#(one being that he was 16 and she was 22 when she got pregnant despite the consent age being 17)
Text
josh went to see bubs on friday but his ex decided to make it as difficult as possible and i just…….i’m so mad for him
#he’s 19 he shouldn’t have to deal with a 25 yr old manipulating him the way she is#not that he should have to deal with it at any age but i hope you get my point#he just wants to be a good father to his kid and give her the childhood he didn’t get to have#and his ex just!!! she gets pissed when he doesn’t do what she wants. she sends voice messages saying she doesn’t know why she even kept bub#that she doesn’t know why she had a kid with him in the first place#tells him she wants him to move in with her get back together and raise bubs together or else she’ll go for full custody#she uses their daughter as leverage because she KNOWS josh will do anything for his kid#and it makes me so ANGRY#she manipulates him and takes advantage and does everything she can to control him#and he’s stuck in such a messy situation because he wants to be there for his kid#and like. i don’t think she would get full custody to begin with for several reasons#(one being that he was 16 and she was 22 when she got pregnant despite the consent age being 17)#but she keeps threatening him with it and i KNOW it worries him because the thought of not getting to see his kid kills him#and im so worried that if she keeps wearing him down he’ll give in eventually because it means he gets to be in his kids life#and i’m just so angry for him because it isn’t FAIR and he’s so young and he’s a literal angel and he deserves better than this#i’m sorry i just#i let him vent to me but i forget sometimes that i don’t have anyone to vent to myself#so#i’m venting to the empty space that is tumblr dot com#vent tag#me tag
0 notes
Note
aaron warner family headcanons
The Warner Family.
pairings: dad!aaron warner x mom!reader
summary: get to know more about the warner family!
warnings: fluff, domestic, ooc, domestic shenanigans, protective aaron warner …
🪩:: voicemail ; read my other aaron warner fics here.
Aaron found out about it when he heard some crying in the bathroom at the middle of the night, noticing your lack of presence beside him, he got worried and walk towards the bathroom.
There, he saw you, in front of a mirror having a breakdown.
He approached you and asked whats wrong.
“love?” he said softly, as he hugged you from behind and caressed your hair, “My love, whats wrong?” he asked you worriedly.
“aaron..” you trailed off as you continue to sob. He hugged you tightly and kissed your forehead , pulling away as he make you look at him, “what is it, angel? You can tell me.” he urged you.
“I’m pregnant.” you blurt out.
With the lack of reply, you panicked.
“I missed my period recently and I feel kinda shit lately so me juliette and nazeera bought an pregnancy test earlier and I tested all 7 of them and they are all positive, I don’t—”
As you were rambling, he quickly hugged you tightly and lifting you up to the ground as he span you around. You laugh softly at this gesture as he peppered kisses to your face and hair while he whispered sweet nothings.
“Its okay. We will be okay. Don’t worry. We got this, yeah? I love you. Thank you. Thank you, I love you so much, My love.”
at the first stage he got nervous about being a dad and have some self doubt but later got over it as he saw you patying your belly despite it still not visible.
he got more protective over you and never ever let you do things.
you guys told your friends by a guess the word game. They all cried.
He bought a book about being a dad and take notes on pregnancy books to help you out.
Baby proofs the every part of the house immediately.
He went to every appointment with you
He never ever made you feel guilty for your cravings.
Oh you want a food from a store hours away? Just wait.
A hellspawn food combination that you want? He will eat it with you.
Massage? Done.
A food from a different country? He ordered his men to get it ASAP.
Want some sweets especially made by your husband even though you have never tasted his baking? He learned how to bake immediately!
You guys did an gender reveal in the most fun way.
You did it as both kenji and juliette worn a baby costume with 'boy' written in the blue bib for juliette while 'girl' in a pink bib for kenji
They both FIGHT to determine who wins to know the gender
They even go overboard as they jumped into the swimming pool racing each other to the finish line
Kenji won.
So, its a girl!
You guys decorated her room immediately
You did ALOOOTTTT of shopping!!!!!
Your husband just spoils you rotten as you keep buying cute toys, plushies, and pretty cute clothes!!!
“my love, don't you think its a bit too much?” “I am sure the little princess do not need that much clothes, honey.”
he gave up as soon as he saw some cute baby clothes + a matching one.
When you guys did a baby shower its so emotional like omg you guys are gonna be parents!
You and Aaron planted a tree so it grows with baby dior!
teenager!dior safe place is the tree, she goes there to lay down, read and to relax when stresses!
Your friends wrote letters for dior to read when she reached the age 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21 and 22!
You and aaron made her a gmail account as you guys constantly wrote her some letters and random things there for her to read in the future
When you went into the labor he desperately wished to take away your pain and was crying with you. He comforted you as he cares your hair and gives you kisses.
“shh, its okay, baby. Im here. Im not going anywhere. ”
“you got this, my love. You are doing so well.”
“Aaron! I can't do this—”
“yes, yes you can, darling.”
He really can't bare to see you in so much pain even though he had seen so much worse
He was very gentle and was crying when he held your baby girl in his hands. His princess, his girls, his universe.
After the labour, you were barely allowed to do things in the house, he only let you rest while he take cares with everything.
You guys had an 3 months lockdown, not allowing anyone to visit the baby
Always keeping an eye for baby monitors
You and him do an rock, paper scissors when it comes to changing baby Dior diapers (he lets you win, sometimes.)
Dior have your eyes so he is a victim to those puppy dog eyes. He can't say no to you, what more to his princess especially with your eyes?
Learns to do her hair!!
Dior first words is not 'momma' or 'dada' it was Kenny. Kenny. You and aaron felt betrayed.
Despite with the nickname, kenji teared up and always paraded the moment (to your husband dismay) he grows to adore the nickname when she keep calling him that
He sometimes forget that he played dress up with baby di so sometimes he go to work with tiara, ribbons, those princess accessories on him.
“Refrain from laughing, there is nothing funny about this matter.” “uh...theres something on you, sir.” “oh.”
Sometimes they were to scared to point it out
Kenji, nazeera and juliette made fun of him not until they were a victim of the dress up
At one point, kenji kidnapped baby dior and was later banned from seeing her for 2 months (barely a month in dior throwed a tantrum wanting to see her uncle kenny)
Baby dior played with your make up when she misses you! She wanna look like you because she misses you so much
Dior is an nature girlie! Aaron believes his angel is a reincarnated of persephone/artemis
Baby dior wears her pants backwards. She believes that “tails” should be at the back. You and Aaron gave up on the fight.
You guys had an motto that if its not hurting anyone or themselves, don't fight it. Let them.
One time you guys thought she was playing phone call but turns out she was in an hour real call with james.
Seashells hunting !!!!!
Everytime you guys went to a beach aaron always buy a big beautiful seashell then hides it in the sand for her to find!!! And her reactions always makes you and him melt!!
he also buries some treasure chests
He made an contract of no boyfriend until shes 30 and made baby dior sign with her prints with paints. He framed it.
You scold him for that and he just shrugs lol
teenage!dior have you in her closefriend and private insta!!
she collects shells and glue them to a cardboard and gifts it to you!
She wants a sibling so one day she just go “I want a baby sister or brother 🥺”
Keeps wishing on a well for it
Aaron is 100% in he just goes “Princess, ask mommy :)” “me too, baby. Let’s just ask momma for it, hm?”
Well, let’s just say she always get what she wants…
authors note: I had fun doing this Omg I wanna make it a series, do you guys want it? Please let me know!!! Feedbacks and reactions are very much appreciated!!!
(Aaron Warner) tag list 🏷 : @ravisinghs-wife @ab-baybay @aaronwarnerobsessedmylove @cosmicswan
If you want to be added to my A.W tag list plz let me know in my inbox ! 💌
#reader insert#shatter me series#shatter me#aaron warner x reader#aaron warner#aaron warner x you#rie answers 🦦#riewrites 🫀#aaron warner anderson#aaron warner imagines#girl dad aaron warner#aaron warner x y/n#shatter me x reader#aaron warner imagine#fem!reader#The Warner Family 🪐
383 notes
·
View notes
Note
Am I the Asshole for reporting my coworker a second time? (TW// Sexual Harassment, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of Self Harm)
(🍫💵 so I can find it later.)
I work a job where I (22 F/NB) am a cashier at a local supermarket. I have a few coworkers close to my age, but most are either in their late thirties/early fourties' or are kids who go to the local high schools in the area.
Around the beginning of this year, we'll call him Abe (17~ M) attempted to ask out my coworker who we'll call May (16~ F). They'd hang out semi-regularly along with the other kids still in high school, and while they never caused trouble, they did tend to goof off and joke around a lot.
May refused him, saying she wasn't interested. For WHATEVER reason, he did not accept this rejection and continued to ask. This was an issue, as not only is it sexual harassment, but Abe is a cart-pusher and May is a cashier. He was already a pretty lazy employee (management was always upset at him because he'd get caught playing on his phone instead of working), but now he'd purposefully go through her lane at the supermarket just to ask her out repeatedly and beg to be with her. Every time he found her alone, he'd go right up to her and keep pestering her about it. She felt so uncomfortable and unsafe about it that she told our team lead, who agreed to stay by her side. This was spread to our management, who make sure she isn't alone so that he can't corner her about going out with her.
I have witnessed him doing it many times, enough that I reported it to HR when May refused to do it herself. They told me to get her into contact with them and report it to them, and finally I convinced her to do it.
There was a sort of peace period after that, where they weren't scheduled at the same time. But recently he's taken it a step further and has decided to come in on ANY day she is scheduled (even if he isn't) to keep trying to ask her out. Most of the cashiers are aware of the situation and got upset with him. One of the few who is around my age (and recently pregnant) even cussed his ears off for harassing her so much because it didn't look like management was doing anything. Abe declared that the pregnant coworker broke his heart, and now his behavior had gotten WORSE.
Abe would look at those who he'd "hang out" with at work and either try to guilt them into helping him win over May's heart, complain about her not living him, and talk about how "white people suck"/"white people are so shitty" despite BEING white (to my knowledge, please don't go after me in the notes about this) himself. He'd also stalk her work bestie around and trash-talked the pregnant co-worker, all while NOT DOING HIS JOB, by the way.
One of the habits he has picked up however is miming actions to his fellow minors. The one I heard him use mostly was of him pretending to shoot himself in the head.
But one day I was working as the customer service rep for the night (no one else could do it), and I gave him a polite nod when he walked past. He smiled at me and then mimed cutting himself.
This was not something I had heard of him doing before, but when I talked to my coworkers they said "yeah he was doing this too".
In the moment I had given him a very firm No, because it was not work appropriate. Abe insisted, and pretended to cut his wrists again.
I'm on anon so none of you know me, but I used to severely struggle with suicide and self harm from a young age. However I have gotten better since becoming an adult and have made MASSIVELY impressive strides to a happier life. From this, I understand joking about suicide, because if you joke about it with someone you are not only in a safe place to bring it up BUT are coming around to the idea of telling people that you need help.
Joking about self harm, however? I've never heard of it. It's an entirely different ball park. You don't joke about those things.
In the moment, I was in disbelief, and I felt sick. I even started mentally shutting down, to the point where I couldn't even do my usual tasks properly without being specifically told to start them. Everyone noticed. I even cried once I was in my car while my sister was picking me up and safe, because I was trying so fucking hard not to think about that time in my life when I had moved myself so far past it.
Right at the beginning of shutting down, I did tell a manager. I told the manager who worked the next day as well, just so that I'd be SURE something happened about it. Abe visited that day on his day off because May was working again, and I panicked so much at seeing him that I hid behind customer service until one of my work friends told me he had left- instead of staying at May's side like I usually would. (I put my mental health first- it was a tough lesson that I managed to learn last year to the point that I do it in my day-to-day. She wasn't left alone with him though, don't worry.)
It genuinely sickened me that he has been miming cutting himself to other minors, when I know that if I had been May's age and had seen that amidst recovery, I would have spiraled and started all over again. Abe's lucky none of them are like that (at least openly) and that I was uniquely affected whereas the others were just "creeped out".
I ended up reporting his actions towards me about a week after I convinced May to personally report his harassment, and then I found out that the first manager I talked to (who has a soft spot for him, he does use this to his advantage to get out of trouble at work) asked him what was wrong and his response was "I'm having a bad day".
Considering that he does this every day he comes into work, whether he's actually working or not, on top of everything else (and how it effected me)- I am very hurt and genuinely hate him after all of this when I hadn't hated him before (despite the fact that I have only hated 2 people in my life before that point). However, I don't know if he was joking about how bad he feels about the fact that she does not want him at all or if he's genuinely hurting himself, and I feel sick at the thought of my actions if it's the second scenario.
Even if he's sexually harassing my coworker, no one should ever feel like they deserve to be hurt or that they don't deserve life. That's what I believe. And I'm worried that, should Abe find out I reported him twice over this, that he'll yell at me and say that I'm an asshole for doing that (and I know it would happen, because that was his response with my pregnant coworker). I know I'm doing the right thing by reporting the continuous harassment, but my heart is genuinely conflicted now. He needs to stop, but what if my actions are causing this response? I could never live with myself knowing that I was the reason someone hurt themselves. My anxiety won't let it rest.
And so, Tumblr, I must know...
Am I the Asshole?
What are these acronyms?
80 notes
·
View notes
Text
My top 23 gameplay moments
Thanks to @anamoon63 for tagging me! You've probably seen my top 23 screenshots but as I was trying to narrow them all down I did feel like my favourite storyline moments were not the same as my favourite pictures. So I'm going to take this tag and tell you the top 23 gameplay events I've had this year. Not all have screenshots as some of them happened before I started writing down and capturing my gameplay.
23. I did actually enjoy writing Bella and Mortimer pulling away from each other as Mortimer began to prioritise his writing over his family.
22. Seeing in thought bubbles that Paris and Samir both had crushes on the sims I wanted them crushing on. Sweet success!
21. Back when my game correctly did university grades and three out of five of my university students earned their degrees with honors! Devin, Luna and Cassandra.
20. Adding in Dina and Nina Caliente. Sadly Mortimer died so they haven't gotten a lot of screentime yet BUT I think they look great and have plans to bring them back in in time, they still control the Goth fortune after all.
19. Getting Bob his dog Dale which allowed Bob to get fit and healthy. He's still heavy set but it's mostly muscle now.
18. When Reece got a pop up about his crush randomly showing up at football practice despite his actual crush Samir being on the football team...
17. When Deanna and Paris completely ruined my story plans by kissing during a shopping trip in a different rotation, and I had to do sneaky screenshots so you couldn't see them in the background. Then when I went back to play Deanna she still had the first kiss option so I could write things my way.
16. When I was able to edit settings so that Devin and Luna could have kids that would be genetically related to them both. I usually like to keep my gameplay semi realistic when it comes to having kids but I knew Devin would not get pregnant being an actress and wanted the chance of a kid that looked like her.
15. My sims commiting home invasion before it became EA official. See Devin walking into the Pancakes house like modern day Goldilocks. Taking a bath, cooking a white cake, and only half eating some food.
14. Joey's glow up from little kid to attractive young adult was a nice surprise. I'm so glad he rolled wanting kids because if I can't get a Devin lookalike, maybe I can get a Joey lookalike down the line. Note to self, put eyelashes on more of my male sims.
13. When this new blonde girl in high school kept looking miserably at Deanna during the lesson. And I had Deanna go cheer her up only to discover when looking through her traits that she was also a lesbian. Cheers Paris for spawning at just the right time.
12. Kelly rolling the evil trait after being a destructive toddler was hilarious. I never would have picked it by myself but now I revel in writing him being a jerk to others.
11. When I got Milton to waddle across the road after Bella went missing. And again when I got him to ditch Dina and Nina and run away to see Alexander.
10. Rahul repeatedly spawning outside the Goth house for no apparent reason. This of course led to a friendship and eventual romance with Cassandra. Stalking may pay off???
9. Just watching Kaori ski has honestly been so fun. I look forward to it when I play her household. For those that don't know Charlie used Mix & Mingle for a blind date and Kaori was the second woman she met from that.
8. INFANTS! Specifically playing with alien infants like Silas and Pollock who are even more adorable and hilarious than human infants.
7. Writing Bob and Eliza as being in love. Taking the opposite nature of their personalities and finding a way where they actually work well together. I always smile when they go to woohoo and Eliza also dumps her clothes on the floor like Bob rather than in the basket.
6. When Reece got a crush on Samir after literally saying one thing to him, guess they'd been bonding off screen. In the York rotation Samir had come over and yelled at Reece, and my brain went he's probably just a closeted gay. Then I checked and he actually was! For storyline purposes though I have him as never being in denial of that.
5. Savannah and Mercedes being mini clones of Rahul. I love it so much. I also have really liked playing this latest storyline where they are not pleased at the idea of a sibling, they can be two little terrors.
4. Adam accepting the birth of both of his kids despite not wanting children. I didn't know if I could do enough to get him there but each time he was able to.
3. Keira getting sick during her Halloween party date and Marta looking after her. Not planned but ended up pretty sweet.
2. James proposing to Alexander when he was a townie, despite autonomous proposals being turned off and the fact that he had a living wife at that point. You rebel against the code James!
1. When Adam ignored autonomous proposals being turned off, and showed up in the middle of Suzanna's shift at the science lab to propose. They were living together by this point and clearly he got sick of me ignoring his wants while I played him at home.
So @azuhrasims @marcishaun @sharona-sims and anyone really if you have some top gameplay events from this year, doesn't have to be a whole 23, want to share? Also @julesbbsea17 I KNOW you must have had some kind of crazy memorable gameplay events in your game this year... *flashes back to that random unknown thing bobbing in the water beside your lot in Sulani that we still don't have the identity of*
12 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi!!! This is me asking about your Voltron OC Kassy that you posted about earlier (no pressure to respond tho.) She seems really interesting!
ok i’ve posted lots about kassy which you can find on my site profile but here’s a deep dive into the tragic life of kassy blackwood
warning there are gonna be some potentially triggering topics discussed here such as emotional abuse, sexual harassment, and neglect so if this is going to be upsetting maybe give it a miss!!
starting from the beginning: kassy’s mother sara was 16 years old when she was conceived: she had run away from home in an attempt to escape her own poor home life. she met mateo, a 17 year old cadet at the galaxy garrison from argentina, and the two spent a few nights together. unfortunately before she could spring into this new life the police caught up with her and she was forced to return home, where a few months later she found out she was pregnant and was disowned.
the first few years of kassy’s life were not perfect, but they were probably the happiest. her mother tried desperately to get in touch with mateo, however he was in an accident and was recovering from his injuries and a nasty bout of sepsis which meant he never received the news. even so, she tried her best to be a good mum and the two were happy.
kassy was 4 years old when she met shiro on a playground: he was 6, and from the second they met they decided they’d be besties forever. when kassy turned 7, however, sara gave birth to a second child, maeve, and suffered from post partum depression so badly she completely stopped being involved with either of her children. despite being only 7, kassy started being the primary source of care for maeve. sara would have one more child a few years later, jasper.
things changed from then. kassy grew up the primary care giver of her two siblings while sara fell deeper into her depression, becoming an alcoholic. kassy stopped focusing on her personal life and more on her siblings, everything being done to make sure they were in a comfortable position. sara became emotionally abusive towards kassy when she was drunk, leading to some conflicting emotions of self hatred. at 14, kassy forged some documents and got a job to support her family and also try and save up some money to escape her shitty life.
it was around this time her and shiro drifted apart: they went to different high schools (him going to a private one for super smart people), so she was left all alone.
kassy had a close relationship with the next door neighbour, an older woman who was a retired opera singer and musician. seeing herself in kassy, the neighbour started teaching her everything she knew about music. this was kassy’s escape for many years, and becoming involved in the goth scene, she planned on making that her thing: a goth artist.
it wasn’t to be, however, as when it came to choosing career plans, she was advised to not go down the music path on account of it not being “realistic” - her second best subject in school was physics, so after much contemplating, she applied as a student at the garrison, unknowing her biological father was still working there.
this was arguably the best thing that had happened to kassy so far: her hard work had paid off, and while it wasn’t truly what she wanted to do, she was making a name for herself. she got into a relationship with a woman at work, and started to truly appreciate her life. she kept in contact with her siblings, sent them money regularly, but otherwise was in her own world.
it all came crashing down, however, as after 4 years of a relationship and a plan to propose at 22, kassy discovered her girlfriend had been cheating on her. heartbroken, she withdrew from just about everything.
it was a matter of months later when she got onto the kerberos mission… and we all know how that ended. rumours were flying around that kassy had used her body to convince iverson to let her on the mission - truthfully, she had been sexually coerced not only for her place on the mission but her place at the garrison altogether.
and so we’re brought up to present - after being captured by the galra and tortured for a year, she was saved by voltron and the rest is history…
i have put too much thought into this girlies backstory please give her a hug
3 notes
·
View notes
Note
Great! Because I finally have my oc figured out. I'm the anon that had the selling their soul oc. I actually have multiple Ocs now. The first one, her fake name is Sadie Churchill, but her real name is Lucille Grace. I don't have a picture, yet, but I can describe her. She's a sweet calico with longer 1920's hairstyle ponytail thing. She has a mother and a sister. She's from Mississippi and belonged to a secret coven. At 16 year old, there was this guy her Mother met. He had feeling for her, but her mother didn't reciprocate. So, when this guy found out about the coven, he used that against her. Saying that he'd rat out the coven, if her mother didn't marry him. Her mother and sister didn't like that and they killed him on wedding rehearsal night. Lucille didn't agree with this, because she was a bit too much of a good person. However, she loves her family above else so, she helped them hide the body. A year later, the police found the body and were snooping too close too home. So, the coven had to split for awhile. At least until the trail went cold and they found another place to be. Yes, that even means Lucille's family had to split away from each other.
They were all given fake names and places to stay, her's was Sadie Churchill and she was supposed to stay with a friend of the family, but something happened. So, she had to stay with a friend of that friend in Alabama. His name is Roscoe Clyde, who was looking for a nanny for his children to help out while his wife recovered from an accident. So, "Sadie Churchill the Nanny" it was. This however wasn't a good thing. You see, Sadie caught the eye of Roscoe and was overly creepy about it (Yes, this guy is everything horrible in the book.). It didn't help that his wife noticed and gave her the cold shoulder. Not to mention, dude was secretly part of a gang. Despite that though, she made it work and two years later, she meets her love interest, Floyd Everett. The two would meet in a cabin in secret, ever since. She found he was also the leader a gang, specifically, the rival gang to Roscoe's. She didn't care though, she was in love with him. Things were going great with the secret life, until she was 20 when she got pregnant. She was able to have her (Richie Everett) in secret sucessfully, but Roscoe's wife, Ethel grew suspicious. One day, she followed Sadie and saw the truth. Now, since Ethel is jealous of Sadie for trying to steal Roscoe away (Even though she wants nothing to do with him, really.) She tell Roscoe, Roscoe is pissed off. Not because she may be a spy for the rival gang (Although he disguises it that way.), but because he couldn't have Sadie.
So, he rounds up his gang, some were crooked law enforcement, and stormed into the cabin while Sadie and Floyd were just chillin. Floyd was hanged and Richie was murdered right in front of Sadie. Roscoe shot her, but because of his sick feelings for her, he left her to die. Thinking it was a mercy. As she was dying, she met the Wraith of the Moors. He saw what happened and feeling a sort of kinship with her, wanted to help her. Not because she was hurt, no, because she, like him, was angry. They formed a pact, he's give her all the power she needs to kill the people that did this to her and in return, she'd help him with his goal. Her power? To kill people through song, make herself be heard. She is succesful, but a few stranglers that fled, including Roscoe, got away. She ends up in Missouri at 22 because that's were Roscoe ended up, according to the Wraith.
I have no idea how she ends up at Lackadaisy or Marigold, nor if she ends up with anyone,yet, sorry! The Wraith does have an identity, but this is already really long. Sorry that it was!
🌹That sounds really neat!, yeah don’t be afraid to share OC stuff with me. I love hearing people being passionate about stuff, if you ever get some sort of drawing of her, then you could request a moodboard or a stimboard if you want🥀
🌹Also don’t worry about how long it is, I don’t mind🥀
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Children Get Older, I’m Getting Older Too
Chapter: 1/1
Words: 15,541
Summary: Alex Karev's day never truly ends, between late night teething pain, breakfast waffles, hours at the park, tantrums and train sets that circle the living room, the never ending stream of vomit, drool, hugs, and cuddles. Alex would take it all if it meant he would always have his wonderful wife, their kids, and the dog.
Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy.
Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Karev.
Characters: Alex Karev, Jo Karev, Luna Wilson, Helena Karev, Atticus Lincoln, and Scout Lincoln.
Rating: General Audiences.
Additional Tags: Waffles, Toddlers, Naps, Movie Nights, Adoption, Birth, Pregnancy, Fostering, Fluff, Reeses the dog.
Read at AO3
Read at FFN
AN: I started writing this like two years ago when I first started this series as I knew this was part of the plan that I wanted for Jo and Alex so I hope you like it! Takes place in April 2022, Jo is 20 weeks pregnant, Luna is 22 months old and Helena is 16 months old.
……………………………………………………………………
Alex Karev’s day usually started pretty early. If he was lucky the girls let him and Jo sleep through the night, but they were rarely that lucky. However, he usually gets a solid four to five hours until someone wakes him up.
“Mama!” Helena’s cries filter through the baby monitor.
The second Helena’s cries reached his ear, Alex was awake and sitting up in bed. Jo, ever attentive to her baby girl's cries, was already out of bed and slipping out the door. After bringing their firstborn home from the hospital, Alex had truly learned the definition of sleep deprivation. Both he and Jo quickly learned how to function on little to no sleep those first few months. Back then, Alex had taken the majority of the night shifts in order to give his postpartum wife a break from the round-the-clock breastfeeding.
Nowadays he looked back on those moments in the nursery with Helena with both relief that they were over and fondness of the time he got with his baby girl. At night it was just the two of them and he remembered how he used to sit in the rocking chair and talk to her as she stared up at him. He did it with Helena and later Luna, but now that the girls were toddlers they rarely sat still enough to listen to their Daddy. Alex would say he did miss those moments with them, although he didn't miss having to get up in the middle of the night.
Alex followed Jo as they walked down the hall to the nursery. When they opened the door, Helena was waiting on the other side, having already gotten out of her toddler bed. Thankfully the safety lock on the door kept her contained lest she escape and run around the house in the middle of the night. Helena reached up as Jo leaned down to pick her up. Her cries softened as she buried her head in Jo’s shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her. Jo whispered soothing words in her ear as Alex put one arm on Jo’s back and the other on Helena’s.
“What's wrong sweetie?” Alex asked, rubbing Helena’s back in soft circles as Jo pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “Is her fever back?”
In the past week, they all had been sick with the flu. He, Jo, and Luna had recovered quickly, after spending a few days with them on the couch watching movies, but it seemed to hang on to Helena who only wanted her Mama. Despite being 20 weeks pregnant, Jo had pulled out the old moby wrap and had been carrying Helena around 24/7 to keep her content. She had been doing better yesterday, but it seemed she still wasn't over it.
“Yeah and Hayes noticed she had a lower canine coming in,” Jo whispered as she wiped away the drool on Helena’s chin as Helena turned her head to meet his brown eyes with her own.
“The flu and a new tooth, it’s just not your week huh, baby girl?” Alex said, giving her one of his crooked smiles that always made her smile as he guided them over to the rocking chair.
Jo sat down in the chair and propped up her feet on the footrest as Helena hid in Jo's chest again. Alex grabbed the thermometer from where they had left it on the dresser and swiped it across Helena’s forehead. Sure enough, she had a low-grade fever.
“I'll go grab the Tylenol and a teether,” Alex said as he put the thermometer down.
“Thanks,” Jo said, glancing at him as she started to rock and soothe Helena, cuddling her close.
She didn't have to thank him, he was just doing what she would have if he was the one holding Helena, but the fact that she did still made him smile. Before he left he checked on Luna who was passed out in her bed on the other side of the room. She often slept through her sister's cries and was fast asleep in a tangled mess in the sheets with one leg off the side of the bed. He tucked her back in before he went down to the kitchen. There he grabbed the Tylenol, frozen teether ring from the freezer, and one of the breast milk popsicles they had made before running back upstairs. Jo had started to wean Helena after getting pregnant, and they had donated the majority of their frozen stash of breast milk to the NICU. But they still had a few bags of breastmilk that they used for popsicles to give to the girls when they were teething.
When he came back Helana was still fussing as Jo rocked her. Alex dosed out the Tylenol and fed it to her through a spare bottle nipple. Afterwards, he offered both the popsicle and teether ring to her as expected she picked the popsicle and happily started chewing on it. Jo smiled at her and brushed her little hairs away as Helena settled on Jo's chest. Alex grabbed her pacifier and Molly from her bed before giving Molly to her to snuggle with. The little brown monkey stuffed animal had been her favorite since they took her to the zoo as a baby. She had velcro hands and feet that they often used to put the monkey on her like a little backpack. Then he sat on the footrest and watched as Helena chewed on the popsicle and settled down.
“You can go back to bed, I'll put her back down,” Jo said, glancing up at him.
“That's okay, I don't mind,” Alex said, catching Jo’s soft eyes, ones that he probably mirrored as they both looked down at Helena. “Besides, if she still has a fever, one of us is gonna have to stay home with her tomorrow.”
“You’ve had a hard week, why don't you take the day with her,” Jo said, giving him a knowing look and Alex just shrugged as he stared at his little girl. She was right, He had just finished a particularly hard case and had missed the chance to play with the girls the last few days as Jo had opted to stay home.
It had been a year and a half since Jo gave birth to Helena, who was now 16 months old. That Thanksgiving day Jo had sworn she was going to have their baby, but she didn’t, she had her the day after. He remembered how Meredith called him in the middle of the night to tell him that Jo was in labor despite the fact that she was standing across from him.
They barely made it to the hospital in time as Jo pushed for only thirty minutes until their daughter was born. Alex remembered being in awe of his wife as she brought their daughter into the world. Jo screamed and cried at him until their daughter cried for her. Carina placed her on Jo’s chest and it was like nothing else mattered in this world as they both fell in love with her.
One of Alex's favorite photos from that day was taken right after Helena had been born. Jo looked up at the camera with a huge smile on her face as their daughter rested on her bare chest. Maggie had edited the photo to be black and white and had framed it for them. It sat on his nightstand next to a photo of Luna and one of them on their wedding day. That night as Jo and Helena both got the rest they deserved, Alex stayed up and watched over his girls. Since then he could count on his hands the number of times he slept through the night, a number that Jo shared.
As Helena finished her popsicle, trading it for her pacifier. Alex leaned forward as Helena reached out her hand to hold his hand. “You ready to go back to bed baby girl?”
Helena shook her head, but her brown eyes drooped as she looked over at him. Alex knew exactly what to do and began to sing the song that she had heard a thousand times. As he started to sing, ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me.’ Jo rolled her eyes. She did so every time he sang it and did this time too, but even when she was in her mother’s womb it never failed to soothe her.
By the time he sang the last line to the lullaby Helena’s eyes had long since closed and she slept peacefully on Jo's chest. Jo got up and he took Helena and got down to put her in her toddler bed, which was much easier for him than for Jo now that she was pregnant, or at least she said it was. Alex leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead as he tucked her in. He got back up and wrapped his arms around Jo’s waist, placing one on her bump, as they watched her sleep for a second before sneaking out of the nursery together. They both crawled into bed together and Jo looked up at him as he settled back on the pillow. He sang the last line again as Jo’s eyes fluttered close and he kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger as Jo hummed and sighed.
With Jo settled, he decided to check on the girls again and rolled over to grab the video baby monitor. He looked and saw that Helena was still fast asleep and turned the monitor to see that Luna still was completely out as well. The 22-month-old starfished in her open bed, little snores filtering through the monitor. The saying sleep like a baby applied to Luna, so long as the room was cool, she would sleep till dawn.
Helena was planned, but they always liked to say that Luna was a surprise addition. The little orphaned NICU baby that they couldn't help but fall in love with. Jo had watched over her as a favor for her mom Val. Especially after she died and Alex kept a special eye on her too. Jo spent more time in the NICU with Luna than she did with any other patient, even when she was his resident.
Alex watched her fall in love with the tiny preemie, and although he tried not to, he couldn't help but fall in love with her too. They were both devastated when their adoption request was first rejected, but Jo never gave up. She believed that Luna would be theirs and together they fought so hard for their little girl. Sometimes Alex just watched her and he couldn't believe that she was theirs. He never really believed in the afterlife or anything, but when he thought of Val, he promised her that he would look after Luna and give her the best life that he could. The day they became a family of four was one of the best of his life. He may not have been there for Luna's first breath, but he would be there for the rest of her life. She was his little girl as much as Helena was.
Alex took the opportunity to flip through the rest of the security cameras. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, other than Reeses snoring on the couch rather than sleeping in his crate, he settled back into the bed. He put an arm around Jo and his hand went down to the newest little edition. He felt their baby kick against his hand as he rubbed up and down Jo's stomach in little soft circles before the baby settled.
He never in a million years thought that Jo would agree to have another baby. He had patiently waited for her to be ready to have their first baby and he watched her become a mom when they fell in love with Luna. Jo was such a good mom, he always knew that she would be a good mom, and watching her be a mom to their girls was his favorite thing. He loved the way that she played with them, and taught them things.
When she suggested they have a third he jumped right in. He had always dreamed of having a big family, although he wasn't sure how he was going to handle the chaos of three kids. The current little Karev was already a riot in their mama's belly. They were always active and kicked Jo’s insides and her symptoms were worse this time around. They were set to have the twenty week scan the next day. He swore it was a boy, but he wouldn't be mad if it was a girl. Either way, he knew they were in for a world of trouble, but he smiled as he drifted back off to sleep.
Alex woke up to Reeses kicking his side and something touching his nose, or rather someone. He opened his eyes to see Luna staring down at him, her nose touching his as she crouched on his chest. Shad recently figured out how to open the baby proof lock on the girl's door. Although they weren't too worried as she only ever got up to crawl into bed with them and couldn't open the baby gate at the top of the stairs.
“Dada,” Luna said, very seriously. “I wanna waw’le!”
Alex tried not to go cross-eyed as he looked up at Luna and nodded, matching their seriousness. “I think you're right. We definitely need waffles this morning.”
Luna gave him a single nod before she sat back, clutching her favorite stuffed animal, a grey elephant named Ellie that had watched over her, even when she was in the NICU. Alex looked over at the clock as the early morning sun filtered through the curtains. Jo was still asleep next to him and it was still early, but he reluctantly got up with her. Luna tugged on his arm and Alex turned to pick her up, letting her climb on his back like a monkey. Together they trudged downstairs in search of waffle ingredients. The smell of freshly brewed coffee met them as Alex entered the kitchen, thanks to the automatic coffee maker.
“Alright,” Alex said as he walked over to the kitchen island before depositing Luna onto one of the stools at the counter. “Are you ready to help me make pancakes?”
“No, waw’les,” Luna corrected him, grabbing his cheeks and turning his head towards her.
“Yes waffles, how could I forget,” Alex said, smiling despite how he was being held hostage by his toddler.
Luna let go of his face and Alex quickly got out the ingredients and the bowl. He started to mix up the waffle mix and turned on the waffle iron, but not before grabbing himself a cup of coffee. Luna mixed up the waffles with him and Alex showed her how to pour the batter into the waffle iron. Alex loved this time that he had with Luna. Helena took after her mother and hated cooking, but Luna was his constant companion in the kitchen. She was also the only reason why they had a home cooked meal most nights.
As much as she loved McDonald's, Luna would complain if she didn't get to cook with them in the evenings. He and Jo had planned on getting Luna a kid’s kitchen for her birthday in a few months, but they caved and had given it to her a few weeks ago. So far it was her favorite thing in the world and she loved to pretend to cook. Ever since they committed to having kids, Jo and Alex had tried to eat more healthy meals. They had even taken a few cooking classes. Now, both of them had a few basic meals under their belts, although Jo still regularly set off the smoke alarm.
Reeses wandered down as the first waffles cooked and stuck his nose on the counter looking for scraps. Alex had to block the dog with his body to keep him from stealing the batter. Gone were the puppy days when Alex could pick him up and put him outside. Alex told Reeses to get behind the baby gate and closed it, separating the kitchen from the living room. Still, Luna snuck him a strawberry when he wasn’t looking and Alex had to stifle a laugh as he pretended not to see it.
Before long they had a plate of perfect waffles and a bowl of strawberries and blueberries for all four of them. He and Luna were munching on warm waffles when Jo and Helena came downstairs together. They were fully dressed and drying their wet curls as Jo put Helena in the chair on the island. Jo buckled her into the booster seat before sitting down next to her. Alex put a plate in front of her, lest she steal a bite from Luna who was sitting next to her. However, Jo wrinkled her nose at the plate he set before her.
“That is way too much sugar before 8 a.m.”
“Says the woman who eats oatmeal every morning. Anything would be too much sugar compared to that.”
“It's filling and healthy, I’ve eaten oatmeal since I was a kid. It was the one constant thing in my life.”
“That’s sad, and now you can afford better things, but there are berries if you want some with the oatmeal?” Alex said, offering her the bowl, but Jo just shook her head and pushed it away.
“Baby says no berries,” Jo said, rubbing her belly as she turned her head away, looking a little green.
“Plain oats it is then,” Alex said, taking the plate away from her and reaching for the oats container on the counter.
“Wa’le,” Helena giggled before she shoved another handful of waffles into her mouth, completely ignoring the silverware they were still trying to get her to use.
“So much for that clean T-shirt,” Alex laughed watching as the syrup dripped down her face and onto the shirt Jo had just put her in.
“I thought you'd make something less sticky today,” Jo said with a laugh as she pulled back the little brown locks of Helena's hair at her forehead and put it into a little fountain ponytail.
“Waw’les, good,” Luna said, her mouth full of waffles and blueberries.
“I’m glad you think the waffles are good, baby, but swallow before you talk. That way it’s easier to understand you,” Jo gently reminded her with a finger tapping her chin.
Luna nodded and quickly swallowed before she and Helena started to babble about waffles as they ate.
“Do you want brown sugar in it?” Alex said as he scooped the oats into a bowl.
“No, just plain,” Jo said with a sigh as she rubbed her belly.
“Are you sure you're feeling okay?” Alex asked, glancing back at her to see that she still looked a little green.
He had put the oatmeal into the microwave and walked around to her. As he wrapped his arms around her waist, she melted into him and rested her head against his chest. While Jo's nausea hadn't been too bad in the first trimester, it had lingered as they came into the second trimester. Alex was pretty sure she was going to be puking while she delivered this kid. On top of that, she was often dizzy and lightheaded. Although Carina said that she and the baby were fine, Alex couldn't help but worry.
“I'm fine,” Jo said, holding up her hand. “Just nauseous and Helena’s been fine too, despite last night, she didn’t have a fever this morning.”
“Well, the daycare won’t take her yet anyway, so why don’t you stay home with her today?” Alex continued the conversation they had last night, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Or you could stay home with Helena?” Jo said, looking up at him and tilting her head. “After the Miller case I'm sure you need a break and the girls have barely seen you in the past week. Besides, we already have the sitter, Katie, watching them while we go to the ultrasound tonight, so it'll be good if they could spend some time with you.”
“It would mean a full day for you,” Alex said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“I'll be fine, Alex,” Jo tried to reassure him.
“Jo…” Alex said as he let out a breath. He knew she was right, but he still thought it'd be better for her to rest at home.
“I feel up to it and I want to work,” Jo insisted as Alex sighed, but he'd learned long ago not to argue with her unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Fine, but you know I'm going to ask Meredith and Carina to keep an eye on you and if you get dizzy or throw up again.”
“They'll send me home, I know,” Jo smiled as she reached up and put a hand on his cheek. “You worry too much.”
“Only when it comes to my girls,” Alex said, leaning down to kiss her lips before Jo slipped out of his arms.
The microwave dinged and he grabbed the bowl and a spoon as he set them in front of her. She went back to sit next to Helena and Luna and she did take a few bites of the oatmeal to his relief. They all finished eating and despite their agreement that whoever cooked didn’t have to do the dishes, Alex put the girl's plates in the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.
“Okay, but remember, no screen time today, because the girls will probably watch a movie tonight with Katie,” Jo said as she wiped the syrup from the girl’s faces. Although she spoke to the kids, her words were mostly directed at him.
“Otay,” Helena said she still hadn't quite mastered the word and it was too cute to correct as she tried to avoid the rag and Jo finished wiping her chin.
“Luna?” Jo asked, turning to brush her little blonde hair away and looking down at her.
“Okay,” Luna said reluctantly as she looked down at her plate.
Jo leaned down and kissed her head before she and the girls went upstairs to get ready. After Alex finished the dishes, he went back upstairs to see them in the girl's room. Helena was half-dressed with a clean t-shirt over her head and Jo was brushing Luna’s hair and putting it up in two pigtails for the day. Alex smiled and helped Helena get dressed before he went to take a shower.
Soon, they were all ready and running around trying to help Jo and Luna get out the door. Alex grabbed Jo's cases from the desk in the front room, neatly tucking them in her bag as he grabbed Luna’s backpack. He made sure Ellie the elephant was in it and it was packed with everything she would need at daycare. He walked down the hall to see them both putting on their coats in the mudroom and picked up Helena.
“Ready to go kiddo?” Alex asked Luna as he slipped the backpack on her shoulders before handing Jo her bag.
“Go bye-bye,” Luna nodded, holding onto the straps of her backpack.
“Okay, so I’m going to drop you off at the daycare at the hospital and then at noon we'll have lunch together,” Jo said to Luna as she slipped on her shoes.
“‘wench f’ies?” Luna asked, pulling on their coat.
“Yeah, I think we can have some french fries. Wait, I think we're missing something, look at your feet, honey?” Jo said, looking at Luna’s feet. Luna smiled and grabbed their rainbow light-up sneakers before Jo looked up at Alex. “I think you're missing something too.”
Alex looked down at his feet, unsure of what Jo meant as he wasn't going anywhere. Instead, she pulled his chin back up and she smiled as she tilted her head, leaning up on her toes to kiss him. Alex smiled into her lips as he wrapped his free arm around Jo's waist. He savored the sweet taste of her lips and let himself linger for a moment.
“Try not to get into too much trouble on your day off,” Jo said, pulling back, but still holding his cheek before she leaned down and kissed Helena’s cheek as she giggled when Jo tickled her stomach.
“We’ll try,” Alex said with a wink as Jo smiled and kissed him again. He had to pull himself back and untangle his arms from her body as they parted.
“Have a good day, baby,” Alex said leaning down to kiss Luna’s cheek. “I’ll pick you up before dinner if Mommy’s delivering a baby.”
“Mama baby?” Luna asked, turning around and putting her hands on Jo’s baby bump.
“No, not our baby just yet. They've still got to cook a little bit more,” Jo said with a smile as she put her hands over Luna’s. “But do you feel them kicking?”
Luna giggled as she no doubt felt them kick against her hands. “Baby.”
“Baby too!” Helena said, reaching out of his arms, hands first to feel the baby as well and Alex reached out and guided her hand to Jo's bump and placed his hand over the baby as well.
Jo looked up at him and smiled as he caught her eye. She held his hand and interlaced their fingers before she moved it over to the side of her belly. Alex waited for a moment looking down at her belly before he felt the light flutter of a kick against his hand.
“Baby!” Luna and Helena cheered as they felt the baby kick against their hands.
Alex let out a chuckle of excitement as he looked up and caught Jo’s eye. Her eyes sparkled and he got lost in them. He couldn't explain the excitement and joy that he felt at this moment. Ever since the baby had started kicking a few weeks ago he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off of Jo's belly as he enjoyed the movement of his child. The two girls in their arms were just as excited as they were for the newest addition to their family. It was everything he had ever hoped to have with her and so much more. He couldn't help but lean in and press his lips to her as their excitement passed to each other through their kiss. Although, Jo pulled away far too quickly for his liking.
“I've got to go or I'll be late for work,” Jo said, reading his expression, as she held Luna’s hand and moved to open the garage door.
“That's never stopped us before,” Alex said, reaching out and grabbing her hips, taking a second to squeeze her ass as he pulled her back into his arms.
“I have to take Luna to daycare and I have babies to deliver,” Jo said with a roll of her eyes love, although she captured his chin with her hand and leaned in to kiss him again. “Goodbye, Alex.”
“Bye Jo,” Alex reluctantly said, giving her ass one final squeeze before he let her go.
“Bye, baby girl,” Jo said, leaning in to kiss Helena’s cheek.
“Bye Mama,” Helena said with a wave before she settled back in Alex’s arms.
“Ready to go honey?” Jo asked, pulling Luna's coat up before Luna nodded and they walked into the garage.
“Bye bye,” Luna said, waving to them before they got in the car.
Alex and Helena waved back before he walked with her over to the front room. It was set up as an office and he struggled to open the baby proof door knob cover to get in. The room was the only adult-only part of the house where they kept any work documents and other non-child-friendly things. Although, Alex would occasionally let Luna or Helena in just to wave goodbye through the front window. Alex stood with Helena in front of the window as they watched Jo pull out of the driveway.
“Bye-bye,” Helena said as she aggressively waved to them leaning with her whole body and just about falling out of Alex’s arms.
He smiled as he tightened his grip on Helena as they both waved to Jo and Luna as the car drove out the driveway and down the road. After they left, Alex walked back into the main room and set Helena down before looking over at his daughter.
“Well, it looks like we’ve got some free time today, kiddo,” Alex said as he knelt in front of her. “Since it’s kinda a rainy day, how about we play inside this morning?”
Helena nodded and turned to walk over to the toy bins, pulling out a toy tool set. It had a number of screws, nails, and little pieces of wood, with a little toy box that sang. Helena set to work with the little screwdriver and Alex played along and helped her build her own thing with the little plastic screws and wooden boards. The entire time he talked to her about what she was doing and she babbled back to him, excitedly showing off her creation. Reeses joined and napped on the couch for a little bit before he started to engage in play and Alex threw him a ball letting him chase it around the living room.
This was Alex’s favorite thing to do. He loved playing with kids, especially his kids. At work, it used to be a welcomed distraction from the reality of sick and dying kids, for them and him. He’d made a point to make time to play with Helena and Luna as soon as he got home, after kissing his wife of course. Yet, life sometimes got in the way, however, he always worked to make it up to them.
The two played for some time as Helena enjoyed the repetition of screwing and unscrewing, occasionally putting things together and then tearing them apart. To Alex, it was a little boring, but to Helena, it was the most fascinating thing in the world and she spent most of the morning engaged in this play. She did get out some other toys but always went back to her tools.
After an hour or so Alex got up and started a load of laundry. During the days he spent at home, he tried to catch up on the daily chores and get out of the house with the kids. He and Jo had gotten a good schedule when they were babies to keep things entertaining. They would either go to the park, the library, or the shops, or meet up with Meredith or Link for a playdate. They tried to do one of those activities a week, and occasionally go to the museum, the zoo, or the aquarium on special occasions. Although there were some days when they just stayed home and hung out.
After lunch and a short walk with Reeses around the neighborhood, Helena started to grow weary and she soon became grumpy and fussy. She protested when Alex picked her up and they went upstairs, but he knew she needed a nap. He went through their usual routine. They read a book as he held her in the rocking chair before he turned on the sound machine and gave her a pacifier. Helena settled down and was almost asleep. He could have put her down in her bed and she probably would have fallen asleep, but some days it felt important to hold her. So he sat in the rocking chair and rocked back and forth. He started to gently sing to her as she stared up at him, keeping her eyes open for as long as she could until they were too heavy and she fell asleep.
Even then he continued to hold her, watching her eyelashes flutter against her cheek and brushing the little curls away from her forehead. When Helena was born everybody said that she looked like him. She also had his temperament and was grumpy and fussy. As she got older, he saw touches of Jo appear in her features in the way she would smile or giggle. Still, she kept his grumpiness.
Seeing his personality reflected back to him in the form of his child taught Alex a lot. Her likes and dislikes were similar to his own and the things that helped his mood, helped her too. Helena giggled in her sleep, just like he did and a smile formed across her face as her pacifier popped out of her lips. It made him smile and he held her for a little bit longer before finally making the transfer to the bed and sneaking out of the nursery.
As much as he loved holding his child, nap time also brought a certain amount of freedom. Alex used his free time to do the things he didn't get to do when the girls were awake. Even though there were still lunch dishes in the kitchen, toys strewn around the living room, and a load of laundry that had to be done, Alex sat down on the couch and turned on the PS4. He and Jo both enjoyed video games and often competed against each other in everything from Mario Kart to Call of Duty. Alex enjoyed getting lost in the game and he finished beating level nine. After an hour of play, an alert on his phone notified him of Helena’s movement on the baby monitor. He opened it up to see Helena pressing her face against the monitor that was set up on the headboard of her bed.
“Dada, get Lu’a?” Helena asked, the girls, who were practically twins, hated being separated for too long.
Alex checked the time and it was a little after 2 p.m. Although he technically didn't have to pick her up from the daycare until 5 p.m., he knew that picking her up early would be a special treat for all of them.
“Alright, Lena pick out a coat and I'll be up in a second,” Alex responded to her as he watched Helena walk over to the hooks with her coat.
Alex made sure that the game system was put away where the girls couldn't mess with it before he went back upstairs and got Helena who was ready with her coat on, if not inside out. Helena didn’t seem to mind so Alex just shrugged and held both ends of the coat as she zipped it up. He made sure to change her diaper and grabbed a coat and shoes for both of them.
After grabbing the keys and the diaper bag from the downstairs closet they headed out. As a first time dad, when Helena was a baby, his diaper bag used to include an exorbitant amount of everything. Including diapers, a blanket, a change of clothes, a bottle, toys, wipes, butt cream, snacks, a burp cloth, a blanket, pacifiers, playmat, teethers, hat, mittens, hand sanitizers, sunglasses, an extra jacket, sunscreen, insect repellent, a first aid kit, and tissues.
Now, although both girls were still in diapers, his diaper bag now was just a backpack, with one diaper for every hour they were out, plus an extra, wipes, two snacks, and a water bottle. Part of this was because they were no longer babies, but also because he realized they just needed the basics. There was a first aid kit and an extra set of clothes in the car though. Helena insisted that they bring the little teether Giraffe and her favorite stuffed animal friend Molly. Helena held onto her tightly as Alex buckled her into the car seat.
It was a quick drive to the hospital and he parked the car and helped Helena out of her car seat. He put her on his hip as they walked into the hospital. Alex avoided the ER lest he get dragged into work. They took the side entrance and quietly made their way to the daycare. Helena got excited as they spotted the butterflies on the windows of the daycare for he stopped in front of the door. Helena smiled when she saw Luna, she was so excited to see her sister and Alex set her down in the daycare as she ran off to Luna and gave her a hug that was eagerly returned.
When they first brought Luna home from the hospital, the girls were one year, and six months old. Jo and Alex were more worried about how they would manage two babies and how the two girls would get along. Luckily for them, they didn't need to worry. The two of them played together and acted as sisters from day one. Helena looked up to Luna and was so excited to have someone to play with other than her parents, while Luna was always happy to just be around her.
“Hey kiddo,” Alex said, leaning down to hug her after Helena. “How was your day?”
Luna just shrugged, but Alex could tell that she was tired as the daycare worker, Sonia, helped her get her backpack.
“She had a good time having lunch with her Mom, but she didn't get a nap,” Sonia said looking up at him and Alex sighed. “She and Scout kept each other up. We managed to separate them, but she still wouldn't sleep. I called Dr. Karev to see if she could come down, but she was busy with a patient.”
“Thanks for trying Sonia,” Alex said as he took the rest of Luna’s things and picked up Helena again.
Lunar walked in front of them and Alex reached to hold her hand but she pulled away from him giving him the stink eye. It was the exact same look that Jo gave him when he was annoying her and he knew Luna had learned it from her. Alex just sighed again until an idea popped in his head.
“Why don't we go see Mommy?” Alex asked the girls as Luna immediately perked up and Helena excitedly nodded.
The three of them hopped onto the elevator and Alex let Luna walk on her own. All of the nurses waved to them and although Luna continued to sulk, Helena happily waved back. Like father like daughter, she had charmed all of them, but they both only had eyes for one girl. They walked up the halls to see Jo leaning against the nurses' station doing chart some work.
“Mama!” Helena squealed in delight as she saw her and waved both of her arms in excitement.
Jo looked up to both of them and smiled as she saw Luna who took off as she ran towards her. She bent down and scooped her up, holding her above her baby bump. Holding her close, Jo gently swayed back and forth as Luna laid her head on Jo's shoulder. She pressed a kiss to the top of Luna’s head before she whispered sweet and calming words to her. Luna had always preferred Jo, especially when she was tired and grumpy.
"Hi, my chunky monkey," Jo said as she leaned in to kiss Helena's cheek before giving her chubby arm a squeeze. Helena was born with little fat rolls since she was almost 10 lb and now she had the cutest fat rolls on her arms and legs.
Jo finally smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss too. He didn't mind that he was the last one to get her kisses because he always got the first kiss of the day and the last one at night.
“Mama, swoo,” Luna babbled to her with a smile as Jo’s eyebrows knitted together.
“Yeah we played with your screwdrivers today,” Alex said, translating for Jo.
“Oh, you must have had a lot of fun with Daddy then,” Jo said as she smiled at Helena.
“How's this little one doing?” Alex said, reaching out to put a hand on her belly as their baby rewarded him with a little kick.
“They've been good and I’ve had lots of energy and no nausea, finally. I even took a peek at them earlier on the ultrasound. We might not be able to see the gender tonight since they're not in a good position, but I've been trying to get them to move,” Jo said with a slight smile, putting a hand over his on her bump.
“That’s good,” Alex said, feeling the baby kick again.
“I'm guessing that this one didn't take a n-a-p,” Jo said, putting her hand on Luna’s back as Luna clung to her.
“Nope,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “I’m going to take her home and see if she’ll go down there.”
Jo nodded as she looked at Luna, pressing her cheek to the top of her head. “Why don't I walk with you down to the car, maybe a good car ride home will do the trick?”
“It might,” Alex agreed, looking over at Jo with a smirk. “Like mother, like daughter it usually works on you too.”
“Come on,” Jo said with a shake of her head as she walked past him.
Alex took a second to admire the view as she waddled away before Helena pulled on his arm and reached out towards Jo. “Mama!”
“Alright Lena,” Alex said as Jo paused to look back at him as he quickly caught up to her.
The four of them walked down to the car, Helena happily filling the silence with the babbles about her day as Jo listened and happily talked with her. Yet, Luna remained quiet and she clung to Jo. Alex got Helena into the car seat and buckled her in. He heard Jo do the same with Luna before he walked over to the two of them. Jo was fussing over Luna a little bit, she’d gotten Ellie out of her backpack and put the blanket over her legs.
“Mama, come home?” Luna asked as Jo checked the buckle was secured.
“I have to deliver a few babies so I gotta stay here,” Jo said as she leaned in to talk to Luna. “But I'm going to be home tonight before dinner and I will make sure to spend time with you before Katie comes over to babysit.”
“Come home,” Luna whined, clinging to Jo's scrub shirt.
“I'm sorry baby,” Jo said, as she leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Can you take a deep breath with me?”
They took a few deep breaths together which helped Luna calm down a little bit. “Good that's good baby, now Mommy has to go, but I'll be home before dinner.”
Luna solemnly nodded although she pouted as Jo kissed her goodbye and shut the door. Still, she didn't immediately start screaming, which was a win. With the girls settled, Alex took a second to wrap his arms around his wife and rest them on her bump as he leaned in to kiss her goodbye.
“She'll be all right,” Alex reassured her as he could see the worry in Jo’s eyes.
“I know, but call me if she's too fussy and I'll sing her a lullaby over the phone,” Jo said, playing with the collar of his shirt.
“I will,” Alex said, moving his hands from her bump to her hips.
“And Link just left with Scout, since his Surgery got canceled so call him if you need help,” Jo said with a nod.
“I don't need help from Link,” Alex said, his lips turned down into a scowl.
“Oh right, the great Dr. Alex Karev doesn’t need help from anybody,” Jo said, mocking him as she rolled her eyes.
“I can handle it.”
Jo only hummed and raised her eyebrows at him. He took the chance to lean in and kiss her again.
“Dada!” Helena called at them from the car as the two of them parted.
“That’s your signal to get going,” Jo said, letting go of him. “Good luck at home.”
“Thanks, I'll need it,” Alex said, watching her go before he got into the passenger seat. He turned around to look at the girls to see Helena smiling, but Luna was scowling.
“Alright let's get going,” Alex said as he looked into the rearview mirror and pulled out of the parking space before heading home.
He hoped he could avoid this tantrum as much as possible. Alex turned on an audiobook for the kids as he drove, taking the long way home. He hoped that it would put Luna to sleep. Helena listened to it play and reiterated some of the words of the narrator, following along with the story, but Luna just looked out the window.
When they got home, Alex opened the door to the car and Luna rushed out. The garage door to the house was locked so she waited there as Alex got Helena out and picked up her backpack. As soon as he opened the door she ran inside, not even bothering to kick off her shoes or coat, and made a beeline for the couch.
Reeses greeted them with lots of whines and wiggles as he got caught under Alex's feet until he leaned down to pet him, patting his belly. Helena wiggled out of his arms eager to greet the dog as well as Reeses licked her face while she giggled.
“I wanna Bluey!” Luna demanded, from the couch as she kicked her feet.
“I hear that you want to watch Bluey, but not now,” Alex said, putting Luna’s backpack on the hook and checking to see if there was anything in it.
“Bluey,” Luna demanded again.
“Dada Bluey,” Helena joined in the time, running over and sitting next to her. Even Reeses hopped up next to them and placed his head in Luna’s lap, his go-to spot for TV time.
Alex took a moment before he went over to them. This was a fight that often ended in a tantrum, Luna was overtired from skipping her nap, and watching bluey was her favorite thing. He and Jo had worked to maintain a screen time schedule in their house. Although they usually let the girls watch something in the afternoon and then again later in the evening, he knew they would stay up a little later watching a movie with Katie. They never went down for babysitters and would stay up late waiting for him and Jo to get home. They usually scheduled date nights in the evenings or the afternoon, but due to Jo’s schedule, the only opening for an ultrasound that they could get was at 6:00 pm.
“I know that you wanna watch Bluey, but we can't because you’re going to watch a movie tonight, remember?”
“BLUEY!” Luna shouted again, Kicking her legs against the seat of the couch.
Alex had a choice, he could let her watch something but knew the second he’d turn it off, Luna would fall apart. If he put his foot down as both kids knew about the movie night, Luna would fall apart. It was a lose-lose situation as what Luna really needed was a nap. He hated it, but Alex knew that he had to say no and face the tantrum.
Alex went over to the couch, he quickly told Reeses to get down and let him outside before he went back to the kids. He and Jo had been working with Luna to establish good calm down techniques and gave them different ways to deal with her anger and frustration.
“We're not going to watch Bluey right now, let's pick something else to do.” Alex kneeled in front of both of them but spoke to Helena first. “Lena, why don't you go pick out a book and we can read, okay.”
“Otay,” Helena said, running off to grab a book from the self.
Alex looked over at Luna and he could see the storm that awaited him. “Do you want to read a book with us or grab one of your toys?”
“No, Buley” Luna insisted, tears began to collect in her eyes and she kicked out her legs again.
Alex went over to the basket of calm down toys, which included a few books, papers, stimming toys, glitter bottles, and the squeaky toys, not Reeses’ toys, but the ones Jo liked to throw at the walls. He placed the basket in front of Luna and picked up Daniel Tiger. Alex held it as he kneeled in front of Luna pressing the button so it would play the mad song.
It was one of the many tools Alex and Jo used to help their kids calm down. Both girls knew the song, but they were still learning to use it and Alex particularly liked the roaring part. Alex let the song play and demonstrated the calm down techniques by counting to four and taking a deep breath, but could see that Luna wasn't following along as she usually did.
“Bookies,” Helena said, toddling up to them, carrying two books as best she could.
“Alright baby we're gonna read,” Alex said, sitting on the couch next to Luna and pulling Helena to sit next to him, keeping his left side open for Luna before he looked back at her. “Luna, would you like to read books with us?”
“No!” Luna completely melted down, screaming and crying as she threw her head back.
Luna grabbed the Daniel Tiger and threw it before she kicked the rest of the basket over. At least she was using part of the tools available to her, Alex thought as he sat and looked at the books. Luna continued to scream as Alex watched her, he wanted to be open to her if she wanted him, but Helena held up the book. It was one of her favorites, about a little girl who was a pilot, from The Imagination Library. If Alex had liked Dolly Parton, before he had kids, he loved her now. They got such wonderful books in the mail each month, full of adventure and good lessons.
Alex started reading and before he was halfway through the book, Luna had stopped screaming and laying on the couch. He could see that she was playing with one of the squishy balls and listening to him read. Helena followed along, fascinated by the stories and Luna eventually crawled over and lay next to him. Alex picked her up, held her close, and rubbed up and down her back, an action that always soothed Jo and the kids. He started reading again, something that was difficult while holding both kids, but he managed. By the time he finished the third book Luna was out like a light and he carried her up to the girl's room.
Alex tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead, even while she was sleeping he wanted her to know that she was loved. “I love you, Luna, forever and always.”
When he came back downstairs Helena had gotten out the wooden train set. Reeses happily let Helena sit against him as he napped on the floor. Alex took the opportunity to make the three of them a snack. He cut up some vegetables, putting them on a plate for Helena on the side table. Helena grabbed an apple slice and then went back to her toys, always a grazer. Alex snacked on a few slices, taking the opportunity to eat as well. As they played and snacked, Alex and Helena set up a full-size train track that circled around the living room and into the kitchen. When Alex’s phone dinged, he pulled it out of his back pocket and looked to see who it was.
Message from Link: ‘Scout is a little restless, do you guys want to meet us at the park on 4th?’
The Karev and Shepherd-Lincoln kids had been best friends since birth. Scout was only a month older than Luna and six months older than Helena. They got on like a house on fire, but Luna and Scout were best friends.
‘Sure, Luna will be up from her nap in a few minutes and we’ll head over there in a few.’ Alex texted back.
As if right on cue, his phone dinged and Alex checked the baby monitor to see her sitting up in bed. Alex jogged up to the girl's room and opened the door to see her still rubbing her eyes as she held onto Ellie the elephant. Alex smiled and walked over to her, picking her up as she clung to him and rested their head on his shoulder.
“Hey sweetie, did you have a good nap?” Alex asked as Luna nodded against his shoulder. “Scout and his dad are heading to the park. Did you want to meet them there?”
“Yeah,” Luna said, pulling back and crawling off of his lap, but holding his hand and she headed to the stairs. “Park now?”
“Well, are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?” Alex asked, he held Luna's hand as they walked down the stairs.
“Park?” Helena asked as she and Reeses wandered over.
“Park now!” Luna said with a smile as they playfully tugged him along.
“Alright, alright, we'll go,” Alex laughed as Luna dragged him over to the mudroom. “But you need to eat as we get ready. Okay, shoes and coats.”
Both kids were eager to get to the park so it was easy to get them ready and in the car. The train set and other toys could always be picked up later, a lesson Alex had spent way too long learning. Although they did their best to do a little bit of tidying and put away all of the toys at the end of the day, time spent with his girls was far more precious than having a clean house.
Most days they walked to the park, but given that Link's house was across the street from the park, they were probably already there. The second Alex got her out of the car, Luna was running towards the park. Helena was restless in her car seat and it took Alex a second to get the wiggling toddler out. The second he did he let her run ahead and catch up with the other kids. Link waved at them from where Scout was spinning around on the merry-go-round. Scout quickly greeted Luna, then Helena with a hug before they climbed onto the merry-go-round with him.
“Hey Karev,” Link said, waving him over with an enthusiastic smile.
“Hey Link,” Alex said and he walked over to stand next to him as they watched their kids play together.
If you had asked Alex Karev who his dad friend would be, Atticus Lincoln would not have been at the top of the list, yet here they were. It started after Link’s failed proposal to Amelia, Jo had let him move in with them for a few weeks. He and Scout started spending more time with them and now, Alex was the one Link turned to with parenting questions, even if Alex didn’t always know the answer. They helped each other out, babysat each other's kids, and they did pretty much everything together.
“Daddy ch’ze uz,” Scout said from where he had climbed up on the jungle gym.
“Dada come,” Luna said as they stood next to Scout and stuck out one of their feet in between the railings.
Alex and Link exchanged a look before they both ran over to try and grab the kid’s feet.
“Alright, here we come and we're gonna get you!” Link shouted, reaching for them.
Both of the kids shrieked with laughter and ran to the other side of the play center as Link and Alex tag teamed trying to get them from either side. They played along, roaring and creating monster noises. Helena quickly joined in as all three kids ran around. It was harder than it seemed to try and catch them, but Alex finally caught Luna around her waist and picked her up swinging around as she shrieked.
“I've got you,” Alex laughed as he held Luna.
“No!” Luna laughed as she tried to wiggle out of his arms but Alex had to readjust his grip on her as she squirmed.
“Nope, I'm the monster and you're my prisoner now,” Alex said as he put Luna over his shoulder and walked towards the edge of the wood chip area.
“Lu-Lu,” Scout said, running up and tugging on Luna’s hand from where Alex had her.
“Daddy d’op it!” Helena shouted as she ran up and grabbed onto Alex's leg, as the kids piled up on him.
Alex looked around for a soft spot to land and as gently as he could kneel in the grass and fell down with Luna on top of him and all the kids piled on.
Luna laughed from atop his chest as they pushed down on his shoulders.
“Okay, you got me!” Alex laughed as well, even though it was a little hard with all three kids on top of him.
He heard the snap of a phone camera and looked over to see that Link had his phone pointed at them. He took a few extra pictures no doubt sending them to Jo as he laughed. Alex didn't mind as he had a few blackmail photos of Link including a picture of him in make-up and a tiara, complete with gloves, from when Scout and the girls had a dress-up tea party. Something that Alex would never admit that he had also done because spending that valuable time with his girls was more important than his dignity.
The kids let him up and ran off except for Helena who pulled him towards the swing. Alex scooped her up and set her in the baby seat gently pushing her back and forth. Link watched Luna and Scout play with a few other kids on the play center, going down the side and then climbing back up.
“Jo mentioned that you've got the twenty week scan tonight, are you guys excited to find out the gender?” Link asked, reaching out and pretending to grab Helena’s toes.
“Yeah,” Alex said with an easy smile. they hadn't done a gender reveal or scan with Helena if they wanted it to be a surprise but had decided to get one done this time around.
“Any preference?” Link asked, seeming too casual as he glanced over at Alex.
Alex shook his head as Luna and Scout came back and Link helped them onto the extra swings. “You can tell Jo the same thing I told her. I don't care, either way, I'll be happy.”
“Okay,” Link said with a nod as he pushed Scout. “I think she's just worried you'll be disappointed if it's another girl.”
Alex just looked at Helena and Luna. They were two-thirds of his heart, the other part belonging to Jo. “I loved my girls more than anything and I don't feel like I'm missing out by not having a boy, because everything I always imagined doing as a father I do with them.”
“Yeah,” Link agreed, looking at Scout. “Besides gender isn't set with the sex. It's a spectrum and there's no guarantee. Our kids are their own people and we’re here as parents to guide their journey through life.”
Alex raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Link. “Dude.”
“Too philosophical?” Link asked.
“A little,” Alex said with a smile. “But you're right. We don't get to decide who our kids are.”
“Yeah, if that were true, I'd make Scout less of an early bird. He was up at 5 am this morning.”
Alex couldn’t help but laugh, even though he was up around the same time last night. “Yeah, Lena’s got a few teeth coming in so we were up last night with her.”
“How’s everyone at your house doing?” Link said, leaning back on his heels as he looked at Alex with a raised eyebrow. “I heard everyone got the flu but the kids seem better now.”
“Yeah, they’ve been doing good and Helena’s fever broke yesterday afternoon, but Jo was still throwing up as of last night. Though I'm not sure if it's the flu or her morning sickness,” Alex said, as he pulled out his phone, but neither Jo nor Mer had texted. “I asked Meredith to keep an eye on her and as of lunch time she was fine, so.”
“I saw her in the pit this morning and she was fine,” Link reassured him, but Alex wasn't sure he believed him.
Still, he let it slide and just nodded as he pushed Helena and Luna again. He would see her tonight and check on her himself.
If they could, the kids would spend the entire day at the park. Alex and Link let them wear themselves out for a couple of hours before they all headed home. It took a few tries to get the kids to leave, but eventually, they all willingly got into the car and said their goodbyes. As Alex pulled up to the house he could see all the lights on and Jo’s car was in the garage.
“Mama mama,” Helena said, smiling as she pointed to the car.
They all quickly got out of the car as Alex opened the garage door to the house, the kids ran up to Jo who was in the kitchen. Alex smiled when he saw her. To be honest, he was just as excited as the girls were to see her.
“Mama!” They both shouted as they ran into her arms.
“Hello my girls,” Jo crouched down to meet the girls as they ran into her arms, hugging her tightly.
She kissed their heads and held them for a second as she greeted them. Alex patiently waited for his turn until Luna and Helena eventually let go and Jo stood up.
“Hey, I missed you two today.” Alex took a step forward, wrapping his arms around her and placing a hand over her bump.
“We missed you too.” Jo smiled as the baby kicked his hand and she relaxed into his embrace before she pulled back to kiss him.
Her warm lips welcomed him like a hug and everything was alright. Eventually, Luna pulled them apart as she held up one of her drawings from daycare to show to Jo. Helena babbled and pointed at the elaborate train set they had made and Alex told her about the fun they had at the park with Scout. Jo smiled and chatted with them as Alex sat at the counter and checked the food she was cooking.
Jo’s cooking skills had improved to where she had a few recipes she could do on her own successfully, but Alex liked to double-check. She was making pesto grilled chicken cooked with tomatoes and green beans, and there was also some french bread she must have bought on her way home. He quickly stole some of the tomatoes she was chopping up before she noticed. Then he pulled out his phone and texted Meredith for a minute whilst Helena and Luna helped Jo set the table as best they could, given that neither of them could see over the top of the table.
He quickly took over cooking dinner as Jo spent some time with the girls. They went back to the trains Jo eagerly engaged with them, taking the time to love and cuddle with them. The girls pretty much ate the same as they did. Luna would eat anything, while Helena was a little more picky, but if they put enough ranch dressing on it she’d eat it. After he finished cooking the chicken, he set out the plates on the table before grabbing both of the girls’ bibs. Jo moved to put them into the high chairs next to the table.
“What do you think the chances are of the girls throwing all their food all over the floor?” Jo asked as she strapped Helena into the high chair.
“Well I'd say it's about 60/40 considering that it's one of their favorites, but you know how Helena is,” Alex said as he put the plate in front of her and Jo nodded as she sat down as well.
The two of them sat down and started to eat dinner as the girls explored their food. Things went well, but Alex was right, about the chances of food on the floor. Halfway through the meal, Helena flipped her plate over with a laugh. Jo sighed, but Alex couldn't help but chuckle. He gave Helena a bit more chicken and green beans, opting to put it straight on the tray of her high chair. Neither of them bothered to clean it up from the floor, as Reeses eagerly gobbled up every last bite, although they would mop later.
“Good boy,” Alex said, patting his back as he continued to eat up the mess for them.
Sometimes they called him their four-legged vacuum cleaner and with two toddlers running around it made any food messes a lot easier to clean up. Although they still trained him to leave it alone until they gave him permission, Alex couldn't remember the last time he had to bend down to pick up food off the floor.
As they started to clean up from dinner, Alex was happy to see that both of the girls had finished the majority of their plates. Even Jo had cleared her plate and had a small second portion, a change from that morning and a sign that she was feeling better. He took over putting the dishes in the sink while Jo loaded the dishwasher and the girls helped as well. They were almost done when they heard a knock on the door as Reeses started barking.
“That must be Katie,” Jo said as she got up and walked to the door, the girls eagerly following her, and Reeses happily following them. Everybody in the family loved Katie.
“Hey,” Katie said as she came in greeting the girls with hugs and she and Jo talked for a second before they came into the living room.
“Hey Katie, how did that biology test go?” Alex asked the high schooler as he dried off the last pan.
“It went great. I got an 89, which isn't the best but I'll take it,” Katie said with a little laugh. “How have you guys been?”
“We've been good,” Alex replied, putting the pan away.
“Alright, we should get going if we're going to make the ultrasound appointment,” Jo said as she looked at the clock, seeing that it was a quarter to six.
“Okay,” Alex said as Jo ran upstairs and he grabbed his wallet. “Are you good staying till 7:30 pm? We shouldn't be much later.”
“Yeah, no problem. Do you want me to put the girls to bed?” Katie asked as she smiled at Luna who handed her a train car.
“If you want, but if they don't go down just put on a movie,” Alex said with a nod, they wouldn't be out too late.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Katie nodded before looking over at the girls. “What do you two think, should we have a movie night tonight?”
“I watch Bluey!” Luna excitedly said as Katie nodded.
“Yeah we can have a little Bluey marathon tonight, that sounds fun to me,” Katie said with a smile as Luna jumped for joy.
Alex grabbed Jo’s jacket and put on his before he sat on the couch and played trains with the girls for a second. Jo finally came downstairs again, Reeses' following her every step.
“Ready to go?” Jo asked, holding her bump.
“Yep,” Alex said, putting the blocks down before reaching out for Helena and pulling her into a hug before doing the same for Luna. “Bye girls, you two be good for Katie.”
“Bye my sweet girls,” Jo said, hugging Helena and then Luna, giving them each a little snuggle as she kissed their cheeks before putting them back down.
“Buy Katie, thanks for tonight,” Jo said as Alex helped her into her coat.
“Yeah, thanks,” Alex said, giving her a nod before patting Reeses’s belly and giving him a goodbye too.
“Of course, bye you guys. Luna, Helena wave bye-bye to your Mommy and Daddy,” Katie said waving as the girls followed her lead and waved to them before they stepped out into the garage.
Alex smiled as he took Jo's hand, leading her over to her side of the car and opening the door for her like a true gentleman as she shook her head, but giggled. Then he got into the car and backed out of the garage. As he started to drive, he reached over and placed a hand on Jo's bump. She looked over at him with a smile, putting her hand over his and intertwining their fingers. They both felt the baby kick under their hands and Alex couldn't stop smiling. Still, Jo’s smile fell as she stared out the window at the rainy streets and squeezed his hand.
“The baby is just fine, Jo,” Alex reassured her as he took a second to glance over at her.
They both knew that the 20-week scan was more than just a gender reveal. It was the scan where they would see the development of their baby's organs and learn if they had any health issues. Except for their mutual history of family and personal mental health issues they didn’t have any risk for genetic diseases.
“We don't know that for sure Alex, we could have missed something on the ultrasound,” Jo said, giving him a nervous glance as he stopped at a stop light.
“Jo, you give yourself an ultrasound and take a peek at them every day. If anyone is going to notice something, it'd be you. They're going to be fine and we don't have to worry about anything we haven't learned yet,” Alex said, glancing over at her before the light turned green. “Besides, if it is anything, there's no better pair of parents to help them than we are. Our kids’ got a world class pediatrician Daddy and the best OB doctor Mama.”
“I know,” Jo said, and Alex felt her give his hand a squeeze before she took in and then let out a deep breath.
Things lapsed into silence for a few minutes as they arrived at the hospital. Alex pulled into his parking spot and turned off the car, but as he went to get out, Jo reached over and grabbed his hand.
“Would you be disappointed if it wasn't a boy?” Jo whispered as she glanced over at him. It was a conversation they’d had even before they got pregnant again. “And be honest Alex, I know you want a boy.”
Alex just nodded but he smiled. “You're right it would be nice to have a boy but honestly, I love our girls Jo and I'd be just as happy if we have another one.”
“Do you think you could handle three little girls?” Jo asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Yes,” Alex said without hesitation as he smiled, although Alex wanted a boy that he could raise and teach how to be a good man, he loved his daughters more than anything. “I'll be drowning in princess dresses and pink bows, but I’ll love every second of it.”
“Me too,” Jo said with a smile and he knew how she felt.
She loved having their little girls and often dressed up and played tea parties with them. She re-lived every moment of her childhood that she didn't get to experience and shared it with her daughters.
As they got out of the car, Alex raised an eyebrow and looked over at her. “You haven't seen the gender yet, have you?”
“I told you, they weren’t in the best position earlier so I didn't get a chance to see them,” Jo said, quickly dismissing him as she got out of the car.
“Uh hu,” Alex said, giving her a little smile.
He had a sneaking suspicion that she already knew, especially given their conversation in the car. To be honest he was a little disappointed that he wouldn't have a son. He always thought that if he had a boy, he would raise them to be a good man. He’d raise them to be better than he was and not to think with their fists. Yet, the truth was that even if they knew their kid's biological sex, it was no guarantee that they would be what they imagined.
Luna and Helena certainly turned out to be more different from them than he ever thought was possible. He thought for sure Helena would inherit his anger issues, but she seemed to take the calm and gentle approach that Jo had. Whereas Luna somehow inherited both of their stubbornness.
He thought for sure that they would love tea parties and dressing up and they did, but they also love playing in the mud and getting dirty. They loved playing tea parties, dressing up, playing princesses, and watching Disney movies. They also loved creating train sets all over the house and playing with their dinosaurs and construction cars. They each had their own unique personality apart from the ones they inherited from their parents and he was so surprised with everything they did and he knew this baby would be the same.
Soon enough they were sitting in the waiting room. Alex wasn't used to being a patient and he never really liked it. It always made him nervous for some reason and he tapped his foot as he waited. He wasn't sure if the nervousness came from a general dislike of actually being seen by a doctor or rather the fact that he was a doctor. He knew how things could go wrong and what could be wrong with the baby. Alex got that same worry every time they took the girls in for a checkup, even though they were mostly healthy. Luna had a few lasting issues due to her prematurity and early surgeries, she couldn't handle any fizzy drinks and had difficulty burping, but was generally healthy. Still, he preferred to be on the other side of the white coat, taking care of patients rather than being a patient or having his family be a patient.
Jo seemed to share none of his fears or worries as she quickly picked up a magazine and began to read. She even took it back with them as they were led into the ultrasound room by a nurse. The nurse gave them a towel and told Jo to lie down and pull up her shirt and that the ultrasound technician would be in soon. As Jo laid back and pulled up her shirt, Alex handed her the towel before making sure that the gel was warmed up so it wouldn't be cold for her and the baby. Jo tucked the towel into her pants pulling them down a little bit to her pubic bone and revealing her full bump.
“I kind of miss the vaginal ultrasounds,” Alex said, he couldn't help but smirk at the little bit of extra skin he got to see.
“You just want to see me naked,” Jo said with a shake of her head.
“Any chance I can get,” Alex replied with a smile.
“Well if you put the girls to bed, I'll give you a private show tonight.”
“Deal.”
He sat down next to her, taking her hand as she gave it a squeeze. Although she handled doctors' appointments a lot better than him, she still occasionally got nervous, especially when it came to their babies.
Luckily they didn't have to wait long and to their surprise, Carina came into the room. “Hello, you two.”
“Hey Carina, what are you doing here?” Jo asked as she greeted her mentor and friend with a smile.
“Oh, Mrs. Olsen delivered early and didn't need a C-section,” Carina said as she sat down on the stool next to the ultrasound machine.
“That's great, I know how much she was hoping to avoid it,” Jo said with a nod.
“Yes, and that left me with some extra free time so I thought I'd come down to see you and your baby, as I rarely get the chance to do ultrasounds anymore.”
Carina grabbed the now warm gel and squeezed a little bit on Jo's bump before she grabbed the wand. They both watched in anticipation as Carina moved the wand around Jo's belly. She kept the screen turned away from them as she took the initial scans and measurements. Then she smiled and turned the screen towards them, showing them a profile of their baby's head.
Jo gasped as she smiled and Alex grinned from ear to ear. They never got over the excitement that came with seeing their baby on the ultrasound. The simple black and white picture filled his heart with love for his unborn child and instantly put a smile on his face.
“There they are,” Carina smiled, taking a second to glance over at them.
“Look, I can see their lips,” Alex said as he pointed his finger over the screen to the little outline of their baby's pouted lips.
They could see their nose and eyes and the circle of their head and brain. They moved to smack their lips, then moved a hand in front of their face. Carina moved around to see their arms and they counted all ten tiny, but perfect fingers on their hands. Despite their baby's movement they were both still relieved to hear the heartbeat as the magical sound filled the room like music to their ears.
Carina looked over the other organs and Jo's eyes followed along and read the ultrasound better than he did. She kept smiling, which told him that their baby was perfect, just like he was sure they would be. Finally, Carina moved down to their legs as they kicked against the screen. Jo had often complained about them kicking, but she smiled now.
“Alright, let's see,” Carina said as she moved the wand up and over the top of the baby rather than a profile.
Alex kept his eyes focused on the screen, but Jo looked over at him. He spared her a glance before looking back at the screen. He knew she was watching for his reaction. She squeezed his hand and he knew she was preparing him for the disappointment of them not being a boy. As Alex studied the ultrasound himself, he saw the gender of their child.
“It's a girl!” Alex exclaimed, the excitement filled his body and his chest as his smile grew so wide his cheeks hurt as he laughed.
“Is that okay?” Jo asked as he looked over at her to see a tiny nervous smile on her lips and worry in her eyes.
“Are you kidding me, Jo? I'm so happy that we're having another girl!” Alex exclaimed as he leaned forward and kissed her lips, letting the excitement on his lips send sparks through their lips as she kissed him back.
Jo smiled against his lips and Alex pulled back with a laugh as they looked back at the screen to see Carina looking at their baby girl. His excitement was true and real. In this moment, he felt nothing but excitement for their little girl and he couldn't wait to meet them. He loved having his girls. He loved dressing them and the adorable little pink outfits and flowers and bows. He didn't miss out on doing anything that he could do with a boy. He taught them how to stand up for themselves, to play in the mud, and get dirty. He played catch, baseball, and soccer. He taught them how to wrestle and they loved wrestling with their daddy and he would do the same with this little girl.
Sure there was a bit of disappointment, which he allowed himself to feel a little bit later. It was mostly just disappointing that he would never raise a boy into a man and get to make sure that his boy turned into a good man who would treat people and women with respect. However, the excitement that came far outweighed the flicker of disappointment that this child was a girl. He was so excited to have another baby girl.
“Are you ready for another girl?” Carina asked glancing over at them with a smile
“Yes!” Alex said without hesitation as he glanced over at Jo and she smiled just as excited as he was. They were ready for their new little girl.
They switched to a 3D ultrasound and got to see all of her features. They all agreed she looked just like Alex, but he saw Jo in her too. He saw her lips in a pout and her little nose turned up at the end, just like Jo's. Luna looked like Val and while Helena had started out looking like a carbon copy of him, she had slowly turned into a mini Jo. As much as he wanted a little mini version of himself, he hoped this one looked like Jo and was just as wonderful as she was. Carina finished the ultrasound, giving the baby a clean bill of health.
Jo let out a breath and he squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. They left with thousands of pictures that they proudly showed all of their friends and colleagues that they ran into and stared at them as they walked out to the car. As they drove home they discussed a few names.
“What about Mary?” Alex asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“No, it's too short,” Jo said as she looked down at her bump.
“Jo, we have a Luna, Mary has the same number of syllables,” Alex said looking over at her.
Yet Jo ignored him as she rubbed her hand over their baby girl. “We have a Luna and a Helena. It should end with an A.”
“Okay, what about Sara?” Alex offered with a smile, it was one of his favorite names.
“Yeah I like that, Luna, Lena, and Sara,” Jo smiled as she tried out the name, smiling at him.
“It means princess,” Alex said with a smirk, remembering his old nickname for her.
“No,” Jo deadpanned as she looked over at him.
“Just for that?”
“Yes.”
Alex rolled his eyes as he thought of another name. “What about Anna?”
“No, what about Lyra?”
“No, what about Kara?”
“No, what about Rhea?”
“No, what about Lisa?”
“Lisa,” Jo said, trying the name out on her tongue before she smiled. “Maybe, but what about Laura?”
“No, I dated a Laura,” Alex said, remembering his first girlfriend with disdain. “What about Leah?”
“No, Alex, just no.”
They continued to discuss names on the car ride home with the occasional giggle as they glanced over and caught each other's eyes. They were so happy and that happiness bubbled over into little laughs shared between them. Alex once again reached over and rested his hand on Jo's belly as their daughter kicked his hand. He was so giddy at the thought of having another daughter that he smiled the whole way home.
Once they got home Alex came around to open Jo’s door again wrapping his arms around her as they walked inside. As they opened the garage door into the kitchen, they weren't surprised that Reeses was eagerly waiting for them. He did a full body wiggle as he got tangled up in their legs, excitedly greeting them. Alex looked up to see Bluey playing on the TV in the living room. The two of them walked over to the couch to see the girls cuddled up against Katie. Each of them held their stuffy, Helena had her monkey, Molly, and Luna had her elephant, Ellie.
“Hey you two,” Katie greeted them as both of the girls looked away from the TV.
Luna's eyes lit up as she spotted them and sat up on the couch. She reached out to them and Alex picked her up, greeting her with a kiss on her cheek. Helena however immediately burst into tears and Jo quickly swept her up in her arms.
“Oh my sweet girl,” Jo said as she rocked her back and forth before kissing her head. “Are you tired baby?”
“She definitely is, but she thought up pretty hard when I tried to put her down. Still, she was practically falling asleep here next to me,” Katie said as she paused the episode, which was only halfway finished, and stood up from the couch with a stretch. “We played with their train set for a little while and then watched a few episodes. I got them into their pajamas and they each had a bottle of milk. I did some reading with them up in their rooms and I sat with them, but they wouldn't go down. After thirty minutes we came back down. I put on another episode and it's only been playing for a few minutes.”
“Thank you for trying, Katie,” Jo said, giving Katie a smile as she leaned her cheek against Helena’s head and their little girl finally calmed down.
“No problem,” Katie said with a wave of her hand before she smiled. “So what about the new baby, is it a boy or a girl?”
“It's a girl,” Alex said excitedly as he grinned with glee.
“Yay, how exciting!” Katie said with a small squeal.
“Thank you, Katie,” Alex said as she gathered her bag and walked her to the front door.
“Yeah, it was a joy to watch them as always,” Katie said, smiling over at the two girls and giving them a goodbye wave. Alex made sure Katie got to her car alright and then he and Luna waved to her as she drove away.
Jo smiled over at them as she looked between Luna and Helena. “What do you two think about having a little sister?”
“Sissy?” Luna asked, picking up her head and pointing over at Helena.
“Baby sissy,” Alex said as he stepped over to Jo, placing a hand over Jo's bump.
Helena looked down and put a hand at Jo's bump too. “Ba’y sizzy i’ Mama's bellwe.”
“That's right,” Alex said as he nodded and Luna placed a hand on Jo’s bump too. “We have a new baby sister who’s in Mama’s belly.”
The girls smiled as they all shared a little moment holding Jo’s belly as the baby kicked against their hands before Luna pulled back and laid her head on his shoulder. She was clearly tired but fought it. Jo started walking up the stairs with Reeses right behind her and followed them along as the two of them went into the girl's nursery. The curtains were already closed, their starlight night light glittered and their sound machine played. The girls were ready for bed as Alex put Luna down in her little bed.
“Story,” Luna said, getting up and going over to her bookshelf.
“Alright one story,” Alex relented as Luna picked out a book and came back to him crawling into his lap as Jo and Helena came to sit next to them.
He put one arm around Jo, who held Helena in her lap, and the other around Luna as she held the book and Reeses settled over their outstretched legs. Jo helped her hold the book open and turn the pages as Alex read. At first, he started out reading with eccentric voices, but he slowly faded into a monotone voice as the girl's eyes drooped. By the time he was finished, they were practically asleep. Jo looked over at him with a smile. She loved it when he read to her too.
They slowly moved and quietly put each of the girls into their beds. Luna was out like a light. As Alex tucked her in, she clung to her elephant and he made sure Ellie was tucked in next to her.
“Goodnight, Little Moon,” Alex whispered goodnight to him and kissed her forehead before going over to Helena.
She was still awake, blinking up at them through heavy eyes. Both Jo and Alex pulled up the covers as they tucked her into bed. Alex sat near her feet as Jo laid down next to her and started to rub her back.
“Time to go night-night, baby girl,” Jo whispered as she laid her head on Helena's pillow, pretending to close her eyes and fall asleep.
The hand on Helena’s back rubbed up and down before Jo slowly stopped. Alex carefully avoided Helena’s eyes, although he occasionally peeked back at her. It wasn't long before her eyes closed and didn't open again. Alex smiled and waited for a second longer before he knew Helena was finally asleep. He gently reached out and rubbed Jo’s back as her eyes fluttered open. She sat up with a yawn and he pulled her up and out of the nursery as they went over to their room. Reeses opted to stay and they left the door open for him.
Despite her yawn, the second the door closed behind them, Jo grabbed his waist. She put her hand on his cheek like she always did and leaned in to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body into his. They walked back to the bed peeling their clothes off as they walked.
“God I love my pregnancy hormones,” Jo said as she kissed her way down his neck. “I wish I could have this sexual stamina all the time.”
Alex pulled back with a laugh as he kept his lips close to her skin. “I am surprised you let me knock you up again. I remember the way you screamed at me last time you were in labor.”
“Shut up, you deserved every minute of my screaming and I didn't let you do anything. If I recall correctly I was the one who wanted another baby. Unless of course, you don't remember the night we made her,” Jo returned his smile sharing in his excitement as she leaned in to kiss him again.
“Oh, I remember that night very vividly,” Alex said as he kissed her again and ran his hands down her back.
Jo smiled against her lips, he loved how the pregnancy hormones drove her crazy with lust. His knees hit the bed and he fell back as their lips parted. Alex looked up to see Jo crawling on top of him. His hands went to her hips as he pulled her onto him. There was nothing he loved more than the vision of his wife on top of him and he would let her have him any way she wanted.
Afterwards, Alex traced patterns into Jo's bare back. Reeses had wandered back into their room and they had put him to bed in his crate for the night. Now the two of them lie together, slowly falling asleep. She lay on her side cuddled into him. He relaxed as he stared up at the ceiling slowly drifting off. This was his favorite way to end the day, with his wife and his arms and her head on his chest. He felt like he was where he belonged.
“Did you have a good day?” Jo asked, her soft voice filling the silence.
“Yeah, I did,” Alex said with a smile as he thought about the day. “I got to spend time with my girls and have some special time with my wife and I'll get to see this special little girl.”
Alex smiled as he put a hand on Jo’s belly. Their baby lightly kicked in her stomach, but he could tell that she was already asleep like her sisters. Jo moved to look up at him with a soft smile as she placed a hand over his on her belly. Then she leaned up to gently kiss his lips.
“Good,” Jo said with a small smile as she rested her head on his chest again, her eyes finally fluttering close. “Good night, I love you, Alex.”
“Goodnight, I love you too, Jo,” Alex said, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead.
He fell asleep easily, something that often happened on happy nights like this and more so now that he had Jo and the girls. His days were often filled with happiness and it made falling asleep easy, even after long days at work and hard cases.
Before he even opened his eyes, that morning he reached out for Jo. He found her warm body beside him and pulled her up against her chest. Jo hummed partly awake as well and rolled over.
“You're nice and warm,” Jo said as she snuggled into his chest not opening her eyes.
“Umm, the perks of being the one fairest from the window,” Alex murmured, his eyes closing again as he rested his chin on her head and one hand snaked down to hold her baby bump.
She drifted off again and Alex let himself try and sleep as the birds chirped and the morning breeze swirled in through the open window. Just as he was about to fall asleep again he heard the door creak open. Jo groaned as she buried her face in his chest.
“Maybe if we pretend to be sleeping they'll leave us alone?” Alex whispered as he heard the pitter-patter of tiny pajama feet on the floor making their way over to the bed.
“Fingers crossed,” Jo whispered back.
They both kept their eyes closed and their breaths even as Luna and Helena came over to them. For a second things were quiet and he wondered if they had left again, but then he heard one of them grab the sheets and pull them away as the other grabbed his tee-shirt and pulled herself up onto the bed next to him. Alex didn't dare open his eyes as he waited. He felt Helena lean against his back before she put her tiny sticky hand on his forehead.
“Dada, wa'e up,” Helena said at full volume as he felt Luna climb over their legs to try and worm her way between them.
“Shh, Daddy is sleeping,” Alex whispered, still not opening his eyes.
Helena and Luna were clearly not satisfied. Some days they were content to crawl in bed and snuggle with them and fall back asleep, but this was not one of those mornings. Instead, the girls piled on top of them, their little hands and feet stepping over them as Alex protected Jo’s bump. Even worse, Reeses, who had somehow managed to get out of his crate, hopped up on the bed and joined the girls stepping right on Alex's stomach. The girls sat on top of them and wiggled, no doubt pretending that their parents were sleeping horses.
“Dada Mama, wake up!” Lena and Helena insisted as Jo rolled over wrapping her arms around Helena, pulling her in for a hug as she giggled. Alex pulled Luna in and tickled her sides as the wonderful sound of her laughter filled the room.
“Alright, alright, we're awake,” Alex said as Luna hugged him before she pulled back.
“Waw’les!” Luna said, looking between the two of them.
Reeses barked in agreement and Helena nodded as well. Waw’les, waw’les!”
“Alright let’s go make waffles!” Jo said as she got out of bed.
Alex smiled despite knowing he would be doing all the cooking, he didn’t mind. Otherwise, Jo would burn the waffles and set off the smoke alarm. He got up and picked up Luna, but stopped as he smelled the familiar stink of a dirty diaper. He sighed as he pulled open the back of Luna's pajama pants, peeking into her diaper, but thankfully she was clean.
“It's not this one,” Alex said looking over at Jo and Helena as she reluctantly peeked in Helena's diaper.
“It's definitely this one,” Jo said, picking up Helena and holding her out for him as they traded the girls and Luna crawled over to her. “And you promised to change every dirty diaper when she was born.”
“I was hoping you would forget about that after a few months,” Alex sighed and held Helen out in front of him as the stinky smell hit his nose and he turned away.
“Alight Helena, let's go clean your butt?” Alex said as he got out of bed and carried Helena back to the nursery and so with a dirty diaper, Alex Karev’s day began again, but at least Jo made him bacon along with the waffles later.
……………………………………………………………………
I’m officially back. In the past few months, my health has improved tremendously thanks to the new medications I've been taking and I've gotten a new full-time position as a Pre-K teacher. So while I'm back to being busy, I still try and make time for my writing and have several projects I’m looking forward to sharing with you all!
Also, a little tidbit is that Alex’s diaper backpack for Helena is the diaper bag I had when I nannied with little ones. Now as a daycare teacher I‘m back to changing diapers. As much as I loved the snuggles, I don’t miss changing diapers.
#jo wilson#alex karev#grey's anatomy#jolex#luna wilson#jo karev#otp: home and heart#helena karev#carina deluca#scout shepherd lincoln#atticus lincoln#fluff#grey's anatomy fanfic#my work#my writing#my fanfiction
12 notes
·
View notes
Text
Patriarchy
I could have been radicalized when I was younger. I kept to myself, was raised in a cult, didn’t know enough about the experiences of those outside my bubble. I hung out in chat rooms, played video games… I was the target audience for it. But, thankfully, I found the right influences when I needed to.
With the new generations now having Roe v. Wade get overturned, the idea of “sitting on the fence” on certain issues becomes a political stance. Sitting atop the Berlin Wall isn’t a neutral stance.
“Patriarchy” isn’t a centralized focus to give more power to men, it’s an often unconscious series of decisions that lead to men having the “right of way” in society. These can be from micro aggressions (asking a woman you just met how many children she has, if you wouldn’t ask a man that) to full-on misogyny.
Because anecdotes are harder to use as evidence of trends, I’ve collected the following examples of the patriarchy at work. Of times that men have a privilege that women do not.
1. A 30-yr old man had sex with a 16-yr old, and later got full custody of the child. The article calls this an “alleged rape”. This is in Louisiana, where the age of consent is 17. Legally, she could not consent, even if she wanted to, even if she was literally begging for it, it would still be rape. And yet they call it “alleged rape”.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/22/judge-temporarily-reverses-child-custody-decision-for-dad-accused-of-raping-teen-mom/amp/
2. Though these stories talk about the rape kit backlog, it shows there was systemic lack of effort regarding investigating allegations of rape, even when evidence was readily available. The first article is from Michigan, the second from California, published just earlier today, showing that it’s taken about 20 years to catch up on these. One of the things found by investigating these was serial rapists. Imagine doing everything right, not drinking, staying with others, but being overpowered and violated. You trust the system will take care of you, so you go to a hospital so they can collect the evidence… and it’s the 1980s. Twenty years later you find out about the backlog. That a night that you may still have nightmares about has been sitting on a shelf.
If we don’t make justice for those that are wronged a priority, then we are not making those people a priority.
https://wdet.org/2021/09/13/evidence-from-massive-rape-kit-backlog-yields-more-than-200-convictions-lasting-policy-changes/
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/28/orange-county-clears-30-year-backog-of-testing-sexual-assault-kits/amp/
3. The Brock Turner Case took the spotlight for a while. He had sex with an unconscious woman, was caught in the act, and two others held him until police arrived. Despite having two witnesses to the act, plus the police reports and victim testimony, Brock was sentenced to 6 months… and served three. And yes, new laws were created, the judge was recalled years later, but these shifts would not have happened were it not for the public outcry due to the attention the case got.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Turner
4. There are examples of people being charged with manslaughter due to unsuccessful pregnancies. Miscarriages impact about 25% of pregnancies, and even if the child is born healthy, the mother could be charged with neglect if they used drugs during the pregnancy, even medical marijuana. As a felony, this could result in a life sentence.
https://www.normantranscript.com/news/woman-charged-with-manslaughter-after-miscarriage/article_5b26622e-7724-11ec-a014-53d51ad180a0.amp.html
5. Piggybacking off the policing of pregnant bodies, miscarriages and unknown pregnancies. The first article estimates that about 50% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, though reported numbers tend to range between 20-25%. This discrepancy may be due to women not knowing that they’re having a miscarriage, or perhaps we’re even pregnant.
The second article states that 1 in 2500 pregnancies get all the way to labor before they know they’re pregnant. It may not sound like many, but with over 3.6 million US births last year, that’s about 1.5K people finding out last minute, and potentially not having made any lifestyle changes.
https://ovumhospitals.com/blog/can-woman-miscarriage-without-knowing/
https://www.webmd.com/baby/features/can-you-be-pregnant-not-know-it
6. Ignorance about conception also causes some of the decisions regarding legality of issues and their handling. Again, there may not be any malicious intent, but if effort is not given to passing the mic, to learning what misunderstandings exist and combatting them, the patriarchy can live on.
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/19/republican-todd-akin-rape-pregnancy “The female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down.” - Todd Akin, 2012
“the juices don’t flow, the body functions don’t work, and they don’t get pregnant.” - Henry Aldridge, 1995
Clyde Chambliss, 2019, was asked if victims of incest would be able to get an abortion due to a 20-week ban and responded, “Yes, until she knows she’s pregnant.” On the same topic, terminating fertilized eggs in a clinic is okay because "The egg in the lab doesn’t apply. It’s not in a woman. She’s not pregnant." …so it’s not about conception, it’s about the pregnant individual.
“I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” - Richard Mourdock, 2012.
Yesli Vega, mother of two children, also seemed to believe rape was unlikely to result in pregnancy because it doesn’t happen “organically” and because the rapist does it “quickly”. - audio released just this week
———
One last set of examples, these showing how society creates situations in which it is up to the woman to not be a problem for men, rather than men being responsible for their own actions. They’re from schools, a branch of government and a part of society that most people experience.
Dress codes: https://19thnews.org/2022/01/school-dress-code-challenges/?amp
No right to say no: https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/fbh1ae/utah_middle_school_girls_cant_say_no_when_asked/
Punished for self-defense: (this one I use Snopes for, because the story hasn’t been confirmed, but does shine a light on how society takes certain forms of sexual assault) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bra-twang-punch/
———
In the end, the patriarchy is a force, not a conspiracy or plan. It’s a few footsteps through a wooded area, that others follow, and traffic diverts until a path is made. Many of those that end up supporting the patriarchy don’t do it out of maliciousness or a clear decision, but because they’re doing what they’ve been conditioned to. They do it because they don’t see that they can end a cycle, or the consequences of it.
It cannot be ended without awareness and effort to far-reaching effects.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Keeping up with the Biersacks
A/N: So I tried to keep it as in chronological order as possible. If there’s anything that I’m missing, feel free to shoot me an ask.
P.S These are only the ones I wrote. @youlightmeupfinn also writes stuff for Amber, so make sure to check her page too 😊
P.P.S I do not own the images used in this
Amber Nicolette Lee-Biersack
Amber Nicolette Lee-Biersack is the only child of Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear. Born on December 8th, 1987.
She is the godchild of Nikki Sixx.
Amber developed anger problems during her parents divorce that only got worse during Pamela and Tommy’s sex tape scandal.
She started White Rabbit with Ella Sixx when she was 22 and Ella was 16.
Amber is her father’s mini me. She has his curly dark brown hair, hazel eyes, tanned skin, and also is decently curvy. She also has a natural aptitude for drums and piano, and her father’s generally positive but outspoken attitude as well. But don’t let that fool you, she also learned how to kick some ass from the Kings of the Strip.
Amber met her husband Andy Biersack in 2011 before Warped Tour started that year. Prior to dating Andy, she was in her “hoe phase.”
Andy and Amber got married in 2015, and have 3 children: Addison Ella Biersack (born in 2016), Thomas Christopher Biersack (born in 2020), and Rosemarie Andrea Biersack (born in 2022)
Ghost Whisperer Pt 2
This Is Gonna Hurt
Basket of Black Roses
Sunglasses at Night
Amber And Andy Meeting
End of Slutty Summer
Down Goes The Singer
Andy Meeting Heather and Tommy
Andy Meeting Nikki and Taylor
A Mötley Thanksgiving
Private Parts
When We Were Young
Home Sweet Home (Collab with @youlightmeupfinn)
Greek Temper
Porn Star Dancing
Tattoo for Addison
That’s MY Champagne
A New Surprise
Daddy’s Kitten
Dirty at Download
Father’s Day in Florida
Addison “Addy” Ella Biersack
Born November 24th, 2016
Addison is the oldest child of Amber Lee and Andy Biersack. She is her dad’s mini me. From her height, porcelain skin, to her crystal blue eyes. The main physical appearance she got from her mother being her dark curls.
Her godparents are Ella Sixx and Jake Pitts.
She has her Grandpa Tommy (Poppa) wrapped around her pinky finger.
Addison is also a regular guest on The Andy Show, mainly dolling out the punishments via the nerf guns, or just being adorable for the camera.
She loves the story of how her parents found out that her mother was pregnant. How her parents were on tour together and her mother, despite her father and godmother’s urgings, still performed on tour. The only nod to taking it easy being that she didn’t use the contraption inspired by her father’s drum kit that spins.
She also enjoys going with her whole family to hockey games, and always begs Andy to play hockey either at home or at the rink.
Bedtime Memories
You ate him?!
Pissed off Biersack
Addison the Flower Girl (Follow up to Pissed off Biersack. I’m collaboration with @youlightmeupfinn)
Thomas “Tommy” Christopher Biersack
Born September 13th, 2020
Named after both of his grandfathers, Tommy is the Biersack family’s little troublemaker. He definitely took after his maternal grandfather in his personality.
After Addison was a carbon copy of Andy, Amber was thrilled that at least one of the couple’s children looked more like her.
The couple announced their pregnancy with Tommy when Andy went on Brittany Furlan’s show Worst Firsts. The couple decided to keep the same godparents for Tommy as the had for Addy.
Even from a very young age, Tommy is demonstrating his love of music. And just like his sister, the couple decided to introduce it as soon as they could.
In addition to music, he also loves going to hockey games with his family, just not as much as his big sister.
Nightmares
Rosemarie Andrea Biersack
Born February 26th, 2022
TBA for everything else
#motley crue#nikki sixx#andy biersack#amber lee#black veil brides#andy black#tommy lee#heather locklear#Addison biersack#Thomas biersack#black veil brides imagine#ella sixx#jake pitts
88 notes
·
View notes
Text
masterlist for all my works <3
updated: may 22, 2024
++
requests are open (i cannot promise i will get to the quickly </3) -> request guidelines
++
Criminal Minds — various characters
++
50 ways to say “i love you” prompts:
#15 | #19 | #40 | #32 |
emotional prompts:
bliss #7 | bliss #16 | anger #9 | bliss #4 + 11 | bliss #5 | bliss #2, 5, 11 |
harry styles prompt list:
#12 | #57 | #17 + 76 | #62 |
meet cutes:
#35 | #45 | #1 | #7 | #15 | #25 |
random dialogue prompts:
#26 | #16 | #25 | #1 & 2 |
++
extra blurbs:
swing dancing — spencer x gn!reader
pregnant!reader — spencer x fem!reader
sitcom inspired — spencer x gn!reader
put a little love on me — spencer x gn!reader
spencer proposal — spencer x fem!reader
no children — spencer x gn!reader
youtuber!reader — spencer x fem!reader
come back, be here — spencer x fem!reader
friends to lover prompt — spencer x gn!reader
++
series (normally slow updates):
And All These Little Things Series (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: spencer tells reader all of the little things he loves about her, leading up to uttering those three words.
Give it a Like Series (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: youtuber!reader meets spencer reid and they quickly hit it off, neither one of them knowing the ups and downs of their jobs
She’s A Killer Queen (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: After meeting the owner of one of Spencer’s favorite bakery’s, he falls hard, all while dealing with the new female serial killer that has suddenly made her way into the D.C area. People make connections and some hard truths are learned, but then again… everything is not what it seems.
++
specific concepts:
spencer reid x youtuber!reader masterlist
spencer reid x singer!reader masterlist
++
one shots:
So Cute (spencer reid x fem!reader)
summary: spencer and reader have very different aesthetics, but despite that, they are so cute together.
Surprise, Surprise (spencer reid x fem!reader)
summary: spencer comes home from a case on his birthday to a surprise at the office... turns out it's a surprise for the bau too.
Concerned (spencer reid x fem!reader)
summary: spencer was very concerned for his neighbor
Closer (aaron hotchner x fem!reader)
summary: hotch has a problem; he has feelings for his coworker, y/n, who also happens to be his subordinate
You Know How To Ball, I Know Aristotle (spencer reid x fem!reader)
summary: spencer's love feels so high school
Kaleidoscope (aaron hotchner x fem!reader)
summary: to y/n, love is a kaleidoscope. as beautiful as it is, it's confusing and complicating, and it hurts so much.
Read Your Mind (aaron hotchner x fem!reader)
summary: reader cannot read aaron’s mind for the life of her
I Can’t Pretend It’s Okay When It’s Not (spencer reid x fem!reader)
summary: spencer hears reader’s breakup song at a cafe she’s playing at
Death By A Thousand Cuts (aaron hotchner x fem!reader)
summary: saying goodbye to aaron is like death by a thousand cuts
Karma (aaron hotchner x fem!reader)
summary: karma is his girlfriend
The Grape Juice Blues (spencer x gn!reader)
summary: without spencer reid there’s no getting through, leaving you with the grape juice blues
Favorite (spencer x gn!reader)
summary: you get to know spencer’s favorite color
Astronomy (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: spencer sees “the one that got away” after years of being apart
Like a Silhouette (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: spencer takes a moment to admire some art
No, Please Don’t Kill Me Mr. Ghostface (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: Y/N Y/L/N finds herself falling victim to the town serial killer and just so happens to meet Spencer Reid in this whole ordeal
And Every Lifetime… (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: reader wakes up next to spencer on her birthday
Dancing in the Kitchen (spencer x gn!reader)
summary: y/n tried to cheer up spencer after he burns the pancakes
Communication (spencer x gn!reader)
summary: after spencer puts himself in danger, reader gets a little pissed off
Three Minutes and Twenty-Eight Seconds (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: when a three minute and twenty-eight second conversation between spencer and y/n occurs, spencer can’t help but want to ask her out
Only For You (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: while stargazing with spencer, y/n can’t help but take in everything about him.
The Beginning of an American Cliché (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: Spencer runs into a woman in a small cafe, quickly feeling like the beginning of an american cliché.
It’s Love | Pt.2 Love You (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: spencer tries to pinpoint the exact moment he started to feel more for Y/N, and after the realization that spencer reid is in fact, in love, he thinks of how to act on it.
Feels So Good (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: when a case in North Carolina comes up, the team meets detective y/n y/l/n. not only is she good at her job, but she gets under spencer’s skin
Memories of You (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: after losing Y/N, spencer needs to find closure.
Cowboy Like Me (spencer x gn!reader)
summary: you never planned on being in love—that was, until spencer reid came along.
Kissing in the Rain (spencer x gn!reader)
summary: y/n has a bad day, waiting for spencer to come to their rescue
Sneak Outs and Borrowed Sweaters (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: y/n helps spencer get out of a crowded club!
Content (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: reader is just totally in love with the man sleeping beside her.
Wishes (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: of course out of all days he had to get shot, it was her birthday.
Fake It Till You Make It (spencer x fem!reader)
summary: maybe going undercover as an engaged couple with spencer wasn’t a good idea ... or was it?
++
151 notes
·
View notes
Text
Building a Life with JJ
You weren’t exactly dating but y’know drinking can lead to all sorts of things.
Even though you’re scared shitless, you’re kind of glad it’s JJ that knocked you up in the end.
Telling him though? You’d be shitting yourself.
“We’re 16 and 17! What do you mean you’re pregnant. Are you even sure it’s mine!”
“Don’t be a fucking dumbass, JJ! You’re the only one I’ve not used a fucking condom with in the last 6 weeks! You’re the only one period!”
JJ promptly has a panic attack as it sinks in.
“What if I’m like my dad”
“You’re already a better dad than him”
Agreeing to raise your child as friends.
Telling the other Pogues, watching John B and Pope get pale and Kie and Sarah dragging you away.
Everything going smoothly during your pregnancy, despite the fact you just want a joint.
It’s a girl!!
You have an emergency c section so JJ names your daughter: Isla Jo Maybank
Asking John B and Sarah to be her godparents
They say yes immediately.
JJ Maybank: Baby wearing champion.
The first year is rough(™)
You’re going to school full time on top of being a full time parent.
Even JJ decides to take school more seriously.
The one good thing is that JJ gets out of his abusive household and comes to live with you and your mom.
Your mom babysits while you’re in school
She absolutely adores your daughter.
Isla’s first word is “Dada” much to your dismay and JJ’s delight.
“Ha she likes me better!”
“No she doesn’t she just knows you’ll give in”
Him taking her to the chateau to show off her babbling.
Of course all of the Pogues are heart-eye-emoji over her.
Isla is 11 months old when JJ comes into your room and tells you he wants to take you on a proper date.
He makes you dress up and its super cute.
For your 18th birthday, you walk in to him making pancakes with your daughter in her high chair squealing.
You and JJ graduating high school and your Mom is in the front row with your daughter and you get emotional.
The next day your father shows up after dipping 15 years ago.
Apparently he’s filthy stinkin’ rich?? And has been paying thousands in child support per month.
Your mom explaining she put it in an account for you so you could do bigger things than she did.
Your dad being really angry about you having a kid with JJ.
“I don’t see why you’re mad, sir. At least I’ve never missed a day of my kids life. Thats more than you can say. Who held your daughters hand when her grandfather died? Or who would go to the corner store and get her whatever she was craving at 3:40 in the morning? Who has sat up every night your granddaughter has been sick and held her, or rocked her, or whatever needed to be done to comfort her. With all due respect sir, I’ve been in love with your daughter since I met her on our first day of 4th grade. Yeah maybe we skipped a couple steps but I wouldn’t trade my daughter for anything”
Your dad getting mad and storming off, telling you you were trash like your mother.
You staring at JJ with tears in your eyes.
“You’re in love with me?”
“Of course I am, stupid.”
“Nerd.”
“But I’m your nerd.”
Isla never having to worry about if she was gonna have a roof over her head or food because JJ stayed home with her while you went to college and got a degree in business.
You and Sarah opened a very successful boutique once you graduated.
Being able to afford a nice house for the three of you by the time she started kindergarten.
JJ crying like a baby when she starts school.
“Where did our six pound baldy go.”
“Kids grow up JJ.”
“I don’t want her to grow up, I want her to go back to being our tiny baby.”
“Well why don’t we revisit this day in five years with number two.”
“What?!?”
You’d just smile and kiss him.
You telling him you’d found out a couple days before.
“You know, I love Isla, but I think I’m more relaxed about this one.”
“Well you know, that happens when you’re 21 and 22”
“Let’s get married. Before the baby comes.”
“Okay”
You get married on a pretty September Saturday afternoon.
Kie and Sarah are your bridesmaids. Pope and John B are groomsmen
Isla is the cutest flower girl.
You both cry.
“I’ve been waiting for this day since the first day of fourth grade.”
“That’s cheesy as hell.”
“Well, Mrs. Maybank, get used to cheese.”
In ten years, you look back on your life while sitting with the girls while the guys are playing with the kids, four of them belonging to you.
Sarah tells you you got lucky with such a beautiful family.
Kie agrees.
Between the three of you, there’s now nine children, ranging from 2 years to 15.
“Hey guys how fast do you think JJ would pass out if I told him I was pregnant again?”
“Probably immediately.”
“I have to tell you something, this is just sparkling water.”
“You guys really like to not use protection huh.”
“I’m glad Pope got snipped after the second one.”
“Eh, I think we want one more.”
“Oh I’m definitely done after five.”
But you don’t stop with five but not by choice exactly
You see, JJ got snipped after number 5.
You send a text to Sarah early one Sunday morning about 6 am.
“Tell me your husbands vasectomy didn’t work without telling me your husbands vasectomy didn’t work”
It’s twins.
JJ promptly has a panic attack, again.
“We were supposed to be done with the last one. And now you’re telling me we’re having two of them!?!?”
“Hey! We can handle five with three of them under 4, it’s fine. We did it before!”
“We’re old, babe! We did it when we were young spry children.”
“JJ, you’re 35”
“Exactly! Old!”
But you do make it, although you get weird looks at your daughter's high school graduation when you have toddlers with a high school graduate.
Your old history teacher is the principal now, and he just shakes his head when he sees you.
With seven kids, you look crazy but you’re still stupidly in love with the blonde boy you fell in love with 18 years ago.
186 notes
·
View notes
Text
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33-Epilogue
— I just wanna say thank you so much to everyone who followed along, your comments and suggestions along the way really helped to bring this story to life! It’s my longest fic to date, and to think it started as a one-shot for nalu day 2020 lol. YOU GUYS HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN! 🥳🥰🥰 ILY YOU ALL!💜💜💜💜
@mcornilliac special shout out for you help with the toughest part 😘
Even after all these years, riding on a train still brought a small flutter to Lucy’s stomach as she remembered the long ago evening when she’d met her husband. From an innocent meeting to a death defying experience, talk about a roller coaster ride. And yet, if she had to do it all over again, Lucy wouldn’t change a thing. Crazy sounding yes, for why would anyone not want to avoid what she’d gone through? Touka had truly pushed her sanity to the breaking point, but well, the therapist was right in the end and Lucy felt almost invincible now. All that pain, all the struggle she’d pushed through had made her the strong and resilient woman she was today. Happily married to Natsu with their fraternal twins Nashi and Ryuu. Mrs. Natsu Dragneel, Lucy smiled to herself, there was no way she’d change a thing.
Of course, it hadn’t been easy. After Natsu proposed and Lucy had accepted, there were still a lot of work to be done. But that measure of acceptance and affection did wonders. Any worries she’d had that he wouldn’t want a broken woman melted away and gave her the confidence to get better. With each passing therapy session, her strength grew, and by the time they graduated college, Lucy could honestly say she’d been cured to a functional degree. No longer struggling through nightmares and panic attacks, her anxieties were under control and the debilitating depression a distant memory where it belonged.
Yeah... Lucy sighed happily as she watched the landscape pass by from her train seat. Meeting Natsu was the best thing to ever happen in her life, well, aside from the kids. They’d married about a year after graduation on the anniversary of their meeting. It was a beautiful affair at an indoor venue, with close friends and family to join them. They’d gone a more modern route for the ceremony but did take pictures at a garden dressed in the traditional attire for sentimental reasons. Lucy wore the shiromuku white kimono while Natsu a montsuki haori hakama. And no, it wasn’t train themed! Levy was the Maid of Honor and Gray was the best man. By then, Levy and Gajeel were also married and Gray in a serious relationship with a girl named Juvia Lockser. Lucy was so happy for them both. All of their lives were moving in the right direction.
Everything was perfect. Great jobs in their fields of interest, lives settled into a comfortable routine, when 5 years later Lucy was pregnant with fraternal twins. It was a total surprise since twins didn’t run in either of their families. Always the jovial optimist, Natsu joked that they’d been doubly blessed because of what they’d gone through, and Lucy couldn’t help but love such a concept. Of course, once the euphoria of the motherhood prospect waned, reality set in that she was having twins! Two! Double the babies meant double of everything, from the pregnancy concerns to raising them. Growing up without a mother and as an only child, Lucy didn’t have a lot of experience with small children. But Natsu patiently assured her, that she’d do just fine. Think of it as a new challenge, and after overcoming one pretty tough situation, this would be a walk in the park. On the bright side, Levy was also pregnant with the couple’s first child so the two best friend’s kids would grow up together.
And Natsu was right, there were a few bumps in the road but nothing too difficult. During her fourth month Lucy was diagnosed with gestational diabetes as well as some minor gastrointestinal issues, so Natsu swayed the doctor to put her on bed rest. Better safe than sorry. The babies were healthy, but by the 7th month, she really couldn’t move much, and she was miserable being stuck at home all the time. Lucy missed her job because she genuinely enjoyed working for the magazine. But in the end, it had been a good thing. She could manage her health easier that way and it gave her time to do something she’d thought about doing as part of the healing process. With Natsu’s support and permission, it was time to put her writing skills to good use and write a book about their experience.
It became an instant hit, especially with female readers. The book was not only an autobiographical reflection of what had happened to them but focused on shining a light on the dangers of stalkers, as well as the importance of taking the warning signs seriously. Lucy didn’t hold back in her re-telling, even pointing out the serious flaws in Japan’s laws in protecting citizens from stalkers which at the time were nonexistent. Feminist organizations working to change those laws used her story with permission for their cause. She had no intentions of becoming a poster child for the movement, but in the end her role may have played its part, because 2 years after the publishing, Japan finally adopted anti-stalking laws making it easier for police to string together harassment cases, as well as for victims to get the help they needed.
Her life was nothing but exciting to say the least! And with two young children, now age 10 certainly kept them on their toes. Their daughter Nashi was just like Natsu, very outgoing, friendly, but a bit of a daredevil while her brother Ryuu born 4 minutes after her was the quieter of the two. He preferred books like his mother to adventure. Of course, that never stopped Nashi from dragging him into shenanigans! But the best part was how close they still were and fiercely protective of each other. Lucy and Natsu couldn’t be prouder of them and hoped this would continue throughout their lifetimes.
Fifteen years... come to think of it, their wedding anniversary was coming up shortly. With Natsu now a senior fire inspector for the Tokyo prefectural government, he was often busy. Lucy did mind it, because frankly it gave her some peace and quiet. She chuckled at the thought. Not that it was all that peaceful with the twins. But she digressed. His success meant their lives were very comfortable, and her own journalism successes while not as financially based, were still celebrated in their relationship. Natsu never waned in being the dutiful and supportive, always loving husband that Lucy felt blessed to grow old with.
‘Two more stops, pick up the kids from school, stop at the grocery store for dinner...’ Lucy tapped out on her phone a to-do list of ingredients to pick up at the store. Perhaps katsudon... ‘Mmm, or maybe nabe,’ hot-pot soup since it was expected to be a bit chilly that evening.
Lucy looked up briefly, really just spacing out in thought when someone catches her eye. At the other end of the train car, she noticed a woman facing slightly away, but enough to where she couldn’t quite see a face. It couldn’t be... Lucy looked away not wanting to stare, but somehow... for some reason the woman was awfully familiar... looking exactly like Touka. Well, not exactly, but enough to make the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It was a blonde, with a different hair style— and that could always be changed. Similar body type, the facial side-profile features that Lucy could see resembled Touka...
Now despite being better, her anxieties still bubbled up from time to time, so she immediately switched to her coping techniques to calm them down. ‘You’re fine,’ Lucy talked herself through it, ‘no point in getting riled up.’ The woman hadn’t done so much as looked in her direction, so it must be okay. Contrary to popular belief, things like depression and anxiety never fully goes away, especially when someone has experienced a severe level of it. Those emotions and irrational thoughts are forever programmed into the brain, but there are ways to keep them at bay and Lucy’s successfully done just that for 15 years.
‘Just go back to what you were doing. Katsudon or nabe? And don’t forget you need to pick up milk...’ But, fifteen years... could Touka have been released by now? Lucy shook the thought away again. ‘Stop it! Everything is fine. It’s not her!’ The train was semi-full of passengers all minding their own business... including the woman. There was no reason to start panicking now. Lucy adjusts her position on her seat away from the woman’s direction. If she couldn’t see her, she could pretend she didn’t exist. ‘Maybe I should pick up ingredients for both, that way I don’t have to shop tomorrow.’ Lucy thought to herself, and with the kids with her, they could help in carrying the shopping bags. ‘Yeah, we’ve got a plan…’
After figuring out her shopping list, Lucy pulled up social media to keep herself distracted and for a few minutes it did the trick. Silly videos of entertainers never got old. The train reached the next stop and she felt it come to a stop. Since it wasn’t hers, she didn’t pay it any mind as she scrolled through her feed. But as the disembarking passengers funnel past Lucy, her eyes pick up on a pair of pink high-heels peeking from over the edge of her phone. Her body instantly stiffened up from the similarity to the ones worn by the woman, while her curiosity slowly got the better of her. ‘Breath, act nonchalant!’ Lucy’s eyes tracked the high-heels moving past her until they left her periphery. She then slowly sat back up, pretending to readjust her position, when she caught a pair of eyes looking back. Lucy’s breathing hitches with a shaky exhale. “Oh, my god—"
Standing at the doorway with one hand on the frame, the blonde woman smiled at Lucy then winked before stepping off the train.
It was Touka!
#nalu#nalu au#nalu fan fiction#nalu fan fic#natsu dragneel#Lucy heartfilia#Natsu x lucy#fairy tail#strangers on a train#epilogue#petri808
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
Us, May 3
You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks
Cover: Pregnant Meghan Markle: My Baby, My Way
Page 2: Red Carpet -- rufflemania -- Hollywood style stars are tier-ing it up in this flattering design with feminine flair -- Tracee Ellis Ross, Kaitlyn Dever, Margot Robbie, Logan Browning, Nicola Coughlan
Page 3: Lizzo, Maude Apatow, Lucy Boynton, Jessica Alba, Lily Collins
Page 4: Who Wore It Best? Anya Taylor-Joy vs. Isla Fisher vs. Regina King in Stuart Weitzman Nudist sandal
Page 6: Loose Talk -- Shonda Rhimes on the intense backlash she received over Rege-Jean Page's exit from Bridgerton, Kelly Ripa on her most embarrassing interview, Luke Bryan on his mother LeClaire's Instagram fame, Blake Shelton on The Voice's new coach Ariana Grande, Reese Witherspoon joking about wearing bottoms that aren't sweatpants
Page 8: Contents
Page 10: A Final Farewell to Prince Philip, his four children Prince Charles and Princess Anne and Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were among the loved ones who participated in the emotional ceremony, feuding brothers Prince Harry and Prince William (and his wife Duchess Kate) put their differences aside after the intimate service, due to Covid-19 protocols the grieving Queen Elizabeth stayed socially distant from the other 29 people who attended the funeral for her husband of 73 years
Page 11: ACM Awards 2021 -- Maren Morris teamed up with her husband Ryan Hurd and won Female Artist of the Year, Thomas Rhett won Male Artist of the Year, Carrie Underwood took the stage
Page 12: Hot Pics -- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore an orange coat during a visit to NYC, John Stamos plays a coach on the TV show Big Shot, Zach Braff goofed around on the set of Cheaper by the Dozen in L.A.
Page 13: Eva Longoria on her trampoline while aboard a yacht in Miami, Howie Mandel arrived to the set of America's Got Talent dressed as a bug in Pasadena
Page 14: Jon Hamm and his rescue dog Splash strolled around the neighborhood in L.A., Heidi Klum in all white in Pasadena, Sara Gilbert and Linda Perry take a stroll in L.A.
Page 15: Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes held hands after dinner at Il Segreto in L.A., Patrick Dempsey shot a scene for his show Devils in Rome
Page 16: Rachel Brosnahan in a blue dress and carrying a clear umbrella on the set of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in NYC, Lin-Manuel Miranda at the opening of a vaccination center for Broadway workers in Times Square, Trisha Yearwood feeds one of her rescue pups
Page 18: Gen Z Has Spoken -- these celebs are making the young kids proud -- Baggy Jeans -- Hailey Bieber, Tracee Ellis Ross, Bella Hadid
Page 19: Middle Parts -- Busy Philipps, Lizzo, Jennifer Lopez, Kourtney Kardashian, baguette bags -- Dua Lipa, Elsa Hosk, Irina Shayk, Kendall Jenner
Page 20: Seeing Double -- stars bear a striking resemblance to their famous counterparts -- Elizabeth Banks and Chelsea Handler, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Nina Dobrev, Betty Gilpin and Jodie Comer
Page 21: Rob Lowe and Ian Somerhalder, Jaime Pressly and Margot Robbie, Isla Fisher and Amy Adams, Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran, Kyle Richards and Kacey Musgraves
Page 22: Clueless Crew -- stars are totally buggin' over Cher Horowitz's style in yellow plaid -- Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, Katie Holmes was rollin' with her homie beau Emilio Vitolo Jr. in NYC, Vanessa Hudgens, Dianna Agron
Page 23: Gabrielle Union
Page 24: Stars They're Not Like Us -- Jay Leno took one of his vintage automobiles out for a spin in L.A., Chrissy Teigen and John Legend took a selfie with a fan while grocery shopping in Beverly Hills, Kylie Jenner has custom vending machines
Page 25: Carrie Underwood in her massive walk-in closet, Denzel Washington signs autographs for fans in NYC, Megan Thee Stallion on a private plane, Drake and his bodyguard in Beverly Hills
Page 26: Stars They're Just Like Us -- Sarah Jessica Parker catches a yellow cab after working at her shoe store in NYC, Brad Paisley picked up five pizzas to go in Montecito
Page 27: Kelly Osbourne handed out goods at a drive-thru food distribution event at the Islamic Center of Southern California, HGTV's Egypt Sherrod transformed her closet into a meditation space in Atlanta, in between filming Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T take a selfie
Page 28: Hollywood Dads -- Scott Porter on parenting his two kids McCoy and Clover
Page 29: Jonathan Tucker on life with twins Hayes and India, parenthood is a lot tougher than Jovi Dufren imagined, Maksim Chmerkovskiy can't wait to show son Shai his work
Page 30: Love Lives -- Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are showing no signs of slowing down -- the pair enjoyed a night out in L.A. hotspot Delilah where they were holding hands and laughing and they're not hiding the fact that they're dating but they just don't want people in their business -- they're a good match and are each other's best friend
Page 31: Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber may look like the picture-perfect couple, but Justin admits that their first year of marriage wasn't what he expected, saying it was really tough and there was just a lack of trust and he blamed the strain on his own personal struggles and said before he didn't have someone to love or someone to pour into but now, more than two years after exchanging vows with Hailey, he has that
* Kacey Musgraves' romance with Dr. Gerald Onuoha is giving her butterflies -- the pair are so happy they found each other and while Kacey, who split from her husband Ruston Kelly last summer, is trying not to get too ahead of herself, her connection to the Nashville-based doc is off the charts and it's got the potential to go a very long way
* Today's Savannah Guthrie is thankful to have husband Michael Feldman in her life, especially given the demands of her early morning work schedule
Page 32: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker are getting serious -- all the details on their whirlwind romance
Page 33: Adapting to parenthood has been a breeze for Emma Stone and she's soaking in all the precious moments of being a mom for the first time -- she and husband Dave McCary welcomed their baby daughter in March and Emma is super protective and a very hands-on mom and Dave is also hands-on and helps with their daughter -- thanks to the little one, Emma's marriage with the comedian has also gotten stronger and having a baby has brought them closer in a way they never expected -- Emma is looking forward to getting back to work; she's taken this time off to embrace motherhood and her number one priority is to raise a healthy baby so that's what she's focused on right now
* Britney Spears is setting the record straight -- despite her ongoing conservatorship battle with her dad, Jamie Spears, she is doing totally fine, assuring fans that she's extremely happy and she has a beautiful home, beautiful children and she's taking a break right now because she's enjoying herself -- although the legal drama with her father is heating up, Britney is staying strong and she has this wonderful ability to see the positive even when the odds are against her
* Keeping Up With Us -- production for the Downton Abbey sequel is underway, Mossimo Giannulli is a free man, Chrissy Teigen returned to Twitter 23 days after announcing that she was leaving the platform, Vanessa Bryant remembered her late husband Kobe Bryant on what would have been their 20th wedding anniversary, Helen McCrory lost her battle with cancer at age 52 according to her husband Damian Lewis
Page 34: A Day in My Life -- Whitney Port
Page 35: Colton Underwood is ready to live his truth -- during an interview on Good Morning America, the former Bachelor came out as gay, saying he's run from himself for a long time and he came to terms with his sexuality earlier this year and he's the happiest and healthiest he's ever been -- now that he feels like he can finally breathe, Colton is excited for his next chapter, which fans will get to see on an upcoming reality show with Olympian Gus Kenworthy -- a huge weight has been lifted off of Colton's shoulders and he is looking forward to being his authentic self
Page 36: Moms Tell All -- Happy Mother's Day! From milestones and manners to rules and nanny-bans, celebs and insiders talk about raising kids in Hollywood
Page 37: Bindi Irwin says life at home with her daughter Grace Warrior has been positively blissful and her family with dad Chandler Powell is so full of love, adding that the newborn has already met some of the wildlife at the Australia Zoo where Bindi and Chandler live and work and of course she's seen some crocs and really lit up when she saw them -- while the Aussie conservationist is sad Grace won't get to meet her late dad Steve Irwin, Bindi's brother Robert Irwin and mom Terri Irwin have been by her side constantly and Robert is obsessed with Grace and has been helping out so much and her mom has been the biggest guiding light and she's already taught Bindi so much about being a mother, both in how she raised her and by showing her things day by day and Terri is quite the baby whisperer and she's so great a calming Grace down when she's crying -- first-time father Chandler is also a natural with Grace and he's been the most supportive and involved dad and together, he and Bindi make such a great team -- for now, Bindi, who stars with Chandler in Crikey! It's a Baby!, is hoping Grace will follow in her animal-activist footsteps, saying having three generations of strong women working as conservationists is a dream come true
* Jennifer Garner said teaching your kids is a lifelong job, and certainly values are something you have to show them -- Jennifer, who shares kids Violet, Seraphina and Samuel with ex Ben Affleck, is staying true to her word and has led by example when it comes to things like kindness and patience and she won't let anyone in the house to judge or speak ill of people, and she enforces the same wholesome, traditional values that she was raised with and the kids have been taught to be loving, hardworking and fair -- Jennifer has always taken a kids-come-first approach to parenting, and it shows as they bake together, enjoy movie nights, read books and have very active lives and it's a very healthy, happy household filled with laughter and love
Page 38: Gwen Stefani has her hands full with her sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, but she wouldn't want it any other way -- Gwen's a tomboy, so having three boys wasn't daunting for her at all, plus she has fiance Blake Shelton by her side to pitch in with parenting duties and Gwen and the boys have a blast at Blake's ranch in Oklahoma where they enjoy riding their ATVs, and they play baseball and football -- it's not all fun and games, though because Gwen is big on boundaries and manners and she doesn't want to raise Hollywood brats and it's important to her that her sons be gentlemen
* Meghan Markle's pregnancy with Archie was no walk in the park, as she revealed during her bombshell TV interview with husband Prince Harry, the couple had concerns over whether or not the royal family would provide security for their son and claimed there were conversations about his skin color -- but this time around, as Meghan and Harry gear up for baby No. 2 at home in L.A., she's doing everything her way, without the royals and Meghan and Harry feel blessed that they're able to raise their daughter in the U.S. and can live by their own rules and make the decisions they feel are best for their children; having independence is the most important thing for Meghan and she's got free rein to be exactly the kind of mom she wants to be -- her parenting style is really like most mothers out there, and she's been craving pasta and doing yoga two times a day as her due date nears and she keeps a lot of art supplies out to foster creativity and healthy snacks around and she's a devoted mom and wants the best for her kids
Page 39: Kate Hudson has a lot on her plate, so the mom of three, who shares son Ryder with former husband Chris Robinson and son Bingham with ex Matt Bellamy and daughter Rani with boyfriend Danny Fujikawa, knows when to put her foot down as things can get a little overwhelming at times for Kate, but when she says no, it absolutely means no, and the kids respect her very much because of that
* Gigi Hadid, who shares daughter Khai with boyfriend Zayn Malik, wants to spend every waking moment with her precious little girl -- Gigi could easily afford to employ a team of nannies but chooses not to and she prefers to do everything herself and besides, she can't bear to be away from Khai for more than a few hours
* Candace Cameron Bure's three grown kids are flying the coop, but she's still super involved in their lives, despite slowly becoming an empty nester -- the mom of Natasha, Lev, and Maksim with former hockey player Valeri Bure says it's been a very transitional time and she's been trying to help them make decisions they feel good about and it's challenging, but they're figuring it out
Page 40: Oh, Baby! Meghan Markle's due date is just around the corner, and here are all the details
* Bump Brigade -- Halsey, Gal Gadot, Shawn Johnson East
Page 42: 10 Years of the Cambridges -- a look back at Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton's solid marriage for their anniversary
Page 44: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez: What Really Happened -- cheating and lies? The truth behind J.Lo's split from fiance A-Rod
Page 45: Friendliest Exes -- these former couples managed to stay close after going their separate ways -- Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux, Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz
Page 48: Gifts for Mother's Day
Page 54: Entertainment -- Ben Barnes on Shadow and Bone
Page 58: Fashion Police -- the most daring Oscars looks -- Bjork, Whoopi Goldberg, Charlize Theron
Page 59: Rachel Weisz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lady Gaga
Page 60: 25 Things You Don't Know About Me -- Julia Michaels
#tabloid#grain of salt#tabloid toc#tabloidtoc#bindi irwin#chandler powell#grace warrior irwin powell#jennifer garner#gwen stefani#meghan markle#prince harry#kate hudson#gigi hadid#candace cameron bure#the cambridges#prince william#duchess kate#kate middleton#catherine duchess of cambridge#jennifer lopez#alex rodriguez#ben barnes#shadow and bone#general kirigan#fashion police#julia michaels#colton underwood#whitney port#britney spears#emma stone
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
100 Remadora headcanons!
1, when Tonks arrived at headquarters for the first time, she tripped over the troll leg and Remus was the one to help her up
2, Tonks charmed the socks off him - literally! once she wanted to warm his feet after a winter mission but set fire to his socks
3, Tonks has developed a habit of sitting on the kitchen counter and watching Remus when he's reading the papers
4, Tonks caresses his scars when they're alone
5, he's drowning in self pity sometimes and she hates it
6, Tonks wore her boots when she married and Remus found it lovely
7, since his hair often hangs in front of his eyes, Tonks usually wipes it off his forehead
8, he loves pink hair on Tonks since it's her happy colour
9, Remus has not once asked her to change her appearance for him
10, lots of cuddles! they're literally always cuddling
11, Remus loves kissing her forehead
12, Tonks wore one of Remus's sweaters when he was with the werewolf pack... because he coincidentally left her favourite at headquarters
13, Tonks usually is the one to patch him up after full moons, tho it took some time to convince him she doesn't mind doing it
14, they love hugging each other
15, after the Battle in the Department of Mysteries, Remus stayed by Tonks's side in St Mungo's until she woke up - he was absolutely distraught
16, Tonks once slapped Remus across the face: that was when he wanted to get rid of the baby when Tonks told him she was pregnant
17, Tonks can fall asleep anywhere, preferably with her head on Remus's shoulder on guard duty... not that he minds, of course
18, they're equally stubborn, but Tonks usually wins arguments
19, Remus usually makes her tea because she just isn't capable of doing it properly, for Merlin's sake!
20, Remus loves Tonks's giggles
21, Tonks, on the other hand, loves the way Remus's lips curve when he smiles
22, they fell for each other around Christmas of 1995
23, Tonks can be incredibly clingy, especially when she's sick
24, tho she'd never admit it, Tonks has learned to love Remus calling her "Nymphadora"
25, Remus gets genuinely terrified when Tonks's hair turns red
26, he makes a huge fuss about every yet so tiny bruise she's got
27, Tonks is a horrible dancer, Remus isn't... their wedding dance was hilarious
28, Tonks appreciates very much that Remus takes her seriously and sees her as an adult
29, Remus usually cooks because Tonks is prone to burning things
30, Tonks sometimes shares Remus's cup of tea - well, she takes it and he has to deal with it
31, they complete each other perfectly, that's why they match so well
32, Remus is the only one to calm Tonks down when she'd anxious, he offers her the safety she craves for - this is her first real war to fight and she needs someone by her side
33, Remus couldn't go on without her at some point anymore, she keeps him going
34, their boggarts changed into each other's corpses after they fell in love
35, Tonks loves her new patronus
36, Remus can be incredibly jealous
37, he's also pretty over-protective, Tonks acts like she's annoyed by it but she finds it kinda cute
38, they both had nightmares during the war, but had a hard time opening up to each other about it
39, glances across the room
40, he marvels at how well her small hand fits into his large whenever they hold hands to apparate
41, whenever Remus reads a book, Tonks lays her head in his lap and naps - Remus sometimes trails his hand through her hair when (he thinks) she's asleep
42, Tonks is one for cheek kisses
43, he proposed to her
44, when Remus returns home after full moons and they go to bed, he usually rests his head on her chest, needing to be near her
45, Tonks had a hard time convincing Remus that he was indeed worthy of love
46, during long over night missions, Remus sometimes kept guard so she could nap a little
47, Tonks wrote letters to Remus when he was with the pack, but he rarely responded - what he did indeed was keep them all safely stowed
48, Remus was heartbroken when he found out Tonks suffered from depression, but yet it only made him believe that she deserved better than him
49, they trust each other with their lives
50, they share their love for chocolate frogs
51, one day, Remus unconsciously rolled up his sleeves in her presence because he didn't really mind her seeing the small silvery scars on his arms
52, no matter how cold it is, he'll always lend her his cloak when she's freezing
53, he loves taking care of her when she's not feeling well
54, Remus once did a sketch of his wife when she was asleep
55, they both cried at their wedding
56, Remus actually never wanted to hurt her... he didn't really succeed tho
57, when looking for Tonks at Grimmauldplace, Remus usually isn't far
58, he sometimes watches her over the brink of his tea cup
59, he's one of the few people Tonks feels completely comfortable around with her natural body form
60, he always keeps his hand on the small of her back when he sees her to the door
61, she hugged him first - that was when she noticed him feeling anxious for the first time
62, he kissed her first - that was after a mission they almost died, somehow his heart took over
63, they reunited shortly before their deaths
64, Remus died a few minutes earlier, Tonks was killed while weeping over his corpse
65, the entire Order of the Phoenix knew about them long before they did - Sirius, Mad-Eye and Kingsley even did bets
66, Tonks managed to get Remus to open up and have a cry on her shoulder after Sirius's death, but after that he distanced himself from her completely
67, Remus saves her some of Molly's food when Tonks returns from work late
68, he always waits until she returns from late missions
69, they renovated Remus's old cottage and made it their home
70, he's one head taller than her
71, after they married her called Tonks "Mrs Lupin" at times, not to tease her but because he was hella proud that she was his wife
72, he had to stop himself from being clingy around Tonks after bad full moons because he thought himself to be a monster
73, he always held back her hair when she had to throw up during her pregnancy
74, they call each other "sweetheart", "darling" or "love" - but never things like "babe"
75, Tonks likes to listen to Remus telling her old stories about the first Order or his year as Hogwarts professor
76, Remus drinks whisky when he's upset or sad, Tonks usually goes for gin
77, they had a few arguments about Tonks's sleeping habits since she's a workaholic sometimes and "forgets" about going to bed
78, Tonks adores the wrinkles at the corners of Remus's eyes
79, she's always cracking jokes, Remus often chocked on his tea when she did
80, despite Remus's trust issues, he never had a hard time trusting Tonks
81, Mad-Eye Moody paired them on missions not so much by incident but rather because Remus was a good influence on Tonks
82, however, Mad-Eye was furious when Remus started to reject her
83, they both remembered the day the other told them that they loved them for the first time
84, Tonks never intended to fall for a bookish, calm ex-professor... but here she is
85, being away with the werewolves, Remus realized how much he actually loved Tonks - the amount of love his heart held for her scared him
86, he visited her late night on Christmas day 1996 tho she didn't want to celebrate at the Burrow - but he just couldn't stand the thought of her being alone at Christmas Eve
87, Molly yelled at Remus several times for breaking Tonks's heart
88, Mad-Eye actually had to comfort Tonks and hug her one time when she had reached the rock bottom of her depression
89, Mad-Eye too yelled at Remus for breaking Tonks's heart
90, they had some mild arguments about Tonks's taste in music
91, Tonks fell asleep in the parlor every now and then - whenever Remus was around, he tried his best to not wake her while covering her with a blanket
92, they're an absolute dream team on missions together
93, Kingsley was the one to find their corpses and bring them down to the Hall
94, they spent New Year's Eve 1995 on the rooftop of Grimmauldplace watching the firework, Remus conjured a pink one from his wand
95, Tonks sometimes got ink on her fingertips and Remus, whyever, thinks it's cute
96, they notice the tiniest details about each other, such as a fresh scar on the wrist or a bruise on the elbow
97, he takes over writing the reports after a mission because he knows she hates it
98, she's best a stunning spells, he's best at the patronus charm
99, they shared a bathroom at Grimmauldplace and things got very awkward
100, it's about touch with the two of them: a tight hug when he's anxious, a loving embrace when she returns from work, linking arms when they walk together at nighttime, a gentle kiss on the lips when he wants her to know he loves her, a tender peck on the cheek when she returns from work, a light kiss on the forehead when she falls asleep next to him, holding hands when they apparate, locking fingers when he actually wants to hold her hand, hands tracing and lingering when they walk past the other, the slightest touch of a fingertip on his hand when she wants to comfort him during an Order meeting...
108 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ok so I’ve done a complete re-read through and one thing that kept nagging at me was how little Gideon and Harrow’s relationship makes sense given its quite frankly abusive origins. Harrow spends her whole life making Gideon’s a living hell and Gideon just… forgives her. Total and complete forgiveness for an irredeemable girl.
At first I took the sudden shift in their relationship as lazy writing to rush along the end of the story, but that didn't make any sense either. Muir strikes me as an intensely purposeful writer. Then I remembered that Muir is also an intensely Catholic writer and it hit me. Muir isn’t writing a story about a healthy human relationship, oh no, she’s writing a story about Christ’s relationship with The Church… if Christ was a sword toting butch lesbian and The Church was a sardonic bone witch. Call it tender blasphemy.
Now Gideon’s role as a Christ figure is fairly easy to parse out given that her dad is… God. But for the sake of self indulgence (I have to put my 15 year long flirtation with Christianity to use somehow) I’m going to go through all the parallels anyway. There are a LOT of them.
Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).
Miraculous Conception
Luke 1:34-38
34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I [e]am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the [f]holy Child will be called the Son of God.
Gideon is conceived by artificial means when one of God’s own servants (Mercy) delivers a sample of John’s genetic material to Wake, a ‘normal’ human woman who chooses to carry Gideon in her womb. Notably, the sample lives far beyond its point of expected viability, thus making the conception somewhat miraculous (“Only the sample was still active, no idea how considering it was twelve weeks after the fact” HTN 441).
The Cuckold
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus the [a]Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to [c]send her away secretly.
Gideon the First decides not to kill his lover, Wake, and releases her out the airlock (AND HE TOOK PITY ON ME! HE TOOK PITY ON ME! HE SAW ME AND HE TOOK PITY ON ME” from Harrow’s vision of Wake’s note, HTN 124) just as Joseph took pity on Mary, his betrothed, by deciding to divorce her quietly instead of making her infidelity public which would condemn her to death by public stoning (Deuteronomy 22:21). Gideon the First knew that Wake was pregnant and didn’t tell John because he thought the baby was his. Similarly, Joseph goes on to raise Jesus as his own son.
The Birth
Luke 2:7
And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [f]manger, because there was no [g]room for them in the inn.
Neither baby Jesus nor baby Gideon were given a proper cradle, one being laid to rest in a manger where the animals ate and the other stuffed in a transplant bio-container (GTN 23).
The Dead Children
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
King Herod intends to kill the prophesied King of the Jews and instead of finding the specific baby, he just has a bunch of them slaughtered. However, Jesus escapes the slaughter of the innocents by Herod when his parents secret him away to Egypt.
When the great aunts gas the nursery and kill the 200, Gideon is meant to die along with them but escapes her fate.
Now this event has a completely different biblical connotation for Harrow.
Firstly, the murder of the 200 children represents Original Sin. In the bible, Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, and as their descendants, all of humankind is doomed to also bear the weight of that sin from the moment we are born until the day we die. This is a fact that is drilled into Christians as soon as we’re able to understand it, we are born wretched and unworthy sinners, and there’s nothing we can do ourselves to fix that.
“I have tried to dismantle you, Gideon Nav! The Ninth House poisoned you, we trod you underfoot—I took you to this killing field as my slave—you refuse to die, and you pity me! Strike me down. You’ve won. I’ve lived my whole wretched life at your mercy, yours alone, and God knows I deserve to die at your hand. You are my only friend. I am undone without you.”
Harrow is a multitude, she is 200 children, the entire future of her house. Shes not just one human being,, she’s the whole damn church.
Naz/Nav
he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Although Gideon is not from the Ninth, she is given the Ninth name Nav when she arrives as a baby. Similarly, Jesus is known as Jesus of Nazareth, though that is not where he was born.
The Poor Bondservant
Jesus' role as a servant is emphasized many times in the bible. He was a carpenter's son born in a stable
Philippians 2:5-8
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Gideon is described as being made “a very small bondswoman” (GTN 24)
The Sword
Matthew 10:34
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
The Wretched Sinner
Harrow is wretched, self loathing, and cruel.
She is in thrall of the enemy of god, a figure who was once gods most favoured warrior, cast into hell.
She is like the depiction of the sinner who loves the devil
It's important to note that Harrow isn’t a single person, she is a multitude, the entire future of her people condensed into one body.
The Enemy of God
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, nholding in his hand the key to othe bottomless pit1 and a great chain. 2 And he seized pthe dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and qbound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into othe pit, and shut it and rsealed it over him, so that she might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
Before the fall, Satan was described as a “guardian cherub” who resided in the garden with God (Ezekiel 28:14)
(a funny aside, in the bible the devil is known as the great deceiver but in HTN Muir specifies that Alecto is incapable of lying)
A Life of Abuse
Isaiah 53:3
"He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem”
They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff" (Luke 4:28–29).
Gideon lives a life of mockery and is abused by Harrow.
An Unlikely Savior
Despite the fact that Gideon does not fit the expected image of a Cavalier, Harrow chooses Gideon to be her sword and protector.
Despite the many openings Gideon has to make Harrow pay for the pain she caused her, she remains loyal to her
Trust
Harrow realizes that she cannot face the lyctor trials without Gideon, and places her trust in her
Christians are told they must place their trust in jesus in order to reach salvation
Purifying Water
Acts 2:38
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Harrow confesses her sins to Gideon and puts herself at her mercy
Gideon forgives Harrow totally and completely, she baptises her
One Flesh
Mark 10:8
and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.
“The imagery and symbolism of marriage is applied to Christ and the body of believers known as the church. The church is comprised of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and have received eternal life. Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride” (x)
Ephesians 5:25-26
25 gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and hgave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ithe washing of water jwith the word,
They take the vow of necro and cav, one flesh one end
Gideon’s forgiveness of Harrow is reaffirmed
Harrow risks her life to stay and fight with Gideon, even if it means her death and thus the destruction of her death. Her love for Gideon is now greater than her love for the Body.
The Sacrifice
John 19:34
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
They will look on the one they have pierced'" (John 19:36–37).
Gideon chooses to die for Harrow, death by piercing
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
In order to complete the lyctor process, Harrow both physically and spiritually consumes Gideon
Because of Gideon’s sacrifice, Harrow attains eternal life at the right hand of god
The Tomb
The Resurrection
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus
Harrow turns her body into a tomb for Gideon, a tomb fashioned after that on the Ninth
Resurrection on the Third Day
Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47
“So many months had passed: and yet, at the same time, she had only lost Gideon Nav three days ago. It was the morning of the third day in a universe without her cavalier: it was the morning of the third day—and all the back of her brain could say, in exquisite agonies of amazement, was: She is dead. I will never see her again.” (HTN 374)
Just in case you missed this important piece of information, Muir repeats it three times.
Go, and tell them, then, that he that was dead is alive, and lives for evermore, and has the keys of death and the grave,"
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ch. 20: A Path
Cast of Characters//Ch. 1//Ch. 2//Ch. 3//Ch. 4//Ch. 5//Ch. 6//Ch. 7//Ch. 8//Ch. 9//Ch. 10//Ch. 11//Ch. 12//Ch. 13//Ch. 14//Ch. 15//Ch. 16//Ch. 17//Ch. 18//Ch. 19//Ch. 20//Ch. 21//Ch. 22//Ch. 23//Ch. 24//Ch. 25//Ch. 26//Ch. 27//Ch. 28 (coming soon)
Words: 1.6k
Pairing: ATEEZ OT8 x OCs
Genre: Adventure, Pirate AU
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: mentions of deadly traps, bug attacks, blood, and venom
A/N: Italics means they’re speaking Korean
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Phoebe asked as she rushed over to help him up.
“Yeah,” he nodded.
Grace-Anne then kneeled down to get a good look at the stone staircase. The open itself was about as wide and long as a large cardboard box with a descending stone staircase. Each step disappeared more and more into the dark underground, and the cold dampness cut through the jungle’s humidity. Pulling out her flashlight, Grace-Anne switched it on and shined it down the staircase. Nothing out of the ordinary except for a few dead snakes, but she felt uneasy about immediately taking the steps down.
A rock sat idly next to her, and it was immediately serving as a guinea pig. She tossed it down where it could still be visible by the light beams. Landing on a stone in one of the steps, it sank down halfway, and a spear shot up from the middle of the stone. The rock was split into two pieces before falling away somewhere.
“Do any of the notes say anything about this?” Grace-Anne asked as she stood.
Hongjoong was already ahead of her and reviewing the notes on both the map and the journal.
“Yes,” he nodded once he found the page. “Any of the stones with a golf-ball sized hole in the center has a deadly spear. Have your flashlights ready.”
One by one, the crew switched on their lights just before descending down the stone steps, tip-toeing over each holed stone. The air seemed to grow colder and more dense, and a soft blue glow could be seen up ahead. When they reached the bottom, a foul stench attacked their noses as they turned a corner.
“If I see one more corpse,” Dinah threatened, “I will kick a stalagmite.”
“I don’t think it’s a dead body, we’re smelling,” Grace-Anne replied as they walked a little further. “It smells more like mud after the rain.”
The sound of a river rushing could be heard overhead. Hongjoong used his flashlight to read the notes again. “The blue light tells us that’s where the next piece is.”
“What is that light anyway?” Mingi asked as they strolled closer to the light.
“Yeah, there doesn’t seem to be any electrical fixtures down here,” added Yunho.
An opening marked where the blue light was hiding, and once the crew walked in, the light turned out to be what seemed to be twinkling blue clusters sticking to the wall and reflecting off of clear quartz fragments blooming from the ground to the ceiling. With this kind of light, the crew switched off their flashlights.
“Glow worms, of course!” Dahae recognized. “Their bioluminescence gives off a sort of blue or green light.”
“But where’s the diamond piece?” Seonghwa reminded her as the crew looked around. “It could be anywhere here.”
Jongho was about to try to move a quartz piece to investigate any nook and cranny, but Dahae stopped him with a gasp.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“These aren’t just any of the regular glow worms you hear about,” she explained. “These quartz’s have minerals that provide this species with their nutrients, and they’re aggressive if they’re touched by any other living organism. Touch the crystals, and a few of them will attack.”
“They’re not poisonous, are they?”
“They just give you deep cuts, but the bleeding is bad no matter where the laceration is.”
“Found it,” Taeran declared as she looked up something in the ceiling.
Surrounded by clusters of the glowing blue, a shining fractal seemed trapped in another microvine structure surrounded by crystals. Beside it was a sort of lock code identical to a lock combination, but rusted into the ceiling.
“What’s the code?” Dahae asked.
Hongjoong flipped through the journals and notes a few times, scanning each page individually in case he missed it. He found something on the exact lock, but no direct answer as to free the diamond.
“There’s a riddle,” he shrugged as scratched his head. “‘Not a full circle, not an angle, not even a cute angle, only a straight path will you find the key.’”
“What path?” Dinah exasperated. “The only way out is the way we came in, and even then it’s deadly.”
“And we can’t exactly pry open the little binding it’s in without touching the surrounding crystals,” Grace-Anne added.
“Maybe it’s talking about the sun, hills, and a path on a hill,” Seonghwa guessed.
“We’re in a freaking CAVE!” Dinah retorted while motioning towards their surroundings.
Taeran stared up at it and recited the riddle. Circle, angles, path. Circle, an angle, a cute angle, path. A cute angle stuck out to her. Did it mean an acute angle?
“Wait a second,” a lightbulb went off in her head. “It’s not a regular piece of land at all. It’s geometric angles. A full circle is three-hundred and sixty degrees, a cute angle is an acute angle that’s forty-five degrees, and a right angle is ninety-degrees. What we’re looking for is the straight ‘path,’ and it’s a straight line. One-eighty degrees.”
“1-8-0 is the code?” Phoebe asked.
“It has to.”
“How are you going to reach it?” Dahae wondered. “The ceiling is taller than Yunho and Mingi.”
…
Finishing up in the bathroom, Celestia took one last look at herself in the mirror, double-checking for any fly-away strands of hair before standing back and seeing her pregnant self. Her stomach wasn’t as huge as a typical pregnant woman’s, but she still found it cute despite feeling like a bloated fish some days. Baby girl kicked, and the mother-to-be smiled.
“You’re so gorgeous,” San commented groggily as woke up.
“Hi, handsome,” his wife replied as she waddled back into the room.
The curtains were opened just slightly to allow some sunlight in, but not enough to disturb San in his sleep.
“How are you feeling?” Celestia asked as she eased herself on the bed.
“Better.”
“You look better, too. Your color is back. Are you sore?”
San shook his head. “I can move more freely, but it only stings when I move my back a certain way.”
“Dahae said it’ll be like that for a bit, but you’ll be back to exploring our next destination.”
A smile nearly bloomed on the young man’s face, but abruptly stopped. He wanted to see the new site, but Celestia couldn’t go anymore when she’s days from delivering.
“I don’t want you to be alone,” San shook his head.
“I won’t be alone,” she promised. “The girls will rotate out on who stays with me at each stop.”
“But what about when it’s time for you to give birth? We would have to flag down an ambulance or something to get you to a hospital if needed.”
San had wanted his wife to give birth in a medical facility that was safe, and she and the baby would receive proper care; but Celestia had put her foot down on having the birth on the boat since Dahae would help with delivery. However, she was becoming more open to having the aid of a medical facility if things were to go wrong.
“I’ve heard you can’t plan for how a birth is going to go,” was all Celestia could say. “But we can be prepared.”
San just smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Such a clever woman, you are.”
Celestia scoffed playfully before asking, “Are you hungry? Grace-Anne left us some breakfast.”
“Can you get up?”
“Watch me.” Immediately she scoot to her edge of the bed, sat up, and rolled to one side to stand. “Cake.”
San giggles as the love of his life waddles out of the room and towards the kitchen. Celestia found her meal of eggs and Greek yogurt covered in plastic, and San’s bacon and omelettes were in the same shape. She removed the covering and put them in the microwave for about a minute while she retrieved both of their drinks.
A fit of childlike giggles erupted from San back in the bedroom. Celestia thought his medicine was making him loopy until he started baby-talking and cooing in his mother tongue. Was he looking at the ultrasounds and somehow talking to the baby? It wasn’t until she returned with their breakfasts when she saw what had happened.
“Angel, we’ve got a little stowaway,” San smiled as he was now petting a Siamese cat sitting on his stomach. “Isn’t she cute?”
“She is,” Celestia smiled as she set the food tray on San’s nightstand. “Hi, kitty.”
She held her hand to the feline, palm open and face up; and after a couple of sniffs, the cat licked her fingers and rubbed her face against Celestia’s hand.
“Friendly, aren’t you? How did you get on here?”
“She must have wandered up the landing gear from outside,” San guessed. “I managed to sit up, because I had to pee; and when I came back from the bathroom, there was a super cute cat sitting on your side of the bed.”
Celestia gave the purring cat a few more scratches behind her ears before thinking for a moment.
“What’s the captain gonna say?” she asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.
The captain had a thing with animals on the ship. It wasn’t that he didn’t allow it, it was that everyone had a job to do and wanted everyone to always stay on task that getting a pet for one crewmate or for all to share seemed impossible. Everyone, including Dahae, had begged Hongjoong multiple times for a furry friend, but he always said no.
“Well,” San thought, “I mean we already have a baby on the way, so he might say our new friend has to go; but since you’re going to be here on each stop, maybe she can help keep you company.”
As if excited by his idea, the cat leapt off of San’s lap and tip-toed to Celestia’s bump. She began to purr as she rubbed up against it. It was as if she now knew there was something precious being nurtured and developed in a protective shell.
“I think we might have found our guardian for Baby Choi,” San jokes with a chuckle.
-
Tagging: @not-majestic-bluenicorn @actuallythatwaspromise @barsformars @philosopher-of-fandoms @daybreakx @lilhwahwa @hongism let me know if you’d like to be added or removed
#kwritersworldnet#atzinc#foratiny#8makes1teamnet#kdiarynet#kdiner#kpopscape#kpopficsnetwork#ateez#ateez x oc#ateez pirate au#ateez fluff#ateez angst#ateez hongjoong#ateez seonghwa#ateez yunho#ateez yeosang#ateez san#ateez mingi#ateez wooyoung#ateez jongho
23 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
just-loveing-my-baby-boy-blog
mommy dearest
ilov3c0ff33
🏳️🌈
ilov3c0ff33
🏳️🌈
impossibleprunebonkhound
題名未設定
truebeautyisinnerbeauty
America The Beautiful