#these are hung on the wall in the daycare change my mind | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

samwilsonsbabymama · 3 years

Text

A Change of Scenery: A Surprise

Pairing: Dad!Angel Reyes x Mom Black!Reader (but anyone can read)

Summary: Y/n spends time with a friend as she deals with Angel being on a long run handling club business. When Angel returns, Y/n has a surprise for him, but he has one for Y/n as well.

Warnings: 18+, fluff, smut, cockwarming,

Word Count: < 3,300

A/N: Here’s part 4! I’m blown away with the response to this fic! Thank you all for showing me so much love, you don’t know how much I appreciate it! Big thanks to @my-rosegold-soul for being such a big help and for being an all around amazing person 💖☀️💖

✨I don’t give anyone permission to copy/translate/repost/rewrite my work. Minors, DNI at all. ✨

While Angel and Coco were preparing for their run in a few days, you, Coco’s girlfriend, Alexandra, and the kids went out to lunch. You always had a great time when you hung out with Alex. She was exactly like Coco in every way and being around her always made you feel better. She had a light about her that filled a room when she walked in, and everyone loved her.

The two of you spent a lot of time together when Angel and Coco were away on longer runs, and this one was no exception. As you waited for your food to come, you planned out what you were going to do while the boys were gone.

Alex ordered mimosas for both of you, and she eyed you curiously when you chose to drink water instead.

“So, is there something you want to tell me?” Alex asked as she sipped her drink.

You raised your eyebrow in question and smiled when she pointed to your untouched drink. You glanced at your two kids before you reached into your purse and pulled out the envelope.

“I found out yesterday,” you said as you pulled out the ultrasound photos. “I haven’t told Angel yet because I want to do something cute to tell him. It sucks that he has to leave in a few days.”

Alex bounced in her seat as she looked at the photos.

“Wait a minute,” she gasped. “Y/n, why are there two arrows?”

Your face lit up at the question. “Because,” you glanced towards Imani and AJ to make sure they weren’t listening, “I’m pregnant with twins!”

Alex squealed at the news, “I’m so excited for you! Angel is going to flip the fuck out!”

“Shhh, Alex!” you chastised, but you laughed along with her.

“We have to find the perfect way to tell Angel!” Alex said. You could already see the wheels turning in her mind.

You smiled at her excitement, and you couldn’t wait to see what the two of you came up with.

After the four of you ate, AJ and Imani begged to go see Letty. It had been a few weeks since she last babysat and they missed her. Alex gave in and the two young children kissed you goodbye before climbing into Alex’s car.

Angel was home when you got back and when he realized the kids weren’t with you, he was all over you. Since he was going to be gone for around three weeks, he wanted to make sure you didn’t miss him too much. This wasn’t the first run he’d gone on during your relationship, but it was going to be the longest one so far, and you felt as if he were apologizing for leaving for so long.

Moments after you walked through the door, Angel had you pinned beneath him as he thrust slowly into you. Your eyes were screwed shut as he whispered sweet words into your ear. Angel had teased that you couldn’t stay quiet while he was inside of you, and you were trying your hardest to keep quiet, but he was making it so damn hard.

You felt him everywhere as he talked you through your orgasm. He swallowed your cries as you came around him and his thrusts never slowed. You wrapped your legs tighter around him as you came in an attempt to pull him in deeper.

Angel pulled out of you and flipped you onto your stomach before sliding back in. His fingers dug into your waist as he continued to fuck you. Your pants were getting louder by the second as Angel split you open. A sharp slap landed on your ass before Angel laid his full weight on top of you.

“Shhhh, mi dulce, you gotta be quiet,” he said into your ear. His body covered yours as he fucked you and he made you feel small. His fingers laced with yours as he continued to rock into you.

“Angel, please,” you whispered.

“Please what, Y/n?” he teased.

“Please, please, please,” you didn’t know what you were begging for, but you knew that Angel would give it to you.

“You feel amazing, Y/n,” Angel praised. “You’re gonna feel me for days after this.”

You nodded and clenched around him.

“This is the one, Y/n, I know it is,” he said. His hips moved faster and your whines filled the air.

Angel thrust into you harder and faster as he chased his high. You came around him once again, the tightness of your walls sending him hurtling into his release. His hips stuttered as he released his load into you. You both groaned at the feeling of him finishing inside of you. You felt him slip out of you, and you groaned at the loss.

You closed your eyes in content and sighed. Just as you were slipping into a peaceful slumber, Angel shook you awake.

You grumbled as he continued to gently shake you.

“Lemme sleep, Angel,” you grumbled again.

“I will, just…” he paused.

You peeked your eyes open and looked at him. “Hmm?”

“Just come keep me warm,” he mumbled.

That got your attention. You moved as fast as you could and climbed on top of him. Angel chuckled and his arms moved to pull you close. Angel slowly pushed himself into you, aware of your sore body. Once he was fully inside of you, you rested your head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Between Angel’s roaming hands and the sound of his heartbeat, you were lulled to sleep in no time.

During the weeks that Angel was gone, you spent time with Alex. She’d come up with a great idea of sending Angel on a scavenger hunt and announcing your pregnancy at the clubhouse. And a few days before the boys were due to come back, Alex spent the day at your house helping you get ready.

“I found these shirts for Imani and AJ that say ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Big Sister’ on them,” Alex said as she pulled out her phone to show you the pictures.

“I like those,” you chewed on your lip.

Alex sensed your mood change and looked up. “What’s wrong, mama?” she moved closer to you and pulled you into a hug.

“What if this is too much for Angel?” you began to cry. “What if we moved too fast and this pushes him away from me?”

Alex held you in her arms as you cried. She rocked you side to side and let you get all of your worries out. When you stopped crying, she pulled back and looked into your eyes.

“Angel is not going to leave you, Y/n,” she said. “From all the time I’ve known him, he has been his happiest with you. I don’t even remember him being this happy with AJ’s mother all those years ago.”

You sniffed and wiped your eyes and gave Alex a watery smile. “Thank you, Alex.” you sniffed again.

“How long have you been feeling like this?” she asked as she pulled you into her side.

You shrugged, “A few days, it’s been really hard without Angel this time.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Alex rubbed your back, “I’m going to come and stay with you until Angel gets back. I’m sure Letty will enjoy some time to herself.”

You both laughed at the thought because you knew for a fact that Letty would jump at the chance of being in the house alone.

You looked at the clock and perked up a bit.

“I’m going to tell Imani and AJ today,” you started looking for your keys so that you could pick them up from daycare.

“Want me to come with you?” Alex asked.

You shook your head, “No, you don’t have to. I’ll take them out for ice cream and maybe to a movie. Ya know, butter them up a bit, soften the blow.”

Alex chuckled, “You know how sweet my niece and nephew are; they’re gonna be the best big brother and sister in the world.”

You nodded in agreement. “Yeah, those two are pretty sweet.”

After you promised to call Alex when you were on your way home with the kids, you made your way to the daycare.

Your heart melted when Imani and AJ ran up to you when they saw you.

“Mommy!” they cried in unison. They both told you about their day at the same time, often finishing each other’s sentences.

You drove straight to their favorite ice cream shop and they cheered when you parked. You helped them both out of the car and ordered their favorite ice cream while they found a place to sit.

You sat in silence for a few moments while they ate.

“So, I have something to tell you two,” you were a little nervous but you needed to get this out. “AJ, you’re going to be a big brother, and Imani, you’re going to be a big sister.”

“But I’m already a big brother,” AJ responded with a confused look on his face.

“You’re going to be a big brother again, and Imani is going to be a big sister for the first time,” you clarified. Even though they were the same age, Imani and AJ thought it was important to remind everyone that AJ was older than Imani… even though it was by a couple of months.

Imani’s face lit up when what you said registered.

“I’m going to be a big SISTER!” she yelled and bounced in her seat, a bright smile gracing her face.

“Wait! Are you buying a baby!” AJ exclaimed, his excitement matching Imani’s.

You couldn’t help but laugh at what AJ said, you were ecstatic that they were happy about the new additions.

“Well, no, I’m not buying a baby,” you clarified. “There’s a baby in my belly… well actually two babies in my belly.”

Imani shrieked, “Two babies! Mommy has two babies in her belly!”

You were thankful that the shop was empty as you tried to quiet Imani down but AJ joined in with her.

“Imani, do you know what this means?” he questioned and gently shook his sister, and she shook her head. “This means that I get a baby, and you get a baby! We both get our own baby!”

The excitement that the two of them had filled your heart with love. You knew that if they reacted this way, then Angel’s happiness would be even greater.

On your way home, you called Alex to let her know that she could head over to your house. When she arrived, Imani and AJ practically tackled her to the ground.

“Did you know that mommy is having a baby?” AJ screamed when Alex walked through the door.

“And she’s having a baby for me too!” Imani interjected as she climbed onto Alex’s lap.

Hearing their excited words reminded you that this needed to stay a secret for a few days. You and Alex exchanged a look before you sat across from them.

“Imani, AJ, we need to talk.”

When they saw the serious look on your face, they quieted and gave you their full attention.

“I know you are excited about the news,” you began, and you reached out to take their hands in yours. “But we need to keep it a secret because Daddy doesn’t know yet.”

“Why not?” AJ asked.

Your shoulders dropped. “I haven’t had a chance to tell him, but we’re going to tell him when he comes home in a few days.”

“Your secret is safe with me, mommy,” AJ zipped his lips and locked them and Imani nodded and mimicked him and they both stuck the ‘key’ in their pockets.

The next few days flew past thanks to having Alex in the house with you. When Angel texted you that he would be home in an hour, you two set your plan in motion. Alex left to go do her part and you got yourself and the kids dressed and ready to leave. Before you left, you placed the first clue on the bed for Angel to find.

You made your way to your hiding spot outside of the clubhouse when Angel called you.

“Mi dulce, where are you?” Angel’s voice rumbled through the phone.

“Did you see my letter?” you asked, completely ignoring his question.

“I did, but I thought I’d be able to come home and spend the next few hours between your-”

“You’re on speakerphone, Angel!” you yelled as you drowned out the end of his sentence.

Angel chuckled, “I keep forgetting. Hi AJ and Imani, I hope you were good for mommy while I was gone.”

“Always, Daddy!” Imani yelled.

“Did you find the card, Daddy? You gotta come find us!” AJ yelled.

“Yes you do, Angel,” you added. “The clock is ticking, Mr. Reyes.”

“I’m reading it now,” he paused as he read the words on the paper. “Okay, I’m heading to the kitchen to look in the fridge.”

“I’m not going to stay on the phone with you though, your last clue will lead you to me,” you said.

Angel grumbled, “How many clues are there?” he was on clue #2 and searching for the third.

“There’s only ten.”

“Only ten?” he repeated sarcastically.

“Yup, now, I’m going to let you finish-”

“I’m trying to finish inside of you, but-”

“Angel,” you snapped, “speakerphone. As I was saying, I’m going to let you finish, and when you’re done, you can come find us.”

“Hmmm, Coco just texted me saying that you’re sitting across the street from the clubhouse.”

“Angel, please do the scavenger hunt,” you pouted.

“Anything for you, mi amor,” Angel replied before the two of you said your goodbyes and hung up the phone.

Since everyone knew that you were at the clubhouse, you pulled in and parked near the door. Before you got out, you made sure that your jacket was zipped as well as the kids’ jackets.

“Now remember, keep your jackets zipped until I tell you to take them off,” you reminded the kids.

Part of Alex’s job was to get Felipe and EZ to the clubhouse before Angel got there, and by the looks of the parking lot, she had succeeded. You also knew that since Angel knew where you were, he would not finish the scavenger hunt, so you had about 5 minutes to get ready.

The moment you went inside, Imani and AJ took off looking for their tios, leaving you by yourself, so you headed over to the bar.

“So are you gonna tell me why Alex practically dragged me out of bed saying that I needed to be here?” came EZ’s voice from behind you.

“You’re gonna have to wait to find out,” you shrugged before giving him a hug and spotting Felipe making his way over with a smile.

“Mija, how are you?” Felipe asked when EZ released you from his hold. “What’s this all about? Where’s Angel?”

As if he had heard his name, the sound of his bike filled your ears and you smiled. You called out to Imani and AJ and had them stand next to you in the middle of the clubhouse.

Angel’s eyes landed on you the moment he walked in and he took calculated steps to get to you.

“What’s all this for, mama?” he asked after giving you a kiss.

“AJ and Imani have something to show you,” you smiled, giving the kids the ‘okay’ to unzip their jackets.

Angel kneeled down to get a better look at their shirts, his eyes flipped between the two for a few moments before his eyes filled with tears.

“Do you like our shirts, daddy?” Imani asked as they stood in front of him.

“I love them, princess,” he said, his voice cracking a bit. “You’re finally going to be a big sister, huh? And AJ’s gonna be a big brother again?” he hugged the two bouncing kids and his shoulders shook as he cried.

When he pulled back, he wiped his eyes before you took a step closer to him. You threaded your fingers in his hair as he placed a kiss on your belly. You two cried together for a few seconds before he spoke again.

“So you’re pregnant?” he asked, his fingers gently grazed your belly as you nodded. “I bet it happened right before I left, I knew that was the one,” he replied with a cocky grin.

You shook your head. “Actually, it happened before that. Way before that,” you replied. “I umm, I might have known before you left.” You chewed your lip as you waited for his response.

“Before I left? And you didn’t tell me?” he pouted.

“I wanted to do something cute,” you rolled your eyes at him.

“You’re lucky that I love you, Y/n,” Angel said with a chuckle.

“Oh! Do you want to see my shirt?” you beamed at him, and when he nodded, you took a step back. You slowly removed your jacket and revealed your shirt to him allowing him to read it. You held your breath as you waited for his reaction.

“Twincess? I don’t-” he gave you a confused look before it clicked. “Wait, so, you’re telling me that I knocked you up twice? I got you pregnant twice!” he shouted before pulling you back to him.

You laughed as everyone cheered around you and Angel. You looked back down at him and smiled, “Why are you still down on your knees, Angel?”

“You make me so very happy, Y/n,” Angel said as he grasped your hand and placed a kiss on your knuckles. “I never thought, I’d find a love like this. Not only do you love me, but you love my son as if he were your own.”

You opened your mouth to speak, but Angel shook his head and continued talking.

“You and Imani are a blessing, and I can’t remember what my life was without you,” Angel smiled as he watched you wipe your eyes. “I was planning on doing this at home and then spending the next few hours between these thighs after you said 'yes’.” He chucked when you playfully rolled your eyes. “But it looks like we’re going to do it here.”

“I’m not having sex with you here again, Angel,” you grumbled when everyone laughed.

“What do you mean ‘again’?” Coco yelled from across the room.

You felt your face get hot as you were filled with embarrassment, but Angel only laughed. “Hey, mind your business,” he chastised Coco before turning back to you and shuffling so that he was on one knee.

“Y/n,” he held your gaze and pulled out a little black box from his pocket. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re who I’ve been waiting for, and I can’t imagine my life without you. Will you make me the happiest man on Earth by becoming my wife?”

Tears are falling freely from your eyes now as you stared into his eyes. You couldn’t see yourself with anyone other than Angel. Your hand shook as you nodded your head.

“Yes, I will marry you, Angel.”

As soon as he had the ring on your finger, he cupped your face and kissed you like never before.

Part Five

A/N 2: If you ‘liked’ it, please reblog or leave a comment/reply even if it’s only an emoji.

#angel reyes x black!reader #Angel reyes x reader #angel reyes x black reader #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes x plus size!reader #angel reyes x plus size reader #mayans mc fanfiction #maree writes

384 notes · View notes

theamberwriter · 5 years

Note

hi, love your writings! can we please get more of Aizawa with his waifu? maybe she get a job at UA? nurse assistance to recovery girl or something? chaos insured with baby always on school grounds?

Read the Series! [1] [3] [4]

Pairing; Shouta Aizawa x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4434

Warnings: None?

[I honestly had so. much. fun. writing this! Thank you for sending in a request! I hope that you like it!]

Shouta Aizawa nearly fell over as his wife happily announced that she'd taken a position at UA. They had been having family time over the weekend. It was early afternoon when his wife got a phone call. Then she said she had an announcement.

"[Name] - You're not serious," he uttered in disbelief. "What about Kohaku? We don't have a daycare at the high school."

The pairs one-year-old sat happily sputtering in her mother's lap. [Name] beamed at her husband. "Since I'll be working in the nurse's office, Recovery Girl said I was more than welcome to bring her along. Isn't that great?"

[Name] caught her dearest husband's eye twitch. It only did that when he was annoyed. "She's already exhibiting signs of a quirk. I'm not sure that's a good idea."

They had discovered that little factoid by accident. Kohaku had rolled off her changing table. Her parents took each other out trying to catch her. But the girl bounced harmlessly off the floor. When caught, her skin felt like it was made out of rubber.

Another time, the pair was doing some housework. The baby was awfully quiet in her playpen. But they didn't think anything of it, suspecting she'd dozed off, until they heard a metallic tink, tink, tink, tink. When they found their daughter, she was shiny and silvery. Her skin appearing to be a thick diamond-like material. And she was hitting a hammer against her legs. The metal head had large gouges missing.

[Name] lifted up her daughter and blew a raspberry on her cheek. "Daddy is just being a worrywart, isn't he? You won't be a problem, will you, KoKo?"

Kohaku gurgled happily. Giggling as her mother blew a raspberry on her tummy. Shouta knew it was a lost cause. [Name] had made up her mind. Once that happened, there was no changing it. He would just have to wait and see how it played out. But he could feel a big, fat I told you so coming in the future.

[Name] started her new position the following week. She had the baby in a carrier strapped to her front, while Shouta carried Kohaku's bag. He walked with her down the halls of the school. Making sure she knew where his classroom, the cafeteria, and the emergency exits were.

The couple heard Mic's voice before they saw him. "Look, yo, it's my best couple with favorite niece!"

"Hey, Mic," [Name] laughed as he came up behind and threw an arm around either of their shoulders.

Shouta rolled his eyes, pulling out of Mic's embrace. "You're going to wake up the baby."

"Me? I would never -" Mic started. [Name] turned as the baby started making noise. He looked panicked for a split second. But Kohaku settled back to sleep quickly. "[Name], yo, I heard you got a job here. Dude, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, I'm working with Recovery Girl. She claims she doesn't need the help. But she is getting older, you know?" [Name] said, shrugging. "Well, we should be going. Don't want to be late for my first day."

"Good luck, yo!" Mic cheered, grinning.

Shouta was quick to slip away. He groaned, mumbling something about killing Mic if he'd woken up Kohaku. [Name] chuckled to herself. Shouta walked her back to the nurse's office.

"Remember, if you need anything - if she becomes too much -" Shouta said, trying not to sound too concerned.

"They'll be fine," Recovery Girl said, opening the door. "You worry too much. Come now."

Recovery Get pulled [Name] into the office and took the baby bag. Then shut the door in Aizawa's face. He groaned but made his way back to his classroom. He had a bad feeling about this. But he wasn't going to try not to worry too much.

Shouta found it hard to focus as the day pressed on. Knowing that his wife and child weren't too far from him was tempting. But also the leering worry that hung over him. Wondering if his wife would be able to handle the pressure while keeping an eye on their daughter.

The first day went by without consequence. [Name] and Shouta met up at the end of the day. He took the baby this time. While she carried the bag. Just one little happy family. That - so help him - the students weren't going to find out about.

"So, how was your first day?" Shouta asked, letting his daughter tug at his hair.

"Everyone here is so nice," [Name] noted, smiling to herself. "Recovery Girl didn’t really want my help so much at first. You could tell. But when some of the classes started combat training, she actually seemed to appreciate the help. I'm sure the students are just happy that I don't have to kiss them to heal them."

Shouta chuckled softly. "I'm sure they are."

The mornings fell into a routine quickly. Alternating who was dressing and feeding the baby, and who packed everyone's bags. Often times the pair showered together, bathing the baby at the same time. It wasn't hard to make it a semi-oiled machine.

If they were lucky, they saved enough time to slip into the school well before homeroom. Meaning they didn't have to scramble to keep their relationship a secret from the students. Although a few had begun to have suspicions. Especially considering how strongly Kohaku resembled Mr Aizawa.

The first week and a half went by as if that's the way things had always progressed. Kohaku didn't make much noise or cause much trouble. Secret lunches were slipped in. Midnight and Mic even offered to babysit so the Aizawa couple could catch up over a quiet lunch.

It was starting to irk Shouta, though, that some of the boys went to the sickbay just to flirt with his wife. [Name] laughed as she told him a story about a third-year who'd been in the office all week. Claiming to have one ailment or another. But yet still refused to leave even after he was "cured."

Apparently the boy had been slipping casual comments about how lovely she looked, and how much her smile helped, and soft her hands were. Her husband's eyebrow twitched as he mentally noted to get the name of the student. That way he could ban him from the nurse's office, except for absolute emergencies.

Things didn't start getting hairy until the following week. It started off as a normal, hectic morning. Packing lunches, stuffing diaper bags, triple-checking everyone had everything. But the pair was running late.

As soon as they entered the school, they split. Exchanging quick kisses before being where they had to. To make matters worse, Kohaku had been restless. She kept crying all morning. Nothing kept her quiet for very long.

[Name] was practically dropping everything by the time she got to the nurse's office. Kohaku was crying at the top of her lungs. To make matters worse, there were already a few students there. Apparently, they'd gotten into a fight before school. And needed to be patched up before seeing the principal.

[Name] put the baby in the playpen she kept in the office. Then dumped her stuff in the corner before she started to help heal the students. Kohaku quieted down as she got settled in the mound of toys in the playpen. Leaving her mother able to work in peace.

What [Name] didn't notice, though, was that after about a half-hour Kohaku knocked over her playpen. She'd made herself metal, heavy enough to easily get out. Then went to pull out the drawers of the desk next to the door. She stood on top when a student opened the door.

Kohaku fell as the desk rocked. Nobody could get her in time. But she bounced harmlessly off the floor like a rubber ball. - And then began to bounce herself out the open door and down the hall.

"Oh shit," [Name] cursed, and sprinted after her.

Ominous bouncing could be heard through the halls. The space between hits getting shorter and shorter. [Name] followed, but couldn't keep up. Kohaku was getting faster every time she bounced off something. Finally, [Name] decided she couldn't chase her down alone.

"Midnight!" [Name] shrieked, skidding into her classroom. She was alone, her class off for morning English and math lessons. "I can't find Kohaku!"

"She can't have gotten that far, she's a baby," Midnight said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Have you met my child??? She's literally bouncing off the walls." [Name] gave Midnight a certain look. The woman caught on Immediately.

Midnight cursed under her breath. "He's going to kill you if he finds out."

"I know! Please come help me! I last saw her bouncing down this hallway. But she's gone now. I can hear her, but she's getting faster. I can't keep up."

Midnight put her hand on [Name]'s shoulder. "We'll find her. If he finds out, I'll knock him out and we can make it seem like a dream."

"Diabolical,"[Name] laughed, her and Midnight exiting the classroom. "I love it! But let's hope we don't have to resort to that."

The pair chased the bouncing sounds down the halls. Splitting up at one point. They asked passers-by if they'd seen a bouncing baby. No one actually answered the question. Just staring at them like they had three heads.

Twenty minutes later, Midnight and [Name] finally had the baby in their sights. She was just a blur. But, just before the pair could catch her, [Name] watched on in horror as Kohaku went flying right into All Might's face. She hit him hard, sending the thin man to the ground with a painful thud. He groaned. [Name] was surprised he was still conscious.

"Oh my stars," [Name] shrieked, sprinting to him. "All Might, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," he coughed.

But one could tell she knocked the wind out of him. He coughed, splattering blood onto the floor in front of him. Kohaku sat happily by his side. She was totally unscathed. [Name] picked up Kohaku, and Midnight pulled All Might to his feet.

"Here, let me heal you," [Name] said, offering him her hand. "I'm sure a concussion and a broken nose aren't pleasant."

"How'd you -" All Might started.

"I don't think you've been properly introduced," Midnight stated. "All Might, this is Aizawa's wife, [Name], and their daughter, Kohaku. [Name], All Might."

"It's nice to finally meet you," [Name] said. "I have a healing quirk, I can see a patient's injury then just a touch of my hand heals them up! So I can patch you up in a jiffy. I'm sorry about Kohaku. I know she's young. She's only one, but she's already getting her quirk. It makes her a little unpredictable. I think she likes you though."

"Nice to meet you," All Might greeted, shaking her hand.

In a warm rush, his headache and dizziness dissipated. The pain in his face from the hit was gone. And he wasn't even tired. Kohaku twisted in her mother's arms, reaching for him. All Might took her warily. She giggled merrily, then immediately yanked on his hair.

"She's quite strong for how young she is. But with you and Eraserhead as parents, I can see why," All Might chuckled. "And getting her quirk already? She's a special one."

[Name] nodded. "Trust me, she's been running Shouta and I ragged -"

"I got it!" Shook the voice of a person [Name] and Midnight hadn't realized was there. "Aren't you the new nurse? - You're also Mr Aizawa's wife?!"

"I - uh -" [Name] sputtered, taking a step back.

The kid's eyes sparkled in amazement. "I'm Izuku Midoriya! I'm in his class. It's so good to meet you! - I didn't know Mr Aizawa was married! Or had a daughter!"

Midnight eyed him. "And you better keep it that way, young man."

Midoriya's grin faded just a bit. "What?"

"We kind of wanted to keep that bit private," [Name] laughed awkwardly. "Sho - Mr Aizawa doesn't really like spreading his personal business around."

"Oh!" Midoriya perked up immediately. "Because of like, villains. Right?"

[Name] shrugged. "Well, there's that. And because that's just how he is. Work is work. And home is home. He's been that way since we started dating. - He's just a private person."

"I understand. I swear, I won't say anything to anyone!" he pledged. [Name] was taken aback by his sudden seriousness. As if he'd made it his entire goal in life to keep this one secret.

"Speaking of secrets," [Name] started nervously. "If we could keep this little incident between us a secret, that'd be fantastic. Shouta didn't want me bringing the baby with me in the first place. The last thing I need is for him to find out this happened."

"He won't get a word from me," assured Midnight. But [Name] knew one drink too many and she'd spill all the beans. That was how she and Shouta had started dating after all.

"You don't have to worry about me or young Midoriya saying anything, either," All Might said, and passed the child back.

"You all are lifesavers!" [Name] groaned, relieved. "I should probably get back to the office. Sorry, again, about her bouncing into you. And Nemuri, thank you so much for helping me find her."

Everyone split off into different directions. [Name] felt like something bad was coming. If Kohaku was learning a little control already, then her and Shouta were in for trouble.

[Name] made sure to keep an extra close eye on Kohaku. She also warned Recovery Girl. The old woman promised that she wouldn't breathe a word. Unless it was absolutely necessary.

The two days that followed, [Name] made sure to keep Kohaku padded. This child was not going to get out again. They'd even out a warning on the door. And another sign on her playpen saying PLEASE DO NOT LET THE BABY OUT.

All Might came to visit a few times. Mostly just to play with Kohaku. She squealed in delight every time she saw him. But he would also talk to [Name]. Learning more about her. She could see his fatal wound but wasn't quite sure how to fix it. Although she wasn't opposed to trying.

But everything changed one morning.

It started off normal. The little family got to the school early. [Name] hung out in Shouta’s classroom as long as she could. Kohaku cried when she had to leave her dad. But he kissed her head and assured her that he’d see her later. And [Name] got to the nurse’s office just before the students began to show up. Making sure Kohaku had enough to play with.

The child was fine for a few hours. Sputtering and giggling, extremely happy with an early visit from All Might. It was when he left that something unexpected happened. [Name] had been working on a student when she heard something weird. A sound she’d never heard before. When she turned, she found Kohaku was half out of her playpen. But not because she’d knocked it over or because she put a hole in it. No.

[Name] could feel the panic settle in immediately as she watched her child’s whole body pass through the side. Like most. The woman quickly dove to catch the baby. But her hands slipped right through like she was trying to catch air. She tried a few more times but still couldn't lay a hand on the child. [Name] knew this wasn’t going to end well. Especially once Kohaku crawled through the nurse’s office door.

“Oh, no,” [Name] muttered weakly.

“Well don’t just stand there, go on,” Recovery Girl urged. “Are you sure you and Eraserhead want more children after this?”

[Name] cut the older woman a glare, and then sprinted out the door. She was trying to follow the faint laughter she heard. But this wasn’t like trying to catch her bouncing. Would she even be able to catch her?! This was going to be the ultimate stealth mission. And she needed help.

“Nemuri!” [Name] called, sprinting to her room. Mic was with her in the empty room. They were grading papers. “Hizashi, Nemuri - I have a problem.”

“The baby, again?” Midnight asked, looking up. “What happened?”

“Kohaku figured out another way to use her quirk. My hands slipped right through her. I need help. I don’t know what to do!”

Mic made [Name] sit in a chair. “Breathe. What do you mean your hands went through her?”

“Exactly what I said!” [Name] shouted. “She went through her playpen, and then right through the door. And the wall. And - how do you catch someone you can’t touch?”

Midnight stood, her face very serious. “Do you know where she is now?”

[Name] shook her head. “I was trying to follow her laughter. But it’s too hard to hear through the walls.”

"Let's go find her," Mic said, pulling [Name] along behind him.

The trio listened in the silent hallway. That's when yelling was heard down in another hallway. They raced towards it. People were clambering out of the room. Looking absolutely terrified.

"Ghost!" yelled one.

"Did you see that?!" cried another.

"It was a baby, what's so scary about it?" asked a third in a bored tone.

"Excuse me!" [Name] shouted, sprinting faster.

"Hey, it's the new nurse," noted someone. Everyone turned to look down the hall.

"And Present Mic and Midnight. What're they doing here?" said somebody else.

"Sorry," [Name] panted, stopping in front of them. "But that's my baby. Do you know which way she went?"

"Your baby is a ghost?!" exclaimed the group.

[Name] laughed. "No, she's starting to get her quirk. She can go through walls."

"She was heading that way," a student said, pointing down the hall. This was followed by more shrieks in another classroom. "I guess someone else found her."

"Thank you!" [Name] called as she squeezed through the group.

The trio continued, going from class to class. Shouta was definitely going to find out at this rate. Who knew so many wannabe heroes were afraid of ghosts?

The group tried to be extra quiet as they eventually made their way down Aizawa's hallway. They'd lost her. The classes of shrieking student ceasing. They'd nearly caught her a few times. But she hadn't deactivated her quirk yet. Their fingers still slipped right through her. Now they were poking their heads into every door now. Except for in the room of Hero Course 1-A. They tried to go by unheard.

However, Shouta popped his head out of his classroom door to catch his wife, Mic, and Midnight sprinting down the hall. "What the hell are you three doing?"

They all clambered to a stop. Turning slowly, they found him using his quirk. Glaring the trio down. He could be very threatening. They all let out nervous laughs.

"Oh, you know," panicked Midnight, giving him a fake smile.

Mic nodded. "We just messin' around."

"You know us," [Name] chortled nervously. "Just screwing around."

"Don't you all have jobs to do?" Shouta deadpanned.

"Well, you know, we had some free time…" Midnight was going to crack at this point. [Name] could see it in her face.

Shouta dropped his glare, hair falling back into place. He still stares at them warily. But sighs. "If you're going to be idiots, at least keep it down. Some people are trying to teach."

When he disappeared, the three sprinted off again. Trying to get well out of earshot. They had to have checked nearly the whole school by this point.

"That was too close!" Mic announced, stumbling to a halt.

[Name] groaned, leaning against a wall. "You're telling me."

"We can still try -" started Midnight. But she was cut off. A tone was played through the school. Lunchtime. How had they been at this for two hours? And still not managed to catch her?

"Shouta is going to kill me," [Name] whined, collapsing in defeat in the hallway.

Mic out a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be fine. He loves you -"

[Name] turned to Mic, an incredulous expression on her face. "He may love me, but have you met my husband?"

"We'll make sure to write you a nice eulogy," Midnight said. "That child of yours has an incredible quirk. You two might have a number one pro on your hands."

"She's not going to be anything if I don't find her. I'm going to be nothing if I don't find her. But she just -" [Name] swatted at the air. "Right through my fingers. She's never done that before! How do I keep her from doing that?! She could get out of the apartment and we'd never be able to stop her. And -"

"Hey, chill out," Mic soothed. "It'll be fine. It'll all work out. - We'll keep looking."

"He'll get suspicious if you don't show up for lunch," agreed Midnight. "We'll figure out how to catch her if we see her."

"I don't deserve this, but thank you guys so much." [Name] hugged them goodbye, wishing them luck. But she doubted they were going to catch her. Her stomach twisted up. What was she going to do?

[Name] walked into Shouta's classroom. Ready to go to lunch. Feed him a lie about leaving the baby with Recovery Girl. He'd believe the old lady was watching her. However, [Name] stopped in her tracks as she spied her child in her husband's arms.

Shouta's mouth was in a hard, flat line. "Care to explain?"

"I -" [Name] stuttered, utter relief flooding through. "Kohaku."

"I told you this was a bad idea." Shouta cut her a sharp look. "We should've found a daycare. I'm going to guess that's what you three were up to this morning."

"Shouta - I - we tried -"

"And how long would it have taken to find her if she hadn't wandered in here? It shouldn't be that hard to chase down a child."

"It's not my fault -" [Name] pleaded.

"And how exactly is that?" his voice was cold and bitter. [Name] knew he'd do anything for their child. But so would she. She'd been running around all morning to chase Kohaku down all day, after all. But how would she convince him?

[Name] didn't have to think long. Because that's when the child phased through his arms. Shouta paled, just a bit. Kohaku dropped to the floor, phasing through desks and chairs to get to her mother. Her father watched on with surprised, wary eyes.

"Because she did that this morning." [Name] stated, picking up the happy baby. "She made her skin permeable. But I don't think it's just her skin anymore. I think she can change the material that all of her matter is made of. Or else she wouldn't be able to do that. She'd just phase right out of her bones. Either way, she went right through the office door. And our hands slipped right through her when we tried to catch her. That's why it's not my fault. It's not like I didn't try. I am trying to be a good mother. Even if you may not think so."

Shouta was taken aback by the last part. Seeing his wife's eyes glass over with tears. He walked towards her, putting his hands on her upper arms. She avoided his eyes. Even when he lifted up her up chin to look at her.

Shouta sighed, wrapping his arms around her and Kohaku. "I don't think you're a bad mother."

"You've sure been making it feel like I am…" [Name] pouted. "You didn't think I could handle this. I may not be a pro hero. I just have some stupid healing quirk. But I can still do this -"

"Your quirk isn't stupid," he said softly. "Yours is much more efficient than the old woman's. You don't leave the people you heal drained. But by now you should know that I worry. And not just about Kohaku. It's been rough since she was born -"

"But I'm fine now," [Name] insisted, eyes hesitantly finding her husband’s. "I can't stay cooped up at home anymore! I was so lonely. They don't exactly have ‘spouse and child of superheroes’ support groups. I wasn't going out every Sunday to take her on playdates. You did so much while I was sitting around, doing nothing. I just wanted to help."

Shouta kissed her forehead. "I didn’t mean to make you feel isolated. But you weren't doing nothing. You were healing. And taking care of Kohaku. That's far more important than anything I've done."

[Name] laughed sadly. "Right. Says the pro hero who literally saves people every week. I couldn't even keep her from getting out. - It happened a few days ago, too."

"I know you probably did everything you could. And I know that she was bouncing down the halls," he said nonchalantly.

[Name] couldn't believe it. "What?! How?!"

Shouta’s eyes light up in amusement. "Nemuri drunk texted me, apologizing. You've gotten her into quite a lot of trouble this week. I understand that Midoriya knows, too."

[Name] couldn't believe that Midnight had gotten drunk already at some point. It'd been three days! "You're going to make me put her in daycare, or make me quit - aren't you?"

"You nearly got away with it," he half-chuckled. "I'm not going to put her in daycare. I don’t think even they could handle this. But I am going to watch her in here a few times a week. I shouldn't have been expecting you to do that on your own."

[Name]’s face scrunched in concern. "But your class -"

"It'll be fine." Shouta ruffled Kohaku’s hair. Then put a hand on the back of [Name]’s head, gently pulling her to softly kissing her forehead.

[Name] smiled to herself. “So what are we going to do? If we can’t keep her in, if we can’t protect her -”

“We’ll figure it out,” Shouta promised. “Besides, I can always erase her quirk. Now, are we going to eat? I’m sure using her quirk has her hungry.”

“You’re going to need a lot of eye drops. C’mon, I’m hungry from chasing her,” [Name] chuckled.

Shouta went with [Name] to Recovery Girl’s office and got Kohaku’s lunch out of her bag. The trio ate together in his room. One can imagine his class’s surprise to find a woman and a baby that looked like both of them when they came back. There were many questions after that. About their relationship. About [Name]. But most of them were about their bouncing baby girl. And if she was the ghost that the entire lunchroom was buzzing about.

5K notes · View notes

procrastinatorimagines · 4 years

Text

Babysitting

Fandom: Chicago Med / One Chicago

Character/s: Will x Reader, Nat, Maggie, Owen

Warning/s: none

Word Count: 1,610

Request: Hello, first I hope you are having a good day! Second, could I please ask for a Will Halstead x Reader? Him and the reader, they are a couple, are taking care of Natalie's son and It's funny and fluffy? Thank you!!

Summary: Will and Y/N agree to babysit Owen for the night so Nat can have a much needed night to herself.

“Really? I- Okay, no I’m sorry of course, okay, thank you, feel better soon, bye.” You heard Nat sigh in frustration as she hung up the phone, standing off to the side as you waited for Will to finish getting changed from shift, Maggie stopping in her tracks in front of her to see what was going on.

“Everything okay Nat?” She asked as Nat rubbed her temple. Both women were dressed up for a night out, the first time in a long time they’d managed to make it work around work and home. Will headed out the door and the two of you started walking, overhearing more of the conversation as you approached.

“It’s- the sitter just cancelled, apparently she has a temperature and doesn’t want Owen to catch it, and now it’s too last minute to call someone else- and Owen isn’t great with strangers anyway-” Nat rambled, clearly exhausted and in serious need of this night with Maggie.

“Nat it’s fine, I understand,” Maggie reassured her, “we can do it another night,” she sounded disappointed but supportive, Maggie hadn’t had an easy time this year and she’d told you this night out was the first time in a while that she was feeling like her old self.

“I know, it’s just it took so long to find the time tonight and we haven’t really spent quality time together in such a long time,” Nat apologised as you and Will caught up to the two women.

“Need someone to watch Owen?” Will asked and all three of you looked to him, “I mean, we could, you deserve the night off Nat and Owen does know me.” Will looked to you and you shrugged, nodding as you turned back to Nat.

“Really? If you guys had plans-” She began but you waved her off.

“Nonsense, we’d be happy to, you both look like you need tonight to yourselves a lot more than we do,” you laughed and Nat smiled in appreciation.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, clicking her tongue in thought, “er spare key’s where it’s always been, I left instructions for the sitter on the fridge, his granma’s are dropping him off home any minute, I’ll call her to let her know you’re coming then.”

“Sounds good,” Will replied. You knew him and Nat were back to being just friends, but he still missed spending time with Owen, and from what you’d seen when Owen came to daycare at the hospital, the feeling was mutual.

“You guys are sure?” Nat double checked before her and Maggie headed off.

“Yes, yes we’re sure, now go, enjoy your night,” you practically ordered them away and Nat nodded at last.

“Come on Nat, Owen’s in good hands,” Maggie told her as their taxi pulled up behind them, “besides, it’ll be good practice for when they decide to have some little redhead’s.” Maggie laughed and Will shook his head, practically shooing them into the car with promises that Owen would be fine, and that they had a night to get started.

They drove off quickly and Will turned to you with a slightly embarrassed smile. You’d been dating for over a year now and you’d never actually talked about having kids, you’d just kind of assumed Will did; the way he was around child patients and the way he was with Owen, he’d definitely make a great dad, but you hadn’t really given it much thought.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Owen’s going to the thrilled to see you,” you linked your arm in Will’s and the both of you headed towards you car, trying to brush off Maggie’s comment even though it was in the back of both your minds.

You probed Will on the drive over for everything you’d need to know about what Owen was like, what he liked and didn’t like, that sort of thing. You’d met him plenty of times, but you’d never actually taken care of him, but you’d spent enough time with your sister’s son to know what some kids could be a little bit more difficult than others.

Will was finishing the story of his black eyes by the time you arrived at the house, and you entered to find Owen playing in the living room while Helen watched over him, looking up when you both entered.

“Will Halstead,” she said with a smile, embracing him in welcome and kissing both his cheeks, “it’s been too long.”

“Yes it has, you look well,” he replied and she thanked him, turning her attention then to you. “Oh, this is my girlfriend, Y/N, Nat might have mentioned she was coming with me.”

“She did, it’s lovely to meet you,” she told you as the noise of building blocks toppling over drew your attention to the little boy barrelling out of the front room, over his creation, and straight to Will, a big grin plastered on his face.

“Will!” Owen yelled, practically slamming into him as he wrapped his arms around his legs in a big hug.

“Oof,” Will steadied himself and picked Owen up, “wow, you are getting so much bigger, soon I won’t even be able to pick you up!” He laughed.

“Okay, well, you’ll only need to watch him a couple of hours before he needs to go to sleep, he’s been fed and Nat left instructions on the fridge, as I’m sure she mentioned,” she informed you both, turned back to Owen and kissing him goodnight.

“I’ll see you very soon sweetheart,” she waved goodbye and he waved back as she left, Owen quickly getting Will to put him down and dragging him by the hand into the living room.

It was only when you were all in there that Owen seemed to notice your presence. “Who are you?” He asked, tilting his head a little as he sat in front of his toys and pulled Will down with him.

“I’m Y/N,” you told him, crouching down to join them.

“Do you know my mommy?” He picked up a block and held it out for you as Will watch on with a smile.

“Yeah I do, she’s a really good friend of mine,” you said, accepting the block with thanks as you shuffled to sit cross-legged on the floor.

“Will’s a really good friend of mine,” Owen informed you excitedly, pushing a giant pile of blocks in Will direction with the instruction to start building.

“Best friends aren’t we buddy?” Will suggested but he shook his head instead.

“I wouldn’t say ‘best’ friends,” he grinned and Will feigned insult as you laughed.

“Yeah he’s not all that great is he?” You joked and Will turned to you and mouthed ‘traitor’. You winked at him in response as Owen burst out laughing.

You were just starting to think that you had this whole kid thing down when you felt a whoosh of air pass your face. Blinking you realised that Will’s hand was in front of your eyes, a building block that Owen had just thrown inches from making contact.

“Oops, sorry,” he told you with a frown, “I thought you were going to catch it,” he explained, sliding you another one towards you slowly.

“We’ll be alright,” Will told you as he split some of his pile with yours. “How about I help Y/N make one? The two of us won’t nearly be able to make something as good as you.” He double checked with Owen, who just nodded, suddenly engrossed in his building.

The night consisted of a lot more building and a lot more destruction as you and Will played Owen’s game, which was either called ‘bulldozer’ or ‘explosion’, it changed each time but honestly they were both as disasterous as each other. But still, he was happy, and he was getting much better at balancing and building, he just had a tendancy to like watching them topple down, as children do.

Eventually it was time to put Owen to bed, something he was very reluctant about, you’d barely convinced him to put his pajamas on when he decided to climb onto your back, hiding from Will, who was getting his tooth brush ready so he could brush his teeth before bed.

Once you’d finally convinced him to get fully ready for bed he had sat with his arms crossed on his sheets and refused to fall asleep, which was more adorable than annoying given the fact that he was out like a light 15 minutes and a short story from you and Will later.

You both crept out the room once he was out, shutting the door lightly behind you and all but collapsing into each other as you leaned against the wall in the hallway, laughing quietly to yourselves.

“Wasn’t so bad,” you told him after a minute, smiling as he took your hand and laced his fingers in yours.

“No it was not,” he replied, kissing you sweetly. You stood together again in silence, oh that beautiful silence, before Will spoke again. “You’d make a good mom.”

You blinked at his comment, and took in the uncertainty on his face as he waited for you to response. Kissing him again you told him: “well, you’d make a good dad.”

A smile spread across his face as he ran his thumb over your hand. “Are we really talking about having kids?” He laughed quietly.

“Yeah I think we are,” you realised, “and I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we had them together one day.” He brushed the hair out of your face and looked into your eyes.

“One day,” he promised.

#will halstead #chicago med #one chicago #will halstead imagine #chicago med imagine #will halstead imagines #chicago med imagines #will halstead one shot #chicago med one shot #one chicago imagine #one chicago imagines #one chicago one shot #one shot

245 notes · View notes

bauslut · 4 years

Text

as you are | vi.

pairing: aaron hotchner x oc

word count: 5.810k

warnings: mentions of murder, mentions of sexual assault, nudity, oral (receiving), filthy talk, use of pet names, sir kink, slight dom/sub, age gap, cursing, angst, lots and lots of angst, mentions of infant death, allusions to sex, cock warming, crying, marking, nsfw

a/n: this is the sixth chapter of my hotch fic! first off, i want to thank @sapphicstars for being my go-to for all my hotch rambles, for being my best friend, & for beta reading the past few chapters! thank you for being such a dear friend, i love you <3 let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the taglist! i hope you guys enjoy, as i’m super proud of this! :’)

| iv. | v.|

a drizzle drummed against the window, the sheer cream curtains drawn, rays of light from the lamp casting a warm golden glow all around, illuminating nearly everything. the only sound was the patter of the drops as they collided with the windowpane, and the occasional shuffle of papers, the heating unit only nothing but white noise, drowned out by the rain.

rowan rivers sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with a loose thread on the patterned comforter, “so, do you want to shower first or would you like me to go?”

“you should go,” the rustle of paper followed his sentence, “you’re the one who’s wearing damp clothes. honestly, i’m not sure why you haven’t showered yet and changed into dry clothes.”

“and what are we going to do about the bed?”

“i’ll just sleep on the floor,” a weary sigh reverberated off the thin walls, “nothing that i haven’t done before.”

“aaron,” rowan rolled her eyes, slipping off the mattress, “do you realize that us sleeping in the same bed is nothing out of the ordinary?”

the unit chief was adjacent to the agent, his knees bent, acting as a prop for the file of the unsub. a notebook lied directly next to his thigh, open, a few notes scribbled into the margins. his coat was hung in the closet, suit jacket slung across a faux leather chair, nothing but his dress shirt and tie covering his top half, the tie loosened so that it wasn’t so tight around his neck.

aaron’s lips pursed, brow arching, “you don’t recall a single memory from that night, yet that’s the only thing you remember?”

“there’s a lot that’s coming back to me,” rowan shrugged, padding over to her bag, “well since you’re not protesting, i’m about to go use all of the hot water.”

“go ahead,” a chuckle flowed from his lips, light and airy, “i don’t mind a cold shower sometimes.”

“you’re ridiculous,” rowan snorted, “although i’m not shocked that you like cold showers.”

“i’m nowhere near as ridiculous as david rossi,” aaron brought a bottle of water to his mouth, taking a slip, “you realize this was intentional, right?”

“i wasn’t born yesterday,” her voice crescendoed as she entered the bathroom, rising again as she spoke, “if you need me, i’ll be in here.”

aaron mumbled an incoherent strand of words under his breath, cursing david rossi. not only did he have a case to investigate, he also had six members of his team badgering him about a coworker.

sure, the taunting on the jet was enough to handle. he could fire back, shooting down their teasing remarks with ease, able to maintain his cool, calm, composure. he was in control of the situation, shutting them up in a matter of minutes. nothing that he hadn’t encountered before.

however, this was a stark contrast.

aaron was in shambles, his skin flushed, neck painted with pink splotches as he gnawed on his lower lip. her mere presence was enough to have him crumpling to his knees, completely and utterly allured by her beauty. gravitating towards her voice whenever those plush lips parted, hanging onto every word. every interaction leaving one singular question ringing through his mind, clouding his thoughts.

how much longer was he going to able to keep it together?

“all right,” her voice pulled him out of his thoughts, snapping back to reality, “your turn.”

a fluffy white robe was cinched around her waist, the fabric covering nearly everything but a patch of skin between her breasts, a few marks poking out in the light. they were faded some, yet still prominent.

licking his lips, aaron clambered out of the bed, mustering every fiber in his being to break his gaze away, careful not to stare for too long.

“that was quick.”

“i didn’t want to waste the warm water,” she responded, ringing a towel through her hair, “i’ll just change in here while you shower.”

“you have no problem stripping when you’re inebriated but the second you’re sober you have second thoughts?” aaron let out a laugh, lips stretching into a broader grin as he noticed the rosy hue spread through her cheeks, “i’m just teasing.”

“i hate you,” rowan muttered, lips curving into a pout.

“i know for a fact that you don’t.”

“i’ll be in bed when you return,” her eyes crinkled shut as her hand deflected a yawn.

“and when i get out, i’ll be careful not to make any noise. every minute of sleep is precious. we have an unsub to track down when morning comes.”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“what time is it?” her voice was barely a whisper, her back facing him.

aaron rolled over, squinting in the low light. the numbers glared back, a sigh exiting his lips, “it’s about two thirty-eight, ro.”

“from the sound of it, you can’t sleep either.”

“this bed is pretty uncomfortable,” aaron pulled the comforter tighter to his body, nuzzling into the pillow.

“so are these pillows,” she grumbled, her tone hot with scorn, “why couldn’t we have booked some hotel in the town over?”

“the nearest town is forty minutes away.”

“so why can’t you sleep?” the ruffle of sheets crept into his left ear, “something on your mind?”

“there’s a lot on my mind ro.”

“there you go again, calling me ‘ro’,” she exhaled, “you need to pick a side, aaron.”

“pick a side?” shifting his body, aaron faced rowan, his brow furrowed, “what are you talking about, rowan?”

“you need to pick a side,” she repeated, her depths nearly gleaming silver, “you can’t just keep leading me on but then pushing me away. it’s so fucking confusing because i like being around you, aaron, i really do. you make me happy and every time that i’m not with you, there’s this part of me that misses you.”

“rowan--” his throat tightened, “it’s just that--”

“oh what?” she challenged, “what is it that’s holding you back? right now, you’re laying close enough to reach out, close enough to touch me, but not too close because there is something in your mind telling you not to. is it the divorce? are you guys even officially separated? from the frequent phone calls you’ve been receiving lately, it seems as if it’s sorting out plans. sorting out plans for daycare, for spending the night. it’s sorting out plans for jack. the two of you don’t even live together and rossi told me that it’s been months since the papers were filed.”

“rowan.” her name was eerily quiet as it tumbled from his lips, yet she continued, her voice rising, inflected with notes of fury, tears threatening to spill over.

an index finger prodded his chest, digging in, “you may have a cold tone when talking to me, but the second that i walk into a room your eyes gravitate towards my presence. you are keen when i speak and always tell the others to quiet down when i have headaches. you always ask if i’m going to make it home okay. fuck, the other night you let me stay at your apartment. is that just normal behavior to you? what are you so fucking afraid of aaron hotchner? and yes, i know how much you fucking despise being profiled but--”

“for fuck’s sakes,” the words were a growl, gravelly and harsh, “come here.”

fingers crept onto her cheeks, palms fully enveloping the heated skin, pulling her closer, mouths only inches away from one another.

rowan’s heart skipped a beat as his eyes searched hers, the tip of his nose grazing against the inside of her cheek, “a-are you going to answer my question or not?”

“only if you want me to,” her lashes fluttered as lips brushed against hers, soft and plush.

“please do.”

the fingers glided into her hair, tugging at the roots as mouths collided with hers, a fiery kiss unraveling. aaron pulled her closer, desperate to have her as close as teeth gnashed against teeth, tongue delving into her mouth. a faint taste of cherries lingered, the taste sweet, only making him crave more. rowan’s hands flew to his chest, clutching the fabric of his tee as he sucked on her lower lip harshly, a whine rising in her throat.

the whimper escalated into a broken moan as his mouth drifted lower, trailing just below her jawline, “a-aaron, please.”

“what?” he paused, voice edged with lust, “you have to use your words, ro.”

a shiver ran down her spine, her body nearly collapsing into his, “we have all night, you don’t have to be hasty.”

“i don’t know how much longer i can hold back ro.”

“god aaron,” rowan panted as he nipped at her neck, “i bet they can hear us--”

“let ‘em,” satisfaction coursed through him as he marveled at the fresh mark, “i want to hear you.”

fingers laced into his silky hair as his mouth drifted, tugging at the roots, “fuck, aaron. just take it off.”

he paused, breaking away, heart thudding, blood roaring in his ears, “do you want me to?”

rowan nodded, her cheeks tainted crimson, “please.”

gently, his hands hooked the hem of the plush crewneck clinging to her frame, gesturing for her to sit up. carefully, he worked it up her arms, pulling it over her head, casting the article of clothing to the floor.

at the sight of her, he nearly came undone.

her breasts bounced as her back hit the mattress, a cotton thong hugging her hips. her lips were parted, curved into a shy smile, brunette hair sweeping against the pillow. a silver chain glittered, hanging loosely from her neck, a charm resting against her collarbone. swallowing thickly, his hands gravitated towards her sides, slowly trailing back and forth, savoring the softness of her skin against his. several, tiny scars littered her chest, spanning down to the plane of her stomach, the areas a more pale complexion than the rest.

“i’m sorry about the scars,” she sputtered, tripping over the words, “they’re really a mood killer and i’m so--”

“ro,” his tone was firm, yet his voice was so gentle, so quiet, “don’t you dare apologize. you’re beautiful.”

a hand cupped his cheek, her thumb caressing the cheekbone, “you’re the first man who’s ever said that to me and meant it.”

“i’ll say it over and over again. all day, every day. every single second that i’m around you because i fucking mean it, rowan. you’re beautiful.”

tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over, “t-thank you.”

“no crying,” a chuckle tumbled from his lips, the pad of his thumb wiping away a tear, “i always hate seeing you cry.”

“i won’t cry anymore, promise. you should take this off,” her nails grazed the collar of his tee, “so we’re even.”

without any hesitations, he slipped out of his shirt, lowering his head so that he was at level with her chest, “can i?”

“can you what?”

“well,” his breath fanned against her skin, in close proximity, “you asked me a few nights ago if i wanted to suck on them. can i?”

“god, please.”

his mouth wrapped around her nipple, her back arching into him as his teeth tugged lightly, tongue flicking over the bud. rowan’s nails dug into his back, moans flooding the space, low and breathy, only fueling the lust burning within him. god, he needed more of her. he needed more of her so fucking bad. he needed all of her.

“a-aaron,” rowan whimpered as his tongue traveled lower, going down her stomach, “i-i need you to touch me. or do something. fuck, i’m so wet and i can fucking feel it. i need you.”

“yeah?” his tone oozed authority, “you need me? how bad? how badly do you need me to touch you?”

“i just fucking need you,” her head thudded against the pillow, jaw slack, “i need you bad, aaron hotchner.”

the sound of his name, his full name, dripping from her lips, nearly sent him over the edge of losing all inhibitions, drunk off lust.

aaron’s hands sprawled across her thighs, parting them in one swift motion, “if this gets to be too much, let me know. all right?”

“all right.”

settling flat on his stomach, his arms hooked around her thighs, his head level with her thong, “holy fuck. i can see how wet you are.”

“it’s all for you,” her voice faltered, squirming slightly as the tip of his nose brushed against her clit, “i’m so wet for you, sir.”

“sir?” aaron arched a brow, a smug smirk enveloping his features, “i like that, especially coming from your pretty little mouth. do you want me to put you in your place pretty girl? you want me to remind you who’s in charge? do you want me to make you feel good?”

rowan’s throat tightened, her clit practically throbbing through the cotton now, the fabric drenched with her juices, “yes sir. i need you to put me in my place.”

“that’s a good girl,” he hummed, fingers hooking the waistband, “let’s get these off you, hmmm?”

eagerly, rowan shimmied, aaron’s touch sending ripples of euphoria coursing through her body. it was almost as if every single part of her body was on fire, lit up from his words alone. the touch only intensified the scorching desire, consuming her whole.

his tongue darted out, licking a stripe from her hole to her clit, delving between her folds, a pleased hum rising in his throat as he swallowed.

“i always knew you’d taste this good, pretty girl.”

“god,” she writhed beneath him, instinctively bucking her hips, “please--”

the sentence dissolved into a groan as his mouth connected with her pussy, burying his tongue into it. rowan’s hands tangled into his hair, pulling, only goading him to keep going. to keep ravaging her with his mouth until she was begging to stop. his tongue glided upwards, swirling on her clit, lapping away, desperate to taste every inch. to explore every convex and concave until there was nothing left. nothing left to taste.

“a-aaron,” pulling away, a strand of saliva followed, glittering in the light.

“say my name, say it again pretty girl. and don’t fucking stutter.”

“but your mouth--” she protested, biting her tongue.

a growl rumbled, “i don’t care where my mouth was. say it again.”

hands squeezed her breasts, rolling her nipples between fingers. the pleasure was overwhelming, the waves racking rowan’s body as his lips wrapped around her clit, sucking and darting across it. heat radiated off her cheeks, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead.

“i-i’m going to cum,” a needy whine rang through the room, bouncing off the walls.

“you better cum,” he was pinching her nipples now, “you better fucking cum like the good girl i know you are.”

“i-i’m going to,” her thighs twitched, her breathing picking up, “oh my god aaron, i’m going to--”

“that’s a good girl,” aaron’s eyes drank in the sight of her, trembling underneath him, her climax seconds away from unraveling, “you cum like the good girl you are.”

her hips rolled, riding out her orgasm on his tongue, clutching fistfuls of his hair. giving her pussy one final lick, aaron pulled away, her juices coating his mouth, dripping onto his chin. his cock was twitching now, pre-cum dribbling along his length, constrained to the tightness of his boxers.

“fuck,” rowan cursed under her breath, her chest heaving, strands of hair plastered to her forehead, “aaron--”

“you hanging in there, ro?”

her response was a meek nod, a bead of sweat trickling down her temple, “yes.”

“i’m not finished with you yet princess,” aaron’s voice wavered as rowan propped herself up, reaching out, her hand flattening out on the print, fingers squeezing his shaft, “good god, p-please.”

“what?” tilting her head, rowan peered at him through thick lashes, batting them, “what is it, aaron?”

“i need you to fucking sit on it, that’s fucking what.”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“what time are we supposed to meet at the station again?”

“only a couple of hours now,” aaron fought back a yawn, pressing a light kiss to her shoulder blade, “it’s nearly five in the morning, ro.”

bodies were intertwined, a flurry of limbs. the haze of sex lingered, the scent of arousal thick in the air. yet, aaron hotchner felt nothing but pure bliss as he cradled her body in his arms, a warm, cozy feeling seeping into his chest as her bare skin pressed against his.

shifting ever so slightly, a low grunt rumbled in his throat as his tip plunged further in, his cock coated with a sticky mess of his and her cum, the juices practically leaking down his shaft, pooling onto the sheets.

“aaron, please.”

“please what?” satisfaction coursed through his veins as her voice dripped with a plea, “you gotta use your words with me, rowan. i can’t give you what you want if you don’t tell me.”

“we’ll be up all night,” rowan whispered, “i-it feels so good.”

swallowing thickly, his hand traveled from her hip to the plane of her stomach, “god, i think i can feel it.”

“i don’t know if i can handle any more.”

“i know baby,” pecking her cheek, aaron pulled out, savoring the sensation of her walls wrapped around his cock, “let’s get you cleaned up, and then maybe we’ll be able to get a few minutes of shut-eye before a phone rings.”

baby.

rowan’s heart nearly soared at the pet name, the gentle notes inflected in his tone as he uttered it, the way it just sounded so right coming from him. god, was she so vulnerable in this state: enveloped in his tight embrace, nearly melting into his arms, not a single article of clothing adorning her frame.

in the moment, she was nothing but happy, cozy and content under the covers.

if only she could spend every night like this with him, basking in the intimacy. falling so much harder than she initially thought. sure, aaron hotchner was a handsome man. he was level-headed, carried himself with ease, and was so utterly good-looking. he was a family man, unafraid to express his abundant love for his son. he was compassionate, putting his needs of the team before his own. he was self-less, always thrusting himself into harm's way before any member of his team or civilian.

however, there was one aspect that rowan couldn’t understand. one particular trait that prevented her from giving herself to him completely.

why couldn’t aaron hotchner show any vulnerability? why was he a changed man behind closed doors?

“there,” his voice cut in the silence, “i changed the sheets. we should really rest, ro.”

padding over to the bed, rowan settled into the comforter, allowing space for aaron. within seconds, he was pulling her in, head nuzzling into the crook of her head, stubble grazing soft flesh, “i never really noticed it before, but you wear a butterfly necklace. is there any significance behind that?”

“i thought we were going to sleep hotchner,” rowan let out a hoarse chuckle, “but, to answer your query, i wear it in honor of my older brother. he was stillborn. when i was younger, my mom used to tell me that every single butterfly that i encountered was joshua, and he was just fluttering by to say hello. i wear the necklace to keep him close to my heart, because that’s where he resides. nearly every night, i dream about meeting him. i.. i really wish i could give him a hug sometimes, ya know? but you can’t hug butterflies or else that will kill them.”

fingers intertwined with hers, “you didn’t have to share that with me, ro, but i am so grateful that you did.”

“the thing is,” she paused, exhaling, “i want to share everything with you, aaron.”

lips brushed against her skin, “and i want to hear it all. every memory, every story, every inside joke. i want you to share these experiences and tales with me, rowan. i promise that i’ll listen.”

“what’s wrong with us? we’re not supposed to fall in love, aaron hotchner. you’re my boss. we’re federal agents. if anyone found out, our lives would be obliterated. if strauss ever caught wind of this, oh my god we would be--”

“rowan, listen to me,” the words were grounding, “i don’t care what happens. there’s a lot of uncertainty in the future, but i know one thing’s for certain. i want anything to do with you, no matter what the cost. i would ask about those damn boots you love so much, but we really need to sleep if we’re going to function at all tomorrow. and i need that brilliant mind of yours if we’re going to get this guy.”

“i was planning on spilling a few more secrets.”

“we have the whole flight home for that,” the laugh vibrated in his throat, “sleep well, rowan. sweet dreams. i’ll be here when you wake up.”

“sweet dreams hotchner,” rowan murmured, lids heavy with exhaustion.

within hours, beams of light were filtering in through the curtains, stirring the agent awake. groggily, she shifted, rolling over to face aaron, instinctively leaning in to press her lips against his for a warm good morning.

but he wasn’t there, the mattress nothing but an unforgiving void of cold sheets and broken promises.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“listen,” emily prentiss grumbled, sifting through a pile of bills, “you owe me if i’m right.”

“i won’t,” rossi countered, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he cracked a smug smirk, “this isn’t the fifty i was promised when we made this bet. we shook on it, remember?”’

derek morgan poked his head out a door, “do you guys think they fucked?”

“fucked is such a vulgar word,” garcia snorted, shouldering past morgan, “also, i hate you for putting that filthy image in my head. it’s going to be there all day thanks to you.”

“It’s nothing that we don’t do babygirl,” morgan shot her a wink, “how much do i owe you, rossi?”

“fifty dollars,” rossi beamed, “i prefer fives, if you have them.”

“i don’t think that they had sexual intercourse,” reid cleared his throat, striding towards the elevator, “the infrastructure of this building has extremely thin walls. i would have heard something. do you guys even think that hotch has that stamina to--”

“all right, that’s enough!” morgan coughed, throwing his bag over his shoulder, “where is hotch, anyways? the door is cracked, but i haven’t seen him or rowan leave the room.”

“i’m sure all of our questions will be answered within the hour,” rossi remarked, accepting a wad of cash from morgan, “if we see hotch smile today, then that tells us that they weren’t sleeping last night.”

the team held their breaths as a door opened, rowan stepping out, shutting it softly behind her, “good morning guys.”

“good morning rivers!” prentiss chirped, “how did you sleep last night? don’t tell me he made you sleep on the floor.”

“i didn’t get much sleep at all,” the brunette muttered, “have you guys seen hotch at all this morning?”

“no,” rossi replied curtly, “we thought you two were getting a few more minutes of snuggling before we had to leave.”

rowan’s eyes squeezed shut, her features twisting together with pain, “c-can we please just quit it with the teasing today? just for today?”

“oh,” prentiss’ face fell, brow furrowing with concern, “i-is everything alright rivers?”

“we didn’t mean to--” morgan began, but was promptly cut off by garcia.

“maybe you just haven’t had your morning coffee yet buttercup. let’s get you something to eat too. you look like you’ve seen a ghost or something utterly horrifying. caffeine always lifts my spirits.”

as garcia and rowan strolled to the elevator, whispering amongst one another, rossi nudged morgan, “something happened last night between the two of them.”

“should we ask hotch about it?” prentiss inquired, picking a hair off her blazer, “or, should we leave it be?”

“i’ll handle it,” rossi smoothed out his shirt, lugging his back behind him.

“i have an inkling that our unit chief is not aware of the consequences that come with reckless thinking.”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“how are things today kiddo?” rowan flinched as a hand connected with her shoulder, “you’ve barely spoken a word to us all morning. and you’ve listened to every single order hotch has given you. is there something wrong?”

“oh,” rowan blinked, swiveling around in a chair, “um, i’ve just had a morning, i guess.”

letting out a sigh, david rossi slid into the nearest seat, scooting towards the agent, “you forget that i’ve been in this field for years, rowan. i know when something’s up. i won’t prod too much, but i’m worried about you. is it something to do with the case?”

“d-do you think anyone’s going to come over here?” rowan’s gaze flickered towards the group of cops huddled around the control center, chattering away.

“come,” rossi rose to his feet, offering the brunette his elbow, “let’s go on a walk. there’s not much to do around here anyways. garcia is picking through the laptop, it may take a while.”

graciously, rowan accepted his offer, following him outside of the station into the dreariness of forks. dark, flint grey clouds loomed over, threatening rain. the air was chilly, piercing the agent to the bone as she clung onto rossi.

“wait,” rossi paused, discarding his coat, “did romeo forget to offer his juliet his coat this morning?”

shoving her arms into the sleeves, rowan shuddered as a breeze rolled through the streets, “romeo is a fucking jackass, that’s what.”

“oh is he now?” rossi mused, “i figured he was the reason why your mood drastically changed. if you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

“a lot,” the agent mumbled, careful to avoid the question.

“i want to help,” he stated, his tone cool, “but i can’t do that if you don’t let me know what happened, rowan.”

“i-i’m sure it’s no secret that i came from a very, very, horrible place,” rowan began, shrinking inside the coat, boots thudding against the pavement, “the first day i arrived at the bau, it was also no secret that aa-- hotch and i butted heads. there are still times in which he annoys the shit out of me, but that’s besides the point. last night i made a mistake. i allowed myself to be vulnerable and let him see parts of me that i’ve hidden for so long. rossi, i-i, i’ve never allowed a man to touch me like that. not since the night of the stakeout.”

“rowan, you don’t have to continue if it’s only going to--”

“rossi, three people tore me apart. i’m still healing, the wounds are there, and they’re deep and jagged. and i promised myself that i would never let anyone in since that night, and here i am, passively watching as it happens. i let him in, and it was so beautiful and exhilarating. i wish it would have lasted forever but it didn’t. he was gone before i opened my eyes,” sobs racked rowan’s body as her knees buckled, crumpling to the pavement.

a single tear trickled down david rossi’s cheek, his heart nearly splitting into two, “oh rowan, i am so sorry. i am so fucking sorry. you can’t blame yourself for any of it. what happened in columbus was not your fault, rowan.”

“t-thank you,” she wiped her tears, her cheeks flushed, “i’m sorry for breaking down.”

“you don’t have to apologize for that either kiddo,” rossi extended a hand, guiding her to her feet, “you’re human. it’s okay.”

“have you talked to hotch at all today?”

“not yet,” the agent shook his head, “however, i have some unfinished business to tend to.”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

the rain was relentless, falling in sheets as aaron hotchner navigated through the wilderness, droplets streaming down his brow onto his cheeks, blurring his vision. david rossi was not far behind, merely a few feet away.

after garcia scoured every nook and cranny of the unsub’s personal laptop, she managed to extract essential information regarding his whereabouts. the team had split up into several groups, partnering up with one another to fan out, hoping to close in on an abandoned cabin, deep in the woods of forks.

with every step, aaron hotchner’s bones seared, desperate for relief. he was exhausted, the lack of sleep no help whatsoever. yet, it was only a matter of hours now before he was back home, all warm and dry, relaxing on the couch with jack, watching his favorite movie.

only a couple more hours and he would be home.

“all right dumbass,” hotch’s head whipped around at the harsh tone laced in rossi’s words, “i have some choice words for you.”

“excuse me?”

the agent stopped in his tracks, folding his arms across his chest, “you two had sex, didn’t you?”

“w-what?” hotch sputtered, shock plastered across his features, “rossi, what are you talking about?”

there was a beat of silence before rossi resumed, “you broke down your walls and decided to be intimate with her but then the second the run rose, you were out of the bed, as distant and cold as possible. i know how that shit works, aaron. it’s not a pleasant feeling to wake up and not have the person there.”

aaron hotchner almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “rossi, come on we have a case-”

“why would you say all that shit to her, hotch? we all know that you have feelings for her ah-,” rossi held up a hand, challenging aaron to butt in, “don’t interrupt me. it’s okay to have feelings but you know what’s not okay? hurting her because you’re scared. you don’t have to explain your feelings to me but please explain them to her. we all know she doesn’t deserve this at all, hotch. and you of all people should know that.”

“we’re working on a case and the only thing on your mind right now is scolding me for--”

“don’t change the fucking subject, aaron. you need to get yourself together, if not for yourself then for her,” his fury bubbled up as he spoke, the mocha depths blazing an obsidian hue.

“rossi, you know what that divorce did to me--” hotch stammered, scrambling for formulate some sort of response. some sort of deflection so that the discussion would cease.

“but look at what you’re doing to her.”

“but rossi i--” hotch was on the verge of retaliation, but rossi pointed a finger at him, jabbing it into his arm, so forceful that aaron nearly yelped.

“no, aaron. this is for you to explain to her. not to me.”

*****

rowan rivers hovered over her desk, collecting some final papers, gathering them in a neat pile as members of the team filed into the elevator, silence consuming the behavioral analysis unit of quantico, virginia. everyone was beyond worn, their muscles sore, tense from the washington atmosphere, their minds weary from the heavy burdens of the job.

however, there was a far heavier burden weighing on rowan’s mind.

the click of shoes meeting tile caught rowan’s attention, a familiar pair of slacks appearing in her peripheral vision.

“you’re right rowan.”

aaron hotchner stood before her, his coat draped over an arm, bag slung across his shoulder. even in the light, rowan couldn’t help but notice the faint purple rings forming underneath his eyes, the thick lashes almost hiding them. the wrinkles lining his forehead and eyes were more prominent, deepened by hardships and loss. inky black hair that was gelled over only hours before was unkempt, strands of hair falling into his forehead.

rowan wanted nothing more to throw her arms around him, holding him close for an embrace.

but, she felt as if she couldn’t. not after what he did.

the agent met his gaze, her lips pursed with confusion, “aaron, what are you talking about?”

he shifted, swaying from side to side, fumbling with his hands, “you’re right about me. i’m afraid. i’m afraid of falling for you and not being able to control it. i hate not being in control ro, but god do i lose control every single second i’m around you.”

“aaron we don’t have to--”

he shook his head, lower lip trembling, “no i want to talk about this, ro. you told me to pick a side and i pick you.”

it was almost as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders. there was no more confusion, no more unrest. no more tears to be shed pondering over the “what ifs.” he was fessing up, finally answering the queries that kept her up late at night, losing hours of sleep.

he didn’t hate her.

he was falling in love with her.

tears welled up in his eyes, tinging them red as he choked down sobs, burying his face in his hands. carefully, rowan’s hands enveloped his wrists, bringing them away from his face, “i’m just as afraid, aaron. but it’s okay. we’re in this together, just two people falling for one another.”

the second rowan’s hand cupped his cheeks, cradling his face in her hands, aaron melted, collapsing completely, “rossi confronted me about it all. he said i needed to get my shit together because it was hurting you. i’m sorry. i’m so sorry. i can be a little bit dense sometimes and a bit of an asshole.”

“a bit dense and a bit of an asshole?” rowan teased, the pad of her thumb wiping away a tear, “that sounds a little bit like you, aaron.”

“come home with me tonight. no hiding feelings. no intoxication. i just want you in my arms,” aaron murmured, his mouth nearly inches away from hers.

his heart skipped a beat as the corners of her lips curled into a bright, radiant grin, her head bobbing, “i’d like that. i’d like that very much.”

within hours, she was clinging to his frame, her head nuzzled against the fabric of his tee, light snores echoing through the room. his hands were threaded into her hair, subconsciously playing with the silky brunette locks as he glanced through paperwork, careful not to disturb her one bit.

his phone vibrated against the wood of the nightstand, piquing his interest. the caller i.d. was all too familiar.

“hotchner.”

“hey hotch it’s jj, i know that we all just made it home, barely settling in for the night but we were just invited on a case. from the sound of it, it’s quite urgent. the governor wants us to fly out there as soon as possible,” the blonde’s voice crackled on the speaker.

“and where’s this case?” a hand gravitated to rowan’s, lacing their fingers together as she stirred, bleary from sleep.

“columbus. columbus, ohio.”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

tagged: @sapphicstars @colorlessfl0wers @inlovewithaaronhotchner @lovebodymindstuff

#aaron hotchner #hotch #criminal minds #thomas gibson #criminal minds fic #hotch x oc #bau #hotch fluff

76 notes · View notes

mulletcal · 4 years

Text

if walls could talk -- ceo!calum chapter 1

description: calum is the son of a very powerful ceo / owner of a PR firm - they had an agreement that calum could live his life as a young adult until his father retired. calum didn’t expect his father to retire so soon, nor did he expect to meet a woman who would spill out all of her deepest, darkest secrets all because of some turbulence.

warnings: light mention of sexual situations, other than that nothing much.

word count: 3.4k

a/n: this is something i’ve wanted to post for so long. i attempted a majority of a rewrite at one point, but here we are! please let me know what you guys think? also huge thank you to @softbabiestan and @calum-uncrowned for reading / suggesting edits along the way

------

“This just doesn’t feel like the right time to do this.”

Those words had been said to Charlotte more times than she could count, in both her personal and professional life. This time, it was the former, but that didn’t make the blow to her confidence any smaller.

Charlotte had been sent to New York in hopes that maybe she could convince this firm to sell to them. The PR firm that she worked for was the top in the country, but they didn’t get there based solely on the fact that they were an amazing company. Anytime another PR firm seemed like they were about to overtake them for the top spot, Everyday Joy Communications would make them an offer they’d be stupid to turn down.

“Please, Mr. James, if you’d just look at the graph that we’ve done up for you--” Charlotte started, but she was cut off by the man standing up abruptly.

“Your company has been trying for over a year now to buy us out, and each time we’ve said no. It’s very clear to us that your company’s morals don’t align with ours, I’m sorry you wasted your time in coming here today.” Straightening out his jacket, Mr. James moved around the table to shake Charlotte’s hand once more, clearly eager for her to leave.

She had gathered her things in silence, but as she turned to leave she heard Mr. James clear his throat. “Miss--” he began, inhaling deeply before continuing, “You may want to tie your jacket around yourself. It appears your skirt ripped.”

Nodding her head, she left the room without so much as a ‘thank you’, the embarrassment crashing over her in a wave.

As if this day couldn’t get any worse.

***

The CEO of Everyday Joy Communications has announced his retirement.

One would think that in the occurrence of a life-changing event, you’d at least get a call beforehand. But that wasn’t the case for Calum, the article reading as a slap in the face to him. Calum was supposed to be allowed some warning, something that would allow him to get his life in order before he was set to take over, but no. Here he was, receiving numerous texts, calls, tweets, and e-mails from those he knew asking what the next steps were, and if Calum was finally going to step forward and ‘actually contribute’.

When his father’s company first started gaining success, Calum had chosen to live in New York, rather than stay in Los Angeles. He enjoyed the bustle of a busy city, but LA was full of people who wanted what was in your pockets instead of what was in your head. Opinions didn’t matter unless they were linked to some financial gain, and it never sat right with him.

He was pulled from his thoughts by his phone ringing, his father’s contact info flashing across the screen. “What do you want, Dad?” The words were dripping with false affection, his father’s sigh evident on the other line.

“I wanted to tell you, Calum, I--”

“You seemed to be able to figure out how to pick up the phone now, how come you couldn’t before?”

The silence on the other end was deafening before his father offered another sigh, “You still have a week to catch up on things before you fully take over. And you know that I’m just a phone call away.”

“Yeah, and what time would be best to call you? In between tee-times, or before you go in for your deep tissue massage.” Calum had come to the conclusion to hang up before his father had a chance to answer. Buying a plane ticket and facing this head on would be better than working himself up in his loft.

As if sensing his distress, his dog Duke came padding into the kitchen, looking at him quizzically. It wasn’t often Calum had an angry tone to his voice, and it confused the small dog. Scooping him up into his arms, he sighed as he pressed a kiss to the side of the dog’s head. “How do you feel about moving to LA buddy?”

---

“Hello?”

“Ash, guess whose ugly mug you’re gonna see a lot more?” The overly excited tone in Calum’s voice was very much not him, and it gave away everything Ashton needed to know in that moment.

“Mm… Gonna take a shot in the dark here and say you?” Ashton spoke with a soft chuckle. Calum could hear the click of his phone, and he was assuming he was either turning his volume up or down - if he had to guess it would be down, because he knew that Calum was frustrated.

“M’sorry there’s no prizes involved, but you’re absolutely right! I don’t know if you’ve read, but my father is headed into an early retirement, which means-”

Before he could continue, Ashton finished his sentence for him, “- You gotta break out the big boy pants, I know. Is he expecting you to take over right away?”

Calum let out a sharp exhale from his nose, fingers dragging softly through Duke’s fur as he sat cross-legged on his couch, “I have a week to settle in before I take over fully. I don’t understand how he thinks a week is enough time to shadow him in the office before I just… Take over.”

“You did work there in the summers when we were in high school though, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I don’t feel as though it’s quite the same. Plus, that was eight years ago now. The things have changed at the office - expanded departments, new protocols.” Calum sighed, leaning his head to rest against his couch. “It’s just a lot.”

“I know, but hopefully your staff will cut you some slack, plus you have the best coffee in the world less than a block away.” Ashton was right, that was a very small benefit - he was sure whenever was something was overwhelming he could sneak away to his friends cafe for a coffee.

The rest of the conversation was uneventful, Ashton trying to take his mind off of his impending flight later that evening. The conversation went on for longer than Calum had expected though, because his alarm went off to remind him to drop Duke off at the Doggy Daycare he would be staying at as he moved his life away.

“Shit dude, I gotta head out to go take Duke to his lil’ doggy hotel,” Calum joked, ignoring the tugging at his heart strings at the fact that he would have to leave his baby behind for now.

“Okay mate, I’ll see you soon, yeah? Bring Duke by as soon as he gets in from his week away from his dad.” Ashton teased, them finishing saying their goodbyes before hanging up the phone.

***

‘Now boarding flight 32C to Los Angeles, California…’

“Finally,” Charlotte murmured to herself, gathering her carry on and making her way towards her gate.

There had been a three hour delay, and at that point Charlotte was ready to be home, curled up in bed watching shitty rom-coms.

As she stepped onto the flight, the stewardess looked her up and down with a sympathetic smile. “Long day?” She asked, placing her hand on Charlottes’ forearm. Any other time, the gesture would annoy Charlotte, but she wasn’t one to take out her bad day on others.

“That obvious, huh?” Charlotte deadpanned, shoulders sagging ever so slightly.

“How about an upgrade to first class? No one checked in for that seat, and it’ll be our secret.”

If angels existed, this woman - Angie - would be one of them. With a small smile, and a squeeze of the hand on her forearm, Charlotte headed to the seat she had motioned to.

When she got to the seat, she saw a man on the outside of the aisle with his hat pulled low over his eyes. His strong jaw seemed tense, only relaxing as soon as Charlotte let out a soft ‘excuse me’.

Then, strong jaw man was talking, and Charlotte thought it had been to her. “Do you wanna get drinks, then?” The man had asked.

“Oh, yeah I’ll--”

That was the first time she saw the man’s eyes, deep brown and looking up at her in confusion before motioning to his Bluetooth ear piece.

What idiot still used those?

Charlotte’s head ducked in embarrassment until he eventually hung up. “I’m sorry about that, I thought you were talking to me…” Her words were meek, almost inaudible as she angled her body towards him.

“S’fine, you didn’t see the device.” The more he had spoken, the more Charlotte wanted to hear. His voice was enticing, the type you knew could command a room if the occasion called for it. She kept thinking of ways to potentially get the man to speak to her again, but she was at a total loss for words.

All was well when the plane actually took off, and Charlotte was content to enjoy the rest of the flight in moderate silence until a violent shake of the plane jolted her eyes open.

“Oh my God, what was that?” She asked, turning to look at the man beside her whose brows were furrowed in confusion.

‘Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain. We’re experiencing some slight turbulence. If you could please remain seated with your seatbelts on until the light turns off. Thank you.’

“See, it’s just some turbulence --” he started to say, his calm voice being cut off by her exhaling sharply next to him. “Do you really think he’d tell us if we were about to die, dude?” Charlotte snapped, trying to focus on anything but the fact that they were about to die.

“I think… I think he’s legally obligated to, no?” The man’s thick brows furrowed further, the tiniest quirk of a smile playing at his full lips.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at the man, this logical, beautiful man. Another particularly violent rock of the plane had her gripping on to the mans’ arm.

“I can’t die. I’m too young -- I haven’t accomplished anything with my life,” Charlotte breathed, squeezing her eyes shut. “I mean, I haven’t had kids, I’ve never even been in love. My boyfriend is a joke to human kind. I don’t even know if I have a G-spot…” She definitely regretted the words as they slipped out, her hand tensing even more.

“Excuse me?” There was an almost comical tone to the man’s voice as he cracked a small smile. As if he couldn’t get more perfect, his teeth had to be straight and white too?

“That’s not important--”

“It seems like something you feel is extremely important to you.” Who was this smug stranger beside her? And why did he find such joy in her discomfort? “My boyfriend -- He… Doesn’t know how to use his mouth. The way he uses his tongue, I told him I liked it. I told him that I’ve never experienced anything like it. Which is true, but it’s a dreadful experience…”

The conversation continued like that, and somehow Charlotte found comfort in telling this complete stranger her secrets. Especially about the meeting she completely messed up earlier in the day, how her skirt had ripped, and how much she hated her co-worker. It wasn’t until she overhead the stewardess speak did she realize that not only was the turbulence finished, but so was the flight itself.

“Why didn’t you tell me we had landed?” Charlotte asked, almost breathless from her constant monologue.

“It seemed like you had a few things you wanted to get off your chest. And let me tell you, I don’t think I know any of my friends as well as I know you, especially not even knowing your name, doll.”

Charlotte was about to tell him, but the man, this stupidly handsome mysterious man was up and out of his seat before she could even open her mouth.

“Darling, we’ll keep this between us. I don’t need to know your name. Thanks for sharing all your dirty little secrets,” He had said with a wink before leaving the plane completely.

What the fuck did she just do? ---

Monday morning wasn’t any easier for her, memories of the plane ride haunting her thoughts the entirety of Sunday. Charlotte wasn’t sure she’d be able to maintain her focus when meeting the new CEO if she could barely be attentive enough to brush her damn hair.

It was amusing to overhear the rumours that made their way around about the new CEO, and if Charlotte was having a better morning she likely would have joined in the fun. Sipping her coffee quietly, she glanced over at her friend as she began to speak.

“I heard once that he has a rolodex of prostitutes that he keeps for when he feels in the mood, doesn’t do relationships.” Charlotte rolled her eyes at Rachel’s words as they watched out of the large windows for the man’s arrival. “Holy shit he’s even hotter than people said he was…”

It wasn’t long before the rest of them ran to their desks, appearing as though they were doing work as the new CEO headed up the elevator. When the elevator doors opened, they seemed to take the air from Charlotte’s lungs with them.

It was him. She saw his profile first, and she could have recognized that jawline from a mile away, or the seemingly ever present pout on his full lips. It was the handsome stranger from the plane, the one who now definitely knew about all the shenanigans that went on around the office when they all thought the person above them wasn’t paying attention. The stranger she spilled all her deepest, darkest secrets to. Their Director of Operations, Beth, came out of her office, a bright smile on her lips as she embraced the man.

“Calum, the last time I saw you, you were just graduating high school --” she recalled fondly, the smile on the man -- Calum’s face was radiant as she pinched his cheeks. “Alright everyone, listen up. This is our new CEO, Calum Hood. As you know, he is David’s son, and he’ll be working from our offices to ensure everything is running smoothly. You haven’t let me down before, don’t start now.” The words were said with a sweet smile, but everyone knew you didn’t mess with Beth.

“Thank you, Beth --”

A whisper from behind her did not fall on deaf ears, “His fucking accent though…”

“Keep it in your pants, Rachel,” Charlotte whispered back, her attention going back to the warm brown eyes that had now landed on her.

“-- I may be my father’s son, but I most definitely am not him. This company, at the very least, should have some fun. So if any of you have a suggestion or two on how we can improve, I’ll be in my office all day getting myself sorted.” Calum’s eyes scanned the room, freezing when they landed on Charlotte. Giving her a simple nod, the man’s warm smile was replaced with a tense one before he turned to walk into his office.

***

After seeing her, there was no way for Calum to focus. He’d hate to admit it, but ever since that plane ride he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that girl. The confessions she made to him left him wondering so many things -- at least if she stopped in he could thank her for exposing so many secrets of the office.

Throughout the day, various people stopped in his office to introduce themselves; each woman coming across more desperate than the last. He supposed he shouldn’t think that when these women were working for him. He’d be stupid, though, to pretend like he didn’t notice each lingering glance they’d give, or each lean forward to try and show off their clevage.

A soft knock on his door towards the end of the day was the one who held his attention the most -- because it was her. He still didn’t know her name, but seeing her today, he felt a strange pang in his chest that made him want to know it. Calum knew he should have let her tell him on the plane, then maybe in another world if they hadn’t serendipitously worked together he’d be able to find her.

“Mr.Hood?” Her voice was softer than he remembered, but maybe Calum was just thinking of it in the form of terror she had expressed to him the other night.

“Call me Calum, please. And your name?” Calum asked with a quirked eyebrow, a small smile forming on his lips.

“Charlotte,” she stated with a small smile as well, stepping into his office further. Her outfit was more indicative of her personality than her travel clothes had been -- her blonde hair pulled into space buns with wisps of hair falling into her face, the front of her pastel pink button up tucked into a pair of bright blue floral pants. Pastel pink and blue were not exactly a colour combination Calum would have gone with personally, but it suited her.

Calum realized then that he was checking her out, and by no means in a subtle way. “Uh, sit, please,” he gestured to the chair across his desk, wanting to make her more comfortable.

“I wasn’t sure I even really needed to come in here today, given the circumstances of the other night. But Rachel told me it’d be weird if I didn’t come to introduce myself to our new boss…” Charlotte had begun to ramble, and Calum couldn’t bite back the smile that pulled at his lips, the genuine kind that always made his eyes crinkle at the corners. Something about the smile made Charlotte’s breath catch in her throat, her body almost visibly stilling.

“It probably would have been weird to your co-workers, but if you’re uncomfortable here working directly with me, I can arrange it so you’re transferred to a different office,” Calum’s response was more an HR response than anything, wanting to make her more comfortable. But also maybe, just maybe, Calum was itching to reach up and brush the blonde hairs from her face. Transfer so that she wasn’t directly under him in the business sense, but could be directly beneath him in other ways.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the woman speaking up once more.

“No, no. It’s not that--” Charlotte started, pulling her lip between her teeth. “I just don’t want it to be weird for you. I did after all tell you a lot about myself.”

“Speaking of a lot -- How’s your boyfriend?” The question was out before Calum could stop himself, the topic itself completely catching Charlotte off guard as she stilled for the second time in a span of 5 minutes.

“He’s uh, good. He works here also, in the IT department. I don’t know if I told you that part.” A blush spread across the woman’s cheeks, and Calum found the whole interaction endearing.

“You didn’t happen to mention that, no.”

“Yeah, you’ll probably meet him as you work your way through meeting the rest of your staff--” Her sentence was topped off with a shaky laugh, brushing a stray strand of hair back behind her ear.

Calum wondered very briefly if she was nervous around him because of the things he knew about her, or because she happened to be as attracted to him as he was to her. It was inflating his own ego, of course, to think the latter. Who said having high hopes were a bad thing though? “Anyways,” Charlotte said, standing up abruptly, “I should go. Getting towards the end of the day, and I promised my roommate we could binge season 2 of Sex Education.”

The irony of that statement was not lost on Calum, what with her exposing rather intimate details about her sex life to him only a couple days prior… And now she was going to go and watch a show called Sex Education?

“Hold on,” The words sounded choked as they came from Calum’s mouth, likely conveying how desperate he felt to keep the conversation going. “What’s uh -- What’s his name? Your boyfriend, that is. I’d like to be aware of the relationships going on in the office.”

Charlotte grinned then, a mischievous glint in her eyes that had Calum sweating, “While we don’t have time to unpack all the relationship drama going on here, my boyfriend’s name is Gavin… Goodnight Calum, I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that, she was gone, as if their whole interaction had been a dream. and Calum was so fucked.

tag list: @cals-wildflower @talkfastromance4 @softbabiestan @roseycal @calum-uncrowned @boyfriend-cal @wildflowerirwin @irwindoll @gosh-im-short @atlcalm @thesubtweeter @heavenisapeach @ridingcthood @loveroflrh @wokeupinjapanisabop @talkfastdrummer

#calum hood #calum hood fanfic #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5sos fanfiction #5 seconds of summer fan fiction

153 notes · View notes

19mrs-barnes17 · 4 years

Text

As Long As I Can Get - Chapter One: Barnes

Summary: Bucky has been through so much in his life, but something brings him back home and he’s forced to face his past. [prompt: Small Town Lovers AU]

Part: 1/5

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader [AU]

Warnings: mentions of loss and past trauma

Word count: 3,243

A/N: Alrighty folks, here it is! Part 1!

Welcome to Brightbarrow. Home of small-town comfort and hospitality.

“Home sweet home.” His eyes scanned over the letters like they were those in a chapter of an old book from his childhood. A chapter he had closed and hidden away.

With the sun rising the place looked like a picture-perfect postcard, one he had received at least 3 times over the years. A final deep breath released as he pressed his foot down on the gas.

Crossing the town line the guilt in his heart began to increase its density, tugging him into the depths of the land. It had been 10 or so years since he had lived in Brightbarrow, residing overseas and then in New York. He had almost missed the calm of the rural town, however, the noise of New York did something this town never could. It cleared his mind, put it in focus. Until he began to discover that loss followed him wherever he went and not even the noise of New York could drown it out.

Something in his heart called him back. Back to where it all began. To where he had made the best and worst kind of memories, hoping the comfort would creep back into his soul.

The light began to reflect off the glass of the shops, splashing warm colors across the bricks and the side panels of each storefront. Oranges, reds and yellows melded into golden and rosy colors of the early morning. The beams of light painting the daycare where he learned the alphabet, the bookstore where he had his first kiss, the alleyways he ducked into on the nights he got into fights.

There were so many memories throughout the town, flashes of his youth running wild in his mind as he slowly rolled on by. Images of smiles in his mind and laughter ringing in his ears. His heart softened at the sensation. It was hard to imagine he'd ever want to leave this place. But he had. Desperately.

A picturesque town that had become too suffocating for him to stand. So he walked away, found work in the big apple, and did his best not to look back. He kept himself busy to repress the guilt and avoid the hole that was growing inside of him. Christmas used to be the only time he came back here, and that had been enough. Well, not for him. Or his mother. But enough to keep from losing contact altogether.

It’s still too early for any other cars to be on the road, most shops not opening for a few more hours and yet another set of headlights met his in a quick pass by. The blue Chevy Cruze turned down a side street that led to the highway, someone was leaving town. He only knew one family who left town at this ungodly hour, and he knew the driver of that specific car. It’s a small town, everyone knows everyone here. A blessing and a curse.

“James?” Her eyes were bewildered, her brow knit together in a perplexed manner as she peered at her son from behind the door. “Are you…”

“I’m home Mama. For good.” In a lightning-quick moment, the door was flung open and he was ensnared into his mother’s arms, her hold on him tight as though she feared he’d slip away if given the chance. “Woah, I still need air Mom.”

“Oh you hush now, cooped up in that smoggy city for years with hardly a phone call here and there. I will hug you in the manner I wish and you will deal.” Her voice was firm in its demand, nothing much changed. “Now you come inside, your brothers will bring your things in.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Hardly a thing had changed since he left, the first or second time, each picture frame and piece of furniture was exactly where it had been 10 years ago. It was almost a haunting depiction of the place he knew, a place stuck in time. Ever since his father’s death when he was 13 this place had remained exactly as it was and that didn’t settle well with him.

Only two or three frames where ones he did not recall ever laying eyes on, though his typical visits were not lengthy and he did his best not to pay much attention to the place. They could be old, new, or somewhere in between for all he knew. All but one held a photo he recognized, one held a picture of him in army uniform and the other was an old photo of his father in his navy attire. However, it was the last photo that held his attention because it included a non-family member.

For some reason, he didn’t recall a photo being taken of him at the time, but here it hung upon his mother’s wall. A 12-year-old James Buchanan Barnes with an 11-year-old Y/N Fairfield on his back, his gaze glancing over his shoulder at her features, her dimples indicating that she had been laughing as he paraded her around. Her smile was bright but his was, in a rare moment, equally so. His chest grew tight at the memory of such simpler times, such endless delight and friendship. Times he knew he’d never get back.

“That was one of the last days I saw you smiling so carefree, so light.” His mother’s fingers gently run over the glass covering the photo, her eyes sad and tired. “Come to think of it, it's one of the last times I saw her that happy. One of the last times you asked her over before you closed yourself off.”

“I didn’t mean to.” His mother cupped his cheek in her hand and caressed his cheek, a soft smile tainted by longing stretching across her face.

“I know sweetheart, I miss him every day. But I don’t want you to hide yourself away anymore, no one in this town holds it against you. His death hit this place like a hurricane and we’re still recuperating.” She disappears into the kitchen and he’s left staring at the memories he had fought so hard to ignore. Guilt once more crept into his heart.

That night he missed the muted noise of the city as he tossed and turned restlessly for hours. His mind was crowded with memories and reminders of his past, of his mistakes, and of his greatest regret.

“Not that one Buck, next to it.” His fingers fiddled with the tools before him, eyes searching for the one he needed. As his little hands grabbed ahold of the proper tool he turned to face his instructor whose eyes watched him with a soft pride. His father smiled with a curt nod. “Bring it here buddy. I’ll show you how it works.”

When he reached his father the image moved, the warm tones shifting into cooler ones as the sky lit up with stars. His eyes wandered about as he gawked at the constellations, blissfully unaware of anything else. A set of hands covered his eyes and muttered a guess who, his heart racing at the sound of the voice.

“Daddy!” He turned to hug his father, who had just returned from a trip out of town, holding tightly to his legs.

“Come on buddy, I’ll show you some new ones.” His father lifted him up onto his torso and began to point at different constellations, each came with a story and a name. Most he would later forget but there was one star he never did.

“You see that big star right there?” He nodded, eyes fixated upon the glowing object. “That’s the North Star. I want you to remember something when you look at it…”

A loud clang erupted outside his room startling him to his feet, dressing at a rapid rate to investigate. His baby sister sat in the hall rubbing one of her ankles and muttering to herself in an annoyed tone. He cleared his throat and her eyes snapped up to meet his, a gasp escaping her lips before a smile overtook her features.

“Bucky! I thought Ma was messing with us, but then I saw your car outside. Jake and Nick are already bringing things in, I was on my way to wake you.” Bucky shook his head and smiled at her incredulously.

“Mission accomplished Becca.” She smirked but narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. He leaned forward and offered his hand which she reluctantly accepted, picking up the objects that fell from one of the many boxes littering the hall. “These geniuses didn’t think to just place them in my room?”

Becca shrugged before disappearing down the stairs while Bucky began to move box after box alongside the empty wall by his closet. He opened each in search of his clothes before grabbing a clean set and hopping into the shower. Downstairs smelt of bacon and eggs, a lone plate sitting upon the counter wrapped to keep it fresh, a note stuck to the saran wrap.

Enjoy breakfast! Had to open the diner. Love, Mom.

Today he had to find a job, some way to maintain a steady income so he could get out of the house. As much as he loved his mother’s cooking and how nice it would be to wake to this every day, he couldn’t. Every hall, room, and picture frame held a story that reminded him of what he had lost and he wasn’t sure how long he could stomach it.

He left his keys behind, opting to walk the sidewalks instead. The sun warmed his skin, heating him under its blazing focus and forcing him to duck into the nearest place for a drink. The corner store, Oasis, was nearly empty this time of day with only a few stragglers not yet at the diner for breakfast or brunch. He was grateful to be berated by only two or three people throwing out where have you been’s and ‘how’s New York?’.

He eyed store windows for signs, the occasional curious neighbor popping out the door to chat. A few sent him about the town and soon enough word was out that he was in the market for a job. Things always spread like wildfire here, everyone knew about everything before too long. Hilda and Denise were no help in the matter, being the town gossips and all. He knew they were his best shot and yet he still approached the two elderly women with caution.

“James Barnes? Is that you sweet pea? Come give us a hug dear it’s been far too long.” Denise smiled mischievously, a twinkle in her eye.

“Ladies, I’m in need of your expertise.” The two women giggled in response, proclaiming how flattered they were to be sought out. “I am in need of a job.”

“We know handsome, and you’re in luck. I hear that Thomas Geldin is looking for a worker, he’s putting up some new housing down the way.” She’s leaning forward like it's some secret she isn't supposed to know much about. “Lucky for you he’s in your momma’s diner at this very moment.”

“Thank you ladies, your ears are a gift.” They wave him off with tender smiles before turning back to chatting, an occasional glance through the window behind the bench.

He barely makes it through the door before he’s swept aside by his brother, Nick, sitting him at the counter a few stools away from Thomas himself. Nick returns to the register but turns to face Bucky, his features implying that he’s waiting for something.

“What’s with the look, Nick?”

“Why are you back?” Nick’s eyes are locked onto his older brother, Bucky squirming a little under the intensity. “Couldn’t break mom’s heart any longer?”

“I’m sorry, I never meant to. I just couldn’t stay here and I had to get out.” He tried to convey his guilt to his little brother, the regret of leaving them all behind.

“So you’re here to stay?” Nick eyed him warily as he began his routine counter wipe-down. “No running off again when it gets real?”

“No. I’m getting a job and I’m gonna move into one of the open townhouses.” His little brother remains skeptical, but nods. “I swear, I’m not abandoning anyone again.”

“Good.” His brother smiled softly, a pinch of uncertainty hidden in his eyes. “You want anything?”

True to his word he got a job in labor from Thomas Geldin, the pay enough to rely on that he could put a down payment on his new home. His mother insisted he stay for dinner and one last night before his brothers helped him move his things in, the next day. After an exhausting day’s work unloading the boxes that contained his life and beginning on some alterations, Bucky treated his little brothers to pizza and some beer. They sat telling stories of the past year, confiding and binding in ways they hadn’t since they were children. For once, he felt like he had made the right decision.

With his sleep pattern already going to hell, he sat in his window seat, eyes scanning over the vast array of stars splattered across the sky. Finding the North Star once more provided the lifelong comfort his father had given him, the last piece of him he had. The last comfort.

Across the street he noticed a single light flicker on, a figure moving across the room and back again several times before it went dark again. A few minutes later he watched a woman he hadn’t seen in years pile into her car and pull away from the curb and drive off.

Y/N Fairfield lived just across the street from his new home, and the sight of her brought back emotions he’d long forgotten.

Bucky was restless and his first day of work was tomorrow, he needed to tire himself out and so he opted to take a late-night walk around town. The dark shadows on the empty town reminded him of a ghost town. Not a soul was in sight, apart from the wandering man who couldn’t seem to keep himself asleep. He was exhausted physically by the time he returned, his mind still filled to the brim.

Headlights created a glow around him, bouncing off the buildings and almost blinding his vision momentarily. He couldn’t help but glance across the street at her, his eyes watching as she emerged from the vehicle in scrubs looking exhausted. Her eyes flitted up almost as if she could sense his gaze on her, brow knitting at the sight before her. She took a moment to look him over before sending a lazy wave, eyes reflecting the sadness he felt inside as he looked upon her with immense guilt.

He turned away after she entered her building and made his way up to his room where he flopped onto his bed and slowly fell into a decent sleep.

At his lunch break, he wandered back into town, Donny’s Crafty Tools catching his eye, and reminded him of the work he still had to do after his shift. Hilda and Denise chatted him up before letting him enter the shop, the bell ringing as he stepped over the threshold. His eyes fell on the one person in town he kept constant contact with, the only one who knew he was coming home.

“Steve.” His best friend’s back is to him, his focus shattered the moment Bucky’s voice sounds out, turning about and pulling him into a hug.

“It’s good to see you, Buck. Been way too long.” When they parted he motioned toward the pile of envelopes littering his desk.

“Far too long, I’ve missed you too. How have things been?” Steve’s cheeks flush as Bucky picks up a photo from the counter. “Must be pretty good if you got pretty women sending you photos, and I don’t blame ‘em you’ve grown so much since high school.”

Steve was different than he was back then, less antsy to get into fights defending others and trying to do the right thing. He seemed more level-headed, the kind to talk someone down from a fight or inspire them to be better. The skinny little guy who would pounce on a guy harassing a girl had become the man who would inspire strength in those being victimized.

And now? Now he had fallen in love with a woman who could hold her own, nothing but respect for her strength and confidence in her value as a person. This woman had a hand in inspiring him to be a source of inspiration himself.

Bucky had to meet this girl one day and thank her for helping his best friend in realizing what was in him all along, and showing him how to use his influence. That was something Bucky never had the ability to do.

“I met her during a semester abroad, London.”

“Oh yeah? How was art school?” Steve shrugged, nothing too huge about it but now he had the skill to make art people buy on the regular. “What’s her name?”

“Peggy Carter. She works in a British intelligence agency, kind of a total badass.” Bucky watches Steve smile softly at the photo, a longing in his eyes.

“Just your type.” Steve shoved his shoulder and placed the photo on his desk. “Care to help me with some remodeling later?”

“Anytime. Just give me a call.” Bucky gave him a clap on the shoulder before bidding him farewell and making his way to the door. “And Buck?”

“Yeah.” One hand on the door, he turns to look back at Steve whose face turns serious.

“Don’t be a stranger.” Bucky doesn’t need to ask what he means, he knows exactly who Steve is talking about. The missing member of their old trio.

“She’s not going to want to see me after what I did.” Steve’s eyes soften, shaking his head in disagreement.

“You can’t know that. Just promise me if you run into her you’ll try?” Bucky shifts his weight, unsure he could handle that interaction. “For me?”

“I promise.” Exiting the store he waved the ladies goodbye and rushed to the diner for the last 20 minutes of his break, his promise taking over his focus the rest of the day.

How could she ever forgive him for cutting her out of the picture, like an unwanted memory? But he had to do it. There was no other way.

Y/N Fairfield was a different kind of friend than Steve because while Steve had been there since they were babies, Y/N appeared out of nowhere. Steve lost his father before he was born and his mother passed while Bucky was overseas, so they had always had a shared experience and connection.

But Y/N? She was an anomaly in his life, not his friend like Steve because there were few kids in town and they had stuck up for one another. No, she met him by chance, their parents not friends but friendly enough to invite one another to parties out of hospitality. One trip to the diner and they were inseparable, almost as much as he and Steve were.

But he could never get too close, not after the warning he was given. The reminder that echoes in his head from time to time.

You never know, it could be possible.

Tags: @qtmeryr @broken-hearted-barnes @asphalt-cocktail @gstran18 @cantnkrusshedevil @just-trying-to-survive-marvel

If you want to join the series tag send an ask!

#justtryingtowrite #marvel #james buchanan barnes #Bucky Barnes #bucky #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #writing challenge #au #small town lovers au #reader insert

40 notes · View notes

bittysvalentines · 4 years

Text

Would That I

From: @lizards-online

To: @pieandpucks

Sometimes in life, things are missed. Opportunities are lost, but as a whole we cannot stop moving. Still, something feels left behind, dropped in a time before. We keep going, with something lost and something gained, until life gives us our chance again,to take destiny’s chance to reconnect and find what is lost.

At Samwell University resided one Dr. Jack Zimmermann, a professor of history with an affinity for ice sports and queer literature. His smile was kind and his hair was just beginning to hint at touches of grey. He was a hard grader, and his readings were long, but his passion for teaching and his love of his students always showed through in his work. Students left his classes better thinkers, harder workers, and with only the smallest crush on him. Okay sometimes, not so small. Even the straightest of men recognized that Dr.Jack Zimmermann was a resident hottie. Rumor had it that he was voted “Samwell’s Most Gorgeous” four years straight back in the day.

Jack shuffled a few papers at his podium so as to get them in order before the end of his lecture. “Everyone, thank you for your attention today, just remember if you want to earn some extra credit points, you can attend one of the alumni guest lectures that will be on campus this weekend, and then write a one page response on the speaker’s topic and your thoughts. I’ll be popping in to a couple of the speakers myself, so if you see me, don’t be afraid to say hello.”

Jack began walking across the front of the classroom, dispersing flyers advertising the Alumni Symposium to be passed back.

A student in the back of the room raised her hand, staring down at the flyer in her hand “Dr. Zimmermann, when did you graduate Samwell?”

Jack paused for a moment. “2015. Why?”

“Well, I was just looking at the graduation year of some of these alumni, and it says here Eric Bittle Graduated in 2017. So that means you were only two years ahead of Eric Bittle when he went here!”

The class erupted in murmurs and comments. Eric Bittle was one of Samwell’s most famous alumni. He led Samwell to the Frozen Four his senior year, while being the first out NCAA hockey captain, was drafted by the Falconers and was the first openly LGBT+ player in the league. He won the Stanley Cup his rookie year (first of many) along with the Calder and Art Ross. Even outside of hockey he was famous for his witty vlog which evolved from a cooking vlog to a hockey, cooking and life blog with now over 18 million followers from all walks of life.

Jack swallowed hard. Yes, it was true, his time at Samwell and Eric Bittle’s time did overlap by two years, and in fact, during those two years, he ran into Eric all the time. They were...friends. Shitty made sure of that. Jack would watch the hockey team’s games, not only to support Shitty, but to watch Eric weave and maneuver across the ice unlike anyone else. Even though Jack had decided against playing in college, he never did lose his love of the game. Meanwhile Eric would hover about the library doing anything but homework when Jack was working. Plus, the semester they took a class together was definitely a bonding experience. But it had been a long time since they had spoken. After Jack graduated, he felt too awkward reaching out to someone who he had a massive crush on but was WAY out of his league. And when one month turned into two, and then one year turned into five, and five years into a decade, Jack had trouble remembering where all the time had gone.

“Hah. Uh, yes he was two years younger than me. We had a class together once.” Jack decided firmly against mentioning his large crush on the blond to his entire History 336 Seminar.

The students in the room all lamented about how cool it was that their professor knew a celebrity.

Jack closed the door to his office and scrubbed his hand over his face and let out a sigh. Would it be awkward to see Eric again? Would Eric even remember him? Probably not. It was just a youthful crush. Even if Eric was still as attractive and charming and wonderful as he was back in the day, Jack was far past his prime. He could just not go to that lecture, but he felt drawn to it, as if something wanted him to see Eric speak. Jack picked up his phone and dialed the most recent number. It picked up on the first ring.

“What the FUCK is up Zimmermann, to what do I owe the pleasure of one of your rare and coveted calls? Are you in legal trouble? Did you kill someone? Did you kick a goose and now you’re losing your Canadian citizenship?” Shitty was Jack’s best friend. He was boisterous and energetic but genuine nonetheless. His words washed over Jack with a wave of excitement and familiarity.

“Haha Shits. I’m good. And no, no geese, at least not this time. I was just wondering, would you want to come down to Samwell this weekend? There’s an alumni symposium going on, and I think you’d enjoy the speakers.”

“Ah ha old Jackabelle misses me. Of fuckin course I’ll come down to the symposium, but I’ll warn ya man I’m not gonna sit through more than ONE old white man talk. ONE. Who's the lineup anyway?”

“I can forward you the flyer but just off the top of my head: there's the current head of the English department, Dr. Masawa, she’s gonna be talking about her book, um Dr. Atley is going to present some research, and um, Eric Bittle is going to be there.”

“Bitty fucking Bittle? The myth, the man, the legend himself? Well fuck my ass and call me chicken we HAVE to go to that. It’s been like FOREVER since I’ve seen Bits. What a fucking beaut. We texted a bit last month but it's been like a year and some since I last got to hang with him. You know he’s got a daughter now?”

“Oh. Uh, no?” A daughter. Jack’s head spinned. He knew he didn’t have a chance with Eric but he didn’t realize that Eric had gotten married and had a kid. That would’ve been big news right? Was Jack really that out of the loop? He needed to read the news more.

“Yeah she’s fuckin adorable as fuck. Like, two, three now maybe? He posts pictures of her on Facebook like all the time.”

“That’s uh pretty cool. Listen Shits, I have to go I have a, uh, book to read. I’ll see you this weekend. You can stay at my place. Text you bye.”

“Bye Jac-” Jack hung up the phone before Shitty could fully say goodbye. Why did he feel like there was a pit in his stomach? He didn’t care that Eric Bittle was a married father. So what? It’s not like he had a chance with him anyway. What would he have done? Gone up to him after his speech and say “Hello, I had a crush on you in college, and then we never talked after I graduated. Want to go on a date?” Even if Jack had had the confidence to do so, it was literally impossible now because Eric was a married father, a professional hockey player, celebrity, and an A Level hottie. All Jack had was a doctorate, a wall of books and a million papers to grade. He wasn’t even in the shape he had been in when he was in college, so really, he didn’t have anything to offer. Jack should just shut out all the fantasies of those big brown eyes, and golden hair, and gorgeous toned legs. Gosh what was he doing?

Jack crossed the room and slumped into his chair behind his desk and picked up a stack of papers sitting on a chair beside the desk. The best way to distract himself was to drown in work.

Eric Bittle woke up at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to the sound of his daughter crying. He was tired and sore from his game the night before, and a bruise was starting to form on his left thigh due to a nasty check from a Bruins defenceman but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

Eric threw off his sheets and rushed into his daughter’s room. Allie was just about two and a half years old, and was in the midst of potty training. Unfortunately for him, Eric was also in the middle of the thralls of hockey season so a lot of the potty training fell on her daycare teachers. Being a single parent was tough. When his cousin Elizabeth had passed away, leaving her and her partner’s daughter to him, he had no idea what to do. He had been five years into his professional hockey career, out, single and totally unprepared for the hurdles of parenthood.

He pushed open the door to the nursery to find his daughter sitting upright whimpering. “Oh you poor thing. Looks like we’re going to have to get you changed real quick now aren’t we Miss Allie?”

Eric brought her to the changing table and cleaned her and dressed her for the day. It was a little earlier in the morning than he had planned, but he needed to get a move on to get to Samwell in time for his guest lecture. Eric had reached out to his old advisor and she recommended him an education major who would be glad to watch his daughter while he spoke and mingled, not wanting to be away from her for the entirety of his day off. He dressed her in cute bunny socks and a yellow shirt and white pants. She was just about the cutest thing in the world. Soon Eric himself got dressed, packed a diaper bag and headed out.

On his way Eric’s thoughts winded through his head. It had been quite some time since he’d been back to his alma mater. Samwell had been such an influential and formative place for him. From developing his hockey skills to coming into his own as a gay man. And even though he never did have a long lasting romantic relationship, the friendships he made there pushed him through his life and helped him become who he was. Thinking back to some of the people, he thought about the boys, Lardo, some of the other team captains, and his mind landed on one Jack Zimmermann.

Eric had always had such a massive crush on Jack, with his boyband bangs, his droopy eyes, jaw that could cut glass and a behind that would give greek statues a run for their money. Eric had first met Jack through Shitty, but then subsequently kept running into him in the dining hall, gym and then one semester for a class. Jack would come to their games and Eric would watch him stack books in the campus library while he pretended to do homework, but always ended up back at the circulation desk, talking about everything and nothing until it closed. They had been friends, and Eric had had the largest crush on earth on the sad-eyed Canadian. But Jack was way out of Eric’s league. He had been voted Samwell’s Most Beautiful for four years straight, and suitors were constantly trying to ask him out. And then Jack graduated, leaving Bitty yearning for what could have been. According to Shitty, Jack was a professor at Samwell, but the two hadn’t really kept in contact. After the fact, there had been some boys, some boyfriends, even some hookups, but nothing lasting more than a few months at a time. At 30 years old Eric Bittle had never been in a relationship longer than 9 months.

The sight of Samwell pulled Eric out of his thoughts and Eric shook his head. He had things to do, and he wasn’t going to let ghosts from the past distract him from his job today: to speak about Samwell, sports, and his activism.

Jack entered the packed auditorium with Shitty in tow. He smiled and waved to a few of his students while Shitty was speaking as if he was a physical manifestation of stream of consciousness. They took their seats in the front row reserved for faculty, staff and alumni.

“I wonder what he’s gonna talk about. I hope he brings up all the swawesome shit the SMH did. Like that one kegster when-”

“Wait Shits shhh there he is” Jack cut Shitty off.

Eric Bittle walked onto the stage with a mic affixed to his shirt. He wore tight fitting navy blue slacks that highlighted just how well the NHL had bulked him up. His top two shirt buttons were unbuttoned on his white and navy blue patterned shirt. The sleeves were rolled up ¾ of the way showing off the definition in his arms. Jack’s throat immediately went dry with his face getting more red as the moments ticked on.

Fuck. Eric Bittle was even hotter than he remembered and was a million times more attractive in person than he had been in promotional pictures. And his voice, the accent was so cute! Keep it together Zimmermann, that’s a married man. Jack was going to have a hard time sitting through this entire speech.

Fuck. Eric walked on stage, scanning the audience and almost immediately his eyes landed on one Jack Zimmermann. He was wearing a tweed jacket, with glasses and his hair was just a touch grey. Time had been very kind to Jack. Eric’s throat became dry as he stumbled his way through his introduction. Shit Jack was in the front row. How was Eric going to concentrate when the hottest man in the world was right in front of him, watching him speak for an hour and a half.

Clapping. Jack was clapping. He zoned back in after having not actually comprehended a single word for the past 90 minutes. He had just sat and stared at the most gorgeous man he had ever seen and tried not to get a boner. Shitty was speaking to him. Jack needed to respond.

“Yeah. He does look good in those pants” Shit. Probably not what Shitty asked him.

“Not what I was talking about, but yeah you know what now that you mention it, mother fucker looks fresh as fuck! I gotta fuckin tell him those pants are doing it for him.” Shitty bolstered himself out of his chair, and up the steps and onto the stage where some faculty were gathering to congratulate him on his speech. Jack followed.

“Eric Mother fucking Bittle” Shitty bellowed as he walked, Jack close behind, to where Eric stood, now holding a young baby girl on his hip as he spoke with alumni and faculty alike.

Eric turned to face the two men and smiled. “Shitty B. Knight you best not be swearing around my daughter like that. And Jack, it’s good to see you. It’s been awhile.”

“Fuck yeah it has been. You two were adorable back in the day. You should’ve kept touch more!” Shitty laughed.

Jack smiled awkwardly. “Yeah it has been a bit hasn’t it? I’m sorry I never kept touch. Congrats on the hockey, and the Stanley Cup, and the marriage and uh, kid.”

Eric’s face twisted into a confused half smile. “Marriage? Jack Zimmermann I am not married. I was her godfather. Life happened and now I’m her Daddy.” Eric looked at her, and kissed her forehead softly.

Jack’s brain short circuited. Not...married? “Oh so are you…”

“No I’m not seeing anyone. I’m doing quite fine with her all by myself.” Eric blushed.

“Okay I see where this is going, I’m gonna back out of this convo..” Shitty etched away from the two men. The latter hardly noticing.

Jack awkwardly ran a hand through his hair. “In all honesty, Eric, remember all those years ago, when we went to Samwell together. I had the biggest crush on you, but you were so out of league I never did anything about it. I should have, but I was a bit of a coward.”

Eric’s face turned a bright shade of pink as he stammered out a response. “Jack Laurent Zimmermann! You had a crush on me back then? I’ll have you know I pined for you for two whole years thinking you were straight until someone told me YEARS later that you weren’t, and then when I did realize you were an option, I never thought in a million years that you would be in my league anyway. You’re meaning to tell me you had a crush on me that entire time?”

Jack blushed furiously. “We both had crushes on eachother I guess. I’m sorry I never made a move on you back then. If it means anything, I’d like to uh make one now.”

“Well how about our timing. Gladly Jack. Here, ” Eric pulled out his phone with one hand, careful not to disturb Allie, and handed it over to Jack. “ text me.”

Jack put his number into the phone and texted himself. “In the meantime, would you like to catch up? It’s been a long time.”

Unbeknownst to the two men, several students stood by in shock, watching their professor flirt with and score a date with a literal celebrity. Two in the front high fived. “Get it Dr. Zimmermann!”

#bittyjack #bv2020 #bitty's valentines #omgcp fandom #omg check please!

61 notes · View notes

tilltheendwilliwrite · 6 years

Text

Cries of Thunder

Chapter One

Summary: (Post Ragnarok, No Thanos) Asgard is gone, and the Asgardians are living as refugees on the uninhabited portion of land Odin had shown Thor and Loki before his death. Shorn of his hair and missing an eye, Thor finds solace with his friends at the Tower in New York where he meets her. A woman of quiet poise, beauty, and grace.

Fallon. Receptionist for the Tower, she worked hard, drank too much coffee, and seemed to run everywhere. A friend of Pepper’s, Thor longed to get closer, but for every step he took toward her, she took two in reverse. The fear in her eyes broke his heart.

What horrible thing happened in her past to have her looking at him with such eyes? Where was she always rushing off too? And when he learns of her past, can the disillusioned King teach Fallon to trust again, or will his own insecurities after the loss of his home keep him from being there for her when her world comes crashing down.

Pairing: Thor Odinson x OFC | Word Count: 3538 Warnings: Mentions of past abuse, hard themes, small angst

He was smitten. That was the only excuse for his long, rather sullen sigh. Truly, completely, down to the bones, smitten. Thor was certain he'd never seen such pretty hair. A deep, glossy brown shot through with golds and blondes. It gleamed like faceted topaz, but he couldn't understand why she wore it up in the ugly knot at the back of her head all the time.

Her name was Fallon Smith, receptionist for Stark Tower, and lovely dragoness at the gate when it came to people enquiring after the Avengers.

Every morning he stood on the second-floor landing, watched her rush in, put her purse under the desk, smooth out her rather plain jacket and skirt, and make ready to face the day. She'd smile for Geoff and Mark, the security officers on duty, and get to work.

Thor couldn't help but notice she was a voluptuous woman, wider of hip and fuller of breast than most Midgardian women found acceptable. If her food choices were anything to go by, he suspected she felt the same. Always picking at a salad while peering covetously at the sweets in the display case of the coffee shop within the lobby of the Tower.

Coffee was another thing he noticed she drank with startling frequency. He was surprised she didn't drown in the quantities she downed or slosh when she walked.

At the end of the day, she would gather her things and run out again. Always in a hurry.

He wondered where she went in such a rush. There was no ring on her finger, and frankly, after a weekend, she often looked more exhausted than she had before it. Thor would have asked, but he was uncertain when it came to approaching women of Earth, something which surprised him.

With Jane, the introduction had been easy as she'd hit him with her car. Twice. But how did one go about announcing their interest and ascertaining if it was reciprocated with a woman who seemed never to take a spare breath let alone an extra minute?

On Asgard, it had been as easy as sending a smile in the direction of the lady who'd caught his fancy, but Asgard was no more, as his hammer was no more.

And now, on Earth, the fair Fallon never even looked his way. It was frustrating and a blow to his ego.

“Why don't you just go talk to her?” Bruce asked as he came to lean against the second-floor railing at Thor’s side.

“I do not know how to start,” Thor admitted.

“How about with, “Hi, I'm Thor. Nice to meet you,” and go from there.”

“Would that work on this world?”

Bruce eyed him with exasperation. “Did you never talk to the women of Asgard?”

“When I wanted a woman, I simply smiled, and she fell at my feet,” he professed, shrugging as it wasn't a big deal.

“Yeah… you're gonna want a different game plan here, buddy.” Bruce shook his head and patted Thor’s shoulder.

“Hm. I will think on it.” Turning away from his daily dose of Fallon, Thor headed off to train with Steve.

***

Fallon breathed a sigh of relief when the big blond walked away. She had no idea what she'd done to gain Thor’s attention, but she wished he'd stop staring at her.

Years ago when he'd first appeared in all that armour with all that hair, she'd had a moment of heartstopping hello before Jay had come in and-

She slammed the door on thoughts of her ex. That was not a road of memories she wished to travel down. Not today. Not ever. She was safe. She was hidden. There was no way he was ever coming back into her life.

When the phone before her rang, she pasted on a smile and went to work, but thoughts of Thor would not leave her be. The King of Asgard filled her mind with too much regularity. She had to admit she liked the shorter hair he now wore and found the golden eye patch to be, well, rakish. Like a pirate in one of her guiltily read romance novels, the ones she kept in her purse to enjoy while on lunch.

They had outlandish covers and words like heaving bosoms which made her giggle, and the women in them were not the rail-thin ones of today. They were broad of hip and soft of breast, voluptuous and thick, more in keeping with her own body’s shape. Reading them didn't give her a complex like some of the modern magazines did. They were so damn cheesy, but she loved them, and there wasn't much time for the things she loved in her life anymore.

Except for them. Her babies.

Fallon glanced at her phone and quickly pressed the home button to light up the front. There on the screen appeared Dylan all of four with his baby brother nestled in his arms and his sister in the carrier beside him. Having a four-year-old and eighteen-month-old twins didn't allow Fallon much time for anything but them.

Weekdays they went to a secure daycare, one which required logins and passwords and had strict rules about who picked up her children, and weekends were spent being a single mom. Running errands with three babies, laundry, cooking, and playtime to make up for leaving them all day during the week. She didn't have the time or the energy for giant Asgardians with hair like sunshine and a smile just as bright.

Her job paid exceptionally well, thank heaven, for everything was expensive in New York. Raising three kids in the big city afforded her the anonymity she needed, but it came with an enormous price tag.

The phone on the desk rang, distracting her from her musings. “Yes, Miss Potts?”

“Fallon, it's just me. You can use my name.”

“I know, Pep. It feels weird when you're my boss.”

“Tony is your boss. I just work here.”

“You're so full of crap,” Fallon muttered.

Pepper giggled. “I need you to come up. Is Kenneth there yet?”

She looked up in time to watch the man rush in the door. “Of course.” Fallon gave him the stink eye as he mouthed I'm sorry and hurried over.

“Mm, I'm sure,” Pepper grumbled. “Rushing in the door is he?”

“Been here at least ten minutes.” She mouthed back, you so owe me, and Kenneth nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

“Well, as he is there, grab the box waiting at the coffee shop and head on up.”

“Be right there,” she murmured and hung up to glare at her co-worker. “What was it this time?”

Kenneth didn’t even bother to look contrite, only smiled as he unwrapped his emerald green scarf from around his neck and ran a hand through his short crop of slicked back hair. It was always immaculate, a rich buttery caramel she'd kill for, and he had such beautiful skin. It was as if the dermatology Gods had blessed him. His dark eyes gleamed with amusement and his lips spread to reveal his perfect chicklet teeth. At five foot ten, fit, fun, and fabulous described Kenneth to a T. He was wonderfully comfortable in his flesh, unapologetically gay, and someone she counted a friend when she didn't have many.

“Not what, beautiful! Who,” he purred as he folded his jacket and slipped it and his bag in a drawer. “Girl, let me tell you. I met a fine piece of beef last night I just couldn’t say no too. We ended up back at his place, and one thing led to another...” He grinned wickedly while waggling his eyebrows.

“Let me guess. You had to rush home and change, cause lord knows you couldn’t possibly wear the same outfit to work twice in a row?” she teased.

Kenneth shot her a pair of finger guns. “Honey, some of us take pride in our appearance.” His eyes widened in horror before he slapped his hand over his mouth. “Oh, damn, Fallon! I didn’t mean to imply…”

She didn’t let the hurt show. “Hey, it’s fine. I know you didn’t.” With a wave, she walked away, heading toward the coffee shop, feeling fat and frumpy and horrible about herself all over again.

Her serviceable black shoes with their thick heel clunked along against the marble. It felt like every eye turned her way, drawing attention to her when that was the last thing Fallon wanted. Her plain, ill-fitting suit - too tight in the hips and wrinkled - was one of two she owned. The other one, the one which fit her slightly better, was the one she preferred, but Emma had successfully spit up all over her five minutes before they were supposed to leave for daycare, leaving Fallon with no other option but to wear the one she hated.

“Fallon.” Cindy, the barista smiled. “Here. Miss Potts called down for these.” She handed over a pink pastry box.

“Thanks. Chocolate Danish?”

“And bear claws!” she said, her perky attitude grating on Fallon’s already foul mood.

“Fabulous,” Fallon muttered, pasting on a smile as she walked away and headed for the elevator.

She reached out and pushed the button, stepped inside when the doors opened and leaned against the wall after pushing the button for the upper floors. The box smelled incredible. It made her mouth water even as she called herself twelve kinds of names, all of which had some connotation as fat to them.

Getting off on the thirty-seventh floor, she headed for Pepper’s office, smiled at Nancy her heavily pregnant assistant, and walked through the open door. “What did you need, Pep… per...” Fallon's voice trailed off as she stared wide-eyed at the three men in the room.

“Fallon! Great, just the woman I needed.” Pepper turned and smiled, her sleek hair tied back in a low tail which swung against her spine over a beautifully fitted pale green dress.

She looked incredible and sleek and made Fallon feel like a frumpy old granny. But it was the three men who made her want to hide in a corner.

Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Thor.

Immediately her pulse spiked and spots coloured her vision. Her hands went clammy, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Darting her eyes toward Pepper, she had to force herself not to crush the box of pastries.

Pepper’s eyes widened in understanding, and she swiftly crossed the room to link her arm through Fallon’s. “If you gentlemen will excuse us, Fallon and I have many things to discuss.”

Steve smiled and nodded, but his eyes betrayed his concern. He knew something. Fallon wasn't sure what or how much, but he suspected. Bucky was even worse. He watched her with those cold blue-eyed. Piercing. They appeared to see to the deepest darkest corners of her soul and had her shrinking toward Pepper. But it was Thor who made her heart pound when he stepped closer.

“Lady Fallon.” He reached toward her but she jerked back, and Pepper stepped smoothly between them.

“Thor, have a pastry.” She took the pink box from Fallon’s trembling fingers and thrust it at the blond with force.

It caused him to frown. Then something like sorrow crossed Thor’s features when he carefully lifted the lid on the box, selected a sweet, and walked out without another word. The other two men both nodded goodbye and left with Steve shutting the door behind him.

Fallon sat down hard on the coffee table behind her and shook all over. “Just give me a second,” she whispered to Pepper as she hugged herself and rocked back and forth.

“Fallon, I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking,” Pepper apologized, sinking down to hug her.

“Not your fault. Not your fault at all,” Fallon muttered, fighting the tears and rising panic attack.

It wasn't Pepper’s fault Fallon had fallen for the lies of a handsome man. It wasn't her fault he’d been a monster in disguise. And it was hardly Pepper’s fault it had taken Fallon nine long years to get away from the man who’d used and abused her to the point she'd nearly died.

No, Pepper was the one Fallon had turned to, for help to escape her prison. The only person Jay never knew about being in her life. The only person Fallon knew she could reach out to who would believe her when no one else could see past Jay’s mask and the web of lies.

Pepper had helped her escape, run with her children, document the abuse, and file for divorce. The big surprise had come when the investigators discovered Fallon and Jay had never legally married. It had all been a lie, right from the word go. Even her wedding had been a sham.

Jay had been livid, spewing threats and ultimatums at the lawyers they'd used to keep him from finding her. But between Pepper, and then Tony who Fallon was slowly growing more comfortable with, they'd managed to see Fallon granted full custody of her children, and a restraining order slapped on Jay.

As far as Fallon knew, Jay still lived in California and had no idea where she'd gone. But now she lived with an underlying fear of big men. She knew intimately just how hard they could hit, and just how badly they could hurt her.

Walking into Pepper's office to find three of the biggest Fallon had ever met scared the damn pants off her.

“I know I've told you this before, but you need to start believing it. No one here, especially one of those three, would ever lay a hand on you,” Pepper stated, running soothing circles over Fallon’s back.

“Knowing it and knowing it, are two totally different experiences, Pep,” Fallon sighed.

“Eat a Danish. Sugar makes everything better,” Pepper urged.

“And adds more fat to my ass. Thanks, but I'll pass. What did you need, Pepper?”

“An assistant.”

“You have an assistant,” Fallon frowned.

“Who’s ready to pop at any moment!” Pepper huffed. “I've insisted Nancy take a year off minimum so the position will be open at least that long. It comes with a pay bump, a big one, as well as a clothing allowance to refit your wardrobe. You’d have access to company vehicles, the good gym, and whatever perks I can think of later. You would have to be slightly more available.”

Fallon made to decline, but Pepper held up her hand.

“I'm not talking twenty-four seven. Just an evening now and then to attend a fundraiser or party. Which, of course, you'll be compensated for as well as have whatever you need for childcare.”

“Pepper! That's outrageous! You can't offer someone who has zero experience those kinds of perks!”

She huffed and waved a hand. “Of course I can! And don't give me that bull about no experience. I know damn well you could run this company better than I do. We went to school together, remember? I know exactly what your degrees are.”

“Pepper, come on!” Fallon sighed. “I'm not… I can't… I'm not right for this.”

“Yes, you are. I refuse to let you hide away the rest of your life because of him! There are plenty of good guys out there. It's time to stop hiding.”

“I'm not hiding! I'm surviving!” Fallon barked.

“Surviving isn't living, Fallon. Wouldn't it be nice to start living again?”

“I have three kids, Pepper. Right now, surviving is all I can hope for,” Fallon sighed. “They are what matters. Not me. Not my happiness.”

Pepper sighed and patted her knee. “Take the job. I promise it will be worth it. In the long run, it will help get you ahead so you can spend more time with your kids. Or put them in the building daycare. You know it's free for employees.”

“You've done more than enough, Pepper. I need to do some of this on my own.” And she needed to keep her work and home life separate.

“Please take the job,” Pepper said. “I need you, Fallon.”

She narrowed her eyes at the redhead when Pepper looked at her pleadingly. “That's dirty pool, and you know it, Pepper.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes, dammit. I'll take the job.”

“Excellent!” Pepper laughed and hugged her again. “Now, we're going shopping to spend that clothing allowance. I love you, Fallon, but your suits are hideous.”

“Yeah, well, not all of us are rail thin and six feet tall, Pep,” she grumbled. “And three children haven't exactly been kind to my body.” Nor had Jay been kind to her body, but Fallon didn't want to think about that.

“And if you buy clothes that fit your body, you'll feel better about it,” Pepper said sternly and dragged her to her feet. “I'm giving Nancy the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, you start up here with her, going over my schedule and getting familiar with things, but today, we can all use a day off.”

Pepper dragged Fallon toward the door. “And Kenneth better be on time because he’ll be training the new girl tomorrow.”

Fallon sighed a little behind Pepper's back. What she wouldn't give to have that type of spunk and confidence.

***

Thor pouted as he munched his Danish, only half listening to Barnes and the Captain as they walked away from Lady Pepper’s office.

“Must have been bad,” Steve murmured, “to make her that skittish.”

“You think Stark would know? Seeing as how she's friends with Pepper?”

“Probably. But whether Tony would be willing to tell us anything? I don’t know,” Steve sighed.

“Don't need to know everything,” Bucky grumbled. “Just enough to make sure the asshole won't be coming after Fallon.”

“Lady Fallon dislikes me,” Thor murmured. “And I don't know why. Did I do something wrong?”

Steve and Bucky stopped so fast Thor nearly walked into them both.

“No, Thor. You didn't do anything, but someone has.”

He frowned at Steve. “I do not understand.”

“Fallon doesn't dislike you, big guy,” Bucky sighed. “She’s afraid of us.”

Thor gasped. “But… we've barely exchanged a handful of words! I have done nothing for which she should be afraid!”

“No, Thor. Not you, us. She's scared of all of us. Either men in general, or just big guys,” Steve explained.

“Someone abused her,” Bucky said bluntly. “And bad enough to make her want to rabbit every time one of us enters the room.”

“She… someone hurt her?” He crushed the pastry in his hand. “I will speak with her. He must not go unpunished. She will tell me his name, and then she will never have to worry about him again!” Thor turned on his heel to head back toward Pepper's office when Steve grabbed one arm and Bucky grabbed the other.

“No!” they shouted.

“Think, Thor! If you go barging in there with threats and raised fists, you'll only scare her and be no better than the man she left!” Steve said.

“You like her, don’t you?” Bucky asked, a smile spreading.

Thor saw no harm in admitting it. “Yes. I find her intriguing and wish to know her better.”

“Then you can't rush her. She started here about a six months ago. That's not much time if she was abused and just managed to escape him. You're going to have to go slow. Earn her trust before you can win her heart.”

“I asked Banner about such things. I am.. uncertain in the ways of human interaction. How do I express interest without…”

“Coming on too strong?” Bucky smirked and patted Thor’s shoulder. “I think we’d best skip the gym and go get a beer. If we're talking women, this could take a while.” Then he grinned at Steve. “Besides, the punk there could use some pointers too.”

“Kiss off, Buck,” Steve grumbled, red darkening his cheeks.

Thor clapped the Captain on the shoulder. "Thank you, my friends. I appreciate your assistance." The last thing he wanted to do was upset the fair Fallon or ever make her uncomfortable.

Next Chapter

Tag list available. Send an Ask, please.

#Cries of Thunder #Thor Odinson #Thor Fanfiction #God of Thunder #God of Thunder fanfiction #Avengers au #post ragnarok au #dark themes #abuse #physical abuse

383 notes · View notes

latetothegreysparty · 6 years

Text

All of Me

I sat down to write today, and I decided to depart from the fluffy stuff I’ve been writing lately. What developed was a messy, angsty songfic. It’s also the longest one I’ve written so far, so congratulations to anyone who hangs in there through this marathon. The song is All of Me by Matt Hammitt.

All of Me

Amelia sat in the women’s bathroom of the surgical floor, waiting. It was only two minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. As she stared at the floor, the ceiling, the stall walls, anywhere except the stick in her hand, she thought about what had led her to this moment.

She and Owen had talked a few months ago and decided that they wanted to give things another try. They had both had flings with other people, but they had found themselves coming back to the thought of one another every time. The divorce hadn’t been finalized yet, so they were technically still married, but they decided they’d take it slow. They’d started with simple dating. They agreed that they weren’t going to talk about moving back in together and looking toward the future until they’d talked out the issues that had led Owen to ask for a divorce in the first place.

But they were Owen and Amelia, and they never could quite keep their hands off of each other, so dating quickly led into love-making. Lots of hot, steamy, passionate love-making. Amelia was on the pill, so they decided that this wasn’t too big of a step because they weren’t looking at starting a family yet, just rekindling their physical intimacy.

This all would’ve been great, except for that one day when Amelia forgot to take her pill. She hadn’t even bothered to tell Owen about it because she was pretty certain she hadn’t been ovulating. But now she was four weeks late, sitting in a bathroom stall, and holding a plastic stick that she had just peed on.

Just as Amelia was about to contemplate the possible implications of this situation, she heard her phone timer chiming. Amelia took a deep breath, and then looked down at the stick in her hands. As soon as she saw the result, she couldn’t stop the tears that spilled forth from her eyes. She told herself that she would let the tears flow but try to keep quiet, but within 30 seconds the sobs began to wrack her body. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this much fear before. What was she going to do? What was she going to tell Owen? How was she going to get through the next 7 months with Owen when he was undoubtedly going to be so elated, and all she could think was that she was probably currently an incubator for another unicorn baby, another tiny little human that would exit her body and take a chunk of her heart with her as it was buried into the ground?

Amelia’s stream of thoughts was interrupted by a gentle knocking on the stall door. “Amelia, what on Earth is wrong?” Oh crap, it was Meredith. She really didn’t want to talk to Meredith right now.

“Nothing, Mere, just please go away,” Amelia whispered, just barely keeping her voice from cracking.

“No, Amelia, I’m your sister. I know I probably don’t seem like the best person to talk to when you’re upset, but it’s my job to be here for you, and I’m going to do my best. Let me in. I’m not going away until you do.”

Amelia sighed and opened the stall door, too tired to fight about this. She said nothing, choosing to merely hand the test to Meredith. Meredith glanced at the test, set it down, then asked, “I’m assuming this wasn’t planned?” All of the composure Amelia had gained flew out the window as she nodded and burst into sobs once more. Meredith wrapped her arms around Amelia, saying nothing for a while as she simply held her sister.

After about 5 minutes had passed, Meredith finally began to speak. “Look, I know there’s nothing I can say to make this not suck. I’m not going to try to make you feel better because it’d just be empty words and it’d be stupid. There is one thing I can tell you, though. I know what it’s like to have all sorts of bad feelings during a pregnancy. I felt that way with Ellis for a long time. Since I know how it feels to not be happy during a pregnancy, I will never expect you to feel happy about it. You can come to me anytime feeling sad or scared or whatever you’re feeling, and I’ll never expect you to be happy.”

Amelia’s sobs renewed. She was still terrified and upset, but Meredith’s offer really meant a lot. It was nice to know she’d have at least one safe place to go.

Afraid to love something that could break. Could I move on if you were torn away?

Amelia stood in front of Owen in his living room, holding the lab results in her hand. After the positive drug store test, she’d gone to the lab to get confirmation. Now she stood here in front of her unborn baby’s father, clutching the test and trying to summon up the strength to get through this moment. Deciding that she couldn’t trust herself to try to say anything, she elected to merely hand Owen the paper.

He stared at the paper for quite a while before he looked up at her. His jaw hung open. His face was an ever-changing mix of emotions. The first thing she saw was a spark of excitement and wonder in his eyes. She’d expected that. Owen had always wanted to be a father, and she knew he’d be so excited. But then she saw other things. She saw deep thought, concern, and trepidation. Finally, after cycling through about 7 different facial expressions, he spoke in a slow and measured tone. “How do you feel about this?” he asked quietly.

Amelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before beginning her answer. “Honestly, Owen, I’m terrified. I know how badly you want to be a father, and I love you so much it hurts, so I’m excited to have the opportunity to give you the thing you’ve wanted most for quite a long time. But I can’t lie and tell you that this doesn’t scare me. A lot. More than I can ever remember being scared. All I can really think about right now is burying another child, but this time having to bury him with his father by my side. I don’t know if I can get through that again, Owen.”

“Amelia, I understand that you-” he began, but he was cut off.

“No, you do not understand!” Amelia yelled, all of her composure gone as her face turned red, tears poured from the corners of her eyes, and she began to pace. “You do not understand what it is like to hold your son and listen to him squeak because he is incapable of crying. You do not understand what it is like to have your son taken from your arms and harvested for parts when you’ve just met him. Until you’ve buried what little remains of your child while you aren’t even yet healed from the birth, you don’t get to tell me you understand!”

As Amelia stopped pacing and turned to look at Owen, she saw a single tear slide down his left cheek. “You’re right Amelia, I don’t understand, I’m sorry,” Owen said before turning and slowly walking back to his bedroom. Amelia hadn’t thought that it was possible, but she somehow felt even worse than she had moments ago.

She sat down on the couch and stared across the room. She didn’t know what to do with herself now. She couldn’t just leave and go home, not after what she’d just said to him. On the other hand, she didn’t think she could talk to him right now. So she just sat on the couch and stared at the wall, trying and failing to think of what to say to him right now.

She didn’t know how much time passed before Owen came out of his bedroom and joined her in the living room. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye before she began speaking. “Owen, I’m sorry for what I said to you,” she whispered. “I’m scared and sad and unable to feel happy about this right now, but that doesn’t give me the right to take it out on you. I’m sorry.”

He sat down next to her and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. “Thank you,” he replied softly. As she glanced over to him, she could see the sparkle in his eye as he glanced down toward her stomach. He was trying so hard to give her space, but he had glanced down for a moment, and she had seen it.

“Well,” Amelia thought humorlessly, “at least someone is capable of loving this little being right now.”

And I’m so close to what I can’t control. I can’t give you half my heart and pray he makes you whole.

Amelia had been trying to participate in some of the baby preparations with Owen. She had sat through discussions about which room would be the nursery, whether they’d get a nanny or do daycare, cloth or paper diapers, and a hundred things in between. She had been trying so hard to be active in these conversations in order to allow Owen an outlet for his excitement, but he could still see the fear and apprehension in her. She was going through the motions, but he could still see the emptiness in their eyes when they talked about the baby. It was like these conversations were purely intellectual discussions about practicalities rather than planning for the life of their family.

Owen sighed as he walked in the front door of the physicians’ clinic with Amelia. It was their first prenatal visit. As excited as he was to hear his baby’s heartbeat, he was sad to watch Amelia undoubtedly drift through this appointment on autopilot, emotionless and detached.

They checked in quickly and sat in the waiting room until Amelia’s name was called. They were taken back to an exam room where Owen helped Amelia change into her gown. He tied the back and kissed her temple, trying to simultaneously support her and disguise his wariness about her detachment.

Soon the obstetrician had joined them in the exam room. After going through all of the usual pleasantries, the obstetrician set up the Doppler and Amelia relaxed back on the table, staring up at the ceiling and gently grasping the hand that Owen offered.

In not too long, a rapid whooshing noise filled the room. Amelia could faintly hear the obstetrician saying, “There’s your baby’s heartbeat!” in the background, but at the forefront of her mind was the way her heart had clenched when she’d first heard the noise. As much as she was trying not to get too attached to what could very well be another unicorn baby inside her body, she couldn’t help the way a tiny surge of emotion pulsed through her as she heard the noise filling the room.

Owen looked down at his wife, checking to make sure she was still okay. He knew this was probably difficult for her, and he was prepared to ask for privacy if she looked anxious or upset. To his surprise, a small little smile adorned her face as their baby’s heartbeat filled the room. It was tiny and only graced her lips for a mere moment, but it had been there. For now, that was more than enough for Owen.

You’re gonna have all of me, You’re gonna have all of me. Cause you’re worth every falling tear, You’re worth facing any fear. You’re gonna know all my love, Even if it’s not enough, Enough to mend our broken hearts, But giving you all of me is where I’ll start.

Amelia grasped Owen’s hand tightly as they sat in the exam room, once again waiting for the obstetrician to enter the room. “I’m so scared Owen,” she whispered. “This is the first time we’ll see the baby since 10 weeks. What if the baby is anencephalic? What if a limb is missing?” her breathing began to quicken as tears filled her eyes.

“Shh, take a breath, Amelia,” Owen whispered. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll know in just a few minutes. Even if something is wrong, though, we’ll do this together. I’ll be here with you every step of the way, and we’ll deal with whatever comes together.”

Amelia didn’t have time to respond because the obstetrician walked through the door right as Owen finished speaking. “Alright,” said the obstetrician cheerfully, “time for the 20-week ultrasound! Would you two like to know the sex of your baby?”

“Yes please,” Amelia said softly, plastering on a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes as she slid down the exam table. The doctor made quick work of covering Amelia’s stomach in gel and sliding the ultrasound transducer along her bump before turning to stare intently at the screen.

The obstetrician smiled widely. “Congratulations, Amelia and Owen, you’re having a girl.”

Owen couldn’t help himself. A huge smile took over his face as he softly murmured, “We have a daughter.” Immediately, his mind was filled with images of tiny pink onesies, tea parties, and ballet recitals. He hadn’t really had a preference for the sex of the baby coming into this visit, but now suddenly a girl seemed like the most perfect thing in the world.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Amelia gasping. “What is it?” he asked, voice filled with worry, as he turned to look at his wife who was staring at the monitor that the obstetrician had turned around to face her.

Amelia continued to stare at the ultrasound monitor as she responded to Owen. “I don’t see any abnormalities,” she whispered. “No anencephaly, no missing limbs, no abnormal facial features. The baby looks healthy.”

The obstetrician chimed in warmly. “She seems to be very healthy,” she said with a smile. “Obviously we’ll continue to monitor her throughout the rest of your pregnancy, but there is absolutely no reason to be concerned at this time.”

Amelia barely heard the doctor’s words as she continued to stare at the screen. The little girl on the monitor had her thumb in her mouth, sucking away at the tiny little digit. Amelia felt a few tears slip down her cheek. This tiny little creature was occupying a larger part of her heart every day. Despite all of the leftover sadness from the loss of her son, she was falling hard for the little girl on the screen who innocently sucked on her thumb, completely unaware of how loved she was.

I won’t let sadness steal you from my arms. I won’t let pain keep you from my heart. I’ll trade the fear of all that I could lose For every moment I’ll share with you.

Amelia let out an exasperated sigh as Owen walked from the living room to the bedroom. “No, Amelia,” he called over his shoulder. “We are not going out to look for cribs tonight. We’ve both had long shifts at the hospital, and we’re in no condition to be trying to make a purchase that is so important. Besides, all of the stores will be closing in a few hours. We should really save this until we have more time to look and make a decision.”

Amelia rolled her eyes as she followed him into the bedroom. “We’re more than halfway through this pregnancy, Owen!” she argued. “We can’t bring our daughter home from the hospital without even having a crib for her to sleep in.”

Owen stopped dead in his tracks. Amelia quickly closed the distance between the two of them and then stepped around him, coming to stand in front of him. To her surprise, there were tears streaming down his face. “Owen, what’s wrong?” she asked, confused. He had never gotten this emotional over such a simple disagreement.

“It’s nothing Amelia,” he said, quickly swiping at the tears on his cheeks and moving toward the bathroom.

Amelia stepped to block his path and grabbed his shoulders. “No, Owen. You’re not allowed to shut me out like this. For the past 4 months, I have told you every single thing I have thought and felt, even the things that I knew you didn’t want to hear. You told me that you needed me to let you in, and now I’m telling you that I need you to let me in.”

Owen looked down at her for a few moments, trying to choose his words carefully, before he finally began speaking. “It’s just that this is the first time I’ve ever heard you call her our daughter,” he said softly. “For the last four months, she’s been ‘the baby.’ You’ve never verbally acknowledged that she was ours. I heard you say, ‘our daughter,’ and it really touched my heart. I don’t want to scare you, though. I want you to know that I don’t expect you to stop being nervous. You’re still allowed to be scared and anxious and sad and whatever other thing you might feel, but I’m glad to hear you say, ‘our daughter.’”

Amelia reached up to grab his face in her hands. “Owen, she is our daughter, and I love her. I have for weeks now. You’re right that I still feel scared about the things that could still go wrong and sad because being pregnant reminds me of my little boy, but she is our daughter and I love her more than words can say.” Owen chose not to say anything in response, electing instead to wrap his arms around her shoulders and bury his face in her hair, letting his tears fall into her hair.

“You’re almost there, Amelia, just hang in there with me a little longer,” the obstetrician coached from between Amelia’s legs, gently patting her knee.

“You’re doing really great, I’m so proud of you,” Owen added from beside her where he was holding her hand.

Amelia had passed the point of shouting and crying. Now she was just exhausted. She wished there was some kind of pause button on this process because she felt like she’d been in labor for all of eternity, and what she really needed right now was a bit of rest before forging on with this process. Rest was not an option, though, because another contraction had just begun. Amelia took a deep breath to prepare herself for another round of pushing. “One more push and she’ll be here!” the obstetrician encouraged.

Moments later, all thoughts of exhaustion left Amelia’s head as the sound of crying filled the room. Amelia’s eyes went wide. This was not squeaking, this was crying. Her little girl was crying. Before she had any more time to think about it, a crying, wriggling baby was being placed on her chest. Amelia looked down at the small, confused human, and she immediately dissolved into tears.

Owen quickly joined her at the head of the bed, tears in his eyes as well. “She is so perfect, Amelia,” he whispered in awe. “I have never seen such a perfect little person in my life.” He gently stroked the baby’s back as he stared at the mom and daughter in awe.

For her part, Amelia tried to respond, but no words came out. She continued to cry and stare at the little girl. As the baby kicked and wriggled, angry to have been removed from the comfortable environment she knew, Amelia finally allowed herself to fully consider the reality of starting a family with Owen. This was their daughter, and she would be coming home from the hospital with them. She would be keeping them up all night for feedings and diaper changes. She would fall in love, and her heart would get broken, and Owen and Amelia’s hearts would break right along with her. She would deal them fits, and she would make them proud, and she’d give them every emotion in between. Amelia looked at the little girl that she had only known for a few minutes, and she was already sure that their daughter had all of her heart.

Heaven brought us to this moment, It’s too wonderful to speak. You’re worth all of me, You’re worth all of me. So let me recklessly love you, Even if I bleed. You’re worth all of me, You’re worth all of me.

#omelia #omeliafic #omeliafanfic #amelia shepherd #owen hunt #meredith grey #grey's anatomy #greys anatomy

73 notes · View notes

a-dreamer-named-mars · 6 years

Text

Imagine Having a Fight With Jamie

Requested imagine. To read this and more imagines and fanfictions click here.

"I don't know why you're being like that!" You said in exasperation while you threw the pillows of the bed that you and your husband, Jamie Reagan, shared, to the ground.

"Because I am being cautious! I'm telling you, you shouldn't work in that hospital anymore. It's my honest opinion and I think you should consider it." He said, trying his hardest to be calmer than you were at the moment.

"Yeah, I consider it BS! Listen to me, Jamie - I am a grown woman of thrity-one years old. I am old enough to defend myself and I'll be damned if I'll let a man get in the way of me following my dream!"

Wow, you shouldn't have said that. You didn't mean it, it was just a heat of the moment thing and you couldn't control the words when they were already halfway out of your mouth.

He was hurt. Very hurt. You have known each other since you were in your twenties and you had just gotten out of medical school and he was fresh out of the academy. In one of his first cases while he still rode with his training officer, he had to do a follow up on a teenage boy who had gotten shot on a shootout in the projects. Turns out the guy was carrying more guilt with him than young Jamie was expecting and, out of all the case scenarios, the guy ended up getting an infection and staying in the hospital for longer than expected and so, you and him became pretty close, seeing each other a lot. He asked you out, you went on a couple dates and, although he was still heartbroken because of Sydney, you fixed him and helped him heal and three years later you got married, while you were carrying your first child - a boy, that you had both agreed on naming after Joe, Jamie's brother who passed away. A couple years later, you welcomed your second baby, this time it was a girl, named Margaret. Fast forward two years, you were in your bedroom fighting over some stubburness from both, you had to admit, while your children were asleep.

"Whatever." He said blankly and got inside the bed, turning his back to you and covering himself with the plain blue covers.

You sighed and crawled inside the bed, touching his shoulder and telling him to turn around in a whisper, guilt eating you up.

"Jamie... Let's talk about this, come on."

He turned around to face you, much to your surprise, the look of pain in his beautiful blue eyes killing you inside.

"I am your husband. I know it's not the fifties but I am not some man... Or at least I thought I wasn't."

"You're not! You're not just some man, you're right, you're my husband and your opinion does matter to me, but... You have to understand, I like working on that hospital because I'm closer to the kids' daycare. If they get sick or something happens I can get there quicky."

"I understand that, but I am a cop and I am telling you it is not safe. That hospital is highly frequented by drug addicts and gang members... I'm sorry if I'm only trying to keep my wife safe!"

"Jamie, you don't udnerstand, do you?"

He did understand, he just rarely showed he did. When you had your son, you had gone through a severe post-birth depression, and your husband being a cop didn't help. You didn't want to be alone in the house with the baby, you never did anything without Jamie around. You wouldn't change a diaper alone, you wouldn't give him a bath alone, you wouldn't even breastfeed alone! And you never wanted Jamie out there, in danger. It took a very long time to go through it ( parcially ) and two years later you got pregnant with Margaret and said to yourself things would be different that time and that you were never gonna act like you did when Joe was a baby. Guess what? You did... slightly. Meaning you got to do stuff alone by the time she was three months old and you weren't as worried with Jamie as you were with the last pregnancy. But with your kids, you never stopped worrying. And that was why since when Joe went to daycare you asked for a transference on the hospital you used to work in, to the hospital that was literally only one block away from where your little cubs spend their day.

Jamie was really loosing his patience now, and going to bed even more stressed than he was was not in his plans so he decided to end the discussion right there.

"Alright, I gotta wake up early tomorrow and I need to sleep." That being said, he stretched his arm to turn off the light on his nightstand and closed his eyes.

You sighed in frustration and got under the covers too, after turning off your light, and tried your best to fall asleep.

* * *

"Come on, baby, eat your food, mommy's gotta take you and your sister to daycare in twenty minutes." You begged your son, who was a slow eater. But who could blame him? His mom was one too.

A sound of what seemed like keys caught your attention and you turned around to look at where that sound was coming from and saw Jamie closing the front door after he walked out of your apartment.

Did he just leave?

That was so not a Jamie thing to do. He always kissed you good morning and and he usually kissed you again when he left the house. And the kids! The kids were his life! He loved them and he always kissed them good morning and goodbye too. What the hell was wrong with him? You couldn't believe this all because of the fight you had last night. He was being so childish right now, and you were actually finding it hard to be because he was the opposite of that. It was one of the things that made you fall for him back when you were younger.

"Did dad leave?" Joe asked, looking up at you with his bright blue eyes.

"Yes, daddy had a lot of work to do today and he was late and so will you if you don't eat faster." You bent down to kiss his cheek and went to Margaret's bedroom to help her get dressed and ready for another day.

* * *

Your eight hour shift passed by faster than you expected and when you looked at the big silver clock that hung on the hallway wall of the pediatrics floor, where you worked, you smiled to yourself and made your way to the locker room to change and pick up your kids.

You did that quickly and about half an hour later, you were already walking inside your apartment, holding your little girl with one arm, and holding your son's hand with the other.

"Can I watch TV, mom?" He asked as he ran and jumped on the couch.

"Yes, baby. I'll go give your sister a bath now but you'll be next so don't settle." You warned while you put your bag down on the counter and walked to bathroom to prepare the bath.

You were pretty deep in thought, thinking about Jamie and the fight you had last night and how he was feeling hurt. But above the sound of the happy and joyful songs that came from the cartoon's channel, you could still hear something that stopped your line of thought.

It sounded like a a key, opening the door.

You heard some steps and sighed in relief, thinking it was Jamie who was back from work. But the sound of your son screaming made you change your mind.

"Mommy!!!!!"

You put Margaret down on her bed and closed her inside, looking the wooden door behind you and running to the living room.

"Well, well, well... look who have here."

The man holding the gun had a terrifying voice. He was probably only about ten years older than you but looked like the biggest monster.

Joe ran to your arms and you picked him up, holding him close.

"Who are you?" You asked, mad at yourself for doing it in a shaky voice and showing fear.

"I'm a friend of your husband's. That's right... Jamie knows me, so it's all good, don't you worry."

"Please leave, the children don't deserve this." You begged, now furious at yourself for doing so.

"Oh don't worry, I just came here to talk to him and... get some things right."

"He's not home yet... He's still working."

"Well, then maybe I could just talk to you." The man said in scary and confidence voice tone.

"Do whatever you want with me, just let me take my son to his bedroom. Don't let him see anything, please." You begged again.

You literally thought he was about to rape you or stab you or just... do something bad with you but you needed to protect your children before anything.

"No! Get the other one out here and tell them to sit on the couch."

You closed your eyes in fear and walked to Margaret's bedroom where she was already crying for being left alone inside.

You picked her up and did as the man said so and placed your children on the couch.

The guy carried a black backpack and as soon as the kids were settled, he pulled out of it a roll of rope and tied them together.

Of course, they were uncomfortable with the situation and scared too, and they started crying, not stopping.

"Please, keep them out of this!" You begged again but unsuccessfully.

"Shut up!!!!" He yelled, clearly frustrated at you for trying to stop him from doing what he planned on doing. "Sit down." He told you to do, changing the point of the gun to your face to the couch that was set next to the one where your children were tied on.

You did as he said and sat down, all types of cases scenarios running through your mind. And you kept praying that Jamie would come home soon but he was already an hour late... Maybe you hurt him too much last night, maybe you and the kids weren't what he loved coming home to anymore. He was probably with his brother or his partner at a bar or something, talking about what had happened. And now you and your babies were in this mess.

You and Jamie did have a gun at home and you did try to grab it earlier but you couldn't and now you were absolutely powerless and this man was gonna do everything he wanted out of you. And it truly scared you, so much.

He tied your hands and feet together so you couldn't move and were one hundred percent still. Going through his backpack, he took out a roll of grey ductktape, and he quickly glued it on your kids' mouths and then yours.

"I'll take care of you in a minute, don't worry, princess." He said while caressing your face creepily.

You couldn't take it anymore and tears were already streaming down your face, uncontrollably, demonstrating the state of panic you were in. And your kids.... you couldn't even look at them without having your heart broken to pieces.

He went through his bag again to look for something that you soon saw it was a laptop. It was already turned on, so he just lift up the cover and started typing numbers and letters that you couldn't identify.

What on earth could he possibly be doing? Was he working on some algorithm to have a bomb exploding in your apartment?

Just when the children's cries were all that broke the silence in the room, you heard what seemed like a key going through the door lock. It was when Jamie walked inside the house, already holding his gun in his hand and ordering the man to get down on the ground.

The man, who had made the fortunate mistake to place his own weapon on the ground when he was on his computer, couldn't reach for it so, he just surrendered.

What saved you was the fact that from the hallway Jamie could hear his kids' cries, that sounded much more filled with panic than usual, and grabbed the gun he always carried with him, ready and prepared for whatever he was going to walk in to.

Jamie saw the rope next to the gun and tied him up, before calling the department for an RMP to take the guy to a precint and eventually to jail. They came very quickly, apparently they were near the neighborhood, and once it was sorted out, he untied the kids firstly, then removing the tape from their mouths, and he held them close to his chest and repeatedly asking them if they were okay. Both of them wrapped their arms around his neck tightly, leaving red marks on his skin that you could see from the other couch.

Your husband walked over to you, the kids still hanging from his neck while he held them close, and sat down untieing you and pulling off the tape. As soon as you felt free you lunged to him, and wrapped your arms around him, the kids in the middle, now holding both of you.

"Hey, hey... are you okay?" He asked as he cupped your face in his hands.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." You nodded and rested your head in his shoulder.

"Gosh, I was so scared." You whispered, your voice yet muffled.

"It's okay now, it's okay." He said, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

The children were still scared but they were no longer crying, they were just tugging to your and Jamie's shirts in search for comfort.

Thankfully, it was good now.

#jamie reagan #blue bloods #jamie x reader #cbs #excerpt from a book i'll never write #excerpt from a story i'll never write #writing #writer #imagine

28 notes · View notes

aroselane · 4 years

Text

The Devil in Me Ch. 13

Chapter Thirteen:

Shay:

His eyes opened, and I was surprised.

Part of me thought that he was just fucking with me this whole time.

The whites of his eyes darkened to gray, and the usual purple lightened to an almost glowing lilac.

I think part of me didn’t want to believe this whole thing, but seeing his eyes like that, didn’t give me much choice.

I made sure not to pull my hand away, I didn’t want him to think I was scared of him.

It was still insane that he was my match. This guy made me feel warm with just a thought.

“Noah?” I asked.

His eyes locked on mine, and I felt myself start to shake.

“You should probably take your hand back,” he said.

I don’t know what it was about this boy. I didn’t want to take my hand back.

“And if I don’t?” I asked.

He pulled my hand forward as if to kiss the top of my hand. His tongue came out of his mouth, and it took me a second to realize his tongue was split in two.

The two of his tongues went across my knuckles.

I felt like I was about to shake out of this chair.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

I was tugging lightly at my hand. I was still trying to decide if I liked what he was doing or not.

“You asked if I could taste the things I smell,” he said, “I wanted to make sure my senses weren’t lying.”

His tongue went back into his mouth, and he released my hand.

That was weird.

Was it weird that I found it kind of hot?

Well, it is a good thing he can’t read minds.

“Noah,” Baird warned.

Noah turned his attention towards the ginger-haired man.

It wasn’t a pleasant way he was looking at him.

“Hey,” I said, “How old are you?”

Noah’s head slowly turned to look back at me, and it made me a little nervous.

“Twenty-two,” he said.

His expression softened as he stared back at me.

“Okay,” I said, “I’m nineteen.”

There was a short silence. I didn’t know what to do or what to ask.

His gaze didn’t waver.

“You know,” I began, “You can ask me questions too.”

He looked a little surprised when I said it.

I knew I already told him that it was okay for him to ask. It seems like he genuinely forgot.

“Okay,” he said, “What is your favorite color?”

Really? A color question?

“Purple,” I said, “What’s yours?”

His eyes actually went down, and it looked like he didn’t know how to respond.

“Do you not have a favorite color?” I asked him.

“I do,” he said, “I’m just not sure I’m ready for your response.”

“Oh,” I said, “Let me guess, black?”

“It’s the only color I like,” he said, “But most people tell me black isn’t a color.”

I shrugged.

“If you like it, who cares?”

He actually smiled.

His teeth looked a little sharper than I remember.

“Is your tongue usually…” I use my hand to indicate the splitting of his tongue.

“Does that scare you?” he asked.

I shook my head, “I’m just curious.”

He shook his head.

“My tongue is usually not split,” he said.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

He looked away, towards the wall where no one was sitting.

“Yes,” he said, just above a whisper.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be,” he said, “It’s not your fault.”

It felt a little like it was.

He didn’t meet my eyes again.

“Noah,” I said, “You said being near me causes a reaction.”

He still didn’t look at me.

“Does being near me,” I began, “Does it hurt?”

I could see that I was making him uncomfortable now.

“It does,” I said.

He finally turned to look at me.

“That is how they match us,” he said, “Based on our reaction.”

I was hurting him by just sitting here?

I wish that he would just answer me.

“So, you just change then?” I asked, “Is that it?”

He shook his head slowly.

I was about to press further, but he actually responded.

“First, I get this sensation of hot and cold,” he said, “You know that feeling you get when your arm or your leg falls asleep?”

I nodded.

“Then I get that feeling,” he said, “Where it feels like a thousand bees are stinging me.”

I swallowed hard.

“I feel pain everywhere,” he said.

He held my gaze hard.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I couldn’t help what happened to him because of me.

“But when I touch you,” he whispered, “The pain disappears.”

Wait, did he just say what I think he did?

“What?” I asked a little louder than I probably should have.

“Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are.”

This boy is something else.

“If it helps,” I said, “Then why are we not supposed to make any contact?”

“Unknown territory,” he said, “We don’t know how everyone will react, so we try to cover all of our bases.”

I guess that made sense.

Baird typed something into the tablet in his hands.

“Is he putting that in?” I asked.

“He is,” Noah said.

He looked clearly irritated about it.

I guess having abilities like his wasn’t all fun and games then. Though, I didn’t think that from the beginning.

“You don’t have very much freedom, do you?” I asked.

“No,” he said sharply, “Now that he knows about the daycare, I won’t be allowed to see my sister there.”

I felt guilty about that already.

“Really?” I asked, “Even if I’m not there?”

“You might show up,” he said, “Now it is off-limits for me.”

“That is hardly fair,” I said, “I only go there to pick up my brothers and drop them off.”

“Rules,” he said, glancing at Baird, “Right?”

Baird didn’t even bother to look at him.

I didn’t like the tension between them.

“What happened?” I asked, “What kind of punishment did you get?”

He frowned.

“Devils heal faster than your average human,” he said, “So let’s just say that we don’t get spanked when we get in trouble.”

I didn’t appreciate the attitude. I was really only worried.

I gave him a disappointed look. He didn’t respond how I thought he would.

He looked like he felt guilty.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m still mad about it.”

“Clearly,” I said, “I just want to know what happened.”

He stood up, and I started to panic.

Baird looked up quickly, not sure what was about to happen.

“Relax,” he said to Baird.

Baird didn’t look too pleased about being told to relax.

“How about I show you?” Noah said.

“Show me?” I asked, “Show me what?”

He turned around, and he pulled at his shirt from the top.

As his shirt went up, more marks were revealed.

I fought the urge to gasp but failed.

“What the hell?”

It took a lot for me not to run over there and try to comfort him.

His back had several large red welts.

“This is what happens when you break the rules,” Noah said.

I couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his back tense as he took in a deep breath.

“You can put your shirt down,” Baird said, “I think we get the point.”

Noah let go of his shirt. His back was now completely covered.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

He was punished because he spoke to me.

“What happens if we randomly run into each other outside of here?” I asked, “Is this going to happen every time?”

Noah looked at Baird.

Baird let out a very loud sigh.

“Accidents happen,” Baird stated, “Noah knew full well what he was doing before he spoke with you.”

That didn’t change how frustratingly helpless I felt about it.

Noah stood there, his gaze returning to me.

I didn’t like that this was how we were supposed to meet.

Despite the obvious pain he was in, I was thankful I met him at the daycare.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Noah stated, “For anything.”

He told me he couldn’t read minds.

“Noah,” I said, “I’m glad this wasn’t our first meeting.”

He surprised me when he smiled, teeth and all.

“Then this was all worth it,” he said, “And I would do it again.”

My heart hammered in my chest.

He must have felt strange standing there because he finally sat back down.

“Why did you sign up for the volunteer program?” Noah asked.

“Well,” I said a little awkwardly, “My friend kind of made me do it.”

Baird looked up again.

“How did you hear about the program?” Baird asked.

“Someone told Jody about it,” I admitted, “And she told me about it.”

“In how much detail?” Baird asked.

“Just that we could make some money for volunteering and taking a survey or something.”

Noah stared at the table between us.

“So,” Noah said, “You did it for the money?”

I didn’t like how he asked that. It didn’t sound like an accusation, but more like he was disappointed.

“Sort of,” I said, “I wasn’t going to do it, but Jody talked me into it.”

“So, this friend of yours,” Noah said, “Can talk you into anything?”

“Yes,” I said.

He finally looked at me again, and he looked a little angry.

“If she needs me,” I said, “I would do anything for her.”

“You would die for her?” Noah asked.

“Noah,” Baird warned.

“If it came down to it,” I nodded, “Yeah, I would.”

He shook his head like my answer bothered him.

“Don’t you have someone like that?” I asked.

“If someone truly loved you,” he said, “They would never ask you to die for them.”

I leaned back in my chair before crossing my arms over my chest.

“Do I need to remind you about the situation we’re in?” I asked.

He made a face. First, it looked like he was surprised, then he looked frustrated.

“Isn’t this whole program asking us to risk our safety to get to know you Devils?” I asked.

His mouth hung open like he didn’t know what to say.

“What does it mean to be matched?” I asked.

“Pass,” Noah said.

“What?” I asked, confused.

What happened to answer mine and I’ll answer yours?

“You seem like you’ve already made up your mind about us Devils.”

The way he said it, I think he was hurt.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said.

“Sounded like you did,” he said.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

His position mirrored mine.

“I was making a point,” I said, “Am I wrong?”

“No,” he said, “But you won’t like the answer.”

“Okay,” I said, “So, tell me anyway.”

“Another word for a match,” he said, “They say it’s how we find our mate.”

“So, a match is a possible mate?” I asked.

“No,” he said, “A match is most likely the only chance you get at a mate.”

“So, you can’t date?”

“Not usually.”

“Well,” I said, “Couldn’t you be matched again?”

“No Devil on record has matched with more than one person,” he said, “So I doubt it.”

“Wait,” I had to shake my head, “You’re saying, I’m it for you?”

“No one has been able to effectuate a reaction,” he admitted, “Not like you.”

This was a lot to hear.

“So, when you say mate,” I said, “You mean mate, like one and only.”

“Yes.”

“But what if I didn’t feel the same way?” I asked.

It was only a split second, but he looked worried.

“I don’t know,” he said, “This is a first for me too.”

“What if you don’t like me?” I asked.

“I think we’ve already established that,” he said, “That is physically impossible.”

“Then emotionally,” I stated, “So its only mate and have babies kind of thing?”

“No,” he was quick to say, “That’s not it at all.”

“So,” I said, “Then help me out here.”

“I’ve known a few mated couples,” he said, “The reaction is sort of like a pathfinder.”

“What?” I asked, already confused.

“My body knows before I do,” he said, “That’s how it works.”

“Knows what?” I asked.

He opened his mouth to speak but stopped.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You’ll laugh.”

I was a little bothered by that. I was far beyond laughing, this was real now.

“Tell me anyway.”

“My body knows before I do,” he repeated.

He paused, and I didn’t think I could handle the silence.

“That you are my soul mate.”

He thought I was going to laugh at that?

That sappy, too perfect line?

I was going to do probably everything but laugh.

“What?” I asked.

“It's ridiculous,” he said, “I know.”

“You believe that?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, “It’s silly.”

I shook my head.

“That I am your soul mate?”

“What is so wrong with that?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

This experience was already a lot more than I bargained for.

Noah:

I was feeling frustrated.

At all of this, at everything. At her.

“You believe that?” she asked.

The tips of my fingers ached.

“Yes,” I said, “It’s silly.”

I didn’t want to say I did, because most people think this whole thing is absurd. What is so wrong with thinking there is one person out there for you?

She shook her head.

“That I am your soul mate?”

I felt like I knew how she would react once I said it, but I didn’t care.

“What is so wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” she said.

What?

I felt guilty.

“Do you believe in soul mates?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” she said, “But I want to.”

I guess it made sense. I was raised with this belief.

“And you just know it?” she asked, “Even without having to speak to me?”

“I don’t understand how it works,” I admitted, “But I know it does.”

“Is that your way of telling me I’m pretty?” she asked playfully.

If I didn’t know any better, I would say my heart fluttered.

“You shouldn’t need anyone to tell you that you’re beautiful,” I stated.

I could see the flush of her cheeks.

It could just be me, but her scent is getting stronger.

“I’ll tell you, though,” I said, “The second I walked in and laid eyes on you, I thought you looked stunning.”

The red in her cheeks increased.

I felt it when she grinned at me.

“Then, it’s only fair that I tell you what I thought when I first saw you walk in.”

My heart pounded at her words.

“One,” she said, “You look phenomenal in that shirt.”

I silently thanked Eileen.

“Two,” she said.

“There’s a two?” I asked playfully.

“Two,” she said louder, “You are like, ridiculously hot.”

That made me pause.

“What?” I asked.

“Don’t act so surprised,” she said, “You are.”

So, this whole thing wasn’t one-sided, after all.

I felt myself smiling like an idiot.

Pain went through my jaw, and it was hard to enjoy our conversation with this much of a distraction.

I had to close my eyes so that I could concentrate on blocking out the pain

My jaw ached, and it felt like needles were pricking my arms and legs.

“Noah,” she said in a whisper.

My body shook. Just being close to her was painful. It was difficult to explain how, but the pain from her close proximity was mixed with pleasure.

“Shay,” I said back to her, just as quiet.

She let out a small sound.

My eyes opened quickly to see her covering her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, feeling the pain in my extremities start to fade.

Her hand dropped quickly to reveal a dazzling smile.

“It’s nothing,” she said, meeting my gaze, “You were just making a cute face.”

I felt myself frown, “Cute?”

She nodded at me with her face dead serious.

I had to glance away from her. I didn’t mind that she called me cute, but I felt a strange sensation in my stomach.

She let out a laugh, and the feeling only got worse.

Why did the expression ‘having butterflies’ come to mind?

Shay:

He sat across from me with his eyes closed. It looks like he is pain.

His lower lip quivered.

“Noah,” I said, wanting to run my thumb over his shaking lip.

His brows furrowed, and more than anything, I wanted to reach over this small table between us and embrace him.

“Shay,” he whispered.

Damn, this boy made me nervous.

The only thing my brain would let me do was have a very inappropriate response.

My hand came up quickly with the hope of being able to cover my mouth, to muffle my laugh.

His eyes opened quickly to meet mine.

He looked startled by the sound.

“What’s so funny?” he asked with a small smile on his face.

I dropped my hand to grin at him.

“It’s nothing,” I said, keeping eye contact, “You were just making a cute face.”

He frowned a little, “Cute?”

I nodded seriously.

He looked away, and I swear I could see the color increase in his cheeks.

I nervously let out another laugh.

This is not what I was expecting.

He is beautiful, and from his reaction, genuine.

It felt like I just completely lost my shit after he brought up me being his soul mate.

How nuts is that?

He didn’t even know me.

A small part of me didn’t care. I felt something between us from the beginning.

Maybe that’s what this was.

“We might want to call it a day,” Baird said.

I looked over at him, “Why?”

“It is four-thirty,” he said, “Noah needs to get ready for work soon.”

So, it is possible for him to have a regular job?

“Do not ask him,” Baird said, “Or else he will have to quit.”

I nodded slowly.

“You’re nineteen,” Noah said, “You wouldn’t be allowed in anyway.”

Baird shot him a warning look.

“She didn’t ask,” he said.

“Can we hug?” I asked a little awkwardly.

“I advise against it,” Baird said.

“I would like to hug,” Noah said.

He pushed his chair back as he got to his feet.

My heart sped up as he moved around the table.

“Noah,” Baird warned.

“You can use the numbers,” Noah said.

I scooted my chair back a little, so I could stand up too.

Noah stood there with his arms bent at his elbows, open and waiting for me.

My stomach dipped as I turned and walked right into his arms.

His arms wrapped around me, and I didn’t hesitate to wrap my arms all the way around him.

He is warm and firm.

He smelled fantastic.

Noah let go, and he took a step back.

“Is everything alright?” I asked.

He nodded.

Baird stood up and waited by the door for me.

“When do we get to meet again?” I asked.

“That has yet to be determined,” Baird stated.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means he needs to look over the data and report how our meeting went, before he can schedule another one,” Noah said.

“Oh,” I said, “Okay.”

I was worried there for a minute.

“I will let you know when the next meeting will be,” Baird said, “I will ask you both, and then we will go from there.”

I nodded.

Baird opened the door, cutting my time with Noah short.

I turned to look at Noah, and I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Until next time then,” he said with a half-smile.

“Yeah,” I said, “See you then.”

He didn’t move, he waited for me to go first.

I followed Baird out of the room.

The second I heard the door shut behind me, I already felt like something was missing.

#Story #Writing #ARoseLane #Novel #Chapters #Literature #The Devil in Me #Abilities #Alpha #Comedy #Human #Romance #Love #Mate #BxG #Program #Smut #YA #Young Adult #Integration

0 notes

lastbluetardis · 7 years

Text

And Baby Makes Four (2/7)

And here we are! The next installment of my Perfectly Matched series! Thanks a million to the fantastic @chocolatequeennk for beta-ing this for me and being an excellent sounding board as I wrote this story.

Ten x Rose, Soulmates AU

This Chapter: ~7300 words, teen

The love Rose and James share expands to include one more as they add another baby to their family.

AO3 | TSP | FF.net | Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Epilogue

James and Rose jumped head-first into researching the perfect midwife to be part of the birth of their second daughter. Shortly after Ainsley’s birthday, they scheduled a visit to the birthing center James had found, which was more luxurious than they were expecting. There were private suites where the birth and recovery could take place, and if Rose hadn’t had her heart set on having a home birth, James wouldn’t have minded renting one of the suites for the birth.

They set up an appointment with each of the midwives on staff to get a feel for the one that would be the best fit for them. The screening of the midwives took up the rest of November, and after weeks of interviews and discussing it between themselves, Rose and James finally decided on Elizabeth Sanger, a young woman with five years of experience and a very open, laissez-faire attitude towards birth.

“Everything will be led by Rose,” Elizabeth had said during her interview with them. “Humans have been giving birth for thousands of years, and a woman’s body has perfected the art of it. I’m here to help Rose listen to what her body is telling her, to coach her through it, and to make sure that on March twenty-fifth—or whatever date your little girl decides to arrive on—that you get to hold a healthy baby in your arms.”

James and Rose both appreciated her birthing philosophy, and that the midwife would take her cues from them.

“Your profile says you have an older child?” Elizabeth had asked. “I’m curious as to your plans for her during the birth. Will she be in your home, or—?”

“No,” Rose and James said immediately. That had been the first thing they had agreed upon after deciding on the home birth: neither of them wanted Ainsley to witness her mother going through the agony of labor. “No, she’ll be staying with one of our parents.”

“A good idea,” Elizabeth said, nodding. “I often advise parents against letting their young children witness the birth. While beautiful, it is quite a traumatic process, and some children don’t react well to it.”

With the midwife decided on, all that was left was to formally transfer the records of Rose’s prenatal visits to the birthing center. Being an affiliate with the hospital that Rose had been going to for prenatal care, it was a relatively simple matter. Both James and Rose were relieved to finally have that process finished by the first week of December so they wouldn’t need to be worrying about midwives and birth plans while trying to prepare for the upcoming holidays.

They came home with a Christmas tree the first weekend in December, and while it wasn’t the fullest or prettiest of trees, they loved it because Ainsley picked it out herself.

“Notice how she picked the tallest tree there was,” James grunted as he attempted to heft the Douglas fir into the stand.

“Yep, I did notice that,” Rose said, chewing her thumb cuticle to hide a grin. “Need help?”

“Nope, I’ve got it,” James panted, but then he squeaked and cursed just moments before the tree swayed towards Rose.

“Gotcha!” Rose reached out and caught the falling tree, and spluttered as needles rained down on her.

“Rose! Are you all right?” James’s hand reached out for her as his eyes peeked at her through the branches.

“I’m fine,” she soothed. “Well, a few needles fell down my bra and are getting kind of itchy. Now would you care for a bit of help?”

Together they managed to get the tree in the stand and turned it so that the thickest part of the tree was on display to the rest of the living room.

“Not too bad!” James said delightedly when they got all the lights strung on the tree. “We can do the ornaments tomorrow so Ainsley can help.” He then turned towards her with an impish grin and a predatory gleam in his eyes. “Now… about the pine needles that fell down someone’s bra?”

Rose shrieked out a laugh when he pressed himself up against her and stuck his hand down the front of her shirt.

They decorated the tree the following morning. The Christmas ornaments Ainsley had made in daycare were proudly hanging on the front of the tree, while the regular ornaments were scattered around the rest of the branches in no particular style. It was obvious the tree was decorated primarily by a toddler, but to James and Rose, it was the loveliest tree in all of England.

“Oh, look what I found,” Rose said as she sifted through boxes in their basement, looking for the rest of their Christmas decorations.

James set down the box he had in his arms and walked up to Rose. A box filled with baby clothes was in front of her, and right on top was a journal he knew contained all of the baby names he and Rose had come up with during their first pregnancy.

“Oh, fantastic!” James crowed. He stepped up behind her and reached around to flip through the journal. “I’d wondered where this had gone! We can use this to start looking at names for the baby. I doubt our tastes have changed that much regarding names, so our favorites should still be here.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Rose said. She then rummaged through the box of clothes. “God, I can hardly believe Ainsley used to be this small!”

James hummed in agreement when he happened upon one of her newborn onesies.

“Though I suppose it isn’t that unbelievable,” he mused, rubbing his fingers across the soft fabric. “After all, she lived inside you and the hole she came out of isn’t exactly big. Although! If you think about it, she used to exist as two, tiny, separate cells in each of us! That’s the smallest she’s ever been.”

James beamed proudly at her, and Rose rolled her eyes. Nutter.

“Let’s bring this box up, too,” Rose said. “We can sort through the clothes and see what sort of shape they’re in.”

She bent to pick it up, but was stopped by James’s hands on her shoulders.

“Ah ah ah,” he tutted, picking up the box and setting it on the Christmas decorations they were going to bring upstairs. “No heavy lifting.”

“It’s not heavy,” Rose protested, but James already lifted a stack of boxes piled three-high and dashed up the steps.

Shaking her head, Rose followed after him and wondered whether he would let her do anything between now and the time their daughter was born.

Rose opened one of the boxes James had carried up, and grinned when she saw her favorite decoration right on top. It was a series of picture frames that contained the Christmas photos she and James had gotten done over the years.

She carefully tugged them all out, and she walked into the living room to temporarily replace the current photos hanging on the walls with the more festive ones. As she hung each photo, she watched the transformation of herself and James over the years: they’d come a long way since their first Christmas together, and she wouldn’t trade a single moment of their time together.

Finally, she reached the series of photos she loved best. She proudly hung the Christmas photo from three years ago in place of the photo of James and Ainsley pulling a silly face at the camera. In this photo, she had a newborn Ainsley in her arms, and James had his arms wrapped around her middle, resting just beneath where she was cradling their baby.

Ainsley really had been a tiny baby; she only spanned the length of Rose’s forearm in the photograph. Rose sometimes missed those days. It had felt so wonderful to cradle an infant to her breast. While Ainsley still loved cuddling, especially close to bedtime or if they were all watching a film together, she grew bored and restless after a few minutes of it.

In the following year’s photo, James was holding Ainsley. It had taken ages to get the photos done, Rose remembered, because Ainsley had been in an odd mood. She hadn’t been able to decide if she wanted to be in James’s arms, or in Rose’s, or if she wanted to be set on the ground to practice her walking. But they’d finally managed to get Ainsley to be still enough, and even smile, for the photos to be taken.

The following year, Ainsley decided she wanted to stand on her own, like Mummy and Daddy. She was standing on one of the photo props—a large box wrapped as a gift—while James and Rose stood behind her, arms wrapped around each other and a hand on Ainsley’s shoulder.

“You should probably go get changed, love.”

James appeared in the living room in black trousers and a blue button-down oxford with a red tie that had white snowflakes printed across it. Ainsley trailed behind him, a fistful of golden fabric in her hands as she played with the skirt of her dress and swished it around.

Rose nodded and stepped down from the stool she’d been on to hang their Christmas photos. An empty frame hung at the end of the photo series, but it would soon be filled with the photo they were about to go take.

She rubbed her six-month baby bump, excited that at this time next year, their Christmas photo would contain four people in them.

Throughout the coming weeks, James and Rose—and Ainsley, when she was in the mood to help—transformed their house to suit the coming holidays. The house grew more and more festive as they unboxed more of their decorations, and as Ainsley came home with Christmas crafts done at daycare.

But Christmastime also brought with it a hectic workload for Rose. She and James weren’t the only families to do Christmas photos, and she was often booked every day for couples and families getting Christmas photos done.

She tried to still get home by suppertime, but there were a few days when she would have to stay late to coincide with the times her customers were available.

That left James to care for Ainsley by himself. While he usually loved the one-on-one time with his daughter, there were certain nights where it was frustrating either because he had other things he needed to be doing, or because Ainsley was in a bad mood because she wanted her mum.

“I want Mummy!” Ainsley whined at him one night as he tried to wrestle her into her chair for dinner.

“I know you do,” James said patiently. “So do I, but she won’t be home for another hour or two, so you’re stuck with Daddy tonight.”

Ainsley pouted for a minute, but then said, “M’hungry, Daddy.”

“Yep, me too,” he said, taking her dinner out of the microwave. “Daddy’s got you some yummy hotdogs and macaroni and cheese!”

“Yummy!” Ainsley said with a grin.

After checking her food to make sure it wouldn’t be too hot, he set it onto her tray along with her fork and a cup of milk, and he squirted a blob of ketchup onto the corner of the plate.

“No!” Ainsley squawked, pushing her plate away from her.

James furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong, darling? It’s yummy hotdogs and mac and cheese. You love hotdogs and mac and cheese.”

“No!” she shouted pushing her plate further away from her so James had to quickly reach out and take it away before it toppled onto the floor. “Daddy, m’hungry!”

“I know,” he said, feeling at a loss. “I have your dinner right here, Ainsley.”

He tried to set it in front of her again. She glanced down at it and said “Ketchup!”

“Your ketchup is right here, darling,” he said, dipping a chunk of hotdog into it. “See, right here.”

“No, no, no!” she screamed, throwing her fork across the room.

“Ainsley Grace,” he said sternly, feeling his patience waning. “You know better than to throw things.”

“Not happy!” she wailed, slamming her hands into her plate. Bits of food jumped into the air, and ketchup splattered all over her and across the kitchen in little droplets. “Want Mummy!”

“Ainsley, enough!” he gritted out. “Stop it right now.”

“No! Not happy!” She slammed her hands into her plate again then shoved her cup of milk onto the floor, sending milk flying everywhere. “Want Mummy food!”

“Okay, time-out time,” James said shortly.

He took her plate away from her, ignoring her screams that she was hungry, and he unhooked her tray from her chair. He grabbed a towel and wiped off her hands to try and contain the mess she was making, and he picked her up and carried her to the time-out chair they kept in the laundry room.

“No, no, no!” she cried.

“Yes,” he said, setting her down on the chair. “Three minutes. Sit here for quietly for three minutes. Daddy will tell you when you can get up. I’m very angry with you, Ainsley.”

Ainsley whimpered pitifully and rubbed her hands into her eyes, but she stayed seated. He stood up and set a timer on his watch, then walked back to the kitchen. He sighed when he saw the mess Ainsley had made: little bits of hotdog and macaroni and cheese were on the floor surrounded in a puddle of milk that was dripping from her cup, and droplets of ketchup and milk were sprayed across the table and walls.

He grabbed a roll of paper towel and began sopping up the mess.

“Daddy, done?” Ainsley asked from the next room over.

“Not yet,” he answered, chucking the soiled paper towels in the trash. “Sit quietly, Ainsley.”

She was quiet for another minute before she asked again, “Now done? Please?”

James glanced at his watch. “Nope, one more minute. Remember, sit quietly.”

When the kitchen was more or less clean again and there were ten seconds left to Ainsley’s time-out, he walked back to the laundry room. Ainsley was sitting on the chair with tears streaking down her cheeks.

“Okay, your three minutes are up,” James said, kneeling down in front of her. “Do you know why you were put on time-out, darling?”

“Didn’t listen,” she said softly, scrubbing her arm across her nose.

“That’s right,” he said. “You were throwing things and making a mess even though I told you to stop. We don’t do that, do we?”

“No.”

“Are you gonna listen to Daddy now?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“All right, then,” he whispered, opening his arms. “Come here.”

She flew into his arms and sniffled into his shoulder as he rubbed her back. “M’hungry, Daddy.”

“I know you are,” he said. “What was wrong with your food, darling?”

“Not happy,” she whimpered.

“I know you’re not happy,” James said, feeling frustrated that he couldn’t understand what Ainsley was trying to tell him. “Why aren’t you happy?”

“Not happy,” she said more insistently.

James sighed, and he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Shall we try supper time again?”

“Yeah,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “M’hungry, Daddy. Want Mummy. Mummy’s happy.”

James walked back into the kitchen, and he kept her on his hip as he tried to figure out what she wanted to eat.

“Do you want your hotdog and mac and cheese?” he asked, pointing to her discarded plate.

“Not happy,” she said.

“All right, then what do you want?” James asked. “We’ve got some leftover meatloaf? Or I could cook you up something else? There are some chips and a pizza in the freezer?”

After about ten minutes of rejecting all of his dinner ideas, Ainsley finally decided on pancakes. James whipped up the batter and cooked them both some pancakes and eggs, and he was so relieved when she ate them happily with no more tantrums.

Just as James lifted her out of her chair, they heard the front door open.

“Mummy!” Ainsley cried, wriggling to be put down. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she sprinted to greet Rose. “Mummy! Hi Mummy!”

“Hi, Ainsley,” Rose said. She set her keys in the dish by the door and hung her coat up on the rack before she leaned down and scooped Ainsley up for a hug. “How are you tonight, sweetheart? Did you and Daddy have fun together?”

“I wouldn’t call it fun,” James said lightly, stepping up to her to peck a kiss to his wife’s forehead.

“Oh dear,” Rose said with a frown. “What happened.”

“A certain someone was very picky about what she wanted for supper,” James said, poking his finger into Ainsley’s ribs. “Weren’t you, darling?”

“Not happy,” Ainsley said seriously. “Daddy’s not happy.”

“Oh, yeah?” Rose asked.

“Yeah,” Ainsley said. Then she glanced into the living room. “Wanna play, Mummy?”

“In a few minutes,” Rose answered, pressing a kiss to Ainsley’s hair. “Mummy needs to eat first, then I’ll play with you.”

She set her daughter down, and watched her dash into the living room to play with her toys while she walked into the kitchen to forage for her own dinner.

“So what happened?” Rose asked, picking up a cold pancake and taking a bite out of it.

“She didn’t want the hotdogs and macaroni and cheese I’d made for her,” James said. “She protested them by smashing her hands into them. Twice.”

Rose winced.

“I have no idea what was wrong,” James said, rubbing his fingers into his eyes. “She was excited for them until they were in front of her. She kept saying ‘not happy’ but wouldn’t tell me why, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. They weren’t too hot or too cold. I gave her milk, I gave her ketchup. All I got was ‘not happy’.”

“Oh, hell,” Rose whispered. She had stepped up to the counter, where the remnants of Ainsley’s first plate of her dinner were sitting, waiting to be cleaned up. She saw the little handprint in the middle of her ketchup pile, and she realized what was wrong. “I’ve been putting her ketchup in a smiley face for her.”

James blinked. “You what?”

“Yeah, it was just for fun,” Rose said. “I’d arrange her hotdog pieces into a circle, then make the face with ketchup.”

“Bloody hell,” James groaned, scrubbing his hands across his face. “‘Not happy’. Her dinner wasn’t smiling at her.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose said. “I’ve only done it once or twice. I didn’t realize she wouldn’t touch it unless it made a happy face.”

“No, no. It’s okay,” James said wearily. “I’ll know for next time. I’ll save her dinner for tomorrow. Maybe she’ll eat it then if I put a bloody smiley face in her food.”

James put Ainsley’s untouched dinner in the fridge before he disappeared to the home office.

oOoOo

James sped down the motorway, just wanting to be home. Rose wasn’t the only one with a mad work schedule: with finals upon them, James found himself staying late at the university to help his students prepare for their upcoming exam.

After one such night, he’d ended up staying at the review session later than he wanted, and it still didn’t seem to have helped. It was as though his students hadn’t learned anything over the course of the semester, and James didn’t know if that meant a shortcoming on his part or if it was the fault of the students.

Groaning, he pulled into the driveway of his home, and wearily gathered his laptop bag and briefcase. The briefcase, however, wasn’t completely latched, and it sprang open, spilling out all of his notes and papers and the hundred or so copies of his final exams.

“Goddammit!” James growled, stooping down to pick the papers up out of the rain. They were soggy and damp and the ink was smudged, and James knew he would have to reprint everything.

He slammed the car door shut and walked up to the front door. He hugged everything tight to his chest as he freed up a few fingers to swing open the door, but it was locked.

“Come on,” he groaned, his hands full of wet papers and his bags.

He hit the doorbell with his elbow, and it was nearly a full minute before Rose answered.

“Glad you took your time,” he growled, pushing past her. “S’not like it’s bloody freezing out here.”

She looked taken aback, but James didn’t notice, because he stalked to the home office to drop off his work stuff.

He inhaled deeply, trying to clear out his bad mood. It wasn’t Rose’s fault that his students were incompetent with physics, and it wasn’t her fault that they’d waited until four days before their final exam to seek out extra help.

But his temper still felt barely contained. He turned and walked back to the living room to apologize to Rose and hopefully get back into her good graces enough to have a cuddle with her and Ainsley.

“Rose, love, look, I’m sorry I…” He emerged into the living room, and froze when he saw the utter chaos. Toys and books were strewn all over the floor, as were bits of food and crumbs. Ainsley’s juice cup was on its side on the coffee table on top of a sticky puddle of whatever was in the cup. Take-away boxes of food were on the sofa, as was Rose’s drawing tablet.

“What the hell?” he asked, his temper spiking.

“James…”

“No, what the actual hell, Rose?” he demanded. “It didn’t occur to you to maybe clean up a bit instead of playing around on your tablet? Of course it didn’t, because you haven’t done any of the cleaning these past few months.”

He gestured to her swollen belly, and ignored the sparks flaring in her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Excuse me?” she asked incredulously.

“Figure you’d just leave it for me when I got home, eh?” He angrily picked up the empty Chinese take-away boxes, barely noticing that they still felt warm. “No need to pick up after yourself when you’ve got a nice little husband to do it for you?”

“James, enough!” Rose snapped. “Whatever pissy mood you’re in, get rid of it right now.”

“You would be yelling at me if I’d left the house in this state for when you got home,” James said bitterly, his temples throbbing with frustration and anger. “But then you’d cry and say you’re sorry and blame the hormones. And I’d forgive it, like always.”

“Well, then what’s your excuse for going off on me?” Rose demanded, following him into the kitchen, holding Ainsley’s sticky cup.

“Long day at work,” he grumbled, chucking the Chinese boxes in the trash.

“I had to work today, too,” Rose said coolly.

“Yeah, coloring,” James scoffed.

As soon as the words were out, he wished he could take them back.

Rose sucked in a sharp breath, and James’s stomach coiled uncomfortably when he saw her tears.

“You absolute arsehole,” she said quietly, glaring at him through her tears. “I don’t suppose you want to hear about my fucking awful day, do you? Did you even notice that Ainsley isn’t running around? She’s sleeping in our bed, and it’s a full hour before her bedtime. D’you want to know why? She caught some sort of stomach bug at the daycare. I had to leave work early and pick her up. I’ve been puked on twice today. She threw a tantrum when she threw up all over her toys, and then she decided throwing vomit-covered toys across the living room was a brilliant idea!”

Shame and guilt welled up in James.

“Rose, I—”

“No, I’m not finished!” Rose said hotly. “You don’t get sole ownership of having a shitty day, James. And I didn’t leave this mess for you to clean up, by the way. Ainsley went to sleep about forty-five minutes ago. I was so bloody exhausted from trying to take care of her and clean up the immediate mess she’d made, and I was starving so I ordered myself Chinese before I cleaned up the rest of the mess in the living room. I just finished eating when you got home and started storming around the place and yelling at me!”

“Rose, I—”

“And where the hell do you get off on belittling what I do for a living?” Rose demanded, her voice cracking as the first tear fell. “You’ve been the one person I could always count on for support about my art. And now you’re calling it ‘coloring’? Is that what you really think of it?”

“No, Rose, of course not,” James said urgently.

“How am I supposed to believe that?” She drew in a deep breath, then wiped at her eyes. “You can piss off tonight, James. I’m going to bed. I ordered Chinese for you, too, if you want it. I put it in the microwave.”

“Rose, please,” he begged, feeling sick to his stomach. “I’m so sorry, love.”

“Yeah,” she said. “G’night, James.”

“Let me come in and see Ainsley? Please?” he said, stepping towards her as she left the kitchen.

“James, you don’t need permission to see our daughter,” Rose said. James followed her to their bedroom, and Rose gestured to the bed, where Ainsley was fast asleep, despite their raised voices. “Try not to wake her up.”

James nodded and walked up to his side of the bed, where Ainsley was curled up. She looked feverish and sweaty, and his heart broke for his little girl. And for Rose. God, he was such a twat.

He pressed his lips to Ainsley’s forehead, wincing at how hot she felt.

“Love you, darling,” he whispered. “Sorry you’re unwell.”

He stood and saw Rose pulling on her pajamas.

“I really am sorry, Rose,” he murmured.

“I know.” She sniffled and turned towards him. His heart shattered at the sight of tears streaming silently down her cheeks. He took a step towards her, but she shook her head and backed away. “Please just leave me alone tonight, James. I’m still angry with you, and I want to be left alone.”

James nodded morosely. “Right. I’ll be on the sofa. Come get me if you need me.”

James walked out of the bedroom, and pulled the door halfway shut behind him. He tugged at his hair as he walked back into the living room. The mess that greeted him made his guilt swell up inside him again, and he hated himself for everything he’d said.

He walked into the kitchen and filled the kettle for tea. As he waited for it to heat, he opened the microwave and saw two boxes of Chinese take-away waiting for him. He sighed and put them in the fridge for later.

When the kettle beeped, James made himself a cup of tea and meandered back into the living room, intent on making it up to Rose.

He pulled the bin of toys from the corner of the room and began clearing up, but when he found a few toys that were sticky and some that still had drops of vomit on them, he went to the kitchen and grabbed disinfectant wipes and returned.

For over an hour, he sat in the middle of the living room and meticulously cleaned all of Ainsley’s toys. He stood and saw Rose’s drawing tablet on the couch, and he realized it was her work tablet. His heart fell when he realized she had been trying to work from home as she cared for a sick toddler.

She could have called me, James thought defensively. I would’ve come home to help.

But as soon as he thought the words, he knew that Rose had tried to keep his focus on his students. She knew how much stress he was under as he worried that his students were ill-prepared for their final exam, and she had tried to give him uninterrupted time at the university to help his students.

“Fuck,” James grumbled, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes.

He took Rose’s drawing pad and put it in the home office so it wouldn’t get broken or food spilled on it.

When the living room was relatively clean again, James grabbed extra sheets and pillows from the closet and made himself a makeshift bed on the couch, even though he knew he wouldn’t sleep well.

And he was right. James lay awake for hours on the sofa, and any sleep he managed was shallow and interrupted. He awoke at every little sound, wondering if it was Rose or Ainsley, and his dreams were all repeats of the stupid fight he’d picked with Rose. His mind’s eye continued showing him the utter heartbreak and betrayal on Rose’s face when he’d insulted her art. How would she ever forgive him for that?

At half-past four in the morning, he heard little feet pattering down the hall towards him.

“Daddy!”

“Hello, my darling,” James murmured, sitting up to open his arms for his daughter. He scooped her up and held her close, inhaling her scent as he tried to ignore what a rubbish husband and father he felt like. “How are you feeling, Ainsley? How’s your tummy?”

“Tummy hurts,” Ainsley said nuzzling her face into his neck. “Don’t feel good.”

“I know you don’t,” he said, pressing kisses to her forehead. “Why are you up so early? When you’re not feeling well, you should stay in bed and sleep.”

“Woke up,” Ainsley said. “Mummy’s puking.”

“Mummy’s what?” James asked, glancing down the hall.

“Mummy’s puking,” Ainsley repeated, sounding drowsy. “Puking like Ainsley.”

“Shit,” James whispered, then he cringed. “No, darling, you didn’t hear Daddy say that.”

“Shit,” Ainsley parroted with a sleepy grin. “Daddy said shit.”

“I know I did,” he said, standing. “Don’t say that word, Ainsley. It’s a bad word. Only adults can use that word, not little girls.”

James walked down the hallway and to their bedroom. Rose wasn’t in the bed.

He closed the door behind him, then walked forward and set Ainsley on the bed. He tucked the sheets around her.

“Go back to sleep, Ainsley,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead.

He grabbed the empty glass from Rose’s bedside stand and took it into the en suite to fill with water before he walked into the bathroom. Rose was kneeling on the floor with her forearms crossed across the toilet seat, and her head was pillowed against them.

“Hey,” he whispered, dropping to his knees. “You okay?”

“No,” she grunted, not even turning to look at him.

“Looks like you caught the bug Ainsley had,” James mused.

“Really? I didn’t notice,” she said flatly.

James winced.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked.

Rose sighed and admitted, “Help me to bed? I’m so dizzy.”

James nodded, and he crouched beside her to help her stand. He frowned when he saw how pale her face was and how shaky she looked. She was swaying on her feet and her hands were trembling as she gripped his forearms.

“I’m sorry you’re ill, Rose,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “And I’m so sorry about before.”

“We can talk later,” Rose mumbled, leaning heavily against him as they shuffled to the bedroom. “I’m too tired right now.”

“Right, of course,” he said. “You get some rest. I’m going to stay in here to help you and Ainsley as needed, if that’s all right?”

Rose nodded as she crawled into bed beside Ainsley, who had drifted back to sleep.

James carefully scooched Ainsley closer to Rose and then crawled into bed beside her. Ainsley wiggled until she was sideways with her head on his chest and her feet pressed to Rose’s belly. James stroked her hair as he let his eyes close and tried to get more sleep.

He was awoken an hour or so later by frantic movements. He looked over and saw Rose with her hand clapped to her mouth as she struggled to stand. He vaulted out of bed, thankful that Ainsley wasn’t sleeping on him anymore, and he rushed to help Rose up.

“Come on, up we get,” he coaxed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

He heard her start to gag, and he tugged her into the en suite and settled her in front of the sink just in time. James rubbed her back, then pulled away when Rose stood up and rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

He sighed, hating that his family was so ill, and then turned on the faucet to wash down the sick.

That was how most of the day passed for James. He’d emailed his students and told them he wasn’t going to be in the office that day, but that he would hold another review session the following day.

Ainsley, thankfully, was feeling better by late morning. She still said her stomach hurt, but she wasn’t as feverish as she was the night before, and there weren’t any more vomiting spells.

When she was getting too restless to stay in bed, James pressed a parting kiss to Rose’s sweaty temple and took Ainsley out of the bedroom. He made her a bit of toast and oatmeal, and though she didn’t want to eat much, she swallowed down a few bites. James was more pleased that she was drinking, and he decided that fluids were more important than food.

He tried to keep Ainsley entertained as Rose rode out her own illness, but invariably, Ainsley wanted her mother.

“Mummy!” Ainsley cried, running again down the hall for Rose.

“No, darling, Mummy’s sleeping,” he said, having repeated that phrase seemingly a hundred times.

But then the bedroom door opened and Rose stepped out.

“Hi Mummy!” Ainsley said. She hugged her mum’s legs then sprinted off to the living room.

“I’m sorry,” James said with a grimace. “But hell hath no fury like a toddler who wants her mummy.”

Rose snorted. “Yeah. Or her daddy. She was crying for you all of yesterday. I swear, she always wants the parent who isn’t here.”

“Yep.” He glanced at her and saw how pale and exhausted she still looked. “You can go back to bed, love.”

“Nah, I’ll keep you guys company out here,” Rose said, waddling down the hall.

“Really, Rose, I’ve got it covered,” James said. “Ainsley’s about to go down for a nap anyways.”

Rose ignored him and walked to the kitchen for a glass of water, before she entered the living room and sat heavily on the sofa.

“You cleaned,” she noted, glancing around.

“Yeah,” he said guiltily, sitting beside her. “I figured that was part one of making it up to you.”

“That’s a good start,” Rose said, and James was relieved when he saw a hint of a smile cross her lips.

“I am so, so sorry,” James said, turning to face her head-on. “So sorry. You have no idea… I feel like the biggest fuckwit on the planet, Rose. I’m so sorry. There is no excuse for my behavior and what I said other than that I am an absolute arsehole. I should have realized that there was a reason for the state the house was in, and I definitely should have realized something was wrong when Ainsley didn’t come to greet me.

“And I do not think that your job is just coloring, Rose,” he said fiercely, willing her to believe him. “I’ve never thought that. That was awful of me to say and I didn’t mean it. Your art is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and I cherish each new piece you make for me and for our family.”

Rose picked at her cuticles as she whispered, “Your comment really hurt, James.”

His chest ached at how small her voice sounded, and not for the first time, he would give anything to be able to go back in time and stop himself from ever calling her art ‘coloring’.

“I know,” he whispered. He wanted to reach out and touch her and offer her more comfort than his paltry words could give, but he wasn’t sure if his touch would be welcome, so he instead clenched his hands into fists. “I know, and I’m so sorry. You are so wonderful and talented, and I am so, so sorry, Rose.”

“I know,” Rose murmured, covering his hand. “I forgive you.”

James breathed out a grateful sigh, feeling dizzy with relief.

“Just don’t take your bad mood out on me next time,” she said, leveling him with a hard look.

“I won’t,” he vowed. “I swear I won’t.”

She sighed.

“I feel like shit,” Rose mumbled, rubbing her fingers into her eyes. “Everything hurts.”

“I know,” James whispered sympathetically. “Oh. I, ehm, I may have taught Ainsley a new word.”

Rose glanced over at him, smirking.

“Oh?”

“I, ehm, I might’ve said ‘shit’ in front of her,” James admitted with a sheepish grin.

Rose laughed and said, “Oh, don’t worry, I taught her that one a few weeks ago. I’ve been surprised she hasn’t been using it. Most toddlers are delighted when they realize they’re using a bad word.”

“Well, she’s not most toddlers, is she?” James said proudly, looking at their daughter, who had made herself a nest of blankets on the floor and curled up for a nap.

“No, she isn’t,” Rose murmured, leaning against him. “Can I have a cuddle?”

“Oh, Rose.” James turned and enveloped her in his arms. “Of course you can. Always.”

Rose leaned into his embrace and rested her head in the crook of his neck. James buried his nose into her hair and pressed kisses to her head as he wrapped his arms around her. Though she’d asked for the hug, he was taking just as much comfort from it as she was. The knot that had been sitting heavily in his gut since the previous evening finally unclenched, leaving him feeling wrung out and wanting to hold Rose for the foreseeable future.

He rested his hand on her belly, and almost immediately, he felt their daughter moving beneath his palm.

“Everything feel okay with the baby?” James asked softly, rubbing her belly.

“Yep,” Rose murmured, sounding sleepy.

“D’you want to go back to bed?”

“No,” she said, but James didn’t believe her at all.

“Why don’t you just lay down,” he suggested, moving to the other end of the couch before urging her to rest her head in his lap. “You don’t have to sleep, just close your eyes and rest.”

“I know that trick,” Rose mumbled, shooting him a grin. “That won’t work on me like it does on Ainsley.”

James laughed and stroked her hair as Rose wiggled around until she found a reasonably comfortable position. As he ran his fingers through the silky strands of her hair, he heard her breathing even out before she started snoring softly.

His eyes began to droop in exhaustion. He’d slept about as well as Rose did. Content to join his family in a nap, he slowly reclined his seat back, but he’d barely closed his eyes before he felt a gentle tapping against his thigh.

He opened his eyes and saw Ainsley staring bleary-eyed at him.

“Sleep with you?” she asked, lifting her arms towards him. “Mummy’s napping.”

“Yeah, she is,” James whispered, carefully pulling Ainsley into his lap. “You should be napping, too.”

She didn’t say anything in response, but she wriggled around on his lap until she’d found a comfortable position. She’d tucked her body into the nearly non-existent space between his body and the armrest of the sofa, and she leaned her head back onto his chest.

“Comfy?” he asked, but she’d already fallen asleep.

oOoOo

“Ainsley, hold my jeans,” Rose said as she reached over to grab the cookies she’d brought.

A little hand grabbed onto her trousers, and once Rose had the plate of desserts in her hand, she reached down and took Ainsley’s hand and began walking through the car park.

“Where’s Daddy?” Ainsley asked, looking around as though James was hiding in the bushes.

“He’s inside,” Rose replied. “Let’s go say hi.”

“Let’s say hi,” Ainsley repeated, trotting beside Rose as they walked into the chemistry building.

They made a pitstop in the main office and said hello to the secretaries and professors who were milling around in the faculty lounge. Rose left a plate of cookies in the office for them before she and Ainsley made their way to the sixth floor and to the physics lab, where James was holding one last review session before his students’ final exam the following day.

“Daddy!” Ainsley shouted when they finally saw him.

Rose smiled when James wheeled around wildly and spotted them. A beaming grin crossed his face, and he beckoned them into the room.

“I hope we’re not interrupting,” Rose apologized, seeing the still-full classroom. “You said you’d be done by lunchtime.”

“Oh, not at all,” James said. “We were just wrapping up. Class, this is my lovely wife, Rose, and our daughter, Ainsley. Ooh, what have you got there?”

“Daddy! Daddy, hi!”

Ainsley pulled her hand away from Rose’s to sprint up to her father. James crouched and hauled her into his arms.

“Hello, my Ainsley!” he exclaimed, hugging her tight. “What are you and Mummy doing here?”

“Made cookies!” she said happily, glancing back at Rose.

“You made cookies?” James said as Rose set the treats at the front of the room.

“I figured you all could do with a bit of homemade sugar before your exam,” Rose said, addressing the class, who were already swarming towards the cookies.

Rose wandered over to where James was still chatting with Ainsley, who appeared to be recounting their baking adventures.

“Uh huh,” James said, nodding seriously. “I’ll bet you’re the best cookie maker ever.”

“Yeah,” Ainsley said, looking proud of herself. “Mummy helped.”

“I’m sure Mummy did,” James said. “Shall we sample a bit of the cookies you and Mummy made?”

“Oh, she’s already sampled plenty,” Rose said.

“Well…” James drawled, torn between Ainsley’s pouting face and Rose’s stern expression. “Surely she can steal a bite or two from Daddy’s?”

James snuck between his students to grab a cookie for himself and Rose. His students all turned to Ainsley and smiled and waved, but she buried her face in James’s shoulder and clung tighter to him.

“It’s all right, darling,” James soothed, walking back to where Rose was leaning up against a table.

“I thought we could go out to lunch?” Rose asked, taking the cookie he handed to her. “If you’re not busy.”

“Not at all busy,” James said, holding out his hand for hers. “I’ve always got time for lunch with my three favorite girls.”

The following evening, James came home laden down with the finished exams, and he shut himself in the home office to grade them. Rose let him be for the most part, except to call him to dinner and then to kiss Ainsley goodnight. Shortly before Rose was about to head to bed herself, he burst out of the office with a wide grin on his face.

“They passed!” He swept up to her and pressed a sloppy, enthusiastic kiss to her lips. “Rose, they all passed! Every single one of them! Ha!”

Rose wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed little kisses to his neck, her heart bursting with happiness and relief for her husband. The last few weeks had been harder than they’d planned, but now James was free from work until the autumn semester began, and with that cheerful thought, Rose grew excited for the upcoming holiday and anniversary celebrations.

#ficandchips #dwfic #doctor who #ten x rose #soulmates au #wherein james and rose begin preparing for the holidays #but tension and stress is high for the both of them #my fic #perfectly matched series #kid fic #pregnancy

36 notes · View notes