#took inspiration from his gentleman clothes btw

[emberzzstellar]

Uhm uh superhero pip ! yea woohoo uhm, inspired by a tumblr post I saw, im sorry I forgot the person who made it but, uh, yea also he's supposed to have a bow and arrow

[gloomyluvr]

GOODNIGHT N GO

in which miles unexpectedly sleeps over

fem!reader x e-42! miles morales

fluff / kinda angst??

warnings!: none

a/n: hiii ! i promised a post. and even tho it's a week or two late, it's here!! i loved this one btw. heavily inspired by ari's song. it's one of my faves. this took me forever cuz i had so many ideas and versions of it and i couldnt decide which route i wanted to go with it. idk hope y'all like it ig. oh and miles is ooc cuz like... idk how he is.

masterlist

“im sorry for coming over last minute.” it was almost midnight when miles had called you asking for a place to stay the night. you were the only person he knew who lived around this unfamiliar area. 

“no, it’s alright. don’t worry.” you looked down at the floor, avoiding miles’ gaze. admittedly, you were nervous. it was your first time seeing miles after your breakup. which didn’t go all too well, but it’s in the past now. 

“if you’re not comfortable with me staying here, i get it. i’ll find some other place.” miles had noticed your uneasy manner. 

“no! it’s fine! it’s late and i don’t want you out there by yourself” you finally looked up at him, “what are you doing here anyways?” 

“oh uhm, there’s this like robotics competition around here, good prize money y’know?” miles hesitated. 

you knew miles better than anyone, you know when he’s lying. he’s making it so painfully obvious that he’s lying. he was probably here for prowler business. but, it wasn’t your place to worry anymore.

“oh, sounds fun.” 

“your mom won't mind?”

“what?”

“your mom wont mind that i'm staying the night?”

“oh uhm, probably not. she’s at her boyfriends house so…” you shrugged

“oh.” 

 miles stood stiffly in front of you waiting for anything to happen. and you stood, well, also stiffly looking around your living room. god, this was so fucking awkward.

“um well, you can set your bag in my room and i’ll get you some old clothes of yours that i… still have.” you admitted, very very embarrassingly. miles slightly smiled, amused by your behavior. 

you led the way to your room, and miles trailed behind you. as he was walking, he looked around the apartment he once knew so well. he took notice of anything new, whether it was recent photos in frames or decorations your mother put up to match the season. 

once in your room, miles gently set his bag next to your bed. he observed you as you got clothes from your drawer. you were dressed in some graphic tee and christmas pajama pants. which miles so happened to have an exact pair of (maybe because you insisted on matching for the holidays and well, who was miles to deny you?)

“here you go.”

“thanks.” miles took the clothes from your hands and walked to the bathroom.

you let out a breath that you didn’t even know you were holding in. why were you so nervous? a couple months ago you guys could act freely around each other and now you guys can barely even make eye contact. there was no denying that you missed miles. you missed the calls that would last for hours. you missed laying together in bed. you missed his laugh. you missed everything and anything about miles. 

you weren’t expecting his call at all. he was the one who decided on no contact after all. and if you were being honest you were mad that he had the balls to ask to spend the night after not talking to you for months. but you didn’t have it in you to say no to miles. 

when miles came back, you were lying on a makeshift bed on the floor scrolling through your phone. it couldn’t have been comfortable. 

“you’re not sleeping on that.” miles immediately advised you. you looked up from your phone with a grin. 

“oh i know. you’re sleeping that.” you got up from the floor and climbed on top of your bed. miles watched your antics with a hand on his hips. you looked at him and he rolled his eyes. 

“well at least i was tryna be a gentleman.” he huffed as he laid down on the floor. you rolled over to the edge of your bed to look at miles who was getting comfy on the floor (which was surprisingly comfortable.)

you wanted him to say something. anything. ask how you’ve been, what you’ve been up to. you wanted to talk to him, tell him the latest drama from your school. anything that would break this god-awful silence. but, nothing ever came. it was late, and if he wasn’t gonna try anything, neither were you. 

you looked at miles’ face, admiring your favorite features of his. he quickly took notice and looked back at you. miles smiled nervously, hoping you wouldn’t notice how his cheeks turned red because of your gaze. fortunately for him, you were as giddy as him, if not more. your cheeks also blushed up and you just couldn’t handle it.

“stop looking at me like that!” you cried before hiding your face in your covers.

“what! ¿qué hice?” miles chuckled, throwing his hands in the air in defense. 

“you know what you did!” you insisted with your face still buried in your covers.

“ ‘m sorry i can’t help it.” he whispered. you shifted to your lay on your side, facing miles.

“miles you can’t say that.” you whispered back. 

“why not?”

“miles…” 

“i know, i’m sorry.” miles mumbled. 

and once again, silence filled the room. you could hear miles’ soft breaths and you were sure he could hear yours.

“k pues, goodnight.” 

“goodnight, y/n/n.” 

15 or so minutes had passed and you still couldn’t sleep. you were tossing and turning on your bed. why couldn’t you sleep? is it because it’s so cold even though it’s august? or was it the fact that your ex was sleeping on your bedroom floor? probably the first one. you shivered, trying to find some warmth within your blankets. why was it so fucking cold? you sigh, there was only one way you were gonna be able to sleep tonight. 

“miles?” 

“hm?”

“you awake?”

“yeah, can’t sleep. why?” miles waited for a response but all he heard was shuffling. then, he saw you standing over him with your pillow and an extra blanket.

“can i sleep with you?” miles nearly jumped at the offer. how could he ever reject you? 

“yeah of course.” miles made space for you on the ground and you quickly set your pillow down next to his. you got under the same covers as him with the extra you brought being quickly discarded. 

it wasn’t until you were fully settled in that you realized your position. your face was merely inches away from miles’. though it didn’t bother you like you thought it would and miles didn’t seem bothered either. in habit, you rested one of your legs over miles’. instinctively miles wrapped his arm around your waist to pull you in closer to him. you brought your hand up to caress miles’ cheek. you closed your eyes as miles rubbed circles on your waist with his thumb.

you missed this. so did miles. but as long as he was the prowler, he couldn’t be with you. despite how much he wanted to. 

[yeehawbvby]

Damn i really didn't think about ever spiraling back into my pokémon hyperfixation like this, at least not this deep, but your posts are birthing blorbos to haunt my every waking moment. So. *cocks gun* i need some uhhh milo headcanons for a uhh friend (the friend is me being down bad for him) (obviously joking pls there's only a watergun involved) (your pokemon stuff literally inspires me ty)

*takes out a mini-water gun and shoots it into ur mouth* I am here to quench your thirst (get it?? Because water. And thirst for Milo. and. . Sorruy)

Hello hi I finally did this omg I am so sorry it took literally MONTHS but here we are!!!!

I did my best, not very confident in my characterization of Milo by any means, and most of these are silly, but I hope I did him justice :’)

- I told you this in DMs already but I’ll put it out there for everyone else to enjoy: Milo voiceclaim BLAST‼️ (doing this on mobile so I can’t link from a time stamp atm but I think he starts talking around 30 seconds in?)

- Milo isn’t a gamer. But. If he ever got into a DnD campaign somehow (I feel like he’d prefer tabletop > video games if anything?) he would absolutely 100% be a druid

- Spent a while internally debating his race class. I think maybe he’d stick with human, tbh, or maybe a halfling

- If he wasn’t a farmer, I could see him still working closely with pokemon beyond just being a gym leader. Like maybe he’d have a gig at a pokemon center

- OR. Or!! maybe he’d work in a battle café as a pastry chef?

- Or maybe I’m projecting, because the thought of baker!Milo is so cute to me ckejvoskckd

- Clothes headcanons.. hmm…. Lots of sweaters? Those sweaters that have a Very Pointless zipper that goes down to the, like, mid-upper chest area before stopping?? Yeah?

- Omg wait this guy KNITS

- He totally gives out scarves and mittens and beanies that he made as a (platonic) love language

- If and when things are romantic then you’ll get sweaters and blankets too, alongside everything else

- I don’t think he’d eat meat! I don’t think he would be vegan necessarily, but I can’t see Milo being the type to eat the creatures he exists so closely with

- So maybe a vegetarian, or at least the type that eats meat sometimes but avoids it for the most part

- I wanna imagine that he meshes well with anyone he meets. Bro is a pure people person

- When it comes to romance, I think he’d be very surprisingly confident

- He’s a sweet cinnamon roll but he’s not shy by any means!!

- I think he’d be pretty up-front too. If he likes you, you’ll know. Hell, maybe he’d say it outright one day while you’re just hanging out, doing something super mundane

- Milo’s definitely a gentleman. Lets you walk inside the sidewalk rather than on the street side. Opens doors for you. Walks you to your door (maybe with a cheeky smooch?) after a date night

- He’s a ditto that’s gotten REAL good at acting btw. I mean look at that cute happy little face— You hear something?

[literary-lesbian]

this is only very slightly relevant but I did some research on Henry Courtenay because I love the tudors and like. This guy was properly significant.

Not only was he Henry VIII's cousin, but also a prominent member of Henry's council and a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. He fought in the First French War (there were 3 btw) and went with Henry to the Field of the Cloth of Gold, a diplomatic summit (party) with the new King of France (which was useless in the long term but very politically significant at the time). He was both an earl and a marquess, a godfather to the literal Elizabeth I and his son almost married both Elizabeth and Mary (and thus would have become king/king consort).

He was integral in the divorce proceedings with Katherine of Aragon and the trial of Anne Boleyn and basically the only reason he was beheaded was because Cromwell got jealous of how much power he had (he basically "ruled" all of western England by this point) and collated some basic evidence to convince Henry that he was involved in a Catholic Plot (he had a strong claim to the throne, although he'd never tried to take it; his wife was catholic; he'd written a few letters to another Yorkist claimant) and tbh Henry was quite easy to persuade (see: the beheadings of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, both of whom probably didn't deserve it).

there you go, I just found it very interesting that one of the most important nobles in the whole country owned the house :) and that the idiots probably took inspiration from him when writing Humphrey's backstory

I realized that I have went down so many rabbit holes of information due to bbc ghosts but not ONCE have I looked up the rich history of West Horsely Place and I am utterly ashamed about that

SO GUESS WHAT I’M GONNA DO !!!

[deathsmallcaps]

July’s Story

My fifteenth Win A Commission contest is Crystal the Wise! If you would like to see my version, and see all my drawings together, please

There once was a gentleman who had quite a daughter. Whatever her teachers gave her to learn, she gobbled up. Foreign languages, geography, so—all were unspeakably easy for her. And mathematics! She could add up columns of figures far better than her father’s accountants could. Before long, she could have taken their place.

When Crystal (for so she was called) grew a bit older, the neighboring children came over to ask her to explain the problems their tutors had set. Soon everyone came to learn from her. In time, word of this reached the king. He wrote to the young woman, saying, “My son is nearly grown, but my daughter has trouble with her lessons, and needs a teacher who could make her understand. Will you come and stay with us for a few months?”

Crystal was delighted to do so. When she arrived at the palace, the king, queen, and princess greeted her warmly. The prince, however, sulked like a little child. He had offered to tutor the princess himself, but the king had said, “You’re too impatient. I have found someone else who can do a better job than you can.”

Over the next few weeks, the prince sat in the back of the classroom and contradicted Crystal whenever she spoke. His interruptions grew more and more frequent. Still, Crystal continued to teach, because she liked the little princess and wanted her to do well. Tired of being ignored, the prince stood up one day and said, “This isn’t how I learned it. Everything you’re teaching my sister is wrong.” Crystal walked right up and slapped him! After that, the prince kept away from her lessons.

When the time came for Crystal to leave, the prince went to his parents.

“I’m grateful for all Crystal taught me, and after all, she’s the cleverest woman in the kingdom. May I have your permission to marry her?” The king and queen eagerly agreed, and Crystal also accepted, figuring it was a good marriage. She hadn’t realized she was worth more. 

After the wedding, the prince took his bride to a secluded cottage deep in the forest. As she was changing into her nightclothes, he came in and said, “Well, Crystal, are you ready to apologize for slapping me?”

“Apologize? I was right to slap you! And I’ll do it again if you keep on about it.” Crystal didn’t enjoy violence but knew when to defend herself.

“Is that so?” the prince snarled. He and a couple servants dragged her down to the cellar, where he thrust her through a trapdoor, into a little cell under the floorboards. There was a bed and a table and almost nothing else. In the morning, he asked her if she’d changed her mind, but she said no. Every day he came down and demanded she repent. Every day she refused, despite knowing her chances of survival were diminishing rapidly in such a dangerous situation. She had tried to run away when he first grabbed her, but even her considerable talents were no match against ten armed men. 

Crystal grew weary of her imprisonment, but there was no way she would apologize. One day, she noticed a corner of her cell was blowing air, due to a spider’s web flying into her face. She blessed the spider for alerting her, tand investigated the hole. There, she discovered a rushing underground stream. She dug a hole big enough to squeeze through, and managed to swim all the way to her father’s house.

Her father was appalled to find out how she’d been treated. “I’ll see the king immediately.”

“Oh, no, don’t,” Crystal said. “Just dig a tunnel into my cell and bring me some decent food, and of course, my books. The prince only lowers bread and water.” And Crystal swam back to her cell with the prince none the wiser.

At last, he grew tired of her refusals and called down, “I’m going to Paris to enjoy myself. I’ll have a servant feed you while I’m having fun.”

“Go ahead,” she called back cheerfully. 

As soon as the prince had left, Crystal bribed the servant to stop lowering bread and water, telling him to lie to the prince should he come back. She ran to her father and, with plenty of money from him, hurried to Paris, formulating a brilliant plan to ruin him forever with her father. There she disguised herself as a girl named ‘Marie’ and bought a house next to her husband’s. 

She then forged a letter to the prince’s parents, explaining that ’Crystal’ had died en route to Paris, and that he was going to mourn for a while. Somewhere in the back of her head, she knew this was a dangerous course of action, and very unhealthy emotionally. But she was SO angry.

Then, each day, she drove out in her carriage behind four white horses. Her gown was thick with embroidery, and her fan was trimmed with delicate lace, and she adopted a beautiful Parisian accent. When the prince saw her, he was dazzled by her beauty, though he didn’t recognize her in Parisian fashions. He began courting her, and wedded ‘Marie’ inside a month, never mentioning, of course, that he had another wife back home. Nor did he notice her glittering intellect, and thought her a dumb but lovely creature.  Nine months later, she gave birth to twins, a girl and a boy. Since Crystal had learned a bit, she made the prince sign a contract, vowing the children would be his heirs. He signed it, thinking it would be invalid, for she had drawn it up herself and he thought her stupid. He was mistaken. 

Three years passed. Then the prince told her he had been summoned home, but didn’t tell her it was for a new marriage. He didn’t know that this third bride had been set up by Crystal’s father. Feeling bored with his (supposedly) new and beautiful wife, he agreed to return home and decided to leave Crystal and his children behind. 

Returning home, the prince hurried to the cottage but discovered the cell empty. The servant told him Crystal had died of loneliness, so the prince thought he was in the clear. 

His family got him all set up for the wedding, disallowing him to meet his match, claiming superstition. When the day finally came, he said the vows, and everyone cheered. He raised her veil, and saw Crystal grinning triumphantly back at him. His children toddled out from the audience, and he knew he was in trouble.

Stunned to see his triply-wed wife, the prince knelt down before the court and begged her forgiveness. But it turned out, she didn’t have to forgive him. 

Her father produced the contract proclaiming the children as the prince’s heirs and a written account of what had passed by Crystal verified by many sources, including the servant who was supposed to feed her. Disgusted by their son, the King and Queen banished him and stripped him of his personal land, money and title, immediately giving them to Crystal. She and her family promptly lived happily ever after. 

My Notes

Now, you may not have noticed, but this story? Extremely messed up. I mean, this woman is degraded and goes on the biggest revenge plot I’ve ever seen a female character do in a fairy tale. She even has revenge babies! They are going to have a pretty messed up childhood. 

Why did I choose Crystal the Wise? Well, for three reasons. 

One, I heard it on, you guessed it, the Myths and Legends podcast. I really liked his rendition, but I did NOT want to type the whole thing out (I did that with a different story of his that I’m going to give to a different little cousin). I found this version online. And this all happens in the story! Crystal is just that machiavellian, and I applaud her! I kind of wish she didn’t feel like she had to continue having relations with her abuser, or to change herself so completely, but she really hit him with the ol’ one-two, and I like it when people can dole out justice like that. Hopefully she had someone to talk to afterwards? Also its pretty problematic the King and Queen did not realize how much of a little creep they raised to be their heir. 

Two, I realized I hadn’t done a story from South America yet! I realize its definitely a more modern story, with less ties to the Native people of Chile (btw the royal family of Chile isn’t a real thing), but I really liked it. 

Three, I was looking up the Aymara people of Chile for unrelated reasons when I realized I would love to draw the women! I don’t know what the textile industry over there is like, but it must be pretty entrenched in the culture, because they have so many pretty patterns and colors in their everyday wear! Combined with the bowler hats (legend has it that a shipment of bowler hats made it to Chile just when they went out of style, so the haberdashers marketed them to women!) with all the lovely flowers added on, I was excited! So I wanted to draw an Aymara girl. 

Now that I’ve explained that, I’d like to explain my drawings. They weren’t as full of background as some of my other drawings, but trust me, I put a lot of effort into them! I had a kabillion reference pictures.

The title is not based off of any movie logo I’ve seen, for once. Rather, it is based a bit off of the ACDC logo. I was working one day, when someone with that logo on his shirt came up to the register. I was inspired! So I quickly sketched out a sort of geometric, sort of lightning-bolt-esque title in between customers. And I liked it!

The second picture, the slap, was a difficult one for me. It combined an unusual perspective, unusual clothing, and unusual face shapes for me. As you’ve seen with my art, and maybe with your own art, it is often very easy to have a character face you and not interact with another object or person, You can’t really have that happen with a slap. 

This story is supposed to be set in the early 1700s, when Paris was very in vogue. But as I really wanted to draw a modern Aymara woman, I did play little fast and loose with the fashion. There isn’t too many reference pictures for old Chilean fashion. I had to reach a little. Which led me to using a more European style of dress for the Prince. And this is the only time you get to see *Crystal dress in a way that is normal and comfortable to her. This is an important ‘theme’ of the story - sorry to go all English class on you!

*Just remembered that Crystal is not a very Spanish-sounding name. I’ve never found the story outside, even when I try to look it up in Spanish, so some part of me is worried that someone made it up and pretended it was Chilean. Please let me know if you find anything. 

Their faces are different than what I’ve drawn before. As you can see on the prince’s face, he has serious acne. I’m not trying to demonize acne, but I decided that he’s one of those boys who hates getting clean and despite literally everyone telling him so, will not stop touching his face and causing acne. I went through a stubborn phase like that. But I also wanted to show how young and already so privileged the guy is. I really wanted to make him annoying. Crystal also has a bit of acne, to show her youth, but what really makes her face different than my usual fare is the fact she has a mole, never gets to smile of joy in my illustrations, and she is plump. I have a tendency to draw skinny characters I’m trying to get rid of as an artist -  I want to be able to draw everyone, anyone. And i think she turned out quite pretty!

Third picture, the cave, was again sort of a challenge. I wasn’t sure at the beginning how to place Crystal so you could sort of see the hole that leads into her room, while also showing her climbing down and the underground waterways she is going to enter. And as you’ve might’ve seen before, when I draw caves and rocks, all I think of is really ‘geometry’ but in the way the guy in this meme thinks of aliens (look up history channel aliens if you don’t know).

But I guess I did it? As for Crystal, you can tell she’s uncomfortable, she’s skinnier in an unhealthy way and colder than before, her hair isn’t in the customary braids but in a crappy bun to keep it off her face, and her dress is in tatters. Not a happy camper, and understandably so.

Last picture, Crystal’s wedding dress, was sort of hard in a different way, again! I decided early on I wanted to base her dress off of Elizabeth’s wedding dress from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. But I had to draw that while Crystal was holding her two kids on her hips, and smirking. I think I managed it, though. I think it’s interesting to note that the look epitomizes the kind of person she had to emulate while tricking the prince; a meek, european-mimicking little wifey. Totally different than the person she really is, the person she is illustrated to be in the first picture. 

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed that! Another problematic story will be the one for next month! Thanks for reading!

@boopboopboopbadoop​

[camillemontespan]

first man [drake walker] [one shot]

@moonlightgem7​ @emichelle​ @ibldw-main​ @jovialyouthmusic​ @sirbeepsalot​ @katedrakeohd​ @saivilo​ @burnsoslow​ @dcbbw​ @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore​ @pug-bitch​  @marshmallowsaremyfavorite​ @mskaneko​ @rainbowsinthestorm​ @gardeningourmet​

This is pure fluff. 

I was kinda missing my dad so thought of writing this - the McDonalds scene, btw, is a real life thing my dad did for me and remains a really nice memory for me. 

I was also inspired by the song First Man by Camila Cabello. 

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

 Amongst the sound of laughter and bubbling champagne being popped, the soft tinkle of a glass being tapped trilled around the room, bringing everything to a warm silence.

Drake Walker stood up and surveyed the room, giving his audience a smile. ‘Father of the bride now requesting permission to speak,’ he joked.

To his left, his wife, Camille grinned up at him and took his hand, squeezing it gently.

To his right was his daughter dressed all in white, a veil framing her delicate face as she looked up at him with wonder.

'Now I know I’m not the best at speeches,’ Drake began, eliciting giggles from the guests. 'I always have to prepare weeks in advance otherwise I’ll trip over my words, say something I shouldn’t and end up swearing.’ He shot a look down at his daughter.

'Don’t panic, Lily, I’m not gonna swear at your wedding.’

Lily giggled and kept her eyes on her father, a smile on her face as she watched him.

'But for this, I didn’t need to prepare,’ Drake continued. 'I already know what I’m going to say. Hopefully I won’t embarrass you but I can’t make any promises, I am your dad after all.. But looking at you right now, how happy you are and how beautiful.. Everything is clear.’

'Awwww!’ the guests chorused. Lily wiped her eyes which were filling with tears. Her new husband, Milo, reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulder, keeping her close.

'I’m going to use this speech to take you down memory lane,’ Drake said. 'Nothing has made me happier than being your dad, honey. You’re the light of my life - as is your sister but today’s your wedding day so right now, you’re the favourite.’

'Dad!’ Luna piped up, adopting an offended expression. Lily laughed and reached out along the table to squeeze her little sister’s hand.

'I’ve always been the protective dad,’ Drake said. 'I didn’t want you leaving home until you were fifty.. Well you’re twenty seven now so well done, you somehow managed to get away with that! But looking at you and Milo right now, I feel good. I’m happy to step back and let Milo take the reins on this. He will look after you now. I promise I’ll always be here for you, baby, but it’s not my job to make sure you’re happy. That’s your husband’s now. But I gotta say.. It’s been an honour to be the first man to ever love you.’

Lily’s eyes were watering as she clasped Milo’s hand around her shoulder. Drake gave her a wink. 'Now, my life changed forever when you were born. I was terrified, excited but mainly terrified.. Jesus, I thought I was going to break you, you were so small..’

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

Camille gave one last push, letting out a visceral cry as she felt her body give way. Drake had his hands out and caught the baby.

'She’s here, Camille!’ he told her, his eyes wide. 'She’s beautiful!’

Camille let her head fall back onto the pillow, exhausted. It had been a difficult labour, long and excruciating.  It turned out Camille used very colourful language when giving birth. But as she watched her husband with their baby girl in his hands, she knew it had been worth it.

The nurse smiled. 'Do you want to cut the cord?’ she asked. Drake blinked, a look of sheer terror on his face.

'How do I do that?’ he croaked.

The nurse showed him and Drake delicately cut the cord, so carefully. The nurse took the baby to clean her up before wrapping her in a blanket, passing her back to her father.

Drake looked down at his daughter. 'I can’t believe I have one of these..’ he whispered. He stared at the newborn with a dopey smile on his face, unable to tear his eyes away from her. 'Hey there little lady,’ he whispered. 'I’m your daddy.’

He suddenly wrenched his eyes away from her to stare at Camille.

'Baby, she’s got your eyes! She’s opened them! Jesus, they’re brown with gold flecks, just like you. My little owl.’

Camille’s eyes filled with happy tears. Drake moved towards her with the baby in his arms and settled down on the bed beside his wife. Camille let out a breath as she looked for the first time down at her daughter. 

'She’s beautiful,’ she whispered. Drake smiled and passed her to Camille.

'I’m worried I’m going to break her,’ he told her, stroking a lock of Camille’s hair that was slicked with sweat. ‘She’s so tiny.’

Camille took the baby’s hand and pressed a gentle kiss on her bunched fist. 'You won’t,’ she replied softly.

'Do we still want to call her Lily?’ Drake asked.

Camille smiled. 'Do you think she’s a Lily?’

'100%.’

Camille grinned. 'Lily. Hi Lily.’

The baby gurgled and Camille let out her throaty laugh that Drake adored. 'Yeah, that’s your name, baby girl. Lily,’ Camille cooed. 'Lily Olivia Walker.’

Drake pretended to wince. 'Olivia? Really?’

Camille giggled and swatted his hand gently. Lily yawned and settled in Camille’s arms, closing her owl eyes.

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

'Liv, stop shooting daggers with your eyes at me, we gave her your name,’ Drake said, rolling his eyes good naturedly. Olivia, who was sat at the table nearest the Walker’s, gave him the middle finger before laughing.

'Jokes on you, Walker, your daughter loves me.’

Lily grinned. 'I really do, Aunt Olivia!’

Olivia raised her champagne glass towards her goddaughter and tossed it back. Drake turned back to address his daughter. 

‘So, I think everyone who knows Lily knows how girly she is,’ he said. 

‘Yessss!’ everyone cheered. Lily turned red and hid her face with her veil as Milo elbowed her gently, laughing. 

‘Therefore, I know that picking her wedding dress would definitely have been the highlight of this whole day,’ Drake continued. He smirked at Milo. ‘Sorry, Milo.’

Milo shrugged happily and like he didn’t mind at all; he had the girl of his dreams. Drake sipped his whiskey and began to speak again. 

‘Lily has always been girly,’ he told the room. ‘She loved playing dress up when she was growing up. And often, she would drag me into her dressing up games..’

‘Good on ya, Drake!’ Leo crowed from his seat beside Olivia. ‘Betcha looked beautiful!’

‘Ladies and gentleman, I believe Leo is drunk,’ Drake said, raising an eyebrow. The guests giggled and began to clap their hands as Leo stood up to bow. 

‘Thank you, thank you, I’m here all night,’ he joked, raising his glass before sitting back down to listen to another story.

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

‘Daddy, you have to wear the pink tiara!’ Lily cried, holding out a plastic pink tiara to her father. ‘I’ll wear the silver one and then we can play Princesses!’

Drake took the pink tiara and placed it on his head. ‘How do I look?’ he asked. ‘Pretty?’

Lily giggled. ‘So pretty!’

She was wearing a purple velvet princess dress and Camille’s high heels. Drake watched as she tottered around her bedroom, singing to herself as she played. He was sat on the floor with her teddy bear on his lap, absentmindedly stroking the bear’s fur. 

‘So what do princesses do?’ he asked.

Lily grinned. ‘We rule the kingdom!’ she said. ‘Just like Uncle Liam!’

‘Of course, just like Uncle Liam,’ Drake agreed. ‘What’s your kingdom like, Princess Lily?’

Lily chewed on her lip thoughtfully. ‘It’s.. happy,’ she decided. ‘It’s always happy and you get to play everyday. We can read lots of books and drink tea.’

‘Sounds lovely,’ Drake told her. ‘What kind of tea? Earl grey?’

‘Noooo daddy!’ she giggled. ‘Chocolate tea!’

‘You mean hot chocolate?’

Lily blinked slowly, as if Drake had just asked her a stupid question. ‘No, chocolate tea.’

‘Ah okay,’ Drake said, bowing his head. ‘Apologies. Where do we get chocolate tea from?’

Lily played with her long dark hair, pulling it through her fingers. Whenever she thought about something hard, her pixie nose crinkled in concentration and her fingers always moved as she thought to herself.

‘My kingdom has a lake filled with chocolate,’ she finally said. ‘You can swim in it! And get tea.’

‘Where is this lake, huh? Why don’t we have one in Cordonia?’

‘I know right?!’ Lily shrieked, bouncing over to Drake to throw her arms around his neck. ‘We need a chocolate lake!’ 

Drake chuckled and held her close, inhaling the lavender scent of her hair. ‘I’ll get you a chocolate lake, baby girl,’ he whispered. ‘You can drink all the chocolate tea you want.’

She drew back with a happy grin on her face. ‘I need to wear my feather boa!’ she decided, suddenly changing subject as she often did without warning. 

‘Do princesses wear boas?’

‘Always,’ Lily said, opening her little closet and rifling through her clothes. ‘They’re fluffy and pretty.’

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

‘Now, she may be really girly but she’s also a Walker,’ Drake warned. ‘Milo, you gotta know that my baby girl can make campfires and toast smores like a badass.’

Milo chuckled and rolled his eyes at Lily who was looking very pleased with herself. 

‘Be prepared for a lifetime of energy, emotions and joy,’ Drake told him. ‘Because that’s what Lily is. She’s my little pocket rocket.’

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

‘Smores are delicious!’ Lily squealed. Drake was teaching her how to toast smores over a campfire. She was six years old and in thrall of her father who was making it his mission to make this Walker Family Weekend the best weekend ever. 

Her baby sister, Luna, was in Camille’s lap. They were sat around the fire and Luna’s eyes were lit up from the flames; she was hypnotised. 

‘I want to eat these all the time,’ Lily said seriously. ‘They’re the best food ever!’

Drake held her tightly and pressed a kiss on top of her head. ‘You’re my little girl, you know that right?’ 

His eyes met Camille’s. His wife gave him a warm smile and she looked like she could burst from happiness. Drake could feel it too. This was the life he had always dreamed of. Just peace. The simple things. Smores. 

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

‘So Lily is marrying the love of her life,’ Drake said. ‘Lily and Milo have known each other since they were four years old but their long relationship hasn’t been without its ups and downs. For example, they were best friends for the most part while Lily brought home many, many, many, many unsuitable boyfriends..’

Luna let out a laugh. ‘So true!’

‘Shut up!’ Lily protested, glaring at her sister. Luna stuck her tongue out, making Lily smile.  She could never stay angry at Luna for long. 

‘We all had bets on when Lily would get together with Milo,’ Drake said. 

‘What?!’ Milo cried. ‘No way!’

‘I bet he would ask her out after the hockey player!’ Maxwell shouted out loud, raising his hand. ‘I got 50 euro!’

‘Damn you, Beaumont!’ Leo growled. ‘That was my hard earned money!’

‘Money doing what exactly?’ Olivia asked, nudging Leo’s knee with her foot. Leo turned red and downed another glass of champagne. 

‘There was Matthew, Ethan, Eli, Patrick, James..’ Drake droaned. ‘Hockey guy.. Swimmer… guitar player..’

‘I’m surprised you let Lily out to be honest,’ Bertrand quipped, making everyone laugh. ‘I wouldn’t have.’

‘I was very tempted to keep her under lock and key,’ Drake admitted. ‘But no, instead I just got my rifle ready and gave those guys plenty of warning.’

Lily held her head in her hands. ‘Dad…’

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

‘So what are you doing after graduating?’ Camille asked the boy in front of her as she poured him a glass of juice. 

‘Uh, I’m not graduating this year, Mrs Walker,’ Ethan drawled. ‘At all. I’ve dropped out.’

Camille kept her smile on her face as she sat down. Don’t judge. Be kind. Maybe he had a hard year. She could feel Drake tense beside her and willed him to keep quiet. She held out the bowl of salad, offering Ethan some greens. 

‘Yeah, I failed like.. all my classes,’ Ethan explained, clearly not fussed that he was setting off alarm bells in Lily’s parents heads.

‘Oh,’ Camille said. ‘Tough year? I know Lily was struggling with maths-’

‘Nah, I just didn’t go,’ Ethan interrupted. ‘School is a prison, you know? You learn better outside the constricts of education! We gotta get outside, see the world, forge our own path.’

‘That sounds very freeing,’ Camille told him, trying to be polite. ‘Very forward thinking.’

‘So while my daughter is studying at university, what will you be doing?’ Drake asked, his tone thin. Lily was turning bright red, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but at the dinner table. 

‘I’m just gonna see what life is, you know?’ Ethan drawled, leaning back to rest his arm around Lily’s shoulders. Drake’s eyes flicked to his arm while his hand gripped his knife. 

‘Will you be working then?’ Camille asked. ‘I used to work as a waitress while at school. I used my cash to help my grandmother.’

‘My parents put a lot of importance on work..’ Lily whispered to Ethan, wanting to help him out a little. 

‘I work on the side,’ Ethan said. 

‘Doing what?’

‘I work with my buddy at the weekend,’ he said. ‘He’s got clients.’

‘Clients for what?’ Camille asked, taking a long, long sip of wine. 

Lily quickly reached out to take the bowl of spaghetti. ‘Great pasta, mom!’ she cried, her voice high. ‘Delicious!’

Ethan grinned wolfishly. ‘You won’t be interested, Mrs Walker.’

Drake stood up abruptly, making Lily jump. She was on the edge of her seat, clearly waiting for Ethan to say one thing that would lead to disaster. She had been dating him for two months and she had been oddly quiet about him to her parents. She watched as Drake stalked out of the dining room. 

‘Thanks for cooking, mom,’ Lily said quietly. Camille gave her a wink and twirled spaghetti around her fork. 

‘So, Ethan, what would you like to be when you’re older?’

‘Jeez, that’s a loaded question..’ Ethan mused. ‘Again, I’d be in a box, working for the man..’

‘DAD!’ Lily shrieked, knocking over her glass of juice. Drake had returned with his rifle in his hand. 

‘Don’t mind me,’ he called out. ‘I just remembered I need to clean my rifle!’

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

‘Ugh, I hated that guy..’ Milo groaned. ‘Such a dick.’

Lily was tomato red now. She could only listen as her family commented on all of her previous boyfriends, not kindly. 

‘Patrick was a babe,’ Luna said. ‘But so, so vain..’

‘Hayden was very handsome,’ Camille joined in. Olivia let out a gasp. ‘Oooh Hot Hayden!’

‘What?!’ Lily screamed. ‘He was eighteen!’

‘He was legal,’’ Oliva said dryly.

Drake cleared his throat. ‘Okay, my speech is being ransacked. Back on track now, people, please. So, yeah, we watched a lot of boyfriends walk through our front door and leave just as quickly. It was like a conveyor belt of acne and hormones.’

‘Dad, you’re embarrassing me,’ Lily warned him. 

Drake grinned. ‘Then be prepared for my next story!’

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

The front door slammed, making Drake and Camille pull away from each other and jump to opposite sides of the couch. ‘Fuck, that was close,’ Camille whispered, re-arranging her hair. Drake smirked and opened the living room door. 

‘Lily, that you?’ he called out. 

He could hear crying. Hysterical crying. 

‘I’ll go,’ Camille volunteered. 

‘Nah, I will,’ Drake said. ‘She’s home early though. Didn’t she have dance practice tonight?’

‘Maybe Harper’s mom dropped her off.’

Drake shrugged and wandered upstairs to Lily’s bedroom where he could hear crying and wailing coming from the other side of the door.  He knocked and waited patiently for permission to enter.

‘Come in..’

Drake opened the door and found his fifteen year old daughter lying in a heap on her bed, crying. He rushed over to her. ‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

She burrowed her face in the pillow, her sobs muffled but still so very loud. 

‘Lil?’ Drake murmured. ‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

She sniffled and raised her head up to look at him. Her eyeliner and mascara was streaked over her face; Drake winced. His daughter did not need makeup but because of her social circle, Lily felt pressure to always try and look perfect. She had to have the right hairstyle, the right perfume, the right clothing.. When really, she was perfect just the way she was.

‘He.. he.. He dumped me!’

Drake blinked. ‘Who?’

‘K..K..KYLE!’

Drake blinked again. Okay, who was Kyle again? Was he the footballer? No, that was Logan. The hockey player? No, that was Will. Who the fuck was Kyle?

‘Lily..’ he said, keeping his voice steady. ‘Who was Kyle?’

‘MY BOYFRIEND!’ she screamed, throwing a pillow to the other side of the room. ‘He dumped me! I thought we were so good! He called me.. He called me beautiful!’

Her voice cracked and she broke down again. Drake pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. 

‘Shhh, it’s alright..’ he whispered. ‘It’s okay, baby. Shhh..’

‘He made me laugh..’ she whispered. ‘And we had all these inside jokes..’

Drake sighed. The inside jokes were what got you. 

‘I’m gonna be alone FOREVER!’ she wailed. 

Drake closed his eyes. He was so used to hysterical female teenagers now, thanks to Lily. He could write a book on how to manage a hormonal daughter. 

Lily was like Camille in that she wore her heart on her sleeve. She felt everything deeply and she loved very hard. But, she also had that Walker steel inside her heart that meant she wasn’t a pushover. So it was very odd that she was getting so worked up over a boy. 

Until it occurred to Drake that Lily had never been dumped before. She always dumped them. 

‘Okay baby, you know what we’re going to do?’ he said, his voice soothing as he rocked her. 

‘What?’ she asked. 

‘We’re gonna get you McDonalds and we’re going to make you smile again, okay?’

Her eyes lit up. ‘Really? What if mom doesn’t let us?’

Drake gave her a wink. ‘Mom doesn’t have to know, does she?’

Thirty minutes later, they were in McDonalds, chowing down on chicken burgers and inhaling fries. 

‘Oh my god, I wish mom let me eat this stuff all the time!’ Lily said with her mouth full. ‘It tastes so good!’

Drake laughed and watched as his daughter became more animated and happy, like the Lily he was used to. They talked about school, Lily’s friends and new films they had to watch on a dad and daughter date. Eventually, talk turned to Kyle.

‘So, can I ask how you met this guy?’

‘He’s in my English class,’ Lily said, sipping her coke. 

‘How long were you dating?’ Drake asked. ‘Sorry, my memory is a little hazy. You date a lot of boys, honey.’

Lily giggled. ‘A week.’

Drake paused, his burger held in his hands. ‘A week?’

‘Yeah.’

Drake stared at Lily. ‘You were in pieces over a guy you had been dating.. For a WEEK?’

Lily nodded. ‘Yeah. What’s the problem?’

Drake scoffed and picked up her burger, shoving it in the paper bag. ‘Hey!’ she protested. ‘I was eating that!’

‘No,’ Drake said, tossing the burger in the trash. ‘McDonalds is pity food for when a guy breaks your heart after months of dating. McDonalds is pity food when you fail an exam. McDonalds is NOT pity food for a guy you have only dated for a week!’

Lily’s lip trembled. ‘But I really liked him..’

‘What would Aunt Olivia do?’ Drake asked bluntly. ‘If Leo dated her for a week and dumped her, what would Olivia do?’

Lily frowned. ‘Uhh.. stab him?’

Drake was beginning to agree when he realised he shouldn’t. ‘No!’ he said. ‘She would pick herself up, put on her highest heels and she would forget him! What would your mom do?’

‘She would drown her sorrows in a bottle of wine.’

Drake sighed. ‘After that.’

‘Um.. She would see her friends?’

‘Damn right she would,’ Drake said fiercely. ‘So why are you hangin’ out with me? Go see Violet or Harper. See someone who isn’t that asshole and just have a good time. It was only a week. Forget the douchebag, he ain’t worth it. Hell, go see Milo! I like that kid!’

Lily was staring at him as if he had grown two heads. ‘Dad.. why do you go all Texan when you’re emotional?’

‘I don’t know, I just do!’

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

Milo was laughing as Drake regaled the room of Lily’s dating escapades. He could see Lily smiling so he knew it was alright; Drake hadn’t overstepped. He was really looking forward to being part of the Walker family. He practically was family anyway, from years of knowing Lily, but now it was official. 

Drake’s laughing eyes met Milo’s. ‘So,’ he said. ‘I remember when Milo asked me if he could ask for daughter’s hand in marriage. He was so nervous and had clearly prepared his speech, not that he needed it. I was gonna say yes. Hell, you could have just asked her and I wouldn’t have minded!’

Milo blushed and felt Lily squeeze his hand. She was always a comforting presence for him. Ever since playgroup when Milo was too shy to join in with their classmates, Lily would take his hand and make him feel safe. 

‘I was always gonna agree to you marrying my daughter, kiddo,’ Drake told him honestly. ‘Doubt never crossed my mind.’

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

Milo was sat out on the front steps of the manor with Drake, their usual spot for talking. Drake had brought out a bottle of whiskey and poured him a glass before toasting to their health. 

‘Remember at your prom and you were waiting for Lily to find you a leaf?’ Drake asked. ‘So I offered you whiskey but you couldn’t drink it because you were seventeen?’

‘Heh, yeah,’ Milo said. ‘Now I can. Because I’m an adult.’

Drake nodded. ‘Indeed.’

They sipped their drinks until Milo broke the silence. ‘Mr Walker, I need to talk to you about something,’ Milo said, speaking quickly, keen to get the words out.  Drake turned to him and regarded him seriously. 

‘Sounds ominous..’

‘It’s not,’ Milo said. ‘It’s important though. I.. I guess I just wanted to ask.. I wanted to ask if I could please marry your daughter.’

He thought Drake was going to punch him. This was Drake Walker. He was known for being protective of his daughters. He was known for bringing out his rifle and ‘cleaning’ it in front of her boyfriends. Why did he ask? What made him think Drake would say yes? He would say no and make sure Lily was sent off to a convent or wherever adult women were sent to avoid marriage and men and dicks. 

‘I just think she’s incredible,’ Milo continued, his breathing turning rapid. ‘She makes me happy and I’ve known her for so long. She’s like my other part of my soul, you know? No, she is my soul. She’s everything to me. I love her. I want to marry her but I wanted to ask for permission first. You can totally say no, I get it-’

‘Milo.’

‘I’ll step back and won’t ask her-’

‘Milo, of course you can.’

‘Then she can just marry someone else - wait, what?’

Drake was trying not to laugh. Milo looked like he was going to faint. ‘Mr Walker..’

‘Yes, you can marry Lily,’ Drake said. ‘Jesus, dude. Calm down!’

‘But..’

‘What? You trying to convince me otherwise?’

‘NO!’

Drake smirked. ‘Then shut up and drink your whiskey like an adult.’

Milo tossed back his whiskey, letting it burn his throat. Drake clapped him on the back.

‘Welcome to the family.’

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

Later that evening, Drake and Lily joined on the dancefloor to dance together. Drake marvelled at how stunning she looked in her wedding dress; she had chosen a boho gown with flowing white silk and she had taken off her veil to show off her dark hair that was decorated with silver leaves. The leaves were a nod to her and Milo’s childhood- leaves were seen as declarations of love at their playgroup and Milo had gifted Lily many leaves over the years.

As they swayed together, Lily felt tears prick up in her eyes. 

‘I love you daddy,’ she whispered. 

Drake blinked. She never called him daddy. 

‘Honey, you okay?’

She nodded, laughing at herself. ‘Yeah. I’m just emotional. Plus your speech was amazing.’

‘Heh, I talked too much,’ Drake said, twirling her around. 

‘You tell good stories.’

‘I’m a Walker,’ Drake said. ‘We love stories.’

Lily grinned. ‘I’m keeping my last name by the way.’

‘Really?’ Drake asked. ‘Milo’s not offended?’

‘Hell no!’ Lily cried. ‘I’m Lily Olivia Walker. I’m your daughter. I’m a Walker through and through.’

Drake chuckled and brought her in close to hug her. 

‘You’re the first man who really loved me..’ Lily whispered in his ear. ‘I’m forever thankful for that.’

Drake held her tightly. ‘I know, baby girl,’ he whispered back. ‘And I’ll always love you.’