• •I'll Raise My Glass

[Caleb Sebastien Turner]

Life wasn't exactly going as Cal had planned. He'd pictured after telling Ayden he loved her as more than his best friend, they'd get married, settle down with babies and life would be good. He hadn't really thought they'd go as fast as they had but then when it came to them, they never did anything slow or half-assed. Within months all of that happened and they found out they were going to be parents. Cal was thrilled and continued to be even through sleepless nights and midnight feedings and all the fun stuff that accompanied babies because they'd had twins. Cal expected a bit of a challenge and they'd gotten one but what he hadn't expected was to find his oldest guy friend and the teins' babysitter with the kids and no sign of Ayden unless you counted the quickly handwritten letter on their bed. She had told Max she was going to an interview and never came back. In her letter she said she just couldn't cope as well as he could and thought their lives, all their lives would be better without her.
 
It pissed him right off and Cal didn't get pissed easily. He was usually the one pissing people off or trying to keep the peace when Ayden's pissed them off. It had always been how they were and now they weren't even a they. What was worst, Cal didn't know how he would ever tell their twins about this when they were older and asking questions about their missing mommy. He was determined though, to not fuck up his kids because it was just them against the world; and Max, of course. Cal had no idea what he would do without the other man. He knew Ayden and their whole family dynamic just as well as Cal did and his kids were so attached to their uncle Max. It would break their little hearts if he disappeared on them, too. As it was Cal knee he was leaning heavily on his second oldest friend to help him out even more than before. With the three of them, Max got a lot of spare time to do l he pleased but these days, he wasn't getting half as much time and Cal was spending more and more time at home than he was at work or in his small studio.
 
He wanted to provide his kids with a good life, a stable one but that was becoming more difficult. And he refused to leave New York. The city was his kids home and he wasn't giving them a new one. They had a roof over their heads that was paid for and they wanted for nothing, even at their very young age. So in that case, he was better off than some. He didn't want to be one of those neglectful parents, he wanted to be active in his kids lives; which was why he spent so much time at home now.
 
Like today he was bundling up his little babies for a jaunt through the park. Even being so small, they needed the fresh air and since he'd worked the night before, he wanted to give Max a break. It was kind of crazy to think that a year ago he hadn't had these responsibilities, the twins hadn't been born yet and now he couldn't picture life without them. They were everything to the doting dad. Both of them were up and trying to run around, his little girl was blabbering on with the baby talk that no one understood but agreeing seemed to satisfy her every once in a while adding in "dada" which made him feel like he was doing something right, even if she was saying the same to Max. Her could understand that when it was the two men that she saw everyday. Now if only his little man would stay talking, things would be fine; with or without their mama. "Come on guys, settle down." He said, getting the twins in their pram. It was one of those rare warm January days and Cal planned on taking advantage while he could. So when he got the twins ready and he was set with everything he thought he would need, he headed straight for Central Park. The twins weren't quite old enough yet that they could run around and they were definitely a handful for just one person but he still took them from their pram when they reached the park and an small expanse of field to let them throw the snow around.

Tag || elektra lavinia dewitt
Words || 764
Clothes || Distressed Daddy!
Music || Ain't Worth The Whiskey --Cole Swindell
Notes || I'm not sure how Elektra is going to jump in here xD <3

[elektra lavinia dewitt]

Elektra didn’t think there were many girls in the world who only got to know their fathers after they had turned eighteen. Sure, she had taken into consideration those who had been adopted and then tracked down their biological parents, but that wasn’t the case for her. She had known her birth mother, albeit for a short while until cancer had claimed her life. After that she had been raised by a religious grandmother who had objected to how much time Elektra spent with her head in the clouds and her nose in a book. Her grandmother had told her all kinds of ludicrous stories about men, and the family curse of how they never stuck around to raise their daughters or love the mothers. Elektra thought it nonsense and always had done, even more so since she had discovered that her father had been writing to her all of her life and her grandmother had hid them and lied to her. Still, it was strange getting to know the man now, and it was made even stranger by the fact that she had to visit him in prison to do that. He might have been a felon who potentially may never taste freedom again, but Elektra could only see the man who had written all those letters and sent birthday and Christmas cards even when he had received nothing in return.

She had just wrapped up another visit with him and caught a bus back into the city. Elektra never headed straight home afterwards; she always needed time to think and clear her head. It was a lot, and finding Jamie had flipped her whole life on its head. No one knew that she saw him, and not even her sister Cassandra was aware that she had found that box of letters before moving to the city. Her sister already disapproved of so many things in Elektra’s life, and her reactions were unpredictable at the best of times. The young bookworm saw so much of their grandmother in Cassie though that she just knew that nothing good would come from telling her the truth. Elektra had no one else she was close to that she could confide in. Friends had always been of the distant variety, or had been people she was tutoring back in high school. It was never the kind that she saw in movies or read in her books where there was a lifelong, inseparable bond. In many ways she longed for that, but in others she was happy to have her own space.

Turning into Central Park, Elektra hugged her coat closer around herself. The January air was bitterly cold, but she was used to the New York climate having grown up in the state. She was still thinking about the visit with her dad and what, if anything, she should do next, when she spotted the man and the pram just a little further ahead. It only intensified her own thoughts and led Elektra to wonder what her life might have been life if Jamie had been around when she was just a baby. He had never seen her until the day she showed up at the prison just a week before she started university. There was so much both of them had missed out on, though Elektra had repeatedly told him her life had contained very little excitement like he seemed to expect. She was just about to walk on by and continue her route through the park when something falling from the back of the pram caught her eye. With all the snow around it would be easy for the small soft toy to be lost, so she veered off course to stoop down and pick it up, holding it out with a warm smile on her face. “I think this might be missed.” She said, looking up at the tall man and dusting the light bit of snow from the infant’s toy. “It had fallen off the back and into the snow.” She added, just in case the man hadn’t seen what had happened. Once again she offered it out, but this time to the little girl.

• • •

TAGGED! Caleb Sebastien Turner
WORDS! 701!
OUTFIT! Bookworm Beauty!
LYRICS! Dante’s Prayer - - - Loreena McKennitt
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Caleb Sebastien Turner]

Cal was doing the absolute best he could to raise his children. Without Max, he was positive he would have had to move back to Seattle and he really didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want money from his grandfather, especially after the man basically gave him a massive brownstone to live in. And he didn’t want to chance Ayden being back there, though he was positive Seattle would be the last place she would be found. He couldn’t say he hated her exactly, but he was disappointed in her. He had thought they were doing alright. They had a gorgeous house, a happy marriage and two stunning babies. He couldn’t fathom what would make her walk away from it all, signing away her rights to the babies and her marriage as she went. But Cal also didn’t have the time to dwell on any of it. They were down a family member and that made things a little more difficult but between him and Max, they were doing okay. The important bits were making sure the babies were happy and healthy; which they were.

Cal didn’t know how he would have reacted in the twins hadn’t been around, if they’d just been an idea and not actual babies sleeping in their cribs. He probably would have fought a little harder, tracked her down even, to see what her issue was. But those little, happy babies were a reality and they needed at least one parent around to soothe them when they woke in the middle of the night hungry or needing to be changed. He hadn’t been able to leave them, even knowing they would have been left with one of the very best people he knew. Plus Max already did so much that he really hadn’t been able to add to that list. Cal knew he would ahve gone insane that first night alone if he’d really been alone with the twins. Of course, it all also brought some perspective to light for Cal. He really needed to spend even more time with the twins. He was always off working, if not at Gotham than in his own studio, designing clothes.

It was the whole reason he’d been doing things like this day in the park with them, even if the snow made it colder than he would have liked. They were small children and they needed fresh air. It didn’t matter if they wouldn’t be out there for very long or if they ended up playing int he snow for hours as long as they were having fun. He hadn’t noticed the toy falling or he would have grabbed it. Of course, even if he had noticed it was absent, he would have thought he left it at home and would have continued thinking that until they returned home and he scoured the place searching to no avail for it. It was Cassidy’s favourite stuffy. If that wasn’t with her when she went to bed, Cal knew she wouldn’t sleep; which is why he was so relieved to see the woman with it in her hand. He quickly did a toy count while she dusted the snow from it to make sur they hadn’t lost anyone else. “Thank you! I would have been royally s-c-r-e-w-e-d if we’d lost that. It’s Cassidy’s favourite.” He confided, spelling out the ‘bad’ word. The twins might not have been a year old yet but both had already figure out Dada and could almost say Max. But both were very vocal in baby gibberish and all Cal needed was for one of them to pick up on a bad word and say it to the wrong person! He could only blame cable television for so much!

Tag || elektra lavinia dewitt
Words || 675
Clothes || Distressed Daddy!
Music || Ain't Worth The Whiskey --Cole Swindell
Notes || <3

[elektra lavinia dewitt]

Elektra listened to Cassandra tell her on a weekly basis that the city would corrupt her and ruin her. It hadn’t so far, and if she could make it through eighteen years of their grandmother trying to change who she was and failing she was pretty certain she could handle the city, too. She was sure people thought she was some airy fairy girl who sobbed at romantic movies and cried over spilt milk just because she had her head in a book and believed in fairy tales. It was a stereotype Elektra had faced her whole life just because she was a sweet girl, raised well, and who rarely had a mean word to say. The key word was rarely. She could stand her ground if she had to, and she wasn’t weak just because she showed her emotions visibly. Emotions were not a weakness in her eyes, but then she was an English Literature student and could talk passionately for hours about feelings.

Not that she had much to talk about. The most exciting part of her life was the story of her father and it wasn’t one she wished to share with other people. She didn’t want to hear their judgement or listen to their opinions about something she was still trying to work out herself. Plus, if she hadn’t told her sister then she wasn’t about to tell someone she barely knew. Elektra had a few friends at university, but those from high school had already vanished from her life. She half expected those she knew now to do the same after they graduated and settled into the real world that awaited them next, so she sort of kept some parts of her life to herself. Her father was one of those secrets, as was her sister believing that a family curse actually existed when it came to men. She herself hadn’t dated during college, but that was mostly because no one had really sparked her interest and there was a distinct lack of time to really get to know someone. Between work and school Elektra found herself home alone most nights just reading books that weren’t on her required reading lists since parties were not her thing and most of her friends seemed to like getting drunk at the bars and clubs.

Smiling, Elektra tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear. She adored kids, even if she was a long way from even thinking about her own. She had babysat her way through high school and had a bit of a thing for cooing over babies when she saw them. She managed to hold herself in check around strangers though, not wanting to be that crazy woman. “No problem. Mine was a scruffy pink rabbit called Max.” She babbled before realising what she had just said. She grimaced and then shook her head. “And that’s not really something you admit to a total stranger in the park.” She laughed at herself and folded her arms over her chest. “Oh well, it’s not a typical week if I don’t say something a little embarrassing.” She felt a slight flush in her cheeks, but Elektra wasn’t one to run away when she said something stupid. It took a lot more than that to make her consider changing her identity and fleeing the state.

• • •

TAGGED! Caleb Sebastien Turner
WORDS! 564!
OUTFIT! Bookworm Beauty!
LYRICS! Dante’s Prayer - - - Loreena McKennitt
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Caleb Sebastien Turner]

Cal was just trying to get through the day to day and be a good father to his children. They’d been left without a mother and now he had to play the role of both parents. Thank god for Max or he didn’t know what he would have done with himself. He couldn’t hide away because he would have been all those babies had and even with Max around, he hadn’t locked himself away to deal with his grief in his own way. He’d pushed through because he’d had the babies to think about. And they couldn’t lose both parents. It had been a while now and he was slowly getting over it. It wasn’t every day that the woman you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with,t he mother of your children just up and left with nothing more than a note saying sorry and nothing else.

Cal didn’t know what he would do if Ayden ever came back, claiming she wanted him or just their children back. He would fight for them and because of everything, he knew he would have no trouble at all winning that battle but it would be a lot on the children and that he couldn’t do. Still, he hoped she never came back to New York; he wasn’t interested in ever setting eyes on her. It was a difficult pill to swallow because of all they’d gone through but he was swallowing it and coming away from it all a better person. He spent less time working and more time taking care of his kids so Max didn’t have them all the time. Cal got that he paid Max to watch the kids, that he was their nanny but it still tore at Cal every time he asked the other man to watch them more than he really should have. Max needed a break, too.

And that was why the father of two stopped interning at the fashion house, having learned all that he could from there anyway and started spending more time with his babies. They weren’t quite a year old yet, that would come in June but it was quickly approaching and already they were proving to be quite intelligent babies. Cal would admit he hoped to have a doctor or a lawyer as a son or daughter but he was patient enough to wait it out and see which it would be. “We have a Max at home. He’s blonde and cranky but he likes the kids so we keep him around, don’t we?” He said, talking to the babies who giggled at the last part. “He’s my best friend and their manny.” He elaborated because he knew how it sounded. Cal brushed off her worries. “It’s not a usual day unless I’m putting my foot in it.” He admitted easily. “It’s not coffee or a real thank you but would you like to sit and play with us? Cass really seems smitten with you and she’s difficult to please.” He said, grinning at the pretty young woman.

Tag || elektra lavinia dewitt
Words || 564
Clothes || Distressed Daddy!
Music || Ain't Worth The Whiskey --Cole Swindell
Notes || <3

[elektra lavinia dewitt]

Elektra had been told to ignore the fairy tales she adored so much. They were a waste of time and full of lies, her grandmother had told her when she was just a girl. The same grandmother insisted that the family was cursed, destined to be left by men who would captured their hearts only to crush them under their feet as fate took them away. Elektra didn’t buy into that just like her grandmother and sister didn’t buy into the hope that she found in Cinderella or Peter Pan. Elektra still had many mixed feelings about her own father, and she was still only just coming to understand the man who had spent nearly the last two decades behind bars, but in her mind, he broke the curse Elizabeth preached about. It was her grandmother who had hidden away the hundreds of letters and cards from him, but despite a secure prison keeping him from watching his daughter grow up, he had done everything he could to keep in touch. Elektra had missed out on having a father for years and years. There was no saying how different she might have been now had he been around for her childhood. Instead she had been raised by a grandmother who rarely showed love to her, but instead scolded her for her love of literature and daydreams.

Elektra had spent her whole life in that little bubble only because there was nowhere else to go. Her upbringing had been so strict that rebelling was simply out of the question, not that she was ever interested in sneaking out to hang out with the bad teens who were smoking behind the bleachers and cutting class to go and cause trouble elsewhere in the town. It also meant that dating was totally out of the question. Elektra had kissed one boy in her life and it had been clumsy and awkward and something she really couldn’t say she had enjoyed. It was a teenage crush, but it was nothing more than embarrassing in retrospect and she cringed whenever that memory surfaced. He had been a sweet kid, but their stolen moment was sweaty palms, cracked lips on his side, and almost a broken nose for Elektra. Plus, she was a shy bookworm who sang in choir and tutored the kids who needed it. There wasn’t a whole lot appealing about her back then and she was content to focus on the studies that would get her out of high school and into college.

Tucking her hair back behind her ear, Elektra smiled. “What’s life without a cranky best friend?” She asked, though she wasn’t sure if that made a lick of sense. She guessed Cassandra ticked that box for her, though calling her a best friend was a bit of a stretch. More than that in fact. They were sisters, but they were polar opposites in many aspects and though they spent a lot of time together, Elektra knew it was only because of the blood connection and nothing more. “I have a Cass of my own. Only she’s about twenty-nine years older than this one and actually hates being called Cass. It’s always Cassandra for her.” Elektra rolled her eyes and then elaborated further. “She’s my sister.” Elektra realised then that she hadn’t actually answered the man’s question and her hazel eyes widened slightly. “Oh my gosh! I’m sorry, I’m standing here giving you my life story! Yes, I’d love to join you.” Elektra adored kids, had babysat her way through school when she wasn’t tutoring, and she was the friendly type who would speak to just about anyone about anything – as she was currently proving! “I’m Elektra, by the way.” She introduced herself and tucked that same wayward lock of hair back behind her ear, though it never stayed there long before it was back tickling her cheek.

• • •

TAGGED! Caleb Sebastien Turner
WORDS! 657!
OUTFIT! Bookworm Beauty!
LYRICS! Dante’s Prayer - - - Loreena McKennitt
NOTES! <3 <3 <3