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bloodfromthethorn · 3 years

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Sleep is the Best Cure

“Jack? What-” Mac blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision even as he automatically relaxed into his partner’s hold, trusting him to keep him up while he struggled his way back to the surface.

“Pretty sure you’re going on about 72 hours without sleep and you’ve had, what? Three? Separate traumatic situations in that time? Not much of a surprise you’re about to crash hard.”

Tag to 2x11 and 2x12. Also on AO3.

Mac’s eyes surveyed the wreck of his living room with a building sense of dread. The last few days felt like little more than a blur in his memory and he didn’t think he’d had a chance to pause for breath during any of it. Now that he had a moment to himself, he couldn’t help but worry that the world was about to come crashing down yet again, with him standing right in the middle of it.

Charlie’s attention had been drawn away by one of the team responsible for lifting the barrels out from beneath the floor, while all around them Phoenix personnel were cataloguing every item they could find just in case one of them might grant a clue as to the Ghost’s whereabouts. Mac considered moving to help them - or perhaps back Charlie up in what looked as though it might be descending into some kind of argument about proper procedure - but the instant he took a step to do so, sharp, blinding pain struck him right between the eyes like a lightning bolt.

It was there and gone in a flash, but it left him so startled he staggered back a step in surprise. A hand snatched at his arm before he could do more than sway, tugging him carefully against a supportive warm body. “Easy there bud.”

“Pretty sure you’re going on about 72 hours without sleep and you’ve had, what? Three? Separate traumatic situations in that time? Not much of a surprise you’re about to crash hard.”

“I’m- I’m okay.”

“Yeah man, ‘course you are. But maybe we should get you some sleep, yeah?”

Mac’s head still felt like it was floating some way above the rest of his body, foggy and distant, but he was still able to feel himself frown as the suggestion stuck a chime wrong somewhere. “Can’t,” he managed. “House is in clean up.”

“Matty’s got it covered,” Jack said, sure and steady. “And while she’s getting everything here sorted, you can crash at my place.”

That did admittedly sound amazing, but Mac forced himself to mumble a negative and reclaim some of his own weight, shaking his head in a vain attempt at clearing out the cobwebs taking root. “No, I need to help Charlie,” he said stubbornly.

The arm Jack had around his shoulders turned to steel, not letting him move away. “Charlie is doing just fine. He knows what he’s doing and he’s not the one dead on his feet right now. It’s okay man, it’s over. You can hand the reins over to someone else for a bit.”

With his vision steadily clearing, Mac could finally make out Jack’s worried face at his shoulder, watching him closely for any sign he was about to take another nosedive. Beyond the concern though, it was clear as day that Jack was starting to flag just as badly as Mac was, with pale skin and deepening crow’s feet emphasising the slight squint he’d picked up to combat the dryness of his eyes. “You’ve not slept either,” he pointed out unnecessarily.

Jack huffed something that might have been a laugh if he’d had the energy for it. “True enough, but I also wasn’t arrested and I haven’t spent the last twenty hours working on defusing two bombs simultaneously.” He gestured vaguely around the wreck of Mac’s living room with his free hand as though to encompass everything that had happened. “I’m good to drive us both back to mine and then I’m planning on passing out until at least tomorrow. That plan sound good with you?”

Honestly, now that Mac was aware of his own fatigue, the exhaustion felt like a physical weight on his body and the very thought of handing over his safety to Jack and drifting off for a couple of hours sounded like heaven, but he knew his job. Once an EOD tech, always an EOD tech, and there was still a lot of explosive material in his house that needed dealing with before anyone in a mile’s radius would be safe. He had work to do.

The sentiment must have shown on his face, because Jack went right back to frowning. “No, man, cut that out. Even if there wasn’t a perfectly capable bomb tech right over there, you’re in no state to be handling explosives. You’re shaking.”

Mac glanced at his own hands to confirm that yes, his whole body was indeed wracked by fine tremors that he couldn’t seem to stop. That… didn’t seem right. Since joining the army he’d had countless sleepless nights, both intentional and unavoidable, and while he knew he must be getting close to his limit of endurance, he was usually steady handed. Sort of an occupational requirement, really.

“Something’s wrong,” he murmured to himself, still looking at his trembling fingers.

With a heavy sigh, Jack tugged on him until he was pushed, unresisting, onto one of the bar stools and propped up by Jack’s warm palms on both of his shoulders. “What’s wrong is that you’ve been running on nothing but adrenaline and coffee for two whole days. Just ‘cause you’ve not been dodging bullets doesn’t mean you haven’t been going through the wringer. You’re exhausted. That’s all it is, bud, promise.”

Well, if Jack promised then Mac would believe him. Jack would never lie to him and he always seemed to know Mac’s hurts even before the man himself did. Something about it still didn’t sit right with him though. “Was dodging bullets,” he corrected, slightly petulantly, as he remembered handcuffs around his wrists and the desperation of trying to find a solution using nothing but a bullet and a ballpoint pen.

One of Jack’s hands drifted up his shoulder to cup the back of his head comfortingly in a move that Jack liked to use when he wanted to check Mac’s pulse without him knowing. “I’m okay,” he mumbled again in protest, but didn’t pull away.

“Yeah, I know you are. You’re pretty out of it though bud. Reckon you’re not going to remember this conversation tomorrow, huh?”

That was probably a fair assessment, honestly. With no witty retort lined up and thoroughly lacking the energy to search for one, Mac just hummed agreeably, blinking at him as his vision went wobbly again.

Jack sighed. “Okay, I’m calling it. I know you want to help out here, but you need rest and you’re not going to get it while there’s a Phoenix clean-up op happening in your living room. And since I’m not letting you out of my sight just yet, you’re coming home with me, yes? Good.”

He finally broke his attention off from Mac to cast a glance around the room at large and caught Matty’s eyes, gesturing to his semi-conscious partner with a small head tilt. “I’m taking this one home.” He didn’t leave any room in his tone for argument, but softened it by adding, “If you need us, call me.”

Thankfully, as much as Matty might be a hardass when her job needed her to be, she was also one of the most observant people Jack had ever met. Her eyes took them both in with a single look and recognised the exhaustion staring back at her. She nodded with a soft smile. “Take as long as you need. We’ve got this.”

He spared enough time to shoot her a deeply grateful look before his entire attention turned back to Mac, who appeared to have been trying unsuccessfully to use the brief pause to rally himself. Unfortunately for him, he was long since out of any reserves to draw off; the best his attempts got him was some slightly more aggressive blinking.

“Okay hoss, think you can stand up for me?” From the way Jack was having to keep him steady, it was obvious that Mac’s balance had completely gone to shit, but he obediently pushed himself upright and managed to at least keep his knees locked to take his weight. “Alright man, you’re doing great. Let’s get outside and get you sitting down again, yeah?”

Getting Mac outside and into the car turned out to be an exercise in extreme patience. Out of it as he was, he seemed to consistently forget where they were going and why, and made several attempts to turn himself around to go and help Charlie even though he could not more obviously be beyond that particular task. Each time Jack would nudge him back in the right direction with a soft push and a string of gentle words that seemed to more or less do the trick. By the time Mac was carefully folding himself into the passenger seat, the kid was scarcely still conscious.

“That’s right, you just sit there and let Jack get you home, yeah?”

That Mac didn’t even groan in protest at Jack referring to himself in third person said a lot for his mental state. Chuckling to himself, Jack rounded the car and nodded at Bozer who had appeared at the front door to see them off.

“I’ll get the house sorted as soon as I can,” he promised. “Make sure everything’s nice and clean when he gets back.”

“Appreciate that. But make sure you get some rest yourself, okay?” He said sternly, sending him a steady look. “Today’s been a long day for everyone, you included.”

“We’re good Jack. Matty will take good care of me and Riley. You just worry about Mac.”

Jack snorted, momentarily letting his bone-deep exhaustion show on his face. “As if I ever do anything else.”

Mac was thoroughly dead to the world when Jack slid into the driver’s seat beside him, his head tilted awkwardly against the window and his arms wrapped tight around his middle. It looked wildly uncomfortable, but the journey was only short and now that he was actually out for the count, Jack was loath to disturb him until he had to. Instead, he jammed his keys in the ignition and headed for home without another word.

Tired as he was, Jack drove more carefully than he was usually of a mind to and as a result ended up taking a full half-hour to make it to his apartment. Mac didn’t so much as stir the entire time. If it hadn’t been for his breath fogging against the glass of the window, Jack might have resorted to feeling for the pulse in his wrist just to be certain that he really was still there, still in one piece. After everything he’d been through in the last three days, the fact that the worst physical damage he would have to deal with would be a few scrapes and a hefty dose of exhaustion was something of a miracle - and Jack would still trade almost anything for the chance to go back and spare him of all of it. Mac had never deserved the shit that got thrown at him day in and day out, but it rarely came so thick and fast.

And physical condition aside, Jack knew that Mac wasn’t getting away from any of it without some new mental baggage.

But that was a problem for tomorrow, at the earliest. Right now all he had to worry about was getting 6 foot of mostly-catatonic secret agent up several flights of stairs, preferably without drawing any attention. Easy.

Mac did make a valiant attempt at consciousness after a few gentle shakes from Jack, but it was clear the window of opportunity for his ability to hold his own weight had closed some time ago. In the end, it was left to Jack to duck under his shoulder and do his best to balance them both as they hobbled unsteadily up the fire escape. The lobby would have granted them an elevator, but with them both on their last legs, Jack didn’t want the attention.

No doubt they must have looked comical - or perhaps just drunk - but they made it in the end, and without anyone falling down the stairs to boot. Jack was going to count that as a win.

“Mac, you still with me brother?”

There was a vaguely attentive hum. Mac’s eyes didn’t open.

“You happy to share the bed or are you gonna make me sleep on the couch?”

Another hum that Jack chose to take as ambivalence. In truth the question was somewhat redundant - the pair of them had shared far closer quarters than a king-sized bed before, and Mac would never turf Jack out of his own room, especially when he was just as desperately in need of rest. Asking was more of a formality than anything.

There was a second brief deliberation when Jack managed to get them both into the bedroom as he tried to weigh up the chances of him being able to bully Mac into changing into some borrowed sleepwear. In the end, he figured it wasn’t worth the hassle and just calmly battled him out of his jeans and his dust-covered henley before tipping him beneath the covers. With his consciousness waning once more, Mac offered little more than a sleepy grumble as he burrowed down beneath the blanket and went still once more.

With a weary chuckle of genuine relief, Jack ran through his own preparations as quickly as his tired body was capable of before finally, finally folding himself into the other side of the bed. After everything, the sensation was heavenly.

There was a long stretch of motionless silence, broken only by their steady breathing, and Jack felt the fiercely alert, wary section of his brain finally start to cede control to the comforting embrace of sleep. It was over; Mac was safe, the bomb was defused, no one was in prison, and Cage would be just fine after a bit of recovery time. Jack was free to let his guard down at long last.

It wasn’t an easy task. For the next five minutes he struggled with slipping into light dozes that broke off suddenly when his adrenaline spiked, bracing himself against some new danger. He knew that he needed the rest and for once it was legitimately safe to do so, but he had too many years of forcing his body through every possible hardship for it to give up the fight so easily.

Then, as he always managed to do, Mac provided the solution. After the fifth or so time Jack jolted awake, Mac let out a low, displeased huff and wriggled until he was able to reach out a hand and wrap long fingers around Jack’s wrist in a gentle reassurance of his presence. He didn’t even look as though he was awake as he did it - he’d just sensed that Jack needed his help, and had offered it without thought. Lost in his own exhaustion, Jack thought it was almost poetic.

Not that he would know, of course.

Safe at long last, and tangibly aware of Mac’s steady presence at his side, Jack finally let himself sleep.

#i'm sure there were a lot of fics exactly like this when those episodes came out #but im new #let me indulge #macgyver #mac #jack dalton #exhaustion #god i miss jack so much you guys #respect to eads' choices but the show is just not as good without him #still shouldnt have been cancelled though #fuck that

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emachinescat · 3 years

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More possibly unpopular opinions that I've been dying to get off my chest...

If what looks like's going to happen actually does tonight, then I have a couple of thoughts.

First, if it is absolutely certain that George Eads never plans on coming back to the show, then I think giving Jack a proper (if not utterly heart-rending) send off is ultimately better than this silenced limbo on the matter. I am the kind of person who can't stand the will they/won't they for very long. I do understand if there are people who prefer to have that suspension of hope, but I'd rather have some kind of resolution, one way or the other.

Also, I feel like this course of action (again, only if they are 100% certain Eads will never want to come back) is so much more respectful to his character than just going on like he doesn't exist.

Think of it this way: The characters would now be *forced* to acknowledge him and what he means to them again. This might be the best way for Jack to get the proper goodbye and recognition that he deserves.

And if he does die, I feel like the show can continue to go on much in the same way it did before, except now (hopefully) with a little bit more mention of and angst surrounding him.

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I still love the show just as much as I did when he was on it (though I do miss him very much). Perhaps that's because Mac is my favorite character and I never really watched exclusively for Jack. I don't know.

But even though I miss the crap out of him and am really frustrated that he wasn't even mentioned in S4, the fourth season is actually my favorite storywise. I love the overarching story, the darker tones, the emotional turmoil Mac goes through, the conflict and loss and watching him deal with it.

Again, let me reiterate that I love Jack and never wanted him to leave.

But I do think that some of what came out of his departure was good for Mac's character. He was forced to face this darkness without his partner by his side, and the lack of this dependency on Jack gave him no choice but to develop emotionally as a character in a way he wouldn't have been able to with Jack as support.

A few other thoughts...

I actually really like Russ. I don't think he's supposed to be a replacement for Jack at all, and that's not how I see him. I think he's an interesting and fun character in his own right, completely separate from my feelings for Jack.

Similarly, I think Desi is a total badass and I love her. I'm not crazy about her and Mac as a couple just because I feel like until they learn individually how to accept themselves and one another for who they are and actually connect emotionally, the relationship can only be toxic. But I can honestly see myself shipping them (in the right circumstances). That being said, I think Mac/Riley, Desi/Russ, and Desi/Riley are all fun ships that I would love to see.

I don't like Eli at all. I think it's dumb in any fandom to add a character that can do what your supposedly unique main character can. The only person who came close to this in the original was Murdoc, and that was because he was the Moriarty to MacGyver's Sherlock.

I do think that the writers are spending far too much time on side characters this season. I did love to see Desi's family dynamic and Matty and Russ out in the field together, but the show is called MacGyver. Maybe I'm biased because he's my favorite character, but he's also the main one, and I would actually like to see that applied in the show.

My favorite episode of the show is the Tesla one. I loved the depth, the symbolism, the emotional trauma. I wish they'd do more like it. I did think it was incredibly dumb for the writers not to reference Jack at any point in Mac's psyche. He's such a huge part of Mac's life, and that bit of erasure really stopped that episode from being at it's full potential. However, my head canon is that Mac is so upset by Jack leaving that he's locked him away into the back of his mind because he's too painful to think about.

Ultimately, I love this show. Do I think that the writers have always made the right decisions? Absolutely not. Do I think that CBS has handled promotional material well? HECK. NAH. Do I wish Jack would come back? Yes, 100%. But this show still brings me so much joy. I love the characters and the actors and the love that is poured into it by the people who truly care.

And I hope so hard that if even if Jack doesn't make it, that the show will. I want the story to continue because the sad truth of it all is one that we so adamantly try to deny: People die. Shit happens. But just because one person is gone doesn't mean that we can't find a way to move on, even if a part of us will never quite be the same. Jack was a very important part of the show, and he always will be. But the show, like life, can move on, and if they play it right, then his memory will live on. Just like in life.

Anyway, that's my Ted Talk for the day. I'm not at all trying to offend anyone or start an argument, but I've been needing to articulate these thoughts for a very long time and it feels so good to do so. If you disagree with me on any point, that's totally fine.

All this sure feels good to say though.

#macgyver 2016 #macgyver #unpopular opinion #jack dalton #my thoughts #hear me out #this got deep

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quercussp · 4 years

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The Fantastic Mr. Whiskers

Rating: T

Word count: 3.1k

Summary:

Mr. Whiskers does not approve of guests. But this human? This human was ok. This human could stay.

Authors note:

Happy holidays @babethepig! I hope you like this fic, even though I interpreted the prompt a bit loosely.

Written for the prompt: Phil can talk to animals but he keeps his power hidden. Dan and Phil start dating. Dan has a cat (because in this universe Dan has the right opinion and Phil is not allergic) the cat is really grumpy and usually hates everyone but it loves Phil. Dan is confused especially after he keeps catching Phil and the cat in -what looks like- deep conversations. The cat doesn't like certain things and Phil seems to know just why it is grumpy all the time, Dan gets suspicious and Phil ends up telling him about his power.

A huge thank you to my betas @alittledizzy and @templeofshame and the WWC crew for the support and encouragement. I couldn't have done this without you <3

Warnings: very minor homophobia (blink and you will miss it)

[read on ao3]

Mr. Whiskers was fond of his human. Most of the time. Ok, about half of the time. He assumed that the human meant well, but why did he keep buying this disgusting fish flavored dry food when Mr. Whiskers obviously hated fish? How many times did he have to turn over the bowl or sulk in the corner under the table for his human to figure that out? Weren’t humans supposed to be the most intelligent animals in the world? (Mr. Whiskers internally snorted at that. Yeah right, they think that, but then they also shout at pictures moving in the big box in the living room. Even the most stupid alley cat knew that they can’t hear you if they’re inside the box.)

His human also insisted on inviting the most horrible people into his flat. One of them was apparently his brother, and they always cooked some kind of ridiculous meal with no meat whatsoever, only carrots and stupid broccoli. Not even a little dash of milk! Absolutely no edible scraps Mr. Whiskers could steal from the table and enjoy in peace. The other person who came over to their home was a woman with a loud voice and different colored hair, and the tendency to constantly want to squish Mr. Whiskers with no consideration of his dignity or desire to be squished. He wasn’t some kind of lap dog to be “cuddled” and cooed at! Didn’t that woman have a mother who would teach her to KEEP HER STUPID FURLESS HANDS TO HERSELF? Honestly, some humans needed a little scratch once in a while to know their place, and he didn’t care that his human would yell “Mr. Whiskers, behave yourself!” every time he did it. He’ll behave himself when the guests behave themselves.

And the third semi regular visitor his human had was his mother, who called his human “Daniel” and would sit on the sofa drinking tea in silence. Sometimes she would ask a question like “So, have you decided about going back to university?” or “Are you still working at that convenience store? I think you should be looking for something more serious,” or “Have you been seeing anyone? My friend’s daughter is about your age, I think you should give her a call.” And even though she never did anything annoying to Mr. Whiskers and even sometimes brought him a nice treat, he absolutely hated having her over, because his human would get sad and quiet afterwards, and sometimes lie in bed for an entire day. And no amount of rubbing against his hands or purring on his chest would make him smile.

But most of the time, it was just the two of them. His human would usually have to be woken up by Mr. Whiskers’ insistent meowing. Honestly, if it weren’t for him, the human would probably never get to work on time. And Mr. Whiskers would never get fed. After giving Mr. Whiskers some food (ok, why the constant fish? Urgh, it’s disgusting), the human would pour some milk over his dry food (without fish, one would note. Why does the human get fish-free dry food while Mr. Whiskers has to suffer?) and sit at the table slowly chewing on it. If the human would get too slow or close his eyes for too long, Mr. Whiskers would make sure to drop something off of the counter to wake him up. Then, the human would go into the bathroom and shower (yet further proof that humans are not that intelligent. Why would anyone voluntarily pour water over themselves? Idiotic.) and get dressed. There would then be the regular argument where Dan would shout “Why did you have to sleep on my work pants again? You got fur all over them! Just use the fucking bed I bought you!” and Mr. Whiskers would hiss and jump straight into the pile of clothing on the floor of the bedroom and start kneading at them. Show his human who’s boss. Then the human would leave and Mr. Whiskers could get some good sleep in the human’s comfortable bed. (Dan wonders why Mr. Whiskers doesn’t sleep in the bed he bought him? Well, why did he buy him a bed that’s like 20 times smaller than his own? Does this human seriously thinks that he needs more space than Mr. Whiskers? Ridiculous.)

The evenings were mostly spent with the human sitting in front of the big box with some kind of toy and screaming loudly at the moving objects while Mr. Whiskers lay curled up on the couch and eyed his human with pity. They are never going to hear you, you fool. Just give up already. And after dinner (fish dry food, again; someone needs to smack some sense into this human) they would go to bed, Dan under the covers and Mr. Whiskers usually on the large chair where the human put his black work pants that night. (What? The chair is comfortable!)

So when one evening, someone Mr. Whiskers never seen before walked in with his human, Mr. Whiskers was immediately suspicious. The new guest was as tall as Dan, but had black hair and bright blue eyes. He was smiling and out of breath, and was looking around the apartment in wonder.

“So, this is my place,” Dan said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically shaky. “And this is Mr. Whiskers. Don’t mind him, he’s very grumpy, so don’t be offended if he hates you.”

Mr. Whiskers hissed in indignation. He wasn’t grumpy! He was an absolute delight if you knew how to behave yourself. He even let his human pet him a couple times the day before, and only hissed at him twice this morning! And Dan dares to call him grumpy?

“Hello Mr. Whiskers!” replied the stranger. “I’m Phil! It’s very nice to meet you.”

There was something really weird about this new human’s voice. Mr. Whiskers couldn’t exactly place what it was, but something was very different.

“Phil, you’re so funny! You honestly think he understands you?” Dan laughed and Mr. Whiskers meowed, offended. Did his human think he’s stupid?

“Of course he does, Dan, and I don’t think he likes you saying that.”

Ok, Phil seemed to be acceptable so far. He seemed respectful. Mr. Whiskers could give him a chance. For now.

“Oh Phil, you’re so precious!” Dan replied, and looked at the new guy with a smile on his face that made Mr. Whiskers want to roll his eyes. He looked at him like a little kitten looks at his first bouncy ball, or like his mother used to look at him when she would lick his face. Disgusting.

They ended up sitting on the couch and shouting at the lit up box together, and Mr. Whiskers felt his good opinion of the new ‘Phil’ human decline a bit. He might be smart enough to know that Mr. Whiskers understands them, but still obviously not the brightest kitten in the litter. He was also a little odd in other ways, biting Dan on the shoulder sometimes and giggling all the time. Perhaps he was hungry? Mr. Whiskers would also sometimes bite his human for food, but Dan seemed to react very differently to Phil biting him. When Mr. Whiskers would bite, his human would screech and call him a “dirty animal.” When Phil bit him, however, Dan would flush red and giggle. He looked like a tomato, it was frankly ridiculous.

It was long dark outside by the time Phil stood up from the couch and headed out. He hugged Dan and whispered something in his ear, and then looked Mr. Whiskers directly in the eyes and said “Goodbye Mr. Whiskers! See you soon!”

Something was definitely off about this person.

***

After that night, Phil became a constant presence in the flat. He would come over almost every night and stay later and later. Occasionally, he would stay overnight in the human’s bed and eat breakfast with them. He also seemed to progress from biting Dan to doing all sorts of other stupid things, like licking and sucking on his mouth, laying on his shoulder or on his chest and nuzzling into his neck. And his human seemed to not only allow it, but do the same to Phil. At one point, his human actually pushed Mr. Whiskers out of the bedroom and closed the door. And didn’t let him in the entire night, which was so unthinkably rude that Mr. Whiskers had no choice but to pee in Dan’s palm tree. The next morning they both emerged looking like they didn’t sleep at all, which of course they didn’t. Who would be able to sleep without Mr. Whiskers watching over them? And why did Phil have dark spots all over his neck?

However, even with all of this, having Phil around all the time definitely had some benefits. First of all, Phil apparently loved pizza, which meant that if Mr. Whiskers whined hard enough, he would always get a little pepperoni or sausage out of their plates. Additionally, Phil’s presence drove away Dan’s need to invite other people and Phil himself was always very respectful of the “don’t touch the cat if he doesn’t want it” rule. And of course, Mr. Whiskers was somewhat satisfied to see his human so happy. Some might even say that Mr. Whiskers was happy for him, but those people would be wrong, of course; Mr. Whiskers was far too important of a creature to really care about the wellbeing of his human (even though he did know that if Phil dared to hurt Dan, he would scratch his eyes out and not even think about it).

But the most significant changes came from the fact that Phil seemed to somehow just know things. Or, at least, guess some of the things Mr. Whiskers wanted. For example, one time when they were having breakfast and Dan was pouring the horrid fish dry food into Mr. Whisker’s bowl, Mr. Whiskers let out a frustrated meow. While Dan refused to get the hint for several years, Phil immediately seemed to understand Mr. Whisker’s frustration and told Dan that “I don’t think your cat really likes this type of food, maybe we should get him something different?” And indeed, a couple days later Phil brought over several different bags of cat food and had Dan perform a complicated taste test to determine which one was Mr. Whisker’s favorite. And somehow, Phil was able to exactly tell Dan which one Mr. Whisker’s liked most (the duck flavored one, of course, although the beef and rabbit one were also not bad).

Phil also would always say a proper hello and goodbye to Mr. Whiskers and always asked him if he could pet him. But the weirdest thing was that when Mr. Whiskers wasn’t in the mood for sentimental cuddles, Phil would just chuckle and say, “Ok, ok, maybe next time.” And whenever Mr. Whiskers allowed Phil to pet him, the human managed to scratch the perfectly right spot. Mr. Whiskers has never met a human who understood him as well as Phil.

***

One morning, Mr. Whiskers could tell something was wrong as soon as he woke up. The day before was one of the rare nights Phil wasn’t here, and Dan had spent the previous evening outside the house, only to come home at two am, pale, shivering and with puffed red eyes. He immediately went to bed without even saying hi to Mr. Whiskers or giving him the normal scratch behind the ears. The next morning, no matter how much Mr. Whiskers meowed or scratched at him, no matter how many cups he threw off of the counter, his human refused to get out of bed. He was lying under his blankets, covering his entire head, and Mr. Whiskers could hear a quiet sobbing from under it.

That morning Dan never got up for work. He just lay in bed, standing up only once to go to the bathroom and carelessly throwing some food in the general direction of Mr. Whisker’s bowl. The sun set and his human never stood up to turn on any lights. He just lay in bed motionless, sometimes letting out a quiet sob.

It was fully dark when Mr. Whisker’s heard the door open.

“Dan? Baby? Are you home?” Phil’s voice rang out in the darkness. Mr. Whiskers immediately raced to the door and started meowing at Phil. If anyone could cheer his human up, it would be Phil. Something was definitely wrong.

Phil entered the living room and turned on the light. Then he looked Mr. Whiskers right in the eyes and said, “You’re saying he didn’t get out of bed at all?”

Mr. Whiskers stared in shock at Phil.

“Listen, Mr. Whiskers, I can speak to animals, it’s no big deal. I just didn’t want Dan to know in case he thought I was weird or something. But we can discuss this in detail later; can you please tell me what happened to Dan?”

If Mr. Whiskers were a less dignified cat, he probably would have freaked out. But Mr. Whiskers doesn’t freak out. He’s always collected and poised, and honestly it’s not like he was that surprised, truly. (He definitely was.)

Quickly collecting himself from not being shocked at all, Mr. Whiskers proceeded to tell Phil exactly what was going on. Phil just looked intently at him and nodded along.

“Did he have anything to eat? He was crying yesterday? He was supposed to stay at his parents, but you’re saying he came back in the middle of the night? Ok, ok. Wait, slow down. Oh, he sometimes cries when his mom visits? Ok, I’ll see what I can do. Thank you, thank you!”

With that, Phil poured some water into a glass and quietly opened the door into the bedroom.

“Let me see how Dan is doing and I’ll feed you, Mr. Whiskers,” Phil whispered. Ok, that was fair. As long as it didn’t take forever, because dinner was supposed to be served at least two hours ago.

After a couple minutes of waiting, Mr. Whiskers slid into the dark bedroom and saw that Phil was lying in bed next to Dan, combing his fingers through his curly hair and murmuring into his ear.

“I’m so sorry, love. It’s his loss, you’re perfect. I’m so so sorry.”

“I wanted them to get to know you…” Dan sobbed. “I thought they would be happy for me.”

“They’ll come around, Danny, and if not, it’s their loss. It’s going to be ok, I’m here.”

Mr. Whiskers wanted to remind Phil of his promise to feed him dinner, but decided that he might not actually be that hungry. Instead, Mr. Whiskers climbed onto the bed and firmly planted himself between the two humans, kneading at the softness of Dan’s stomach and purring loudly. Dinner could wait until his human was a little happier. Maybe Mr. Whiskers would even curl up in Dan’s lap later, and let him pet him for an hour or two. Mr. Whisker’s was generous like that.

***

The next morning Phil woke up earlier than Dan and slipped out of bed into the kitchen.

“Let him sleep” he whispered to Mr. Whiskers who was about to start the normal process of waking Dan up. “I told our manager he won’t come into work today; he had a rough night.”

Mr. Whiskers followed Phil out into the kitchen and jumped up on the breakfast bar.

“So…” Phil said.

Mr. Whiskers stared at him.

“You hungry?”

Of course he was.

“Why is all of this crap on the floor? You tried to wake him up that way? Honestly, Mr. Whiskers, are you expecting me to clean this up? Of course you are.”

Phil quickly swept up the broken china and put the rest of the junk off the floor back onto the counter.

“Here, let me get you some food. Do you want the duck or the rabbit? Duck? Ok!”

He poured some food into the bowl and put it on the table.

“Come have breakfast with me, Mr. Whiskers. I think Dan might be sleeping in for a bit.”

Phil made himself a cup of coffee and got a biscuit from the cupboard. They sat at the table in silence, both munching on their food for a bit.

“So… Alligators are pretty cool, aren’t they?”

Mr. Whiskers just stared at him.

“What? They are! I went to the zoo with my family once and the alligator told me that my thighs are my best feature! Although I don’t know if he was saying that from an aesthetic or food related point of view. Either way, that was really nice of him.”

Mr. Whiskers glanced down at Phil’s thighs.

“Well, the alligator liked them, so you can keep your snarky comments to yourself,” Phil laughed. “Dan appears to like them, so shush.”

Mr. Whiskers laid down on the table and flicked his tail.

“Hey, don’t insult my boyfriends taste. He chose you as a pet, didn’t he?” Phil smirked. “Well of course he didn’t choose you, it was the other way around, what am I even saying. And you did a good job, you have a nice human there, don’t you.”

Just as Phil was saying that, the door to the bedroom creaked open and a sleepy-looking Dan emerged.

“Who are you talking to, Phil?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Mr. Whiskers and Phil shared a glance and the cat jumped off the table and walked towards Dan. He rubbed his side on Dan’s legs and purred.

“Why are you suddenly so nice? What’s going on?”

“Nothing, babe, we were just having breakfast. Do you want something?” Phil replied in an exaggeratedly innocent voice.

Honestly, Phil was the worst liar Mr. Whiskers has ever seen. Dan looked at Phil with even more suspicion.

To break the tension, Mr. Whiskers had to plunge his claws into Dan’s naked shin.

“Owww, you animal, what the fuck!?” Dan shouted, and Mr. Whiskers proudly walked away, successfully defusing the situation. Watch and learn, Phil. Watch and learn.

“Will you still move in with me if this monster of a cat lives here?” Dan asked Phil, rubbing his scratched up ankle. He plopped himself into a chair at the table and took a sip of Phil’s coffee.

“Do you seriously think I would dare move in without getting Mr. Whiskers’ approval?” Phil replied. “It’s not like it’s up to you or me if I get to live here.”

Mr. Whiskers jumped into Dan’s lap and curled up into a ball. Dan automatically started combing his hands through his soft fur.

“Do you approve, Mr. Whiskers?” Dan asked him. “I think he approves,” he smiled widely at Phil.

“Oh, he does, as long as we keep buying him the duck-flavored cat food,” Phil replied.

Mr. Whiskers started purring loudly in Dan’s lap. Phil was ok. Phil could stay, he decided.

#phanfiction #my fic #phan #phandom fic fests holiday exchange

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super-legalizelove · 5 years

Text

Arranged Marriage

Tommy X Reader

5,064 Words

Requested By Anonymous

Prompt: “hiya! you could write something about tommy and the reader having to marry one another for business or something and at first they are pretty cold to one another but still show respect and try to make their new lives together work,,,, and then the grow to be like a super power couple with a really strong relationship build on love and trust and yea.... this could be a long one heh x”

A/N: I Really Hope you like this and that It is what you imagined! I really enjoyed writing this oneshot and it really inspired me and I thank you so much for sending it to me! Love you all!

Being a Solomon had never been an easy thing for you. You brother was a gangster who hurt people, and illegally made money off of whiskey that he made in his “Bakery”. Despite your brothers less than desirable way of living you never complained, you had a nice home, friends, a wonderful job. You never had to worry about money, Alfie always made sure you were taken care of. With your parents being out of the picture for most of your life Alfie made it his job to always take care of you and make sure you had everything you could possibly want. He always respected your wishes until today.

“No,not happening! You are out of your fucking mind Alfie!” You yell, your brother sitting relaxed in the chain in his office.

“It has to be done. It is the only way to assure that this partnership sticks. Anyway you are always complaining that you can never find a man to marry and I am fixing your problem.” He says his thick accent shining through his calm words.

“That didn’t mean for you to arrange for me to marry someone who I have never met for your own personal gain!” You pace around the small room angrily while your brothers demeanor does not change. “You don’t do this to your own sister!” You exclaim, looking at him searching his face for some type of regret.

“I am sorry Y/N it has to be done. He is a rich man who will keep your life comfortable. He will be good for you, maybe he can keep your attitude under control which obviously I lack that skill.” Alfie sits forward pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

“I do not care if he is rich, I don’t love him!” You scream at him, frustrated by your brothers careless actions. He is quiet for a second before slamming his fist down on the desk making you jump.

“You are marrying Mr. Shelby whether you like it or not Y/N! I am done fighting you on this!” He yells back at you. You send him a deadly glare, you grab his glass of whiskey and throw it at the wall shattering it on impact. You storm out of the room slamming the door behind you, all of the workers quickly look away from you as you walk down the hall leaving the building. You storm down the street to your best friend’s home, walking in and collapsing on the couch while she sits in the chair a book in her hands.

“What has gotten into you?” She questions, as you are face down in the cushions. You mumble in the fabric and you hear her giggle slightly. “Sorry I don’t speak couch.” She jokes, setting down her book. You put your head sideways to face her.

“Fucking Alfie has arranged for me to marry one of his business partners so the partnership will not fall apart. Can you believe it? Marrying off his only sister to a stranger for a business deal!?” Her eyes widen at the news.

“What is he like?” She questions, getting up grabbing two glasses and a bottle of whiskey knowing that I am going to need it.

“I don’t know! I know that his last name is Shelby but that is it, I don’t know anything about the man that I am supposed to marry.” I exclaim, sitting up, sitting on my feet.

“Shelby I think I have heard that name. Aren’t the shelbys the ones who destroyed Sabini’s club a couple blocks over?” She questions and I think back to a few days ago when the club had been attacked.

“I am going to kill Alfie. Not only is he marrying me to a stranger but also to a stranger who has Sabini out looking for his head.” You roll your eyes and take a glass of whiskey that your friend had poured.

“He could be nice. Maybe you will like him, this can’t be all bad.” She tried to cheer you up. You down your glass and shake your head.

“I don’t know but I can’t get out of it, Alfie isn’t going to give me a choice in the matter.” you sigh, pouring myself another glass. “At least I can get drunk with my best friend one last time before I am married.” You raise your glass up and cling glasses with her downing the contents.

After a long night of drinking you wake up to banging on the door. Opening your eyes you see that at some point you made it back home, you put the pillow over your head hoping the person at the door would just go away after a few minutes.

“Jesus Christ Y/N open the goddamn door!” Your brother yells from the front door. You groan, rolling out of bed still in the clothes that you wore yesterday. You trudge to the door feeling like you had just got hit by a truck. Once you reach the door you open it and your brother walks past you and you roll your eyes.

“Yes of course Alfie you can come in, no problem at all.” You say sarcastically, shutting the door.

“You look like shit.” He says looking at you up and down.

“I feel it. Now what do you want, I have one hell of a hangover and am ready to go back to bed.” He shakes his head, walking up the stairs to your bedroom.

“No you can not go back to bed, you are getting married today. “ He says, going through your closet.

“You just told me about this yesterday, I don’t get anytime to prepare or to maybe meet the man?” You question, anger hinting in your voice.

“If I gave you any time you would have run off. You will meet him at the wedding. Now where the hell is that white dress I bought you?” He groans, pulling your clothes down from the closet and tossing them on the bed.

“Alfie you are making a fucking mess!” You yell picking up a piece of clothing from the floor.

“Ah here it is. Now get dressed and look presentable, I will be outside in the living room. And please try not to have such an attitude at the wedding.” He says, handing you the dress. You rip it out of his hands and push him out of the room, slamming the door in his face. “You have 20 minutes before we have to go!” he yells through the door.

“Bloody hell this is actually happening.” You say to yourself, looking into the mirror once you get ready. While looking at yourself you tear up a little, you always thought you would marry for love, but today your brother was making you marry for business.

“Y/N we have to go are you ready!?” You brother yells from the other room. You take a deep breath and leave your room going down the stairs to where Alfie is. He looks you up and down and grins. “You look beautiful.” He puts his hands on both of your shoulders, with a smile on his face. With a straight face you pull away from him and grab your bag.

“Let’s just get this over with.” You say quietly, leaving out the front door getting into the car parked out front while Alfie locked up your house.

The ride to the field where the wedding was taking place was a silent one. You looked out the window tears threatening to fall the whole ride. You have passed being angry and are now just upset. Alfie would look over at you every once in a while but did not speak. Pulling up you look at the group of people conversing a ways away from the car, most were familiar faces, men who worked for your brother. A few faces around the crowd you had never seen and assumed that they were family to whoever you were going to marry. Alfie get out of the car coming to your side opening the door helping you out. You look at the ground and Alfie grabs your hands, making you glance up at his face.

“You know this has to happen, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. You know I will always do anything for you but just this one time I need you to do this for me.” He says calmly. Looking down at your hands then back up at his face you nod slightly.

“I know…” You answer giving him a sad smile. No matter what your brother does you

Will always love him, that is what family does. He envelops you into a hug, and you put your face into the crook of his neck.

“Hey Alfie! Is this her?” An unfamiliar voice speaks. We part and I see a man with a toothpick in his mouth coming towards us.

“Yes Y/N this is John, John this is Y/N” you give a polite smile, as John grins.

“I am going to be your new brother in law. I honestly think you are going to be great for our family, Tommy needs someone in his life he is always so serious.” You look back at Alfie.

“I am going to grab a glass of water.” You say leaving the two alone.

“She is pretty upset.” Alfie explains. And John nods.

“If I was marrying Tommy I would be too.” He jokes, and leaves Alfie alone.

While walking around you were met by many congratulations from workers who came with their families. You see one of the small tents with a crack in the door so you ead over slipping into the tent to get a second to yourself. You close up the tent and turn around almost jumping out of your skin when you see a man sitting in the corner smoking a cigarette.

“Jesus you scared me.” You say, looking him up and down.

“You were the one who came into my tent without asking.” He retorts making you laugh nervously.

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I just needed to get away from all of those people. I can go if you want, I can find another place.” He shakes his head blowing out some smoke.

“You are fine. Do you want a drink?” He asks, gesturing to the bottle of alcohol in front of him. I let out a sigh of relief and go and sit next to him.

“Yes please.” You smile, he nods grabbing a glass pouring the liquor into it. You start to take in his features, he was pale with piercing blue eyes and black hair, and he had the sharpest cheekbones you had ever seen on a man. He hands it to you and you thank him, taking a drink from the glass. “I am Y/N, and you are?” I question, looking over at him the glass in my lap.

“Tommy Shelby.” He answers bluntly. Your eyes go wide realizing that this is the man who you are to marry.

“So it’s your fault that I am getting married today.” you say putting your glass down on the table. He looks over at you and seeing annoyance on your face.

“It was your brothers idea but if you want to blame me go ahead. You aren’t the only one not happy with this. I only am doing this for the sake of my company.” He says, taking another drag from his cigarette. You roll your eyes at his response.

“I am pretty sure your company would have been just fine without a marriage happening. You do realize that you have taken any chance away from me to ever find love?” you question with slight venom in your voice.

“You can sleep around while married I don’t care. Personally I couldn’t give a shit what you do after this, you could live in a separate house and never talk to me. Like I said this is only for my company.”

“Wow you really know how to woo and woman don’t you.” You respond, looking at him with disbelief.

“You will have to believe me when I say I don’t give a shit about you. So let’s just get married and go back to our lives.” He sits forward looking at you with no emotion on his face. You glare at him and stand up grabbing the drink from the table dumping it over his head.

“You should really learn how to treat a lady Mr. Shelby.” You turn on your heel and leave before he could respond. You go back to the car and sit against it grabbing one of Alfies cigarettes from the cab. Taking a drag from it you see Alfie storming towards you.

“Did you pour whiskey on your soon to be husband?” Alfie asks anger in his voice. You shrug, looking straight forward with a blank expression on your face.

“He had it coming. Don’t tell me he doesn’t want to marry me now, I will be heartbroken.” you say in a monotone voice. He lets out a frustrated growl, taking my cigarette and throwing it on the ground. “Hey!”

“Listen Y/N I know you aren’t thrilled about this but you need to stop acting like a bloody child and grow up. You are marrying Tommy and that is final. Now come on, I have to walk you down the aisle.” He grabs your arm dragging you to where everyone is sitting. The music starts to play and you and Alfie walk down the aisle together, not a single emotion showing on your face. Once you reach Tommy you stand next to him while the man in front of you goes through the vows quickly seeing the glares that you and Tommy were sending each other. Once you both say “I do” with no excitement in your voices everyone in the crowd broke into cheers. You glance over at Tommy and he goes to grab your arm to walk back down the aisle but you pulled your arm closer to yourself.

“Don’t even think about it.” You and him walk down the aisle and then the party began, while the band started to play and everyone drank. You head over to the bar leaving Tommy alone to speak with some other men, you order a drink and look around at everyone having fun. If only you could, but today was a miserable day and now you were married to an awful man who openly told you he didn’t care about you.

“Hey beautiful.” A man says walking up to you with a grin on his face. You give him an unenthusiastic smile and look down at your drink. “Arthur Shelby.” He holds out his hand for you to shake, you take it lightly making him grin.

“Y/N Solomons.” You say, smiling slightly.

“Shelby now dear, you are part of the family.” He puts his arm around you. “And don’t worry about Tommy he is an ass to everyone, if you need to get away from him you can always come hang out with me.” He grins. He smelled of alcohol and was already drunk but he seemed genuine.

“Thank you Arthur. I am sorry to say but your brother has his head way to far up his own ass that I am not sure how he can even see.” Arthur bursts out laughing at your comment.

“Oh I am going to like you.” You and Arthur sat and talked for a good deal of the night and even danced a little. Once everything was done you were informed by Arthur that you all were heading to Small Heath tonight. Alfie had packed up all your things for you while you were talking with Arthur and now you were saying goodbye to your only family to go and live with your cold husband.

“I will see you often alright? And if you need anything write me. You will do great in Small Heath, and they will take care of you.” Alfie says, giving you a hug.

“I will see you soon Alfie.” You say, giving him a sad smile, then climbing into the truck sitting next to Arthur who was your favourite person in the shelby family at the moment. Once you were in the truck it started to move and you slowly watched your hometown on London fade away into just a small dot on the horizon.

It had been three weeks since you married Tommy and it was not going well. You both slept in separate rooms and never saw each other. When you did it was just a simple head nod and then back to whatever we were doing. You had grown extremely close to the other member of the Shelby family, and even were the first one who Ada told she was pregnant. At the moment you were taking care of John’s children waiting for the nanny to come so you could go to the Garrison for a drink with Arthur.

“I am sorry I am late Mrs. Shelby!” The nanny exclaims coming into the house, taking off her jacket taking the smallest from my arms. I smile and shake my head.

“No need to apologize Mary. You have been worked thin, if you need a break just let me know and I will watch the children.” You offer, putting on your own jacket.

“Thank you Mrs. Shelby, you are such a wonderful woman.” You giggle at her flattering words.

“You can call me Y/N, I prefer it.” She nods giving you a grateful smile. “Now kids come give your auntie hugs goodbye before I come and find you all!” You yell into the house as all the kids come in a stampede enveloping you into a hug. You had grown very close with the children and loved being around them since it was very likely that you would never have children of your own, with how your marriage was at the moment. You say goodbye to everyone before leaving the house and heading to the Garrison. On the walk there you felt as if you were being watched and kept looking behind you to see if someone was there. You were suddenly pulled into the ally and pushed up against the wall.

“Let go of me!” You scream just to have your mouth covered by a hand.

“Y/N Shelby I have a proposition for you.” says a man with a thick accent. He comes out of the shadows allowing me to see him. “I am inspector campbell. I have been assigned to solve a case of missing guns, guns that your husband has stolen.” He says in a disgusted tone. “I am aware that you were forced into this marriage and I am willing to help you out of it. I and you to gather information for me and I will put your husband in jail where he will be hanged and you will be free to go.” he says and motions for the man to take his hand off your mouth.

“Go to hell.” You say, spitting into his face. He growls lowly and slaps your cheek.

“I hope to hear from you soon Y/N, we wouldn’t want you getting hurt when you could simply help us.” Campbell says leaving down the alley the man holding me following him leaving me in the alley wondering what the fuck Tommy has gotten me dragged into.

Walking into the Garrison I storm into the little room connected to the bar were the boys are. John, Arthur and Tommy all look up a me and look shocked and I expect my cheek to have a handprint on it from being slapped.

“Arthur, John can you please give Tommy and I a moment alone.” The two nod and leave the room shutting the door behind them.

“What happened to you?” Tommy asks, inspecting your face when you sit down next to him.

“I just had a run in with a copper. Now look we don’t necessarily like each other but whether we like it or not we are married. The copper asked me to get information on some guns that he thinks you stole. Now you don’t have to worry about me talking to them because I am loyal to you but just tell me,are you really fucking stupid enough to take guns and bring investigators into the town?” He Looks at you and lights a cigarette.

“Was the cop Irish?” He asks and you nod, a little annoyed that he didn’t answer your question. “You don’t have to worry about him, I will take care of him.” He says, putting out the match he had in his hand.

“Are you going to do something stupid?” You ask, drawing his attention back to you.

“Why do you care?”

“Because I actually enjoy this family even if my husband never talks to me. And even though he has his head way too far up his own ass I rather not have him die.” You admit, giving him a small smile.

“You are the most strange woman I have ever met.” He looks at your face, almost like he is trying to hear what you are thinking.

“You just haven’t met a woman who will call you out when you are being stupid. I think you forget that I grew up in this lifestyle I am not as helpless as you make me out to be.” You get up and leave the room leaving Tommy to think about what you have said.

After the night with the cops Tommy seemed to make more of an effort to be around you and talk to you. You would be lying if you didn’t find it nice to actually start acting civil towards each other. You both decided you are married so you might as well make the most out of it.

“Y/N do you like horses?”Tommy questions, pouring himself a glass of whiskey in the kitchen.

“I have always adored them, why?” You ask, looking up from the paper you were reading to look at his face.

“I would like you to come with me somewhere.” He states, putting on his cap.

“That sounds pretty suspicious to me, are you going to take me into a field and murder me?” You jokingly ask, standing up from the table. He rolls his eyes and leads you out of the house. While walking down the streets Tommy lightly took your arm and put it in his, holding you close as you both headed down towards the docks. You both walk into one of the barns and see that it is a stable with the most beautiful horse that you have ever seen.

“Y/N this is Charlie Strong and Curly, Curly takes care of the horse.” You smile politely the the two men in front of you.

“Would you like to come meet her Mrs. Shelby?” Curly asks me, and I smile nodding.

“Please call me Y/N and I would love to meet her.” You both head over to the house as Charlie and Tommy stay back talking. You are entranced in the beauty of the horse to hear their conversation.

“She seems like a wonderful girl.” Charlie mentions to Tommy watching you pet the horse gently.

“She is different.” Tommy answers, watching you intensely.

“Is our Tommy Shelby falling for the Solomons girl?” Charlie asks and Tommy rolls his eyes not answering the question.

“Does she have a name?” I ask, turning to look at Tommy. He come closer and looks at the horse then back at me.

“No but you can name her.” He says and chuckles at the excitement that spread across your face. You look back at the horse and study her thinking of a name.

“Jasmine.” You say, looking back at him with a smile.

“Jasmine?” He questions and you nod, making him get the smallest hint of a smile on his face. “Jasmine it is.” You grin and bite your lip looking back to the horse. After awhile of talking with curly Tommy told you that you both needed to go. While walking back down the street you look over at Tommy and bite your lip studying his face.

“Thank you for that. I really enjoyed it.” You thank him looking back down the street. He nods in response and you both head home walking in to be met with Alfie sitting in the living room. “Alfie?” You question as he turns around and grins, opening his arms for a hug. You go towards him hugging him tightly.

“Hey Y/N.” After you pull away Alfie looks at Tommy who nods at him.

“Alfie.”

“Tommy.”

“What are you doing here?” you question, catching Alfie’s attention.

“I needed to speak to Tommy about some business. Why don’t you go and see Pol or something while we talk.” He offers. You frown a little offended that he didn’t want to spend any time with you but you nod anyways. Before walking out You hug Tommy slightly catching him off guard.

“Thank you for today.” You say pulling away and leaving the house going towards the betting shop.

“Looks like you and my sister are getting along.” Alfie chuckles,and Tommy shrugs grabbing a glass of whiskey.

“I decided I had enough of not talking to the woman I was supposed to be married too.” Tommy explains acting like he is still detached from the whole mariage when in fact he was starting to have feeling for you.

“Well it seems like you are making her happy, maybe soon you two will actually become a happily married couple.” Alfie suggests and Tommy chuckles a little as they get to talking about business.

After catching up and saying goodbye to Alfie you headed into your room to get some sleep,having a long day with all the boys. Once falling asleep you are woken up by a yell from the other room. You cautiously get out of bed wrapping your robe around yourself going towards the noises. Once you come to the source of all the ruckus you are at Tommy’s door. You knock lightly but don’t get an answer. You open the door to see Tommy tossing and turning as if he is having a nightmare. You frown and make your way over to the bed sitting on the edge. You touch Tommy’s shoulder lightly.

“Tommy.” You whisper, shaking him a little bit. He jumps awake panic in his eyes that soon disappear when he sees you but he is still breathing heavily. “Are you alright?” You question, your arm still on his shoulder, he sits up and nods.

“Yeah, sorry to wake you.” He quickly apologized and I look at his face noticing that he looks like he has been to hell and back. You put your hand over his and look at him finding yourself actually worrying for the man.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He shakes his head looking down at your hands. He strokes your hand lightly with his hand.

“Would you maybe want to sleep in here tonight?” He asks, looking into your eyes with his beautiful blue ones. You smile a little and nod, he moves over giving you room to lay down. You two lay down facing each other still holding hands. “Can I admit something to you?” He asks.

“Of course.” You respond, curious as to what he could have to admit.

“When we first met and I told you that I didn’t care I lied. Of course I care I just figured if I didn’t get attached to you then I could live life normally.” You bite your lip looking at him as he continues. “After actually getting to know you I am happy that I agreed to marry you, because you are such a unique woman who isn’t scared to put me in my place, and that is what every man needs in a good wife.” You giggle slightly thinking about all the times you have told him off. “ I think I am falling in love with you Y/N” He admits and you blush, looking away from his eyes. You started having feelings once you got to know him also but you never thought he could feel the same way. You look back at him and smile.

“I think I am falling in love with you Tommy.” He smiles a little and leans closer as you embrace in a kiss. Two months ago when you first married Tommy you would have never imagined yourself laying in bed with him kissing confessing your love but here you were proving all the odds wrong.

You spend the night cuddled up next to Tommy and when you woke up he had his arms wrapped around you tightly as if he let you go he would lose you. You look at his face and see how peaceful he is when he sleeps, the harsh look he has when dealing with business and such wasn’t there.

“Why are you staring?” He questions not opening his eyes. You smiles a little touching his face lightly.

“Just taking in the beautiful face of my husband.” He opens his eyes and smiles when his eyes meet yours. “This is nice, I should have slept in here from the start you are so warm.” you joke moving closer. He chuckles and pulls you against his body, sharing his warmth with you. At last you two were actually beginning to act like a real couple.

The following weeks of you both confessing your love you ahd become a powerful couple. You had gotten more involved in the business helping the boys with their math and giving them all ideas on how to make the company better. Everyone from London to Small Heath knew about Mr. and Mrs. Shelby and what a force of nature you both were. Looking back on when you first found out about getting married you smile back to how much you didn’t want it to happen. Thinking of it now you wouldn’t have changed a thing because you had found the love of your life, and you two had a long life ahead of you.

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ongames · 7 years

Text

Mom Fights Back After Troll Calls Her Breastfeeding Pics 'Gross'

A mom in Australia is taking a stand against a troll who described her breastfeeding photos as “gross.”

Nadine Muller, a registered nurse and fitness blogger, occasionally posts photos that show her breastfeeding her son, 16-month-old Madden. Muller told The Huffington Post that though her breastfeeding journey began with difficulty, the experience has been one of her life’s “sweetest joys" that she celebrates with photos on Instagram. She mostly receives positive feedback, but also gets comments from people she calls “trolls.”

This is how we are spending most of the day Thanks to those who have sent well wishes after seeing my instastory! Poor Madden has come down with the dreaded gastro bug I'm currently cleaning runny (that his nappy couldn't contain) off our mattress while I was putting the sheets and mattress protector in the wash for the second time (just my luck ). The boss has insisted to wear one shoe the entire day, has been hanging off these on rotate whilst nipple crippling the other while he's at it, I've read the same Spot book about 50million times over at his request and I'm not even rousing on him for getting into all of the outta-bounds cupboards that he's obsessed with, WHATEVER makes you happy baby! Gastro can go EAD! . . . ______________________________________________________ #son #toddler #mumsofinstagram #babiesofinstagram #instababy #sick #breastfeeding #normalisebreastfeeding #breastmilk #candidchildhood #lifewithababy #babyspam #gastrobug #motherhood #mumlife #realparenting #letthembelittle #parenthood #instalove #babiesofig #love #picoftheday #instamum #instamoment #instagood

A post shared by Nadine Muller > _nadinemuller (@_nadinemuller) on Feb 15, 2017 at 6:33pm PST

When one troll in particular began commenting on her most recent breastfeeding pic that she was seeking attention and that her photos were “gross,” Muller decided she had enough.

“This time I knew that something needed to be done,” she told HuffPost. “Even if it meant that just a small handful of mums felt empowered from this movement then I knew it would be worth it.”

On Sunday, the proud mom posted a slideshow of breastfeeding photos and a message for her bullies:

FACT: Mothers don’t post these images & videos purely for attention. They don’t post photos purely to make a statement. They don’t post coz [sic] they think everyone should nurse their child out in the open. They don’t post advocating that breastfeeding is the only way a baby should be fed. They post because they are #proud, to give other mums encouragement, they post so that other mums feel accepted, supported & respected.

[TROLLS] If u've followed me for a while, u will know that I’ve adored the breastfeeding journey I’m on with Madden, it continues to b one of my life’s sweetest of joys & I am gratified & incredibly passionate about it. Despite best efforts within society, there is still controversy & somewhat ‘taboo’ surrounding breastfeeding, today another attempt to shame me on my social media was tried...Firstly, there is nothing ‘weird’ or ‘gross’ about these photos & there's no difference in me feeding my child with my breast than someone feeding him/herself with a spoon! Secondly, how about we simply appreciate that any mother has options, the right to her own choices, to feel supported & respected, the right to not have to hide, in fact the right to SHARE & POST proudly if she feels comfortable to do so! ... FACT: Mothers don't post these images & videos purely for attention. They don’t post photos purely to make a statement. They don't post coz they think everyone should nurse their child out in the open. They don’t post advocating that breastfeeding is the only way a baby should be fed. They post because they are #proud, to give other mums encouragement, they post so that other mums feel accepted, supported & respected. So that mums know that it is ok, in fact it is more than just OK, it is celebrated & admired. We share photos to let all mothers know that however u feed ur child, breast or bottle, that it’s a beautiful act & bond between a mother & her young, we share photos to advocate that it can be done wherever, whenever & HOWEVER (covered or uncovered) & that u can do so without judgement. Mummy’s I urge u to keep posting ur photos, don’t fall victim to these people who want to discourage u, keep doing the good work of mothering!! ... I’m damn proud & confident to STAND UP to people’s ignorance & enjoy the bonding with my child for all it is worth. If my breastfeeding pics bother u, unfriend, unfollow or plain old mind ur own damn business! ... MUMMIES!!! I put this to U, let’s stand up, tag ur fellow mums, repost this &/or post ur fav (past or present) FEEDING photo,TAG ME & hashtag #wefeedunited oh & feel free to tag @picmat to rub salt in the wounds too

A post shared by Nadine Muller > _nadinemuller (@_nadinemuller) on Feb 19, 2017 at 1:09am PST

Muller also encouraged moms to share nursing photos with the hashtag she created, #WeFeedUnited. She told HuffPost she’s felt so much support from moms sharing their pics.

“I know as a result we all felt supported, respected, we all felt the right to not have to hide, we felt encouraged and accepted and most of all we felt proud,” she said. “Forget [the series] ‘Band of Brothers,’ this was ‘Band of Mothers.’”

[BREAK PLEASE!?] Family trip to the Sunny Coast has turned into a visit into ED early hours of this morning The little fella has broken out in a nasty rash top to toe, spiked temp, the runs, chesty cough just to name a few! We legit have had back-to-back illnesses the past 6 weeks, SICKNESS GODS GIVE US A BREAK PLZ!!! ... Thankfully we've just been cleared from anything untoward We've simply gotta ride yet again another viral infection out (ps he has cut another tooth today too! FML) We are all saaaa tired .... Maddens still cracking smiles and giggles, he is such a trooper ... To the mums struggling today or any day for that matter, HANG IN THERE, keep doing the good work of mothering, I feel you, as you feel me, we've got this.... 'this too shall pass' ... Proving yet again that #MOTHERHOOD at once is the hardest, holiest & happiest gig in the world This photo actually makes me laugh, we are just so tired, thanks for snapping it up hubby @dtm83 . . . #realtalk #honestparenting #normalisebreastfeeding #breastfeeding #boobiemilk #sickbaby #hospital #motherhood #mumlife #parenting #sleepy #tired #instadaily #instamoment #weekend #family #son #l4l #f4f #toddlersofinstagram #liquidgold #boobs #raw #honest #truth #nurselife #normalizebreastfeeding #breastmilk #wefeedunited

A post shared by Nadine Muller > _nadinemuller (@_nadinemuller) on Nov 11, 2016 at 4:16pm PST

In her post, Muller also pointed out that it doesn’t matter how a mother feeds her child. It will always be a “beautiful act and bond.”

“I believe the pressure of breastfeeding is so overwhelming these days, we are all on our own unique journey through motherhood and however we (and our babies and our bodies) decide to nurture our children we know it is always done with great love regardless of the method,” she told HuffPost.

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Mom Fights Back After Troll Calls Her Breastfeeding Pics 'Gross' published first on http://ift.tt/2lnpciY

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imreviewblog · 7 years

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Mom Fights Back After Troll Calls Her Breastfeeding Pics 'Gross'

A mom in Australia is taking a stand against a troll who described her breastfeeding photos as “gross.”

A post shared by Nadine Muller > _nadinemuller (@_nadinemuller) on Feb 15, 2017 at 6:33pm PST

When one troll in particular began commenting on her most recent breastfeeding pic that she was seeking attention and that her photos were “gross,” Muller decided she had enough.

On Sunday, the proud mom posted a slideshow of breastfeeding photos and a message for her bullies:

A post shared by Nadine Muller > _nadinemuller (@_nadinemuller) on Feb 19, 2017 at 1:09am PST

Muller also encouraged moms to share nursing photos with the hashtag she created, #WeFeedUnited. She told HuffPost she’s felt so much support from moms sharing their pics.

“I know as a result we all felt supported, respected, we all felt the right to not have to hide, we felt encouraged and accepted and most of all we felt proud,” she said. “Forget the iconic movie ‘Band of Brothers,’ this was ‘Band of Mothers.’”

A post shared by Nadine Muller > _nadinemuller (@_nadinemuller) on Nov 11, 2016 at 4:16pm PST

In her post, Muller also pointed out that it doesn’t matter how a mother feeds her child. It will always be a "beautiful act and bond.”

The HuffPost Parents newsletter offers a daily dose of personal stories, helpful advice and comedic takes on what it’s like to raise kids today. Sign up here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://huff.to/2kWEBX5

#Healthy Living - The Huffington Post

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