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liveontelevision · 2 months

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Hi! I wasnt exactly sure if you’re taking request but i was hoping for something with Lucifer and a babysitter reader. Maybe they baby sat Charlie, and they just have a lot of tension. And then maybe them reuniting after him and lilith have split and it all goes down 👀

Love your slowburny Lucifer fics 🙏🙏

!!!

First off, thank you! I'm really glad you enjoy my stuff! I've been struggling with writing recently, so your request was perfectly timed lol

Also Yes! I'm always taking requests!

Plus, it's such a good request.. so good, I had way too many ideas for how it could go. So - this is a 2 parter >:) Suffer

CW: No smut yet, just suggestive fluff for now

(Edit- This series is complete! All parts are on my master list and I'll tag them here aa well!)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

Suffer | Lucifer x Reader

It really was a happy day in Hell when the royals introduced an heir to the throne. A darling daughter, who was the first of her kind; A hellborn baby, birthed by a sinner and an archangel. No one really knew what to expect or what kind of powers she held. But they had to be immense. She had to be some kind of beast, based on her genes alone. In theory.

One look at her, all swaddled up in her mother's arms, Lucifer fell in love all over again. Sure, he was ecstatic to hear that he was having a child, but he didn't realize how much of an effect she’d have on him. She was an absolute angel. Mostly. Great powers must be controlled, and that isn't exactly something an infant can comprehend. It was innocent at first, with little fireworks coming from fingertips, toys being lost in portals, and horns and tails emerging during temper tantrums. Nothing a good nanny couldn't fix.

That’s what Lillith’s mindset was, at least. It was a heated debate between the married couple, with Lucifer arguing a child needs to be loved and adored by their parents. He was willing to put in the time, why wasn't she? Of course, Lilith was a busy demon, with the whole empowering demonkind with her voice and songs thing, but too busy to handle her own baby?

“She’s gonna be an adult before we know it. Can’t you spend a few decades seeing her grow up..?” Lillith delicately takes her cutlery to her mouth, picking at the dinner she shared with her husband, who was seated on the other end of their lengthy table.

“Unlike you, my love, I have duties to attend to. Someone has to keep things running smoothly, to keep every demon’s hopes as high as they can be. You remember what it was like falling, being all alone and left in an unfamiliar world? I wouldn't want anyone else to feel that way. Would you?” He hated to agree, but did so anyway. She always knew what to say to make him feel guilty. Either way, she was right. He really didn't do much nowadays. He worked in his shop more, his newborn daughter becoming a great source of inspiration, but Lillith handled most of the publicity. Which, in Hell, is one of the only purposes for royalty. Lucifer didn't need to create life anymore, Hellborn creations were multiplying just fine. Probably a little too much, actually. He had all the free time in the world to shower his daughter with affection.

“ I mean..! I guess not, but they're filthy little demons, and this is your daughter! You want to leave her in the hands of some stranger? It’s just.. not right..! She needs a mother, Lily!” He was clearly passionate about this. Slamming his fists on the table, he sent ripples through the poured wine in front of Lillith’s plate.

“Lucifer. You’re causing a scene.” He hated when she said that, too. And again, he shrunk back in his seat, keeping his mouth shut. They had been drifting apart for a while, the distance not doing them any favors. He had no interest in interacting with demonkind and was fully comfortable with letting Lillith take that on, so they became more distant as she tended to Hell’s growing population.

When she rose from her seat, he finally perked up, hoping to meet her eyes. She was already halfway out of the room. “I’ll do all the work, darling, not to worry. I’ll make sure any candidate is thoroughly interviewed and trained, I promise.” Her voice was reassuring, even with the heartless subject matter. Leaving Lucifer alone in the room with some imps that usually stand along the walls, he spotted her almost untouched plate. pushing away from the table, he nearly knocked his heavy, ornamented chair onto the ground and left through another exit.

—

“Oh, Charlie.. Your mother loves you very much.” He swung the bundled-up baby in his arms, reveling in the sound of her giggles. Pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, he placed her carefully in her golden crib. Standing over her, he leaned onto the railing, watching her large red eyes flutter shut. “And.. I will shelter and adore you, sweetheart. I love you, more than anything.” He wiped a little tear that began to well up in his eye when he spoke and struggled to finally pull himself away. Protecting himself from his intrusive thoughts, he held his arms across his chest and turned to leave her nursery.

“Aww, that was so sweet..” The figure leaning in the doorframe caused him to let out a startled yelp. “Who the Hell.. You have to leave, whoever you are.” He became immediately defensive, holding his hand away from the crib in some form of protection, but he still spoke in a hushed voice. If you were just an imp he wouldn't be as worked up, but you were a sinner. A sinner who suddenly appeared in his daughter’s room. “O-oh! Um, sorry, I thought the queen would’ve.. I’m your new nanny..?” You let out a nervous chuckle, shrugging your tensed shoulders. And now? You’re admitting you're the very demon who’ll be raising his daughter alongside him. He dropped his arms, letting out a scoff, clearly unenthused. Looking you up and down, he stood there staring daggers. After a moment of awkward silence, you held out your hand to shake his, but he didn’t respond to it.

“What are your qualifications? Where did you come from? What makes you think you’re worthy of laying hands on my daughter? The princess of Hell?” He circled you, in an attempt to intimidate you, despite his small stature. “Well, um... When I was alive, I was the oldest kid at the foster house I grew up in. It wasn’t the best facility, so I basically raised most of the girls there.. I’ve seen it all, I guarantee.” You tried to lighten the mood with a quick smile, but it didint do much. “And Lillith approves of you?” You nodded, gripping the hem of your skirt nervously. “Hm. I am not as easily swayed as my wife. She’s my daughter, too. You’ll have to do better than - “ An ear-piercing wale comes from behind him. The commotion must've woken Charlie up. “Oh! No no nono..” His demonic presence faded to reveal what he really was. A father. He scooped her up and cooed, hushing her and swaying her slowly. It did nothing to help. That’s when another fact clicked in your mind; he wasn’t just a father, he was a new father. He lets out a nervous groan, wiping tears away from her heated cheeks.

“Your majesty..?” You slowly approached him, both of you still on edge. “May I?” He was clearly still debating the idea, but another loud wail had him hesitantly passing the swaddled child to your arms. He had such a light hold on her, you noticed his hands trembling when he finally released her into your grasp. You held her close, her front against your chest as you hummed in a low tone a little tune. You picked up a little trick, the vibrations from your chest helped calm her down. The action of swaying the baby and engrossing yourself in the little song running through your head actually calmed the both of you. You still spoke softly, in a low tone, “Thank you, sir. For trusting me with her, i mean. I’ll be here for anything you need. Anything she needs.” You sent him a warm smile. He simply nodded his head slowly, still witnessing the miracle that is someone with experience caring for a child. Maybe this could work out.. What could go wrong?

—

“I’m gonna getcha!” A high-pitched giggle filled the corridors of the manor, Lucifer rounds the corner to follow after his surprisingly speedy toddler. He was mostly having fun with this little game of tag but was also mildly concerned by her growing distance. “Gotcha!” A pair of arms swooped down from around another corner, scooping Charlie up as she let out a playful yelp. You held her in a tight hug, before adjusting your position to hold her up comfortably. Lucifer panted, smiling at the sight of you and his daughter, despite him being out of breath. “G-good catch.. Hoof..!” He stretches his arms upwards, then places them on the small of his back. “Aren’t you the most powerful being in Hell? Why are you acting like a middle-aged dad with a broken back?” you laughed through your words, the sound making Charlie laugh along. He stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest, a pout on his face. “Uh, It’s for fun? Ever heard of playing pretend?” You bit your lip to prevent yourself from mocking him anymore. “Don’t laugh!” You shook your head, then watched him open his arms out to you. Or, to Charlie, actually, but you stepped back instead of handing her over. “Oh, I forgot to remind you, you actually have to head to the Heaven Embassy in a bit, so I’m gonna put Charlie down for her nap instead.” He dropped his arms and grimaced. “Right..”

This mid-day nap was a sort of tradition for Lucifer and his daughter. It was one of the few moments that Lucifer looked forward to these days. You knew that. As much as you enjoyed your job, it came with the unfortunate privilege of seeing Lucifer in his slumps. You rarely saw Lillith, actually, but that made sense. You were only here for Charlie while Lillith couldnt be. When you did spot her iin passing, you’d hand Charlie over and let the two of them have a sweet interaction, usually a quick hug and peck on the forehead, but that was usually it. You’d always notice Charlie clinging onto your shoulder and looking back in her mother’s direction whenever she handed her daughter back to you. It always crushed your heart to hear her go silent after those moments.

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d want to help get her ready for the gala tonight? You should be back in time and it won't take long. Lilith only wants her to make a quick appearance, so it shouldn't be too much work.. Good bonding moment, too!” His eyes sparkled at your invitation and he was quick to accept it. “Thank you, dear. I’ll find you after that meeting.” As he goes to walk past you, he places a hand on your back. He does this often, but as the years went on, it shifted from your shoulder to your shoulderblade, and now he delicately places his hand on your lower back whenever he can. It made you anxious at first.. Was anxious the right word? Either way, you didn't stop him.

He leaned in to place a kiss on Charlie’s forehead, becoming increasingly close to your own face. It wasn't a quick motion. He pressed a dramatic kiss onto her head, letting out a mwah! sound as he pulled back. But before he did, he looked up to you with half-lidded eyes. The eye contact seemed to last forever. And you ever wanted it to stop. A small hand came up and patted Lucifer’s cheek, a childish giggle breaking the moment between you two. What were you thinking? He’s your employer, he’s a king. He’s kind, and sweet, and tries really hard to be a good dad. Nope! Stop it.

“Right! Meeting! Heaven! Gonna.. Yup, I’ll see you.. Uh..” You finished off his words, “ - tonight?”

“Exactly! You got it! Bye, Darling!” He waved his hand off and walked off in a random direction that you were pretty sure didn't lead to where he was supposed to go. “I-I was talking to Charlie, by the way!” You heard from around the corner. You couldn’t stop your laughter with that one. “I know.” You said it softly, not letting him hear the slight disappointment in your voice.

The Gala wasn't a new event, Lillith held them often. Lucifer made his appearance with Charlie, then usually would make up some excuse to get out of the room. Gathering the leaders of each ring of Hell and some of the more powerful overlords, and demons, it was still a big deal. You dressed up Charlie often, since she would throw a temper tantrum when any of the stylists would try to get her ready. You didn't mind, you actually enjoyed prettying her up. You stalled for as long as you could, before beginning to dress her. You wanted to wait for Lucifer, but you assumed he got caught up in some kingly duties. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Don’t be upset. Stop missing him.

“Sorry - Sorry! I'm here!” The blonde demon rounds the corner, hopping on his one foot to balance himself before stopping firmly in Charlie's room. He was wearing an incredibly elegant suit. A dark purple sash cinches His waist, which was only visible because his jacket was hung over his shoulder. His shirt was speckled in gold, matching his hair when under certain light. “Had to convince them I could finish getting ready on my own! Damn stylists, can't catch a break with them.” He let out an awkward laugh, followed by a hoot. He sees Charlie, in her dark purple dress, with small poofed out sleeves, made of a transparent tool. “Charchar! Look at you, kiddo!” He scooped her up and held her close while he swung around. “You're beautiful, sweetheart.” He knew she wouldn't understand that until she was older, but never stopped him from praising her.

He pressed his forehead against hers, laughing along with her. You hated to break the tender moment, but you cleared your throat, bringing the attention back to you. “She's just about ready, just got her hair left.” He placed her back in the chair as you went for a brush. Working through her hair piece by piece, Lucifer suddenly stopped you. “Um.. can I try?” You nodded eagerly, handing the brush over. He swiped slowly, ebing startled by the crunch of a knot, he froze and pulled it away. “It’s okay, you won't hurt her - “ You didn't need to help him this way. Honestly, if anyone were to come in and witness this you could be fired. Still keeping that in mind, you place your hand over his, and guide the brush indirectly, to carefully work through her hair.

After far too long, you pulled your hand away and went to grab some other accessories. His brain was completely fried by the interaction, if this were some looney cartoon, smoke would be puffing out his ears. You weren't as calm as you were coming off as either. Why did you do that? You’d face a fate worse than a second death if anyone saw that. After letting your face cool down, you turned back and bumped Lucifer over with your hip, to take his spot directly behind Charlie. Placing your hands on her shoulders and kneeling down a bit you smile at her reflection. “What do we think, hun? Ponytail? Pigtails? Buns?”

“Braids!” You look at her with a questioning hum. “Pleease!” Braids it is. You start to section off her hair and quickly wrap one clean braid down her back. It only took you a few minutes to do it, leaving bystander Lucifer to sit in awe. He did that a lot. Whenever you’d do something with Charlie that came as second nature to you, he would watch intently. After you noticed his gaze, you began showing him how to do whatever task you had on hand. He needed those moments with her, you knew that. “Wanna give it a shot?” He jumps, as if you had just caught him doing something he shouldn't be doing. “A-Are you sure? It looks kind of complicated, I don't want to ruin her hair if - “ You interrupted his nervous rambling by calling out his title. “I’ll show you, just come watch.” He nodded, almost too quickly, and rushed to stand near you. Very near you. He stood close enough to let your shoulders touch whenever you would lift your arm a certain way. You unfurled the braid you had already done, making Lucifer let out a little sound of disappointment, that you’d ruined your hard work just for him. After attempting to explain it, he manages to struggle his way through a messy braid. He saw you holding in some kind of laugh and sent you daggers. “No - no! It’s good! Especially for your first time, it’s holding up pretty well! Here - “ You pulled the braid back out, then restarted it, letting him pick it up at an easier place. You took his wrists every so often, to turn his hand in the proper direction before letting him go on.

The focus between the two of you suddenly became intense. He stuck out his tongue a bit, too engrossed in his styling to notice. You stood behind him, your hands pressed on his back, while you stood on your tip toes to observe what he was doing from over his shoulder. Pointing out little pieces of hair that were falling out, you would reach out your pointer finger to gesture towards it, only bringing you a bit closer together.

“Is.. Is that it?” He stepped back slowly, giving you the chance to back away with him. You swung around and examined the braid that he had probably spent too much time on, with an overly dramatic hum. Tapping your chin and squinting your eyes, you researched the braid as if it were some puzzle to solve. “It looks great, Lucifer.” Looking towards him, you were expecting an overly confident grin at the acknowledged accomplishment but instead, was met with a wide-eyed bundle of nerves.

“Sir! I-It looks good, Sir! Well - I’ll let you finish getting ready and take Charlie to -” Reaching out your hands to pick Charlie up, Lucifer stops you by grabbing your arm. “It’s okay! I mean, that’s.. That’s my name! Makes sense for you to call me that, considering its my name, so - “ He lets you go and starts fiddling with the clasps on his sleeves. “It’s okay.. for you to do that..” You smile to yourself, going back to tidying up Charlie’s get-up, doing little things like putting on her darling little shoes and tying a ribbon at the end of her hair.

Lucifer then stood in front of the mirror, brushing off his shirt and slipping on his jacket. It was a dazzling plum-colored suit coat, with golden clasps across his torso, and a golden shoulder plate, that allowed a sheer cape to drape down his left side. He was absolutely stunning. You did your best to avert your eyes, staring at him felt like staring at the sun. You only turned in his direction when he cleared his throat to get your attention. “Sorry.. dear, but uh… If you’re done with Charlie, I just - I’m struggling a little bit here..” You watched him attempt to adjust his lopsided tie, finally drooping his head with a sigh of defeat. “Wow, I thought you wore one of those every day, what’s the problem?” The teasing always helped lighten the mood, you placed your hand on your hip as you leaned your weight onto the vanity. He glared at you again, letting out a huff before mumbling under his breath. “It’s a clip on..”

You let out a breath you had been holding in, partially from keeping in your laughter, but mostly from the nerves. With the combination of you wearing house slippers, and him wearing his particularly taller pair of boots, he managed to look down at you when you approached him. You should've made it a quick motion, you’ve tied bowties dozens of times, so it definitely wasn't a new task for you. But instead, you took your time. You carefully traced your hands up to his neck, tugging on both ends to pull it as far forward as it could go. You stopped to straighten the collar of his shirt, then delicately knotted the tie with ease. Your breath became heavier when you rested your hands on the finally tied bow, feeling his heart pounding against the side of your palm. After he caught you in your act, he stepped back, the image of his wife suddenly popping into his head. “Ahha.. Well, um - Thank you. I’ll take Charlie, it’s about that time anyway!”

"R-Right.." you suddenly felt guilty for your actions, worrying that you overstepped some lines. He didn't seem upset or uncomfortable, he was just silent. As he lifted Charlie from her chair, the vision of the two of them left you breathless. A beautiful pair, with porcelain skin contrasting against a palette of muted purples, and the biggest, brightest eyes. Charlie's braid hung loosely down her back, same golden strands accented in the light off the room. You almost wanted to be in the moment with them.

"Hey, so.. if you think you have time, you're welcome to go down to the ballroom for a drink or.. something... if you want." He really had to consider if that was a good idea. The thought was sitting on his mind while he enjoyed the view of your focused expression on his tie. He watched your eyes light up at the notion, his heart swelling with.. with something. "Oh! I mean - The queen talks about it like it's this big important fancy thing, but.. if you think it'll be okay.. I'll - um - " She thought for a moment, looking around the room. "I don't exactly have anything to wear.. I'll join next time, if the invites still open?" You smiled, but it was strained. And he could tell. "No problem! I'll have her find something for you, then you can slip in whenever you want. No pressure!"

With a wave of his hand, a little imp girl came from a portal he had conjured up. Peeking inside, you saw a vast collection of gowns. The imp took your hand and dragged you in silently. You stumbled, then stammered something out, something that should've been a thank you, or a show of appreciation, but you were too stunned by the situation. He waved, then Charlie waved, then the two were out of the room.

The picture of them together ran through your mind. Not just them in matching outfits, but whenever he would press his forehead against hers, or he would show off his horns when Charlie was prodding at her own. Or when they really seemed like a family. Lillith was never in those pictures. Fuck, don't be jealous. You're getting paid far too much money to feel anything like that. Plus, you're being treated to an elegant evening gown without even asking. You don't get to be jealous.

Luckily, the imp rolled out a rack of dresses, it was stuffed to the brim, but was still a more manageable collection compared to the entire room. You sifted through them, and each one that twisted your face, she took off the hanger and set aside. After narrowing it down, you were stuck on two dresses; a sultry red dress, with an incredibly high slit and a stretched velvet material that hugged you in all the right places. Definitely a head turner. Even if this gala had a V.I.P list, maybe some handsome individual could help you distract yourself.

But the other option was a glistening lavender color, the neckline went across your shoulders, turning to gloves that tapered at your knuckles. A sheer corset held your curves in place, and it was paired with pearl accessories, to go with your sleek white heels. Both were gorgeous of course, but turning your hips and taking in how you looked in that lavender gown.. you could see yourself fitting quite nicely into your mental picture of Lucifer and Charlie. You would never admit that's why you picked it. You were prettied up, your hair pulled to one side with pearl clips scattered within the strands, and a little touch of makeup that you really didnt want, but was convinced without a word by the stylist. You looked like royalty. And that made you feel good in so many ways.

—

Lucifer said you could "sneak in", and you thought it best to take that literally. Waving and greeting all the workers in the kitchen that you knew, you finally slipped through the door where the caterers traveled from. You went straight for the bar, not because you needed a drink - well, I'm sure that's part of it - but because you had no idea what to do. What, were you supposed to walk straight up to Lucifer? Or Lillith? The idea of seeing Lillith suddenly made your stomach churn. You realized that you actually got there in time to see the introductions for most of the more esteemed guests. They went through the sins, who were larger than life, then a flared announcement for the Morningstar family was belted out.

Lucifer stood with a devilish grin, looking handsome as always. Lillith was still stunning, her gown trailing behind her.. but it was black. It wasn’t purple, or plum, or lilac, it was just black. It may not have looked like a contrast to everyone, but it upset you for some reason. Charlie stood between them, looking incredibly calmed considering the intensity of the moment. Lillith was holding her small hand, but the difference in height made her strain to keep their fingers intertwined. You cringed watching her stand on the tip of her toes to keep contact with her own mother.

Quietly, as to not interupt the announcements, you beckoned the bartender to bring you a drink. You sat and sipped, your back arched as you leaned your weight onto your elbows. What were you doing here? Was this all worth it? To have your little Cinderella transformation?

"Hello, darling.. and who might you be?" A sultry voice came from behind, causing you to swivle in the chair to face where it came from. It wasn't Lucifer, which left you mildly disapointed, but you definitely weren't upset at the curvy woman standing in front of you, wearing a dress that left nothing to the imagination. The swishing demonic tail wasn't something you hated either. A real fox.

"Oh, a friend invited me, I didnt want to cramp his style, so here I am." As you spoke, the bartender brings a tall flute of champagne over to the gorgeous demon in front of you. She glides to sit in the seat next to you. "Hm - well, I'd hate to see you all alone tonight, mind if I keep you company, love?" She slid her fingers up your arm and you have no idea how you managed to keep your cool. "Not at all~" maybe it was the confidence of your new appearance, but you had no issue with spending the night with this stranger.

All of a sudden, Charlie was plopped into your seated lap, causing you to look up towards an intimidating Lucifer. Examining the sudden shift in mood, you were relieved to see Lillith talking to some demons on the other side of the room. "Glad you could make it! Charlie here - reeaally missed you, thought I should say hi." He smile was forced, you noticed a slight twitch in his eye. "Ah, I see you've met my nanny! Quite a beauty, wouldn't you agree?" Lucifer came incredibly close to you, leaning in and placing his hand on your back. The only issue was the low cut of the dress, allowing you to feel his warm hands on your skin. You hoped he didn't feel the shiver run up your spine.

Taking a hold of Charlie as she climbed up your lap to hug your neck, you let out a natural laugh, feeling like yourself for the first time tonight. Looking back to your conquest, who was definitely about to ask you to "get out of here", you see a face of absolute disgust. Oh, right. You're just a sinner to these higher ups. And a working class one at that. Nanny wasn't the most flattering occupation apparently. She made a terrible excuse to get out of the conversation and walked away a little faster than she should've.

"Sir! I have no problem watching Charlie tonight, but - I was about to -" your face flushed as you tried to explain how you were just trying to get laid tonight. “Get a drink, right? Make sure you stick to the non-alchoomic stuff, hun, sounds like Charlie gets to stay up late tonight!" With a hefty pat on your back, Lucifer stepped away to talk to another random demon. What the fuck? Lucifer had beckoned the bartender over again, and when you looked back to the counter, you see a sad looking soda water. With a sigh, you guzzle the drink just to wet your dried throat.

As much a you loved Charlie, there was no better chick repellant. And even for the brave souls who decided to approach you and still show interest, Lucifer would suddenly appear, keeping his hand just above your tailbone as he mentioned your hard work as his employee. Maybe it was the word nanny, or the intimidating presence of the king of Hell, but he had to be doing this on purpose. You kind of hoped he was doing this on purpose.. After one too many fleeting suitors, you worked your magic and calmed Charlie until she fell asleep in your arms. You hummed a little tune again, the method was something she became accustomed to after you started taking care of her.

"My my~ what a sweetheart." A broad shouldered demon approached you, his lower voice ringing throughout your chest. "Isn't she? She's exhuasted, I should really get her to bed." You never took your eyes off of Charlie, making it easy for him to slip a hand around your waist." Ah, you’re her caretaker, hm? Well.. what do you have going on after you get her to bed?" His hand trails down to your hips, starting to trace a circle with his thumb. You swung away, a look of disgust on your face." Probably going to bed. By myself." You hissed. You never had a problem handling those kind of advances, and you'd do anything to keep Charlie safe, so you kept your distance. "You don't have to do that, baby~ why don't you show me around the Morningstar manor?" He closed the distance, and as you go to step back, your back hits the bar. "N-No thanks, I'm.. not..." You would have gotten nervous in the moment, if you didnt see a blonde headed angel approaching with horns threatening to burst out.

"Stay away from her." A small puff of flames came from Lucifer's snarl as he reprimanded the thug. He scoffed and stepped away as if nothing had happened. Probably the smartest thing for him to do at this point. Lucifer's suddenly glowing red eyes returned to their normal hue once he turned his attention to you. You froze in place. It felt like you were in trouble too. "You're okay?" He spoke blankly, you couldn't tell what emotion he was trying to convey, let alone how he actually feels. You nodded, keeping a hand on the back of Charlie's head." Get her to bed." With a dramatic turn, his transparent cape flew behind him and he returned to Lillith's side. He placed his hand on the small of her back.

You wanted to cry. To scream and drink until you can't think of anything. Charlie was your main priority, though. You took her to her nursery as soon as you could. Carefully changing her into her pajamas, a cute little onesie with ducks printed all over, then placed the drowsy toddler into her bed. "Oh Charlie.. You are so lucky to be so loved." You spoke geniunely, no matter your feelings, the amount of love Charlie is given and how much she gives in return was always so unbelievable to you. She was made of pure joy. Brushing some hair away from her face, you stepped back, taking your time on returning to your room.

"That is so sweet." You shot your head up, unpleasantly surprised by Lucifer's sorry face. "She's in bed, what do you need from me?" You spoke softly, as to not wake her. "You look beautiful. I just.. didn't get a chance to say that earlier, is all." Your face twisted in digust. "You know, you weren't the only one who thought that tonight. That was the first time I've been hit on in months. Couldn't you let me just enjoy the night..?" You were becoming increasingly frustrated, and it was translating clearly through your words. He flinched at your aggression, suddenly becoming defensive.

"That filfthy demon was feeling you up..! What else did you want me to do?" He started to match your energy, quietly responding in an aggitated state." Not him, the rest! I was about to leave with that lady at the bar, and I'm sure others would've enjoyed my company if I wasn't getting handed a toddler every second." You'd regret that one later, referring to Charlie as just a toddler. "That's your job, dear. Remember why you're here." He puffed out his chest, becoming increasingly close to your figure. You shrunk away, your eyes widened at his words.

"Oh- Oh, no, I didn't mean to - wait, I wasn't - " He stammered, his intimidating stature immediatly dropping as he say your eyes start to glaze over with tears, which only flowed down your cheeks after batting your made-up lashes. "Nonono! Please don't cry I - um.. " his eyes darted around the room, before reaching his arms out and reeling you in to a tightening embrace. Your chin sat on his shoulder, the shock momentarily keeping the water works at bay.

"I got nervous, okay..? I didn't want anything.. bad... to happen. I didn't want to lose you in there." Those words shouldn't tug at your heart strings at much as they did, but that and the low rumble of his voice just slightly hitting your ear made it impossible.

"I-I can handle myself.." You sniffled, your breath becoming heavier as you felt his hands start to explore your back. He rested one hand on the small of your back, sending a familiar warmth to your chest. But then, his fingers traced upwards, holding onto your shoulders for a moment, before lightly clawing down your bare back. He traced over a certain spot that tickled you the wrong way, causing you to force out a little yelp. You both stopped for a moment, the only thing you could hear was the uneven pants coming from your mouths. He pulled away for a moment, keeping his hands on your shoulders. Then eyeing you up and down, he ran his grasp across the length of your arms. "I known you can.. you're wonderful." He somehow spoke as if he was completely unaffected by the intimacy he was just showing you. Your breath only picked up more, instantly regretting what you were about to do.

With a small leap, you pulled him in by his collar and messily met his lips. It couldn't be a quick peck, that's too confusing. You wanted this to last forever. He kept his lips sealed shut at first, but that didn't last long. With a shakey breath against your lips, he pulled you in by your waist suddenly, bringing you as close to him as he could. The motion took the air out of your lungs, forcing you release a vocal sigh. He only held you tighter after that. Your arms trailed up and around his shoulders, combing through the hairs at the nape of his neck. He broke for a moment, his kisses traveling down your lips to your jawline, then down to your neck.

Flicking your hair back, he latched an incredibly wet kiss on the softness of your neck. Lucifer took the invitation of your strapless dress to fully cover you in kisses, occasionally running his tongue up the length of your neck. A panting mess, you pulled him back up by his chin, finally getting a good look at his face. He was falling apart at the seems. He looked desperate to get back to working on your neck, like he hadnt been intimate with anyone in years. You needed his lips against yours again. Holding his jaw, you pressed a kiss on his lips, then squeezed your thumb amd index finger to open his lower jaw and push your tongue into his mouth. He let out a nervous moan, before quickly catching up to you.

This wasn’t right. This part wasn't in your mental picture of a perfect family. And you knew why. Your thoughts were silenced, feeling his mouth trail back down to your collarbone. He thumbed at the top of your long glove, beginning to pull it down. God, never let this moment end.

But you forgot. You're in Hell.

With a frantic patting on his shoulder, you quickly attempted to get his attention. When Lucifer met your eyes again, they had gone wide, and he finally noticed you shaking. "Hey, hey! What is it? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

"Yes." He froze. He slowly turned his head to the door. Lillith.

—

"Darling, please, I'm sorry, you know you're the only one for me - it was a long night, mistakes were made, let's just move on, hm..?" He was begging for this moment to be over, as Lillith moved past him and approached you. You had to crane your neck to look at her, your entire body trembling. You had mascara running down your eyes, and your lipstick had smeared in all directions. Lillith lifted your head up even further, wiping some smudged lipstick from the corner of your mouth. "Lily..?" Lucifer let out softly. She let out a soft sigh. She didn't seem to be angry, which seemed to make you more nervous than if she was. "D-Don’t.. don't hurt her..." It's like he was scared to stick up for you. That, and the fact that he just called this past interaction a mistake, weighed heavily on your heart. "You think that little of me, my love? I would never. It was a mistake, after all, just as you said." She spoke so calmly but knew exactly what to say to make you cower in fear. You let out a pathetic whimper, "P-Please... I'm s-sorry, Your Highness..." She smiled and tightened her grip on your jaw for a moment before letting you go. You didn't realize she was actually lifting you up slightly until you were dropped down. “So.. we can talk and figure this out, right? Lily?" She kept her eyes off of the anxious mess that Lucifer was becoming." Of course, love. We'll talk in the morning. Oh, and obviously - " She turned towards you just before leaving the room.

"You're fired.”

—

Anyway, there is absolutely a part 2 for this don't worry and I'll get to it.. eventually.

!Taglist!

( @vififofum @thornwolfy235 @tinywolfiegirl @chipper-chip @bat-boness @misfitgirlwrites @nayomi247 @lonelynmisunderstood )

#There's a reference in here someone please get it #hazbin hotel #hazbin #lucifer hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fandom #lucifer hazbin #lucifer morningstar #lucifer magne #hazbin hotel smut #lucifer fluff #lucifer morningstar x you #lucifer x reader #lucifer x reader smut #hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin lucifer #lucifer smut #lucifer x you

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tabithatwo · 1 year

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are we ready to talk about shauna's barely hidden but somehow very ignored psychosis and how it, like a ton of her other qualities, is brushed aside by both those around her and the audience? like, i think its clear that a central focus of the show is the way lottie is the only one who got stuck in a facility (and natalie in and out of rehab being the next closest to reckoning with her shit) when the rest of them are very clearly not okay. as a certified Crazy Girl, i've been weary of how they'll handle lottie's story line (blurring psychosis and the supernatural is a very delicate and tricky thing and thus far i've been sort of just waiting to see where it goes). our data on and understanding of mental health is incredibly limited for a lot of reasons (but that's a rant for another time) but there is a large mainstream misconception of when hallucinations and delusions can happen. psychosis isn't just something that happens in schizophrenia and its very complex, so if you want to learn more there's plenty of info out there i'm not going to get into it here, but it happens in a lot of other cases. psychosis is, most simply put, a loss of contact with external reality. ptsd can cause psychosis, especially auditory and visual hallucinations.

so shauna is shown to have these experiences and i didn't realize that they were being so heavily overlooked by a large amount of people until the reaction to the scene where she beats lottie nearly to death. shauna is introduced in s1 as having hallucinations of jackie 25 years later. she is shown to disassociate. in 207, she both holds the baby's body and believes the delusion that they ate the baby. the episode shows her fighting the delusion until she can't anymore. meanwhile, adult shauna tells lottie she keeps callie at arms length out of "fear that she would die...i guess? or maybe that she was never even...real to begin with." then she adds "i think something is broken, lottie." implied: she's broken. something is wrong with her. this is the is the most honest about her mental state we've ever seen shauna be.

why? because lottie has always been and likely will always be perceived as crazier. lottie is the one they pin it on, lottie is the cult leader both then and now, lottie is the scapegoat, lottie is the one who got sent to switzerland. i think there's something to be said for the effect lottie has on people (again, a whole other post) but honestly, that alone is enough. shauna is feeling vulnerable for a lot of reasons and she can tell lottie that she thinks she's crazy, that she's never quite sure her daughter exists, that she's constantly afraid she'll die to the degree that she doesn't let herself interact with her in a real, tangible way, because it's always safer to tell the crazy girl you're crazy, too.

and lottie knows. shauna knows that. lottie clocked her psychosis almost immediately, when she was in the meat shed for all hours. the other girls were shocked by the makeup, and their shock was so fucking strange to me when i watched it, but now on reflecting i'm realizing maybe its the lottie effect. like, have i done the shit shauna has? abso-fucking-lutely not lol. but does my mind work in a way where i immediately would assume shauna was doing something along the lines of the shit she was doing out there, because to me its like...what else would it be? yeah. like sees like, in a way. lottie knows what this looks like at baseline, even if its coming out way different in shauna. even if in shauna it looks like aggression and violence a lot of the time. lottie gets it.

jeff doesn't get it, he thinks strawberry lube is too wild. taissa gets it to a degree, and we see shauna be the second most open with her, but tai suppresses and hides it a degree that she wouldn't dare step foot in a therapist's office (this is yet another thing that makes me crazy but is a whole other post lol). shauna's main goal in this life she's created is pretending to be normal. and she's like, impressively bad at it. but people let her, because what else are they going to do? addressing the clear issues is taboo, because we categorize people so heavily. she masks better than lottie, but it's fucking wafer thin. you see this when she interacts with people who aren't her family or the other yjs. the way she speaks to the taylors? to adam? shauna is only sometimes masking passably when she's in her set world, where she has a routine, and is surrounded by people she only has to half-convince of her sanity.

if shauna is honest about the level of psychosis she experiences, she knows she'll end up like lottie. and i think there's an argument to be made that the people around her (which at this point in her life is pretty much just jeff because she's done another common thing and insulated herself from other people, re: the way she behaves being clockably off to others who won't overlook certain things or can't relate) understand that too. it can't be addressed, because then in their minds there must be action of some kind if it is. (taissa yelling you're acting crazy, shauna is one of the most purely terrified moments we see of her in relation to shauna, because she knows she's admitting something. jeff yelling something to the same effect after the carjacking, same thing.)

the person we see try to get shauna to open up about it is callie. her teenage daughter, who bares the brunt of her difficulty maintaining reality, (who knows that shauna has never accepted her fully as her child, and seems to actually sense that there is a deeper reason for that), asks her to open up. she tells her after the club scene that she knows something is wrong. she even mentions jackie directly. she spends all of s2 trying to relate to shauna, to get her to be open with her about everything. there's no way shauna's trauma and psychosis and general issues have gone unnoticed by callie. daughters always know. they see it in their mothers before they even have a concept of the world. so we're watching a 16 year old try to get her mom to open up, because she doesn't understand fully why that's so dangerous to shauna. to callie, it may even be a secret she thinks other people are in on that she's being left out of. i think maybe she's realizing that it isn't personal and that shauna is guarded like this in general, and we're watching that happen.

callie is learning to care for and relate to her mother and she doesn't see why shauna won't let her in, because to her it's an innate truth that she'll be by her side no matter what (if only she'd let her be). she has unconditional love for her mother and that is the scariest thing in the world to shauna, because the last person who had unconditional love for shauna died because shauna didn't know what to do with it. a baby she never got a chance to meet in reality could've replaced the love that jackie gave her, and shauna was maybe starting to look forward to that, but that ended before it began. so twice shauna has killed that figure in her life. the one who loves her wholly and for who she is, which is terrifying to shauna in it's own right (she tried to take that away from jackie in their last moments, maybe you never really knew me, because that would be easier. shauna can't handle someone really knowing her because she can't handle really knowing herself because, again, that means addressing things that go unaddressed). and she doesn't plan on killing that figure again.

(if callie's even real, because the baby wasn't real when she met him and jackie wasn't real every time she's talked to her in the last twenty-five years, so who the fuck is to say callie is real?)

#this started purely as a shauna shipman psychosis discussion and ended with shauna callie mother daughter dynamics but i'm only human #they are so special to me #as the crazy daughter of a crazy mother that i had to let go of. watching them is a wild experience #shauna shipman #jackie taylor #jackie x shauna #taissa turner #shauna x jackie #jackieshauna #callie sadecki #tai x shauna #lottie matthews #lottie x shauna #yellowjackets #cw psychosis

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bet-on-me-13 · 10 months

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Ellie worked undercover at Cadmus

So, Ellie has grown up and become an Adult living on her own by now.

She is doing her best to make the most out of her life. She went to school, graduated from College, and even got a Job.

She grew up in a Lab, and learned quite a bit about Genetic Engineering over the course of her life both before and after escaping (Both from Vlad, and from Danny during that Point in time where they were trying to permanently stabilize her).

So, when she gets an offer to join a new start-up Company called Cadmus, she jumped at the opportunity to use her Knowledge to help others. (She was told it was a Research Company that used Genetic Engineering to make medicines)

It wasn't until she had already signed the NDA that she figured out that this was an Illegal Cloning Lab.

Thankfully, she was immune to the Mind Control that they had tried to use on all of the Scientists to make them okay with all of the illegal shit, but she still had to play the part so she could help the poor clones who would be created in this project.

She went Undercover for years. Any time a Clone was deemed a "Failure", she would try her best to save them. She did manage to save a few, sending them to Danny so he could help them find a home, but unfortunately she couldn't save them all.

After a few years, the other scientists began to stress out. The K-Series had been a total failure so far, and none of the Clones had even come close to being Viable. Even the most successful one, identified as Match, couldn't come close to being called an actual success.

So, they went a different route. If Kryptonian DNA didn't want to be Cloned, then maybe they could splice it with some other DNA and force it to work with them?

The Scientists began splicing Human DNA into the Genome, running trials to see if it would be Viable at all before even attempting to create a Full Clone. And they did find some success, preliminary tests showed that Human DNA was uniquely adaptable when it came to splicing, and theoretically it could be used to make a Fully Viable Clone!

When Luthor heard of this, he deemed that nobody aside from himself was worthy of being the "Father", and gave his own DNA to the Scientists to use for the Experiment.

Ellie was put in charge of transporting the DNA to the Lab, but in a random accident (we both know it wasn't, Clockwork), she ends up dropping the Sample. In a rush, she just puts some of her own Blood into the Vial and gives it to the Scientists working on the Gene Splicing Project. (She was panicking, ok?! Nobody would be able to work in a lab like this without getting a little bit of anxiety, and she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in days at that point!)

They are thrilled! They don't know why, but Mr Luthor's DNA was so much better at Splicing than any other Human DNA they had ever tested before. He was certainly right about his own DNA being the beat suited for the Job!

Ellie meanwhile is having a bit of a meltdown. She can't believe she just gave them some of her DNA! And they already used it to make a Fetus! She's a mother now! She never wanted to be a Mom!

But she guesses that none of that matters anymore. She's has a son now, and she needs to get him out of there. But how to do it? As the only successful K-Series Clone, he was under the most heavily guarded security imaginable, so there was absolutely no way she would ever be able to sneak him out of there. Even if she used her powers, the Security was primed to scan for any and all foreign energy signatures, even Ecto Energy.

So for now, she was stuck. She couldn't break him out, and she also couldn't just leave the Company and let them abuse all those poor clones like that! She just needed to wait for the right opportunity to get her son out of there, even if it meant that she would have to stay behind.

It wasn't until a team of errant Sidekicks broke into the Lab a few years later, that she had a way out for her son.

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maximumkillshot · 5 months

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Home

Warnings: There are a lot with this one and it hits close to home. Mentions of S/A. The R word is used, sobbing, anxiety and mental episode. mentions of self harm, mentions victim blaming and slut shaming. MDNI. There is fluff spattered around.

Pairing: BangChanxReader

Characters: Bang Chan, Reader, mention of the person who S/A, people Slut Shaming and Victim Blaming.

A/N: Okay so this one is heavy. The things you are about to read have happened to me. I had a mental episode a while back. I wrote most of this during said episode. This is what I think Chan would do for his S/O if they went through and go through what I did. This blog has always been a safe space. I use my fictions to entertain as well as a platform to have safe conversations. If you need me as always I will hang around after drop.

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ANY WORK THAT YOU SEE ON OTHER SITES THAT ARE MY WORKS PLEASE NOTIFY ME IMMEDIATELY.

“YN?” Your husband called out to you. You couldn't hear him from the pressure of today. It created a seething pool of frustration and anger as you kneeled at the foot of the bed, wanting to pray, but now that you think about it the pain of being on the floor was a sweet torture in and of itself.

Usually, anger like this wouldn't be a problem for you. You would go down to the basement and punch granite with your poorly taped hands, yes you were only a kid then, not knowing how else to get the anger out only stopping when you'd hear a crunch. Yes, that was the start of negative coping mechanisms, and yes you are trying to either bury that anger or let it consume you fast before Chris gets home. He's dealt with enough, we don't need to add on to it.

Now you're no longer a child… as a matter of fact, you are now an adult, an adult with a hairpin trigger vaguely yet expertly disguised as comedic sarcasm. Depression that you don't remember not having… maybe when you were 8? You weren't sure. Not to mention a cast made of a myriad of physical and mental health issues…. Disabilities… and the cast of characters just keep growing! You have the medicine and the “coping techniques”, they called it, for success! Even those fail.

Trying to talk it out just made you more angry, the injustice looking more and more ludicrous by the second. Okay, let's try breathing. Yeah no. That didn't work either, it just gave your brain more oxygen, so your brain went from quantum computer speed to Sonic the fucking Hedgehog. Oh… ok oh oh! Let's try soundboarding. You know, talk to people, not yourself. That ended in yet another game of useless catch phrases like “calm down” and “you shouldn't be thinking of that.”

TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T FUCKING KNOW THANK YOU! Oh, and I almost forgot the “Your method of thought isn't changing because you don't want to change '' DO YOU THINK I AM POKED ALL DAY AND SAY TO MYSELF…

‘OH I WANT TO FEEL MORE LIKE SHIT… I KNOW LET ME RUN MY FACE INTO A BRICK WALL OF ANXIETY REPEATEDLY UNTIL I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF ANYMORE.’

You reverted to hurting the people around you due to your anger and frustration, plus you darkened the mood, you've always been a multitasker. My friends were right. I'm depressing, I was only kept around because of my ex. That was before they kicked me out… because they didn't want to believe he assaulted me. You go back to that night often…

“I didn’t want to do that, I felt icky” You told him after he came back from cleaning himself up in the bathroom, while you were left to clean the traces of himself from your own mouth. No aftercare, no thought about you. The ghost of a boy who used you, who was an on and off friend of almost 10 years…

“I know.” he answered with no emotion.

“Then… why?” You asked, your head cocked to the side.

“Because I really wanted it.” He puts his hand on your shoulder, “But I’m sorry you feel that way. Shit now I feel bad.”

Then it switched to those friends, on another night… “ I just don’t buy it. That DID NOT HAPPEN, I know him better than you.”

“I mean you did it anyway so you must’ve wanted it.”

You tried to explain that you were assaulted, it’s called coercive consent and it’s the most common form of assault. You were raped. You didn’t want to do it and he knew that but you wanted to make him happy. You tried to explain, to educate. They weren’t having it.This conversation at times whirls in your head. Making you itch to pull a trigger, do something to make the torture stop.

“You always overreact and you’re so annoying why don’t you just go the fuck away!”

“You’re so depressing just fucking go away! We only tolerated you because you are his girlfriend, just go the fuck away!” The intent in her voice. The reality. You trusted her most out of the entire group. She helped you emotionally… Now shaming you, blaming you.

Her boyfriend rendered you speachless when you called it what it was, it was rape via coercive consent:

“Oh I get the kind of person you are, you’re the type of person who gets felt up in the middle of the night by their significant other because they’re trying to get laid and you call it rape.”

You know the right method to take now, right… Yeah you do.

Isolate… process… torture yourself…cry… alone. Contain the monster, so it doesn't hurt anyone else… You're just a monster parading as a human. Don't forget it. This happens when you forget Y/N… stop being reckless. Always so fucking reckless…

You started clenching your hands one over the other, wanting to rake the top of your hands until they bled, trying to ground yourself. Until subconsciously, you did. You rocked as you did it, trying to soothe yourself.

Sometimes you swear people don't see you drowning right in front of their fucking eyes. You know how to swim, you know how to get out, to scream, punch, fight. You want to swim, you really do. But you can only do so much in a rip current. The lifeguard sees you. But instead of helping they yell “PADDLE! JUST PADDLE YOU'LL BE FINE!” It's a different level of patronization. It just makes you want to let the tides swallow you. Because why fight when the waters are so warm?

“Y/N?!” Chris yelled as he saw your bag tossed haphazardly on the couch, never where you put it. He stopped and listened carefully. He thought back to the last text you sent him. “Shit hit the fan at work …I don't want to feel right now. I'll see you at home.”

That middle sentence made his heart stop. He knows you… something was up. He tried texting you back, sending words of encouragement, calling, and leaving cute messages when you didn't pick up, and nothing was heard from you. As soon as he could get away from schedules he did. When he looked at the clock you had sent that message three hours beforehand, he never raced home faster.

He knows what your mind does to you. He sees the battles every day. When he’d compliment you and you would look down, not shy, but contradictory. When he’d pick you up you would freeze and he’d remind you that you aren’t too heavy, that he loves you in every single way that you think is impossible to love you. He’d always encourage you to wear what you want, do what you want. He would caress every single curve, never being able to keep his hands off of you. Whispering into your ear in public as he tilts your head up gently after asking for permission. He’d kiss you so delicately in front of a sea of people. On the red carpet, on stage, it didn’t matter. You were and are his person, and he loved showing you off. He couldn’t win the war in your mind for you, but he damn sure would fight those battles with you.

He would fight away those negative thoughts, he’d wrap his arms around you and sing to you to will those images, the anxiety and fear away. Until those thoughts were rendered useless. He’d wrestle with them for control, as soon as he won your mind back he gave it to you. He reminded you that you are here with him for a reason. He adores you, and nothing would change that.

It was something he promised you when he saw you breakdown while doing your medicines. You told him that you were ashamed of it all. All the illnesses, that you weren’t perfect and that you’d understand if he didn’t want you. He looked at you and helped with your medicines, learned about each of them, and their dosages. He was so gentle, smiling at you, wiping your tears. He looked at all the medicines and said, anything that keeps you alive is nothing to be ashamed of. You aren’t something to be ashamed of. He knows that sometimes you can’t hear him until he’s right in your ear. Now looked like that case.

You couldn't hear him calling out to you, your mind too loud, too vicious, bloodthirsty. When pain and self-deprecation are your main moods, all others seem like an abnormal concept. Something that is stolen, was it even real in the first place? You know one thing that was real… Chris. You hated being this… the medications, the constant fires in your mind, the barrage of hate aimed at yourself, of unbridled strength turned inward to rip yourself apart for no reason other than things piling up. He didn't deserve that. He deserves peace, the best… just like what he demands of himself, perfection.

You got through the gauntlet at your job. People undermining your authority, people on a power trip of their own. Sending others to try to intimidate, embarrass you into submission… as if you weren't a bloodthirsty wolf that could snap any second, biting their heads clean off. “An Alpha through and through,” that's what Chris would say, “Even Alphas have to bite their tongue, Love.”

That made you cry more because at this point you don't even know if your tongue is still existent, or if you swallowed the damn thing after you bit it off. Or worse… you still have it… but you lost your voice. You know that can't be it, we're too fucking stubborn for that.

But the hits didn't stop coming, traffic happened, then going to the doctor who said that the physical therapy you needed would eat into your personal time, your time to write, to cook for Channie and the boys, to spend time with Channie and the boys.. then you forgot the doctors note so you had to walk back in for it. Then you had to go home while you tried to talk about everything… and well now here we are.

Even now you try to problem solve, try to nitpick at yourself, the person he loves so much. You collapsed more on the floor of your shared bedroom, cross-legged thinking of the ocean, the violent, dangerous, tumultuous ocean… something simultaneously so beautiful and scary. You want to say you are like an ocean, but you don't see beauty in yourself, only a beast. That's all we'll ever be.

Chris freezes in the hallway hearing a sob break loose from you. He hadn't heard a sob like that before, it chilled his core. How does he approach this? He sees the doctor's note thrown next to your purse… He was happy you were approved for physical therapy, you really were in a lot of pain daily from the muscle and tendon weakness, but he looked at the times…

He looked to the hallway, “Oh…Baby Girl.” He had one piece of the puzzle. He knew you loved to cook for him and the boys but this schedule meant you couldn't do that for the foreseeable future. You enjoyed seeing the boys eating, and staying fueled, knowing without that they'd opt for less healthy options. Then he saw the paper right under it. A typed log… a leger of interactions throughout your day… “No…”

Right there, in black and white, was what you went through today, everything down to the sarcastic smirk your coworker had as you were barraged with pressure to break the rules… and you didn't break. He never would've expected you to. You are the strongest person he knows. Even under these conditions, Chris himself would break. In front of fifty plus people being berated, pushed to do something you knew you couldn’t do.

Right at the end of it was a line, written in plain ink by hand. “Vacation not given as described by supervisor. No week off.” With tear stains smudging the ink.

Chris started walking down the hall to the shared bedroom. As he walked closer he heard you mumbling as you sobbed. Things like “stop crying” and “it's nothing.” But one made him freeze right before he opened the door, “Chris is going to worry. You already take too much from him, get it together so he won't worry. It’ll hurt him. Stop hurting the people you love. You’re a monster.”

That made his eyes sting, you were worried about him above all else. He slowly opened the door and you couldn't find it in you to look up. You knew who it was. The aura you know and love, like salve on the holes you ripped into yourself. The small steps were only weighed down by his sneakers as he slowly spoke.

“Hey…Baby Girl?” The tone was even more soothing. We don't deserve that. “Can you look at me please?” You just shook your head. Too embarrassed at the shambling mess you are. The real you that you hide.

Before you knew it you saw two big hands undoing the laces on his sneakers, shortly after he toed them off. Slowly he sat in front of you groaning “Oooooookay criss-cross applesauce it is…” making you smirk as you wiped your nose with the inside of the collar of your shirt. Finally, as he settled he said “aaaaaughh” with a big puff of air…

You just tucked your head into your chest as you hid as much as you could. He waited for a few minutes, until he said, “We can address what happened in a few minutes. But you need to know. You don't take from me.”

Your tears kept falling as you listened, his tone calming the raging currents in your mind.

He looked at the engagement and wedding band on your left hand. He watched the tears fall, he saw the holes in you. He wanted to lunge at you, take that emotional knife away from you, smother you in affection. Hold you, his heart burned for it. Needle and thread ready to patch you up. To heal you.

He spoke softly, “You are my everything, Y/N. You aren't a burden, a disappointment, you aren't a chore, the only thing you took from me was my heart, but you had that before I even heard your voice. The second I saw you… I gave it to you. I don't want it back either.”

You hiccuped breaths as you listened. He scooted a little closer and he put his hands out, palm up into your vision… asking for your hands. That was when you realized you were scratching at them again.

You unfurled them from one another, hissing where one nail was slightly deeper, the tiny droplet of blood following soon after.

He looked at your hands, humming in the back of his throat, “One second.” He didn’t want to show it, but he was worried. You feel so much and he just wants to be there to hold you, to love you.

Then popped up and left. He came back with a first aid kit, “Oooooookay heeaarr we goar again... criss-cross.” That made you giggle the tiniest bit. Chris always loved to hear your laugh. Your laugh is infectious and it always never fails to brighten his day. He knew he was making progress.

You couldn't see it but Chris was smirking at your tiny cute form. And hearing that little giggle made him want to channel Changbin and squeal at the cuteness overload.

“Okay my Koala Bear… hands.” When you both had started dating, he noticed you always hung on to him. You explained that he was warm and you were always frozen, especially in the colder months. You asked if it was okay for you to hold on to him like that. Internally he was trying his best not to giggle like a school boy at the prospect of you holding on to him like this naturally. He looked at you and said, “It’s no problem, you just remind me of a Koala Bear, so cute and tiny. Can I call you that? My Koala Bear?” And you nodded blushing. Since then, you’ve been his Koala Bear.

You presented your hands to him wincing at the stretch of the new scratches and he said “So tiny… so cute. Okay tiny sting” he cleaned the bigger scratch and put a bandage on it, and checked the rest. Once he deemed it all good to have your hands back. He kissed them then returned them to your lap. “Thank you for letting me clean them.”

You nodded and hummed. The voices slowed down. They always slowed down around him. He always was your safe place. Like home base in a baseball game. If you made it there, you’re safe. You’re home. That thought made you sad, surprisingly. How are you safe with only one person? You should have security in yourself not in someone else. Your brain was waiting to start assaulting you again.

“Is it loud in there?” Chris asked. You've told him about all of this before, this is the first time he's seen it this bad though. The voices, memories attack you. You explained to him that sometimes your brain will do this, you try to hold it back but sometimes it just can’t be helped.

“Mhmm”

“People don't help… right?”

“mhmm”

“Can you tell me what's going on in there?”

You told him. Some.. not all. You also told him about that pesky intrusive thought about your ex and your friends.

His body went rigid as he said, “No… they're the ones that are wrong, not you. Your ex…” He wanted to choose his words carefully. He knew that you blame yourself at times. The memory of you explaining why you were hesitant to go further when you were dating. He assured you there was no pressure. That he loved you for you, the rage boiled in him and it still does because you were never at fault for this. Especially when you trusted that asshole enough to experiment with him. He was going to be your first for everything but after what he did. The trust was gone, rightfully so.

Chris continued, “He took advantage of you, and coerced you into consent, that is not love. That is not okay? That is sexual assault. The way that your friends acted was disgusting, the way he acted was sub-human… You are not depressing, you are one of the most beautiful, talented, funny, caring, loving people I have…” his voice gave out and he cleared his throat, “You are one of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life. I love you so much and I know you feel like you're a burden on me but being with you has been the most amazing thing I've ever experienced.”

He tilted your head up and you let him, he had tears in his eyes as he said, “You have never been nor will you ever be a monster.” Your tears picked up as you looked into his eyes. You could tell, Chris doesn’t lie. He’ll tell you the truth. His tears started falling as you leaned forward, reaching for him, needing contact. When you saw him you needed his warmth, you need him to heal you. You were losing hope, faith, everything as you watched the holes in you. Seeing him holding the needle and thread. By holding you, being with you, just being himself, it heals you. You whimpered, “Need you…” As your tears switched from self-hate to desperation… you needed him and he could tell.

He untangled his legs and scooped you up, cradling you in his arms as he rocked you petting your hair back, “You are my inspiration, my eternal love, you are the best part of my past, my present, and my future. You are the future mother to my children, the woman I'm going to grow old with, my forever and always. You are my Y/N, and I am never going to let you forget who you are and why I love you, okay?” He started crying, shielding you in his chest, protecting you. Stitching you together as you heard his heartbeat. You cried on him, relieved that you were with him.

You pulled back from him nodding. He tried to kiss your lips but you said “I'm all snotty” and he giggled. Leave it to you to be worried about snotty kisses. You looked so adorable, cheeks and nose red, nose running, tears stopping, the twinkle coming back into your eyes as he looked at you.

“Are you denying me my snotty kisses?” He giggled as he said “Okay fine. There's no snot on your forehead” he pecked your forehead, “none on your cheeks”, and laid another peck, this pattern continued for any expanse of skin he could get his lips on as you giggled at him and his barrage of affection. When he stopped he wiped your nose with his sleeve and he kissed you gently on the lips. He savored moments like this, being able to heal you, to pick you up. He looked into your eyes as he said, “now I am thinking I’ll draw up a bath for us and I’ll give you a nice massage. After that we order take away, from your favorite place, then we watch something, Hm?” He looked at you for an answer as he kept wiping tears.

You nodded and gently, he placed you back where you were and went to get the bath ready. You'll always have hard days, but those days turn into amazing nights with Chris. Your home.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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chadfallout76podcast · 4 months

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"Deah Shroud!: A Nick Valentine Mystery" EXPLAINED and AMA

It never occurred to me to do this last year, but a lot of people have asked me questions about our Fallout 4 play in the last year in the Discord, so I wanted to open an AMA but also explain "Death Shroud!" and some of the broader themes involved in it.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Part 1: Pre-production

Before I get into the story, I wanted to explain how this production even came about. Over the years after working together on some official community projects with Wes Johnson through Bethesda, we became good friends. I took a couple of his acting classes and he talked about the Fallout For Hope charity initiative I started and asked for help in organizing the gaming community for his Alzheimer's Association fundraiser. The idea was to host a month-long digital event of discussion panels, game shows, improv and a play with as many different voices of video games, film and TV as we could round up. In our second year of his VoiceAPalooza fundraiser, I wanted to do an original old time radio show and see if could bring back as many of the cast that we could from Fallout 4. It was Wes who first suggested an adventure with his Silver Shroud character (that he voiced in Fallout 4's radio plays) teaming up with Nick Valentine (voiced by the amazing Stephen Russell). Valentine is, for me, one of the best written, unique companions in Fallout lore.

So, I reached out to Stephen Russell who had joined us before for charity work and he was all in on bringing Nick Valentine back to life! After that things moved fast with Bethesda's Pete Hines and Emil Pagliarulo joining us to have some fun for a good cause. We tried to get EVERY companion from Fallout 4 that we could, but schedule wrangling is tough, and some people are just impossible to track down or find. Matt Mercer would've loved to have joined us as Macready, but unfortunately scheduling didn't work, so the best we could manage would be a holotape (the only reason our snarky gun running merc had to take the big sleep in the story).

After having everyone plugged in to reprise characters, it was time to put fingers to keys and find the story...

Part 2: The Deep Lore

The origin of this story started with a thought: how would the NPC's and characters we love perceive modification of their universe by us? We, as players aren't the true creators of this universe or these characters (Bethesda is). If anything, we the players are the equivalent of "lesser gods", reshaping it in new ways, unexpected and subjective ways, and sometimes even chaotic ways (I'm looking at you avalanche of adult mods with realistic jiggle physics and Thomas the Tank Engine Vertibird).

It started with a mental image of the small ways in which we start out modding games, or even the first mods we (using the "Engine of Creation) actually create. I had a mental image of Magnolia doing her thing, singing away sultry in a crowded and smoky third rail when she looks one way, back the next and sees new curtains. A subtle thing, something a little startling, but in a universe where recreational drug use is met with a YEEE YEEEE WHEEEE...a change you simply dismiss as being overtired or a little too juiced.

I'm a sucker for old time radio. I grew up listening to classic radio horrors like The Whistler, Suspense, and Lights Out on vinyl records and cassette tapes when I'd spend summers with my grandmother on a little island off the coast of Canada. Getting the tone, feeling and sound to stage an old-time radio show was the easiest part of this whole process...it's baked into my brain lol. The key of course is finding the right narrative voice.

Enter: Bill Lobley. If you play Fallout 76, he is the announcer for the "Tales from the West Virginia Hills" holotapes, but before that he's a prolific voice actor, maybe best known for his role as the truly vile Jeremiah Fink in Bioshock: Infinite. He has a FANTASTIC transatlantic voice for old time radio and was perfect as narrator in the script.

Part 3: What Is Going On?!?!

I had the base idea, the voices to pull it off, but what was the meaning and message of the whole thing? I always start there. From a meta experience level, the story is about dealing with subjective reality that’s being torn apart. After Fallout 4 launched in vanilla, we the players changed that world and reshaped it with mods. The small changes in perceived reality are meant for the omniscient player (us) and are not meant to be perceived by the characters themselves...and yet, what if they were? And if they were...WHY?! The answer was right in front of me: there's a difference between something born into a world and something MADE into a world.

You take someone like Magnolia or Nick, both synths, that obviously weren’t naturally born from two people. They were conceived as an idea...a human idea sure, but still they were made, not born. Without even needing to say in the script, the Trickster from the Grognak comic books who shouldn't exist yet does IS also an idea. Some MADE into a world but not born...a different world sure, but still the creation of it. Nick, Magnolia, any synth as ideas themselves would sense that the world was wrong and being changed in a way no one else would because of fundamentally who they are and what they represent.

Everything that unfolds is because Nora as a keystone event in the Commonwealth, a focal point of the causal nexus making her a unique entity in that world. A causal nexus is the link between a cause and its resulting effects and ignore the science mumbo jumbo, because here's an example of how that works:

The Sole Survivor, Nora, listened to Kent's message, chose to answer him and put on the outfit of the Silver Shroud. As a unique figure she shifted perceived reality of everyone in the Commonwealth by becoming the Silver Shroud, acting like him and making people believe that a fictional character exists.

Unfettered belief and faith in an idea = manifested reality.

Rejected belief and faith in the idea = dispels that reality.

This HAS happened before in Fallout lore in the instance of people with horrifying backstories and personal tragedies choosing to become someone else such as the Mechanist (Fallout 3 and Fallout 4) or even the Ant-Agonizer (Fallout 3). This time however it was a unique figure who did this, a figure fated and meant to reshape the Commonwealth for good, bad or ugly.

This opened a door, the door through which another figure could influence and enter a new universe provided it take the form of something already in it...a reality side-step into the form of the Mechanist. Concurrently, the moment that happened, reality counterbalanced by making the Silver Shroud who was already believed to be real BECOME real as the ying to the Mechanist/Trickster's yang.

Now at home in reality, the Trickster found himself very much alive and unbound by story but had very little power to do much at all. He needed something more, an idea and faith that already existed in the Commonwealth with the infinite universe of ideas made, but not born like himself. His goal wasn't power, it was to sow chaos, reshaping reality into a realm for any and every idea despite the consequences to reality itself.

So what did he need? The belief in the Old Gods and a focus point of belief in the idea: a staff. The universe is as adaptive as it is remarkable and where the Mechanist had its opposite: the Silver Shroud, the Trickster needed its twin: enter Sheogorath...because what better staff to tear apart and reshape reality than the Staff of Sheogorath. There is a quest added in the new Skyrim Anniversary Edition in which you can build it for yourself with a few items: Branch of the Tree of Shades, Ciirta's Eye, Fork of Horripilation. In this universe it would have to fashioned with things FROM this universe.

Two eyes were needed:

The eye of a True Believer: Kent Connolly

The eye of a True Seer: Mama Murphy

Affixed to the top of a staff of the purest heartwood from a Twice Born Tree. Living wood from Harold, born a man who eventually mutated into a living tree.

Lastly, it had to be soaked in the tears of ages end: barrels of radiated blessed waters courtesy of the Cult of Atom.

The Trickster had no magic of his own in this universe in which to act, but thankfully courtesy of some powerful allies, he was able to make contact with shadowy cults and worshippers of the old gods who gave him the name of someone truly of faith in the old magic to make all of this work: Jebediah Blackhall, who in this spin of the universe did unfortunately get his hands on the cursed book: the Krivbeknah.

Finding allies was all too easy, as the events post main quest left the Commonwealth changed. To many, the Sole Survivor and his/her companions would be hailed as heroes. To others, they would be villains, particularly in light of what Nora CHOSE to do to the Railroad to end the synth threat for good. That's a lot of blood on the hands of heroes...

As the Mechanist/Trickster, Blackall and the Lombardos began using the staff, its changes and shifts in reality rippled backwards through time, as changing one specific thing would change its entire existence. You change some curtains and the manufacturer of those curtains only every made one pattern...the world object becomes changed universally. Tapping into the Engine of Creation to make these changes, leaves anyone MADE not born aware of them as they don't fit into the design as it shifts around them. Nick, Danse, Magnolia would all feel and see it, be thrown off for a bit before settling into the changed reality state.

At the climax when everything starts falling apart and you get everyone from GlaDOS and the Joker strolling on in, the only way to end it all is to separate the Trickster from the Staff and restore the saved intended state of reality. The Silver Shroud finds himself powerless against the Trickster...only someone from this universe would be able to intercede, hard wired into the Engine of Creation itself as an existing element connected throughout its framework and history. After sending the Trickster off packing to the moon (thanks GlaDOS), but its a little too late for reality. It collapses around them, finding themselves elsewhere...the point between the mind, creation and the outcome of reality.

After the Shroud fades away, Nick has the power and choice to roll the universe, his universe back along the tapestry of choices that led him here. They all were haunted by the choices they made the first time around, something Nora couldn't live with...that ultimately led her relationship with Danse to fall apart. So Nick decides to go back further, as far back as he can go and he finds himself back in his office with Ellie waking him up.

There are consequences to what he's done, that he's not yet aware of, ones that will become clear in our next episode. The synths remember, as he remembers...Danse, Magnolia and everyone else remembers the fall of the Institute. They all find themselves at their starting point, moving towards their intended fated position to encounter the Sole Survivor. For Nick? He's starting down the path that will led him to be held prisoner and meet the Sole Survivor for the first time.

As he'll soon discover however, things don't play out the same way this time. Moreover, while he was rolling back reality to an early saved state, he made a huge mistake and completely forgot about something and someone so incredibly important...

You'll have to wait to see what that is...

#death shroud #chad: a fallout 76 podcast #chad: a fallout 76 story #fallout 4 #fallout for hope #wes johnson #fallout #fallout fanfic #nick valentine

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madwomansapologist · 5 months

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it's best to keep it quiet | nami

Navigation | More Nami | AO3

synopsis: Working while eveyone else sleep was common for you and Nami. But you would never grow tired of having to stop yourself for laughing so no one else would wake up.

warnings: pure fluff. fem!strawhat!reader.

Going Merry heading towards the Grand Line, the Coco Village left far behind, salty breeze against your face. Life felt just right. Maybe because it was just right.

Sanji creating new, different dishes. Usopp telling amazing stories during dinner. Zoro falling asleep in seconds after a hard day, barely touching his food. Luffy eating everything on his plate, then stealing whatever was left on Zoro's. The swordsman knowing exactly what he was doing, but never trying to stop him.

And Nami watching. Observing, assimilating everyone's happiness. Drinking on their laughter, consuming the glow on their eyes, feeling all those types of joys she denied herself for so long out of fear and duty for her people.

And you, watching her.

You're so grateful Nami accept help. That she asked for it, trusted her crew, allowed herself to be vulnerable. When Arlong fell down, you enjoyed every second. As he suffered, you didn't felt any guilty about watching him being tear apart.

Nami was fine, and she will forever be fine if it depends on you.

There is another reason why you are so happy that she's there with you. And maybe it has something to do with that fact that sometimes it feels like you both are the only functional adults on the ship.

"It is what you think?" Nami smiled. Lately she does this frequently. It never ceases to move you. "Well, I'm grateful it's just the two of us here."

You pulled your chair closer to the table, metal dancing between your fingers. While she worked on copying the map of the Grand Line, you focused on a new sort of bomb. "Why's that?"

The pencil in Nami's hand suddenly became heavier. She looked at you for a moment. Concentrating on putting the right amount of gunpowder into the metal container, you didn't even noticed. Nami went back to the map.

"I like being alone," her whisper travel through moonlight until your ears. "And I like being alone with you."

You could feel your belly getting warmer. "Me too," you whispered, just like her.

Nami was afraid of losing (or that someone would stole) the map, so she was very careful to transcribe everything correctly. She was concerned with the proportions, with the capes and bays, every tiny island. She worked with technique and precision, as if it were second nature to her.

You take precautions. Luffy isn't exactly the calmest person in the world, and fights seem to be drawn to the crew. You want to stop being caught off guard by these moments. Smoke bombs, paint that sticks to the eyes, cannonballs that are more effective than those bought in the villages.

With the right explosives, battles that would previously take all of the team's energy could be ended in minutes. Why make Zoro use all his swords if you can just blow everything up?

Even when everyone was long asleep, you both continued to work. And if it was on you both, sleep would only come after the work was done. But it wasn't.

It was the third time you tried to cover your yawning. You didn't want this moment to end, for you both to get separeted until the other day, but it was getting harder and harder at every second.

You were filling a tube with powder, and then it was falling on down your finger. You slept. For barely five seconds, but still.

"What if we finish everything tomorrow?" You rubbed your eyes with the palms of your hands, trying to keep it clean of gunpowder. "It isn't thaaaat important."

Nami looked at you, her eyes also heavy. She sighed, and rubbed her thumb against your cheek. She cleaned the powder stain on you, and returned her focus to the sheets spread out on the table.

You had never felt so grateful that Nami didn't pay attention to you. Otherwise she would notice that your eyes widened and lips parted.

"Please?" You tried again. "Pretty please?"

This was something Nami needed to get right. She runaway with the map, and came back knowing that everyone was aware of how she would've ended their plans for her people. Nami wants to make up for her mistakes. To prove herself worthy of everyone's care.

"Coffee," was her answer. If it even can be considered one. "Let's make coffee and then we can come back to working."

You could've said no. Entered you room, locked the door and went to sleep. But you never would leave her alone. So, when Nami held your hand and pulled you towards the kitchen, you let her. You murmured and complained, but you let her anyway.

"Sanji told to not enter his kitchen without supervision," you cried out. "He has a sixth sense for this shit. Do you want him to wake up and start to yell at us?"

"He wouldn't yell at us," Nami rolled her eyes, opening the cabinets in search for something that would keep you both awake. "All you need to do is to look at him with those beautiful eyes of yours and Sanji will forget about everything."

You bite back a smile. "You think my eyes are beautiful?"

"I'm supervising you," she ignored you. That made you smirk. "Now keep it quiet."

It was definitely the worst timing for you to bump into the metal pots. Your eyes were as wide as those fancy plates the blond bring with him, and you bite your lips as if it would stop the noise.

When you looked at Nami, you both burst into laughter.

You put your hands in front of her mouth. Everyone else was sleeping, you both couldn't just wake them up. Luffy is already a problem because is like he can smell when someone is looking for food, and you add noise to that?

"Shut up," you whispered. "They gonna hear us."

"You started this," Nami said with your hand still covering her mouth. She breathed in, controlling herself. "Coffee. Now."

"You're so... stubborn," you whispered. "And bossy."

Nami blinked her eyes at you, and you could see she was trying her best not to laugh at you. "Stubborn and bossy?" Her voiced betrayed her, the laughing scaping her throat. "That's the worst you can do?"

You bit your tongue, trying to keep it quite.

if you enjoyed, please reblog! i promise it makes a difference ♡

@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.

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stxrvel · 9 months

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gym time

summary: you didn't expect to meet someone like Bucky Barnes when you decided to enter the gym, especially since his looks and words were anything but friendly.

pairing: au!bucky barnes x f!reader

words: +1k

warning: uhm, descriptions of bucky working out? some bad words. also i suck at summaries but what i was trying to say is that bucky is very suggestive here, and there will be suggestive conversations iykwim. this chapter doesn't contain too much of that but still minors do not interact!!!!

note: hi guys! um, i dont know what to say. being honest idk why i wrote this when i dont know if i'll ever be able to continue it, i think it was for the joy or fun in it and maybe trying to test new things? i kind of wrote the draft for a second part but i dont think i want this one to be a series, i wanted to see it like a drabble but i got carried away and now there are too many words. but what i do know now is that i will be pleased to write drabbles in a scenario like this, like in this universe or au. if you guys liked this (which i hope so) would you mind sending me what would you like to see next? only time will tell how good i'm doing but i hope i can at least entertain you a little. anyway, looking forward to your opinions and i really hope you like this one! since it's my first time writing in this kind of genre :'(

You were at the gym. It had been barely a week since you had started with the goal of creating a routine in your life, because work was consuming you from the inside out. Coming home no longer felt like it used to, when you still had the fever of being independent and being able to get yourself everything you wanted. Adult life really was a mud puddle compared to what we always thought as kids.

So… yeah, you decided to join the gym closest to your apartment to try to change your bad procrastination habits a bit. Maybe now that you were paying for it with your own money you'd feel more like going, just for the sake of not making the money go to waste. But, hey, it was something.

During that week everything had been relatively fine. You hadn't had any problems with anyone, no awkward comments and you had gotten some workout partners to take turns lifting weights or running on the treadmills with at the same time.

It was honestly becoming your favorite place to be after work.

And, well, of course, there was him.

The man you shared end-to-end glances with at the gym. He never came close, always kept his space, unless he had to use some machine near where you were.

He looked like a decent man… and definitely sexy. But you didn't dare get close even though it seemed to be the only thing the two of you wanted to do. The furtive glances weren't even accidental anymore, you both sought each other out through the masses of air as if it was second nature to you. And that upset you too much because it hadn't been too many days, how could you feel so passionate and heated just sharing glances with a stranger? Within what you didn't know there might be something you didn't like, even.

Anyway, you had to avert your gaze each time before it became too much, but it always seemed like it wasn't enough for the people around you not to notice.

“Why don't you just go talk to him?” Veronica spoke in front of you, waiting for Erika to leave the press to start her series.

You were on the treadmill finishing your routine that day and that man was on the other side of the gym, lifting weights like they were nothing. You had watched him for so long without embarrassment that you had almost memorized every line of his massive arms. And your partners that day had definitely noticed.

“I don't think it's appropriate,” was all you could think of.

Erika snorted, lowering her legs as she put down the weights. “She's afraid the sexual tension surrounding them will suffocate her.”

“Erika!” you scowled at her. “Stop talking nonsense.”

“I'm of the same opinion as Veronica, you should just go talk to him. If it turns out his personality isn't as sexy as his body, you're not going to lose anything and you're going to gain a lot.”

Veronica, who had already settled into the press after Erika cleaned the chair, nodded animatedly at her partner's words.

You turned your head to look at him again, just as his strong hands released the weight that bounced to the floor. You saw him shake his arms slightly and move his shoulders in circles, releasing the tension a little at a time. Even in the distance you could make out as if he were right beside you the line of his veins running around his arms and the-

“Look at her, she's drooling already.”

You clicked your tongue and Erika only shared a chuckle with Veronica. You decided to focus solely on getting the treadmill over with quickly so you could get through that day.

You came out of the shower with an incredible freshness dancing in your body. In the bathrooms the atmosphere was always a little cooler than in the center of the gym, so the time after the bath was one of your favorites. Veronica and Erika had already left, they had said goodbye before you entered the shower. They always left at seven o'clock at night, but you preferred to stay a little longer and enjoy the showers you paid for because you didn't have much to do at home when you got there.

With the towel over your right shoulder you walked towards the lockers to get your training bag and other belongings. You thought for a moment about leaving a few things from your bag since there would be a zumba class early tomorrow morning and maybe you were getting a little interested in going, when you heard some footsteps close to where you were.

There shouldn't have been too many people left in the gym at that time because closing time was at 8:00 p.m., so someone else must have gotten out of the shower to get their belongings just like you.

You decided to leave a few things in the locker for the next day's class, encouraging you a little more to leave the house a little earlier. Anyway, you knew Veronica would be there so you wouldn't be alone.

You pulled out the bag with the things you were going to take with you and closed the locker. You turned around to leave, when you finally realized who else had come in after you.

It was him. It was that man.

You had never met him in the evenings. He always left before seven o'clock so you never had the chance to meet him alone until that moment, when you stopped dead in front of him, your sneakers grinding against the floor as if you had braked violently at fifty kilometers per hour.

Your locker was all the way in the left corner of that room and it looked like his was a few spaces away from yours in the same direction, closer to the door.

His gaze lifted in your direction at the sound of your shoes and you had to squeeze your bag strap tightly over your shoulder, eating your embarrassment fiercely.

“Hey,” he spoke first and his voice was nothing like you had imagined.

It was incredibly better. His baritone tone, somewhat raspy and light, sounded like he didn't have a care in the world. The way he slightly curved his lips sent an electric sensation throughout your body. He had given you that smile before, but at that proximity it was a whole new experience. It seemed like your body began to vibrate on another frequency.

“How did you like the gym?”

“Uh?”

The man turned back to you, closing his locker almost at the same time and leaning his shoulder against it in the most smooth way you'd ever seen, handling his body with a confidence that almost made you feel intimidated.

“You're new here, aren't you?”

“Ah, yes,” you nodded slightly, again feeling that embarrassment make its way from your throat. “I've really liked the gym, I've felt very comfortable thankfully. And the monthly plans are very good, affordable.”

The man nodded attentively at your words, as you tried to keep your composure under his sharp gaze.

“I'm Bucky,” he suddenly introduced himself, stepping a little closer to where you stood.

“I'm Y/N,” you kept your voice steady as you raised your hand to meet his that had just extended in front of you at a safe distance. “A pleasure.”

“The pleasure's all mine,” Bucky gave your hand a good shake, causing things in your body that you were too embarrassed to admit. You didn't know if your cheeks could get flushed, but at that moment you felt like they looked cartoonish, vibrant red and hot. “And I'm glad to hear you're comfortable. I do my best to make my clients happy.”

“Oh…?”

Even though you felt spellbound under the piercing fierceness of those blue eyes, your ears were still working enough to allow your head to process what you'd heard.

“You're the owner?”

Bucky nodded and you wanted to hide your head in a hole for a moment.

So you'd been eye-fucking the owner of the gym? Hell, now that you thought about it more clearly, it could even be that this man was older than you, much older.

Oh no, the things you had to go through for not being a little more prudent. Good thing that embarrassing moment would only be in your head.

“And now that you know, you can drop any complaints or recommendations directly to me, if you want.”

You let out a short laugh, trying to cut through the awkwardness you felt inside as you realized the situation you were in.

“Sure, yeah, anything I need to tell you I'll do it personally.”

“Also if you want me to change something… give you something or do something, you can tell me.”

“Sure,” you nodded quickly, starting to move around him to get closer to the exit. Bucky wouldn't take his eyes off you. “Now I know I'm counting on you for anything…. From the gym, that is.”

Your awkward laugh died under his intense but amused gaze. Was he enjoying it?

“And you can talk to me, if you want too,” Bucky continued speaking as you completely surrounded him and now found yourself in the position he had been before, “not just watching me from afar.”

You were sure the blood had left your face by this time. Your level of embarrassment had gone over the edge and in that instant you didn't know how to do anything but look at him as if he had caught you in the middle of a crime. You tightened the strap of your bag while holding your breath as you noticed him moving a little closer towards you.

“It's not that it bothers me, don't go thinking that. It's just that… I'd like to get to know you a little more if that's possible.”

“Uhm…” you mumbled with a dry mouth, the reflection of the light in his blue eyes much clearer against the short distance between the two of you. You passed saliva with difficulty, shaking your head to answer him, “Yeah, sure. I'd like to know you too.”

You watched out of the corner of your eye as he nodded at your words, not making a move to get any closer. If that five-foot distance alone already felt like you were suffocating, you didn't want to imagine what it would be like to have him standing to the side or behind you explaining how to do some exercise even though you already knew how to do them all…

Shit.

“See you then, doll.”

He walked around you, walking away from that conversation and that tension like it was nothing, like a bomb hadn't just exploded in front of you. You couldn't even say anything goodbye to him, you didn't know in that instant how to move your mouth.

For a moment you felt so foolish for allowing yourself to show yourself in such a vulnerable way in front of a man… but, at the same time, so much had happened since the last time you had actively flirted with one of them (even though what you had done at that moment had been spitting words). You'd barely had a taste to remember what the adrenaline, excitement and anticipation of having a truly fun night was like… that you didn't plan on letting go.

Bucky had thrown you that rope and you were sure you were going to take it.

a/n: thank you for reading!! <3

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes #bucky fic #bucky x you #stxrvel talks #bucky fluff #james bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x y/n #james buchanan barnes #the winter soldier #winter soldier #bucky barnes x you

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1000sunnygo · 7 months

Text

The Three Captain's Interview (2021) : Hiroshi Kamiya as Law (Translated)

Awfully late to the party again. Here's a partial translation of the "Three Captains QnA" interview conducted in 2021 to celebrate the 100th volume of One Piece. I think most readers already accessed the translation via auto translator, or maybe someone translated already (in that case, ignore this)

I didn't find any available translation so I'm putting all of Hiroshi Kamiya's answers here. Just in case you don't know, Kamiya san in Law's voice actor. His answers were particularly long and informative, so I focused only on him.

Starts below the cut!

Q. How did you feel when you got the role?

- The casting of Namikawa san (Eustass Kidd) and I was triggered by the work "Ilya no Sora, UFO no Natsu", in which Namikawa san played the role of a timid boy in junior high school and I was a sharp-tongued senior. Hiroaki Shibata, who was the producer of that work, later became the producer of One Piece and then approached us.

I understood the flow of the process and was grateful for the offer, but both Namikawa san and I were good at giving higher pitched voices at that time. So, to be honest, we had absolutely no idea what he had in mind when he cast us. But since I was approached and I had no choice but to give it a go, I gave the character a rough, low-pitched sound that didn't go well with my personal theme but matched the character's appearance; and they gave me an OK...

But, adding a personal note, I voiced an unnamed role 'Pirate A' all the way back in the first episode. I had a few more roles afterwards, and eventually I was given the role 'Eddy' in the Sky Island Arc. After a short interval, I was very happy to be chosen for a major role with the name 'Law' and as a rookie with over a hundred million bounty like Luffy.

By nature, the sounds I make don't have a distinct quality, so I didn't have much of a chance to be cast in "ONE PIECE" filled with unique characters. But thinking about it, Law doesn't really have any outstanding feature either (laughs). Regardless, I am very grateful that I was selected out of all other choices.

(T/N: I made a separate post about Kamiya san's roles in one piece here.)

Q. Did you have any specific thoughts or feelings while playing in One Piece?

- I really wanted to play Law as a child. The past with Corazon is inseparable from the present Law, isn't it? Since Law at the moment is here because of that past, I really wanted to incorporate the childhood Law into my character.

Also, in the long history of One Piece, Luffy is the only male character who is played by the same actor for both his adult and child versions. There had never been a male voice actor who had the chance, so I had a personal ambition to set a precedent. The moment I found out that Law's past was going to be portrayed, I made a blunt confession that I absolutely wanted to play the (child Law) role. I later auditioned and was hired.

When the time came to record the episodes of Law's past and I was given a script with "Law, Hiroshi Kamiya" right next to Luffy, it meant a lot to me. Seeing the senior members of the One Piece cast team playing the main characters and monopolizing the studio microphones, I had always wanted to play as a main character in the same place someday. Unfortunately, I never had the chance, so, that time it felt like a dream come true.

I think this, too, was possible because it's a story created by Oda sensei. To begin with, it's rare for me to put up my hand to take an initiative by myself. The possibility of trying out a role and then people thinking "Totally off, this shouldn't be their voice at all" - is terrifying, isn't it? I'm a person lacking self-confidence, yet, Oda sensei created a work that moved my heart and made me feel like I wanted to express my tone, and thus I was able to have such a joyful experience. So, once again, I think One Piece is amazing.

(T/N: Kamiya san talking about voicing young Law in a different interview can be found here.)

Q. Impression of the character you're currently playing?

- I think he's a man with a deep sense of responsibility. After all, the alliance was originally formed to defeat Doflamingo by taking advantage of Luffy's desire to beat the 'Emperors', and now even after defeating him, they're still working together. That makes him an honest guy who keeps his words.

That said, he's the captain of the Heart pirates. I think he wants to reciprocate the feeling to the crew that follows him with a belief that he's the best in the world. That's why when he said "I hate breads!" and the Straw hats kept pulling him like "you're one of us too!" (laughs), he kept holding his stance, "I'm NOT gonna go that way!"

Q. Thoughts on Mayumi Tanaka as Luffy?

- I saw Mayumi san leading the anime like a boss from the moment Luffy came out of the barrel shouting "I SLEPT WELL!" in episode 1. The fact that it continues to go strong and become more popular with the viewers to this day - is truly amazing.

Q. Thoughts on Daisuke Namikawa as Kidd?

- I think Namikawa san is ridiculous! After all, back at that time he would only play characters with meek voices, I really thought he didn't have the voice range to be entrusted with such a dynamic role. I think he threw his own persona away to play Kidd.

Q. Do you think it's possible to win against Kaidou?

- It has to be. I think Luffy would be able to beat him with something beyond Law's strategy. To Law, Luffy is the one person that can create unexpected circumstances. I believe their actions would blossom meaningfully in future.

Source: @Eiichiro_staff (search up the hashtag #三船長QA on Twitter)

#one piece #kamiya hiroshi #hiroshi kamiya #trafalgar law #trafalgar d. water law #one piece anime #monkey d. luffy #one piece law #eustass captain kidd #eustass kid #namikawa daisuke #mayumi tanaka #stray translations #one piece captain trio #one piece translations #mine #my translation

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bellaireland1981 · 10 months

Text

Starting Over | 11

Summary: You come home to work to find your husband of three years in bed with your supposed best friend. It’s the wake up call you finally needed to take your two year old daughter and get the hell out of Texas. With nowhere to go you head to your big brother in San Diego. The Dagger squad takes you under their wings, and shows you what having a family means. You get a fresh start… will you find your happily ever after?

Characters: Jake “hangman” Seresin x Sister! Reader, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Seresin! Reader (Eventually), Hangman x Phoenix , Adorable OC Gracie! The Dagger squad

Word Count: 7201

Warnings: Angst, fighting, cheating husband, emotional abuse, eventual fluff, SMUT, Sweet uncle Jake, Adorable Rooster with a toddler… if I miss any please let me know. MINORS DNI

A/N: I don’t own the characters or storyline for Top Gun Maverick. All OC’s are mine. I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR ANYONE TO COPY OR REPOST MY WORK TO ANY OTHER PLATFORM! DON’T STEAL! Reblogs, likes and comments ALWAYS welcomed. THANK YOU @waywardodysseys and @beyondthesefourwalls as always for reading over my work and helping me flush out ideas!!

Taglist is open! If I missed anyone who asked to be tagged, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM to be added. It’s getting to hard to keep track of asks.

CH 1 CH 2 CH 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 CH 10

Friday night the squad all descended upon Penny and Mav’s house for dinner and to start to decorate for Gracie’s party. The bounce castle was delivered and of course the overgrown children needed to test it out. Thankfully it didn't result in any injuries. You knew a few of the kids from Gracie’s daycare would be at that party, apart from that it would mostly just be adults at the party. You knew Gracie didn’t care as long as she had her people there.

Nat, Penny and you were busy inflating balloons to create the balloon arch that Nat had insisted on from the party store, while Bradley and Jake kept Gracie busy in the bounce house out back.

“Nat, remind me not to listen to you when it comes to decoration ideas again.” You complained after tying off what felt like the millionth tiny balloon. “My fingers are going to be numb for the rest of my life.”

“But it’s so PRETTY!” She insisted, “It’ll be worth it! You’ll see!”

“Maybe next time we just order the damn arch and have someone ELSE build it?” Penny suggested.

What felt like hours later, but was really only about 45 minutes, all of the balloons were inflated and just needed to be assembled into the arch. Once it was all put together, you called the guys in to hang it up.

Once finished, it looked like the entrance to a castle, and you had to admit, it looked amazing.

“Ok, I admit it…. It’s badass.” You said, “Good call, Nat.”

“SEE?” She exclaimed, “I TOLD YOU!”

“You doubted my girl, Tulip?” Jake asked, coming over to stand with you all as you admired the arch.

“Not doubted so much as hated having to inflate and tie the millions of balloons required to create this arch.” You defended.

“It’s beautiful, Sweets.” Jake said, wrapping his arm around Phoenix, “It’s just what our Princess G needs.”

“Thanks, Babe.” She smiled, leaning back to kiss him, “Anything for that girl. But Y/N is right, those balloons were a pain in the ass.”

“Mommy! Papa Mav gave me WINGS!” Gracie said running into the house, “Now I fwy wif Daddy and Unco Jakey!”

“Uh oh.” You said, smiling, “I’m not sure the Navy is ready for that just yet Gracie Girl.”

“You wanna fly with us, Princess?” Bradley asked, scooping her up into his arms. “Daddy and Uncle Jakey can take you flying anytime you want to.”

“YES PWEASE!” She exclaimed, “Mommy! I go fwy wif my daddy and Unco Jakey now!”

“I don’t know if they can take you right this very minute, Sweet girl, but I’m sure they’ll have you in a plane as soon as they possibly can.” You laughed, “And I have no doubt that Papa Mav will help them make that happen.”

“Absolutely!” Mav said, beaming proudly. “We can get her in the skies this weekend!”

“All I ask is that we wait until she’s at least in kindergarten before anyone takes my baby supersonic.” You requested, rolling your eyes. You had zero doubts that if it were at all possible one of them would figure out a way to sneak her into one of the Super Hornets.

“That seems like a reasonable request.” Penny laughed, “And sadly, one that you had to actually spell out with these three.”

“That’s what I figured.” You said, laughing. “Covering all the bases here.”

“I’ll supervise.” Phoenix offered.

“Something tells me you’d be just as bad as them in that situation.” You laughed.

“Maybe.” She shrugged, winking.

“We’ll save the Super Hornets and crazy pilot stuff until she’s at least in Kindergarten.” Bradley promised, “For now, we can take her up in something a little safer. I have no doubt she’ll take to the skies though.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” You sighed, “I won’t be able to keep any of your feet planted on solid ground afterwards.”

“Don’t worry, Sweetheart,” Bradley said, kissing your forehead, “We’ll always fly right back to you.”

“You better.” You replied, tipping your head back to smile at him, claiming a kiss in the process.

“Alright, decorations are officially complete.” Penny said, “Let’s eat some dinner. A certain little Princess needs extra sleep to be ready for her big day tomorrow!”

Mav and Penny had ordered lots of pizza for the squad that night so that nobody was cooking on top of having to decorate and set up for the party.

Once everyone had plates piled with pizza and drinks of choice they made their way to the back yard, settling into the chairs already set up for the party.

“Daddy, I sit wif you.” Gracie said, climbing into Bradley’s lap.

“Absolutely you can sit with me, my sweet Princess.” He replied, beaming at her.

“I’ve officially been replaced.” Jake pouted, sitting down next to them and placing his plate on the table. “I’m washed up fish guts in yesterday’s newspaper.”

“Wow.” You laughed, rolling your eyes. “Dramatic much?”

“Stop pouting, Hangy.” Bradley teased, “Gracie, you still love Uncle Jakey, right?”

“Yup!” She agreed with a mouth full of pizza, “I wuv you Unco Jakey!”

“See? You big baby, she still loves you.” Phoenix said, sitting next to Jake, “Not let Rooster enjoy the fact that he now has a Daddy’s girl and stop being a brat.” She leaned in to kiss Jake’s cheek, before winking at Bradley and digging into her own pizza.

“I love you too, Princess G.” Jake said, smiling at his niece, then looked at Phoenix, “Are you staying at the house tonight?”

“Most of my stuff is already packed in boxes so I planned on just spending most nights there now.” She replied.

“Good.” Jake said, leaning over to drop a kiss on her temple, “I like it better when you’re there.”

“Me too.” She said, smiling softly at him. “We have to leave early tomorrow to have time to stop to get the last part of Gracie’s present.”

“You both spoil her too much!” You groaned

“No such thing.” Jake said, “It’s not possible to spoil our Princess G.”

“You’re impossible.” You laughed, knowing you would never win this argument.

“Daddy, how many more sleeps til Mommy and me live wif you?” Gracie asked Bradley.

“One more week, Baby Girl.” He replied, “This time next week, we will be moving you and Mommy into our house. That’s 7 sleeps.”

“Too many sleeps.” She pouted, giving him her best sad puppy eyes. “This many sleeps?” She held up 3 fingers.

“Already a negotiator.” Mav laughed, “You all are in trouble.”

“And the puppy eyes…” Coyote added, “Who can resist those? I’d be giving that baby anything she wants!”

“Gracie, we have to wait until next weekend because it’s a lot of work and hard to move.” You tried to reason with her, “We have to wait for another weekend when Mommy and Daddy don’t work. We wanted this weekend to be just for your birthday.”

“But I wanna live wif Daddy.” She said, laying her head on Bradley’s shoulder.

“Between all of us, we could get you moved over there in no time” Coyote offered, “It’s not like it’s an entire house of stuff, and you’ve fed us so often it would be the least we could do. That way our cutie pie Princess gets to live with her Daddy way sooner than 7 sleeps. No weekend needed.”

“That’s a good plan. I’m free whenever you need help.” Bob said.

“I can watch Gracie here to make it easier too if that helps.” Amelia offered.

“What do you say, Sweetheart?” Bradley asked, smiling at you, “Feel like moving in sooner?”

“If everyone is absolutely sure they want to help, I’ll happily accept.” You smiled.

“Ok, Baby Girl” Bradley said, “Tomorrow, we’ll have your party, then on Sunday we will pack and if everyone is available Monday after work… we will move you and Mommy in with me. So that’s 3 sleeps!”

“YAY!” She exclaimed, “I wuv you, Daddy!”

“I love you too.” He replied, smiling, “Jump down and give hugs to all your uncles and aunt too. They’re the ones that are making this happen!”

Gracie jumped down and made her way around to everyone giving them hugs and kisses.

“While we’ve got all the muscle, can we knock out two moves?” You asked, “We’ll order dinner for everyone that night and next Friday night we’ll have everyone over and I’ll cook. Just figured we could orchestrate a two for one deal…get Nat moved in while we move out?”

“I can wait until the weekend, it’s ok!” Phoenix insisted, not wanting to make more work for people.

“It’s absolutely no problem!” Bob said, “We can split the squad…divide and conquer!”

“No sweat, it’ll be easy.” Coyote said, smiling, “We’ve got you!”

“Guys, it’s really ok…” Phoenix said.

“Nope, it’s a done deal.” Fanboy said, “We’re moving Y/N and Gracie to Rooster’s and Phoenix to Hangman’s. Next topic… Gracie, I hear there’s a Disneyland trip in the future… I think that needs to happen soon, don’t you?”

“YES!” She agreed, “You come too?”

“Of course, I’ll come!” He said, “I think we should get everyone to come, just like when we went to the zoo, that would be fun! Maybe this time we can get Papa Mav and Penny to come?”

“Now, wait…” Mav started to stay.

“PAPA MAV!” Gracie exclaimed, running over to him, “You go to Disney wif me and Mommy and Daddy and Unco Jakey and Aunty Nix and EVERYBODY?”

“Now, how can you say ‘no’ to that?” Penny asked, laughing, “He would love to go with you, Sweet Girl.”

“I guess you’re going to Disneyland, Mav.” Bradley laughed.

“Dagger trip to Disneyland!” Jake said, “I’m just glad we’ll have a lot more supervision than just the two of us now. More hands on deck is always better.”

“More supervision is always the answer when you two are involved.” Phoenix agreed.

“I can’t even argue with that.” Jake shrugged, flashing her a smile.

“Nope. That’s accurate.” Bradley agreed.

“I’d say the whole squad needs adult supervision, but honestly, they put Pete in charge of them…”, Penny laughed, “So, not really sure what the Navy was thinking there.”

“Mav’s in charge of us, but Simpson is tasked with supervising him.” Phoenix reasoned, “I think they assume that it’ll balance out.”

“I think they knew exactly what they were doing when they put all of you together.” You said, “You all fit perfectly. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses but they all compliment each other…if that makes sense. I wasn’t here in the beginning and from what I’ve heard it may not have been as well oiled as it is now, but I’d bet even then, even if it wasn’t as smooth you all worked well together.”

“You’re absolutely correct, Y/N.” Mav said, “Even at their worst, when they couldn’t see past their own noses, they complimented one another in their skills. The higher ups definitely knew what they were doing assembling this group, and were smart enough to keep them together.”

“Aww, Mav.” Jake said, “You really DO love us!”

“Of course he does, he’s adopted us all, hasn’t he?” Payback teased, “He now has 6 kids.”

“I don’t recall signing any papers or taking responsibility for any of you.” Mav laughed, “Well, except for Bradley… I signed up for that one.”

“Sorry guys, guess I’m the only one that’s been adopted.” Bradley laughed. You were glad he’d been able to rebuild his relationship with his godfather. You knew the history and that it was still a work in progress, but that they were working hard towards the bond they’d once had.

“Since Rooster is with my sister that makes him my family so that means you have to adopt me now by default.” Jake reasoned to Mav.

“You know, his logic does sort of make sense.” Bradley agreed, looking at Mav.

“If Rooster and Hangman agree on something it MUST be true.” Bob added.

“If Bob backs it, then it’s 100% fact.” Phoenix said.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself at least 2 adoptees, might as well make it 6.” Penny laughed.

“Since you are I are together now, Honey, that makes them yours too.” Mav smirked.

“Penny’s been mothering us since we got to North Island, Mav.” Fanboy said, “She adopted us willingly.”

“Can’t help it, you all were a hopeless lot. You needed mothering.” Penny replied, winking at him.

“So it’s official, we’ve been adopted.” Jake said, “Next order of business, when’s our Disney trip?”

“Barring any surprise missions or pop up training exercises we can probably schedule it for next weekend since we won’t be needing it to move anyone now. We can book a few hotel rooms or look at renting out a house for the weekend.”

“What do you think, Sweetheart?” Bradley asked, looking at you, “Family trip to Disney next weekend?”

“If everyone is free, I know a certain Princess would love to spend the weekend at Disneyland.” You agreed.

“We’re in.” Jake said, looking at Phoenix to confirm, she smiled nodding back at him.

“I’m definitely in!” Fanboy said, “Not missing this for the world.”

“I’m free and it sounds fun.” Bob said.

“I’m game. I might see if my sister wants to meet us there with her kids too.” Payback said.

“That would be perfect.” You replied, “More kids for Gracie to interact with.”

“Then it’s set, Dagger family trip to Disney next weekend.” Penny said, “I’ll get Kenny to cover the bar and call in some of my extra standbys.”

“Here that, Princess G?” Jake said, lifting Gracie into his lap, “We’re going to Disneyland next weekend!”

“DISNEY?” She exclaimed, “YES!”

“Our favorite Princess needs to meet the rest of the Princesses.” Phoenix said, “You’ll still be our favorite though.”

“Absolutely” Bradley agreed, “None of those Princesses are better than our sweet Princess.”

“Alright, time to get this princess home to bed so she’s rested for her big party tomorrow.” You said, “We’ll plan on being here early to help get all the food and everything set up, Penny.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sweetie.” She assured you, “We’ve got it handled. Just enjoy the morning with your little girl. No rushing around.”

“Thank you again for letting us crash your backyard.” You said.

“We were more than happy to have the party here.” Penny said, “No thanks needed.”

After saying goodnight and giving hugs, you and Bradley made your way to the Bronco, getting Gracie secured in her car seat. By the time you arrived home, she was already asleep, having worn herself out bouncing in the bounce castle. Bradley carried her into her room and tucked her into bed after carefully pulling her shoes off. You decided letting her sleep in her clothes one night wouldn’t hurt anything.

Jake and Phoenix arrived home shortly after. You and Bradley were wrapping some of Gracie’s presents when they came in.

“And we’re the ones that spoil her?” Jake asked, taking in the array of presents being wrapped.

“Ok so, we may have gone overboard.” You acknowledged, “But in my defense, this is her first real birthday party… the first year we’ve got people making a big fuss over her.”

“I understand.” Jake said, coming over and pulling you into a hug, “And it’s not like we ever had steller birthdays, so I get you wanting to make them amazing for Gracie.”

“I do.” You replied, “I want her to have everything we didn’t.”

“Just promise me you’ll remember that tomorrow…” Jake said, pulling away and flashing you his dimpled grin. “I’m just making sure she has the kinda birthdays we never had.”

“Jacob Seresin, what did you do?” You asked, knowing now he was definitely up to something.

“It’s a surprise.” He said, “But Gracie is going to LOVE it and that is all that matters.”

“Nat… you had ONE job.” You groaned, shaking your head, “You were supposed to keep him reigned in…”

“Yeah… about that.” She laughed, “Problem is… there was nobody to reign ME in?”

“I need to remember to send Admiral Simpson the biggest package of cookies and treats with an “I’m sorry” and “Thank you” card for dealing with all of you.” You said, shaking your head, “Seriously, the man has earned a bonus…or an early retirement… surely some fancy medal…”

“I love you, Tulip.” Jake said, cheekily, “You know you love me too. I’m your favorite big brother!”

“I do love you, you idiot.” You laughed, “You’re my ONLY big brother.”

“I just want to point out that I had nothing to do with this surprise.” Bradley said, smirking, “So, I’m not in the doghouse over this one. Sorry, Jake. Other surprises, I will fully admit to having a hand in.”

“What other surprises?” You asked, suddenly nervous.

“Look at the time, it’s getting really late.” Bradley said, changing the subject, “We should really get to bed. We promised Gracie chocolate chip pancakes for her birthday breakfast, she’ll be up early for those.”

“Definitely, it's gonna be an early start tomorrow.” Jake agreed, “We’ll be here for her birthday breakfast, but then have to go take care of the rest of her present, so we’ll meet you at Penny and Mav’s after to help with the rest of the setup.”

“OK, I’m just going to roll with it.” You decided, sighing. “I trust that whatever this surprise is will be something she’ll love and will be absolutely Uncle Jake coded, meaning chaotic.”

“There’s the spirit!” Phoenix laughed, “You’re not wrong either.”

“Alright then, I’ll see you both in the morning.” You laughed, “I love you both. Goodnight.”

“Love you too.” Jake smiled, kissing your head and hugging you. “Goodnight.”

***

The next morning Gracie was up with the sun, excited for her birthday. Before you even had a chance to wake up or think about starting her pancakes, she was bursting into your room and climbing on your bed with you and Bradley.

“Mommy! Daddy!” She exclaimed, “It’s my BIRFDAY!” I’m FREE!!”

“Are you sure?” Bradley groaned, pulling her down in between the two of you, “I dunno if the sun is even awake yet, Princess.”

“It is, Daddy!” She promised, “WAKE UP!”

“Happy Birthday, my sweet Gracie Girl.” You said, opening your eyes and pulling her to you into a hug. “I love you baby girl.”

“I wuv you too Mommy!” She said, snuggling into the hug for a moment before flipping around to Bradley.

“Daddy!” She yelled, making sure he was indeed awake.

“I’m awake, Princess.” He laughed, “Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. Come give me BIG BIG hugs.”

She launched herself across into his arms, immediately snuggling into his embrace.

“I love you, Gracie.” He told her, “I’m so lucky I get to be your Daddy and spend your birthdays with you now.”

“I wuv you too, Daddy.” She replied, “You’re my best Daddy!”

“You’re my best Princess!” He replied, kissing her head and launching a tickle attack.

A while later and after some caffeine, you’re plating chocolate chip pancakes for the birthday girl, as Bradley is getting milk poured into her sippy cup.

“Happy BIRTHDAY Princess G!” Jake exclaimed, coming into the kitchen and swooping her up from her chair to hug her. “I love you!”

“I wuv you too, Unco Jakey!” She said, hugging him back. “You eat pancakes wif me?”

“Absolutely!” He replied, “They’re my favorite.”

“I get to hug the birthday princess first!” Phoenix said, taking her from Jake. “Happy Birthday, Gracie Girl!”

“I wuv you Aunty Nix!” Gracie said, hugging her tightly.

“I love you too!” She replied, “I can’t wait to celebrate with you today!”

“You jump wif me in the bouncy castle?” Gracie asked her

“Of course I will!” She promised, “Uncle Jakey and I will happily jump with you!”

“Have a seat, I made enough to feed half of the Pacific Fleet” You said, setting a platter of pancakes on the table.

Once everyone was full and breakfast was cleared, Jake and Phoenix headed out on their secret mission for Gracie’s surprise and you and Bradley started to get Gracie ready for the party.

“I’m going to jump in the shower quick, can you get her dressed in a play outfit?” You asked, “We’ll take her Princess dress for her to change into at the party.”

“Sure can.” Bradley said, “Come on, Princess, let’s go get you ready while Mommy showers.”

After a quick shower, pulling your hair up to keep it dry, you pull on a pair of shorts and the tshirt you’d ordered for the party that said “Mommy of the Birthday Princess”. You’d ordered one for Bradley that said “Daddy of the Birthday Princess” to wear as well. You took your hair down and ran a brush through before deciding to pull it into a loose braid to keep most of it off your face.

“Alright, we’ve one birthday Princess dressed, but we both decided it would be in everyone’s best interests to let Mommy tackle the hair.” Bradley said, coming into your room carrying Gracie piggy back style.

“I think I’m up to the challenge.” You said, smiling at the pair, “I set your t-shirt out for you.. It’s not a Hawaiian shirt, but figured you’d make an exception just this once.”

“I don’t ONLY wear Hawaiian shirts.” He pointed out, chuckling. He carefully let Gracie slide off his back onto your bed, then turned to look at the shirt, his face lighting up as he read it. “I absolutely love it, Sweetheart.”

“Good.” You said, kissing him, “Go get ready, I’ll do Gracie’s hair, then we can head over to help Mav and Penny.”

“I love you.” He said, stealing another kiss before picking up his t-shirt. “Thank you for letting me be her Daddy.”

“I love you too,” You replied, “Thank you for loving her and for wanting to BE her Daddy.”

*****

When you arrived at Penny and Mav’s they were already hard at working getting food prepared and set up on platters.

“There’s the birthday Princess!” Penny said when Amelia led the three of you to the kitchen. “Happy Birthday! Are you excited for your party?”

“Yes!” Gracie exclaimed, squirming to be let down from Bradley’s arms. He obliged, setting her down so she could run to Penny and give her hugs.

“Where’s my hugs, Little Chick?” Mav asked, crouching down and opening his arms up. Gracie immediately launched herself into his arms.

“Little Chick, huh?” You asked, smiling at the pair.

“Figured it was appropriate.” Mav winked, “We used to call Bradley Baby Goose… so Little Chick seemed to fit this cutie.”

“Baby Goose?” You gushed, looking at Bradley, who sighed and chuckled, shaking his head at his godfather. “That is the most adorable thing EVER!”

“Thanks, Mav.” Bradley groaned

“Speaking of adorable,” Penny said, “I love your shirts!”

“Thanks!” You said, smiling, “I found them online and couldn’t resist.”

“Do you think we can get shirts made for the Disney trip next weekend?” Bradley asked, “Or is it too late?”

“I think we can probably make it happen.” You replied, smiling at him. “Maybe we can get them made for the whole squad?”

“I can guarantee you that every one of them would wear one.” Mav said. “Myself included.”

“Count me in.” Penny agreed.

“Me too!” Amelia said, “Gracie, do you want to go play for a little bit while the adults set everything up?”

“Yes pwease!” Gracie said, “Mommy, Daddy, I go pway?”

“Go ahead, Baby Girl.” Bradley said, “Just make sure you listen to Amelia, OK?”

“OK!” She replied, running off with Amelia.

“I wish I had that child’s abundance of energy.” Mav laughed

“Or her resilience.” You said, thinking about everything she’d been through already in her three years of life and despite it all she was still the most loving, free spirited, and trusting child you’d ever met.

“I dunno, Sweetheart,” Bradley said, “I think she learned resilience from her Momma. She’s a strong little little girl because she’s had you to learn from… and she loves with her whole heart, just like her Mommy.”

“He’s right, Y/N.” Penny agreed. “Her resilience and strength is a direct reflection of you. You’ve done an amazing job, Sweetie… no matter what, never doubt that.”

“Y’all are gonna make me cry before this party!” You said, tears threatening to spill over. Bradley pulled you into his arms, tucking your head into the space between his neck and shoulder. You breathed him in, recentering yourself and pushing back the emotions. Once you were calmed again, you lifted your head enough to kiss his cheek, ��Ok, let’s get our daughter’s birthday party ready for her.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He smiled, kissing your forehead before releasing you.

A few hours later Amelia found you all sitting outside having gotten all of the food prepped. All that was left was for the meat to go on the grill when it was time for the party.

“Gracie fell asleep while we were watching Beauty and the Beast.” She said, sitting down next to Bradley. The two had really bonded recently. You could tell Amelia looked up to him, and saw him almost as a big brother figure. “She’s on the couch and I put pillows on the floor next to her in case she rolls off.”

“Thanks, Ames.” Bradley said, smiling affectionately at her. “She loves spending time with you, you’re really good with her.”

“She’s adorable.” Amelia replied, “I’m guessing a little sibling isn’t in the cards for me, so it’s fun to get to play with Gracie and have her around.”

“Definitely a no on the siblings, Sweetheart.” Penny confirmed, “That ship has sailed.”

“How would you feel about having a niece?” you asked, “Being an aunt could be just as fun as being a big sister.”

“Really?” She asked, her eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across her face.

“I think you’d make a fantastic aunt.” You confirmed, then nodded at Bradley, “And since this one is in the only sibling club too, I think he needs to be adopted. Feel like taking on a big brother?”

“It does seem kinda cool to have a big brother.” She acknowledged, “I guess I can adopt this one. He’s kinda cool?”

“Just KINDA cool?” Bradley gasped, “Gracie thinks I’m SUPER cool.”

“I wouldn’t go THAT far…” Amelia laughed, “But… I think you’d be a really awesome big brother.”

“It just so happens,” Bradley said standing up and pulling her with him into a hug, “I think you’d be a really awesome little sister.” Amelia wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back. And just like that, the tears that had threatened to spill earlier were back.

“What did we miss?” Jake asked, coming around the corner of the house with Phoenix by his side.

“Bradley just got himself adopted by Amelia as a big brother.” Penny said, wiping her own tears from her eyes. Glancing up you see Mav’s eyes suspiciously wet and red as he watches the two hug.

“What took you so…” You trailed off, your eyes falling on the pony that was being led to the backyard behind Jake and Phoenix. “JACOB! WE SAID NO PONIES!”

“Ok, but in my defense, I never actually AGREED to that.” He said, flashing a bright smile, his dimple popping, “And Mav signed off on it. Besides, It’s a UNICORN, Tulip, not a pony.”

Looking back you noticed that there was indeed a unicorn horn attached to the pony’s head, making said pony a unicorn.

“So, you can’t get mad, because we absolutely followed the no pony rule.” Phoenix pointed out.

“You all need full time adult supervision.” You laughed, looking at Bradley, “Were you in on this?”

“Absolutely not.” He promised, “I’m innocent…although, I kinda wish I’d thought of it. Gracie is going to LOVE it.”

“I surrender.” You laughed, “I’m clearly outnumbered.”

“There’s the spirit!” Jake cheered. “Mav, where should we have them set up the pen and Unicorn?”

“We can make space next to the castle bounce house.” He replied, getting up and heading over to the bounce house with Jake and another handler leading the pony/unicorn.

***

By the time the squad started to arrive, Gracie was awake from her nap, changed into Princess dress and already in the bounce house with Jake and Phoenix.

“Where’s our birthday Princess?” Coyote asked, leading the group to the backyard.

“Last I checked she was giving Jake and Nat a run for their money in the bounce house.” You replied, “They would probably welcome someone to tag out with them.”

“Mission accepted!” He said, “Fanboy, let’s go bounce!”

“Can the bounce castle handle that?” Amelia asked, looking at the castle doubtfully. “That’s a lot of crazy in one confined space.”

Bradley and Payback almost fell on the ground laughing. Bob and Mav just agreed with Amelia. You and Penny shook your heads laughing, and decided to go grab drinks for everyone.

Several of Gracie’s friends from daycare and their families arrived a little later. Mav started the grill up, getting the food going to feed the masses. Kids were running around between pony “unicorn” rides and bouncing in the castle, while the adults supervised, played yard games, or sat together and talked.

“Looks like the perfect party for a princess.” Lauren said, walking towards where you and Bradley were currently standing watching Gracie ride the pony. “And it appears the live animals did in fact win out.”

“Lauren!” I’m so glad you could make it!” You beamed, “The unicorn pony is all Jake. He requires adult supervision at all times, I’ve learned.”

“There are worse things.” She laughed, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I love getting to see the happy beginnings…and I know this is the start to a beautiful family.”

“Thank you again for all that you did for them.” Bradley said, “This is all possible because of everything you did to help. Gracie is living her best life right now.”

“I’d say she’s living her best life because she’s got two amazing parents and a very large extended family that loves her unconditionally.” Lauren countered, smiling at Gracie as she passed around on the pony.

“She’s definitely got a large family.” You agreed, looking around at everyone that showed up. “I never dared to even dream this could be our life.”

“It’s only going to get better from here, Sweetheart.” Bradley said, leaning over to kiss your head.

“TIME TO EAT!” Jake yelled, drawing everyone’s attention towards where you had all the food set up.

“We better get in there before there’s nothing left.” You said laughing, “Trust me, this lot can eat, so you’ll wanna get it while you can.”

“Come on Princess.” Bradley said, lifting Gracie off the pony, “Time to eat my sweet baby girl.”

“Daddy, you see me wide?” She beamed, proud of herself.

“I sure did!” He replied, “You did so good! We might need to find you some riding lessons when you get a little bigger.”

“And so it begins.” You laughed, “I think this was Jake’s ulterior motive… making her fall in love with horses.”

“Horses and planes…”Bradley said, laughing, “It tracks.”

You got Gracie a plate and set her with her friends to eat while Bradley got plates for the two of you and set them at the table the rest of the squad had settled at.

“Looks like Gracie loves the Unicorn.” Jake said, looking pleased with himself.

“She does in fact love the PONY.” You laughed, rolling your eyes, “Your evil plan seems to have worked.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tulip.” He said, feigning innocence. “I simply realized that every princess party needs a unicorn.”

“Uh huh… had nothing to do with getting your niece hooked on horses?” You asked, not buying it for a minute.

“That is just an added bonus!” He beamed. “She’s a natural in the saddle too! Did you see her?”

“Your Cowboy is showing.” Phoenix teased, winking at him, “It’s cute, I’m not complaining… just stating a fact.”

“I can show you my cowboy hat when we get home.” He offered, smirking back at her. “You can even try it on.”

“Eww, nope! No, stop!” You whined, “Jakey! NOT ok!”

“It’s just a hat?” Phoenix replied, not understanding your response.

“There’s a rule about wearing a cowboy’s hat, Sweets.” Jake said cheekily, “If you…”

“Jacob, there are small children present.” You reminded him, leveling him with your ‘mom’ look. “You can tell her all about it later.”

“Now I’m really intrigued.” Phoenix said, looking at Jake. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “IS THAT FOR REAL?”

You laughed at her reaction, nodding your head to confirm.

“Care to share, Sweetheart?” Bradley asked, “Now I’m curious.”

“Depends…” You reply, “Do you happen to own a cowboy hat?”

“I could be persuaded to buy one.” He replied, “I’m guessing by your earlier reaction to Jake’s comment that it would be worth my while.”

“Bradshaw,” Jake said, glaring playfully across the table, “That’s my baby sister you’re talking to.”

“And?” Bradley tossed back, smirking at him.

“Just reminding you.” Jake replied, “I don’t need to be party to all your conversations. There are little ears here.”

“On that note,” You said, changing the subject, “I”m going to go check on the kiddos then get the cake from the kitchen.”

“I’ll come help.” Bradley offered.

After making sure that Gracie was OK at the table with the other kids, you and Bradley made your way into the house to get her birthday cake ready along with the candles.

“So…the hat rule?” Bradley asked, standing behind you and wrapping his arms around you as you put the candles into the cake.

“The rule is if you wear a cowboy’s hat, you ride that cowboy.” You smirked, glancing back at Bradley.

“I may definitely need to invest in a cowboy hat then.” Bradley said, dipping his head to kiss your neck. “Or we can change the rule… you can wear one of my uniform caps and ride the aviator.”

“I think I like the sound of that flyboy.” You replied, turning in his arms, wrapping your own around his neck and pulling him down to kiss him. When you pulled away you added, “But for now, we need to bring this cake out to our daughter and keep her party moving.”

“Yes Ma’am.” He replied, smiling, “I can’t wait to watch her open all of her presents!”

“I have a feeling we may need to add a room onto the house to hold all of her toys.” You laughed.

“We can make that happen.” Bradley said, picking up the cake from the counter.

After a wild rendition of “happy birthday” was sung, you moved to the food table to start serving cake and ice cream with Penny’s help dishing it all up and Bradley helping to pass out the dessert. Once kids were once more sugared up and had energy, they returned to the bounce house and pony rides for a while before you attempted to round everyone up to open gifts.

You were correct in assuming you’d need to add on to the house to hold all of her gifts. Her new extended family had definitely gone overboard. Mav and Penny had alone had practically cleaned out the Disney Store. She’d have lots of new Princess decor for her new bedroom. Bob got her a new princess themed tea party set which she immediately made him promise to play with her with. Payback and Fanboy went together and got her a princess bike with training wheels, complete with a princess helmet.

“This one is from Aunt Nix and me, Princess G.” Jake said, handing her a brightly wrapped box.

She tore the paper off and opened the box pulling out a small flight suit. It was customized with a Dagger patch on one side and her name Gracie “Princess” Seresin on the other. Inside the box was also a child size pair of aviator sunglasses.

“I match you and Daddy!” Gracie beamed happily, “And Aunty Nix!”

“You sure do, Princess G.” Jake said, “And all your other uncles, and Papa Mav too.”

“I fwy wif you now?” She asked, batting her eyelashes at her uncle.

“Soon, I promise!” He said, “Very very soon!”

“That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” You smiled at Jake. “And very restrained from you….”

“Oh that’s not all.” He laughed, pulling out another giant gift bag, and handing it to his niece. You just shook your head. “Come on now, Tulip, you know me better than that.”

Gracie pulled the paper from the bag and lifted out a pony playset and a little cowgirl hat with a princess tiara attached to it. She loved it, wanting to wear it immediately. Thankfully you’d put her hair into lower ponytails today so the hat fit over them.

You and Bradley got her a couple of new toys and outfits, not wanting to go completely overboard.

“There’s one more here for you, Baby Girl.” Bradley said, handing her a small wrapped box. You looked at him questioningly, not recognizing the box. He smiled, shrugging. “It’s my first birthday with her as her Daddy… it had to be special.” You leaned over and kissed his cheek, whispering “I love you” in his ear.

She tore off the paper on the little box opening it up carefully, her eyes lit up and she smiled widely at Bradley.

“Daddy! It’s pwetty!” She exclaimed. Nestled inside the box on a satin backing was a tiny necklace with two small charm pendants. One was a small princess crown and the other an f-18. Where he’d managed to find that was beyond you.

“Bradley, it’s perfect.” You whispered, tears springing to your eyes.

Jake leaned over, his own eyes suspiciously wet, to help Gracie take the necklace from the box and to put it on her. Looking closer at the necklace he said, “Princess G, it’s even more special.. It says ‘Daddy’s Girl.” on the crown!”

At that, you lost the battle and the tears freely fell from your eyes. Bradley wiped his own eyes, smiling as Jake put the necklace on Gracie.

“I wuv you, Daddy!” Gracie said, coming over and throwing her arms around Bradley as he picked her up, holding her tightly to him.

“I love you too, my sweet Baby Girl.” He told her.

“So, would now be a good time to tell you that Bradley and I definitely went ahead and ordered that Castle playset for y’all’s backyard?” Jake asked, wiping tears from his eyes as he tried to add some humor back to the situation.

“You know what?” You said, wiping your own eyes, laughing through the emotions, “I’m not even shocked.”

After the party wound down, the squad stayed behind to help with clean up. Payback and Fanboy offered to take the bounce house back to the rental place once it was deflated. Gracie got a few more rides on the pony before the handler had to load her back onto the trailer. Jake handed you their business card, saying they also offered riding lessons.

You all loaded Gracie’s gifts into Jake’s truck as there was more room in there than the Bronco. You let Gracie keep a few things out she wanted to play with the next day while you all tackled the packing, and you would take the rest straight to Bradley’s house to avoid having to move it twice.

“Hey, what time are you thinking of starting packing in the morning? Do you think it’ll take all day?” Mav asked, as you and Bradley were loading the last of her gifts.

“Definitely not all day.” You said, “It’s mostly clothes and toys, not a whole house.”

“How would you feel about bringing Gracie out to the hangar tomorrow morning and taking her up for her first flight?” Mav suggested.

“You wanna take Gracie flying tomorrow morning?” Bradley asked, smiling.

“I was thinking more along the lines of her Dad and Uncle taking her up in the air.” He clarified. “She’s small enough, she can be strapped into the backseat with someone… probably safer that way anyway.”

“You’ll let us fly your plane?” Jake asked, clearly shocked.

“You are both highly skilled pilots.” Mav laughed, “Of course I trust you to fly my plane.”

“What do you think, Sweetheart?” Bradley asked, “Can we take her flying?”

“Just promise me no crazy pilot stuff and to return her safely back to the ground.” You said, “So maybe Jake should be the backseater tomorrow.”

“Hey!” He protested, “I take GREAT offense to that.”

“I don’t doubt your skills, Jakey.” You laughed, “I doubt your restraint in not turning my daughter into a dare devil at 3 years old. I don’t know that my Mommy heart can handle that. Can we agree to wait until she’s older to turn her into a daredevil?”

“Fine.” He agreed, “Rooster, for tomorrow only, I’ll be your backseater.”

“I’m sure Bob and Fanboy can give you some tips if you need them.” Bradley teased, “Thanks, Mav. This really means a lot.”

“No thanks needed.” He replied, “Taking you up flying when you were little is probably one of the best memories I have of your childhood.”

“So you’re saying I should be ready for my daughter to follow in her uncle and Daddy’s footsteps to become a Naval Aviator?” You asked.

“Hell yeah!” Phoenix said, bring Gracie over to the group. “She’d be fierce.”

“I don’t know that the Navy would survive that.” Mav laughed. “It’s barely surviving all of you.”

“Fair.” Phoenix laughed. “This one is fading fast. I think all the bouncing and riding tired her out and the sugar is leaving her system.”

“Let’s get her home to bed.” You said, “She’s going to have another exciting day tomorrow, apparently.”

“You and Nix take the Bronco with Gracie and get her tucked in,” Bradley said, “Jake and I will run all this to the house in his truck then head that way.”

“Wow, that’s huge… Rooster’s letting someone else drive his Bronco.” Jake chuckled, “Didn’t think we’d see the day.”

“She’s trusting me to be a father to Gracie.” He replied, shrugging, “Nothing can compare that, man.”

“Fair point.” Jake said, “Let’s get this haul to your house and get back to our girls.”

After saying goodbye to Penny, Mav and Amelia and making plans to meet the next morning, Bradley loaded Gracie into her car seat. Phoenix got into the passenger seat buckling in, Jake going around to her side leaning in to steal a kiss.

Bradley walked you to the driver’s side, pulling you into his arms, your own winding around his neck.

“Drive carefully, Sweetheart.” He said. “My whole world is with you… and not the Bronco… you know that right?”

“I know, Baby.” You said, smiling, pulling him down to kiss him. “I love you, Bradley.”

“I love you too, Y/N.” He said, resting his forehead against yours, “See you soon.”

A/N: Sorry the update took so long! I promise, I've got more time now so updates should be coming quicker! :)

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