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viking-raider · 3 years

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Southern Generation - Part VII

Summary: Some big things happen between Sy and Lily, before they had back home to Celina, where they build a nest for their growing family.

Pairing: Captain Syverson/OFC

Word Count: 11,617

Warning: M - Language, Fluff, Angst, Smut - intercourse and sorta exhibitionism and mention of bodily fluids, Domestic bliss, Traditions - new and old

Inspiration: Sy and the hunk of man he is!

Author's Note: Much love to @wondersofdreaming for being a stand up beta and friend.

Tag List Blog: @viking-raider-taglist

“Where have the two of you been?” Lily asked, coming down the stairs as Sy and her grandfather came out of his study.

“Just having a chat.” Sy smiled up at her.

“Lily, I have something I need to say to you.” Davis said, looking up at his granddaughter.

“Yeah, you know what, I have something I need to say to you too.” Lily replied, planting her hands on her hips.

“Oh, lord.” Sy mumbled under his breath, knowing the look of this stance, and cleared his throat.

“All right.” Davis nodded, biting his lip. “You can go first, then.” He told her, motioning with his hand.

“Good.” Lily nodded back. “I don't appreciate the way you've been treating me since we arrived this morning. I understand that I hurt you by running off like I did, but Sy is right. I didn't have to tell you I was going or why I was going.” She told him, firmly. “I know that you were hurt and worried about me, because of the past trauma of what happened with my parents and my birth, but this and we-” She motioned between herself and Sy.

“Are not my parents and that situation, and you need not to treat it like it is.”

Davis bit his lip and looked at the dark and scuffed wood of the hallway floor, trying to hold back the smile that wanted to pull across his lips. Lily's fire reminded him so much of himself, and in a way, of his Daisy.

“You're right, Lily.” He finally spoke, looking up at her, taking a deep breath.

“I have been a down right jerk to you and Austin, and I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me for it. I love you so very much, Lily. You are my granddaughter. You are the only thing of my precious daughter I have left and I don't want to lose that, or you. Let alone the beautiful great-grandbaby you have growing inside of you.”

Lily pressed her lips together, her bottom one quivering as her eyes shined with building tears. “I do forgive you.” She blubbered, sniffling at him.

Davis opened his arms to her and Lily rushed into them, colliding with his chest. He smiled and squeezed his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, trying to hold back his own tears. Sy stood beside them, grinning that the two of them had reconciled their differences and became close again, truly hoping that it remained that way.

“Dave?”

Letting out a disappointed huff, he let Lily go and turned towards the sound of his name, finding one of his work hands standing in the open doorway. “What is it?” He asked, lifting a brow at him.

“Mac thinks he found a way to save the York tree.” The hand replied, sheepish eyes darting between the three of them.

Davis looked down at Lily, a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

“I'll see you at dinner.” Lily told him, giving his hand a squeeze and gave him a reassuring look.

He smiled at her, kissing her temple, then followed his worker out the door. Lily turned to Sy and wrapped her arms around his waist, sighed into his chest, a mile-wide smile on her face as she thought about the good vibe she had after what had just transpired with her grandfather. Sy smiled and hugged her back, rubbing his palms up and down her back and resting his chin on top of her head, content and happy.

“Thank you.” She said as they entered her bedroom.

“For what?” He frowned, sitting down on her bed.

“All of this probably wouldn't have happened, if it wasn't for you.” She told him, motioning around her room. “I still would have been cowering at the house in Celina. Too afraid of my own shadow, let alone the outside world. You've given me strength and hope again.” She stood in front of him and cupped his face in her hands, tilting his head back to look up at her.

“Thank you, Austin Syverson.” She whispered, kissing him, softly.

Sy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, nuzzling his face into her neck. “It was all you, Angel.” He cooed, his breath warm against her skin. “I just drove you here.” He told her, rubbing his nose against the spot just below her ear.

Lily narrowed her eyes. “You and my grandfather talked about me, didn't you?” She asked, connecting the dots.

“Whatever gave you that idea, sweet lips?” He asked, grinning into her jaw.

“The two of you holed up in his office for forty-five minutes.”

“Oh now, darling.” Sy chuckled, pressing his lips to her jawbone. “My dearest, sweetest, love.”

“Wyatt.”

“Listen to that tone.” Sy exclaimed, rocking back and looking at her. “That's the tone. You sound like such a mama already.” He grinned at her, licking his lips.

“It's so hot.”

“You're turned on by that?”

“Watching your tummy steadily round out with my babe inside of you; knowing my seed filled you like a water balloon.” His smirk turned into something far more sultry as he stared her clothed belly, like he was entranced by a snake charmer. “Thinking about having kids with you, about our kids and you being pregnant with them, is just so fucking sexy and alluring to me.”

“Lord, oh lordy.” Lily chuckled, shaking her head at him.

“I've always wanted a lot of kids.” He blurted out, semi-coming out of his trance. “I know what it's like to be an only child, and it sucks.”

“I know what it feels like too.” Lily agreed, biting her lip. “But, I never thought about having kids. I never thought I'd have kids.”

Sy frowned at her. “Why?”

“Jak doesn't like kids.” She mumbled, glancing down at her lap.

“Ah.” He nodded, understanding. “I love kids.” He smiled at her, softly.

“How many do you want?” Lily asked, tilting her head at him.

“Let's see how many the good Lord gives us.” He replied, gently kissing the corner of her mouth. “There's no rush.” He whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder and closed his eyes, enjoying a quiet moment with her, before they were called down to a dinner of Lily's favorite honey-lemon glazed salmon and asparagus.

“They're sleeping in the same room?” Davis asked, watching Lily and Sy go into her room, after they all said good night to each other.

“Davis, they already have a little one on the way. What are they going to do, make a second one on top of it?” Violet chuckled, shaking her head at her husband, then rolled into their master bedroom.

Sy stepped out onto the front pouch with a cup of coffee in hand, a grin instantly touching his face as he saw Lily on the lawn with Aika. She was wearing a knee length, cotton sundress with a floral design that accentuated her baby bump, the skirt billowing around her thighs in the warm morning breeze, ruffling her shoulder length hair and carrying her laughter back to him on the porch as her and the German Shepard played around on the lush green grass together. He cradled his cup in both hands and leaned on the porch railing to continue watching.

“You watch her, like you're watching through the gates of heaven.” Violet's voice said behind him.

“That's because I am.” Sy replied, not moving or looking away from Lily. “She's my slice of heaven on earth.” He said, eyes brightening as Lily turned and noticed him, smiling at him, and smiled back at her.

“Penny for your thoughts, Bear?” Lily asked, coming up to the porch with Aika.

“A penny is too poor for the thoughts I'm having, Angel.” He replied, grinning at her and pushing off the porch railing.

“I'm going to take my nap.” She said, standing beside him an intense exhaustion washing over her.

“All right.” Sy nodded, brushing the back of his knuckles across her cheek, before leaning in to gently kiss her. “I'll come lay with you.” He whispered, following her inside and upstairs to her room, setting his coffee cup on the table in her room, toed out of his boots and crawled into bed with her; Aika jumping onto the foot of the bed with them.

“Hm, Austin.” Lily whimpered, wiggling, as his hand found its way to her breast and cupped it in his palm, gently squeezing it.

“Does it hurt?” He asked, picking up his head to look down at her, concerned.

“No.” She sighed back, brow ceased. “But, you've been awfully attached to them lately.”

“They're bigger.” He grinned, laying his head back down.

“I'm pregnant with your kid.” She retorted with a snort. “They're prepping to start lactating, so I can start breastfeeding that caveman sized appetite they're going to no doubt have.”

“Both of us.”

“Uh-oh no!” Lily hooted, shaking her head and rolling over onto her back to look at his face. “You are not!”

“Why not?” Sy grinned at her, devilishly licking his lips. “Milk's good for you. Especially breast milk.”

Lily slapped both of her palms to her face, grinning and blushing wildly. “You are so weird.” She giggled, shyly.

“Am I weird, or are you just a sweet sheltered, little, home-schooled girl?” Sy teased back, pressing his hand to her thigh.

Lily looked at him, eyes holding a message that told him she wasn't as amused by his statement as she was, causing Sy to freeze his hand from it's adventure up inside her skirt.

“I'm sorry, babe.” He whispered, biting his lip. “That was too far and not what I meant.” He sighed, kissing her cheek. “I'll let you sleep.” He said, wrapping her up in his arms, feeling like a complete idiot.

But, once Lily was asleep he got up, tiptoeing around the room, before stepping out.

“Is everything all right, Austin?” Violet asked, as she encountered him in the hallway, pulling on his jacket and holding his truck keys.

“Yeah, I just need to go into town.” He replied, giving her a smile and headed out to the truck.

Driving into town, Sy found their store and ran inside, finding everything inside that he had come for, hoping that when Lily woke up from her nap that it would help cheer her up and show her that he was sorry for making such a narrow-minded and dumb-ass comment about how she was raised. He was driving back to the Warren's, when he was stopped at a red light and something caught the attention of his peripheral vision. He stared at it so long, he missed the light changing and the cars behind him started honking and screaming out their windows at him.

“Fuck.” He snapped, stepping on the gas and spinning the steering wheel sharply into a U-Turn, an illegal one at that, but Sy didn't care, as he pulled into the parking lot of the store that had absorbed his attention.

“Sy?” Lily whimpered, sitting up in bed, after not feeling the warmth of his body behind her, and got out of bed in search of him. “Austin.” She called, peeking into the bathroom, but found nothing, before she went downstairs.

“Oh, miss. I was told to give this to you, when you woke up.” the servant said, handing her a note.

“Thanks, Mina.” She replied, taking the note and unfolding it, recognizing Sy's handwriting.

Lily, meet me under your favorite apple tree. - Sy.

“How does he know my favorite apple tree?” Lily frowned at the note, shaking her head, but tucked the note away and went outside.

Lily went out into the northwest orchard of the farm, to where her favorite apple tree was deep in the center of that grove of trees. She remembered going out there often as a girl, especially on cool summer nights, to read by the glow of fireflies or the moon, or if neither of them were out, she would sneak an old oil lamp out of the work barn and take it out to the tree, and read by.

She wondered what Sy wanted with it.

When she was a few yards away from the tree, she noticed a difference amongst the fallen apples and leaves that blanketed the ground, there were oddly shaped, cherry-red leaves. She stopped and examined them, when she realized they weren't leaves at all. They were rose petals. Leading up to her apple tree, that she continued to approach, finding Sy standing beneath it.

“What is this, Austin?” She asked, shaking her head, and motioning to the blue gingham picnic blanket he had laid under the apple tree; the gold plaque staked among its roots told the reader it was a Rall's Genet apple tree, the first planted on the Warren farm, in 1785, by Ambrose Cecil Warren.

“I was an ass.” Sy replied, taking a deep breath and biting his lip. “When you were falling asleep for your nap, and it wasn't right of me, or nice of me, to say what I said to you. I'm so sorry I said it.”

“So, this is my peace offering.” He told her, motioning to the items on the blanket.

Lily chuckled, stepping closer, and seeing her favorite Ben and Jerry's, Brownie Batter Core ice cream, a bag of pretzels, Cherry Punch, Sweet Tart ropes and two bottles of Voss water. “You really didn't have too.” She said, looking up at him, touched at his attempt anyway.

“You know that?”

“Be it as it may, I still want to make it up to you.” He replied, taking her hand and helped her sit down on the blanket, then joined her. “The ice cream might be a little melted. But, I know how much you love it that way.” He chuckled, pulling off the lid to the pint sized container.

“You know me so well.” Lily giggled, taking the white plastic spoon and the pint of ice cream from him. “So, how did you find out this was my tree?” She asked, spooning a mouthful of ice cream into her mouth.

“I remember you telling me about a specific tree on the property.” Sy replied, picking up a bag of shelled, sunflower seeds that he loved to snack on. “I also asked your grandmother.” He grinned, slyly.

“Smooth, Syverson. Smooth.” She chuckled, shaking her head at him.

It was serene and lazy as they sat on the blanket, enjoying their treats.

But, Lily put the lid back on her half-eaten ice cream and turned, laying back to put her head in Sy's lap, closing her eyes to the sound of the breeze rustling through the grass and tree branches over their heads, the chirp of grasshoppers and crickets, the birds singing and twittering, as they nested or flew and their wings fluttered through the warm and humid air. She sighed and smiled softly, her hand resting on her belly. Sy looked down at her and smiled too, ghosting his fingers through her bangs and against her forehead, he loved the soft and peaceful expression on her face and how relaxed her body was, obviously enjoying the tranquility around them, as was he.

He tipped his head back, seeing the little Blue Jay sitting on the branch above them, singing its little heart out and smiled at it, then glanced back down at Lily, his smile growing a little brighter. Lily stirred, not realizing she had dozed off a little bit, until she had felt Sy touch the hand she had on her belly, but he just smiled at her, a strange sparkle in his blue eyes.

“I love you, Lily.” He whispered to her, stroking the top of her hand. “I've loved you for such a very long time.” He told her, biting the corner of his lip “My sweet Angel.”

He grinned, brushing his finger down the bridge of her nose and over her lips, tracing her brows and gently touching her cheek. “There's no one in the world I want to be with. No one I want to bear and battle the world with, other than you, Lily Ana.” He told her, stroking her hair, the tip of his finger following the shell of her ear.

“You've become the purest love of my life and my Battle Buddy.” He told her and curved his hand around hers, lifting it from her belly and to her face.

Lily's face grew slack, her mouth dropping open and her eyes wide as he showed her what was on her hand, what he had put on her finger. “Sy!” She snapped, sitting up. “Wyatt.” She gulped and licked her lips, shocked, and looked at him.

“Austin.” She whimpered, her voice cracking as she stared at the ring on her finger.

“Will you marry me, Lily Ana?” Sy asked her properly, fidgeting nervously, scared out of his wits that Lily would turn him down, and her no would be worse than a gunshot wound to the heart.

It had been an utter impulse that he had been sucked into the sight of that jewelry store on the way back after going to the store, for the ice cream and candy.

At first, he had only meant to look at the engagement rings, but as soon as he saw the one he had just slipped onto her finger, it was like someone had stepped into Sy's body, pointing it out to the jeweler and pulling out his bank card to pay for it; watching him put it in the black velvet box and hold it out to him was surreal. It felt heavy in his pocket as he walked back out to the truck, but not heavy with the regret that he had fallen into the impulse to buy the ring, but heavy with hope that he would find the courage to present it to Lily and she would say yes, heavy with worry that Lily would reject his proposal.

“Yes!” Lily answered a split second later.

“Really!” He snapped back, shocked, but completely delighted.

“Yes, Austin.” She laughed at him. “Yes, yes, yes! I will marry you, you silly Bear!”

“Oh, thank fuck.” Sy let out in a huff, catching her up in his arms. “I am so glad you said yes. I was afraid you would say no.” He said against her cheek.

Lily smiled into his neck. “I would never.” She chuckled, hugging her arms around him. “Not in a million years.” She whispered, kissing his cheek.

“I know it's not much.” He said, touching the round, one-fourth carat diamond setting with his thumb.

“It doesn't have to be, Sy.” She told him, shaking her head. “You are enough.”

Sy smiled at her, cupping the back of her head and pulled her into a deep and tender kiss. Lily melted into him, slowly shifting into his lap and gripping his shoulders, rubbing down on him. Sy smirked into their kiss, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressed them flush together.

“Lily.” He panted against her lips, his eyes dark and teasing.

“I need you so bad now.” She giggled, blushing and shy.

Sy's laugh rang out in the air, grinning. “Let's go back then.”

“I am not having sex in the same house my grandparents are in.” Lily protested, squeezing her knees to the outside of his hips. “That is a big double O negative, Captain Syverson.”

“Is there somewhere else we could go?”

“There's two places, the work barn and the garage, and both are busy this time of day.” She replied, pressing her lips to his throat, impatient and horny; a side effects of her pregnancy.

“All right then.” Sy chuckled.

He lifted her dress just enough to obstruct his access, then pulled open his belt and the button of his jeans, pushing down his zipper and lifted his hips enough to wiggle his jeans and boxers down his thighs to free his hardening cock.

“Your panties.” He huffed, annoyed that the thin material was in their way. “No!” He growled, as she started to push herself up onto her feet to slip her underwear off.

“We can't have sex with them on.” Lily groaned back, impatiently.

“We're not.” He scoffed, fingers curling around the band of her panties and with a loud rip, tore them off of her. “Problem solved, Princess.” He grinned at her, his face dark with desire.

Lily smirked back at him, rubbing against him and spreading her slick juices all over his manhood, making Sy's eyes roll in the back of his head, hands gripping her hips through the fabric of her sundress. Lily reached underneath the skirt of her dress and wrapped her fingers around the hot skin of his hard member, feeling the throb of the thick vein beneath it pulse against her fingers as she stroked him, thin beads of pre-cum coating his shaft and her fingers, making her grasp him firmer.

“Oh, Angel.” Sy panted, licking his lips and resting his head back against the rough bark of the ancient apple tree.

“Not bad for a girl that was sheltered and home-schooled, huh?” She huffed at him, swiping her thumb over the purplish tip of his head and brought it up to her mouth and licked off his juices.

Sy grinned at her though half lidded eyes. “Not at all, Angel. Not at all.” He cooed, then hissed when she wrapped her hand around him again and squeezed, rubbing his weeping tip against her dripping pussy.

“You're teasing me, Lily.”

“Am I?” She purred back, her voice deep and sultry, grinning at him.

“Is this you getting even with me?”

“It's possible.” Lily chuckled, just slipping his tip into her core for a moment, before pulling it out again.

“Oh, Lily Ana.” Sy laughed, his voice a little hoarse, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “You little minx.”

Lily laughed at him. “Coming from the man that would fuck me in any position and place he would, and probably thought he could, in.” She retorted, lifting a brow at him, finally letting his cock enter the canal of her core, sitting in his bare lap.

“All better, Bear?” She cooed at him, pressing her hands to his chest and leaned into him, kissing him.

“I feel like I've corrupted you.” He chuckled against her mouth, rubbing his palms up and down her back, letting her set whatever pace she wanted.

“It's possible.” She replied and gently rolled her hips, taking a deep breath and let it out in a soft moan.

Lily pressed her sweaty forehead against Sy's, wanting to be closer to him, needing to breathe the same air as him, one of her hands slipping behind his head, fingers carding through the short, damp curls at the nape of his neck. Sy held her eyes and bent his knees up a little bit, giving her a little bit of support and shifting his cock inside of her, making her grunt out a delicious moan.

“You always sound so sweet with my cock inside of you.” Sy cooed at her, brushing her wind swept hair out of her face and behind her ears. “My delicious little flower.”

Lily chuckled at him, smirking. “You're a sap.” She huffed, tightening her walls around him, causing him to growl deep in his throat. “You do feel so fucking good though, Bear.” She sighed, licking her lips and bouncing in his lap a little bit faster, while still keeping herself tight around him.

“Lily, I'm gonna come.” Sy grunted, gasping and panting.

He felt the tell-tale tingle in his sack and the pit of his stomach, the way his cock swelled and throbbed against her already taut walls, the wet sounds from their coupling adding to the music of crickets, grasshoppers and birds in the hum of hot and humid air blanketing them, sweat pouring off of them, making almost every inch of their clothing stick and cling to their drenched skin, soaking the fabric. Sy grabbed Lily's hips and thrust up into her, burying himself as deeply as either of their body's would allow him to, his body stiffening as he pumped ribbon after ribbon of hot come into her, the muscles of his stomach spasming with each load.

“Ah, Austin.” Lily cried out, slipping a hand underneath her dress to rub at her clit, giving herself that last bit of stimulation to come, squeezing down on Sy's cock even harder, making him grunt and growl, the muscles in his neck tensing and his face twisting as she milked even more out of him.

“Fuck!” He barked out, breathing between clenched teeth. “Lily!”

Recovering enough, Lily collapsed on top of Sy's chest, listening to his heart thunder in her ear and the soft wheeze to his breathing as it slowly calmed down. Sy sluggishly wrapped his heavy arms around her, turning his red and sweaty face into her damp hair, while Lily watched the diamond on the engagement ring sparkled in the sun, a soft and content smile on her face. So many things were happening that she had given up on; seeing her grandparents again, finding a good and reliable guy, getting married and starting a family. It might all be a bit out of sync, but Lily didn't care, it was still happening and it was happening with Sy.

“Lily?” Sy frowned, alarmed by the painful sounding whimper she suddenly let out and felt her stomach tighten. “What is it?” He asked, sitting up with her.

Lily didn't reply for a moment, instead she reached out and gently cupped his face in her hand, while taking a few deep breaths until the discomfort in her stomach passed. “It's fine, Bear.” She told him, stretching her back. “Just Braxton Hicks. It's perfectly normal at this point.” She sighed.

“Especially after sex.” She assured him, caressing his face with her thumb.

“You're sure?”

“I am.” She nodded, smiling at him. “It's if they last more than two minutes, that we need to worry. But, it was barely thirty seconds.”

Sy nodded at her, but he was only slightly pacified. “I should get you back inside. It's boiling out here.” He said, getting up and pulled her up onto her feet, Sy corrected his jeans, before collecting their picnic stuff, jamming her torn panties into his front pocket and headed back into the house with her.

“Where have the two of you been?” Davis asked as Lily and Sy entered the house.

“We had a little picnic in the orchard.” Lily smiled up at Sy. “Mr. Romantic that Sy is.” She teased him.

“Is that what I think is it?” Violet asked, rolling into the hallway.

Lily froze for a moment, feeling the slickness of her and Sy's love making slowly creeping down the inside of her thigh and felt her heart start to pound, fearing it had become noticeable to her grandmother. But relaxed, when Violet lifted a frail and bony finger, pointing at the ring on her hand instead.

“Uh..” Lily and Sy instantly blushed, grinning like a pair of caught teenagers. “Yeah, it is.”

“You proposed.” Violet grinned at Sy, elated.

“I did.” He smiled, wrapping an arm around Lily's waist, feeling gratified. “It seemed right.” He said, looking into Lily's eyes, softly.

“So, when are you officially tying the knot?” Violet asked, looking between them.

“I don't know.” Lily replied, her eyes still on Sy. “We haven't discussed that yet.”

“We'll get around to talking about it.” Sy nodding back at her. “But, I think, I'm game for a nap right now.”

“Oh, that does sound really good, now that you mention it.” Lily nodded, tired from the heat and their sex. “We should be up in time for dinner.” She said, smiling at her grandparents, then went upstairs with Sy.

“How about a cool shower first?” Sy suggested after they got back upstairs to their room, seeing Lily was still a little sweaty and red. “Wash this sweaty grim off of us and cool off before we nap.”

Lily felt her drying skin and the stickiness between her legs from their combined release. “I think that's a good idea.” She agreed, then followed him into the bathroom.

Sy pulled down the zipper in the back of her dress, then got undressed himself, turning on the shower and making sure it was cool, but not cold, before letting Lily step in first and following in behind her, watching the water wash over her for a few moment. He picked up the bottle of body wash from the shower basket, the scent of white peaches and cream filling the small space as he opened the bottle, moaning softly at the scent he'd become familiar with on her skin of late.

Lily chuckled. “Do I need to change body washes, when we get home, Bear?” She asked, as he started washing the sweaty grim off of her.

“Definitely.” He chuckled, letting her rinse off, then quickly washed himself, not above smelling like peaches too. “Do you have a preference?” Sy asked, after they had settled into bed for their nap.

“Preference for what?” Lily replied, returning to the surface of being awake.

“For what gender you want the baby to be?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But, I do want to continue one thing, if it's a girl.”

“All right.” He nodded. “What is it?”

“The name.” Lily told him. “My great-grandmother's name was Jasmine, my grandmother is Violet, and my mother's name was Daisy..”

“And yours is Lily.” Sy smiled against her shoulder. “All flower themed.”

“Mmhm.” She nodded, starting to tip back off to sleep. “If we have a girl, I want to give her a flower themed name, to continue the tradition.”

“I'm more than all right with that.” He told her, sweet on the idea. “If we have more kids and they're all girls, we'll have a whole flower garden running around the house.” He teased, lightheartedly.

Lily chuckled and snuggled back against him. “The house will smell wonderful.” She teased back, her voice just a faint murmur, before she finally dropped off.

“Is it really time for you to go?” Violet asked, clutching Lily's hands.

“Sadly, it is.” Lily nodded, gulping down a fresh wave of tears.

Lily and Sy had stayed with her grandparents for nearly a week, which wasn't enough for the three of them to catch up and patch five years of absence, but they all knew it was time. The couple had a life back in Celina, that's where they had started to plant their roots and where they wanted to raise their now expanding family.

“You promise to come back and visit?”

“Nothing can ever prevent that from happening again, Mee-Maw. You have my word.” Lily assured her, squatting down in front of her wheelchair.

“I want to meet my great-grandbaby.”

“That, for sure, is going to happen.” Lily chuckled, a couple of tears escaping. “I wouldn't let you miss that opportunity for anything in the world.” She sniffled, starting to lose the battle on her emotions.

“Vi.” Davis whispered, resting his hand on his wife's shoulder. “Lily has appointments she needs to make, so we can meet our sweet great-grandbaby.” He told her, giving Lily a soft smile, his own brown eyes shining with unshed tears.

“Call me, when you stop for the night, so we know you're safe.” Violet said, giving Lily and Sy a stern look.

Even though they had only known him for less than a week, Sy had become family to the Warrens. Violet had become very grandmotherly towards him, while Davis treated him almost like a son. The two men had really bonded over the fact Sy had been in the military, with Davis having served in the U.S Marine Corps during the Vietnam war, before being honorably discharged for a medical injury, at the rank of Master Sergeant. Sy had realized something as he and Lily packed up the truck that morning, he had driven to Virginia with her so shecould reconnect with her family, but in doing so, he had gained a family in more than just Lily, the baby and Aika. It wasn't what he had been looking for, it had all found him, the whole situation, from taking the contract to fix up Lily's place to the moment they were having with her grandparents.

With every aspect and event he found himself in with Lily, it only made him feel more like he belonged.

“You hear me, Austin?” Violet's voice cut through his thoughts.

“Yes, ma'am.” He nodded, smiling and biting his lip, feeling a hard lump of emotion in his throat. “I'll make sure of it.”

“Good.” She smiled at him, then held her arms out to him.

Sy smiled out even bigger and walked back up onto the porch, bending over and carefully closed his muscular arms around her thin body, hugging her gently. “It was good meeting you Ms. Violet.” He whispered into her ear.

“You too.” She whispered back. “And you take care of her and the baby.”

“On my life.” He replied, pulling back.

They winked at each other, chuckling and making Lily and Davis laugh as well. With their good-byes said and everything, including Aika, packed back into the truck, Lily and Sy got in too, waving until they lost sight of Violet and Davis. They weren't down the road very far, when Sy pulled off the side of the road and turned in his seat to face Lily.

“What?” She frowned back at him.

“You all right?” He asked, his eyes reading her.

“I'm fine.” She replied, but he could hear the thickness in her voice.

Sy turned and jerked open his door and moved around the truck and pulled open her door. “Lily.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lily pressed her lips together for a moment, before taking a deep breath, her chin trembling as her tears crashed into her. Her seat belt wasn't off a moment, before she found herself in his arms and buried against his chest, sobbing into his Metallica t-shirt.

“You'll see them again, Angel.” He murmured into her hair, hands rubbing up and down her trembling back. “I promise, and you'll get to talk to them all the time. Mac even promised to teach them how to use Skype, so you guys can video call.” He told her, trying to soothe her pain and anxiety.

“We'll come back up after the baby's born, so they can meet.” He promised, cupping the back of her head and pressing his lips to her forehead, before wiping away her tears. “Okay?” He smiled at her, feeling the same anxious twist about leaving, but not even close in magnitude that Lily was.

“Okay.” She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes and collecting herself.

“Okay.” He nodded, but neither of them moved, but then Sy looked at her with a strange resolution. “Do you wanna get married?”

“What?” Lily squeaked, frowning at him. “You've already proposed to me, Austin.”

“That's not what I'm asking, Lily.” He replied, licking his lips, the sudden idea brewing inside of his mind. “Do you want to get married, right now?”

“Here?” She asked, looking around them. “In Virginia?”

“Yeah.” He nodded at her, his heart pounding as his adrenaline started to rush through his veins. “We can go back to your grandparents' place, because we'll need witnesses, then go into town and get married. We both know we don't want a massive wedding. I don't have any family I want, or even could, invite and...”

“My grandparents are the only family I have; other than you, Aika and the baby.” She finished his sentence, falling in sync with his thought process.

“So?”

Lily held his eyes for a split moment, then smiled softly at him, and nodded at him. “I think I like that idea, Austin.”

“All right.” He grinned back, kissing her, then ran back around to the driver's seat and hauled ass back to the farm.

“Is everything all right?” Davis asked, coming out of the house as he saw the truck flying up the driveway.

“Everything is fine and dandy.” Lily chuckled at him. “But, Austin and I need your and Mee-Maw's help with something.” She grinned, giggling, with a bubbly air of excited energy.

“What is it?”

Lily looked over at Sy, who grinned at her, then back to her grandfather. “We need two witnesses.” She said, the hint thick in her voice.

A smile instantly touched Davis's lips, understanding Lily's meaning and what she and Sy wanted from him and Violet. “We'll meet you at the Loudoun County courthouse.” He told them, feeling the giddy energy coming off of Lily and Sy infect him on the porch.

“I regret not having an actual wedding ring for you.” Sy commented as the two of them made their way downtown.

“I don't need one, Sy.” Lily told him, reaching out to take one of his hands off the steering wheel. “I told you, you are enough and the ring you already gave me is enough. I don't need anything more than that, Bear.” She said, threading their fingers together.

“Other than maybe...” She grinned at him.

Sy chuckled, bringing their hands up and kissed her fingers. “I'll get you a pretzel, Sweetness.” He grinned, shaking his head. “I feel like I should just buy a pretzel factory or something, the way you're going.” He teased her.

“That would be super nice.” Lily agreed, licking her lips. “Buy the property next door and set it up right there, with the production line ending right into the house.”

It was a good thing they stopped at a red light, because Sy lost it, laughing his ass off at the image of a conveyor belt of freshly baked pretzels coming in through one of the downstairs windows of the house with Lily seated in front of it, just power munching on them with her plump baby belly, happy as all hell. He still had tears in his eyes, after they parked in the county courthouse and were standing out front, waiting for Davis and Violet to show up.

“I'm glad you're loving it up.” Lily giggled at him.

Sy cupped Lily's face in his hands. “My little pretzel.”

“Oh good lord, Wyatt.” She laughed, gripping his wrists. “You're a mess.”

“You're going to marry this mess.” He grinned at her, pulling her closer to him and felt her rounding belly brush his abs.

“I am.” She nodded, smiling up at him. “I wouldn't have it any other way, with anyone else.”

“That's a relief.” Sy replied, feigning shock to know it.

“Lovebirds, no matter where the two of you are.” Violet's voice came as Davis pushed her towards them.

“When in love.” Lily replied, unashamed or moving away from Sy.

“Are we ready for this?” Davis asked, looking around at the group.

“I am.” Lily nodded, looking up at Sy.

“So am I.” Sy replied, smiling down at her.

“We are too.” Violet nodded.

“In we go then.” Davis said, and the small group went inside the courthouse.

“Here.” Lily said, slipping off her ring and handing it to Sy. “Just humor me.” She chuckled softly, when he lifted a brow at her in question.

“All right.” He nodded, slipping it into the front pocket of his jeans.

Going into the courthouse get a marriage license and giving the appropriate documentation they needed for it, then with the license filled out and official, they patiently waited for the couple ahead of them to have their moment getting married with the judge and all, before going into the little courtroom with the judge standing at the front, waiting for them in his official robe and a bible in his hand.

“Hello, I'm Judge Timothy Miller, I'll be marrying the two of you today.” He smiled at Lily and Sy.

“Sounds good to me.” Sy replied, nodding his head politely to the judge.

“Same.” Lily agreed, nervously licking her lips.

“Are these are your witnesses?” He asked, looking to Davis and Violet.

“Yes, sir. They're my grandparents.” Lily explained, smiling over her shoulder at them.

“That's lovely.” Judge Miller smiled at them all, plainly seeing the love everyone had for each other, especially Lily and Sy. “Shall we commence?” He asked, looking between the two of them.

“Yes, please.” They both nodded, feeling their nerves and jitters start to really increase.

“All right, I'll have the two of you face each other.” He said, motioning to space in front of him.

Lily and Sy stood before him, facing each other and holding hands, while staring at each other, Violet and Davis stood off to one side. Sy smiled at Lily, giving her trembling hands a squeeze with his, feeling his own hands shake. But, neither of them were going to back out, they honestly couldn't picture standing up there with anyone else.

They had found a home and a soulmate in each other.

“We are gathered here, on this fine day, to join Austin Wyatt Syverson and Lily Ana Moore together in the holy matrimony, that is marriage.” Judge Miller began speaking, regarding Lily and Sy in turns. “The bonds of marriage are untied with sacred love and the deepest respect, as should one spouse treat the other with that sacred love and respect.”

“Now, do we have rings?” He asked, looking at them with a lifted brow.

“Just hers.” Sy said, going into his pocket and pulling it out.

“All right, put it on her finger and repeat after me.” Judge Miller instructed him.

Sy slipped the ring back onto Lily's finger. “I, Austin Wyatt Syverson, take you, Lily Ana Moore, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.”

“Same with you.” The Judge said to Lily, nodding his head at her.

“I, Lily Ana Moore, take you, Austin Wyatt Syverson, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.” She repeated after him, letting out a relieved breath that she hadn't stumbled and missed any of it up.

“It is my pleasure and by the power vested in me, by the power of Loudoun County, in the state of Virginia, to pronounce you, man and wife.” Judge Miller grinned at them.

“Mr. Syverson, you may kiss your bride, Mrs. Syverson.”

“With pleasure.” Sy grinned with immense pride, pulling Lily against him and kissed her, intensely. “I never, in a million years, thought I would ever hear that.”

“What?” Lily asked, walking out of the courthouse with him, hand in hand.

“Mrs. Syverson.”

“I have to agree with you.” She replied, pressing her shoulder against his arm. “I always thought I'd be a Ms. for the rest of my life.”

“I guess you two are really back to Texas now?” Davis asked, coming up behind them with Violet.

“Yeah.” Sy nodded, looking at Lily. “Lily has a fourteen week baby appointment we can't miss.” He explained to them.

“But, we'll come back, when the baby is born so you guys can meet them.” Lily promised them, resting her hand on her belly.

“You better come back here with my great-grandbaby, or you'll have hell to deal with, Missy.” Violet threatened, wagging a bony finger at her, but the playful smirk on her face gave it away.

“You have my word, Mee-Maw.” Lily chuckled, bending over to kiss her on the cheek. “I wouldn't have it any other way. Mama isn't here to meet them, so I have to make sure you do.” She said, straightening up, a sad pang in her chest at knowing her own mother would never meet her grand-baby.

The group was somber for a moment as the fact settled on them, before they parted ways once again. But, Sy and Lily didn't hit the road as soon as they left the courthouse either.

“Where are we going, Bear?” She asked him, confused.

“Well, I promised you a pretzel, for one.” He chuckled at her. “And two, it doesn't seem right.” He said, wiggling the fingers of his left hand.

So, Sy got Lily the pretzel he had promised her, then they stopped off at the jeweler's he had bought her engagement, now wedding ring at, and after browsing for several moments, Lily stopped beside a glass display case, spotting a ring inside of it and pointed at it.

“If that doesn't scream Austin Syverson, then my name isn't Lily Syverson.” She said, staring at it wide eyed.

Sy laughed and crossed over to her, looking into the case at the ring she was pointing at and felt himself freeze, as it hit him, like seeing hers had. “I'm in total agreement with you. Both on the ring and your name.” He said, seeing the tungsten carbide ring.

“That's the one.” He told the jeweler, nodding his head at the ring.

“Fits like a glove.” Lily said, watching Sy slip it onto his left ring finger.

“Or in this case, a wedding ring.” He chuckled at her, turning it around his finger.

“Neither of us expected this, when we were driving out here.” She said, going back out to the car with him.

“Actually, I had been considering proposing to you for a while.” Sy confessed, finally getting them onto the highway back home to Celina. “Even before we found out about the baby.”

Lily twisted in her seat to face him, face slack in surprise. “Seriously!”

“Yep.” He nodded, grinning. “You're home to me, Lily. You've been a home to me for such a long time, before we slept together that night in the barn and everything.” He licked his lips and shifted in his seat. “I thought, maybe, even if we didn't have that sort of connection, we could still at least take care of each other and keep each other—company.” He told her, drumming on the steering wheel with his thumbs.

“I have a lot of baggage with my time in the military and people have a lot of trouble dealing with that and rarely stick around because of it. I honestly expected you to run me off that day on the porch, when I nearly took your head off.” He explained, babbling at this point.

“But you didn't. Even then, I expected you to tiptoe or be afraid of me.”

“But, I'm not afraid of you, Austin. I have no reason to be afraid of you or tiptoe around you.” Lily told him, hurt that he thought she would get rid of him or be scared of him, because of the things he can't really control. “Even when I first saw you, I wasn't afraid of you. You've never given me a reason to be. I sure as hell would never blame you for having PTSD for being in multiple war zones, as many times and as long as you had been.”

“I admit, if you ever did give me a reason to believe you'd hurt me, I would have told you to piss off.” She told him, honestly.

“I would have left long before that, if I thought I would do something to hurt you.” He said, looking over at her, the fear that he would do something, was evident in his eyes.

“I know that.” She whispered. “But, you're not, Austin. Not then. Not now. Not ever, and I'm not going anywhere either. I'm staying right with you, I'll always be there for you, especially in those moments.” She promised him, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

“We're stuck together.”

“Now and forever.” Sy grinned, happy and relieved.

“Plus a day.” Lily giggled, laying her head on his shoulder.

“I want to make a tradition of our own.” Sy said, breaking the quiet of the truck. “If we have a boy.”

They were only a few hours from being back home in Celina and felt the peacefulness of being so close to their own place again, their own space and bed.

“Okay.” Lily replied, settling her eyes on him.

“So, the girls on your mother's side of the family were named after flowers, right?”

“Correct.” She nodded back.

“Well, I was named Austin, because my parents met in Austin.”

“Oh, don't tell me you want to name our potential son, Celina.” Lily giggled, teasing him.

“Gods, no.” Sy laughed back, shaking his head at her. “But, I do want to name any would-be sons after cities. Like, Dallas.” He explained to her.

“Austin Jr.” Lily chuckled back. “But, I like that idea.”

“Can I make one more suggestion?” He inquired, lifting a brow at her.

“Of course.”

“If we do have a daughter, I know we want to give her a flower themed first name, but can I pick her middle name?”

“Of course, do you have one in mind?” Lily asked, tilting her head at him.

“I do.” Sy nodded at her, his blue eyes getting a far off look.

“What is it?”

“Let's find out, if it's a girl first.” He said, shaking his head and clearing his vision. “Then, I'll tell you.”

“Okay, keeper of secrets.” She chuckled.

“Son of a—“

Lily paused as she carried the laundry basket up the stairs, hearing Sy's muffled curse from the guest room, turned nursery.

“What happened to good ol' fashioned, pure American made furniture?” He grumbled around his smarting thumb.

Chuckling and setting the basket down, Lily went down to the nursery. “Is that a grizzly Bear I'm hearing?” She asked, her voice light and playful as she smiled at him.

“Why did we have to buy the baby stuff from IKEA?” He asked, scowling at the mostly put together changing table.

“Because, their baby stuff is adorable.” She giggled at him, moving over to him, to check his smashed appendage.

Sy huffed, but let her take his hand in hers, watching her quietly and gently fuss over his swollen and multi-colored thumb. “If you like them, then it doesn't matter.” He sighed, frowning at the other unboxed baby furniture that was in the room with them.

“I do like them.” Lily nodded, assured he hadn't done any real damage to his hand. “That's why I got them. It goes with our neutral theme, since we don't know the baby's sex yet.” She told him, kissing his thumb, with a mischievous smile.

“Then, I'll get it done.” He replied, cupping her face and pulled her in, kissing her gently.

“Bob the Builder can eat his heart out.” She chuckled, kissing him back. “He's got nothing on Captain Syverson.” She proclaimed proudly, before standing back up and retrieving her laundry basket, to put away the clean clothes she'd spent all morning washing, in the master bedroom.

When she finished putting the clothes away, Lily paused in the middle of the bedroom, tapping her foot and chewing on her bottom lip as a sudden idea brewed inside of her mind. It wasn't a completely new idea, but the evolution of it was. Turning the upper half of her body towards the open bedroom door, listening to the bumps and curses coming from the nursery down the hall.

“Sy!” She called out to him, then winced hearing a crash and another curse.

“Yeah, babe?” He answered, sighing.

“You wanna distraction?” She asked, biting the corner of her lip and feeling bad.

Sy appeared in the nursery doorway, his bruised fingers pressed to his chest. “I would love one, Angel.” He replied, giving her a grateful, but pained expression. “What do you have in mind?”

Lily stepped into their closet for a moment, before coming back out and holding up her professional digital camera, a Panasonic Lumix, for him to see, and Sy frowned at her, head tilting in question.

“Baby book.” She smiled at him.

“What's that gotta do with me?” He asked, blinking at her.

“You silly Bear.” Lily giggled at him. “You've gotta be in the book too! You are the Daddy.”

“Okay.” Sy nodded, biting his lip and glancing around. “What do you want me to do?”

“Let's go downstairs.” She said, taking her camera and headed downstairs with Sy following after her. “This'll be a good place.” She decided, stopping in the dining room, where there was a clear wall by the bay window, where there was a lot of light.

Lily paused for a moment, then disappeared into the kitchen, coming back with a little whiteboard she would write little notes on, doctor's appointments, deadlines or anything else she and Sy needed to remember. Sy watched her bustle about, putting her idea into motion. Erasing the writing on the whiteboard, Lily wrote fourteen weeks on it, then carefully hung it up on the wall, then planted her hands on her hips and left the room again, making Sy chuckle at her.

“Perfectionist.” He teased, when she came back, with a short tripod.

“To the end.” She giggled back, setting the tripod up on the dining table and connected the camera to it. “All right, now.” She approached Sy, resting her hands on him and turned him sideways.

“Now, don't move.”

“As you wish, Angel.” Sy grinned, planting his feet in place.

“That's a good Bear.” She grinned back, patting him on the chest, then removed her shirt.

“Well, ya gotta see my tummy.” Lily giggled at him at his lifted brow.

“Well, if you're taking your shirt off, I'm taking mine off.” He replied, yanking his blue tank top off over his head.

“What, for your six babies?” Lily teased him, touching his fur covered abs.

“They're sympathy babies.” Sy chuckled at her.

“Sympathy babies?” She roared with laughter.

“You know what a sympathy pregnancy is?” He asked, grinning at her. “It's that, just six mini ones.”

“Well, that's the fast way to have a bunch of kids.” Lily joked back, thoroughly amused at his sympathy babies.

“Okay, back to what we were doing.”

“Right, what now, Mama?”

“I'm going to stand here.” She said, moving in front of him and resting her back against his chest. “And you're going to put your hands here.” She reached back, gripping Sy's wrists and moved them around to the front of her, so his hands cradled her growing baby bump.

“Like this?” Sy asked, making small adjustments.

“Yes, perfect.” Lily nodded, holding a small remote in her hand that would allow her to snap the photo, but before she could press the button, Aika came charging in and barked at them. “Oh my, how could I be so rude to forget you, Aika.” She cooed at the German Shepherd.

“Aika, sit.” Sy snapped his fingers at her and she instantly sat down before them, staring up at them, ears erect and head cocked to the side.

“That's so perfect.” Lily grinned at Aika. “So, I'm going to look at my belly and you can look at me.” She instructed Sy.

“Way ahead of you, Angel.” Sy replied, already looking at the back of her head, and just before she pressed the button on the camera's remote, he kissed her hair. “Let's see it.” He said, moving away from her.

Lily grabbed the camera off the tripod and pulled it up on the display screen, instantly grinning at it. The image of Sy cradling her baby bump, while she looked down at it, and kissing the back of her head, with Aika looking curiously up at her two and a half humans. She couldn't wait to add it to the baby book she had bought several weeks before and started putting together.

“You want to do a few more?” She asked, looking up from the camera.

“You're damn right I do.” Sy nodded, excited at the thought of doing an activity with Lily and anything that included their baby, still in her belly or not.

“Do you have any suggestions?” She inquired, tilting her head at him.

He bit his lip, then lifted a finger at her and left the room, coming back several minutes later with a worn, Army green shirt with two patches on the short sleeves, one for the U.S Army Special Forces and the other was the custom Special Forces patch for the team he was the leader of.

“I wore this a lot, while on tour.” He explained to her, looking at the garment in his hands.

Lily smiled at him, seeing and feeling how shy he was as he tried to explain his thoughts for what he wanted for a few shots. “I like that idea, Bear.” She assured him.

“Yeah?” Sy replied, lighting up.

“I do.” Lily nodded, eyes sparkling at him. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“Okay, um.” He looked around, he wasn't as good as Lily with setting up photo shots, but he had an idea in his head. “Here, put it on.” He said, handing her his shirt.

“All right.” Lily took his shirt and slipped it on.

“Can you..” He paused, biting his lip and glancing around. “Can you sit the camera up on the coffee table, like you had it here?” He asked, motioning to the tripod still sitting on the dining table.

“I very much can.” Lily nodded, grabbing the tripod and her camera, taking them into the living room and set them up on the coffee table as he asked.

“What next?”

“Lay down on the couch, sorta propped up on the arm.”

Nodding, Lily did as he asked and Sy fussed with the camera for a moment, making sure the shot would be wide enough, then moved around the coffee table, slipping onto the couch with her and positioning himself so he was between her legs, his face level with her belly.

“You have the remote to the camera?” He asked her.

“I do.” She nodded, grinning at him and held the remote up for him to see.

“Okay, good.” He gave her a short nod. “I'm gonna kiss your gorgeous belly and I want you to snap it.”

“As you wish, Bear.” Lily chuckled, gently patting his cheek.

Sy lowered his head, a soft blush on his bearded cheeks, that Lily hoped she could get in on the camera, and gently pressed his lips to her belly through the fabric of his old Army shirt. Lily waited a moment, admiring and savoring it for herself, before actually taking the photo of him doing it.

“How about one for just you and I?” Lily suggested, when Sy sat back up. “Not for the baby book, just me and you.”

“Oh?” Sy grinned, his brow going up in a suggestive manner.

Lily licked her lips and nodded her head. “Where are your dog tags?”

“My dog tags?”

“Well, I certainly don't have any.” She chuckled at him.

“Huh, I think they're upstairs in one of the boxes I brought over when I officially moved in.” He replied, brow creasing as he tried to recall which of the boxes it was he might have put them in.

“Then, go find them.”

“All right then, Miss.” He replied, getting up off the couch and going back upstairs.

“That's Mrs. Thank you!” Lily hollered after him, shaking her head and stood up, grabbing her camera and the tripod, then going upstairs after him.

“What is that beautiful brain thinking?” Sy asked, pulling out a box from the closet and setting it on their bed as she came into the room.

“When you find your dog tags, I'll tell you.” She smiled at him, setting the tripod and camera down on the dresser across from their bed.

“Ah-ha!” He let out triumphantly, smiling and pulled out his dog tags from the third box for Lily to see the two thin tags dangling from their chain, rimmed by black rubber to keep them from making noise, when they hit together.

“Nope.” He shook his head at her, pulling the dog tags away as she reached out for them. “Tell me what you want them for first, little lady.”

“I'm going to get naked and they'll be the only thing I'm wearing.” She told him, bluntly.

Sy gulped, his eyes widening at the thought. “Sold.” He squeaked, handing them to her.

Lily removed her clothing and slipped Sy's dog tags over her head, resting between the swell of her breasts and the top of her sloping belly. “Get in bed, Syverson.” She said, motioning to their bed with her head.

“As you wish, Syverson.” He chuckled at her. “You want me to get naked too?” He teased her.

“If you wanna.” Lily chuckled back, following close behind him.

“I do.” He smirked and pushed his shorts down, kicking them aside and got into bed, resting back against their pillows and the headboard.

Lily crawled into bed with him, nuzzling herself between his legs, making him moan a bit as her ass rubbed against his semi-flaccid cock. She hooked Sy's feet around, so she sat in the bowl in the middle of them and rested back against his chest, then had him rest his head on her shoulder, with one of his hands cupped the side of her stomach and she rested her hand on top of his there. She gasped softly, feeling his other hand gently cup one of her sore breasts, his face gently nuzzling her neck with a soft smile.

“I love you.” He murmured.

“I love you too, Bear.” She cooed back, resting comfortably against him, and snapped the shot. “It'll be better, when my stomach is bigger.”

“Oh, I really can't wait for that.” Sy admitted, rubbing his calloused hands over her stomach. “I can't wait for the moment when I can put my hands on your belly and feel the baby move against my palms.” He told her, fantasizing about it.

“I feel little flutters every now and then.” Lily replied, resting her head back against his shoulder. “But, nothing I can share with you yet.” She told him, comfortable in their weird little huddle.

“One day soon, Angel.” He whispered into her ear, hugging his arms around her and closing his eyes.

“Sy!” Lily screamed, wiggling and panting. “Austin! Jesus Christ.” She huffed as Aika barked and paced around her.

Sy came pounding down the stairs, hearing her frantic yelling from where he was upstairs, still working in the nursery. “Lily!” He yelled, tearing into the living room, out of breath and scared out of his mind.

“What's wrong?” He asked, staring down at her as she laid on her bright purple yoga mat on the living room floor, she had gotten into pregnancy yoga, after trying it during one of the parenting classes they attended. “Is it the baby?” His eyes searched every inch of her body, watching Aika shove her nose underneath Lily's hips, sides and in the nook of her neck, making her wiggle even more and squeal.

“The baby is fine, Austin.” Lily huffed, out of breath and going limp on the yoga mat. “It's me, that's the problem.” She scowled, her face bright red.

Sy's face didn't change. “What is it, Angel?”

Lily bit her lip and huffed again, glancing away from him, knowing what was coming next out of him. “I can't get up.”

And there it fucking was.

Sy's head reared back and his laugh roared through the house like a boom of thunder, startling the daylights out of Aika, who barked directly into Lily's ear and bolted for the new doggy door in the kitchen and vanished into the backyard. His whole body shook as he continued to laugh at her for not being able to get up from her mat, even starting to wheeze.

“Good lord, Wyatt!” Lily growled at him.

“You're like a turtle!” He howled, bending forward, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Should I call PETA first? I don't want to get in trouble for endangering wildlife.” He cackled, rubbing her now pronounced belly.

“The only thing endanger is your sex life!” Lily threatened him. “Now, help me up! Your kid is squishing my bladder!” She begged, holding her hands out to him and desperately wiggling her fingers.

“All right! All right.” He chuckled, grabbing her hands and carefully pulled her up onto her feet. “Waddle faster, my little submarine!” He shouted after her, starting to laugh all over again.

“I hate you!” She shouted over her shoulder, just making it to the hall bathroom.

“You ready, Bear?” Lily asked, squeezing Sy's hand as they followed the nurse back to the exam room.

“As I can be, Angel.” He replied, taking a deep breath. “As I can be.”

It was Lily's twenty-third week baby appointment and the moment of truth, when they found out the gender of their baby. They were both excited and nervous about finding out, having spent the last two weeks scouring names of cities and flowers and making their own lists for names if they had a girl or a boy, to then narrow down, once they did find out what gender they were having; and today was that day.

“Good morning.” Dr. Evers smiled as she came into their exam room. “How are parents and baby doing today?” She asked, sitting down on a stool.

“We're doing really well.” Lily smiled back at her, giddy. “Ready to find out the gender.” She said, glancing over at Sy.

“I bet you're just chomping it to bits to find out.” Dr. Evers chuckled, doing a quick regular exam of Lily, before setting up the ultrasound.

“I love hearing that sound.” Sy said, unconscionably as the baby's heartbeat filled the room.

“It's a precious sound.” Evers agreed, smiling over at him.

“Amen.” Lily nodded, gripping Sy's hand and staring at the screen.

“Let's see if I can get a better position.” Dr. Evers said, moving the transducer around Lily's belly, spreading more of the warm jelly with it, then went quiet for a few minutes, typing a few things on the keyboard.

“Is everything okay?” Sy asked, nervously.

“Everything is perfectly fine.” She smiled at him. “Just making a few measurements.” She assured him, before moving the transducer again. “Ah, there you are.” She grinned brightly, finally getting the right angle on the screen that she needed to tell her what gender the Syverson's baby was.

“Do you want to know right now, or do you want me to write it down and you can look when you get home?” She asked, regarding the two of them.

Lily and Sy looked at each other, a silent conversation going on between them for a long moment before Lily looked back at Dr. Evers and smiled, nervously, at her and nodded her head.

“Now, please.”

Nodding her head back at them, then pointed to the screen. “If you look right there.” She outlined what she was indicating. “You can just make out what it is. So, I'm happy to tell you, you are expecting a healthy baby girl.”

“A girl.” Sy echoed back, his voice weak with emotion and his eyes glued to the screen. “I have a daughter.”

“A daughter, Bear.” Lily grinned at him, reaching up and wiping away the silent tears that were starting to fall down his face. “We have a daughter, Sy.”

Sy wrapped his arms around Lily and hugged her for dear life, burying his face into her neck, soaking the shoulder of her shirt with his tears. “Thank you.” He sniffled and hiccuped. “Thank you.”

“We did it together, Sy.” Lily replied, emotional as well. “We both did this.”

“You guys are doing great and the baby is doing amazingly.” Dr. Evers complimented them, a bit choked up as well. “I'll have you set up your next appointment and you know to contact me, if anything happens.”

“Thanks, doc.” Sy smiled at her.

“It's my pleasure.” She assured him.

“All right, Bear. You said, if we had a girl you had a middle name for her, now out with it.” Lily said, as they drove back home.

Sy cleared his throat, still an emotional wreck that they were having a daughter. “Imogene.”

“Imogene.” Lily repeated, blinking at him. “Why Imogene?” She asked, tilting her head at him.

He was quiet for a long while, trying to get a handle on an old emotional lump that was trying to push up alongside the one already in his throat. “I want her to have the middle name, Imogene,” He started to explain, as they reached their driveway.

“Because, it was my mama's name.” He told her, softly.

294 notes · View notes

sharkbait77 · 3 years

Text

The Singer (Marcus Pike x f!reader)

Chapter Three

Warnings: Mention of food/alcohol, language, pure fluffy fluffiness (I'm such a softie I'm sorry 😭)

W/C: 4.2k

A/N: Notes at the bottom! And I'm running out of gifs to use of scruffy faced Marcus. I'm gonna have to shave him soon 👀 I hope you enjoy our soft boi in this chapter! 🥰

Just as a reference if you need help understanding the different formats:

«Phone conversation on their end»

Thoughts

Text messages

Song mentioned:

Chapter Two | Chapter Four

The Singer Masterlist

Gif by me! Yes it's Teresa but it still fits & I only care that it's his hand lol

«Oh my god, I'm melting!» Celina yells in her phone enthusiastically. You giggle as you wait for her eagerness to calm down.

You had barely taken your shoes and jacket off after getting inside your apartment when you immediately dialed up Celina's number to tell her about the night. You feel like you're having an out of body experience. Sure, your heart is still guarded and unfortunately, you'll most likely have your doubts throughout the relationship, but you truly feel like this could go somewhere. You want to give yourself that chance and allow Marcus to help heal your heart, maybe doing the same for him in return.

"So he's picking me up on Saturday and I'm freaking out a little," you say and chew on the skin around your nail beds.

«Why? Don't be! Just treat it like how you did tonight!» She encourages.

"But it's a legitimate date this time, I have to do my hair and makeup perfectly and find the perfect outfit and-"

«Girl, have you seen your closet? You have nothing but perfect outfits!» She teases and you chuckle, lowering your fingers from your mouth.

«You don't need to try to be perfect hun, just be yourself! Be the girl he has already seen in front of him.» You smile at her heartfelt words. «I bet he's already in love with you!»

"Okay, you're not helping!" You laugh, placing your hand on your forehead. "I'll talk to you later, I'm going to try and get some sleep. I'll probably be calling you on Saturday so I can freak out some more."

You say your goodbyes and hang up, sinking yourself into your couch and smiling widely. Your head is buzzing from a sugar rush, but you can't tell if it's because of the pancakes or because of Marcus. You walk to the kitchen to make some sleepytime tea, hoping it'll relax your nerves enough for you to get some shut eye.

* * * *

You take a shower and climb into your comfy pajamas and the tea works its magic as you relax on your plush bed, surrounding yourself with pillows and your soft blanket enveloping you in warmth. Your eyes get heavy and you feel yourself on the brink of sleep when you hear your phone vibrate on the nightstand. You try to ignore it, but it vibrates again and you figure it's Celina probably sending you a funny video. Your curiosity gets the better of you and you reach over to grab your phone, the brightness from the screen stinging your eyes from the time they had adjusted to the darkness. You blink a few times until you can see the screen clearly.

555-9057: Hi Dulce :)

555-9057: Made it home. I had a great time :)

You bite your lip and smile at the messages on your lock screen, heat flashing through your head seeing him call you the nickname you gave yourself in his phone. And just like that, you're wide awake again. You unlock your phone and before you can type a reply, he sends another message.

555-9057: It's Marcus btw

Marcus groans to himself as he sends that last message. What the hell was that? Of course she knows it's you. Dumbass. He watches the screen and holds his breath when he sees the text bubbles pop up and he waits nervously for your reply.

Dulce💋: I'm glad you specified! Right after you dropped me off another guy took me out for dulce de leche pancakes and I also penned myself as Dulce in his phone 🤭

He chuckles out loud in the quiet atmosphere of his apartment, the sound bouncing against the walls and reverberating around the living room. Damn, she's good.

555-9057: Okay okay you got me, don't have to be so mean :P

So he's a classic emoji kind of guy, you smile as you make a note and file it in the little 'Marcus Pike' folder in your brain. You hit his phone number and tap the plus symbol to make a new contact in your phone. For some reason, you find yourself struggling as you try to figure out what to put his contact name as.

Agent Cutie

Nope, delete.

Agent Pike

What are you, his secretary? Delete delete.

Marcus

Should I put an emoji? Which one? Can't be a heart. You are seriously overthinking this.

Marcus Pike

Yeah, okay. I guess.

Me: Why did it take so long to get home? Do you live far?

Marcus Pike: It was about 30 min from your place :) not too bad

Thirty minutes?! Great, now I feel bad.

Dulce💋: Wth if I had known I wouldn't have let you drop me off! 🙄

Me: Don't worry about it! I was more than happy to ;)

Shit shit shit I didn't mean the wink! Why are they right next to each other?! Do I say something? Oh god, way to go, you ruined it.

Dulce💋: Then I'll give you gas money!

Marcus takes a breath of relief when he sees that you sidestepped his accidental wink emoji. After he catches his breath, his phone chimes again.

Dulce💋: And I won't take no for an answer 😉

Okay, there's no way she sent that by accident. Is she flirting with me? Do I flirt back? Why are my hands so sweaty?

Dulce💋: It's time for bed, those pancakes made me sleepy 😴 good night Marcus ☺️ See you Saturday!

Marcus smiles to himself and he anticipates seeing you on Saturday. He sends you another text and walks to his restroom to take a quick shower before climbing in bed.

Marcus Pike: Can't wait :) good night!

There's no way you can sleep now, but you said good night for his sake; he had a long day at work, plus he took you out and then had a long drive home. You know he must be tired. Your heart races as you scroll through your short text conversation, rereading the messages and giggling softly.

Did he mean to wink? It was probably an accident, considering he types out emojis instead of using the newer, more convenient ones. You just couldn't help but send one back, though; hiding behind the screen helped you to flirt openly with him. You roll onto your side to face the TV on your dresser, turning on a true crime documentary and letting it eventually lull you to sleep.

* * * *

Saturday comes around quickly, much to your delight, but as you wander around your room looking at the many outfits you laid out on your bed, your dresser, even on your couch, the nerves set in fast. You pray to whoever’s listening that you don’t seize up when Marcus picks you up. Which is in fifteen minutes. You already have your hair and makeup done, all you need is to pick an outfit. Simple in theory. Just pick one! You chew your lip nervously out of habit before stopping as soon as you realize you probably just messed up the red lipstick you had applied earlier.

You rush to the bathroom mirror and sure enough, there's a bare spot on your bottom lip and the lipstick has transferred to your front teeth. You groan in frustration and grab a makeup wipe to carefully remove the ruined lipstick and you brush your teeth again until it's all gone. You reapply the same shade of red, pleasantly surprised with yourself that it came out better than the first time. You take a deep breath and try to calm down, telling yourself that the first outfit you land your eyes on will be the one you wear. You count down from three in your head and enter your bedroom.

Okay, maybe not that one. You decide to close your eyes and try again. When you open your eyes, they land on a different outfit. Not that one either. You sigh harshly through your nose. Why is this so hard? You walk over to your nearly empty closet for the umpteenth time and your eyes catch on to a dress hidden in the corner that you had surprisingly missed before. This one.

It's a spaghetti strapped, black, bodycon dress with a lace overlay, flowers printed on the fabric throughout. It hugs your body in all the right places, reaching down to your knees, and you take a look in the floor length mirror next to your dresser as you put on your black, open-toed heels, smiling brightly as you feel confidence shooting through your veins.

Adrenaline gets mixed in as soon as you hear a knock on your door. Five on the dot. You grab your black cardigan and purse off the couch and open the door, your breath taken away by the handsome man in front of you. He's carrying a box of chocolates and it fumbles in his hands, nearly falling once his wide eyes see you. He looks at you from head to toe, making your heart race as you feel heat rushing over your body in line with his gaze and you shift your weight from side to side anxiously.

"Wow," he says breathlessly, unable to say anything afterwards.

"Wow yourself," you smile, looking over his own outfit: a navy blue suit and a black, button up shirt underneath, paired with black dress shoes. He slicked his hair back and cleaned up his beard slightly. He really is a gorgeous man.

"Uh," he stutters and glances to the box in his unknowingly tight grasp. "These are for you," he smiles shyly as he hands you the chocolates.

"Thank you," you say, giggling at the indents his fingers made on the sides of the box and you turn around to leave them on your entryway table.

You turn back to face him and see his eyes look up quickly and you wonder if you just caught him staring at your bottom. Your suspicion is confirmed when his cheeks flush pink. You laugh softly and he holds his arm out to you.

"Ready?" He asks and you can hear the nervousness in his voice.

You nod and link your arm in his, letting him help you down the stairs. You're starting to love the way his arm hugs yours as you walk and the warmth of his body mixing with yours. Your footsteps even sync up together in a slow cadence. He walks you to his car, letting you hold your weight with his arm as you slowly lower in the seat, your movement restricted by your tight dress and high heels.

You thank him once you're seated, buckling your seatbelt, and he walks to his side, sitting down and starting the car. You notice the radio is on this time, playing at a low volume, and you think to yourself that he probably only forgot to turn it on last time.

The aura is tense in the car, both of your nervous energies dancing in the air together to the music. You try to think of something to say, resorting to looking through your mental file of basic conversation starters. The weather? No, too basic. Say something about the music. No-

"You look really beautiful," Marcus finally breaks the silence. Your head snaps up to look in his direction and you share a smile, thanking him and returning the compliment.

He takes his eyes off the road for a couple of seconds to look at you with a soft smile and turns his attention back to driving straight. He would keep his eyes on you if he could, but he'd rather not get into a car accident and ruin the night. So he just waits patiently until the next moment he can steal a glance. He takes a peek at you while you're stuck at a red light and he sees you picking at your cuticles nervously. He rubs his clammy palm on his pant leg, hoping to dry up any sweat present as much as possible. Before he can think twice about it, he reaches his hand over to grab yours.

Your heart jumps in your throat from the action and you look down in shock at his large hand covering yours completely. The blood rushes to your cheeks; his hand is rough from work, but soft and gentle enough that it's not uncomfortable. And warm. So warm. You stop picking your cuticles immediately, now memorizing the fine wrinkles in his hand and the ridges on his knuckles.

"Are you okay?" He asks, not moving his hand from your lap as he starts driving again.

"Yeah," your voice makes an embarrassing harmony, splitting in two different octaves from disuse. You swallow some saliva to lubricate your vocal cords and try speaking again.

"I'm just a little nervous," you admit.

His hand is still resting on top of yours; you're not sure if you should open your hand up to face your palms together and hold his hand as well. Alas, you take too long to make a decision and he pulls his hand away to grasp the steering wheel, bracing for a left turn.

"Please don't be nervous," he smiles with his pearly white teeth and it only makes you more nervous. How is he this handsome?

"It's just me," he adds as he pulls up to the restaurant, putting the car in park and removing the key from the ignition.

"'Just you'?" You quote him inquisitively. He nods and you shake your head with a small chuckle.

"What?" He chuckles with you.

"It's not 'just you' though, is it?" You reply softly.

You wonder if he's uncertain of himself and his ability to make women — i.e. you — weak in the knees. He seems oblivious to it and it makes him all the more charming to you. You see his eyebrows furrow and before he can ask what you mean, you turn to open the car door.

"Wait," he tells you, rushing out of his seat and over to you to help you out.

You wanted to manage it yourself, but you know you must look ridiculous with how bad you're struggling to get out of the car. He chuckles at the sight once he's on your side and he holds his arm out. You hold onto his forearm tightly and pull yourself upward as he lifts you as well until you're firmly planted on your feet.

"Maybe this dress wasn't a good idea after all," you giggle.

"I think it was," he flirts and you look away as you smile shyly.

You walk together up the steps to the front of the restaurant and Marcus apologizes for not warning you about the stairs. You tell him not to worry and though you can feel the ache in the arches and heels of your feet, you don't complain. He holds the door open for you and you walk in, your eyes instantly catching on the glimmering, crystal chandelier hanging in the waiting area. The lights are dimmed in an amber glow and there are pillars with intricate carvings and vines wrapped around the stone throughout the entirety of the establishment.

You gasp to yourself; this place must be expensive. How did you go from pancakes at grandma's house to a fancy, Italian restaurant like this? Your ears catch the sounds of a violin, but it's too close to just be playing from a speaker. Sure enough, you look further into the restaurant and see a man in a suit playing a violin. A live violinist?! Marcus joins your side again and notices the look of astonishment on your face.

"What's wrong?" He asks and you jerk your head to look at him, not even realizing he was standing next to you.

"Marcus, this looks like it's going to be really expensive."

You whisper in his ear so you don't offend any of the staff members and the height from your heels allows you to reach his head a little better now. The hot breath from your mouth tickles his ear and a bolt of arousal shoots down his spine. He laughs it off and leans his mouth to your ear in return.

"I like to make a fuss," he says, the deep tone of his voice giving you goosebumps. "Don't worry about it," he says in his normal tone as he stands up straight again.

The maître d' greets you two as you walk up to the host stand and Marcus gives the man his name for the reservation. The maître d' informs Marcus the table is not quite ready yet, adding that you're welcome to wait at the bar. Marcus looks at you to get your opinion; you say yes and Marcus lightly places his hand on the middle of your back, guiding you as you walk over to the bar top together. You take a seat in the soft barstool; it's easier to sit on since it's basically at standing height. Marcus removes his hand from your back to take a seat, his fingers gliding against the delicate lace of your dress across your spine and you shudder. Thankfully, it goes unnoticed.

The back of the bar is riddled with an assortment of different liquors, both American and Italian, and they're resting on lit up shelves. You look at the drink menu and your mouth opens in horror at the prices listed. This is definitely too much money. The bartender comes your way and Marcus orders a campari and grapefruit juice, immersing himself fully in the Italian culture. You say you'll stick with water and excuse it as you not feeling like drinking tonight. Marcus doesn't question it further.

The two of you comment on the decor of the restaurant, mainly the paintings hanging on the walls, and you mention that you love the lilies resting in the painted, ceramic vases and Marcus takes note of that fact. A waitress walks up to you and Marcus to let you know your table is ready and he finishes the last of his drink and stands, offering you his hand this time instead of his arm. You smile as you take it, your heart thumping in your chest as you let him guide you while you both follow the waitress.

The restaurant is bustling; heavy sounds of conversation and cutlery clinking on plates as you walk through what seems the entirety of the restaurant until the waitress leads you to a small, private patio. A round table is seated there, covered by a red tablecloth and adorned with a single, tall candlestick, burning a light glow. There's a cylindrical basket full of bread sticks and two water glasses, condensation running along the sides and onto the cloth. Marcus pulls your chair out for you, helping you to sit and scooting you in and sits down across from you. You hang your cardigan and purse on the back of your chair and take the menu the waitress is holding out to you.

You both thank her and she leaves, stating she'll be back soon to take your order. You marvel at the privacy Marcus planned for you two and you take a sip of your ice cold water, reveling in the relief washing through your dry throat. You flip open your menu; the options are minimal and are all expensive. You immediately scan for the cheapest dish: a $30 plate of chicken cacciatore. You feel guilty; you never want Marcus to break his bank trying to take you on a date. You glance at him and wonder why he would do all of this just for you. Did he really think you were that special?

You find yourself missing that little pancake diner and the time you shared there. There, you only felt the budding emotions consistent with a high school crush, but in this moment now, it's real life and mature adult feelings and you feel it much stronger in this environment. Marcus senses your mood change and leans forward to ask if you're okay, but he's interrupted by the waitress. You order the 'cheap' chicken cacciatore and he orders the tajarin al tartufo. Whatever that is.

"Why did you order the cheapest dish?" Marcus asks once the waitress leaves.

"Because I wanted to," you give him a sly smile to convince him otherwise, but he sees right through you, giving you a look of disbelief. You sigh.

"Because Marcus, it's too much money," you say sadly. "I mean, how much was it to get this private patio set up?"

"That's not important to me," he shakes his head. "This is our first proper date and I wanted to make it special."

Damn it. Why is he so thoughtful? And so damn cute?

"It's not that I don't appreciate it, I'm blown away by this, but I'm just... I'm not used to it," you pull your lips into your mouth slightly, mindful of your lipstick.

"Is that why you didn't order a drink?" He asks. You give him a lopsided frown and shrug your shoulders, your expression answering him instead of your words. He sighs and tilts his head to the side.

"I don't want you to worry about how much everything costs when you're with me; let me spoil you. You deserve it."

Let me spoil you. You deserve it. His words float around in your head, your eyes filling with fondness at the thought. You didn't think you deserved to be spoiled; your ex made sure of that much. It's exhilarating to say the least; this man you barely know ready to do anything for you at any time. But you like it, and you think in time, you could learn to love it. Learn to love him. You blink wildly and you inconspicuously shake your head at that last thought.

It was definitely way too soon to be thinking like that and it scared you that it entered your mind at all. It must be the ambiance of the restaurant. You think about how you should protect yourself in case this takes a wrong turn and you debate on placing that in the priority spot in your mind. Marcus can see you fighting your own thoughts and he tries to lighten the mood.

"I also might be trying to impress you for real now," he smiles.

You chuckle and shake your head. Marcus thinks to himself how beautiful you look under the moonlight that's shining through the glass awning above your heads, face lit up by the glowing candle. He can't stop his mouth from saying what he wants to say, not in this romantic atmosphere.

"I think you're a wonderful, beautiful woman and... I really like you," he adds, reaching across the table for your hand and you let him hold it, tangling your fingers with his.

You're positive he can feel your pulse through your fingers or hear your heart pounding, the blood whooshing in your ears muffling any other sounds from coming in. As much as you want to protect yourself, the look in his eyes only draws you in and you can't hide the truth from him or yourself, your confession spoken out loud for the first time for you both.

"I like you, too, Marcus." He smiles happily at you.

There must be something in the water here.

"Do you think it would be okay to keep this up?" He asks, meaning the dates, and you can't stop your head from nodding yes and you give him a sweet smile.

Marcus lets go of your hand, letting his rest in front of him and you take a deep breath, trying to shake your nerves from the exchange that just took place between you. You grab a bread stick and attempt to take a small bite; you and Marcus laugh together as your small bite accidentally turns into a big one, the stick breaking in the wrong place and leaving a large chunk of bread hanging from your mouth. Of course, leave it to something awkward happening to you to break the tension. But anything to see his face come together in joyous laughter.

* * * *

"Thank you again Marcus, that was actually very delicious," you say while Marcus begins the drive back to your apartment. "I see why it was so expensive." He hums in agreement; his smile hasn't left his face since the restaurant.

You listen closely to the new song that comes on the radio, trying to make out the tune until it gets louder and you realize it's "At Last" by Etta James.

"I love this song," you say under your breath. Marcus hears you and turns up the volume slightly, earning a bright smile from you. You look back out the window and sing the lyrics softly.

At last, my love has come along,

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song.

Marcus's heart races as he listens to the lyrics being sung by you and they hit a little too close to his heart. You don't realize at first the meaning behind them, only enjoying singing along.

At last, the skies above are blue

My heart was wrapped up in clover,

The night I looked at you.

You now realize the words are identical to how you feel. You wonder if you're falling too fast for Marcus. This was only your second date and there is still so much to learn about each other. You have a whole past to open up about, which will be a defining moment for your relationship. But as you look over at Marcus and you feel the tender organ in your chest beating fast, you think to yourself that it can't get much better than this. What's the harm in trying?

Chapter Two | Chapter Four

The Singer Masterlist

A/N: Okay just wanted to explain what Marcus ordered if you're interested! *DESCRIPTION OF FOOD/ALCOHOL COMING UP* I'm not an expert so correct me if I'm wrong! According to Google:

Campari is an Italian bitters made of fruit & herbs & you usually mix it with juice or club soda (hardcore Italians drink it straight up) & it's a pre-meal drink

Tajarin al tartufo is an egg pasta, made with more egg whites than traditional egg pastas, & topped with white truffle. Idk it sounded fancy & expensive 😂

Also, here's their outfit inspos! Just a couple of things I described differently like his shirt being black & her dress having lace instead of mesh.

Ofc Marcus in this suit 🥵 I copied the description lol

TAG LIST:

@hnt-escape @winter-fox-queen @giselatropicana

#marcus pike x f!reader #marcus pike x you #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike #marcus pike fanfiction #the mentalist #the mentalist fanfiction

60 notes · View notes

boop-le-snoot · 3 years

Text

masterpost ☀️ main masterlist ☀️ taglist

previously on...

We meet Lucy, we meet Samantha and her twins & Mother Nature gets a little bit mad. But on the upside - she loves Tony :)

Kind reminder that this story will have horror/thriller elements & graphic descriptions of blood, gore and all the nasty stuff associated with superhero battles described in some detail. This chapter contains some of that.

Honestly, this story is getting- uhh- 8-12 notes on Tumblr. It's got a decent following on AO3 which brings me joy because I truly do enjoy the worldbuilding to a, perhaps, guilty amount. So if you like it too - please reblog :)

The fabric of my skirt was suddenly yanked and I jumped, dropping my phone and startling out of my daze. Two big, blue eyes stared up at me, curiousity mixed with impatience in them. I crouched down to pick up my device, coming face to face with a tiny blonde girl about nine or ten years of age.

"Lucy, hi!" I squeezed out a smile at the child. She looked pale, as if she'd never seen the slightest bit of sunlight, chubby cheeks contrasted by an overall spindliness of her body. Her dress was a puffy, long-sleeved, red and white polka dotted monstrosity with at least two petticoats that made her seem bigger than she actually was. "Sorry, didn't see you there. Long day at work," despite there being a worm of anxiety crawling deeply in my chest, I heeded the warnings on the list of rules and swallowed any unease I had.

Which was a hard feat. The stairs had gotten confused and I lost ten minutes of time going back, over and over, after encountering floors "5", "8" and "19" instead of my third floor, in a five story building. The building providing extra floors shouldn't have surprised me that much but the worst was fighting with the desire to explore them, my rational brain unhelpfully supplying that if this building was truly dangerous, nobody would be living in it.

The pull was almost unnatural in its strength yet my protection charms remained unaffected. Too tired from returning to work, I decided to distract myself with my phone - and nearly ran poor little Lucy off her feet.

"You are new," she signed to me slowly, carefully observing my reaction to her using ASL.

I had been truly unsettled by the rule list, perhaps more than I wanted to admit to myself, so I spent a night wide awake brushing up my meager sign language skills. "Yes, my name is Star," I replied, not quite sure if I wanted to shake her hand or simply make myself scarce as soon as possible.

Lucy gave me a closed-lipped grin, swooshing her puffy skirts in what I perceived to be a calculated amount of shyness. "Can I play with you, please?" Her hands moved a little more rapidly as she side-eyed my apartment door.

I briefly ran a mental checklist of the contents of my fridge. "Sure," I figured that two leftover steaks in it would be more than enough for the little girl. I'd splurged and gotten four prime pieces of meat to treat myself after a hectic moving process, cooking only half of them on the first day. "Come on it. You hungry?"

The door swung open as I led Lucy in, her bright dress and pale skin standing out in the twilight of my apartment. She nodded her head seriously, looking at me from head to toe as shivers ran up and down my spine. My bag was unceremoniously dumped on the couch, my socked feet shuffling into the kitchen and beelining for the fridge.

Lucy followed me quietly, taking a seat at the dinner table and folding her thin arms atop it, expectant blue eyes following my every move. As I plated the meat and reached for the roll of paper towels, I felt like I was being examined under a microscope. Somewhere in the distance, a quiet hissing noise was beginning to rise.

Lucy politely declined the fork and knife I attempted to give her so I just set down the plate in front of her, leaving the kitchen to change out of my dusty, sweaty clothes, too tired to really worry about the loud, sloppy and wet chewing noises and low growling coming from the dining area. I decided as long as she wasn't attempting to have me for dinner, I was going to be just fine.

I found Lucy on the carpet of my living room, flipping through a fashion magazine she'd found somewhere after I was done with scavenging some sweatpants from my mostly-unpacked closet. Her blonde curls bounced as she looked up at me with another tight smile, this time looking calmer, friendlier somehow. "I like those dresses," she signed, pointing at a few pictures with models wearing ballroom gowns in all kinds of colours. "And these..." She pointed out a tiara, probably not knowing how to sign the words.

"This is a tiara," I spoke slowly, signing the last word with my hands carefully as she observed. And then a few more times, until she repeated her last sentence perfectly. "Good job, Lucy," I praised her as she beamed at me. The river of quiet, scratchy giggles never stopped as she pointed out various things and I tried to sign them to the best of my ability, Lucy not showing any signs of upset whatsoever if I couldn't get the name for something right.

After some time, it was beginning to get very dark outside and a couple of pointed glances at the clock was all it took for her to stand up and carefully dust off her skirts. "Thank you for playing with me, Star," Lucy signed excitedly. "I like you. Do you want to know a secret?" She leaned in conspirationally, bursting into my space bubble with a lack of care only a child could posess.

I nodded, not trusting my mouth whatsoever. The closer she leaned in, the more overwhelming her smell became. Her pretty dress reeked of mildew and stale water, her breath - of dried blood and something earthen, like moist soil and cold cobblestone.

Lucy's eyes widened dramatically. "If you need answers, go on to the seventh floor. Bring some warm milk and cookies, they won't bother you too much, but be careful and don't stay for too long. You look tasty," I struggled to keep up with her rapid signing, my eyes firmly trained on her. Lucy's hand carefully patted my cheek and in my frozen state, I could only wave back as she skipped to the door and unlocked it, giving me one of her closed-lipped smiles before disappearing behind it without a noise.

The lock slid shut on it's own after the girl's departure. My heart briefly jumped up into my throat, trapping my jerky inhale in-between my throat and my esophagus. Coughing, I went on to double check the door lock before scrambling for the TV remote to add some background noise to the suddenly eerily quiet apartment.

The sit-com that popped up wasn't any of the ones I knew so I sat helplessly watching unfamiliar people get themselves into more and more absurd situations as the grating noise of pre-recorded audience laughter mocked the characters actions. A sudden shriek pierced the late night stillness, followed by a sound of breaking dishes and a woman's voice tiredly chastising the miscreants.

Samantha.

I'd seen her a few times as she smoked her strong cigarettes in front of the entrance, her twins running in circles around the large pothole in the middle of the driveway. She'd been friendly enough, the dark circles under her eyes and the unkempt state of her clothes telling me more than her words, "I love them, I really do. But I just want some sleep," she rasped as she sighed and attempted to gather her two kids.

I didn't examine them too closely but on first moment's notice their eyes and teeth appeared... Wrong. Samantha had taken them inside after that, clutching a coffee thermos of a size truly impressive, and I went on my merry way, trying not to think too much of the poor, single mother and her two mutant kids. I felt a little proud, even, as she didn't just abandon them like many other people did after discovering their children had an active X-gene.

It didn't take me long to cave in and offer my help with watching the twins, Anya and Arman; one noisy weekend bled into the next and I began to genuinely feel bad for the overtired woman. Inviting the two terrors into my apartment was a choice I had made mindfully: having asked Odette about advice on hyperactive children, she had proposed a puzzle or two.

The thrifted, wooden items weren't able to hold the twins' attention for long, and Anya was the first one to begin gnawing at the hard blocks, covering the area around her in splinters. Arman was a quiet boy compared to his sister: he'd stare at the TV or at the walls, avoiding eye contact and conversation at great lengths.

My couch was jumped on, my dishes were taken out and my houseplants rearranged chaotically; it was almost as if they purposefully tried to get a rise out of me without doing any actual damage. I spent the remaining few hours of my Sunday putting things back in their places - all that pent up frustration had done wonders for the state of my apartment; it sparkled, looking cleaner than the day I moved in.

The babysitting became a somewhat regular occurrence, more often than not with me popping in for a couple of hours so Samantha could run some errands and the odd weekend when the twins came over to me so Sam could get some much-needed sleep.

She was a kind, gentle if chronically overworked woman. We clicked pretty quickly over our shared desire for comfortable stability and some fucking peace; neither I nor she had it in sights for the foreseeable future. Sam's reaction to me being a witch was a shrug and a top up to her wine glass as she pointedly looked at her daughter who was busy chewing on a door handle, leaving small, jagged marks all over the dull metal.

I just had gotten sorted with a bunch of complicated orders when the radio interrupted Eric Clapton with an emergency message and instructions to steer clear of the next few blocks over. Something had hit NYC again and Avengers had been called but nobody knew exactly what it was or when it was going to be dealt with.

As soon as I shot a text to Sam, explaining the situation, I immediately retreated to the back rooms, setting up my healing station over the noise of Odette preparing her office for visitors. For some time, I waited with baited breath, jumping at every little noise coming from the outside. The people tickled in slowly, mostly one by one and all were covered in foul-smelling sludge that evaporated with a loud hiss when the concentrated light of the UV lamp in my office touched it.

"Some kind of aliens, I think," a man with a face somewhere between a human and a hedgehog told me, wincing as he retracted his spikes back into his skin. "There's a hole- a portal, right on a crossroads and there's these things coming out. They kinda look like dragons, or flying snakes maybe," the more light breached the surface of his skin, the more relaxed he became. "The Sorcerer and the Witch are trying to close the portal, unsuccessfully might I add, and the muscle is just," he paused, scratching his chin. "Just killin' 'em, I guess."

I nodded enthusiastically, prompting him to continue to rely the state of the affairs as I applied the thick, viscous ointment on a gash on his leg. "It's hammer and Frisbee time," I mumbled to myself sarcastically.

"Yep," the man popped the 'p'. "Most of us are trying to keep the creatures contained to that one block. I saw Iron Man blasting off some of the creatures off of some of my friends," the last sentence contained a great deal of puzzlement. "Though you won't be seeing much of us this time. These things... They're vicious. They've got claws the size of my foot. A lot of us are going to die where they gut us," the sentence was spoken so matter-of-factly, my hands paused on the man's leg, bringing my eyes to his unblinking dots of black.

"What do you mean?" I swallowed in an attempt to chase away the dry, rough feeling in my throat.

"Those beasts... They're smart. One of my friends - she's a... Telepath of sorts... Says they're an intelligent hivemind," the man's broad, warm palm closed over mine. "The beasts leave only the ones that won't get help in time. They can smell death from a mile away. That's how they hunt," his voice was gentle, soothing over the sudden ringing of my ears.

"I..." My mind stuttered, a sticky ball of anxiety, fear and sorrow gathering up in my chest. "I'm so sorry. I..."

"We know what we're doing, out there, we know the risks," his smile was tight and full of grief. "You're doing your part here, makin' sure our babies have parents. We're out there makin' sure our streets are safe. Such is life," the grin acceptance in his pitch-black, small eyes set fire to the tension in my chest.

I exploded, inside out. The sudden burst of decisive, clear-headed energy made the objects around me vibrate, metal resonated my sorrow and my determination, the wood heated up with the force of Mother Nature itself responding to an act of cruelty bestowed upon her creations.

As soon as the man's bandage was finished and he headed out, I grabbed my old, ratty backpack, hastily shoving things into it in a semi-organized fashion. Clean linen strips, bandages, some premade elixirs and draughts, a few jars of salves, carefully tucked in-between the cloth. As I knocked on the door of Odette's office to retrieve the last few items I would need for my reckless journey, the door handle turned on its own, letting me observe her tending a woman who's skin was peeled off most of her back.

"Can't you see I'm..." Odette exclaimed, throwing her free hand towards the door, which did not budge. She turned on her heel, eyes widening when she observed my wide, solid stance in the doorway, lips immediately curling into a small grin. "I understand. Take what you need. It's not wise to resist Her call," the words were spoken carefully, as if not to spook me, before Odette resumed her delicate work of putting the injured woman back together.

Without a word, I finished packing and left through the front door, not needing more than my scarf and my light sweater to keep me from the freezing gusts of wind. My very core was the centrefold of an active volcano, bursting with white-hot bursts of energy as I approached the injured people on my way towards the terrible screeching noise.

This far out, most of the injured were able to make it to Odette's or to the other healer, who's name I had found out only then, but they were thankful for the water I offered them. Not once did they question me: my star-patterned scarf, out of all things, had become somewhat of a symbol for me among the different folk. Mutants approached me fearlessly, giving generous updates on the direction of the battle and the hotspots I probably should have avoided.

The louder the screeching noises grew, the more people needed my help. The stops took longer, my painkillers were becoming a short supply, the main relief provided by a couple of mid-range, mid-strength energy manipulating mutants that began to tail me after I offered to patch them up in exchange for help with the injured.

It was as if I instinctually knew where I was most needed, my decisions were seldom my own. Me and the two mutants bid a haste goodbye after loading up their truck with the injured, although deep inside, I knew that the amount of corpses, bloody and messy, littering the streets had begun to get to them. In a normal state of mind, I would not have been able to look at them either: then, each mangled, broken body only added fuel to the fire within me.

As I stepped foot in an intersection where someone had piled up bent and broken cars, the shadow flying over my head shrieked, taking a fluid nose dive towards another, smaller flying figure. I dropped flat on the ground, the contents of my backpack clattering, watching the small figure in the sky blast the beast with an off-blue ray of concentrated energy. As soon as the creature began it's graceless drop, Tony turned around and flew off, looking none worse for wear.

At the very centre of my chest, a faint feeling of fondness and hope blossomed into tiny little flowers that soothed the aching sorrow for the dead. Each warcry of the beasts from another world fed the anger, the anguish Gaia seemed to exhibit at their intrusion; the revolt I felt upon laying my eyes on one of them made me sweat, hands clenching into fists until my skin crawled under my nails.

The last part of me that wanted to pretend I was in control was gone; my soft, untrained body a mere vessel for a force stronger than me, stronger than anything. Noise around me grew in pitch, some of the creatures circling around my hiding spot cluelessly, aimlessly, as if they could not find what they were looking for.

I moved spots in a daring series of runs, bringing me almost to the portal itself, and the hellish lizards dived into my previous sanctuary, shattering the concrete and the wood of the house under the amused black stares of glassless windows.

The realization set it - they could not see me. Or perceive me properly, I deduced, inspecting the creatures for any sort of orifice except for their mouths and finding them to lack eyes and ears.

My own stare fell onto Sorcerer Supreme, floating amongst a variety of moving golden circles; I was close enough to hear him talking in a language I did not know. Wanda was hovering nearby, holding up a wall of red energy, protecting the chanting sorcerer.

A united screech invoked a shiver from every living being within it's reach, the creatures circling the portal for the last time before flying off in haphazard directions as the portal slowly began to close. I was prepared to cheer, yet, something stopped me; not a second later, the circles surrounding Stephen dimmed as the man himself jumped up onto his feet in alarm, screaming something unintelligible at the Scarlet Witch.

The overturned food cart I was hiding behind slowly began to creep towards the portal. A couple of rats, a pigeon - the animals flew in front of my eyes, rapidly, as they struggled against the unseen force. My hands grasped the handlebars of the cart in vain, I struggled against the force, seeing a moment of confusion on Wanda's face as I floated- no, rocketed past her as Stephen's golden magic forcefully pushed her out of the portal's reach.

It's size no bigger than a doorway, the vile thing blew cold, dry air under my sweater, muffling Stephen's cursing as we briefly collided during our violent expulsion into another world.

And then, there was darkness.

Taglist! @couldntbedamned @mikariell95 @letsby @sleep-i-ness @toomanyrobins2 @mostly-marvel-musings @persephonehemingway @schemefrenzy @lillsxd @bluecrazedandbeautiful @slothspaghettiwrites @xoxabs88xox

#practical alchemy #bun writes #tony stark x reader #stephen strange x reader #tony stark x reader x stephen strange #stephen strange x reader x tony stark

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