” Florence asked.

“Almost noon, sweetheart.” he replied, pulling a black tank-top from his dresser drawer as his t-shirt was damp from the bath water.

“Oh gosh.” Florence sighed, resting her head back against the pillow as he changed quickly before sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.

“You’re doing great work, Florence.” the midwife said with an honest smile. “How are you feeling?”

“A little nauseous.” Florence admitted.

“That’s from the pain. Have some water and take nice deep breaths. We can try moving to a better position.”

The midwife helped her kneel on the floor, arms holding the side of the bed. Florence, already tired out, leaned her head against her arms on the mattress, groaning lightly with each steady breath.

Daniel sat behind her, rubbing slow circles over her lower back.

“We have a natural on our hands.” the midwife smiled at him.

“I know.” Florence chuckled breathlessly.

Daniel blushed at the form of flattery, massaging her back and her hips strongly, peppering little kisses over her shoulder.

“Ow-“ Florence scrunched her eyes closed as another contraction hit.

“You’re doing so well.” Daniel praised, his warm hands easing her pain the best he could.

“Fuck...” Florence gripped the bedsheets in her fist.

“Bad one?” Daniel asked. She nodded. “You’re so strong, baby. So amazing.”

She gasped out of her contraction, taking a second to catch her breath before speaking, “Why did we do this again?”

“We’re doing it right this time, remember?” Daniel reminded her gently, keeping his hands rubbing circles over her back. “Bringing another little girl into our life the right way. Together. Because you’re the love of my life...the strongest woman I know...the one and only person I trust to carry my child. Our third baby. Our missing piece.”

“Fuck, Daniel. You’re making me cry.” Florence chuckled through her forming tears.

“Gotta make up all the missed time somehow.” Daniel said, kissing her shoulder.

“Stop with your missed time.” Florence whispered tiredly. “We did everything in perfect time. Anything different and we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“You’re right.” Daniel sighed, draping his arms around her waist to rest on her belly. He leaned his head against her shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Florence chuckled, resting one hand over his.

Another contraction came quickly, having her resort back to her double fisted grip on the bedsheets, groaning into the mattress. Daniel kept his arms around her, swaying her hips gently as he hummed a soft tune against her skin. She had only a moment to breathe again when the contraction died down, her head resting on her arms in her small squat, breathing deeply. She let out a sob into her arms as another contraction washed over her, her body clenching painfully.

“They’re much closer now.” Daniel said aloud, putting soft pressure against her lower back and hips. He could feel the heat radiating off of her and he waved his hand by her face to try and cool her down. He didn’t see the midwife leave the room but she was soon handing him a cool, damp face cloth and he thanked her quietly before running it softly over Florence’s shoulders and neck.

“Deep breaths.” The midwife instructed, getting on the ground with them to check out the process of the baby. “Almost there.”

“Almost there.” Daniel repeated.  

“I want to lay down. My legs hurt.” Florence whispered, burying her face in the crook of her arm.

“Whatever is best for you, dear.” The midwife agreed, helping Daniel get her to her feet and back onto the bed. She checked the baby’s heartrate and position again, making a few notes before taking a step back to let Florence breathe. Daniel was curled up next to her, pressing the cool cloth to her forehead and cheeks, following the breathing techniques with her. Florence’s hand was holding the front of his shirt, her eyes scrunched closed and her grip tightening as she contracted again, letting out a small cry of pain.

“Do you want me to sing to you?” Daniel asked quietly.

Florence nodded quickly, biting down on her bottom lip.

He ran his thumb over her lip to make her release it, offering his free hand for her to cling onto instead as he chose a gentle song and sang quietly into the dimly lit room. His voice seemed to echo through the empty apartment, running his thumb over hers, keeping his damp eyes focussed on her face. The curtains were drawn, closing off the bright afternoon sun and leaving the room to candlelight and the single table lamp set up on the dresser for the midwife to work. The soothing scent of lavender wafted from the candle on the right-side night table, just enough to bring a sense of serenity and calmness to the room.

With each contraction, Florence kept her breathing steady, burying her face against Daniel’s chest with her hand gripping his shirt, her other held securely in his. He kept the cool cloth blotting her forehead and neck, the icy dampness relaxing her more, his soothing voice keeping her focussed on something other than the radiating pain. Every minute exactly, she was whimpering against his chest, pulling him close. Daniel’s voice quivered seeing her in such a state but he forced himself to stay strong for her. He had never been a part of the labour process and it absolutely broke his heart to see her like that.

One strong contraction in particular had her letting out a small shriek, flinching intensely in his arms, “Daniel.”

Daniel couldn’t hold back the small sob that fell from his pouted lips, wrapping his arms around her securely and pressed kisses to her head. “I’m here, baby. I got you.”

“Go right into that, Florence.” The midwife praised softly, rubbing her hand over her back, “You’re doing so well.”

“I’m so sorry.” Daniel whispered against Florence’s ear, his quiet tears falling onto her bare shoulder.

Florence shook her head as the contraction died out. “Don’t be sorry,” she breathed heavily, shifting to look at him, holding one hand to his cheek, “God, don’t cry, Dani. It’s all going to be worth it.”

“That’s the spirit.” The midwife smiled, settling on her other side. “Now I’m just going to check baby’s heartbeat.”

She pressed the wand of a small machine to Florence’s bare stomach, the staticky rhythm filling the room. Daniel smiled softly as Florence looked up to him.

“I love you.” Florence whispered, puckering out her lips.

“I love you.” Daniel chuckled, meeting her halfway for a single sweet kiss.

He helped her through another contraction. Her eyebrows were furrowed through it, raising Daniel’s concern a little bit.

When it finished, she shifted onto her back to look towards the midwife, “Can you check me again? I think she’s ready to come out.”

The midwife paused as she checked her dilation, “Well, my dear, you are very in tune with your body. You’re at 10cm. Let’s get this baby out.”

“Now?!” Daniel gasped, looking between the two women.

“Whenever she feels the urge to push, yes!” the midwife chuckled, starting to arrange her things.

“Which will probably be in like 30 seconds.” Florence added lightly.

“Where do I sit? What do you want me to do?!” Daniel asked quickly.

“Calm down, Dani.” Florence laughed as the midwife had her sit up a bit more.

“You can sit behind her if you’d like.” The midwife suggested. “If that’s comfortable for mama of course.”

“Yeah, that works.” Florence nodded, letting Daniel slide his leg behind her. He leaned against the pillows and the headboard as she rested back against his chest. The midwife hurried to set down an extra towel under her and got her legs bent open.

“Okay, with the next contraction, you know what to do. Listen to your body.” The midwife instructed quietly.

Florence took a soft breath, letting Daniel set his hands in hers, linking their fingers together. Sure enough, at the next contraction, she felt the natural urge to push, a feeling that was always so surreal to her. She took a trembling breath before pressing her chin to her chest and pushed. It was nothing she hadn’t done before but it was still a lot, listening to the midwife’s steady count to ten before she could have a second to catch her breath.

“Another count of ten, honey.” The midwife said.

“Oh God.” Florence whimpered, shutting her eyes tightly as she pushed again.

Daniel kept his thumbs rubbing soothing circles over hers, watching her concentration and determination with wide eyes.

“That’s good.” The midwife said. “Catch your breath.”

Florence rested her head back against Daniel’s chest, her breathing shallow. Daniel started another breathing exercise, soon getting her to join.

“You two make a good team.” The midwife smiled up at them.

Florence hummed tiredly in agreement before sitting herself up a little bit more and pushing again.

“Good girl.” Daniel whispered, freeing one hand to pull her hair back from her face before falling to her hip.

“Fuck, Penelope was so much smaller than this.” Florence groaned through another push, her nose scrunched up with the effort she was putting out.

“Just means you’re delivering a healthy, full term baby now.” The midwife said softly. “Keep those pushes coming. You’re doing great.”

Florence took a breath before pushing again, groaning into it with her chin to her chest. She squeezed Daniel’s hand in her own, her right hand on his thigh to hold herself steady. He reached over to grab the paper fan from the nightstand, using his free hand to fan her with it, the cool air making her sigh thankfully.

“Doing so good, sweetheart.” Daniel whispered, peppering kisses along her neck and shoulder.

Florence groaned into the air, her eyes screwed shut, squirming in her place, “Hurts so bad.”

“Keep your legs open, honey. It will make it easier.” The midwife said, trying to keep open the labouring mother’s trembling thighs. Florence hooked her ankles over Daniel’s to ground herself, pulling his arm around her middle as she breathed out of another contraction. The next came fast and she pushed right into it, whimpering loudly.

Daniel could feel her whole body trembling and all he could do was hold her, tucking one hand under her thigh to help keep her legs open, watching over her shoulder as the midwife helped her through it.

“Her head is coming soon. We’re almost at the end!” the midwife announced, letting Florence sit back to breathe after two more counts of ten.

“Dani.” Florence panted, blinking open her tired eyes to him as her head rested lazily against his shoulder.

“You’re absolutely incredible.” Daniel whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I’m so in love with you.”

“I love you.” Florence mumbled. She breathed out deeply before another contraction washed over her. The midwife instructed her to pant light and she did, resisting the urge to simply push with all her might.

“We’re crowning now.” The midwife told them. “Nice steady push now, honey.”

Florence held her breath and tucked her chin down again, offering her a nice slow push, groaning loudly as she did.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow-” Florence cried, clinging onto Daniel’s hand. Taking a deep breath before pushing again.

“That’s it.” Daniel breathed, rubbing his thumb in soft circles over her thigh. “Good job, baby.”

After one more lengthy count to ten, the head was born. Daniel let out a little gasp at the sight of the wet light hair that was poking out between her legs.

“Strong push now, Florence.” The midwife encouraged. “She’s almost here!”

Florence leaned back against Daniel, taking both hands in her own instead of just one, tightening her legs around his, and pushed as hard as she could. Her head rested on his shoulder, her laboured breaths and whimpers against his neck, hands trembling in his as she brought their final little girl into the world. Daniel kept his eyes between her legs, watching completely uncensored as the baby was delivered into the midwife’s hands. And with Florence’s heavy sigh of relief, Daniel let out a small sob, tears spilling down his cheeks as the baby at the foot of the bed let out her first cry.

“1:56pm. June 24th. A beautiful baby girl.” The midwife announced with a wide smile, wrapping her up in a blanket and placed her on Florence’s chest. She instinctively wrapped her arms around the newborn, her own tears trickling down her cheek.

Daniel was right with her, his cheek almost pressed against hers as he stared down at the new arrival wrapped in white. Her shrill cries were nothing but the most beautiful music to his ears and he cried tears of joy along with her.

“Hi, baby.” Florence whimpered happily. “Oh, Dani, look at her.” Florence turned her head a little to look at her beautiful mess of a husband beside her.

“She’s perfect.” Daniel cried, leaning in to kiss her sweetly. “I’m so proud of you. I love you.”

“I love you.” Florence smiled, moving one hand to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

They stayed there a few quick minutes before it was time to deliver the placenta. It was quick and easy and Florence was honestly too wrapped up in admiring the new little girl in her arms to really notice.

The midwife took the baby to be checked out, weighing her in at 7lbs 11oz and measuring her at 20inches long. She was nothing but perfect; her health was pristine, the delivery went without fault, and soon the baby was quiet and nursing, swaddled in a soft purple blanket in Florence’s arms. Daniel sat beside them, running his fingertips ever so softly over the baby’s thin hair, watching her eat quietly.

“She’s so soft.” he breathed, pressing a gentle kiss to her head.

“I know.” Florence smiled.

“She’s ours.” Daniel sighed happily.

“She is.” Florence whispered.

The midwife came back in after her things were packed up and she was ready to go, “One last thing before I leave, we need to fill out the birth certificate so I can mail it to the government.”

“Of course.” Florence smiled, pulling her blanket that was draped over her shoulders farther over her chest for decency as if the lady who walked in didn’t just deliver her child.

“Does this little girl have a name that you’ve decided on?” she asked kindly, sitting on the end of the bed with her pen and paper.

“Lucy.” Daniel whispered, keeping his eyes on the baby, her tiny hand curling around his index finger. “Lucy Elizabeth Seavey.”

~~

“Aren’t you the prettiest little girl in the whole world.” Daniel cooed gently to the newborn who was laid on the changing pad at the end of the bed. She cried restlessly, tiny legs kicking as he fastened her diaper, her arms curled by her face. He leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek, “Well, out of those younger than 3. I can’t go picking favourites.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Florence chuckled tiredly, tucked into their freshly made bed in a new pair of pyjamas and the uncomfortable post-birth underwear the midwife gave her.

Daniel sent her a small wink before he was tugging off his shirt and gently lifting the baby to his chest. She curled against him, her loud cries softening as her head rested on his shoulder, sucking on her tiny fist. He walked slowly around the room, tossing his shirt in the laundry basket, throwing out the dirty diaper and put away the wipes and things. His steps were cautious, holding the newborn securely with one hand until he could rest at the window, rubbing soft circles over her back as they overlooked the busting city and the setting sun.

Of course, Daniel couldn’t help but sing quietly, offering the quiet room the lyrics to the Beatles song that was the newborn’s namesake. And, like both sisters before her, Lucy was asleep in mere moments by the heavenly voice that Daniel had been blessed with.

He sat himself in bed, making sure to keep the sleeping baby safely against his chest. Florence ran a gentle hand over the thin blonde hair that the newborn donned, before moving her fingertips to Daniel’s cheek, turning him to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“You’re so good with her.” Florence whispered.

“All in the practice.” Daniel smiled, resting his hand out for her to hold. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Tired and sore. But happy.” Florence smiled softly, giving his hand a little squeeze. “So happy.”

He returned it, leaning in to press a lingering kiss to her lips. He kept his one hand over the baby’s back as she slept against his chest, making sure he stayed perfectly still so she wouldn’t fall, staring down at her with nothing but love in his eyes.

“Look at her.” Daniel breathed. “We made her and now she’s real and I’m holding her and...”

“I know.” Florence giggled quietly, curling into his side a little.

“And she’s ours.”

“All ours.”

“Our littlest princess.”

Lucy stretched her tiny arms up through a sleepy yawn as if she was trying to drape them over his shoulders. She kept her cheek against his chest, breathing slowly with him.

“She looks so much like you.” Florence breathed, running the back of her index finger over the baby’s cheek.

“She looks more like you.” Daniel said. “All this light hair.”

“Her eyes and nose are all yours.” Florence whispered, gently tracing the curve of Lucy’s tiny nose.

When Daniel didn’t answer after a moment, Florence turned her head up to look at him. He was already looking at her, a soft smile on his lips.

“Thank you for our beautiful family.” He mumbled.

Florence pulled him in for a kiss, “Thank you.”