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keanureevesisbae · 4 years

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“Never out of practice” - Chapter 7

Summary: When Darcie’s father loses an important case, a killer seeks revenge, by kidnapping the entire Angel family. Though John thought that he was officially retired, he has to save his Darcie and her family, because he can’t lose her.

John Wick x OFC Darcie

Word count: 3.6k

Warnings: Smut

Masterlist / Previous Chapter // Next chapter

I’m just like my parents, I realize. I can’t not work. I’m a workaholic. During the hours that I should be in the cafe, I have no clue what to do with my time. I’m fidgeting, preparing myself a cup of coffee, bake something and I really want to walk with the dog, but my body is insanely sore, it’s almost impossible to walk around the apartment.

But, despite me trying to get over my withdrawals, John has been nothing but an angel for me. He preps the bed for me, makes sure that it’s comfortable enough and when he scoots in, he wraps his strong arms around me, kissing me on my temple, before whispering that he’ll always protect me. He cooks dinner for me. He goes to the store to get me certain ingredients for my baking or to get me a simple soda, simply because I mumbled to myself that I would like one. He massages me when I complain about a sore neck. He draws me baths so I can relax, sometimes joining me in the tub, sometimes bringing me wine.

Every night when the cafe closes, he gets in his car, so he can close off with my friends. And he doesn’t complain at all.

Finally, when it’s Sunday, a whole week after it all happened, I feel a little better. Psychically, I mean. Mentally I’m still a bit on edge, but with John near me and our sweet dogs, I somehow relax a bit.

Tomorrow will be my first official day of work again and I’m really looking forward. Our regular customers are worried about me, but Raye and Jennie said that I was doing fine, just a bit sick.

We haven’t told anyone about what happened. It’s a secret between my parents, Jennie, Raye, John and I (and well, maybe a lot of people associated with the Continental, but John told me not to worry about that). I want to keep it that way. The news is trying to track down Pete Stanford, but those certain dinner reservations will make it impossible for anyone to find him.

Those men are thorough.

I just got out of another hot bath and I do my night time skin care routine, with a towel wrapped around my body. I know that John is in the guest room, where we placed a table for his bookbinding. I get myself ready for bed and decide to go find him.

This past week, our conversations have been very light. He would watch movies with me, where he’d point out a few things that bothered him. I would try to teach him how to make a decent cappuccino, but his milk frothing skills aren’t very promising.

John sits with his back to the door, but obviously he knows when I’m entering the room, because he says: ‘Hi sweetheart, how was your bath?’

‘Good. When you prepare them, I always enjoy it a little extra.’ I wrap my arms around him and whisper: ‘It looks good. You’re so talented.’

John was already finishing up, because he turns his face to kiss me. ‘Come here,’ he whispers. I sit on his lap, my face to his and he wraps his arms around my waist. ‘You know,’ he confesses, ‘I love you no matter what, but when you don’t wear make-up, my heart always skips a beat.’

‘Why is that?’

‘I don’t know,’ he laughs. ‘You just look extra squishy.’

‘Squishy?’ I repeat, before chuckling. ‘Never thought you would be a man that said squishy.’

‘I keep on surprising. Are you happy that you’re going to work again tomorrow?’

‘I am,’ I say. ‘I mean staying here for an entire week with you, was fantastic and well needed, but… I really need to make someone else a cappuccino or something.’

John smiles. ‘I know. How are you feeling overall?’

‘Sometimes my back hurts a little, but I was thrown against a wall at least one time. It still hurts when I carry something heavy, but I know that you’re staying at the cafe a lot more, so you probably won’t mind helping me out?’

He shakes his head. ‘Anything remotely heavy, I’ll carry it for you.’

‘What are you thinking about?’ I ask him, placing my hands on his bearded cheeks. ‘You look worried.’

‘The day you were taken,’ he says in a hushed tone, ‘you and I had a talk about the future. The entire day I was thinking about it, how you and I might have kids walking around here. How we talked about names.’

‘I know,’ I whisper. ‘But despite what happened, that idea is not off the table.’

‘I know, I know,’ he quickly says.

I can feel he gets uncomfortable and to be honest, I kind of understand. I feel like he is still beating himself up for crying in the car. He has seen me cry a billion times. I think I even cried when I saw Roger and Ellie for the first time together.

John has been my safe place, to spot where I can cry and that he won’t judge me. I know it was a huge step for him—as unwillingly as it may was—to cry in the car.

I carefully press my lips against him. ‘John,’ I whisper, ‘I love you so insanely much.’

‘I love you too, baby.’

‘I don’t want to let you go, like ever.’

He smiles against my lips. ‘I won’t let that happen.’ He lifts me up and carries me to our bedroom. It’s still a bit early, around eight p.m., but I’ve been feeling pretty tired and worn out. ‘You look in pain,’ he whispers, when he placed me on the bed. ‘Are you okay?’

For a few moments I’m mesmerized when he takes off his shirt and pants, to join me under the blankets. I stare at the scars on his chest, his cross tattoo on his shoulder. I have admired his back tattoo for so long, that I feel like I know it by heart now. ‘Just my back.’

John sits up and pats the spot between his legs. ‘I’ll take care of it. Come on, sit.’

I take place between his legs and his fingers press expertly in my muscles. Sure I enjoy it, but when he presses against a certain tight knot in my back, I wince in pain. ‘Sorry, sweetheart.’

Without meaning to, I let out a soft cry. I bury my face in my hands.

John simply wraps his strong arms around my shaking body. ‘Let it all out, Darcie,’ he tells me.

God knows how long I’ve been bottling up emotions. I mean, sure, I’ve cried in these past few days, but this…

When I sniffle and dry my tears, I ask: ‘Weren’t you worried that once you had saved me and my family, you’d have to go back, if the Continental didn’t give you that dinner reservations on behave of them?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘I’d get out for you over and over again, because I can’t live without you.’

⟢⟡⟣

The next morning, Greg, Tina and Roger are way too happy to see me, that I almost think that they need a life outside of this cafe. They all hug me pretty tight and I can’t help but chuckle. ‘We missed you so much, miss Angel,’ Roger says.

‘I missed you guys too. Because you are such regulars and I wasn’t here last week, you’re getting your order on the house,’ I say with a smile.

‘You are the best, miss Angel.’ They all sit at the table near John, chatting away. I always like it when John talks to them. It gives me a vision of the future, how he is willing to sit down with his own kids, no matter how old they are to talk to them about life. While I’m preparing their orders, I feel this sharp pain in my back. Maybe I’ve been standing a little bit too long. Damn, I feel old.

‘Okay, baby, you need to take a break.’

‘John,’ I say, looking to the side. ‘You were talking to the Greg, Roger and Tina.’

‘I know, but I notice everything.’ He huffs, before laughing. ‘I’m your boyfriend, it’s my job to worry.’ John presses a kiss on my temple. ‘Please, take a break.’

‘I will, after I finish up. Raye will be right back and then I’ll sit at your table.’

‘I’ll carry it to their table,’ John says. ‘Please, you need to be careful.’ He places his large hand on the small of my back and I can’t help but smile. He has been so thoughtful for the past week and everything he does, he does without complaining, without thinking. It makes me feel so loved, so noticed.

I finish up the order and John carries it to their table. Raye arrives from the back, with a bucket full of new ice. ‘I’m taking a break, Raye, okay?’

‘Of course,’ she says. She looks over to the side, to see if anyone is listening and whispers: ‘Go sit with daddy.’

‘Yeah okay, bye,’ I say, but I can’t help but laugh. I grab my rose tea and walk to his table. I sit across from him. ‘So, what’s your plan for today?’ I ask him.

‘Well, first I’m going to accompany you during your break and then I’m going to walk the dogs. After that I finish up some books and I’m going to pick you up, obviously.’

‘You know, you’d think I’d be sick of you, after spending this much time with you,’ I joke, ‘but somehow I’m still counting down the minutes until I get to see you again.’

John smiles. ‘Me too.’

‘I have to ask this: aren’t you bored? I mean, your life was so action packed and last week you kind of went back and now you’re doing what you do. Sitting in my cafe and walking the dogs.’ I shrug, but to be honest, it has been keeping me quite busy. What if he misses it? What if I’m holding him back?

He holds out his hand and I place mine in his. ‘I don’t miss that life. At all. Having to go back for a brief moment, was necessary, but I don’t want to go back.’ John’s thumb caresses my fingers and he says: ‘I’m finally enjoying life again. I’m binding books, I can sit at your cafe every day and I walk our dogs.’ He brings my fingers to his lips. ‘And maybe one day, when we have kids, I can sit here with them after I picked them up from school. This can be their second home. We’d watch you working and they can see with their own eyes what a lovely and caring personality their mom has and how you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.’ John shakes his head and says: ‘Not for a second I miss my previous life. I’m so ready to start over with you. So don’t you worry about that for a second, okay?’

That is so sweet.

‘You’re having a kid?’ Roger says, turning around.

‘Oh my God, miss Angel, are you pregnant?’ Greg butts in.

Tina smiles. ‘Is that why you weren’t here last week?’

‘No!’ I exclaim. ‘I’m not pregnant.’

‘Good,’ Roger says, ‘because my mom always says that it’s better if you get married first. Little old school, but since you both are old school, it fits.’

‘Are you calling me old?’ I ask. ‘I can still spit in your coffee, Roger.’

He chuckles. ‘No, you’re not old, miss Angel.’

Greg smiles at us. ‘Well, why were you talking about kids then?’

‘That’s what adults do,’ Tina says, rolling her eyes. ‘They think about the future. Miss Angel, I think it’s so romantic that you two are talking about kids. I bet they will be the cutest little kids ever.’

Why am I blushing?’

‘I totally agree with Tina,’ John says. ‘I mean, every kid is cute, but ours will be the cutest of course.’

‘If you have a boy, will you call him Roger?’

‘And be constantly reminded of you?’ I ask, cocking an eyebrow. ‘No way, knowing one Roger is already bad enough.’

‘Ouch,’ he say, placing his hand on his chest, before he laughs.

‘Are you going to have kids soon?’ Tina asks us.

John chuckles. ‘Well, I’m kind of an old fashion man, so before we’re having kids, I want to be get married to her.’

‘Really?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah, totally.’

‘You should propose to her when the two of you are here,’ Greg suggests.

‘If you do that, John, I swear to God, I’ll say no.’

John starts to laugh and says: ‘No worries sweetheart, I won’t propose to you in the cafe.’

⟢⟡⟣

John already brought Tiki and Oreo home, because he took them out three times to walk them today. Despite that, he is still really worried about me. He doesn’t want me to clean the tables, because that can’t be good for my back, so I’m sitting on the counter, waiting for him to be done.

Raye is at Logan’s place, to have sex and Jennie also went home. She looked really tired and I think that’s because she couldn’t stop worrying about me. Poor Jennie.

‘John, I can help you,’ I say, but he simply shakes his head. ‘Why not?’

‘I’m almost done.’

‘We have to finish up the kitchen too.’

John looks up and says: ‘I know.’

‘I can already start.’

He shakes his head. ‘No, please, sweetheart. I’ve got it.’ He scrubs the last table, giving me full sight of his bottom. I remember when he hung up those posters in the cafe, before we started even dating and my flushed cheeks when I stared at his ass a little too long.

John walks up to me and stands between my legs. ‘What is it?’ he asks with an amused smile.

‘I thought about how you hung up those posters,’ I whisper. ‘I remember that when I got back home, I had such lovely dreams of you with a toolbox.’

John starts to laugh and I fall in love a bit more. I think everyday I fall in love with him more. How this man can have this effect on me, I still try to figure that out.

‘I remember you blushing because you were staring at my ass.’

My eyes grow wider. ‘What?’

‘And you said ‘just a little warm’, but you hadn’t noticed that I was checking you out in the reflection of the cafe windows.’

I bring my hands to my face. ‘That is so embarrassing, John. I thought I was being sneaky.’

‘Well, you weren’t,’ John says, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. ‘I felt really good about myself,’ he adds.

‘You idiot,’ I chuckle. I bring my lips to his, to give him a kiss, but then he scoots me up. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m going to clean the kitchen and you are going to sit there and watch.’ He presses multiple kisses on my cheek and places me on a clean part of the hard surface where Jennie always works.

We chatter a bit, about the most useless things. I like talking about useless things with John. In the beginning of us dating, I thought every conversation had to have a hidden meaning, or just be very Shakespearean. But then one day he mentions that he never understood why people like chai latte and we had an hour long conversation about chai lattes, that literally went no where.

I carefully lower myself to the floor. John literally hears everything, because while he is talking to me and with his back turned to me, but he looks over his shoulder. ‘Sweetheart, what are you doing?’

I walk towards him and stand on my toes, so I can fold my hands in the back of his neck. I pull him a bit forward, so I can kiss him. ‘I love you, John,’ I whisper. ‘Thank you for cleaning up.’

‘Sweetie, of course.’ He smiles. ‘Last week you said that I was looking at you with my bedroom eyes, but the same can be said about you now.’

God, I hate it when I blush like this. Why do I have to blush about those things? I’m thirty one for crying out loud and John and I have been dating for a year and a half. This shouldn’t make me shy.

John pushes up my knitted sweater and the tank top I’m wearing underneath and he places his warm hands on my bare skin. The entire week he has been being really careful, even when it came to sex. He didn’t want to hurt me and whenever he saw my wrists (that are healing, thank God) he’d stop.

But I missed him so much.

‘Well,’ I whisper, ‘are you going to wait until we’re home?’

Though our sex life is pretty vanilla, it begins to spice up every now and then. I somehow manage to be a little bit louder, though it’s still hard for me to do sometimes. But sex at the cafe?

I have never done that, but looking at John right now, it makes it really difficult not to undress completely.

John chuckles, while his eyes turn a shade darker. ‘No,’ he whispers. He unbuttons my pants and pulls it down with my underwear, as he crouches down in front of me. He kisses my inner thigh, softly sucking on the tender skin, his tongue tracing the stretch marks I have there.

My fingers are tangled in his long locks and his beard scratches the sensitive skin. When he’s near my aching center, I feel his wet fingertip between my lips. ‘God, baby,’ he whispers, ‘so wet already.’

He pushes one in, earning him a stiffened moan from me. He places his mouth over my clit, before he sucks on the sensitive bud. He pushes in another one and I take a fistful of his hair.

John stands up and while him kissing me, he keeps on fingering me. Rougher than usually. ‘Come on, sweetheart,’ he says, ‘tell me how you feel.’

‘But what if anyone hears?’ I ask in a tiny voice.

‘No one will hear,’ he tells me. ‘We locked the door, no one can hear or see us in here.’ He places his other hand in the back of my neck and whispers: ‘Please.’

His fingers brush against a sensitive spot, but when he pushes in a third finger, I moan out against his lips. ‘Shit, John.’

‘That’s it,’ he says.

I’m nearing my orgasm, but before I can even tell John, he pulls out his fingers. ‘No, John,’ I whine. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘Open your mouth,’ he tells me. He brings his fingers covered in my juices to my lips and I hold onto his wrist as I suck his long and thick fingers clean. ‘You look really good doing this,’ he admits.

He pulls his fingers out of my mouth and kisses me so deeply, that I’m almost out of breath by the time he lets go of me. Without telling me anything, he turns me around and bends me over the cold table. I hear him unwrapping a condom and when I look over my shoulder, as I see him rolling it on.

John smiles at me. ‘I love you, Darcie.’ I feel his tip near my cunt and I let out a moan when he slowly sinks in. My walls stretch around him and I place my head on the table.

‘John, please, harder,’ I beg, clenching my hands into fists.

‘Only if you promise me to let me know how you feel, baby.’

I nod. ‘Okay.’

John holds onto my hips and slams inside of me. I moan out and he starts to pick up the speed with his thrusts. I bite my lip, another moan desperate to escape from my mouth. ‘Darcie, remember what you’d promise me.’

‘Fuck, John, you’re so big.’

‘That’s my girl,’ he says, squeezing my hips.

Every time he slides inside, my hipbones slamming against the table. My legs are quivering and I let out a sob. ‘John, I’m close.’

‘I know you are, good thing I am too.’

I can’t keep quiet anymore, as my orgasm washes over me. ‘You feel so fucking tight around me,’ John grunts, before his thrusts are getting sloppy. As he rides out his high, I somehow manage to catch my breath. I feel his chest pressed against my back as he pulls me up and he leaves wet kisses in my neck.

John pulls out of me and throws the condom in the trash. I hear him zip up his pants, before he hoists up mine, helping me to get decent again. I button up my pants and John turns me around, a smile evident on his beautiful face.

‘I can’t believe we had sex here,’ I say with pink blushes on my cheeks.

‘Me neither,’ John laughs. ‘Never knew you were into the whole public thing.’

‘Shut up.’

He lifts me on the table and gives me a sweet peck. ‘Did I hurt you?’

I shake my head. ‘No, not at all. I have to tell you one thing, though.’

‘Okay?’

‘You need to take out that thrash bag, because I don’t want anyone to see a used condom in the bottom of the bin. If Raye finds that, she’ll haunt me with that until we are retired and maybe even longer.’

Taglist: @toomanystoriessolittletime @flhorah @allie1804-fan @cynic-spirit @raven-black102

#keanu reeves x oc #keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves #keanu reeves x original character #keanu reeves x ofc #john wick x oc #john wick fanfic #john wick #john wick x original character #john wick x ofc #never out of practice

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pinkletterday · 6 years

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Read on AO3

Been thinking about mature Westallen.

Iris is flabby around the middle after her pregnancy and that mid-thirties thickness that settles in. She's completely run off her feet between work deadlines, ferrying the twins, juggling STAR Labs and PTA meetings with Barry, vet appointments and, oh yes, saving the world. Some days she wakes up already exhausted. Her husband's morning energy is more obnoxious than ever, although him taking over the breakfast and kid-dressing duties allows her to take her time getting up. She still doesn't want Barry to let her slack too much because he needs rest too, super-metabolism or not.

Sometimes they go weeks without more than a peck on the lips, rushing to and fro almost zombified, the children's shrieking white noise around them that they only register anymore when it goes silent. Getting them to bed and then getting them to stay there is a team effort. They'll beg for bedtime stories and make Daddy sing for them over and over or Iris read the same story over and over (she's tempted to burn Llama Llama Red Pyjama) before they finally go down. Iris and Barry do a silly (very quiet) little victory dance outside their room when they do, but they have only won the battle, not the war. Dawn somehow manages to sleepily pad downstairs and ask for milk with puppy eyes and Don is eternally seeing monsters in the dark and crawling into bed with them at three am.

Iris loves her children, she really does, but nowadays when she sees herself in the mirror, she doesn't recognize who that is. She always wears sweats at home now, none of her lingerie fit and she hasn't bought anything new in ages. She doesn't feel sexy or even like a complete person sometimes, just a pair of hands to cook and clean and wash and write and direct; life a series of hurdle and hoops, some of them on fire. For a couple one half speedster, there is never enough time for anything. She loves Barry, she really does, but she can barely feel his presence anymore even when he's standing next to her. She wants to be touched and made love to and drown in his eyes the way they used to. But she also doesn't want anyone to touch her until she gathers every single piece she gets to keep for herself and feels her own shape again.

No one told her that being happy would take work. She sort of thought it'd just happen on its own. She married her best friend, the man who is everything she wants, had his babies, has remarkably few financial struggles, a beautiful home, a successful career and leads a superhero team that regularly saves the world. If anyone should be happy and fulfilled, its her.

She kind of wishes she didn't have quite so many things to be happy about. It's an awful thought that that makes her feel crushingly guilty, but there it is. It's all just...so tiring.

One day she has to throw out her favourite pair of pants in the Goodwill box. She's kept them for two years, certain she will be able to drop those last stubborn few pounds and squeeze back into them, but it's time to face facts now.

It feels like giving up. Tears clog the back of her throat which makes her even more irritated because she hates self-pity and its just a stupid pair of pants, Jesus. But she can't help looking sadly at her young and svelte self in her wedding picture. Barry seems like he hasn't aged a day since, thanks to his speedster regeneration. Iris is suddenly struck by the mortal fear that he will remain ever-youthful and virile while she fades into decrepit old age by his side.

Barry finds her crying on their bed, surrounded by a closetful of haphazardly strewn clothes.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he kneels at her feet to search her face, alarmed. Iris so rarely cries. "Are you hurt?"

She makes to sniffle the tears back and wave him off but what bursts out of her is - "I'm fat!"

"Huh?"

It all comes rushing out. "I'm fat, I'm beginning a double chin. I'm a slob, I'm sick of perming my hair, sick of wearing t-shirts with pepperoni stains on them, sick of nothing fitting me anymore! I'm just gonna get fatter and uglier and tireder and you're gonna stay looking stupidly handsome and I really really hate Llama Llama Red Pyjama!!"

There is a bewildered silence.

They look at each other and begin to laugh. She can't stop. There is an edge of hysteria to her giggling.

"Um. Okay," says Barry finally. "First of all, you're not fat."

She looks pointedly at their wedding picture on her lap. "I sure as hell don't look like that anymore."

"No, you don't," he agrees and a despondent hurt stabs her in the chest. "You're much more beautiful."

"That's sweet," she says with a half-hearted smile.

"I'm telling you the truth. Iris," he turns her to look at him, cradling her cheek. Those lovely blue eyes are so earnest. "When I met you in third grade, I thought you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. That never changed. On our wedding day," he draws his thumb over her younger, beaming face, "I wanted to die when I saw you. I thought, okay. This is it, there's no way you could be any more beautiful than this. But you keep proving me wrong."

There is that look that always makes her insides gooshy. God, she's missed it. "I forgot what a charmer you are, Barry Allen."

"It isn't charm," he snakes his hands deliberately under her t-shirt and husks against her ear, "I don't think you understand how much I love this body."

She melts under the possessive hands roaming under her clothes. "You do?"

"This made my children," his hands draw along the curve of her hips and soft rolls of flab at her stomach, "these fed them," one hand kneads her breast, pleasure pooling in her belly. "I felt it change in my arms, under my hands, my mouth," he flicks his tongue against her ear and oh, that is not playing fair at all. "I’ve tasted it. I know every inch of it. Held it against me every night. I've been inside it," his fingers slide under the band of her pants, "I'm the only one who gets to see it naked. I can never get enough of it. You drive me wild, Iris. You always have."

"Barry...," her breath catches as he lays her down on the bed.

He leans over her and all the world is the blue of his eyes, dark with lust and soft with love. "You're still the most beautiful woman in the world, Iris West."

She drowns in his kiss as he presses her down, drawing his hardness flush against the heat between her legs -

"Mooom! Donny won't give back my tablet!"

"It's mine! Daddy said you had to wait your turn!"

"It is my turn!"

"Daaaad!"

Mood officially killed dead.

"Soo. Rain check?," mumbles Iris wryly into Barry's shoulder.

He sighs into her neck. "Tonight. I'm gonna ravish you," he promises, kissing her hard and quick. Then considers. "Right after we burn Llama Llama Red Pyjama."

"My hero," says Iris solemnly.

Late that night, they lie in bed finally sated. Iris traces the planes of Barry's face as he sleeps. She suddenly realizes that he no more resembles the man in their wedding picture than she does. The Speed Force keeps him looking young, but it's overlaid by an undefinable maturity. His shoulders and chest are broader, his arms bigger, his face more filled out. There is the gravitas of a father and superhero in his jawline, the burden of years has pulled a permanent furrow in his brow, weariness and patience lurk around his eyes and the lines of his mouth.

Maybe she's only seeing them because she knows they exist inside him, or maybe the shift in her perception has revealed what she has missed all this time. Either way, the years are as much stamped on him as they are on her.

They're growing older together. It's all Iris has ever wanted.

#myfic #fanfic #the flash #westallen #barry allen x iris west #future fic #plotz #headcanons

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cianmars · 6 years

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Accidentally in Love (3/?):

‘David and Mary had a one night stand when they were 18, 4 years later David bumps into Mary and finds out that he has a 3 year old daughter. They struggle with deciding on custody for Emma and both of their lives changing entirely as they go from strangers to friends… they don’t want to confuse their daughter but certain feelings start to stir as they spend more time together.’

AO3 Link

Emma woke up in the place which felt most homely to her in the entire world, she almost forgot the night before, almost. She cuddled her blanket closer to her body and wiggled so that she was buried more underneath her mom’s covers.

Mary finished putting her earrings in and getting ready for the day and walked back to her bed, it had taken Emma forever to settle down the night before, she almost regretted telling her, but she knew that in the long run it would be better for Emma to know from the start than to suddenly tell her weeks or months after she had gotten to know David. She smiled as soon as she saw Emma awake, she leant over and took Emma into her arms straight awake. “Good morning Emmy.” She watched Emma snuggle closer to her and debated keeping her home knowing that she was tired. She figured it was worth trying her at preschool, Emma loved preschool so much, she would be miserable if she couldn’t go. “You sleepy honey?”

“Yeah.” Emma mumbled but didn’t move away from her even slightly.

Mary paused for a moment, frowning down at the top of Emma’s head, something was on her little one’s mind, something more than she was already aware of that was. “Let’s get you a bottle of milk and we’ll have a little cuddle before we have breakfast and get ready for preschool.”

She carried her as she grabbed Emma a bottle of milk, it was rare she used bottles anymore, normally when she was feeling sick or was really upset, today definitely counted. She cuddled her close as she flicked on some music and they sat in the living room cuddling, she noticed that the photo albums and coffee mugs were still on the table from the night before. “Emma, sweetheart, do you remember last night?”

“The man was here.”

“Yeah, David was here, do you remember what we talked about?”

Emma nodded her head, she waited for her mom to carry on talking, but realised her mom wasn’t sure she was telling the truth. “You said he was my daddy.”

“I did, David’s your daddy, and he really wants to get to know you. He’s going to come and play some games and have dinner with us after preschool.” She reminded her gently. When she had playdates Emma would be already off her lap and planning exactly what they would be playing with later, but Emma was not doing that, she was just quiet. “Emma?” She waited for her to look up. “I know that this is a really big change and surprise, and you’ll be feeling lots of big feelings, do you want to talk to mommy about how you feel?”

“No!” Emma shook her head, kicking her leg down to punctuation her point.

“Okay Emma, we don’t have to talk about it but we do have to still be nice and use our words, no kicking legs and shouting Emma.” She reminded her gently and pointedly.

Despite Mary telling her that she still had to behave Emma acted up the entire morning, she kept refusing to get dressed and eat, Mary tried to calm her down a little by coming up with alternative outfits and a different breakfast, and when she did that Emma started complaining that she wanted to eat the original food and wear the original outfit. Despite all of this Emma was acting even clingier than usual. By the time she had pulled up at the preschool at nine it felt more like nine at night than in the morning. She picked her up from her carseat and carried her through the front playground.

“Mommy, I wanna stay with you, I’ll be good.” Emma held tightly to her mother’s shirt.

Mary sighed gently as they approached the open door with Ashley smiling at them. “Oh honey, I know you’re a good girl, but you’re going to have so much fun at preschool today. Come on sweetie, you’re going to do lots and lots today, and have so much fun in this sunshine, and then we’ll have lots of fun this afternoon too.” She saw her friend looking at them curiously, Mary knew that it wasn’t like Emma to be acting like this, and Ashley knew it too. “Shall we move your name to show you’re in?” She asked her soothingly, normally Emma would be running ahead, she walked in and gently placed Emma on the ground and helped her move her picture and name from the beach part of the picture to the ocean part to show that she was there. “Do you want to play with the blocks or with the dolls house baby?” She rocked her gently.

“Wanna stay with you mommy.” She whimpered.

“Honey, I know you want to but you’ll see me soon, I’ll come and pick you up at home time.” She spotted one of the teachers who smiled at her. “Wow, Miss Jenny is getting the toy animals out, I know that you love those.” She managed to settle her down next to the preschool teacher without Emma crying and clinging to her. “Bye bye sweetie, have a nice day, be good, and mommy will see you later.” She pressed a quick kiss to the top of Emma’s head before speed walking back to the door where Ella was still stood.

“Is Emma okay?” Ella asked quietly. “She’s normally full of beans, is she well?”

“She’s well.” Mary said frowning as she looked back at her teary daughter. “I’ll tell you all of the details later but… I bumped into David, he’s erm, he’s Emma’s father.”

“What-!”

“I’ll give you the details later.” Mary interrupted with the promise. “But anyway Emma met him yesterday afternoon without knowing who he was, and she was happy and talking to him, then she saw him last night when we were talking… I told her who he was and she was clingy last night, this morning she’s been clingy and acting out.” Mary sighed gently. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told her?”

“She probably would have been more upset at you keeping it from her, you know Emma, anyway what matters now is helping her get used to it. This David, is he good?”

Mary nodded her head straight away. “Yes.” She was as sure of that as she was her own name. “He’s the best man I’ve ever met.”

“You must have been good friends.”

Mary paused. “For one night, we were. We talked about everything and anything, I told him more than I ever told another person, he did the same to me.”

“Then Emma will be fine.” Ella assured her, she had never heard Mary talk about a man like that, or a man at all if truth be told. And she believed that Mary was a very good judge of character. “Just let them both get used to each other. And you should make sure your friends get to meet him, and not just Ruby!”

Mary rolled her eyes but she was smiling now. “Well, you’ll be meeting him first, he’s going to be picking up Emma with me today. Stop smiling like that, you’re not torturing him, this is a preschool.”

“I would never! ” Ella put on a look of offended innocence.

“I’m leaving now.” Mary laughed, she looked back at Emma with a look of concern.

“She’ll be okay.” Ella swore, placing her hand on Mary’s back.

David found himself knocking on the door at the apartment at the top of the apartment block, Mary answered the door again though this time she wasn’t looking nearly as dishevelled as she had the night before, he found himself missing the sweats and band tee look. She smiled at him as she invited him in, and his heart jumped, it was at the knowledge that he would be seeing his little girl again, he was certain of it. “Thanks.” He said walking into the apartment. In the light of day he saw the apartment in all of its glory, he saw that there were many plants and books, there was a large kitchen with even more books in there, it seemed as though Emma had just as many as Mary did. “How’s Emma?” He asked the question that had been on his mind making it nearly impossible for him to sleep the night before. “After last night, she was so upset, I’m so sorry.”

Mary took in his frowning and upset face. “It’s a big change for her, but she’ll adapt quickly, I think last night was a little bit because she was tired and had had a bad dream.” She saw that he was still looking a little worried. She placed her hand onto his folded up arms. “She’ll be okay David.”

He walked over to the bookcase, though not to look at the books, instead it was to see the framed photographs on the bookcase. There were a few of Mary when she was younger: one was when she was maybe a little older than Emma with her own mother, he presumed, another of her mother holding a baby Mary, and the last was of the Mary he knew in high school, beside a woman he had seen a few times around so he knew that she was Mary’s stepmother. There were loads of photographs of Emma, ones of her and Mary, ones of Emma with other kids some around the same age, some older.

“I made copies of those ones of Emma too.”

David jumped out of his skin when Mary appeared at his side suddenly. He saw a wicked smile appear on her face at having scared him. “You’re mean.” He shot back but was smiling too. He looked as she indicated a gift box style box on the dining room table. “Thanks, for all of the photos, I mean.” He walked over to it and lifted off the lid, he saw a huge pile of photographs inside, and his little girl’s face beaming up at him in front of a big pile of presents.

Mary watched as David smiled automatically. She smiled slowly as she realised something. “She has your smile.”

David’s head snapped to look at Mary with barely contained joy and excitement. “Really? Do you think?”

Mary smiled back at him. “Undoubtedly. I love that smile,” Mary smiled as she grabbed her stuff ready to go, “it’s one of my favourite things about her.” She turned back and saw David staring at her with a curious expression she couldn’t quite place. “One of many.” she added. “You can leave them here when we go and get Emma, we can go in my car.”

David shut his agape mouth, and nodded his head, remembering himself. He let her lead him out of the apartment, and watched her lock the door, then they headed for the car to depart to the preschool.

The preschool class was in the back garden when Mary and David got there, Mary shot Aurora a look when she opened the door to let them into the school, she knew that Aurora sometimes helped out there but she had a sneaking suspicion that Ella had called her for gossip purposes. Aurora just smiled and invited her and David inside and guided them to the back garden.

“Woah, this is really cool.” David said looking at the garden. It was similar to his own apartment, a fairly decent size, but unlike his own completely blank garden this one had loads of plants and flowers growing, ones which the children clearly helped plant. His eyes quickly searched for his own child, that was still so weird to think that he had a child, but there she was unsurprisingly the child with the most mud and soil on her, he felt a little bit of pride at that.

“Hi, I’m Emma’s teacher, Ella.”

David supposed that he was going to have to get use to women making him jump. He quickly regained his composure and smiled at the lady. He was first struck by how pretty she was, sparkling blue eyes, and pristine blonde hair, he had always had a thing for blondes, other than Mary of course. “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m David.” He felt her eyes evaluating him, her smile made him think that he had passed some sort of test. “But I guess you already know that.” His hand went to the back of his neck and he rubbed it nervously. He realised that Mary was no longer beside him and saw that she was crouched beside Emma talking to her and Ella. He felt rather out of place.

“Sometimes I’m a little overwhelmed when I come here.”

David looked over at the red headed lady who was talking to him, the lady who had opened the door to them, he gave her a faint smile. “Aurora, right?”

“I go by Rory, my mom gave me a bit of a posh name, it works well for business but in my personal life Rory’s a lot easier.” She led back him through to the classroom so that they could collect Emma’s bag and stuff.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” David grinned at her. “Are you one of the teachers here?”

Aurora laughed a little. “No, no I own a cake shop in town, I make a lot of birthday and wedding cakes, and others, I even have a little cafe as part of it. No, I came here to pick up my partner,” she paused waiting for him to say that there wasn’t a man there but he didn’t so she finished her sentence, “Ella.” She swallowed deeply.

David just smiled at her. “You make a very nice couple.”

“Not many said that when we got together, we both had ex husbands and kids, I think most people thought that we would have both gone back to our husbands.” She frowned, she had lost many friends and family to the closing of that possibility or even that likelihood. But she had gained a lot in return.

“A lot of people thought that about my moms.” David told her and saw that she looked surprised. “They got married a few years ago, a little after I started college, but Dora’s been one of my moms since they got together when I was a teenager.” He remembered his uncle taking control of him when Ruth and James were put into comas, Dora had wanted him to live with her, but she hadn’t been married to Ruth and an old legal document from when his father was alive had placed his ‘care’. “If you ask me, you’re better off without those sort of people.”

Rory smiled back at him. “I totally agree.” She walked over to the little cloakroom and came back with Emma’s bag. She handed the bag to David who held it extremely carefully. “Oh there’s a letter for the field trip to the zoo, we still need parent volunteers, remind Mary will you she forgot about it yesterday? And you’re more than welcome to join.”

David blinked in surprise at the invitation, however he didn’t have a chance to answer as he saw Emma holding onto her mom’s hand, and was pulling her inside to the classroom.

Aurora watched David smile, clearly unwittingly, as soon as he spotted his daughter. And she watched him and Mary share a humorous look, at Emma pulling Mary, there was something so deeply familiar in that smile.

“Mommy forgot my letter.” Emma announced to Rory and David.

David crouched down holding Emma’s bag. “I heard about that, your letter’s safe in your backpack. Are you excited about seeing all of the animals?”

Emma nodded her head eagerly, having forgotten whom she was talking to. “I’m gonna see lions, like me!”

David chuckled. “You’re a lion?” He chuckled again as she nodded, this time she seemed to be shyer. “Ah, I see that your hair is like a little lion’s mane.” He was rewarded with a beaming smile, it broke his heart when she rather quickly wiped it away, all he could do was to keep trying and to go at Emma’s pace with how comfortable she was with him.

Emma leant against her mother’s leg, she suck her thumb into her mouth, and looked at David. He kept smiling at her and she kind of wanted to smile back, but she wasn’t fully sure, he was very new and it gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She knew that she had had a bad a bad day at preschool, but her mom didn’t seem to care or be disappointed about that, she had just told Emma that David was there and they would all be going home to play. “Are you really gonna come to play?” She asked around her thumb.

David smiled gently. “I am, is that okay?”

Emma leant closer to her mother and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe.”

“Thank you very much.” He said just as gently as he smiled at her, he supposed that that answer was as good as he was going to get at that moment.

“Emma, remember to get the drawing you made, the one of the fishies.”

Emma nodded her head at her teacher and went over to the drying rack to try and find it.

David wandered over with her. “Do you want some help?” He beamed as though it was Christmas when she let him. “Is this it Emma?” He held up the splogy picture which looked a bit like fish, it was fairly good, especially for a three year old. He had always had some artistic ability, he wondered if he had passed it onto his daughter, he felt as much pride at the idea as he felt at knowing he gave her his smile. She nodded her head again. “Woah, that’s so cool! Are these orange ones Nemo and his daddy?”

Emma’s face lit up and she nodded her head eagerly. “Yeah! This is Dory.” She pointed to the blue fish. “She’s blue.”

“She is that’s very clever,” David praised,”I watched Finding Nemo when I was a little boy.”

“I have that one at my home and I have Finding Dory too.”

“Wow, I’m jealous, I’ve never seen that one.”

“You can watch it with me and my mommy.” Emma said leading the way back to Mary, she let David carry her picture, knowing he liked Nemo made her like him a little more.

David followed Emma holding carefully to the painting as he walked. As they left Ella reminded both Mary and David that they were happily accepting parent volunteers for the zoo trip. Emma started to list all of her favourite animals, which seemed to be all of them, as they walked to the car. She was mostly talking to Mary but David was happy that she wasn’t glaring or crying at him, nor was she hiding from him.

“Wow Emma, you know lots of animals.” David praised eagerly as they stepped over the threshold of Mary and Emma’s apartment. “What’s your favourite animal?”

“Lions!” Emma shouted jumping up and down. “An’ monkeys ‘cause they’re funny and silly.”

David chuckled. “Those are cool animals.” He followed Mary and Emma towards the living room area of the downstairs. “My favourite are lemurs.”

“What’s that?” Emma waited for her mom to sit down on the floor before sitting on her lap, she suddenly felt weird with David there, she wasn’t used to him being there at all.

“They’re little and grey and they have long stripy tails.” David tried his best to explain. “Erm, have you seen the movie Madagascar?” He watched her face light up.

“Alex the Lion!” Emma shouted dragging out his name as was done in the movie.

“He’s funny isn’t he? Well King Julien is a lemur.”

Emma thought for a second and grinned. “Okay. I like lemurs best too, and lions, and tigers.”

“And bear?” David asked with a smile.

“Oh my.” Mary smirked and burst into laughter as millisecond after David did.

Emma looked up at her mom who was laughing and then over at her father who was also laughing, and started laughing herself, though she wasn’t quite sure why.

When the laughing stopped Mary started to lead Emma and David in play, Emma was mostly joined to her side but was talking a little to David.

“This is the police car.” Emma said grabbing her toy car and making it drive near the city they had made from blocks. “It’s gonna take Mr Monkey to live in the zoo not in the people homes.”

“Y’know, I work as a policeman.” David told her thinking nothing of it, but Emma stopped playing and looked at him, so he copied.

“You’re a policeman?”

David took in his daughter, she tilted her head to the side as she questioned him, and she said ‘please-man’ not policeman, she was completely adorable. “Yes I am, I’m going to start being a policeman in this town really really soon, I’m going to be driving around in a police car with the sirens on soon.” He didn’t think it was possible but Emma looked even more excited.

“Do you getta make the siren make the loud noises?”

Mary stood up smiling at how interested Emma was in David, neither Emma nor David noticed her stand up, she headed out of the room to go and make Emma a snack.

David was amazed that simply knowing that he was a policeman had gotten Emma completely interested in him, he was rather impressed with her knowledge for her age, and she started to tell him about all the times she had seen police cars. He patiently answer all of her questions, telling her that he was only just starting for the first time in a couple of weeks, and that he had just been in college learning how to be a policeman.

Emma grinned at that. “My mommy went there, she was learning how to be a teacher, for big kids.” She stopped moving the toy car in front of her. She looked down at it. “Do I have to call you daddy?” She asked quietly.

David paused before asking the question he knew the answer to. “Do you want to?”

Emma hesitated, then she shook her head.

David reached out and gently placed his hand on her back, she looked up at him and he started to rub circled on her tiny back. “That’s okay Em, I know I’m new to you, we’re both getting to know each other, huh?” He watched the look of relief spread across her face as she nodded. “I want to be your daddy because I love you, but you don’t have to call me that until you want to. You can call me David if you like. My brother used to call me Davey.”

Emma grinned. “Davey.” She decided and her smile grew as she saw her father beam. “I don’t have a brother, but I want one.”

David carefully ruffled her hair his heart sung as he heard her giggle. “Well, my brother is called James, he’s your uncle.” He realised that Emma was sat right next to him and was leaning against him. “And people say he looks just like me, though I don’t think he does, I’m sure he’ll love to meet you.”

“He’s my uncle? I already have an uncle Henry and an uncle Roland and they’re bigger than me but not big like mommy and you.”

“Well, your Uncle Jamie is the same size as me,” he smiled at Emma then up at Mary as he noticed her walking back into the room with a bowl in her hands, “and I have a sister like how your mommy has brothers. She’s your auntie, she’s cheeky just like you are.”

“What’s she called?”

“She’s called Tiana, she’s my stepsister, and your auntie.”

“Your mom got married?” Mary asked sitting down beside the pair, who now seemed to be best friends, she passed over the bowl of apple slices to Emma. “Here you go, sweetheart, apples just like you like.”

David grinned. “Yeah, while I was in my first year at college, I came back for the wedding, it was beautiful. If I had known you were here-”

Mary placed her hand on his arm. “I know.” She quickly removed her hand from his arm and stroked Emma’s messy curls. “I swear this one would live on candy if I let her,” she subtly placed her hands over her ears to stop Emma from hearing, “I have to hide so many vegetables in her food, and fruit, honestly she’s a pain.”

David heard her words but saw her absolute love for her little girl, their daughter, he was in awe that such an amazing little girl was his as well.

“Davey?”

It took him a minute to realise that she was talking to him. “Yeah, kiddo?”

“You can have some apple, it’s red so it’s yummy, green’s yucky, mommy has green.” Emma held out two slices of apple, in her little hands, up towards her father.

David carefully took the slices from Emma and when she carried on staring at him until he took a bite which made both of them smile.

“Mommy?”

“Yes Emma?”

“What’s for dinner.”

“We have seashell pasta and mommy’s special meatballs.” She told her enthusiastically.

“Yay!” Emma cheered raising her arms in the air she felt even happier when David and Mary both smiled and laughed, David even copied her action. “Mommy?”

“Yes Emma?” Mary said just as she had before.

“Can Davey stay for dinner?” Emma pleaded. “I wanna show him my room and play games with him, we’re not finished yet. Please mommy?”

Mary was a little surprised that Emma was so desperate for David to stay, she only really did that towards Mary’s family, normally it was just Emma and Mary. She wasn’t sure what happened while she was getting Emma a snack but it had somehow brought the two of them together. She shook off her shock and smiled gently at Emma. She looked towards David to try and gain an answer, he was grinning from ear to ear and he subtly nodded. Mary leant closer to Emma and whispered. “Okay, do you want to ask Dav- your daddy- nicely if he wants to stay for dinner?”

Emma nodded enthusiastically. She turned away from her mother and swiftly climbed onto David’s lap making him look surprised yet again, but he quickly recovered and held onto her. She knelt up on his lap and held onto his shoulders to keep herself steady. “Davey will you stay for dinner with me and mommy? We have yummy pasta and maybe even ice cream if we ask mommy and eat all our diner.” She whispered the last part, her eyes darting to her mother and back at the idea of ice cream, she smiled hopefully at David. “And we can play more.”

“I would love to do that.” He told her sincerely, and watched her look truly elated at his answer, he could live in that moment.

Mary watched the pair with love, Emma had missed out on three years with David, and despite not being able to help that, not really, she felt so guilty that she had been the reason her daughter had missed out on a father. She should have done more, she saw how they had already bonded so quickly, she also felt a tiny bit left out but she didn’t actually care about that part. “I’ll get started on our dinner then. Why doing you show your daddy some of your toys, but remember we tidy up as we go along, don’t we?”

“Okay mommy. Come’on Davey you gotta see my dinosaurs!”

David busied himself letting Emma show him what felt like every single one of her toys, and Mary started to get their dinner ready, listening to Emma chattering to David as Mary cooked.

When dinner was nearly ready David appeared in the kitchen smiling easily at Mary. “Emma’s just gone to the bathroom, I asked if she needed any help, but she said she didn’t.”

Mary saw him worrying but she smiled. “She’s pretty good at going potty during the day now, she’ll shout if she needs any help. She seemed to be enjoying herself, you did too.”

“She’s an amazing child. I just can’t believe she’s mine. She’s perfect.” David couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. He spotted the mats on the kitchen island, with three sets of cutlery including one set which was smaller specially for Emma, he scooped them up in his hands and started to set the table.

“You’re our guest I’m pretty sure you’re not meant to be doing this.” Mary called over but she didn’t stop him from setting everything, in fact she stood there watching him, there was something nice and homely about it all.

“I’m doing it, whether you want me to or not.” He smirked, he felt as though he were playing at being an adult, but it felt right somehow. “My mom raised me right. Plus, I wondered if by doing this you’d give me the secret of your ‘special’ meatballs?” He quirked one of his eyebrows.

Mary giggled. “Ah, well, you’ll have to take this secret to the grave.”

“Cross my heart.” He did the appropriate hand gesture.

“Veggies.” He looked confused. “I hide vegetables in the sauce and the meatballs, they’re all grated down so they can barely be tasted, and Emma likes hers fully covered in cheese, but there’s all different vegetables in them.”

David started to laugh loudly.

“It’s the only way I can get her to eat enough of them!” Mary protested while laughing. “Even from the time she first started to eat food she hated them.”

David stopped his laughter but the look of it was still on his face. “Well, a promise is a promise, if I, when I make her dinner in the future I might do the same.”

Mary smiled gently, she hadn’t even thought about that, that David would want to do things like that. Emma had gone to stay at Mary’s stepmother’s loads of times, Mary was used to that, but sharing Emma with David would be quite unusual, if they did, maybe he would only want to call in to visit her…. But she could tell by the look on his face constantly that David was all in, he wasn’t going to be a part time dad. And that was good… but it was also scary. “Yeah.” She said slightly breathlessly.

David tilted his head to the side as he looked at her, his face was puzzled. “Are you okay?”

Luckily Mary was saved by Emma running out of the bathroom. “Mommy I’m done! I washed my hands too.”

“That’s such a good girl, Emma.” Mary grinned. “Why don’t you go sit down, I’m sure David, your daddy, will help you, he set the table for us.”

“That’s good Davey.” Emma patted his leg in a praising gesture. “You get a sticker for being good.”

“Lucky me.” David chuckled. “I’m sure I won’t have more stickers than you have on your amazing chart, well done.” He led her to the table and Mary followed with food.

The small family ate their meal in peace, it was unusual for all of them but they were content with its strangeness. By the time the meal was finished Emma was covered in pasta shells and sauce, and was clearly getting very sleepy, but she hadn’t stopped talking and was obviously overjoyed to have both Mary and David with her, she seemed to be trying her best to get to know David and David did likewise. They had even made plans for David to go over the next day and bake with them, David felt he was going to be out of his depth, but he didn’t care.

“I think it’s time that you show your daddy your bedroom and bring your pyjamas down, then we’ll say goodbye to David so we can have bath time, sweetie.” Mary told her gently, she brushed Emma’s hair out of her eyes, it would have to be washed but that could wait until the next day.

“Aww, but mommy-”

“-No sweetie, it’s late.” Mary said gently but firmly.

“It’s okay Em, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, I promise. And we’ll be eating lots of cakes and sweet treats.” He grinned and gently stroked her cheek.

Emma was pouting a little but she calmed at David’s words. “Okay Davey. Mommy can I show Davey my room now?”

“Yes sweetheart you can.” Mary dropped a kiss onto the top of her blonde curls. “And you can choose some clean jammies, mommy will find some bubbles for your bath.”

David allowed himself to be taken by the hand and led up from the table and to the stairs. Emma showed him through one of the doors.

“Wow, this bedroom is so cool.”

“My mommy painted all this when I was in her tummy.” She pointed at the sky blue walls with the clouds, tree, and grass painted around. “But she says she can paint me new ones soon.”

David marvelled at it, it seemed ideal for a little girl, it had a small toddler bed, a rocking chair, and a toy box with some of her quieter toys. There were pictures around, but most of all David felt a little lost- there were characters on her bedspread and as toys all around but he had no idea who any of them were. He needed to do all he could to try and get to know his daughter. “Let’s find you some jammies, yeah?” He suggested. “Do you know where they are?”

“They’re in my wardrobe.” She took his hand in two of hers and pulled him towards it, he opened it and pointed at the short pyjama sets.

David picked up the top two sets and crouched down in front of Emma, he remembered his mother doing this to both James and himself when he was a child. “Which ones tonight? There’s blue ones with clouds, or yellow stripes with watermelons?”

“Hmm… Yellow, that’s my favourite colour.”

David grinned. “I think yellow’s a very good colour too.” He placed the other pair back into Emma’s wardrobe and smiled as Emma took his hand straight away. “Let’s get downstairs, huh? I think your mommy said something about a nice bubble bath for you.”

“Do you really have to go?”

David stopped in surprise but when he looked down at her he realised that she was genuinely upset at the idea. He crouched in front of her again and placed his hands on her sides, gently rubbing her in a soothing way with his thumb as he held her. “Well it’s nearly your bedtime, and it’s nearly mine too, but I’m going to see you again tomorrow, and we’re going to do lots of baking so I think that we all need lots of sleep ready for that.”

Emma nodded her head but was sniffling. “You promise to come back?”

“I promise, Emma I’m not leaving you at all, I’m going to be part of your life now, I promise. I’m sorry that I missed so much, I’m not going to miss any more, I promise. I’m your daddy and daddy doesn’t break promises.”

Emma’s big green eyes looked into David’s blue ones and she paused for a minute before nodding her head bravely. “Okay, Davey.”

David smiled and leant up, he kissed her forehead, and had to force himself to let go. “Let’s go find mommy.”

David led Emma carefully down the stairs where Mary was, he watched Mary scoop her up, Mary passed him over the box of copies she had made and smiled gently at him. “Thanks for coming, I think that Emma’s really enjoyed it,” she looked from him to smile at Emma who was now resting her head on Mary’s shoulder, she smiled back at him, “I’m glad you’ve both bonded so fast.”

“Me too.” He told her genuinely. “I guess I should be heading off, she looks like she’s about to fall asleep on your shoulder there.” He reached his hand out and gently stroked her curls. “I’ll see you tomorrow, my little lion, and I’ll see you tomorrow Mary.”

“See you tomorrow David.” She smiled as she led him to the front door and opened it for him.

“Bye bye Davey.” Emma said through a yawn as she waved at the departing figure.

David suddenly stopped in the doorway and turned back around to face them. “Mary?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, for all of this. And for being such an amazing parent for her, I’m going to be the same, I promise.”

Mary wasn’t sure what to say but luckily David took the decision from her hands and left.

Emma was quiet in the bath, even though she was tired she normally livened up a bit when she had a bubble bath, especially as she always played with her toys in it. Mary knelt by the side of the bath and gently wiped away the sauce from Emma’s cheek with a cloth. “Are you sleepy, baby?”

Emma shook her head and continued moving the toy boat slowly in front of her. “Mommy? Why didn’t Davey wanna be my daddy when I was a little baby?”

Mary sucked in a breath. “Oh baby.” She pulled her closer to her not caring that the bath water was soaking her own shirt. Her heart broke and for once she wasn’t sure what to say to make it right for her little girl. “Honey, David didn’t know about you until yesterday, mommy tried to find him while you were in my tummy, but I couldn’t find him. If he had known about you he would have been there for you every day, I can see how much he loves you already, he loves you just as much as I do. He’s going to be your daddy and I’m going to be your mommy, and we’ll both love you forever.” She kissed her head multiple times. “I’m so sorry, mommy’s sorry, I’m sorry baby.” She rocked her slowly, ready to get her out of the bath so she could give her a proper cuddle.

“Mommy?” Emma’s voice squeaked.

“Yes baby?” She kissed her head again.

“I only had you, now Davey’s gonna to be my daddy, do you have to get lost too?”

Mary looked down into the big green eyes which were a mirror of her own, she suddenly realised what Emma was afraid of, and why she had been acting out that day as a result. “You don’t have just one parents anymore, I promise, you have two forever, you’re not going to lose me or David.” She scooped her out of the bath and wrapped her up in her hooded yellow duck towel, she hugged her close. “You don’t have to worry anymore, baby. You’re not going to lose me or David, that’s a promise.”

“You keep promises.” Emma said wisely, her mother had told her that she keeps promises for as long as could remember, and she kept her word. “Mommy?”

“Yes, Emma?” Mary started to dry Emma off.

“Davey said he keeps promises too.”

“Well, that’s very good isn’t it?” She grabbed one of Emma’s night time pull ups and slipped it on her before slipping her yellow pyjamas onto her. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun tomorrow, we’ll do a lot of baking, I bet you’ll be able to teach David the best way to decorate our little cakes and brownies, I know that you’re so good at that.” She praised her daughter. “Now, how about we get some milk and I’ll read you a couple of storybooks before bedtime?”

“Yeah.” Emma grinned happily and held her arms up to her mom to pick her up again. She looped her arms around her mom’s neck and pressed her cheek to her mom’s. “I love you mommy.”

#The Charmings #Charming Family Fic #Daddy Charming #Mama Snow #Charming babies #David Nolan #Prince Charming #Mary Margaret Blanchard #Snow White #Emma Swan #ouat #ouat fic #fic #accidentally in love

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kaitieedoll · 6 years

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150 Questions

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? My mom

2. Are you outgoing or shy? Shy

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? I don’t know.

4. Are you easy to get along with? Not really.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? Yes.

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? People who are the perfect package - kind, sweet, smart and funny.

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? Yes.

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? My boyfriend.

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Fuck no.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Again, my boyfriend.

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? That is private.

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

Cry Baby by The Neighbourhood

Dead Girl Walking from Heathers the Musical

Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

Electricity by Ashley Jana

Danny Don’t You Know by Ninja Sex Party

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Yes but only certain people.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? Yeah

15. What good thing happened this summer? Idk

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Hopefully I’ll kiss him for the rest of my life.

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? Absolutely.

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? No

19. Do you like bubble baths? Yessss

20. Do you like your neighbors? One house

21. What are your bad habits? I bite my nails, pick my skin, crack my knuckles, don’t eat, binge, steal etc.

22. Where would you like to travel? New York City

23. Do you have trust issues? Yes

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? Sleep

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? My belly or thighs, probably thighs.

26. What do you do when you wake up? Check my phone.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? Lighter even though I’m pretty pale. I just love that aesthetic.

28. Who are you most comfortable around? I don’t know

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? I don’t have any exes.

30. Do you ever want to get married? Yes

31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail? Technically

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? Winona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, all the Guardians of the Galaxy, either Fanning sister, Ryan Reynolds, Jenna Marbles and her boyfriend Julien, ¾ of the Try Guys, every member past and present of Game Grumps and Tom Holland

33. Spell your name with your chin. I*qa75 (That’s supposed to be Kait)

34. Do you play sports? What sports? No but I want to dance

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? TV

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? No, I’m pretty straightforward about crushes.

37. What do you say during awkward silences? Nothing.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? My boyfriend

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? I love Target, Walmart and other stores like that.

40. What do you want to do after high school? Become a parent and a writer

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Depends

42. If you’re being extremely quiet what does it mean? I don’t know man

43. Do you smile at strangers? Sometimes!

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Neither

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? I have no clue

46. What are you paranoid about? Everything.

47. Have you ever been high? Nope.

48. Have you ever been drunk? Tipsy but not drunk.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? Nah

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? Red

51. Ever wished you were someone else? Yes

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? My hair length or weight

53. Favourite makeup brand? None I hate makeup.

54. Favourite store? Target

55. Favourite blog? I really loved imperfect-nights but that was my blog

56. Favourite colour? Red

57. Favourite food? Hot cheeto puffs

58. Last thing you ate? A greek salad

59. First thing you ate this morning? Dinner

60. Ever won a competition? For what? I won a reading contest once!

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? Nope

62. Been arrested? For what? Nope

63. Ever been in love? Yes

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? It was my first time seeing my boyfriend in years and it was super cute and awkward

65. Are you hungry right now? No

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? I have no tumblr friends

67. Facebook or Twitter? Facebook

68. Twitter or Tumblr? Tumblr

69. Are you watching tv right now? No

70. Names of your bestfriends? Melissa

71. Craving something? What? HOT CHEETO PUFFS

72. What colour are your towels? Purple at my dad’s but orange at my mom’s

72. How many pillows do you sleep with? I have a lot but I don’t sleep with my head on them

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Yes

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? A lot

75. Favourite animal? Polar bears or cats

76. What colour is your underwear? Pink

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? It really depends on the mood I’m in!

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? Cookies and Creme, Mint Chip, Cookie Dough, Chocolate Panda Paws and Chocolate Peanut Stampede are my favorites.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? Grey

80. What colour pants? Black! They’re literally the comfiest leggings on planet earth! They’re from Charlotte Russe.

81. Favourite tv show? Dance Moms

82. Favourite movie? Heathers

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? Mean Girls

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? Mean Girls

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? Janis

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? Pearl

87. First person you talked to today? Melissa, my best friend

88. Last person you talked to today? Ethan, my boyfriend

89. Name a person you hate? I don’t know, I dislike a lot of people but I don’t like saying names of people I hate

90. Name a person you love? Isabella, my sweet little niece.

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? No

92. In a fight with someone? No

93. How many sweatpants do you have? A lot but I wish I had more

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? A lot as well but also wish I had more.

95. Last movie you watched? Love, Simon

96. Favourite actress? Winona Ryder

97. Favourite actor? Chris Pratt

98. Do you tan a lot? Never

99. Have any pets? Yes! My family has a cat named Hunter but I have a winter white dwarf hamster called Oreo Salinger

100. How are you feeling? I don’t know how I’m feeling

101. Do you type fast? Yes, very fast. I am a writer after all.

102. Do you regret anything from your past? No, mistakes make us who we are. The one thing I genuinely want to change is one time I told my niece, who was six months old and sick, I hated her because she sneezed in my face.

103. Can you spell well? Yes

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? My grandmothers, who have both passed

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? No

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? No

107. Have you ever been on a horse? I think?

108. What should you be doing? I don’t know

109. Is something irritating you right now? Nope

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? Yes

111. Do you have trust issues? Yes

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My mom

113. What was your childhood nickname? Kaitie

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? Yes! I’ve been to Pennsylvania twice now!

115. Do you play the Wii? Yeah

116. Are you listening to music right now? I wish, but I don’t know what to listen to so no

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? Yeah

118. Do you like Chinese food? Yes but only shrimp egg rolls

119. Favourite book? The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

120. Are you afraid of the dark? Not unless I’m walking up a flight of stairs

121. Are you mean? Not really

122. Is cheating ever okay? No

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? I can’t keep anything clean

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes

125. Do you believe in true love? Yes

126. Are you currently bored? Eh

127. What makes you happy? I don’t know

128. Would you change your name? No

129. What your zodiac sign? Gemini

130. Do you like subway? Yes

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? I’m already with him

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? My boyfriend

133. Favourite lyrics right now? Danny don’t you know that everyone feels weird on the inside?

134. Can you count to one million? Probably but I never would

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? I don’t know

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? Closed

137. How tall are you? 5’1 or 5’2

138. Curly or Straight hair? My hair is wavy

139. Brunette or Blonde? I’m blonde, naturally

140. Summer or Winter? Winter

141. Night or Day? Night

142. Favourite month? October, December and June

143. Are you a vegetarian? No

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? Milk chocolate

145. Tea or Coffee? Both

146. Was today a good day? It’s been okay so far

147. Mars or Snickers? I’ve never had a Mars Bar but I hate Snickers so

148. What’s your favourite quote? Sometimes you have to look inside yourself and ask “What am I willing to put up with today?’ - Arin Hanson

149. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? Were they blind or something? - Girl Interrupted

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