cowboy boots
(swatheford short #7) happy birthday to my lovely santiago! the most dramatic character ever but i love them for it! here's a snippet of their eighth birthday party! there's a version for cas followed by cass' version. hope y'all enjoy!
Cas
Cas had a pair of red cowboy boots that he simply wouldn’t take off. Javier and Isabela wrote it off as a phase– it wouldn’t last more than a week before he wants to wear his green velcro running shoes. Much to their dismay, it had been nine months since Cas had first slipped on the boots and it had been nine months since he refused to take off. With his birthday rapidly approaching, the frantic parents scrambled for a birthday theme that would make sense with the fashion choice. After multiple trips to party supply stores and nights filled with cutting paper, lungs burning from blowing up hundreds of balloons, and glitter randomly appearing on their arm, Javier and Isabela successfully decorated for a Wild West themed birthday.
The walls were lined with streamers, paper horse decorations were taped on almost every surface imaginable. Cas strutted out, ready to celebrate his special day despite him claiming that the entirety of August was his birthday. He was dressed to impress- clad in denim shorts, a white shirt, and a green bandana loosely tied around his neck. Atop his head, smothering his wavy brown locks, was a cowboy hat that threatened to fall off with every step. On top of the cowboy hat was a paper birthday hat, crumpled from his frantic and reckless movements. He smiled, revealing some missing teeth that had been kindly donated to the tooth fairy. Javier spots his son and waves at him. He steps off the ladder and scoops up the boy, spinning him around and pressing kisses all over his cheeks.
“Howdy, partner!” Javier pulls his best Southern accent which fails miserably, Cas doesn’t seem to mind.
“Howdy, papa! Are my friends coming soon?” Javier sets down his son. Once Cas reaches the wooden floor he begins to jump up and down, energetic as always. Javier nods, scratching his beard.
“They should be arriving any moment now. Did you clean your room?” “Yes!”
Javier doesn’t buy it for a second. He looks down at the eight year old, with the tried and true “dad look.” Cas sheepishly heads back to his room, redhanded.
An hour later, the party is in full swing. Children run around in the backyard, enthralled in a riveting game of tag. Isabela watches by the patio, catching up with the other parents before the cry of a child disrupts her. She heads inside to find the twins, Ana and Sebastian, stuck in their playpen. She takes Ana into her arms, soothing her while Cas’ abuela consoles Sebastian. The infants are sobbing their hearts out and she knows that only one person would put them in there. Both of them share a knowing look before going outside.
“Cas,” Isabela says sternly. He’s running away from his friends, desperate to not get caught. He pauses, frowning. “Mama I’m playing!” “Why did you put your siblings in the playpen?”
“I’m a sheriff!” Isabela sighs.
“That’s not what you’re supposed to do, mijo.”
“I’m sorry-”
“You’re it!” A kid taps Cas’ shoulder and he pouts.
“I can’t be it, it’s my birthday!” He whined and Isabela watches, unfazed at her son’s dramatics.
“Play nice, Castor.”
-
Cas loves a good competition which is why he begged his parents to create a mini-olympics styled relay amongst his friends. After choosing MC as his partner for every game and winning, disappointed friends marked a rule in which Cas wasn’t allowed to choose MC as a teammate for the rest of the day. The last event was a simple sprint. Every child had a stick horse, staying true to the theme, and they lined up on one side of the backyard against the dark wooden fence. Cas stood next to MC, his new rival, and booed them. MC lightly shoved him in response as the kids waited for Javier to blow the whistle. Once the race was in full swing, all of them had their sights set on winning the grand prize- a sheriff badge. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a large distance but to the third graders, it felt as if they were climbing Mount Olympus. In the final stretch, Cas and MC were nearly head to head, both of them too stubborn to give into the other. The finish line was almost in their grasp…
“Tie!”
Both of their jaws dropped before turning to each other, settling the battle once and for all with a trusty game of rock, paper, scissors. Luckily MC knew that Cas always chose rock and reigned victorious.
-
After playing outside, the children were utterly exhausted and in need of some sugar to keep them going. They sat around the dining table which was clad in a plastic cover decorated in cow print as Cas poked holes into the material. Javier carefully set the tray of tres leches cake down on the table as the children cheered.
“Where’s abuela’s flan?”
“One at a time, mijo.” Javier pops into the kitchen before emerging with a saucer of flan roughly the size of a cupcake. He sticks a green candle in the center and carefully lights it as everyone begins to sing happy birthday in twelve different keys. It’s not the most pleasant sound but the genuine glee is melodic in itself.
Once everyone started to leave Cas crashed on the couch, utterly exhausted and stuffed from the food. The cowboy hat tipped over his eyes and a brand new pair of red flashy cowboy boots sat by the couch.
-
-
Cass
-
-
Cass had a pair of red cowboy boots that she simply wouldn’t take off. Javier and Isabela wrote it off as a phase– it wouldn’t last more than a week before she wants to wear her green velcro running shoes. Much to their dismay, it had been nine months since Cass had first slipped on the boots and it had been nine months since she refused to take off. With her birthday rapidly approaching, the frantic parents scrambled for a birthday theme that would make sense with the fashion choice. After multiple trips to party supply stores and nights filled with cutting paper, lungs burning from blowing up hundreds of balloons, and glitter randomly appearing on their arm, Javier and Isabela successfully decorated for a Wild West themed birthday.
The walls were lined with streamers, paper horse decorations were taped on almost every surface imaginable. Cass strutted out, ready to celebrate her special day despite her claiming that the entirety of August was her birthday. She was dressed to impress- clad in denim shorts, a white shirt, and a green bandana loosely tied around her neck. Atop her head was a cowboy hat that threatened to fall off with every step. On top of the cowboy hat was a paper birthday hat, crumpled from her frantic and reckless movements. Under all of that, her wavy brown locks were neatly kept in two braids. She smiled, revealing some missing teeth that had been kindly donated to the tooth fairy. Javier spots his daughter and waves at her. He steps off the ladder and scoops up the girl, spinning her around and pressing kisses all over her cheeks.
“Howdy, partner!” Javier pulls his best Southern accent which fails miserably, Cass doesn’t seem to mind.
“Howdy, papa! Are my friends coming soon?” Javier sets down his daughter. Once Cass reaches the wooden floor she begins to jump up and down, energetic as always. Javier nods, scratching his beard.
“They should be arriving any moment now. Did you clean your room?” “Yes!”
Javier doesn’t buy it for a second. He looks down at the eight year old, with the tried and true “dad look.” Cass sheepishly heads back to her room, redhanded.
An hour later, the party is in full swing. Children run around in the backyard, enthralled in a riveting game of tag. Isabela watches by the patio, catching up with the other parents before the cry of a child disrupts her. She heads inside to find the twins, Ana and Sebastian, stuck in their playpen. She takes Ana into her arms, soothing her while Cass’ abuela consoles Sebastian. The infants are sobbing their hearts out and she knows that only one person would put them in there. Both of them share a knowing look before going outside.
“Cass,” Isabela says sternly. She’s running away from her friends, desperate to not get caught. She pauses, frowning. “Mama I’m playing!” “Why did you put your siblings in the playpen?”
“I’m a sheriff!” Isabela sighs.
“That’s not what you’re supposed to do, mija.”
“I’m sorry-”
“You’re it!” A kid taps Cass’ shoulder and she pouts.
“I can’t be it, it’s my birthday!” She whined and Isabela watches, unfazed at her daughter's dramatics.
“Play nice, Cassandra.”
-
Cass loves a good competition which is why she begged her parents to create a mini-olympics styled relay amongst her friends. After choosing MC as her partner for every game and winning, disappointed friends marked a rule in which Cass wasn’t allowed to choose MC as a teammate for the rest of the day.
The last event was a simple sprint. Every child had a stick horse, staying true to the theme, and they lined up on one side of the backyard against the dark wooden fence. Cass stood next to MC, her new rival, and booed them. MC lightly shoved her in response as the kids waited for Javier to blow the whistle. Once the race was in full swing, all of them had their sights set on winning the grand prize- a sheriff badge. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a large distance but to the third graders, it felt as if they were climbing Mount Olympus. In the final stretch, Cass and MC were nearly head to head, both of them too stubborn to give into the other. The finish line was almost in their grasp…
“Tie!”
Both of their jaws dropped before turning to each other, settling the battle once and for all with a trusty game of rock, paper, scissors. Luckily MC knew that Cass always chose rock and reigned victorious.
-
After playing outside, the children were utterly exhausted and in need of some sugar to keep them going. They sat around the dining table which was clad in a plastic cover decorated in cow print as Cass poked holes into the material. Javier carefully set the tray of tres leches cake down on the table as the children cheered.
“Where’s abuela’s flan?”
“One at a time, mija.” Javier pops into the kitchen before emerging with a saucer of flan roughly the size of a cupcake. He sticks a green candle in the center and carefully lights it as everyone begins to sing happy birthday in twelve different keys. It’s not the most pleasant sound but the genuine glee is melodic in itself.
Once everyone started to leave Cass crashed on the couch, utterly exhausted and stuffed from the food. The cowboy hat tipped over her eyes and a brand new pair of red flashy cowboy boots sat by the couch.
-
-
the beginning of santiago's sherrif arc haha. hope y'all enjoyed! :)
