#addie still treats them like children | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kizzer55555 · 9 months

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DP X DC School Project

So...I am part of a dp x dc Discord server under the nickname Jazz. Someone decided to post a Pinterest picture in the fanfic ideas channel. This is the conversation it created. I love this Discord server so much.

Eros:

Danny and Damain working together on school project together.

Or even Dani and Damian up to you.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny and Damian just sounds so much more funny to me.

Eros:

Alrights 👌

BreKitten:

Oh my gosh, that's hilarious

Eros:

And they totally would act like this

Apricot:

crying lmao

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damien: Why wouldn't we shop at [the expensive place]? I am an heir-

Danny: taps the paper 2k a month. You gave up your money to make me feel more comfortable.

Damien: Why would I care about your comfort?

Danny: dramatic gasp How could say that about your husband?!

Apricot:

Damian: husband?! what "husband"?!

Eros:

then proceeded to fight on types of toast and pricy vegetarian meals

Danny: look our family needs a balance diet, we can't live off vegetables alone! The very least we should mix it with some actual food like Ectoplasm.

(if Ectoplasm can be considered all kind of elements/a semi living organism since it revives things then any food brought to life should be counted as a beast of some kind)

Eros:

Also counts since Danny lived off ectoplasm for a fair bit of his life so he would see it as a food source

Eros:

Danny: me. I'm your husband, we agreed to marry to make it easier for the kids.

Apricot:

Damian: KIDS?!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny: Danny Jr and Damian Jr!

Eros:

Danny: yes kids, don't tell me you forgot we had kids! I swear you'll say you forgot we have pets too!

Danny: shows the paper that says they have a pet and two kids

Jazz:

No wait, the ectoplasm comes last. Just the Wayne’s seeing Damian and this random kid fight about every single thing. Finally Damian comes home and says that they finally agreed on something.

The Wayne’s: finally. Looks like this is a good learning experience:

Damian: we have agreed to live off of Lazarus water.

Wayne’s: ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

And the best thing is that they might not know about Danny being a halfa. So they think Damian is now corrupting random citizens.

Jazz:

Cause like, they both grew up with Lazarus water/ectoplasm and know the nutritional value.

Eros:

Indeed~

Jazz:

Great for child development too!

They both turned out great!

Eros:

Hehehe

Alright now both Danny and Damian are fully into this project now they have at least a agreed idea on food

Because the project they have is this; budget for every day living

So they have food set out

There is now trying to keep the house running and kids/pets alive and entertained

Danny agrees that with his skills he can do the majority of repairs, Damian agrees to take responsibility of the pets

They are now having an argument on how children should be raised.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian is all for strict discipline, high standards of education, after school activities (he may not want his kids to be assassins but he still wants the best).

Danny's all for independence, finding your own way, encouragement and lots of love and support.

Damian: Do you want our children to grow up to be garbagemen?!

Danny: Do you know how much a garbageman makes?!

Eros:

Danny grew up around a lot of physical affection and love from his folks, except around the time of the accident/the holidays he always knew his parents loved each other very very much.

Damian comes from such an emotionally constipated house hold that he only gets the majority of physical affection from Dick

Jazz:

Lol

This is so perfect.

Danny then says something that puts Damian’s entire world view into question.

Danny: is this how you would treat our pets?!

Eros:

Damian: gasp how dare you, how very dare you!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

XD Danny, recounting the story later to Sam and Tucker: I swear, if he had pearls, he would've clutched them.

Eros:

Hehehe

Jazz:

Me imagining Damian going to Dick to complain.

Damian: can you imagine?! Raising kids and hugging them! Or saying it’s ok to fail!

Dick’s face.

Eros:

Damian complaining to his family: we might have agreed on living off Lazarus water, but now he wishes for our children to just go wild, then compared our pets to them!

Jazz:

Damian: obviously our pets would act nothing like those…savages.

Eros:

It just keeps getting better~

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Waynes are listening to this kind of like a soap opera

Eros:

Sam: wow Danny, at the very least your doing better then when you were partnered up with Val, like the majority of the time you were trying to pawn off raising the kid on each other until the flower was in danger, but I can't say much myself since Tucker pulled a Kronos.

Which opened a new can of worms; how much time were they going to take care and be there for their "kids" what kind of training would they go through

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Hehehe

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny: I learned from my mistakes. I wasn't ready to be a parent then.

Eros:

Their whole class and teachers are watching it like a soap opera

Eros:

The very least they get to see it live and not re counted

Jazz:

(Someone get popcorn, or they just get out their packed lunches early).

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes! The Waynes and Sam and Tucker get the play-by-play but the class gets to see the actual show!

Jazz:

No wait, someone records it and post it and then it goes viral. (Do they think that the Wayne’s make a lot more sense now hearing of how Damian thinks children should be raised?)

(Are there now more questions?!)

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Oooh. I can see people being even worse to Damian. Maybe pitying him because he grew up with so little love.

Eros:

Then the next day Danny brings up the issue of child raising again since Sam makes a good point.

Danny: okay so I've re think a few things, mainly on occasion the kids should get self defense classes or something like that since it would make most sense to keep them safe. But beyond work and school activities how should we spend our time with them?

Jazz:

People see the two about to continue their conversation and immediately stop what they are doing to bring their phones out.

What if this becomes one of the most popular ‘dramas’? Like, so much in fact even villains will stop what they are doing to watch?

Eros:

(because Danny comes from a physical affectionate house doesn't mean there was neglect from his folks working way too much)

Jazz pretty much raised him when it came to actual child care so Danny is determined to be there for his "kids"

Not just for the fun stuff or being pulled to random projects

Jazz:

They get super invested in this project.

Also, what if people intentionally goad them on? Like seeing them together and asking if a kid should be left alone at home or with a babysitter or what they’ll do during a blackout/tornado?

Eros:

Surprisingly it's Danny who brings a big book of plans in case if emergencies

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes!

Adonnenniel "Addy": - reply to students and citizens goading Danny and Damian on.

The teacher reworks their lesson plans to do an extended deep dive into home economics so that this can keep happening.

Jazz:

Absolutely.

Jazz:

Some of the emergency responses are normal like, if there is a tornado, evacuate kids to a shelter, others are strange like arguing whether you should fight the burglar or prioritize the kids. Others are just plain weird. A blackout? Both Damian and Danny will turn to face the questioner. Obviously they’ll be able to see in the dark. (Effect of ectoplasm/Lazarus exposure).

Eros:

Danny is even willing to share on the "in case of apocalypses" situations

Jazz:

Neither question why they know a massive amount of information about various world ending disasters/villains.

Eros:

Oh and how they should pack bags for school and for emergencies

Jazz:

Omg, they make a kid survival kit. Including blasters and knives.

Eros:

Danny insists they should put some of the survival kit stuff in the school bag

Jazz:

Everything a five year old should take to school.

Eros:

Ooo discussion on how old their kids should be to learn about weapons and how to safely handle them

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny: Eight should be good.

Damian: Eight is way too late to start!

Jazz:

The fact that both agree this is a necessary subject to teach their kids. Everyone’s reaction to hearing various ways you can kill/dismember a person and why this won’t work. Not because it’s immoral but clearly because young kids don’t have the necessary arm length to complete certain maneuvers.

Eros:

Damian: that's why we should put the kids into martial arts and gymnastics as soon as possible so they can be flexible enough!

Jazz:

Danny: that’s why we should wait until their older and focus on their aim while young! Their muscle memory will be all wrong by the time they reach the appropriate age!

Damian: they will not always have a weapon to aim. The body is the only reliable weapon that will never fail.

Eros:

Now to add extra into the mix; Bruce and Jazz (who is now Danny's legal guardian) show up to school to pick them up as they are in a middle of an argument

Danny: and who will be the one teaching them? Because proper teachers will be expensive, at least we can teach them at home how to aim properly! It can be a bonding experience!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Jazz: What are you talking about?

Danny: Teaching our young children proper aim.

Jazz: You will not!

Danny: I mean, you're obviously not going to teach them.

Jazz:

Damian: I can teach them perfectly fine.

Danny: what about work? You can’t be with them all the time.

Damian: I can take them with me. We can travel around Gotham and learn to fight through experience.

Danny: you are not taking our children to fight on the streets

Damian: what, didn’t you want us bonding?! Make up your mind!

Dick looking at Bruce. “This is your fault.”

Eros:

Danny: You're not letting our children out on the streets, they will put too many people in the hospital! You have any idea how expensive that would be!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian casually dropping he's Robin?

Jazz:

Danny not even processing it.

Then casually stating he’s dead. Damian skipping that detail.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

XD They're too caught up in the roles.

Jazz:

Exactly.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Maybe afterwards, if they think back on it.

Jazz:

Like vigilantism and the dead coming back to life is normal for them. They are focusing on the children right now thank you.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

And then they both come up with the excuse "I was just adding to lore, it was all pretend!"

Eros:

Not before this;

Damian: fine if you want to control our lives and children then we should just divorce!!

Jazz:

Danny: oh I’m controlling?!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Do they get Alfred to be the judge to oversee their divorce?

Jazz:

Danny: fine, our kids and pets will be happier with me anyways.

Damian: don’t you dare bring the pets into this.

Damian going to Bruce to use the Wayne lawyers for this imaginary family divorce.

He will win this.

Danny actually going to Vlad.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Vlad has been watching the whole time. He doesn't need to be brought up to speed.

Jazz:

Both of them are like, this is ridiculous. But on the other hand, my child actually asked for help from me for once.

Eros:

Hehehe

Danny uses Dani as an example of a child that is better off with him

Jazz:

Lol

Adonnenniel "Addy":

And Jazz even brings it up to Bruce that if Damian didn't get to play like this as a young kid, he might be making up for lost time, in his own intense way.

Eros:

Because that's what Danny is doing too

Jazz:

The absolute struggle both Bruce and Vlad go through on whether or not to actually do this and use up their lawyers, money, and resources.

The viral videos increase.

Eros:

Danny getting frustrated enough that he is tempted to get Clockwork to be the judge

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Bruce gets his other kids involved? They play as Damian's lawyers?

Eros:

Yesz

Jazz:

Dick is having a blast.

Then Sam comes in for Danny’s defense.

Both Tucker, Tim, and Barbra (possibly Technis) get into a hacking war.

Eros:

Yesss!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yesss!

Jazz:

Cujo and Titus become best friends.

Eros:

Dani is still the example child

Jazz:

Tim is Damian’s example child.

Eros:

Peepaw Clockwork comes in a human form to judges

Jazz:

Alfred and Clockwork have tea.

And discuss their kids.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Tim: I'm older than you! How am I your example child?!

Dick: whispers Hey, he's including you without stabbing you. Take the win.

Eros:

Clockwork: I do hope they figure this all out before their legit kids are born~

Jazz:

Yesssss.

Eros:

Danny: finally stops, going into a blushing and betrayed look at Clockwork

Damian: who doesn't know Clockwork sees the future what on earth are you talking about, we barely are keeping together for the kids we do have!

Gestures to Tim and Dani

Jazz:

Tim: I’m. Older. Than you!

Damian. Then start acting like it.

Danny: (trying to recover) tsk tsk, how can you treat your son this way?

Damian: he’s adopted.

Eros:

Danny: and she's a clone, doesn't mean they can't be loved and cared for as their own persons!

Danny: to prove a point he hugs both Dani and Tim, trying to smoother them with love and acceptance

Jazz:

Tim just looks so done with life at the moment.

Eros:

Danny: plus our pets are adopted, yet you wouldn't love them any less

Jazz:

Critical hit.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny ends up adopting Tim by the end of this.

Jazz:

Lol

He wins Tim in the divorce.

Eros:

Lol

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yesss!

Eros:

Tim gets a new dad

Jazz:

Bruce doesn’t know how to feel about this.

Eros:

This one says "I love you" and is into Tim's science projects

Jazz:

Dani’s like new sibling. Tackle Hugs.

And Danny doesn’t restrict coffee intake. He’s just as bad.

Eros:

If anything he shows Tim a whole world of coffee mixes

Jazz:

Jazz though. Jazz is a bit of a problem with Coffee.

Tim and his new dad form an alliance.

Eros:

Danny takes Tim to Frostbite to get a new spleen

Jazz:

Danny: see? I provide free healthcare.

Eros:

Then proceeds to show off Tim: This is my boi, I won him!

All while Dani is giggling and clinging to their sides

Jazz:

Vlad is looking at Bruce very smugly.

Eros:

Danny would show Tim and Dani off at school after this

Like: behold, my children!

Jazz:

It becomes public that Wayne enterprise’s CEO is Tim Fenton.

Eros:

(and since I'm going with King Danny in this)

That means due to Danny winning and Tim becoming his kid, Tim Fenton is now the prince of the infinite realms along with his new sister Dani

Cass and Steph come back from a big trip once everything is over

Jazz:

They ask what happened.

Jason gleefully explains that Bruce went to legal war with another billionaire over an imaginary family and ended up loosing Tim to them.

Also, that Damian might have a crush.

Eros:

youtube

Jazz:

Lol

Eros:

Because he just went through one of the best non injury fights of his life with this guy

Jazz:

And lost

Eros:

Yet they do agree on a fair bit of things, and now know where their main issues are and can work on them.

Jazz:

The entire world witness this entire thing and there are going to be shippers.

Eros:

Pft imagine the Justice League hearing about this~

Jazz:

Also just think, when they eventually do get together. That high school teacher is absolutely going to brag that it was their project that started this.

Jon might have a crisis on being replaced as Damian’s best friend. Someone explains the difference between boyfriend and normal friend and Jon’s like, ok that’s fine then.

Eros:

Oh man, when Jon finds out everything that had happened

Jon would tell Conner

Jazz:

Conner hears about the clone comment.

Now Conner wants to be adopted.

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Absolutely

Danny be pulling a Bruce

Or would Bruce be pulling a Danny?

Jazz:

Omg, I just realized. Bruce Wayne lost a Custody battle.

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Major L

Eros:

To a child

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Ain't Danny technically a god?

Eros:

Still child

Who would definitely adopt Conner

BuriedReign:

Omg this is like a whole ass fic already, it’s soooo goood! I absolutely bursted out laughing at the “we plan to live off Lazarus water”

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Just got caught up and all I have to say is: 😂😂😂

Btw, I love the idea that Tim isn't legally adopted to Danny (by ghost standards, yes, not by mortal law) but he just goes with Danny cuz he's so done with his family.

Eros:

>:3

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Dani, Tim, Conner. Do we throw in reformed, de-aged Dan for shits and giggles?

Eros:

Pfft yess

And Damian only finds out about Dan after the divorce

This re sparks everything into a new battle~

Eros:

Damian is offended that Danny never told him about their other son Dan

Adonnenniel "Addy":

He wants visitation rights!

Eros:

Damian wants to win Dan, like how Danny won Tim

Adonnenniel "Addy":

That makes more sense

Eros:

Damian goes up to Dan and offers access to all sort of weapons, training/fights, being a heir to a different Kingdom, and possibly be ungrounded if he takes Damian's side in the new Custody battle

The Angst Queen:

When you catch up and burst out laughing

Also - I wanna add something

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Add, please!

The Angst Queen:

Damian would definitely pull a sword at some point - decide to attack and “miss” every time. He does not expect Danny to suddenly have an ice sword in hand. Do then they’re both going at it in a sword fight while still arguing about diaper brands

Damian - so then I attack him

Dick - WHAT!?!?

Damian - I know! He didn’t even have the decency to die! He pulled out his own sword!

Dick in shock whispers - what

Damian - and he still refuses to consider Huggies! Insists on natural diapers!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Lol

Eros:

Like when the arguments get too much they start sword fighting like the Adam's family

It's how they discuss things and keep up reaction times for both brain and body

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Do they fight in school or at the manor?

Eros:

School, just to add more to the soap opera drama

And for the bats to keep missing the live actions of it

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes!

Eros:

Except Babs but that's obvious to know why

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Their sword fights go all around the school, interrupting other classes. The security guards or other teachers try to stop them but Danny'll just pull them into the argument.

Teacher: walking up to them, trying to grab the swords Now, boys, this must stop!

Danny: leaps up onto a desk, put his arm around the teacher's neck as he's still fighting Damian Hey, you look like a reasonable man. Tell me, why would you ever want to buy a waste product all for brand recognition and not cut down waste and get reusable diapers?

Teacher: That's a very leading question and calls on a few logical fallacies-

Danny: shoves the teacher away as Damian leaps for an attack

Eros:

And this is where Damian's crush really began

It's one thing to argue and have different trains of thought

It's another to have someone actually just as skilled as you in the battle of the sword and the mind

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yeeees!

Eros:

Danny: Hopefully the castle is big enough for everyone

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Tim: You have a castle!? O_O

Conner: You have a castle!? : D

Danny: Yep! Oh, and you two are now royalty! Don't worry, you won't have to do anything unless you want to.

Eros:

I wonder if Tim rubs it in his other semi siblings faces

Like Steph, Jason, and Damian's faces in particular

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Does Tim take a pic of everything in the realms?

Eros:

Yes

Bruce Kal-el” Wayne:

Or try to

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Tim especially rubs being royalty in Damian's face. He knows he should be better but damnit, Damian was/is all high and mighty about being the heir to the League of Assassins and Bruce's biological child - he stabbed Tim over it! Tim gets to gloat a bit that he technically outranks Damian now!

BuriedReign:

Does this increase Damian’s crush on Danny? Damian tries to ask out Danny and makes it ‘rational’ by saying of course he needs to be higher ranked than Tim. While also trying to hide that isn’t the only reason why he wants to date Danny

Eros:

(make Damian unintentionally ghost speak which reveals his true emotions and reasons as to why he wants to date Danny)

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian: I want to date him for no other reason than to one-up my once brother. That's it. Nothing else involved here. Just pure revenge. I will not let Tim outrank me in this life or the next.

Jason: Uh-huh. flipping to the next page of Pride and Prejudice Have fun on your denial date.

Omg, imagine Damian formally asking Danny out on a date!

And Danny's like, despite the divorce, I want to give us another shot.

Eros:

And the plot THICKENS

That's everyone's reactions 😁

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes!

Eros:

Where would they even go on a date?

Ooo what if they went to the museum

Or an art gallery

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Or a date to the literal moon

Eros:

I don't think Damian would survive that well

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Ecto shield giving an artificial atmosphere

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian would take Danny to a museum or art gallery.

Danny will chose the next date and take him to the moon.

Eros:

Then definitely the museum should be like the Glenbow Museum

This is just inside the front entrance

It's called the aurora borealis

Because they make the crystals actually glow different colors

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Ooooooh!

Yes!

Eros:

This is a full on walk through section where you learn about the stars and First Nations

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Holy shit, now I want to go to the Glenbow Museum.

Eros:

Art pieces, and they also have a section for mid evil times and even mini battle fields

The Angst Queen:

Side note - I bet Danny makes Damian work to get that date

Eros:

Definitely

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chickensarentcheap · 4 months

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Tyler was very good at it, but he had a hard time with the really poopy ones lol. Esme could handle everything from sopping wet with pee to the ultimate of blow outs. So I'm going to give it to her lol

Clean the boys' bathroom LOL. She does not understand how they never seem to actually get the pee in the toilet, despite the fact he was very diligent especially when it came to toilet training them and showing how it's done when standing up lol. Something mom couldn't do. lol. So he handles that for her. He tends to take the garbage out the most do and mucks the stalls for the animals. The oldest boys and Declan are good at helping.

They'd be cool with it. They are raising their children to have free will and to think and make decisions for themselves, and if, after researching and experiencing things, they decide that religion is for them, mom and dad will accept that and nurture it the best they can. But both Tyler and Esme will NOT become religious themselves.

TJ and Millie both want to go to Hawaii and California on surfing trips. Tanner wants to visit Iceland and Finland. Declan has a dream of going mountain climbing in places like Austria and Switzerland. The others are still really small and to them the ultimate place is Disney World and they go there every two years :)

Tanner is very good at advocating for himself and the things he needs. So Tyler built him a 'safe place'; enclosing his bed and turning into a cabin with barn doors that open and shut. Just a place he can 'lock' himself into it when he needs to. They plan where they go to eat, shop, vacations, based on what kind of 'escape routes' there are for Tanner and what kind of 'safe places' they can arrange for him to retreat to. They allow him to wear his noise cancelling headphones at the dinner table if he's overwhelmed by the noise.

You know, they just love to hang out together. They love spending time on the beach, just the two of them. He'll take her for a surfing lesson, they'll have lunch down there, they will just lie in the sun and talk or read books. They'll go on hikes in the woods. They'll goof around on the skateboard ramp (like that video of Chris trying to do kick flips lol). And they nap. Mostly on the hammock of the swinging bed on the maste rbedroom patio

They love working there. It's a very relaxing place. There's fish tanks and the bookstore cat and there's a little courtyard out back and they listen to music. She's a good boss and very friendly and outgoing. And the place is very respected by locals and tourists and they've been featured in magazines and even a tv show about places to visit not just in Queensland, but Australia itself :)

Tyler is a strict boss. He's very much a perfectionist and didn't accept excuses or mistakes. But he's also fair and treats his people with respect. Not to mention pays them EXTREMELY well. Including medical bills, dental, all those types of benefits. And he is very well respected (and even feared in some ways) in that circle

Addie has always been so sensitive. And a little drama queen! She'd totally lose her mind at feedings if it was coming fast enough (there was a scene with Tyler being like 'omg, calm down' lol) and she had a temper tantrum when she was learning to crawl and lost her balance lol

Oh yeah. Millie especially. They know they're not supposed to go into the woods alone, because dumb asses will hunt in there despite it being private property. But she's especially been known to go in there and get caught or ratted on.

@tragiclyhip

#Tyler and Esme series

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readingforsanity · 1 year

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | V.E. Schwab | Published 2020 | *SPOILERS*

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Adeline LaRue makes it to 23 years old living in Villon-sur-Sarthe in France. For years, she has gotten away with not marrying, while her friends all do, raising families. It isn’t until a man loses his wife, and begins looking for another than Adeline realizes that she is going to lose her life and become just another married woman, bound to her husband and the children he fathered by another.

For years, Adeline, known affectionately as Addie by Estele, a woman in her village, has spent time praying to the gods. Not the new gods, but the old gods. She has sacrified loving items to these gods for her prayers to go unanswered. But, on the day of her wedding, under the impression that she forgot something at home, she takes off for the woods and begins to beg, beg any of them to listen to her and set her free. One answers: he is the darkness. And with this, Addie becomes a shell of her her former self.

When the darkness goes away, Addie is sure that her prayer went unanswered again. But when she attempts to go home to her parents, they do not recognize her, and claim that they never had a child. The same goes for Estele, who claims to never have met her and Isabelle, her oldest friend, who treats her as a stranger running her out of her home. It is then, though it’ll take years to come to terms with it, that Addie realizes what has happened: she has sold her soul to the darkness, the devil, and while she won’t ever age a day until she surrenders, she is bound to be forgotten by every single person she comes into contact with whenever she or they leave, or Addie is out of their line of sight.

For 299 years, Addie has wandered the world, spending time in Paris, Florence, Munich, the United States...she has seen World Wars, inventions, black and white movies going into color. There isn’t anything that Addie hasn’t seen or done. Since she is so easily forgotten, she is able to get by in life as a thief, as most people won’t remember her moments after meeting anyway so long as she gets out of their line of sight.

When she enters a hidden bookstore she had never seen before, she meets the one and only employee, Henry. She steals a book from him, and out of the kindness of his heart, decides to let her have it. Henry is exactly what the darkness looks like if he were a real human form. You see, the darkness has molded himself to be an imaginary man that Addie had drawn for years before her new life took over. And nearly every year on the anniversary of their deal, he has come to her. And over the years, she continues not to surrender to him basically out of spite.

When Addie returns to the bookstore the next day to get another book, the young male employee remembers her. Addie is shocked to hear the words come out of his mouth. Nobody in 299 years has ever uttered those words with the exception of Luc. She doesn’t want to believe it, and thinks that he is making it up, but he does remember her.

The two of them strike up a friendship, and eventual relationship. Addie sees how people are with Henry: they pull to him like there is some gravitational pull, men and women flirt with him at every turn. But Addie thinks nothing of it. She isn’t the jealous type after spending so many years of being forgotten. But, still, she thinks this is some sort of cruel joke.

It isn’t until Henry takes her to meet his friends at a dinner party, despite them having met her before and she finally has to come out and tell the truth. For years, whenever she has attempted this, the thoughts and words have failed her, including saying her own name. Henry listens intently to what she is telling him, and she believes that Henry is going to realize she is a weirdo and leave. Instead, he laughs. He tells her that he too had made a deal.

A few months prior, Henry was struggling with alcoholism and drug abuse. He asked his girlfriend of two years to marry him, and she said no, insinuating that he was never going to be good enough for her. Two years down the drain. He abandoned his friends and left his callls unanswered. It wasn’t until he sat down on his doorstep that he is introduced to Luc, or the darkness, who offers him a deal. Henry makes it. This deal is that he will always be wanted more than he intended to by everyone.

Somehow, their two deals have cancelled out the other, making Henry the only one in the world besides Luc that remembers her. They spend several months together, exploring the city and doing things together. He never makes meetings with his friends awkward, always introducing Addie as if it were the first time they’ve met her.

In July, on the 300th anniversary of her deal, Luc returns. He tells Addie that this was a ploy all along, and that he basically put them both of the path to each other because Henry’s deal isn’t the same as hers. Her is a lifetime, or until she surrenders and she will go peacefully. His was only made for a year, and then the real truth comes out: Henry wasn’t sitting on his doorstep when Luc approached him. He was attempting to commit suicide by stepping off the roof of his building, and Luc stopped him. The deal was made, and he had 12 months to do. Henry agreed because 12 months sounded like a long time, but now, they only have 36 days left with each other.

Addie attempts to get Henry out of his deal. She goes back to Luc, and it is revealed in flashbacks (as is a lot of the story leading up to the point where you get to see many of hers and Luc’s interactions) that she and Luc were lovers for more than 20 years. But, he tells her that it was just a game to him, and that it was never really love. That was more than 30 years prior to the start of our story, and Addie hasn’t seen him since. But now, she is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Henry from a fate that he didn’t realize he was making.

On the day his deal is supposed to be paid, they spend it together. When the time comes, Addie explains that she made another deal with Luc, that he will spare Henry his life if she goes along with him. But that he must remember her. When he awakes the next day, Addie is gone, and over a few months time, he writes a manuscript for a novel based on her life as told from the stories Addie made him write down in notebooks. It becomes a huge hit.

When Addie comes in contact with the novel Henry wrote, she is thrilled, seeing her story on paper for the first time and the fact that others will learn of her as well. Luc is with her, and they seem to be happy together but Addie admits this was all a ruse to get herself out of her own deal. She is going to make him surrender.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the best and worst things about Addie’s invisible life? What is the emotional toll of being unable to imprint herself on the heart and mind of another person? When does it give her an advantage? I think the best is that she can always have something new, even if it is for a short time. She can walk into any store, try on clothes and by the time she comes out, she is forgotten and can just walk out with what she has on, the salesperson or employee nonethewiser. While generally this isn’t a good thing, I think it’s amazing that she can be able to just come and go as she pleases without having to answer to anyone. But, the worst is that Addie lives an extremely lonely life. She is able to have lovers, and feel loved, but only for a short time until sleep or a small amount of distance is placed between them.

2. Discuss the intense power struggle between Addie and Luc. What makes him such a master of seduction? How does Addie reclaim her power and agency over the course of the centuries? Over the centuries, Addie becomes stronger. The longer she is alive, the longer she has to know Luc and how he ticks. Which is why the ending of the book makes her such a genius. But, Luc wants to prove that he can wear her down, and she wants to prove that she won’t allow him too. It’s the perfect cat and mouse game, but they’re both cats.

3. Addie slips into the homes (and even the clothes) of people from all walks of life. Which abode did you like the best? If Addie borrowed your house, what wuld she enjoy the most about the contents of your cupboards and your closets? Henry’s home was the best - because it was basically the first time she was able to come and go as she pleased and be remembered when she returned. That had to have been the best feeling even if it was for a short time.

4. As we meet Addie’s many lovers, Remy stands out as the first man who lived up to her girlhood fantasies. On the magical night they met, Addie was dressed in a pair of trousers, a buttoned coat, and a tricorne hat. How did her disguise stroke their passion? It gave Remy a reason to approach her. I think this question is leading into whether or not Remy was attracted to men, and that very well could be. For centuries, sex wasn’t something out of love for many people, but just something people did. They could be married and be sexually active with their servants (think Spartacus TV show...). But to him, she was just a woman who wanted to disguise herself as a man in order to walk freely at night. Remy wasn’t as old fashioned as the time he was in, and this made him especially different than the others.

5. Living without a bank account, phone or an address, Addie is reduced to pilfering and theft to quell her physical suffering. Is it a blessing or a curse that she only has to worry about momentary suffering, nor survival? What new appreciation do you have for the ordinary things you count on to make it through difficult times? She does have to worry about survival, though. Many nights she spent sleeping outdoors in all sorts of elements. While it definitely wouldn’t have killed her, she still could have gotten hurt in other ways.

6. In Part 3, Chapter II, the author writes, “The time between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon is merciless, every second doled out with the care of an old woman counting pennies to pay for bread. Not once does it seem to quicken, not once does she lose track of it. She can’t seem to spend it, or waste it, or even misplace it.” How does the possibility of an infinite lifespan change the way Addie sees life itself? To Addie, a blink of an eye could take her years into the future. Not actually, but you get the gist. Time is nothing to someone who has lived as long as Addie has, and who has infinite amount of time at her disposal. But, when something as exciting as meeting someone who remembers her for the first time happens, time seems to slow down for her even though it doesn’t, it’s impossible. She just spends so much time being anxious to see Henry again, to see if it was actually real, that time seems to ahve basically stopped.

7. Addie’s situation is transformed whens he steps into The Last Word for the first time. Discuss the role of the written word in her life. What does her taste in books say about her? What does it mean for her to be deprived of a lasting version of her own life story? Addie’s taste is similar to mine - she’ll basically read anything so long as she can understand it. She was able to essentially teach herself to read, as she had so much time in order to do so, and that is pretty significant for a woman from her time period originally. Education wasn’t something that was at the forefront of many women’s minds back then, only to keep a house and mother children.

8. Belief plays such a central role in the narrative, specifically in the shaping of foundational identities, from the LaRue family’s rigid Christianity to Estele and her faith in the old gods, to Addie, whose belief in a fantasty shapes the physical representation of Luc, and Henry, whose loss of belief leaves him feeling lost. How does Estele’s immersion in the spirit world compare to Henry’s studious theology? Do you believe in the existence of gods that answer after dark? Do I believe in the existence of gods, like Luc? Sure. Am I going to answer this question deeply? No. I’m not a religious person by any means, but I know better than to go making deals with strange god creatures that only appear in the darkness, no matter how desperate I am.

9. How do Addie’s and Henry’s deals with Luc complete each other (the freedom of eternal youth paited with perpetual impermanence; contast acceptance paired with the obliteration of the true self)? If you could receive one of their curses for just 24 hours, which would you choose? Have you ever been pushed so far to the brink that you might have made a deal with Luc? I would likely want Addie’s for the youth part, but obviously 24 hours doesn’t give me much time like it did for Addie. I’m not one for attention, like I used to be, so I think all the unwanted attention that Henry receives, despite wanting it so badly when he made the deal, would be a huge turnoff for me, and I’d end up more annoyed than grateful.

10. As the chapters unfold from the seventeenth century to modern times, and as the novel oscillates between rural life and spectacular cities, what timeless universal aspects of human nature emerge? From warfare to popular culture, revolution to liberation, how much progress does Addie witness? To what degree does she also watch history repeat itself? Addie sees everything. Each time she returns home, due to the amount of time that has passed since the last, she has seen her home village turn into something completely different. From a near barren countryside to a bustling town. She has also seen the induction of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and she has seen the skyscrapers that now make up the skylines of our major cities. It is a wonderous thing, and I wish that there was actually someone who has seen all of this that lived to tell the tale.

11. As the intention behind Bea’s project was revealed, what did you discover about power of art to preserve hidden truths? In what way is Addie’s identity written in the stars? Addie preserved herself in art created by others, and this gave Bea the thesis she was working on. After 9 tries, she was able to take the life that Addie LaRue lived, and turn it into something real despite her not knowing it was actually real.

12. How did you react to the novel’s ending? What had you been predicting for Addie? I was a little peeved to be honest. I understand why Addie did what she did; she did what she had to do. But Henry was eventually going to not remember her, as humans do. Our memories fade with time. This is why he wrote the story of her life, so others would remember her. But, I predict that she and Luc will continue for any number of years until they get bored with each other, more specifically he will get bored with her and let her move on either in life, or take her soul and let her fade away completely.

Questions provided by macmillian.com

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americangirlstar · 3 years

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Now that both Courtney books are out and I’ve read and processed them both, I do want to say that I think they’re the least well-written of any of the AG books, but not through any fault of their own- let me explain.

(Note that for this discussion I’m ignoring the Doylist criticisms- Courtney and 3/4 of her friend group being white again, the lack of gay discussion in-text in regards to the HIV crisis, etc. These are valid complaints and concerns, but not what we’re talking about right now.)

The Problem with the Current Book Length

I think the main problem with Courtney stems from the fact her books are so short. American Girl has literally been doing the stupidest things in regards to their books lately, almost as if they’re trying to sabotage them on purpose. First they remove illustrations in 2015- when their target audience is about nine years old. I don’t know about you, but when I was six and getting into American Girl, the illustrations were the highlight for me. Not because I had no attention span and loved pretty pictures, but because it showed me firstly what the girl’s life was like, whether it be 1760s wilderness or 2001 Chicago. It was like stepping into their world, really helping you get into their heads, which was basically what the dolls were supposed to do, to let you know that girls like you exist throughout time and space.

As well as that, the illustrations were free advertisement. I can’t tell you how excited me and my sisters were as children to go to the American Girl place and look at the doll displays, shouting that that’s the dress Felicity wears to the ball! or look, Josefina’s goat looks exactly like the book! AG cut that from 2015 to 2020, as if they were trying to appeal to an older audience- while at the same time changing all the doll outfits, accessories and marketing to appeal to a younger demographic.

Now, this isn’t about the illustrations, as Courtney got those- it’s about what they did to the historical characters after the Illustration Outrage™ happened. See, they’d condensed the historical six-book format into two books- not necessarily a bad idea, parents would be more likely to buy two books for their kid than consider buying six. However, they then claimed that if they put illustrations back, they would have to abridge the books- literally my nightmare.

First of all, American Girl, we know for a fact you can fit all six books plus illustrations into ONE VOLUME, let alone two. You’re just being cowards here and trying to nerf your own stories for... some reason.

So that meant a lot of important things got cut- Rebecca’s Chanukah story, Melody’s cousin’s house search, Maryellen’s Christmas adventure... all things important to the girls’ histories and character.

The Problem with Courtney’s Writing

Now, Courtney was the first doll to be released after the abridging began, meaning her books were released, in their entirety, just as short as the abridged stories. So it basically means she gets four books while the others get six- and unlike the others, Courtney doesn’t even have mysteries or short stories to pad out. (And honestly, looking at her book’s amount of content, I’d even argue that she basically got two while everyone else got six, but I digress.)

The problem with her books isn’t that they have an author writing them poorly (I really feel like her author was doing the best with what limited time she had), but in how cramped American Girl made them. Because, well, Courtney has to deal with a lot in such a short amount of words.

Let’s compare her to Julie, for instance- Julie pretty much has a new 70s thing every book. In order: feminism, rising divorce rates, San Francisco’s Chinese culture, environmentalism, the country’s bicentennial, anti-bullying and deaf acceptance. And adding to this, we also have her own personal journies through her parents’ divorce and move, her basketball team, her friendship with Ivy (and later Joy), overcoming her fear of horses, student council, detention... It’s a lot, and yet her books don’t feel rushed or forced at all. It’s just a year in the life of a girl going through a lot of new and sudden events, and how she grows and changes throughout them. She may not be as deep a character as Addy or Kirsten, but not every girl goes through the trials and tribulations they do, and it’s a good series overall.

Courtney, meanwhile, does feel rushed and forced, because of the short timespan. Instead of fitting everything into a six-book format- or even at two-book format that is the same length and content as the six-book- everything has to be fit into two short books. Everything Courtney has to cover includes the topics of divorce and stepfamilies, feminist and technological advancement, the Challenger explosion, the HIV crisis, Hands Across America, and the founding of Pleasant Company. And in Courtney’s own journey, she has to cover her learning to stand up for herself, her relationship with her stepsister and Tina’s own character development, her mother running for mayor and how that affects her, how much she misses her Dad after he moves, her friendship with Sarah (note on that later), her basically getting hate-crimed after standing up for her friend... that’s a LOT of stuff, and I didn’t even include the non-AG 80s product placement they shove into her collection.

But without the longer format, everything is pushed together to its detriment. Tina’s development and Maureen’s mayoral candidacy are two plotlines that are literally dropped and almost completely ignored in the second book. The Challenger and HIV issues were handled decently, but the Challenger only lasted a few short chapters, and the HIV topic was not as informative as it could be, leaving out several things like Reagan’s refusal to treat it for so long, and its effect on the gay community. Honestly, the HIV scare was more shifted to focus on the mob mentality of a new and scary disease- which, while needed right now, also ignores many of the bigotry-related reasons it became an epidemic. Pleasant Company’s inclusion feels forced in, and I think was the only resolution she had to her Dad plotline?

And don’t get me started on the Sarah plotline- every Girl of the Year since Kanani- sans Isabelle and Luci- has had the story of “oh no I’ve been ignoring my friend and now they’re mad at me :(” and it’s SO old. Seriously, I counted the contemporary dolls that have had that storyline, and it’s thirteen*. Thirteen times we’ve covered this issue- almost all of it in quick succession- and now we have to deal with it in a historical character book while much more important things are going on! Yes, it sucks when a friend ditches you while you’re being attacked and bullied for something you’re standing up for, but once again, with how much is happening in such a short book, it just feels like a forced-in plotline that we’ve seen a billion times, and with their falling-out happening mainly due to the attention Courtney was given Isaac, it serves to make Sarah seem closed-minded at best and bigoted at worst- it’s clarified that she’s not, she’s just scared and upset with Courtney, but when you put those events so close together, it leads the reader to lump them together and get the impression that, you know, Sarah is a worse person than she is.

*Full count: Nicki (book 2), Chrissa (book 2), Kanani (2), McKenna (1 iirc?), Saige (both books), Grace (2), Lea (3), Gabriela (1 and 3), Tenney (2), Z (1), Blaire (1), Joss (1) and Kira (1).

It’s a bit weird, too, that Courtney’s... what’s the word? Vibe? with her how her story is written and marketed Is closer to the Contemporaries than the Historicals. Am I the only one feeling this? My best explanation for it is that the author, Kellen Hertz, had only written contemporary books for American Girl before- the third Lea Clark book and all four Tenney Grant books, both of which contained the Friendship Issues™ plot. I’m not at all saying she’s a bad author- I honestly love the way the Tenney books are written- and I’m not saying she couldn’t write a historical book, but it’s clear American Girl didn’t ask her to change up her style or content from what she’d done for them before, as well as giving her way too much to cover in such short books.

Conclusion

Honestly, this conclusion should be obvious- American Girl needs to expand their books again. Whether they simply allow the books to be unabridged, or go back to the six-book format, Courtney's books are too cramped to tell an effective story, let alone the poor abridged girls.

The other girls were given six-book length, so if they went back to that length or format, Courtney would have to be rewritten, at least a little- and that’s okay! There’s a lot of things that could use expansion or connection, such as her Summer trip with her Dad that was given basically one sentence in the text. Her growth with her stepfamily could be acknowledged- and honestly? I think that if these books were expanded, her mother’s mayoral arc should either continue through the books, or Maureen should become mayor before the book 2 arc. I’ve mentioned this before, but having Maureen as mayor (or even still a candidate) would put a lot of pressure on Courtney to be perfect so that nobody can say “look at how awful this woman is for doing politics instead of raising her family right”- which means that when the Isaac stuff happens, it has even more stakes for Courtney and her family. Does her Mom still support her with her own reputation on the line, and what does that say about Maureen’s character, how does it affect Courtney and the D’Amicos... that’s all fascinating stuff that was completely missed out on.

And if she was turned into a six-book format- honestly, here’s how I’d do it, just off the top of my head. It would involve a bit of event shuffling, but honestly I think it would work!

Meet Courtney - pretty much the setup for everything happening, her starting to get her Crystal Starshooter plans and her mom’s campaign beginning.

Courtney Learns a Lesson - her relationship to Tina, culminating in the Challenger incident.

Courtney’s Surprise - we move the founding of Pleasant Company over here, since Molly’s basically her Christmas Present. We’ll probably need an additional plotline- maybe similar to Julie, she can have a story on spending the holidays in different places.

Happy Birthday Courtney - end of summer, aka meeting Isaac and her trip with her Dad.

Courtney Saves the Day - Beginning of the HIV arc, ending at her presentation to her class.

Changes for Courtney - Continuation of the HIV arc as things get worse for her and Isaac, ending where Friendship Superhero ends.

Is that a perfect sorting? Probably not, I came up with it in ten minutes. But would it give Courtney space to breathe and more time to explore everything happening to her? Probably!

The tl;dr of this is honestly that American Girl are absolute cowards right now, and need to expand their books back. Their abridging is only harming their stories- which, as Courtney herself points out, are the reason girls got into their company in the first place.

#courtney moore #american girl #american girl dolls #american girls #1986 #negativity #mine #americangirlstar

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desertdollranch · 3 years

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I’ve been transitioning several of my modern characters into custom historical characters, and here’s the third one to do that. Her name is Pauline Leung, and she is ten years old in 1884.

Pauline lives in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, during the silver mining boom that turned a sleepy village into a bustling Wild West town. Her father wanted to get a share of some of the riches, so she and her mother followed him from Idaho to Arizona once he could afford to send for them. But when they arrived in town, her father wasn’t there, and never seems to have made it there. Nobody knew what happened to him in the few months they were separated. Now she and her mother have to work to make ends meet, and so Pauline does chores in the home of a wealthy mine owner, and makes a little money. The family treats her well, but Pauline still wishes she could go to school and have friends her age. Although there are many other Chinese Americans in Tombstone, very few of them are children. And with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act two years before, there is more and more scrutiny of and discrimination against Chinese immigrants. Pauline wonders if it’s worth it to stay in Tombstone. But then, one night, she meets a mysterious girl who might have the first clue to her father’s whereabouts!

Pauline is wearing a dress I made for her from Thimbles and Acorns Prairie Rose pattern and a thrifted shirt. I modified it by leaving off the long skirt ruffle and adding a collar. By the 1880′s, girls’ skirts had become much shorter than what they were just 20 years before in Addy’s time, making it easier for them to run and play. Since she works, Pauline’s dresses will be much simpler than those worn by Addy before her or Samantha after her.

Pauline (who was named Hana when she was my modern character) is a TM #64 with #14 wig. Her original wig just wasn’t fitting her new identity, so I gave her this one I had lying arund that has adorable bangs and is just long enough for braided pigtails. I chose her surname, Leung, in honor of the suffragette Tye Leung Schulze, the first Chinese-American woman to vote in the United States. In 1911, California became the sixth state to grant women the right to vote, and so Tye Leung Schulze cast her vote in the primary election in May 1912.

So far I’m really liking having a Wild West character, and I am very sure that Pauline won’t be my last character from this time period!

#pauline leung #1884 #historicaloc #<--- use that tag for your custom historical characters

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organic-guacamole · 3 years

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205 SPOILERS (ignore if the points are out of order, I was sobbing so much I couldn't write it down in order😭)

My first thought when the episode started: "what in the horror movie-"

And then that shifted into "aw Seb's animals, Jimmy with social anxiety is my favourite"

Then at some point I'm thinking, "Zackey, with all due respect, shut up"

"Those hips never lie" ok Ms Jenn, there are children present.

Enough of this man's crusty face, lets talk about seblos holding hands in school.

And omg Carlos' locker is adorable.

Where can I get Seb's flannel though, that's the real question.

What is up with the sexual tension in this season-

First redlyn during the blackout and now Rini in the barn? y'all go to horny jail

Seb is adorable.

Gina what did you do-

She's scaring me, what happened that night???

The after the musical video calls we got were so ambiguous too. if they don't address this asap I will scream, it'll be just like them to drop this plot point and then forget about it.

Ricky.

Gina.

RICKY-

GINA-

WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT RICHARD???

YOU'RE NOT DATING, STOP DOING THAT

GINA OMG YEAH GO OFF ON THIS IDIOT BUT STILL IT WAS HYPOTHETICAL CALM DOWN-

Anyways.

Mike Bowen is hot.

I said what I said.

The ok boomer-

I cant-

"I WAS BORN IN THE 70S"

I love Mike

Mike really dressed up for this woman-

I must admit, the writing for the adults is very interesting imo. I genuinely want to see what's going to happen, who's she going to pick?

Mike? aka "her biggest crush in salt lake"

Benjamin? aka "her arsonist partner"

Zackey Roy? aka "her gay ex boyfriend"

*sniff sniff* What's that I smell?

Jealousy, jealousy following Benjamin Mazzara.

Honest Abe who?

I only know honest Seb.

But fr, how adorable is it that he can't lie to the people he loves, so he just keeps his mouth shut so he doesn't say the truth?

Seb is adorable.

how did ash and Biggie make all those pizzas in a few hours-

honestly-

I've said this before and I'll say it again,

Don't: make Kourtney and Howie a thing.

Do: make them both gay and best friends.

YAY EJ!!!

As someone in the hsmtmts discord server said, "Wait Matt Cornett is in this show?"

Round of applause for Gina's dance. Also it seems like we're shipping Gina and Kaden(platinum blond dancer for those who don't know) now....I don't make the rules🤷🏽‍♀️

Alright here's the moment we've literally all been waiting for:

The Seb seranade.

The way Seb was inspired by Carlos all those years ago made me tear up full on sob.

Who made those mean comments? Drop the addy, I just wanna talk.🔪

Me after the song finished: sobbing "CARLOS BABY GET UP THERE AND KISS YOUR BOYFRIEND"

Me when Carlos stood up: "ITS HAPPENING"

Me when Carlos hugged seb: "ROBBED, IVE BEEN ROBBED! IM CALLING THE POLICE THIS ISNT FAIR"

Me when they lean in again: "OK WAIT"

Me and the police officer when they finally kiss: jumping up and down squealing "FINALLY"

I'm a little bit upset someone's head was blocking half of it but still, it's been years so I'm honestly just glad they got to kiss on screen.

Seb is adorable.

So after all that, I was an emotional mess, shaking like a jackhammer and spamming the server, and when Carlos chooses Ms Jenn as his madrina....I FULLY LOST IT.

"I look like the clown from IT" girl I look like that every day and I don't even wear makeup-

The writers of this show really don't like us to be happy for more than 5 seconds huh? the proof is that EJ's only on screen for 5 seconds at a time

They really had all that emotion, just to slap us in the face with reality/Lily and Zackey's faces.

But like, is that allowed in the Menkies? To just steal the musical that another school already registered with?

And why don't they just try harder with the little mermaid instead of trying to sabatoge and take over the one thing east high has???

But I mean, go off ig.

EJ and Mr Mazzara is like, the duo I never expected, but already love so much. I can't tell if they're "bros" or if they have a father-son relationship. Either way, I hope we get a lot more of it.

EJ's so sweet to Gina in this episode but I don't like the way he looked at her near the end.

Like yeah I like portwell, but as friends. Ignoring for now the fact that Gina is 15 and EJ is literally 18, I don't want them to be anything more than friends because rn it just seems like they're the "leftovers" so the writers wanna couple them up and get it over with.

But please, no.

Gina really just said "lemme crush their little hearts even more, right at the end😁"

Honestly, I feel really bad for her. I totally get where she's coming from with everything. I still don't condone the way she's been treating Ashlyn, not at all, but I understand how she may be excusing it in her own mind.

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littletealseal · 3 years

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New pinned post!!

Still need to finish my carrd >>;;; but here’s something for the time being

Alright... so I was hoping to not have to make this so soon, but I need to force my hand it seems. If anyone who sees my CR work supports any ships listed above, DO. NOT. INTERACT!!!!

This is not a request, this is a demand, and I’m making this simply for my own safety and not as an attack on people who happen to like these ships ( the bottom ones tho.... why). The ships here are ones that make me very uncomfortable and actually physically sick for various reasons, those reasons I will explain now.

Pitaya & Ananas: Pitaya isn’t a fan of Ananas, and Ananas absolutely hates Pitaya! This ship utterly makes no sense and because of how I care for/kin with Pitaya so much it feels so wrong to have him paired with a cookie who would just always berate and hate him... it feels very gross to me..

Beet & Canon Carrot: If anyone knows how Carrot behaves and treats others, I really shouldn’t have to explain this, buuuut for those who don’t... Carrot is very self-centered and only wants to find cookies to work on her farm. Like with poor Fig she tried to get them to work on her farm as a work horse!!! How gross is that?! Plus how she treats poor poor Beet, rather than understanding that Beet was just hungry and didn’t mean anything malicious, the poor thing is put through the wringer by just about anyone ever since her release! Carrot has also forced CHILDREN to work on her farm for just TOUCHING her crops!! Her existence just makes me sick to my stomach and seeing people STILL think these two should ever interact just disgusts me!

Rye & Chili Pepper: Honestly this ship just reminds me far too much of the above one, and if anything does that to me it’s an automatic NOPE in my eyes. But to elaborate, the fact people it’s ok to have poor Rye paired up with Chili, who mind you forced Rye to become a bounty hunter in the first place, simply to track Chili down and put her behind bars. Plus reading everything that Rye has to say about Chili, only makes me see how much she hates her! This ship honestly makes no sense and only makes me upset and sick.

Licorice & Pomegranate or Dark Choco: Like the others here, these two hate eachother, and try in desperation to be DEs right hand cookie all the time, so why would they ever be attracted to one another??? As for Dark Choco, I see him being a big bro to Licorice when he’s regressed so it just makes me feel so icky seeing them in a ship XC

Adventurer & Blackberry: I honestly just don’t get this ship... It’s more bizarre to me than anything, though the stupid “jokes” everyone makes about Addie being a deadbeat dad to Onion and how he is her dad with Blackberry.... really is in extremely poor taste... So really just it being everywhere and this reason is why it really makes me uncomfortable.

Timekeeper & Croissant: I once supported this ship, I thought it was cute! But honestly after seeing why people had such a big problem with it I stopped supporting it. Yes while these two are technically the same person, they are so different enough in personality that really, they’re more like sisters in a way. So after thinking on it, I just don’t support this at all anymore and now I actually get ill seeing it Oo Cuz incest is gross y’all.

Adult & Kid ships: ...... I really shouldn’t need to explain this one like... at all

None of the stuff I’ve said here is up for debate, Please understand and respect my wishes and boundaries and I will do the same <:3

#seal speaks #tw inc*st #tw abuse mention #dni #dni list

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kaimelia · 3 years

Note

Would you write a story about Addison, Henry and Jake visiting Amelia for a few days and Ellis or Bailey or Zola being really jealous of Henry and that he calls her Aunty Amelia because she's their aunt and not his.

Homage

a/n: hi! thank you for the prompt and I hope you enjoy this!

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"Who the hell is knocking on our door at 9 AM?" Amelia groaned, shifting her son onto her other hip. "Are your parents coming to visit again?" Link shrugged and pushed past her gently, rubbing his tired eyes as he opened the door and pulled on a mask.

"Hello-oh," Link's eyebrows rose, and Amelia paused from in the kitchen.

"Who is it?" She waited for a minute, pouring cereal into a bowl and placing it in front of Ellis at the table. "Elle, go grab the milk," she muttered, rushing towards the door.

"Amelia!" Her eyes widened at the familiar face in the doorway, and before she could think, she was rushing towards Addison for a hug.

"Addie, what the hell are you doing here? Oh, crap," Amelia pulled away and grabbed a mask from the table by the door.

"We all got tested this morning, don't worry. I came to visit you! You can't just have a baby and not expect me to visit; god, he's so adorable!" The red-headed woman held her arms out and grabbed Scout, immediately pressing her nose to his head. "I miss having a baby; their heads smell so amazing." Link laughed softly and pulled his mask off.

"Oh, Addie, you haven't met Link yet," Amelia leaned into his body, wide grins across both of their faces as he wrapped his arm around her.

"We've met over the phone, Amy."

"Amelia."

"Right, sorry. I knew if I called, you would've said no, and we all needed a vacation." Addison bounced her nephew up and down, smiling as he grabbed at her necklace.

"Is someone else here? You said we all," Amelia muttered under her breath, stepping out onto the porch. "Jake!" She ran down the steps and into the driveway, grinning as she wrapped her arms around her friend's neck.

"It's good to see you, Amelia," he opened the door to reveal Amelia's godson, much bigger than the last time she'd seen him.

"Henry! You're so big, now!" She picked him up, placing a kiss on his cheek before setting him down.

"I'll be honest; I never thought I would see the day when Amelia Shepherd was chasing four kids around all day," Jake mused, taking his son's hand. Amelia grinned.

"Neither did I, if I'm honest." They walked back up to the porch, where Link and Jake shook each other's hands firmly, their partners both rolling their eyes at the sight of their seriousness. "Okay, are you done?" Amelia grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "There are three very impatient kids in that house, and we should probably get back in there." They led Addison, Jake, and Henry into the house, introducing each of them to the children. Eventually, Link and Jake led all of the children outside, leaving Addison and Amelia alone with the baby.

"I like him," Addison brought her mug of tea up to her lips, taking a sip slowly before continuing. "Link, he seems like the perfect guy. Awfully tall, though."

"He is. Both tall and perfect," Amelia grinned. "I'm waiting for Jake to come back in here and tell me what he thinks. He was always a little overprotective of who I was dating, so if he can get past Jake, everything's fine." The neurosurgeon lifted her son from his play mat, holding him close to her as she approached her sister again.

"He looks exactly like Derek when he was a baby."

"You think?" Addison nodded.

"Mhm. I spent far too much time in your mother's house panning through dusty photo albums and staring at photos of him as a baby to not see it." She set her mug down, holding her arms out. "Have you told your Mom?"

"I did. She said she'd come and visit after the pandemic is over, but I'm pretty sure that'll never happen," Amelia handed Scout to her sister, picking up her own cup of tea. "I'm fine with it. Link's parents are both great, and his Mom honestly treats me like the daughter she's never had, so I don't need my Mom to come out here and validate all of my life decisions."

"You want her here. I said the same thing for a while, telling myself I didn't need Bizzy to approve of anything, but it feels good to have the support." Amelia sighed, easing her empty mug into the kitchen sink.

"So, you just showed up here to therapist me? I would've told you to at least bring Violet for that."

"Amelia, I'm just saying. You've built this whole life for yourself, the perfect boyfriend, your own family, your dream job, and I know you haven't always been close with your biological family."

"Haven't ever been close," Amelia muttered.

"Still. That doesn't mean that you can't build relationships with them. Think about how spoiled Scout would get on every birthday and holiday; gifts from his grandparents, aunts, cousins, friends, parents, everyone." The neurosurgeon shrugged her shoulders and remained silent. "But, whatever happens, you know I'll be here for you, right?"

"You don't have to try and parent me anymore; you know that?" Addison began to pace around the kitchen space, bouncing Scout up and down to calm his light fussing.

"I still feel protective over you, Amelia. I haven't seen you in person in years, and we both know that talking over the phone is so much different than being able to see you. I'm going to be coming up here a lot more often now; I have Scout as an excuse to come and visit." Scout cooed at the sound of his name, placing his tiny hand on Addison's face. "He's way too adorable for me to see all of his life through a screen. I'll be coming up at least three times a year."

"You've gotta bring Henry every time, too," Amelia looked outside, where her boyfriend was chasing her godson around the yard. "And Jake. I missed all of you; maybe Link and I will start coming down to L.A. a few times a year. He'd love to go surfing."

"Mm, maybe you two should just move down there." Amelia rolled her eyes.

"Well, if Meredith doesn't get better, Link and I get custody of the kids, and I doubt we'd be moving if that happens."

"For whatever it's worth, you're doing an incredible job with all of them. Having a newborn is no joke, and you're parenting three other kids during a pandemic on top of that? Charlotte keeps saying it's your payback for teasing her about the triplets." The door opened, and Link walked through with Ellis on his back, her giggles causing everyone to smile.

"Someone took a nasty fall, but we thought it would be better with a juice box," he walked towards the fridge and opened it, leaning down so Ellis could grab a juice box from the refrigerator.

"Auntie Amelia?" She looked over to see Henry standing in the doorway. "Can Scout come outside to play with us?" Amelia grinned and took Scout from her sister, walking over to where Henry was standing.

"You have to be super gentle with him," she whispered, leading Henry back outside. "Why don't I give Scout to your Dad, and he can make sure that everyone's being safe, okay?" Henry nodded enthusiastically and ran over to his father, tugging at the leg of his pants as Jake took Scout. "If he fusses, just walk around. The movement calms him down."

"Are you all gonna come back outside or just pawn off all the children on me?" Amelia laughed and crossed her arms over her chest, watching as her son snuggled into Jake's body.

"I'll go get Addison and Link," she muttered, heading back over to the door and calling for them.

"Auntie Amelia? I have a question," Ellis whispered, holding her arms up to her aunt. Amelia lifted her and sat down at the picnic table.

"What is it, Elle?"

"Why does Henry call you Auntie Amelia? You're my Auntie Amelia, not his." She shook her head in amusement, brushing back some of Ellis' blonde hair.

"Well, Addison is my sister too, just like your Mom is, so I'm Henry's Auntie, too." Ellis pouted her lip out.

"But you love me more, right?"

"I love you all, Elle; I don't love one of you more than the other." Amelia began to braid her niece's hair as she spoke, Ellis' eyes falling to where Link was playing with Henry and Bailey. "You're my niece, and Henry is my nephew. Just like I'm your aunt, and Maggie is also your aunt. That doesn't mean that you love one of us more,"

"You're my favorite Auntie." Amelia laughed softly, biting her lip to hide the satisfaction she felt.

"Well, I don't have a favorite. I love all of you, but I'm excited to see Henry right now because I never get to see him. I get to see you every day, Elle." The brunette tied a hairband around her niece's hair and hugged the girl lightly before standing up. "Let's go play with them, okay?" Ellis took her hand, and they walked over to the playscape, where Ellis quickly scampered up the ladder to the top of the structure. "How long are you staying?" She asked Jake as he paced around the lawn, bouncing Scout up and down.

"We're up here for a week. Figured we'd spend some time with you, go up to Mount Rainier, just do anything to give Henry a change of scenery." He moved to stand next to Amelia. "I like Link. He seems good, more relaxed than I expected for someone you'd be dating." Her mouth fell open before quickly turning up into a smirk.

"Hey, I haven't managed to corrupt him yet. I'm sure next time you come to visit, he’ll be a pessimist."

"Are you happy? Because last time I saw you, this was the life you didn't want to live. Every time someone brought out a baby, you'd practically gag and complain about women and babies."

"You know, I never thought I wanted this, but honestly? I wouldn't trade it for anything." She looked over at her son, his bright blue eyes staring back at her. "I'm happy, Jake. I really am."

#amelia shepherd #amelia x link #amelink fanfiction #atticus lincoln #amelink #grey's anatomy #amelink fanfic #greys abc #greys fanfic #scout lincoln #scout shepherd lincoln #addison montgomery #jake reilly #henry montgomery #private practice #my fics

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aperrywilliams · 4 years

Text

Something to Say (Spencer Reid)

(Not my gif!)

Masterlist

———————

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Main characters: Spencer Reid, Fem!Reader, Diana Reid.

Summary: Spencer and Reader has to deal with bad news and they support each other in the process.

Word Count: 7476.

Warnings: Contains mentions to illnesses, death and grief. Angst the most part, but some of relieve in the end.

A/N: Hello again lovely people. I wanted to write this fic a time ago, wasn't easy, but hope you appreciate it. Again, all the love to my beta @imagining-in-the-margins . Please, impressions, comments and any reaction for this one are welcomed. Thanks for reading. Thanks to @emilouu for suggesting the nickname for Reid’s daughter.

——————–

That Thursday I was finishing my shower when (Y/N) came into the bathroom. The water was running but I could hear when she opened the door and said my name, trying to get my attention. I closed the faucet and peeked out the curtain.

“The Day Care Center called. There are problems with the water supply and they aren’t going to receive children today. We have to decide what we are going to do. We could take her to my parents' house, but it's still early.” (Y/N) told me with concern.

"Oh. This is… unexpected.” I replied, grabbing a towel and coming out of the receptacle to dry myself. "Wait, isn't today the presentation you have with Prentiss about the BAU on the FBI’s Board?"

“Yes, it’s today at 9:00, exactly. But perhaps Prentiss could go with JJ…” said (Y/N) pondering the options.

"No way. You've prepared yourself a whole week for that. Don't worry, I'll stay with Emi. If a case comes up, I don't think it'll be a problem. I can assist from here.”

"Spencer, are you sure? I don’t want…"

"Of course. Don't worry, I'm staying with Emi today. I’ll come up with some activities to keep her busy.” I said with a smile.

"You’re an angel and I love you, you know that, right?"

"Yep. I know. I love you too". (Y/N) came up and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'm going to make breakfast while you get dressed and I’m going to wake up our Sleeping Beauty."

Our little Emily Diana was already 3 years old. It felt like it was only yesterday when I took her in my arms for the first time. Now she was a smart and... very active little girl. In my opinion, a good combination between (Y/N) and me. And while my staying with her that day was unplanned, in my head I managed to organize a short list of things we could do together.

I dressed her after breakfast and a bath, and later we concentrated on solving some animal puzzles that JJ had given Emi for her birthday. Then we took a coloring book and reviewed some letters and numbers. Of course, my daughter already knew all of them and named them without any problems. We had a mid-morning snack and then played, running around the apartment. It was certainly her favorite activity with me - in addition to the stories I read to her before bed. I'm sure I got ridiculous enough running and running away from a 3- year-old girl, but I didn't care.

The next activity was the 'tickle war'. I was lying on the couch and she was struggling against my tickling attack when my cell phone rang. I looked at the clock on the wall and it was close to 12:30. I was sure that it was (Y/N) to remind me Emi should have lunch at 1:00 p.m, so when I picked up the phone, I didn't even notice the caller ID.

"Reid ..." I replied, laughing even in my role as the 'ticklish monster'.

"Dr. Reid. Good afternoon. Addy Moller speaking." I immediately recognized the voice and the name. She was my mom's caretaker in Brookfield.

"Addy, good afternoon. Tell me how I can help you… did something happen with my mom?” My laugh passed and turned into concern.

"I'm sorry but I must say yes. Diana suffered a physical decompensation earlier today and we transferred her to the hospital. She is being monitored and tested, but at the moment everything is quite uncertain. That's why I’m calling you; I think it would be good if you could come…”. I could hear a certain caution in her voice.

"Which hospital?" I was quick to ask.

It was becoming common that my mom suffered decompensations in her physical health, but this was the first time that led her to the hospital and made them call me with that kind of urgency. I felt something in my stomach made me uncomfortable. I had the phone in my hand and was sitting on the edge of the couch. Emi stood on the sofa and clutched at my neck as if she suspected something was wrong.

"Daddy?" she asked as she tried to climb onto my back.

"I’m sorry pumpkin. Daddy was distracted by the phone. We’ll need to stop playing for now. Daddy will make you lunch while he calls mommy, okay?” She nodded. While I handed her one of his books so she could continue coloring, I dialed (Y/N), who quickly answered.

"Baby, hello! So good you called me. I was just going to call you back to remind you Emi’s lunch…” She stopped talking when she heard a sigh on the other side of the line. "Spencer...? Is something wrong?"

"My mom... is in the hospital. They just called me… and they need me to go there… now.” My voice should hardly have been heard on the other side of the phone.

"Oh, baby. Calm down. I'm coming right now”.

***

After a short brief to the team, I ran out to the parking lot. I got in the car and drove as fast as possible without being reckless. Upon arriving at the apartment, Spencer was finishing feeding Emi. Dropping my purse and jacket to the floor, I immediately went to hug him. I could see his eyes were filled with worry and stress. His body tense and his brain somewhere else. He hugged me back, holding me tight.

"I'm here. Tell me, do you want us to go with you? If you don't want Emi to go, we can leave her with my parents. I called them on the way here and they said she can stay with them.” A stifled sob on my shoulder came first before he could speak again.

"I don’t know..."

I knew that his brain was fighting beyond logic. We finally decided Emily would stay with my parents.

The trip started quietly. I could see Spencer staring out the window, phone in hand, as if he was expecting it to ring at any moment. Occasionally I took his hand, and he squeezed it hard before releasing it. Reid, being cautious as always, didn’t want to distract my driving, but his silence was killing me, knowing his brain was working at 1000%.

"Spencer, talk to me. Tell me what's going on in that head of yours. Please, don't leave me out now.” I felt like he was having a hard time swallowing. After another silent moment, he began to speak.

“It's just I always thought I was ready for this moment. But I realized I’m not”. His voice was still, but I could feel the fear in him.

"Baby, you are anticipating an outcome that we don't know will even happen." I said, trying to get him off the ledge in his head.

"Rationally I know there are possibilities. But something beyond the rational tells me exactly what is going to happen, (Y/N), and I'm not ready to let her go.” I could feel how he was trying to hold back the tears.

"I know. But if there is any hope, I think it's only fair that we can hold on to it. Can you do that?”

He nodded and returned his gaze to the window.

***

We got to the hospital and I immediately asked for my mom at the reception desk. I was referred to the 4th floor of Intensive Care, where they told me the treating doctor would explain the details. I took (Y/N)'s hand and went to the elevator. At Intensive Care they told us to wait a few minutes for the doctor to come out to see a patient. There I saw Addy in the waiting room. When she saw me, she came closer.

"Dr. Reid. It’s good you were able to come so fast”. That was her perception. Mine, on the contrary, was that I could never get there fast enough.

"How is she? What are the doctors saying?” I hastened to ask.

"Diana has been dealing with kidney problems for a long time, as you know..." She said trying to contextualize the situation.

"That's correct, I know. That’s the reason we agreed to limit medication last time."

"Indeed. But prolonged exposure throughout her life brings consequences sooner or later. Until now they were manageable, but her body is not working properly anymore. That’s why the doctors want to evaluate possible alternative treatments. But that could also alter her mental state more.”

I was silent. My mother was fighting a battle between her body and her mind now, and nothing I could do or say could help her. "We should wait for the doctor then..." I said, trying to buy time to think and assimilate what I was hearing. Addy nodded. I sat next to (Y/N) to wait. She took my hand, squeezing it every now and then to let me know she was there with me.

My mind took me to the last time that I was in a hospital waiting for news. It was when (Y/N) gave birth to Emily. Although her pregnancy had been relatively uneventful, she had to undergo an emergency c-section. I was nervous, thinking about all the odds associated with the possible outcomes. I thought that my life was about to change dramatically, and I was scared. Although JJ and Prentiss were with me, trying to calm me down, I just couldn't. I remembered my phone ringing at the time. When I saw Addy's name on the identifier, I panicked, thinking something had happened to my mom. Fear that cleared when I heard her voice.

"Mom…?”

"Spencer, honey, I know you're nervous. Your voice gives you away. I also know that my granddaughter is about to be born and you’re surely thinking of all those things that could go wrong. Just stop doing that."

"How do you know (Y/N) is giving birth ...?"

"I just know. I can feel your fear from here... and all the things that are going through your head right now."

"Mom, I don't know how to react. I'm scared, I don't know if I can do it…”

"Honey, I know that. But you need you to focus on the life that is about to see the light. Just let it happen. Don’t overthink it. Feel it and live it.”

"I don't know how to turn off my brain..."

"You can't. But you can make your heart speak louder. Honey, your wife and daughter need you, and you need them. That is all that matters.”

"Dr. Reid?”

A voice saying my name and (Y/N)’s hand squeezing me tight pulled me out of my memory. When I raised my head, I saw the doctor in front of me.

"Doctor... how is my mom?" I asked.

“We have done several tests on Diana and some results are already available. We did a few more tests to be sure. I'm so sorry to have to give you this news Dr. Reid, but Diana is not physically well. She is not reacting to the medication and internal damage will start causing her more problems within the next few hours. We can keep her sedated for as long as necessary, but her condition is unlikely to improve. It is only a matter of hours that her body stops reacting. I'm truly sorry…”

Basically, she was telling me that my mom was dying and I couldn't do anything about it. I felt dizzy. I had a hard time swallowing. I started breathing heavily. I could feel (Y/N) hugging me around my torso and resting her head on my back. It was really happening. Addy, seeing my dismay and my inability to react, began to speak to the doctor.

"Is she conscious? Can we see her?" Addy asked.

“She is sedated for now, but she’ll wake up in a little while. If you want you can be with her in the room.” Replied the doctor.

"Dr. Reid. You should be there…” Addy told me, trying to get me out of my trance.

"Baby. Addy is right. You have to go see her.” Said (Y/N). I couldn't manage to do or say anything; I just nodded, looking for the most coherent words to say.

"Thanks doctor. I'll go. Can I … can I have a moment before?” The doctor and Addy nodded and walked away. I sat on one of the benches with my head buried between my legs and my arms covering my head. (Y/N) hugged me and squeezed tight.

***

It broke my heart to see him shattered like that. I also felt guilty for giving him hope during the trip to the hospital. In 60 minutes everything had turned 180 degrees, and I watched Spencer sink deeper and deeper into anguish and sadness. I would have given anything to not see him like that. I knew there were no words of comfort to ease the powerlessness and pain of that moment, but I needed to let him know that he was not alone; that whatever happened, I was with him, and we could share this burden together.

“Spence. My love, I'm so sorry. I know I have no right to ask you for anything right now, but your mom needs you now. I’ll be with you at all times, for whatever. You know you can count on me…"

"I'm not ready..." He managed to say between sobs.

“Baby, I don’t think we’ll ever be ready for this. But look at me." I tried to pull away the arms that covered his head. "I’m with you. Please, you don't have to carry this alone. Let me be your support, please.” That was how I felt him wrap his arms around my neck and sink his face into my shoulder, crying heartily.

After a few minutes I felt his breathing begin to slowly calm down and the sobs changed to sighs. He raised his head and stared at me with a nod. "Let's go see her". He took my hand and we walked down the hall looking for her room. The reception nurse told us it was 418. We stopped in front of the glass door. From there, Diana could be seen with her eyes closed, connected to machines that monitored her vital signs, as well as her intravenous line in one of her arms.

"Do you want to be alone with her? I can stay here until you tell me." He nodded and kissed me on the forehead, entering the room. I took my phone out of my pocket. Although I still had a lump in my throat, I had to notify the team. They had to know what was going to happen.

***

I approached slowly and saw how her breathing synchronized with the sound of the machines that she was connected to. She was still sedated. I took one of the chairs in the corner of the room and pulled it over to the side of the bed. I sat up and took one of her hands, squeezing it gently. She looked so peaceful. If it weren't for the noise from the machines, I could even imagine that it was a normal day in the sanatorium, and that I was just watching her nap. I didn't know if she could hear me, but I started talking to her, anyway.

"Hi Mom. It's me, Spencer. I came as fast as I could. (Y/N) is here too. She didn't let me drive this far. You know how she is; she worries a lot when she sees me nervous. Yes, I’m nervous. I'm... I'm sad. You know I don't like to see you like this…” Clearly, I received no response. "I’ll be here until you wake up. Don’t worry. Just... rest. We can talk when you wake up... "

A frustrated sigh left my body. Everything seemed so futile to me at the time. Surreal. I looked towards the door and saw (Y/N) on the phone, scratching her forehead and then rubbing her neck. Signs of concern. I couldn't have wished for a better partner in this life; despite all the things we’d faced in our relationship, both before and after we were married, not a day went by that I wasn’t grateful to have her by my side. I remembered when I told my mom. Sure, I had already told her about (Y/N) in my letters, but it wasn't until that moment that I realized what I felt for her was true love.

"You really love her, don’t you? In your letters you always talk about her like a teenager in love.”

"I don’t know. To love I think is... a big thing. But yes, I think so. I love her. It's been like this for a while now…”

"And why didn't you tell her yet?"

"I don’t know. What if she doesn't feel the same way?”

“Honey, of course she won't feel the same. We are talking about another human being. But doesn't mean she can't love you. I think we have talked about this several times. I know you fear rejection and your father is responsible for that. We have not made your life easy, Spencer, but that doesn't mean you should run away from the possibility of being happy.”

"Should I tell her?"

"Certainly, yes. Tell her. Be honest with what you feel and what you want. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. Honey, life is long and hard. And you deserve to have someone you can share that with. All of it. The good and bad."

It was after that talk that I confessed my love to (Y/N). To my surprise, she laughed, saying that she felt the same way about me for a long time. Thus, we began our relationship. Apparently, I just needed a little "push." The memory made me smile. My mom always had wise words for me. In her way of seeing life, she has helped me build mine; with the good and the bad.

When I got married to (Y/N), we managed to get my mom to be at the ceremony. I couldn't even conceive of the fact she couldn't be there. Although it did mean postponing the date a few times. Logistically it wasn’t a big deal either, we never wanted to have a great ceremony or many guests. Her family and mine, which included my mom and the entire BAU, of course. When the ceremony was over, she approached me to speak to me. Surely my smile and happiness reached to heaven.

“I’m so happy to see you like this. I think it's been years since I've seen you smile like that. Not even when you were little kid. I want you to know that I’m proud of you, of what you have achieved and of the man you have become. Today you have a new mission in your life: to make that woman as happy as she makes you feel now."

"Thanks Mom. Thanks for being with me right now. I really needed you here."

"I know darling. I'm just sorry the fact because of me you had to postpone the date so many times."

"Don´t. Don’t say that. (Y/N) also agreed that and there was no problem with that.”

"Just make her happy, Spencer. Because I already know she makes you happy. Just don't take anything for granted. Build your love day by day. Don't let the routine end up killing the love you feel for each other.”

And of course there was a lot of sense in her words. Four years had passed since our wedding, and it has not been easy. Having a relationship with our jobs was not a piece of cake. Nurturing our relationship was also part of the day to day. We had our ups and downs, but every time some obstacle came between us, I remembered those words and repeated to myself what really matters.

Deep in that memory, I didn't see when (Y/N) entered the room. I only realized her arms go around my neck as she kissed me on the head.

"Do you want me to bring you something? A coffee?" She whispered to me. I shook my head and clung to her arms.

"Stay with me for a moment, please."

She gave me another kiss on the head as a way of agreeing to my request. "Of course, as long as you need to."

We were silent for a while. She knew tears were running down my cheeks, but she didn't want to stop them, so she just hugged me tight. I'm sure tears ran down her cheeks, too. For me, for her, for both of us. We were in this together. I couldn't help but break the silence by verbalizing my thoughts.

"What if she doesn't recognize me? If I don't have the chance to say goodbye to her?" I felt my own voice break.

"Don’t think that. You are her son. Although her mind may not recognize you, surely her heart does. She has told you many times.” Said (Y/N) trying to comfort me.

It was true. On her good days and her bad days, I'd never stopped thinking about it. The last time she was lucid, a few months ago, she repeated it to me again.

"I just want to thank you for being my son. For being with me even if I'm not with you most of the time. Although my mind can't even remember your name or your face, know that in my heart, I’ll always love you as I have never loved anyone else in this world.”

"You don't have to thank me... I'm the one who is grateful to be your son."

“I know. It's just that I wish I could tell her so many things now." Although at that minute, I didn't know exactly what, but I did know that I needed to tell her things.

"Will you be able to do it? Of course you can do it.” replied (Y/N), trying to encourage me as she sat on my lap and stroked my hair, still hugging me.

We were like that for a long time; silent. This time I had neither the strength nor the interest in looking at the clock, but at one point I saw my mom's face contort, a sign the sedation was wearing off.

When I saw her open her eyes, I was afraid. On the one hand, I was relieved to see her awake again, but I was afraid that she wouldn't recognize me, and it would be the same as if she were sleeping... or worse.

"Spencer?" Hearing her voice, even if it was almost in a whisper, was a relief. (Y/N) and I immediately got up from the chair.

"Mom, I'm here." I moved closer so she could have a better view of my face.

"Sweetie. I’m sorry I scared you. I don't know why Addy called you; I feel good now."

Damn it. Hearing that broke my heart. Was she deliberately lying to me? Did she really believe it? How could I tell her something? I looked at (Y/N) with pleading eyes. I didn't know what to say. She just stroked my back as she whispered in my ear.

"Give her time. Just stay with her. I’ll go to inform the doctors she is awake.” She kissed me on the forehead and left the room. I knew it was a moment that I had to have alone with her.

***

I left the room towards the nurse's desk to report that Diana had woken up so they could contact the doctor. I didn't want to go back to the room. I knew I had to give them space and let them be alone. Despite all his fears and apprehensions, I knew Spencer would do and say the right things.

I went to one of the coffee machines and by inertia, I placed a few coins to extract perhaps the worst coffee I’d ever had in my life. But that didn't matter; at least having the feeling of doing something kept my head busy. With the cup of coffee in my hand, I sat for a few minutes on one of the benches in the waiting room.

With my eyes fixed on the dark liquid, I remembered the time I told Spencer I was pregnant. He was ecstatic. We hadn’t been consciously planning to have children, but we certainly both wanted it. The first things he said to me after "I love you" was "no more coffee," followed by "we have to tell my mom."

After our appointment with the doctor and knowing that things were going well with the pregnancy, we went to the sanitarium to see Diana. The first time we were not very lucky. She was on one of her bad days. Thankfully, she was able to recognize Spencer at the end of the visit. He was frustrated and sad, but I told him we had a lot more time to tell her and to that we could try another day. So we did; that second time we had better luck. She was much more lucid than the previous times.

“So it is true that you’ll give me a grandson or granddaughter. You haven't wasted your time…” She said, laughing.

"Mom, please." Spencer was still embarrassed by those kinds of comments.

"Spencer, no 'mom, please.' I just want to tell you both one thing: I know you’ll love that son or daughter with all your heart, but you’ll have to learn so many things! And I don't mean just learning how to change diapers or how to make a bottle – I mean how to live and let live another person who came out of your own womb, who may be the exact reflection of yourself. I think it is one of the most difficult things for a mother or father to experience. I tell you from my own experience…”

Being that Emily was still little, I didn't know if I could understand those words at their best yet, but not a day went by that I didn't remember them. Instinctively, I brought my free hand to my belly. Surely we would not only live this process with Emily. A couple of days ago I found out I was pregnant again, but I hadn't told Spencer yet. It was very recent, and I wanted to go to my first appointment before I told him. Well, there will be time for that later, I thought.

"(Y/N)?" JJ's voice brought me out of my thoughts. When I raised my head, the entire BAU team was in my view. There I realized that I hadn’t even taken a sip of the coffee in my hand, and the smell was starting to bother me.

"Where's Reid?" Prentiss asked.

"He is with his mom now." I said, pointing to the hall where the room was. “She woke up very recently. She was sedated." Everyone gave me an empathetic look. I got up from the bench so that I could talk to them.

"How is Reid?" Rossi asked.

“Shattered. Powerless. Frustrated… I don't know what else could I say…” I shrugged and dumped the coffee in the trash can.

"And you? How are you doing?" Tara asked.

I could only scratch the base of my neck in despair. "I don’t know. I wish I could do much more... but I can only be there for him. There isn't anything else I can do.” I had not wanted to cry openly in all those hours because I was supposed to be my husband's support, but the situation was overwhelming me. In that moment, I released everything. Prentiss hugged me tight to comfort me.

"That is why we are all here, for whatever you need. We will stay here as long as necessary,” said Penelope.

"Thank you, guys. I know Spencer will appreciate it as much as I do," I said between disguised sobs on Emily's shoulder.

***

I took a deep breath and looked at my mom with a warm smile before continuing to speak.

"It’s okay, Mom. I wanted to see you anyway… that's why I'm here.” I tried to say something non-specific while finding out where we were.

"But look at this mess! These machines, these tubes… they should take all of this away from me,” she said in a frustrated tone.

"Mom... they can't. The doctors say they are necessary to monitor how you are doing and give you your medicine.” I tried to reason with her.

"The 'doctors,'" she murmured sarcastically. “Spencer, could it never be on my terms? Not even my own death?” She said, almost in a plea.

There I heard it; the proof that she knew. She was fully aware of what was going on. Would I to lie to her? I couldn't think of anything else to do.

"It’s necessary, so that you can recover."

Yes, I lied, trying to omit what had just come out of her mouth. It seemed the easiest thing to say. She looked at me with those eyes that rebuke you for lying. I felt like a child again.

“Honey… don't do that. We both know I’m not leaving here unless I’m in a coffin.”

Why did she have to be so rude while saying it? She said it as if it were the most natural and obvious outcome. Didn't she know it hurt me? Didn't it hurt her to say it?

"Mom, please... don't say that." I replied in protest.

"Do you want me to lie to you? I never liked lying to you, Spencer. You know that." Although her voice was soft, given her state and the narcotics traveling through her body, she denoted the same determination of her habitual character.

And yes; Diana Reid had never lied to me in her life, and she wasn’t going to start on her deathbed. Her ‘deathbed’. The thought of it made me finally collapse in front of her. I could see tears in her eyes too.

"Honey, look at me. I know this is difficult. Not that I have experienced it before, but we both knew this moment would come.”. I took her hand and squeezed it hard so that she knew I was listening, but I didn't want to open my eyes.

"It’s… just ... I'm not ready." My words were barely more than whispers.

"Me neither... but here we are." She squeezed my hand, and I finally opened my eyes. She had a wistful smile drawn on her face. “Sometimes we just have to let things happen. And don't think I 'm despising my life. Especially my life after having you. I have always told you that… that you are the best thing that could have happened to me in life. It would never be otherwise."

At that moment, the doctor in charge entered with some nurses. They checked the machines and brought a folder with papers that I assumed were my mom's medical records.

"Diana, how do you feel?" Asked the doctor.

"I've been better. Although at least I can recognize my son; I guess that puts me on one of my good days.” The sarcasm – my favorite inheritance. The doctor looked at me as if wanting to move away from her to talk to me.

"Mom, I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

"No. Whatever you have to discuss, do it here, in front of me. I don't want anything hidden from me. And if possible, I wish I could make decisions for myself too. After all, it is me who is dying.” Her tone was serious, but her voice trembled. A deep sigh ripped from my body. Yes, I owed her. It had to be on her terms. I looked at the doctor and nodded. She understood and began to speak.

"Well. Dr. Reid, Diana. Final examinations confirm the diagnosis of failure we had detected earlier. In the last hours we have tried 3 different routes of treatment to see if we can control the damage, but… none have worked. Sedation has helped with the pain, but it’ll start to get more intense in the next few hours. We have two options. We can maintain high levels of narcotics that will lessen the pain but keep you sedated, or we can work at lower levels, but that will bring more discomfort... but you will be conscious."

Before I could say anything, my mom stepped in. "How many hours?" Asked my mom looking at the ceiling.

"It is difficult to know exactly, but our estimate is between 4 and 6 hours." The doctor tried to explain.

"I want the second option," my mom said without even grimacing. I looked at her immediately.

"But mom, that means you will feel pain and be uncomfortable..."

She cut me off immediately. "Spencer, please, I'd rather take advantage of every hour I have left with you than be some kind of Sleeping Beauty."

"Do you agree, Dr. Reid?" The doctor asked me. I couldn’t disagree; she wanted it. I nodded.

“Well, we’ll prepare everything for dosing and monitoring of your condition. Any changes you experience and needs that appears along the way; we can make adjustments for."

"Thank you." My mom and I said at the same time. The doctor nodded empathetically and left the room.

"Spencer, I know what you are thinking now, but I thank you for letting me make this decision.”

"I know, mom. I know." I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Well. I want to know. How is my granddaughter? How are things going with (Y/N)? Is she here? Tell me as if you were writing one of your letters. I love your letters, you know that".

I sat in the chair next to her and, without releasing her hand, I began to summarize the past few weeks just as if I were writing her a letter, with all the details I knew she wanted to know.

***

The waiting room was silent. With what little I had eaten, I began to feel sick. I had to go to the bathroom. The morning sickness had started, and in addition to the stress, it seemed to get worse. My cell phone vibrated. It was a message from Spencer: He wanted me to come to the room. I got out of the bathroom and informed the guys I had to go back. They nodded and said they would stay there and wait for news.

When I stepped inside, I saw Diana awake and with a smile on her face. Spencer saw me and got up from his chair.

"Mom, I told you that (Y/N) was here." He took me by the waist to bring me closer to where she was.

"Hello my dear. I'm sorry you have to see me this way. I hope you don't mind,” said Diana, as if it were a very normal day.

“Diana, there is nothing to apologize for. How are you feeling?”

"I think so far they have been quite balanced with the doses." She said, pointing to her intravenous line. I gave her an empathetic smile. She stared at me like she was analyzing me. That was not unusual for her, but given the circumstances I didn't think she would do it.

"How are you? How have you been feeling lately?" She asked me. I looked at Spencer, confused. I thought maybe he had said something to her about being stressed from work or my isolated headaches. He looked back at me just as confused.

"Fine. Well, there is plenty of work at BAU. And Emily is also quite amount of work.” I said, laughing. She gently nodded.

"And you’ll have more work with the new one." She said nonchalantly upon seeing my belly. I froze, immediately feeling Spencer's eyes on me. I don't know what Diana saw, but she knew immediately.

"Are you…?" Spencer asked to me.

"Honey, it's obvious. Apparently you are not paying too much attention.” Diana said. I just nodded before she looked at me again, “Darling, I'm sorry I ruined the surprise, but I'm glad to know that your family is going to grow, even though I won't be there to see it.” She spoke with a sigh.

At that time the nurses came back in to check on Diana's condition. They asked us to leave the room for a moment. In the hallway, Spencer looked at me with puzzled eyes.

"Baby, I didn't want to tell you because it's so recent. I only took the tests a few days ago. I have an appointment with the doctor next week. I’m sorry.” I tried to apologize.

"It's okay. I’m not reproaching you for anything. Come here." He pulled me with one of his hands and hugged me tight. "Sorry that I can't be more animated, but it really seems like fantastic news to me."

"You don’t have to apologize. It's not the right time now either, I know.”

"As you can see, my mom always has other plans." He said muffling his voice in my hair.

"How she is doing?" I took advantage of asking to him. He related what was coming. He looked much calmer than at the beginning of the day. Resigned? Perhaps.

Although the passing of the hours meant a painful countdown, Spencer managed to share with Diana the most intimate of her mother-son relationship. I must say I always admired the way they cared about each other. Spencer trying to be the protective son while Diana, in her role as mother, always looked to teach him new things; advise him, support him, even if they didn’t see each other on a daily basis. The kind of bond that many families, no matter how much time they spend together, never achieve.

The last medical check-up showed Diana was declining, and that pain was not so subtle without the medication. The doctor again offered the option of sedation, which Diana refused.

***

I could see her face more uncomfortable than in the prior hours. You could tell she was breathing harder and her eyes were heavier. She insisted on being conscious as far as her body would allow. I never abandoned her side. Neither of us could speak. She didn’t because it was more physically difficult; I didn’t because I felt a lump in my throat from the powerlessness of seeing her in pain. We were silent. It was early morning, but the first ray of daylight hadn’t yet appeared. She opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Honey, what are you thinking...?” She asked softly.

"That I don’t like to see you in pain..."

She could barely smile. "I don't care about pain. I’m happy that you are with me. That is enough for me.” She said, closing her eyes and giving a deep sigh. You could tell it was more effort than she was willing to admit.

"Mom... I..." I wanted to be honest with her, but it was hard for me to get out of my 'I'm fine' role.

"Just say it, Spencer. Don't keep it. Especially not now…” She said in an almost inaudible voice.

"Mom, I'm scared. I’m afraid to let you go, and it's not just because I love you, it's because I don't know who I am in this world if I'm not your son. If I'm not here to protect you." I started crying again.

"Spencer... that's a role you've had for a long time." She told me in a whisper.

"It’s what I am..."

"No. You, my dear son, you are more than that. What we are in the world... can change. It's part of life. You have to move forward. You have to keep going. Do it for me, for you, for your family… Please.”

"How do I do that...?" I asked almost rhetorically.

"Just do it. You've been a wonder boy for many years. You are an adult now. A loving husband, an exceptional father… Just keep going.”

"I promise I’ll try. I swear, I’ll try… ” I said, squeezing her hand.

"I know. And I know you’ll succeed. Because you are my son, and I know you and I love you.”

Those were her last words.

The next few minutes were silent. All I could do was take her hand to try and comfort her through the pain. When the grip of her hand became languid, I realized she had passed away. The constant, deafening sound of the machines was only a confirmation of what I already knew.

A sob tore from my throat. Within a second the room filled with doctors and nurses. I couldn't let go of her hand. I didn’t dare; I couldn’t. (Y/N) took my arm, helping me to release my mom's hand. Helping me let her go.

“Spencer. We have to get out of the room. Come on love, let's go.” Nodding, I followed her into the hall. (Y/N) started talking to me to get me out of my shock. "It's okay. Everything will be fine. She is fine now. She is no longer suffering. You could be with her to the end. You let her go on her terms. I’m proud of what you did, Spencer, and I'm sure that she is even more proud.” I managed to hug her and sank my head into her shoulder.

***

"I'm going to miss her so much..." He told me as I gently stroked his head, trying to calm him down.

"I know, baby. I know. But you’re not alone; we’re not alone. We are together in this. We’ll get through it, I promise."

Those were the only words that came out of my mouth. I knew the pain was not going to go away quickly. I knew this would be slow, but I was willing to do whatever it took to help him. I sincerely hoped that he knew that.

We held each other for a while. Then it was him who broke the embrace, looking me in the eyes and resting his hands on my shoulders to make sure I was paying attention to him.

“I couldn't be luckier to have you by my side. And if I have to repeat it every day of my life, I’ll do it, because I don't want to take anything for granted between us. Thank you for being with me. I love you, (Y/N)”. His words were accompanied by a warm little smile; a promise that things would be okay, eventually.

"Always. Never doubt that I love you, Spencer Reid. And I’ll be forever grateful to Diana for raising such a unique and wonderful person like you."

Before walking to the waiting room, I told him that the entire team was there. I didn't want to disturb him with a surprise at a time of such vulnerability. He nodded, taking my hand, and we continued toward the waiting room. Seeing them, he couldn't let the tears run down his cheeks. I released his hand so that he could receive everyone's affection. Another way to show him that he was not alone in this; that there were people who would always be there for him.

***

I never expected to see so many people on the day of her funeral. In addition to my current BAU team, Derek, Aaron, Alex, and Kate were there, along with some of my mom's ex-students, part of the Brookfield workers, and others I didn’t recognize. I received many hugs and words of reassurance.

It was time for my speech. I looked at (Y/N) and our little Emily, who could hardly understand what was happening. I cleared my throat and started to speak.

Of course, Diana Reid would not have liked it all to be sadness, so when I saw the audience laugh at some of the anecdotes I told, I felt that she was smiling at me from where she was now. It was my time for the last words.

“… she always had something to say… something to say to me. In her own way, she taught me to be the man I am now. I’ll forever be grateful for that. And if there is something I aspire to in my life, it is to be able to teach my daughter and my next child so many things, as my mother taught me. And I know that she is proud of me; she told me that many times. But I want to continue to honor that pride for the rest of my life. I want to continue being the worthy son that she deserves, even though her body is no longer here. Now I only have one more thing to say... something to tell you, mom. Thank you for letting me be your son. I love you."

——————–

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x fem!reader #diana reid #spencer reid angst #criminal minds #dr. spencer reid

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jamesashtonisbae · 3 years

Text

You and Me and the Big Blue Sea

Word Count: 6720 (no freaking way this started as 3,000 words and is now this freaking long

Book: The Nanny Affair

Pairing: Aditya Bharad x MC (Alyssa Febrey)

Rating: Mature (ish)

Warnings: Language, allusions to sexual content

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Pixelberry studios.

Author’s Note: This is so stinking long! I don't know how this happened! I haven't wanted to write for a long time, but I just thought Aditya was a cutie and wouldn't it be nice if MC could just date him in TNA. I am not loving Sam Dalton right now, but I did try not to be super cruel to him. I did run through and edit this, but I'm going through an emotional time at work so it's possible that it's bad. The ending was hard for me, because I wanted it to be a happy ending and I thought making it epilogue-ish was how to do that. Maybe I'll explore some of the in-between that I didn't dive into that fully. Thank you to anyone who reads!

Link to Masterlist

Aditya had spent the entire evening watching Alyssa Febrey. She stepped out in a sinful, skintight dress that was more visually appealing than the whole of the Casino de Monte Carlo. He surely lost thousands of dollars that night, but he would never know because he was just looking at her. He watched as she was joined by Sofia, their boss, and Sam Dalton, their boss boss. Sam Dalton clearly noticed what Aditya had, that Alyssa was the most beautiful woman in the entire building. He watched as Sam tried to touch her, discreetly. He also saw Alyssa twist her face from one of annoyance into a kind smile each time he did.

Aditya had admired Alyssa from afar for a while now and he could say with confidence that she was seeing Sam Dalton. He could also say with confidence that she was unhappy with Sam Dalton.

He and Alyssa ate lunch together every day. He would see her get a call from Sam on her watch and lately, she’d been declining it instead of leaving to see Sam as she had at the beginning. Maybe it was because of something Sam had done, or maybe she just wasn’t feeling it anymore. Aditya didn’t know for sure.

After watching them for a long time, he decided it was pathetic to be pining after this young woman, fresh out of grad school, who was immensely talented and capable and undoubtedly the most intelligent person in their division. She had saved the expo today by thinking on her feet and being the most charming person in the room. Even though she was drawing him to her like a magnet, he knew he needed to stop staring at her like a loser.

He noticed that Sam had slipped a room key into her hand and that she was now waiting to go join him. And Aditya didn’t want to be the chump who didn’t get to be with her and watched her with another guy, but he had to talk to her. He gulped down another shot and took his liquid courage over to see the girl he’d been thinking about all day.

“Hello Alyssa,” he said softly to get her to turn towards him.

She turned and her frown lit up into a grin when she saw him, “Addy!” She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, “Today was amazing, wasn’t it? I can’t believe how well it went for us!”

“How well it went for you, you mean. You saved us out there, Lyss.”

“I don’t know about that, but thank you. It was exhilarating to talk about our idea with people who can actually make it happen and use it to make the world a better place.”

“It was. You did a great job presenting. I would have been so nervous about having that responsibility on my shoulders. You’re great with people.”

“Aw, Ads, you are too! I know you would have done a great job with it, too.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t have.”

The way she was looking at him had him believing her though. Her eyes were lit up in a way he hadn’t seen the whole time she’d been at the casino. She was leaning in towards him, looking into his eyes, smiling brightly.

“So, you doing anything fun tonight?” she asked.

“I wasn’t planning on much. I thought I might take a walk down to the docks since I haven’t done any working out since I’ve been here. Or sightseeing, we just have been stuck in here dealing with the expo.”

She sat there for a second, contemplating, “Can I come with you?”

. . .

Alyssa had been feeling alone lately. That is until she met Aditya at work. Where all Sam wanted from her was to have sex, Aditya was interested in talking to her and getting to know her. Sure, she liked having sex, but she wanted more from someone she was pursuing a real relationship with. She wanted to feel like she was friends with the person she was with, not just white-hot lust. She didn’t have that with Sam.

Aditya was filling that gap. And sure, the grass wasn’t always greener on the other side. But as she’d been getting to know Aditya, she was realizing that there were romantic feelings there. They hadn’t so much as flirted, but she was crushing on him hard. There were just lunch and work conversations and many long hours of working closely together and somewhere along the way, she realized that she liked him a lot. And she’d given Sam chances to be what she was looking for, she had told him she needed to not feel like a booty call and to be treated like she was a person he actually loved. Still, he only ever called or texted to sext or to set up a time to have sex. He didn’t listen to her. And she was absolutely exhausted trying to make it work.

Alyssa knew she had a lot to offer and she knew what she was worth. Which was why she was done sitting around. She texted Sam that she wouldn’t be joining him, then followed Aditya out of the casino.

“Go slow, because I can’t move that fast in these shoes.”

“Do you need some help?” he asked, offering his arm for her.

“Thank you, Aditya,” she said, hooking her hand in the crook of his arm. Being close to this man was making her stomach flip in a way it hadn’t in years. She wondered if she would work up the courage to say anything to him yet.

“So, I haven’t been able to help but notice that you and Sam Dalton seem closer than former nanny and employer,” he started as they walked slowly down the sidewalk to the docks.

“What an astute scientific observation, Mr. Bharad.”

“And would it be the type of relationship where I would get fired for taking a walk arm in arm with you on a beautiful night in a foreign country?”

Alyssa laughed, “Please, I don’t think Sam cares about me unless I’m in a bedroom.”

Aditya stopped and turned to look at her with a heartbroken gaze, “Well, he’s an idiot.”

Alyssa returned it for a moment, then looked away sheepishly, “Yes, he is.”

“So you’re not going to use that room key in your purse?” he asked, cringing that he asked that question.

“I texted him that I wasn’t coming.”

Aditya was in shock. He couldn’t believe she had decided to hang out with him over billionaire Sam Dalton, “Has he replied?”

“I muted him.”

“Ouch.”

“Well maybe he should’ve thought of that back when I told him I was tired of feeling like a booty call and I wanted to feel valued, and then he kept just trying to have sex with me and not actually do couple things,” she didn’t want to admit how stupid she actually was. She couldn’t believe she had actually thought something serious could happen with Sam.

“So is he your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend in public or in private,” it was the most honest thing she had admitted about Sam. She wasn’t his and he wasn’t hers. She didn’t think she’d ever said anything that brash about Sam.

“Oh.”

“I feel a little stupid about it actually.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“But I do. I let this guy tell me that I’m pretty and smart and then didn’t even stop to think about if the relationship was actually good for me. He didn’t even have to do anything to get me, I just followed after him like a little puppy dog. And I’ve never gotten anything back except for him leaving his fiancee who cheated on him and it was exposed in front of all the guests at his rehearsal dinner.”

“You deserve better than that, Alyssa.”

“I know I do,” she said, knowing she did in her heart, hoping that she was maybe standing in front of her “better” right now.

“You’re so confident, Alyssa. I don’t know what has happened with you and Sam, but I know you to be a confident woman who knows what she wants,” Aditya was hopeful that she would be confident and tell him if she felt something for him because his confidence was dwindling with all of the Sam talk. He thought she’d realize they had good times together and go back to him. His window was dwindling. He wanted her so badly, just to hold her hand and talk to her and buy her lunch and flowers and follow her around while she was shopping and research next to each other on the couch and eventually fall in love and get married and have children. All he wanted was a shot. He had one but he thought it had already passed.

“I think I’m learning what I want,” she said after a few moments of silence. She was standing there with a man she really liked and who had always put her first. He was so kind to her, always helping her when she was still figuring out her way around the lab, eating lunches with her so she wouldn’t have to go on her own, bringing in coffee for everyone but getting her the fancy latte she liked instead of just a regular coffee with sugar and cream. She could not have asked him to be a better guy. He was so sweet.

“What do you want?” he asked. They had reached the docks and were now strolling to the end to look out at the water. It was a beautiful night, maybe a bit chilly. Alyssa shivered and Aditya shifted to wrap his arm around her. At that, Alyssa turned so she was completely in his arms.

She looked up into his eyes and smiled, “I want you,” and with that, decisively pressed her lips to his. He secured her in his arms tightly, pulling her tiny body to his almost aggressively. She smiled into his lips, running her hands up to rest at the nape of his neck. He ran his hands over the silky back of her dress, holding onto her bare skin when his hands moved up her back. She lost herself in the feeling of Aditya’s lips on hers. She’d wanted to be kissed like this for so long. Like the other person was desperate for her. Like she was all he wanted and all he needed. The way his hand gripped her back, gently but intentionally, made her knees weak. And she realized she hadn’t kissed like this for a long time. She was desperate for him. She wanted him and she needed him. He was as necessary as the salty air she was breathing. If not more. The kiss ignited feelings that had been brewing for a long time. All she could think about now was him.

He stopped kissing her to look into her eyes. He looked at her like she hung the moon. She smiled up at him and said, “That was perfect.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” he said, wrapping her up into another perfect kiss.

They stood at the edge of the dock, holding hands and chatting almost all night. They talked about work, more than just the expo that day, but their hopes and dreams for environmental innovation. She’d never enjoyed conversations like this with a guy before. He didn’t talk down to her or assume she didn’t know what he was saying.

They could have talked about it for hours, but eventually, they moved on to family. He had two loving parents who had emigrated from India to give him and his four brothers and two sisters a life in America. They had expected him to be a doctor, but he had insisted on becoming an environmental engineer. In the end, they were proud of their third child. They lived in Boston, Massachusetts, and hadn’t loved everything about America, but were huge Red Sox fans and bought season tickets every year. Secretly, she hoped she’d be able to join them sometime. When she was at MIT she loved going to Red Sox games and if things went well with Aditya, maybe she would actually get to join them realistically.

She told him about her parents, who loved their only daughter with all their hearts. They lived in a small town in upstate New York and took all of their vacations to visit her, whether she was at MIT or living in the Big Apple. Her parents were German and they loved to cook German cuisine for fun and would invite anyone to join them. Her dad also loved to fish on the quiet lake their house sat on.

They talked about music, and art, and their favorite restaurants and movies and tv shows and what they thought about the books they were reading and how they saw the world and what they thought about politics and taxes and British imperialism and anything and everything until it was well into the early hours of the morning.

Eventually, she could feel her feet growing numb. Sore, she could deal with. Numb was a completely different story. She started shifting her feet a lot, and Aditya noticed.

“You can take those off you know,” he said.

“No, a lady never takes off her shoes until the end of the night,” she joked, drawing a quick laugh from her handsome companion.

“Well then, I’ll carry you,” he offered.

“You’ll carry me?”

He nodded, reaching down under her knees and lifting her up into his arms, “Ads! What are you doing?”

He laughed and kissed her gently on the cheek, “I’m carrying you. Your feet hurt and I’m a gentleman so I’m carrying you back to your room.”

The two of them giggled the entire way back to her room, which was conveniently on the same floor as his. When they arrived, he set her down on her feet, then leaned down and met her in a final kiss.

“I want to spend every moment with you, Alyssa. But I want to prove that I want more than something physical with you,” he whispered against her lips as she started tugging him closer to her. It was obvious what they both wanted, but he was committed to not being Sam. He wanted to show her that he wanted more with her. Because boy did he want more with her. He wanted to visit her parent’s cabin in upstate New York and go fishing with her dad and learn to make schnitzel in the kitchen with her mom. He wanted to sit in front of the warm fireplace with her, reading books and talking and kissing.

“You can come in, I’ll still believe you want more,” she looked up with him, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. “I promise.”

“If I come in, it will just be for a drink.”

“Oh of course. Just a drink,” she smirked, wrapping a hand behind his neck, curling her fingers into his hair to pull him down into a kiss. He went into the kiss willingly. They were ramping it up to more when there was a shout from the end of the hall.

“What the fuck is this?” Sam exclaimed from the end of the hallway, hands on his hips. Alyssa had never seen him looking so angry. She knew why, she had her hand tangled in another man’s hair and her leg was doing that thing where it was hitching up over his hip. It looked bad. But it didn’t matter if it looked bad, it wasn’t bad. She was single.

“Sam, it’s late. These people in this hotel are trying to sleep! Go to bed,” she hissed loudly.

“I’ll pay for their rooms. Who the fuck is this guy and why the fuck is he kissing my girlfriend?” Sam’s intense features were darkening and she genuinely believed he was going to kill Aditya. Genuinely believed it would happen.

“I’m not your girlfriend, Sam,” she said adamantly.

“Like hell, you’re not.”

“We’re not doing this out here,” she thought if she whispered it, he would get the hint and stop yelling.

He seemed to get the hint as he lowered his voice, “Fine, we’ll do this in your room.”

“No, we’re not doing this in my room either. We’re not doing this at all. Go back to your room, Sam,” as soon as she said it, she was done with him. She knew she couldn’t go back to what they’d had, just sex and kissing and occasionally seeing the boys. She still wanted to see the boys, but that was all. She’d be staying in this just to be the next mother to those boys. And she loved them so much, more than she loved most anyone in the world. But that was not enough of a reason to stay in a relationship that was causing her so much pain.

“No,” Sam crossed his arms adamantly.

“She told you to go, man,” Aditya stepped in front of Alyssa. Alyssa leaned her head against his shoulder, holding onto him gently as he stood up for her. She had to hide her grin as the hot guy she had a crush on stood up for her against the billionaire she had been sleeping with. It was a tense situation and if she smiled like a crazy person it would make Sam even angrier.

“And who are you to tell me what to do?”

“Someone who cares about Alyssa, and you’re upsetting her. You don’t need to talk to her about this now.”

“And are you going to leave? Or are you going to go into my girlfriend’s room?”

“Last I checked, she’s not your girlfriend.”

“She’s not yours either.”

“I do know that. I don’t go around calling women my girlfriend unless we’ve had an explicit conversation about it and we’re both on the same page. Go back to your room.”

Sam growled, turning on his heel and marching over to the elevator. He waited for a few beats, glaring over at the couple that had been on the verge of happy before he stormed down there, then shook his head and went inside and left. Alyssa sighed in relief, wrapping both arms around Aditya and holding him tightly against her.

He turned around in her arms, tilting her chin so she looked up in his eyes, “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “I appreciate you defending me, even if it put your job on the line.”

“I think my job is okay. Sofia doesn’t seem like she takes instructions from Sam Dalton.”

“A valid point,” she replied, leaning up to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“So, I want to talk to you about this, but I don’t think we should out here. Can I come in, or are you done with people for today?”

“No, you should come in,” she said, a little exhausted at the thought of having to talk about this more. She wanted to talk to Addy about everything, but tonight she just needed to fall asleep with that attractive man next to her. How she would convince him to stay with her, she didn’t know.

He followed her into her room. When she started to take a seat on her bed, he stopped her, “Why don’t you change into something comfortable, and I’ll go back to my room and change too?”

She nodded and he left to change. She changed into a pair of sweatpants and an MIT hoodie. As she waited for him, she curled up on the couch and tugged a blanket over her. She was exhausted by the whole night. It was late and she wanted to sleep but she wanted to assure Aditya that she wasn’t just going to kiss him once and run. A few moments later, Aditya returned and joined her. She sat up a bit and let him take her hands.

“Do you want to talk tonight?” he asked, observing that she was exhausted and didn’t have the capacity to talk about her tumultuous relationship with Sam Dalton that night.

She shook her head, moving over so she was sitting in his lap, “I just want to cuddle up with you.”

“You can cuddle up with me.”

She let him adjust on the couch, moving so they were pressed together completely, holding onto each other tightly. They didn’t say much at all, just enjoying being near each other. She nestled her head into his chest until she couldn’t breathe. It was a delight to be suffocated by being comfortable with this man. And like she could be in his presence and not have to sleep with him for it to be okay for them to be hanging out.

After a long time of cuddling together, Aditya picked her up and took her over to set her down in her bed. She was so happy in his arms. They were so much bigger and stronger than she expected, but they were also cozy and comfortable. So comfortable that the four-second walk to her bed was enough for her to basically fall asleep.

“Good night, Lyssa,” he said, pulling the covers back with one hand, then gently depositing her into the bed.

She snuggled into her covers as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, “Please stay,” she whispered.

“Lyssa . . .”

“Please, Addy?”

He looked down at the beautiful woman snuggled tightly into her covers. She looked so exhausted that she would probably not remember if he left, but there was no way he was going to deny her anything she asked.

He crawled into the bed from the other side. As soon as he was laying down, Alyssa slid over and wrapped her arms around him. For a moment, they just lay together, snuggled up happily. And she was, so happy. It was blissful. She’d spent a while getting to know him, they had built a friendship, they had grown to appreciate and trust each other and then they had developed feelings. It may not have been white-hot at first, but there was a moment when she kissed him before Sam interrupted them. But mostly it was just them being comfortable together. She hadn’t felt this way with a man in years. And after a year of feeling on edge and unsure, it was perfect.

“Goodnight Addy.”

He kissed her forehead gently, “Good night.”

. . .

A few weeks later, Alyssa had ended things with Sam. She had told him it wasn’t working and she knew he had tried, but it still wouldn’t work. She didn’t want to disappoint the boys, so she said she’d be willing to hang out with them if he ever brought them to the office or if they asked he could reach out and plan a time for her to see them. Other than that, she didn’t want to be with him. It broke her heart a tiny bit. In the end, she did believe he loved some part of her.

He was distraught. She had never seen Sam Dalton cry before, but he did when she ended things. It made her cry too. They needed closure, and the conversation gave them closure. It was a little sad, but when she thought of Aditya and being able to pursue a real relationship with him, she suddenly became deliriously happy.

One morning, all those weeks later, she walked into the lab with a smile on her face and an extra scone and coffee in her hand. Aditya always got there early, so she wanted to be there before everyone else. She had a very important question to ask him since they had been seeing each other since Monaco.

They had gone on a few dates here and there but mostly had just seen each other at work. It was clear that they were meaning to get together once she had the official conversation with Sam.

“Hey Ads, sorry to interrupt your early morning,” she strolled over to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “But, I come bearing breakfast.”

He grinned, looking around to make sure no one else was there, then kissed her lips softly, “Thank you for breakfast. Want to go eat in your office?”

She nodded, “Yeah let’s go.”

They sat in her office, chatting about work and all of the things they had going on that day. Sam had won the competition and was named CEO, but the environmental division had gotten some incredible grants and investments and was successful. Sam promised not to fire her or Aditya and to let Sofia continue running the division.

When the clock struck 8:00, signaling when everyone else, in every other department, would be in, Alyssa popped her question, “Aditya, would you do me the honor of going to HR and becoming my official boyfriend?”

He laughed, reaching over to pull her into a hug, “I would love to.”

“Yeah?” she asked, burying her face in his chest. This man was finally going to be hers, all hers. And in return, she would be all his. Her whole life, she had been waiting to feel this safe and secure, and giddy and excited, and hot and sexy. She finally felt like she found what she was looking for, what everyone was looking for in their life. And wow, was she happy.

“Yeah,” he replied. He couldn’t believe that he was making Alyssa his girlfriend. She had become his best friend over the course of their time working together, but he had felt that spark when he met her. The spark that made him know that even if this incredible woman was only ever going to be his friend, he was going to have to try to make her his girl. He was grateful for her friendship and appreciated her so deeply, but the minute she kissed him, he knew he would not be able to return.

She gave him a gentle kiss that he ramped up into more, pulling her over into his lap. They started making out more passionately than they had ever before. They had proven their commitment to one another and now were ready to step up other areas of their relationship. She couldn’t have been more excited, but she had no idea how she was going to make it through the workday without having this man.

“Alyssa- oh my god! I’m so sorry, umm,” their coworker Charles walked in. He was clearly embarrassed, but he wasn’t going to leave just yet. He wasn’t the only one embarrassed. Aditya looked away and covered his face with his hands. All Alyssa could think about when he did it was how big that man’s hands were and how badly she wanted them back on her.

“Don’t worry Charles, we’re going to HR this morning,” she said, wishing she could just ravage him there instead of having to go to HR at all.

“Oh. Well, good. Um, as you were,” Charles wanted to leave, clearly, but he didn’t make a move to go just yet.

“It’s okay, we’re going to HR now,” Alyssa said.

“Don’t go on my account.”

“No, we’re going. We already decided on it. That’s what all the kissing was about. Probably should have waited,” she said, slipping off of her boyfriend’s lap.

Aditya kept his eyes on the floor as he took her hand as he led her past Charles to take her to the HR office. That was probably why, when they got into the elevator, they didn’t notice that Sam was in there too.

“Oh, hi Sam,” this was the first time she had seen him since they broke up. He had texted her telling her that the boys missed her, so she arranged a time to see them at the park with Jordan. But she hadn’t seen him. He looked good, but she could tell in his eyes that he was sad. Maybe not before they came in the elevator, but since they came in the elevator it was all she could see, that a man she had loved was sad and missing her. But in that moment she knew, she was fully over him.

“Hello, Alyssa. Aditya.”

Alyssa nodded, not noticing that she was still holding Aditya’s hand. Sam noticed and nodded towards them, “So, you two are together?”

Alyssa nodded again, “Yes. We’re going to HR right now.”

“Well, that’s good. I’m happy for you,” to his credit, he seemed genuine.

“Thank you, Sam,” she said, offering a smile. “And congrats on winning. You deserve this company. And so do the boys.”

He smiled, “They do. I’m glad to have secured their futures from them. If they should want this future of course.”

Alyssa smiled back at him, “Of course. Tell them hello for me.”

“I will.”

They stood awkwardly for a few moments, “Well, this is our floor.”

“Of course. Good luck in there.”

“Thank you,” Alyssa said, leading Aditya out, hand in hand.

After they went to HR and declared their relationship with all the paperwork in the world, there was a bouquet of wildflowers on her desk. Apparently, Aditya had scheduled for them to arrive in the elevator when she was talking to Sam.

“Oh, Addy!” she threw her arms around him and gave him a solid peck on the mouth. “They’re beautiful, thank you!”

“You like them?”

“I love them! They’re perfect!” she said, holding him tightly. It was so nice to be shown affection in public by the person she was dating. The flowers were huge and they were beautiful and they were her favorite kind. She couldn’t remember telling him that she loved wildflower bouquets.

Later that day, he bought her lunch. It was from their favorite bistro that they frequented when they were tired of the cafeteria, but he got her the cookie she always refused to get for herself.

After work, he walked her home, then promised to be back in an hour with a kiss. She got ready for the reservation he had made during the day, at a restaurant she had never told Sam she liked, but that Aditya had figured out without even having to ask. It wasn’t super fancy, but the way this man made her feel made her want to dress up for him. She put on the dress she had worn to the casino in Monaco, the first night they got together.

When he showed up at her apartment, his eyes lit up the way she had hoped they would, “You’re wearing the dress!”

“Is it your favorite dress?” she asked, walking over to him sexily.

“I love everything you wear, but this dress. My god, you look incredible. You look like everything I’ve ever wanted,” he was devouring her with his eyes. She felt so desired.

“Addy,” she whispered, reaching over to cup his face in her hand and guide him into a kiss with her. In that moment, she knew she had never been this blissfully happy in her life. She loved the kinky sex she’d had with Sam, but it was not even close to what she had with Aditya, and she hadn’t had sex with him. He was so committed to proving to her that he wanted her in a way that she hadn’t been wanted before that he held back and didn’t have sex with her. Now that she had a label on it, she was hoping it would happen soon. There were moments where she could hardly stand to keep her hands off the man.

She pulled away and held his hand, “You’re wonderful, you know that, right?”

He laughed, “Just trying to be as good a man as a woman like you deserves.”

“I would be so lucky to deserve how good you are to me,” she reached up and kissed him again. “I’m ready to go, are you?”

He nodded, taking her hand and leading her out to go to dinner. She had a wonderful time, realizing that this was really going to work. They were going to have a really great relationship, she knew it was her happily ever after.

And after dinner, she drew him into her bedroom and had her way with him. He was blown away by her prowess in bed. She knew her way around a man, and she was learning his body at a rapid pace. She adored him and was happy to show it by worshipping his body. While she was the more dominant of the two, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve that had her moaning and writhing beneath him.

He spent the night for the first time. He assumed he would and had brought over a bag so they could go to work together in the morning. As she fell asleep in his arms for the first time since Monaco, she felt truly at peace. Maybe it was the mind blowing sex, maybe it was the kind gestures, maybe it was that cute, kissable face. Whatever it was, she fell asleep comfortably.

That next morning, she made him breakfast in bed. They cuddled and kissed and he wasn’t early for work for the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. Alyssa Febrey could be very persuasive.

A month later, when they were going for a stroll after a date, he had something big to tell her. They had stopped walking to admire the water in Central Park, and while Alyssa was gazing out at the water and smiling, Aditya couldn’t keep it in any longer.

“Alyssa . . .” he whispered breathlessly.

“Yes?” she replied, looking up at him with hearts in her eyes.

“I love you.”

She smiled at him, that big, wide, brilliant smile. As he was pulled into a kiss, she said the words back to him. They held each other tight until she got too cold to stay out there. He took her back and made literal love to her, showing her what he had told her was true.

After the three little words were uttered, it was time to meet the parents. He brought her to Boston to celebrate Diwali with his family. His mom lent her a kurti to wear, which shocked him. His mother would never have let any of his past girlfriends wear any of her clothes. She also let Alyssa help in the kitchen. Aditya wasn’t even allowed to help cook for a holiday like Diwali. And while Alyssa was not a bad cook by any means, she had no experience with traditional Hindu dishes. His mom loved her and told him every single day that she felt that way. His dad liked her a lot, enough that he planned to take her to a Red Sox game in the spring.

Over the winter holidays, she took him home to meet her parents. He fit in with them so well. Her dad asked him to help him with a whole bunch of home improvement projects for the four days they were there. While she was in the kitchen teaching her mom some of the recipes Mrs. Bharad had taught her, Aditya was out in the living room with her dad laughing and joking as they mounted the new flatscreen on the wall. Her mom caught her smiling to herself as she turned on the stovetop.

“What’s that smile for, little miss?” her mom asked.

Alyssa looked up, blushing, “Just that this could be a preview of the rest of my life.”

“So you think he’s the one?”

She nodded, “Yeah mom, I do think he’s the one.”

Her mom looked over at her with a hint of a tear shining in her eyes, “I think he is too.”

After a year of being boyfriend and girlfriend, Aditya booked a trip for them to Monaco. Alyssa talked to Jenny, and Jenny was convinced he was going to propose back in the place where they had first fallen for each other. Jenny loved Aditya, and so did all of Alyssa’s other friends. They raved about how he treated her and told Alyssa every day that he made them believe there were good men in the world. They also insisted that he was going to propose in Monaco where they’d made their first romantic memories together.

Sure enough, they took a walk down to the very same docks where they first revealed their desires to each other. Alyssa knew her man well, and she’d never seen him this nervous. He had presented prototypes in front of the entire company and had watched the Red Sox win a World Series in seven games. Never this nervous.

“Alyssa,” he started, reaching over to take both of her hands in his and make her face him. “From the minute I met you, I knew you were special. You were so clever and such a quick learner and I thought ‘I need to know more about this woman.’ And as I got to know more about you, I found myself falling more and more for you. And here, in Monaco, I finally got to see that you felt a similar way. And from that moment, I couldn’t look back. I would do anything to be with you, Alyssa. You’re the only woman for me.”

“Aditya . . .”

“Alyssa,” he let go of one of her hands, reaching into his pocket. He knelt down and pulled out a beautiful emerald-cut diamond ring. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around him. “Oh my god, Addy, yes, yes, yes!”

Aditya laughed and hugged her tighter, “I love you, Lyss.”

“I love you, Addy.”

He pulled away to give her a kiss, then put the ring on her finger.

“My God, this ring, Addy. It’s so beautiful.”

She let him carry her back to the same hotel, and this time they went to the same room and spent the night in the heavy throes of passion.

After a year and a half, Alyssa and Aditya were married. It was a traditional Hindu wedding and it was beautiful. She had spent the year learning the traditions from Aditya’s parents and family. Although neither she nor Aditya subscribed to any religion, his parents wanted a traditional wedding, so a traditional wedding they had. There were more people there than she had ever anticipated, but she wore a fabulous red wedding saree and it was the most beautiful wedding she had ever seen, although she was a little biased.

And by the end of their lives, they had three beautiful kids and a love that didn’t die. There were ups and downs, there were moments of heartbreak and heartache. They went through the deaths of their parents together, holding each other tight as they confronted the reality of losing the people that meant the most in their life. But before that, they had two of their beautiful children, who got to meet their grandparents and love them dearly. They lost a baby, and it broke them both to the point that they didn’t know if they could keep going. In the end, they realized they had to hang onto each other to make it through this life. They bought a house in Greenwich, spending their quality time together on the drive into the city. They built their own research laboratory that made innovations in environmental science, and built a life they loved. Their third child was a blessing, a miracle after losing one. They made sure their kids had everything they could possibly want. They took them to Monaco when they were old enough to enjoy it to show them where it all began.

It was a life she could not have imagined in her wildest dreams. Neither of them were perfect, but they were wonderful together. They had brilliant chemistry, at work and at home. Their family was beautiful, their lives were rich and full.

Alyssa got to see her children grow up and lead successful lives, with plenty of grandchildren. She couldn’t have imagined, back at the expo in Monaco, that she was going to build a life with that man who was kind enough to walk her down to the docks so she could see the beautiful sea.

#choices the nanny affair #the nanny affair #choices tna #aditya bharad #aditya x mc #aditya bharad x mc #the nanny affair fanfiction

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alexsfictionaddiction · 3 years

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‘She overcame everything that was meant to destroy her.’

Women are truly incredible creatures. We have spent centuries being overlooked, downtrodden and dismissed. In some respects, we have come a long way in terms of gender equality but there are still many recent occurrences which remind us of how far we have to go.

So many female illnesses take years to diagnose or aren’t taken seriously enough when they are. Women are still having to justify why they chose not to have children. We’re still working with a pay gap. Some women aren’t considered to be women because of the body parts they were born with or without. There are still places in the world where women simply don’t and never will have the opportunities to live life on their own terms. Despite all this, we’re still out in the world making and doing amazing things and looking beautiful while doing them.

This recommendation list is really a collection of books that celebrate women, their courage, their friendships and their choices. It’s pretty varied in terms of genre and style, so I’m pretty sure you’ll find at least one book here that piques your interest. Keep being your fierce, unstoppable self and honour your girls today. -Love, Alex x

1. Dangerous Women by Hope Adams.

In 1841, 180 English women are on board The Rajah, a ship bound for Australia. All of them are criminals, most of them convicted of petty crimes but one of them has a deadly dark secret. Then someone is killed and the hunt for the culprit is on. But it’s hard to protest your innocence when you’ve already been found guilty. This addictive mystery is so well-researched and is based on the true stories of real female criminals aboard The Rajah. There is an overwhelming, stifling darkness, haunting the whole novel that is so atmospheric and reflective of conditions on board. It’s a story of sisterhood, female friendship and the existence of the Rajah Quilt is an example of the incredible feats that women can overcome if they work together.

2. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu.

Viv is tired of following the rules at her high school and is determined to shake things up. Channelling her mum’s former punk persona, Viv creates and secretly distributes a feminist zine to her classmates, who start to take action. Cliques are abandoned as new friendships are formed and a revolution kicks off. The real sweetness about this gutsy, fierce YA novel is the fact that talking about the daily trials and tribulations that girls go through brings them together rather than divides them. There are some fantastic characters and the inclusion of male allies is everything.

3. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams.

After a disastrous break up, British-Jamaican millennial Queenie embarks on a journey, riddled with bad choices, to discover what she really wants from life. Straddling two cultures, a job where she is perpetually underappreciated and an underlying mental health condition, Queenie is a relatable depiction of what it means to be a young, Black woman in 21st century London. Funny, honest and deeply moving, Queenie is an essential enlightening read with a wonderfully flawed, real woman at its heart.

4. Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold.

Inspired by British urban myths, this collection of spooky, fantastical stories by various female authors celebrates women in all of their guises. These stories are written by the likes of Daisy Johnson, Kirsty Logan, Irenosen Okojie, Eimear McBride and more. Some of the stories are very dark. Some of them offer powerful insights into other cultures. Some of them explore inherently female issues such as the repression of desire and motherhood. Overriding the whole collection is the wonder and power of women defying the odds and achieving their dreams. A fantastically unique read, ideal for International Women’s Day.

5. My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies, she discovers a series of letters apologising to the various people she has wronged. Elsa’s mission to deliver these letters leads to some strange places and a journey that leads to getting to know her grandmother in a way she never did, when she was alive. The relationship between seven-year-old Elsa and her grandmother is so beautiful and I’m sure I’ll never read another grandmother-granddaughter relationship like it. Granny is a truly formidable character and a woman who has left behind a very full, colourful life. Backman is a master at writing quirky, uplifting stories of community and this charming novel is no different.

6. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo.

Kim Jiyoung has recently given up work to raise her baby daughter but before long, she begins displaying strange symptoms, such as impersonating the voices of other women. As her psychosis deepens, Jiyoung’s entire life is spilled to her male psychiatrist and it’s a life of restriction, abuse and control. This incredibly evocative book is a harrowing illustration of the misogyny ingrained deep in Korean culture and the devastating effects it can have on the women who live within it. A woman on the brink of insanity speaks for them all in this heavily symbolic, heartbreaking read.

7. The Shelf by Helly Acton.

Amy is pretty sure that Jamie is about to propose, so she is more than shocked to find herself on The Shelf, a reality TV show for single women. Over the next few weeks, she and five other women must take on challenges to improve themselves and be crowned ‘The Keeper’. The Shelf is a joyful celebration of singledom and female friendship. Funny and heartwarming, it inspires its readers to never settle for second best and discover life and yourself, completely on your own terms.

8. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez.

The world is made for men. Cars, phones, the medical industry, workplace laws and more areas of modern society largely ignore women. This fantastically informative manual exposes all the data biases that have been hidden from us. Caroline Criado-Perez has collated stories and case studies from across the globe that show how women’s lives and health are affected by our male-minded world and calls for drastic change.

9. A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll.

Addie has autism but she is so much more than that. When she learns of her hometown’s involvement in witch trials, she launches a campaign to erect a memorial for the women who died during them. This gorgeous, uplifting, funny middle-grade book offers a unique insight into a neurodivergent mind and simultaneously honours innocent, murdered women. You’ll get all the feels!

10. Olive by Emma Gannon.

Olive’s choice to not be a mother has ended her nine year relationship and her three best friends are all at various stages of motherhood. So, where will Olive fit into their lives now? This wonderfully sensitive and thoughtful novel is a wonderful celebration of women who are child-free by choice as well as giving voice to those who have struggled to become mothers. It will speak to any woman who has ever been asked when they’re going to take the leap into that ‘inevitable’ stage of a female life -motherhood.

11. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Evelyn Hugo is a retired Hollywood icon who has personally chosen struggling, unknown reporter Monique to dictate her biography to. No one knows why, not even Monique herself. Over a series of intimate meetings, Evelyn tells Monique her story; from her rise to fame in the 1950s LA to her retirement 30 years later and the myriad of romances throughout that time. In time, it becomes clear that Evelyn’s and Monique’s lives intertwine in a heartbreaking fashion. Soaring, epic and completely unforgettable, Evelyn Hugo is the story of a woman who was consistently objectified, moulded and suppressed. Ultimately, it is a story of a great forbidden love and the hell that fame can bring, especially for women.

12. The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson.

Imannuelle’s mixed heritage is sacrilege in the tiny, puritanical community in which she lives. So she does her best to obey the rules and worship the Father. However, she finds herself in the haunted Darkwood where the spirits of murdered witches roam but they have a gift for Immanuelle -her dead mother’s journal, which leads to her discovering the dark truths behind the community she was born into. This atmospheric, brooding fantasy-horror novel champions the overthrowing of control, the discovery of one’s own inner power and capabilities as well as demonstrating how women have been villified by the patriarchy for centuries, simply for leading the lives that they want to lead. An addictive, Gothic witchy treat!

#international women's day #book recommendations #recommendations #books #bookworm

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fallin-flcwer · 3 years

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Youi's Connections

- 19 - Liberty Academy - Idol & actress possibly??? - Click for bio

CURRENT:

Yeong Su: One of her older brothers. Youi and Yeongsu are similar in the sense that the both love the spotlight, and became public figures as Moon Children from a young age. They are probably the sibling combo that are seen bickering a lot since their personalities tend to clash from time to time. Se-ri: Youi's little sister, the only person Youi herself would admit she's been 100% nice to, and probably the only person in the world Youi would take a bullet for. She knows that Seri looks up to her a lot, and wants to see her succeed. They both tell each other everything, and support each others endeavours wholeheartedly. Callie & Bianca: They are her best friends and were kinda the mean girls clique, alongside Addy even though she was bullied by them. While Youi has built her own life away from the clique, she enjoys their company and won't turn a day out with them if they ever plan one. Addy: She was also a part of the popular clique, and Youi did bully her to an extent but always stopped when she felt it got too far, sometimes trying to change the topic hoping that the other two stopped as well. She feels bad for treating Addy that badly, especially when she did nothing to her to deserve it, and while Youi probably wants to apologise to her, still being friends with Callie and Bianca, and being in different unis hasn't really given her the chance to. Ethan & Jay: Being the only two people in Liberty she was close with from the popular clique in Gallagher, Youi has no choice but to stick it out with Ethan and Jay even when they tag team to piss her off LMAO. Deep down, she finds good friends in them but she'd never say that to their faces.

WANTED

Someone that showed Youi around: To make her family storyline work, I've changed her up a bit so that she only came to Violet Springs in her last 2-3 years of high school as an exchange student. Maybe this person was assigned to show her around Gallagher when she first came in and once she settled in and made her way into the popular clique naturally, they stopped communicating. Opposite friend: Someone that isn't rich or popular who she has a soft spot for. She takes them out shopping, invites them out on cute coffee dates at expensive cafes. At first they don't really know where the kindness is coming from bc it's Youi and she's definitely intimidating from outside, but she can be sweet when she wants to be. Acting friend: Soooo since Youi's planning on leaving G-idle I'm probably gonna have her dabble in acting and take Hotel del Luna and Squid Game for projects bc why not LOL. I feel like she'd naturally be able to get a good grasp on it, but would still want someone there to give her pointers and give her feedback.

#next gen: youi #next gen: plots

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faedawayyy · 3 years

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next generation list. if i've removed a character you loved or really liked, i'm sorry! i just feel like i need a restart.

BRETT JACKSON, only son of dallas.

- intp - musician - heterosexual - moved from the springs to gold coast to be closer to ally - starting his singing career slowly - definitely still has financial struggles thanks to dallas fc: jack gilinsky >> ALLY, his girlfriend. very much in love with her. he’s moved academy’s so that they can work on their relationship. >> HALEY, ally’s sister. they’re good friends and brett feels responsible for her in a weird way. >> AMY, loaned money to him after finding out that he was broke, especially after quitting his job at sloan’s. however, he has no idea how he’s going to pay her back, especially from half way across the world. >> ROMAN, an old friend of his. he used to work at sloan’s and the two boys got closer but then brett moved away. they’re still really good friends and brett sees him as a little brother.

PETER CARMICHAEL, son and youngest child of mason and kendall

- entj - athlete - heterosexual - liberty academy, mason secretly paid for him to get in - long distance relationship with bianca - still kind of an asshole fc: neels visser >> BIANCA, his girlfriend. things have got tougher since they’re living on different continents and going to different universities. he still loves her but is starting to realise it isn’t as amazing and easy as he thought it was at gallagher. >> LOTTIE, a frenemy. he always knew of lottie but didn’t have much to do with her until they ended up in liberty together. he made a move on her while drunk at a party and she flat out rejected him. it’s definitely awkward now. >> VICTORIA, his sister. he can’t stand her. >> ADDY, his friend. peter has always felt bad about the treatment addy used to get with their friendship group and towards the end of high school, he always made an active effort to make her feel looked after and included. >> AMELIA knew that peter cheated his way into liberty and was going to get him kicked out, but he beat her too it. desperate for her not to have something over him, he found out about how she cheated her way into diamond bridge and they now go back and forth with blackmail.

FLEUR CARMICHAEL, daughter of disney and brody

- estj - model and designer - heterosexual - burgundy academy, dixie sabotaged her rosewell acceptance - her sister is her biggest rival but also best friend - plans to transfer to LA or paris fc: kendall jenner >> ROMAN is one of fleur’s best friends and she always had a crush on him. however, so does dixie and they’re VERY competitive for his attention. >> MADDIE is her best friend and roman’s ex girlfriend. fleur always tried to keep her feelings secret because she didn’t want to get in between the two of them. >> DIXIE is her twin sister. the two of them are so competitive and have always fought like sister’s do. the older they’ve grown, the worse it’s got. they’re constantly trying to outdo one another but weirdly enough, they’re also really good friends. >> LOUISA is one of her best friends but they have a very competitive friendship and get jealous of one another easily.

JUDAH CRUZ-MENDOZA, middle child of blake and christelle

- infp - actor and model - bisexual - st judes, he’s really proud of his parents/how they met - signed a contract with disney channel - he’s just came out as bisexual (male pref) to his family fc: booboo stewart >> AVERY is his ex-crush. judah was completely infatuated by avery and had his first experience with a guy with him. avery always kept it secret, though, which was fine. however, he now feels like he’s actively avoiding him and trying to distance himself which hurts. >> WHITNEY is his sister and probably the sibling he’s the closest with. he would have come out to her first and trusts her with everything. he’s definitely missing being as close to her because they’re getting their own identities and lives but he loves her all the same. >> AURORA is his best friend. the children of hensley, christelle and soraya had no choice but to grow up close and aurora is like an honorary sister to him. >> ELIJAH is a new love interest of his. elijah hasn’t come out yet and can be slightly homophobic while judah is freshly open about his sexuality and enjoying it, so even though there’re feelings there, it is definitely a bit messy.

THEA CRUZ-MENDOZA, oldest child of blake and christelle

- esfp - singer (vc: jhene aiko) - heterosexual - west ivys, she wanted to be close to family but not too close LOL - she’s like the mum when christelle’s not around. way too bossy with her siblings but is also kinda the blue print. she was a mischievous kid for sure. - a third year, she graduated from springs park a while ago fc: christina nadin >> CAM is a good friend of hers, that she definitely feels something for and he feels something for her too. neither of them have admitted it to themselves, let alone each other.

ETHAN HARWOOD, son of nate and imogen

- entj - athlete - heterosexual - liberty academy - he’s a fuckboy and still a fuckboy. some people peak in high school - he did - but he’s still riding out that peak. he’s also fallen out with jay, his old best friend. - addy’s ex; they still sometimes speak fc: xavier serrano >> ADDY is his ex-girlfriend. their relationship was quite manipulative and not good for either of them. he knows he still has a little bit of power over her though and really doesn’t want to see her move on. >> JAY is a frenemy. the two of them have started to drift and fight over the smallest of things. their friendship has quickly fallen apart and it’s clear they’re not the same as they were in high school. >> YOUI he’s lowkey been flirting with her for ages now and it’s only intensified since he and addy broke up, but it’s always been touchy since she’s addy’s old best friend.

KITTY-LEE HENSHAW, youngest daughter of natasha and anthony

- isfp - actress and model - lesbian - academia burgundy - she’s making a transfer to be closer to victoria, who she’s infatuated with - she transitioned at an early age and her whole family has always been accepting, there’s no secrets around it. - she has a tendency to get jealous fc: hunter schafer >> VICTORIA is her best friend and crush. kitty has had feelings for victoria for as long as she can remember. they’ve always been best friend’s but it’s always gone deeper than that for kitty. deep down, she knows victoria doesn’t feel the same but she’s going to keep trying. >> ADDY is a frenemy. kitty really doesn’t like addy and it’s purely because of the group she was in at gallagher. kitty has never clicked with the popular kids and would actively go out of her way to avoid them, so when victoria took a liking to addy at the end of high school, it threw her world upside-down a little and she’s definitely jealous.

ROWAN WEST, son of hensley and evan

- esfp - director and athlete - heterosexual - gold coast academy - he’s kind of like, reformed. he’s still not the softest but he’s definitely grown a lot since high school and the bad rep he got for himself post-ally. - always in trouble. always. he has the worst of both parents in him LOL fc: chase stokes >> MADDIE is his new love interest. he’s really invested in getting to know her even though they live quite far apart. he does his best to keep his past with ally a secret from her. >> DAPHNE is an old friend of his. they used to clash quite a lot but have grown to really like each other. >> ALLY is his ex-girlfriend. the two of them have a complicated history and that’s exactly where rowan wants her to stay - in his history. he realises where he went wrong with her but is ready to move on. the only problem is they go to the same school and both study sports, it’s only a matter of time before he has to confront her. >> HARLOW was a rebound ex-girlfriend. after ally, there was harlow. he feels bad for calling her a rebound but that’s exactly what she was. he just needed to feel *something* after the mess and poor harlow was the first in-line. >>WHITNEY AND AURORA are his childhood friends.

NICOLAS CASTILLO-HUGES, only son of natalie and ezra

- intj - writer (for screen) - bisexual - diamond bridge academy - very bright and intuitive. despite the difficulties ezra and natalie went through raising him, he loves them both and thinks very highly of them. he’s very focused on his dreams. fc: rome flynn

YASMINE HERNANDEZ, daughter of yulia

- infp - singer/actress - bisexual - liberty academy - yulia became infamous for being a home-wrecker and sleeping with lots of influential men when she left st judes. she quickly gained a bad reputation and people disregarded her talent because she was a ‘gold digger’. yasmine is often treated the same by students her age. fc: selena gomez >> LOTTIE is her best friend. they met on the first day of liberty and are roommates. yasmine definitely clings to lottie and is one of the only friends she trusts due to her anxiety. >> NOAH has an unrequited crush on her. yasmine finds it hard to trust people and is nervous with any form of romantic attention. even though noah’s crush is innocent and she likes him as a friend, she’s not sure how she feels about him yet.

CALLIE CASTILLO, oldest daughter of maria

- estj - model - heterosexual - st judes academy - she’s getting used to not having her former clique around her and doesn’t really know what to do now that her popularity hasn’t translated over into university. she’s really struggling tbh fc: sofia jamora >> CARTER is her boyfriend. for a long time, she still had feelings for peter - his younger brother - but she’s trying so hard to push those aside and focus on them. he’s always been understanding of her, no matter how bitchy she gets. >> BIANCA AND YOUI are her best friends. even though they’re all doing their own things, she considers those two her best friends and it’s been that way since the beginning of high school. >> ADDY is a frenemy. callie used to relentlessly bully addy throughout high school and she still treats her like a bit of an outsider. she lowkey hates seeing addy thriving in LA while she’s still stuck in her hometown. >> PETER C is her ex boyfriend. they’re messy as heck and she’s still not quite over the fact he ultimate chose aurora, her distant cousin.

TAMMY CASTILLO, youngest daughter of maria

- enfp - singer (rosalia) - bisexual (female pref) - gold coast academy - sick of living in calie’s shadow, she’s branched out to get an identity all of her own. she’s your typical party girl type. fc: val mercado >> ALLY is her best friend. they’ve got really close at gold coast and are practically inseparable. >> they were in a long term relationship until he found out that he was a father. this really hurt her and she hasn’t forgiven him, despite still being in love with him.

DELILAH CALLOWAY, daughter of eloise

- istj - actress - bicurious - wilow house academy - she’s the opposite of eloise. eloise let herself be pushed around by her sisters and forgotten about to an extent. delilah has made it clear that she’ll be the trailblazer for the ‘calloways’ in this generation and will happily walk all over her cousins if she has to. fc: sommer ray >> AALIYAH is her best friend. they both met at willow house and delilah took a shine to her confidence. the girls really got along well and they’ve also started to hook up. delilah is bicurious and unsure of her sexuality so relies a lot on aliyah to take the lead. >> ADDY is her cousin. they never grew up in one anothers lives but delilah has always known of her aunts and cousins. the girls have reunited through the talent academy competition and are getting to know each other.

AIDEN NILSEN, son of kristofer - REVAMPED bc i feel like he only existed as haley’s on/off bf.

- infj - model - bisexual - st judes - kristofer moved the family out to los angeles, so aiden is now based there. he still has an incredibly addictive personality. after haley moved out to gold coast, he kind of wiped his hands of her from the time being and has taken on a more artsy/friendly persona but that doesn’t mean he is. fc: willy cartier

>> HALEY is his on-again and off-again girlfriend. their relationship is toxic and when he found out she transferred to gold coast, he’s mainly just looking to rub her face in the fact he’s not with her anymore.

CHESTER JACKSON, son of margo

- esfp - actor - bisexual - blossom bell - he has the same chaotic energy that margo has, but he’s not as much of an asshole :’) he just loves the attention. he was diagnosed with ADHD quite late in life but at this point, he can’t even put it down to that. he went to gallagher and got kicked out in his third year so he probably hasn’t been around for a bit. fc: dylan o’brien >> DIXIE AND FLEUR are family friends. he’s been good friends with dixie for a while and is like a brother figure to her.

SABRINA HUGHES, daughter of ezra

- infp - singer/actress - bisexual - burgundy academy - she was never the cool girl in high school and has always struggled to find her place in social settings. she’s trying to grow her confidence and make an identity for herself but she does get jealous when friends and people close to her get more attention or something that she wanted. fc: halle bailey (i’ll write more when i cbb)

>> BRIELLE is her girlfriend. the two of them are trying to balance a healthy relationship and achieve their own personal dreams.

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oboevallis · 4 years

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the convenience store pt 2

After the passive aggressive comments about her pregnancy and boyfriend had passed they had all settled down for dinner. Her sisters didn’t bring their kids as they were all busy with their respective activities and couldn’t stand the dinner. So at the dining room table were the four couples and Carolyn.

“Mom can you just explain why your selling it?” Lizzie asked.

“I’ve been over this, can we just drop it girls?”

Carolyn expectingly looked at the four of her daughters and waited for them to nod in agreement. The remainder of the dinner was relatively quiet. Afterward Amelia and Lizzie went to help their mother with the dishes while everyone else interrogated Link.

“You haven’t explained it to me yet.” Amelia suddenly said while she was drying a dish her sister had passed to her.

“Amelia, I’m getting to old to run the store. There are way too many bad memories attached to the place.” Carolyn sighed.

“There are countless good memories there mom. Is this what dad would’ve wanted?” Once she said that last part she regretted it after seeing her mothers face.

“You girls can finish up here. I’m going up to bed. Good night.” Carolyn said leaving the kitchen.

“That was a little uncalled for.” Lizzie said to her little sister.

“Well am I wrong?”

“No, but we can’t force her to keep it.” Amelia rolled her eyes in response.

“I just can’t believe she wants to sell it.”

“Me either, but it’s her store we can’t tell her what to do. And I mean she is getting old, Amelia.”

“Mom is not getting old.”

“Your just in denial. Maybe it’s a good thing, she’s slowing down, some days I think she’s going to over work herself.” The two sisters continued cleaning the dishes quietly when Kathleen walked in the kitchen.

“Mom seems upset is she okay?” Kathleen asked while she propped herself up to sit on the counter.

“Amelia asked ‘is this what dad would’ve wanted’ and mom got upset.” Lizzie answered, which caused her to get punched in the arm.

“That was kind of rude Amy.” Kathleen reprimanded.

“We were all thinking it.” Amelia commented.

“Dad would be mad at all of us. For everything thats happened since he died. Mom not raising you, resulting in you getting a drug habit.” Kathleen said gesturing toward Amelia. “Nancy getting pregnant before marriage, and a matter a fact you too. How Derek handled his marriage after Addie cheated. How Lizzie stayed with her cheating husband. How we treated Derek after the divorce, and not really staying in contact with him. God, he’d be so pissed.”

“I noticed you didn’t say anything you’ve done that would make dad mad.” Amelia said getting annoyed with her sister.

“Because he wouldn’t be mad with me.” Kathleen smirked.

“Whatever.” Lizzie chuckled, while Amelia groaned and rolled her eyes.

_________________________________________________

A couple of days had past, and Carolyn had officially sold the store. All they had to do was clean everything out. The family were taking their last walk through of the store before handing the keys over to the new owners.

“Mom, remember when Amy was born?” Nancy asked, she remembered her and her siblings had to stay at their grandmothers for a week, because of the hurricane the roads weren’t safe to drive on.

“Hmm yes.” Carolyn reminisced.

“Carolyn you should really slow down.” Her husband told her as he directed her towards a chair in the back of their store.

“Chris that is totally unnecessary. We’ve got a lot to do. In a matter of weeks we’ll have five children. Five.” Carolyn said as she stood up.

“Carolyn, there is a hurricane going on outside. No one is coming in here, and the rest of our kiddos are at your mothers. We can get the work done whenever. You need to relax.”

“Exactly, since it’s slow we have a bunch of time to do the tasks that need to be done.”

“Okay, I’ll do what needs to be done. You just relax, deal?”

“You never do it right though.”

“You’ll never slow down will you?” Her husband chuckled, as his wife got up to continue what she was doing.

“Probably not.” Carolyn smirked before she gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Christopher frantically asked, before he realized why his wife had gasped. “Oh, wow.”

“Great timing.” Carolyn sarcastically said, looking down at the puddle beneath her.

“O-okay. Umm I’ll call in Bill, he can handle the store while we get you to the hospital.” Carolyn just nodded in response to her husband, she was flustered none of her previous children were early.

“We’re having a baby in the middle of a hurricane Chris.” His wife chuckled nervously.

“Our little hurricane.” Christopher smirked.

“This is where Derek taught me how to tie my shoes.” Amelia told her boyfriend as they stood by the window looking out to the street.

“Ok Amy put your foot on top of the window pane so you can reach it easier.” Derek told his little sister as he did the same. “So we’re gonna take both laces, put one over the other, and then pull them tight tight tight.”

“Derek, I just can’t do it.” Amelia said starting to get annoyed with her brother teaching her, she couldn’t understand why he couldn’t just do it for her forever.

“Yes you can, now let’s keep going. So now we’re going to make one bunny ear, and then we will loop the other string around it. Now we’ve made a hole, and we’re just gonna pull and now you’ve tied your shoes.” Derek concluded looking over to his little sister who kept struggling.

“I just can’t do it.”

“Yes you can.” Derek reminded her, they kept repeating the process over and over again until it clicked for the little girl.

“I did it Derek!” Amelia exclaimed, engulfing her big brother in a hug.

“I always knew you could.”

“Amy come over here.” Lizzie said, standing where the chip aisle would’ve been. “The dents still on the floor.”

“You ready to race?” Lizzie asked her little sister. She loved to race with her since she knew she’d always win. With her older sisters and brother she never could beat them, but with Amy she always had the satisfaction of winning.

“Yep.” Amelia toothily grinned. She had a plan this race. She never could quite win anything when she played with her older siblings, but this time she had devised a plan.

“On your marks, set, go.” Lizzie exclaimed as she bolted off to started to run in between the aisles. Amelia had been able to keep up with her sister for once, but she could see it would most likely be a tie, and the younger sister was determined to win. Once they were on the last aisle of the race, Amelia rammed into her sister making her fall over. So Amelia made it to their imaginary finish line, but Lizzie ended up on the floor with a chipped tooth and blood everywhere. That was the only time she could remember her father ever yelling at her.

Amelia laughed at the memory her sister was implying too.

“Remember when Kathleen had that pregnancy scare.” Amelia whispered to her sister.

“How could I forget? That’s the only time I’ve seen Kathleen a mess.” Lizzie chuckled.

“How long do these usually take?” Kathleen asked anxiously, as she paced the bathroom.

“Five minutes.” Nancy said keeping her eyes on the test, when she was supposed to be ensuring no one came in.

“What ever happens it’s going to be okay. We’re all her for you.” Addison, Derek’s new girlfriend tried to console. It had originally only been Addison who knew about this, but Nancy later found out as well and encouraged her sister to take the test. So now they were in the bathroom of the family��s store taking a pregnancy test.

“What’s going on in here?” Lizzie asked walking into the bathroom.

“You were supposed to be watching the door, Nancy!” Kathleen exclaimed visibly stressed.

“Woah woah woah, who’s pregnancy test is that?” Amelia asked coming in behind Lizzie. Kathleen rushed to the door to block it preventing anyone else coming into the small room.

“No one should be in here, nor know about this.” Kathleen said with her hands in her face, as she started to cry. “God, I can’t do this. I can’t be pregnant right now.”

“Well, good thing your not.” Addison smiled holding up the negative pregnancy test.

Amelia and Lizzie laughed at the memory.

“You two better not be laughing at what I think your laughing at.” Kathleen said coming up behind the two.

“Come on it was funny, and it was only funny because everything worked out in the end.” Lizzie chuckled walking away.

Once Kathleen walked away following her sister Amelia made her way towards the back of the store, to the place she was when her father died. She attempted to lower herself to the floor before her boyfriend came up behind her.

“Hey, whatcha doing?” Link asked standing his girlfriend up.

“Can you lift this floorboard up?” Amelia asked tapping her foot on the floorboard.

“Ooookay?” Link agreed, mildly confused. Link was surprised when the floorboard came up rather easily revealing a pile of pennies. He looked up to see Amelia sadly smiling. His girlfriend held out her hand, and he put the pennies into it.

“Thank you.” Amelia whispered, looking down at the pennies in her hand. While her boyfriend put the floorboard back into place. After having the pennies in her hand, she realized they didn’t need the store to remember their father.

#baby amelink #atticus lincoln #amelink #mama shepherd #amelia shepherd #greysanatomy #addison montgomery #kathleen shepherd #nancy shepherd #liz shepherd #carolyn shepherd #greys fanfic

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yeaahishowedupatyourparty · 3 years

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PARENTHOOD INTERVIEW: Zara.

10 QUESTIONS NOT LINKED TO YOUR KID(S).

what is your current career now? “I’m an actress, director and producer. The latter two more often.”

are you enjoying it? “I am, I love my job.”

where do you currently live? “That’s a great question. I still have an obsession with property so we have a few different ‘homes’, but we’re still where we were when I bought my first house. Danny and I have renovated it, done things to the garden and added bits on which just makes it more sentimental to me. It’s where everything started.”

are you married? “Happily.”

what is one thing that’s stayed the same with you since st judes? “I’m still with Danny, I have the same passion for film and tv and I’m still living in the Springs for the most part.”

what’s the biggest change you’ve experienced? “Everything else. Mainly my mindset.”

now that you’re older and have had a successful career, what’s your biggest goal in life? “To appreciate the people I have in my life fully. I never want to become too caught up in something that I miss making memories with them.”

would you still consider yourself famous? “To an extent.”

what was the first thing you did after your graduation? “I went to Los Angeles and just existed for a few days. I have a love, hate relationship with the place but it’s where everything started for me. So, I felt like it was necessary for it to be the place that I closed that chapter of my life too.”

do you have any regrets about your time in st judes? “Many and funnily enough, all of them were when I let somebody else dictate how I was feeling or I listened to people’s judgements too much.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT PARENTHOOD.

who are your children? list them in age order. “Daphne and Adelaide, Addy.”

if you gave birth, who was the easiest pregnancy? if you didn’t, which pregnancy did you feel most anxious about. “I was most anxious about Daphne because she was the first. I didn’t know what to expect and I fell down the hole of reading pregnancy horror stories. But luckily, neither were complicated. I had great pregnancies and births both times round.”

did you have any baby showers or gender reveals? if yes, what did you do? "Nothing official. I find gender reveals tricky because, who cares? I would’ve been happy both ways and I’d expect every member of my family to feel the same.”

what kind of parent would your children describe you as, do you think? “I hope fair? I don’t think I annoy either of them enough for them to say anything too harsh!”

which stage was hardest: baby, toddler, child, teenager or young adult? “For Daphne, baby. I think I went into it with rose-tinted glasses. For Addy, teenager.”

what has been your favourite memory with each child? “This is such a hard question, there’ve been so many.”

be honest, do you think you’ve had any failings as a parent? “Definitely. I always worry that I haven’t taught them to be headstrong enough. I feel like raising passive children who lay down and take whatever somebody is trying to give them is a massive fear of mine. I was that girl for a while.”

what do you think you do well as a parent? “You’d have to ask them.”

how much involvement do your own parents have in your child’s life? “None.”

as a parent, what is something you’re still learning? “Life for them isn’t always going to be how it was for me. It treats everybody differently. Just because I had a strange relationship with my sisters, it doesn’t mean they they’re going to get more distant every time they have typical sister fights. Also, not to be hard on myself, but I do worry a lot.”

what’s the funniest memory from parenthood so far? “There have been so many. I’m trying to think...One thing about Addy is that she’s always been obsessed with Danny. He’s her favourite person, she’s a through and through Daddy’s girl. Anyway, we went to one of her Christmas shows and she was 5 at most...She was the star, and when I tell you that her teachers could not convince her to stay on stage rather than keep wandering into the audience to sit on his lap, I mean it. I think it threw off the whole production - bless her.”

when do you feel like you were needed the most? “For Daphne, I think it’s just been quietly throughout her life. She’s never been a child who needs our help. She’s always got on with things and done her best; very independent. But, it doesn’t mean she can get through everything alone. Nobody can, we’ve always been close, though, and I feel confident she’d talk to me if she really felt she was in trouble. I think Addy most needed us during high school. I can’t recall a day that she didn’t come home from that place and cry. I think teenagers, specifically girls, are awful to each other and not enough is ever done about it. I know they were just children but I’ll never forgive them or the parents who raised them for those years. Addy was a completely different child.”

JUST FOR FUN, WHICH CHILD… if you have just one child, you can just say if they’d do the stuff or not.

which child is the most sensible? “Daphne. Hands down. Sorry, Ads.”

which child is the most independent? “Daphne, again.”

which child did you always have suspicions about being famous one day? ��Probably Addy. Not because I never thought Daphne had potential, but Addy’s always been very...melodramatic and theatrical, even as a toddler.”

which child was the hardest work as a child? “Can I say neither? They were both good kids.”

which child have you cried/stressed over the most? “Addy. The whole high school thing. I’m not afraid to say that because I think the girls who put her through that should have to live with the guilt.”

which child has the tidiest room? “Daphne, daphne, daphne.”

which child do you think likes you the most? “Daphne. I hope they both do!”

which child is most likely to forget your birthday? “Addy.”

which child is/was the most academic? “Daphne.”

which child is/was the most athletic? “Daphne.”

which child tends to be the most annoying? “That’s an awful question, I’m not going to say!”

which child asks for money the most? “Addy. She discovered the bank of Mum and Dad way before her time.”

which child is most likely to move in back home? “I think Addy.”

which child helps out around the house the most? “Daphne. They’re both pretty good at chores though.”

which child enjoyed disney the most growing up? “Definitely Addy.”

BEING AN ACADEMY PARENT.

did you have a say in the academy(s) your child(ren) picked? “I didn’t!”

how did you feel when your child decided they wanted to go to an academy? “Nervous, I won’t lie. I had my doubts but then figured I’d be doing them more harm if I actively stopped them from going.”

do any of your children study the same as what you did? are they less, equally or more successful than what you were? “Daphne acts! I’d say yes she is more successful than me, but also, success can be measured in different ways. I don’t like the idea of either of them basing their achievements around how many roles they can land or how many awards they pick up.”

when your child(ren) were younger, what did you THINK they’d end up working as? “I thought Daphne would maybe go into writing and Addy into the make-up industry, but I think what they’re both doing now also makes sense.”

have you met any of your child’s friends or partners? “No...I’ve heard of one, though. Let’s leave it there.”

what’s your biggest worry about your children being in an academy? “I don’t think I have one anymore. I’m starting to learn to live and let live. They’ve been fine in life so far and I’m sure they can take care of themselves without me constantly trying to control what they do or shield them from things.”

what’s the one piece of advice you’d give your child as they start this journey that you wished you had? “Enjoy it and do what you want! Love who you want. It’s so cliche but it goes so quickly and there is nowhere near enough time to worry about what people might be saying. Also remember that you can’t steal a person anymore than you can keep them - if only somebody told me that!”

MEMORY LANE.

what tv programmes/films were on repeat as your children were growing up? “Bratz, Winx, Nancy Drew, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hannah Montana, High School Musical...Addy was obsessed with Trolls at one stage. I could keep going.”

have you ever lost your child/had something happen that’s made you panic? “I lost Daphne in the supermarket once. I was hysterical, but she was fine and looking at the pictures of puppies on the dog food.”

what was the first holiday you went on as a whole family? “Is it bad I can’t remember? We had family holidays before and after Addy’s birth and I really can’t pinpoint which one was the first where we were all together. One of my favourites, though, was when we went to Greece. It was so scenic and beautiful and the girls spent all day in and out of the ocean. Ive never seen them so occupied!”

can you remember a time you’ve ever been called to the principals office? “No! They’re good girls.”

say one thing about your child that you think they’d like to hear, but wouldn’t expect you to say. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy - do what you want, angels.”

#itszara #next gen: zara

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