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roosterforme · 5 months

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The Younger Kind Part 42 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: The retirement party for Admiral Bates is well underway when you and Bradley run into Beau Simpson. He's just one reminder that some things will never change for the two of you. While you're really enjoying the evening out with your boyfriend, it's starting to feel like nobody else wants you to.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff, and age gap (18+)

Length: 4800 words

Pairing: Single dad!Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x babysitter!female reader

Check out my masterlist for more! The Younger Kind masterlist.

On the way up to the San Diego Botanic Gardens, Bradley held your hand and sang while he drove. Nat was in the backseat humming along with him, and you were simply looking out the window at the ocean and the rocky cliffs along the wilder more rustic beaches north of the city. The sun was setting, and the orange and purple streaks along the horizon cast everything in a dreamy light.

Then you thought about Noah and wondered if you left enough ants on logs for him and Amelia to eat for a bedtime snack. You weren't sure if you got his favorite pajamas out of the dryer before you started getting dressed for the night. "Should I text Amelia and check on Noah?"

Bradley chuckled and glanced at you as he drove. "We just left, Baby. I told her to call me if she needed anything, so I'm sure they're fine."

You tugged gently on his hand. "You texted me all the time when I was Noah's babysitter. Even when you were out on app dates."

Bradley squeezed your thigh through all of the layers of your skirt as he quickly glanced at Nat in his rearview mirror. "I wasn't texting you to check on Noah, because I knew he was perfectly fine in your care. I was texting you because I couldn't focus on whichever woman was right in front of me when I knew you were waiting at home." You smiled as warmth washed through your body. "I was a complete fucking mess on every single one of those dates. Running back home to see if you were sitting on the couch or at the kitchen table. Curious about which color Skittle was touching your lips and tongue. That's why I texted. And that's why you're not my babysitter anymore."

If Natasha could hear your conversation, she was thankfully pretending she couldn't. You brought Bradley's rough hand up to your lips and kissed him. "I'm a complete fucking mess for Noah's daddy." Bradley grabbed your chin and ran his thumb along your bottom lip, and you were shamefully a little turned on while someone else was in the car with you.

After that he dropped his hand back to your thigh, but you could see the flushed shade of pink on his cheeks and knew he was feeling as warm as you were. "I want you to have fun tonight, Princess. I love the way you always think about Noah, but I'm not going to worry about anything at home unless Amelia contacts us, okay?"

You let your head tip back against the seat as you said, "Okay. You're right."

Bradley pulled off of the main road into the parking lot of the beautifully lit up glass greenhouse structure of the gardens as he said, "I'll get a little champagne in your belly, and then you'll be focused on me." He was smiling as he found a parking spot, and you leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Well, this has been lovely, but I'll meet you both inside," Nat announced as she hopped out as soon as the Bronco came to a stop. You watched her yank her black dress up in her hand and walk as quickly as she could across the parking lot in her massively high heels while you laughed.

"She thinks we're gross," you whispered as you crawled onto his lap. You kissed his mustache as you reached for his hat and put it on him. His eyes were soft as he examined your face, stroking his thumb along your cheek. You kissed him again, trying to remember that he was wearing all white while you were wearing dark lipstick. But now it was smudged on his lips and you whimpered softly.

"We are gross," he confirmed, wrapping his arms around you and holding you on his lap. "Now... who are you going to stay with all evening?"

You smirked. "My Daddy."

"Perfect," he replied, stroking the bare skin along your lower back, making you shiver. "Let's go find Mav and Penny and get some champagne."

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Bradley would never get over the fact that you were such a headturner, but with you in your formal dress, things were even worse than the night he took you to the Hard Deck in your worn out jeans. He should have bought you an actual crown to go with your outfit, because it would have matched perfectly with your flawless face and your poised demeanor. It would have made you stand out even more.

The difference tonight was the number of spouses and significant others who were present, and many of them were Bradley's age. As you and he walked inside the sprawling greenhouse enclosure which was filled with orchids, topiaries and rare plants, Bradley felt like he was cast in a spotlight. He kept his arm wrapped around your waist as you chatted away about wanting to see the rare flowers that were supposedly blooming tonight.

"We can check them out," he assured you, fully aware that you were completely oblivious to the women glaring at you and the men smirking at Bradley. "We just need to find the man of the hour and get you a glass of champagne first."

But the crowd of people moving deeper into the greenhouse slowed, so Bradley pulled you closer to him. You went willingly and stood with your chest pressed to his as you looked up at him and smiled. His hands fell to the swell of your hips as you touched all of his pins again. In your high heels, your lips met his neck more easily, and you whispered, "I think I'm the youngest person here," with a little laugh.

"You have no idea, do you?" he asked, taking a few steps forward with the crowd as he guided you along the stone pathway. When you looked up at him, clearly puzzled, he added, "You don't know how people look at you." He brought his fingers up to the smooth strip of skin above your skirt and watched you turn your head and look around the indoor garden as someone started playing the grand piano set off in the corner. Your cheek rested briefly against his white jacket before you looked up at him again.

"People are looking at me," you whispered, poking his hat so it was crooked on his head.

"Mmhmm."

"It's just because I'm younger, and I'm here with a very old man," you said with an innocent expression.

Bradley squeezed your ass and stroked your lips with his thumb as he said, "Blaming it on the age gap is only going to get you so far, Princess. You're beautiful, and people notice."

You grinned up at him and muttered, "You're such a daddy," just as someone in a tuxedo holding a platter of champagne flutes came past. "You're hot, too. That's why there are women looking at us."

Bradley snatched two flutes as he realized that you and he were actually in the line to shake hands with Admiral Bates. He wanted to argue and say that he wasn't the reason anyone took notice, but he could see Warlock and his wife now.

"Okay, Baby," he whispered, handing you a glass. "Make me look good in front of my bosses." And then he noticed that Cyclone and Maverick were there, too. And now Cyclone was looking at you like you were the midnight snack he tried to take home with him from the Hard Deck.

"Oh, it's that guy again," you whispered as you turned to face the front of the line. "The one who bought me drinks at your Navy bar."

"Admiral Simpson." Bradley had to fight the urge to grab at your body and taste your tongue, even though the only thing he wanted to do was make it clear to Admiral Simpson and everyone else that you were with him and him alone. His cock twitched in his dress whites just thinking about parading you around this retirement party with your hair wrecked and your skirt crooked and a fucked out little smile on your face.

He grunted as he laced his fingers with yours, and Cyclone met his eyes. He had to fight to keep his expression neutral as the other man's gaze traveled to your face and dipped down your body, and when he met Bradley's brown eyes again, he smirked. So Bradley smirked, too.

Then you and he were right there in front of the lineup of Maverick, Cyclone, Warlock and his wife. He let go of your hand to salute the others, and then Warlock's wife started to make an absolute fuss over him. But not before he heard what Cyclone said to you.

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You were young, but you weren't stupid, and you didn't appreciate the way most men besides Bradley looked at you. He never stared at your chest instead of your face when talking to you, and he never made you feel uncomfortable. You chalked it up to him being older and more mature than guys your own age. So it was almost laughable when Admiral Simpson, who was at least fifteen years older than your boyfriend, greeted you by saying, "I remember you. From the Hard Deck. You'd be impossible to forget."

As if he'd done anything besides piss you off when he touched your cheek. As if you hadn't pushed his hand away and strolled off with the drinks he insisted upon paying for. You wanted to make a snide remark, you really did. When he shook your hand and asked to be reminded about your name, you wanted to tell him to fuck off. But you knew that Bradley reported to both him and Maverick at work, so you decided to play nice.

You glanced up at Bradley who was sort of glaring at Admiral Simpson even though he was talking to Admiral Bates. You told Simpson your name, and then he gave your hand a little squeeze. "Please, call me Beau."

"Sure," you said cooly, carefully extracting your hand from his. "Beau."

"So, I heard that you're actually Bradshaw's babysitter."

The words made your skin prickle coming from him. "I'm working full time as a nurse now."

He smirked. "Are you still looking for a babysitting job after hours?"

You raised one eyebrow and sipped your champagne before you asked, "Do you have kids?"

"No, none," he replied easily, his steely gray eyes locked on your face. "But I'm sure I could still find something for you to do with your set of skills."

You were torn between throwing your champagne at him and loudly asking him to explain what he meant by that. But you didn't want to waste the drink when there was a delicious looking raspberry waiting for you at the bottom, and you were certain you already knew what he was getting at. So you simply said, "I'm kept very busy all day as a pediatric nurse and all night as Lieutenant Bradshaw's girlfriend. I just don't see how I could fit you in."

You turned away from his smirking lips when Admiral Bates' wife absolutely lit up and asked, "You're a pediatric nurse? That was my career for almost thirty years!" You were blessedly saved from having to talk to Beau any longer as Admiral and Mrs. Bates kindly asked you about your job and didn't treat you like a child. She even said, "I'll absolutely look for you again later tonight. I had no idea Lieutenant Bradshaw was dating a pediatric nurse!"

After you bid them farewell, you realized Bradley and Beau were standing very close together, and your boyfriend did not look happy. The last thing you wanted was to be the reason he didn't enjoy himself tonight. You downed the remainder of your champagne and bit into the perfectly ripe berry before you reached for his hand.

"Come on, Daddy," you said loud enough for Beau to hear as well. "I feel like dancing." With one firm tug, you got him moving away from the other man. "It sounds like there's a DJ in another part of the arboretum," you mused as he came along.

"I heard what he said to you." You looked up to see Bradley's expression was annoyed. "It's always going to be like this. You know that, right?"

You reached for two more champagne glasses as they came parading past you. "Save your berry for me," you instructed Bradly when you handed one to him. "It's my favorite part."

"Did you hear what I said?" he asked, stopping you when you tried to head off toward the louder music.

"Yes, I heard you, Bradley. But you're the one who keeps telling me to ignore it. You tell me it doesn't matter, and that you love me and that I shouldn't let it bother me. So what would you have me do? Ask you to yell at Maverick's boss for being weird?"

He sighed and said, "It's never going to stop. Because you're young and hot."

Now you were getting a little annoyed. "Well, can you live with it or not? And this is a two way street here, because I've had to deal with my fair share of Caseys and Helens. You're hot. You have a sweet little boy and a dog. You have your shit together. You're a man in your thirties, who could have any woman he wants, and it shows. But you told me you want me. And I want you. So Beau Simpson can just stand over there next to the seven foot tall brassavola nodosa orchid and look like an ass for all I really care."

Bradley was gaping at you as you put your hands on your hips and added, "Don't forget to save me your raspberry. Now I said I wanted to dance. Are you coming or should I go find Nat?"

"I'm coming," he whispered.

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Bradley wasn't sure how many glasses of champagne you'd had, but an hour later, you were still dancing with him inside the humid fountain room surrounded by rare ferns and imported shrubs while you giggled. The music was starting to pick up as the night wore on, and after you and he had danced to a handful of slower, romantic songs, a few with faster tempos played in a row.

He kissed your temple and whispered, "Let's take a break."

You scoffed and tightened your arms around him, your breasts pressed to his jacked inside your beaded top. "You're so old," you said, but it came out as more of a whine. "And sexy. And I want to keep dancing with you."

It was that easy for you to keep him on the dancefloor near Maverick and Penny. Even Nat was dancing nearby with Coyote, and Bradley was pretty sure he knew what that meant. "I'll bet you Nat goes home with Javy," he whispered next to your ear.

You gasped and turned to look at them over your shoulder. "Oh, I hope she does. He's so hot."

"Hey," he grumbled, tucking his fingers inside the waistband of your skirt and drawing your attention back to him.

"I mean... ewww, he's way too young! He's like thirty! I hate that."

"That's better." He leaned down to kiss you, and it was just starting to get a little dirty when Maverick cleared his throat.

"Just thought maybe I could cut in for a bit," he said with a smile at you.

"Sure!" you replied, and Bradley left you with his godfather after giving you a soft peck on the cheek. Then he went off in search of Penny at the bar where she was drinking a martini in her pretty blue dress.

"Oh, there you are," she said, flagging down the bartender again for him. "You want a martini?"

"Sure," Bradley replied. He was keeping track of how much he had so he could drive him later. Now he was also going to have to check in with Javy and see how much he'd consumed. "Amelia would text me if there was an issue, right?" he asked Penny.

"I'm sure she would. She probably has Noah in bed by now and is reading one of those horror novels she likes. Either that, or she's playing with the dog."

Bradley nodded and glanced to make sure you were still with Mav. "He really wanted to dance with your future wife," Penny said when Bradley's martini got dropped off.

He groaned. "Mav told you I'm looking at rings? Because I specifically asked him not to."

Penny laughed. "He's terrible at keeping secrets. You should have known better."

"I'll know better for next time," Bradley told her playfully. "And I don't care if she dances with him for the rest of the night, I just need to keep most of these other assholes away from her."

Penny laughed with the rim of her martini glass pressed to her lips. After she took a sip, she said, "I'm not surprised you feel that way. She's sweet and she's young. And while I miss having her living on my street, I'm sure you must be happy she's living with you now. The trip to the lake house was really special, and it's easy to see how much Noah loves her."

Bradley smiled. "She fell in love with Noah before she fell in love with me."

"Anyone would, Bradley."

He and Penny were sipping their martinis when Maverick joined them, and Bradley turned so fast to see where you'd gone. "Seriously, Mav? You left her with Hangman?"

Maverick glanced back as well to watch Jake's hands all over that soft skin above the top of your skirt. Bradley's jaw clenched; nobody else should have access to you there. Even Mav had kept his hands respectfully on the back of your beaded top. And Jake looked handsome tonight. Bradley knew dress whites made any officer at least ten percent more attractive; it was something Nat told him years ago when he got asked out ten times at his promotion banquet.

"She'll be fine," he replied with a shrug, ordering himself a beer. "What's the worst that could happen?"

You asked him barely an hour ago if he could live with this or not. He had assured you he could. But this was Jake. He'd actually managed to kiss you in the middle of Bradley's kitchen. Jake knew what your lipgloss tasted like. "Fuck," Bradley grunted when Jake met his gaze. Because now he was smiling like the cat who got the cream while he let his hands drift a little further south toward your ass.

You were talking to him, about what, Bradley had no idea. Then you reached for his hands and guided them back up to your waist while Jake gave you the most distressingly fake innocent look he could muster up. When you glanced Bradley's way, you rolled your eyes before turning back to Jake, but when that song ended, you came over to the bar. Before you even made it all the way to him, Bradley secured you a glass of champagne with a raspberry.

"Princess," he said, handing it to you. "Did you have fun with Jake?"

"Not particularly," you said blandly, but Bradley could tell you were ready to laugh. "He invited me to the charity air show next month that he's flying in. Claimed he's donating five thousand dollars to the children's hospital and asked if I'd want to go since I work with kids. He also stressed that it wouldn't be a date, and that I would get to tour the hospital with him."

Bradley chuckled. He'd thrown his name on the list of volunteers as well, and he knew for a fact the selections hadn't even been made yet. "That's wishful thinking on his part." Bradley leaned in and kissed your cheek. "Do you want to go on a tour of the children's hospital?"

"Kind of," you said with a shrug while you gulped down your champagne just to get to the raspberry which made him smile. "But not with Jake. Obviously."

He tucked his fingers under your chin so you were looking at him. "Do you want to go with me if I get to fly in the air show?"

Your face let up. "Of course! I didn't want to say anything, but the whole day sounded pretty great, actually. Can you fly in it, too?"

"I'll see what I can do," Bradley said softly, looking across the crowded room and past the fountain to where Cyclone and Warlock were chatting. As much as he didn't want to, he could ask Warlock on one of his last days at work to push his name to the top if possible. And he'd rather choke on one of the raspberries, but he could feasibly ask Cyclone.

Bradley watched you pluck another glass of champagne from a passing tray before leaving your empty one on the bar. "Baby, how many have you had?" he asked with a laugh.

"Not as many as Natasha," you replied, nodding to where she and Javy were making out in the middle of the dancing couples. Actually, a lot of Bradley's colleagues were pretty drunk now. Even Maverick had rosy cheeks and a bit of extra swagger in his step.

Bradley set his empty martini glass down, already knowing that was his last drink for the night. Your eyes lit up as you finished yet another glass of champagne, and Bradley recognized the remix of the song as one from the kid friendly playlist you made for Noah. You shook the raspberry into your mouth and chewed it up before you kissed him.

"Dance with me," you demanded, and Bradley wrapped his arm around your waist and led you out to where everyone was bouncing around. The lights had been dimmed, and the fountain in the background was illuminated now. You danced wildly in his arms, and Bradley knew you were probably going to have a hangover tomorrow. When you spun around as you sang along, your ass grinding against him, Bradey leaned in close and kissed your neck.

"I love you, Baby," he said over the music as he ran his hands along any bare skin he could find. You responded by grinding a little harder against him, so he knew you heard him. He licked the shell of your ear and kissed you there as the song came to an end.

"I love you too, Daddy," you told him, kissing him solidly on the lips. "I think I'll have one more glass of champagne."

He was not convinced that was a good idea, but he took you back to the bar anyway. And now everyone was over here including Nat and Javy who looked very cozy together. You had another champagne flute in your hand when he asked Nat, "You're not going to need a ride home from me, are you?"

She smirked and shrugged at him. "Doesn't look that way."

"How long has this been going on this time?" he asked as you tugged on his arm.

"Daddy, can I have your wallet?" you asked loudly in front of everyone accumulated at the bar. Javy gaped at Bradley while Mav and Penny tried not to laugh. Nat was ready to gag just like she was every time she heard you call him that. You were probably a little drunk, but you probably also didn't care who heard you. Bradley pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to you, and you kissed his cheek and walked away with it.

"I feel like I should be concerned," he muttered to himself.

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You were quite tipsy now, and everything seemed like a good idea. Once you secured Bradley's wallet, you giggled as you went off to find that one guy carrying around the champagne who looked about your age. When you located him, you smiled and waved him down.

He looked like he was going to drop his entire tray as he eagerly asked, "How can I help you?"

Then you told him your name and said, "I was hoping you could do me a favor."

"Anything," he said quickly, and you couldn't help but laugh which made him smile. You probably didn't even need the wallet after all, but you took out fifty bucks and pointed across the room. "You see that guy standing over there in the dress whites?" You knew that didn't really narrow it down in this crowd, but luckily at the moment Beau Simpson was mostly surrounded by women and men in gowns and suits.

"Yes."

"Any chance you can go to the bar, get a glass of top shelf bourbon and take it to him?"

He shrugged and said, "Sure."

Then you handed him the fifty and said, "Please make sure you tell him it's from Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw and his girlfriend."

"Done," he replied, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of making some easy money.

As he walked away, you smiled to yourself and strolled back to Bradley. He seemed to be arguing with Natasha about something, so you carefully tucked his wallet into his pocket. He turned to face you, and you kissed his cheek and whispered, "I'll be back after I use the ladies' room."

"Don't take too long," he told you, patting your butt before returning to his conversation with his best friend.

You nearly tripped when you saw Admiral Beau Simpson being delivered his glass of bourbon, and it seemed to do what you had hoped it would. He was laughing as he searched the crowd, and then he took a sip of it with an appreciative look on his face before joining Admiral Bates in conversation. You were practically cackling as you made your way to the restroom with your poofy skirt billowing around you.

Tonight you really felt like a princess, and when you checked yourself in the ladies' room mirror, you were delighted to see that the makeup job Natasha did still looked really good. You clicked across the marble floor in your heels and tucked yourself in one of the stalls. Very carefully you bunched your skirt up, and just as you finished and flushed the toilet, you heard the main door open, and a few voices echoed through the room.

"She's way too young for him," said one woman, and you tried your best to keep your skirt bunched up as you peeked through the slit between the stall door and the wall. She was kind of pretty; she kind of looked like an older version of you. "Whoever she is, she looks like she's about twenty. Her purple dress is pretty though."

You froze, and the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end.

"He's just having his midlife crises a few years early. All men have one," another woman, this one with red hair, told the first one. You were nearly certain they were talking about you and Bradley, and you had to keep bunching your skirt up so they wouldn't see it under the stall door. "But he's got a kid, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," replied a third woman with black hair, who was fixing her makeup. "He's a cute little thing. Rooster brought him to base a few times."

Your heart was pounding as you stood there and listened to someone you'd never even seen before talk about how cute Noah was. You couldn't decide if you wanted to scream or cry as she said, "He'll snap out of it soon when he realizes he can do better. I'm sure she's got nothing to offer other than being young and eager. He'll get tired of that soon enough."

The first woman laughed merrily as tears stung your eyes. You were standing in a bathroom stall holding the bunched up skirt of the formal dress Bradley bought for you while three women you didn't even know trashed you for no good reason.

Then the second woman said, "She wasn't even with him when we passed him on our way here."

"Yeah, it's probably past her curfew."

Now all three of them laughed as your lip quivered.

You watched the first woman wiggle the top of her dress a little lower as she fixed her cleavage. "Listen, he looks hot in his dress whites. If she's not there when we go back out, I'm going to accidentally bump into him."

"No, you're not!" came one reply.

"I dare you," came the other.

You let the fabric fall from your hands as you squared your shoulders. They were talking about Bradley. They were talking about Noah. They were talking about you and your family. You were tired of being treated like you were a fucking joke. Then you unlatched the stall door and were met with three pairs of surprised eyes.

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Who do they even think they are? And Bradley better fly in the air show, because I want Princess to get to visit the children's hospital. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 43

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corroded-hellfire · 3 months

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As You Wish - Eddie Munson x Reader, Part 8

Collaboration with the Dusty Bun to my Steeb @munson-blurbs 💚

Summary: The unresolved fight between you and Eddie continues as your birthday comes around and he still won't come to celebrate with you and your friends.

Note: I can't believe it's been over a year now since I started writing this series. That feels insane to me. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Warnings: alcohol, drunkenness, smut, p in v, unprotected (wrap it up), oral, f receiving

Words: 6.1k

[As You Wish masterlist]

Today should have been perfect.

For one, it’s your birthday, and it coincides with your off day from classes. You got a free coffee from the local café this morning. And your friends are planning a night out at the bar now that you’ve finally reached the legal drinking age.

But it’s not perfect, because you and Eddie still haven’t spoken since your argument. To be honest, you’re not sure if he even wants to fix things.

It’s all you thought about the whole day while you babysat Danny and Amelia Harrington. You force yourself to concentrate on the road as you drive to pick the older kids up from school, the youngest two safely buckled in the car seats.

Ryan and Natalie walk out first, bundled up to fight off the heavy wind and animatedly discussing some intense second-grade gossip. Luke and Theo trail behind, play-fighting until they reach the car.

The sliding doors have barely opened before Luke is climbing into the car and shouting, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

You wince, massaging your ear with your forefinger. “Thanks, little man,” you say, and the rest of the group chimes in with their own cheers.

“I got you a gift!” Luke chirps, something crinkling in his grasp. He hands you a bright blue snack pack of mini Oreos. It’s opened and currently only contains a single cookie.

You smile gratefully, trying not to laugh. “My favorite!” you exclaim, taking the lone Oreo and popping it in your mouth.

Ryan digs into his backpack and takes out a yellow piece of construction paper. “I made you this card,” he says shyly.

It reads, “Happy Birthday to the best babysitter in the world!” Below the printed words, he’s drawn himself, Luke, you, and Eddie. Your heart pangs when you think about that stupid fight, the one where you’d both let your insecurities run wild.

If this is the end of the relationship, how will you break it to the boys?

You don’t have time to ruminate on that before Luke leads everyone, even baby Amelia, into a very off-key rendition of Happy Birthday to You. Even if Amelia can’t speak yet, her melodic mumbling and gurgling only enhanced the performance. They’ve barely taken a breath after the song is finished before Natalie and Theo are asking questions.

“How old are you?”

“Are you gonna have cake?”

“What presents did you get?”

Luke, of course, pipes up with a request of his own:

“Since it’s your birthday, can we get McDonalds? I want a Happy Meal.”

When you get back to the Harrington household—sans McDonald’s to Luke’s disappointment—you situate the two youngest in front of the television and pop Mulan into the VHS player for them. Once you’ve made sure Amelia is securely in her walker and Danny is cuddled up on the couch between his favorite teddy bear and his stuffed rhinoceros, you head into the kitchen to prepare a snack for the older kids.

The four of them seem to be doing alright with their homework as you put one bowl of baby carrots and one bowl of Cheez-It crackers on the table. Unsurprisingly, four small hands grab for the processed orange snack, bypassing the healthier option all together.

For the next hour or so you flit back and forth between the dining room to help with homework and the living room to attend to any toddler needs or upsets. The time passes quicker than you would’ve thought, and you’re surprised when you hear the front door unlocking. You had known Steve and Nancy would be coming home early today to give you a chance to go out and celebrate your birthday, but the hour snuck up on you.

The moment that Amelia hears her parents step into the house, she’s no longer interested in the avalanche that buried the Huns and has the urgent need for her mom to pick her up.

“They weren’t too much trouble, I hope,” Steve says as he reaches up to muss Theo’s hair. The little boy just ignores him as he tries to figure out the math problem he’s been working on for the last five minutes.

“Nah, not too bad,” you say. Trying to contain a smirk, you lean in towards Steve and speak in a loud conspiratorial whisper. “Except…these two,” you say, gesturing to Ryan and Natalie. “Evil masterminds.”

Natalie just hmphs and tosses her light brown hair over her shoulder while Ryan sticks his tongue out at you. With a chuckle, you walk over and press a kiss to the top of the eldest Munson boy’s head.

“I’m gonna get going, okay?” you tell him. The truth is that you definitely have time to spare before you have to start getting ready for the bar tonight, but you want to make sure you’re gone by the time Eddie gets here.

Ryan turns in his seat to look at you and opens his mouth, but before he can speak Eddie enters the house. Your body has had many different reactions to Eddie over the course of you knowing one another, but the one that comes over you now is completely foreign. Heat seems to rise to your cheeks, but it feels like your veins are made of ice and you could snap them beneath your skin if you moved too quickly.

Eddie toes off his chunky black work boots by the front door and does a double take when he sees you standing by Ryan. He gives you a tentative smile and you give a small nod in recognition. Needing to focus on something else, you look back down at Ryan and gently move some of his growing honey colored hair off of his forehead. You can still see Eddie in your periphery though. He’s coming closer towards you, and it feels like every step he takes makes your heart race a little faster.

Once he’s so close that you can’t avoid looking at him, you notice a small pink gift bag in his hands. Eddie’s deep brown eyes are looking down at it too, but you both raise your heads simultaneously and meet each other’s gaze. Pain and longing radiate off the two of you so strongly that even baby Amelia could probably sense it.

“Happy birthday, Sweetheart,” he murmurs, offering you the bag.

Slowly, you reach out to take it, the white tissue paper that sticks out of the top crinkling beneath your fingers. You give Eddie a polite smile and start to leave, but Luke stops you in your tracks.

“You gotta open it!”

A nod is the only response you can give Luke, not trusting your voice—or even knowing what you’d say. Biting your lip, you ruffle through the pristine white tissue paper and pull out a pair of earrings fastened to an earring card. They’re beautiful. Three tiny hearts stacked on top of each other, all purple and connected by silver chain links. The urge to put them on immediately is strong,

“The hearts…one’s for Ryan, one’s for Luke, and one’s for, um, me,” Eddie explains bashfully as he slips his hands into his pockets.

Your eyes fill with tears, a cacophony of emotions in each drop.

“Thank you,” you say quietly, bending down to hug Luke and Ryan. You stand up and face Eddie, feeling the boys’ eyes drilling into you as they wait for you to embrace their dad like you always do.

You lean in and give him a small hug, lingering for an extra moment. He smells of motor oil and sweat, but you can’t get enough. It’s a test of wills to tear yourself away from him. As you pull back, a tight smile forms on your face.

“I should get going,” you tell them kindly.

“Where’re you going?” Luke asks.

You ruffle his hair lovingly. “My friends are having a birthday party for me. But I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Or,” Ryan offers, dragging out the word, “we could treat you to dinner tomorrow.”

Luke grins. “Can we go to McDonalds?”

You can’t help but laugh. The boys bring you more humor and joy than they could possibly imagine.

“You boys are too much sometimes,” you tell them. If you’re being honest, you would love to spend time with them and Eddie, even if it’s just eating fast food. Anywhere with the three of them becomes its own adventure. It breaks your heart knowing there’s still this friction between you and Eddie and you’re not exactly on speaking terms. You can’t dwell on it, though. Not tonight.

When you arrive at the bar, it’s bursting with people. Groups have gathered to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, clinking oversized mugs teeming with foamy beer. It’s much noisier than you’d normally prefer, but you’re glad for the excess sound to drown out your thoughts.

Jess spots you immediately and waves you over to where she, Lily, and Paul are sitting in front of the bartender. As soon as you plop down on a stool, Lily places a sash around you.

“It’s my 21st birthday? Really?”

“Well, it is!” she quips with a laugh. “Besides, people will totally buy you drinks if you wear this.”

She isn’t wrong. You take shot after shot, eventually losing track of the total amount. A tiny voice in your head reminds you not to mix light and dark liquor, but it’s too late for that.

Your friends keep toasting to the ‘birthday girl,’ which prompts more people to cheer and offer to treat you to another round. By the time you get up to dance, your head is spinning.

You sway along to Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ until you can no longer stand. Jess is kindly letting you lean on her, her arm wrapped around your waist, when you feel a soft tap on your shoulder.

“Can I buy you a drink?” an unfamiliar voice asks, tone laced with sultriness.

You turn around to see a guy about your age, a ten-dollar bill between his pointer and middle fingers.

“Oh, I-I shouldn’t,” you start, but Lily jumps in instead.

“She would love that.” She smiles at him, then whispers in your ear, “the best way to get over Eddie is to get under someone else.” She sticks out her hand to the mystery man and introduces both herself and you. I don’t want to get over Eddie, your brain thinks before drunkenly attempting to focus on what the man in front of you is saying now.

Mystery Man smiles. “I’m Stefon.”

Unbeknownst to you, one Wayne Munson is watching the entire encounter from across the bar. It isn’t his usual digs, but the guys from the plant invited him out for drinks to celebrate the holiday, and he obliged.

He sees you take another drink with trepidation, a young man resting his hand on your hip. It seems like you’re barely aware of what’s going on, sending a queasiness through Wayne’s stomach that definitely isn’t from the alcohol. He’s used to minding his business, but when the guy puts his arm around you, he makes the decision to call Eddie from the payphone.

Just under fifteen minutes later, Eddie is pushing his way into the smoky and boisterous bar, eyes anxiously scanning for you. A surge of relief floods his veins when he sees your beautiful familiar face amongst the sea of green clothing, but the feeling is short-lived when he sees you leaning on a strange man.

It’s hard to tell if you’re aware that you’re leaning on him or not, because you’re talking to Lily animatedly. The man has his eyes glued to you, but he may or may not be on your radar. Your boyfriend isn’t waiting to find out, though. Eddie’s met your friend Paul who you’re out with tonight, so he immediately knows it isn’t him with you and Lily, so he shoves his way through the crowd and shoulders the mystery man out of the way and gently holds your arm to steady you.

“C’mon, let’s go home,” Eddie says, speaking loudly to be heard over the crowd and music. He’s doing his best to be inconspicuous but you’re too drunk for that.

“Eddie!” You fling your arms around him in a hug and let out a loud and giddy laugh. Eddie feels a small surge of pride when you seem to forget all about the guy standing there—if you’d even remembered he was there to begin with. When he looks into your eyes, he can see the glassiness from the alcohol as well as glee that seeing him caused. “Eddie, what’re you doing here? You didn’t wan’ be here!”

He takes a deep breath, inhaling a lung full of secondhand smoke. “You need water and sleep, baby,” he says, trying to be heard over the music.

“But it’s my party!” you whine, giving an exaggerated pout. “An’ you didn’t come ‘cuz you don’t love me.”

His brows shoot up as his heart falls. “I don’t love you?” Obviously, you’re drunk but that doesn’t mean it hurts any less.

“Nuh-uh.” You scrunch your nose. “Maybe you do, ‘cuz you’re here now.” Your frown quickly flips to a drunken smile. “We should dance! ‘Cuz you love me!”

Eddie tilts his head, giving you a skeptical look. “I thought you said I didn’t.”

“But you came here to see me, so you do,” you explain as if it’s the simplest thing in the world. The fact that you’re swaying where you stand doesn’t help your credibility though.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie can see the man you were leaning on finally slink away. Apparently, he only needed to hear the confirmation that Eddie does indeed love you.

“Let me take you home, princess,” Eddie says, doing his best to keep the irritation out of his tone.

“That sounds like a line,” you say with a giggle that’s interrupted by a hiccup.

“It’s probably the most chivalrous thing anyone’s said to you tonight,” Eddie says, looking around at the other men in the bar like they’re vultures, ready to step in and claim you for their own. “Come on, sweetheart.”

“Fine,” you lament with an over dramatic sigh. “But just cause you’re so cute.” You giggle again as you lean against Eddie.

At least she’s leaning against me now, he thinks bitterly. Too exasperated for more words, Eddie just presses a kiss to the top of your head and laces his fingers with yours—tightly, so he won’t lose you in the crowded bar.

Eddie catches Jess’s eye where she’s leaning against the bar and nods towards the door, letting her know that he’s taking you home. She nods in return and gives a thumbs up. Eddie scans the crowd to see if he can spot his uncle, but there’s just too many people.

“Hey, you’re not wearin’ green,” you say once you’re outside in the cool night air. The air feels fresh yet too silent after being in that stuffy place.

“Hmm?” Eddie hums as he helps you into the passenger’s seat.

“No green! Is St. Pagrick Day though!”

“Your birthday is a far more important holiday,” he says as he closes the door for you. He doesn’t even consider if you heard the words or not, it was his inner monologue just coming out.

The drive back to the apartment starts off with you chattering on, still feeling good from the drinks.

“It’s so cute that the boys wanna buy me MiDonal’s! They’re the sweetest boys ever. Where are we goin’? Oh, hey! You’re movin’ into your new aparment soon. Do you still wan’ me to—hey look, a dog!—wan’ me to go shopping for the stuff that you need? Eddie? Are you still mad at me? I hope not. I don’t like when we fight. I never wanna fight witchu. I love you! I never loved no one before, ya know. Just you! I was only bein’ such a pain in the butt because I wanna be by your side. Like partners. Wanna help you and have fun with you and do all the things with you. I hope you wanna be that with me too! Like Bonnie and Clyde! But no stealing or dying. Do you, hey, hey Eddie, do you remember that time a long time ago you said you liked that blue shirt I wore? Ya know, the one with the buttons and sleeves? Well, now it’s my favorite—”

Eddie glances over, concerned that your speech—that was highly amusing to him—stopped so abruptly. You’re just looking up at the streetlights as they pass, your eyes getting heavier by the second, the mesmerizing sight lulling you to sleep.

Eddie chuckles to himself and the rest of the drive is quiet.

When you finally arrive back at the apartment, you’re practically comatose in the passenger seat. Eddie half carries you up the stairs and holds you close to his side with one arm while he unlocks the door with the other.

Somehow, he manages to get you laying down on your bed without bumping into anything on the way. You look up at him with a sleepy smile that Eddie swears is the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

“I’m gonna help you change, okay? I don’t think that dress will be comfortable to sleep in.”

You nod absentmindedly as Eddie grabs a pair of your pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt. Eddie is an expert at undressing you by now but it’s harder when your body can’t even hold itself up. The green dress gets stuck on your nose as Eddie pulls it off over your head and it makes you giggle, though it’s much softer than your laughter in the car. He slips your pink plaid pajama bottoms over your white lace panties and chuckles to himself as he sees he pulled a Rugrats t-shirt out of your drawer. An amused smile grows on his face as he shakes his head.

“Better?” he asks.

A big yawn accompanies the nod that you give him. Satisfied that you’re not going to fall over if he lets go, Eddie walks towards the head of the bed so he can pull your blankets down. It takes both of you working together to get you beneath the blankets.

Once you’re settled, Eddie shucks himself out of his jeans and t-shirt and climbs in bed next to you. Without any hesitation, you scoot over and rest your head on his chest. He wraps his arm around your shoulders and presses a kiss to your head.

Eddie isn't sure if in the morning, once you’ve sobered up, you’ll still be fighting or not. He doesn’t want to be, but he also knows the issues haven’t been resolved between the two of you. What you said tonight about Eddie not loving you definitely has to be addressed tomorrow—whether you were drunk or not when you said it, he doesn’t care.

Soft snores begin to fill your room and Eddie smiles to himself. His eyes slip closed, and he holds you a little tighter against his body.

“Happy birthday, baby,” he says into the darkness.

You wake up the next morning with a dull headache. It definitely could be worse, especially considering how much you’d drank last night.

There’s two Tylenol and a bottle of water on your nightstand, none of which you remember putting there…

You shift positions and see Eddie curled up on the pillow next to you, wearing just his boxers. Soft snores punctuate the rise and fall of his chest.

“Eddie?” you whisper, eyes wide.

He stirs and stretches, giving you a small smile.

“Morning, baby.” He presses a soft kiss to your forehead. “How’re you feeling?”

“Um, just a headache. Not too much of a hangover.” You’re working to figure out exactly why he’s here.

He grins. “Must be nice to be 21,” he jokes. “I have one beer too many and I’m out of commission for a week.”

You’re too focused on the maybe-boyfriend-shaped elephant in the room to laugh at his joke. Instead, you take a deep breath and muster up all of your courage.

“Did we, um…”

Eddie pulls back. “No. Nope!” He shakes his head. “I brought you home and we fell asleep. I promise.”

You nod, relief flooding your body. “Okay. Okay, good.” You swing your legs over the side of the bed. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

“I’ll make some breakfast, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

You get out of bed and stretch your muscles before heading towards the door. But first you stop and look back at Eddie. “I didn’t do anything stupid last night, did I?”

“No,” Eddie assures you. “Your knight in shining leather got there before anything could happen.” He flexes his muscles dramatically, which causes you to chuckle as you step out of your room and into the bathroom.

Eddie puts his clothes from yesterday back on and heads out to the kitchen. He makes pancakes, and you come out of your room freshly showered and dressed just as they’re ready.

“Smells good,” you say, rubbing at your eye. The shower helped wake you up, but your body is still tired from last night.

You and Eddie sit down across from one another and start eating in silence before you can’t take it anymore.

“Um, where are the boys?” you ask, desperate for some semblance of an interaction.

“Harrington’s,” Eddie answers before shoving a mouthful of syrup-covered pancake into his mouth. “Steve and Nance said they got them, I should go to you.”

“And, uh, why did you show up? I mean, did you change your mind about celebrating with us or..?”

Eddie sighs and shakes his head. “Wayne was, um, actually at the bar last night with some guys from his work. He saw some assholes starting to get handsy with you, so he called me.”

“Oh.” You stay quiet as you move a few pieces of pancake around on your plate.

You had hoped Eddie had changed his mind and wanted to spend your birthday night with you after all, but he was only there because his uncle called him.

Eddie bites his lower lip, hating the tension in the air. The two of you used to sit in comfortable silences with one another, so this is excruciating.

“Look, sweetheart,” Eddie says before pausing to clear his throat. “It’s not that I didn’t want to spend time with you. Because I did. I do. I always do. I just, I don’t know, thought I’d bring the party down. I didn’t want you to feel like I was supervision or some shit like that. And I wasn’t sure how I’d meld in with your friends.”

“Eddie,” you start before taking a deep breath. “I never think of you as some authority type figure. You’re just Eddie. Like, yeah, maybe you’re twelve years older than me, but I don’t really feel like there’s this chasm between us or anything. Do…do you?”

Eddie’s silent for a moment, making sure he picks his words carefully so as not to give you a wrong impression. “When it’s you and me? No. When it’s us and the boys? No. But when it comes to you hanging out with your friends, I guess I feel, I don’t know, like I don’t belong.”

“Belong where?”

He sighs and twirls one of his rings around his finger as a nervous twitch. “When I see your friends it’s this reminder that I’m not your age. It feels like all the shit that I try not to let bother me is unavoidable as I see you with guys it would be more socially acceptable for you to date. Or seeing your girl friends going off to do things with their boyfriends that I can’t because of my job and kids. It makes me feel selfish.” His eyes mist over for a second. “Like I’m keeping you from that.”

“Eddie, no one is keeping me from anything. Especially you. You act like I don’t have a choice or say in this. I’m pretty sure you didn’t kidnap me and rope me into an arranged marriage or something.” You give a small smile, hoping to ease some of the frustration radiating off of him. “I don’t want someone my age. I don’t want someone younger. I don’t want someone older that isn’t you.”

“I know that,” Eddie says. “I swear, I do. I guess I’ve had a number done on me, though. Got beaten down enough that the insecurity comes second nature. It’s not your fault, you shouldn’t have to pay for things that she did.”

“Can I beat her?”

He chuckles and seeing him smile makes a genuine one grow on your own face.

“She’s not worth it,” Eddie says with a shake of his head. “But I see where you were coming from with being upset. It probably did seem like I just didn’t want to go out with you and your friends. I’m sorry. I also get where you’re coming from with the court stuff. Wanting to be by my side. Princess, you have no idea how much that means to me. Honestly. I just…I don’t want you to have to be in the middle of all of that.”

“I know,” you say, lowering your eyes back down to your plate. “I’m sorry, too. I was overstepping when it came to Brittany. That’s your ordeal, you get to call the shots when it comes to that. I only want you to know that you have my support. In whatever way you need it.”

He reaches across the table and slips his hand into yours. “I promise to tell you in what ways I’ll need your support through this whole thing.”

You nod and give his hand a small squeeze. The air around you feels lighter and it’s as if weights have been lifted off your shoulders.

“Are—Are we okay?” you ask, wanting to clarify.

“We’re more than okay,” he reassures you as he returns your hand squeeze with one of his own. “But there is something else we need to talk about.”

“Sure. What?”

He sighs and gently taps your entwined hands against the tabletop. “Last night…when I got to the bar to pick you up, you, um, you said something. I know you were drunk but it still hurt.”

Immediately you feel mortified. Did I really…?

“I thought you said I didn’t do anything stupid?”

“Well, this was saying something stupid.”

How bad was it that it’s making him stall like this? “What did I say?” You wince, afraid to hear what you might’ve said in your inebriated state.

“You, uh, you said that I didn’t love you. That I didn’t come to the bar with you and your friends because I don’t love you.”

Your eyes are immediately flooded with tears. The heartbreak and shame you feel for uttering something so absurd cuts you deeply, and you push yourself out of your chair and walk around the table to Eddie. He scoots back so you can perch yourself in his lap.

Gently, you cup Eddie’s face in your hands and stare into his eyes. “I love you. I love you, I love you. Please always remember that. Sober, drunk, high, or otherwise in an altered state…I love you. I am so sorry I said that to you. It amazes me that somehow you love me, but that doesn’t mean I doubt it for a second.”

Eddie nods and wraps his arms around your waist. Your shirt rides up a little and his syrupy fingers rub against your skin—but you couldn’t care less.

“You’re mine,” you tell him. “I’m yours. Simple as that.”

“Simple as that,” Eddie agrees.

The two of you sit there together for a few silent minutes before Jess’s door creaks open and she shuffles into the kitchen, looking far worse than you felt when you woke up. She gives a half-hearted wave, as if even that small movement was too much for her.

Eddie smiles and nods his head towards the kitchen counter. “I made a stack of pancakes for you,” he says.

Jess heads towards the counter but pauses to put a hand on your shoulder. “If you don’t marry him, I will,” she vows.

Deciding to play hooky from school and work didn’t take much convincing for you or Eddie. You’re not feeling great, and he’s more than happy to take care of you.

You’re washing the breakfast dishes while Eddie stands behind you and wraps his arms around your waist. “Y’know,” he murmurs just under your ear, “I had another birthday surprise up my sleeve.”

He pulls you closer, and you try—and fail—to focus on the task at hand. “And what’s that?”

He smirks and presses soft kisses into your neck. “Well, I bought a bottle of champagne,” he says, “and I figured we could have some drunk sex?”

You snap off the water and dry your hands, spinning to face him. “And where is this bottle of champagne, handsome?”

Eddie blushes slightly. “Um, at the Harringtons’ place,” he admits. “But we could still do the sex part, if you’re feeling up to it.”

You press your body to his, grinning widely. “Bedroom?”

“Hell yes.”

Clothes are shed instantly, leaving a trail that leads to your room. You lay back on the bed and Eddie climbs on top of you, slotting his leg between yours and kissing you softly.

“Let me take care of my birthday girl, hm?” he coos, nibbling on your ear. He chuckles when you whimper, two of his thick fingers trailing downward towards your pussy. “Oh, you poor thing. Needy already?”

“Mhm.”

He grins, scooting back and pressing his lips just above your clit. His tongue grazes your folds, over the sensitive bud, and he sucks on it gently. You moan when he positions your legs on his shoulders. “Keep making those noises, baby.”

You eagerly oblige, whining as he slips his middle finger into your pussy, tongue remaining trained on your clit. The overstimulation has you grinding against his face, desperate to get some relief.

He wraps his free hand around your thigh and squeezes it, bringing himself even closer into you. Muffled, barely audible fucks and tastes goods escape his lips, driving you even wilder.

“E-Eddie, I’m gonna cum!” you mewl, fingers digging into the bed sheets. He continues lapping at your cunt until you’re screaming his name.

Eddie pulls back, face shiny with your slick. “Need you,” he growls, and his painfully hard cock bobs in agreement.

He crawls up your body, pressing kisses to your soft flesh as he makes his way towards your neck. Teeth gently graze the side of your throat, and it sends a shiver down your spine.

Taking advantage of your legs spread openly before him, Eddie settles himself between them and lines his cock up with your soaking entrance. It feels like it takes an eternity until he finally bottoms out, making you feel so full and revel in that exquisite stretch.

Sweat breaks out along your hairline and it melds with Eddie’s as he rests his forehead against yours. The bed beneath you shakes as your body rocks with your boyfriend’s. A slight tilt of his hips has your hands scrambling against the lilac sheet below you, desperate to hold on to something—anything. Eddie wants you to hold on to him, though. His pale toned arms seek out your own until he slips his hands into yours and threads your fingers together. Never breaking eye contact even for a second, Eddie holds your hands up above your head, staring down at you with a blissful expression on his face. He’s not smiling, but there’s a light in his eyes and the way his lips part just slightly only adds to your enjoyment.

“I love you, sweet girl,” Eddie says, voice low and husky in the small space you’re both occupying. “Don’t ever forget that.”

“L-Love you, too, Eds.”

“You’re so beautiful,” he says as his hips roll up against yours. “You have the cutest nose. I hope any kids we have inherit that from you.”

With every thrust of Eddie’s hips, he lists another thing he loves about you.

“Your lips are so soft. Sometimes I get torn between kissing them or staring at them. And your laugh? God, you have no idea what that does to me. It’s so infectious and bubbly and completely genuine. One of the best sounds in the world.”

There’s nothing else in the world right now other than Eddie’s voice and Eddie’s body. All that exists is the two of you, staring into one another’s eyes as pleasurable groans and whimpers fall from your lips. Sweet sighs and shared breath connect you both, adding to the already dizzying intimacy. You stare up into those large brown eyes and for that moment everything is perfect in the world. The moment belongs to you, and nothing will ever take it from you.

Eddie leans in to press a soft, slow kiss to your lips. He pulls away only far enough for you to fix your gazes on one another’s eyes again. His hip thrusts are becoming increasingly erratic, a sign that he’s nearing his finish.

Curls sway back and forth around his face, like a curtain keeping you two separated from everything else.

More than anything, you know what’s going to have you reaching your high is the locked stares you share. Eddie looks so intently into your eyes, as if he’ll find answers to all of his problems in them. It’s sexier than any words either of you could possibly vocalize. The look says so much more than your voices ever could.

“I’m close,” you tell him in a rough whisper. Your fingers tighten on his and Eddie’s hips rock slightly harder into yours.

“Me too, baby.”

The urge to close your eyes floats over you as your impending orgasm gets closer by the second, but you refuse. Even blinking is too long to look away from the eyes of the man you love. Eddie agrees, never taking those brown beauties off of you as he feels his release closing in.

“Eddie,” you whimper, more just needing to say his name than anything else. “Oh, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.”

“I know, my love.”

“Gonna cum, Eds,” you slur.

“With me, yeah baby?”

“Yeah,” you breathe out more than speak.

All it takes is two more thrusts before Eddie’s spilling into you. Him coating your walls with his release is enough to have you falling headfirst into your euphoria as well.

Both of you ride it out together, trying to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of it that you could from one another. By the lazy smiles you give one another as you try and catch your breaths, you’d say that you both enjoyed it very much.

Eddie leans down and presses a sweet but sensuous kiss to your lips before begrudgingly pulling out of you. Neither of you like it, so you’re quick to cuddle up to one another, desperate to have your arms wrapped around the warm skin of his middle.

“That was…wow,” you say after a few minutes of companionable silence.

“Very wow,” Eddie agrees, rubbing his hand up and down your arm. “Y’know, there’s something else I’d like to add to that list, now that I have blood flowing to my brain.”

“Yeah?”

“Your heart,” he says, kissing your forehead. “Just when I think it can’t get any bigger or warmer, you prove me wrong time and time again. The kindness and generosity that you have is something I’ve never seen in another person. You’re so amazingly you and I’ve been enchanted by it since the day I met you. Sometimes I feel like this is all a fairytale except the prince is the one constantly swept off his feet.”

“The princess is too,” you assure him through increasingly labored breath. “Very, very swept.”

Letting your suddenly heavy eyes slip closed, you tuck your head beneath Eddie’s chin and revel in his touch. A nap with you in his arms sounds like heaven right now, but Eddie knows there’s something he has to say before he forgets.

“Baby?”

“Yeah?” Your sleepy voice brings a smile to his face.

“Luke asked me to bring over McDonalds.”

“C’mon, let’s go hit the drive-thru.”

You move to get up, but Eddie keeps you right where you are.

“Not yet. Naps first. Food for gremlins later.”

You chuckle and press a kiss to his bare chest.

“Naps first,” you agree.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #older!eddie #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson imagine #dad!eddie #AYW #AYWS

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callsign-dexter · 8 months

Text

Maverick's Little Co-Pilot

Request: hi

I was wondering if you could write a mav x daughter where he took her to work with him (maybe the second movie but it is up to you) and she falls asleep in the control tower and bradley finds her and brings her to mav. maybe she didn't sleep that good the night before so mav doesn't want to wake her up so he just holds her and carrys on with his day but with a sleeping child. everyone on base thinks it is hilarious so no one takes him seriously lol. also maybe she wakes up at one point but he is able to help her back to sleep very quickly and the admirals think that it is funny how such a reckless pilot can be such a good dad.

100% your choice thank you for your time

Pairings: Maverick x Daughter!Reader

First Installment: Maverick's Little Co-Pilot

Second Installment: A Father's Fury

Warnings: Fluff

Masterlist

Maverick loved his little spitfire of a daughter. His little girl was the spitting image of him right down to her attitude. Once she set her mind to something forget about trying to change her mind. Her eyes were the same color as his, whatever color they may be.

In all honesty, if it were up to Maverick he would bring his little girl to work with him every day. Everyone loved his 3-year-old little girl. She was in preschool, the one on base, and it only went half a day so she was preoccupied during the morning and she usually went to Penny and Amelia during the afternoon. But the preschool called early Friday morning saying that they were closed due to a bug going around the school. It was too late for him to try and get a babysitter and Penny was gone with Amelia on a sailing trip. So when he got ready to go to work he got her ready to go with him but it was nowhere a peaceful night for either of them.

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It was a Thursday and Maverick had just picked his daughter up for school. As he went in to get her, her teacher stopped him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Mitchell. I wanted to raise some concerns with you about your daughter." Ms. Lake said to him and that surprised him, she had never given him any problem before.

"Oh?" Maverick questioned.

"She has been very irritable and had been refusing to do anything we asked. Is there anything that could cause her to be like this?" Mrs. Lake asked and Maverick stood there to think.

"None that I know of. She was fine when I got her ready and dropped her off this morning." Maverick told the teacher and the teacher nodded.

"If there is anything that I can do, please don't hesitate to call." She said and Maverick nodded. She left him to go and greet some other parents, Maverick stood there watching his daughter and after a few minutes walked over to her. He bent down to her level.

"Hey, Sweetheart." He said to her and she instantly perked up.

"Daddy!" She practically yelled out to him and launched herself into his arms and thanks to his quick reflexes caught her. "Miss you." She said and Maverick smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He needed to get to the bottom of her attitude.

"You ready to go?" He asked her and she nodded frantically. As they were walking Mrs. Lake looked at them and shrugged her shoulders and Maverick did the same back to her, this was a complete 180 from the girl just a few hours ago. He felt her nod her head and buried her face into his neck. He grabbed her backpack off of the hook and slung it over the shoulder that she wasn't occupying.

Maverick walked out of the building and to his blacked-out Chevrolet Silverado. He unlocked it and opened the back door to where her car seat sat. He still had his motorcycle but now that he had her it got used less and less. He still had his hanger but also had an actual house close to the base. When she came into his life his living situation and car situation changed... dramatically. He buckled her into the car seat and put her backpack beside her and got into the driverside, he buckled in and started the engine, and started his 40-minute drive home, more if there is traffic. "How was your day, Sweetheart?" Maverick asked her and she was quiet for a minute and he looked in the review mirror.

"It ok." She said in a quiet voice not looking at him and fidgeting with some of her hair. This worried her father. She was never like this. She was normally outgoing and for her to shut down and lash out was not right.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked her. He was stopped at a stoplight so he could look at her longer and she shook her.

"No, Daddy." She said after a minute she added "Nothing wrong." She said and finally looked up at him. He nodded and then the light turned green and he paid attention to the road, something he started doing since he was driving with precious cargo.

Finally, they arrived home. Normally he would take her to Penny and go back to work but since it was actually raining for once in California they grounded all jets until the storm let up. He pulled into the driveway opened the garage and pulled in and killed the engine. He shut the garage as he was getting out and shut his door and then opened the driverside back door and unbuckled his daughter and they carried on into the house and grabbed her backpack. "Ok, Sweetheart. What do you want to eat?" He asked her as he put her down on the ground along with her backpack and toed off his shoes and helped her take hers off.

"Mac n' cheese." She said in a quiet voice this was not his energetic little girl he dropped off this morning.

"Ok. Do you want to help me make it?" He asked her and she shrugged her shoulders. "Do you want to go and watch some cartoons while it's being made?" He asked her and she nodded her head. "Ok, Sweetheart go ahead and sit on the couch I'll bring it to you when it's done." He said and she nodded and hurried off to the living room. She was fine leaving him since she knew he was just a short amount of feet away.

Once the food was done, he grabbed two bowls and filled them, and brought them to the living room. Y/N was lying down when she heard her dad come into the living room she sat up and he handed her a bowl, and sat down next to her. They were silent as they ate while watching reruns of Tom and Jerry. He needed to get to the bottom of this. "Sweetheart, your teacher said you were acting out. Why is that?" He asked her, noticing she was done eating, and so was he. He took the bowls and sat them on the coffee table.

"You in accident. You leave me." She said and the realization hit him hard.

"Sweetheart, where did you hear that?" Maverick asked her.

"Roo and Jakey." She said not looking at him with tears in her eyes. His heart melted. He was also going to have a talking to those two men.

"It's ok. I'm not going anywhere." He said and opened his arms and she crawled into them and snuggled into him. But he knew she wasn't listening and it was going to be a long night.

Throughout the rest of the day, they hung together and did some inside activities due to the rain. Each time he left the room she would panic and call out for Maverick. It was supper time and they were having her favorite, chicken strips and fries.

They had sat down at the dinner table and she was quiet. This really wasn't like his energetic 3-year-old. "Sweetheart you hungry?" He asked her and she shook her head no. "Can you at least eat something?" He asked almost pleading. She nodded and slowly ate her dinner once she had her fill she pushed her plate away. Maverick had long finished eating. "You done?" He asked her and she nodded her head. "Ok. Ready for a bath and bed?" He asked her she stayed quiet.

"No bath." She said and shook her head as Maverick got her from her seat and headed towards the bathroom. She started to squirm. "No bath, Daddy." She said and Maverick sighed.

"Please for me." He said and she looked into his eyes.

"Otay." She said with an eye roll. He reached the bathroom and sat her down while kneeling in front of her. He started to run the bath and found the right temperature and plugged the tub. Maverick watched it fill up while undressing her with little help from her. Once it was the right amount he stopped the water and sat her down in the tub. She didn't play much which made it easy for Maverick but also worried him. He washed her hair and gently cleaned her.

"Ok. Bedtime." He said and started to get her towel he unplugged the tub and let the water drain "Stand up." He said gently and she did. He stood up and wrapped the towel around her he dried her off some and picked her up and attacked her neck with kisses and she giggled. Once she was somewhat dry he carried her to her room and started to get her dressed. He sat on the bed and had her stand while he brushed out her hair.

Maverick got off the bed and pulled the covers back and picked up his daughter. He laid her in her bed and tucked her I'm. He grabbed a book and sat down leaning against the headboard and started to read to her until he was finished. He started to leave "Ok, Sweetheart. Have a goodnight and sweet dreams." He said and kissed her forehead but her brow furrowed.

"Daddy no leave." She said and started to cry. He stopped in his tracks.

"Sweetheart, you have to go to sleep." He said and she shook her head.

"No." She said and be sighed.

"I'll stay just until you fall asleep." True to his word he did just that. He got into the same position as he did when he read her a bedtime story. She snuggled into him and 20 minutes later she was out like a light... for now.

Once her breathing evened out he carefully got up. He quietly crept to the door and opened it, walked out, and cracked it. It was only 9:20 PM so he decided to do something work around the house until 10 PM.

9:30 PM rolled around and he heard little patters of feet coming out of his daughter's room. Maverick sighed. Y/N appeared in the living room where he was folding clothes. "Sweetheart. What are you doing up?" He asked and she looked at him and rubbed her eyes.

"Me no sleep without you." She said and he walked over to her and picked her up.

"At least try for me." Maverick asked and she shook her head.

"No." She said and pouted.

"Please?" He asked her.

"Na-uh." She said. He was getting frustrated but took some breaths and calmed down.

"You're going back to bed." He said sternly and walked to her bedroom with her in his arms. When he got there he gently laid her down and tucked her in, again, and walked out of the room. She stayed there for 10 minutes just enough time for him to put away some clothing of his. Then he heard little patters of feet, again. He turned to find her at the entrance of his bedroom. "Y/N." He warned and she gave him a look like 'What are you gonna do about it?' He picked her up and walked to her bedroom again and laid her down and wordlessly walked out of her room.

Maverick went back to his room to finish up and when 9:50 PM rolled around here came his daughter. He turned to greet her "Y/N Carole Mitchell. Bed now." He said sternly not raising his voice and picked her up and walked her back to her room once again.

10 PM rolled around he didn't hear anything so he got ready for bed and laid down. He was just about to go to sleep when he heard his name being called in almost a panic.

"DADDY!" Y/N yelled out and that had him shooting out of his bed and into her room. He flipped on the light and saw his daughter with tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked.

"You gone." She said and Maverick sighed.

"Oh, Sweetheart." He said and walked over to her and hugged her. "Do you want to go sleep in Daddy’s bed?" He asked and she nodded. He picked her up and walked to his room. When he got there he tucked her in and cuddled her. He fell asleep when he felt her breath even out.

They might've slept for an hour before she was tossing and turning and calling out to Maverick. He would wake up startled and then wake her up.

This kept happening each hour on the dot. Let's just say neither of them got any sleep. 7:30 AM rolled but both of them were already awake. They were in the kitchen, Maverick was nursing a coffee leaning back on the counter watching his daughter eat breakfast. They both had a tired look on their face and bags under their eyes.

Maverick zoned out and when his phone rang it started him. He picked it up and before he could say hello the automated voice of his daughter’s preschool came through. "This is Miramar Navy Preschool. Due to the flu going around the school will be closed for the day. We'll let you know when classes resume. Thank you and have a good day." Well, it looks like Y/N would be coming to work with him. "Sweetheart, it looks like you're coming to work with me today." Maverick said and she looked at him and smiled. He grabbed her backpack and started filling it with things he needed.

"Me like going to work with you." She said and that caused him to smile. After he had his coffee and she had her breakfast. Maverick got them both ready to go to work and headed that way.

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When he got to work he pulled into his parking spot labeled Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, parked, killed the engine, and got out. He then got Y/N out and carried her along with her backpack filled with food, books, and toys to work with him. He walked into the building and into his office and closed the door. "Ok," he said and got down on her level after setting her down "If you can't be with me then you go to Rooster or Hondo. Understand?" He asked her and she nodded her head.

"Yes, Daddy." She replied as she looked into his same-colored eyes. He nodded and started to set her up next to him. He sat her on the chair and he got to work. The door was shut so anyone that needed to come had to knock. There wasn't much going on that morning until he needed to be up in his jet at noon.

Noon rolled around quicker than anticipated. He called Hondo in and a few minutes later he was strolling in. "What can I do for you Mav?" He asked then he saw Y/N.

"I was wondering if you could take her while I'm up in the air. Rooster is going to be up there with me along with most of Daggers. Also, new students are coming in." Maverick said while being preoccupied but aware of the conversation. He looked up when he was done talking.

"Of course Mav. Anywhere you want me to take her?" He asked and Maverick shook his head.

"Just keep her entertained." Mav said.

"What about the control tower?" Hondo asked Maverick.

"That's fine." He said and then turned to his daughter, who in turn looked at her father. "You stay with Hondo and if he leaves you in the control tower you stay there. Understood?" He asked her and she nodded her head.

"Yes, Daddy." She said and Maverick nodded and then stood up and picked her up. He brought her over to Hondo and handed her off. Once he started to leave she started throwing a fit and Maverick stopped.

"Sweetheart, I'll be back in a little bit. You'll get to see me up in the air in the control tower. I promise." Maverick said and she seemed to think it over and then rubbed her eyes, a sign of her being tired, she nodded her head. They went off their separate ways.

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As Hondo was walking he got stares but nobody asked. Once he arrived at the control tower he walked inside and sat her down. "Remember what your dad said right?" He asked her when he bent down to her height and she nodded her head.

"Uh-huh." She said and he nodded.

"Good. Do you want to go and sit up front?" He asked and she nodded enthusiastically and he smiled so was so a Mini Maverick. He took her up there and sat her down next to the person in control and boy did she ask a lot of questions.

She got really excited when the jets began taking off, of course in Maverick fashion he buzzed the tower and she squealed excitedly. "Daddy!" She yelled out and looked out into the air with big round doe eyes.

After a few more rounds of questions, and the person in control answered patiently, the lack of sleep was getting to her. In no less than 20 minutes she was out like a light snoring softly.

Hondo walked up to them and saw her asleep. He didn't want to wake her so he quietly told the person next to her that he got called away and that she needed to stay here. Really what happened was that the young hotshot students made a bet just like the Daggers did and now had to do 200 pushups.

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After everyone landed Maverick and the others did a post-flight check. Maverick walked to Hondo. "Where's Y/N?" He asked him.

"She fell asleep in the control tower." He said

"She should be good up there while I go and lecture these students. But I don't want her to overstay her welcome." He said sounding conflicted then Bradley walked over having heard the conversation.

"It's alright Mav. I'll go and get her. I'm done with everything. " He told him and he nodded.

"Jut don't wake her up. She didn't have a very good night last night." Maverick said and Bradley nodded.

"You got it Mav." Bradley said and headed towards the control tower. Once he got there he took the stairs two at a time. He opened the door and stood there for a minute and spotted her. He walked over to her and she was sound asleep.

"She wasn't too much trouble was she?" He asked the person in charge and they shook their head.

"Not at all." They said and Bradley smiled and nodded. He carefully picked her up without waking her and got her situated. She wiggled a little bit but stayed asleep snuggling into Bradley's neck. He began to move and tightened his hold as he began to descend the steps when he took the first step she woke up for just a moment.

"Roo?" She asked as she sleepily looked up at him.

"Yes, MJ?" He asked, he was the first to give her the nickname Maverick Jr. which than got shortened to MJ.

"Where we go?" She asked already leaning her head back onto her shoulders and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"We're going to your dad." He said and she hmmed and went back to sleep. He chuckled and started to descend the stairs once again. Bradley was the older brother she always wanted. He walked to Maverick's office but he wasn't there. Bradley continued to walk around the building with a sleeping 3-year-old until he found him in a classroom having just finished teaching. He walked in and Maverick lit up with a smile.

"Did she wake up?" He asked Bradley.

"Once but went right back to sleep afterwards." He told him and Maverick nodded. Maverick carefully unwrapped her arms from Bradley's neck and then transitioned her over to him and she clung to him like a koala. They both started to walk out of the room to Maverick's office when they got stopped by Cyclone, Warlock, and another visting Admiral.

"Captain Mitchell and Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw." Admiral West started "Maverick I must say it's interesting to see such a reckless pilot being a dad." He said in a teasing manner but they didn't take it like that. When the Daggers had successfully completed the mission they were prompted.

"As reckless as Maverick is in the skies. He's an even better dad. He's taken care of Y/N ever since she was a newborn." Warlock said taking up for Maverick. Admiral West scoffed.

"It is very true that he is a very good father. I respect him for that. I know it's not easy to balance a 3-year-old and a demanding job." Cyclone said as if Maverick and Bradley weren't there. Warlock turned to Maverick.

"How was training?" He asked him.

"It was good. If you want we can go to the conference room and discuss the training." Maverick suggested and they did just that. Bradley offered to take Y/N but Maverick didn't want to move her again since she was sleeping, and sleeping well.

The debriefing on the class and training was going well but Maverick and Bradley could tell that Admiral West was not taking him seriously. "Sorry to interrupt but is something wrong?" Maverick asked directing his attention to the visiting Admiral.

"How can I take you seriously with a child in your arms?" Admiral West asked and Bradley just about had enough and he didn't care if he got in trouble.

"You should take him seriously anytime no matter if he has his daughter in his arms or not. He's a great pilot and a great father." Bradley said and the Admiral looked at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"Excuse me Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw that is no way to treat your higher up." Admiral West said and before he could anybody else speak.

"I think it's time for you to leave, Admiral West. If you're not going to respect a Captain who successfully returned all aviators and WSOs home, then you need leave. Now." Cyclone said, and Admiral West scoffed and got up and left the room. Maverick was shocked that Cyclone would stand up for him.

Cyclone turned to Maverick and nodded. "You are dismissed. You can go back to your office and let that little girl sleep. We'll let you know when you're needed." Cyclone said.

"What about the other classes?" Maverick asked still shocked.

"Rooster will be taking care of those along with the other Daggers." Warlock said and Maverick nodded and both Cyclone and Warlock got up and left. Maverick looked at Bradley.

"That was brave of you." Maverick said

"Well, he had no right to speak about you like that." Bradley said.

"Thank you." He told Bradley

"Anytime, Mav." Bradley said to him. They got up and started in their own direction. Maverick arrived at his office where he sat down with his little girl in his arms, who hadn't moved even with all the talking.

Every now and then she would move in her sleep but wouldn't wake up. She would just snuggle into him deeper and that brought a smile onto his face. Maverick was just glad to have her in his life. Nothing could take her away from him, not now and not ever, she is his everything. Y/N was his mini co-pilot. He started on his plans for his next class that was going to be taught by Bradley and the others. It was just him holding his little girl in silence with the sounds of the occasional jet flying by. That was his paradise.

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wishfulwithwine · 2 years

Text

Do You Love Me - Hangman

Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Female Civilian Wife Reader

WARNING: Mostly fluff. Some sexual references

SONG: “Do You Love Me” by The Contours

Photo from Pinterest

After everyone had finally gotten on ground from the mission, went back to their respective homes and cleaned off, Maverick invited everyone to a backyard BBQ to relax before the later night celebrations at Hard Deck. He sent out a group text to the team if they were bringing anyone, but making it known that this was a small affair. His backyard wasn’t huge.

Some people replied they weren’t bringing anyone, but Maverick estimated that if he bought 25 total burgers and buns, they would not go to waste. The aviators he knew would go through at least 2 per person. He didn’t have much time to get side dishes, and he figured if people did bring food, he’d be happy to not cook for a few days.

“Maverick! Where do you want these?” Rooster asked, carrying two cases of beer as he made his way to the backyard. Maverick smiled, gesturing over with his hand to the cooler with ice that was off to the side. Rooster nodded, setting them down, but taking two and opening them for him and Maverick.

It was like Rooster broke the dam of people arriving, because it wasn’t a half an hour past that almost everyone had arrived. Penny and Amelia had arrived afterwards, followed by Coyote and Fanboy. Then Phoenix and Bob arrived.

“Is he trying to make a grand entrance or something?” Phoenix asked, sarcastically, as they noticed that Hangman was the only one missing from the party. Everyone was sitting or standing close to the grille where Maverick was cooking. Rooster rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t be surprised” Bob said, as everyone just chuckled.

Suddenly, they heard his voice, as well as someone else’s.

“Wait, did Hangman actually bring someone?” Rooster asked, looking over to Maverick who simply shrugged.

“Your savior is here!” Hangman shouted, when he entered the backyard. The group looked over to him, shocked as they saw holding a baby in a wrap on his front, with a cakecontainer in his arms. Then you stepped out next to him, looking a few months pregnant, holding the hands of two young twin boys. You shook your head at Jake’s expression.

“I’m so sorry we’re late. The twins didn’t want to cooperate” You said, before looking around at the people. “Where should we put the cake?”

Everyone still was shocked, jaws dropped and not moving, just staring at the couple.

“Mommy” one of the boys whined, twisting and squirming on your arm, wanting to run around the backyard. You looked down and shot him a glare.

“Stop that now or else I’ll take you home right now and leave you with a babysitter. You won’t be having any of that cake we made and you won’t be spending time with your dad and his friends” You said, in a light threatening tone, which instantly caused him to stop.

“Sorry, I’ll take the cake into the kitchen so it can be cool until we’re ready. Rooster, man the grille” Maverick said, the first to snap out of the surprise, handing the metal tongs to Rooster, before leading you into the house. You smiled, Jake following him into the kitchen as you took the boys over to the huddled group.

“Hi! I’m so sorry if we’re so surprised, but Jake never mentioned you…I’m Natasha, or Phoenix” Phoenix said, not in a jealous way but more curious. Chuckling, you nodded.

“Yes, don’t ask me why but he likes to keep his thoughts separate or something like that. I’m Y/N. Boys do you want to introduce yourself?” You said, knowing if they didn’t meet them now, the twins wouldn’t have any more patience. You looked at the boys awaiting.

“Hi I’m Tyler Seresin and I’m 4” Tyler said.

“Hi I’m Tommy Seresin and I’m 4” Tommy said. The group just looked at the boys with smiles.

“Alright, thank you boys. Now you can go play. Just stay in the backyard, don’t hurt yourself or someone else, and be polite” You said, as you let go of their hands and they all but took off running, chasing each other. You sighed, watching them for a second, before turning to the group with a smile.

“I’d give you a beer since it looks like you need it, but I’ll give you a chair instead. I’m Javy, or Coyote” Javy said, pulling over a lawn chair for you.

“Thank you. Those two are usually good, but when Jake’s around, there’s no controlling their energy” You said, sitting down.

“Oh god, mini Hangmen’s? I’m Bradley, or Rooster. ” Rooster said, as the group, including you, laughed. The rest of the team took this opportunity to introduce themselves quickly, shaking your hand.

“I’m so glad this next one is a girl, finally. Jake’s got Danny on him” You said, rubbing your belly, thinking about your baby growing inside.

“I mean, you on your way to getting a whole dagger team” Bob said.

“That’s the plan” Jake interrupted before you could say anything. You raised an eyebrow at him, but he kissed your lips softly, easing your anger.

“You plan on carrying some of these babies?” You replied when you broke your kiss. Jake, as well as the rest of the group laughed.

“Hi, I’m Pete Mitchell, but call me Maverick” Maverick said, introducing himself to you before he went back behind the grill.

“Thank you for inviting us, and I apologize for the delay. As I told the others, the twins are menaces when his dad’s around” You said.

“Just like his dad” Rooster joked, as everyone laughed except Jake, who just rolled his eyes with a smile.

“So, how long have you two been married?” Phoenix asked.

“The twins are 4, so 5 years? I got pregnant with them right after our honeymoon” You said.

“Right after Academy graduation. I’ve known and loved her my whole life” Jake said, with an adoring smile. You smiled back at him, watching him as he carried Danny and drank a beer.

“So, how did you manage to stay with Hangman? I mean, no offense” Natasha asked and you chuckled, thinking back on the memory.

“Oh it’s a funny story really” You said, giggling as you watched Jake’s face turn a bit red in embarassment.

“Is Hangman actually blushing?” Bob asked.

“Oh I really want to hear this” Rooster said, leaning forward in interest.

“I’ve known Jake my whole life. Our parents were close friends, and I could say he was my best friend. I didn’t like him like that though until my debutante ball” You said, as Jake rolled his eyes.

“I need another beer for this story” He said, reaching over to crack open another one.

“I love this story. You were such a romantic” You said, with a teasing smile.

“Were a romantic? Too bad you can’t get more pregnant” Jake replied with a smirk. You shook your head.

“Hangman a romantic?” Coyote asked, pushing for you to finish your story.

“Yes, he really wanted to be my date to the debutante ball, but Jake was a terrible dancer. So I said no” You said, shrugging your shoulders. “I wasn’t going to get my foot stepped on all night for so many hours, to be with Jake who was just my best friend. But Jake wouldn’t take no for an answer so he learned how to dance, made a huge scene in school, and then I said yes”

“What did he do?” Bob asked.

“Why are all the tables pushed to the side?” You asked, looking at the cafeteria with your friends, as you all entered for lunch. Everyone was looking at the same area, confused as you were. Then, out of the crowds, you saw Jake walking towards the middle with one of his friends off to the side of the empty circle, with a CD player. You looked surprised, wondering what was going on, as Jake was scanning the room, looking for someone before he locked eyes on you and smiled widely.

“Y/N Y/L/N, will you take me as your date, now that I can dance?” He said, before motioning to his friend to hit play and reaching his arm to you, as he walked over, pulling you into the middle of the empty cafeteria.

”Wow Hangman, I’m impressed” Maverick admitted, as the rest of the team nodded.

“I wasn’t letting anyone else be her date. She’s the love of my life. Absolutely perfect and I’d be an idiot to not do everything I could for her” Jake admitted, making your cheeks flush a bit. He shot you a wink, knowing later on what that comment would get him - albeit it was the truth and he would do anything to make you happy.

“That’s so romantic” Natasha all but cooed.

“I want to see this! Come on Hangman, show her you still got it” Fanboy said, and soon the whole group was encouraging him. Jake looked at you, visually asking if you would want to.

You gave a sigh, getting out of your chair as the group cheered.

“Penny can you hold Danny?” Jake asked, thinking she’d be the safest bet as she had a kid of herself.

“You don’t trust the rest of us, Hangman?” Rooster teased.

“Nope. Can you play Do You Love Me?” Jake asked, before taking your hand and guiding you a few steps away from the group so you two could dance.

He took you into his arms, gently holding you tightly, looking down into your eyes. You could always get lost staring into those eyes of his.

You broke my heart

‘Cause I couldn’t dance

You didn’t even want me around

And now I’m back

To let you know

I can really shake ‘em down

Do you love me?

I can really move

Do you love me?

I’m in the groove

Now do you love me?

Do you love me

Now that I can dance

It didn’t take long before the twins noticed your dancing, and cut in, distracting the two of you.

“Wow Hangman, you got moves!” Coyote cheered, as you two made your way back to the group. Jake kissed you, sitting in your chair, before bringing you to sit on his lap.

“I’m impressed” Rooster admitted, looking at the couple.

#hangman x y/n #hangman fanfiction #jake seresin #jake seresin x y/n #jake seresin x you #jake seresin x reader #hangman fluff #hangman top gun #top gun fanfiction #top gun #top gun maverick #one shot #one shot series

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gennyanydots · 1 year

Text

Oh how the turntables

Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd x f!reader

masterlist

Part of the “Spitfire Universe”. Can be read alone but makes most sense if you’ve at least read “Forced to go to the strip club”

Summary: Bob’s bachelor party had to be shut down by your best friend last night. Since your best friend is with you there’s nobody to shut your bachelorette party down so you guys can be as crazy as you want, right?

Bob laughed seeing the “SOS” text in the group chat on his phone. They planned for this. After last night they realized they needed a plan for the bachelorette party. Granted, all the guys knew it wouldn’t be as wild as theirs (well they hoped but who knows with Hangman’s wife), but they wanted a plan in place for when the night got too crazy or when the night needed to end. Can’t party forever.

Since his cousin, Jackson, sucked so badly the night before, he was sent with the girls to be less of a babysitter this time and more of a lookout. Any sign of trouble Jackson was to let the guys know and they would handle it since he clearly wasn’t capable.

Hangman’s wife was the typical “admiral” of the group, always making everyone fall into line, but she’s the one getting drunk and partying tonight so they had to come up with a plan.

Unlike Hangman’s wife the night before, Bob had Hangman take up Mav’s offer to watch Eli, he even took their dog, Radar, to make it easier on Jake. Penny was out with the girls but Maverick was always itching to have Grandpa Mavvie time with Eli. Penny’s daughter, Amelia, was also home for the night so Eli and Radar were all handled for the evening. Two less things for the group to worry about.

The guys had decided on a divide and conquer sort of plan. There were more of them than women they have to wrangle up so it seemed like the best plan. Plus, Bob is positive the only person who would be able to handle Hangman’s wife drunk is Hangman, he’s had years of experience. In a pinch Bob feels like he might be able to do it but why make things hard if he doesn’t have to?

They planned to spend the evening and night together so they wouldn’t have to wait around for the other guys to get there if they needed to intervene. A sort of guys night in like the girls had the night previous. Video games, pizza, and naps at Hangman’s house.

Bob texted his cousin back, “Which SOS?”

They’d planned for a few different scenarios:

- If one of the girls started throwing up

- If one of the girls started throwing hands

- If one of the girls tried to leave the group

- If one of the girls started dancing on the tables

- If someone approached the girls and they were unwanted

- If it was time to go and the girls didn’t want to go

The last one was kind of an inevitable one. They were being collected by their assigned Dagger whether they wanted to be or not. Bob, Hangman, and Rooster had come up with the assigned list earlier.

Bob and (soon to be) Mrs. Floyd

Hangman and his wife

Rooster and Halo

Coyote and Pheonix

Payback and Fanboy were both on Penny duty (not that only one of them couldn’t handle it, Bob just thought it would be more respectful of them to not to be alone with one of them, plus one can keep the other in line… hopefully)

Yale and Bob’s future sister in law

The other guys were all on stand by in case backup was needed.

“It’s gotten a little wild and they just took a lot of shots and one is dancing on the bar” Jackson texted back.

Well. Fuck.

“Guys! We gotta go!” Bob yells as he jumps up.

“Oh for fucks sake!” Bob hears Hangman yell from somewhere in the house before seeing the man pulling a shirt on and storming through the kitchen. Must have been napping.

“You say that because it’s probably your girl doing it?” Rooster asked while laughing as he slipped his shoes on.

Hangman glared at him because truth was if anyone was going to be dancing on the bar it was going to be Hangman’s wife.

Bob snickered to himself as he grabs a ball cap and placed it on his head. This was going to be fun. He hopes his girl is on the bar too. She deserves to be having as much fun as possible. Bob tried to send Hangman’s wife with his credit card but she just laughed and handed it back to him before pulling out Hangman’s from her back pocket and blowing Bob a kiss then skipping away to the Uber.

Speaking of cards however he quickly sends a text to his cousin telling him to close out their cards for the night and that the guys would be there soon.

Bob ended up with Hangman in the ‘mom mobile’, Hangman’s wife’s three row SUV along with Fanboy and Payback. Rooster and Yale were in the Bronco. Finally, Coyote was in Hangman’s truck with Fritz as backup. They left Harvard and Omaha back at the house in case they were needed. None of them really trusted Jackson to be able to help any. For good reason apparently.

Maybe twenty minutes later they were pulling up to the bar Jackson said they ended up at.

Bob grinned as he got out.

“Do you know what we’re walking in to?” Rooster asked as he and Yale came over to Bob.

Bob shook his head, “Nope, but should be exciting.”

Bob laughed when he heard Hangman sigh from beside him.

“Is this the first time you’re trying to get your wife down off a bar?” Bob asks Hangman.

Everyone laughed as Hangman grumbled, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Bob had wondered for a while just where Hangman’s limit was with his wife. He knows Hangman loves his wife more than anything but Bob’s always wondered just where the line was of how far she could push him. Apparently it’s been found. At least for tonight. Poor guy has been hungover all day.

Bob put a hand on Hangman’s shoulder, “It’ll all be over soon. Get in, get the girls, and get out.”

You were having the time of your life. Never in a million years did you think you’d be dancing on a bar but here you were with your best friend doing exactly that. The bartender was very supportive of it which probably would have surprised you if you weren’t really drunk.

Your sister, Penny, Natasha, and Callie all thought this was hilarious. Many pictures were taken. Natasha made sure the jukebox was playing all the best songs so you were having the most fun scream singing to all the words, currently scream singing along to Shania Twain “Man! I feel like a woman!” and Natasha said something about the Backstreet Boys being next.

Shania Twain was fitting due to the shirts you and your friends were all wearing. Yours was white and said “Man, I feel like a bride” while everyone else’s were blue and said “Let’s go girls!”

The door to the bar opened and you squeal excitedly when you see who walked in. Bobby! Your Bobby! You missed him! It’s been so long since you’ve seen him! And he brought his friends! Yes! Now, it’s one big party! This is so much fun!

“Bobby!” You yell and wave your hand in the air to get his attention because obviously he would have never seen you what with you standing on the bar and all.

“Dammit!” Your best friend says from beside you, immediately crossing her arms over her chest with a pout. You wonder what her problem is, you’re excited to see Bobby, shouldn’t she be excited to see Jake?

“You’re grounded!” You hear Jake say sternly while pointing at his wife as he and Bobby along with the rest of the guys come over to where you all are. Yeah, you can see how your best friend would have a problem with that.

“You can’t ground me! I’m an adult! I’m your wife!” Your best friend says stomping her foot.

You watch as Jake walks straight towards his wife and moves the bar stool out of his way to wrap his arms around her legs and lift her up. He then slides her down until he can get her comfortably over his shoulder and practically marches his way back out of the bar, the whole time his wife is yelling, “No! Stop! This isn’t fair! Help! No! Jacob! Stop! I hate you! Ow! Jacob! What the fuck?! This isn’t funny! You’re getting me chicken nuggets! And fries!” (The “I hate you” was met with a swift swat to her butt)

You giggle as you watch the two of them, then grin when you look down and see Bob standing in front of you, seeing he moved a bar stool out of the way to get to you too.

“Hi baby,” Bob says sweetly, as he looks up at you.

You feel your cheeks heat up, “Hi Bobby.”

He holds his arms out to you, “Can I help you down? I sure don’t want to wrestle you off there like them.”

“Okay,” you say and he wraps his arms around you and takes a step away from the bar then slides your body down along his until your feet are safely back down on the ground.

“Hi,” Bob says with a smile then kisses your nose sweetly which makes you giggle and reach up to rub your nose and purse your lips instead which Bob quickly kisses as well.

“Hi,” you say back happily. “I missed you so much!”

Bob hugs you close and kisses the side of your head, “I missed you too, baby. Did you have fun?”

You pull back a little to be able to look at him, “I had so much fun! What are we doing now?”

Bob looks towards the door, “Apparently we’re getting chicken nuggets and fries. You ready to go?”

You nod and Bob takes you by the hand leading you to the Seresin’s SUV.

Jake unlocks it when you two get to the door and immediately relocks it once Bob gets the door open, not once taking his eyes off his wife who is sitting in the front seat pouting with her arms crossed over her chest.

You climb in and see Mickey, Reuben, and Penny in the back back seat and you wave at them. Bob gets in after you and closes the door, sitting in the bucket seat next to yours.

“Chicken nuggets now?” Your best friend asks in a quiet voice looking over at her husband, batting her eyelashes at him, knowing he’s a pushover for her.

Jake sighs as he starts the car, “Yeah, chicken nuggets now.”

You laugh as she perks back up and starts to do a happy wiggle in her seat, “With honey! Don’t forget the honey. I’m gonna be so upset if you forget.”

“When have I ever forgotten? You’ve seared it into my brain, darlin. I know you want honey. And fries. And a Sprite. Ain’t my first time appeasing my drunk princess,” Jake said as he drove.

“Aww Hangman you’re so cute with your wife,” Penny says from the back row.

Jake just shakes his head as he drives towards the fast food restaurant.

“Do you want anything, baby?” Bob asks you, reaching over to clasp your hand in his, and brings the back of your hand up to his lips.

You nod, “Ice cream sundae?”

Bob smiles against your hand, “Whatever you want.”

“We want nuggets and fries!” Penny calls to Jake from the back row.

Jake pulls into the drive through and holds his hand out to his wife who smacks it in a high five. He stares at her, “Card please. You stole it.”

She pouts then wiggles a bit to get into a better position then pulls her wallet from her back pocket and gets out the card to hand to Jake, “You gave it to me.”

“I know,” Jake said with a smirk then wraps his hand around his wife’s hand as she went to hand him the card and pulls her forward so he could kiss her. “But teasing you is too much fun.”

You giggle watching her stick her tongue out at Jake who then snaps his teeth at her, pretending to bite at her.

From the backseat Mickey yells, “Down boy! We don’t need to see that. We are delicate babies and should not be subjected to such imagery.”

Bob rolls his eyes and turns towards him, “What you mean is you’re single and jealous.”

“What I mean is you’re mean, Floyd!” Mickey yells back.

You giggle and turn towards the two, “Now children, we don’t fight.”

Bob wrinkles his nose at you and lightly pinched your thigh which makes you scream.

“Hey!” Jake yells. “I am trying to order, you hooligans. Quit it or nobody is getting nuggets!”

“But!” His wife starts but he turned towards her, “Nobody but you, darlin. I would never stand between you and your nuggets.” She smiles and settles back down.

You can hear Mickey grumble in the backseat while Payback laughs at him. Penny has her eyes closed with her head leaned against the headrest.

It didn’t take long to get through the drive through. You passed back the large bag of nuggets and fries along with some sodas. You were happily handed your ice cream. You even shared and let Bob have a bite or two.

On the way back to the Seresin household, Jake dropped Penny off at her house. He told Fanboy and Payback that he had half a mind to leave them there as well but his wife told him no.

When you all got back, pretty much everyone was passed out. Your sister was asleep in Jake’s recliner with a blanket haphazardly thrown on top of her. Bradley was sleeping practically spread eagle in the middle of the living room floor using one arm as a pillow even though a throw pillow was next to his head, a blanket thrown on top of him as well. Natasha, Yale, and Callie each had their own little area on the U-shaped sectional each with a throw blanket that your best friend usually kept in a basket in the living room. Javy was seated at the kitchen table eating some goldfish crackers which explains the blankets thrown on everyone.

You yawn as everyone meets in the kitchen, your best friend trying to decide where to put everyone else.

Bob doesn’t give her a chance to tell him anything as he scoops you into his arms bridal style and heads upstairs while he says loud enough for the group to hear, “Guest room. Dibs. Called it.”

You giggle as you wrap your arms around his neck.

He pushes the door open when he gets to the room and gently sets you on the bed before he jogs back out of the room. Less than a minute later he reappears with two water bottles and sets them on the nightstand then closes the door.

“Do you want me to see if you can borrow some pajamas?” Bob asks you as he pulls his shirt off and throws it on the floor.

You shake your head and pull your jeans off then wrestle yourself out of your bra before slipping under the covers, “I think I’m all good like this.”

He nods and lets his pants fall, then steps out of them. He sets his glasses on the bedside table then turns off the light and climbs in bed beside you, gathering you up in his arms and curling his body around yours. He nuzzles into your shoulder and lightly places a kiss on it, “Next weekend at this time you’ll officially be Mrs. Floyd.”

You smile and wiggle back against him, which earns you a groan, “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Floyd. It’s going to be such a great day.”

You can feel Bob’s smile against your skin, “It could be the worst day in the world and I wouldn’t even care. The only thing that matters is that we’ll be together, married. Then nobody can take you away from me.”

You laugh, “Is there a chance of that now?”

“Well…. No…. But still! Let me be possessive, baby,” he mumbles against you.

“I’m always yours, Robert Floyd, till death do us part,” you quietly say and glance back at him in the dark before yawning.

“I love you,” he whispers. “Go to bed, baby.”

“K. Love you. Night night,” you mumble as your eyes fall shut.

You feel a kiss against your shoulder and hear a soft, “Night.”

#bob floyd x reader #robert ‘bob’ floyd x f!reader #bob x female reader #spitfire universe

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mayhem24-7forever · 2 years

Text

Cowgirl Lessons

Rhett Abbott (Outer Range) x F!Reader Oneshot

Summary: When she decides to spend her spring break from grad school in Wabang Wyoming, Y/N finds herself getting a little extracurricular education from a dashing cowboy named Rhett Abbott... with important courses like two stepping, cowboy hat law, bull riding, and lassoing/rope work.

Author’s Notes: Firstly, I don’t want minors reading any of my fics, even if they are SFW so this one is especially off limits! I deserve a safe place to express myself so please respect my boundaries. this is super long (like over 15k lmao) but it’s my birthday so #treatyoself. this came out of a conversation with @hyperfixatingmenever and @a-reader-and-a-writer on the top gun discord… so this is dedicated to the server. Big thanks to everyone who helped me out with this including @marvelandotherfandomimagines and @topguncortez. fic divider by the lovely @a-reader-and-a-writer 💕

Content Warnings: bull riding (poor bulls tbh at least this is fake), mentions of injuries from bull riding, people referring to rhett as the town slut/manwhore (because he is and I love him for it), reader is referred to as a “city girl” so i’m very sorry to anyone from the country, small children being embarrassing menaces, overprotective brothers, profanity, drunk guy cat-calling once, drinking, dancing (two-stepping), flirting (like SO much flirting), making out, distracted driving (DO NOT FUCK OR FINGER WHILE DRIVING IN REAL LIFE ITS UNSAFE), fingering, teasing, one (1 singular) spank, dry humping/riding, unprotected p in v sex (please wrap it before you tap it in real life guys even if clean/on the pill), rope bondage, consensual somnophilia (waking up to being eaten out after giving permission the previous night), oral sex (female receiving), shower sex, having trouble walking after getting railed

The tiny town of Wabang, Wyoming was not where Y/N had thought she’d ever willingly choose to take a vacation, especially if she had other more exciting options. Nevertheless, it was where she found herself on her spring break from grad school, having decided to accept her brother’s invitation to spend two weeks there. At first, she had been excited, she hadn’t seen her brother much since he got married to a farm girl and moved to Wyoming to start a family, only getting to see him once or twice a year when he came over for the holidays. She was also excited to finally see his ranch, never having been able to visit before. Of course, she was a little disappointed as she got texts and saw social media posts from the rest of her cohort, practically everyone she knew seemed to have escaped to Miami, L.A., Cabo, or somewhere else warm, tropical and gorgeous. It wasn’t that Wyoming wasn’t beautiful–it most certainly was. From the peaks of the picturesque mountains to the wide open plains straight out of a postcard, it was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever been. But for as amazing as Wyoming was, she couldn’t help but think that she may have made a mistake.

At that very moment, her roommates were likely on a beach, surrounded by shirtless ripped frat bros and gorgeous women in skimpy bikinis, pounding back shots of tequila while grinding on some jacked hotties to a Ke$ha song. All while she was sitting in the uncomfortable metal stands of the Amelia County rodeo ring playing babysitter for her brother’s kids as they watched a bunch of grown men in cowboy hats ride large cows and fall on their asses in the dirt a bunch. While her friends were getting drunk, having sex, and partying, she was swatting flies away from her eight year old niece’s corndog and trying to keep her five year old nephew from dripping his ice cream all over himself and everyone else within a ten foot radius.

“Auntie Y/N?” her niece, Sarah, asked and she turned to look at her.

“Yes, lovebug?” she replied.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” Sarah said.

“Okay, lovebug.” she told her before turning to her nephew. “Come on, Jesse.”

She had never herded cattle before, but if she had to guess, it was probably much like trying to keep two small children focused on the simple task of walking to a bathroom. As they walked down the stairs of the stand, Jesse decided he wanted to run to the top so he could ‘see the bulls in the pens from up high’. After getting him down to the bottom, she realized that Sarah was jumping up and down to try and see over the fence, not believing Y/N when she said that the ring was empty because they were between rides and pouting when her aunt pulled her away.

As they made their way through the crowd towards the porta potties, she tried to no avail to get either of them to hold her hand, meaning she was much more focused on keeping her eyes on them than to the crowd around her. The crowd was thinning a little and the kids were still surging ahead without her, although luckily she could see them heading for the porta potty doors.

“Sarah! Jesse! Come back here!” she called out, too busy watching them to watch her step as she smacked right into a broad shouldered frame.

She was falling backwards for a moment before a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and caught her before she hit the dirt. She was pulled up to her feet and steadied by the hands as she looked up at the person who had caught her. He was tall and quite handsome with the most striking blue eyes she had ever seen, his ear-length brown hair pushed back below his cowboy hat.

“Are you alright, Miss?” he asked, his voice low with just the hint of a country accent.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going!” she exclaimed, suddenly realizing how close she was to him with her hands on his chest as he still held her waist and she stepped back, embarrassed. “Thank you for catching me.”

“It’s quite alright, Miss. I hope I didn’t get any dirt on your pretty dress.” he replied, dusting off his gloves as she looked past him, relieved to see both kids opening the porta potty doors and stepping inside and he turned to follow her gaze. “Sarah and Jesse giving you trouble?”

“Yes, I-” she began and paused, confused. “How did you know?”

“Sarah is good friends with my niece, Amy, and they live near our ranch so I drive them all home from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” he explained before pulling off his glove and holding out his hand. “I’m Rhett Abbott.”

“Y/N Y/L/N.” she replied as she shook it, trying to ignore the shiver of attraction that ran through her body when she felt his strong grip.

He smiled at her name and she knew that the grin of that handsome devil could be the death of her. The crowd had thinned out but she still walked closer to the bathrooms so she wouldn’t miss when the kids came out, Rhett trailing behind her. She finally noticed that he was wearing chaps over his jeans and one of the protective vests the riders had to wear over his blue plaid button up, the sleeves rolled up to showcase his well-defined arms.

“Are you a bull rider? I haven’t been able to pay much attention to the rodeo while trying to watch those two.” she asked.

“Yeah, I imagine those two are keeping you busy.” he said with a smirk. “And yes, I’m riding tonight.”

“I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure how bull riding works. I tried asking the kids but Jesse just said ‘you have to ride the bull the best’ and I have no idea what that means.” she said with a laugh and he chuckled.

“Well, there’s all kinds of rules about only using one hand and not touching the bull and tryin’ to earn the most points and the like but the most important thing is to try and last the full eight seconds without falling off.” he explained and she nodded.

“And do you often last the full eight seconds?” she asked, not entirely talking about bull riding any more.

“Oh, I always last far longer than eight seconds…” he replied with a smirk and she knew they definitely weren’t talking about bull riding anymore. “I was wondering if-”

“AUNTIE Y/N!” Jesse yelled as he ran out of the bathrooms and towards her, interrupting Rhett, who looked a little disappointed.

“WASH YOUR HANDS!” she ordered, pointing at the portable sink and shaking her head as he turned around to do as she asked, running back to her when he was done.

“Auntie Y/N, can I have another ice cream?” he asked, tugging on her dress before turning to the man talking to her. “Oh, hiya Mr. Rhett.”

“Jesse, I’ve told you about a hundred times that you can just call me Rhett.” he said, clearly amused by the young boy’s formality.

“Ma told me I have to say Mister and Miss for any adults who ain’t family.” Jesse said firmly before turning back to his aunt and tugging on her dress again, looking up at her with wide, puppy dog eyes. “Can I have another ice cream pleeeease?”

“One is enough for tonight little munchkin, but it was a good try.” she told him and he giggled.

“Listen, I wanted to ask you-” Rhett started but was interrupted once more.

“ABBOTT! YOU GOT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE YOUR RIDE! GET ON IT!” a man called out from near the fence at the back of the bull pens.

“ONE MINUTE!” Rhett called back, obviously annoyed at another interruption, before turning back to her. “I wanted to ask if you’d like to get a drink with me tonight? There’s a bar called the Handsome Gambler over on main street that I usually go to after a ride.”

He was smiling confidently but she could see a hint of nervousness in his eyes that made her feel special. Here was a man who regularly rode thousand pound cows angrily trying to buck him off but he was anxious that she might say no to a drink with him. She smiled.

“I have to get the kids home but if I’m not too tired after that, I think a drink might be nice.” she said coyly and he grinned. “But fair warning, I’m not a beer and whiskey type girl, more of a fruity cocktail kinda girl.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from a pretty city girl.” he replied and she smiled.

“RHETT!” the man called again and Rhett sighed.

“Go on cowboy, you’ve got a bull to ride.” she said, patting his chest before giving him a playful push towards the arena with a wink. “We can talk more at the bar.”

“Looking forward to it.” he said with a smirk before tipping his hat and walking towards the ring.

“Good luck!” she called after him.

“Good luck Mr. Rhett!” Jesse added, waving.

She watched him disappear into the back area of the ring, off limits to the audience and once he was gone, she turned to see Sarah washing her hands.

“Come on, lovebug! We’ve got some bull riding to watch!” Y/N called to her niece who smiled as she ran over to her. “Now, this time, you’re both gonna hold my hands until we get to the stands or you’re gonna be in big trouble.”

Miraculously, they made it back to their seats without either of the kids running off. She was smoothing out her dress skirt when Jesse suddenly started crawling onto her lap.

“What are you doing, you little munchkin?” she asked, amused.

“The seats are so uncomfortable, Auntie Y/N!” he explained with a pout. “Ma and pa always let me sit on their laps.”

“Alright, come here.” she told him and he smiled widely as she took him into her arms and sat him on her lap.

“Time for our last ride of the night, folks!” the announcer said through the crackly old speakers. “And it should be a good one! We have our hometown hero Rhett Abbott, winner of the Wyoming Rodeo competition last year, placed fifth in the semi-nationals, and tonight he’ll be riding the ever ornery bull ‘Napalm’. Napalm has quite the reputation for ending winning streaks and knocking riders out of the competition, and often, into the hospital. If Rhett can last eight seconds on Napalm, he’ll be practically guaranteed to move forwards to the state competition once again this year.”

At the mention of a hospital, Y/N sat up nervously, eyes glued to the back gate where she could see Rhett climbing in a pen, the bull he was mounting bucked wildly even in such a small space. Aside from plenty of nasty looking bruises, the worst injury they had seen that night was a man who broke his leg when he was thrown from the bull but he had been smiling and had his thumbs up as the on-site paramedics had carried him out of the ring.

This bull seemed more determined than any before to throw his rider, looking so angry that he probably wouldn’t want to stop until Rhett was below his hooves. From afar she could see the handlers struggling to keep Rhett upright as Napalm threw itself around the small pen wildly. She put her hand over her mouth and began chewing on her fingernails, a habit she only did before large exams and important presentations at school. Suddenly, she felt a little hand on her arm, pulling her hand down and she turned to see Sarah beside her, looking up at her with a caring expression.

“Don’t bite your fingernails Auntie Y/N, ma says it’s real bad.” she cautioned and Y/N managed a smile as she put her hand in Sarah’s and gave it a light squeeze.

“Thank you, lovebug.” Y/N said before leaning over to press a kiss to her niece’s forehead. “Just a little worried about Rhett, I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Mr Rhett is real good at riding bulls, pa always bets on him.” Sarah replied with a big smile at trying to be helpful.

Before Y/N could respond, a loud and low air horn sounded and the gate was thrown open. The crowd rose to their feet, blocking her view as they cheered wildly. Quickly, she shot up, holding Jesse close to her as she looked over the cowboy hats of the men in front of her, Sarah climbing to stand on her seat so she could see too. When she had seen the first bull ride of the night, she thought it was the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen, questioning why anyone in their right mind would do it as rider after rider was thrown from the bucking bulls and into the dirt. But this one made all the rest look like child’s play, the bull bucking higher and faster and harder as it spun, desperate to knock Rhett off.

Everything was happening so fast that it was almost a blur, even though it felt like a lifetime as she watched him struggle to stay on. At some point his hat had flown off and into the dirt and the bull had almost trampled on it. A cloud of dust was kicked up by Napalm’s hooves, making it a little harder to see but still the crowd cheered as Rhett stayed on. Suddenly, a buzzer rang out, signaling the end of the eight seconds. She wasn’t sure if he had jumped or been thrown but in a flash Rhett was on the ground, some handlers helping him up and away from the angry animal as others roped the bull and returned it to its pen.

When Rhett stood up fully, looking relatively unharmed as a handler handed him his hat, she breathed out a sigh of relief, one she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. As he put his hat on his head, he spun around to look at the scoreboard which changed to show him in first place, miles above the other riders in points. The crowd went wild, so loud and passionate that Y/N was certain there were Super Bowls and arena concerts with less excited crowds.

Sarah jumped up and down on her seat, her arms raised as she screamed happily, Jesse pulling himself off of his aunt’s shoulder to holler as well. She shifted her nephew so that she could clap and cheer, smiling down at Rhett’s figure in the ring. He was reveling in his victory but she could see that he seemed to be searching the crowd for something–or someone, she realized when his eyes met hers. His smile spread into a grin and she smiled back as she clapped and cheered. A handler walked up to Rhett and drew him–rather reluctantly–away from the crowd, sparing one last glance over his shoulder as he was led through the back gates out of the ring.

“Another fantastic ride for Rhett that has secured his place in the state competition!” the announcer said as the crowd continued to cheer. “Thank y'all for coming out to tonight’s rodeo, have a safe night!”

With that, the crowd began to file out of the stands and out into the gravel and dirt parking lot as she took a moment to catch her breath and calm her heart rate, so relieved that not only was Rhett okay but that he had seemingly won too. Jesse was beginning to nod off as he came down from his sugar high so she shifted him onto her hip as she led Sarah by the hand, who was rambling about how great of a ride that was and how she knew Mr. Rhett could do it. Y/N had a sneaking suspicion that her niece was harboring a bit of a school girl crush on him, which she found rather amusing.

They stood by the parking lot and played I Spy until her brother’s dirty red pick-up truck pulled up in front of them. Jenna, her sister-in-law, hopped out of the passenger seat to hug her babies, who were definitely very glad to see her. Y/N sat in the passenger seat as Jenna sat in the back between her children’s car seats. As her brother Sam pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, he looked in the rearview mirror at his family.

“Did you have a good time with Auntie Y/N?” he asked and the kids nodded before he turned to his sister. “Did they behave themselves?”

“Yes, they did.” she answered. “How was your date night?”

“Absolutely perfect.” Jenna said happily. “Thank you so much for watching them, we haven’t had a real proper date night in a few years.”

“Of course, it was fun.” Y/N replied, smiling at her sister-in-law.

“How was your first rodeo, sis?” Sam asked.

“Definitely… interesting.” she answered and he chuckled.

“Yeah, it took some getting used to when I first moved out here, Jenna used to say that I looked more scared than the actual riders.” he said and the kids laughed. “Who had the best score of the night?”

“Mr. Rhett!” Sarah piped up. “Mr. Ricky in the speakers said he gets to go to the state competition. He rode the whole eight seconds and he got way more points than everybody else!”

“Well I’ll be damned, looks like I just made twenty bucks off Carl at the seed store.” her brother said with a smile.

“Mr. Rhett and Auntie Y/N are going on a date!” Jesse exclaimed suddenly and Sam struggled not to swerve the car on the road before looking to his sister in disbelief as his son continued. “I heard him ask her to go to the place on main street where mommy says kids aren’t allowed.”

“Rhett Abbott?” Sam asked and she looked down in embarrassment at being ratted out by her nephew.

“I was going to ask if you could drop me off at the Handsome Gambler instead of my hotel.” she said quietly, referring to the little motel room her brother had put her up in because he was still working on building the new addition to the house for a spare room.

“Rhett Abbott?” Sam asked again incredulously and Jenna leaned forward to slap Sam’s shoulder and look at her sister-in-law.

“Rhett’s a nice man, you’ll have fun.” Jenna said before lowering her voice and giving a wink. “And he’s real good-looking too, you chose well.”

“No, no, no!” Sam exclaimed, hitting the steering wheel for emphasis. “My little sister is not going out with Rhett Abbott the…” he trailed off as he glanced into the rearview mirror to see the kids listening in and quietly added “...the M-A-N-W-H-O-R-E of Wabang!”

“Daddy, what does that spell?” Sarah asked.

“I’ll tell you later, sweetie.” he replied before looking at his wife. “I can’t believe you’re encouraging this.”

“Oh, stop it Sam!” Jenna said as she rolled her eyes. “She’s an adult who can make her own choices! Besides, she deserves to have a little fun on her spring break without her big brother ruining it.”

“Fine. But if he hurts you Y/N, I swear I’ll beat his…” he trailed off again as he noticed the kids were watching. “...butt.”

The kids started giggling, thinking that their father saying ‘butt’ was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

“So, will you drop me off at the bar?” she asked her brother and he sighed before nodding reluctantly.

“Auntie Y/N and Mr. Rhett! Sittin’ in a tree!” Jesse began to sing and Jenna tried not to laugh. “K-I-S-S… I don’t know the rest.”

“It’s ‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!’” Sarah exclaimed helpfully.

“If Mr. Rhett marries Auntie Y/N, do we call him just Rhett ‘cuz he’s family or do we still call him Mr. Rhett?” Jesse asked his mother.

“He’d be Uncle Rhett then.” Sarah corrected, a proud smile on her face.

Y/N felt like she was going to die from embarrassment and stared out the window to avoid looking at anyone as her sister-in-law hushed the children. She couldn’t stop thinking about her brother’s words. Was Rhett really the town slut? He flirted with her so easily that it was obvious he wasn’t new to picking up girls and he was certainly handsome enough to leave a long trail of broken hearts behind him. Rhett was probably just a player looking to get his dick wet but wasn’t that what she was hoping to do too? She supposed that she could keep her heart out of it for her pussy’s sake and have a fun little spring break fling.

Soon enough, they pulled up in front of the bar on main street and she hopped out, turning back to lean through the open window to speak to her brother.

“Thank you for the ride, Sammy, I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” she said but before she could turn around to head into the bar, he reached out and placed a hand on her arm.

“Hey.” he said lowly, not wanting the kids to hear him. “I’m serious, call me if you need a ride or help or anything, alright? I don’t care if it’s at three a.m. or something, just call me.”

“I will, Sammy, thank you.” she assured her big brother, placing her hand over his to squeeze reassuringly before turning to walk towards the door.

“Have fun girlie! But not too much fun, it might be a bit too soon for you to become a momma!” Jenna called out and Y/N laughed as she grabbed the door handle.

The Handsome Gambler was just how she would expect a bar in a small midwestern town to be. It was dim and smokey, with neon signs on the walls casting colored light onto the packed tables of men in cowboy hats and women in cowgirl boots. When she entered, a man in a trucker hat wolf-whistled at her and she had the sudden urge to turn around and leave.

“Shut up Hendricks or I’ll make you eat your teeth!” Rhett’s voice warned and she looked to where the voice had come from.

She locked eyes with Rhett, who was sitting at the bar, hat on the counter and he smiled at her, giving her the courage to continue walking. If she had thought he was handsome in his bull rider get-up, she was blown away with how he made the most casual outfit sexy. Blue jeans (with an unfortunately large belt buckle), a gray henley and a blue flannel button-up should not have been making her squirm but the way he had the sleeves rolled up to display his muscular forearms somehow made her want to climb him right there in the bar.

This feeling was only intensified when she realized that he was wearing a different blue flannel than he had earlier, meaning he had changed specifically for her. A small voice in the back of her head tried to reason that it was likely just because his clothes had been dirty and sweaty from the ring but she chose to ignore it and allow herself to be flattered he was making an effort for her. He stood as she approached, his eyes briefly skimming over her body to admire her dress before returning to her face.

“Apologies for Mr. Hendricks, he’s an annoying asshole who can’t remember his manners when he drinks but he really is harmless. In about ten minutes he’ll be passed out in his usual corner.” Rhett assured her and she laughed.

“I can handle some cat-calls, it’s when they try to get handsy that I bring out my pepper spray.” she said, partially as a joke but Rhett just pursed his lips.

“Well I can assure you no one around here is going to be bothering you. If your brother isn’t enough to deter them, I’ll make sure they get the memo.” he said earnestly and she smiled.

He pulled back her stool and helped her up, surprising her with his chivalry, so unlike the usual skirt-chasers she ran into at the university. Usually men could barely be bothered to text back and yet here was Rhett, treating her like she was royalty. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like it.

“Wasn’t sure if you’d come but I sure am glad you did.” He said as he sat back down beside her. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Only if you remember what I told you earlier.” she said coyly, testing how much he had actually paid attention to her at the rodeo.

“Kenny, I’ll have a beer.” Rhett said to the man behind the bar with a slight smirk as he added “...and can you make something like a fruit cocktail? I don’t believe the lady likes her alcohol to taste like alcohol.”

“You remembered.” she said with a laugh as Kenny went to get the drinks.

“You sound surprised. Do city boys not listen well?” he asked.

“Not too many of them.” she replied.

“Damn shame, I could listen to your cute little accent all day long.” he said and she blushed at the compliment.

“Some might argue that you have the accent.” she shot back.

“Not when you’re in my territory, sweetheart.” he said with that dazzling smile that she thought could charm the pants off a nun.

“I suppose you’re right.” she said before Kenny returned with a beer bottle and what she believed was an attempt at a cocktail, setting down in front of her a glass of pinkish red liquid and ice with a cherry on a toothpick hanging off the side. “Thank you.”

“That may be the fanciest thing I’ve ever seen Kenny make.” Rhett said when he left them to talk to a customer further down the bar. “How’s it taste?”

She took a sip and laughed, causing Rhett to ask her what was so funny.

“I’m fairly certain that this is just tequila mixed with fruit punch.” she answered.

“Really?” Rhett asked, amused and she slid the drink closer to him so he could have a sip. “Oh, that is definitely just tequila mixed with fruit punch.”

“I will say, I actually quite like it.” she said, pulling it closer to her again before popping the cherry into her mouth and taking another drink.

“So, how was your first rodeo?” Rhett asked before taking a swig of his beer. “Everything you thought it would be?”

“It was…” she trailed off, unsure how to summarize it all. “Well, I don’t think I’ve been as stressed as I was watching you ride since I presented my thesis idea last year.”

“You were worried about me?” Rhett asked and although his smirk was cocky, she could hear the undercurrent of vulnerability, like he was genuinely surprised that she actually cared about if he had gotten hurt.

“Yes, I was. That bull was like nothing I’d seen all night and the way the announcer talked about it had me squeezing Sarah’s hand probably a bit too hard.” she replied. “But I guess I had no reason to be worried because you made it look almost easy.”

“Well, I am real good at what I do.” he assured her earnestly before smirking and suggestively adding “I’m real good at everything I do.”

“Easy there, cowboy!” she said with a laugh, feeling more comfortable with him after five minutes than she felt with most people she had known for years. He was just so easy to talk to, being effortlessly vulnerable yet continually making her laugh like he was starved for the sound a way a man is starved for water in a desert.

“Just trying to keep you on your toes, girl.” he said with a wink.

“So what do you do when you’re not riding bulls or winking at girls in bars?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I work on my family’s ranch and sometimes if I have time, I hire myself out as a farmhand to other local ranchers when they need it.” he answered. “But the rodeo circuits are my main job.”

“You enjoy being thrown off thousand pound cows into the dirt?” she asked. “Do you just really like pain, is that it?”

“You and your damn wit, girl…” he said, shaking his head with a chuckle. “Nobody would ever even know you’re related to quiet old Sam with a wicked tongue like that. But yes, I do enjoy it. Maybe not the pain so much but there’s just something about how exhilarating it feels during those eight seconds. So freeing.”

“Sounds terrifying, I think I’ll stick to bike riding. Or maybe horse riding if I can stop almost falling off the damn thing.” she joked.

“Not having much luck with horses then?” Rhett asked, amused.

“I swear, if Sam wasn’t holding the saddle and walking beside me, I would have fallen off the horse more this week than every rider from tonight put together.” she answered. “I’m trying my best but I don’t think I’m very good at all this cowgirl stuff.”

“Maybe you just need a good teacher.” Rhett said.

“I’m supposed to be on spring break from school.” she replied with a laugh. “I’m supposed to be relaxing and having fun, not learning.”

“Who says you can’t do both?” Rhett purred, his low voice and southern drawl sending a wave of heat straight down to her core. “I mean, you just might need some practice straddling and riding something else.”

“I suppose you have something in particular in mind for your course curriculum?” she asked, leaning in to match his low whisper.

“Maybe one or two things.” he answered with that cocky smirk she couldn’t help but love.

“Then maybe we can start class later tonight…” she said so quietly he could only hear it because she was inches from his face before she pulled backwards into her original sitting position as he groaned and added at normal volume “but I don’t go home with just any old cowboy so let’s hope this date goes well.”

“How am I doing so far?” he asked and she smiled as she sipped her cocktail, ignoring the bulge in his pants that had grown as she had gotten closer.

“Ask me again after another drink or two.” she replied and he nodded.

“Yes ma’am.” he said, eyeing her half drunk drink.

They talked for a long while about their lives, their families, their childhoods. They talked about their favorite music and their hobbies and everything in between they could think of. They were getting to know one another, really hitting it off as the rest of the bar seemed to disappear. As they talked, she had to remind herself not to get lost in his beautiful blue eyes or get distracted by his rugged beauty, so handsome he was like a movie star straight out of one of the old western films her grandfather used to watch. When they had talked so long that her cocktail and his beer bottle were empty, Rhett flagged down the bartender to order another round.

“There’s still one thing I don’t understand.” he said as Kenny placed their second drinks in front of them, nodding a thanks. “Why come out to Wabang, Wyoming for spring break? Don’t college kids usually go to the beach or somethin’ like that?”

“They do. In fact, that’s where most of my friends are right now.” she replied. “But ever since Sam met Jenna and they moved out here, we really only see them when they come over for Christmas and Thanksgiving and stuff. I’d never seen the town that my brother fell in love with almost as much as he fell for Jenna or the little ranch that he’s always talking about on the phone. I wanted to see them all for a little longer than just a few days out of the year. So, two weeks in Wabang sounded pretty nice for a break.”

“And now?” Rhett asked. “Are you disappointed that you’re not on a beach with your friends?”

“Not really… I mean of course I’m a little jealous of all the pictures they’re sending me but Wyoming is really growing on me.” she said earnestly. “And besides, it has some things I couldn’t get on a beach.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?” he asked.

“Well there’s one cowboy in particular who’s really caught my eye.” Rhett quirked an eyebrow in amused interest as she continued. “He told me he’d teach me how to be a cowgirl—an offer I’m still considering by the way… oh, and there’s this fantastic cocktail that you just can’t get anywhere but the Handsome Gambler.”

“And how is that tequila and fruit punch treating you?” Rhett asked and she laughed.

“I’ll be honest, it’s better than most of the ‘fancy’ overpriced drinks I’ve ever had at nightclubs with my friends.” she answered.

“I hope you were getting others to buy those for you. Pretty girls should never have to pay for their own drinks.” Rhett said.

“Aww, you think I’m pretty?” she asked teasingly with a smile.

“I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” he said earnestly, without a single hint of irony and she was taken aback by his candor.

She was so used to men giving cheesy pick up lines and half-baked compliments just so they could get into her pants, that she was thrown off kilter by the realization that Rhett was serious. Evidently, he saw the surprise in her face because he leaned forwards, his blue eyes staring deep into her own.

“I mean every single word. I don’t want you to think that I’m just running my mouth to get you in bed.” he said and she froze under his gaze, struck by just how wrong she had been when she had assumed Rhett was just another player who would say anything to try and get his dick wet. “I mean of course I’d still love to have you in my bed but I really do like you.” She laughed a little at his cheeky addition but was still stunned speechless by his words.

“Rhett, I-” was all she managed to stutter out before blushing and looking down at the bartop in embarrassment. “I really like you too.”

He put his hand under her chin and pushed it upwards to bring her to look at him, his blue eyes holding her gaze intensely.

“Will you dance with me?” he asked with a smile.

“Dance?” she asked, surprised.

“Yeah, dancing. They have that in the big cities right?” he joked and she laughed, looking over at the couples on the dance floor doing some kind of slow dance.

“We do have dancing in the city, just maybe not that kind of dancing.” she said, turning back to him. “It’s more like grinding… you have to be pretty drunk to do it.”

“Well, how about I teach you how to two step and you teach me how to grind?” he replied, flashing that mischievous grin again. “It can be your first cowgirl lesson.”

“I will dance with you but I will not be grinding, I’m far too sober for that.” she answered. “So are you gonna teach me how to square dance? Err, line dance? What is it called?”

“I’ll teach you to two step, I think line dancing may be a bit advanced for a first timer.” Rhett said, standing up, putting his hat on, and holding out his hand.

She took it, memorizing every line and callus of his strong hand against her soft skin, and he helped her down from the stool before leading her over to the area that was serving as a dance floor. They got into a typical slow dancing position, her hand on his shoulder and his hand resting on her waist while their remaining hands joined together. He taught her a simple move called a “two step” and then they were off, waltzing around the dance floor as she tried to remain on beat.

He would occasionally give her a pointer or correction but for the most part he praised her for getting a hang of it fairly quickly. They kept up that simple routine for an entire song and by the time the final notes of “Head Over Boots” played, she no longer had to focus on counting and her steps, instead able to simply enjoy the feeling of his hand on her lower back keeping her pressed up against him.

“Alright darlin’, this next one is a little bit faster.” he warned her with a smile as the next song began to play. “You up for the challenge?”

“Bring it on, cowboy!” she replied and he smirked.

“Alright, I warned you.” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye that made her weak at the knees, distracting her so that when he spun her out and around before reeling her back in, she was caught completely off guard.

She laughed, trying (and failing) to avoid stepping on his boots as she adjusted to the new pace and the added spins but after another song or two, she had acclimated to the dancing quite well. As “Why Don’t We Just Dance” ended, they were both breathing hard through wide grins, her heaving chest pressed against his, grateful to discover the next song was a slow song. They switched from two stepping to simply swaying, catching their breath as some melodic crooning about “Tennessee Whiskey” relaxed them against one another.

“Has anyone ever told you that your hat is sexy?” she asked once their heart rates had returned to normal and their breathing evened out, looking up at him.

“Once or twice.” Rhett replied with a smirk.

“Well, in that case…” she said before reaching up to grab his hat, pulling it off his head and placing it on her own. “How do I look? Sexy?”

“I- err… yes, you do look sexy.” he said, a look on his face somewhere between surprise and nervousness.

“You look like I just took a baseball bat to your truck headlights or something. What is it? Do you not like people touching your hat?” she asked, starting to get a little nervous that she had somehow fucked up in her lame attempt at flirting.

“No… it’s just, uh, around here a girl putting on a guy’s hat means… something special.” Rhett answered.

“Something special?” she asked.

“It’s like a… well, an unofficial rule that if a lady takes a fella’s hat and puts it on herself, then she… she’s supposed to go home with him at the end of the night.” replied, his usual cocky demeanor missing as he seemed nervous to tell her.

“Oh…” she said, understanding the full meaning of what she’d just done.

“But you didn’t know and I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, so I’ll just take it back.” He said, taking his hat off of her head and placing it firmly on his own, reaching his hand back out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “It’s a stupid tradition anyways. Just backcountry nonsense, really.”

She could tell that he seemed nervous, like she’d suddenly just slap him and storm off for daring to suggest that she had to sleep with him. She stared deep into his eyes, touched by the adoration and concern in them, genuinely caring if he had upset her. She took a breath to prepare herself for what she was about to do before launching up onto her toes, throwing her arms around his neck, and pressing her lips to his.

He seemed caught off guard for a moment before smiling against her lips as he deepened the kiss, his hands tightening around her waist to hold her closer. The kiss was so good that she almost forgot why she had initiated it in the first place, reaching up to snatch his hat off of his head, pulling back in his arms to place it firmly on her head with a wink.

“Oh no… It looks like I just have to go home with you tonight.” she purred coyly, giving him a smirk before leaning in and adding lowly “Or I guess you could come home with me since my hotel room is probably closer than your house and I just can’t wait to get my mouth on your cock.”

Rhett looked absolutely stunned, completely in awe of the gorgeous minx in his arms.

“God damn, woman…” was all he could manage to say, tipping the brim of his hat on her head up with a finger so he could hungrily kiss her again, one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her neck.

He kissed her like a man possessed until her chest was heaving against his, breathless from his affection when he pulled back and smirked at the dazed look on her face as she gazed up at him.

“I gotta get you outta here.” he growled before pulling her off the dance floor and towards the door, hand tight on her waist as he called out for Kenny to put the drinks on his tab.

It seemed like half the bar was staring at them as they exited, focused on Rhett’s hat on her head, but she couldn’t find the energy to care as Rhett looked back at her with a devilish grin that made tantalizing promises for when he got her alone. He held the door open for her as they left the bar and his warm palm was flat against her back as he steered her towards the passenger door of a blue pick-up truck. He opened the door for her and leaned in for another kiss, desperately missing the feeling of her lips against his. He had meant for it to be quick, he really had, but they simply couldn’t stop once they’d started. Her hands looped around his neck and into his hair as his hands wandered the silhouette of her body before settling on her ass with a small squeeze. She pulled back to catch her breath and put a hand on his chest as a signal to stop.

“You’d better get me to a bed, Rhett. I’m too classy to let you fuck me against your truck… well, at least not for our first time.” she said with a wink before turning to hop up into the passenger seat.

“Yes ma’am!” Rhett replied smugly as he closed the door and hurried around to get in the driver’s seat.

As he started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot, his hard cock ached, straining almost painfully against the confines of his jeans. The air was thick with sexual tension, the only noises being an old country song playing quietly on the crackly radio and the rumble of the engine. Rhett stared straight ahead at the road because he thought if he glanced at her, he’d likely have to pull over the truck and take her right there on the roadside in the bed of his truck. But he kept himself in check, thinking that she was the kind of girl who deserved to be fucked on the softest bed he could find.

He only lasted about a minute of driving before one of his hands moved from the steering wheel to rest on her thigh, toying with the hem of her dress just above her knee. His fingers wandered her thigh as he slowly pulled her dress up to reveal more and more of her bare skin. She shifted in her seat, squeezing her legs together as she tried to ignore the ever-growing wildfire of desire within her core that hadn’t given her a moment’s reprieve since it had sparked during their first kiss.

“What have we here?” Rhett asked as he caught a peek of her lacy panties as the fabric of her skirt bunched up at her waist.

The hungry rasp in his voice sent a shiver of attraction through her body and she dug her nails into the seat of his truck, gripping so hard that her knuckles were surely turning white.

“How’d you know that’s my favorite color?” he asked with a smirk and she sucked in a breath as his fingers skimmed over the waistband of her panties, and she felt as if they were miles away from the place she wanted him to touch.

“Oh god Rhett, please don’t tease.” she groaned as his wandering fingers advanced towards her clit but retreated just shy of reaching it.

“I’ll take care of you darlin’, just be patient.” he assured her, fingers trailing teasing patterns into the lacy fabric above her pussy. “Fuck, you look so sexy just sitting here all hot ‘n bothered in my truck in your pretty little dress with my hat on.”

She whined, desperately wishing for his fingers to move just inches down to relieve her burning need. Rhett’s teasing had frustrated her enough that she decided to take matters into her own hands, or more accurately, his. She grabbed his hand and pushed it down in between her legs, giving a sigh when she felt the slight pressure against her clit. Rhett chuckled but before she could ask what was so funny, his deft fingers pushed her panties aside and plunged two fingers deep into her wet core. She gasped in surprise and her hands flew to clutch his wrist as he began to slowly drag his fingers in and out.

“So impatient…” he tsked, plunging even deeper. “Do I need to tie your hands up so you’ll be a good girl?”

His words sent a thrill through her body and her pussy clenched at the thought, her walls squeezing his fingers as she let out a slight moan. Her reaction surprised Rhett and he decided to test a theory, still pumping in and out.

“Oh, you like that? You like the thought of being tied up?” he asked, voice low and rough. “You’d look so fucking hot all trussed up in my lasso.”

Once again, her pussy clenched and he chuckled. She was getting wetter by the second and he knew she was just as into the idea as he was.

“Is that what you want, girl? You want me to bring my lasso to bed? Tie you up and take you over and over until you can’t even think?” Rhett asked, stopping his movements completely when she didn’t answer, too lost in the feeling of the delicious drag of his fingers. “I said, is that what you want, girl? I won’t do shit until I know exactly what you want me to do to you tonight.”

“Yes! Oh god yes, Rhett!” she cried out, hands squeezing his wrist as if it would make him continue his movements. “I want you tie me up and fuck me so good, please Rhett!”

“There you go, darlin’. Good girls who use their words get rewarded.” he said, adding a third finger and resuming his movements as she gave a breathy moan. “Fuck, you feel so damn good around my fingers. Can’t wait to feel you around my cock. So god damn wet too, all this for me?”

She couldn’t even answer with anything more than a moan as he finger fucked her but Rhett knew the answer already. His thumb swirled her clit as his fingers thrust in and out of her cunt at a relentless pace and she could hardly breathe as her climax quickly approached.

“Rhett!” she exclaimed, her hands gripping onto his arm as the waves of pleasure finally began to crest.

“Shh, I’ve got you girl.” Rhett tsked like he was trying to calm a spooked animal and it only made her pussy clench down on his fingers harder as she orgasmed. “I don’t know what kind of small city boys you’ve been fucking in the past so I gotta make sure you’re ready to take a big country boy like me.” He rode her through her orgasm, giving one last hard thrust just before it ended and curling his fingers to reach that perfect spot inside before pulling his fingers out and bringing them to his mouth. She watched breathlessly as he sucked his fingers clean of her juices, humming in content as he pulled the truck into the hotel parking lot.

“If you can make me cum like that with just your fingers, I don’t think I’ll survive tonight.” she said and he smirked.

“Let’s see how long you can last riding on my cock. Maybe you’ll make it more than eight seconds like a true cowgirl.” he joked with a wink before hopping out of the truck and heading around to her side.

Still catching her breath, she was vaguely aware of him grabbing something from the truck bed and when he opened her door, she found him hanging his lasso on his belt. She turned to hop out only for Rhett to grab her by the waist and pull her out, setting her down between him and the truck. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss that slowly built in intensity until she was so caught up in the feeling of his tongue that she just barely noticed Rhett spinning her away from the truck and closing the door, walking her backwards towards the motel. They paused briefly so she could gasp out her room number and take the keys out of her pocket, which Rhett quickly took before he resumed steering her in the right direction.

Luckily, her room was on the first floor so they didn’t have to use the stairs, which would have been impossible with the way they were stumbling around blindly, connected at both the lips and the hips. They fumbled their way down the hallway, bumping into walls and doors as they made out with a ferocious hunger for one another. Evidently, Rhett became impatient with how slow their progress to her room was and he begrudgingly pulled his lips off of hers. Before she could whine or ask what he was doing, she suddenly found herself hoisted over his shoulder, looking down at his delicious backside as his strong arms anchored her thighs to his chest.

“Rhett!” she squealed in surprise and he silenced her with a light slap on her ass.

“Hush now girl, wouldn’t want to wake the other motel guests, would we?” he said smugly as he carefully leaned down to grab his hat from off the ground where it had fallen from her head when he had thrown her over his shoulder.

He put the hat back on his head as he hurried down the hallway to her room, briefly swearing as he fumbled with the keys to unlock the door. He swept inside, kicking the door closed behind him and flicking the light switch to turn on the lamps as he headed straight for the bed. She expected him to toss her onto the bed like a sack of potatoes with his hurry and ferocity but was surprised when he carefully laid her on the bed like she was the most fragile and precious thing he had ever touched. Her heart fluttered at how special it made her feel. She gazed up at him through her eyelashes as he chucked off his flannel and his boots, dropping them on the floor before setting his hat and lasso on the bed.

“Didn’t think you knew how to be gentle, cowboy.” she said cheekily, her breasts rising and falling as she caught her breath from the excitement and Rhett smirked as he pulled off her shoes and discarded them.

“I can be gentle if that’s what you want, sweetheart.” he said as he slowly and carefully climbed on top of her, gently brushing a strand of hair out of her face even as he caged her beneath him. “I can be whatever you want, darlin’. Gentle…” he purred, pressing feather-light kisses to her neck, a smile on his lips just barely ghosting over her skin before he moved to her ear. “Rough…” he growled before surging downwards to give her a bruisingly hard kiss that took her breath away before pulling back and leaving her gasping for air, blinking up at his smug smirk. “Somewhere in between…” he said as he returned to her neck, applying a light pressure as he tongued a spot that would surely be a hickey the next morning. It was just perfect and a long moan escaped her mouth involuntarily, her arms wrapping around his neck and threading her fingers into his hair with light tugs and Rhett chuckled against her skin. “Ah, there it is.” he said smugly.

“Don’t stop!” she cried out and he complied, returning to tonguing her skin. “Fuck, Rhett, don’t stop!”

Rhett’s mouth explored every inch of her skin from the top of her neck to the cleavage above the neckline of her dress, taking stock of what spots made her mewl and squirm the most. He pushed her dress straps aside so he could press tender kisses onto her shoulder, finding a particularly sensitive spot near her collarbone that he spent extra time teasing. His hands slipped beneath her body and began to unzip her dress, only getting halfway down her back before the zipper got stuck. He pulled it again but annoyingly it held fast. He yanked it once more, grumbling in frustration against her neck when it refused to come loose.

“Slow down there cowboy.” she warned and he pulled away from her skin to look at her. “You rip my favorite dress and I’ll cut up your favorite hat.”

“Darlin’, I’d like to see you try.” he replied with a smirk but nevertheless his movements slowed to carefully finish removing her dress, the zipper finally giving way and letting him pull it all the way down.

He slipped the fabric off of her body, reveling as more and more of her body was revealed to him, inch by tantalizing inch. He admired every curve, astonished with how she only seemed to get more and more attractive the less clothes she had on. He divested her of her bra much easier than he had with her dress, able to do it one-handed and without looking from a lot of practice. As her breasts were freed, her hands went to cover them instinctually, looking shy and nervous although he simply couldn’t understand why.

“Don’t hide from me sweetheart.” he coaxed, gently pulling her hands from her chest and taking in the sight of her bare breasts and stiffening nipples. She was gorgeous and he felt like he was looking at a goddess, unable to comprehend why she would ever think she was anything other than perfect. “You’re so beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I mean it.”

She sucked in a breath at his lovely words and the almost irreverent look in his eyes as he gazed down at her body in admiration and she was caught off guard when he stooped down to return to kissing her, capturing her lips with his own before she could even have a moment to think of a response. Without the fabric of her dress as protection, the cold metal of his ridiculously large belt buckle teased her bare skin as it was pressed between their bodies and she wouldn’t be surprised if the next morning, she ended up with an indentation of it there on her stomach.

She realized that Rhett was still completely dressed while she had been stripped all the way down to only her panties. Wanting to even the playing field a bit, she grabbed at the hem of his shirt and began pulling it up, Rhett pulling back from the kiss to remove it completely, tossing it aside. She marveled at his well-toned abs, her fingers skating along the hard lines of muscle. She chuckled at the tattoo of a man riding a bull that he had on his right pec, the black ink a stark contrast to his sun kissed skin even in the low lamplight of the hotel room. He had a bruise on his ribcage that was forming and he knew it would hurt like a bitch in the morning but he couldn’t bring himself to care as he watched her eyes devour him.

“Doesn’t hurt much right now, sweetheart.” he assured her. “This was one of my luckier rides, not as beat up as I usually am even though Napalm was a real mean son of a bitch. Maybe you’re my lucky charm.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?” she asked tentatively when he winced as her fingertips grazed the tender skin.

“A little.” he answered, dipping down to whisper in her ear. “But I don’t really notice it when I have you to distract me.”

“Guess I better get to distracting then.” she replied with a smirk before latching on to his neck, determined to leave a mark on him to counter all the ones he had given her.

“Tryin’ to mark me up, girl?” he asked, half a chuckle, half a moan. “Let everyone in town know you’ve staked your claim on me?”

She laughed but was cut off as it suddenly turned into a moan, his hands grasping at her breasts. She found herself unbelievably turned on by his wandering hands (and mouth) as they continued to make out, pausing occasionally only to suck a hickey into the other’s neck before returning to their mouths. With his shirt off, her hands were able to explore his body, memorizing the feel of every inch of his skin under her fingertips. Feeling his erection straining against the confines of his jeans as he ground himself against her, she let her hands trail down his body to his belt.

She mentally cursed him for having such a ridiculously large belt buckle, making it ten times harder than it needed to be for her to undo it. After trying and failing a few times, she groaned in impatient frustration, tugging at his belt in angry desperation. She felt him smirk against her lips and before she had time to react, Rhett grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. She gasped in surprise and wiggled fruitlessly in his grip as he pulled back to admire the sight of her below him.

“Your hands are getting in my way, darlin’.” he scolded playfully. “Do I need to get my lasso out or can you behave like a good girl?”

“Hmmm…” she said, pretending to think before replying with mock innocence. “I’m not sure if I can control myself, Rhett.”

“You sure sweetheart?” he asked seriously, giving her an out she didn’t need.

“I’m sure.” she replied.

“Gonna need a safeword, darlin’. Got one in mind?” Rhett asked, trailing a finger down her front teasingly and she thought carefully for a moment.

“How about ‘Napalm’…” she said, a sly smile spreading on her face. “You know, in the hopes you can last longer than eight seconds with me.”

He laughed and said “I think I know how to put that wicked tongue of yours to better use…” before pulling her in to roughly kiss her.

She got no warning before he ended the kiss as suddenly as it began and he moved to sit up on his knees, roughly flipping her over before returning to straddle her. She didn’t even have time to gasp or whine as he pulled her hands behind her back and leaned over to grab his lasso. He arranged her arms so that they were one on top of the other with her elbows against the opposite wrists before beginning to wind his lasso around them as if he was making a design of some kind.

As he worked, she groaned at the sensation of his clothed erection against her ass. Her head was pushed against the mattress, the cool sheets cushioning her cheek and teasing her hard nipples. He smugly hummed a tune that she eventually recognized at the song that had been playing in the truck on the ride from the bar. She moved her arms and shoulders around slightly to test how sturdy his work in progress was and he reached around to pull her head up slightly, a careful but firm hand on her throat.

“You really need to learn how to behave, sweetheart.” he growled into her ear and she felt a shiver run down her spine in anticipation. “If you can’t stay still until I’m done, I’m gonna leave you tied up to make you watch me jerk myself off and you won’t get to cum again tonight. Got it?”

“Yes.” she replied breathlessly, his hand around her throat gentle to not hurt her or cut off her air but still firm enough to remind her he was in charge.

“Yes, what?” he asked, squeezing just a miniscule amount so she had to take slightly deeper breaths to answer.

“Yes, sir.” she replied and he removed the pressure on her throat so she could breathe normally again, his hand only serving to keep her head up.

“Good girl.” he cooed, pressing a soft rewarding kiss onto her shoulder before lowering her back down and resuming his work.

She stayed still, just enjoying the feeling of the coarse rope on her skin until her arms were completely bound together and Rhett was seemingly pleased with his work.

“Is that too tight, darlin’?” he asked.

“It’s perfect.” she answered before smugly adding “Sir.”

In seconds, he had her flipped back over onto her back, her arms trapped beneath her but she obediently stayed still, gazing up at him faux-innocently as she waited for his next instruction.

“Alright darlin’, test it out.” he ordered smugly. “See if my ropework is adequate enough for your high city standards.”

Following his instructions, she tried to pull her wrists free but only succeeded in wiggling her upper half. With her shoulders back, her chest was pushed out and Rhett seemed very pleased at the sight of her wriggling form, her breasts jiggling lightly. He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb against her lips teasingly before moving to run his fingers over her nipples.

She was helpless, but in the best way possible. She liked–no, loved–being at his mercy, completely reliant on him to provide for her pleasure. It was strange, she had never given anyone that kind of power over her in bed, not even long-term lovers, she just didn’t trust them. But for some baffling reason, she was not only comfortable but eager to give Rhett, a man she had met only hours earlier, that power.

“Perfect.” Rhett said, so quietly it was almost as if it was to himself, as he gazed down at her and continued to drag his fingernails over her nipples until they were stiff with arousal. “God, you look so fucking perfect all trussed up in my lasso.” Embarrassed by his praise, she averted her eyes as she felt her cheeks heating up but he simply pulled her chin to look back at him. “Don’t hide from me, girl. You need to know just how perfect you are.”

She had no reply, stunned speechless, only able to respond by surging upwards as much as she could to kiss him passionately. He immediately reciprocated the urgency in her kiss, his tongue parting her lips before delving deeper into her mouth. He was laying above her, hands on either side of her head supporting his weight as he wedged his knee between her thighs, pressing directly against her core. Slowly, she began grinding against it, her only way to bring even a fraction of relief to her aching cunt with her hands tied behind her back. She rocked against his knee several times before Rhett realized just what she was doing, pulling back to watch but leaving his knee in place. She wiggled and whined at the loss of his mouth against hers, helpless to do anything but continue humping his knee like a bitch in heat.

“Darlin’, you look so hot trying to ride my thigh like it’s a bull.” he growled as his blue eyes fixed on her intently.

“I’m not an expert like you, I think I might need some pointers…” she said, batting her eyelashes at him sweetly as she continued to desperately buck her hips, feeling the rough denim of his jeans even through the thin fabric of her panties.

“I think you're right, and I do believe I promised you some cowgirl lessons.” he replied smugly.

Carefully he pulled her up with him, sitting against the headboard with his legs spread obscenely as he pulled her to straddle his thigh. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his cowboy hat, placing it upon her head as she narrowed her eyes at him with an amused curiosity.

“Can’t ride without the hat, darlin’.” he said simply and she opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when his strong hands grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto his thigh so she would moan. “Go ahead and let me see what I’m working with.”

His hands fell from her hips to lie beside him, watching her with hungry eyes as she began to ride his thigh, chasing enough friction against her core to bring her relief. Strangely, she didn’t feel nervous or self-conscious anymore. She had thought that she’d feel silly dry humping Rhett’s jeans like a bitch in heat but when he looked at her the way he did, she just felt sexy. She bit her lip to contain her moans as she shifted her hips back and forth, up and down, and everything in between. Her head fell back slightly but she pulled back up just in time so as not to drop his hat.

“How am I doing? Passing for a cowgirl?” she asked after a minute of dragging herself against his thigh over and over again.

“You’re a natural, sweetheart.” he said, gazing up at her reverently. “Only thing I can teach you is to use your thighs too, not just your hips.”

“Like this?” she asked, continuing her movements but clenching her thighs down against his to keep herself steady.

“Perfect…” Rhett replied, leaning forwards to press sloppy kisses on her breasts as she rode, his large hands warming her skin as they returned to her hips and then traveled up her sides to assist in his assault on her breasts.

“Fuck, Rhett…” she moaned, struggling to keep her rhythm as she got ever closer to her climax, control of her body slipping away as her stamina ran out but her need increased.

Evidently, Rhett noticed her beginning to struggle, dragging his hands back down from her breasts to grab her hips and guide her movements, taking over when she was getting too close to the edge to keep it up. With his grip bruisingly hard on her hips, he helped to keep her riding through the intensely pleasurable waves of her orgasm when it hit suddenly.

“That’s it, baby. I’ve got you.” he assured her as she got lost in the feeling, throwing her head back with a loud cry, his hat flying off her head and onto the floor. She panted, her chest heaving as her orgasm ran its course.

“Good girl.” Rhett purred and despite having just cum, she felt a stirring in her core once again at those words, her body seemingly not satisfied with just the one soul-shattering orgasm.

She slumped forwards in exhaustion against his chest, unable to push herself back up with her hands still tied behind her back. He let her sit there for a moment to catch her breath, her head still spinning as he kept an arm around her waist to pull her against him and keep her grounded, his other hands stroking her hair comfortingly. When she had had enough time to reorient herself, he carefully laid her back down onto the bed, her bound arms trapped uselessly between her body and the bed once more.

She whined, wiggling in disappointment as he got up out of the bed and he paused to lean over and inspect her panties, now drenched with her cum. He traced just the tip of his finger against the fabric, chuckling when she lifted her hips to chase his hand as it retreated.

“Look at that, darlin’... fucking soaked. Even got a little on my pants.” He said before he shucked off his jeans, discarding them to the floor and returning to his place in between her legs. “Sweetheart, are you particularly attached to this pair of panties?”

“No…” she answered, her brows furrowing in confusion.

“Good. I’ll buy you a new pair.” he said, with only that serving as a warning before he literally ripped them off her and she gasped, half in surprise and half in desire. “Well if that ain’t just the prettiest little pussy I’ve ever seen.”

“Rhett, I need you…” she moaned, feeling particularly empty as admired her cunt.

“Think you’re ready for me?” he asked and she nodded vigorously, pulling his dick out of his boxers to let her see it for the first time.

Rhett smirked as her eyes widened at the sight, well aware of how above average his dick was and reveled in people’s stunned reactions when they saw it. ‘Of course’, she thought looking at his large member, ‘Rhett not only had movie star looks but he had been blessed with a porn star cock as well’. From his position kneeling between her legs, he let his cock rest on her abdomen, showing her just how deep he would go when fully seated inside of her. It was intimidating but she felt as if she’d explode if she didn’t get it inside her soon.

“You sure you’re ready for me, sweetheart?” he asked again, tapping his cock on her stomach, a bead of precum leaking from it’s head onto her overheated skin.

“Yes Rhett, please!” she whined, wiggling in her bonds desperately.

“Want me to wear a condom? I swear on my mama’s life I’m clean.” he assured her.

“I’m on the pill and I’m clean, Rhett, please just fuck me.” she begged impatiently.

“Shh darlin’...” he said quietly, amused at her desperation but still reaching down to stroke her hair out of her face. “I’m gonna take care of you, I promise. Good things come to girls who are patient, sweetheart.”

“Rhett, please let me touch you, please, please, please.” she babbled and he shushed her again.

“Alright, alright, sweetheart. Take a breath.” he said, reaching under her to untie the ropes expertly with one hand and without a minute, she was free.

Immediately, her hands went to his body, touching every inch of his bare skin that she could, surging upwards to kiss him as if his lips were the air she needed to breathe. She pulled back for air and he cupped her cheek with one hand, the other by her head holding his weight off of her.

“Ready for me, darlin’? He asked, the head of his cock resting against her entrance and she nodded vigorously. “Tell me if you need me to stop.”

He entered her slowly and she gasped, feeling suddenly as if all the air had been knocked from her lungs. Rhett moved at a glacial pace, giving her time to adjust to the feeling of his large cock stretching her open. He groaned as he felt her walls squeeze him, grunting when he finally bottomed out in her hot, wet cunt. He stayed still, giving her a minute to get used to the feeling of being stretched so deeply, resting his forehead against hers and murmuring encouragement and praise. He wiped a tear when it fell from the corner of her watering eyes and pressed a sweet kiss onto her lips, reminding her to breathe.

“You alright sweetheart?” he asked lowly and she took a breath, beginning to feel the discomfort fade and the pleasure return.

“Yes.” she said, gazing up into his blue eyes as he smiled down at her.

He began slow, pulling out almost all the way only to push back in at an agonizingly slow pace, increasing the speed just a miniscule amount with each thrust. When he bottomed out in her again after a few thrusts, she moaned and her legs went instinctively around his hips, heels digging into his ass like she was trying to keep him from pulling out.

“Faster, Rhett, please.” she moaned and he obliged, setting a steady pace as he thrust in and out.

As he sped up, she clung to him like a lifeline in the sea, tugging on his hair and raking her nails lightly (for the most part) across his back. The wet slapping noises of their bodies meeting rose in intensity, his grunts and her moans growing louder and louder until it was all she could hear. As he pounded into her, she threw her head back and closed her eyes in ecstasy. Never before had she been fucked so good and so hard and she was surprised at just how much she was loving missionary position, reveling in the intimacy of it instead of the impersonal and quick doggie style fucks most guys went for.

She could feel herself getting closer to the edge and evidently Rhett noticed too as he slipped a hand down between their bodies and rubbed circles on her clit, sending her crashing over into her third soul-crushing toe-curling orgasm of the night. Rhett wasn’t far behind, the feeling of her clamping down on his cock as she screamed in pleasure being enough to push him over the cliff, the pace of his hips stuttering as he came hard buried deep in her cunt. He groaned as he emptied himself into her, taking a moment to breathe and memorize the feeling of her around him before he pulled out and sat back on his heels. He watched in stunned awe as his cum mixed with hers, dripping out of her hole and onto the sheets.

Satisfied with himself, he smirked when he saw her staring up at the ceiling in a dazed bliss, glassy eyes and wide smile on her face. He put on his boxers and went to the bathroom for a washcloth and a glass of water. She vaguely registered him cleaning her up, coaxing her to drink from the cup and felt chaste kisses on her wrists as he confirmed she didn’t have rope burns. She had never felt so satisfied, her mind a pleasurable fog as he put his flannel shirt on her, buttoning it up before he clicked off the lamp and settled into bed beside her.

“You still with me, darlin’?” Rhett asked, pulling the sheets up to cover them both.

“Yeah… I just…” she replied, trying to force her brain to form coherent sentences instead of reveling in the post-orgasmic haze.

“Never been fucked like that by a city boy?” he asked with a grin that revealed he already knew the answer and she laughed as she turned her head to look at him, thoughts finally clearing up.

“Three orgasms in one night? No, no one’s ever done that.” she replied as he reached across her to grab her waist and hold her closer, her hand going to trail mindless patterns on his arm as she spoke. “Usually I’m lucky if I can get one that I don’t have to do myself.”

“That’s a damn crime.” Rhett said. “You deserve to be getting them morning, noon, and night… and a few in-between for good measure.”

“I gotta say you’re pretty good at pillow talk.” she replied.

“It ain’t just talk, sweetheart. You should be waking up with a mouth on your cunt every morning.” he said and she laughed, unsure if he was joking or not.

“I’ve always wanted to wake up like that.” she mused.

“Then that’s how I’ll get you up tomorrow morning.” Rhett replied and when she gazed into his blue eyes and that devilish grin, she knew he wasn’t kidding, a shiver of anticipation running down her spine.

“Careful cowboy, don’t make promises you can’t keep.” she said with a smile as she curled closer into his arms with her head on his chest, slowly letting sleep overtake her as she listened to his steady heartbeat. She was so exhausted that she wasn’t sure if she imagined him pressing a soft kiss to the top of her forehead just before she fell asleep.

She thought it was a dream at first, the feeling of a tongue lapping at her folds, a nose bumping against her clit. It felt heavenly, like she was an angel floating among the clouds, with only two strong arms anchored around her thighs to ground her and keep her tethered to reality. She sighed out a breathy little half-moan and heard a deep chuckle from the mouth at her core, the vibrations against her wet cunt only intensifying the sensations before the mouth retreated from her entirely.

“Ah, there’s my pretty little city girl wakin’ up for me.” A deep voice rasped and she opened her eyelids, still heavy with sleep, to find Rhett grinning up at her like a devil between her legs, the lower half of his face glinting with her slick.

“Rhett?” she asked sleepily. “What are you doing?”

“I promised you I’d wake you with my mouth on your cunt…” he replied. “And I always keep my promises.” He winked before licking a strip on her clit that made her throw her head back and moan.

Surprised that he was not only willing, but eager, to eat her out she moaned for him to continue. He obliged obediently, sucking at her clit as she begged for him not to stop, his strong arms anchored around her thighs to keep her wide open for him. With one hand tugging on his hair and the other gripping the sheets hard, she orgasmed, chanting his name like a prayer as she came on his face. Rhett dutifully rode her through the waves of her orgasm, smiling against her cunt as he was pleased with her pleasure. He licked one last stroke over her folds as she panted in the wake of her orgasm.

He climbed up her body to give her a hungry kiss, the taste of her still on his lips making her head spin before he pulled back.

“I think I just proved I was telling the truth when I said I’m real good at everything I do.” he said

“Are you always this humble?” she laughed.

“Modesty is overrated, sweetheart.” he replied, smiling before he kissed her once more, his fingers swiftly unbuttoning her flannel to give himself better access to her breasts. “My shirt looks better on you than it does on me… but I think it’d look even better on the floor.”

She giggled against his lips as he pulled it off of her, tossing it onto the floor as he continued to play with her breasts. His phone buzzed on the nightstand and he groaned as he rolled off her to check it.

“Fucking Perry…” he muttered and she laughed, remembering he had told her Perry was his older brother. “One sec darlin’.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, taking the time to ogle at his naked torso in the daylight. His bruise was getting worse and she was noticing more in other spots that she hadn’t seen before in the low lamp light. His bull rider tattoo on his right pec looked even better now that she could make out all the little details. She had marked him up with some hickies, no doubt in her mind that she looked much the same. Realizing she had to use the bathroom, she sat up and swung her legs over the edge, pausing to look back at Rhett when he asked where she was going.

“To the bathroom and then maybe a shower, that alright with you cowboy?” she asked sarcastically and he shook his head and smiled.

She went to stand up but her legs were too wobbly and she began to fall, Rhett lunging forwards to catch her, wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her back up onto the bed, now sitting right behind her. He laughed and she could feel his chest rumbling against her back, clearly proud of himself for contributing to her current state.

“Not funny, Rhett.” she scolded, shaking her head as she was unable to stop herself from smiling.

“You seem to very clumsy sweetheart, that’s twice now I’ve caught you while you’re falling.” he joked. “Maybe I make you a little weak at the knees, huh?”

“Asshole.” she laughed, shoving him away before he swept her off her feet and began walking her to the bathroom, her arms quickly flying around his neck.

He carried her to the bathroom, depositing her on the toilet before stepping to the sink to get a drink. After she finished her business, she stuck her head out the door and batted her eyelashes at him.

“Wanna join me in the shower, cowboy?” she asked coyly and he smirked as she crooked a finger towards him.

“I believe I’m obliged to, someone needs to keep you from slipping and falling again on your shaky little legs.” he joked as he walked to the shower and turned it on.

She should have known that having just an innocent shower was impossible with Rhett Abbott. What started as him washing her back quickly turned sexual when his hands wandered down to her ass and she found herself yet again being railed within an inch of her life by him. Afterwards, she shooed him off so she could wash her hair without him trying to seduce her again and once he ensured that she could stand on her own with a cheeky little smile, he hopped out to get dressed while she finished her shower. When she walked out of the bathroom covered only by a towel, Rhett tried to steal her it to make her laugh before they began making out once more.

“I wish I could just spend all day between your legs.” he groaned, trying to pull himself away from her so he didn’t do just that. “I could show you all the different uses for my lasso that are way better than roping cattle.”

“Tempting offer but I think my brother would break down the door thinking I was in trouble if I didn't come out.” she said with a laugh as she patted his chest and playfully pushed him away. “Speaking of which, you’d better get out of here before he comes to pick me up.”

She quickly got dressed, spying him slipping her ripped panties from the previous night into his back pocket with a cheeky smile out of the corner of her eye.

“Excuse me sir, are you stealing my panties?” she asked with a laugh.

“Well ma’am, I have to know what size and brand to get you for a replacement.” he replied smugly. “That’s all it is.”

“Oh, that’s all is it?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in amusement as she pulled him against her by his belt. “It wouldn’t be because you want a souvenir of your conquest? Because I don’t think it’s very fair that you get one and I don’t.”

“Well, I could give you my boxers but going commando for a day of ranch work might be a little painful.” he said and she shook her head. “So, how about this as a souvenir?” Rhett asked as he placed his hat on her head.

“So if cowboy law says that a girl taking a cowboy’s hat and putting it on her head means she’s going home with him, what does a cowboy taking off his hat and putting it on her head mean?” she asked and he smirked.

“You’ll have to find out by going out with me again tonight.” he replied.

“Hmm.” she said, pretending to think about his offer. “I guess I might be free tonight for some more lessons. Besides, I told you last night that I wanted to get my mouth on your cock and I still haven't so I have some promises to keep too…”

“Damn it woman, you’re really gonna make it real hard for me to leave aren't you?” he asked and she laughed.

“I’m certainly making something hard.” she said with a smirk as she trailed a hand down to palm his hardening bulge before stepping away to open the door in feigned innocence. “See you tonight, cowboy.”

“Can I get your number before I go, darlin’?” he asked as he stepped out the door and a sly smile grew on her face.

“Check your shirt pocket.” she said with a smirk and a wink before closing the door, leaving him dumbfounded on her doorstep when he reached into the pocket of his flannel and pulled out a slip of paper with her number on it, knowing that he’d truly met his match.

Looking through the peephole, she watched him walk towards his truck, a slight spring in his step. She could hear him whistling even through the door and down the hall and she laughed when she realized that it was the same song that had been playing when he fingered her in the cab of his truck, the same one he had been humming when he had been tying her up.

Peering out the curtains of the window, she watched him drive away, her brother’s truck passing Rhett’s exiting one as he entered the parking lot and she could swear that she saw her brother staring Rhett down through the windshield. Quickly, she got dressed and ready to go before heading down to the parking lot, deciding to leave Rhett’s hat on her head to mess with her brother. Sam was checking his phone when she hopped in the front seat, Jenna and the kids in the back seat.

“Good morning!” she said cheerfully and he nodded as he glanced over at her, returning his eyes to the wheel before they shot open in surprise and he had to do a double take.

“Whose hat is that?” he asked sternly. “That had better not be Rhett Abbott’s.”

“In an attempt to stop you from having a heart attack, I’m choosing not to answer that question.” she replied, barely able to hide her smug smirk at her brother’s panic.

“Good for you, girl!” Jenna cried, leaning forwards from the backseat between her children’s car seats to pat her sister-in-law on the shoulder. “Domesticate that wild cowboy.”

“No!” Sam said quickly, turning to look at his wife in stunned disbelief. “There will be no ‘domesticating’ any cowboys, especially not Rhett Abbott.”

“We’ll talk later…” Jenna mouthed to Y/N with a wink as she sat back in her seat.

Sam sighed grumpily, his face contorting into a frown as he shifted gears and pulled the truck out of the parking lot and down the road towards their ranch.

“Auntie Y/N, can I be the flower girl at the wedding?” Sarah asked suddenly from the back seat and Sam just about jumped out of his skin.

“WHAT?” he panickedly sputtered, Jesse laughing at his dad’s reaction. “Sarah Ann Y/L/N, what are you talking about?”

“Wearing someone else’s hat means that you like like them.” Sarah replied, cheerfully. “Chrissy and the older girls told me that her big sister was wearing a guy’s hat and the next week they got married!”

“If there’s a wedding, do I have to wear my sunday clothes?” Jesse whined. “I hate them, they’re so itchy!”

“No one is wearing sunday clothes because no one is getting married!” Sam insisted, his wife and sister struggling not to laugh at how virulently against even the suggestion of his little sister marrying the so-called “manwhore of Wabang”.

Y/N was so amused that she didn’t even try to reassure her brother that she was not going to be getting married after one date, but she also didn’t mention her second date with Rhett later that evening, deciding to give his heart a rest for a while as she thought about what cowgirl lessons Rhett might teach her that night.

#rhett abbott #rhett abbott x reader #rhett abbott x y/n #outer range #outer range fic #lewis pullman #lewis pullman said manwhore rights

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0blobthefish0 · 7 months

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Could you do a part 3 for One last time? (Preferably happy end)

amelia shepherd masterlist | main masterlist

Part 1, Part 2

One Last Time Part 3

Amelia Shepherd x Female Raeder 3,268 words

You had been fired. Fired from your corporate job, the awkward walk with a box full of your stuff in your hands - only to be seen in movies - was real and you were embarrassed beyond belief. In all fairness you hadn't been fired, you had been cut, but it might as well have been the same thing; you were still without a job.

Your friend stared at you with a frown as she watched you let out another dramatic sigh over the situation you had found yourself in. The two of you had already talked about how unhappy your previous job had made you: the endless hours, the never changing days, the strict dress code and the entitled men. God, you never wanted to go back into a job like that ever again.

"Babysit." Your friend blurted out. You turned your head and raised a singular brow at her that read the word 'really?' "Don't look at me like that, Isaac loves you."

"He fell out of a tree." You dead-panned which made her laugh, but you serious what if Isaac hadn't been so lucky?

"Eh- it was his own fault. Kids are tough." She shrugged as she took a sip of her wine. "You've been there ever since Isaac was born, helping where you could even before his dad left." She stood up and patted your knee, "Think about it, I think you'd do great." She told you as she walked off into the kitchen.

That night you had spent your time researching, and the more that you had, the more that the thought of babysitting became no longer just a thought but something tangible - something truly obtainable. Over the course of a few months, you had begun your journey - training the skills you'd need for your new job. And then you had started your first, official, babysitting job; and you loved it. Every day was something new, it was exciting, bringing something into your life that you hadn't realised had even left - joy. Only after a few months of servicing the standard babysitting, you had decided to switch to a company that focused on providing for those who had more taxing jobs: firefighters, entrepreneurs, paramedics, those who have to travel for work and, of course, surgeons, nurses and doctors.

You checked once again that you had the correct address and pressed a finger to the doorbell; you heard a dull clatter and then the click-clacking of heels on a hard floor before the door swung open. A tall, red-headed woman stood in front of you, a slightly stressed smile on her face as she quickly welcomed you in. Addison Montgomery. You had met before, for your compatibility test, a key part in the hiring process - especially when you'd be spending a lot more time with her son than the regular babysitter. The second you had met Henry, you fell in love with him. So young, but already had such a big character.

"Henry's sleeping right now, just in that room over there, all of his things are in here, there's food in the fridge if you wanna cook or there's money if you'd like to order something," Addison said hurriedly as she gave you a very quick tour of the ground floor of the ocean-side house. "Again, I'm so sorry to call you so late, it's just that I got paged and-" she let out a nervous laugh and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"It's no problem, it is my job after all," you replied and sent her a comforting smile as you followed her to the door. "Now, you should really get going, you have nothing to worry about. I can even send updates if you'd like?" You offered, she was a first-time mum, leaving your child in the care of somebody else was stressful, especially the first time around.

"That'd be perfect, really, I cannot thank you enough." Her eyes flicked to her watch and she stepped outside her door, "okay thank you so, so much, I have to go." You lingered by the door as she ran toward her door, and just as you were about to turn away you heard her shout. "Another person lives here too, just so you don't freak out or anything if she does come home!" You gave her a thumbs up as she rolled up the window and sped off into the night.

▫▫▫

"ADDISON!" Amelia shouted as she stood in front of the open fridge, a hand on each door, as she eyed a tub of leftover pasta.

"Gosh, I'm right here," Addison lightly scolded as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Amelia looked over her shoulder sheepishly and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Can I eat this?" She questioned holding up the tub.

"Yeah," Addison replied with a wave of her hand as she put away Henry's toys that were littered across the floor. Amelia scooped out a portion into her bowl before pushing it into the microwave, almost instantly a divine smell wafted out from behind the door as it heated up her meal. As Amelia shovelled a forkful into her mouth she let out a delighted hum.

"God, this is amazing, who cooked this?" She gasped as she pushed more into her mouth. "Cause it definitely wasn't you." Addison rolled her eyes as she shook her head in reply to Amelia's stab at her.

"Why do you say it like I can't cook?" Addison huffed to which Amelia only raised a brow. "The new babysitter cooked it last night, she's really good with Henry, she's perfect honestly. I was so glad she was able to come on such short notice yesterday."

"Well, you should give her a raise because this," she pointed at the pasta with her fork, "is art." As Amelia swallowed another forkful, she couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia; little did she know that, not even twelve hours earlier, you had been dancing around the kitchen singing to Henry as you chopped up a few tomatoes.

▫▫▫

It had been a month after your first night with Henry and Addison couldn't be happier- you were a big help, always being available for when she was suddenly called in for an emergency. Amelia, however, was yet to meet Addison's god-sent babysitter.

You pushed the key into the lock and quickly shut the door behind you. Addison wasn't home; she had called you saying that she was needed at the hospital and to let yourself in as she wasn't going to be there because her sister was home. You hang your coat on the rack before making your way to Henry's room to check on him, the steady pitter-patter of the shower sounded throughout the house, a telltale sign that somebody else was here. Henry was sleeping soundly and so you started on cleaning the kitchen in preparation of cooking Addison's request for that night.

Amelia stepped out of the shower, her hair wet as she wrapped a towel around herself and tiptoed outside of the bathroom. However, she stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes landed on a door. Just a door, it had been there when she got in and it was there now as she was stepping out. Her brows furrowed as she stared at it. Though still ajar, the door was less ajar than she had remembered. Now, if Amelia hadn't known that she was alone she wouldn't have given it a second thought. But she did and she grew more nervous as each second went by. A clang echoed from downstairs and Amelia felt her heartbeat quicken.

With caution, Amelia stepped down the stairs and peeked through the bannisters for a glimpse of the intruder, but saw nothing. With a deep, soundless, breath, she slinked down the remainder of the stairs and tip-toed her way through the corridor, the clanging getting louder. She saw movement from the corner of her eye and froze. One second passed and then another, stretching for much longer than she thought was possible before a figure shot though the air and smashed into the window, causing Amelia to jump backward.

A bird. Amelia felt herself relax, the towel slacking around her shoulders. After a few more seconds, she saw as the poor bird picked itself up from the floor and hurtled, once again, full force at the window, wincing as she heard the familiar crash and thump. She needed a towel in order to help the bird out and so she started for the kitchen. Little did she know that you were in there, recovering from being 'attacked' by the bird and just about to grab the hand towel from the rack, edging closer and closer to each other without evening knowing it.

Amelia rounded the corner; and let out a frightened shout. Clasping a hand over her chest as she heaved in oxygen. "Jesus fuck!"

"Amelia?" You almost shouted, but there was really no need - you knew that voice anywhere.

"Y/n!" She gaped in shock causing her hand to slip on its hold on the towel ever so slightly. You felt your cheeks reddening at her appearance; damp hair, bright eyes and glowing skin which was only covered by a small towel.

"I um, yeah, what-" your eyes widened and pointed blindly with your thumb behind you- "Addie." Your realisation hit you like a brick, you were working for the Addison, the same Addison that was Amelia's found sister. You watched as Amelia nodded her head that same pout on her lips that she always did, some things never changed.

"You're the babysitter," Amelia hummed as she came to her own revelation. Comically, Henry's cries sounded throughout the kitchen from the monitor and you quickly excused yourself and disappeared, not before Amelia stole a quick look at you leaving. A small smile overcoming her lips before it quickly fell with the widening of her blue eyes.

▫▫▫

Time could not move more quickly; Henry was already a year old and you and Amelia had been dancing around each other for many months. As she became more comfortable around you, you couldn't help but recognise more of her old self; the small habits, the little mannerisms and the quick facial expressions. God, you felt like a teenager again. Falling for the same person.

You fell back onto the sofa with an exhausted sigh - getting Henry down was proving much harder now that he had the physical ability to explore, it being all that he wanted to do - and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. As you flicked through the endless number of films and shows you heard keys to the front door jingle before it cracked open. Heavy boots echoed throughout the silent room, only lit by the light from the television, as they moved closer. You already knew who it was; you could pick her out in a room, blind.

"Y/n!" She greeted with her wide grin as she threw her keys onto the counter.

"How was work?" You questioned as she passed you, kicking off her shoes and falling back onto the sofa next to you. So close her thigh was pressed up against yours, the heat of her skin blooming across yours causing your cheeks to burn ever so slightly.

"It was alright, nothing too special, just one aneurysm after the other," she mumbled before reaching over you to grab a handful of crisps. "What're we watching?" She nodded, mouth full, toward the screen.

"Oh-" you let out, quickly directing your attention away from her, "nothing yet." You felt Amelia turn to you, raising a brow and taking the remote from you, and before you could protest, music sounded throughout the room. "What's this?"

"Something good," she replied, eyes already glued to the screen, and you couldn't help the smile pulling at the corners of your lips before turning to stare at the same screen.

Your skin was burning - not like how it does when it touches something just out of the oven, but more as if you had been struck by lightning. You felt static. Amelia had inched further, cuddling into your side as your hand rested on her waist; how it happened? You didn't know. The scene displayed in front of you was serene, romantic, like a field of wildflowers and your skin was tingly - like the feeling of holding something that was about to fall. You felt her shift softly beside you and you turned your head, only for your breath to hitch, her blue eyes already on yours. You searched her eyes, as music began to play, and watched intently as they flicked to your lips. You mirrored her movements. Heart steadily picking up speed. Lup-dup. Her tongue poked out to wet her bottom lip. Lup-dup. You did the same. Lup-dup. Your eyes connected; and she began to lean in. Lup-dup, lup-dup. Your hand pulled her in further and her fingers lightly touched your collar bone. Lup-dup, lup-dup, lup-dup. Her soft lips met yours, your eyes fluttered closed, and the two of you moved rhythmically like a song remembered only once it begins to play. Her hands feeling across the top of your chest before she found purchase on your shoulders as she unconsciously swung a leg over your lap to straddle you.

And then the two of you jolted away. Henry's cries blaring through the room. Cutting sharply through your moment. Her chest heaved in time with yours as she stared down at you with her pupil-blown eyes. You swallowed nervously and Henry let out his second wave of screams.

Soundlessly, Amelia slid off of your lap and sat cross-legged on the sofa as she watched you send her a nervous smile and hurriedly make your way up to the baby. Leaving her picking at her pink, swollen lips - courtesy of you - with a shit-eating grin on her face.

You didn't see Amelia until a week later when you were pushed into a storage cupboard.

"There's a special thing happening at mummy's work today and you get to meet all of her friend's kids," you answered Henry's question as you pulled his top over his head. "You're gonna make a ton of new friends today, Henry." You promised him before you scooped him up in your arm and swung his bag onto your other shoulder.

You hear the sound of a loud horn come from outside and you quickly rushed down the stairs and out the door to see the Uber that you had asked for waiting just outside the house. You gave Henry his dummy after you strapped him securely into the back seat, before climbing into the passenger's side as you apologised for being late.

After a few moments of awkward silence - only filled by the low rumble of the engine and the constant noise of the outdoors - the driver, John, turned to you. You gave him a quick smile as he found the words to say, before he shook his head and continued the journey just as it had started.

You saw the hospital come into view and you quickly checked the time only for your eyes to widen, Addison was going to kill you. As soon as the car rolled to a stop you leapt out of the passenger door and pulled open the back door to unclip Henry from the seat and pull him up into you. "Thank you! Wait-" you started as you began to rummage through the pockets in your trousers, "here." You pushed a note into the man's hand and you moved to close the door.

"Is he yours?" The driver questioned, pausing you from closing the door fully. You could hear the judgement in his voice; you looked younger than you were, but to have that firsthand account of prejudice just because you had a baby with you - you couldn't believe it.

"No." You said bluntly with a scowl and closed the door shut, harder than you normally would, and turned forcefully on your heel into the hospital. Addison was the first person to greet you, taking Henry from your arms, before she guided you to the nursery quickly.

"Where have you been, Y/n?" She questioned your tardiness.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry! But I couldn't find Henry's dummy this morning and he did not want to wear his clothes today. And! That Uber driver definitely thought I was Henry's mother and was definitely judging me for it. I could see it in that man's eyes, y'know?" You rambled as you skipped every other step just to catch up with her.

Addison sent you a sad smile and then she was pushing through the door to the nursery. Your mood instantly brightened, it was as if a paint factory had exploded; the kids were dipping their hands and feet into paint and pressing them into the white walls - with the help of an adult of course.

"Addison, I'll just put the bags here and be in my way," you walked to the collection of bags in the corner and squatted down as you checked that Henry had everything he needed.

"You can stay if you'd like," Addison urged. "You know that Henry adores you," she frowned as she made Henry look at you."

"Awwh I'm really sorry, Henry, but I've got something nice in the oven." You looked over to Addison, "Your favourite," and you watched as her face lit up as she hummed at the thought.

"Okay, fine, say bye-bye to Y/n," she told him as she moved his hand to wave goodbye. You let out a wide grin as you said your goodbyes and left the nursery.

You paused. Mentally bashing yourself for not looking around as you had previously followed Addison through the hospital. You squinted, telling yourself that you did in fact know the way before taking one step after the other.

You were lost. Definitely lost. And where was everyone? Weren't you in a hospital? You let out a deep breath before continuing on your journey, when a familiar figure came from behind a corner.

"Amelia!" You sighed happily as you began to move to her side. She looked serious and you slowed down slightly, but she was still coming closer.

"Hi," she began when she was close enough to put a hand on your back and guide you, quite forcefully you'll admit, into a storage cupboard. The door closed behind her.

"Woah! What, hello?" Your eyebrows furrowed as your eyes searched Amelia for answers.

"Can we talk?" She sounded so serious and you instantly zipped your mouth shut and nodded your head. "We kissed," you nodded your head again, "I really like you and if you want to- I'd really like to try again. I've changed, I promise."

Amelia was picking at her fingers as a smile grew on your face. "Amelia, I really like you too and I'd love if we tried again." Amelia's head shot up and her blue eyes bore into yours.

"Really?" And you let out a laugh as you pulled her closer.

"Yes, really. Of course, really." You smiled and Amelia pressed her lips to your own in a sweet kiss. The smile on your face mirrored by her, until your face fell.

"Shit."

Let's just say that Addison's muffins were definitely burnt to a crisp. However, you and Amelia had lots of fun remaking them: teaching her the recipe, (her) making a mess, dancing to music and stealing kisses in between breaks. The two of you were going to be just fine.

#female reader #x reader #reader #grey's anatomy #reader insert #fluff #wlw #private practice #amelia shepherd x female reader #Blob's fics

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ohmygodtheywereparabatai · 15 days

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i wanted to invite a conversation about this because it’s genuinely been bothering me for a long time. and i in fact wasn’t immune to it either and am just now realizing this is the power of cinematic brainwashing.

but like, tgm is so many bad things. sexist, racist, ageist, to scratch the tip of the iceberg. token characters that meet the bare minimum for diversity, and sidelined women - i’d even say exploited women. a narrative that is so egocentric that it’s miraculous that some characters manage to hold their own instead of being swept under the charismatic magnetism of the reckless bad boy character who can get away with murder because deep down, he’s regretful, and he has a good heart.

what a shallow representation of the military, and what a disservice to those who were inspired to join because they thought the real life experience would mirror even a fraction of what is presented on screen. the reality is that there was never a competition to win a top gun trophy, and in fact today you have to pay 5$ at the top gun school if you even mention the film. that speaks for itself.

tom cruise being a huge part of the production process has made it impossible for me not to hold him responsible for the choices that have been made. to even subtitle the sequel movie with “Maverick”, the same protagonist as in the first one, comes across as insanely egotistical - and honestly a testament to how mav’s story manages to drown out the autonomy and validity of other characters. i’ll explain this terms of ice, penny, carole, and charlie. you’ll notice how i’m gonna be bringing up three women.

ice-

i don’t care that val kilmer gave the okay on using his cancer as a plot point. i care that cancer was not only used as a plot point, but treated like this ^

“i’m dying. you have bigger problems.”

the original script seems to peel back the layers of tgm’s intended messaging, so i’m using several examples. this is what is being communicated. i honestly don’t know what else to add. in or out of context, this is incredibly disturbing - and that it’s played as a self-aware quip from ice, even more so. the bond of wingmen goes both ways, and i just didn’t see that… if anything, that aspect leaned so heavily on the first film (the photo of them smiling at each other) that it just proves my point. it took ice’s death for mav to get up off his ass and do something to keep his career afloat besides get a cop-out from the compacflt. ice in the first movie was a compelling antagonist and voice of reason - now he’s mostly relegated to the role of babysitter, denying mav’s character the growth of accountability by simply erasing his poor choices with a phone call.

it’s why the darkstar scene pisses me off. to stop at mach 10 would have been fine, but to push it just for the sake of it is ridiculous. the fact that earlier mav states “i know what happens to everyone else if i don’t” in regards to his decision only makes this screw-up more laughable, because to me it’s the very contradiction of maverick: his intentions do not balance with his actions. costing the military millions of dollars in a few seconds somehow balances with his heartfelt desire to protect the interests of its workforce.

penny-

shortly before, during, and after this screenshot, i counted a total of 6 times that penny made it clear she would not appreciate mav’s advances. regardless, mav goes on to say “you look good”. this flirtation happens before mav is even aware of her marital status, as he asks amelia “where’s your dad?” in a later scene… which… dear god.

penny also says “it always ends the same with us, so let’s not start this time”, indicating this is a repeated pattern in which her boundaries weren’t respected and moreover, the relationship ended up failing. yet this is framed as the main romance of tgm, a wonderful and nostalgic callback to the original that ends as stereotypically as possible.

i love penny. she’s witty, caring, independent, and of course stunning. so i find her treatment in tgm a disservice to what started out as a rich and compelling character. she later ends up mav’s shoulder to cry on, more or less, comforting him after losing his wingman and his position as instructor. the song “hold my hand” is thematically suited for penny, playing in the background at the bar and in the notes of the score during her scenes - even musically, she is turned into a source of consolation first, and her own woman second. she’s his prize at the end of the film, falling for the promise “i’m never gonna leave you again”, which i don’t buy for a second. they fly into the sunset, presumably signifying a new horizon for their relationship - but i feel so dissatisfied with this arc for her and think she deserved much better.

that mav gets away with this behavior is something i’d like to see more people reflect on. it seems to be a pattern with male protagonists, in which case the function of male and protagonist in hollywood cinema needs an examination.

carole-

top gun (1986):

this is an especially crude exploitation to me. not only is carole the one consoling a young maverick (if a full-fledged 24 year old can be called young, in light of the tendency people have to dismiss his choices in ‘86) after his mistake costs her own husband his life… but her stance, even following a tragedy of that magnitude, didn’t change. goose would have flown anyway, and she knows that well enough - on top of that, it’s easy to see she would have supported him.

it came as a surprise to me that she wouldn’t in turn support her own son, who is clearly committed to a career as a pilot. in the end, i see a cheap narrative device that contradicts carole’s character, undermines her strength as a wife and mother, both in order to serve the interests of the plot. maverick in tgm needs a viable reason to hide a secret, to be tortured by his own consequences, to put further strain on his tension with bradley. there were plenty of other ways to do it, but the fact that it was this leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

charlie-

it’s my understanding that tom cruise’s personal reason (his excuse) for not bringing back charlie was that he didn’t like how their relationship ended. if there’s any source confirming or denying this, i’d appreciate a link.

anyways. yeah. this is… a huge problem with hollywood at large, which kelly mcgillis understands, but i’ll break it down. there’s a simpler reason this pisses me off more than anything. tgm’s entire subject matter is about repairing relationships. penny benjamin was dredged out of obscurity to do it. maverick and rooster’s grudge of 30+ years was used to do it. iceman’s character, as warped as he feels, is another way the film made this its theme. but charlie is out of the question?

that val kilmer could be asked to return, and make an insane amount of money for each second he’s on screen, but such an opportunity is never given to kelly mcgillis, who herself centers on the 1986 poster, speaks volumes to me. tom cruise even planted his foot when it came to reprising iceman, saying he wouldn’t do this movie without val in it.

it’s worth mentioning that viper and slider were also present at ice’s funeral, but this scene was cut out. for a film that’s quite heavy-handed with its nostalgic callbacks, this was an odd decision. until realizing, as my friend put it, that even ice’s death couldn’t be about him, whether it had brought in his own teacher or his rio - his goose. it had to revolve around mav, to catalyze a turning point for him in the plot.

also… a shoutout to the erasure of sarah kazansky, pretty much everywhere. that also tells me a lot.

…

this was just a dissection of the various character portrayals (or absences) in tgm that have bothered me since forever. this isn’t even going into how tgm accomplishes everything that propaganda sets out to do. combinations of stunning visuals, soaring music composed by masters like hans zimmer, the charismatic power of a cast packed with stars… all play a role in the blinding awesomeness of tgm, which has taken me this long to break away from.

consider the white/poc duos in the film: maverick and hondo, hangman and coyote, cyclone and warlock. who has more lines? who plays a greater role? why is that?

i don’t see this as real diversity. it masquerades as inclusion, which i find worse. and to cast an actor of asian descent, and give him the callsign yale? … wow.

framing is powerful. its influence in cinematography is unmatched. a story is being constructed and told not only through dialogue, but sound, visuals, editing… really, nothing can be dismissed as insignificant. i’m not asking for a scholarly interrogation of all media you consume, though, that would be so excellent, and so healthy… but i am trying to raise these questions in the community, of what gets lost when a main character is so overwhelmingly main. when someone like tc has so much control over the decision-making process, since it’s sort of a running joke that maverick is a tc self-insert. my focus isn’t the inclusions, but the exclusions.

and finally, since i’ve unfortunately spent a lot of life writing this post… it’s interesting to me that many viewers in hindsight seem to see top gun 1986 so differently. as kids, they sided with mav over the antagonist. an older audience returning to the first film now seem to side with iceman, seeing him as the rational one attempting to raise important points. i wonder if this will be the case with top gun: maverick in the future. in which case, i’m excited to see more cyclone fans. he’s my favorite character… unsurprisingly.

oh. one last thing.

“the man, the myth, the legend” … the word myth has two meanings:

…

happy reading.

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callsignspark · 7 months

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soft-tober | 09 | Bradley Bradshaw

soft-tober is about experiencing the joys of October with loved ones. each day is a fall-related one-shot for one of the couples from my Dagger, Sword & Shield universe, plus a few extras! today is Bradley and Mary with “Is this costume too revealing?” from this prompt list.

If you’d like to be tagged for soft-tober, please send an ask!

word count: 1.2k

soft-tober masterlist | main masterlist | divider credit here

warnings: extreme fluff, this takes place in 2024, body insecurities after giving birth, this gets a little raunchy so minors go away

callsignspark disclaimer: my blog is an 18+ space; minors do not interact - you will be blocked. I do not consent to my work being copied, run through an AI generator, translated, or posted elsewhere. I do have an AO3, where I eventually will be cross-posting my works.

09. "Is this costume too revealing?"

“I just don’t like it! He’s a good kid, but I don’t like it!”

Mary hums as her husband continues complaining, talking circles around himself while she’s stuck in her thoughts. She knows that she’s worrying about the wrong thing. They just dropped the twins off at the Benjamin-Mitchell household with Amelia and her boyfriend, Josh. Trusting the two teenagers to watch the ten-month-old Bradshaw girls for a few hours while they attend a Halloween party.

“I trust him, he’s a good kid, but does he have to be there? I guess it makes sense for there to be two babysitters, one for each girl… but I still don’t like it! Maybe we shouldn’t go. No, Amelia is smart; she can handle it.”

If this were a movie, she would be worrying right alongside Bradley about whether the kids were going to throw a rager while babysitting. And in real life, if it were any other night, she’d be concerned about leaving the girls, even if it’s just a couple hours. Especially considering this is the first time they’ve left the babies with anyone who’s not a seasoned parent.

But she’s not worried about that. Because it’s Halloween and the invite had said to bring a friend and come dressed like them. So, she’s wearing a flight suit tied around her waist, with a skin-tight bodysuit, that feels like it’s digging into every bump, lump, and roll of her post-partum body. She hasn’t been this uncomfortable since giving birth.

“Is this costume too revealing?”

She knows she’s worried about the wrong thing.

“And I heard you tell her to make out with him after- what?” Wide brown eyes bounce back and forth between her and the road, a confused look washing over his face.

“Is it too… ya know, too much?”

“No.” Bradley says it with such conviction that her brain almost lets it go. Almost.

“You’re just saying that because you like how much my boobs are out.”

“I will never complain about your boobs - especially if you’ve got my call sign over my favorite one - but you just have a little bit of cleavage. It’s not revealing at all.”

Mary glances down at her chest, the patch she had gotten made with Bradley’s helmet logo stitched carefully on her left boob, and realizes that while her breasts are one of the problems, they’re not the main problem.

“I just…” She sighs, wondering if trying to explain is even worth it. Bradley has only ever been self-conscious about the scars on his neck and face, never about his figure. He’s always been in great shape, no jiggling or wiggling like her body. “I feel like I’m out all over the place.”

“It’s because you’re breastfeeding, baby doll.”

“I’m going to flash everyone!”

“Lucky them.” He murmurs, ignoring his wife’s shocked noise as he turns down Javy’s street. “Where are we going to park?”

“Bradley!”

“Hang on, lemme park first.”

She huffs, looking out the window as he parallel parks in one of the last open spaces, the van jolting slightly as they stop. I still can’t believe we’re the kind of people with a minivan, she thinks as Bradley unbuckles them. Mary can feel him leaning towards her, a big hand making its way to her thigh.

“Mary, what’s going on?”

She sighs; he won’t let it go, it’s best to just talk to him about it. Which is easier said than done.

“My body changed a lot with the pregnancy, which I knew would happen. I had twins. I just thought I would be back to normal by now, especially with the breastfeeding.” Bradley doesn’t say anything; just brushes her hair back with a big, warm hand. “I know it’s stupid, but there’s a part of my brain - that sounds a lot like my mother - that keeps telling me how many women lose weight and get smaller when they breastfeed.”

A quiet gasp escapes her. It’s the first time she’s said it out loud and heard how terrible she’s being to herself.

Bradley opens his mouth, but she cuts him off. “I know what you’re going to say.”

He chuckles, “Oh, yeah? What am I gonna say?”

“That I’m just as beautiful as the day we met, and you can’t believe I grew and gave birth to your two favorite people in the world. That you love me.”

“Not bad.” He hums, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. “You forgot a few things, though.”

“What?”

“You forgot the part where I tell you how fucking sexy you are. That I love you no matter what your body looks like, and I always will. I gotta admit, though, these?” Bradley trails kisses down her neck, pulling the stretchy collar of her bodysuit down, groaning when he catches sight of red lace. “These are incredible.”

“Don’t get used to them; they’re temporary.” Mary pants as he nips at the sensitive skin of her breast, right where his call sign has been sitting for the last hour.

“Guess I’ll just have to get you pregnant again.”

She moans at the casual way he says it, his tongue brushing over her nipple through the lace of her bra. He looks up at her, through his lashes, as he takes her nipple between his teeth, his big brown eyes making sure she’s paying attention before he sucks it into his mouth.

“Bradley!” She gasps, pulling at his curls, unsure if she wants more or if she wants to push him away.

“Yeah, honey?” He pulls off, the damp fabric cooling against the stiff bud. “You want more?”

“I- not in public!”

“Why? It’s not like I haven’t done that before.”

“Yeah, yeah. King of unclogging my milk ducts, folks.” Mary teases even as she lets her eyes drag over him, taking in every detail. The way he’s panting because of her. Eyes big and glassy because of her. Hard under his costume because of her. “Get in the backseat.”

“What?”

“Backseat, Bradshaw. Now.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re the one that wants to get me pregnant again, right?” She asks as she wiggles back into the third row of the minivan, leaving her husband gaping in the front seat. “Let's try right now.”

“Jesus fuc- We’re going home.”

“What! Why?” Mary whines, so worked up the windows are going to start fogging up any second.

“We’re going home. I’m going to bend you over the couch, and then we’re coming back to the party. Just let me text Mav and Penny to ask them to take the girls overnight.”

“Oh, god, I love you! You’re so smart!”

“Stay there.”

Mary freezes where she was starting to climb back to the front. “What?”

“Stay. There.” Bradley starts the van, checking his mirrors to pull out. “You’re going to get yourself ready for me, so when we get home there’s no time wasted.”

The car’s audio system interrupts him, telling them Penny texted, agreeing to take the kids, and ordering them to have fun. The two parents giggle; it’s the first time they’ve really let go since the twins were born in January, and they’re going to make the most of it.

And make the most of it they do.

#elle’s soft october #top gun maverick fic #top gun maverick au #top gun maverick imagine #top gun fic #top gun au #top gun imagine #DSS universe #bradley rooster bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw fic #bradley rooster bradshaw x oc #bradley bradshaw x oc #bradley bradshaw imagine #rooster imagine #Mar(r)y Me fic #MM fic #elle writes

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lyomeii · 2 years

Text

Yandere Regis Floyen

->warnings: yandere themes, blackmailing?, manipulation(?), tag me if i need to add more

->request by anon! Can I ask some gen hc with regis and max from father I don't want this marriage?

->a/n: sorry for take so long on this, since tumblr delete both of my drafts, i will post regis today and max tomorrow ( or today if i finished him ), for now, enjoy it~

-> his wife died a little after jubellian was born, and of course, his heart was broken but he stayed stronger to raised his little girl

-> and how he met you, the new babysitter who was recently hire by the headmaid, a sweet soul he could say, with your gentle touch on jubellian and smiles makes the little girl laugh more than the usual

-> when he couldn’t take care of jubellian, you were there, holding her little hands with happiness, he felt his cheeks warmth, seeing his daughter interact with you remembering the family he once wished to had, maybe you could help with that

-> took him a while to convence himself about his true feelings, and when does that, he confess his feelings to you during the tea time with his daughter causing a few problems

-> jubellian loves you and she is so happy that you are going to be her new mother/father but you don’t, you never felt anything for regis but a boss-employee relationship but you promised yourself to never make the little girl cry, so you accepted

-> and the second problem is the others servants in the household, they enjoy the new atmosphere and they hope to never return to the previous one

-> and the third being the fact he is a duke, someone who can easily find anything about you, your family, connections, and use it againt you, he didn’t let much a choice, didn’t he?

-> in a couple of weeks, you were married to regis, becoming the new duchess Floyen and now jubellian is you daughter, what a delightful live you now have

-> and regis is willing to kill and destroy anything or anyone to keep it that way

Your new life!

-> nothing much didn’t really change, you still care of jubellian, the difference is that you are now married to her father

-> regis makes sure you are never actually alone, when he is busy with his works, maids and sometimes knights watch you and serve you whatever you need

-> and when regis has time, he makes sure to spend with you and jubellian, according to him, you three need good memories

-> in balls and anything relating to other nobles, regis doesn’t let you get away from his eyes, he already lost amelia, he can’t lost you now

@lyomeii stuff || don’t repost

#yandere headcanon #yandere imagine #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere male #yandere x you #regis floyen x reader #yandere regis floyen #father i don't want this marriage #father i dont want to get married #father i don’t want to get married x reader #father i don’t want to get married imagine #yandere Regis floyen headcanon #yandere manhwa

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crazyk-imagine · 2 years

Text

The Good, The Bad, and The Working on It

Pairing: (Stepdad) Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Mom!Reader

Characters: (Stepdad) Jake “Hangman” Seresin, Mom!Reader, Edwin and Maryanne (the kiddos), Penny Benjamin, Amelia Benjamin, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, Robert "Bob" Floyd, Reuben "Payback" Fitch, Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia, Javy "Coyote" Machado, Billy "Fritz" Avalone, Callie "Halo" Bassett, Neil "Omaha" Vikander, Bringham "Harvard" Lennox, Logan "Yale" Lee, Marty and Cody (the other bartenders)

Warnings: Fluff, minor angst, not enough communication (always communicate with your partner), minor cursing (very brief), drama, nicknames (gorgeous, darlin’, etc.), Fanboy is the man when it comes to photography, Bob is the best guy for the job of being a DJ, Javy "Coyote" Machado is a good friend, Jake being a softie, Penny acts as a protective mother figure over reader, Bradley judges our favorite cocky pilot, everyone teases Jake, Cute quick Penny and Pete moment.

Word Count: 11,575

A/N: This can easily become a series, still thinking about it though (even though I have notes and drafts all revolving around this imagine and I made a header for it not even 10 min ago)

Answers to TGTBATWOI

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Three and a half years ago…

After the father of your kids decided that he had enough of being tied down and left with little to no goodbye, it was safe to say you didn’t think or care about dating after that shitty experience.

So, you can fully admit (as well as Jake and his pilot buddies) that it was no surprise when you met said pilot at the Hard Deck.

You work there a little more than part time, being a bartender there is your “out of the house” job (as you like to say) and you do a type of telemarketing at home when the company you’ve been emailing with asks you too.

Luckily it doesn’t happen all the time but sometimes it can be pretty inconvenient on days when your babies have a part in a play and they’re the lead star or when they have their first soccer game (it was a bit of a hassle to accomplish but you did it).

And then again, it was no surprise when Jake was a jackass when you two first met.

You (and anyone else, yes, including Bradley and Pete) can admit that it was nice when he actually started to act like a human being with emotions and not some douche with a huge ego.

Today however, will be the test to see how everything will be if you and Jake decide to take your relationship (or pining) a step further… even though he hasn’t officially asked you out.

“Are you sure you can’t watch them for another three-ish hours?” You ask your babysitter and get a lame excuse saying she can’t because she has to study when she actually has plans to go out with her friends and her boyfriend (the kids told you yesterday about all this).

You sigh, hanging up your phone before shoving it into your pocket. You rest your hands on the edge of the bar top, closing your eyes with your head down to the floor.

“You, okay?” Penny asks.

You quickly straighten your posture, “yep, all good.”

“Your babysitter cancel on you?”

You avert your gaze, “maybe.”

“You get off early tonight, why not bring them here? Pete and the others will be here. They could go swimming.”

“I don’t have any of their swim things and no sunscreen. Plus, I need them to focus on their homework right now. I don’t want to have another meeting with their teachers over something as minor as homework.”

She nods, “alright. We can have them sit over at one of the tables until the lunch rush shows. And, before you say anything, breath. We’ll be fine. I’ve got Marty and Cody coming in for their shifts in an hour which will give you more than enough time to go pick them up and come back here… even though we won’t need you.”

“I’m gonna ignore that last part because we both know it’s not true. Thank you.”

You check the clock on the wall, “crap. I gotta go. I’ll be back soon.”

“Looks like your girlfriends not here,” Javy comments.

“She’s not- shut up, man.” Jake shoves his buddy away from him as he enters the bar, immediately aiming for the center station. He can’t take these conversations seriously without a drink.

“Where’s the only sensible woman Bagman hasn’t managed to sink his claws into?” Natasha asks, standing behind him.

“He’s in one of his moods,” Javy says before leaning down to “whisper”, “she’s not here. Her car wasn’t in the parking lot.”

“Guess she came to her senses,” she pats him on the shoulder.

Logan, Billy, and Callie wave her over, pointing to the pool table.

She walks away from the two, wanting to place some bets (knowing she’ll make a quick buck or two).

“She’s gonna be here soon, you know. Don’t pout, man.” Javy pats Jake’s shoulder, not wanting to have to console the dude for something so minor but willing to do so anyway.

“Would you stop saying that? I don’t care, alright?”

His friend makes an attempt to respond but doesn’t because he starts coughing, choking on his saliva.

“You good?”

His buddy shakes his head, covering his mouth with a clenched fist, using his free hand to point over at you.

The blonde turns, his eyes widen ever so slightly. “She has kids?” He mutters to himself, wondering who else may have known and if this is why you continue to turn him down.

He thinks back to the times when he’s asked you out and if you wear a wedding ring or have mentioned having a boyfriend, but the answer is no.

“Alright, today we can focus on your homework a little more because Pen has a couple extra hands. We ready?”

“Do we have to?” Edwin, Ed (or Eddie) asks with a whining tone.

“Don’t give me that pouty lip, Mister. If we can get this done before we go home, I know for a fact you would feel better.”

“What if I don’t want to feel better?”

“You should.”

You turn to your daughter, Maryanne, who’s older by three years looks back down at her own work. “Thank you, sweetheart, but I don’t need you to chime in with your insightful thoughts.”

“But he needs to focus. He’s already gotten a warning from his teacher.”

“He’s what?” You turn to look at your son, “Edwin, is this true?”

He looks down, not saying anything.

“Why did you get a warning?”

“She wouldn’t let me ask my friend for help.”

“Were you talking to your friend during class time when you know you’re not supposed to?”

He purses his lips, “that’s ervelant.”

“Irrelevant, sweetheart. How long ago did you get your warning?”

“He got it on his first day and we’re on our third day of school now.”

You turn to your daughter, “do you know if it was a verbal warning or is there something I need to sign?”

She shakes your head, “the first one. It’s okay though. His teacher tells me what I need to tell you when I’m waiting for him in his class after school.”

Your son is upset that you two are talking about and “acting” like he’s not even there. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”

“Eddie, I need you to calm down-”

“No!”

You open your mouth to say his name again when he hops off the chair and runs off. Your eyes widen. “Sweetheart, you’re coming with me. Hold my hand.”

“Mom,” she groans.

“There is a small crowd already. I will not lose both of my children in it.”

She lets out a dramatic, long sigh, “fine.”

You grab her hand, “thank you.”

Javy opens the bathroom door, stopping when something bounces off his legs. He freezes when he sees a little boy sitting on his butt, looking up at him, ready to cry. “Oh no.”

“Hey, what’re you doing? Get out of the doorway, man,” Jake says.

“There’s a tearful kid in the way.”

“What?” He looks over his buddy’s shoulder to find Edwin sitting there with a wobbly lip.

“What do I do?”

“Pick the kid- move out of my way.” Jake scoffs, “Coyote.” The blond bends down, holding his hand out for the little boy to take.

Edwin hesitantly reaches up for the man’s hand.

Jake helps him off the ground, giving him a gentle smile. “Atta boy, you’re looking better already. Is your mom or dad here?”

He nods.

“You want to point me in their direction-”

“Eddie! Edw-” Maryanne stops you, pointing to Jake.

You rush over to the two, kneeling beside Jake. “Edwin, I’ve told you too many times, not to run off like that.”

He sniffs, nodding his head.

You sigh, wiping his cheeks before turning to find- “Jake.”

“My favorite,” he glances between the two, “b-a-r-t-e-n-d-e-r.”

“I can spell,” Maryanne says with slight attitude.

“Maryanne.”

“Sorry mama.”

“These two are yours?”

“Obviously.”

“I’m really sorry,” Javy starts to apologize. “I didn’t see him and then he-”

You smile, “Javy, it’s okay. I know you didn’t do anything on purpose. He just got upset and ran off.”

“I’m still really sorry.”

“We accept your apology.” You stand up, “why don’t you two go join the rest of your crew. We’ve got some work to do.”

Your daughter pouts, leaning against you.

He stands up. “You go,” Jake whispers to Javy.

“Dude.”

“Just go.”

“Alright, alright.”

“So, what kind of homework do we have to do?”

You shake your head, holding both of your kids’ hands, “no, Jake. You go join your friends. You don’t want to stay and help out with homework, that’s not what you came here to do.”

“I came here to talk to some people, and I’d certainly enjoy talking to you three.”

You scoff through your nose, shaking your head to hide the fact that your cheeks are on fire.

“Let me carry little man and don’t tell me I don’t need to. I want to, gorgeous.” He lifts Edwin into his arms, holding the boy against his hip.

Maryanne starts walking ahead, pulling you with her.

You all settle into your seats, Jake across from you with the kids on each side of you.

“I finished my writing assignment before we went looking for Ed.”

You give her a small smile, “that’s good, what else do you have to do?”

She pouts, “math.”

You nod, “okay.”

“I can help,” Jake offers.

“You can?” You ask.

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that attitude and say yes.”

“Since when were you a math whiz?”

“Since I actually put in the effort to pass.”

“That’s always nice to hear...” You smirk, resting your head on your palm, “were you being threatened with detention?”

“Worse.”

“No car?”

“Bingo.”

“I bet it would have been hilarious to see teen, skinny armed, pasty Jake riding his bike through the neighborhood.”

“Oh, yeah. So, funny.” He turns to Maryanne, glancing down at her work, “you need help with math?”

“Yeah… can you help me?”

“Sure, I can. What are we doing today?”

“Is he actually being nice to kids?” Bradley mutters.

“He’s obviously doing it to impress her,” Reuben adds.

“I don’t think so. He’s actually good with kids. You should see him with his nieces and nephews,” says Javy.

“There’s more of him? There are little bagman’s running around out in the world?” Natasha asks, catching the last little bit of the conversation.

Javy dry laughs, “ha ha. Yeah, kind of. He just doesn’t want you all to see him as a softie.”

“I feel like I’m watching a rom com,” Mickey says.

“But it’s actually decent and well worth watching,” adds Bob.

“How long have you been there?” Reuben asks.

“A few minutes. I’m waiting on my soda.”

“Anyone want to play pool?” Javy asks.

“Or darts? Maybe next to them?” Natasha offers.

Javy smirks, “let’s go.” He wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her with him.

Mickey and Bob trail behind them, shaking their heads, not liking what the two may be planning.

Reuben runs over to the bar to grab their drinks.

“And how are we today?” Javy asks, wrapping his arm around is buddy’s shoulders. He turns to Edwin, “sorry about running into you little dude.”

“It’s okay and we’re good. Jake’s helping Maryanne with her math,” you tell him.

“You’ve got the best guy to help her.”

“How come we never met your mini me’s?” Mickey asks, pulling Javy away so he and Natasha can start their game of darts.

“My babysitter canceled.”

“That sucks. Why? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“She’s in high school, has a boyfriend. Need I say more.”

“Ah,” he nods, “got it. Well, if you ever need a babysitter, I’d happily offer my services.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet.”

Jake furrows his brows; he knows the kid isn’t hitting on you, but he can’t help but feel a little jealous very jealous. “Alright, that’s enough. Your partner in crime is calling you over to play darts.”

Mickey snickers as he walks away.

“You good, Seresin?” You ask with a raised brow.

“Always,” he smirks before helping Maryanne with her homework.

You smile, letting yourself daydream about a future with him and how nice it would be to be able to share a life with him, having family outings, potentially expanding your family, and growing old together… You shake your head, ridding your mind of these thoughts. You don’t want to get your hopes up (anymore, then you already have).

He glances over at you and smiles.

You fight the urge to smile for a second before you give up and give in, smiling with just as much, if not a skosh more happiness.

After about an hour or so, Maryanne was able to successfully finish her homework.

“You know if she gets a good grade on her homework, I’m gonna ask you to help her again. I can barely help her when she asks me. If it was me, I would have still been on problem two.”

Jake chuckles, “I’d be happy to help her out as long as I get to take you out.”

A nervous chuckle escapes you, “you mean like a- like a date?”

“If you wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, “I’ll see if I can find the time.”

He shakes his head.

You check your phone, seeing that it’s dinner time and you’ve been off your shift since- wow three hours ago. “Looks like it’s time to go home. I’ve still got to make dinner and figure out when I need to go grocery shopping. Do I need gas?” You push your chair in, helping the kids get ready.

Jake getting out of his seat makes you realize you, kind of, forgot about him for a second. “Oh, sorry, I got too into my head.”

“It’s alright, my sister is the same way.”

“Oh, how is everyone? I’ve been meaning to ask but every time I want to someone else needs a drink.”

“It’s okay. Maybe on our date we can talk more about things you’ve been wanting to ask me and… I can do the same.”

“Yeah?”

He nods, giving you a genuine smile, enjoying how he gets to see you all excited and jittery (and hopefully because of him, in a good way, of course), “yeah.”

“Can we go now?” Edwin asks, rubbing his eyes.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“I’ll walk you all out.”

“I’ll call you.”

“You don’t have my number,” you point out.

“Did you forget, I’m good with numbers.”

You’re not impressed right now. “Just give me your phone.”

“So bossy,” he teases, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“You love it, don’t lie.”

“Maybe I do but, I think that’s more of a later date thing.”

You return his phone back to him, “you think we’ll be going on more than one date?”

He nods. “I know we will.”

You shake your head, “goodnight, Jake.”

He leans in, giving you time to push him away; you don’t. He pecks your cheek.

You close your eyes, inhaling his cologne (something else you’ve grown to like about him).

He pulls back, opening the car door for you.

You shake your head, remembering what you have to do.

“Text me when you get home,” he says, leaning against the car and door.

“Only if you do them same.”

“’Course I will. Goodnight, gorgeous.”

“Night, Jake.”

After that night, he officially asked you out for a proper date and the two of you hit it off.

He didn’t take you to a fancy restaurant (since he asked the others and Penny for a few different ideas on where you’d like to go). Jake did NOT want to screw up (what felt like) his one chance to take you out.

The two of you found yourselves in his truck, laying in the back watching the stars, talking about whatever came to mind while you ate fast food.

“This has to be the best date I’ve been on in- well, ever honestly,” you admit, staring up at the night sky.

He turns his head, studying your side profile, “really?”

“Without a shadow of a doubt.”

He gulps, unsure if he should ask this now or ever. “I know this is too soon to ask and I might be overstepping some boundaries but, what happened with Maryanne and Edwin’s dad? Is he going to come back into their lives at any point in the future?”

You scoff, leaning up to rest on your elbow with your head angled down towards him. “I can assure you that he will never come back into their lives until they turn eighteen then they can make the decision, but I will take the role of a bad guy if it means I keep that asshole away from them and out of their lives.”

You sigh, resting on your back once more, “he decided that when Edwin was three months old, and Maryanne was close two and a half that he wasn’t cut out for the life of being a dad or being tied down, so he left, and I haven’t looked back since. He hasn’t called or texted since then so why should I go looking for him. He made his choice.”

“And you made yours.”

“What’s that?”

Jake shuffles closer to you, cupping your cheek with his thumb brushing across your cheekbone every so often as he stares into your eyes. “You are raising two amazing kids all by yourself and you look damn good doing it.”

You let out a quiet playful laugh.

“I’m not gonna lie, a part of me wishes that they were mine.”

“Yeah? What about the other part of you?”

“Which one? I’ve got two more.”

You raise your hand, placing it against the base of his neck, brushing your thumb back and forth against the edge of his hair, “what’s the second part of you say?”

“How much I want to ask you to marry me even though it might be too soon.”

“And the other?”

“If it’d be stupid of me to ask if you’d be my gorgeous girl and let me in, help you raise those two troublemakers.”

You sink your teeth into your bottom lip, preventing yourself from getting too emotional. “Seems to me like you just want to get in my house to see my bedroom.”

“That would certainly be a plus, wouldn’t it?”

“For you maybe.”

“Damn straight.” He leans down, whispering in your ear, “I’d get to see what you wear underneath your pretty little clothes without asking you to strip for me.”

You scoff, slapping your hands against his chest.

He chuckles, pulling back to see you relaxed and happy, something he doesn’t think he’s ever seen before. “There’s another part of me that wants to do something.”

“Like what?”

“Kiss you.”

You don’t realize it until a second later, but your lips tugged upwards, and you know you’re smiling. “Do it,” you whisper.

He hums, blinking owlishly at you clearly coming out of his thoughts.

You lean up and lightly brush your lips against his before pulling back. You switch from staring one eye to the next, waiting to see panic or disgust, only to find the stars twinkling in his eyes. “Kiss me.”

“Are you sure? Because I don’t think I’ll be able to stop once I start.”

You both lean into one another sharing a passionate first kiss (with many more to come).

Two years later...

“Do you think she’s gonna say yes?” asks Jake, to his friend who has a bored look on his face.

“I hope so. I’m tired of hearing you complain and whine about “if she says no” and how you’ll “die” with whatever answer she does give you,” Javy slaps his hands on the blond man’s shoulders, “shut up. She’s gonna say yes.”

Jake says nothing as he purses his lips, “I hear you but what if-”

“Shut up,” Javy hands him a handful of darts, “and play. Have a drink, just do something- anything to calm your nerves… please. And you hear that? I’m asking you nicely.”

He stares at Javy with a deadpan expression. “I’m talking to you in confidence. You’re supposed to boost me up and help me feel better.”

“I am.”

“You’re not being honest with me,” Jake complains.

“I am.” He sees the look his fellow pilot is giving him out of the corner of his eye while he throws the dart at the dartboard, it lands, and he turns around. “Look, you’re an asshole-”

“Thank you, keep telling me things I need to hear,” the blond says with sass.

“But you’re an asshole in love and you’re,” Javy pokes his chest, “just too scared to admit it.”

“Yeah,” he nods, until he repeats what his friend said in his head and glares at Javy. “I hate you sometimes,” he throws a dart at the dart board, it lands way off base from the center.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Bob walks over to the two, glancing over Jake with a concerned expression. “Is he okay?”

“Him? Oh, yeah. He’s fine.”

“He’s nervous she’s gonna say no, huh?”

Jake spins around, using a dart to point at Bob. “No, I’m not.”

Javy leans closer to the WSO, “he’s in the denial stage.”

“I can see that.”

“You two are messing up my concentration. Go gossip about me somewhere else.”

“You know,” Javy pats his shoulder, “it’s okay to be scared.”

“I’m not scared,” he denies.

“Lying is only gonna make this worse.”

“Can it, Baby on Board.”

Bob raises his hands, staring at the ground with a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Your girl’s here,” Billy says, handing Javy a drink and Bob his beer nuts.

Jake spins around just as the dart hits the center of the dart board. A boyish grin tugs at the corner of his mouth, “yes, she is.” He hands Bob the third dart, “have fun boys. Oh, and use protection, especially you,” he points to the WSO before talking off.

“What?”

“Ignore him. He’s in love, you know, it makes people do and say crazy things,” Javy assures Bob.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he greets you, placing a hand on your lower back.

“Hey.” You turn around, leaning into him. You see the guys standing there, watching the two of you. “Are we gonna go say hi?”

He shakes his head, “nope. Come on.” He leads you towards the walls, wanting to get away from the crowd, not lose you in it.

“Where are we going?”

“I want to go outside and see how much more beautiful you can look tonight.”

You scoff, smacking his shoulder, “you can be such an adorable suck up.”

“Only for you,” he pecks your lips, “did it work?”

You roll your eyes, “shut up.” You grab his hand, pulling him along behind you. You happily wave over at the three, who return “cool” waves, except for Bob (he always waves back with just as much enthusiasm as you do to him).

Jake shoves you out the door, letting it slam shut behind him.

He pulls you back, spinning you around once, and wraps his arms around your waist. “Hi.”

You can’t resist his charm and smile back at him, “hi.”

“Let’s walk along the beach, yeah?”

You nod, “if that’s what you want to do.”

“Come on,” he tucks you into his side and starts walking.

You begin to wonder what he has planned. Jake usually doesn’t like to walk along the beach at night (he can’t see your gorgeous face as he likes to say whenever you ask… which is always).

You turn to look at him, he’s nervous but you can’t tell why. You know there’s nothing important coming up such as birthdays, holidays, or anniversaries. The kids haven’t been giving him too much of a hard time (it’s a tough process but they do seem to act like they like him when he comes over or when you all go out).

You’re left even more confused than when you first exited the bar.

He stops, staring out into the ocean.

You watch him, curious as to what’s floating around in his head, “are you okay?”

He turns his head looking at you, wondering how he got so lucky to have meet you and hoping you’ll say yes because he wants the married life with you and to be another parent figure that Maryanne and Edwin can look up too. He knows he wants to live out the rest of his life with you and the kids. Jake gulps, “you should ring me?”

You jerk your head back, blinking owlishly at him, “what?”

“We should rings.” He closes his eyes with a clenched jaw, shaking his head.

You tilt your head, “are you feeling okay?” You place your hand on the back of his forehead.

He nods, reaching into his pocket, pulling the box out of his pocket, practically shoving it in his face.

You grab his wrist pulling it down, out of your face and look down, realizing what he’s planning to do. “Jake?”

“I don’t know how to say it.”

“What- uh- what do you want to do?”

“I think it’s pretty obvious what I want to do.”

“Okay, smart ass. Get down on one knee and ask me.”

“That’s the thing. I can’t figure out how to ask you.” He bends down on one knee, “I’ve got too much running through my head. and I don’t know what to say. Then before I know words just start spewing out of my mouth.”

You take a deep breath, placing your hands on his shoulders, “what’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think about wanting to marry me?”

“I don’t want to marry you. I am gonna marry you. So,” he reaches for your left hand, placing a gentle kiss on top, “you can’t get rid of me easily.”

An emotional chuckle escapes you, “what a sap you are.”

“The first thing that pops into my head when I think about us being married is how there isn’t going to much of a difference because we’re already a family. But there is one thing I do know and that’s wanting to grow old with you. You know, I want us to be the older fun couple who still act like they did their first year of dating and I want to listen to your old lady problems.”

You smack his shoulder.

He chuckles, “while you listen to my old man issues.”

“Something tells me there’s gonna be a lot.”

“Let me finish then we can add the commentary later… I also want to be able to help with the kids more.”

“You already do so much.”

“I know but, I think it’s best if we don’t have a lunch issue 2.0.”

You nod, wiping your cheeks, “that’s very true. You almost got kicked out. They called me to make sure you were who you said you were.”

“I told them not to.”

“Oh, yeah because that always goes well when a strange man they hadn’t actually seen before says “don’t call their mom”. Really, Jake? I mean honestly.”

“Ask her already!” Javy, Bob, Natasha, Bradley, Pete, and Penny shout.

You two turn to see some of the gang standing there, waiting for Jake to pop the question.

“If you don’t do it tonight, you’re doing all my paperwork,” Pete shouts.

“I already do.”

“Yeah, well… then you’ll have more.”

“Can you guys turn towards me a little?” Mickey asks, holding up his phone. “You’re gonna regret it, if you don’t.”

You two do as he asked.

“Perfect, thank you! And… propose.”

“What are we in a movie or something? Geez,” you roll your eyes.

“I’m gonna ask you now.”

“Okay, shutting up now.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Can I think about it?”

“What?” He asks with his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

“I’m joking, you idiot. Of course, I will!” You throw your arms around his neck causing the two of you to fall back.

The two of you start laughing.

You push yourself off him, opting to lay on your side.

“Oh shit.”

“What?”

“Where’s the ring?”

“Right here,” answers Bradley, holding the ring box up for him.

“Give it to me.”

“No.”

“Give it to me, chicken.”

“See that, that right there is exactly why I won’t.”

“I swear to-”

“Shut up,” Natasha snatches the box from him and hands it to Jake. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“I wasn’t,” Bradley pouts.

“Sure, you weren’t.”

Jake lifts your hand up and slides the ring on, kissing your knuckles.

You give him an excited smile, wondering how you got so lucky and he’s doing the same.

Your scooped up before you know it, squealing until you find yourself taller than everyone else. “Guys,” you giggle, “put me down.”

“Nope,” a certain mustached man responds.

“Nat? Help?”

“Mickey’s getting a good shot of you up there,” she says, looking over said pilot’s shoulder.

“We can do a better photoshoot tomorrow. Put me down.”

“Can I have my fiancée back?”

“After the old timer,” Penny pats Pete’s shoulder, “buys a round for everybody.”

You all holler, shouting excitedly.

“Not the whole bar, right?” Pete asks his girl.

She smirks, “no, only a lucky few. I promise… as long as your phone doesn’t wind up on the bar top.”

“You’re a cruel, cruel woman.”

“I’ve gotta be stern when running a bar.”

“I was hoping that wouldn’t apply to me.”

“Alright, one round on the old man then we’re outta here,” Jake announces.

Numerous “aw’s” and “boo’s” come his way.

“We gotta go home and get the kids ready for school.”

“Who knew Bagman could be such a softie?” Natasha adds.

“You couldn’t have done this on a Saturday?”

“Shut up, chicken.”

“I’m just saying, you should have planned better.”

“And we’re out of here.”

You let out a soft chuckle, squeezing his hand as you two exit the bar. “Jake, I wanted to say by to everyone.”

“I did too, but they pissed me off.”

“You’re such an old man.”

He lightly pushes you against the car door, “hey, I’m your old man, gorgeous.”

You smirk, “that makes me your old lady?”

“Or if you prefer, my gorgeous.” He kisses your cheek.

“That’s a bit of an open ending, don’t you think?”

“No because you can add anything you want to it.”

“You’re such a sappy suck up,” you tell him before reaching up to peck his cheek.

“Only for you.”

“I don’t know how they’re gonna react.” You glance over at the front door of your shared home.

"We don’t have to get married right away.”

You look over at him, “Jake…”

“No,” he shakes his head. “It’s not just because of Maryanne and Edwin, alright. I want us to take our time and plan it. Invite the people we actually want to be there because I can tell you no one from my family would actually come. I mean, my sister might but… I want to make this a special day for us.”

“I don’t want to argue about this, even though all I have to say is that I know whenever or wherever we have this wedding it will be special.”

“Now who’s a sappy suck up,” he reaches over the middle console to cup your cheek.

“What are we gonna do if the kids don’t accept this?”

“We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

“I don’t want you to be the one who’s hurt.”

He shakes his head, “I won’t be. If I can be a part of their life in any other way, I’ll do it. And I get their hesitancy towards me. I do.”

“I know you do and that’s so, so nice of you but you don’t deserve to be treated like this.” He rests his forehead against yours, “like I told you, I would do anything to be in their lives.” He pecks the corner of your mouth, “and yours.”

Jake pulls back, staring into your eyes. His thumb brushes back and forth against your cheekbone. “Let’s go inside, yeah?” He knows he can only distract you from your worries for so long.

You nod, not wanting to worry about this anymore. “Okay.”

A month and a half ago…

The credits play across the screen. The sound is off because he muted the TV, wanting to talk to you.

"It happened again," Jake sighs.

You quietly groan to yourself, rubbing your face with both hands before slapping your thighs. You scoot yourself into an upright position, legs still resting in his lap, "I'm sorry, honey. I can talk to them again or-"

"No, it's okay. I- uh-” He gulps, “I was thinking maybe I should go stay somewhere else for a few days."

You shake your head, "no. No, absolutely not."

He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. "Our kids don’t care about me."

You scoff through your nose, "they do. How could you ever think otherwise?" Your chest puffs out with every breath you take, your vision blurs as tears pool in your water line.

He cups your cheeks, "they're not going to warm up to me because they think I'm trying to replace their deadbeat dumbass of a father, or they think I’m gonna be exactly like him and leave. They’re not ready to trust me."

"They know you’re not trying to replace him," you weakly argue.

"You could be right, but they won't listen to you because you’re mom."

You sniff, "please, don’t leave."

"I'm doing this to save yours and the kids relationship."

"You staying here and being a part of the kids’ lives hasn't changed that."

"But it will."

This is it. It feels like it’s the end of your relationship, but you know it’s not. You refuse to believe that you two won’t find your way back to one another and have a better improved relationship with yourself and the kids. His bag falls to the ground.

You take a step forward and rest your head on his shoulder, silently crying into his shirt, bunching it in your clenched fists, "Jake…"

He shushes you, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you closer. His hand finds its way up to its rightful resting place, cupping your cheek, "hey, look at me. Look at me please.”

You lift your head up, with wet cheeks.

His thumb sweeps across your cheek, wiping away your tears, “you know I love you, right?"

You don’t think you’ve ever heard him sound so emotional (except for when he told you about his past and his family, the day he asked to marry you, when he repeated what you said about moving in, and the first time he said I love you). "Course I do.” You lean in closer, whispering, “I love you so much."

It feels like you’re sharing a secret (which you are about Jake’s departure… from the kids for the time being).

"I'll text you when I make it to my place."

You nod, "okay."

Jake leans down, kissing you, reminding you of how much he loves you. He takes a step back, one hand on your back as he leans over to grab his bag.

You two stare at one another with tears in your eyes (yes, even Jake’s on the verge of crying- or maybe he already is but your own tear-filled eyes blur your vision, preventing you from seeing so).

His hand slides off your back after he opens the door. He steps outside, feeling like a stranger on the porch of his own home. Jake tries to walk away before things could get even more depressing.

You reach out, hand squeezing his bicep, silently pleading for him to stay. “Be careful?”

The corner of his lips tug upward into a farewell cocky smirk, “always am, gorgeous. Always am.”

You watch as he gets in his car and wave him off (breaking your hearts into a million pieces).

Jake disappears from you view and you stand there for a few seconds, unwilling to move because if you do, you’ll be home alone… you’ll be alone.

You close the door, resting your forehead on the wooden frame. Your shoulders shake as you struggle to keep your cries quiet. You raise your hand, covering your mouth; whimpers escape you before you can even try and stop them.

As much as you don’t want to, you make your way to your bedroom. You swear you hear your heart break when you walk in. It doesn’t look like much has changed but you know if you open your dresser drawers and check the closet, his clothes won’t be there. You won’t be able to admire his uniform or shake your head at the way he organizes his sock and underwear drawer.

You try to not to think about the little things you’ll miss while taking of your shoes. You lay down on your side, bending your legs, curling into yourself.

After about an hour of laying down, you text Penny.

SoonToBeMrs.S

Hey Pen Sent Read 1:58pm

PickaPenny

Are you alright? You only say my name when something’s happened Sent Read 2:00pm

SoonToBeMrs.S

All good here. Can you pick up Maryanne and Edwin? Sent Read 2:00pm

PickaPenny

You got it. Sent Read 2:01pm

PickaPenny typing…

“What are you doing here?”

Jake turns around, his shoulders sag, “needed a drink.”

“Why am I getting a text from your fiancé about picking up the kids?” asks Penny.

He gulps, “I- uh- I’m gonna be out of the house for a while.”

“Oh, I didn’t hear you were deployed.”

“I’m not.”

The bar owner looks back at him after giving another customer her drink. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Did you break it off with her?”

“No, God no. Penny I-”

“You what?”

“I’m doing this to save the family relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“The kids don’t like me.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“They don’t listen to a thing I say and when I pick them up from school, they don’t talk to me.”

“Have you tried talking to them?”

“Of course, I have.”

“No, no. Not ask them questions, talk to them about the whole situation?”

“I’ve tried but they won’t put in the effort to listen. And, yeah, I know they’re kids and that’s how they are, but I want them to know that I’m not trying to replace their bio dad and I want them to stop thinking I’ll leave ‘em just like he did. I just- I can’t get through to them. And I’m not going to be the reason they hate their mom for marrying someone they don’t like. I grew up that way. My mom married someone we weren’t all huge fans of, and he didn’t care. He never tried to talk to us, not even after mom died.”

“Jake-”

He takes out his wallet, setting a few bills down. “Don’t tell her you saw me.”

“Fine,” she sighs. “Can you at least tell me where you’re staying?”

“I’ll be crashing on Coyote’s couch for a few days.”

“And then?” He shrugs, “see you around Penny.”

You open your eyes, glancing over your shoulder to see Penny standing there, and jolt. “Jeez!”

“Sorry, hon. I tried to be gentle, but you wouldn’t budge.”

You push yourself up, “sorry. I take it since you’re here, you picked the kids up?”

“No, I left them to run the bar.”

“You’ve been hanging out with Pete for too long. His- whatever is rubbing off on you.”

She scoffs, “oh, please. If anything, it’s me making him less of an old man.” She sits down beside your legs, rubbing your knee in a comforting manner. “I saw him earlier.”

You don’t say anything, your eyes shift downwards.

“He looked really upset.”

“Did he?”

“He already misses you and the kids.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t give me that fake “I don’t care attitude”. I know you’re upset he’s gone but it’s not like you won’t see him. He just doesn’t want to come between you, Maryanne, or Edwin but he still cares about all of you and wants to help out.”

You wrap your arms around your abdomen, “I know that.”

“Why can’t you two talk it out?”

“I’ve tried to have us talk but no one wants to listen.”

“Okay, okay. Breathe.”

“I am but- it’s all gotten so complicated.”

Penny leaves before dinner time.

You finish preparing their plates, setting them on the dining table. “You two start eating, I’ve got to make sure my makeshift office space is ready after dinner.”

“Where’s Jake? We always have dinner together,” says Edwin.

You freeze, handing the two their utensils. “Oh- um- he’s got- he got caught up with work and won’t be here for a little while.”

“Is he gonna be, okay?” Maryanne asks.

You slowly stand up, giving them a sad smile, “yeah, yeah, he is.” You exit the kitchen.

“Is mama not gonna eat with us since Jake’s gone?” Edwin asks his sister.

“I don’t know, Eddie. I don’t like this.”

“Same.”

“After dinner we can watch a movie. Maybe mama won’t be so busy.”

He nods, “okay.”

“Go pick a movie.” Maryanne pushes her brother towards the living room and realizes what she said. “No Ice Age!”

“Ice Age is a good movie!”

A knock on your door gets you moving faster, you pat your face dry, hoping the bloodshot look will go away soon. “Come in, Maryanne.”

“How did you know it was me?”

“You and your brother have very different knocks.”

“Obviously if you can tell who’s who when we knock. Do you want- were you crying?”

“No, what makes you say that?”

“Your eyes are puffy. Is it because of Jake? Did he make you cry?”

You chuckle, “no, sweetheart.”

“Well, then where is he?”

“I told you; he has a few work things he needs to do.”

“If he’s leaving like dad just tell me, I can handle it.”

You swoop her into a hug after seeing the way her bottom lip quivers. You take a step back, sitting on the edge of your bed. “No, no, no. He’s not leaving. He’s just- he doesn’t want to- he says he wants us to have a better relationship with one another.”

“We already do.”

“You think so?”

She nods.

You sweep the hair covering her eyes out of her way, “what do you think of him?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you like him?”

“I… yeah.”

“Do you not like, Jake?”

“He’s nice and tries...”

“Can I ask you why you two are hesitant on letting him into our life?”

She doesn’t say anything.

“Do you think he’s gonna be like your dad?”

“I don’t want him to leave,” says Edwin from your bedroom door.

You open your other arm, giving him room to squeeze in. “Did you like him?”

“We both do.”

“Eddie!”

“I’m tired of you not telling mama what you mean. We both like him.”

“You do?”

He nods, “uh-huh. But we don’t want him to be like dad.”

“Oh, he wouldn’t-”

“Where is he now?”

“...He’s giving us space because he thinks you don’t like him.”

“We do!” He bounces around, “we do! Call him. Make him come home.”

“We can’t make him come home, if he doesn’t want to,” Maryanne points out. “Can we call him tomorrow?”

“We’ll see.”

“Can we watch Ice Age now?” You chuckle, “I’m not leaving you alone with Jake again. He’s corrupted your movie likes and dislikes.”

The kids run out of your room.

You change into something a little comfier before exiting the room.

Maybe there is light at the end of this tunnel.

Edwin was the first to fall asleep, you went out next, leaving your little girl to be the sole survivor.

She grabs her phone off the side table, going to her camera app. She angles herself closer and takes a selfie with the three of you.

LittleDarlin

*image* Miss you Sent Read 8:39pm.

Jake puts his shirt on, checking his phone before winding down for bed. His heart starts to race a little when he sees it’s from his little girl. He opens the message and his heart melts.

SouthernSavior

Miss you too, darlin Sent Read 8:41pm.

Shouldn’t you be asleep? Sent Read 8:42pm.

LittleDarlin

Eddie put Ice Age on Sent Read 8:42pm.

SouthernSavior

Not a good excuse. Go to bed Sent Read 8:43pm.

LittleDarlin typing… Can you come home? Deleted

LittleDarlin

Night Jake Sent Read 8:45pm.

SouthernSavior

Night darlin Sent Read 8:45pm.

Before Jake turns his phone off and puts it on the charger, he sets the photo as his lockscreen.

Three days later…

A knock on the front door alerts you.

You’re confused until you realize it’s a school day and pop out of bed, running out of your room. You check their rooms, finding neither of them there. “Not in the living room or kitchen,” you gasp. “The kitchen.”

You run in, seeing your kids putting their dishes in the sink. “Was no one going to wake me up?”

“You know Jake takes us to school,” Maryanne argues.

“He does but with everything that’s going on, I didn’t know what we were gonna do.”

“I’m still on school duty.”

You scream, jumping just about ten feet in the air. You bring your hand up, placing it on your chest, “don’t. Do. That.”

“I have to get your heart pumping somehow,” he answers you with that damn cocky smirk you’ve grown to love.

“Yeah, and I can send you to work with a foot up your a-s-s.”

“We can spell,” your daughters chimes in.

“Pretend you can’t.”

“Come on, d- Jake. Let’s go before we’re late.”

The two try to walk past you, until you clear your throat.

“What?”

“Hug your mother, kids,” he says, standing beside you.

Edwin rolls his eyes and sighs in a joking way before launching himself into your arms.

Maryanne walks over to give you a quick hug before dragging her brother outside behind her.

Jake hesitates to place his hand on your lower back.

You turn, almost automatically curling into him. “Hey there, sailor.”

“Still not a sailor but, hello to you too, gorgeous.”

“Can we talk later?”

“Is it a good talk or a bad talk?”

“Depends, are you gonna listen to me or not?”

“When don’t I listen to you?”

You arch your brow.

“Fine, I’ll listen.” He walks to the door when you remember something.

“Oh, wait! Edwin has early day today.”

“What time?”

“Like Thursday.”

He quietly groans to himself, “I won’t be able to pick him up.”

“It’s okay. I planned on picking him up anyway. I just wanted you to know so you’re not sitting and waiting at the school for too long.”

“Are you always this thoughtful?”

There it is again. You give him a sarcastic smile, “are you always a pain in my ass?”

“I’d like to think otherwise.”

“In other words, yes.”

“If that’s what you want to call me then fine.”

A car honk alerts the two of you.

“I gotta go. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“You can count on it. Bye, Jake.” You lean up and peck him on the lips. You aim to head back into the kitchen when you’re pulled back.

He cups your cheek, pulling you closer, “is this, okay?”

“I’d say it’s more than okay.”

The corner of his mouth tugs upwards, “knew you could never resist me.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

“Yes ma’am.” His other hand wraps around your waist, bringing you closer to him.

You place your hands on his arms, one hand slides along his shoulders, stopping at the base of his neck. You scratch the back of his neck near the edge of his hairline.

He slightly shivers pulling back; he pecks your pink, wet, and swollen lips. “I gotta go drop them off,” his voice comes out hoarse and quiet.

You nod, “mmhmm.”

“You can kiss later! We’ve gotta go or we’ll be late!”

You cover your mouth, hiding your laughter. “You heard the girl.”

“Hey, I didn’t start this whole thing.”

“Neither did I.”

“Let’s call it a truce and you go take the kids to school.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, hon.”

“Bye, gorgeous.”

You and Edwin do his homework before you put on a movie (yes, Ice Age) for him. You turn your head to see the mess in the backyard.

You sigh, getting up off the couch to clean it up. You were doing good, making a lot of progress until you didn’t.

You fall, landing on your shoulder. You know you’re screwed, the pain radiating in your arm is too much, but you can’t freak out because your baby boy will freak out which won’t solve anything.

You push yourself off the ground (with great difficulty) and enter the house.

“Eds,” you whisper, sitting beside him with your arm close to you.

“Yeah?” he asks, slightly distracted by the movie.

“Can you call Aunt Penny for me and hold the phone to my ear?”

“Why?”

“I fell.”

“Are you okay?!”

You shush him, “breathe, sweetheart. Breathe.”

“Where’s your phone? Where’s your phone?”

“Look at the table beside you.”

“Okay, Penny… Penny… Aunt Penny? Mom wants to talk to you.” He holds the phone against your ear.

“Pen? Hey… can you come over and drive me to the emergency room? I fell and broke something.”

Jake rushes into the emergency center, frantically searching for you with Maryanne holding his left hand. He stops when he sees Penny waving, letting him know where you and Edwin are.

He rushes over to the two of you while the poor little girl is being yanked over to your bed. He makes sure Maryanne can hold your hand and get close to you before he sets his hand on top of your head. “Are you okay?”

“I will be if I can get out of here.”

He checks over you, stopping when he sees your arm resting across your stomach, “what happened?”

“I was in the backyard cleaning up-”

“I told you I would do it.”

“Yeah, and that was before you…” you trail off unsure of how to say it without making it sound mean, ‘before you left,’ yeah, not the nicest thing to say ever.

“You could have called me. No, you should have called me.”

You open your mouth to respond when Penny moves the kids away from the bed, having them sit in the seats (she grabbed earlier) giving you two more room to talk.

He reaches down for your hand without looking, letting you squeeze his hand, knowing you aren’t taking any of the morphine or other pain medication (because you don’t like how you feel afterwards). He leans down, letting you turn your head into his chest, “why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?”

You look up at him through your wet lashes, blinking repeatedly so you can see him. “I didn’t know how we were. After this morning-”

“Hey, hey.” He brushes the few loose strands that cover your face back, “we are never gonna change.” He pecks your forehead before turning around.

He takes a step closer to Penny, whispering, “can you take them somewhere else? Ice cream? Hospital cafeteria? Wherever. I don’t want them to see their mom in anymore pain. I know, Eddie is gonna have a hard time when we get home but I’m not letting them see any more of this.” He pulls out his wallet.

She places her hands on his stopping him, “you don’t need to do that. I’ve got it besides I’ve been wanting to show them a few shells I found the other day.”

He lets out a breath of relief, “thank you.”

“You can thank me by taking care of your wife.” She turns around, facing the two. “Come on, kids. We’re gonna go back to Aunt Penny’s place and look at the few seashells I found, and we can prank Pete. How’s that sound?”

“We don’t want to leave our mom, Aunt Penny,” Maryanne whispers to the older woman.

“I know but Jake thinks it would be smart if you two aren’t stuck in the emergency center for hours.”

The young girl glances over at the two of you, watching how Jake is consoling you and trying to distract you from the pain. She looks back at Penny and nods, “okay. Can we text Jake and ask him when we can go home?”

“Of course, we can,” she holds her hands out for the two to hold.

Maryanne looks back to see nothing but love between the two of you. Maybe she was wrong, maybe Jake won’t be like her dad.

He came just seconds after Penny called him and made sure that both of them could see and touch you.

She feels bad for how she’s been treating him and knows what she needs to do.

“You should have called me,” he whispers into your hair.

“I wanted to.”

“Why didn’t you? You know I would have been there in a second. Well, maybe not a second but,” he smirks but you can see the worry on his face.

You scoff, rolling your eyes, “don’t make me hit you.”

He hums, “it seems to me like you can’t.”

“I can do other things.”

“Oh, yeah. Like what?”

“Well, if I tell you then it won’t be a surprise.”

He sticks his bottom lip out, “come on, you know you want to tell me.”

“No, I really don’t.”

Jake hasn’t removed his arm from around your waist since you were released (after texting Penny).

“You can let go now.”

“I gotta make sure my girl is taken care of.”

“You are by making sure I can get to my car.”

“That was never the plan because that’s a, dangerous and b, penny took your car remember. Seems like you’re stuck with me, gorgeous.”

“Jake,” you start, ready to complain.

“No, no. Don’t give me that attitude. I’m making sure you get home back to the kids safely. End of story.”

You say nothing as he opens the door for you, letting you take your time getting the car.

Once your seated, he helps you with your seatbelt before running to the back, grabbing a pillow to place under your arm (that’s in a secure sling) but that doesn’t stop him.

The drive back to the house was quiet, at least, between the two of you, there was music softly playing filling some of the silence.

He jogs around to the other side of car, opening the door. He reaches in to unbuckle the seatbelt.

You scoot to the edge of the seat, swinging your legs out of the car. Jake holds his hand out for you to take. You slap your hand on his, “I’m gonna need a little help getting out. Take the pillow, first.”

He carefully removes the pillow, tossing it to the driver’s seat. He lets you push yourself out before he wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you closer.

You take a deep breath, staring at his collarbone (since your eye level with it), your eyes slowly trail up his neck, past his jawline and cheekbone.

It feels like you’ve lost your breath as you stare into his eyes, reminding you of when you two first started dating.

He moves your hand onto his shoulder before sliding his other arm to your waist, pulling you closer to hug you. He rests his head on your shoulder before tucking his head into the crook of your neck.

You slide your hand across his shoulder, stopping at his neck, brushing your thumb vertically against the base of his hair, feeling the top of his spinal cord.

The two of you wet the others shoulder with your salty, relief ridden tears.

He pulls back, staring at you without wiping his cheeks.

You reach up and wipe away his tears.

He does the same for you. “Let’s get you inside, yeah?” He removes one arm to close the car door, locking it right after.

He unlocks the front door, gently shoving you inside, following after you.

You let out a quiet breath of relief, you were scared he was going to leave after hugging you.

The kids run out of the living room, stopping in front of you.

You bend down, letting them hug your good side with Jake telling them to be careful and not tug your neck.

Maryanne steps away from you, telling Jake to bend down. She wraps her arms around his neck, giving him a hug.

Edwin does the same.

You wipe your cheeks, not wanting to cry even though this is what you’ve been waiting for.

Three months later...

Maryanne stands in front of you, “mama?”

“Yeah, baby?” You turn to look at her, seeing how she looks down at the ground. You furrow your brows, “what’s wrong? Are you feeling, okay?” You place the back of your hand on her forehead. She pulls your hand away from her forehead and shakes her head. “Did you break something?”

“No... I want to do something for Jake.”

You nod, smiling (happy to know no one’s hurt or sick). “Okay, like what?”

“I- we want to do something for him for… Father’s Day.”

The smile slowly falls from your face, “oh,” you gulp. “Did you two have something in mind? And know that just because we’re getting married doesn’t mean that you have to do anything. I know we’ve had a hard time adjusting with one another,” you move the few strands of hair that fell off her face. “He would be happy with anything whether we do something or not.”

She pouts, “I know but we want him to know that we like him and- and that we want him to be our dad.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“Can he adopt us?”

You lift your hand up, covering your mouth, shocked at her surprising request.

“Mama?”

You shake your head, blinking your eyes rapidly to prevent the tears from falling. You wrap your arms around her shoulders pulling her in for a tight hug. “Oh, my sweet girl.” You detach yourself from her, holding her by her shoulders, “that is more than okay, sweetheart. And you’re sure this is something you and Edwin want?”

She nods as a smile tugs at the corners of her lips.

“We should start now if we want it ready by then huh?”

The wedding was a small one with only Jake’s fellow pilots, WSO’s, and other navy members invited. You both invited his sister, but she was pregnant with baby number four and was unable to fly over.

She was kind enough to call and say that she and her husband would drive over, but it’d take too long for them to arrive. You assured her that it was okay, and she would be missed (you were so close to getting to hear embarrassing stories about pre-pilot Jake).

You didn’t let Jake see you before the wedding (much to his displeasure).

You walk down the aisle with Penny and Amelia walking you down the aisle. When you asked the girls, it easily became one of the most emotional moments when it came to planning the wedding, but you have no regrets (even if the few photos of you three walking down the aisle were of the Benjamin girls crying the entire time).

It was something else when you two were married by Pete.

And, of course, Maryanne was the most adorable flower girl ever making sure used all the petals in her basket and Edwin was a handsome ring bearer.

Thank God you didn’t assign anyone with this task because when Mickey and Logan were asking you a while ago, they showed you the website where you could rent a bear. Of course, this was a joke… you hoped anyway but they did redeem themselves by helping out with all the guy’s suits (after giving them the “mom” look).

Almost everyone- that’s a lie, everyone was crying, no matter how hard you tried not to, you did.

The water works got worse when Jake gave his vows. The man may be cocky as hell, but the man knows when to put his heart and soul into something.

Jake could barely keep his hands to himself when Pete said, “you may now kiss the bride.”

“More like devour the bride,” Bradley mutters. Jake pulls back, needing air, knowing you need the same.

“Can it chicken, you’re just jealous.”

The mustache man scoffs, prepared to say something else when Javy pulls him off to the side, handing him a drink. “To the happy couple!”

Javy and Bradley are the first to raise a glass. “To the happy couple!”

“To my stunning and gorgeous wife,” he whispers in your ear.

“And to my charmingly cocky husband.”

“I see how it is. I compliment you and you insult me.”

“It’s all part of my charm.”

“You weren’t this mean when we first started going out.”

“I didn’t want to show you my dark side.”

“Sure, you didn’t.”

“Okay, enough you two,” Penny takes your drinks from you two, “it’s time for the first dance.”

You let out a dramatic sigh, “if we must.”

“Prepare to have your heels knocked off your feet.”

You place your hand on his shoulder, “play on the usual phrase, I see you’ve been studying with Edwin.”

He smirks, “’course I have. I wanted to impress you.”

“Oh,” you chuckle, “impress me? I see.”

“No more talking, more dancing.”

The song ends and you feel light tugging and look down to find your babies standing there.

“Looks like it’s time for family’s first dance,” DJ Bob announces, adding airhorns.

“I’m never letting baby on board DJ for us again.”

“Oh, c’mon, he’s doing good. Leave him be,” you tell your husband.

“This is a special request coming from the shortest guy here this evening and no, I’m not talking about Fanboy.”

Reuben, Natasha, and Billy cover their mouths to prevent them from spitting out their drinks.

Pete, Penny, Amelia, and Callie shake their heads.

Logan and Bradley shake their heads.

Javy and Bringham hold Mickey back from going after a power-hungry DJ Bob and Neil grabs the camera before the photographer of the evening, can drop it.

An Ice Age remix comes through the speakers and you three look down at Edwin, who innocently shrugs, “what?”

You and Jake glance back at one another and shake your heads, dancing until your feet begin to hurt.

Javy and Bob help back the car with wedding presents while Jake puts the kids in the back, letting them get comfortable and fall asleep.

“Thank you, boys.”

Javy gives you a rare, sweet smile, “anything for the newly Mrs. Seresin.”

Your lips quickly tug into an upward smile, “I haven’t heard that yet.”

“It feel weird?” “You know what? It doesn’t.”

“What doesn’t?” The man of the hour asks.

“Nothing.”

“And… we’re done. You two ready to go?” Bob interrupts.

“We are. Are one of you driving the car back to our place?”

“No, we’re gonna leave it here for the racoons to rip open and bring to you later tomorrow.”

“Just because you’re Jake’s friend, doesn’t mean that I won’t hesitate to kick your ass, Machado.”

Your husband wraps an arm around your waist pulling you back, “okay and that’s enough excitement for one day.”

“We’ll see you two there.”

Bob waves to you with his usual, adorable smile dancing across his lips.

You wave back before Jake holds you against the passenger door. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’m walking on air, husband of mine.”

“Glad to know I’m not the only one. Let’s go home.”

The day after the wedding…

You and Jake sit beside one another on the couch, looking through your wedding album, taking a break from opening presets.

“Aw,” you point to the photo Maryanne sent him a while ago. “When did we take this?”

“Our little darlin’ sent me this when we were- uh-” Jake scratches the back of his head, “away from each other.”

“Oh… why didn’t you ever show me this? Send it to me.”

“Can I never have a cute family photo for myself?”

You sigh, “I suppose you can.”

He shakes his head, “don’t you be trying to guilt trip me now, gorgeous.”

“Me? Guilt trip you, never.” You flip to another page, “wow!”

“Guess the kid is as good with a camera on the ground like he is in the air.”

“Yeah, I’ll say. We are so using him for the kid’s birthdays.”

You can feel the vibrations of him chuckling behind you.

“Guess that means we save a few bucks.”

“Don’t tell me now that we’re married, you’re going cheap on me.”

He scoffs, “never… I just didn’t expect Fanboy to be so good.”

“Wow, no wonder he was hesitant to ask me.” You shake your head, setting the album on the table and see the last gift on the table is the big one. “This one is from the kids, but we have to wait until they wake up.”

“What?” Jake whines.

“Please,” you plead.

“Fine, fine. Stop giving me those “sex” eyes.”

You scoff, “I am not giving you “sex” eyes. If anyone is giving those eyes, it’s you.”

“Wow!”

“I know, it sucks when your words come back to bite you in the ass, right?”

“I know something else that can bite you in the ass.”

“God! We just got married and it’s like you’ve become ten times hornier within twenty-four hours.”

“You just have that effect on me, gorgeous.”

“Did he open it yet?” Maryanne asks, scaring the shit out of you two.

You and Jake scream, the latter lets out an oof. “What happened? Are you okay?”

He shakes his head, holding his stomach, “no.”

You cringe, realizing what you did. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry, are you okay?”

“My poor, beautiful abs.”

You scoff, smacking his arm, “you’re fine.” You turn to look at the kids, “and no he did not. I wanted you two to be here with us.”

They run over to the couch, sitting on each side of him.

You grab the rectangular, thin box, handing it to him.

“You not gonna help me with this one?”

You shake your head, trying to hide your smile, “no, this one’s all you, honey.”

He narrows his eyes at you before looking back at the gift, ripping the gift open. He tosses the box to the side, holding a large manilla envelope. He stares at it with furrowed brows, “what-”

“Just open it,” you tell him.

He carefully opens it, pulling out the document. He starts to read it, “what-” his voice cracks. Jake scoots forward, setting everything on the coffee table so he can cover his eyes.

“Aw, honey,” you start.

The kids stare at you with wide eyes, unsure if this is a good reaction or not. They scoot off the couch, standing in front of him, wrapping their arms around his shoulders.

He returns the gesture. “I know we had a hard time gettin to know each other in the beginning,” he lifts his head, staring back and forth between the two, “but did you two really have to make a grown man cry?”

“We made you cry?” Your daughter asks.

“You should have been worried if I didn’t cry.”

“Fair point.”

You rub the back of his shoulder.

He looks back at you, “how long have you known about this?”

“Too long. I’m just happy your late/ early Father’s Day gift finally made its way to you."

“This is a- okay, new rule, give the old man a little warning so I have time to prepare myself.”

“Nah,” you shake your head, “this is better. We get the raw emotions.”

“Shut up,” he shoves your thigh.

You smile, leaning back against the couch.

“Let’s a movie… not Ice Age,” he pulls Edwin closer, “whispering”, “we’ll watch it when the girls aren’t here.”

The young boy nods, giggling, “okay.”

Maryanne settles in on your side with Jake on your left, an arm wrapped around your shoulders and Edwin on his left.

“Oh, wait. We need popcorn,” says your daughter.

“Let’s go.” Edwin pulls her into the kitchen, preparing the movie snacks.

He pulls you closer.

“I told you they like you.”

He doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, “okay, maybe you were right.”

“I was so right, darlin.”

“Look at you trying to copy my accent.”

“Honey, I pull that accent off better than you.”

“Oh, is that how we’re playing it?”

“You bet.”

“How about we cut this competition short?”

“Oh, yeah. How’s that-”

He cups your cheek, pulling you in for a kiss.

“We’re done- ew!”

You can’t help but smile as you two part from one another.

“Alright, kids. Settle in,” he tells them.

They return to their previous seats.

You rest your head against his shoulder.

This is exactly how you pictured it, the family life with Jake.

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roosterforme · 5 months

Text

The Younger Kind Part 39 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: It's not hard for Bradley to convince you to buy a formal dress. He also easily gets you to stop referring to the house as only his. But his behavior after the three of you return from the lake house might not be something you're willing to deal with.

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, smut, spanking, pregnancy talk, and age gap (18+)

Length: 4500 words

Pairing: Single dad!Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x babysitter!female reader

Check out my masterlist for more! The Younger Kind masterlist.

Bradley had to laugh, because while the Christmas in July fake birthday party all weekend long had been great, he and Maverick were the ones stuck cleaning up the decorations.

"They really left us here, huh?"

"Yeah, Mav," Bradley replied. "They really left us here to clean up while they took Noah out for breakfast." But he didn't mind. You told him it would give him a chance to talk to his dad's best friend for a few minutes.

When Bradley started to disassemble the Christmas tree, Mav asked him, "Are you planning on going to Warlock's retirement thing?"

"Retirement thing?" Bradley asked.

"Yeah. The surprise party. I keep forgetting about it." When Bradley's brow scrunched in confusion, the other man waved his hand. "You'll get an invitation this week. Most of Top Gun is invited."

Bradley felt for a second like he'd finally reached the upper echelon of work related events, because if he did in fact manage to get an invitation to an Admiral's retirement party, it was going to be swanky. "Black tie?"

"Oh yeah," Mav replied as he packed up strand after strand of lights. "Just wear your dress whites."

But that wasn't what Bradley was concerned about. If you needed to wear a formal gown, then you'd need to use your princess credit card. And he didn't want you balking at the price of a dress. He wanted you to go out and find something you wanted to wear for the night, and he didn't want to argue with you about the money. He had plenty of it; that was the downside to losing your parents when you were young and inheriting both of their life insurance policies.

"Yeah, I can just wear my dress whites," Bradley replied as he decided perhaps you'd respond better to picking out a dress if he promised to spank you afterwards.

Once Bradley shoved the Christmas tree back into the closet, he could hear you pull the Bronco back into the driveway. Maverick handed him a beer, and he was sipping it when you walked in and headed right for him. "Daddy," you whispered, kissing his cheek. Amelia walked in holding hands with Noah, and Penny brought up the rear.

"We brought you some muffins," Penny said, shaking a white bag at Bradley.

"Thanks," he replied before leaning down closer to you. He could practically still feel the tug of your fingers in his hair as he made love to you last night, once again with his hand over your mouth. "I actually like it better when you make breakfast for us at home," he said softly, just for you. "Did you have a nice time?"

You just shrugged. "The food was good, but the coffee sucked. I miss the French vanilla coffee you bring home for me sometimes."

"In the special Princess cups?"

You practically moaned for him. "I love it when you stop and get me coffee. Do you have any idea how hard I was crushing on you when you would bring that home with you on days when I was babysitting Noah? Or when you started buying French vanilla creamer for your house for me?"

Bradley eyed everyone else out on the back deck while he took a sip of the beer he was still holding and wrapped his arm a little tighter around you. "Tell me, Princess. Remind me. How hard were you crushing on me?"

Your lips met his neck, and sure enough, your fingers went to his hair. He stood there feeling kind of smug as you kissed him and murmured, "Couldn't stop thinking about you. I was so jealous of every girl you went out with. I wanted you to touch me so badly."

Bradley backed you up against the wall and pressed his body to yours. "I knew from the beginning I was wasting my time with them when you were at home."

You let your head tip back against the wall, and he leaned down to kiss you. "Well I'm always at your house now." You hooked your fingers through his belt loops and grinned. "I can't wait to make myself a latte from your fancy coffee maker tomorrow before work. The coffee is better from your kitchen."

Bradley froze with his palm pressed to the wall next to your head and your pretty eyes on him. "Baby, it's our house now."

Your eyes fluttered closed as you whispered, "Our house," like it was your fairy tale castle instead of a Coronado bungalow. Like he really was your knight.

"Hey," he rasped, waiting until your eyes were open again. He ran his fingers along your cheek. "I love you. So fucking much. But I won't spank you ever again if you call it my house. You understand?"

"Daddy," you gasped as he pulled himself away from you and finished his beer with a smirk. Your eyes narrowed, and he should have been alarmed by your smirk that matched his. "If you don't promise to spank me when we get home tonight, I'll paint your entire house beige. And I'll stop buying salad dressing. And I'll go down to the lake right now and catch a pet fish for Noah."

"Fuck," he gasped, actually feeling a little panicky before you and he burst into laughter together. "Damn, you're good. And you know I'll give you whatever you want. But you've got to give me what I want, too. Call it our house."

You pecked his cheek and said, "Let me start packing so we can leave for our house in a few hours."

"That's more like it," he replied as he went to join everyone else on the deck.

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

You offered to drive, but Bradley told you to relax instead. You and Noah both ended up yawning fifteen minutes into the ride back to San Diego, and then you were both falling asleep. While Noah actually needed the afternoon nap so he wasn't cranky later, you just wanted to enjoy the feel of the warm sunshine on your face and Bradley's hand in yours.

You were using his address as your own for work, and all of your mail was being sent there. Your stuff was in virtually every room, but there were still times that it felt like his and Noah's space. The new bed helped you feel more comfortable, and obviously Bradley let you do whatever you wanted throughout the house. But he was right; it was time you started to take ownership. That was your bungalow now with the snag in the living room rug and the crack along the driveway just as much as it was his. You dozed off thinking about the internet tabs open on his phone as he rubbed your left ring finger.

Once again, Bradley had to wake you up when you arrived. He kissed you softly until your eyes opened to the afternoon sun. "We're home," he whispered.

"Our house," you mumbled as you sat up straight and stretched.

"Our house," he echoed. And then your heart melted as he asked, "Do you want to take our son inside while I carry in all of our shit?"

You smiled and turned to see that Noah was just waking up as well. "Yeah, I'll take our son inside." It was the most natural thing you could have said as you pecked Bradley's lips and climbed out onto the driveway.

"Mommy," Noah whined as you unbuckled him. "I have to pee."

"Keys!" you shouted to Bradley where he was already unloading the back of the Bronco, and he tossed them to you. As quickly as you could, you hauled Noah up to the front porch and got him into the bathroom without incident. "You feel better?" you asked, and he nodded at you.

"Yeah. Mostly because there were no bears at the lake."

You had to stifle your laughter. This child was the sweetest thing you'd ever encountered in your life. "Told you that Daddy wasn't lying about the bears. What was your favorite part of the weekend?" you asked as you helped him wash his hands.

"The worms."

Once again, you wanted to laugh, because you didn't even need to leave the backyard to find worms, let alone drive hours away to an enormous lake. "Don't tell Daddy that," you mumbled as you walked out of the bathroom to see Bradley dumping bags and boxes in the hallway.

"I think we overpacked," he said as he headed outside for more. "If we go on another family vacation, I'm supervising the packing, because now I know you can't be trusted with it."

"When we go on another family vacation," you called after him. You rolled your eyes and headed to the kitchen to start making spaghetti for dinner. Then you grinned as you set Noah up with a coloring book at the table. You kissed his soft hair and said, "Don't forget to remind your dad that you still want a dog, okay?"

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

When Bradley took a minute to actually sort through the mail from Friday, he found the invitation to Admiral Bates' retirement party. A black tie formal at the San Diego Botanic Gardens. It was in less than two weeks, and his wife wanted it to be a surprise for him. Bradley would have to get his dress whites dry cleaned before then, but it would be harder to convince you to buy a gown. If you even wanted to go with him.

At the moment, you were reading a bedtime story on Noah's floor and teaching him how to sound out the words. God, Bradley was fucking obsessed with how patient and sweet you were. Noah was snuggled up in your lap, looking at the book and saying the word castle when Bradley walked in. Wordlessly, he sat on the edge of Noah's bed and watched his son work through all the words on the page with your help.

Maybe you'd get pregnant right away. Bradley didn't know if he'd be able to handle the excitement. He could spend a weekend getting the other bedroom set up as a nursery when it was time. When Meredith was pregnant, she only took him to one ultrasound appointment, but this time, if it happened, he'd beg you to let him go to all of them. Or as many as he could if he wasn't deployed.

"Daddy?" you asked, handing Noah up to him.

Bradley was shaken from his very pleasant thoughts by his son in his arms. He smiled and kissed Noah while he yawned before turning and getting him tucked in. "I still want a dog," Noah mumbled as he rolled onto his side, and Bradley shot you a dirty look.

"What?" you asked innocently as you abruptly stood and headed for the door. You were off down the hallway, running to yours and his bedroom, but Bradley was right on your tail.

He caught you in his arms as you laughed. "You know, all you've done since you got here is completely wreck our routine," he growled next to your ear as he held you tight. "You've literally destroyed our former way of life."

"What?" you gasped, trying to look up at him.

"You heard me," he whispered, kissing your hair. "You've got Noah reading books and eating homemade meals. You've turned me into a complete fucking mess with your glossy lips and your smile and your little dresses. And you have absolutely no regard for the fact that I get an erection whenever I smell wildflowers."

You were all giggles now as he carried you to the bed. "It's your fault for being such a Daddy," you whispered with a grin.

He set you down, and you lounged back against the pillows, your dress resting high on your thighs. Then he pulled the folded up invitation out of his back pocket and handed it to you as he climbed in bed too. "You wanna go with me?" he asked as you read it.

When your eyes darted up to meet his, you whispered, "I've never been to a black tie event before."

"Then you'll need a dress. Where's your phone?"

You bit your lip. "In the kitchen."

"Use mine," he replied, unlocking it and handing it to you with a new internet tab all ready for you to start shopping. "Order some dresses. And go to the mall after work one day this week if you want."

You took his phone but hesitantly said, "If I'm only going to wear it one time, I don't even know what to buy."

"Get whatever you want, Princess," he coaxed. "Maybe something purple?"

"Maybe..." you muttered as Bradley rolled you onto your belly in the middle of the bed. He watched over your shoulder as you started scrolling through some dresses, and he was practically salivating, because they would all look incredible on you. "Purple would be pretty."

"Mmhmm," he hummed, running his hands up the backs of your thighs and pushing your dress up around your waist. You glanced back at him as he carefully started to pull your underwear down.

"What are you doing?" you asked with a little smirk as he inched your underwear down your legs and set them on the bed.

He ran his big hands back up to your ass and bent to kiss you there. He could just see a glimpse of your pretty pussy as he kissed along the top of your thigh. "Exactly what you want me to do. But only if you order a dress."

When you turned back to his phone, he ran his mustache along your perfect, soft skin. You were flawless, partly because of your age, but also because of how attractive you were. He was never going to tire of listening to your breath hitch when he touched you like his. He kneaded and palmed the globes of your ass, teasing down to your pussy with his thumbs until you whimpered.

He tasted your skin everywhere, his tongue delving into your wetness as he pushed your legs further apart. You lifted yourself up onto your knees slightly, and he let you get away with it so he could taste more of you. But when you started to grind back against his face, he stilled you with his hands.

"Did you pick out a dress yet?" he asked, licking the taste of your pussy from his mustache.

Your voice was quivering slightly. "I like this one, but it's expensive," you told him, holding up his phone. It was purple and two pieces with a fluffy Princess skirt. The top was covered in beads and would show off the tiniest bit of your waist all the way around. He was practically drooling just thinking about how much fun he'd have pushing all that fabric up to get to you.

"Order it," he groaned before literally sinking his teeth into your ass and gently biting you so you squealed for him. "Order it right now, and I'll spank you and then fuck you."

"Okay," you moaned, and a minute later, you tossed his phone next to your underwear. "I ordered it." Bradley kissed you all over your ass before collecting you in his arms and draping you over his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed.

And just like last time, you loved it. He could tell. Every time his palm met your perfect body, you moaned his name and rubbed yourself against his thigh. Your skin felt warm as he soothed you and then spanked you again and again. "You're a good girl when you use the credit card," he crooned before dipping two fingers inside your pussy without warning.

"Daddy!" you nearly shrieked, grinding back on his hand. He finger fucked you hard before withdrawing and then spanking you with his wet hand. The slapping noise and your reaction to him had him on the verge as he pulled you upright.

There were tears in your eyes and a soft smile on your face as you let him kiss your lips. He stroked his thumb along your cheek and whispered, "Get on your hands and knees."

You nodded and scrambled onto the bed, and he stood there and admired the sight before him. You were all round ass and soaking wet pussy as you pressed your cheek to the bedding and whined, "Bradley." He carefully unzipped his jeans, yanked them down, and thrust all the way inside you. The gentle hiss and soft groan as he filled you let him know you felt good.

He let you have a few slow strokes before he grabbed you by the hips. Then he fucked you harder as you turned your head to bury your cries. A formal dress. A baby. A wife. He could think about little else besides you at the moment as he fucked you until he unloaded inside you with your name on his lips.

Bradley knew he was a little rough as his hips continued to jerk, fucking his cum deeper. You lifted your face away from the bedding and started to crawl away from him, giving him a beautiful view of your pussy leaking his cum.

"I'm sorry, Baby," he mumbled, shaking his head and climbing into the bed next to you. "I'm sorry I was a little rough." He was about to ask you if you wanted him to get you off with his mouth or his hands when you very gently reached for his face.

"I like it when you're rough," you whispered, voice full of emotion. "I like it when you're gentle with me, too. I love everything. I love living here with you in our house." You snuggled in closer to him and let your chin rest on his shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too, Princess."

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

Getting back into your work routine was hard after taking a few days off and sleeping in with Bradley each morning. Dr. Kelly even joked that you looked too well rested. "How was the lake?" she asked, and you immediately thought about Bradley untying your bathing suit on the boat.

"Great," you replied as casually as you could. "Noah had the best weekend. Once we convinced him there were no bears at Big Bear Lake."

Her eyes went wide as she reached for some latex gloves and followed you toward an exam room. "Could you imagine if he actually saw one?"

You shook your head immediately. "Don't even want to think about it."

As the afternoon wore on, you realized your butt was still sore, and you were hungry for ants on logs. And this was all because you were in love with being in love with the Bradshaw boys. When you took a short break and checked your phone, there was a text from Bradley.

Bradley Bradshaw: Hey, I'll be late today. Need to take care of some things at work. Can you pick Noah up?

You let him know you'd be happy to get Noah, and then you realized that maybe you'd get to see Casey, too. You were still giddy at the prospect of annoying her when you arrived at the daycare only to find Geena, the older teacher at the front desk.

She greeted you warmly and then asked you for your ID. "I know that Casey probably knows you by now, and she's usually out here in the afternoons. But since she left a little early today, I'll just need to check your drivers license."

"No problem," you told her with a smile as you pulled it out of your wallet for her to inspect. She had you sign the sheet on the clipboard and then she vanished to get Noah. You wondered how late Bradley would be, but he never responded to your text when you asked him. Then Noah came running out, and you bent to scoop him up in your arms.

"Mommy, we painted seashells today!" he gushed, holding up a ziplock bag with his name on it filled with colorful shells.

"Noah! They're beautiful!" you told him as you waved goodbye to Geena and took him out to your car. "Do you want to turn them into a craft for Daddy when we get home?"

"Yeah!"

An hour later, you were still in your scrubs from work, making dinner while Noah glued some of the smaller shells onto a sheet of construction paper. You stopped what you were doing occasionally to help him arrange the shells to spell DADDY. "Looking good," you told him as he sounded out the letters. He loved reading, and you loved how excited he got.

You kissed his forehead and then checked your phone as it vibrated on the counter. But when you saw it was your coworker trying to plan a happy hour, you set it down and sighed. You weren't sure if you should make a plate of food for Bradley or not. He'd probably be starving when he got home, so you decided to leave a serving out on the counter for him while you and Noah ate together. But you ended up just picking at your food. You hadn't heard from Bradley in hours.

"Wanna get changed for bed?" you asked Noah after dinner. He went racing off to his bedroom and dug around in his drawer for his dinosaur pajamas. When he put the shirt on backwards, you helped him switch it around.

"I want a snack," he told you just as you heard the front door open. Your heart leapt as you and he raced into the living room. Bradley looked exhausted in his rumpled uniform, and he was carrying a light blue box in one hand.

"Hey, Bub," he said, kneeling so Noah could hug him. "You have a good day?"

"I made you a craft!"

Bradley looked up at you and smiled a little hesitantly. "Sorry I'm late," he mumbled as Noah yanked on his arm until he stood. He kissed your cheek as he was led into the kitchen, and Noah showed him the construction paper that was absolutely saturated with drying glue and seashells. "Wow! I love this! I think we need to let it dry overnight though."

"That's what Mommy said," Noah replied as Bradley set him down in one of the chairs.

"What's in the box?" you asked. He opened it up to reveal a whole variety of pastries. Cookies, cupcakes, brownies and even a donut shaped like a crown. Now you felt bad for being a little annoyed with his lack of communication all afternoon and evening.

Noah reached into the box, and Bradley snatched up the donut before he could get to it. "This one's yours."

"Thanks," you whispered before biting into it. The outside melted in your mouth, and the inside was filled with rich cream. It was delicious. Bradley leaned down to lick the corner of your mouth, and you felt your cheeks grow warm.

But once Noah was asleep, Bradley took a quick shower alone and collapsed into bed. "I'm fucking beat today," he said with an enormous yawn. "You ready for bed?"

"Yeah," you agreed as he pulled the blanket over himself, and after you took a long shower he was already asleep. So you just snuggled in next to him, and eventually you fell asleep, too.

The following morning, Bradley was still sound asleep when your alarm went off, something that never happened. "Daddy," you whispered, shaking him and kissing his cheek. "Wake up." He just grunted at you and rolled over. "Seriously?" you muttered, rolling out of bed since you could hear Noah in the bathroom. You changed into clean scrubs and skipped makeup since Noah was bugging for breakfast as soon as he saw you.

"Eggs or cereal?" you asked him once you had him dressed for the day.

"Cereal," he replied. "And can I have another cookie? From the blue box?"

"We'll see," you said, setting him up with breakfast and then going back to find Bradley half dressed in his flight suit and messing with his phone. "You're up."

His eyes met yours, and he tucked his phone in his pocket. "Yeah. Sorry, I don't know why I was so tired. Can you drop Noah off so I'm not late?"

You nodded, and he cupped your cheek in his big hand. "Thanks, Princess." Then he grabbed the travel mug of coffee you made for him and took a protein bar and a cookie. With a quick kiss to Noah's head, he was out the front door.

"Daddy had a cookie," Noah whined. "I want one, too."

You realized there was no point in arguing with him if Bradley was the one setting a bad example, so you carried the pastry box over to the table. You noticed it was from Sweet Dreams Bakery which was all the way across the city. Noah managed to snag two cookies as you stood there with the box open in a daze. Why was Bradley on the other side of San Diego yesterday? It was mostly residential over there.

"Shit," you muttered under your breath. You'd be late if you didn't get Noah in the car in the next few minutes. You quickly made yourself lunch and grabbed everything he would need before hauling him out to the car. You gently swiped cookie crumbs from his face and clothes as you buckled him in. "I'll drop you off quickly, and then Daddy will pick you up later, okay?"

Noah just nodded as he smiled. He would probably be on a sugar high within the hour, but at least he would be someone else's problem to deal with then. And you quickly learned that he would be Casey's problem to deal with when you took him inside and realized that you looked like a nightmare compared to her today. She was wearing an outfit so cute, you kind of wished you had one just like it. And she smiled maliciously at you.

"Good morning, Noah," she said sweetly as she practically tossed the clipboard in your direction. She walked him into the classroom as you signed your name and put the date and time.

"Thanks," you mumbled, handing the clipboard back to her when she reappeared.

"You know, I'm a little surprised it's you dropping him off today instead of Bradley. I mean, Lieutenant Bradshaw." She looked so smug you wanted to scream and smear her perfect makeup.

But you stood there and calmly said, "We've already been over this. I'll be dropping Noah off and picking him up as well now. Indefinitely."

"Okay," she replied, barely paying any attention to you as she opened up a light blue pastry box identical to the one in your kitchen. "You keep telling yourself that."

You swallowed hard and looked between her face and the box one more time before you turned on your heel and rushed back out to your car.

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

What's up, Daddy? And why? Thanks to @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 40

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callsigndragon · 1 year

Text

Seeing Red | Ch. 26: The plot thickens ✍️📲

Word count: 4.3k (this is nuts)

Warnings: swearing, dad jake, WHO SENTS THE BOUQUET (read and you'll know), jealous jake, cycunt, someone gets punched pt.2, medical innacuracy but hey i'm a teacher not a doctor, BOB'S WIFE, and a fucking cliffhanger bc this chapter is super long.

A/N: NEXT. CHAPTER. REVEALS. THE. TRUTH. JUST. WAIT. A. BIT. Pls 😭❤️

Masterlist on pinned

It’s been a month since you came here. And what a month!

After the second week of silence regarding the big secret, you stopped waiting. You knew he wanted to tell you; he just needed a bit of time. How much time was a bit, you didn’t know. But you could wait.

During the last month, Jake has been the best father you could have wished for your son. He spent days baby-proofing his house, with Reuben’s help and with a soon-to-be dad named Bob, who took lots of notes. Liam has only been in Jake’s house once, when he hosted a dinner the night before you all left for a mission.

Oh, the mission. It was more of a scouting mission, but you still had to spend almost two weeks on a carrier with the whole squad. That meant sharing a room with Phoenix, small corridors, and a lack of sun. The narrow corridors were the worst part. The universe must have been trying to laugh at you or something, because every time you had to walk through one of those, you found Jake at the other end. It brought thousands of memories. The ones that left you with weak knees. Yeah, he still has that effect on you.

Jake has become a mystery to you. While he may appear to be a completely different person on the outside—someone you don't know—on the inside, he is still the same man you fell in love with.

His entire demeanor has changed, too. It’s like his father's instincts have taken over his personality, and all that bad attitude he displayed with the new recruits or as an instructor is now gone. He has become a perfect aviator, a perfect instructor, and a perfect father. Warlock even came one day to congratulate him for his outstanding behavior.

You’re sure Warlock was the one who came to congratulate him because Cyclone couldn’t even think about it. Every time you two were in the same room, something sent shivers down your spine. You have been trying to avoid him lately.

Everything is perfect. Liam has a lovely and supportive family—more uncles and aunts than days in a week—and Penny and Mav, whom Liam calls Memaw and Pepaw. Your mom, hearing that Liam has so many people surrounding him, has told you that ‘you don’t need her’. She’s literally trying to get you and Jake together, whatever it takes. And she believes she can accomplish this by staying at home with Lady. She has adopted the dog as her own.

Everything is perfect. Well, it could be even better if Jake told you the truth.

But you’ll have to wait for that.

Jake knocks on your door just when you have turned off the computer. “Ready, sweets?”

“Yeah, just let me get my stuff,” You mumble while opening one of the drawers to get some folders.

Jake watches silently as the dog tags slip from the inside of your shirt, hanging from the chain. There they are. The engagement ring he bought, the wedding band you chose together, the one that he placed on your finger at your wedding. How did Amelia get a picture of them? He will ask her later.

Your hand hides them quickly inside your shirt, where they belong, and you glance in Jake’s way. He’s grabbing your bag, his right hand patting his front pocket for some reason. “Warlock is now the babysitter?”

You laugh, closing the drawer and walking to him. “Don’t you think he is better than Dummy Boo?”

“Much, much better. I was thinking that we could have another Disney movie night.” He suggests, opening the door for you.

“Sounds good. We came back a week ago but we’ve been doing so much paperwork…” You groan, trying to get your bag from Jake’s hands, but he softly slaps your hand away. “Give me my bag.”

“Nope,” he grins walking alongside you through the corridor, his hand brushing with yours at every step. He wishes he could just slide his hand between your fingers, draw infinite shapes in your skin.

Ames is right. He needs to tell you.

“It feels like all I’ve seen of him this week is his sleepy form.” Jake mentions, and you nod, because it’s true. He’s been sleeping more lately. Maybe he gets tired at daycare.

“Don’t worry, we still have tons of Disney movies to watch with him. I can’t remember what was the last one we saw.”

“The Emperor’s new groove. Next ones are Atlantis and Lilo and Stitch.”

“Maybe Atlantis is a bit too much for him.” You point out. “Lilo and Stitch.”

“I bought a Stitch plushie. He’s gonna want one of those.” Jake chuckles and you shake your head while laughing.

You sigh, stopping when you reach Warlock’s office. “Jake.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe when Liam falls asleep we could… talk?”

He sees the hope in your eyes, a sparkle in them that makes his heart skip a bit. “Yeah. We’ll talk.”

The smile that you give him in return could illuminate a town for an entire month. “Thank you.”

A part of him feels miserable that you have to thank him for doing something that he should have done before. “You don’t need to thank me, sweets.”

You kiss his cheek and open the door, Jake standing behind you with reddening cheeks. The smiles on your faces drop when you see Cyclone instead of Warlock.

“Where’s Solomon?” You inquire as you observe Liam doodling on a piece of paper.

“He had to leave, and I stayed with Liam.”

"Hey, baby," you say as you kneel in front of him and kiss his cheek.

“Hello, mama.”

“Want to go home?” He nods, and you move his hair out of his face. You need to get him a haircut. “Dada is waiting outside. Can you go with him while I give Beau some boring papers?”

“Dadaaaa!” Liam goes running towards his dad and hugs his leg. Jake drops the bag and hugs him.

“What have you done today, bubs?”

“I paint a lot. Wally is funny.” Liam explains to his dad, who believes that this Wally is Warlock. Liam goes around giving nicknames to everyone. Mickey is Mickey Mouse. Nobody knows why Reuben is called Ben-Ben. Nat, Javy and Bob don’t have nicknames, their names are just that short. And then, there’s Rooster. Well, Woosta. Jake fell to the floor the first time Liam called Bradley like that.

“What about Dummy Boo? Was he funny?” Jake keeps talking to his son while observing the interaction between Red and Cyclone. He still gives him a weird feeling; there’s something behind his actions that doesn’t sit right with Jake.

Javy calls it jealousy, but it goes beyond that. It’s just weird.

Cyclone writes something on a piece of paper that he pushes across the desk until it sits in front of Red’s hand. She takes it with a smile on her face. What the fuck is going on?

Did Cycunt just give her his number?

Today, of all days, the day where he has decided to confess everything to Red, and maybe, even though Jake knows that this is hoping too much, that will lead to the two of them having another chance to be together.

This has to be a joke.

“Woosta!”

“My baby!” Bradley grabs Liam by the waist and lifts him up, making him giggle. It’s quite a sound that you don’t hear too often in a gym.

“Can you take care of him for a bit? I want to hit the bag.” You ask him, leaving Liam’s bag next to the two boys.

“Of course. We’re gonna play a bit with the football, right, buddy?” He tickles Liam, and you smile. You’re so lucky to have them.

“Thanks, Rooster.”

You get your things out of the bag that Jake has left in front of you and go change into more comfortable clothes. You’ve been boxing since the academy days; at first it was like a joke, not really thinking how much you would end up enjoying it. It eventually became a part of your daily routine. Hit the bag for a while to de-stress.

You turn back to the room, wrapping your hands with the red cotton wraps you always carry in your bag.

“Want help?” Jake stands behind the punching bag, his brows knitted together and his arms crossed across his chest.

“Yeah, thanks.” He helps you, silently wrapping your hands and fingers. “Are you okay?”

“Just peachy.”

“Okay…”

He drops your hand once it is properly wrapped, then gets the gloves and assists you in slipping your hands into them. “Ready?”

You nod, moving your arms a bit, and throw a combination against the bag. It feels good.

You keep going for a bit, feeling Jake’s eyes on you. You know he wants to say something, but he's biting his tongue.

“Just say it, cowboy.”��

“So... you and Cyclone.” He finally mutters through clenched teeth.

“What about me and Cyclone?”

“There’s something there?”

You stop punching the bag immediately. “What?”

“Every time we have to leave the kid outside daycare, he’s there. Every. Single. Time.”

You move around the bag, staring into his eyes. “Please, tell me you’re not trying to insinuate what you’re trying to insinuate.”

“What? That you two are together? Perhaps that's why he called you to lead the team?" His voice raises a level, making the others stop working out and look at the two of you.

You let out a dry laugh, watching from the corner of your eye as Nat walks closer to the two of you. “You really think I’m dating Cyclone?”

“That’s what it looks like, yes”

“And you think you have any right to comment on who I date or not?”

“So it’s right!”

You close your eyes for a second. “Rooster, can you take Liam out of here?”

“Come on, buddy. Let’s play outside” You wait until Rooster and Liam leave the gym to respond.

“Look, asshole. I’ve been waiting for a fucking month—no, scratch that. I’ve been waiting for three fucking years for you to come back and tell me what the fuck I’ve done wrong, why you left, and why I had to raise our kid alone.”

“Red, calm down,” Phoenix says, standing next to Jake.

“I won’t calm down. I’ve been here for a month. You’ve been in my house, every fucking night, and you have slept on the couch because you didn’t want to leave. I knew that you being part of Liam’s life meant that I’d have to see you all the time, even if I didn’t want to.” Your voice is starting to break; you pause for a second to breathe, but Jake takes it as his turn to speak.

“I think I’m entitled to know who the fuck enters my kid’s life.” Jake spits out.

“Jake, you asshole, you have literally been with me every day since I set foot on this base! We work together, we eat together, we go home together with Liam, you sleep there…”

“Your point?”

You're trembling, your eyes are wet, and your teeth are clenched. Why is he doing this? “Do you think I had time left to go see that man?”

“I don’t know, but he gave you a piece of paper with his number, didn’t he?” He steps closer to you. “Maybe even his address.”

“Jake, man. It’s time to stop” Reuben puts a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs it off.

“In case you forgot, you left me. Let me repeat it again, because maybe your brain doesn’t understand it. You left me.” You emphasize each word by pressing your glove against his chest. “You don’t have a fuck to say about my life. And no, I’m not seeing Cyclone.”

You turn around to leave, wanting to be the mature person in the room. But again, Jake being Jake, he needs to have the last word. “Then tell him to stay the fuck away from what’s mine”

“Oh shit,” Payback mutters when you come back to where they are.

You throw an uppercut to his stomach, making him fall to his knees. He grunts, breathlessly looking at you. You crouch down, resting your arms on your knees. “You don’t own me, Jake Seresin. Never forget that.”

He starts coughing when you enter the locker room.

"Red.”

“Oh my god, Jake. What now?” You are really close to throwing something at him.

“Please. I’m so-” He moves closer to you, the angriness in his face long gone. You can only see regret now.

“If you say you’re sorry after all the bullshit you just said in front of everyone, I will punch you again, this time without gloves.” You warn him, walking a few steps back. You don’t want him close to you. Your body will betray you, and you know it.

While you were out there screaming at each other, you felt a need to just grab him by the back of his neck and kiss him. He needs to remember that you married him three years ago and that you weren’t the one who asked for a divorce. He needs to know that you were and still are very much in love with him.

And even though you can understand the jealousy he must have felt and how it makes you do and say crazy things, it’s not an excuse.

“You wanna know what that piece of paper was?” You rummage through your bag, looking for that damned piece of paper, pressing it against his chest. “Read it.”

“Jane Simpson?” His brows furrow. That's not the name he was expecting to read.

“Cyclone’s daughter. She’s a sitter. Cyclone said that next time the daycare is closed, I could call her and ask her to take care of Liam.” You grab all your things while Jake registers this information, feeling like an absolute dick. Great, he deserves it. “Don’t fucking come to my house tonight.”

Jake spends the next five hours inside his car, arms and head resting on the steering wheel. How has he messed up so much? Today was the day. He was going to tell you the truth, and there wouldn't be any secrets left between them. Not anymore.

But fucking Jake Seresin had to open up his big mouth.

He grabs his phone, taking a deep breath before sending a text to Mav.

Ames and Mav are glad that you punched him. He really deserves it. He's been scolded by both of them for hours now.

"When you punched Rooster a while ago, I was glad," Ames explains, filling up Jake’s glass of water. "But now? I want to go and give her a round of applause."

"Yeah, yeah. I know I deserve it, don't remind me." Jake lets his head fall against the table. The two of them are sitting outside the bar, in one of the benches, Mav has gone inside to help Penny with the new customers. "I'm gonna need a miracle now. She won't forgive me."

"Let's remember that she still carries her wedding rings around." She points out, playing with Jake's hair.

"How did you find out?" Jake's voice comes out muffled.

"Red showed them to Nat, Penny saw them and sent us a text. I've been carefully trying to take a picture of them since she told me. And one day she fell asleep on the couch, Liam had been playing with them…"

"He likes shiny things," Jake mutters to himself, that sentence making so much sense now. He liked to play with his mom's dog tags because the rings were there.

"I just took a picture. But instead of making you understand that she's still pretty much in love with you, and faithfully waiting for you to come back, it had the opposite effect."

He lifts his head, realizing that he said all those stupid things literally one hour after Amelia sent him that photo. "I'm an asshole."

"Congrats, it took you only…" She checks her phone. "Shit, it's almost midnight."

"Already?" Jake grabs his phone from his pocket. It had been silent all day.

He gets up from the bench in a swift motion, the glass of water falling over the table. "Jake, what the fuck?"

He unlocks the phone and calls you, his whole body frozen in pure terror.

Not his kid.

Everything but him.

"Red?" He can hear Liam crying. It breaks his heart into a million pieces.

"Oh my god Jake, thank God. Liam has a high fever, and the fucking car isn't working, and…” You're trying to calm Liam, but he can hear you crying. You must be so scared. Jake grabs his car keys and runs to his car for the second time in one month.

Jake knows he has to be the big person now. He needs to keep his cool and not fuck this up. His son needs him. "Hey, hey. Honey, listen to me, okay? I'm at the Hard Deck. Just give me a few minutes, and I'll be with you. I'm gonna call Bob and check if his wife is working tonight."

"Shhh, Liam. I know it hurts, but we're gonna make it stop, okay? Dada's coming." You choke on your words, and he doesn't want to end the call, but he needs to. He needs to call Bob.

"I'm gonna hang now. I'll be there soon."

"Hurry, please."

You hang up, and he scrolls down his recent calls to look for Bob.

"Man, I don't want to talk to you right now." Bob quickly says, angry at Jake’s behavior.

"Bob, please. Liam’s sick. Is Doc working?"

"Yes, she is. Take him to the hospital; I'll call her."

"Thanks, Bob. We'll be there soon."

"I hope it's nothing."

Jake hangs up the phone for the second time in minutes and drives like a madman. He can hear Liam's heartbreaking cries in his head. He must be hurting. It could be literally anything. Reuben told him that children get sick often; it's part of their life. But this is his first time going through this.

When he drove like this last month because you were sick, he felt scared. This is ten times worse. A kid is sick. He's a baby; he doesn't know how to explain things. If he's hurting, he won't say it; he's only going to cry and hope that it goes away.

And the only thing his parents can do is take him to the ER and hope for the best.

Once he gets to your home, he sees you. You're wearing the same clothes you had in the gym, and it makes it look like it has only been a few hours since the last time he saw you. The tiredness on your face, however, makes it feel like an eternity.

“Get in.” He opens the passenger door from the inside, and you run to get inside the car, tears staining your face. Liam keeps crying, his face is red and wet, and when he sees his dad, he makes grabby hands in his direction and calls for him between cries. “Dada needs to drive, bubs. We’re gonna take you to see Doc, okay? You remember Doc?”

Jake turns the engine on and drives to the hospital. “Is she working?” You ask loudly, trying to make yourself heard over Liam’s cries.

“Yeah, she’s waiting for us.”

“Thank god.”

Once you get to the ER, you see Doc waiting for you, her hand resting on her small baby bump. “There you are.”

“Aren’t you gonna get into trouble for this?”

“Pediatrics is empty. Follow me.”

Doc leads you to one of the children’s rooms in the ER. You try to leave Liam in bed, but he doesn’t want to let go of you. Jake hands him a plushie, and Liam’s attention is diverted long enough for Doc to check his temperature. “Has he been eating well lately?”

“Warlock told me that Liam didn’t eat all his morning snacks, and he didn’t want to eat dinner early.” You explain, playing with your fingers. Jake takes your hand between his, squeezing it tightly.

“It’s okay, relax.” He whispers, and you nod.

“Has he been angry or distracted?” Doc is now looking at Liam’s ears.

“Not really.”

“Has he been rubbing his ear?”

You think for a moment. “Yeah. He’s been doing that all afternoon.”

She nods and grabs her tablet, writing down everything. “It’s just an ear infection. He rubs his ear, hoping to get rid of the pain.”

Jake and you both sigh with relief. Ear infections are very common. “You must think I’m an idiot for not noticing and overreacting like this.”

Doc smiles and hugs Red. “You did what you had to do. Your kid was in pain, and you didn’t know what to do, so you went to the doctor. That’s what good parents do.”

“Thank you, Doc.” Jake says when she turns to hug him.

“Any time. I’m gonna get some painkillers for him. Wait here. You’ll be able to leave in a minute.” She leaves you alone, Liam more calm now that he has a new toy to play with, but silent tears still run down his face.

“I’m sorry you had to run to my house for an ear infection.” You mutter under your breath, your gaze fixed on Liam's hair.

“I should be the one apologizing here, sweets. I was supposed to be there with you.” Jake’s thumb caresses your knuckles; the action melts you inside. You’ve missed him so much. Being close to him Touching him. Feeling him.

“You’re cute, but you’re not cute when you’re jealous.” You say, somehow make him chuckle.

He lifts his eyes and locks them with yours in an honest, poignant stare. “You’re the only thing I have left, Red. You and Liam. I was so scared to lose you both. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Jake…”

Doc enters the room, medicine in hand. “Okay, buddy, I’m gonna give you this, and once you get home, you’re gonna feel so much better.” She pushes the oral syringe into Liam’s mouth, who takes the medicine like a good boy. “That’s it. Here’s the name of the medicine I just gave him.”

You look at the paper. “Yeah, I have this one at home.”

“Perfect then. It’s gonna kick in very soon. He will fall asleep soon, too. His body is really tired from all the crying.” Doc kisses Liam’s head. “I hope to see you soon under much better circumstances.”

“Thank you so much, Doc. You’re the best.” Jake hugs her again and takes Liam.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll call Bob and tell him it’s nothing, okay? Go home and rest. You both look like you need it.” She gives you a sympathetic smile and accompanies you to the door, waving to a sleepy Liam, who is now resting in his dad’s arms.

“I think he’s gonna fall asleep.” Jake whispers, and you look at him. Yeah, he has that tired look in his eyes.

“I’ll drive.”

He frowns. “You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. I’ll drive.”

“He’s asleep.” You whisper, sitting next to Jake on the sofa. The room is dark, with the only source of light coming from the streetlight on the other side of the street.

Jake’s head rests against the back of the sofa. “You should go to sleep, too. I’ll stay here in case he wakes up.”

You shake your head and start crying. “I’m sorry, Jake.”

“Hey, hey,” He takes your face between his hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I called you crying like a crazy woman, and all that happened was that Liam had an ear infection.”

Jake shushes you and hugs you tightly. “No, that’s not what happened. A good mom called the not-so-good dad and asked for help when their kid wasn’t feeling good.”

“You’re a good dad, Jake.” You state, not leaving room for doubts. He is a good dad, and he needs to know that.

“But I’m not a good man.” He retorts, separating himself from your body, even if that’s exactly the opposite of what he wants to do.

You sigh, leaning against the sofa. “Jake, you said some stupid things. And you apologized. I can’t imagine how you must have felt when you suddenly encountered yourself as part of a family, and then your brain tells you that some prick is trying to steal them away from you.”

Jake snorts. “You called Cyclone a prick?”

“Cycunt suits him better.” You smirk, and Jake swears he could kiss you. “Look, I know he was flirting with me, but I thought that if I didn’t say anything, he would stop.”

“Nah, it doesn’t work that way. Men are idiots. Ignore us, and we’ll think that you’re trying to play hard to get. Say no, and we’ll think you’re saying yes. Be completely obvious, and we’ll think that you’re not interested at all.”

“And you say that women are difficult.”

“That’s why you’re the ones giving birth, sweets. You’re better than us in every single aspect.”

There’s a moment of silence between the two of you. “You’re not a bad man, Jake. The only bad thing you’ve done is easy to fix.”

Jake looks at his hands for a second, deep in thought. “I’m gonna need something strong.”

“Tequila? Mickey gave me a bottle.”

“Tequila works.”

You get up and go to the kitchen, coming back in an instant with two glasses and the bottle. Jake grabs the bottle and fills the glasses, clinking them before downing it in one shot.

“Okay. You want the truth? Here’s the truth.”

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