We're a family now

[wrongs]

the "Starting a Family" meme

Nature is no respecter of persons, my friends. Whether it be childhood friends, newlyweds, or one-night stands, a single decision or accident can change everything, and there will be three people instead of just two.

Congratulations! The characters in these threads and those who reply to them are now expecting babies, no matter what their unique situation may be. Of course, depending on the characters, this might go over like a lead balloon. But wait! Even if the decision to have a baby was made and was consensual, the process is no walk in the park. There is lots to do...and only nine months to do it. Nine potentially drama-filled months.

HOW TO PLAY

• Comment with your character, preferences, etc.
• Not all options here are fluffy and happy. Some are potentially angsty or possibly triggering. Tread lightly. Be sure to mention what you want and what you don't want.
• Reply to others.
• For this, male characters can get pregnant because why not.

PROMPTS

• How'd It Happen: What led up to this event? How are you in this situation?


• Realization: There's a wrench in the works...or maybe it was expected, but you're just realizing you're pregnant.


• Positive Reaction: Yes, after all this time and planning! You're finally ready for a family.


• Negative Reaction: Oh, no. This is terrible. You're in no position to take care of a child!


• Freak Outs: But...how? You're a human, she's an alien, how -


• Deciding What to Do: If this wasn't planned, there needs to be a plan of action now.


• Keep it Secret: You're attempting to keep your pregnancy a secret from your partner. This is only a bandaid for the bigger problem.


• Telling Others: The other people in you two's life have to know at some point.


• Drama: No one wanted you to have a kid and the anger is palpable.


• Morning Sickness and More: Everything hurts and the mornings are hell.


• Learning: If you're in a technologically advanced society, you may get to see an ultrasound. Otherwise, there are folk remedies that can be tried.


• Manipulation: One of you is using the prospect of a child to bend the other to their will and make them stay.


• My Body is a Cage: The person carrying the baby is having a decent amount of discomfort, mentally and physically.


• Showing: It's a secret no longer with an expanding stomach.


• Support: The partner who isn't carrying the child should do their best to be there and help out...


• Overprotective: ...but to a degree. Don't act like the partner carrying the child is made of paper.


• Getting Ready: The house or apartment or castle has to be babyproof.


• Heart to Heart: It's time to talk about the big changes before the happen. Where do the two of you stand?


• It's Happening: THE BABY IS COMING.


• Rough Going: Childbirth is still a dangerous affair and there's no smooth sailing for you. So pace if you're lucky, scream in the bed if you're not.


• Bad End: Not all new beginnings last. Sometimes, they become unhappy endings.


• Coming Home: Finally, parents and baby get to settle down.


• Getting Used to This: Well, maybe settle down. There's still crying in the night, feedings to do, diapers to change...

Comments

Sansa Stark || ASOIAF/Game of Thrones

[wintersqueen]

usagi tsukino | bssm 1992 | f/m

[moondusted]

( idk, some kind of future/aged-up AU? otherwise, she's used to future kids popping up in her current timeline. )

Jim Preston | Passengers

[fusionblasted]

Primrose Azelhart | Octopath Traveler | Ota

[bewilderinggrace]

(This will work best after her story line where she returns home to Azelhart mansion. Maybe mix in an arranged marriage or something to restore the Azelhart bloodline or any canonmates tbh. I am up for anything. Also bouncing around ideas.)

Richard Starke | oc | m/f & m/m

[loveisblindness]

[immortalhearted]

Richard had surprised Julian with dinner reservations that night. Nothing too fancy. He hadn't had to put on a suit and tie. Just a nice button up and a pair of slacks. It was something Richard had taken to doing often - surprise romantic dinners or weekend getaways. All new to Julian, but honestly, he didn't mind being spoiled a little by his new boyfriend.

They had a small table to themselves on the balcony overlooking a beautiful fountain below, which Julian loved. He smiled brightly when they were seated, looking down at the blue water illuminated by lights from both above and below.

When their waiter returned with a bottle of wine, however, Julian shook his head and told him, "I'll just have a glass of water, thank you." The man glanced at Richard, but agreed to bring Julian's water out in a moment.

[loveisblindness]

Richard made sure to pick out a table with the best possible view. He knew his boyfriend might like the fountain and lights. If he's honest, he much preferred the view right in front of him.

The waiter came with a bottle of the finest wine, a personal favorite of Richard's. Julian declining the drink had him suspicious and he couldn't help but look at his boyfriend curiously.

"Is everything alright, darling?"

[immortalhearted]

"Everything's fine," he said quietly as he turned his gaze to Richard. Julian wasn't sure how he was going to take this, but he couldn't hide it from him. Even if he was a little uncertain himself.

"I just won't be drinking any alcohol for about eight months, I think."

He wasn't quite sure when he'd conceived, but he knew he wasn't very far along at all.

[loveisblindness]

"Huh? Eight months..?" That's when it hit him and his face lit up immediately. "Does that mean..? Are you?" He could barely finish a sentence with how surprised and happy he was. Julian expected his baby. The best news anyone could ever receive from their lover.

"That's amazing news. When did you find out?"

[immortalhearted]

Even though Julian wasn't confident about being a parent, it was a relief to see the way Richard brightened up at the news. He reached across the table and took his hand, holding it gently in his. Julian even managed a small smile.

"A few days ago. I've been waiting for a good time to tell you."

This wasn't exactly how he'd imagined it, but he wasn't going to lie about why he wasn't drinking.

[loveisblindness]

Richard caressed his lover's hand lovingly, kissing the back of it. He would do everything in his power to assure Julian that he'll be a wonderful parent.

"The baby will grow up surrounded by so much love, darling," he smiled. "And you will be okay. We're both first-timers but I know we'll both be okay."

mary jane watson | into the spiderverse

[misslieness]

getting used to this

[schtick]

( spider senses are helpful. for lots of reasons. one he wasn't expecting? that he can sense it, before even the monitor buzzes to life. it will even pull him out of a dead sleep, and i mean dead. who would have thought that a baby could knock it out of him more than supervillians?

as much as he'd like to stay in bed, or on the couch, wherever they managed to pass out at the time — Peter always gets up. he knows that MJ has to deal with Ben way more than he does, and that she needs the sleep more than he does. oh, it sucks, of course it does, but the way he feels dead tired to his bones seems to fade when the little huffy whimpers that could build into a full blown scream quiet because Ben is just starting to get old enough to recognize them when they hold him.

Peter can't help the dopey smile that crosses his face as he looks down at his son. his. still really hard to wrap his mind around that one. and half of his parenting style is barely restrained panic, but these moments in the quiet of the night (morning? who knows, he didn't check the clock) when it is just the two of them, it thrums to a fairly manageable lingering anxiety, which is about as relaxed as Peter gets. )

You know, you could just give sleeping through the night a shot, kid. Let me tell you, it's great. ( yes, Peter talks to his infant son like he's a full grown human. whoops. ) You fuss up and you are going to wake Mommy and let me tell you, you wouldn't like her when she's angry. Worse than the Hulk. And I would know. ( pretty rude, to drag his beautiful wife when she's not even here to defend herself. not as bad when she's leaning against the doorframe behind him though, right? ) The whole idea was you'd sleep and we'd get boys time, babe. ( his tone makes it clear he's not annoyed, though — pretty much he's never been annoyed to have his wife present. he glances back at her, bedhead and all, and thinks as he does just about every morning, that he's never loved her more. )

[misslieness]

[Spider sense don't have a whole lot on mommy sense it turns out.

Rolling her eyes, she pulls a hair tie off her wrist and starts to pile her hair on top of her head, actually capable of one of those effortless, messy buns that most girls dream of even in the early hours of the morning and with an infant son taking up precious time that she used to dedicate to her beauty routine. So some (half) nights she skips the creams and she could really use a manicure but it's hard to get that and keep a hand on the baby. Maybe when he's older, or when Peter doesn't look like he's going to shit himself at the idea of being left alone with him for an hour.

It was worse. He used to look close to having a full blown panic attack and now he actually looks comfortable holding their son. Maybe in another month, she'll go out for the afternoon and even get a facial.]

Are you sure that he's not hungry? [There's a reason MJ is tying her hair back, because little baby hands like to grab it and not let go when he's getting fed. She doesn't move to steal their baby boy from his arms yet, quite enjoying the picture in front of her. Her boys. Her baby with Peter. It actually happened.] Last I checked, you still have to include me for that.

[schtick]

( that is a fact, mommy senses are nothing to be scoffed at. though, MJ's wife senses are unbearably strong, too. who knows which warning bell went off that pulled her out of bed, but either way it is probably to the benefit of both the boys.

hungry? Peter frowns, overly thoughtful as he bounces the baby and plays with one of Ben's tiny hands until he curls a tiny hand around a finger. the easiest baby problem to identify was a dirty diaper, and granted looking down his shorts is an easy tell, Peter can identify that just fine. hungry is harder, though usually it comes with little hiccups and more pronounced crying. the fact the fussing has more or less stopped now that Ben has attention... )

Pretty sure your son was just being needy. ( he pauses, considering that statement. ) No, probably takes that from me. ( MJ is the strong and independent one, Peter is the ball of nerves that pretends to not need calming balance in his life but desperately does. hopefully Benjamin only took on a bit of his neurosis or he already feels bad for the kid. ) Though if boob is on the table, I doubt he'd protest.

( another way he takes after Peter... unless MJ's into that, no judgment here! )

[misslieness]

[More often then not, whenever Ben wakes up from sleeping, he's hungry. But he's getting to the age where he's spending more and more time awake and not just waiting for his milk coma. Maybe Peter's right and he just wanted attention at two o'clock in the morning.]

Like father, like son.

[In more ways that one and not in just the bad ways. Yes, Peter is the more neurotic of them and he is also a boob fiend but she thinks their son looks more like him than he does like her. Definitely got the hair and his chin.]

Want me to go back to bed then? Leave you boys alone.

[schtick]

( Ben honestly does take after him, plenty. Before he was born, Peter had plenty of jokes about the horrific high school experience the kid was bound to have as a potential nerd with red hair. Ben Parker's first pointed defiance was when he came home brunette. he has his mother's eyes, though, and perhaps her connection to people. Peter certainly doesn't have ounces of social grace to spare to his son, and even though he's not old enough to hold up his own head Ben is a schmoozer through and through.

case in point, the goopy toothless smile he gives both of them, for no reason at all besides pointing out what suckers they were for waking from a dead sleep at his whim. this kid was going to ruin them, honestly. )

No, might as well stay. I think one of us would probably burst into tears if you left. ( he means the baby, but, Peter himself has admittedly cried in exhaustion trying to calm the little squidlet when he'd had a fever and nothing seemed to soothe him but putting him down to cry was worse than holding him. those had been the worst three days of their combined lives, Peter thinks. god help him, this kid is going to get sick hundreds of times in his lifetime. he can only hope they'll get easier from the first. )

[misslieness]

[MJ tsks and shakes her head, stepping into the room to tickle her baby's foot for the sole purpose of doing it. He's not crying for the boob, so it's one of the good moments of having a kid and if anyone told her twenty five years ago that she'd be absolutely wrecked by her kid giggling at her, she would've laughed herself silly. Now she willingly gets up in the middle of the night for the little nugget just to give him attention when he demanded it.]

Well, we can't have you crying in front of the baby so soon. He should be older when he learns to start judging you.

[Satisfied with the cute baby giggle she got for her efforts, Mary Jane skates her fingers along her husband's side, maybe hoping for the same response. Maybe a little bit of it is just to touch him too, ground him, reassure him that he's doing a great job.]

At least five, if you can manage to make it that long.

jon snow | got | ota

[snownotstark]

[burgeons]

[ In truth, they were fortunate this hadn't happened sooner, that it hadn't happened after so many reckless fumblings in the dead of night (and a few secret rendezvous during the day). It would have been disastrous then, while a war was waging and they were unwed, most completely aware of the growing affection between them.

Now, they are wed, King and Queen in the North, ruling side-by-side as equals. Some might even say the Seven blessed them with keeping her from falling with child before that. Sansa, however, has plenty of unkind things to say about the Seven now that she's no longer a foolish, hopeful child but a woman grown. A woman with a life growing inside of her according to Septa Alina, a kind and happy woman who is nothing like the Septa Mordane who helped to mold her. She'd been patient enough to endure Sansa's silent astonishment and then her fearful tears, promising not to make mention of either ever again.

As she sat in her chambers by the fire, her gaze is fixated on the flames as they dance in the hearth, her hands wringing in her lap. She'd abandoned her review of the numbers and the status of their food stores, too distracted to pay them too much mind. Jon would find her eventually, she knew that much and she wondered if he would be as uncertain and fearful as she'd been when she tells him. Or would he feel what she feels now as she sits there, distracted? A feeling that comes so rarely to her now, a feeling that had been beaten, manipulated and raped out of her for so long.

Would he feel the fragile, hopeful joy that curls around her heart now? ]

[snownotstark]

[It's still odd to him now, after many moons that his childhood fantasies came true. Winterfell is his, though he continues to insist that it belongs to Sansa first but she treats him as an equal, a Stark like her who has just as much right to be there as she does. For a bastard boy who never quite belonged and was never let to forget it, and scolded even for his games with Robb, it doesn't come naturally to him. Leadership never has, people tell him he's great and they pledge their loyalties to him, lay down their lives when he asks it and he is only doing what is right. It's not any more special than that and while WInterfell may be his home, has always been what he thought of when he pictured home, whenever someone addresses him as 'my lord' he almost looks around to see who else is there.

He may have dreamed of being declared a Stark but he definitely never thought to marry a woman like Sansa, much less Sansa herself. It was probably as much of a surprise that Sansa let him touch her, join her in her bed, love him in return after the things she'd been through. Jon would have been perfectly content if she'd never been ready for it, had never wanted anything except to hold his hand and fall asleep with their clothes on. He'd been prepared for a lifetime of celibacy once, and it wouldn't have been that bad to spend the rest of their lives like that, so long as he knew she was happy and safe.

That is also to say that he's not at all upset with or complaining about their sex life, how sweet it is to hold her and how she makes those breathy noises when he puts his mouth on her. Children hasn't really been on his mind, though people ask him from time to time if the Queen is expecting and he usually stops those conversations with a cold look. Jon imagines the gods will bless them with a child if they want, though he's never known the gods to be especially kind to either of them.

Perhaps Arya will have a few with Gendry and they'll name those children heirs to the North if they must.

Eventually his finishes with his tasks for the day, making his way to their chambers for the night. The people of Winterfell know well enough by now that when their lord and lady retire, it's best to leave them alone until dawn unless it's truly dire. Jon still bars the door behind him, out of habit from before their marriage and in case anyone does forget the unspoken rule and tries to enter their room without much warning and sees something they should not.

He crosses to press his lips against her hair, leaning over her chair.]

You seem quiet tonight.

[burgeons]

[ For a few days time, she'd been feeling unwell in the evenings, fatigued and nauseated with little appetite. It was years of practice, years of being forced to smile and look content that made her able to keep that hidden from those around her. Jon may have more clearly noticed if her spells hadn't hit her during the hour they rarely saw each other, right before supper as both were wrapping up their day's task.

She had gone to the Septa and Maester finally, although deep down she thought she knew the answer. She knew the facts of life, she knew what happens when a man lay with a woman. And she knew her own body... They only confirmed what she was afraid of. Except that fear, had slipped into something sweeter.

When he comes into their chambers, she feels a flush come over her and she nods at his words, knowing she'd been virtually silent at supper tonight. She reaches out for his hand so he will not move away from her yet.] Jon... I have something I must tell you.

[snownotstark]

[Jon is not always the most observant of how people around him feel, if the several daggers to the chest are any indication of how badly he can misjudge a situation. Another reason why children aren't at the forefront of his mind. They'd come together for months with no child, perhaps he came back more different than he thought. As if the nightmares and the way it feels like he is a part of Ghost, as much as Ghost lives in him, isn't enough. Maybe the lord of light took that away from him too.

He's concerned, though he knows if it was something truly dire, he would've been informed already. It's nothing to do with Bran or Arya then, or the safety of their hardwon family keep. Mouth set into a thin line, he nods and moves to kneel in front of her chair, instead of moving to pull his own over.]

What is it, love?

[burgeons]

[ She'd known the news for over an hour now and yet she had not thought on how she might tell it to him. For all that her mind raced and wandered and dreamed, she had not thought of the words to say. Jon was better with speeches, rallying people around him... She was better with the more subtle things.

This news was good news, she thinks. Although she realizes they never once discussed the possibility of it nor their feelings on children. They'd both lost their proper childhoods, it was strange to think they may be able to give one to their own child. For a moment, she is distracted, a faint smile curving her lips at the happy thought. Hope dares to stir within her again, fighting against fears that wish to quell it.

She looks to him as he kneels and she reaches for his hands, her voice soft.] I... [ Her expression goes almost amused for a moment as she battles her nerves.] You are going to be a father.

chuck hansen | pacific rim (r63)

[decals]