#even when callie is born she doesn’t sleep for months

[averyonelovesjack]

learning to raise a baby ~ daniel seavey

requested: yes:)

Can you please do an cute imagine about y/n and Daniel having a baby together and taking care of the baby and figuring the parenting stuff out together. Ur amazing

summary: follow a few different events in the life of daniel and y/n learning to raise a baby.

warning(s): baby, literally too lazy to edit this i’ll come back later lmao

word count: 2608

author’s note: i have such baby fever omg 

disclaimer: i def need to clarify that i am 18 years old and do not have a baby and i have no close friends with babies (in person, at least) therefore this is purely fiction. i watch a LOT (i mean A LOT) of family vloggers and like teen mom accounts raising their kids, so basically all of my knowledge comes from that. i hope no one takes offence to my depiction of it, but my intention is purely just to write this cute fic idea, and i don’t want to pretend like i know anything about parenting or raising a child or anything like that!! okay that’s all!!

I could barely see my feet as I painfully took in another breath of air and started walking forward. Awoken at 3am with terrible back pain and a pool of amniotic fluid at my waist, Daniel and I now rushed to grab our hospital bag and make our way to the labor and delivery section of our nearest hospital. 

everything went so fast. before i was actively having a child, it felt like my pregnancy would never end, but now that it’s actually happening and i’m having a child, it felt like pregnancy flew by.

just a few days ago, i was sitting on the countertop in my bathroom, impatiently waiting to see if i was pregnant or not in hopes that daniel wouldn’t get home from the studio early and find me. i had just given daniel the surprise of his lifetime when i woke him up at four am to tell him i was pregnant because i just couldn’t keep it from him anymore to do a fun reveal. i remember how we both cried, too excited to even go back to sleep. 

just a few days ago, daniel and i were sitting in my obstetrician’s office as we got to hear our eight week old fetus’ heartbeat for the first time. we both cried. it feels like just a day or two ago we cut into a pink colored cake and found out that our precious baby girl would be coming. all of the breakdowns about what stroller to buy and which crib matches the nursey best felt like just moments ago. and now, all of a sudden, i’m ten hours into labor and i’m ready to push.

pushing was painful, but the thought of holding a sweet babygirl soon just kept me going. daniel squeezed my hand tight, standing by the end of the bed watching our beautiful daughter make her way into the world.

i gave the final push and soon i heard a cry that made everything in the whole world worth it. they say you never truly understand love until you’ve had a child, and as soon as i held our daughter, i felt an overwhelming sense of truth in that statement. i never knew such a distinct moment could be the greatest day of my life, but as soon as i laid my eyes on her, i knew that i would never get a day greater than this one. 

our daughter laid on my chest for a while as daniel sat by my head, holding both my hand and hers. eventually, the nurses cleaned her off a bit and wrapped her tightly in a swaddle for daniel to finally hold his daughter. i watched the tears fall from his bluer than ever eyes that never left her little face. by the way she settled in his arms and fell asleep, i knew i was going to have a daddy’s little girl on our hands. 

it felt like forever, just watching daniel and our baby getting to know each other. soon enough, though, the doctors finished with the stitches and i heard a knock at the door. 

within seconds, both of our parents came into the room, bearing wide smiles. daniel sat in the seat next to me, both of us staring at the beautiful baby in front of us. 

“does she have a name?” keri asks, slowly walking up to the two of us, careful not to be too loud. 

daniel and i look at each other, and then i give him the nod to tell everyone. “callista avery mae seavey.”

“our little baby callie.” i smile at the name. daniel and i both loved the name callie, but wanted it to be a nickname. avery was after his bandmate who really helped us through this whole preparing to be parents thing. mae was a pretty nickname from my side of the family that was good to separate avery and seavey. our little callie mae. 

***

it was three am and both of us were awake to callie’s loud screaming. turns out that daniel and i had a very colicky daughter who, when awake, wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. daniel was in the nursery trying to grab more diapers and wipes that, out of exhaustion, we forgot to restock last night when we ran out. i held callie in our arms, rocking her gently and trying to get her to go back to sleep. 

“does she have a dirty diaper?” daniel asks, placing the diapers in the corner of our messy bedroom. a few days into callie’s life, we realized we should’ve left the changing table in our bedroom until she was ready to sleep in the nursey, but both of us were too tired to even think about moving the furniture around. so for now the corner of the room was storage and a changing pad on the bench was our late night changing table. 

“i don’t think so.” i answer, giving him an exhausted look. “her diaper isn’t heavy and i tried to feed her, but she doesn’t seem to be hungry. i think she just woke up and is being colicky again.”

“how long did the doctor say the colic will last?” daniel asks. 

“she didn’t.” i sigh, going to take a seat on our bed as i continued to calm callie. daniel sat beside me. “go back to sleep, i got her.”

“no, i know you’ve been awake all night. try to go to sleep, i’ve got her.” daniel says, and then takes callie from me. “did you take melatonin tonight?”

“yeah.” i say. “i know your body goes through a lot of changes postpartum, but i’m really not liking the insomnia.”

“okay, well, you lay down, and i’m gonna sing to you both, okay?” daniel says and then starts to rock callie to sleep as i laid beside them. and then he started to sing softly. 

***

callie was born a little over three months ago and daniel and i haven’t had a date night since then. when we fearfully realized that last week, jack and anna were both quick to offer some help. we hadn’t felt comfortable leaving callie yet, especially since she wasn’t always the easiest. we had lots of help and people offering, but neither daniel nor i were good at asking for help. that’s definitely something we’re both still working on, especially now that we have a baby. 

finally though, jack and anna convinced us. originally, we were going to leave them with daniel’s parents, but anna and jack were pretty convincing. jack had lots of experience since he himself is a dad, and anna was very close with gabbie when she had lavender. jack also decided to invite zach for some more company, which was cute.

daniel and i had a hard time saying goodbye to callie, even though we really were only going to be out for two hours at most. we knew neither of us could stay away for that long. 

the restaurant wasn’t too far from the house, which was nice because it cut down on our time away from callie. i think both of us were a little nervous to leave her. we both know that she’s three months old and other people are more than capable of watching her for a few hours, but it’s still hard to not be worried about all of the things we could be missing out on.

“oh my gosh, anna just sent a picture of callie.” daniel says in the middle of our dinner, holding up his phone to show up me the picture of our daughter in the adorable pajamas her aunt bought. 

“i miss her.” i admit, knowing he was feeling similarly. “do you think they had a hard time getting her to sleep? i hope she’ll be good for them tonight.”

“i’m sure she was fine.” daniel says, then later . “you know, maybe we should skip dessert. relieve them a little early.”

“she’s growing up so fast.” i tell him. “i’m not ready for her to keep growing.”

“we’re gonna blink and she’s gonna be cursing us out because we wouldn’t let her go out with her friends.” daniel continues. “not that we would do that, because honestly, i’ve always thought we’d be a little cooler than that.”

i laugh at his comment. “oh, we’ll definitely be cooler than that. we’re not gonna be the lame strict parents that doesn’t let their kids go out with their friends.”

“oh definitely.” daniel agrees. “except i will be strict about doors open if someone is over. i don’t care who she’s in her room with, but that door better be open. i am taking no chances.”

“i feel like that’s fair.” i add. “i know we’re parents, but wow, until i think about that future, i kind of forget.”

“i’m very glad that’s a long ways away.” he comments. “i’m barely ready for her to be three months old, we do not need to get ahead of ourselves. take this parenting thing one step at a time.”

“i could not agree more.” i smile, leaning over the table to kiss daniel’s lips gently. 

***

i walked out of my one year old’s nursery with her in my arms. we watched as daniel and anna hung balloons up around our california apartment. it’s just about an hour before callie’s first birthday party, and now more than ever, i could not be more grateful for daniel’s family’s offer to help us set up. 

rather than fighting with figuring out food for the party, we decided to get it catered. christian and tyler offered to go pick up the food at the restaurant for us, which was extremely helpful. his parents were setting up some decorations around the front of the apartment. 

i had just put callie in her adorable dress that i specifically picked out for this party. we weren’t the type to throw parties, so we weren’t 100% sure what to do or what to expect, but we decided to just stick to family and close friends. callie was too young for us to strictly invite her friends over. at this stage in her life, her friends were whoever was at mommy&me that week. 

the party was going to be small. daniel’s family, my family, daniel’s bandmates and close friends, and then my close friends. 

thankfully, we finished decorating and setting up with about thirty minutes left to spare before the party. rather than worry, i decided to just sit on the couch with anna and daniel. keri took callie from me, wanting to spend some time with her granddaughter, and giving daniel and i a brief break before the party started. 

“i cannot believe she’s a year old.” anna exclaims to me. “you guys have been parents for a year. that’s crazy to think about.”

“it’s definitely a little bit weird.” i giggle in response. 

“you guys make it look so easy, being young parents.” anna says. “i know i’m younger than you guys, but still, i cannot imagine having a kid anytime soon.”

“i didn’t think i would either.” i tell anna. “for me, i wasn’t really ready until i met dani. i realized that i was ready because i wanted to do this with him. it’s different for everyone, i’m sure, but at least personally, that’s how i knew we could be parents.”

daniel wraps his arm around me on the couch, kissing my cheek softly. “yeah, it’s the same for me. when you find someone you want to do everything with, it gets easier to imagine yourself parenting together.”

“that is really cute.” anna says. “this is what i mean, when i say you make it look easy!!”

“it’s definitely not easy.” i laugh. “but it’s a little bit easier when you work as a team. we talk things through and decide together, instead of just making decisions separately. it’s a lot easier to feel like you’re making the right decision when you talk things through.”

“and that is all the parenting advice you get, because while i am most definitely ready to be a dad, i am not ready to be an uncle.” daniel says, getting protective over his younger sister. 

“being an uncle is way easier than being a dad.” anna laughs. “but trust me, i’m not having kids any time soon. at least not intentionally.”

“well, i have to be the cool uncle. someone’s gotta bail the kid out of jail and hide it from you.” daniel jokes.

“first of all, why would my kid go to jail??” anna asks. “and second of all, you might’ve been first in the race for cool uncle before callie arrived, but since becoming a dad, you’ve fallen behind. the cool uncle can’t have kids, that’s not how that works.”

“well i’ll break that standard, because i’ll be the cool uncle.” 

“i just want to be the aunt that gives good advice at one o’clock in the morning.” i tell them. “someone’s gotta do it. i expect that for callie, anna, so i will do that for your kids.”

“oh, of course. nothing but the best for callie. and future kids.” anna agrees. “speaking of, future kids? any thoughts on that? mom wants me to scope that out.”

“eventually.” i smile. “sooner rather than later.”

***

daniel took callie on a walk. he’s been really adamant about spending at least thirty minutes a day on a walk with her. now that she’s getting a lot more balance and ability to take a lot more steps, he loves taking her to the playground a few blocks from our apartment. usually, i like to go with them, but today i made up an excuse about things i had to get done at home.

i felt especially grateful for that routine of his today, because i needed a few minutes to myself. i’ve been feeling particularly nauseated recently, and as soon as i woke up the other day, i could feel that i was pregnant again. in the past, i had always thought that when i was paranoid about being late, but now that i’ve actually experienced pregnancy, i can feel that there’s a little fetus inside of me.

daniel and i haven’t exactly been trying, but we haven’t been taking as many precautions as we were when callie was first born. now that she’s over a year old, we feel better about having another baby. we weren’t too rushed, because we lot spending time with just our little girl, but we didn’t want to wait too long and have her grow up without a sibling. having a sibling was always a priority of daniel and i’s. seeing as we both grew up with siblings, we know how important it is to have a sibling. 

my stomach fluttered with butterflies as i followed the instructions on the pregnancy test. after realizing i was pregnant with callie, i had bought a ton of tests that i didn’t end up using because it was so obvious that i was indeed pregnant. that was extremely helpful for right now when i don’t have time to go sit in traffic for thirty minutes just to go to the pharmacy. 

i sat on top of the counter, leaving the pregnancy test face down while i tried to scroll through tiktok and distract myself. it was probably the slowest five minutes of my life, other than finding out about callie. 

the timer went off on my phone. i take a deep breath and carefully lift the pregnancy test off the marble bathroom counter.

pregnant. 

#daniel seavey #jack avery #jonah marais #corbyn besson #zach herron #why don't we #why dont we #wdw #daniel #seavey #daniel seavey fic #daniel seavey imagine #why don't we imagine #wdw imagine #ds #ds imagine #wdw imagines #why don't we imagines #why dont we imagines #daniel seavey imagines #baby #love #romance #relationship #romantic fiction #fanfic #fallin #lotus inn #request #dani

[hopelikethemoon]

Numb (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Numb Rating: PG-13 Length: 3700 Warnings: Angst (misunderstandings, poor communication, postpartum depression) Notes: You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. Set in September 1997. I PROMISE YOU THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY.  Summary: Three months after their daughter’s birth, Reader and Javier struggle with their relationship. 

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“How are you doing?” Javier questioned, curling his fingers around the back of your chair as he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of your head. 

“We’re doing good.” You told him, readjusting Sofía in your arms. “Connie lured Tracy into the kitchen to work on some sort of deeply alarming salad with peas and cheddar cheese.”

“What?” Javier sank down into the lawn chair beside you, resting his elbows on his knees as he tilted his head to look at you. “Did I hear you right?”

You snorted, grinning at him. “Hearing going too, old man?”  

“Ouch.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “No, I’m just wondering who the fuck thought those things go together?”

“White suburbia.” You held your hand out and he pulled his sunglasses off his shirt and passed them to you. “But it’s keeping Tracy occupied.” You pushed the aviators up the bridge of your nose. “I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

Sofía started fussing and you tried to readjust her in your arms. She was fussier than Josie had ever been. 

“Do you want me to take her?” Javier questioned. 

Some irrational part of your brain wanted to snap at him for thinking you weren’t capable of calming your own daughter down — but you knew that wasn’t what he was saying. At all.

“I’m good.” You assured him, cradling the back of her head as you nestled her against your chest. “I’ve got you, sunshine.” You whispered, trying to lull her back to sleep. 

The comparison to Josie wasn’t necessarily fair either. Josie hadn’t really gotten a taste for socializing until she was in Miami. There were no barbecues or overly friendly strangers in Colombia. You couldn’t blame the baby for being overwhelmed. You were too, if you were being honest. Surrounded by people and yet you still felt isolated.

Javier scooted his lawn chair closer to you, his knee brushing against yours. “Hey, I’m going to go check on Josie. You sure you’re good, baby?”

You nodded your head stiffly, keeping your gaze low. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t seem convinced. Javier reached out and touched your cheek gently, nudging your chin up so you had to look at him. “If you want to go home…”

“Go harangue Steve about Stevie.” You retorted, shifting back in your chair to escape his touch. You didn’t need to be comforted. There was no reason to be comforted. 

Javier frowned, “Baby…”

“I’m fine. I promise.” You gritted out. He didn’t need to worry about you. You could handle your own three-month-old. Couldn’t you?

Javier squeezed your knee three times before he rose to his feet. He lingered beside you, like he had more to say. But instead of saying it, he retreated to find Josie. 

And Steve. 

You just knew the two of them were probably comparing notes on being with women who suddenly changed. Even you wanted an answer about why your brain was constantly at odds with itself. Ever since Sofía had been born, you just… felt like a failure. 

Even at work everything felt like it had lost its shine. 

Frankly, it sucked. 

Nothing felt right. You had really believed that going back to work would help you feel normal again. But maybe this was your new normal. And that was a bleak thought. You had brought it up with your pediatrician when you took Sofía for her check-ups, but they hadn’t seemed overly concerned. Apparently it was normal to feel like this. Hormones and all of that shit, but… it hadn’t been like this with Josie. You remembered being happy, despite the situation. 

You didn’t remember feeling like there was a weight crushing you in the middle of the night. 

There was nothing you hated more than feeling helpless. 

You lifted your head, eyes scanning the Murphy’s backyard. You recognized most of the guests — friends of Connie’s from the hospital, a few parents from the girls’ daycare, a couple people you recognized from Steve’s circle at work. 

You spotted Tracy milling around at the far end of the yard with Jeff, which meant the kitchen was safe. You looked towards the porch, relieved to see that Connie was alone as she headed back into the house. 

“Change of scenery, sunshine.” You told Sofía as you started across the yard into the house. “How’d the salad go?” 

Connie gave you a droll expression, “I think it may be the Frankenstein of salads.” She nodded towards the refrigerator. “It’s chilling if you want to steal a bite.”

You made a face, “I’d rather not.” 

“And Tracy wasn’t so terrible.” 

“Really?” You gave her a skeptical look. “The first words out of her mouth were ‘I expected you to have lost your baby weight already’.” 

She grimaced, “She’s blunt.” 

“A bitch, you mean.” You corrected and Connie laughed.

“You’re not wrong.” She wiped her hands off with a dish towel and gestured to Sofía, “Can I hold her?”

You tensed. She had finally settled down, but at the same time… “Sure.” 

Connie carefully took her from you, sweet talking Sofía as she roused from her nap. She was so good with babies. A natural. And that made you feel guilty for being so despondent about Sofía. You knew that Connie would do anything to be able to hold her own baby in her arms and you couldn’t muster the same enthusiasm. 

“Hey. Are you okay?” Connie asked, her brows drawn together as she looked at you. 

“I—” You swallowed thickly, shoulders sinking. “I wish I knew.” 

She glanced around the kitchen for a moment, before she looked back at you. “I think everything is almost ready for dinner, let’s go sit in the family room and talk.” 

You wanted to protest. You didn’t need to talk. Everything was fine.

But it wasn’t. 

So you followed Connie into the family room. You sat down in the middle of the sofa, watching her as she sat down in the armchair with Sofía cradled in her arms. You chewed on your bottom lip, lowering your gaze to your hands as you wrung them in your lap. “I just wish I knew what was wrong with me.” 

Connie frowned, “You went through a traumatic experience. No one can blame you for taking awhile to get back to normal.” 

“Yeah.” You raked your fingers through your hair as you sank back against the sofa. “I don’t feel like myself anymore. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been replaced by a pod person.” You laughed humorlessly, shaking your head. 

“How are things between you and Javier?” Connie questioned. 

“I’m surprised Steve hasn’t told you everything.” 

“Steve hasn’t been able to get a straight answer out of Javier.” 

“Oh.” You worried at your bottom lip. A part of you had hoped that Javier was talking to Steve — at least then he wouldn’t feel isolated the way he had been after Josie’s birth. But he kept things as close to the chest as you did. “We’re fine. I mean…” You shook your head slowly. “Things have been a little tense.” 

Connie smiled sympathetically, “I noticed. Has something changed…?” 

You were quick to look up then. Just the thought made your heart clench in your chest. “No, nothing has changed. Things have just been tense because of everything that happened with her birth.” You swallowed a lump of emotion that had formed in the back of your throat. “He feels responsible for everything that happened, which is ridiculous, but… I told him he had to stop with this guilt thing and now he’s…” You looked away then. “We’re both just bottling things up.” 

“So you haven’t been communicating?”

You shook your head slowly. “I barely know how I feel from one minute to the next.” 

“Have you talked to your doctor?” She questioned, giving you a sympathetic look. 

“About why Javier and I aren’t actually talking? No.”

She arched a brow at you, “You know what I’m talking about.” 

“I mentioned it to the pediatrician. He didn’t seem to think anything of it.” You cleaned off the aviators with the edge of your shirt. “It’s just hormones.” 

“Sweetheart,” Connie said with a serious look, her lips drawn into a thin line as she held your gaze. “You’re depressed.” 

“What? No.” You shook your head. 

“Have you ever heard of postpartum depression? It’s common. Ashley — she’s one of the nurses on my floor — she really suffered after her son was born. A couple months on an antidepressant and counseling and she eventually bounced back.”

You stared at her. 

“Why would I have depression?” You questioned, a sharp edge to your voice. “Okay, sure… I almost died, but I have no reason to be upset. I have two healthy little girls, a supportive partner who I love and—”

“You don’t need a reason.” Connie urged. “And it’s no one’s fault.”

“That is the problem.” You leaned forward, resting your elbows against your knees. You dragged your hands over your face, sighing heavily. “There’s no one to blame. All of this… all of this pain doesn’t have a reason. Javier blames himself and I blame—” You stared at the floor. “It could happen to anyone.”

“Which is why there’s no shame in getting help.” Connie smiled at you. “I could recommend a doctor at the hospital. Maybe you could both see a therapist.”

“I guess.” You shrugged. As much as you hated admiring defeat, you had both gone through a lot that… maybe a professional could help you both get through it. 

“It’ll help.”

“Yeah.” You pushed your fingers through your hair, sitting back. “I’m going to get her carrier out of the car. Do you mind?”

“Not at all. You know I’ll never say no to baby time.”

You smiled a little, moving to get off the sofa. Depression. That was such a heavy thing to consider. You wanted to throttle the doctor who had just brushed it off. It made sense. Unfortunately. 

And the last thing you wanted was for this to force a wedge between you and Javier. It was bad enough as it was, with him blaming himself for everything that went wrong in your life. 

You grabbed your keys out of your jacket pocket, unlocking the back door so you could grab the carrier out. It would make eating easier and she could nap far more comfortably than she would in your arms. 

“Holy shit.”

You tensed. ‘Holy shit’ indeed. You recognized that voice. Months of torment had been delivered by that voice. 

You turned slowly, “What the fuck are you doing here Fiestle?” 

Chris laughed harshly, “Of all the fucking parties to be invited to…” His eyes flickered to the carrier in your hand. “What? Did you trap another unsuspecting agent with an unwanted pregnancy?”

Nope. You weren’t going to cry. 

You had never cried because of this asshole. 

Shit, your eyes were actually burning. 

“Fuck you.” You snarled, “I don’t know who the fuck invited you, but you’re not welcome here. In fact, you’re not welcome in Florida. Period.”

“I’m shaking in my boots.” He laughed, giving you a condescending smile. 

“The only reason this carrier isn’t currently bashing your skull in is because they’re expensive.” You shot back, fingers clenching tightly around the handle. “So consider yourself spared, asshole.”

Who the fuck had invited him?

“Are we done here? I smell burgers.” He nodded his head towards the house, starting up the driveway. “Don’t you have some baby to feed or something?”

“Oh, fuck you.” 

“Your comebacks are lackluster, sweetcheeks. No attack dog anymore?” Chris folded his arms across his chest and gave you a pitying look. “Did Javier finally realize that the ole ball and chain wasn’t for him?” He questioned. “I’m glad he got free of you.” 

You caught movement out of the corner of your eye, turning your head to look towards the front door as Javier appeared in it with Steve right behind him. “Speak of the devil.” You remarked, looking back at Chris then. “Has anyone ever told you to really shut the fuck up? You’ve kissed so much ass in your lifetime, it’s no wonder you talk out of yours.” 

“What the fuck is going on out here?” Javier questioned, arms folded across his chest as he walked through the lawn to you. 

“Someone apparently invited this asshole.” You said dryly, glaring at Steve. “Did you?”

“I had no idea that either of you knew him. He is in town working on an assignment and I thought it would be nice to invite him over.” He explained, looking at Fiestle then. “I think you should leave.” 

“Really?” Chris huffed. “You’re going to make me leave because some bitch can’t deal with the ugly truth?” 

Javier moved swiftly, grabbing Chris by the front of his shirt and pushing him back against the side of the Jeep. “You’re going to watch your fucking mouth if you have any intention of using it again.” He snapped. “We don’t work together anymore, so I don’t have anything to risk.” 

“I used to have a lot of respect for you Peña.” Chris tried to pry Javier’s hand off his shirt. “You took down Escobar… Had all this clout. You really threw all of that away to play house with her?”

Javier shoved him back against the car again, pinning his forearm against the base of his throat. “Shut the fuck up, Fiestle. You’re a fucking worm. If you say another word about her or my daughters… if you so much as think about them, you’re going to be drinking soup for the rest of your goddamn life.” 

He released Chris and took a step back. “Run along.” Javier turned back to look at you, brows drawn together. There was still so much uncertainty between the two of you, but you knew for certain that he would do anything for you. 

“You know what? Fuck you Peña. Fuck you and your little pretend family.” 

Javier rocked his jaw, his tongue tracing the edge of his teeth. You gave a slight nod of your head, watching as he wheeled around and slammed his clenched fist into Chris’ face. He howled in pain, clutching at his freshly bleeding nose.

“I told you to keep my family out of your fucking mouth.” 

“You broke my nose!” Chris swore furiously. “I’m going to call the cops.” 

Steve crossed his arms across his chest, looking towards you and Javier. “I didn’t see anything. Even if I did, I asked you to leave and you refused.” 

“And guess what Chris?” You grinned. “I’m the one with friends in high places now. I work for the police department. So, go ahead… call them. 

“Fuck you!” He snarled before he hauled ass back towards his own car. 

“I am so sorry.” Steve said, turning towards you. “I had no idea you had bad blood with that asshole. I didn’t even think when he mentioned Colombia that—”

“We don’t talk about him.” You reassured him, your gaze flickering towards Javier then. “Steve could you take the carrier in for Connie? We’ll be in in a minute.” You passed it towards him. 

“Sure thing. Take your time.” Steve offered, giving Javier a pat on the shoulder before he headed back into the house. 

“Let me see.” You whispered, reaching for Javier’s hand. You cradled it in your hands, rubbing your thumb over his knuckles. “At least you know how to throw a punch.” 

“I wanted to fucking bash his head into the car.”

You laughed, an actual smile spreading over your lips then. “I threatened to bash his head in with the baby carrier. But he’s not worth wasting the money on.”

He grinned back at you, curling his fingers around yours. “That’s my girl.” 

“Let’s take a drive around the neighborhood. I want to talk.” You suggested, squeezing his hand tightly as his expression fell. “It’s good, I promise.” 

“Yeah?” He arched a skeptical brow. 

You rolled your eyes, laughing quietly. “It’s a long overdue conversation, Javi.” You took a step closer to him, tilting your head as you looked up at him. “Terrible timing, I know.” The worry in Javier’s eyes made your heart ache. You curled your fingers around the back of his neck and leaned up to kiss him. “I promise you it’s good.” 

“You’ve been so distant…” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, his expression faltering. “I don’t want to lose you, baby.” 

“You’re not.” You shook your head, brushing your nose against his before you pulled back. “Let’s drive, okay?” 

He nodded, pulling the keys out of his pocket as he walked towards the Jeep. You made your way around to the passenger side, sliding into your seat. Despite your reassurance that the conversation you wanted to have was a good one, you could tell that Javier wasn’t convinced. He wasn’t always as obvious as you were about where your head was, but you knew him well enough to read the worries etched into his face. 

“You are making me nervous.” You told him with a faint smile, reaching across to rest your hand on his leg as he drove. 

“Well you’ve got me fucking terrified.” Javier admitted. “I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells for the past three months. You tell me you can’t keep doing this and then you just…”

“When did I say that?” Your brows furrowed together as you stared at him.

Javier took a hand off the steering wheel, pushing it through his hair. “The night we came home.”

Your mouth went dry. “I didn’t mean us. That is the last thing I will ever mean, Javier. That’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean?” He questioned quietly. 

“I meant the guilt…” You pressed the heels of your palms against your eyes and let out a frustrated sound. “You really thought I meant us, Javi?”

“Yeah.” 

You leaned your arm against the window, staring out it for a long, quiet, moment. “Is that why everything has been so weird between us?” You tilted your head to look at him as he nodded. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I meant… Holy shit.” 

“I thought it was just a matter of time.” Javier dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. “And you’ve been so up in your head. Hell, I think that Chris shit is the first time I’ve seen you really smile since she was born.”

You blinked back tears, wiping at them furiously as they slid down your cheeks. “It’s just all been too much, Javier. I barely know how I feel most days. But I do know that I love you and the girls. That’s not something I ever doubt.” 

Javier pulled the car over to the curb, putting it into park. “What is wrong?” He questioned, turning in his seat to face you. “You haven’t been yourself.”

“I wish I knew.” A bubble of laughter escaped you. “Honestly, I feel like I’m losing my mind most days.” You admitted. “I feel like everyone is judging me. Including Sofía.”

“No one is judging you, baby.” Javier promised you, reaching you to brush his knuckles against your cheek, wiping a tear away. 

“Connie thinks I should see a therapist.” You told him quietly. “She’s not wrong. I guess it’s not uncommon for women to face these issues after childbirth and… I did almost die.” 

Javier nodded slowly. “Yeah. You did.”

“I think we should both go.” You curled your fingers around his hand and brought it to your lips, kissing each knuckle. They were already bruising from punching Chris. “There’s so much we’ve been through that I don’t think either of us has considered unpacking.”

“It’s not a bad idea.” He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “It would be nice to get back to where we were… before.”

You nodded. “And I know I haven’t really brought it up, but I still want to go after the DEA.” He didn’t interrupt you. “I want to make a change.”

“Whatever you want.” Javier told you, leaning across the center console to press a kiss to your lips. 

“And whatever you want.”

“I just want you and the girls to be happy.” He admitted. “I just spent three months waiting for the other fucking shoe to fall.” Javier sighed heavily. “Jesus-fucking-Christ.”

“I’m so sorry.” You leaned your forehead against his, cupping his cheek. “I was so tired and your guilt was starting to eat at me.” You brushed your nose against his. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“I want you to get better. That’ll be reward enough.”

“I want to get better too.” You agreed. “I want to… feel again. I feel so numb all the time and I hate it.” You brushed your fingers through his hair, tilting your head to kiss him again. “I’m sorry, Javi. I wish you had said something…” 

Javier shook his head. “Don’t apologize, baby. I’m just glad I was wrong. So fucking glad.” 

“Hey, Javi.”

“Hmm?” His brows furrowed. 

“You finally got to punch Chris in the face.” 

He laughed, “Of all the fucking people in the world for Steve to invite.” 

“Seriously.” You sat back with a grin. “You really broke his nose.” 

Javier flexed his hand, “Yeah, this is gonna hurt tomorrow.” 

“We’ll soak it in cold epsom water when we get home.” You stroked your thumb over his knuckles. It felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders to finally admit that something was wrong. “It might be pushing it, but…” You lifted your gaze to meet his. “It’s still really hot when you threaten people for me.” 

Javier snorted. “Really?”

“I’m not saying anything definitively, but I think the inspiration might remain until this evening.” You chewed on the inside of your bottom lip as you searched his face. “It might be nice to try…”

“I’ll follow your lead on that, baby.”

Maybe things would finally get back to normal. It was a start at least. A start to reclaiming the person you felt like you’d been losing. You missed the way things used to be before everything came crashing down around you. 

#javier pena #javier pena x reader #pedro pascal x reader

[aleksanderrs]

introducing ; 𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒌𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒏 .

( herman tømmeraas , cismale , he/him , aquarius , 21 ) i just spotted aleksander ‘ aleks ’ thorsen at the beach today . don’t you know them ? they live down by the rocks and usually hang out with the stoners and outcasts cliques . from what i’ve heard , they can be impulsive , but they’re also honest . i always think of them when i hear hell is where i dreamt of u & woke up alone - blackbear and tend to associate them with bruises and scratches decorating pale white skin , a backpack filled with narcotics , flicking off the cops on the freeway with a smirk on your face .

note that this is a pretty triggering intro ! i’ve tried to put a tw before any bullet that mentions something triggering , but i may have missed something . if you do read this intro , read it with caution please , as i wouldn’t want to trigger anyone ! 

tws : foster care system , violence , injuries , drug and alcohol abuse , shooting resulting in death , suicidal thoughts 

stats

full name : aleksander carter thorsen peters

nicknames : everyone calls him aleks , like …. everyone . some people call him sander and he’s fine with this one too , but usually just aleks tbh

gender : cis male

height :  5 ′ 10

age : 21

birthday : february 5 , 2000

zodiac : aquarius sun , aquarius moon , scorpio ascendant

right handed or left handed : right handed

eye color : hazel , shooting more towards green , but shifts colors with the lighting 

hair color : naturally very light brown , nearing more towards dark blonde , but he always dyes it a super dark shade of dark brown or even black . you’ll never catch him with that light ass hair of his tbh lmfao

piercings and tattoos : he has a septum piercing he hides by flipping it upwards whenever he feels like it tbh , literally a fuck ton of tattoos ! he has a pretty decent stick and poke on his left ankle he did himself when he was like sixteen that says ‘ aurora ’ ( twin sisters’ name ) , he has one that reads  ‘ murphy , 1961-2021 ′ on his inner right bicep ( will get into that later in his intro ) , he has these fingers tattoos on his left hand ,  this tattoo on his inner left bicep , ‘ livet er nå ’ on his left wrist ( which means life is now in norwegian ) , a little pitbull face tattoo to honor an old dog he loved so much named pawly , ‘ 2000 ′ ( year he was born ) in the middle of his left arm , ‘ oasis ’ diagonally on his right arm right above his wrist ( fave band there guys ! ) , an aquarius symbol on his right ring finger , honestly a bunch of random ass small aesthetic tattoos ? probably a little alien , a mini drum set tattoo , a random small thunder tattoo ? probably the word ‘ fuck ’ somewhere like .... idiot who gets a lot of random tattoos idk what to say , literally is probably a centimeter away from losing his shit and impulsively getting a face tattoo he really doesn’t give a fuck anymore tbh KJVNDVJFV

languages spoken : english , norwegian , basic spanish , but wants to learn it fluently 

sexuality : bisexual / biromantic 

place of birth : long beach , california

hometown : literally everywhere , no permanent hometown tbh

last four songs listened to : faint by linkin park , supersonic by oasis , mama by my chemical romance , torture me by red hot chili peppers 

character inspo : a mix of chris miles and james cook from skins u.k , lip gallagher and mickey milkovich from shameless u.s , callie adams foster from the fosters , eli ‘ hawk ’ moskowitz from cobra kai ( season 2 hawk ) 

backstory

so aleksander , or aleks as he prefers to be called , was born six minutes after his twin sister aurora , to two norwegian parents ( julie and anders ) , both twins being the first american born in their family . his father was a no show from the start , and his mother was something else . him and aurora endured their mother’s heavy drug abuse , living in a crappy environment with an actual crackhead , until she was deemed unfit to take care of them and they were taken from her by child protective services when they were seven , instantly thrown into foster care . his mother didn’t care enough to ever even get them back , signing away her parental rights , and choosing drugs over her own two children . aleks hasn’t seen her since , and has no desire to ever see her again at all 

as a kid , he was pretty soft . he didn’t like mean people and was fairly sensitive and highly emotional , two things that you literally cannot be if you’re a foster kid , which , unfortunately for aleks , was exactly what he was . basically exactly how you could picture a foster child’s life really . him and aurora managed to stay together for three years until they were separated from each other at ten years old

i guess you could say this is when things changed drastically for him . he assumed they might get reunited eventually but it never happened . he would cry himself to sleep every night because of how lonely he felt and he actually had no friends at all . if anything , the kids at his home would constantly make fun of him for being so sensitive and crying so easily . he was completely on his own , and really sad

he came to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t really survive if he continued letting his emotions get the better of him . by the time he was twelve , he altered his personality drastically and changed altogether . what really happened is that he let his anger and resentment get the better of him

he just became super fed up with how fucked up the system is , and how literally no one wanted to adopt a kid his age ? the lack of sympathy from his fellow foster ‘ siblings ’ , and a mixture of everything going on around him , he kind of gave up and turned into this version of himself that took shit from no one . he never stayed in a foster home for more than nine months regardless of whether he behaved or not because something always seemed to come up for some reason ? this of course , gave him no real stability . 

he got thrown into a foster care family , the johnson’s , when he was fourteen , and for a while , it seemed like a pretty top notch foster home , definitely the best one he’s been in by far . i say for a while because shit went down hill pretty fast , literally in less than five months . aleks had an unlikely friendship with the foster parents’ son , kyle . kyle was four years older than him ( eighteen ) but it seemed to work at first since they shared the same room , until one day , they get into a pretty heated argument at school ( kyle is a senior , aleks is a freshman ) . to this day , aleks genuinely doesn’t even remember what the argument was even about , but this was the argument that flipped his life upside down more than it had already been flipped 

! violence and injury tw for the next four bullets , read with caution or skip ahead if it will trigger you ! they’re outside getting into it , petty ass verbal argument tbh , when kyle strikes him right in the face . doesn’t really end there though because this grown ass eighteen year old man dead ass starts beating his ass . actual understatement , like , beating his ass like he’s getting paid for it type shit . he can hear people around them screaming out ‘ fight fight fight ! ’ but it’s really , really not a fight though ? like it’s just this eighteen year old beating the living shit out of a fourteen year old kid , a literal fucking child

eventually when it’s over , kyle threatens him . tells him that if he says anything at all , he’s going to make sure he gets sent to a group home or frame him for something he didn’t do to get him sent to juvie . aleks is seriously just laying on the floor , holding back the urge to cry , injured as hell , wondering where the fuck that came from . it was just so random ? he really thought he was friends with this guy and he just gets his ass beat over an actual fifth grade argument . he’s been picked on before , even shoved or had sour fights with people before , sure , but he’s never in his damn existence been beaten like that before . super low point in his life because it’s the first time he genuinely got his ass handed to him and then some , but definitely not the lowest point 

when he gets back to his foster home , he tells his foster parents he was jumped . makes up this entire story from the crack of his ass . it actually makes him physically and emotionally sick to sleep in the same room as kyle , but he tells himself it is what it is . he doesn’t rest that entire night . the next day though , he waits until kyle is sound asleep to get up from his bed beside him and hover over at him , watching him snore soundly . a million and one thoughts run through this kids head , but it’s mostly just hurt , anger , disgust , and this sick need to get back at him . it’s this fight in his head , one voice telling him to let it go while the other voice screams at him to fuck him up . aleks momentarily decides on taking the higher road , knowing it could get him into huge trouble if he lays a hand on kyle , but that decision to take the higher road vanishes when he looks up above the fuckers bed and see’s the mirror that hangs on top . he stares at his reflection , spotting his bruises , the swollen bits of his face , the scrapes and cuts , how fucked up he looks , and he acts completely on impulse , his anger getting the better of him . aleks grabs kyle’s soccer trophy from on top of his bed stand , lifts it up above his head , and smacks him right across the face with it . this obviously wakes up kyle instantly , but aleks has the upper hand , since kyle is laying on his bed , half asleep , and without a weapon . aleks starts fucking him up with the thing , you can hear kyle’s screaming loud and clear , and it’s not long before kyle’s parents come rushing inside , obviously pulling aleks right off him , and well , you can kind of see where this is headed 

moral of the story , aleks is considered a high risk foster child with that little stunt he pulled . his first actual offense , but it still gets him sent to juvie for three days , and that’s really just because the judge is being nice considering his situation ... i don’t even think i need to describe what juvie was like because like we see movies y’all we know JKFNDJF . he broke kyle’s nose , scratched his cornea , and left him with multiple injuries . kyle’s claims don’t help his story either . he tells everyone that aleks is psycho , that he’s wrong in the head , has some serious anger issues and ‘ attacked him out of nowhere when he was just trying to help him ’ , makes him out to be the biggest bad guy in the book , conveniently leaving out the part where he fucks him up with his fists at school . with the squeaky clean record kyle has , no one really cares for aleks’ side of the story at all , especially since he claimed his injuries were from getting jumped . from that point forward , he knows for a fact he’s never getting adopted , and , as sad as this may sound , he doesn’t even care anymore ! end of violence and injury tw !

actually hurting someone the way he did kind of ignited something inside him he didn’t even know was there . of course after a certain age , he grew a much tougher shell and stopped crying about everything , stopped being so damn sensitive , but he’s never laid his hands on anyone before until he met kyle . he wasn’t proud of what he did , it made him feel like shit inside , dirty in a way , and it didn’t give him any sense of accomplishment or bring him any joy , but .... it kind of awakened him to all these different ideas , a different mentality , gave him a feeling of power and superiority he’s never felt before . at that point on , he began thinking ‘ every man to himself ’ , very much katherine pierce from the vampire diaries mind . he does what he does to survive and he doesn’t care who he has to knock down . no one ever cared for him , he stopped caring for people  –  that’s that .  

it took everything ( like dead ass everything ) , to convince the judge not to put aleks in a group home . he was , thankfully , placed in another foster home , but with much higher restrictions than his last . it was school and back , the doors were locked at 9 pm , bedroom doors included , windows sealed shut .... just bad , but it beat being in juvie , so again , he told himself ‘ it is what is it ’

began acting the fuck out . new home , new school , he became the bad kid your parents warned you about , begged you not to hang out with . skipping class , a nasty smoking habit , talking back to the teachers  –  he actually stopped giving a fuck , and his behavior just worsened as time went on . despite his own birth mother being a drug addict , he did the same shit . he turned to drugs , alcohol , and violence , mostly . hanging with the wrong crowd , slick ass mouth , not afraid to punch someone , on some illegal shit , but , he became very street smart and learned to keep his shit ‘ low key ’ as he called it , really .... just not getting caught . he was barely barely passing school , just enough so his ( current ) foster parents wouldn’t bug him about shit . eventually moved to another home without as many restrictions and decent living , really , really just tried to keep a low profile all while doing hood rat shit on the low #hannahmontanawho?

! drug abuse and drug mentions tw for the next three bullets ! he really , really began to rely heavily on drugs and alcohol . started off with weed , but escalated from there . adderall , xanax , oxy , coke , mdma , even ketamine ... really any drug you can think of , all tried by the time he was sixteen . his top three favorites quickly became coke , ketamine , and obviously weed . aleks thinks he has the whole situation under control , swears he’s become a master of deceit , but it’s only really a matter of time before shit catches up to you , right ? 

he’s sixteen when him and a couple of his friends decide to drive to santa monica just for the fuck of it . they swear they’ll get him back in time , all with the idea to get really fucked up by the beach and go on an adventure . only problem is they get too fucked up and attract too much attention up to the point of getting caught . four teens running in different directions from the cops , high as fuck .... lovely tbh 🥴

again , you can kind of see where this is headed .... him and another guy were the unlucky ones , of course . aleks gets caught with only a joint on him , but tests positive for a bunch of drugs . it’s already his second offense too . he gets four days in juvie this time , drug counseling once he’s out . the only problem is no one really knows where he’s going to get placed after this , though he’s pretty sure it’ll be some high restriction group home , but very surprisingly , he’s wrong ! end of drug abuse and drug mentions tw !

the day he gets released from juvie is the day he meets a man named murphy peters , or my favorite person ever ( what aleks will soon come to think of him ) . murphy isn’t really too sure about taking him in until he gets told ‘ well if you don’t take him i guess i can just send him to a group home ’ . they just look at each other at that moment , aleks’ eyes filled with unshed tears , beat up and tired , and murphy turns back to the guy and legit says ‘ nah , don’t even bother . just a few weeks , right ? ’ 

he’s super shut down emotionally when arriving at his place . murphy is a single foster parent with an old , really friendly pitbull named pawly for company , no other foster kids in his apartment . being tossed around so much , aleks assumes it’ll only be a matter of time before he fucks up and gets sent somewhere else . that’s how it always seems to go down anyways , and he did only say a few weeks after all 

but things take an unexpected turn for the better on the second day he’s there . three in the morning , he’s awake but the lights are turned off , pitch dark . he randomly hears murphy open the door and pretends to be asleep . a part of aleks feels like this might get dark very fast . after all , he lives alone . he’s a single foster parent , and aleks has lived through enough in the system to know how fucked up it is . the last thing he’s really expecting is for murphy to shake him roughly like ‘ wake up kid , wake up , i know you not really sleepin’ ! ’ so he kind of just sits up and turns on the light like um .... it’s like three am , and murphy is pacing back and forth around his room like ‘ aight , i figured it out , kid ! ’ and aleks is just like haha yeah cool ..... again , it’s three am

strangely enough , murphy starts telling him his life story , through and through and aleks can’t help but think how this old man he met two days ago figured all this shit out . it makes him angry that he’s apparently so transparent ( he’s really not , murphy is just next level ) . truth be told , he wants to swing at murphy , and he knows it’ll get him into deep shit , but he does it anyways . imagine his shock when this old man blocks his punch and manages to slam dunk him back onto his bed . he’s just like what the fuck aren’t you like eighty KVBFDJ

moral of the story is they get into an argument and aleks eventually tells him that the reason he’s so angry is because he ‘ can’t beat up everyone he hates , you included ’ ( half true , but definitely not the only reason he’s so pissed at the world ) , even more random when murphy is like ‘ i’m gonna teach you some healthy ways to let out that anger , be ready at ten am , kid ! ’ and aleks really thinks he’s making fun of him so he’s like ‘ yeah , okay .... fuck you old man ! ’ as murphy makes his way out

but ... he’s not talking shit ! ten am on the dot and he’s getting dragged to what he thinks is a gym , but it’s actually a dojo . he thinks murphy is talking out his ass when he tells him he’s going to teach him karate , and enroll him in boxing classes for the summer . he’s just wondering how this old solitary man is gonna even teach him good karate to begin with , but he soon learns that the old saying don’t judge a book by it’s cover is pretty much murphy to a t

he is right though . he starts boxing and karate and it does help him a lot ! he realizes how much doing these things gets his mind off everything . even though he’s basically ‘ fighting ’ it brings him a strange sense of peace , and surprisingly ? discipline too . he knows this whole thing is temporary but it still changes his mindset a lot . he mostly begins to focus on physical activity and becoming the best at what he’s doing rather than his old bad habits like drugs and alcohol , stealing , any type of petty crimes he used to commit . at the time he didn’t want to admit it , but murphy was definitely right . this was for sure helping him take out all the anger he has inside , all without doing things that could get him arrested

and him and murphy start to really bond too . they both like the same bands , they’re both aquarius’ , similar tastes in tv shows and movies , they both have nearly the same sense of humor , murphy was even a foster kid like him who out grew the system , but again , aleks really tries to not get attached because he knows he’s just being nice , but he really really starts to fuck with murphy . deep down in his head he’s like ‘ i kind of wish he was my dad ’ .... making me emo and shit smh

when school comes around , beginning of his junior year , he manages to convince everyone to let him drop out and get his ged . school really just isn’t for him and it never has been , being in a place with a bunch of other teens for like eight hours for five days a week gives him anxiety , just drains his social battery completely . he does drop out , but he’s pushed so roughly by murphy to get his ged , he manages to pass the test by late november , basically graduating over an entire year ahead of his actual class

and life seems to get better from there ! murphy eventually tells him he wants to make this a permanent thing . aleks gets so happy he actually bursts into tears 🥺

the entire process takes a lot longer than necessary though , especially with his record . in the beginning , they can’t find his actual birth certificate . his actual birth father , for some reason , refuses to sign away his parental rights at first ( aleks is like bro i literally hate you .... sign the fucking papers ) . kind of starts to seem like the whole universe is against him . every time the coast looks clear and it seems like they can go through with the adoption process , something happens and delays the entire thing . it actually takes him over a year until he finally gets legally adopted by murphy , when he’s seventeen . actually the happiest day of his life

things only seem to get even better from then on out . he gets his driver’s license , his tattoo artist license in california when he’s nineteen , starts working at an actual shop in venice beach when he’s almost twenty . he’s not the best at first , but not terrible . eventually , he becomes really really good though . he basically paints , listens to music and does a mixture of boxing and karate during his free time . he tattoos and pierces people for income , starts saving up because he really wants to drive down to mexico one day , with murphy in his rv . actually the road trip of his dreams !

but , remember when i said it kind of seems like the universe is against him ? 🥴

it’s february first of this year , four days before his twenty first birthday , and nine days before murphy’s , when him and murphy get into a fight . aleks can’t even recall what the fight was about , but he gets so angry , he takes murphy’s rv and drives to god knows where . he gets really drunk one night and starts doing a bunch of dumb shit , but his dumbest idea has to be stealing a backpack full of diamonds from these two guys . gets chased by them for a moment , but manages to get away , all while being told ‘ you’re gonna regret that shit so hard bro ! ’ . in his defense , he had no idea the backpack was filled with diamonds , he just liked the way it looked because it was a kipling ? he liked the little monkey keychain ? imagine his surprise when he opens the thing and see’s probably at least half a million dollars in diamonds . he’s just like wow that’s crazy .... i’m gonna drive back home right fucking now . four , almost five years of sobriety .... thrown down the toilet when he gets drunk , but he tells himself it was just a single slip up . that he’ll do better 

he gets back home february sixth , the day after his birthday . spends his actual twenty first birthday passed out and hungover , asleep on the bed inside the rv . he tries walking past murphy as he’s outside wiping down his car , hoping he can just pass by him without being questioned , but of course he’s wrong . another fight in aleks’ eyes , but it’s really just murphy bitching and questioning him because he cares about him , because he’s obviously concerned that he’s been gone for the past five days , phone off and everything . it starts escalating until aleks eventually screams at him and tells him that he needs to ‘ stop pretending like he actually cares about him when all he feels towards him is pity ’ which , kind of just shows that he never really got over his trust issues and general trauma from being in the system . and there’s just a moment of silence before murphy is like ‘ i don’t know when you’re thick headed ass is gonna realize i’d take a bullet for you if it came down to it ’ and of course , aleks doesn’t believe him ! now fast forward to another half second of arguing until murphy’s words are actually put into action

! guns / shooting resulting in death and panic attack tw , please skip past this bullet if this triggers you ! they’re outside when a white van drives by , he can clearly hear an angry familiar voice shout ‘ i told you you were gonna regret this ! ’ , a gun pulling out from the window crack , and he gets so nervous he just freezes on the spot . he knows exactly who it is  –  it’s the guy he stole the backpack from like , two days ago . aleks knows what he’s going to do , but he can’t seem to move . he really thinks he’s going to die , until this man literally steps right in front of him , and , just like he stated not even a whole minute ago , actually takes a bullet for him . gets shot right in the chest , and by that time , all the neighbors are outside , calling the police . the area is too heated , so the van drives off quickly after missing the shot , no license plate or anything so it’ll be harder to identify who it was . you can imagine how traumatic this moment is for aleks , and the saddest part ? he really thinks murphy will somehow magically make it , like it’ll be some type of miracle all over the news and such  –  but he’s wrong . murphy bleeds out right in front of him , aleks doing everything in his power to try and stop his bleeding , but there’s really nothing else that can be done . the last two things murphy tells aleks is to ‘ please take care of all the clown paintings around the house ’ and ‘ never lose them , don’t let anyone take them , keep them no matter what ’ and he’s pretty much gone before he can tell aleks why . he gets so so nervous , he doesn’t know what it was at the time , but he starts having an actual panic attack . all his neighbors coming up to him like ‘ oh my god kid , are you okay ? ’ and trying to help the whole situation like ‘ help is coming right now ’ but it’s kind of like aleks can’t hear a word they’re saying ? like his heart is just beating so fast and he’s suddenly sweating so much and he can barely breathe . it’s like his body is there , but his soul , his mind ? gone , panicking , hyperventilating . everything from then on seems like a blur . getting told murphy’s dead in the hospital , which he definitely already knows . the police statement he gives , half there , half not . that day , it’s like a part of him vanished . he really was not the same ever since ! end of guns / shooting resulting in death and panic attack tw end !

he panics , hardcore . the first thing he does when he gets home is instantly take all his clothes , murphy’s computer , and general important things into the rv . he doesn’t know why murphy is so fixated on the clown paintings , but of course he grabs all twenty of them , he puts those in the rv as well , connects murphy’s car to the rv , and just starts to drive , far away from venice beach . like half a million dollars in diamonds inside a backpack on top of the passengers seat , too traumatized to stay in murphy’s apartment . he just starts to drive , with the intention of going to mexico , but then his dumb ass realizes he doesn’t have his passport on him . he keeps driving until he reaches san diego , and that’s the story of how he ends up in sunhollow

he genuinely doesn’t know what to do from that point on . he pawns the diamonds and purchases an rv site and gas /electric for nearly three years , so he doesn’t have to worry about about rent for a while . yes , he’s really just living in his damn rv because he doesn’t know what else to do and he terrified . he ends up in the rocks , the rougher part of sunhollow . for the first few days , he’s petrified , super afraid the guys who ended murphy are going to find him . thankfully , that doesn’t happen , but he’s still paranoid about it

he actually cries like a baby during murphy’s birthday on february tenth . if he was still here , he would be turning sixty . imagine how awful he feels , that his actual real last conversation with him was an argument .... he hates himself tbh 

from that point on , all the progress he’s made gets flushed down the drain . the only positive thing about the whole thing is that he manages to get a job in this new city in half moon ink as a tattoo artist and piercer , with his prior experience . besides that , it’s all shit . he’s living in an rv , he doesn’t know what he’s doing or where he’s going with his life , he’s scared , and the worst part of all ? he starts abusing drugs and alcohol again , heavy this time . all his sobriety and hard work all these years ? completely gone

aleks really said ‘ fuck self love , we’re doing all the drugs ’ after murphy died . he’s just super not okay about it because he knows he’s gone because of him , because he couldn’t keep his damn sticky fingers to himself . he’s basically spiraling super hard now , and he knows wherever murphy is that he’s not happy with what he’s doing , but he can’t seem to stop . it’s like once he started using again , there was no going back

so he keeps doing hoodrat shit tbh ! his dumb ass ends up getting caught with resins of cocaine in a bag , on february twelve , literally on his birthday month . the offense wasn’t that bad because it was just coke residue , but it’s still basically a felony , and with his past record , he gets actual prison time . he was going to be in prison for a whole two months , originally three , but he got off lucky . however , with good behavior and community hours , he ends up in there for only a month , got out recently on march fifteenth . he’s doing community hours and getting drug tested by his p.o , he’s under house arrest too . he can be out between six am to six pm , but if he’s not right back in his trailer by six pm on the dot , well .... i think you can figure out what happens

he’s barely getting by really , known around town as trailer trash for obvious reasons , literally currently wearing a fucking ankle monitor . i don’t really think he cares about anything anymore ? like he’s just so done with it all . he didn’t even flinch when he got caught , didn’t try to run and willingly gave in ( which helped with his case but ) , like , that’s how done he is . genuinely didn’t care that he was going to actual prison . he just does not care . he’s barely living , one day at a time

i’m gonna end his backstory here , below are some headcanons !

headcanons

! drug abuse , suicidal and death thoughts tw ! this is kind of sad , but he’s reached a point in his life where he doesn’t really care if he lives or dies . in fact , he spends a lot of his time thinking about how he’s going to die , when , if it’ll be painful or not .... really really depressive and dark suicidal thoughts . the only thing is that despite everything he’s gone through , aleks doesn’t have it in him to actually commit suicide . he thinks about it constantly , thinks about getting run over by a car or drowning or shooting a damn bullet through his head , literally any type of death , but he would actually never pull through with it . he wants it to happen , but he doesn’t have it in him . this is a reason why he abuses drugs so much at this point . of course he likes the high , but in the back of his mind , he’s really really hoping he’ll take so much , it’ll kill him . that way if he dies , it won’t look intentional , just like your typical overdose . like , his heavy drug usage is literally a cry for help . he really doesn’t care if he takes it too far , he actually wants to take it too far always , but he never seems to overdose . he’s mixed a bunch of stuff before , but it just doesn’t happen ? in a way he feels he’s cursed , because he can’t even overdose and die properly . again , his idea of the universe being completely against him ! end of drug abuse , suicidal and death thoughts tw ! 

he actually .... doesn’t have a smart phone ! no bullshit , has some crap flip phone and a government phone he uses to speak to his p.o , that’s it . the only smart type of technology he really has is murphy’s 2018 mac book pro and a smart tv he has set in his rv . he rarely gets close to anyone , but on the rare occasion that he does , if they ask for his number , no bullshit , he gives them the number from pizza hut , has it memorized and all . you have to be really , really special for him to give you his number . the only people who really have his number are customers ( people he tattoos , and does piercings for ) like , that’s literally it . isn’t part of the gc ( the ic chat on discord ) , doesn’t have an instagram , twitter or any type of social media , actually old school as fuck , which is wild , considering he was born in 2000 

he has a fuck ton of cds ! literally no one has cds anymore but he has so so so many . oasis , red hot chili peppers , my chemical romance , sleeping with sirens , arctic monkeys , yes , asking alexandria , the list goes on .... so many cds because this is really all he does in his rv . play a cd and start painting or sketching some tattoo ideas . he loves music a lot and considers it an escape , even though he doesn’t have a musical bone in his body and doesn’t play any type of instrument , but he just loves music so much , literally always listens to music no matter what he’s doing . his favorite band is oasis , murphy put him on that band . they’re favorite song was supersonic and they would listen to it together on repeat forever while driving , jamming to other oasis songs on the road as well . aleks listened to supersonic on repeat on the ride from venice beach to san diego . he cried the entire way . 

he’s like ..... a kleptomaniac for real . he’ll walk into a clothing store with a large hoodie on , grab twenty different shirts , go into the dressing room , put on ten of those twenty shirts , slide his oversized hoodie on top , and walk right out . sometimes he won’t even have any real reason to steal stuff , he just does because he’s bored . will go into a store and take something he doesn’t even need , surprisingly has never been caught . very reckless of him considering his situation , but again , he just doesn’t care anymore . he spends a lot of his money on drugs , so he’ll steal basic necessities sometimes , like toilet paper , tooth paste , soap , shampoo and conditioner . the weirdest thing he steals hands down is like .... family pictures of people he doesn’t even know ? like it’s so weird , he’ll jack a wallet , take all the money , and realize there’s like a family picture in there , the wife , the husband , their kids , a dog . weird as fuck , but he takes the money and family picture and throws out the wallet ? again , super weird , but i think never really having a legit family and losing the one person he loved unconditionally who believed in him caused this ? he’s just like you know .... what let me live through the eyes of these people <3  super fucking strange , literally has a few pictures of random ass families he doesn’t even know at all just stuffed into his glove compartment , for no reason at all .... fucking weirdo tbh

another fun fact is he has hypermobile shoulders ( or double jointed shoulders ) . he realized this when getting handcuffed once , his arms behind his back . he thought to himself ‘ i feel i can bring my arms above my head to bring my handcuffs to the front without breaking my arms ’ surprise , surprise , he definitely could ! does that weird shit and brings his entire arms from the back to the front while holding them , he said undercover contortionist here !

this is a wild headcanon , but remember those twenty clown paintings murphy insisted aleks never get rid of ? entire story behind those things . so murphy ? actually won the powerball in 2015 . no lie , magically got all numbers right , won 238 million . with federal withholding and taxes and all ? still left murphy with a stacking 101 million dollars . he spent less than half , leaving him with exactly 64 million dollars . now you would expect him to start living a glamorous life after that right ? well wrong ! he remained humble as ever, bought an rv and the car he wanted , payed off his bills , donated some money to charity , but continued living in his hood ass apartment in venice beach , kept quiet about the entire thing , never told a single soul . he’s the type of old school guy that would rather keep his money under his mattress rather than in a bank , doesn’t trust banks , only had a debit card because it was absolutely necessary , and a credit card he never really used , really just to build decent credit . he knew he couldn’t empty his entire account in one go , so he emptied it , little by little , gradually with time , until he eventually had all 64 million dollars in cash , all one hundred dollar bills . he knew he couldn’t store the money in a duffel bag like an idiot , so what did this man do ? literally .... put the money inside the paintings . no lie , inside the paintings . he knew no one would ever wanna steal a hideous clown painting , he was smart about it . each painting is stored with 3.2 million dollars inside , all one hundred dollar bills , meaning each painting carries exactly 32,000 one hundred dollar bills inside , tightly packed together so they all fit , wrapped and all . now really , really stop to think about this ..... aleks ? actually has 64 million god damn dollars inside his rv , stored inside those hideous clown paintings , and the most wild part ? he has absolutely no idea at all . to him , they’re just ugly ass clown paintings that weigh a ton ( because they’re stuffed with money , aleks ! ) . crazy , right ? everyone in sunhollow thinking he’s dirt poor trailer trash , without a nickel to his name . shit , he thinks the same thing too ! positive he’s gonna die broke as fuck and alone , but little does he know ? man is carrying 64 million in his shitty rv , and he has absolutely no fucking clue at all . definitely going to accidentally find out one day ( but that calls for a future self para tbh )

murphy had no intentions of spending all the money on himself , planned to donate the other half and spend the rest living his final days in santo domingo , dominican republic ( literally .... that’s how humble this man is ) . around that time is when he started fostering aleks though , and after the first few months with him , he knew , right away , that he was going to give that money to him one day . didn’t tell him about it because he knew it would freak him out and he wouldn’t stop asking about it , but he knew all that money would be his . stored it all away in those terrible clown paintings , specifically because he knew no one would suspect a thing . wanted to tell him about it , but passed away before he could . aleks still doesn’t know what’s in those paintings , has them stacked away somewhere because he thinks they’re so ugly , but would never throw them away because it was murphy’s last wish . the day he finds out what they actually have inside though ? his life will do a whole 360 . again , i’m gonna work into that though

people just think he’s trailer trash tbh and he does nothing to prove them wrong . i think his reputation just follows him around . lots of people don’t bother to get to know him and he doesn’t really bother to get to know people . he’s a big ass loner , spends nearly every single day alone minus when he’s at the tattoo shop . lots of people are really intimidated by him , especially with all the rumors about him , and that fucking ankle monitor tbh , but he doesn’t care , doesn’t do anything to try and stop what people think . he’s like if people wanna think i’m trailer trash whatever i don’t care , and he really , really doesn’t

he’s actually kind of a low key hoe ? bisexual as fuck and will hook up with just about anyone . it’s wild though because he’ll fuck you and kind of just disappear ? half the time he doesn’t even do it on purpose , he’ll kind of just dip without giving you his phone number or even wait for you to wake up . like you’ll maybe wanna make breakfast for both you guys , but you look to the other side of your bed and he’s no longer there . no phone number , no way of contacting him , kind of just a ghost . he never let’s people come over to his place ever ( because .... rv tbh ) so it’s not like there’s any way you can really see him again if you wanted to . unless you randomly see him somewhere , but odds are he’ll disappear into the background before you even really get a chance to talk to him . gives him this asshole reputation , but the truth is he just doesn’t want people getting too close to him out of fear that they’ll abandon him . you’ll think you’re starting a lovely friendship with him or even just a great hook up and he’ll randomly just ghost for like six months 🥴 never see him again type shit

he actually .... doesn’t really like being touched at all ? it’s weird because he likes sex a lot and doesn’t mind being touched everywhere in that moment during the heat of it , but like let’s say afterwards maybe you wanna cuddle ? you wanna greet him with a hug ? a little kiss on the cheek ? he’s not comfortable with that . he doesn’t mean to be an ass about it , but he actually physically cringes when someone just greets him with a random hug without any type of warning . will literally push you away and be like ‘ please don’t touch me again ’ . maybe this has to due with his childhood in general but like .... do not greet him with a random hug or kiss on the cheek ever because he will literally disappear so fast , push you away so quickly . if he initiates it , sure , but if it’s just random from the other party , he’s not gucci with it . i think if he finds someone he actually really cares about and vibes with he would be okay with physical affection ( example , he let murphy hug him all the time ) , but like let’s say he just meets you and you wanna go in for a friendly hug ? he’s gonna take like three steps back . makes him look like an asshole , but he really can’t help it . he doesn’t like being thrown off guard like that , strangely feels like he doesn’t have control of the situation ? he’s super weird tbh . he’s fine with a fist bump , or a quick handshake though

he hates mind games ! hates them . he’s definitely not the type of guy you can give a million hints to and he’s fine just figuring them out and going along with it . he doesn’t like indirect people who say one thing but mean something else and say this with hopes that you ‘ catch on ’ , he hates that difficult shit . he will catch onto every single hint you send , know exactly what you want too , but he’s not going to do anything about it . he wants someone who can be blunt and upfront with him , someone who knows what they want and shouts it to the world , someone who will tell him what they want from the start , no sugar coating , no beating around the bush , no mind games or backwards flirting . he’s a very blunt person , will tell you what he wants right off the bat without even blinking , doesn’t believe in the will they/won’t they bullshit . you’re either upfront and straight up with him , or you can play those mindgames for like , fifteen minutes with him before he ghosts you quick as fuck . like you want him to be super unattracted to you ? play mind games with him , beat around the bush , and hint at stuff while never directly telling him what you want . watch you never hear from him ever again tbh

he actually did half the tattoos he has . he’s become a very skilled artist , really good at sketching , painting , anything involving art with his hands . it’s relaxing to him . he hasn’t done any type of boxing or karate since murphy died , but he can very easily pick up from where he left off . he has a black belt , very good at both things , but has been avoiding it since the whole thing with murphy went down 

he actually has undiagnosed bipolar disorder and even ptsd , especially from that bullet . he doesn’t really know this , but even just the sound of a gun going off can trigger him , take him back to murphy’s backyard , blood everywhere . it’s never happened to him before thankfully , but it’s a possible idea for a future thread or even self para . he has ptsd over lots of things that happened in his childhood and teen years , but a gun shot would probably really trigger him . for his bipolar disorder , he has a mixture of both manic and depressive episodes , but mostly manic ones . he’ll be awake for an entire week and not even really feel tired , fake elevated happiness , but it’s hard for him to notice he even has a problem with how heavily he abuses drugs . being high all the time never gives his brain a moment to think

literally getting drug tested every other week , but he’s still doing drugs ? he’s currently barely smoking weed because he knows that stays in your system forever , but drugs that flush out in just a couple of days or don’t even show up ? he’s all for it ! catch him with niacin , cranberry pills and juice , and cleansing pills like , two days prior . he hasn’t failed a drug test yet but he’s still doing drugs . actual dumb ass criminal mastermind ? like .... the lengths he’ll go to get high but not get caught ..... go to fucking therapy and rehab aleks holy fuck

murphy’s old pitbull ended up dying at seventeen years old , in 2018 ! no one thought he would make it for so long , but little guy did . aleks still remembers the pitbull , has a little pitbull small tattoo somewhere on his right arm in honor of this dog . his name was pawly 

despite the fact that he hasn’t spoken norwegian in over a decade ( last time with his sister ) , he still vividly remembers it , since it was basically his first language . like , he claims he doesn’t remember it anymore , claims he forgot , but if someone just randomly starts speaking norwegian , his brain would instantly put all the words together and he would start speaking back fluently . you can’t forget what you fully learned , aleks !

a part of him wants to reconnect with his sister . he hasn’t seen her in over a decade , has no clue where she’s at , if she ever got adopted or if she’s even alive at this point . he really wants to find her but doesn’t know where to start ? little does he know she’s literally living in sunhollow too ( shoutout to aurora thorsen sparks )

really , really wants to be a vegetarian , later on a vegan ! he loves animals so much , has seen so many documentaries where he knows fucking animal slaughterhouses and meat is like the number one cause of the green house effect ( especially slaughter houses , watch cowspiracy on netflix to get an idea ) , but he’s a broke ass bitch right now and just eats whatever , when he’s even hungry . he always tells himself that if he ever has money ( HAHAHA LITTLE DO YOU KNOW ALEKS ) that he’s definitely going to become a big ass vegan . loves cows so much , would dead ass go ‘ moo ’ if he were to ever meet one and would probably be upset if they don’t moo back at him 🤡

he has never left california , literally ever . he’s been nearly all around cali , but has never left , not even to another state  –  it’s legit all he knows . he really , really wants to travel , take a road trip down to mexico ( literally even knows some okay spanish from being friends with so many mexicans and central and south americans ) like , he just really wants to go anywhere . he’d like to visit his parents’ hometown , a little town in norway named stavanger . he wants to go all around south america , buenos aires , rio de janeiro , lima , he just wants to go places and see life from outside the shithole he’s been stuck in since forever , and one day he will do it ( when he finally finds that fucking money damn ) . if he could choose to live anywhere , he would probably wanna go to his family roots , in norway . he already speaks the language so it should be fairly easy ( kind of wild how he wants to do all this yet he wants to die at the same time .... sad boi hours tbh )

may not look like it , but he really can kick your ass if he wants to ( that karate / boxing in him be like 😜 ) . if you see him from far , he looks like a little soft angel ( baby face that will never go away ngl ) but don’t let his physical appearance fool you ! he will dead ass high kick someone in the face if he has to , no remorse . he isn’t as violent anymore compared to when he was a teen , but if he feels like he’s going to be attacked or feels like you genuinely want to physically hurt him , he won’t hesitate to fuck you up 

even though he’s grown a tougher shell over the years , he’s very low key still a softy . deep down inside , he’s still that little kid that would cry whenever people were mean to him . he can be very sensitive and compassionate ..... but on the inside . obviously he no longer bursts into tears like he used to as a little kid , but contrary to popular belief , if you really get to know him , he’s soft . shows with how much he loves animals , and it’s weird because he doesn’t like being touched unexpectedly , looks like a bad ass and acts like one , but deep down ? soft ass heart , too soft for this world , needs to find the right person to actually connect with and cuddle gdi

he has the tiniest little scar , right below his right eye , where kyle decked him ( left handed punch ) . it’s really barely even noticeable , and lots of people who have short conversations with him won’t even realize . if you’re talking to him for a while , and really admire his face though , you’ll notice it . again , not a huge scar , not super prominent , really blends in with his skin , and usually something most people miss , but it’s there

i’m gonna end this here because this is long and i’m going to leave connections to brain storming , but below is his birthchart !

#hqclique.intro #foster care system tw #violence tw #injury tw #death tw #guns tw #shooting tw #suicidal thoughts tw #alcohol abuse tw #drug abuse tw #blood mention tw #i feel this deserves sooo many tws #lmk if i'm missing one!! #this took me an embarrassing amount of time tbh i'm so ashamed damn #( queuekachu ! ) #mental illness tw

[bodytoflame-ao3]

born for this // three

new friends, and old friends

read from the beginning // AO3 Link

xvi //

“Come sit, we have to talk to you.” Annabeth sits her down at the dinner table, hating the way the panic sets into her face.

“Is this about the wall because I swear I can explain.”

“No,” she laughs, thoughts drifting to the foot-shaped hole behind the dresser in her room, “that’s okay. We just have something really important to talk to you about.”

“Are you two splitting up?” It’s the first thing that pops into her mind, even though as the words leave her lips, she knows they’re ridiculous.

“No.” Annabeth takes a deep breath. “Remember how we told you about the prophecies?”

Lyra nods. She’s heard every story they offered to tell over the years.

Annabeth sighs. Percy picks up; “There’s another we’ve known about for a while.” Almost ten years, keeping the secret from her, he feels awfully guilty.

“You’re not… leaving… right?” Lyra’s voice quivers, trying not to think too hard of what she’s heard from them about prophecies and what they entail; the quests and danger they bring.

“No… it’s—” Annabeth can’t finish her thought when all her mind wants to focus on is how much she sees herself in her daughter. It hurts to see her worry, in light of the fact she devoted herself to making sure Lyra would never experience the same things she did as a kid. And now, this .

“We think it might be about you.”

Her father’s words take a minute to sink in. “Oh.”

“And—” Annabeth adds, “—another legacy.”

Percy continues, trying to disperse some of the tension. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. All we know is that bad things happen if we interfere. So this is all you — and I know how scary that is — but we’ve got your back as much as we possibly can.”

Lyra is silent for a while. “You should’ve told me.” She doesn’t seem angry. It’s a statement of fact from her perspective.

“I know,” Annabeth sighs, taking her hand. “And I’m sorry.”

Percy rests his hand on Annabeth’s back, reassuring her. “We just wanted you to be safe.”

“I know.” She knows the stories. The prophecies, the quests, the battles. She doesn’t want to live like this — but she’ll do it if it means keeping her family intact. “Do I know them? The other demigod?”

“You were four the last time you saw her.”

“It was for your own safety,” Percy adds.

Lyra looks up at her father. “They’ve been coming a lot lately.”

“That’s why we’re telling you,” he says. “We’re taking you to Camp. You’ll be safe there.”

“What about school? There’s still two weeks left and I haven’t taken my finals.”

Annabeth has to try hard not to laugh; it’s another way she sees herself in her. “I called. You know, family emergencies happen. They were more than willing to accommodate. Whatever your grades were yesterday is where they’ll stay. You don’t have to worry about that.”

It’s only a little bit of relief among something so scary. She doesn’t sleep much that night.

xvii //

She’s been to Camp with her parents before, but it’s never felt like this. This feels more than temporary. They pack their bags too, and settle into a staff cabin, promising to be there for her if she needs them. Even if they can’t intervene directly, Annabeth is prepared to exploit every possible loophole, with Percy at her side. They won’t leave her.

Lyra settles into the Hermes cabin with relative ease, though sleep doesn’t come easily. It’s not as quiet as she would prefer, but it’s better than the deafening silence of the Poseidon cabin, or living with her mother’s side of the family — from family gatherings, she knows they’re a lot sometimes. And she doesn’t quite feel like a part of either of them. So this will have to do. In a way, she thinks, it’s almost poetic, and quite fitting: not quite human, not quite demigod, left to her own devices to forge an identity as something new. Or some bullshit like that.

When she finally feels the exhaustion drift over her, it’s overwhelming; like the entire weight of the day’s been dropped on her at once. In a way, it has. She’s here now, this is real. Not just the stories her parents told to her, or vague bursts of imagination from brief visits.

As hard as she tries, she can’t shake the feeling of anger in the pit of her stomach — exactly for what, she’s not sure. And she still can’t sleep.

xviii //

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

There’s not much Lyra can make out in the pale blue glow of the moon, other than the girl’s vague shade of olive skin, and light-colored wavy hair. “It’s okay,” she shrugs, ”Plenty of room aboard the pity train. Or, tree, I guess.”

“I didn’t think anyone else was here.”

“No, I mean, I’d be surprised too if I climbed a tree at—” she glances at her watch, “—two AM and actually saw another person. Let alone… in the same tree.” The other girl doesn’t respond. “Can’t sleep?” Lyra offers.

“Jet-lag,” she answers, simple enough. “Got in from California earlier. You?”

”Thinking about how I just ditched the last month of freshman year and all my new friends, pretty much cementing my status as a loner for the next few years, all for something that might not even be true,” she sighs, finally putting it into words (She could hope that it might not be true; even if she knows the prophecies never lie). “Spilling my guts to a girl whose name I don’t even know. The usual, I guess.”

That gets a chuckle out of the girl, extending her hand. “Calliope — Callie. My name,” she clarifies. “I’m missing graduation, if it makes you feel any better.”

Lyra shakes her hand. “Lyra.”

And two AM turns into three, then four.

xix //

Lyra spots her sitting on a bench after finally dragging herself out of bed at half past noon. Callie’s watching two girls practicing sparring with swords in the clearing; with many of the same techniques Lyra recognizes from her own training. “Did they teach you how to fight?” she asks, curious, sitting down next to her.

“Yeah. I trained with my brother, Homer. You?”

She nods. “I don’t have any siblings. Just Mom and Dad.”

Callie chuckles, “Yeah, but your parents are, like, legendary! Like... superheroes !” Her eyes widen. “What can you do ?”

“Um…” She takes a second to think. “I’m really good with patterns. Like, memory and stuff. Not words though.”

“None of us are. Dyslexia, right?”

“Right,” she laughs. It’s good to be around someone else who understands. “I’m pretty good with a sword, and I inherited my Dad’s water powers too, I guess.”

“Really? You leave the coolest one as an afterthought ?”

“It’s… I’m not that good at it!” She’s nowhere near as good as her father, and it isn’t like she’s ever known any different. It’s been a part of her life as far back as she can remember, splashing water out of the bathtub as a mischievous little kid.

“Still cool!”

“Alright, what can you do?” she asks, curious to know what kinds of powers she inherited, if her own are any signal.

“I can do a little bit with the weather — my dad taught me that — and electricity, like my brother… and I’ve always had my mom’s charmspeak.”

“What else can your brother do?”

“Well, I mean… he’s really good at fixing things, but not much. He knows how to work with electronics, but his actual powers aren’t like mine.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

“Nah, I don’t think it really bothers him. He thinks turning on lightbulbs is a cool enough party trick, and honestly? I don’t blame him. It sure would be easier.” She notices something behind Lyra, and points. “That’s him over there. Curly hair.”

Lyra’s mind sticks on her earlier revelation. “Charmspeak?”

“You’re not ready for this,” she grins, “It’s like, hypnotism. I’ve always been able to do it, even before I knew about it. I used to get my dad to give me extra dessert. Until my mom found out. She was pretty mad, but she told me how to control it. And like, she told me not to use it unless it was completely necessary, but I see her tell the landlord every once in a while that they’ve already paid, so I don’t think it hurts to ‘borrow’ a candy bar or two.”

Lyra laughs, “You’re kind of a badass.”

“ Someone has to be in this family, and it sure isn’t my brother.” She folds her arms, “Look at him. He’s like a puppy.”

He’s pretty short, relatively speaking, just a little bit taller than Lyra, even though he looks older. He reminds her a little bit of herself with his curly brown hair — although his is much neater, carefully sculpted and shaved at the sides, while her curls frame the side of her face around her ears without any real shape or definition. His skin is a light brown, slightly darker than his sister’s olive complexion, but she immediately sees the resemblance, next to Callie’s dirty blonde waves, and her eyes, the same warm amber color as his, but also speckled with flecks of hazel and green. He doesn’t look intimidating, as many of the other campers have; with a tennis racket in hand, he bounces a ball up and down without much ceremony, sitting peacefully on a bench.

“He seems nice,” Lyra determines, shrugging.

“Exactly! I’ve heard so many stories about how like, cool our parents were, and I… I wanna do that. Be someone important.”

“It’s going to be dangerous.”

“That’s exciting!”

“You don’t get it!” Lyra bites back the harsher words that threaten to come tumbling from her lips. You’re immature, and arrogant, and self-centered, and— They’re fleeting thoughts, and she’s not in the business of ruining the first new friendship she’s had since age 11. But the outrage still comes. “Our parents watched their friends die and couldn’t do anything about it!” Because it’s true — and she doesn’t want it to happen to her. 

That shuts Callie up pretty quickly.

xx //

“It’s been… almost a year,” Piper says.

“I know.” It was hard for either of them to get away too often, let alone find a time where their schedules lined up. That, combined with the fact that they lived on opposite sides of the country, meant she frequently went long periods of time without seeing her best friend. They talked, often enough, via IM, but it wasn’t the same.

“I missed you, babes,” she sighs, hugging Annabeth for all the times she’s wanted to in the past year. “How’s she doing?”

She knows Lyra isn’t okay. Not in the slightest. Annabeth can read that kid like a book, no matter how much she tries to cover it up. “Angry. But hiding it well — nothing I can’t see through. Yours?”

“Homer’s fine. Actually, I think he’s glad to be skipping school. Callie is… okay, I think.”

“That’s good.” It almost feels like they’re kids again, gossiping cross-legged in their bunk beds. Even so, it’s different, and they both know it.

“They’re talking like friends already.”

The tension returns — in the form of silence — until Annabeth breaks it: “They were.” And she regrets saying it the second the words tumble out of her mouth. They were, as much as toddlers could be, but that’s a sore subject, for both of them.

Piper glares at her, whether it’s anger or sadness is anyone’s guess.

“I know. I just wonder what… if they’d grown up together?”

“Me too.” It’s far behind them now, but she does — wonders what their lives might look like today if they grew up that close. She wonders if it would’ve made a difference; would’ve mattered.

xxi //

Lyra would recognize his shaggy hair anywhere. “Zeph?”

“Lyra. Hi.” He wraps her in a hug, so tight that she’s surprised she can still breathe.

But that doesn’t explain why he’s here, of all places, instead of on a farm in the middle of nowhere, Mississippi like he should be. “What are you—”

He smiles, shaking his head like it’s obvious, “Son of Demeter. You didn’t think I just really liked plants, did you?”

Guilty as charged. “I… I guess so,” she chuckles, head tilting as the gears turn in her mind. He immediately makes ten times more sense, not the enigma she always took him for. But also, nothing makes sense — because this is Zeph, her best friend since the sixth grade, and shouldn’t she have known? Better yet: “Wait— did you know?” It’s hard to imagine him like this, so connected to a life she thought was only hers through stories.

He raises an eyebrow, “Jackson-Chase? Yeah, I knew.” He sounds a little amused, but more than anything, relieved.

Lyra, not so much. It’s the second time today she’s been reminded of her parents’ legacies, and it’s starting to weigh on her. “Why did you never tell me?”

Zeph shrugs. “I didn’t know how much they wanted you to know. Wasn’t too keen on angering the literal heroes of Olympus.” He pauses, letting the words settle. “I’m sorry.”

She shakes her head. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.” And I don’t want to hear it any more.

xxii //

“There is no way I’m letting you do this alone,” Homer says, entirely firm in his decision.

“I won’t be alone. She’s coming too.” Callie points to Lyra, who looks like a giant compared to the boy she’s talking to.

“ She ’s a kid.” He’s not fooled, despite her height — There’s no way he’s letting his little sister and some lanky teenage girl off into the world, let alone in such dangerous circumstances, alone. She can’t be more than a year older than her, and certainly no more mature. And she looks so innocent, with her mousy brown curls and folded arms — not strong enough to protect the both of them. Not alone .

Callie crosses her arms. “So are you. What’s the difference?”

He has to admit, she’s kind of right. But he’s older, damnit, and he’s not being a good big brother if he isn’t protecting her. “I’m coming with you, Callie. I can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

It’s not often that he yells; Callie knows that. “Mom and Dad won’t let you,” she says, quiet.

Homer sighs. “They already did.”

xxiii //

“Not gonna lie, I’m shit at archery.” Zeph shuffles, hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts, “But Astrid’s the best.”

“You say that like it’s surprising ,” Lyra laughs, “I know you have the hand-eye coordination of a toddler.”

“Okay. Unfair,” he points at her, looking immeasurably amused. “So who’s the girl you were talking to earlier?”

“That’s Callie. Her brother’s over there in the striped shirt.”

“The Grace kids?” he asks, almost a whisper.

“Yeah.” He raises an eyebrow, and Lyra rolls her eyes. “Oh, don’t look at me like that!”

“Sorry, sorry ,” he sighs, “They’re just… they’re big too.”

It’s not that Lyra didn’t know her parents, and even Callie and Homer’s, were a big deal — but to see her best friend lose his mind over them just seemed so wrong. (And hell, even Callie had seemed shocked.) At this point, she’s surprised he didn’t short circuit the first time her Dad picked her up at his apartment. How did he survive that, anyways?

A tall blonde, hair pulled into a sleeked-back bun approaches them, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Ready to get started?”

xxiv //

“Hey.” Percy can feel Annabeth shaking. “She’s okay. She’s gonna be just fine.” He reassures her, though there’s still a thread of worry running through his mind that asks, What if I’m wrong?

“I know she’ll be okay. She’s your daughter,” Annabeth says, pulling herself close to him, and wrapping her legs around his; entwined.

“She’s yours too.”

“I know that.” She’s ours. And she’s got the same natural survival instincts. “But I’m worried about how this is going to affect her. You know how bad it got.” They still don’t talk about it all that often, and the memories rarely haunt them anymore. When they do, it’s the same as it’s always been, holding each other close until the dread and fear dissipates. But this, this is an entirely different can’t-sleep feeling.

Percy holds her hand loosely, running his thumb over her fingers, twisting the wedding band on her ring finger. “We turned out okay, didn’t we?”

She remembers the day he proposed to her in vivid color. It was the most normal of days, spent in her dorm room, sitting between his legs, furiously wrapping up her last final paper with minutes until the deadline. Percy watched silently, as he had been for hours, as she submitted it, relaxing into his arms, knowing she could finally breathe; that she’d made it through her first semester of college. 

“You didn’t have to stay, you know.”

Percy shrugged. “I like watching you work.”

For all the stress, for all the nights she wondered if she really was cut out for this, she had something to show for it. If she’s honest, those kinds of nights were the ones she lived for, because for once she wasn’t worrying about if she’d be alive tomorrow. So she sighed, relieved, the mess of emotions settling into her bones, only for him to stir them right back up.

“You know,” he echoed, laughing, hands wrapping around her body, “This might be really stupid, but I want to marry you.”

“Percy,” she sighed, turning her head to face him, and fully expecting it to be an off-handed comment, “I don’t think that’s stupid, but you better have something to show for it.” She expected him to laugh, a ‘maybe someday’ sitting on his lips.

But Percy had instead reached into the pocket of his jeans, fumbling with the silver moonstone ring he’d been carrying around with him for six weeks, and held it out to her. He’d never looked more serious. “I mean it.”

Annabeth shook her head, blinking her eyes to stop the tears from coming, and kissed him without a word. For all the “normal” things she craved, this was something better done their own way. She kissed him until she couldn’t breathe, until he was laughing, scooping her into his lap, hands tangled in her curls. “That’s a yes, by the way.”

If someone had told Annabeth a few years ago that she’d be engaged, let alone alive and happy at eighteen, she would’ve laughed in their face. Even if she managed to live that long, the possibility of someone loving her enough to want to spend the rest of their lives together seemed foreign.

The ceremony was small; they could count the number of guests on their hands. Their parents, friends, and Chiron, on the lake of Camp Half Blood, which just felt right to both of them. After she kissed Percy for the first time as a married couple, Annabeth looked towards Piper, seven months pregnant and bawling her eyes out in happiness, and started to wonder if her life might turn out as good as hers did. And she supposes, it did. They did.

#fic #percabeth #annabeth chase #percy jackson #made #pjo #pjo fic #born for this

[kaunis-sielu]

Kings: 13

You never want to leave his house in the woods. He’s had to do some work while you’ve been there but most of your time with Bucky has been wonderful. You’ve gone out to see the stars every night and the beauty of them continues to astound you.

“Bucky?” You ask one morning as you lay curled next to him on the bed.

“Yea Sweetheart?”

“Do we have to go back to the city?” You ask, “It’s so peaceful out here.”

“I’m afraid we do, Steve and Peggy have worked hard with Nick and Maria to smooth things over with Hydra. Now that Pierce has joined Hydra things have changed and we need to sign a new contract. We need to be there.” You swallow thickly at the thought of having to see Pierce again.

“Do-do I have to go?”

“I’m sorry Sweetheart.” Bucky says gently, his hand sliding up your spine and you know that means you’re going to have to see him. “He won’t get anywhere near you. I promise.”

“I trust you James.” You tell him softly, and it’s not a lie. You trust him.

“I wish you didn’t have to face him but we have to show a united family and you’re part of that now.” He continues to slide his hand up and down your spine, “I’ll make it up to you. We can go to JARVIS after. Best table in the place.”

“You don’t need to do that, you know that.”

“Sweetheart, I want to. If you’ll let me.” You know it’ll make him happy, being around people still kind of freaks you out but he’s made sacrifices for you and so you’re willing to do this for him.

“If you want to, I’ll go.” You agree and he hums softly causing you to look up at him in confusion. Bucky takes the opportunity to kiss you. No matter how many times you’ve kissed him it never thrills you less, and god he’s such a good kisser. He moves slowly away and you groan softly causing Bucky to laugh.

“I know Sweetheart but we have to get going.”

“Fine. Let’s go back to reality.” You grumble still not moving. Bucky doesn’t move either and you’re almost back asleep when his phone rings. “Damn it.”

“Yea?” Bucky asks pressing the phone to his ear. “Okay, four? Where? Okay. Yea, see you then.” He hangs up and glances down at you. “We gotta do Sweetheart, that was Steve.”

“Spoilsport.” You grumble and he laughs, “Can we come back next month?”

“I have another place too, down south.”

“What?”

“I have a house, down in the Bahamas, that we can go to too.”

“You, have three houses?”

“Yea, I told you Sweetheart, money isn’t an issue. And this keeps the IRS off my ass a little more.”

“When we can I’d love to go south. I’d need a passport though.”

“That’s not a problem, let’s get going though so we can stop at my favorite diner on the way.”

“Do they have milkshakes?”

“Some of the best ever.” He affirms with a smile and you roll out of bed.

“Why didn’t you start with that Buck?” You ask before disappearing into the bathroom to his laughter.

An hour and a half later you’re all packed up and on your way back to the city. You never thought that you’d like being in the woods more than you’d like being in the city but you really did.

“I’m gonna miss this place.”

“We can always come back Sweetheart.”

“I know. It was just nice seeing you so relaxed, being able to spend time outside and those stars James.” You sigh happily, “I think I’d like that to be my next tattoo.”

“What?”

“Some sort of constellation.”

“I like that idea,” Bucky agrees. You pull your phone out of your pocket and start searching for ideas.

“When were you born?”

“March 10th.”

“Ah, Pisces.” You mumble typing it into your phone. “Hmm.” You hum softly his constellation could make a pretty tattoo, not today but maybe someday.

The drive home doesn’t take long, it felt so much longer on the way there. Even with the stop at the diner, which did have the best chocolate milkshake you’d ever tasted, the trip seemed short.

When Bucky pulls into the driveway and into the garage you’re filled with a sense of dread. You don’t want to see Pierce. It’s not that you don’t think Bucky will keep you safe, you know he will, you just don’t want to deal with Pierce.

“Sweetheart, it’s going to be okay.” You both love and hate that he knows you so well. You nod before climbing out of the car and grabbing your bag from the backseat.

“I want to be armed.”

“What?” Bucky looks over at you in surprise.

“I know how to shoot a gun. One of my former roommates had one and wanted to be sure I knew how to shoot it incase someone broke in. It was a 9mm. I don’t want to be the only one unarmed.”

“But Sweetheart, you have me, Steve and Peggy.”

“James please.” You beg, eyes pleading, “I don’t want to have to rely on someone else to save me all the time. It’s not that I don’t think you can’t, I know you can, it’s that I don’t want you to ever have to think about protecting me over yourself.” Bucky thinks for a moment then nods.

“Alright,” he agrees, “Only because I know you’ll be more comfortable with it.” You press a kiss to his cheek and his arm goes around your waist holding you to his side for a moment. “We need to get ready.”

“What do I wear?”

“Do you mind if I pick you out something?”

“Not at all.” He takes your hand and brings you upstairs to your room, the one you don’t want to sleep in anymore now that you’ve gotten used to sleeping with him. He picks out a forest green dress with a tulip skirt and a knot of fabric on the left hip, it has a v-cut neckline and is sleeveless but covers your whole shoulder. The fabric was silky on your skin and you’d loved how the color looked on you. “Black heels too okay?”

“Okay.” You keep hold of his hand as he goes to move away, “Can, can I move into your room?” You ask quietly, staring at the dress and not at him. You won’t look down but that doesn’t mean you have to look at him.

“I was kind of hoping you’d want to. I like having you in my bed.” He flirts and you laugh before kissing his jaw.

You get ready quickly, hair and make up done boldly. You weren’t some angelic little princess, you were his Queen.

You make your way to Bucky’s room, scooping up your purse on your way.

“Bucky?”

“I’m in the bathroom.” You follow his voice and peek in around the corner of the door. He’s standing there with his black pants on and a black button up shirt unbuttoned. His bright blue eyes look over at you, “god, how did I get so lucky?”

“I was just wondering the same thing about you.” You hum moving further into the bathroom. He kisses you softly and your heart pounds in your chest, you love this soft side of him.

“I have Peg bringing you a thigh holster.”

“I know you don’t like me having a gun but it’s a huge relief James.”

“I just want you safe.” He mutters as you drop your head to his chest. He grabs his phone and takes a picture of the two of you. “You look so pretty Sweetheart. Just wanted a picture.” He slides away from you then and buttons his dark shirt before tucking it into his pants. “Wanna get me a tie Sweetheart?” He asks as his phone rings and you nod moving out of the bathroom and into his closet. You can hear him talking on the phone but you can’t hear what he’s talking about. You go through a couple of his drawers looking for his ties before you find them. For a second you consider matching his tie to your dress but instead you decide on a black tie. You love the black on black on him. You bring him the tie and he attempts to put it on while talking on the phone and instead of letting him struggle you do it for him.

Once Bucky hangs up the phone he takes your hand and leads you out of the house. You’re not surprised that you end back at the club.

“Hey. I’m not gonna leave your side okay?” Bucky promises and you nod, swallowing thickly. You take a deep breath and when he opens his door you step out, lifting your chin. You slip your hand through his arm and the two of you walk into the club like royalty.

Everyone is there. Steve, Peggy, Natasha, Clint, Wanda, a man you assume is Sam and a few other people you recognize but don’t know the names of. Peggy takes your hand and leads you away from the men before passing you a gun and holster.

“Do not let anyone know you have this.” She says as you check the gun, making sure the safety is on.

“Peg!” Steve calls, “They’re here.”

Tag list:

@callie-bear15 @achishisha @dsakita @dramadreamer14 @thinkwritexpress-official @thesassmisstress @andahugaroundtheneck @geeksareunique @courtmr @tuliptx @morganhoran1671 @loving-life-my-way @lexie-mo @rohian @libbymouse @bucky-ish @livingoffsavvyillusions @nishanki1 @nerd-without-a-cause @champagnejoker @abschaffer2 @megskay @tonyagibbs1297 @chennyetomlinson @buckyinantarctica @h2octopuppy @thefridgeismybestie @marvel-is-a-mood @bookgirlunicorn @veganfangirl5 @georgialeighc13 @angels-pie @catsandbooksinafarawayplace @whovianwriter @sammysgirl1997 @aveatquevale @smashley816 @killcomet

#imagine #kings story #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x reader au #bucky barnes #james bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader au #bucky x reader #mobster!steve rogers #mobster!steve #mobster!au #bucky mobster #mobster!bucky barnes #mob boss!peggy carter #mob boss au #mob boss!bucky #mob boss!steve #mobster!natasha romanoff #mobster

[asecretsummer-rpg]

Name: Stefan Jacobs Age: 48 Sexuality: Heterosexual Gender: Male Portrayed By: JR Bourne Availability: Open

“It’s terrifying but we’re all doing the best we can.”

→ Background

Stefan Jacobs was born and raised in London. Growing up, he thrived, and was a very popular and bright boy. He wanted to be a policeman from a pretty young age and it was something that stayed with him as he got older. He met Vicky Blair at the party of a mutual friend. She was an aspiring photographer and she was funny and gorgeous and he was charmed by her pretty much right away. Vicky... not so much, or so it seemed, but she was just worried about love in the wake of her parents divorce. Stefan won her over in the end and the two got married around the same time Vicky got her first real photography job and Stefan graduated from his training. Growing up wasn’t easy for their daughter however, as she suffered at the hands of bullies, but Stefan was always quick to descend on the school to try and stop it.

He wasn’t the closest with Vicky’s sister Lucy and neither was she it seemed, but he tried, he wanted both their families to be close. Sadly, it seemed to him that Lucy was in something of a controlling relationship, though even Stefan didn’t suspect the extent of it. He and Vicky moved back to her home town of Baberton when their daughter Elaine, was two years old. It was an adjustment going from the big city to a smaller, more tight knit community... but Stefan soon took to it. He joined the police force there and worked his way up to detective... before tragedy struck. Vicky went to London to visit Lucy and the police there contacted him to tell him they’d found evidence that she had been killed in a mugging gone wrong and her body disposed of. The body was never found but the amount of blood and her purse... it was clear she was gone.

→ Back to Baberton

After losing his wife, Stefan didn’t really know what to do with himself. It was horrible and he did his best to be there for Vicky’s own father, and his daughter Ellie, but it was so, so hard. Stefan felt like he was going to break many times and he’s still surprised that he didn’t... or maybe he did. Vicky’s sister turned up in town after the fact and then ended up killing her ex boyfriend here and it all came out that the boyfriend himself had been the one to kill Vicky - it wasn’t random, Tim Lewis had killed his wife. He was beyond angry and he wanted to make him pay but Tim was already dead. Lucy went to prison for a while but then she and her boyfriend Marcus Cooper, a colleague of his at the time, moved to Wales. She’s came back years after, to be near her dad and him and Ellie again. Everything’s been a rollercoaster but sad as it is, it’s nice sometimes to be around people who miss Vicky too.

His daughter suffered some kind of anxiety induced breakdown and is now taking some medication for her anxiety. Stefan just hopes it’s working because after witnessing the breakdown, and her almost running into traffic and being hit, he’s beyond terrified that he’s going to lose his daughter too... and he wouldn’t survive that, he knows it. Stefan doesn’t know how some of the people in this town have continued, all the loss that he’s seen, the grief. Baberton has been plagued with a serial killer problem for years now and the police department are so overworked, understaffed, and just stretched to the limit. It’s hard but Stefan knows that everything that can be done, is being done.

→ What’s His Secret?

He slept with Callie Montgomery a few months ago, after hanging out with her in a bar. They’re friendly, he’d even say friends, but sleeping with her was never on the cards, especially drunk. He just gets so lonely sometimes and misses and craves intimacy but now he feels so, so beyond guilty. Like he’s betrayed Vicky’s memory and it hurts. It’s not something he’s eager to do again really but the loneliness can be crippling. He’s not the type of person who can be alone or lonely without losing it.

Receives a photo in an envelope delivered to his desk once a month or so, usually of a seemingly random townsperson. Stefan is terrified that one of these days one of the people in those pictures is going to be the next victim and he won’t be quick enough to do anything about it. Every month he feels like he’s following around a new person to make sure he can try and keep them safe. Sometimes he feels like he’s being driven insane by the obsession of it.

#town rp #pll rp #scream rp #mystery rp #jr bourne #openm

[christopherrpike-archive]

1 - 10 for marsh. for serious. and then the rest of them for austin thanks

uhhh i think this is the prompt list for that HGDFHGHDFG i had to dig for it sorry

marsh;

1. What is their worst fear?

either callie or his daughter getting seriously hurt (esp if its bc of his line of work)

2. Does your OC have a temper?

probably? he’s slow to anger though i think

3. Religious beliefs?

raised catholic but he’s pretty much agnostic now

4. Height?

6 flat?? i think?? idr HFHF

5. Weight?

whatever’s healthy for his height i’m not really sure but any extra weight is probably muscle

6. What is something that they really regret?

being a seedy ass lawyer instead of like. a proper one

7. Something they’re proud of?

i’d like to think he was really proud of graduating law school. that and his daughter. he’s proud of that lil menace she turned out just like him

8. What is something they really hate?

the heat

9. Now something they really love?

callie his job, more or less. he’d love it more if he had his own firm

10. How does your OC react when they’re embarrassed?

awkward coughing, face flushing, the works

austin;

11. Birthday!

uhh february 16, 2013

12. Are they a morning person or a night owl?

as any person with teen angst he’s a night owl

13. Is there anything you would have changed about your OC?

not really? im pretty happy with him!!

14. If you could compare your OC to an animal what would that be?

uhhh i’ll get back to you on that im not sure HFHFHF

15. Give me a description of their family

a mess. he grew up with his mother, his father went missing for months and he assumed he was dead until he wasn’t, just mute and now a judge for new eden and his step father is the same man he works with

16. Are they good with technology?

i’d say so yeah

17. Describe some of their hobbies!

reading the comic books his mother managed to save before the collapse

18. Describe their sleeping habits

he never lies in one spot and he ends up in the weirdest positions

19. What are some of their strengths

like his dad he’s a natural born leader, and he doesn’t back away from a fight even if the odds are against him

20. What are some of their weaknesses

he’s a little on the scrawny side so hes not. too great at hand to hand combat but he’s quick so that makes up for that

21. Do they suffer any mental disorders? (PTSD/Depression etc)

not really?

22. Do they have any physical impairments (Blind/Deaf/Loss of a limb)

nope, he’s as fit as he can be

#oc stuff #oc: marshall winters #austin maxwell #ask memes #jackkelsos #l.a. noire #far cry: new dawn

[ficdirectory]

Somewhere Inside (Disuphere series #4) Chapter 19

(To listen, click here) - 14:08

Pearl’s walking back to her cabin, when she notices her mom’s car pulling in the drive.  

Really?

“Cleo, come on.  This is serious business.  Your first experience with Mom, in the flesh.  Brace yourself,” Pearl warns, breathing deeply.

“Mom,” she acknowledges coolly.  “What are you doing here?”

“You called me, Pearl.  Don’t act like this is such a surprise.”  (Mom’s clearly out of patience, too.  This will be fun…)

“Yeah, I did. ��I didn’t invite you here.  I called you months ago.  You never got back to me.”

“I was working.  Maybe you’d know something about that if you did it, too.”

“Did you have a reason for coming out here?”

“Do I need a reason to see my daughter?  You’re asking questions about Paris.  Your living with his son.  How do you think that makes me feel?”

“How do you think it makes me feel that for years, my father was alive?  For most of my life, I could have known him.  He used to stop by the house and try to see me.  Because you invited him.  Because you told him I’d be there.”

“I don’t remember that,” Mom insists.  “He was trying to make up for not being there when you were growing up.  I was trying to protect you.”

“Sounds a lot like you remember…” Pearl ventures.  “I don’t need your approval to get to know my own family.”

“That Levi?  He is not your family.  I’m your family!” Mom’s getting angry now, or finally letting it show.

“Family doesn’t treat each other like this.  Family doesn’t lie and isolate someone.”

“This is unbelievable…” Mom scoffs. “I didn’t raise you to be this way…”

“No, you raised me to disappear!  To blame myself!  To have no friends!  To be a doormat!  Don’t come back out here, Mom.  You’re not welcome.”

Pearl turns and walks back to Frank’s cabin.  The last thing she wants is to be alone at home right now, where Mom could knock and harass relentlessly.

“That’s not where you live!” Mom shouts.  “Who’s over there?  I’ll call Stefanie and find out.”

“You do that…”

“I should’ve moved up here years ago to keep an eye on you!”

“I’m an adult,” Pearl calls.

“Age is just a number.  I am your mother.  I expect you to respect me!”

Pearl turns on her.  “You earn respect, Mom.  You make yourself worthy of it.  It’s not handed to you.”

She walks into Frank’s cabin and has to stop herself from slamming the door.

“That screaming lady is your mom?” Francesca asks, her eyes big.

“Yeah.  I’m sorry you heard all that.”

“Is your mom friends with my mom?” Francesca asks, warily.

“Why?”

“‘Cause they kinda act the same…” Francesca ventures, wrinkling her nose.  “Hey, can I see Levi?  I wanna ask him something.”

Pearl takes a deep breath.  Lets it out.  “What did you want to ask him?” she wonders.  Pearl figures talking to Francesca is a good option right now.  She’s probably too wound up to be around Levi without it rubbing off on him.

“If he wants to watch Moana together…  He said that was him and his dad’s favorite thing to do together.  I thought it might make him feel better from whatever’s wrong.”

“I didn’t know that,” Pearl ventures.

“You said you guys have the same dad.  How come you didn’t know his favorite movie?”

“I didn’t get the chance to know him like Levi did.  My mom kept him a secret from me.”

“Levi?” Francesca asks, confused.

“No.  Well, yes, technically.  But I meant, my dad.  When I was little, she told me a lie about him.”

“You wanna know a secret?” Francesca whispers.  “I don’t know my dad either.  Moms say the other kids, you know, Jesus and Mariana and Callie and Jude?  That they can always talk about their bio parents.  Brandon can talk about his dad.  But if I ever bring up mine?  Crickets chirping.  Nobody talks.  I don’t even know his name or anything.”

“So...you’re their biological daughter?”

“Mama had me.  You know Lena?” she asks, curious.

“We met a couple times, yeah.”

“So...I’m hers for real...but I don’t know my dad.  I don’t know why they won’t tell me anything about him.  Do you think he doesn’t want me?  Or is it like your mom?  Are they tricking me?”

“I’m not sure.  But do your brothers and sisters know anything?  They’re older?  You might ask them.”

“Jesus doesn’t.  He didn’t get to be there when I was born.  So he doesn’t know.  I maybe could ask Mari.  She knows a lot.  And she tells the truth.”

“Good idea.  Hey, can I watch Moana with you?” Pearl asks.  “I’ve never seen it.  I’d like to.”

“Seriously?  It’s the best.  I’ll get my IPad.”  She glances up, sees Levi looking down from the loft.  “Hey Levi.  If you want, me and Pearl are gonna watch Moana.  You can watch with us…”

“Thanks, but I gotta call somebody.  Maybe in a little bit.”

“Should we wait?”

“No.”

“Will it make you sadder to hear?  We can go in another room,” Francesca offers and Pearl’s touched at her sensitivity.

“No, it makes me happy to hear.  You can watch it wherever,” Levi tells her.

His gaze travels to Pearl.  He raises his eyebrows.

“She knows she’s not invited back.” Pearl tells him.

“Did she leave?”

Pearl checks out the window.  There’s a knock on the front door.  “If that’s my mom again…” Pearl mutters under her breath.

“It’s Jesus, probably.  He took Dudley out,” Francesca insists.

“Oh, and I locked the door behind me.  Brilliant,” Pearl slaps her forehead.  She checks out the window and opens the door for Jesus.

--

The minute Levi hears the knock, he bolts from the loft into the bathroom behind him.  He knows Mariana can see him.  He didn’t have time to close the door.  Dominique had gone out with Jesus to walk Dudley.  But before they left, Dom had given Mariana a hand up the stairs so Levi wouldn’t be alone up here.

Levi’s braced over the sink, sick as a dog.  His nerves were fried before hearing the second knock.  And that?  Just sent him over the edge.

Even though it’s nasty and Levi feels nauseated, he cleans up after himself impeccably, using the cleaning supplies he can find under the sink to be sure none of them get his germs.  He’s glad no one seems to be living up here for the time being.

He walks out, unsteady.  Mariana offers a hand.  Levi takes it without thinking.

“You’re sick.  Now you can call in,” she tells him matter of factly.

He raises his eyebrows, but figures she’s right.  She sits on the footstool and him in the chair while he calls into work.

“Hey, this is Levi West.  Can I please speak to…”

Mariana sits by, listening.  He realizes mid phone call that he’s still holding her hand.  He’s struck by how she just stays.  Not grossed out by him at all.  Not afraid to touch him.  Not acting like she’s gonna hurt him.

Like he hopes, the mention of vomit has the boss telling him they’ll figure something out for his shift.  Telling him not to come in.

He hangs up and breathes.  He feels gross.  

“You can lie down if you want.  There’s a bedroom,” she gestures.  “No one sleeps up here.  No one will bug you.”

“Thanks.  Let me give you a hand down the stairs first.”

“Oh.  Thanks…” Mariana says, seeming surprised.  

They don’t talk as she descends.  But once they’re safely at the bottom, she turns to him.  “If you need us, just yell.  Or come out by the railing.  Or Jesus or someone can check if you need anything.  So you won’t be alone.”  She opens her arms.

Levi’s so touched, he blinks back tears.  “I’m all disgusting, though.”

“Please.  That was trauma-puke.  You’re not gross.  Come here.  You know, if you want.”

Levi bends down to hug her.  Despite her small size, and general unsteadiness, her hugs are solid.  Warm.  Strong.  They feel 100% safe.  Like Jesus’s.  But this is even more remarkable because Mariana’s female.  And Levi generally has a harder time with female affection.

He feels himself breaking a little bit, but she holds on until he backs off.  Waves over his shoulder.  Retreats upstairs, and falls into a bed with an old fashioned headboard and a quilt printed with moose.  He falls asleep in minutes, tears still on his face.

--

Dominique and Jesus stop in for lunch and sweatshirts and to check in on Levi.  Mariana says he’s sleeping and that he called into work.  Pearl and Francesca are watching Moana still, because Francesca keeps pausing it to explain things to Pearl or to tell her something random.  Pearl doesn’t seem to mind.  Mariana joins them.

Jesus is checking in with Francesca to be sure she’s feeling included.  She is.

Dominique runs upstairs to listen at the one closed door.  The light’s off and she doesn’t hear anything.  Safe to assume Levi’s all right for the time being.

She and Jesus go back outside with Dudley.  They sit at the picnic table.

“So, are you okay?” Jesus asks her.

“You know I never know how to answer that question.  Are you?”

“Not really…” he admits.

“Not really either,” she echoes.

“It’s hard.  Like...when someone’s dealing with a lot?” he starts.  “Like, trauma stuff?  I find myself reacting the same.”

Dominique cocks her head.

“I do things the same,” he tries again.

“Like, what things?” she asks.

“Like, I always cover the person.  And bring food,” he shares, almost reverent.

“You see to their basic needs…” Dominique fills in.  “That’s good.  That’s necessary.”

“But it reminds me...of Isaac…”

Dominique flips through her mental files.  The name sounds familiar and soon she knows why.  She’s able to fill the gap with the face of a kid from Santa Barbara.  Brown hair.  Grey eyes.  Freckles.  Big smile.  Cute dog with a ridiculously adult sounding name: George, or Winston or something.

The Dateline special, where Isaac’s mom was interviewed?  Well, Dominique had watched it.  Hoping for more clues about Jesus (who she only knew then as her invisible friend and emotional support, through her own ordeal.)  A year after her own escape, he got away, too.  She had to deal with a strange betrayal, knowing their circumstances had not been identical as she needed them to be.  Another year passed, around May of 2012, and there was the other little boy’s mother.  Interviewed for an hour.

Dominique had watched, hoping for a mention of Jesus.

“Do you find comfort knowing that your son wasn’t alone in that house?” Dominique remembers the interviewer asking.

“I do.  I do find comfort in that.”  The woman blew her nose.  

“Jesus Foster was a 9-year-old from San Diego, when Chris Mitchell kidnapped him back in 2007.  He was still missing when, 2 years later, Allison Martin’s son, Isaac, was taken, as well,” a reporter narrated off screen.  The picture from all the Missing posters of Jesus was on the screen.  Then, video of a few seconds of the back of his head.  Long hair.  Before he covered it with a blanket.

“Do you wonder what Jesus knows?  About your son?  How close they were?  Have you spoken to him?  Asked for details?”

“No,” Allison wept.  “Jesus has been through enough.  He needs to be home with his family.  He needs to have privacy.  To heal.  If the situation were reversed, and Isaac came home, I know that’s what I would want for him.”

Dominique blinks.  “The other kid.”

“Yeah,” Jesus nods.

“You took care of him the way you’re taking care of Levi?” Dominique wonders.

Jesus nods again.  “And that feels…like a lot?”

“Well, it would, I suppose, yeah.” Dominique nods.  There’s a pause.  Jesus still looks distressed.  “Listen, Levi’s gonna be okay.  It feels the same.  But it’s not, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jesus answers softly.  “What about you?”

“What about me?”  Dominique presses, guard firmly raised.

“You said you’re not really okay either.”

“You’re Jesus Foster,” a new voice interrupts.  

It makes goosebumps raise up under Dominique’s sweatshirt.  She turns, to see a white lady in a navy jacket.  Jeans.  Dressy shoes.  

“And you are?” Jesus asks, not giving this presumptuous lady an inch.  (Dominique’s glad.)

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I’m Pearl West’s mom.  I knew Frank.  And Stef.”

Dominique’s face sets into a hard mask.  She steps back.  It’s either that, or jump across the table and grab her by the throat.  This woman.  This is the woman who hurt Levi.  Who assaulted Levi, when he was just a kid.  Younger, even, than Dominique had been.

“We gotta go,” Dominique tells Jesus, not dropping his name.  Not giving Pearl’s mom the satisfaction.

Jesus doesn’t need to hear an out given twice.  He gets up and walks around the table.  

“Pearl said you were visiting,” the woman calls at Jesus’s back.  “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.  Tell your mom I said hi,” she calls.

Dominique shuts the door firmly at their backs.  Moves aside so Jesus can lock it himself.

“Pearl, I don’t know if you know...but your mom’s outside.  She just...I don’t know...tried to start a conversation with me?  Said you told her we were visiting?”

Jesus seems doubtful.  

“Oh.  My.  God.  Why can’t she leave, and stop lying to people?” Pearl insists.  “She’s infuriating.  I’m so sorry she approached you.  Are you okay?  I didn’t tell her you were here.  I would never tell her that.”

Dominique isn’t sure what to believe.  She doesn’t know Pearl well, and the two of them don’t get along well.  But she does trust Jesus and Mariana and their judgment.  They wouldn’t be friends with someone they couldn’t trust.  It’s been a while since Dominique’s been around someone so manipulative.  The fact that it’s a woman does throw a wrench in things, temporarily.  She’s always functioned under the belief that women were more trustworthy than men.  But this woman, Pearl’s mom?  Clearly cannot be trusted.

She’s obviously a liar.  She’s proven that much with Pearl.  She’s abusive.  She’s proven that much with Levi.  Just seeing her, makes Dominique want to be sure he’s okay.  She goes upstairs and sits on the landing.

She likes being able to see everything.  Everybody.  All the comings and goings.  She takes a picture through the thick wooden railings.  Then over the railing to all the open space below.

Eventually, she moves to the head of the stairs and sits.  If Pearl’s mom knows she’s here, she might try coming in.  And if she even thinks about trying anything with Levi?

She’ll have to come through Dominique first.

#fic: somewhere inside

[roman-hunt-blog]

B I O G R A P H Y

Name: Roman Hunt

Age: 549

Species: vampire

Occupation:  From the outside, Roman seems to deal only in real estate and owns a number of businesses across the country (none of which he runs himself). However, Roman makes most of his money as a broker in the black market.

Length Of Time In Hollow Grove: Roman comes in and out of Hollow Grove as he pleases and he's returning after being away for five years.

Faceclaim: Austin Butler

↳ BIOGRAPHY

"Evil isn't born. It's made."

If anyone were to try and write a biography on Roman Hunt, they'd be hard pressed locating details. With his numerous mansions, expensive clothes, and suave mannerisms, he would have you believe he was born in a wealthy family, the son of some English lord or a lost prince from a kingdom time has since erased.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Roman was born to a prostitute in 1467. The identity of his father was never known, and even though most of the children born to the prostitutes were sent away, the owner of the brother told his mother to "keep this one. He may be useful someday." Useful proved to mean doing all the chores, from cleaning to serving food. The women adored him and fawned over his golden hair and long-lashed blue eyes and pouty lips. Roman just could never figure out why his mother never felt the same. While the other women called him Angel and sneaked him treats, his mother called him foul names and beat him until the day's frustration went away. When Roman was old enough to learn that a majority of her anger came from the fact that her wages were being garnished to cover his room and board, Roman took to the streets and learned to pickpocket. His mother was so delighted when he returned the first night with a jingling pocket, she didn't beat him for a whole week. However, her selfish nature soon came to expect the money and when she didn't feel Roman brought her back enough, she flew into one of her rages.

But when a man came to the brothel and was more interested in Roman than the women, she found a new way for her son to bring in coin.

At the age of 10, Roman has now known every evil.

At night, the abuse continued, but during the day, Roman went out and continued his thieving as the years rolled on, this time hiding the money away for himself. He planned to leave and go somewhere where no one had ever seen him before, faking nobility and giving himself a fresh start.

Those plans were shattered when his mother found his hiding place and took everything, going out and spending it all in a day on frivolous luxuries. Roman was furious and had just put his hands around his mother's throat when there was a scream.

Roman had witnessed all sorts of abuse in the brothel, including a murder, so screaming was common. Just not from the owner.

By the time Roman and his mother went to investigate, more screams had joined in and a full massacre had broken out.

Roman had seen a lot of perversion in his 25 years, but he had never seen anyone rip into someone's throat with their teeth and drink their blood. But in the next few moments, he would experience it first hand.

He woke up disoriented, feeling heavy even though he was in the most comfortable bed imaginable, and thirsty. Very, very thirsty.

A beautiful noblewoman was there in the room with him, along with one of the prostitutes.

His mother.

The woman calmly explained what he was, what she had made him. Back in the century, tales were more widely believed, but Roman only bought the "superstition" in that moment due to his burning thirst. That, and the sharp fangs that suddenly appeared in his mouth.

His mother begged him to help her, to have her life spared. She was his mother, after all.

He decided to forget that fact the same way she had throughout his entire life. He found poetry in the fact that she had now given life to him twice.

His sire spent the next year teaching him everything she knew about being a vampire. What could kill them, the compulsion, their strengths and weaknesses. On top of that, he quickly got used to living in luxury. Wearing the finest clothes, having his own carriage, being served, doing as he pleased and not answering to anyone. Except his sire.

He didn't understand the hold she had over him, why he remained loyally by her side without question, why he would wear the gold coat she chose when he wanted to wear the blue. Then he learned about the sire bond.

And that was why he staked her in her sleep.

He didn't belong to anyone.

He claims not to even remember her name anymore.

Through the centuries, he turned his sire's wealth into his own. He became excellent at investing, growing his riches and power. He changed his name throughout the years and kept his photograph out of papers and himself out of the public eye when the age of technology emerged. Roman had everything. He loved being a vampire, loved being powerful, loved that people feared and revered him, couldn't touch him. It was all so perfect.

Until it wasn't.

When the world found out about supernatural beings, it wasn't long before Roman was found out. All around the world, vampires, werewolves, and witches began to go missing. There were rumors of concentration camps.

To Roman, they weren't rumors.

Business rivals sold him out and, after being weakened with vervain, Roman was captured and spent the next year and a half being experimented on, tortured, and drained of blood to be sold in the black market. A young nurse was sent to him at the end of every day to check his vitals. With his compulsion null and void, Roman worked his natural charm and manipulation on her instead. Eventually, he convinced her they had a forbidden love and she helped him escape.

As a thank you, he gave her a swift death. No one else received the same kindness.

Outside, Roman had lost everything, save for a few "mattresses of cash," so to speak. He laid low for a decade, living off his stashed cash in a small apartment. He hated it. Eventually, he found his way into the black market, connecting with Lukas Blackwell and slowly began building up his fortune again. He went back into legitimate business as well, now that the vampires were thought to be gone, but loved the new challenges of the black market.

Entertaining associates was his specialty, and when one sighed about how he missed the days of terrorizing a family in their own home, who was Roman to turn his nose up at the idea?

Roman found the screaming, the begging, and general mess quite droll. But the daughter caught his attention. She fought back, breaking a picture frame over her thigh and attempting to stake him. Roman was amused. She was beautiful and spunky. She had something. She was just terribly mortal.

He could fix that.

Through dream manipulation, he convinced Callie Hastings that she'd been attacked coming home one night by a vampire and had then killed her own family. But he would take care of her and show her the way.

Maybe it was because he was getting on in years, but he enjoyed having someone to spoil and teach about being a vampire. For five years, he took her around the world, making sure she was spending his money on designer clothes and jewelry, getting pampered at the most expensive salons and spas, and drinking whomever she wanted.

That ended when his business associate tracked him down in Spain. He was furious that Roman hadn't let him in on a deal and shouted, "It's like you disappeared since we killed that family in Hollow Grove!"

Callie heard everything. She was gone the next day.

Roman thought killing his former associate would make him feel better, but it was a temporary fix. Months passed and Roman was discontent. Did he actually miss Callie? Of course he was fond of his prodigy, but had his feelings deepened beyond that?

No. He was pissed.

It hadn't been his choice to tell her, hadn't been his choice for her to leave. It was all out of his control.

Nothing was out of his control.

Looks like he was going back to Hollow Grove after all.

↳ PERSONALITY

Roman is, in short, a control freak. He does not like anyone having power over him in any sense, business, personally, or physically. Roman enjoys the finer things in life and thinks there is very little money can't solve. If someone can't be bought, they can be killed. Roman is a literal cold-blooded killer, turning savage when he feels it warranted. His only qualms about bloodshed is it staining his Armani. To him, there is no such thing as a good person and therefore, he has no problem ridding the world of anyone that suits him. He has never trusted anyone and people have proven they're not worthy of it, bother when he was alive and dead. If he has a soft side, he doesn't know about it. That being said, Roman can be incredibly charming and suave. He's never had a problem with people being drawn to him, even before he was a vampire. It makes finding a victim that much easier . . .

#biography

[hopelikethemoon]

Something New (Javier x Reader) [smut]

Title: Something New Rating: Explicit  Length: 3800 Warnings: Family feels and Smut (male recieving oral, male recieving anal play, dildos, disucssion of pegging, and all that fun, also regular old sex) Notes: You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. October 1997.

Just remember, if you intend to try pegging PREP IS KEY. This is part 2/3 of  Reader & Javier’s venture into pegging. 

If you’ve been following all of the drama that’s been going on, and have something you want to say anonymously to me you should read this post.

Summary: The family spends some time by the pool and Reader and Javier try something new.

Taglist:  @grapemama  @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes @thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow @hiscyarika @plexflexico @readsalot73 @hdlynn @lokiaddicted @randomness501 @fioccodineveautunnale  @roxypeanut @just-add-butter @snivellusim @amarvelousmandalorian @lukesrighthand @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @exrebelshocktrooper @awesomefandomsunited @ah-callie @swhiskeys @lady-tano @beskar-droids @space-floozy @cable-kenobi​ @longitud-de-onda @cool-ultra-nerd @himbopoes @findhimfives @pedrosdoll @seeking-a-great--perhaps @frietiemeloen @arrowswithwifi @random066 @uncomicalhumour @heather-lynn @domino-oh-damn (more tags in the replies)

“Here,” Monica said as she adjusted the large umbrella stand, positioning it over the rather uncomfortable plastic chaise lounge pool chair you were reclined back on. 

“Thank you.” You offered as you adjusted the floppy little hat you had on Sofía. She was out cold against your breast. “You should go swim.” You urged Monica as she wrapped a towel around her middle and moved to lay down on the chaise lounge beside you.

“I’m good here,” Monica assured you as she grabbed a pair of sunglasses from the tote beside her chair. 

“What? You don’t want to go under the water buckets again?” You teased, looking across the pool towards the children’s area where Josie had Javier standing right under the spot where she could pull a lever and dump water on his head. 

She was having a blast and that was all that mattered to you.

Monica laughed softly, tucking her arms under her head. “You caught me.” She tilted her head to look at you, smiling a little. “Thank you for all of this.”

“Josie was convinced you’d enjoy coming to the splash park with us.” You shrugged. “And of course. You need to have fun sometimes. 

“I don’t mean just today.” Monica insisted. “I was talking to Nadia about everything the other day and it just made me realize how lucky I am.”

“How is her situation?”

“She lives with her mother and grandmother. Her mother is accepting, but definitely thinks it’s just a phase.” She shrugged. “And her grandmother chooses to ignore it. They have big dreams for her.”

You frowned, “At least they’re accepting.” You couldn't imagine parents like Monica’s just cutting their daughter off. All you wanted for Josie and Sofía was happiness, however they saw fit. 

“It’s just a little awkward.” Monica admitted. “I was over there the other day after our date and her mother kept calling me her study buddy.” She readjusted her towel, rolling onto her stomach and resting her cheek against her folded arms. “At least I have you guys.”

“Speaking of us.” You said, glancing down at Sofía as she made a little sound like she might wake up, instead she just sniffled and pressed her face against your chest. “We’re going to Laredo for Thanksgiving.”

“Oh.”

“No. No ‘oh’.” You shook your head. “We’d love to have you come with us. “Chucho was impressed with you when Sofía was born and asked if you’d be joining us.”

“I really don’t want to impose.” Monica rubbed her lips together nervously. “It’s just Thanksgiving.” 

“Yes, the holiday you’re supposed to spend with family.” You gave her a pointed look. “You’re one of us, Monica. It’s a month out, you don’t have to decide right now.”

She blinked. “You’re serious?”

You arched a brow, “Why would I be lying? I don’t know what Javier has told the class, but I’m not a bitch.”

Monica laughed loudly at that, covering her mouth to stifle the noise. “First off, Javier acts like you can walk on water in class. I think everyone in that class wants a love like yours. Second off, I don't know! I’m just an interloper.”

“And yesterday I told someone that I have three daughters, so.” You gave her a pointed look. “Thanksgiving in Laredo and then Chucho is coming here for Christmas.”

“You guys are way too nice.” Monica smiled at you. “What are the Murphys doing for Thanksgiving?”

“Last I heard, Connie’s parents are coming down and Steve wants to hide in our trunk.”

“Drama?”

“They haven’t forgiven Steve for dragging their daughter to Colombia.” You rolled your eyes. “All I know is that things are always tense. Javi and I were over there a couple years back when they came to visit. Things were… Tense.”

“I can only imagine.” 

Your eyes flickered back towards the splash pad, smiling as you spotted Javier and Josie heading back towards you. You kept Sofía cradled against your chest as you sat up and reached for a towel for Josie. 

“Mommy! Did you see me?” Josie questioned, twirling around as you wrapped the towel around her. She pressed her wet little head against your chest, looking at her sister. “Sofía you have to get bigger!”

You kissed the top of her head, “She will. And then both of you will be out there dousing daddy in water.”

Josie giggled, letting go of you and shuffling towards Monica. Monica let her onto the chaise lounge with her, much to Josie's delight. 

You lowered your sunglasses, raking your eyes over Javier as he toweled off. You bit down on your bottom lip, smirking at him. “Hey handsome, you come here often?” You teased, shifting so you could nudge your foot against his knee. “I’d let you swim in my pool.” 

Javier casually flipped you off as he lifted his towel to dry his hair. “I thought I’d make it through the whole day without being leered at by some pool mom.” He teased, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips before he took Sofía from you. 

“I am so much more than a pool mom.” You shot back, shielding your eyes as you looked up at him. “Here, sit down so she doesn’t get too much sun.”

You traded seats with him, moving to sit on the side of the chaise lounge as he reclined. You watched as she pressed her cheek to his chest and sprawled out as she let herself fall back to sleep. “She’s getting so big.” Javier remarked, rubbing her back. 

“I know. It’s crazy.” You shook your head. It didn’t help that those first three months had been spent in a daze. Even her birth remained hazy for you. “I talked to Monica about Thanksgiving.”

Javi looked towards Monica, “You coming with us?”

She nodded and smiled, “Thank you. Seriously. This might be the best Thanksgiving yet.”

“Pops is a pretty damn good host.” Javier explained. “Day before we’ll probably go down to the party hall and visit with some of my extended family.” 

“His cousin Danny just had his first son.” You added, resting your hand on Javi’s leg. “You can stay at the ranch if you want to. We’re not going to force you to go with us.” 

“You don’t think they’ll think it’s weird?” Monica questioned, pulling a Kool-Aid out of the cooler for Josie. 

Javier shook his head, “Nah.” 

“They’re used to us showing up with new daughters.” You teased, looking back at Javier with a grin. “They’re good people. I’m sure they’ll love you as much as we do.”

Javier pressed a kiss to the top of Sofía’s head as she started fussing. And you recognized that brand of fussing. He looked towards you with a furrowed brow, “Do you want to try?” 

You made a face, but nodded. “Yeah, I’ll give it a try.” 

He carefully got up with Sofía cradled in his arms, letting you lay back down on the chair. Once he swapped the baby back to you, he helped you adjust the chair so it was sitting up straighter. Javier grabbed the baby bag, pulling out the nursing blanket that was tucked into it. 

You draped the blanket across your chest, making sure you were completely covered before you pulled the top of your swimsuit down. Javier pulled the cooler over, closer to your chair and perched on the top of it. “You’ve got it, baby.” 

“She’s trying.” You bit down on your bottom lip as you waited with bated breath to see whether Sofía was going to latch on. It was always a 50-50 shot. You readjusted her beneath the blanket, silently begging her to just— “She’s on.” 

“That’s my girl.” Javier grinned, leaning over to press a kiss to your cheek. He brushed his thumb over the bottom of Sofía’s foot where it was sticking out from under the blanket. 

“She’s getting better at it,” You said with a sigh of relief as you felt suckingly more insistently. “I was worried she’d start refusing me again, now that we’ve been trying baby food.” 

“She might love her sweet potatoes, but she’s not going to miss out on this.” He gestured to you with a smirk. 

Your lips parted as you started to respond to him, but you were cut off by a man passing by, “Come on, lady. There are kids here.” 

Javier’s head snapped towards him, “Fuck off.” He gritted out, his gaze flickering towards the woman who was walking ahead of him, “Take your sanctimonious bullshit and tell your wife no one needs to see that much of her ass. Think of the children.” 

You snorted, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “It’s fine, babe.” 

Monica wasn’t ready to drop it however, “Funny you’d bring up kids.” She sat up, wrapping her towel around her tightly. “When she’s literally feeding a child. Quit looking, perv.” 

“Are we going to have a problem?” Javier questioned, staring the man down. 

“Nope.” He held up his hands, taking a step backwards. “No problem.” 

“Then keep walking.” Javier ushered him on. 

“God, I hate men.” Monica mumbled, with a roll of her eyes. Javier gave her a look. “You’re an exception.” 

“I thought so.” He turned back to you then. “You good?”

“I put up with how many months of Chris’ bullshit? I’m fine.” You assured him, beckoning him closer so you could kiss him. “I love you.” 

“Love you too, baby.” 

 ——

 You trailed your fingertips along his jaw, sliding them down to curl around the column of his throat, as your lips slanted over his. Your lust was tempered by the knot of anxiety coiling low in your belly. You talked a good game, but you had never done anything like this before. At least there was comfort in the fact that Javier had never done it either. You could both be nervous together. 

His hand snaked up your back, slipping under your shirt. Javier pulled you closer as his tongue delved between your lips, twisting against yours as he deepened the kiss. You moaned against his mouth, arching against him. 

You broke away from the kiss, breathing raggedly as you pressed a row of kisses down his throat, your tongue dipping out against his Adam’s apple as he swallowed thickly. “We can stop whenever you want.” You reminded him, as he sank back against the mattress. 

“I know my safe word.” Javier dragged his hands over his face, exhaling heavily. 

“And.” 

“Three squeezes if I can’t get the word out.” He answered, reaching out and brushing his knuckles over your cheek. “Think you’re going to render me speechless?” Javier smirked at you.

You shrugged, “Never know.” You sat back on your knees then, looking towards the bedside table at the neon blue toy and the bottle of lube sitting next to it. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” You admitted.

He snorted, “You and me both.” 

Javier scooted up on the pillows, his eyes following yours towards the nightstand. You wish you knew what was going through his head. He kept everything so close to the chest, but that wasn’t really something that worked in this situation. You were both going to have to communicate with each other. And listen. 

You bit down on your bottom lip, “You’re certain?”

“We’ve got this far.” He retorted, swallowing thickly. “Just go easy on me.” 

“This is the easy part, Javi.” You told him, brushing your hand over his chest. “Just you wait until I have the whole harness.” You gestured around your pelvis. “There will be no stopping me. Unless you tell me to.” 

He crooked a finger and you leaned down to kiss him. “I trust you.” Javier reminded you, bumping his nose against yours. 

You reached for the toy and lube and laid them on the bed, before you moved downwards. Hooking your fingers in the waistband of his boxers, you peeled them down his hips and tossed them off the bed. “I think the key is making sure you’re relaxed.” You told him, curling your legs beneath you as you sat beside his hips. 

Javier tucked his arm beneath his head, “I’m as relaxed as you’re going to get me.” 

“We’ll see about that.” You grinned, reaching out to rub your hand over his lower stomach, fingertips grazing through the dark hair that led downwards. You lazily curled your fingers around his cock, watching his face as you stroked him. 

You leaned down, pressing a kiss to the head of his cock, sweeping your tongue out to tease over the tip. 

“That’s one way to relax me,” Javier quipped, reaching down to play his fingers through your hair, his eyes drawn to your mouth as you took the head of him between your lips. You were just teasing, trying to get him ready. 

It was something new and different for both of you, but this part of it was all about him. You wanted him to feel good, otherwise the next part of this wasn’t going to happen.

You flattened your tongue as you swept it down the underside of his cock. You leaned forward, taking the full length of him into your mouth, before you released him with a wet pop, moving to sit between his legs. 

Javier lifted his head, his eyes meeting yours with a glimmer of uncertainty. 

“You good?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” 

You leaned down and pressed a kiss to the spots just above his hip bones before you moved lower, resting on your forearms between thighs. You ran your hands over his inner thighs, grazing your fingernails lightly over the skin as you nudged his legs apart wider. 

“Say the word and I stop, okay?” You reminded him as you pressed your lips to his inner thigh. 

“I’m good, baby.” He assured you, reaching down to stroke the top of your head. 

You reached over and grabbed the bottle of lube, squirting some onto your fingers. “I was assured that this was warming.” You told him, rubbing your fingers together to ensure it wasn’t cold. 

With a gentle brush of your thumb, you smeared the lube over him, your eyes never leaving his face. You pressed another kiss to his thigh, reaching for the toy.  

“Just relax,” You whispered as you applied lube to the toy, stroking your finger down the length of it. You smeared the excess lube across him, readying him for what came next. “You ready, Javi?” 

“Yeah.” He said as he exhaled, shifting his legs apart wider to give you better access. 

You reached up with your free hand and curled your fingers around his cock, stroking him slowly as you circled the tip of the toy against his puckered hole. His leg twitched and you glanced back up at him. “Javi⁠—”

“Keep going.” He assured you, tilting his head up to meet your eyes. “I’m good.” 

You applied a little more pressure, letting just the tip of it start to press into him. You loosely pumped your fist over the length of his cock as you kept working the toy against him. “You’re doing so good, babe.” You told him, turning your head to press a kiss to his thigh. “Don’t tense up.” 

“It’s fucking weird.” Javier hissed out through clenched teeth as more of the dildo started to press into him. “Don’t stop.” 

You drew the toy out a fraction, before pressing it forward again, sinking more of it into him. He shifted beneath your touch, his back arching. “You want more?” You questioned, releasing your hold on his cock as your fingers curled around his thigh. Your gaze flickered between his face and where you were working him, enjoying the look of unabashed desire on his face. 

“Baby.” He panted out as you withdrew the toy almost entirely, before sinking it into him further. “Shit. Fuck.” 

You rubbed at his hip. “Good?” 

“Good.” He grunted. Javier lifted his hands to cover his face, letting out another string of swears as you started working the toy in and out of him more earnestly. The sounds he made had fire burning between your own thighs.  

“You have no idea how hot this is, Javi.” You told him, pressing another kiss to his inner thigh as you shifted the angle of your thrusts ⁠— which was apparently the right choice. 

Javier’s hips arched up off the bed, a low keening sound escaping him as you apparently struck that sweet spot within him. You kept working the toy into that spot, sliding it out and pressing it back into him. 

You were enraptured with the way his stomach muscles tensed, the way his thighs trembled, and the way his knuckles went white as he gripped at the bedsheets beneath him.

And the sounds he made.

“Just let go, Javi.” You urged, curling your fingers around his cock as you worked the full length of the toy into him, before you gripped the flared base and slid it out. “Fuck. Look at you.” 

You could tell that Javier was right on the brink. The sounds coming out of his mouth and the look on his face as his eyes rolled back in his head told you everything you needed to know. He was about to come for you.

Another strained sound escaped him as his thigh muscles twitched, his feet trying to get purchase on the bed. “St⁠— stop.” Javier grunted out, grabbing your wrist tightly and squeezing three times. 

You stopped immediately, sliding the toy out of him slowly. Your brows furrowed together as you looked up at him, “Are you okay, Javi?” Had you done something wrong? 

Javier dragged his hand over his face, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he breathed heavily. He was quiet for a long minute as he worked on steadying his breathing, his palm resting over his heart as a breathy chuckle escaped him. “Sorry baby.”

“Don’t apologize.” You ran your hand over the side of his leg, looking up at him nervously. “Are you okay?”

“I, uh…” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Didn’t want to come get.” Javier admitted to you, tilting his head to look at you. “Jesus Christ. That was a fucking lot.”

“Do you want to stop entirely?” You questioned. 

His tongue darted out over his bottom lip as he stared at you. “Yeah.” 

“Alright.” You nodded your head slowly. “Whatever you want.” And you meant it. If he just wanted to roll over and pretend the night didn’t happen — you wouldn’t hold it again still him. 

You moved out from between his thighs, leaning over the side of the bed to grab the washcloth you had prepared before embarking on this adventure. You used it to gingerly clean him off, wiping the cloth off his skin with great care.  

“C’mere.” Javier gestured to you and you climbed back up the bed to lay down beside him. He curled his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into side. 

You brushed your fingers over his jawline, tilting your head as he leaned in to kiss you. You smiled against his lips, ruffling his hair. “So?”

“So.” He ran his hand down your side as he pulled back to meet your eyes, rocking his jaw slowly as he found his words. “It was overwhelming.”

“Good or bad overwhelming?”

“Good.” 

Your brows rose upwards. “Really?” Well, that was a relief. You had worried you had done something wrong. “Why did you want to stop?”

Javier pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know how to explain it. Felt like I could feel it everywhere.” He gave your hip a squeeze. “And call me old fashioned baby, but I wanted you.”

You brushed your fingers over his cheek. “Yeah?” 

He rolled you over onto your back, his mouth trailing down your throat. You ran your hand up his back, fingers finding their way into his hair as he kissed lower 

Javier worked to remove your clothes, letting them land somewhere on the floor beside the bed forgotten. His hand wandered down your stomach, slipping down between your thighs. 

You moaned softly as his fingers played over your slick folds. You curled your fingers around the back of his neck, looking up at him as he leaned over you. “Javi.”

“Is this all for me, baby?” He questioned.

“I told you it was hot.” You breathed out, arching your back as you rocked into his touch. “The sounds you made…”

Javier brushed his nose against yours, his breath playing over your lips as he tilted his head and leaned in to kiss you. You protested quietly as he pulled his hand away, but your complaints were short lived as he settled between your thighs ⁠— his cock sliding into you. 

You hooked your leg around his hips as he started moving within you. “Fuck.” You breathed out as you grabbed at his biceps, his shoulders, trying to touch him everywhere you could as you rolled your hips in time with his thrusts. “Javi.” 

He gripped at your hip tightly, picking up the pace of his movements, driving into you again and again. “You feel so fucking good, baby.” Javier rasped out, dragging his lips along your jaw, leaving open-mouthed kisses down your throat. 

His hand snaked down in between you, his finger seeking out your clit as he coaxed you over the edge. Your back bowed up off the bed as your release washed through you, your inner walls clenching around him — dragging him down with you. 

Javier groaned out your name as he bucked into you, his pace stuttering as he came apart, his release spilling into you. 

You laughed breathlessly, running your hand up and down the length of his spine as he sank down atop you. “Why be adventurous when we’re that good already?” You teased, earning a snort from him. 

“Too late. We’re being adventurous, baby.” He mumbled, kissing your throat. 

You ruffled your fingers through his hair. “Did you enjoy yourself?” 

Javier hummed approvingly as you pressed a kiss to his shoulder, and you couldn’t help but grin. You definitely understood the appeal — there was something very exciting about trying something completely new with him. Not that you hadn’t already tried the new and exciting venture called a committed long term relationship and parenthood. This was exciting and new and really hot. 

“Won’t Rocky be surprised when I show up later this week to get the harness.” You slid your fingers into his hair and tugged lightly. “You really did enjoy it, right?”

Javier pressed his palms against the mattress on either side of your head, pulling up just enough to look down at you. “It was good.” He assured you, leaning down to brush his lips over yours. “And I look forward to seeing what you can do.” 

You grinned up at him, “Me too.” 

#javier pena #javier pena x reader #pedro pascal x reader

[calliesend-blog]

—STATS

full name: callie rose hendrix d.o.b: 16th october 2113 gender: cis-female, she/her sexuality: bisexual occupation: dancer status: immune supportive: neutral

—SUMMARY

CALLIE HENDRIX is a broken girl who knows how to turn herself into steel. She’s had everything taken away from her and been gutted from the inside out. She doesn’t know how to trust anyone and that sometimes poses a problem in today’s new world. After travelling with a pack of people calling themselves the Savages for eight years she’s finally free and trying to find her place in her new found freedom. 

—DETAILED BIOGRAPHY             ( death, rape, blood tw )

CALLIE HENDRIX was born on what’s left of the West Coast. If the pollution was bad before the end of the world it’s certainly it’s own toxic wasteland now. Her mother and father a couple who had their own safe zone much like New Seattle -- they thought it would be time for a baby. After all the new generations had to keep making more and more people if they wanted to feel like they were doing something, anything to overcome this horrible new world. The safe zones were only as safe as the people thought it was. An illusion of safety was struck down by gangs of people wanting to hunt an scavenge and kill. The people who attacked had been mapping the place for weeks. Waiting for the right time to strike.

Her home was on fire, everything she loved was either burning or being gutted. Men who called themselves the savages took what they wanted from her home. Killing anyone who was insight. She was nine when they forced her to watch as they slit the throats of her parents and as they slaughtered her friends. Her entire world was ripped from her and she was forced into the new world. Instead of killing her, Callie was brought along with the savages that murdered her parents. They kept her and a select few of the children to groom for soldiers or use as play toys. This was the new generation. 

This is how that little girl became a woman so fast. The savages had a travelling home base, she and the rest of her people were kept locked up until they were trusted not to run away. Most of her friends died trying to run or got scared they couldn’t take it. But Callie was smart and she valued her life too much. She knew she’d play it safe -- that eventually there would be something more. Until then her life was chaos.

At first they forced her to clean, she was only nine and not much use elsewhere. As she got older she moved up the ranks. She went from slave to eye candy to chew toy (literally) in a matter of years. She was fifteen when things escalated to a physical level after a few years of being looked at up and down one too many times. That’s all she was to the men who called themselves the savages. A piece of meat -- a tradable commodity. She knew it was coming. The first time was the worst -- it hurt and he wanted her to scream so when she didn’t  -- he made her. She had to learn that this is how she would survive now. By being whoever these people wanted her to be.

She was held with the savages until she was twenty two -- it was then she finally made her escape. She had been sleeping with the leader of the group for a while now -- one of his many play things to keep him amused in between killing and destroying people’s lives. She and a few of the other girls had been planning their escape for months. Gathering supplies from inventory unnoticed, making sure they had all they needed.

In the dead of night, whilst the man lay there sleeping off a nights worth of booze and drugs, Callie took a blade to his throat. Slitting it, knowing he would turn as soon as he arose -- a dead man. She and the girls dragged him to the main area of the camp, leaving him and a few other main perpetrators there to rot and turn so that they wold feast on the rest of the camp. 

They were free, finally. 

The girls were all in group for the most part. They had taken what they’d learned with the savages and used that to protect themselves. Thy travelled from safe zone to safe zone, none of them lasting that long. Some girls died and some girls stayed where they liked it. In the end it was just Callie again. On her own, the way she always felt.

She never stayed in a place very long. Nothing really felt right. But now she was sick and tired of fighting and she needed rest. She had heard of the great New Seattle and the thriving city it was and how she could be free or happy or some kind of bullshit resembling happiness there. 

In her two months she’s stayed quiet. Kept a close eye on everything and discovered there’s plenty of bullshit inside the wall going on that those in the wasteland don’t know about. Callie got a job as a dancer -- using her body the only way she knew how. She was damn good at it too. 

—WANTED CONNECTIONS:

I’d love for Callie to have a friend just like someone nice to her and isn’t judgy of the shit she’s been through tbh. 

anyone who frequents club silk or is affiliated with the club is automatically connected to callie whether or not thats friendly or unfriendly it’s up to the plotting!

—HEADCANONS:

One of the most lasting things that happened to Callie whilst she was held by the Savages was when the leader discovered she was immune. Most of the group were either infected or unknown and he had a tendency to be obsessed with the dead. He was terrified of turning but it fascinated him at the same time. He would tie her up, her hands attached to a hook. He’d gathered up the dead and locked one in a room with her. He let the dead bite at her at least once a week. They were always attached to a lead of wires so it could be electrocuted if they looked like they were about to kill her. Because of this Callie is covered in bite marks, all scarred and some even a little fresher. Her stomach, her legs, her arms and back are all covered. 

#after.intro #bio #THIS TOOK ME WAY TOO LONG #more to be added as things happen

[ourlittledinosaur]

It Takes a Village? | by IV, V and Me

New Post has been published on http://ourlittledinosaur.com/it-takes-a-village-by-iv-v-and-me/

It Takes a Village? | by IV, V and Me

Guest Post by IV, V and Me

“It Takes a Village”

We have all heard it… shoot, I think I even said it last week, but is ‘it takes a village’ just a phrase or is it really truth? Honestly, this phrase never even crossed my mind until my son was born and all the villagers came out of hiding with the good, the bad and the ugly advice; but this didn’t really bother me until I got some parenting experience under my belt. My son is 9 months old so obviously I am now an expert… even so; I was now ready to bestow my “parenting wisdom” on other moms. As soon as another mom mentioned any struggle she was having with her kids, I wanted to jump in to save the day with my expert advice on the matter… queue the other mom holding back on rolling her eyes as I ask the question all moms know too well “have you tried this?” like she hadn’t googled every possible solution to the problem she was dealing with. Was I really going to be that villager, the one with the pitchfork of advice at the ready any time I talked to another mom? Is a village necessary to survive parenthood? If so, what is truly needed?

Getting to the truth

I decided it was time to actually get other mommy perspectives on the subject of  ‘it takes a village’.  So, I gave a shout out to the Facebook world with 4 questions, two for and two against parenting advice to see if the “village” was more helpful or harmful.

Once you become a mom, something that is needed is thick skin, so that when you do end up receiving unwarranted advice, you can take it with a grain of salt. My friend Jamey W. said it best “I have heard/felt things that while harsh at the time, as I reflected (and minimized my pride) realized they were probably right or at least something there that should be considered.” This is a mom with a teenager and a college student; her answer is why I need to have mentors in my village to explain, “Pride causes us to miss a lot of truth.” Yes, getting offended is a cultural phenomenon, but instead of pouting, I can take what has been said and use it to grow and become a better, more developed person. I learned pride gets in the way of even allowing myself to be surrounded by a village. One obvious way I realized I needed growth in was learning that my son could benefit from being around others.

At first, I was very hesitant to allow other people be around my son, I mean, I made him… I can be selfish, right? But once I got past that, I found how beneficial it was to have others interact with my child. They would play with him in ways that never would have crossed my mind, and truly showed me new ways to love my son.  “It is incredibly valuable to be in community with other people who pour into and love your child– they speak into their lives in a multitude of ways, and it’s powerful and humbling and so much better than doing it on your own. Other people can speak into their gifts, challenges, and behavior in a way that you can’t, and they see the things you have blind spots to.” –Annie M. This is why it is so important to have peers be in my village. Your peers can help you to be more creative with teaching and during play time as Jenna S. saw this as “a refreshing reminder to not let your child play her way right through her days without me, I just don’t want to miss It.” This has also opened my eyes to the fact that controlling every aspect of my life is just not attainable; I need help and support.

            Being a very controlling person, I really wanted to do everything on my own and then… well, exhaustion set in. The other night I broke down (my son has started waking up at 2:00am hyper and not going back to sleep until 3:30am), my husband offered to pray with me as I was rocking our son to sleep and I said, “no, I just want to get Ru to sleep.” It took me about 5 minutes to realize what I needed was my husband to pray over me and once I gave up that control, it was like a gospel choir came rising up singing “Hallelujah”! A wise friend stated, “Praying that the Lord would guide you in each situation and lead you on how to love, affirm, teach, correct, and discipline in a way that is honoring to him. Praying isn’t hard to do, but always feeling prepared and equipped can be hard when it comes to parenting.” This makes me realize that protectors are needed in my village. God allows us to lean on him and others just as a friend who is a fellow new mom has grown to “learn now more than ever to trust in God’s plan and have faith that no matter what, He knows what is best and He is leading our lives.” After recognizing all that was needed for my village to be a great support system, there was something gnawing at the back of mind, something that was missing.

             Out of all the moms I had asked these questions to, one specifically made me realize something most moms are afraid to say “I am one amazing woman and mom.” –Jen H. She is a single mom who has had to learn how to be strong for her and her kids. “But our God is good. And he put me through some tough times that led me to now. And who am I now? A fully functional adult who can clean and not lose her cool; I make doctors appointments and make sure the kids get their fruits and veggies.” This is when I realized confidence is needed in myself for the village. I am my toughest critique when it comes to my skills as a mother but why can’t I admit that some days I am doing a great job or some things I do rock at as a mother. I feel confidence could be such a great tool for us to spur on to be even better, to never stop trying to achieve the goal of loving our children fiercely.

The Do’s and Don’ts

Here are some of the BEST advice moms have benefited from hearing:

“You’re going to make mistakes, they grow up despite us, and they grow up fast so enjoy every moment.” –Jennie H.

“It is the ride of your life! Have fun! Find what works for you and do that.” –SueEllen H.

“Sleep when the baby sleeps” –Candace T., Chrissy S.

“Never let the kids leave the house without saying you love them.  And always say encouraging words to your children.” ��Ann M.

“Each difficult stage is temporary and you will miss It.” –Calli K.

“Do what you feel is best for you and your child and not to worry about what others think.” –Amanda B.

  Things to keep in mind NOT to do:

“Saying things like ‘they are going to see it eventually.’  It doesn’t mean they need to see it now!” –Candace T.

“My sister-in-law never had kids and she always told me how to raise them, she would punish them in front of me when they would do something that was no big deal to me.” –Ann M.

“I felt pressured by others to use formula, feed her puréed and solid food, to sleep train when I wasn’t quite ready yet.” –Calli K.

“I have had a lot of people tell me that my daughter is big for her age and maybe I should watch what I feed her.” –Amanda B.

“As I was struggling to get my firstborn to latch I decided to pump and bottle feed her until our latch was successful. My MIL told me bottle-feeding wouldn’t create as strong of a bond as breastfeeding would. My bond with both my children is unbreakable and bottle shaming is as ridiculous and insensitive as breast shaming. Fed is best!” –Anonymous

“People trying to fix problems I’ve been working on forever like my child’s diet or showing distaste for the freedoms I allow.” –Jenna S.

So, is ‘it takes a village’ just a phrase or is it truth?

The truth is, it takes the right village… so choose wisely.

-IV, V and Me

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Tell us about the advice you have received, including the good, the bad, and the ugly!

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