#penny mann

[huffle-dork]

Septictober Week 3/Day 28: Carving Pumpkins

I’ve been missing the Manns!! So I had to draw them carving pumpkins together! They’re so cute I love them so much!!

[huffle-dork]

A redraw of this piece for Jackie’s Septicart week! God I love my tired dad so much HGHBB

[huffle-dork]

A SwapBoys’ Christmas

(Merry Christmas from the Manns and the Brody Bros! I wish I had time to write the others but Christmas is almost over! And these guys were easier to write tbh merry Christmas if you celebrate or otherwise happy holidays!)

SwapBoys Masterpost

It was a bright day at the Mann household as the children excitedly opened their presents. Their parents watched with warm smiles, Jackie holding Zara’s hand while she laid her head on his shoulder.

Ollie laughed as he zoomed around the room with his new Bro Fantastic figure- going up to the Christmas tree to try to fight the ornaments. He even made the punching sounds- but he was careful to only touch the plastic ones.

Penny laughed and clapped as she played with her new set of tiny dolls, ohhing at the colors and then knocking them into each other. It was great fun!

Kelsie squealed as she opened a new cat backpack she’d been wanting and was ready to show it off. But then her face fell as she looked around the room.

Jackie knit his eyebrows together, “what’s the matter sunshine?” The father asked.

“Where’s Uncle Chase and Alt?” She asked back, looking at her parents. “Uncle Chase always comes over for Christmas to see our presents!”

“Oh yeah! I gotta show uncle bro my new action figure!!” Ollie added with excitement.

“And I wanted to see Alt…” Kelsie sighed dejectedly.

Jackie sighed with a tight smile then got up to go bend down by his daughter and rub her shoulder.

“Hey Kels… remember how I said this was Alt’s first Christmas in a long time? Well- that means a big Christmas with lots of screaming and loud noises could be… too much you know? And well… I’m sure Uncle Chase would love to be here. But now… he doesn’t have to have Christmas alone anymore…”

Kelsie bites her lip and nods, “okay… I guess that makes sense…” she gripped her kitty backpack to her chest and tried not to pout.

Jackie laughed, “chin up, starfish! They’ll be by later with all your other uncles! You can all show off your awesome presents then, okay? But today… they need a little Christmas with just them.”

Kelsie does seem way more excited that she’ll see her favorite uncles soon. She perks up and then hugs her dad, “Okay Daddy! I can’t wait to show them everything! Do you think Alt will bring glitches?”

“I dunno sweetie~ that depends…” Jackie says ominously before he dove to grab the girl and throw her over his shoulder as he spun her around and jumped around with her. “Have you been naughty or nice?”

Kelsie shrieks with joy and laughs, “nice!! I’ve been so nice!!”

“Jackie please be careful!” Zara called but she looked amused.

“I dunnooo little missy-! Can you prove it?” Jackie grins, going to flip Kelsie upside down. “Cuz I could have sworn there was a cookie missing last night from what we made for Santa!”

“Dadddd! That was you! I saw you!” Ollie accused.

Jackie blinked and then gave a long drawn out, “ooooh! Yeah you’re right- thanks for keeping me accountable, Ol~!”

“Daddy’s been naughty! Mama! Take his Christmas presents!” Kelsie shrieks. Zara looks at the pile of Jackie’s presents next to her and gives him a shit-eating grin as she tries to lunge for them.

Jackie grabs Kelsie back up like a football under his arm and charges at his wife, playfully holding her down with Kelsie in the middle. “Ohhh no you don’t!”

The living room filled with laughter and insanity as the Mann’s crazy Christmas continued.

Meanwhile- in a flat a couple blocks down, a quieter more mellow Christmas was taking place.

Chase blew on his cup of coffee and took a sip before he set his cup down on the coffee table. He gave Glitches some pets on her head from where she was curled up on the couch before going to rouse the glitch also sleeping on it.

He lightly shook his shoulder and then threw a jumper at his face.

Alt cried out in surprise and shot up in a flurry of glitches, fumbling blindly for a second before pulling the sweater off. He blinks in confusion up at Chase and then looks a bit grumpy.

“Mornin’! You’re not hungover are you?” Chase asked with a smile.

Alt rolled his eyes and then stretched, “nah- Hen and I didn’t drink too heavily. Thanks for letting me crash here…”

“Alt, you’re welcome anytime…” Chase tried to push again, but Alt waved him off.

“Yeah yeah- I know- just…” He sighed and then looked down at the jumper. “What is this?”

“A Christmas jumper, bro!” Chase grinned. “Got ya one special~!”

It was a black sweater that had a white Christmas sweater design on it- except there was a robot and the words ‘ERROR 404: Christmas Sweater not found.’

Alt rolled his eyes, “ha ha very clever Chase…” He got ready to toss it back, “but I’m not wearing-“

“Ya gotta wear it if you want your other presents~” Chase added smugly.

Alt froze and then gapped at Chase, “what? But I- I couldn’t get you-!”

Chase waves him off and then shoves him towards the bathroom, “no arguing! Now go get changed!”

Alt was in too much shock to argue as he stumbles into the bathroom. He blinks at his reflection and stares for a second. He then sighs and pulls off his shirt from last night and pulls on the jumper. It’s soft… and it really does fit him. He smiles a bit. Then- he looks at his mask. He touches it thoughtfully and then, he slowly takes it off and shoves it in his pocket.

…he doesn’t need it today.

Alt then quietly slinks out of the bathroom and into the living room, feeling more exposed than normal. Which makes his cheeks and ears tint red.

Chase looks up and blinks a bit in surprise at seeing Alt’s neck. But he quickly shakes it off and smiles. “Looking good, baby bro!”

Alt flushes brighter red. “Shut up…”

He flops down onto the couch and crosses his arms. Chase goes to grab a pretty big box out from under the tree and sets it down in front of Alt on the coffee table. Alt looks at it with wide eyes as he glitches to the edge of his seat and looks at Chase with an expression close to guilt.

“C-Chase… i can’t- I couldn’t possibly…!”

“Alt please.” Chase interrupts, “just- open this one. I didn’t have a lot of money this year anyways but… I just had to get my brother a proper Christmas present… especially after we just got you back.”

Alt looks away and guiltily rubs his arm. He was still mentally healing from being Impulse. He still felt horrible for everything he did. That’s why… Chase has offered time and time again to let Alt stay here permanently. But he couldn’t bring himself to… he felt he had way too much to atone for.

But, if Chase really wanted this then… he sighs and goes to unwrap the box. It’s huge! And wrapped in a shiny green blue wrapping paper. Alt tears through the paper and goes to open the box and inside there’s…

It’s a giant comforter, black with green numbers on it. No- not just any numbers… It was binary. Alt opened the box more to find a pillow case too- and he recognized the string of letters in brighter green. It just said ‘pillow’. He chuckled a bit and felt the warm sting of unshed tears in his eyes. But, Alt tried his best to hide it as he looks back at Chase.

“…thanks, Chase. I… I love it- really.”

Chase smiled over his cup of coffee and then got up, gently grabbing his brother by the arm.

“There’s just a tiny bit more~!”

“What!? Chase-!” Alt tries to protest, but Chase dragged Alt down the small hallway next to the living room. He finally goes to open the door to a room that Alt really hadn’t noticed before.

Inside, is a simple bedroom with a bed pushed against the back wall, a closet, a small dresser and a small tv on top of it.

Alt blinks in confusion and looks over at Chase. The older brother looks down at him sheepishly and rubs the back of his head.

“It’s not much… used to be for like… exercise equipment and shit I didn’t know where to put… and I’m not trying to sway you one way or the other cuz clearly you need more time! But… the covers are for this bed… so… if you stay over you can at least sleep in a bed now…”

Alt feels tears in his eyes again but this time he can’t keep them back. He looks away as they start to drip down his face.

He did all of this… just for him. Despite everything- he wants Alt in his life again. So much that he’s moved his life around and made space for him… even if he doesn’t use it.

Alt suddenly turns and glitches to tackle Chase in a hug. Chase startles slightly but very quickly hugs Alt back with a small chuckle. Alt’s shoulders shake as he wets his older brother’s sweater with his tear streaked face.

After a few minutes, Alt finally croaks out.

“…okay.”

“…okay? …okay what?” Chase asks with a tilt of his head.

Alt finally let’s go of Chase and smiles timidly at him. “…I’ll move in.”

Chase’s eyes light up, his entire face soon following as he laughs joyously and goes to scoop Alt up in a huge bear hug. “Yes! Oh my god- yes! Alt!! I’m… im so happy!”

Alt laughs and lets his brother bounce him around for a few more seconds before he finally lets him go.

“…Merry Christmas, Chase.”

Chase smiled and wrapped an arm around Alt’s shoulder as they headed back towards the living room.

“Merry Christmas, Anti…”

Alt smiled, feeling warmth fill his whole body. He… he had a home again.

[huffle-dork]

Fluffy Follow-Up to the last Swap Boys Request! 

Predictably, the group headed straight to the hospital. Jackie was obviously overdosed. Chase remembers everything in a dizzying blur. He remembers crying when the nurses took Jackie away, wheeling Chase away in the opposite direction. The others had to calm him down, whispering hushed reassurances to the delirious hero. Then, he remembers being put under, so the doctors could help get the drugs out of his system. 

It was interesting- having to go to the hospital. Chase’s body healed much quicker than anyone could guess- which is probably why he could remember the last bit of their encounter while the beginning was a confusing blur. The next thing Chase knew he was waking up in a soft bed. He sighed blissfully to himself- trying to ignore the dull aches and pains he felt in his wrists and legs. He distantly remembers the panic he had before- how his powers weren’t responding. Jolting up- he tries to feel them, activate them. A rush of warmth surges through his veins, lighting them up in faint blue light as silver blue filled his eyes. Chase laughed in relief, pushing his hair out of his face. He was normal again… he was okay- “Chase!” A sudden voice shouts and suddenly Chase’s center is thrown slightly by arms wrapping around his shoulders. He blinks in confusion, then the comforting smell of fruity shampoo and the sight of blond hair has his heart skipping a beat. 

“...S-Stacy??” Chase asks in a high pitched voice, his cheeks growing flushed. The blond lets go and looks to Chase was a soft but concerned expression. Chase can’t calm down his heart. He was so surprised to see her here- they hadn’t been officially dating that long… did the others tell her about his powers?? About who he was? He… He wasn’t ready to tell her yet- he didn’t want to scare her off! Trying to push past this new panic he swallows then asks softly, “What… What are you doing here…?” Stacy laughed lightly and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “Mrs. Mann had to tell me some things once she left to help…. Then, the kids wanted to stay at the hospital until they could see Jackie. They’re with their mom right now... “ She looks down and fidgets with her fingers then looks back up to Chase. She hesitates then brushes light fingers against Chase’s cheek- making the hero blush even more. “...and- I was worried about you, dummy.” Chase sputters slightly, not knowing what to say. Stacy laughs at the noises he’s making then reaches up to kiss his cheek. “I’m glad you’re okay... “ Chase hesitates then leans his head against hers and chuckles lightly, going to take her hand. “... and I’m glad you’re here-” There was a choked (but obviously faked) sound of disgust from the door way. ALt was leaning against the frame and Chase glared at his little brother slightly. Alt grinned back, then nudged his head back towards the hallway. “If you two are done- Jackie is awake.” ---- There’s a distant hum that fills Jackie’s ears as he slowly opens his eyes. His vision is filed with white- and with how often he’s here… he knows exactly where he is. Jackie makes a quiet snort of a laugh then groans slightly as he moves his head to take in the room. His head feels like its filled with molasses. His entire body hurts- aches in a way that’s hard to describe. But- he’s not dead… despite Overdose’s best efforts. ...What exactly happened after she injected him with that needle…? He.. can’t remember a thing… so- how did he get here…? A familiar hand is soon overtaking his vision and cradling his cheek, helping to move his sight towards the other side of the room. “Something catching your eye, love?” Zara’s smooth voice chuckles lightly. Jackie meets her eyes and smiles dazedly, slowly bringing a hand to cup her own and rub it lightly. “Now? I only have eyes for you, my dear…” He sighs. Zara laughs then pushes his cheek away playfully. “Ew- don’t be so doughy in front of the kids!” Jackie blinks in surprise, “The kids??” Something heavy slams into his legs on the bed, causing Jackie to oof out loud and wince. Zara is quick to get up and scoop up the offender in her arms, helping to drag her to her side and keep her off the healing father. “Kelsie! Careful honey- Daddy is still recovering.” His daughter blushes bashfully up at her mother, “Sorry Mama- I just got excited when I heard his voice!” She then leans on the bed in front of Jackie and grins big, “Hi Daddy!” Jackie’s expression melts seeing his bright cheerful daughter. He smiles warmly, “Hi Sunshine…” Something nudges Kelsie back and she huffs slightly and almost pushes them away but Zara holds her back. Kelsie pouts. But, a brunette head of messy hair peeks up over the bed, his glasses slightly skewed. “Hi Daddy!” Ollie whispers, like you would in a library or museum, “I’m glad you’re not feeling sick anymore!” The father reaches out a hand to ruffle his son’s hair, “Me too Kiddo-” He grins. Ollie shuffles slightly then puts a piece of paper on the bed. Jackie scoops it up and looks at it as Ollie tells him, “I made you something! To help you feel better faster-” It’s a crayon drawing with a red figure laying in bed, a stick hanging out of his mouth. At his side is an orange glad figure with green hair and a hat, a woman with black hair in purple, two kids one pink the other blue, a man in yellow with round glasses, a teal man in a suit, and a woman with blond hair. Zara smiles and brushes back Ollie’s bangs as the boy bounces excitedly. “It’s all the people that came to see you! Like Stacy- and Uncle Henny and JJ! And Bro- I mean Uncle Chase! because I know he would come you if he wasn’t sick too-”

“Ollie, that’s scary dude- how did you know?” A light voice jokes from the doorway. Chase grins at the room, Alt right behind him and Stacy helping Chase to stand up. Kelsie squeals and rushes up to Chase before Zara can stop her. She barrels into Chase’s leg and Alt has to help keep the hero up. But, Chase just laughs and bends down to hug Kelsie. “Hi Kelsers!” “I’m so happy you’re awake too Uncle Chase!” Kelsie beams up at him. Chase grins then pats his chest. “You think a little kidnapping is gonna keep your brave, strong Uncle Chase? As if!” Alt rolls his eyes and Stacy giggles. Kelsie laughs too then grabs his hand- leading into the room towards Jackie’s bed. “Daddy’s awake too!!” “I heard!” Chase answers back excitedly, using his kid voice, making Jackie and Zara smile. Chase was so good with the kids- and he was their favorite person (and not just cuz he was a superhero- but that helped). 

Jackie huffs out a tired laugh and looks up to Chase with a tired smile. “Hey Chaser…” Chase smiles back, hiding his exhaustion behind it, “Hi Jackieboy. You hanging in there?” “Define hanging in there-” Jackie mumbles, “Is- I just woke up and I don’t know what is happening but I’m just happy to see everyone I love good enough?” The adults all look at each other then Chase laughs, “That’s more than enough, dude.” “Hullo mein friends!!” A new voice joins the fray from the door frame, Henny waving wildly as he walks in exaggeratedly. Jameson is right behind him, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and bouncing a sleepy Penny in the other, watching the gentleman with a muted smile of amusement.  Now is Ollie’s turn to go greet the new quests- with Henny lifting the boy up and spinning him around- causing Oliver to giggle wildly. Jameson goes to hand Alt some coffee as the two stand back and watch the chaos. Jackie can’t help but laugh, feeling warm and safe now- despite everything. Zara sits down next to him on the bed and goes to interlace her fingers with his. Jackie squeezes his wife’s hand and sighs contently. He lets the sounds of laughter and love fill the room and his head, pushing away all worry from their awful ordeal.

Kelsie bounces around, holding onto Chase’s hand and giving him bright excited eyes. “What happened to you and Uncle Chase, Daddy?! Did a bad guy come get you?” “Kelsie…” Zara says in a warning tone. Jackie pats his wife’s hand lovingly and then nudges his head to Chase. He knows what is gonna happen- Chase grins and bends down to Kelsie’s level, scooping her up and then spreading out his arm like he’s about to tell a grand story on stage. “A bad guy like you wouldn’t believe Kels! There me and your dad were…” 

[huffle-dork]

Hi~~! I’m starting a little series of swapboys cuddles!! First up is the Mann family :D

[huffle-dork]

Perfect Valentine’s (SwapBoys AU)

(Gasp could it be? A fresh swap boys story?? It is indeed my friends! I was inspired by the love day and I’m only slightly late! I will be working on the swap boys prompts this weekend hopefully so keep your eyes peeled for those! God I missed these kids- enjoy the fluffy goodness!)

“You sure you don’t want to take the kids out tonight, Jackie?” Chase said through the receiver that sat between Jackie’s neck and shoulder as the father dashed around the kitchen ,grabbing ingredients. “I can pull a couple strings no problem and get them into like anywhere fun! Any restaurant you want-”

“Chase, really, it’s fine,” Jackie laughed, as he held the mixing bowl against his stomach and leaned against the counter. He checked on Penny’s playpen in the corner and smiled to see the toddler babbling and laughing as she threw her toys against the net. “We don’t need a special night or anything…”

“I just…” Chase stammered on the other end, “It’s Valentine’s dude! I figured… You’d be missing her…”

There was a beat of silence as Jackie stopped his stirring and frowned slightly, his heart hurting. He saw his wife’s face in his head and tried to stop the pang in his chest.

“-I just thought like, a distraction might be good. Something to keep the kids busy maybe… I dunno i just want you to be okay today, bro,” Chase continued. Jackie slowly gave a careful sigh before forcing a smile back on his face.

“I appreciate it bro but… I think I'll be okay. I’d rather just hang with the kids one on one tonight.” Jackie pushed himself off the counter and started to work on his cooking again, walking around the kitchen. “Besides! I got this whole cute little valentine theme dinner planned! I think the kids will love it.”

Chase didn’t really sound too convinced on the other line but he eventually replied, “Well, if you say so man. Just, let us know if you need anything okay?”

Jackie laughed, “I will dude. You enjoy your night.” He finally set down his bowl to end the call before looking back down at his dinner prep. He really had to get cracking if he wanted to get this set up by the time the kids got home from school!

The time flew by and soon the door was bursting open with the choruses of “DADDDYY!!!” Jackie is quick to turn around and open his arms just in time to be tackled to the ground by two tiny whirlwinds. The father laughed as he caught his breath his daughter on his chest, excitedly babbling about her day at school, while Ollie dug around in his backpack, waiting patiently for his turn.

“Daddy! I had the BEST DAY today! I got sooo much candy! And cards, and flowers! And everybody liked my outfit! And there was hearts and cookies everywhere!!” Kelsie’s eyes were practically sparkling as she spoke and Jackie’s heart swelled as he held his baby girl up his arms (God.. she was getting heavy…).

“Oh yeah? That sounds amazing Kels-bells!”

He gave the girl and quick peck on the cheek, earning a giggle from her before he turned down to the bespeckled boy next to him. “And how was school for you, Ollie?”

Oliver held a couple pieces of paper in his hands and shuffled them a bit self conscious before he looked up and smiled. He held out a piece of paper to Jackie before speaking. “We made cards today. This one’s for you and Kels and Penny, Daddy!”

The little white card had a drawing of red stick figure with big blue eyes like a super hero mask and wild green hair next to small girl in a blue dress and round scribbles for hair, like Kelsie’s braids. A tiny pink stick figure sat on the ground next to Kelsie, for Penny, with bright brown hair and purple eyes. A blue stick figure stood next to the Jackie one, with round glasses, blue eyes, brown hair and a big smile. In messy crooked writing it said “ I Love my Familee! Happe Valintines day!” Then Ollie’s name sprawled at the bottom.

Jackie’s heart melted. He reached over and ruffled Ollie’s hair affectionately.

“I didn’t know you could make masterpieces in Kindergarten!” Jackie gasped and Ollie blushed, giggling into his jacket sleeve. Then he fiddled with one other paper in his hands before looking back up to Jackie. He paused before revealing it.

This one had the same 4 stick figures on the other card all in a group. But they seemed to be surrounding a 5th one in a hug. The 5th stick figure was drawn in purple, with a black ponytail and a kind smile. The words on this card were, “We love you, Mommy. Happe Valintines, Love Ollie!”

Jackie swallowed a small lump in his throat and blinked some wetness out of his eyes before looking back down at Ollie. The boy played with his sleeves before shyly looking up at Jackie.

“I made one for Mommy too… I know she’s not here right now but… Could we send it to her so she knows we love her too?” He asked in a small voice. Jackie had to blink several more times to keep his eyes from misty over. He forced another smile on his face.

“Of course Ol… It’ll be a little late but I’ll send it first thing tomorrow. I’m sure she’ll love it.” Oliver’s face brightened up. Kelsie then excitedly jumped up. “Oh oh! I wanna make one too!” She almost started to run to her room before Jackie caught her and held her in place.

“Not so fast,” He laughed, “You can do that later. First~ I made a special dinner tonight!”

The kids gasped in excitement and Jackie beamed, steering them down to the dining room. Penny was already set up in her high chair, banging on her tray as she stared at the food. But when she saw her siblings she started babbling excitedly, making grabby hands.

“Keke! Oo!”

“Hi PenPen!” Kelsie greeted, coming over and kissing her little sister on the head before sitting down. She then almost immediately shot out of her seat at the sight of dinner as she gasped, “Woah! Chicken nuggets!! Grilled Cheese- AND mac and cheese?!”

Ollie leaned over the table to peek, “That’s so much cheese!” He said in surprise.

Jackie laughed and helped Ollie into his chair, before addressing Kelsie, “It’s not just any chicken nuggets and grilled cheese though! I made it all myself!”

Kelsie gasped cartoonishly again as she practically stood on top of her chair, “They’re all heart shaped!”

“Kelsie sit down all the way you’re gonna hurt yourself-” Jackie scolded, before he laughed, “Yes, yes they are!” He smiled and sat down with his kids, “Happy Valentine’s day.”

His kids beamed at him and he grabbed the dishes, “Alright, who’s hungry?” The kids cheered and started chattering to try to get the food they wanted and Jackie lectured them goodnaturedly to be patient.

But, then suddenly, there’s was a knock on the door followed by the doorbell. Jackie blinked in confusion and excused himself to go to the door. But he was surprised to see it was already opening? Hadn’t he locked it like he always had?

Slowly, the door opened and a silky head of black hair peeked through followed by two bright purple eyes. She looked slightly surprised to see Jackie just standing there staring at her.

“Uh, Surprise?” Zara said with a shy grin.

Jackie was at a loss for words. How… How long has it been…? He hadn’t seen her in person in… so long. It was like she stole the breath right out of his lungs.

“Zara,” Jackie breathed softly, eyes blown wide. Zara blinked at him in bewilderment but soon Jackie was closing the gap between them, shoving the door completely out of the way and pulling Zara into his arms. She gave a small squeak, stumbling slightly, as her arms were filled with gifts. “Jackie, oh my god, careful, my arms are full! Can’t you let me get through the door first-?”

But her protests fell on deaf ears as Jackie pushed her bangs out of her face and pressed his lips against her, pulling her body right against his. Zara immediately pressed back, giggling slightly against his lips before she dropped her cargo and wrapped her arms around his neck. They kissed for a good long second, lost in each other until Jackie pulled back with a long drawn out sigh. His eyes then sparked mischievously as he locked eyes with Zara and he quickly scooped up his wife in his arms, causing her to scream out in surprise, holding on tighter around his neck. He quickly spun her around, peppering her face with kisses. Zara pressed her face into his shoulder and shrieked with laughter, her face turning red, “J-Jackie!” Jackie laughed too, his heart soaring.

The laughter alerted the kids, who shot out of the kitchen and soon barrelled into the front room.

Ollie gasped and Kelsie gave out a girlish scream of delight before the two kids came running, smashing into the legs of Zara right as Jackie set her down.

“MOMMY!!!”

Zara hid her giggles behind her hand before ducking down and opening her arms wide for both her children, who happily obliged, jumping and settling into her arms. She wrapped her arms around them tight and squeezed, rocking back and forth before kissing the back of their heads.

“MMmm! Hello my little guppies!!” Zara breathed, petting Kelsie’s hair and poking Ollie’s nose. “Oh how I missed your faces!”

“We missed you too, Mama!” Kelsie said excitedly, wrapping her mom’s neck up in her arms and leaving a big wet kiss on her cheek.

Ollie nestled himself in her arms and was staring at her like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “I.. I thought you were still on the ocean!” He whispered out and Zara smiled before leaning over and kissing his forehead.

“Well, i talked to the ocean… and said I missed my family a whole bunch. And they said I was doing such a good job at my job that i could take the wholeee weekend to come see you guys!” Zara beamed as the kids gasped with excitement.

“Speaking of which,” The young mother said in the tone of an epic storyteller as she reached behind her, “The ocean… gave me, special gifts to give you two just. For. today!” The kids’ eyes sparkled as Zara reached behind her for her gifts. She pulled into her lap a large pink stuffed seahorse, and a slightly smaller stuffed whale plush with a doofy grin. “Tah-dah!!”

“I want the pink one!!” Kelsie shouted, raising her hand and jumping up and down. Zara smirked and held back a laugh. So she had predicted. Instead, she feigned surprise and looked down at the plush then back at her daughter.

“Wha- how did the ocean know? They said give this one specifically to Kelsie!” She hands the large plush to Kelsie before leaning over and kissing her cheek. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sunshine.” Kelsie giggled then kissed her new friend.

Zara then turned and fixed the fluff of the whale stuffed animal before looking at Oliver. “And for Ollie.. The ocean entrusted the care of this whale.. To you!” She looked down at her son with a soft and playfully serious smile. “Can i trust you to keep him safe?”

Ollie nodded quickly and pounded his chest over his heart, “I promise!” Zara giggled and gave it to the little boy, kissing his forehead and ruffling his hair. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Ollie Pol.”

Jackie soon came back with the last member of the family, who was fussing slightly in his arms. “I think someone’s cranky she got left in her highchair and away from the party.

Zara gasped and quickly got to the feet, leaving the others to play with their new toys before taking Penny in her arms, cooing and going in to tickle her littlest daughter, “My shiny Penny!! Oh look how big you’re getting!” Penny giggled and grabbed at Zara’s hair, pulling herself up to pap at her face. “Ma! Mama!!”

“Yes,” Zara almost sighed with relief, nuzzling her nose against Penny’s, “Hello, baby girl.”

Zara had a quiet moment with Penny… for all of two seconds before Kelsie and Ollie started to tug on her dress. They started talking all at once, trying to get her attention.

“Mommy did you see my outfit i wore today and-” “Mama, i-i I got to do something at school-” “DId you know you came just in time to eat-?” “It was fun to color and i think you’ll like it-” “Daddy made a big dinner! It has lots of hearts and cheese-!”

Zara’s head bobbed back and forth trying to keeping up before Jackie came up behind her, putting soft hands on her shoulders.

“Alright, you two. Give her a break. You have all night to talk with her…” He said kindly as he laid his head lightly against hers. She leaned back and smiled.

“So… I heard talk of dinner?” Zara smirked, side glancing Jackie as she rocked Penny in her arms, “Is there enough for me?”

She could feel her husband tense behind her, a nervous, “uhhhh-” prying itself out of his lips.

Lucky for Jackie… Zara always had a backup plan.

But sharing a plate of heart shaped chicken nuggets and grilled cheese with her husband... Listening to her children talk and bicker and catch her up on their adventures...Feeling Jackie’s hand slide into hers as he stared deeply into her eyes, like a lovesick puppy… That was all she wanted.

It was the perfect Valentine’s Day.

[huffle-dork]

I drew a lot today in between stories! Mostly more Illusion and then trying my hand at long haired Marvin (still prefer short tbh) and then a Zarkie family portrait from the last Swap Meet Part!

[huffle-dork]

This thanksgiving break wasn’t as productive as I wanted it to be in terms of writing and drawing but I had a lot of fun with my family! I’m heading back home tomorrow so here’s the only fruits of my labor I can show for the week 😅A family picture of Swap Jackie’s family at the aquarium!!

We got lil Ollie on Jackie’s shoulders and Kelsie holding Zara’s hand and Penny being held up by Zara :) I love them they’re so cute!

Hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of making stuff once I’m back home! I have another little surprise in the making as well ;3

Get hyped y’all ;3c