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ninjakasuga · 3 years

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Sonally Celebration Week, Year 3, Day Three!

Day three is here, and as usual, I tend to go for my flair with thematic tones over the literal idea of the prompt. Everyone else enjoying what @gojira007 and their blog @boundforfreedomsonsal brings will find this to their pleasure.

Sonally Celebration Week, Year Three: Day Three

Foreward: This episode takes place mere months after Mystery. I know last year sometimes I hoped about the time-line a bit, while with at least episode one-through-three I’m keeping it rather linear in the story-telling. Last time we saw Sonic and Sally as babysitters to Sonic’s younger siblings; now their own time has parents twas’ nigh.

Day three: Crossroads

“Sonic Maurice Hedgehog, I love you, I love you with all my heart and soul, but-nrghh!” Grimacing, Sally Acorn-Hedgehog panted heavily as another contraction wracked her body. Her grip on the hand of her husband tightened. “But I swear, I SWEAR if you do this to me again, I-will-EAT-YOUR-SHINS!!”

Making a soft, but audible sound of physical distress, Sonic swore he felt the bones in his hand crunch. Yet he did not dare wretch it free, not that he felt he could if he wanted too. Sally’s grip was intense, and furthermore, any attempt to save his own skin would be met with death. As sweat trickled down his brow, making the mask attached to his face, and the scrubs he wore a bit uncomfortable. Yet his own discomfort was his least priority at the moment. “Y-you got it Sal, j-just hang in there a bit more…”

Sally’s eyebrow raised incredulously. “Hang in th-nrgh, t-there?! Oh my dear husband, you just did-urghhh! N-not tell me to hang in there? Just what the f**k do you think I’m doing?! I’ve been ‘hanging in there’ since my water broke and the contractions kicked in, and those two little darlings ‘you’ put in my belly can’t decide if they want to come out now, or kick Mommy’s bladder some more!”

“H-hey I’m just trying to help!’ He pleaded as she clutched his hand tighter than before. “I know this isn’t easy on you Sal, but it’s not like I can whip out a Power Ring or Chaos Emerald and make it better. If I could-ghhh, take your place I would!” Sonic knew this was in no-way easy, but in the span of a few hours he’d seen Sally run the gauntlet of her emotional range. Mostly all centered at being upset with him. Now he understood what his Dad meant by ‘Nothing will prepare either of you for this; but remember, Sally’s going to be put through a wringer, so be patient, and be understanding’. “Sal, please you need to calm down some, it’s not good for you, or the babies right Doc?”

The ‘Doc’ in question lifted her head from her position between the Queen’s legs. After almost twenty-plus years of service, Doctor Quack had retired from medicine but remained a consultant for the Acorn Kingdom Ministry of Medicine. So the new Royal Doctor, one Jolene Fredrick, and one of Quack’s protoge’s was tending to the birth of Sally and Sonic’s children. The spotted-Hyena doctor managed a bemused smile behind her surgical mask. “Your husband is quite right, your majesty, I know it hurts, but the more you let the pain stress you out, the more it will complicate things.” She spoke evenly, softly, and kindly but with a firm authority a doctor should carry. “I know giving birth to twins is not easy, especially for a first-time pregnancy, but despite the pain, it looks like the babies are finally about ready to come out.”

A part of Sally wanted to scream and kindly (or not so kindly) tell Jolene to jump out the window, or anyone else asking her to ‘bear with it more’. After all the hours she already had dealt with the discomfort, and false alarms, up until the pains really started to kick in over the last hour and a half. Yet Sally held back that urge, both from her brain managing to get through the pain and reminding her, Jolene was trying to help. Plus as a Mother herself, she’d had first-hand experience with what she was going through. The other reason she pushed her anger down was the soft touch of Sonic’s hand that wasn’t currently in the vice grip she was placing on the other. A quick glance into those emerald-pools, seeing concern and love, did much to soften her.

A small whimper left Sally as she eased her grip and held Sonic’s hand to her face. “I’m sorry, it just huuuurts.” She whined softly, feeling utterly pathetic she was reduced to such a state. Her composure was thrown out the window, cursing freely, and just, the sheer roller coaster of hormones and emotions over the last several hours had taken a toll. “I want my babies, but-rugh, I want them out, nooooow!”

“I know Sal, I know.” Sonic murmured, wincing at the defeated, pained sounds coming from the love of his life. Bringing her hand to his face, he did his best to kiss the top of her hand through his surgical mask. “I’m with you, however long this takes you got me at your side.”

A small, strangled laugh left Sally as she managed a warm smile as she gazed at her husband. “How’d I get so lucky? Some people take forever to find their soulmate and I met mine at two years old.” Letting out a dreamy sigh, Sally pulled his hand to her and planted a kiss there, with both her hands (gently) cocooning both of her hands over his. Just as quick as the quiet moment came, it was taken away as Sally let out another sharp gasp. “Oooooooff!! I felt that one!”

Eyeing some equipment next to her, Jolene made a ‘hmm’ and then turned to look over at the couple. “Good news, it looks like the babies are finally making up their minds, one is starting to make way. Take deep breaths, your majesty, just like you practiced, we’re almost at the end goal.” She smiled through her mask, her own mild fatigue visible in her eyes. Yet like her predecessor there was a fire to see things through. “You can do this your Maj-.” “J-just Sally please!” Insisted the mother-to-be as she gripped the edge of her bed rails with one of her hands, as the other still clutched onto Sonic. “T-this is too personal to keep using formal titles. Nrgh, j-just for now, please, no titles.”

A part of the doctor felt awkward at putting the habit of being so informal, but if it would help. “Alright Sally, we’re in the final stretch, deep breathes. We’ll see the crowning any moment now.”

Nodding, Sally looked to Sonic, wincing and breathing deeply as she was taught. “I love you.” “Back at’cha Sal, you got this.” Sonic fought back a wince from his extremely sore hand. Focusing more on giving Sally his support. “Back at’cha, now let’s welcome our kids and you get some rest.”

Some Time Later:

Exhausted deeply in body and soul, Sally could feel all this in the back of her mind; yet her focus was on anything but the fatigue. A warm, happy, glowing feeling replaced the fatigue as she stared at the two swaddled bundles in her arms. “They’re beautiful…” She cried, happily as she stared at the mewling infants. Who seemed to instinctively lean against her body through their swaddling. It had been worth it, the long labor, the pain, all-worth-it. The girl of the twin-set was a chipmunk-ish hybrid like Sally but clearly sported her Father’s blue hues in her fur. The boy, clearly of the hedgehog variety had the more soft browns of his Mother. Time would tell if Sally’s red hair, or the blonde or brown hair from Sonic’s side of the family would pop up.

As she glanced over at Sonic, she was nearly bowled over by the sheer awe in his eyes and face (his surgical mask was off). His eyes were misty, making her wonder if she was looking at a mirror of her own expression. “You just love in love don’t you?”

“Totally.” Sonic nodded, a strangled laugh leaving him as she leaned in, getting eyefuls of the two joys the two had both patiently and impatiently waited for all this time. It had been a long road to parenthood, both held off having kids right away due to many reasons after the war. The rebuilding efforts, just enjoying themselves free of fighting, and other small, miscellaneous reasons. Last year they finally felt ready and well, started working on getting Sally pregnant, which didn’t take long with how they were.

Sonic wondered if this surge of pride and absolute happiness was something both his parents felt when either his siblings and he had been born? The sheer high of it almost-no, no it absolutely did dwarf the high of running free in the wind. Gently he reached a hand down, running a finger along one child’s cheek, then the other. “Hey you two, glad to finally meet’cha. I’m Daddy, this is Mommy, and we’re going to love and look after you until the end of time.”

Nodding her head eagerly in agreement, Sally sniffed back more tears of joy. “Forever and ever, all ours.” She giggled, kissing the soft, furry cheeks of her newborns. “Welcome to the world Kathleen and Jaleel-Craig.

“I still think Justin-McCooiagel sounded pretty good.” Quipped Sonic with a smug, joking smirk.

“I will not let our son be mercilessly teased because his Father wanted to give him a ‘cool nickname like ‘Just Cool’ or whatever string of odd nicknames.” She firmly stated, giving Sonic a dull stare. “Seriously, one of your names was Radical. Just Radical.”

“Hey it’s a good gender-neutral name, and we knew we were having twins.” His wide grin, showcased he enjoyed pulling her chain. He mostly had been joking about the aforementioned names, well mostly. The ones they settled on were perfect. Kathleen Nicole Acorn-Hedgehog was named after Sally’s Grandmother that she sadly never got to know, and her middle name was in honor of a certain BFF of the Queen’s. Jaleel-Craig Acorn-Hedgehog, or J.C. for short, got his name from Sonic learning Jaleel had been one of ‘his’ potential birth names. Seems his Father knew a Jaleel from school who had been his best friend until he died in the war, and had considered giving him his name in remembrance, only to decide Bernie’s idea of Sonic seemed fitting. Both Sonic and Sally thought it would be a nice name, and as for the Craig addition, Sonic just liked the name, and felt a two-word name would be great for one of the kids. His desire won out after he won three out of five rock-paper-scissors matches with Sally for the final say-so.

“Sure it is…” Rolling her eyes Sally reached over and ran her hand, playfully over Sonic’s face. “You’re just lucky you are adorable.”

“Ha! Adorable wished it were me.” Murred Sonic as he nuzzled against her hand. “Although my wife and lovely children are top-tier competition.”

Snorting, Sally then yawned loudly. “Oh my, I-I *yawn*, damn it, I don’t wanna sleep…”

The door to the suite opened and Doctor Jolene stuck her head in. Having overhard the yawn, she gave the couple a knowing smile. “You should get your rest while you can. The kiddos will be tuckered out themselves, and the nurses will watch them overnight. Trust me you will want as much sleep as you can before they want to feed.” Given it was between two and three o’clock, the Royal Family didn’t have any visitors waiting on them until much later in the day to worry about.

As another yawn tore from her throat, Sally nodded in acceptance. She then poked at her own chest, semi-covered by her hospital gown. “Finally these udders will get some use. The swelling of the milk is getting annoying.”

A dirty joke formed in Sonic’s head, but he wisely (this time) fought off voicing it. A low, tired, yawn left him as well. “Snooze n’ Zzz’s sound about right Doc. Plus there’s that saying, we should get as much as we can?”

“As one parent to another, ooooh yes!” Laughed Jolene as she walked over to give the Mother and children a once over as a nurse came over with a rolling cart with two portable baby-carrier cribs for the infants to sleep in. “That should be your priority as much as looking after J.C. and Kathleen now, making sure you’re rested so you can look after them.” She then gives her Queen a playful-if-stern look. “Which means our dear Queen needs to knock off the all-nighter paper-work and project binges.”

Unable to not but wince at the accusation, Sally sighed in defeat. She knew her bad habit was one not to be ignored at this juncture in life. “I’ve already delegated my tasks to Nicole and the Council, and all necessary parties…”

“After taking weeks to painstakingly do so…” Her husband quipped with a mirroring playful-but-stern with a dash of accusatory as Doctor Jolene.

Sally sent Sonic a glare, but fatigue and looking upon the faces of her children made the frown go away. “I know what my priorities are… I know that I'm going to need to get back to running the kingdom but I’m not going to ever put these two what I meant through. I will find the balance.”

Rubbing her shoulder, Sonic leaned in, planting a kiss to her cheek. “N’ you got me to help, we’re doing this as a team forever, and always.”

“Always.” She agreed, craning her head to kiss him back. Another yawn left her as the nurse gently took the snoozing children. Her gaze followed them as they were carefully put in the sleeping cribs. “See you soon my loves’.” She murmured, eyes beginning to feel heavier as she watched them be wheeled out. “Love you Sonic…” She murmured feeling him tuck her in as her eyes closed.

“Love you too Sal, I’ll be right here.” He murmured, waiting until he was sure she was dozed off. Leaning back from her bed, he popped his back and shook his hands. One was extremely sore but thankfully not damaged. “I’m gonna get some water, and then I’m gonna crash myself Doc.”

“I have a rollaway being brought in for you.” She nodded, giving one last check over of Sally’s vitals, and pleased with what she saw, intended to conclude her rounds and get some shuteye herself. “Sleep well Prince-er Sonic.” She corrected as the Prince-Regent gave her a tired but mild glare. “Sorry, force of habit.” “S’okay Doc… Just titles n’ crap ain’t me, but I married a Princess who’s now Queen so… eh if you gotta for decorum n’ crude sure. Like this… Sonic is fine.” He grinned, giving a two finger salute before padding out of the suite. Water was his priority, his throat was dry, and then, bed. Sweet, sweet bedtime. If the way twins seemed to behave in the family held up, Sally and he would need to be on their toes sooner than later.

A new crossroad of life at been reached, and they were committed to what the future may hold for them and their family.

#boundforfreedom #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sally Acorn #Archie-Sonic #Birth #OC's #childbirth

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airi-p4 · 3 years

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Who’s the father?

I got this silly idea and I had to write it :S Silly, comedy, crack (?) and fluff (?) - and Lukanette endgame, of course.

AO3

__________________________________

Luka didn't expect to find Adrien Agreste in the hotel room he had been summoned by Marinette. ‘I need to tell you something important’ his wife had messaged him. But why was her ‘just a friend’ Adrien Agreste there too?

Luka greeted Adrien, confused, as he took a seat and looked for Marinette in the vast suite of Chloe’s father’s hotel. She came out of the toilet and turned to face them.

“Luka, you’ve arrived. Now that we’re all here, I have to tell you something…”

Luka gulped, nervous, expectant. Something about this situation felt very wrong, but he couldn’t place what yet. Then Marinette reached her pocket and took a device out of it, showing it to the men before dropping THE BOMB:

“I’m pregnant”

Joy should have been in Luka’s mind after the notice- but that wasn’t the case. FEAR was all he had in his body. ‘Pregnant? Awesome!’ But then again… Why was Adrien Agreste there...? Did that mean Luka wasn’t the father? Or that she didn't know? They’ve been dating for a few years, didn’t they? Heck! They were MARRIED! Then why? Was she cheating on him? He internally asked.

“Am I the father?” Adrien asked, and Luka was SHOCKED. It felt like cold water falling over him. Out of nowhere, more questions joined Adrien’s. “Or I am?” a red haired boy appeared in the room. “Maybe me?” the robot creator said, “Or me?” Kim added. Luka couldn’t believe his eyes. What was going on? Where did all those people come from? And why were they claiming Marinette’s child fatherhood. He was her husband! Shouldn’t he be THE ONLY possible candidate there?

“Is it mine, Marinette?”, “Or mine?” two new voices joined. ‘NINO!? IVAN!? This is so wrong!’

“It can only be from the coolest, and that’s me!” another man appeared in the room, and it scandalized Luka.

‘Oh no, not XY! This has to be a nightmare. Marinette what’s going on?’

“Marinette” Luka finally said, getting closer and holding her arms. He took a deep breath, trying to keep him calm, and gulped. “I am the father, right...?” he finally asked in a threat of a voice close to her ear.

Marinette’s gaze lowered and she chewed her lower lip to finally spill some tears and cover her face with her hands. ‘It can’t be…’ Luka feared the worst.

“WHO’S THE FATHEEEER!?” he screamed in despair.

__________________________

Luka woke up covered by cold sweat, and panting, shouting loudly the last sentence he pronounced in his dream.

“See? He’s ok. He only passed out of the shock. Welcome back, Luka”

Luka, still numb, turned his head towards the owner of that voice: Juleka, his twin sister. Who was she talking to? Juleka signaled to her left and there she was: Marinette, with a worried look on her face.

“Marinette! What happened?” he finally asked, wiping the cold sweat off his forehead.

“You passed out of the shock. Gosh, you’re hilarious! Next time don’t startle your wife like this. She was worried about you” Juleka said, adding a low “Lucky bastard…” and an elbow hit at his ribs at the end.

Luka blinked at Marinette. ‘Wife’ she had said. ‘At least the wife part is true!’ he sighed, relieved. ‘Of course it had to be! What was he thinking about?’ Realization hit him. “Wait- I passed out? Why did I pass out?”

Juleka made a ‘I told you’ gesture to Marinette, and the blushing woman took something out of her pocket: a positive pregnancy test.

His reaction wasn’t not what she had expected, but ‘at least he hasn’t passed out this time’. She sighed relieved, despite her concern and nervosity, expectant for his reaction.

Luka’s mouth fell to the floor and his eyes had never been so opened. ‘What?’ He quickly shook his head and pinched his arm (in case he was still dreaming- which wasn’t the case anymore) and grabbed Marinette’s shoulders first, and then moved his hands to cup her cheeks, staring at her sapphire blue eyes. Marinette jolted at his sudden touch.

“Marinette” he gulped. “Who’s the father?”

An awkward silence followed his question. Marinette was offended, and so showed her face, and Juleka was both rolling her eyes in disappointment and ready to grab some popcorn and enjoy the show to come.

“Are you making fun of me? Because this isn’t funny!” ‘Oh no, she sounds ANGRY’ Luka realized. “It’s obviously you, dummy!” she said.

“No Adrien, no tomato boy, no Kim, or Max or Nino- And please no XY?”

“What-!? NO! HELL NO! What are you talking about? Are you still asleep?” Marinette’s eyebrows frowned, and if she was already offended and angry, now she was also disgusted. “What’s wrong with you? Is this you denying the idea of being a father? If you hate it so much I can-”

“NO! NO NO NO! Marinette, NO! That’s not it! I just had a horrible nightmare and-” she frowned again- she thought he was just thinking of a silly excuse. Oh no. “Marinette. I love you and it would make me the happiest to become the father of your children. Trust me, please” he begged, trying to kiss Marinette on her lips, only to find it rejected. “I was just not expecting that. I’m shocked. You have to believe me, please!”

Marinette finally loosen up at her boyfriend’s desperate begging. She trusted him, after all. And she knew well enough he sometimes short-circuited, like the first time she had kissed him or when she had finally confessed to him after gathering the courage. Marinette giggled at the far memory.

“Luka. We’re going to have a baby. You and me. Me and you. We’re going to be a family of 3 soon!”

“Marinette, Oh my lord! We’re going to be parents! You’re going to be the best mother in the world and I’m going to be a fath-” he paused. “I’ll give it my all to be the best father I can”

Marientte blinked at his sudden change of attitude: from joyful to serious. “Are you ok? Do you need more time to process this? We can still think-”

“No, Marinette. That’s not it. It’s just… I’ve never had a father, you know? I became a little worried, that’s all. But I promise I’ll try to be the best father this child- our child- could ever have. I love you, Marinette. You make me so happy...” he fell into her arms, his joy palpable in the way he hugged her. And Marinette could finally breathe again, relieved and expectant of the new future awaiting for them.

“Oh, Luka! I love you too” she said, moving to eagerly kiss him.

That was Juleka’s curfew to leave the room, dragging her mother- who had been eavesdropping at the door- along and giving the couple some intimacy to process their future to come.

________________________________________

The parenthood news kept swirling in Luka’s mind. ‘Father’. The word alone frightened him. ‘Could he be a good father when he had no paternal figure all his life?’ Maybe it was time to ask her mother about his roots.

“Mom. Who’s our father” Luka asked after dinner at the Liberty’s deck, to Juleka’s surprise.

“Oh. I wondered when this time would come… It took you longer than expected to ask, son” Anarka said, finishing the last bit of her fruit salad. “Why now? If you’re scared of being a bad father like Gabriel Agreste then you shouldn’t worry, because-”

“No, that’s not it, mom. I never needed a father because you two were enough for me. But if I’m going to be a father, I need to be aware of possible genetic transmitted diseases or other possible alterations my child could inherit” Luka explained.

“I see. You’ll be a good father, Luka. I guess it’s time I tell you about him then...”

Juleka remained silent, just listened, curious, but also scared. She never had the courage to ask about their father in case it made her mother sad or angry, or whatever, despite wanting to know for a long time.

“When I was born it was a stormy day-” Anarka started.

“Mom. Straight to the point, please. Marinette and I have an appointment with the Doctor in less than two hours”, Luka rushed her, knowing she could be talking for hours otherwise.

“Ok, straight to the point, then” she pouted a little in a childish manner. Then she took a deep breath and gave them her answer. “I don’t know”

“Wait, what!?” The twins asked in unison.

“I don’t know, that’s it” she shrugged.

Juleka and Luka were staring at each other and looking for traces of joking in their mother's face. But nothing. She really didn’t know.

“You can’t be serious. Was it a stranger? Someone you don’t know?” Anarka denied it with her head. “You should have an idea then!”

“There are three possibilities…” she tilted her head in a remembering gesture.

“Oh, no. This is reminding me of Mamma Mia...” Juleka rolled her eyes, making Anarka chuckle a little at the comparison.

“Ok, tell us. I still want to know. “Luka demanded. “You want to know too, right?” he added, turning to Juleka, who nodded in agreement.

Anarka raised her arms, disarmed in front of her dearest children. “Ok, ok. I get it…. This is going to be surprising... “

“Just tell us! Do we know them?” Luka asked.

“You do” Anarka nodded. “First is… Agent Roger”

“AGENT ROGER!?” the twins yelled in panic, exchanging panicked looks.

“Oh no, mom! What were you thinking!?” Juleka asked.

“I wasn’t thinking, that’s the problem! We were drunk, I was in prison, he was on watch. It just happened, and swore to forget it and never bring it up again”

“We may have a sister, then? Sabrina…”

“Impossible! it has to be someone else…” Juleka refused to believe. She still was her number one enemy- Chloe’s- best friend, after all. “Who else, mom?”

“Bob Roth…” she bluntly stated.

Luka’s face turned blue in horror for the idea. Juleka turned as pale as a ghost in disgust.

“Oh, no! Not him! Just- NO! What’s wrong with you, mom!? I can’t stand either him or his son! And the sole image of having XY as a half-brother…? ABSOLUTELY NO” Luka said in denial.

“Well, it’s not like I’m fond of that, lad… Mistakes happen, even I make them” she shrugged.

“That’s not what I would call a mistake… this- is something beyond a mistake…” Juleka mumbled, gaining Luka’s energetic nod in approval.

Anarka shrugged again. “Past is past. And what’s done is done. There’s no point in lamenting now, anyway. Not after 24 years…” Luka and Juleka kept their disgusted faces on, so Anarka decided to move on with the candidates. “Anyway, the last one is the most likely candidate…” she paused.

“Who is it, mom?” the twins demanded.

“Is… Jagged” she finally said.

“Jagged...? As Jagged Stone!?” Juleka blinked.

“Are you sure, mom!?” Luka stood up, palms still on the table.

“He’s the most likely, yes”

‘Was that a blush on his mother’s face!? And a faint smile?’ Luka thought, with mixed feelings.

“Jagged Stone and I played together for a while. We were comfortable with each other and sometimes it happened. You know- excitement and adrenaline from the shows, alcohol, emotions while composing…” Anarka was smiling at her memories, while Luka and Juleka thought they had heard enough.

“I don’t know what to say...” Luka sat back down. “Jagged seems like the best option out there but still…” Luka sighed. “Could we get a test done?”

“If you manage to get a hair, or saliva, or skin, or anything with DNA then yes, I guess it can be done” Anarka’s words sounded more like a challenge than anything, and it set Luka’s determination up, and Juleka launched a knowing glare towards her mother. She had always been good at manipulating her son.

“We’ll do it!” Luka yelled, rushing to meet with his wife.

_______________________________________________________

It wasn’t easy, but the twins finally managed to get the DNA needed for the test (with Marinette’s help, of course). They collected some of Sabrina’s and XY’s hair (easiest choices since their parents were bald) and Marientte managed to get Jagged’s hair too.

Luka took them to the laboratory to get the DNA test done. ‘For my girls’ he thought, delighted about finding out they were going to have a daughter after their last visit with the Doctor. Oh, and he planned to spoil her so much! He would daydream and grin at the thought, hugging his wife’s belly in joy.

Finally, some days later, the test results arrived at the Liberty. Anarka had the letter on her hand, while Juleka, Rose, Marinette and Luka gathered to hear its content. Anarka ripped the sealed envelope and carefully unfolded the letter and proceeded to read it. He stared at the note, in silence, re-reading it and making faces. She was testing their patience and Luka’s nervousness peaked.

“I see… that’s it then...” Anarka mumbled.

“WHO’S THE FATHER!?” Everyone present yelled in demand.

Anarka smirked teasingly at their reactions- just as she wanted.

“Mom please!” Luka begged.

She was tempted to say Bob Roth just to tease them, but it seemed too cruel to her children to even joke about it, so she opted to tell them the truth.

“It’s Jagged”

Luka sighed in relief, as well as the rest of the family. Marinette caressed his arm a little, before he stood up and took the test results out of his mother’s hands to read it from himself. Not that he didn’t trust his mother but with Anarka, you never know. Juleka approached to read its contents too.

Sabrina - Not a sibling. Xavier Yves - Not a sibling. Jagged Stone - 99,9% Positive

Luka was relieved to finally know (mostly because the results discarded the worst two possibilities). Later, Marinette contacted uncle Jagged to let him know the news. After some dramatic performance, the rock star cried tears of joy from the discovery of having children (and grandchildren soon!).

And maybe it wasn’t what Luka expected (what was he supposed to expect, anyway?) but the idea of having a father didn’t feel as bad anymore.

From then on, Jagged, Penny and their newborn son became part of the Couffaine family, and Luka kept his promise to Marinette to be the best father in the world, and he spoiled his daughter (and her siblings) with everything he got.

He was the father, after all.

#lukanette fic #my fic #airipyon #airip4 #Don't take this too seriously #it's just a silly fic #I wanted to draw a comic...#I tried and it didn't work out #so no comic sadly #Can someone write that Mamma Mia AU tho??

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chilling-seavey · 3 years

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hi hi hi im back at it again with the blurbs - ABM universe: Dani and Flora taking their child/children for their ~lovely~ vaccines that they need to take as a child.

Well over due on my part but an amazing idea as usual hehe

Clementine

Florence did not want to take her daughter for her vaccines by herself – not wanting to have to deal with the heartbreaking sound of the baby’s cries - so the only logical solution was to call in emotional support. Daniel was more than happy to come along for the adventure, joining them on the subway ride and pushing the stroller into the doctor’s office. Two-month-old Clementine was wide awake, staring up at Daniel from the stroller with big blue eyes and sucking softly on her pacifier as she took in the surroundings above her while Florence checked them in at the nurse’s desk.

“Clemmie.” Daniel cooed down to the baby to bring her attention back to him. “Hi, cutie.”

She kicked her legs excitedly at his voice and he smiled at her.

The nurse led them right into one of the patient rooms and got them settled to wait for the doctor and Florence unbuckled her baby from the stroller and lifted her out. Clementine rested easily against her shoulder, those big blue eyes still scanning everything in the new room under the comforting hand of her mother.

Daniel was scanning the decals on the wall of Winnie the Pooh characters and little balloons and honey pots. He turned back to Florence who was swaying slightly with her baby cuddled against her. She was frowning.

“Are you nervous?” Daniel asked.

Florence nodded, turning a little to pepper gentle kisses to her daughter’s head. Daniel cracked a small smile to his best friend as he hopped up onto the examination table.

“It’s better to get a vaccination than a scary disease.” he said.

“Don’t even joke.” Florence replied quietly. “They had her out of the room for the ones when she was born so I’ve never had to see them.”

“Do you want me to hold her for you when she gets them?”

“Yes please.” Florence nodded.

When the doctor arrived, they shared updates on Clementine’s development and Daniel sat quietly in the chair in the corner while Florence and the doctor spoke about the baby. Clementine was laid out on the examination table with Florence’s protective hand on her stomach as the doctor had the baby striped down to give her a full check-up. He made sure she was smiling fine, following his finger when he moved it, and lifting her head as well as other aspects of her growth, asking Florence questions about her sleeping and eating and everything in between.

Soon, it was time for the vaccinations and Florence looked over to Daniel with panic in her eyes. He jumped up right away and came over, leaning over the wriggling baby on the examination table and scooped her right up. Florence took a nervous step back as she watched the doctor prepare the shots.

“We’re going to be so good, aren’t we, Clemmie?” Daniel cooed softly as he sat back down in the chair he was in before.

The doctor instructed him on how to hold her to keep her from squirming – wrapping his arm around her body and holding her hands still with her legs tucked securely between his thighs. Daniel got nervous holding the tiny baby so restrained but the doctor said he was doing it perfectly and took a cleansing wipe to Clementine’s thigh. Florence stood across the small room, biting anxiously at her fingernail as she watched.

Clementine was a generally quiet baby but the first shot had her wailing, trying to wiggle out of Daniel’s arms and Florence took a shaky inhale.

“Shh, it’s okay.” Daniel soothed the baby nervously, “Dani’s right here, Clemmie. You’re such a good girl.”

She needed five vaccines for her two-month appointment and each one had the poor baby crying louder but the doctor worked quickly to get through with it. Florence even shed a few tears herself as seeing her baby in pain and crying was never easy. When the vaccines were finished, Daniel got up to pass over the baby to Florence and Clementine curled right into her. He rubbed his hand over the baby’s bare back, trying to keep his own struggling emotions at bay.

Florence held her close and glanced up at Daniel, mouthing a grateful, “Thank you.”

Penelope

A six-months-old, little Penelope was a shy little wonder. Daniel was more than comfortable with fatherhood duties since he had done plenty in the previous year with Clementine so he wasn’t phased when he had to take Penelope for her next dose of shots on his own. It had been a while since he had visited the pediatrician since his relationship with Florence was on rocky ground for a while but things were perfectly smoothed over – she was now his girlfriend – and he was back to his usual job of protector…to all three of them now.

Daniel headed into the doctor’s office and up to the nurse’s desk, six-month-old Penelope half asleep in the stroller and he rolled it back and forth gently to lull her farther into sleep as he checked in. She snoozed peacefully as they waited to be called into one of the back rooms and Daniel scrolled through his phone with his other hand claimed by the sleeping baby. She loved to hold his finger while she slept.

Finally, Penelope’s name was called and Daniel gently pulled his finger from her hand to push the stroller down the hall and into the room the nurse directed him to. Daniel unbuckled the baby and gently lifted her from the stroller, making her whine lightly as she was moved.

“I know, I know.” Daniel shushed her sweetly, tucking her head against his shoulder as he rocked her slightly to keep her relaxed and she quieted down easily. “That’s my good girl.”

There was nothing Daniel loved more than talking about his daughters and the doctor was no exception of an audience – and her bowel movements was no exception of a topic either it seemed. Just parenthood things, right? When it was time to check her over, Daniel laid her down on the examination table and helped strip her from her clothes, beaming with pride as she passed the tests that the doctor did to make sure she was developing well.

“Is she sitting up on her own yet?”

Daniel’s face fell, “Is she supposed to?”

“Not necessarily, but soon, hopefully. Keep practicing with her.”

Daniel nodded, keeping a secure hand on the sleepy baby’s stomach as she was measured and then weighed. Then it was vaccination time and Daniel carefully lifted Penelope up to sit down with her tucked in his arms while the doctor got the shots ready.

She blinked sleepily up at him with big blue eyes and reached her hand up to rest her palm against his chest as she mewled uncomfortably. Being left in only a diaper in February wasn’t anyone’s first choice of comfort.

“You going to be a good girl for the doctor?” Daniel whispered down to her, tracing the curve of her chubby cheek and her wiggling arms as they waited, but he couldn’t ignore his own anxiety that was bubbling up inside him. “Aren’t you, bug? Going to be a good girl for Dada too.”

The doctor crouched down in front of them and Penelope whined softly, tugging at Daniel’s shirt as he held her legs and her arms down so the doctor could work.

“You’re okay.” Daniel said softly, rubbing his thumb over her arm. “Dada’s right here.”

The needle was barely in her thigh and she was already screaming, trying to wiggle right out of Daniel’s secure grasp.

“Okay, bug, it’s okay.” Daniel tried to assure her, tears pricking his eyes as he held his baby down while she wailed. Five more vaccines were delivered and once they were finished, Penelope herself and Daniel’s shirt were soaked in baby tears and Daniel was sure his ears were ringing with how loud the six-month-old could scream.

The doctor offered him a reassuring smile and Daniel thanked him flatly as he reached into the stroller and pulled out the baby blanket to wrap around the naked baby. Daniel shushed her gently as he cuddled her right up to his chest and he shut his eyes tightly as he held her.

“Want a lollipop?”

Daniel looked up at the doctor and he was holding out a purple lollipop with an understanding smile.

“For…me?” Daniel asked.

“It’s harder for the parents than it is for the kids…and I can’t offer you alcohol.” the doctor chuckled.

Daniel cracked a smile and took the lollipop, “Thanks.”

Lucy

For the first four years of Lucy’s life, she spent the days at home with just her and her mother while her sisters were at school and her father was at work. Florence and Lucy did have a strong bond because of this but Lucy’s attachment to her father was unmoveable. To get the toddler out of the house without much trouble, Florence never told her where they were going as she knew she would have a hell of a time calming down her dramatic two-year-old if she knew they were going to the doctors. What Florence wouldn’t give to have Daniel leave work just to take their youngest for her vaccinations. This was her least favourite part of parenthood, truly.

Lucy was sat in the stroller as they took the subway towards the office and down the sunny sidewalk and into the building. The moment Lucy recognised where she was, she was trying to wiggle out of the stroller, whining behind her pacifier and tugging at the straps that held her sitting.

Florence checked them in at the nurses desk and they were directed to the waiting room for a bit. She unbuckled the toddler carefully and set her on the ground, “Go play for a bit, okay?”

Florence ushered her towards the blocks that were set up in the play corner of the pediatrician’s waiting room but Lucy couldn’t focus on playing in her current state. When her name was called, Lucy went running back to her mother and threw her little arms around her legs and tried to hide.

“Come on, sweet girl.” Florence took her hand and led her after the nurse to the patient room, pulling the empty stroller behind her.

Lucy had to nearly be dragged down the hallway and into the room and when the nurse closed the door behind them, Lucy went running to try and open the handle. Florence scooped her up onto her hip and tried to distract her by pointing out the fun little decals on the walls but Lucy was not having it.

“Dada!” she called.

“Dada’s working but Mama’s got you.” Florence promised, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s cheek. “We can tell Dada how brave you were later, right?”

“Noo!” Lucy tried to wiggle out of her arms.

Lucy certainly put up a fight with the doctor during the check-up but wasn’t too terrible and was more than ready to go home when he walked back over to the small counter in the corner of the room.

“Home, Mama.” Lucy asked sweetly, reaching her hand up to her mother. She made little grabby hands up at her. “Please, home, Mama.”

“Not yet, sunshine.” Florence picked her up and sat her on her lap on the chair. “We just have to get a few little needles first, just small ones.”

Lucy’s eyes went as wide as saucers as if she was being tortured evilly and she squirmed violently in her mother’s arms to be let go. Florence tried to grab her arms and legs to hold her secure but she was a wiggling mess.

“Dada!” Lucy shrieked as loud as she possibly could. “Noo!”

“Mama’s got you.” Florence tried to soothe her, “We’ll go get ice cream after, okay?”

Lucy was not ready to be bribed and she just flailed harder, “Daddy!”

“Come on, Lucy Lu. Be a good girl now.” Florence said as gently as she could, trying to ignore the glances from the poor doctor who was just trying to do his job.

Lucy was screaming and nothing had even happened yet, tears pouring down her cheeks as she thrashed in Florence’s arms, calling for Dada as if somehow he might hear her all the way at work. When a good five minutes passed and Lucy was still putting up a good fight no matter how much both Florence and the doctor tried to intervene, the young mother had to call in emergency backup.

She was sat back in the waiting room with a crying two-year-old on her lap, vaccines put on hold until the kid could calm down, and Florence felt like nothing but a failure. Lucy sucked on her pacifier as she cuddled against her mother’s chest, cheeks pink and eyes swollen from her crying fit.

Finally, the doctors office door opened again and Daniel stepped inside quickly. Florence sighed with relief at the sight of him and Lucy perked up right away, instantly holding her arms up to him with little grabby hands.

“Hey, you two.” Daniel said softly, bending down to kiss his tired wife and then scoop up the toddler into his arms. Lucy nuzzled right into his neck with her arms wrapped right around his shoulders. “What’s with you not being a good girl for Mama?” Daniel asked her quietly, pressing his fingers into her side to make her giggle a little. “Had to take an early lunch break for you, Princess.”

“She’s a princess alright.” Florence mumbled, staring up at the two of them in front of her.

Daniel took sniffling Lucy on a gentle stroll around the waiting room, humming to her softly to help calm her down as they waited for the doctor to call them back in to finish the appointment, his hand rubbing soothing stripes over her back as she clung onto him. Soon, they were back in the patient room and Daniel had Lucy sat on his lap for her needles and she simply clung right onto him and buried her face in his chest while the doctor gave her the vaccines. She cried – loudly, still – but her much better obedience with Daniel had Florence rolling her eyes across the room.

When the appointment was over and Lucy was happily sucking on a lollipop in Daniel’s arms, her tear streaked cheek resting against his shoulder, the three of them headed outside. Florence was quiet.

“Look at me.” Daniel said softly, reaching out with the arm that wasn’t holding his youngest to stroke his wife’s cheek. She glanced at him flatly. He assured her woes with a quiet, “Not your fault.”

“I’d be so freaking lost without you, it makes me mad sometimes.” Florence sighed.

Daniel smiled and slid his arm around her waist to pull her close and he pressed a kiss to her lips, “I know. You always need to hold my hand when you get needles too.”

#anything but mine #daniel seavey #why dont we #daniel seavey imagines

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theeasternempress · 3 years

Text

Bandaids and Safety Pins

Summary - On one of Jason’s patrols as Red Hood, a thug gets lucky with a knife and managed to slice him and his leather jacket. Fixing the damage to his jacket turns out to be much more difficult than he anticipated.

Author’s note - So you know how everyone kind of makes fun of Arkhamverse Jason for having a bandaid covering a rip in his shirt and a safety pin holding together a tear in his jacket? What if the reason he can’t fix them is because of his nerve damage and other injuries? Enjoy :)

AO3

This was one of those nights that Jason had to remind himself that he actually liked Gotham and wanted to see the city improve. Well, he only liked it sometimes and that was thanks to the chili dog cart on the corner and the orange tabby cat he would occasionally see in the window across the street. But most nights, he’d be happy to see this city turned to ash.

But tonight was one of those nights that no amount of chili dogs or orange cat sightings could cheer him up. Patrol had started as usual and he’d managed to intervene in three attempted robberies, a kidnapping, and even an arson attempt before everything went to shit.

He’d found a group of men spray painting the brick walls of a business and although Jason usually didn’t care about vandalism, he’d dropped down from the building he was perched on when he saw that it was a Planned Parenthood. A few of the men had crowbars and one had a sledgehammer, which led Jason to believe that the intentions of these men were much worse than just spray painting derogatory things about women.

He scared one of the men when he was suddenly behind them and taunted, “What’s going on over here, boys?”

All of them stopped what they were doing and turned to face Jason. They didn’t look like much of a threat, but Jason knew not to get cocky. Joker taught him that lesson when he was 15.

“We ain’t doin’ nothing wrong, Hood,” one of the older men replied with a thick Gotham accent.

“I beg to differ. How ‘bout you put all of that stuff down and I let you walk away with your heads. Sound like a deal?”

It seemed that a few of them were more than happy to drop whatever it was in their hands and leave, but the four men with crowbars gripped them tighter and one man pulled a bowie knife out of his jacket.

Jason shrugged and cracked his knuckles with a, “Have it your way.”

One of the men charged at him, but Jason was quick to fire a bullet into the hand holding the crowbar and then bash his head in with the end of his gun. He dropped to the ground with blood pooling around his head just as another man approached him. He swung the crowbar up with every intention of bringing it down on Jason’s head, but Jason caught his hand and shot him in the abdomen. Once he hit the ground, Jason stomped on his wrist to break it and ripped the crowbar from his grip.

Despite seeing their two friends go down in seconds, the final three men didn’t back down. The two crowbar-wielding men attacked together while the man with the knife went to Jason’s back. He’d managed to knee one man in the groin while shooting the other in both ankles, but he didn’t have time to attack the man behind him before he slashed across his left shoulder blade. He hissed in pain, but didn’t hesitate to turn around and step away from the man before shooting him in the head.

All of the men were either unconscious or bleeding so badly they were in shock, which gave Jason the chance to go through all of their wallets and collect any money they had. He slipped in under the door of the Planned Parenthood and grappled up onto a nearby rooftop. The money might not completely cover the costs of the damage, but it was the best Jason could do.

Jason groaned and bent over in pain when he landed, clutching his shoulder in an attempt to stop the pain. It didn’t feel that deep, but any damage to his shoulder hurt immensely. The winter weather was making the pain in his shoulders act up and feel like the joint was practically frozen in place. Every little arm movement felt like searing pain, and this injury would only make things worse.

A little voice in the back of his head told him to just finish patrol as usual and treat his wound later, but the logical side of him knew that he had to start treatment sooner rather than later in order to not face the consequences.

He stumbled his way back to his apartment, clutching his shoulder in an attempt to stabilize it. It might have taken him longer to get home, but it was better to be careful than tear his wound open any further.

He shrugged himself out of his gear and assessed the damage to his shoulder. Luckily, the cut wasn’t too deep and the bleeding had nearly stopped on its own. It was in a terrible spot to have to stitch up, so Jason was grateful that it wasn’t deep and would heal on its own.

He rewarded himself with the hottest shower he could stand and cleaned his wound carefully, applying a good amount of antibiotic ointment and wrapping it in gauze once the area was dry.

With the minimal amount of damage done to his shoulder, Jason knew that meant that his precious leather jacket had taken the brunt of the attack. Flipping his jacket over in his hands, Jason saw he was correct when he was faced with the huge gash across his jacket.

Jason sighed and pulled his sewing kit out from one of his drawers. It was small and simple with only a few different colors and needles, but it got the job done.

He dumped out a spool of black thread, sewing scissors, a long needle, and a needle threader. With how unsteady his hands were, Jason was grateful for the needle threader because he knew he’d never be able to thread the needle without it. Even when Alfred was teaching him how to sew when he was younger, Jason had never once been able to thread a needle by hand.

Jason cut a decent sized piece of black thread and although he had a bit of difficulty with threading the needle, he was ready for the second dreaded part of sewing: tying a knot. Once again, Jason thanked Alfred’s endless patience and knowledge for teaching him multiple different ways to tie a knot.

Despite using the easiest method Alfred had taught him, the shaking of Jason’s hands made it take longer than it should have. Jason knew that his shaking and tremors were only aggravated by the cold weather, but their true origins lay in what he suspected to be nerve damage and possibly early-onset Parkinsons. At this point, his hands were shaking so badly that the needle in his grasp would have flown across the room if it hadn’t been clenched in his fist.

Jason was frustrated with himself for taking so long to complete a simple activity. He buried his head in his lap and groaned, feeling the urge to hit something grow stronger by the second. He didn’t realize just how hard he was squeezing his hand together until the needle pricked his finger and he opened his palm to reveal nail marks embedded in his skin.

He sighed deeply and took some deep breaths in an attempt to stop his shaking and calm himself down. He had all the time in the world to get this done, he just had to be patient.

Jason threw all cares about patience out the window a minute later when he had pulled the needle through his first stitch and the thread slipped out of the needle’s eyehole. He was tempted to scream in rage, but he knew it was way too late at night for that. Still, he wouldn’t mind the neighborhood reputation as the Enraged Screamer if it meant he could get some of his anger out.

He rethreaded the needle and began again. The material of the jacket made it hard to pull the needle through, but Jason was determined to continue.

Three stitches went by without a problem before the thread fell out again. Jason laughed, only so he wouldn’t scream, and took a minute to calm himself down. His shaking only got worse when he was angry.

Jason fixed his needle and went slower, taking his time to ensure he had a good grip on the end of his needle. For a few stitches, everything was fine.

When the thread fell out for the third time, Jason couldn’t help himself when grabbed it and he yelled, “Listen here, you fucking piece of trash: you have one job, now do it!”

Tears of frustration streamed down his cheeks as he yelled and cursed at the string. He buried his head in his still-shaking hands and sobbed. The Joker had taken so, so much from him, and this was just another thing lost to him. He threw the needle across the room with a heaving sob, not caring where it landed.

In his frustrated state, Jason cut the thread and ripped it out of his jacket to reopen the hole again. He’d barely made any progress and there was no way for him to finish.

This was the life he was left with; unable to fix a simple problem and then being reduced to tears over it. Maybe that’s why Bruce replaced him so easily. Who wanted a Robin who cried whenever he got angry when you could have a rich one?

It took a few minutes for his tears to stop, but the anger and bitterness in his heart continued. Having a breakdown wouldn’t help him fix his problem, it would only make it worse.

With that thought in mind, Jason began searching his apartment for anything else he could use to fix his jacket. His mind jumped to ‘stapler’, but he doubted he had one here.

The search stopped when he found a box of safety pins in the back of one of his drawers. Jason figured if he used a couple, it would be good enough to fix his jacket.

He poured a few into his hand and started threading them through his jacket. To his surprise, they actually worked pretty well. It’d never be as good as actually sewing the hole closed, but that was never gonna happen.

With his jacket fixed to his satisfaction, Jason tossed it aside and climbed into bed. His heart was still beating like mad and his hands were still shaky, but he had to at least try to go to sleep. Maybe his dreams would be better than the day he’d had.

#DC #Jason Todd #batman: arkham series #batman: arkham knight #angst

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cela-astral-projection · 4 years

Text

And though I can't guarantee there's nothing scary hiding under your bed, I'm gonna stand guard...'Til I leave you with a sweet dream in your head.

Asra sat in the nursery, by the window, soaking in the moonlight. His tiny daughter in his arms, nestled against his bare chest as he rocked her. It had been a long day. They had been at the palace for their daughters' naming ceremony.

It was supposed to have been a joyful celebration. They were finally getting to bring their children to meet their friends and family. And it was joyous. Initially. They were able to give their children names. Sohelia and Selyavira. It was lovely and sweet.

Then, at the reception, things, for him, had soured. At first, it had warmed his heart to see his parents passing the girls back and forth, gushing love and adoration over them. Then, the wistfulness started to creep in. His parents, holding a tiny, blonde baby in their arms.

There were some offhand, flippant comments. About 'never letting them go,' how they'd always be 'loved and protected.' And, while Asra knew that they meant it, it still stung severely.

Celeste, sensing his tension, had held his hand tightly, trying to keep him calm. For the sake of those who had come to see their beautiful children, at very least.

All of that, he could have tolerated if his mother hadn't started questioning their daily routine. Wanting information about every waking moment of their days for the past few months. Offering commentary and advice. That had put him over the edge. Worse, when he tried to take Sohelia from Salim and was met with disappointment, and, worse, protest.

He was able to, politely, but firmly, inform his father that he would, in fact, be taking his child. And had been reluctant to relinquish her again for the rest of the day.

It was different, seeing them in Nadia's arms. Portia's arms. Julian's arms. He knew that they would do anything for those children. And, if he was thinking rationally, he knew that his parents weren't lying. Of course, they'd do anything for them. Of course, they loved them.

But, his heart lashed out against reason. They had made promises to him, too. And he knew that it wasn't their fault that they hadn't been able to keep them. The reality was that he had kept himself safe. He had Muriel. They had each other. And now, they had Celeste. They didn't need anyone else.

Looking into Sohelia's tiny face, her dark eyes reflecting the moonlight, he couldn't imagine anything that would part him from her.

But then, he hadn't thought anything could part him from their mother, either. A sobering thought.

He heard rustling from the other side of the house. Muriel and Celeste were up.

It was maybe one or two in the morning. Hours until daybreak. But he wasn't tired. He wanted to be here, with his girls.

"You two keep the same hours," Celeste said, leaning in the doorframe, eyes still half-lidded. "Cat naps."

Asra looked to her, the corner of his mouth turned up. "Oh, yes. She's all mine," he whispered, turning his face back to Helia. He stroked a finger along the top of her head. The translucent white fuss that covered her scalp.

They looked so lovely together. It made Celeste's heart swell. Both Asra and Muriel had taken to parenthood and exceeded her wildest expectations. She knew they would be good at it, of course. There was never any question, but seeing how they simply dove in every day, unflinching at every mess and screaming fit. Helping Celeste convalesce after giving birth. They didn't always understand what was happening, and there had more than a few panicked moments over nothing, but that had only been endearing.

Celeste crossed the room, looking into Vira's bassinet. Sound asleep, breathing steadily. She'd have to wake her up, which was never pleasant. Her hand went to her chest, massaging the skin above her breast.

"Well, since Helia's already up...seems like the path of least resistance," she said, turning to Asra.

He nodded and bent his head to kiss her forehead before passing her into Celeste's arms and relinquishing the rocking chair to her. When they were settled, he stroked his hand over Celeste's hair, watching her put the babe to her breast.

After a moment, Asra made to leave, and she reached out to catch his hand, squeezing his fingers. She looked up at him, imploring.

He sighed and nodded his head. "I'm fine. Its just...it was more than I was ready to process, I think."

"I think we all have hang-ups about parents, Asra. I understand. We'll take your lead on this." she said, sympathetic. "Your parents are lovely people, but...you're my priority."

Mulling her words over. "I just...I want to be the one. Do you understand? I don't want them to feel like they have to intervene. You're my family. They're my kids. I want them to respect the decisions I make for my family."

She made a quiet noise of affirmation. "You are the one, Asra. Nobody is questioning you. They're just...in love. They're just invested."

Celeste had a different perspective on the situation. She had seen so many overbearing grandparents trying to push young parents one way or another. Alisha and Salim were positively saints, comparatively. But, she did understand. She had been there from the time of their reunion. The way they had to navigate each other and reestablish their relationship. It did not astound her that Asra had strong sentiments surrounding his parents, especially where the girls were concerned.

He drew a sharp breath. "Is it...wrong, that I feel..insecure?" he asked. "I remember when they looked at me the way they look at them. And then they were just gone. I thought it would be forever. And now, they're home. And they don't look at me like that anymore. They look at me with remorse. For all the time that was lost."

Celeste nodded. "And you don't look at them the same way you did when you were little. I'm sure they're processing this, too." She offered as a counter. "If you feel insecure, that's how you feel. I don't think that's wrong. Or bad. There's...a lot happening, right now. Even under ideal circumstances, I think this would overwhelm anyone's emotions. And we have never really been under what one would consider ideal circumstances, have we?"

Asra chuckled, then bit his lip, looking down on her, his beloved wife, and his beautiful child. "I don't know, this is pretty ideal, if you ask me."

"That's because you've never had a regular sleep cycle. Two in the morning with a hungry infant latched to your nipple gives you a bit of a different perspective." she teased. "But, I suppose, a little bit of exhaustion is worth it." She said, turning her eyes back on the baby. Helia's white eyelashes fluttering, eyes rolled back, milk drunk. "They really are perfect, aren't they?"

"I certainly think so." Asra knelt at Celeste's side, stroking his finger over the tiny toes. "I thought I heard Muriel up with you?"

Celeste chuckled. "Mm. I think he made it from the bed to the settee. I imagine he's hanging off both ends waiting for someone to take him back to bed."

"You broke him. He used to be able to sleep by himself." Asra chided playfully.

"He broke me. I can't sleep unless he's snoring beside me." Celeste countered. "You, on the other hand, I have seen sleeping on every surface known to man and in every position imaginable."

Asra smiled. "Should I go put him down? You know how cranky he gets when he's tired."

"He's always cranky. But, I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He had a very long day, too." she said.

She had been so proud of Muriel. It was probably the most people he had been around since their wedding, and he had been quite personable...a feat for Muriel. But, it had left him entirely spent. He had fallen asleep, Vira on his chest, within the first half-hour of returning home.

"Are you okay, here?" he asked, straightening.

She looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "Do you think you can take over?" Celeste shot back. "Because if either of you starts lactating, I'm more than willing to start taking turns." Asra actually seemed to be mulling it over. Celeste shook her head and waved him away. "Go to bed. I'll be back soon."

Asra chortled and bent down to kiss her, and then across her to kiss Helia. Before he left, he moved to kiss Vira, and Celeste hissed. "If you wake her up, you're going to have to take her, and she's going to be pissed off and loud."

Asra made a noise of understanding and backed away, out the door.

#fanfiction #fanfic #asra x apprentice #apprentice oc #asra x celeste #apprentice celeste #babies #oc #mc #short #domestic bliss #arcana #the arcana #the arcana game #asra alnazar

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sunshinevanfleet · 5 years

Text

parenthood - j. kiszka

request: Hi!! Can I request Jake as a dad? From the time he finds out he’ll be a dad, to the pregnancy, birth, and first year of the baby? Thank you!

pairing: jake x reader

a/n: this one is a bit of a doozy! please excuse any typos because i spent like four hours straight writing this and it’s very long compared to my other works. i didn’t go through the entire first year of the baby just because i didn’t want to take forever to get this up, but i hope this was close to what you were looking for! thank you for your request!

genre: fluff

word count: 4.1k

summary: the reader and jake become new parents

warnings: mentions of pregnancy and childbirth

i. the beginning

To say you were freaking out was an understatement. You rested your head in your hands as you stared at your spotless underwear for the sixth week in a row. With a swear, you sat up and pulled them up your legs, glancing at yourself in the mirror.

There was no way you were pregnant, right? Sure, sometimes you didn’t have a condom on hand, but you took your pills religiously. You ran a hand over your stomach as you stared at yourself. With a sigh, you tucked your hair behind your ears and pushed the bathroom door open.

Jake was sprawled on the bed, ready to go out for lunch. He glanced at you, noticing you still hadn’t gotten dressed after your shower.

“Feeling okay?” he asked, dropping his phone onto the bed and turning his full attention on you.

Your stomach turned with nerves, and you shook your head. “I think I need a pregnancy test.”

“What?” Jake gawked, his eyes wide.

“My period’s late.”

“How late? It could just be stress or something, right? I mean—you’re on the pill. There’s no way.”

You took another deep breath, gripping the door frame to keep yourself steady. It felt like your chest was caving in, tightening with every breath you took. Maybe Jake was right, maybe it was stress.

“I should take a test, though. Just to be sure…” You said, trying to convince yourself as much as Jake.

“You’re right,” Jake nodded. He sprung off the bed with ease, straightening out his t-shirt and pushing his hair out of his eyes. “You’re right. Drink something, and I’ll be back in twenty, okay?” He pulled you in quickly, placing a kiss against your forehead as you tried not to cry.

“Don’t be long,” you told him, trying to force a smile.

“I won’t. Promise.” His eyes were soft, reassuring, and you nodded as he squeezed your hand before disappearing out of the bedroom.

You heard the thump of the door closing, then the sound of his car outside. As you poured yourself a glass of water, you thought it over in your mind. What were you going to do if that test came up positive? Jake would be off touring with the band, and you would be at home taking care of a child. Could you be in any worse of a situation?

You downed the entire glass of water, and still didn’t have the urge to pee. Flicking the faucet on, you listened to the trickle of water as you drank more.

When Jake finally returned, you were practically dying. As soon as you saw the handle of the door turn, you bounded toward the bathroom. Right behind you, Jake passed you the four tests he bought as you relieved yourself.

The lump in your throat grew as you capped the tests and placed them on the counter. You washed your hands, then slid onto the counter beside the tests to wait. Jake was right beside you, his fingers linked with yours as you stared at the four little sticks.

“What are we gonna do?” you croaked, glancing over at Jake as you felt the tears pooling in your eyes.

“Hey,” he soothed, his voice gentle. “We’re gonna be fine. You know I’ll always take care of you.” He stepped between your legs, one hand tracing circles onto your thigh while the other cupped your cheek.

You choked back tears, shaking your head. “You shouldn’t have to. It’s—this is all my fault. I probably fucked up taking my birth control.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Jake sighed. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. It takes two to tango, Y/N.” He grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

You scoffed, sniffling as you shook your head. “This isn’t a joke, babe. A baby will ruin everything. What about the band, and my job?”

The sobs finally broke through, and you leaned forward to press your face into his shoulder. Jake hooked his arms around you, caressing your back in a gesture of comfort.

“Nothing’s gonna be ruined,” said Jake. “This doesn’t mean our lives are over. We can do this, mama.” He swiped away your tears, pressing a kiss to your head as you sobbed in his arms.

“You can’t be serious,” you blubbered, trying your hardest to keep at least a bit of your composure. “We don’t know the first thing about kids.”

“I know we’re gonna be fine,” replied Jake. “I know our kid’ll be a musical genius. I know they’ll have your attitude, and my sleeping habits.”

You couldn’t help but grin at him, wiping the mess off of your face.

“My attitude?”

“Yeah, Miss Grumpy-Pants.”

You laughed despite your tears.

“I love you,” Jake leaned in, pressing his lips against yours. “And I’ll love our baby, too.”

You smiled, your forehead resting against his. “I love you, too.”

Jake squeezed your hand, then pulled away to look at the tests. All four—positive.

ii. every single morning

“Hey!” Jake warned, watching as you bent over to pick up the book you knocked off of the table.

You stopped, your hand on your lower back as you glanced back at him. “What?” Your brows pulled together, bewildered at his sudden outburst.

“Let me get it,” Jake said, swooping in to put the book back in its place.

“You’re ridiculous,” you huffed, standing back up straight. Jake only grinned at you, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’m here to take care of you, Y/N. What good would I be if I wasn’t here to watch your every move?” Jake wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in gently to avoid bumping your stomach too hard.

“You act like I’m ten months pregnant,” you laughed. “I’m fine, Jake. I can still bend over, and walk, and brush my own hair, and feed myself.” You leaned up to kiss him, then pulled away.

“It’s better when I help,” Jake said smugly, shrugging at you. “You ready to go?

“Yeah,” you nodded. Jake looked at you expectantly. You grinned, stooping down for a second to grab your bag. Jake snagged the keys off the counter, muttering something about his efforts being useless as you laughed at him.

You kissed him again as you passed, headed for the car.

“You look nervous,” you mentioned as the two of you rode to the doctor’s office.

Jake gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white, and his eyes were stuck on the road. You could see the nerves in the way he bounced his left leg while the right one pressed on the gas.

“I’m all right.”

“You look a little green,” you teased, reaching over to run a hand through his hair. He leaned into your hand, one hand coming up to wrap around your wrist and pull your hand to his lips. Your fingers remained intertwined as he pulled them onto his lap.

“This—it all feels too good to be true.”

“How so?” you ran your thumb over his knuckles in a gesture of comfort. He squeezed your hand.

“Me, you, and our baby. Can you believe it? You’re having my baby.” His face broke out into a goofy grin, and you chuckled.

“Yeah, I am. Wouldn’t want it to be anyone else’s.”

“Me neither,” said Jake, glancing over at you with a massive smile. “I can’t wait until we’re waking up every night to our baby screaming, and I get to see your tired face every single morning.”

“Yeah, and you’ll get to hear me complain about being tired every single morning,” you laughed, and Jake brought your hand up to his lips again.

“It’ll be the best feeling in the world,” Jake added, and you rolled your eyes as he pulled into a parking place.

As you checked in, the receptionist made small talk with the both of you. “What do you have your bets on? Boy or girl?”

“Either one,” replied Jake as you filled out your paperwork. “Maybe they’ll find another one in there; we can have one of each.”

You glanced up, glaring at him. “I doubt it,” you laughed. “I’m pretty sure it’s a boy.” Your fingers trailed over your stomach, and you felt the jump of the baby kicking.

“Maybe,” said Jake. The receptionist smiled as you passed her your paperwork, then the two of you went to sit and wait to be called back.

It felt like hours before you were finally in a room. You were sprawled on the table, your stomach exposed to the air as Jake sat beside you. He was talking to the baby about any and everything. You squeezed his hand as the baby kicked, shifting around. You hoped the doctor would be able to get a good view on the ultrasound; you were dying to know if it was a boy or girl already.

Jake almost jumped out of his chair in excitement when the doctor finally came in, wearing her brightest smile. She made small talk as she got ready, washing her hands and putting on gloves while a nurse came in to help with the equipment.

Sweat pooled on your hands as you watched the screen intently. You chewed your tongue as the doctor spread cool gel over your bare stomach, pressing into the skin with the ultrasound wand.

“Well, you can see the baby's getting big,” said the doctor.

You couldn’t wipe the smile from your face as you saw your baby on the screen. The baby moved slightly, giving a gentle kick to your stomach as your heart rate picked up. Jake held your hand between his, kissing your fingers as the doctor tried to find a good angle of the baby.

“Would you like to know the gender?”

“Yes!” Jake said, the excited quiver clear in his voice.

“Please,” you said, your toes curling as you watched the little screen.

The doctor glanced over at the two of you, and gestured at the screen. “As you can see here, it’s a little boy.”

You couldn’t help the tears that spilled as you heard Jake laugh beside you.

“I knew it,” you giggled, wiping your face as Jake stood up to kiss you.

“We’re having a son,” Jake said incredulously.

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” you nodded at the doctor, who patted your leg kindly.

“Yeah, thanks so much,�� added Jake, placing his hand on your stomach after the nurse wiped away the gel. “I can’t believe it, Y/N…” He shook his head.

“Our little boy,” you said affectionately, sitting up and rubbing your hand over your little bump.

“Never thought I’d love somebody as much as I love you right now,” Jake laughed, pulling you into his embrace.

iii. curtains

“Wait, no,” you grumbled as Jake passed you the curtains. “I wanted the ones with the dinosaurs for this window,” you said.

“Sorry, babe,” Jake disappeared from the room.

You braced yourself against the wall as you watched Josh drag in the box for the crib. Sam was on his heels, carrying a box for the shelves that were meant to go beside the window. The two of them chattered, arguing over who could assemble their piece of furniture the fastest.

The nursery was coming along nicely—you and the boys had spent the previous day painting the walls bright yellow to match your furniture. You’d chosen your theme very carefully, after several hours of contemplating with Jake. The both of you decided on dinosaurs, but now you couldn’t even find the proper curtains to hang.

As Jake continued rummaging around in the boxes in the living room with Danny’s help, you sighed heartily.

“What is taking them so long?” You complained, stepping down from your stool carefully. The baby jabbed you in the side, causing you to grunt in pain.

“I’ll go check on them,” offered Josh.

“I’ve got it,” you smiled, rubbing your stomach in an attempt to get the baby to move a bit. He’d been sitting right on your bladder for the past week, so much that you couldn’t go more than half an hour without nearly pissing yourself.

“Any luck?” you questioned, placing a hand on your hip as you looked at the boys.

“None,” replied Danny.

“It’s fine,” you said calmly. “I’ll look for them. Can you go make sure Sam and Josh don’t destroy the furniture?” You nodded toward the nursery, and he nodded.

“Sure thing.”

You sighed once you and Jake were alone in the living room. Carefully, you bent over to dig through all of the decorations and supplies for the unfinished nursery.

“I don’t think they’re here, babe,” Jake said, dropping another bag onto the floor.

You sighed as you sat down on the couch, pressing a hand to your forehead. Frustration burned in your chest, and you closed your eyes as you tried not to cry.

“Hey, it’s all right.” Jake joined you on the couch, pulling you into his arms as you bawled.

“It’s not,” you croaked. “Everything is falling apart.” Your tears soaked his shirt, and Jake shushed you softly. His fingers ran over your hair.

“Everything is wonderful, sweetheart. The nursery will be done by this weekend, if Sam and Josh ever get the furniture put together,” he teased. You laughed through your tears, shaking your head.

“But the curtains,” you sighed, wiping your tears.

“We can get new curtains. We’ll buy as many curtains as your pretty little heart desires.”

You laughed again. “We only need one set.”

“What if you want to change them out?”

“No,” you reasoned. “The curtains match the rug, and the carseat cover, and the changing table, and the—”

“Okay, so we can buy two of everything,” Jake teased, the amusement clear in his voice.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“It’s only practical. I mean, what if he vomits all over everything and it’s ruined?”

“It’s washable, Jake.”

“You think we’ll have time to do laundry?”

You laughed, rolling your eyes as you pulled away from him.

“Wait, no, we can get one of those baby chest straps while we’re doing the laundry.”

“Not a bad idea,” you nodded.

Jake opened his mouth to reply, but Sam’s voice came from the nursery. “We found the curtains!”

You and Jake shuffled off to the nursery, where Josh passed you the curtains. “They were behind the door.”

“Of course they were,” you huffed incredulously.

“Told you everything would be fine,” Jake kissed your forehead, and took the curtains from you to hang them up.

iv. the big day

“How do you feel?” Jake asked.

You eyed him, taking in the expectant look on your boyfriend’s face as he watched you. You swallowed your food, placing your half-eaten piece of pizza back onto your plate before you took a deep breath. “For the thousandth time, Jake, I feel fine. No contractions or anything.”

Jake nodded, but you could see the anticipation behind his eyes. You were three days past your due date, and Jake had been on edge the entire time. Your doctor said everything looked fine, and that the baby would come along whenever he was ready. He was taking his time. Jake, on the other hand, was ready now.

“You sure? We can go to the hospital early, if you’re worried about it.” Jake continued, picking at his pizza like he wasn’t hungry. He was too excited to eat, you guessed, and you couldn’t blame him. You were as ready for the baby as he was, but you could wait a couple more days. It’d feel peculiar to not be pregnant after carrying the baby for nine months.

“I’m not worried, babe. You need to take a breath, and eat.” You nudged his plate toward him, eyeing him carefully. “The baby will come on his own time. He’s comfortable in here, you know. And stubborn like you, too.”

Jake grinned, “‘Course he is. God, I can’t wait to meet our little guy.”

“Me neither,” you sighed. Your whole body seemed to tingle with excitement, but you could wait a few more days. “He’ll be here before you know it.”

“Still feel fine?” Jake questioned as the two of you got ready for bed.

You nodded, “Yes, Jake.”

“Okay, I was just making sure.”

“I promise you, I will let you know as soon as I feel anything,” you told him.

“All right.”

As you finished brushing your teeth, you swore you felt a slight cramp in your stomach. You wrinkled your nose, but ignored it. It wasn’t anything super painful. Probably just gas, like every other time you’d rushed up to the hospital to make sure.

You hummed contentedly as you slid into bed, the fresh sheets cool against your skin. Jake returned from the kitchen, carrying a glass of water for you.

“Thanks, love,” you said, kissing him quickly before placing the water beside you.

“Anything for you,” he replied, flicking the bathroom light off and shutting the door.

You rested a hand on your stomach as you tried to get comfortable. Lately, it’d been harder and harder to find a comfortable position to sleep in. You’d be glad to be able to sleep on your stomach again in a few days. As you shifted onto your side, facing Jake, you felt another pain in your stomach.

Wincing, you changed your position a bit to see if it would help. The pain subsided quickly, and you closed your eyes to try and get some sleep. From beside you, you could hear Jake’s calm breathing, but it wasn’t slow enough for him to be asleep. He watched you like a hawk, ever since the first false alarm.

Without fail, the pain returned. This time, it shot up your spine sharply, unlike any cramp you’d felt before. You hissed in pain, shooting up in bed and pressing a hand to your back. As you lifted yourself out of bed, you felt the moisture on the backs of your thighs and between your legs.

“Are you okay?” Jake shot out of bed, flicking the lamp on. His jaw dropped as he saw the pool of water in the bed, and his face cracked into a grin.

“It’s time,” you breathed, struggling over to the closet to change into something clean.

“It’s time!” he exclaimed, scrambling to gather your bag for the hospital.

You couldn’t help but smile despite your pain. You stripped out of your soaked underwear, and changed into a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. Jake returned from the nursery, carrying the hospital bag, as well as both of your phones and his keys.

“C’mon,” he cooed, hooking an arm under you as he led you toward the car. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, Jake. Can you please hurry it up? I don’t want to give birth in the car,” you breathed, trying to soothe the next contraction.

“Yeah, sorry,” Jake leaned over to kiss you after sliding into the driver’s seat, and you were off.

On the way to the hospital, you and Jake chattered on speaker phone to both of your families, telling them to meet you there. Jake was bouncing in his seat when you finally arrived.

“Looks like you’re right on time,” said your doctor as you were getting prepped for delivery. “Another few minutes and you’d be having your baby in bed.”

You breathed deeply, finally feeling the nerves that you’d been waiting for all week. The pain was unreal, but it was nothing in comparison to the anticipation of meeting your son. Everything in the past nine months—the pain, the emotional rollercoaster, the gas, the sleepless nights—was all for this moment. You would be holding your baby so soon.

Jake’s hand gripped yours tightly as he stood next to you. He bounced on the balls of his feet, watching the doctor and her team as they prepared for the birth of your son. You ignored the hustle and bustle around you, listening to Jake as he chattered in an attempt to distract you from the pain.

“Just a few more minutes, Y/N. You’re gonna be fine.” He planted his lips against your head, his calloused thumb rubbing your knuckles comfortingly.

You nodded, unable to say anything as you laid there. You could feel how close it was. You doubted it would be more than a couple minutes of pushing.

You listened to the nurses as they instructed you on breathing, while the doctor got into position. The pain didn’t even register as you pushed, then heard the sound of your son’s cries piercing through the air. Immediately, you burst into tears.

You sobbed as the nurse placed him in your arms, his skin damp against your bare chest.

“Hey, handsome,” you whispered, brushing your fingers over his hair and kissing his head.

Jake sniffled next to you, tears soaking his face too. “He’s ours.”

“Yeah,” you laughed in disbelief. “He’s all ours.”

v. sleepless nights

The shrill squall of the baby crying tore you from your peaceful slumber. You groaned into the pillow, pulling the blankets over your head as you nudged Jake with your foot.

“Jake, will you please get the baby?” you whined.

Jake stirred, but didn’t move more than a couple of inches. He slept like a rock ever since the two of you brought the baby home. You didn’t understand how he could do it.

“Jake,” you pushed his side, “Please go see what’s wrong with Nicky.”

You heard a yawn, then felt the bed shift. “Okay, mama. I’ll go see what’s wrong.” You felt his hand against your back, and then he was gone.

Relishing in the sound of silence, you sunk back into the mattress, ready for sleep to take you. Jake and the baby apparently had other plans. You grumbled under your breath as you heard the light flick on, and the sound of little Nicky whining.

With a huff, you sat up in bed and rubbed your eyes. The clock beside you said it was three in the morning, just two hours after you’d managed to finally get the baby to sleep.

“He’s hungry,” said Jake.

“Are you sure? Did you change him?”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Of course I did. I know his cries. He’s hungry.”

You sighed as you took the baby from his arms, and grabbed his bottle from the warmer on the nightstand. You shook the bottle, distributing the formula, then poked it into your son’s mouth.

Jake propped against the headboard, and pulled you back against his chest as you fed the baby. You closed your eyes, and tried not to fall asleep as you waited for the baby to finish. He was dozing off in your arms, and you were dozing off in Jake’s.

With a hefty yawn, you passed the baby to Jake, and put the bottle on the table next to you. Jake held the baby in his lap, admiring the tiny face of your newborn son. You couldn’t believe how much he looked like Jake—the same nose, same lips, same eyes, and all, but Jake insisted he had your chin and forehead no matter how much you didn’t see it.

“We made this guy,” Jake said, his voice thick with wonder.

You couldn’t help but crack a smile as you slipped back into bed, resting your head against Jake’s shoulder. “One thing we managed to do right,” you said, laughing.

“He’s just perfect, isn’t he?” Jake trailed his fingers gently along Nicky’s face, tracing every little detail.

You smiled as you watched your boys. You planted a kiss against Jake’s shoulder and nodded. “He is. How could he not be, with a dad like you?” You nudged him with your elbow, and Jake winked at you.

“And a mom like you, huh?” He leaned down, kissing you passionately. You smiled against his lips, then pulled away to yawn. “You need sleep,” he mentioned.

“You do, too.”

“It’s fine,” Jake smiled, stroking your hair. “I’ll put him in bed.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “Of course. Goodnight, sleepyhead.”

The morning came too quickly, and you held the baby against your chest as you brewed a pot of coffee. Gently, you patted his back in an attempt to get him to burp. Jake had slipped off for a shower, and you were struggling to keep your eyes open.

You hummed softly as you poured yourself a cup of coffee. Jake returned after a few minutes to find you in the living room; the baby laid in his swing, sleeping soundly, and you were watching a rerun of some soap opera as you gulped your coffee.

“This is the life,” Jake commented as he settled onto the couch beside you, wrapping you in his embrace.

“What? Being exhausted?”

“Mhmm,” he nodded. “I told you I couldn’t wait to see your tired face, every single morning.”

#jake x reader #jake kiszka imagine #jake kiszka x reader #greta van fleet imagine #greta van fleet fic #gvf imagine #gvf fic #my writing

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metamorphicrocky · 5 years

Note

For the prompts, how about a sickfic where either Little Catto or Gary is sick and starts out by trying to hide it, until the others find out during a mission?

fun fact, started writing this one when I was sick! I am still sick. I started this last week, but I finally found time to write this morning so I finished it off

Gary is so tired. It's a bone-deep exhaustion that he's never experienced before. All he wants is to sleep for days, but he can't do that. He almost misses his days on the Galaxy One when he was bored out of his mind with absolutely nothing to entertain him.

But no, having people around is much better, even if he's so busy that he barely has time to sleep. Between trying to track down dimensional keys, piloting the ship, fixing random things on the ship, being a father, and trying to not let worry over Quinn and Avocato consume him, he has a packed schedule.

Gary likes having things to do, but this is just a bit excessive. He's not going to complain though, especially about parenthood, because he's lucky to have people he likes around.

He yawns in the pilot's seat, his eyes craving to finally shut, but he forces them open and watches as the ship lands on the planet beneath them. He stands up and walks to his room to wake up Little Cato, who basically lives in there now, seeing as how every night for the past week or so he's been sneaking in there to sleep with Gary. The kid has no idea that they're landing today, and that's because Gary wanted to surprise him with a festival he heard about on a nearby planet. And if anyone needs a break from life, it's Little Cato.

The kid is still asleep, Mooncake nestled in his arms, his face squished against the pillow in the most adorable way. Gary takes a picture of it with a tired smile on his face, then he places a hand on Little Cato's shoulder and gently shakes him.

His boy's eyes open slowly, and Little Cato smiles at him when he realizes who's in front of him. "Mornin'," he mumbles.

"Morning, Spidercat," Gary greets, ruffling the kid's hair playfully. "Go get dressed, I've got a surprise for you."

Little Cato immediately sits up, excitement in his eyes. "A surprise? What is it?"

Gary laughs. "Get ready and then you'll find out. Meet me on the bridge."

The kid throws himself off of the bed, immediately running to his actual room to get clothes on. Gary shakes his head fondly and heads to the bridge, staring out at the landscape from the hill that they're on. The scenery reminds him of autumn on earth, so this should be a fun day.

Speaking of fun, Gary can hear small and rapid footsteps quickly getting louder, so he turns around just in time for Little Cato to sprint into the room, then crash into Gary's legs, Mooncake eagerly trailing after him.

"Tell me tell me tell meeee!" Little Cato says, jumping up and down in excitement.

Gary laughs. "You and I, are going to a festival. I have no idea what they've got down there, but we're doing it anyways!"

Little Cato gasps, and a bright grin splits his face.

"Yeah, I know," Gary says. "I'm excited, too, but it looks like it might be a bit chilly outside. So go grab a coat, bud."

The kid waves him off. "I've got all this warm fur right here, I'll be fine."

Gary lifts an eyebrow at that. "You sure?" Little Cato nods, grabbing Gary's hand to start pulling him towards the exit. "Okay, but if you get cold, that's for you to deal with."

----

Why did he let Little Cato get away without bringing a coat? Why? That has to be the dumbest parenting decision Gary has made yet.

Little Cato literally started shivering only an hour after being there. Gary wasn't going to cave because he told him it would be cold, but he couldn't do it. So he gave him his leather jacket.

Which was a mistake.

They just got back to the ship after a long day of fun, and Gary sent Little Cato to his room to sleep. He knows full well that the kid is going to wake him up in the middle of the night again, but he's not worried about that right now.

He's mostly thinking about how his nose is running, and he feels very shaky right now. Is the room spinning? Maybe, he can't really tell. Okay, so he might be getting sick. No big deal. He can walk it off. It won't last for a while, he'll be completely fine if he gets some sleep tonight. That should be easy, sleeping. It's simple, just sleep.

Gary splashes cold water on his face, trying to get rid of the clammy feel of his skin. Now he's going to bed. To sleep. So that he isn't sick.

Gary makes it to his room okay, and he puts on his pajamas and climbs into bed.

Sleep, now.

How about...now.

Or maybe....

Nope, okay, sleep is not happening.

Gary rolls over and smushes his face into his pillow, muffling a scream. No matter what he tries, he can't get comfortable. With a blanket, he's too hot. So he takes the blanket off, but then it's too cold. Keeping his eyes open hurts, but shutting them without being able to sleep is annoying.

How long has he been tossing and turning, he wonders. Gary grabs his phone to check, and damn, it's one in the morning. He got in bed at ten.

Gary rubs his face with a sigh, his prosthetic arm bringing some minor relief to his heated face. God, this is not good. At all.

He hears the pitter-patter of bare feet in the hallway, signalling that Little Cato has finally come. Oh no, Gary doesn't think he has the mental strength to be comforting right now. He's so tired, and he feels like crap, to put it simply.

The door opens, light from the hallway flooding in and causing Gary's head to pound from the sudden shift in brightness. The kid quietly walks in, the door shutting behind him, providing Gary's headache some relief, and he slides into the space Gary makes for him on the bed. It's a tight fit, but Gary has found that only having room to cuddle means that Little Cato is more likely to seek comfort.

"What's up tonight, Spidercat?" Gary rasps, holding back a cough that he knows will only end up starting a coughing fit.

Little Cato shrugs, wrapping his arms around Mooncake who snuggles into the warmth. "I can't really remember. I forgot the whole thing by the time I got here."

Gary nods. "Okay, just try to go back to sleep then, kiddo."

Little Cato inches closer to Gary, and he wraps his arms around the kid as he drifts to sleep again. Gary, however, now is not allowed to move for fear of waking the kid. So that means every time Gary can feel a cough coming on or wants to kick off the blankets or gets a chill through his entire body, he uses all of the strength he has to avoid that from happening. The kid needs sleep, and Gary will not ruin it.

Okay, so it isn't that bad. This is just a little cold that will pass within the day, then he can continue on with his life like normal with no one knowing. Perfect plan. Gary lays in bed all night, counting down the seconds until he can get up at a time that doesn't arouse suspicion.

Finally, after several agonizing hours, Gary carefully sneaks around Little Cato to get up and do something. If he stays busy, he can do this. Maybe.

Probably.

...He really hopes.

Another coughing fit racks his body, and he buries his face into the crook of his elbow to try to silence it. Okay, wow, that was really gross; he can taste and feel the mucous trying to come out, ew.

"You got this, Gary. It's just one day," he tries to say, but it comes out as a raspy set of words that he barely understands.

This is going to be fantastic.

It's nearing the end of the day, and somehow Gary hasn't collapsed yet even though his entire body is shaking. Did he eat today? Wow, he can't remember anything.

Right now, he's sitting at a table in the dining room, head in his hands as he tries to breathe without it sounding like a wheezing car engine.

"Hey, Gary!" Little Cato shouts.

Gary winces at the loud volume, but he collects himself anyways and turns to look at the kid in the doorway with a smile. "Hey, buddy."

"Wanna play a game of cards?"

Gary nods, so Little Cato hands him the deck for Gary to shuffle. Just as Gary starts dealing out cards, the ship's alarms go off. The sound slams into Gary's headache, but he stands despite the urgent need to lay down and never get up again. "AVA, what is it?"

"Bounty hunter ships have been detected. And they are coming straight for us," she says.

Shit. Gary and Little Cato sprint into action, both of them running towards the bridge as fast as they can. Holy fuck, Gary thinks his lungs are going to give out, but he can't worry about that right now because he has a ship to pilot. They reach the bridge, Gary sliding into his seat and immediately taking the controls.

There is so much sweat dripping down his face, his arms are violently shaking, his chest heaving as he tries to breathe. Gary just stares at the controls to see his hands jittering and messing up the controls. He can't pilot properly like this, especially with his vision blurring.

"Gary, come on! They're gaining on us!" Nightfall shouts, hurrying into the room. "What are you doing?! Move!"

His head whips towards her a bit too quickly, making him even more lightheaded. His hands slip from the controls as his body tips forward out of the seat, passing out cold onto the ground.

----

Gary wakes up very slowly. And groggily. God, he feels terrible, but also better at the same time? How the hell does that work?

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty."

Gary turns his head towards Nightfall, who's sitting in a chair next to the bed he's in. Wait, bed? When did he get into bed? Also, isn't this the medbay...?

Gary shoots up into a sitting position, trying to disentangle himself with the sheets, but Nightfall stops him with a strong grip on his shoulders. She shakes her head, anger written across her face. "Nope, you are not doing that. Lay back down, Gary, before I make you."

He doesn't lay down, but he does stop when a wet towel falls down from his forehead into his lap. He looks at her in confusion and tries to ask what's going on, but only a painful breath of air comes out. Gary's hand flies to his throat in double confusion, so he just looks to Nightfall for answers.

She crosses her arms. "We were being chased by bounty hunters, and you practically collapsed from over-exhaustion. Little Cato was losing his mind, but I told him to pilot while I dealt with you."

Gary looks around the room at that, not seeing his little buddy anywhere.

"He's making you soup," Nightfall answers, practically reading his mind. She smiles. "Just a warning, it'll probably taste terrible."

Gary smiles at that, then Nightfall takes the towel from his hands and dips it in water, ringing it out before giving it back to him. He puts it on and sighs over the relief it brings to his fever. Oh, that feels so good. But wouldn't it be easier to just shove him in a healing pod?

Gary points at them with a raised eyebrow, and Nightfall glares at him. "When you collapsed, you had a 105.2 degree fever. You could have died, Gary. I don't know what you were thinking trying to do everything while being this sick. So, as your punishment for scaring us all half to death, you have to recover at a normal human rate. Which means, get some rest for once. You can't take care of the kid if you can't even take care of yourself."

Gary frowns at her words, even though he knows that they're true. He really messed up.

The two adults turn their heads to the hallway when they hear small footsteps approaching, Little Cato's voice saying, "Don't spill it, don't spill it, don't spill it—KVN, stop, you're gonna make me spill it—don't spill it, don't—." Little Cato stops himself as he sees Gary sitting up in bed, and he gasps excitedly. "Dad! You're awa—fuck, I spilled it!"

Gary tries to laugh over the look on the kid's face when some soup spills onto his hands, but he just ends up coughing painfully. Little Cato sets the soup down on a table and hops up next to Gary on the bed. He ruffles his boy's hair gently, and the kid smiles at him.

"Are you feeling any better?" Little Cato asks. Gary nods. "Good," the kid says firmly, right before he slaps Gary across the face.

Gary holds his cheek in confusion and looks at the kid angrily, wanting so badly to ask what the hell that was for. But before Gary can even try, Little Cato's head falls to his chest and his ears droop.

"Don't scare me like that again, okay? You always yell at me for doing stuff like this, so take your own advice for once." The kid looks up at him with pleading eyes, and Gary really wishes he could speak right now. His boy can see his expression though, so Little Cato smiles slightly. "I know, you probably wanna say something like, 'I'm sorry, bud. I promise not to do it again,' right?"

Gary smiles at the kid's terrible-on-purpose impression of him and gives him a kiss on the forehead.

"Now, eat the soup and then I'm gonna yell at you some more so you know what it feels like to be me," Little Cato says as he hands the soup to Gary.

"Okay, Spidercat," he rasps with a smile.

He takes a sip of the soup and immediately is hit with every wrong flavor in there. He looks at the kid in confusion, just begging to know what happened to it. Gary doesn't even know what he's tasting, but it is not good.

His kid rubs the back of his neck. "Well, Nightfall told me to make chicken noodle soup, and I don't know what that is. Also we don't have chicken. So I put in those yam-thingies you like? And I think those are noodles?"

Gary looks at it in disgust, but the effort was sweet so he's going to eat it anyways. Actually, it's not that bad after the first shocking bite.

"Well, I think your son can handle yelling at you, so my work here is done," Nightfall says, standing up to leave. But Gary grabs her arm and smiles gratefully at her, so she smiles back.

Little Cato gets comfortable as Gary eats his soup, and the kid takes out a piece of paper from his pocket. It's a list of every single thing Gary has ever said to reprimand the kid, and he smiles incredulously at the boy. As the kid goes through each quote, imitating Gary in the most obnoxious way ever, causing Gary to laugh and then start choking, Gary thinks that getting some rest isn't that bad if it'll be like this.

#we love gary trying so hard to take care of everyone he loves that he forgets to take care of himself #final space #gary goodspeed #little cato #nightfall #mooncake #ava #dadspeed #fs fics

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langdvnshepherd · 5 years

Text

Headcanons: Duncan Shepherd as a dad (Duncan Shepherd x fem!reader)

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: none really it’s literally all tooth-rotting fluff I’m sorry lmao, mentions of smut

A/N: Someone requested more dad!Duncan and I, uh, had to do it. Definitely message me if you ever want to hc dad!Duncan because I can do this shit all day. I’d love some feedback as well as some suggestions on what to write next!

We’ve discussed how Duncan would act before his baby is born, but what about after?

First of all, he would not be able to keep his eyes off of them

He’s in awe at all times that someone as cold as him helped create the most precious thing he had ever seen in his life

Even when he’s exhausted from taking care of them all night and changing diaper after diaper, he would opt to just watch the way their little nose twitches and their fingers flex as they sleep

Every little coo or grunt that comes out of them is the cutest thing he’s ever heard

Their cute little toes are his favorite

Loses it every time he sees how tiny their clothes are

sorry idk how to make the cut work so this line has to be here lmao my b

Also really loves watching you breastfeed because those are his two favorite people and they get to bond in this very special way

Obsessed with how their eyes get droopy and they get all sleepy after their bellies are so full of milk

Going a little off topic— I picture that this is when he’d ask you to marry him

It would be super casual

You’re cuddled into his side while you’re feeding your little bub one morning and he’s contently watching the two of you and it just dawns on him that there’s literally no other way he could/would want to picture his life being like

He wants it to be you, him and the herd of babies the two of you create for as long as he lives

He says it plainly and matter-of-fact-ly that he wants you to marry him because this is it for him and he doesn’t want anything else

“I was gonna get you flowers and a giant ass ring and take you to a fancy dinner and be dramatic and with the whole shebang, but this just felt right. We can figure the rest out later.”

I would say he takes to fatherhood fairly well

Always offers to get up in the middle of the night and rock them back to sleep

Spit up and poop doesn’t gross him out

Thinks their little burps and farts are hilarious

“Heyyyyy, impressive! Just like your daddy.”

Cherishes skin-to-skin contact

At any and all times he can be found sitting on the couch or nursery rocking chair shirtless with his baby tucked into his chest

Also does the thing where if the baby falls asleep on him he refuses to move until they wake up regardless of what position he’s in

“My leg has been asleep for an hour, but there’s no way in hell I’m moving and waking up this sweet baby.”

You have an entire photo album on your phone of him and the baby asleep in the weirdest positions looking like identical versions of each other

Duncan’s arm tucked behind his head and slumped into the corner of the couch with your baby’s chubby cheeks smushed into his chest and legs tucked into their chest like a little football

When he has to take care of them alone for the first time he feels like he’s gonna puke

He’s convinced that something bad is going to happen even though you’re just going to work for half a day

If something happens it will be his fault and he won’t be able to live with himself

He calls you to before everything he does to make sure he’s not going to accidentally hurt them

“They have a rash on their butt, is the diaper cream the blue tube or the red tube?”

“Duncan, you know which one it is. You put it on them last week.”

“Yeah, I know. I just wanted to double check.”

He measures every breath they take until you get home because he doesn’t full trust himself alone with a child

You end up coming home to a quiet house and find Duncan and the baby knocked out on the floor with an old Mickey Mouse cartoon playing softly on the tv

He was going to be perfectly fine, you tried to tell him

The first time the baby gets sick he’s so heartbroken

Usually their cries can be softened with a boob in their mouth or some gentle rocking and pats on the booty but knowing he can’t do anything to help them this time makes him feel so sad

He just hold them as close as he can and tells them he’s sorry there’s nothing he can do until they finally drift off

Duncan also probably withdrawals himself from work gradually after the baby is born

Also chills out on the shady business because now he has a kid to consider and if he gets caught he isn’t the only one that will suffer the consequences

Taking on less of a work load to he can spend time with you two but also because having a kid has made him reflect a lot

He wants to be the parent he never really had

He wants to look back and say he was able to provide for his family, but was also still present for all of the little moments

Him and his baby are best buddies and I am a firm believer in that

You can calm them down and make them laugh and they love you so much but it’s nothing compared when they see Duncan walk into the room

They’re immediately in a better mood or having a giggle fit

They love it when Duncan tickles them with his beard when he gives them kisses or blow raspberries on their tummy and they love making grabby hands at it and scratching it

He talks to the baby like they’re grown and like their little babbles are actually words and it’s hilarious

“What’s that? You thought the State of the Union was pure shit? Well that makes two of us! I couldn’t believe the hot garbage coming out of his mouth either! What an idiot.”

It only encourages the baby to mumble and speak more gibberish because they’re thriving off of the attention they’re getting from their dad even though they have no idea what the fuck he’s saying

He fake wrestles with them by pretending to choke-slam them but he just softly flips them around and gently flops them down on the couch

Walks around the house with them hugging his leg or on his shoulders while they hold onto him by his hair

Duncan is always letting them do things you don’t want them to do like crawl around butt-naked or letting them suck a tiny bit of cake frosting off of his finger when you aren’t looking

“Duncan, you can’t keep doing that! All of that sugar’s going to upset their stomach.”

“But look at them, they LOVE it. You can’t look at that face and tell me that they don’t absolutely love it.”

Their first steps are towards Duncan one day when he’s home alone with them

He’s working on his laptop while the baby was messing around on the floor with their toy piano and chewing on the ear of their stuffed elephant

For whatever reason he diverts his attention from the screen to the baby and sees that they’re fully standing on two feet and rocking back and forth and concentrating super hard on staying upright

Duncan realizes what’s about to happen and eggs them on with the bowl of dry Cheerios they had been eating for breakfast

“Come on! Oh my god oh my god, come on you’re so close you can do it!!! Come here!!!”

They make it clear across the living room and stumble right before falling but Duncan scoops them up and tosses them straight up in the air out of excitement and the baby is a squealing mess from the kisses Duncan covers them in

Their first word is “mama” and he’s honestly a little salty because he thought he was special

“After all I do for you? All the times I get yelled at by your mom for feeding you sweets and cuddling you at night when you should be sleeping in your crib? You betray me like this? I see how it is.”

He definitely finds it extremely entertaining to make them say random words like “shit” or “fuck” and 100% gets yelled at for it after they made a habit of screaming it around the house

IMAGINE their first birthday

You know Duncan spends way too much money on unnecessary things that a one-year old will never remember

A giant cake that they’re inevitably going to smash to pieces with their tiny fists

He buys so many expensive baby toys and it doesn’t even matter in the end because all the baby wants to play with is Duncan’s cell phone and try to chew on his watch

Given that babies and toddlers are a handful to say the least, the relationship between the two of you definitely changes

Not in a bad way, just different

There’s not a lot of time when it’s just the two of you, so you have to make accommodations

Quickies in the shower or cuddle sex 20 minutes before the alarm goes off in the morning

Most of the time, you’re both too exhausted to do anything so it’s a lot different from when it was just the two of you and you were constantly trying to jump each other’s bones whenever possible

Random, domestic things that the other does start to turn you on

Watching Duncan in the kitchen in his glasses and boxers on a weekend morning teaching your kid how to peel an orange

Duncan watching you frustratingly change tops for the third time because you kept leaking through the fabric

Daddy kink takes on a new meaning

You fall more in love with each other after going through the adjustments of parenthood together

When they start going to daycare, Duncan is pretty sad

His baby isn’t really a baby anymore

But he lightens up when he sees how much fun they have when he picks them up everyday

They’re so excited to show him their new friends and where they put their mat for naptime and the finger-painting they made of your family (they insist that’s what it is but it’s really just a bunch of giant blobs but Duncan refuses to acknowledge that and congratulates them on being such a talented artist and puts it on the fridge it as soon as he gets home

They also love getting into the routine of getting ready with Duncan in the morning

Duncan let’s them stand on the counter and brush their teeth beside him and they make faces at each other in the mirror

Once, they tried to go for the razor because they saw Duncan do it once and Duncan’s life flashed before his eyes

They always give him a big, fat kiss and a tight hug with their tiny arms around his neck right before they run off into their classroom

He is the dilf of the daycare and we all know it

Everyone already thought your kid was the cutest in the class, but loses their shit when they see how hot their dad is

Comes in handy when he finds out another kid was mean to his one day and pulled their hair or called them a mean name and has to bitch to the people in the office about it

They started crying as soon as they got in the car from being picked up and Duncan’s heart hurts so bad

They’re so tiny and young and there’s no reason for anyone to be mean to them

He lays with them in their toddler bed and rubs their tummy and pets their hair until they fall asleep

Tells them that sometimes people are mean for no reason and they’re not whatever name they were called and they should never do those things because that’s not how you treat people

He’s obviously still upset about it when he gets into bed with you later that night

He didn’t think his kid would be subjected to the cruel world at such a young age and he hates that he wasn’t there to protect them

“There’s only so much you can do. You did everything you could, and that’s what matters to them. That you love them, and that you’ll always be there for them to talk to.”

Duncan nods but it’s clear that he’s still beating himself up over it

“Donut, if you don’t stop moping I’m gonna have to show you how good of a dad you are by making you another one.”

“.....is that a promise?”

Ok I’m done now I think please send in more hc’s if you think of them dad!Duncan is my lifeline that’s it thanks

Some of you asked to be tagged and idk if you meant just in the sugar daddy fic or in everything so lmk what you meant lmao

@sloppy-little-witch-bitch26 @langdons-rep @avesatanormalpeoplescareme @venusxxlangdon

#duncan shepherd #duncan shepherd x reader #michael langdon #michael langdon x reader #jim mason #jim mason x reader #ahs #hoc #my writing #mine

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gwoongi · 5 years

Text

𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝗉𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗃𝖾𝖼𝗍 ✰ dad hoseok

𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝗉𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗃𝖾𝖼𝗍 jung hoseok / reader genre: parent au, fluff, tiny smol angst words: 2384

“Yeah! So, go and tell the mean kids at school that Pokemon is cool and you can like it no matter who you are! Pokemon has no gender!” Well, Yeojin still didn’t like her Pokemon bedroom but she did still like Pokemon, and Hoseok pretended not to look when she rushed towards Jeongguk on Thursday evening and hugged his waist, telling him how awesome he was because he introduced her to the best show on planet earth, the show with no gender!

a/n: a short side fic for The Honey Project!! bringing back everyones favourite daddy of biology!!!! also happee easter !!! (happy easter everyone! who is it? ITS UR UNCLE....) ((this is sort of inspired by real events!! so before u say its weird...it happened ok.....it happened....kids r weirdos....and they complain about everything))

warnings: baby angst, hoseok being the best dad ever, jung yeojin is a brat

Hoseok thought he was a pretty good Dad.

Everything he had learned about parenthood was either from Seokjin, who had spent at least seventy hours in total on Google looking at websites about how to be the best Uncle- although Dad also applied- to a child that anybody could ever be, and also from his own experience with his Dad. Where his own Dad lacked in family talks and midnight cuddles, Hoseok filled in with Yeojin, a growing bundle of fluffy, curly hair that reached her chin and big doe eyes that Jeongguk claimed were genetically from him, even though that was literally impossible.

His own family, and the unreliable websites Seokjin bookmarked on his University computer, failed to mention how mentally tiring it is to raise a child. At first, neither himself or you had come to realise how hard it would be when the baby you birthed started using words, becoming more vocal about their thoughts and feelings and how it was apparently so annoying for either of you to hug them, or kiss them. You’d heard of teenage angst but not raging-three-year-old-angst. That was new, and certainly something that WikiHow had forgotten to mention.

But Hoseok loved his daughter, even when she threw temper tantrums about being fed carrots or when she screamed at four in the morning because her blanket had slipped through the gaps in her crib. It was definitely a parent thing that nobody understood unless they had mini-me’s of their own. There was nothing in the world that could stop Hoseok from loving Yeojin the way he did. He often sat there, in her bedroom on the floor by her crib with her hands wrapped around his fingers or actually inside the crib, slotted in a curled position with her head of hair on his torso; Hoseok liked to admire the bits and pieces that looked like you, the first love of his life; from the way Yeojin had your longer eyelashes and face shape, with a smile that shone the way yours had on your wedding day, or moments after Yeojin’s birth. Sure, she had features of Hoseok’s but none of those were even comparable to the gorgeous way that Hoseok now had a daughter who looked everything like the woman he fell in love with.

Yeojin, like all children and humans, got older- she grew out of teddy coats bought by Yoongi and out of the crib Hoseok remembered everybody assembling, and gradually the colours of her bedroom turned into phases of her interests. Aged three and she wanted Barbie everything, and both Hoseok and yourself were hesitant to drown the walls in sickly pink and off-whites. Because, you were that age once, and pink is a colour you grow bored of very easily. Aged four and it was her newfound obsession with Pokemon, no thanks to Jeongguk and Jimin stealing her every Friday for Uncle-Bonding-Time, and of course, there had been no complaints when purchasing oversized plushies of Pikachu or cute little outfits of random Pokemon.

Yeojin complained though, when she turned five a year later and decided that Pokemon wasn’t for girls, because some kid at school had laughed at her Pokemon lunchbox and told her she was acting like a boy.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with being a boy,” Hoseok had told her, petting her hair in her bedroom and wiping away the sniffles. You came in shortly after with the sacred jar of cookies that Yeojin always tried to reach for in the kitchen, and she reluctantly took a handful. “And, a lot of girls like Pokemon. It’s definitely not just for boys!”

“Yeah! And, what about Misty and Serena, huh? They’re girls,” you offered for input. “I remember watching Pokemon too. Pokemon’s cool.”

Hoseok nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! So, go and tell the mean kids at school that Pokemon is cool and you can like it no matter who you are! Pokemon has no gender!”

Well, Yeojin still didn’t like her Pokemon bedroom but she did still like Pokemon, and Hoseok pretended not to look when she rushed towards Jeongguk on Thursday evening and hugged his waist, telling him how awesome he was because he introduced her to the best show on planet earth, the show with no gender! Perhaps Jeongguk had teared up upon hearing those words, but Hoseok wouldn’t say anything.

“I think I like Harry Potter now,” Yeojin said, five and a half, sitting between Haseul’s legs as her Aunt’s hands threaded through her hair, parting and creating plaits.

“Oh, yeah?” Haseul said, smiling. “Harry Potter’s super cool.”

“Do you like Harry Potter?”

“Yeah. I think he’s a nice guy.”

“Mom likes Harry Potter,” Yeojin continued, playing with a slightly tattered Pikachu toy. “She told me so. And Dad does too, but I don’t think he’s as serious as Mom is. Mom had the robes! They don’t fit me, though.”

Haseul finished her plaits and wrapped her arms around Yeojin. “Well, maybe because Mom and Dad like Harry Potter, if you ask nicely we might be able to go visit Hogwarts this Summer. At Universal.”

Yeojin’s eyes sparkled. “Really?”

Haseul nodded with a grin. “Mhm. I’ll ask Mom for you.”

That’s why Yeojin swore to a secret song of Haseul being her favourite Aunt, because even though Auntie Seunghee took her to see movies and look at animals and let her use her Nintendo Switch when she went to visit, Auntie Seunghee had never offered Harry Potter.

Yeojin picked herself up off Haseul’s bed with a frown, straining to listen out into the house for Haseul’s feet when she heard the front door open, and Moms voice float through. Yeojin contained a giggle when you called up to her with a, “Honey, I’m home!” and she replied with a, “Hi, Mommy!” and nothing more. Yeojin would go downstairs when she heard Mom say she could go to Harry Potter World, because Auntie Haseul had promised it already.

“Why would you tell her that?” Yeojin heard your voice say, over the sound of the kettle boiling. Yeojin paused on the landing, listening with a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Haseul…”

“Look, I just...threw it out there,” Haseul defended, “as a suggestion. If she’s into Harry Potter...and you’ve wanted to go there for like, years….kill two birds with one stone!”

“Yeah, and are you gonna help fund this trip?”

“Of course,” Haseul replied. “Me, and Flat Eighteen! You know they’ll love to come. And, we haven’t been on holiday since first year of Uni! Portugal, super fun, but simply not enough.”

“It’s nice, what you’re trying to do for her and us, but,” you started, before sighing and at that moment, the kettle sprang to a pause, “I just don’t know if we can go there right now.”

Haseul stopped, too. “Is money bad?”

“No, not at all. We’re so financially secure it’s actually scary,” you assured. “There are...other reasons. Preventing us from going, I mean. You know why.”

Yeojin didn’t stop to listen. She had heard enough.

“She’s been sad all day?”

Hoseok came home at four thirty, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it up whilst tossing his bag into the cupboard under the stairs. You stood in the doorway leading out into the kitchen with your arms folded, rubbing up and down with a frown on your lips.

“Yeah, I don’t know why,” you frowned, happily accepting Hoseok’s warm hug as he stepped towards you. You extended your arms out and wrapped them around his neck, squishing your cheek against him as his lips kissed at your hair, and then his head tilted down to kiss the space between your earlobe and jaw. “She seemed happy when I got to Haseul’s. Then, she was all...grumpy.”

“It’s not your fault, before you even say it,” Hoseok muttered, twirling you slightly. He pulled away slightly after a few minutes, smiling the best he could before quickly bringing your lips to his in a kiss. “I love you. I’ll talk to her, okay?”

You nodded, pressing your lips together as Hoseok turned to head towards and up the stairs, in the direction of Yeojin’s bedroom. Her door was closed shut, the colour of the sky-light spreading underneath the door and Hoseok quietly stepped forward and knocked, the noise loud enough yet still quiet. From behind the wood, Yeojin had moved off her bed and he could faintly hear her feet moving across the carpet.

“Yeojin, baby, it’s Dad. Can you let me in for a second?” Hoseok called gently, his hand on the door-handle, ready. “Please?”

Yeojin grumbled something, stubbornly, and pulled open the door, leaving Hoseok’s hand stinging with surprise. His brows raised with the expectancy of an apology but nothing came, only the sight of Yeojin retreating back towards her bed where she lay down and pulled the covers up over her head.

“Go away,” Yeojin groaned.

Hoseok let himself in. “Yeojin, your room is filthy.”

“Don’t shout at me!-”

“I haven’t shouted,” Hoseok replied quickly. God, he didn’t remember being this difficult aged four, especially when the sun was shining outside. Although he didn’t remember much about being four, really. He moved to sit on the bottom of her bed, playfully grabbing at her ankle under the sheets. Yeojin squirmed with a noise of surprise. “Hey, look at me when I’m talking to you!”

“No.”

“I’ll tickle you.”

There was a beat of silence, and Hoseok half wondered whether or not Yeojin would climb out of her protective shield of blankets, but she did, sitting up with crazed curls and looking at her Dad with watery eyes. At once, Hoseok felt his body crushing with anxiety, and without even thinking about it, he opened his arms invitingly for a hug and she crawled towards him, her bottom lip trembling, then her chin on his shoulder and hands stuffed in his jumper.

“What’s the matter, sweetie?”

Yeojin sniffled into Hoseok’s shoulder. “Mom said no to Harry Potter World.”

Hoseok paused, looking at his daughter- “Harry Potter World?”

Yeojin nodded. “Yeah. Haseul said we could go in Summer, but Mom said no.”

“She said that?” Hoseok asked, not really believing it. “Did she say that to you?”

“Well, I heard her say it in the kitchen at Haseul’s house,” Yeojin explained. “Haseul asked and Mom said something about being scared and so that means no. I’m nearly six- I know!”

Hoseok’s eyebrows raised as he stared at Yeojin, trying not to laugh. Of course, as a parent, he knew the reasons why other parents said no. He thinks that if Yeojin had asked him, too, he would have said the same thing. Money was definitely not an issue for Universal studios this summer, but considering Yeojin’s birthday was close coming, alongside the giant fact that they had already planned a Summer vacation to Japan with Uncle Yoongi and Jimin, who was still on the quest for Professor Min’s heart, and the surprise of a sibling, hopefully, if everything went well, Hoseok knew that Universal Studios was possibly a long lost distant dream. Unless Uncle Yoongi and Jimin caved in and said, “Sure!” to an unexpected day trip to Japan’s own Universal.

“Hey, if Mom didn’t say that to you, then you don’t know what she said,” Hoseok frowned, reaching for her to look at him. “Not knowing for sure causes trouble.”

Yeojin scrunched up her face. “Mom hates me having fun.”

“Hey!” Hoseok scolded. He never raised his voice at Yeojin, not ever and not even now, but the hardness of his tone made Yeojin shrink with her head dipped towards her chest with shame. “Your Mom loves you more than anything in the world, and you should know that! Mom wouldn’t do anything to make you upset.”

Between Hoseok’s armpit, Yeojin huffed. “I know…”

“And,” Hoseok continued, hugging her tight, “I’m sure Mom will love to take you to Harry Potter World. Mom loves Harry Potter! It’s a bit too soon to go this year, though.”

Even when Yeojin huffed indignantly, she knew her Dad was right. Hoseok had hugged her tighter and pressed little kisses to her cheeks and temples, telling her how much he loved before before she climbed out of his arms, downstairs and into the kitchen where she clung to your leg, saying nothing. She didn’t really have to say anything, and it was Hoseok’s turn to lean in the doorway at the sight of you crouched with your arms around her, the sun looking golden on your skin and hair, golden dust in her eyes.

Like all kids, Yeojin got over it extremely quickly.

Hoseok discovered that all Yeojin really needed to keep her happy and occupied was a sibling, and then you finally- after months of trying- crawled on top of him with a giant smile that could blind at five fifteen in the morning, the words, “We’re having a baby again,” whispered into his mouth. The temptation to scream and tell Yeojin right away was shoved away until Yeojin came back from Uncle Seokjin and Namjoon’s house a little while later, once everything was certain, with both man on her arm, walking into the kitchen decorated with one sparkly balloon and a little envelope on the counter.

“Is it my birthday already?” Yeojin asked confusedly. She turned to Namjoon, “You said it was next month.”

“It is, honey,” you said, leaning on the counter with Hoseok next to you, his fingers knotted around your own. “This is an early surprise, okay?”

She nodded, taking the envelope from you when you pushed it towards her.

Like deja-vu, Seokjin and Namjoon shared teary laughs and hugs when Yeojin tore open the envelope and saw the writing screaming that she was going to be an older sister. Suddenly, she had forgotten all about the grudge against Harry Potter World and was transfixed on the words and then her Mommy’s belly.

“Really?” she squealed excitedly. “Really?!”

“Yes!” you told her with a smile. “You’re gonna be a big sister!”

“You kept this one quiet,” Seokjin scolded, smacking Hoseok’s shoulder half-heartedly.

Hoseok shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah, well. At least we planned this one.”

“What does that mean?” Yeojin asked.

“Nothing, honey.”

(“Can we call them Harry? Like Harry Potter?” Yeojin asked, her lips against your stomach.

You immediately stared at Hoseok and then back at Yeojin.

“Absolutely not.”)

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a-d-curtis · 5 years

Text

Weakness - Kataang Week 2019

“Please! I’ll do anything!”

He was on his knees, staff carelessly dropped behind him before he had stumbled several steps forward and then fallen to his knees. The flickering lights of torches held in menacing hands danced harshly on the walls of the old wooden structure. Everything outside of the flicker of the yellow flames was black; black like the darkness he felt within himself now, great jaws of dread opening wide, ready to swallow him alive.

“Please!” he begged again, “Where is she?! You have to give her back to me!”

The boy was young still, not more than seventeen, maybe eighteen. And his Love just days before had shared the earth-shatteringly good news that he was going to be a father! They had been married just a year, and now they were going to be parents! Despite all the nervous unknowns that the thought of parenthood dangled anonymously in his future, the boy couldn’t help but yelp for joy and smile with a grin so large he felt his soul might split. He had spun her around and around and then held her like his last hope while he wept with joy.

But now he was here. About to lose them both. He wept now as well, but not with joy, rather with the awful dread of losing everything, again. He was broken, at the mercy of men who cared nothing for him or her, not even knowing of their unborn child.

He tried again, “Please! At least show her to me,” and then screaming in desperation, “I need to know she’s alright!”

The man looming above him, his face in shadow, nodded soundlessly to a man by the door. And she was brought in, gagged and bound, dragged by two men on either side of her, barely allowing for her toes to skim the floor. The boy’s eyes darted to the shoulder of her dress where it had been ripped open revealing too much of her beautiful brown skin for all these ugly eyes to see. And he felt rage snarl inside of him.

“Katara! Did they hurt you? I swear if they touched you I’ll destroy them all!” Such words felt like acid on the tongue of this gentle boy raised by monks. But he meant them. Every word.

“Tsk, tsk Avatar” the shadowy man spoke for the first time, “such threats might make us… less negotiable. Remember my promise to you. One step out of line, and I break her pretty neck before you can call out her name.”

Aang had returned to their inn in the tiny village earlier tonight, to an empty room torn apart in some earlier struggle. Downstairs the innkeeper’s throat had been slit, a note demanding the Avatar’s complete compliance curled in the old man’s dead fingers.

The note said they knew his Weakness. And she wouldn’t be harmed… unless he didn’t come before midnight, and if he didn’t come alone.

Aang had rushed out, snapping his glider open and soaring into the dark night. They were in far too remote a place – there was no one for Aang to contact here, nor would he have risked doing so, not with a threat to Katara pried from the cold dead fingers of their host.

Aang tore his eyes from Katara to regard the man who held their futures in his uncaring hands. Why had he done nothing to Aang? No ambush, no restraints, no chains… they’d even let him walk in there armed with his staff. He was the most powerful man in the world, the Avatar, and yet he was at theirmercy. At first Aang thought this man must be crazy, a gambler. But as he looked at the cold lucid but intelligent eyes of this man, Aang knew that he had gambled nothing. He knew exactly how this would go. And he held all the cards.

“What do you want from me?”

“I need you to retrieve something for me. From the Spirit World. Something stolen from the mortal world hundreds of life-times ago… But it belongs here. And I want it back.”

Katara’s eyes were on him, desperately trying to tell him something. Aang felt weak. He simply could not lose her!

“I’ll do whatever you want…”

“Yes. I know.”

……………

#kataangweek

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dailysaskia · 5 years

Text

When: September 30th

Where: Maternity clinic, Saskia’s penthouse

Who: Saskia and @whambamcam

Warnings: discussions of pregnancy, break up

Word Count: 4,043

Cameron had spent the last week of his life freaking out about various things. He wanted to be a dad -- he had no doubt about that. But at the age of twenty-three, before he even had his Tony Award? He wasn't ready. He knew he wasn't ready, and he didn't think Saskia was ready, either -- and he couldn't deny that it was more than frustrating that he apparently had no say in the matter. Her feelings, the feelings of her parents, her fans -- apparently all more important than him. Aside from a few tense conversations, Cameron had avoided spending too much time with Saskia since they'd first argued, wanting to avoid further fights before they even knew the reality. They could fight over keeping their baby if there was an actual baby to keep. Arriving at her apartment to pick her up for the appointment, Cameron leant against the door as he waited for her to come down. With a slightly tense smile, he pushed himself up and leant in to kiss her cheek. "Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked, holding his hand out to her. "I've got an uber waiting."

Saskia was nervous, yes. She had always imagined herself being a mother someday, but she'd definitely thought she'd get the picket fence and perfect husband on lock first. Still, just because things were happening a little out of order, didn't mean it was bad. She was twenty, she was an adult, she had money, she knew her parents would be supportive, and sure, Cam's attitude wasn't ideal, but if Saskia had to raise the baby alone, she would do it. Her mom had been a great single mom and she could do it too. Of course, she had time to worry about all the details later, once she and Cam actually figured out if she was pregnant or not. She shot him a small, nervous smile when he kissed her on the cheek, and then took his hand so that he could lead her to the car. "Fine, honestly. Not really any different than usual."

Cam bit his lip, guiding Saskia out to the waiting uber and opening the car door for her. "I mean, that's a good thing, right? You'd be feeling sick or weird if you were pregnant..." Cam didn't know much about pregnancy or babies, so there was an element of clutching at straws -- but he had to have some hope that he was going to avoid the life-changing scenario that had been keeping him up all week. His stomach churned again as he thought about being thrust into parenthood, sliding into the car next to Saskia. "Maybe it'll be good news after all."

Saskia nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and then doing up her seatbelt. "I don't know... that makes sense but it might just be too early for those symptoms. I guess the doctor will be able to tell us about all that," she said, quietly. She didn't comment on Cam calling it "good news", she understood that he wasn't exactly jazzed about the possibility that they'd be parents but she didn't want to start another fight about it either. It wasn't a long ride to the clinic, and before she realized, they were already pulling up to the building.

Cameron nodded -- maybe it was too early to tell. All he wanted was to know one way or another, whether they'd get a reprieve or not. He let the rest of the car journey pass quietly, occasionally murmuring a comment but not wanting to argue again. Once they arrived, he went around the side of the car to open Saskia's door for her, taking her hand again. "So how do they test for it, anyway? Do you have to pee on stuff?"

Saskia smiled at Cam again when he helped her out of the car. Despite it all, he was being a gentleman about most of this. "I think they do blood tests. When it's early I think pee isn't as accurate," she said as they walked into the clinic and over to the desk. She gave the receptionist her name, and then let Cameron lead her to the chairs in the waiting room so they could sit.

Finding their spots, Cameron stared at the floor for a moment -- making a mental promise to himself to never find himself in this situation again. They'd been careful, of course they had -- but he was disappointed in himself for not being careful enough. "And they can get the result right away? So we'll know soon?"

Saskia nodded, biting her lip and resting her head back against the wall. "I slid them some extra cash so they'd have a lab tech ready to take a look as soon as they take the blood so we don't need to wait until tomorrow," she explained, tapping her foot impatiently as they waited to get called in.

Cameron nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Okay. Cool. Then we'll know and then we can discuss stuff," he replied. He knew in this situation he was supposed to be reassuring, supposed to tell her it would be okay and they'd work it out -- but he couldn't bring himself to. Not while she was cutting him out of any decisions. He'd be a supportive boyfriend when he had a supportive girlfriend. He looked up finally, looking around the room. "This place has a lot of pictures of babies."

Saskia nodded, letting out a breath. She hated the fact that the tension between them was palpable, but she also didn't know what to do about it. Cameron couldn't honestly expect her to just be fine with throwing their baby away because he wasn't ready to be a dad. He didn't need to. She was giving him an out... she didn't know what more he wanted. "Yeah I mean... I guess a lot of people here come for help with having them so maybe the pictures are reassuring or something?"

The vast amount of baby photos were the opposite of reassuring for Cameron -- feeling sick to his stomach at the thought of having one of his own yet. He had his whole future ahead of him -- this wasn't the plan. "Some of them are kind of weird looking," he commented, nodding towards a particularly ugly baby. "I guess it's kind of a lottery as to whether it comes out cute or not."

Saskia patted him on the arm gently. "We have really good genetics. All of our parents are good looking. I'm sure our baby will — would — be a stunner," she said, even though she didn't think that was exactly what he wanted to hear. "All newborns are hideous though and anyone who says otherwise is lying."

"Yeah, that's true, we're pretty hot. It'd be hard to combine these faces and get something bad," he replied, managing a smile. With a slight sigh, he lifted his arm and wrapped it around Saskia's waist, hating how awkward he felt around her all of a sudden. "It'd be pretty hard to be cute when they come out wrinkled, screaming, and covered in gunk. Or so television has led me to believe."

Saskia giggled quietly, leaning her head against his shoulder. "They'd be one of those baby models... or the infants they use when they need a newborn on tv. Acting from the womb would make your parents proud, right?" She said, biting her lip. She really liked Cam, and this sudden potential bombshell made her feel like there was a giant cavern between them, and the gap was only getting wider. "I think they've been compressed so they look super wonky."

Cam would have shrugged if Saskia weren't leaning against his shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I dunno. They wouldn't let me act professionally until I did Falsettos with Dad. They let Levi onto the stage when he was a bit younger, because younger siblings get everything," he replied. He laughed a little at her comment, about to respond again when her name was called. The knot returned to his stomach.

Saskia had been about to respond but then she was called in. Clutching Cam's hand tightly, she stood up and they both entered the room they were led to. A few moments later a kind-looking doctor came inside, and Saskia tried to answer her questions as best she could — when was she supposed to get her period, how she'd been feeling, when they'd last had sex. She let out a breath when the doctor finally asked her to sit on the table so that she could take some blood, and she obediently released Cam's hand, switching spots and holding out her left arm.

Cam followed Saskia into the room, keeping a tight grip on her hand but letting her do the talking. There wasn't much he could say, anyway -- other than nodding along to possible conception dates. He let go as the doctor moved in to take the blood, focusing on a picture of an ugly baby on a wall rather than watch the blood be drawn out of Saskia's arm. When the doctor announced they were done, he turned back to his girlfriend with a smile. "I think you get a sticker or a lollipop now."

Saskia grimaced as the blood was taken, but otherwise didn't react to the pinch of pain. She smiled back at Cameron when the doctor was done, and had put a bandaid on the spot on her arm where the blood had been drawn. "I think if I had to choose, I want the lollypop," she said, taking his hand again as the doctor asked them to return to the waiting room while a lab tech analyzed the blood. She and Cam returned to the room, and she leaned her head back on his shoulder once they were sitting down, trying not to tap her foot too much as they waited.

Cam led Saskia back out to the waiting room, stomach turning nervously. Their future was about to be decided, one way or another -- it was hard to ignore just how momentous this singular appointment was. "I never understood why dentists gave out sweets. It'd be like a vegan restaurant thanking you for your business by giving you a steak. They praise us with the very thing they swear to destroy."

“It keeps them in business,” Saskia said, shrugging as she held onto his arm. She let out a breath, trying not to be too nervous about what would come out of this. “It’s going to be okay, right?” She said, her knee bouncing as she kept her eyes fixed on the door. She felt nauseous, but she assumed it was stress, not a baby.

"Oh, that's very astute and cynical," Cameron replied, managing a slight laugh. Nothing felt particularly humorous at the moment, though -- Cam could hardly catch his breath. He couldn't help the automatic shrug at her question. It was hard to see how any of this was okay. "I don't know. I hope so."

"Thanks. I promise I have a brain in my head," she said, watching as a couple holding a wrinkly infant walked into one of the appointment rooms. She tried to smile at Cameron, but she could sense he really didn't want to be there and that was making it hard for her to be as bubbly as she normally was. "It will be, Cam. No matter what."

"I know. You're as smart as you are beautiful." He could tell that she was trying to get him to engage, and he turned, eventually, to meet her eye. Cameron could tell that she believed that everything would be okay -- he really wished he could, too. "How long did they say the results would take?"

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him again. "Soon, I think. They told me it'd be quick," she said, and as if waiting to be mentioned, they were called back into the appointment room only a few moments later, the doctor joining them soon after. Saskia felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest as she watched the doctor open the folder with the results and start reading them over.

Cameron's whole body felt heavy as they walked into the appointment room, ready to hear the results. This moment here would change everything. His life had two paths, and now they'd find out what one they'd take. He reached for Saskia's hand as they waited for the results, and then the doctor began speaking -- and all he heard was "you're not pregnant", before he let out a sigh of relief. The doctor was continuing to go on about other natural reasons that Saskia might be late, but Cameron wasn't listening -- so grateful that his life hadn't just changed forever.

Saskia let out a breath when they were given the news. On one hand, she was relieved that things would be fine, they'd just go back to how they were before and everything would be the same. On the other, she'd spent the past few days really coming around to the idea of being a mother, thinking about names and what it would be like to have a little one. She wasn't disappointed but she was certainly a little melancholy about having to let go of the fairytale she'd constructed in her head. She listened carefully to the doctor, nodding along to everything that might be causing her to be late, before they were sent on their way. Once they were out of earshot, she turned to Cam and smiled. "This is good, right? Things can just go back to normal."

Once he snapped out of his relief, Cam took a moment to look at Saskia -- able to read the slight hint of disappointment on her face. It worried him that she'd actually wanted this -- and worried him even more than the opinion of her fans or her parents had been a bigger influence than him. He bit his lip, knowing that there wasn't really a normal anymore, but forcing a smile anyway. "This is definitely good," he replied, avoiding the second half of her comment. "I'll call an uber and we can head back to yours."

Saskia nodded, tugging the sweater she'd taken off earlier so the doctor could reach her arm back on as they stepped into the chilly September air. When the Uber arrived, they got in and soon enough they were back in her penthouse. Saskia led him in by his hand and then turned around and shot him a small smile, hoping they could smooth things over now. "Do you want a drink or something?"

Cameron's brain was working overtime as they drove back to Saskia's, but one thought wouldn't leave his mind. This was broken, irretrievably. He couldn't look at her the same way -- couldn't get her words out of his head. "No, I'm okay," he replied, taking a deep breath. "But I think we should talk."

There was something off about his tone that had Saskia dropping his hand, taking a step away and turning to face him, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm sorry if I've been weird this week... it's been a lot," she said, biting her lip as she waited to see what he wanted to say.

"Yeah, I know." God, he didn't want to do this -- he hated doing this. But he was justified. He knew he was. "What you said, about my opinion not being important... that's a line for me. I understand your body, your choice, but I don't understand you stopping to consider the opinion of your fans and not think once about what I wanted." Cameron bit his lip, forcing himself to meet Saskia's eye. "I can't be with someone who tells me that my opinion doesn't matter. I can't be with someone who doesn't respect me enough to have a conversation with me before making life changing decisions. That's not what I'm looking for."

Saskia blinked, trying to parse through what he was saying. "I don't understand," she said quietly. "I thought you didn't want me to be pregnant and I'm not... and I would've — if this had been a life-changing decision that involves both of us equally, I would've asked you," she said, her voice cracking. "But it didn't. You wouldn't have had to deal with it forever if you didn't want to. Either way I would've."

Cameron frowned, not sure why he was surprised that Saskia was doubling down on her insistence that it didn't involve him. "Of course I would have had to deal with it forever. Either you think I'm the kind of man who would abandon my child, or you think I'm the kind of man who doesn't deserve a say in whether I have one or not. Either way, you gave me no choice and you showed that you weren't thinking of me at all." He shrugged a little, running an anxious hand through his hair. "I want a partner. I want someone who cares about me equally, who cares about my opinion. I don't think I can forget you telling me you don't."

Saskia hugged herself tighter, trying not to start crying in front of him. “Just because it would’ve been half your DNA wouldn’t have made it your child. Fatherhood is a choice that only you get to make. What I have to do with the baby growing in me is mine. Only mine. I don’t understand how you don’t see that,” she said softly. “This isn’t a house or a dog or even an adopted child... it’s something that would be growing in me. I’d be feeling that not you. Not both of us.”

"It wouldn't have been a choice. It having half my DNA does make it my child, that's how it works. I would have an obligation and a responsibility and a living, breathing thing to love that I wasn't ready for." Cameron shook his head, wanting to reach out and stop her crying but knowing that that would make it worse. "You'd be feeling it for 9 months. Then it would be our child for the rest of our lives. Sure, short term, you deal with it, but after that, it has the same consequences on our lives, consequences you should respect me enough to let me have a say in. I respect bodily autonomy but I'd also like you to respect that decisions in a relationship should be made with equality and consideration for the other person. We've only been dating for a month and you were ready to tell me when to show up to the altar."

Saskia wiped at her eyes. It was clear they weren’t going to get on the same page about this. “You didn’t have to.... not if you didn’t want. Your opinion is important to me. But if I wanted to keep it and you didn’t, then what? We would’ve just been in the same place we are now. What would have talking about it changed?” She hated the way he was looking at her, like he half pitied her and half didn’t recognize her. It made her want to scream. Why has she even said anything about being pregnant before she knew for sure? She should’ve just kept it to herself until she’d found out.

"We could have at least discussed it. I suggested we talk about all the options and was told that I didn't get to have a say. Even if we'd disagreed, even if you'd wanted to keep it and there was nothing I could say to change your mind, I would have respected what you wanted but at least you would have listened to me. It's not about whether we kept it or not, it's about you not being willing to even hear how I felt about it, let alone thinking to take the initiative and ask." It was hard to believe they were standing here, when a week ago, everything had been perfect. But it was like his feelings for her had vanished, opening his eyes and seeing her for somebody he couldn't see himself with. "I don't want to drag this out. I think I should go."

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, finally losing the battle she was having with her eyes as the tears started flowing freely down her face. “I can be better, I promise, Cam.” She felt a surge of panic when he said he was going to leave, and she took a step forward, grabbing at his arm. “Wait, no. You - are you breaking up with me?!”

God, Cameron felt awful. He knew Saskia, and he knew how hard she tried to be the best -- he knew that this was going to hurt and her image of herself. "This isn't about you being better. You're amazing, Saskia, you know I think that. This is about us being different and having different values." When she grabbed him, he took her hand, squeezing it gently. All he could do was nod. "I am. I'm not going to ask you to change who you are but I also can't get over what was said."

Saskia shook her head, feeling like she was going to be sick. “I just - I can change I promise. I can be the girl you want, just give me a chance” she begged, squeezing his fingers tightly and then wiping at her eyes, knowing her mascara was probably smearing everywhere. “I just want to go back to before when you l-liked me,” she said, a hiccup-y sob finally breaking free.

"I don't want you to change." Cameron frowned, cupping her cheek. "You're amazing as you are. Please don't ever change for somebody. We've been dating for a month, that is not long enough to go all Sandy from Grease and perm your hair just for me." He brushed her tears from her cheek softly, giving her his best attempt at a smile. "We're different and that's fine. I just don't see a future for us, and that's fine, too. Sometimes things don't work out."

“It’s been six weeks,” she corrected shakily, blinking quickly. The mascara in her eyes was making them sting. She wiped at them again with her free hand. “I can’t pull off a perm a-anyways,” she said finally, trying to get her breath back a bit. “But I really wanted them to... is there really no changing your mind?”

"I wanted them to, too," Cameron replied. "And if this had happened in two years' time, then I'm sure we could have got past it and worked things out, but it's just too much too soon. I don't think it's going to work and I don't think we should force it when we have the option to part as friends and admit when things aren't right." He just couldn't look at her the same way, and the effort wasn't worth saving a six week relationship. "I'm really sorry."

Saskia sniffled again, dropping his hand and turning away partially, her shoulders shaking with the force of trying to calm her sobs. Friends? She couldn’t be his friend when she was so humiliated, when he’d basically said she wasn’t worth the effort of trying again, that the first obstacle was enough to drop her for. Had she ever even mattered to him at all? “Can you go now? I don’t want someone who thinks I’m not worth fighting for watching me c-cry.”

"That's not --" Cam started, but he knew he should leave it. He nodded, sighing a little. "I think you're fantastic, Saskia. And I don't want to ask you to change that. I just don't think we're fantastic together." He reached over to squeeze her hand once more, before turning to go.

She waited until she heard the door click shut behind him to let herself fully go, the force of her sobs making her feel as though she were going to be sick. She rushed to her room and threw herself onto her bed, crying into a pillow.

#cameron #f2f

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lena-in-a-red-dress · 6 years

Note

Agentreign: after a long time Sam gone off the radar; she rescues Alex and start flirting with her (post s3). It could be great if there’s a talk between Kara and Sam about all the Lena/kriptonyte fiasco and about Alex/Sam status.

Alex doesn’t get paid enough for this shit.

Or rather, she gets paid too much to be running across rooftops after an alien that managed to blind half her team on their way up the stairwell after it, and losing the other half when he leapt across a narrow divide onto the next roof.

Alex was the apparently only one who didn’t get the memo that it was too far. She charged ahead at the front of her team, and jumped right after him, only realizing halfway across the next roof that her team remained behind, trapped by the expanse.

Faced with continuing the pursuit or holding back to stay with her team– meaning, standing around doing nothing while their perp got away– Alex had rerouted her team the long way around and tried to maintain a visual on their subject.

It seemed the right choice at the time, but now that she’s dangling from her fingertips on yet another roof that really was just a hair too far a jump, Alex realizes her folly.

“This is Danvers, requesting backup on my location!”

Her comms are silent, no doubt trashed by the same alien pulse that had leveled half her team in the stairwell.

“Shit!”

Her fingers sweat in borrowed gloves that are too big, the leather sliding on metal plate that lines the edge of the roof. They’re too bulky to get a decent grip, too thick to readjust without plummeting to her death.

She nearly calls for Kara, before remembering the whole damn reason she’s here is that her sister is laid up in the infirmary, bruised and without her powers. With no backup, no Supergirl, Alex’s heart gallops frantically in her chest.

“This is Director Danvers requesting– augh!”

Her fingers slip, and she plunges with a cry for one, two, three seconds of heart stopping terror before fingers circle her wrist in an iron grip. She shouts again as her shoulder jolts against the socket, protesting the sudden halt. Then Alex coughs in relief, staring at the ground still far below her.

“Impeccable timing,” she tells her sister, covering her pounding heart with sarcasm and not much else.

“I’ll say.”

Alex’s head snaps up so fast her neck twinges, startled by the rich voice that most definitely does not belong to her sister.

Brown eyes shine down at her, along with a blinding smile. Alex is so flabbergasted– Sam! Here! Now! – that it takes several moments for her to spot the patch of vivid blue sky between the building and where Sam hangs in the sky, weightless.

“What the fuck.”

“What the fuck, Sam,” Alex repeats in the safety of her kitchen after she’s debriefed and carefully lied on multiple official reports to exclude any mention of– well, she’s not quite sure who’s sitting on the far side of the kitchen island.

“I swear it’s me,” Sam vows, as though she has a direct line of communication to Alex’s thoughts. “Just me.”

“How could you possibly know that…” Alex trails off when she sees the guilty press of Sam’s lips into a thin line. “Lena. Of course.”

Of fucking course Lena knows, is helping, is hiding the truth.

“Don’t be mad at her,” Sam pleads, sliding a hand across the countertop. “I swore her to secrecy.”

The three years of Sam’s absence stabs like a knife. Her return awakens all kinds of unresolved emotions in Alex’s chest, feelings she’d stuffed so far into a box she’d been certain they’d never see the light of day again. The fact Sam has been hiding from them adds a sour dose of resentment to the mix, and it’s that feeling that Alex chooses to cling to.

“You should have come to the DEO,” she all but spits, clenching her hands into fists. Her knuckles press painfully against the marble counter. “We could have helped you.”

“Lena wasn’t sure I’d be safe if the government knew,” comes the soft reply. Alex scoffs. Despite L-Corp’s uneasy truce with the DEO in recent years, not even Alex would pretend that Lena actually trusted the agency. “Neither was I. I couldn’t risk it. Not with Ruby.”

Alex’s throat locks at the mention of her old roommate. “How is she?” she asks softly.

“Good,” Sam says quickly, too bright. “Good, she’s good. She’s safe.”

Anger simmers in a tight kernel behind Alex’s ribs. It’s been three years. Ruby’s well into her teens, and Alex wants to know who she’s become. Is her hair a new color? Does she have piercings or wear the same black band tees that Alex used to? What music is she into? Is she still taking French?

She doesn’t ask any of those questions. If Sam wanted her to know any of that, she would have called. Or texted. Or emailed. Sent a postcard or goddamned holiday photo.

Instead, it’s been radio silence for three years.

“Congratulations, by the way,” Sam says to fill the silence. “On the promotion. I bet it’s helped with the adoption process. Or fostering? Did you decide what you wanted to do?”

Alex shrugs, ducking her chin to stare at her hands. “Single professional who pitches herself off rooftops doesn’t exactly scream ‘capable caregiver’ to the people who make decisions.”

J’onn had given her the job hoping it would give her stability enough to make progress towards parenthood. Neither of them had realized how demanding the role of director could be until she’d tried to do both. Despite her initial readiness to leave the DEO for good in order to be a mom… she might have liked being an agent, but she loves being Director. She couldn’t stop. Not yet.

“I looked into donors,” she continues, despite her intention to not do that. “That didn’t work out either.”

Sam’s gaze softens. “I’m so sorry, Alex.”

“I have time,” Alex offers with a shrug. “It’ll happen. I’m just not there yet.”

Silence hangs between them in the wake of the awkward exchange. Alex wants to shake her for information, for all the good it would do against a woman who is essentially Kryptonian. When she finally lifts her eyes, Sam is gazing at her like she has things to say too. Neither of them quite know where to start.

Finally, Sam inhales, and when she releases it, her features soften into vulnerability.

“I wanted to, you know,” she says softly. “Tell you.”

Something in her voice sends Alex’s chest aflutter. “Yeah?”

“Of course I did!” Sam exclaims, raking a hand through her hair. It’s shorter than Alex remembers. Not by much, but… it’s sportier. It looks good on Sam.

“Alex, I regretted leaving as soon as Ruby and I hit the interstate. I’ve never clicked with a group of friends like I did in National City. Every time we’ve moved before, I never felt like I was leaving anything behind. Nothing ever felt… unfinished.”

Alex’s mouth runs dry. Saying goodbye to Sam and Ruby had hurt nearly as much as saying goodbye to Maggie. Knowing Sam had felt just as conflicted eases that ache by a fraction. A tendril of hope worms its way out of the shell around her heart.

“Did– are you guys back, then? For good?”

“We were thinking about it. Ruby wants to stay.”

Alex holds Sam’s gaze, challenging and eager all at once. “What do you want?”

Sam swallows audibly, meeting Alex’s gaze. “I wanted to see you.”

A rush of heat courses through Alex, starting from the top of her head and pooling deep in her belly. The spark in Sam’s eye deepens, making Alex wonder if she hears and recognizes the sudden uptick of Alex’s heartbeat.

In slow, deliberate strides, Sam comes around the corner of the island to stop only inches from Alex.

“I know,” she continues, voice low with intent, “that we can’t just pick up where we left off. But maybe…”

Her fingers brush the swell of Alex’s bicep, so gentle Alex barely feels it past the flush that spreads from where their skin makes contact.

“Maybe we can get to know each other again. Properly, this time.”

It doesn’t occur to Alex to stop and think. She follows the tug of her heart onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to Sam’s.

Later she might blame it on the rush of a near death experience, or the shock of Sam’s sudden return after so long, but as Alex stumbles backwards towards her bedroom, shedding articles of clothing as they go, all she knows Sam’s hands cradling her face and the scent of her perfume.

She falls back on her bed and drinks in the sight of Sam topless before her. Then her lips are captured again as long, powerful fingers start to roam.

“Welcome home,” Alex mumbles against lips hot and damp with heavy breaths.

Sam’s movements sharpen, taking on an edge of urgent want.

“God, I missed you.”

#prompt-a-thon #the final prompt!#we did it!#agentreign #sam saves alex #alex danvers #sam arias #kryptonian!sam #this was actually almost 3 prompts in one #so i pieced together what was feasible #2 out of 3 ain't bad #sam's return

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backwardsforwards · 6 years

Text

Take a walk in my shoes

So here it is, I feel like this needs to be said because I see so much negativity and stigma around abortion. You all are entitled to your own opinion, let me start with that. You are all free to believe whatever you would like to believe, and I respect that. But the moment you start trying to dictate another woman’s body, and tell her what she can and can not do with her own body, I lose every ounce of respect. Here it is plain and simple, if you don’t like abortion, if you don’t think its right, DON’T HAVE ONE. There are hundreds of thousands of reasons why someone may choose to decide abortion is the right decision, I never thought I would. Until I was in those shoes. Until I was 20 years old, had just gotten into a brawl with my best friend of 20 years who was my roommate, because she was pissed off that I told her I couldn’t extend the lease because I had just found out my dad had cancer and my mom needed me to come home. So there I was, 20 years old, living on my parents couch, my world crumbling around me, not nearly enough money to take care of myself let alone take care of a baby, when I peed on that stick and there was a little pink plus sign. I now had 2 options, do I decide to do this, either subjecting my boyfriend to take care of himself, me, and our baby basically on his own since I was in no financial or mental state to be taking on another human life, or maybe he didn’t want that at all and I’d be stuck, living on a couch in my parents home, with my baby and doing it all on my own. Or, I take action, and save myself and my unborn child from a lifetime of struggle and wait to have children until I am stable and ready to do so. So I made, the HARDEST decision of my life. Let me tell you there is nothing in this world I want more than to be a mother, and if I thought I could handle it you bet your ass we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. But I wanted better for my child than to grow up facing the struggles I grew up with, young parents who weren’t ready but were thrust into parenthood when they were by no means ready to do so. It’s not that I didn’t care, it’s not that I didn’t want my baby, it’s not that I thought death was a better option, but I knew it was unfair to bring a child into such an unstable life. And for everyone who says “Adoption is always an option” sure, that’s great in theory and I am in awe of everyone who has the strength to give their baby up for adoption, but I am not one of those people. I could never grow this tiny human, grow to love it, and hand it over to someone else. So I did the scariest thing I’ve ever had to do. I went down to Planned Parenthood, 7 weeks pregnant, I drove past the protesters who screamed at me on my way in, I left my boyfriend in the waiting room, and went in to have my abortion. And I feel like I’m not allowed to talk about it. I feel like I’m supposed to suffer quietly, because I made this decision myself. But to me, it was just as traumatic an experience as if I had miscarried. Do I regret my decision? No. I know I did what I needed to do. Do I wish it could have been different, and that I could be sitting here right now, weeks away from my due date with my big belly full of baby? Every single day. Had the circumstances been different I would certainly rather kept my baby, but with everything that was going on, and is still going on in my life, how could I have brought a baby into this? I am not ashamed of my decision, I do not regret what I did, and I am sick of suffering in silence, afraid to talk about my abortion at the risk of someone being offended and telling me how awful and terrible I am. I have thought about writing this for months, but I’ve been to afraid, but the closer I get to what would have been my due date, the more emotional I get about it and the more I feel like I’m not allowed to be upset because society has told me that my abortion made me a baby murderer and I am not allowed to grieve since I sentenced my baby to death, the more pissed off I get the more I decided this needs to be said. Abortion is NOT something to be ashamed about. I will not suffer in silence any longer.

#Pro Choice #Planned Parenthood #Abortion #personal #this is my story #do not suffer in silence #abortion story #my story #shout your abortion #my abortion

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forget-it-beam · 7 years

Note

If you're cool with it, for the headcannon requests could I please request Ishimondo as parents? If not that totally fine :3

- They’d been married for about a year when Taka suggested they become fathers

- Mondo was more than a little freaked out. Was he ready for this? Would he ever be ready for this? Would he be a good father? He honestly didn’t know, his old man hadn’t exactly been great to him and Daiya and Mondo wasn’t sure he would be much better

- He told Taka he needed some time to think. His husband seemed totally understanding, but Mondo was sure he’d disappointed him somehow. He knew how important it was to Taka that the Ishimaru family name lived on, and since he was an only child and had no cousins Taka knew that the only way that could happen was if he himself had a child

- They dropped the subject for a while, giving Mondo time to think things over. He was good at taking care of dogs, and dogs were basically the same thing as kids, right?!

- Ugh, he didn’t know. He wasn’t opposed to the idea of having kids - he quite liked the little shits, actually. But he didn’t know if he was cut out to actually raise one. What if he messed up somehow and their kid got hurt or worse? He didn’t know if he could handle that.

- But at the same time he couldn’t get the thought of holding his and Taka’s baby in his arms out of his head …

- Fuck it. Even if Mondo didn’t really know what he was doing when it came to parenthood, he still had Taka. And he was more than sure that Taka would be a fantastic dad.

- And hell, even though Mondo thought he wouldn’t be good at general parent-y responsibilities and things like that, he knew for a fact that no matter what he would love and support his kid unconditionally.

- About a week after Taka initially made the suggestion that they become parents, Mondo told him that he was on board with the idea

- The happiness in Taka’s eyes when he heard that more than made up for the week that Mondo had spent stressing out over it

- Taka was eager to tell all of their friends about it (”OUR BABY IS GOING TO HAVE SO MANY METAPHORICAL AUNTS AND UNCLES OH MY GOD”)

- Conveniently, the monthly class reunion was in just a few days

- When they shared the big news everyone seemed really happy for them (except byakuya but who gives a shit about that guy)

- Celeste (she went by Taeko now, but everyone still used Celeste as a nickname for her) called godmother and Leon called godfather; Mondo told them that over his dead body (pun not intended) would either of them raise his child in the event something happened to him and Taka.

- Makoto asked them if they would adopt or get a surrogate - Taka replied that surrogacy was their preferred option

- And pretty much nobody expected it when Sakura offered to be their surrogate

- She said that she considered herself a fine option for child-carrying - she never smoked or drank, she had a good diet, and she worked out. She was pretty much in perfect health.

- Though she almost changed her mind when Taka informed her she wouldn’t be able to drink coffee anymore

- Mondo and Taka thought it over, but then agreed

- After all, better a close friend than a stranger

- It took a long time for everything to get sorted out, but eventually Sakura told them that her pregnancy test came out positive

- Taka was so happy he started bawling; Mondo couldn’t stop smiling and saying “HOLY SHIT BABE WE’RE GONNA BE DADS” over and over again

- Both of them pretty much got baby fever

- Taka bought a metric fuckton of baby books and studied them religiously

- While Mondo took it upon himself to design the nursery; painting it, putting up shelves, building furniture for it, and buying so many toys that he didn’t have a place for all of them

- When they went to the first ultrasound with Sakura and saw their baby for the first time they both cried

- They were both so damn excited for this

- All of their friends, even Sakura, got very tired of them talking about babies all the time very quickly.

- “Do you guys even have a personality outside of your future child?”

- “NOBODY ASKED YOU, LEON!!!”

- Around six months into Sakura’s pregnancy they went in for another ultrasound and were informed that they could now be told the sex of the baby and they agreed to hear it

- When they heard that they were going to have a girl they both cried again

- God they were such saps, it was adorable

- This was gonna be the most loved kid in the entire world

- When the third trimester begin they both got pretty bad pre-parental panic. What if they weren’t cut out for this? What if Taka was too serious to be a good dad? What if Mondo wasn’t serious enough? What if she didn’t like them?

- Though with cuddles and reassuring words they could usually calm each other down

- Their faith in each other was unwavering

- The only argument they really had throughout the whole pregnancy was over what her name would be

- But they eventually decided on Kiko, meaning “hope”

- Since hope (or at least, Hope’s Peak Academy) had been what brought them together in the first place, they thought it would be fitting

- Plus Kiko Ishimaru had a nice ring to it

- She was born slightly prematurely, when Sakura was about three weeks from her due date

- Kiyotaka started freaking out, convinced something was going to go wrong and that they would lose Kiko or lose Sakura or, god forbid, lose both of them

- Mondo did his best to keep him calm but he was also panicking

- He couldn’t stop being plagued by the thoughts of losing the little girl that he’d grown to love so much before he even got a chance to meet her

- Fortunately Hina got Sakura to the hospital as quickly as she could and the doctors made sure that good care was taken of Sakura

- They reassured her, Taka and Mondo that everything would be fine

- Hina told them that they’d better make sure everything was fine, because under no circumstances would she let anything happen to her girlfriend or the baby she was carrying

- But the doctors assured them that Sakura was fine and that nothing bad would happen to either her or Kiko

- It took a while for her to be born; they waited for hours and hours and even though Mondo knew this was supposed to be a magical day he couldn’t help but get slightly annoyed at his daughter

- C’mon, kid, I’m exhausted, just be born already

- But eventually Sakura was ready to start pushing

- She handled the pain of it all like the absolute champion that she was; there was only minor screaming

- Mondo, Hina and Taka chose not to look at it while it was happening; they stayed by Sakura’s head and kept their eyes away from down there

- When Kiko was finally born and they heard her cry for the first time, Kiyotaka immediately burst into tears and Mondo was just. Completely stunned.

- Like. Holy shit. He had a daughter. He was a dad.

- He just kinda watched in silence with his arm around Taka’s shoulders as Kiko was cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket

- “Would you like to hold her?”

- He didn’t even notice the question at first

- “Uh … sure.”

- Sakura, completely exhausted and probably still in pain (he did not envy her right now) weakly congratulated them both as Mondo took Kiko into his arms.

- She was so small.

- “Oh god, Taka, what if I drop her? I don’t know how to hold a baby!”

- Taka, still crying, reassured him that he’d do just fine

- Neither of them could stop staring at her

- She looked a little bit like the egg donor they’d chosen for her, but Mondo thought she looked more like Kiyotaka. She was certainly frowning like him, her face scrunched up like a grumpy old man.

- “Hey look, Taka, she’s got your eyebrows!”

- Imagining his baby with Taka’s massive eyebrows and permanent frown was enough to make him crack up laughing

- He was very emotional right now

- Kiko poked one of her tiny arms out of the soft blanket she’d been wrapped in and waved it in the air. Taka reached for it and she seized his finger with an iron grip.

- Taka just laughed tearfully

- Mondo had never seen him so overjoyed

- “She’s so strong!!! Look at her, Mondo!!! Look at her!!! Everyone look at my daughter!!!”

- He didn’t have to tell Mondo twice. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen.

- When the doctors told him they needed to take her away for a while to get her properly cleaned and dressed and check her to make sure everything was ok, he didn’t want to hand her over

- He did so, but very reluctantly

- He could have kept holding her forever

- He honestly couldn’t remember why he’d ever had doubts about this

- Having Kiko was the best decision he’d ever made

- When they were allowed to bring her home, they laid her in her crib and just watched her sleep for ages and ages

- “She’s just perfect, isn’t she?” Taka had whispered, hugging Mondo closely. “I’m so happy … “

- “So am I,” Mondo replied.

- Before they went to bed that night Mondo made a man’s promise to his daughter, to love and support her all her life no matter what.

Sorry if these are kinda bad, it’s really late and I’m tired. I might write more tomorrow if you want!

#mondo #taka #ishimondo

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