December 2088. Colette Marin is 31, Jordan Graham is 29, Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4, Felix and Milo Graham are 9.
previously: what if we had the most amazing life together?
Some angels on Christmas Eve. ❄️🌟❄️
Showing posts with label Jordan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jordan. Show all posts
bad girlfriend (B&S intermission book 5.5), part 1 of 7
It was the spring of 2068, the year Maria was six and Lou was nine, the year they both decided they would drag their over-sized stuffie everywhere. Even, to their parents dismay, all the way to North Carolina on the family’s spring break trip to the Smokey Mountains.
Neither of them knew a lot about love that year, but they knew they loved Pixel. Lou hugged it enthusiastically, then kissed its furry head.
Maria was confused. “Did you just kiss a bear? Are you gonna marry him?”
“Pixel is a girl, and she’s not a bear,” Lou said.
“What is she then?”
“I don’t know, maybe a goat. Or a monster. She has a tree growing out of her head.”
Maria pursed her lips. “I don’t think you can marry a monster.”
“Duh, you can’t marry a goat, either!” Lou shrugged. “Then maybe I won’t marry anybody.”
postcards from a fluffy moment of respite (and December birthdays)
December 2088.
What do we need a sister for?
Because taking sides in a heated snowball fight is no fun when there’s only two.
What do we need a sister for?
Because taking sides in a heated snowball fight is no fun when there’s only two.
boxes and squares #5.6: fuck you, thank you
November 2088. Colette Marin is 31, Jordan Graham is 28, Felix and Milo are 9, Maria Boone is 26.
Colette wouldn’t find them a better dad, because dating sucked and she was bad at it. That was what she tried to tell herself, anyway. But, if she really wanted to be honest, she wouldn’t find them a better dad because they adored him to the ends of the earth, and he was coming home, and there was nothing more these boys wanted in the world.
For two days, he wouldn’t answer her phone calls or texts. But at some point he answered the boys, and they filled her in on the news. She didn’t have any way of knowing for how long they knew before her. “Dad is coming home!”
She would never win against that, because their adoration wasn’t up to her. She thought she should have been mad about it, and yet, there was also some relief in losing that battle. It took too long to realize that maybe she never should have been trying to win in the first place.
Colette wouldn’t find them a better dad, because dating sucked and she was bad at it. That was what she tried to tell herself, anyway. But, if she really wanted to be honest, she wouldn’t find them a better dad because they adored him to the ends of the earth, and he was coming home, and there was nothing more these boys wanted in the world.
For two days, he wouldn’t answer her phone calls or texts. But at some point he answered the boys, and they filled her in on the news. She didn’t have any way of knowing for how long they knew before her. “Dad is coming home!”
She would never win against that, because their adoration wasn’t up to her. She thought she should have been mad about it, and yet, there was also some relief in losing that battle. It took too long to realize that maybe she never should have been trying to win in the first place.
boxes and squares #5.5: kill the fairytale (2/2)
November 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4.
content warnings: grief, despair
He went dark when he was upset, like he vanished from the whole world, Maria’s world included. And she craved a text, a note, anything. She could give him space. She wasn’t a clingy girlfriend, except that she yearned for some sort of tether, some connection, and maybe that made her clingy after all. But she didn’t want to nag. She didn’t want to be exactly what he was running from in the first place.
She didn’t need him to tell her that it was Colette on the phone. His whole body announced it with tension and grit. The last she heard of him, his voice boomed with a desperation she’d never heard before. He had already walked away from the campsite and she couldn’t hear his words, only the echo of his pleading on the rocks. Mostly she saw the way he shriveled into himself, growing smaller and smaller, until eventually, he stopped arguing back. Maria didn’t need to hear what Colette said to know it was ugly.
“Is he coming home now?”
“Soon,” Maria told her, which was only a hope, of course. She had no way of knowing where he was or when he was coming home. It had been three hours. The last time this happened, she didn’t hear from him for almost two days. But things were different now, and she couldn’t possibly wait that long before she started to panic. At the same time, she had JoJo to think about so panic wasn’t even an option.
JoJo was too riled up to go to bed, but she had finally agreed to put on her pajamas. She was too riled up to even wait inside. Outside, a sharp chill swept across the north Nevada desert, making clear that it would be December in a matter of days. Maria lit the campfire, and they sat beside it.
He went dark when he was upset, like he vanished from the whole world, Maria’s world included. And she craved a text, a note, anything. She could give him space. She wasn’t a clingy girlfriend, except that she yearned for some sort of tether, some connection, and maybe that made her clingy after all. But she didn’t want to nag. She didn’t want to be exactly what he was running from in the first place.
She didn’t need him to tell her that it was Colette on the phone. His whole body announced it with tension and grit. The last she heard of him, his voice boomed with a desperation she’d never heard before. He had already walked away from the campsite and she couldn’t hear his words, only the echo of his pleading on the rocks. Mostly she saw the way he shriveled into himself, growing smaller and smaller, until eventually, he stopped arguing back. Maria didn’t need to hear what Colette said to know it was ugly.
“Is he coming home now?”
“Soon,” Maria told her, which was only a hope, of course. She had no way of knowing where he was or when he was coming home. It had been three hours. The last time this happened, she didn’t hear from him for almost two days. But things were different now, and she couldn’t possibly wait that long before she started to panic. At the same time, she had JoJo to think about so panic wasn’t even an option.
JoJo was too riled up to go to bed, but she had finally agreed to put on her pajamas. She was too riled up to even wait inside. Outside, a sharp chill swept across the north Nevada desert, making clear that it would be December in a matter of days. Maria lit the campfire, and they sat beside it.
boxes and squares #5.5: kill the fairytale (1/2)
26 years ago: Mick is 38, Adelaide is 30, Jordan is 2.
content warnings: implied terminal illness/cancer, verbal abuse, grief, intrusive thoughts, passive suicidal ideation
It was supposed to be such a beautiful life…
boxes and squares #5.4: togetherness
November 2088. Colette Marin is 31, Jordan Graham is 28, Felix and Milo are 9, Maria Boone is 26, Jack Phoenix is 39, Sophie is 65.
“Whoa, look at all the bugs,” Felix said. “Mom, did you bring bug spray?”
“I’m hungry,” Milo whined.
“I told you to eat before we left the hotel. I paid for breakfast at the hotel. I’m not buying breakfast out here because you didn’t eat the breakfast I paid for.”
“Can we play on the playground?”
“We did not fly eight-thousand miles to play on playgrounds. Wow, thirty-dollars a night. I wonder what the ROI is on those?”
Colette got out her phone and browsed a few real estate listings. The apartments were small, but some of them were very stylish. Too colorful for Colette’s tastes, but she knew tourists loved color.
boxes and squares #5.3: hindsight is a bitch (2/3)
November 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4, Jack Phoenix is 39, Nessa is 38, Sophie is 65.
warnings: just a peek of NSFW at the end 😘
As promised, Jordan brought his girls to San Sequoia to attend Thanksgiving with Jack’s family. “Bring the camper, stay a few days,” Jack told them. “Home on wheels, right? Why not?”
So they did.
“And this is their front yard,” Maria said, amused. “Their front yard is actually the whole San Sequoia Bay.”
“Holy cow,” JoJo shouted. “I see a boat! And another boat. And another boat!”
“How many boats does that make?” Jordan asked her.
“One, two, three!”
“Good, now tell your grandpa you learned math in homeschool.”
boxes and squares #5.2: come down from the clouds (2/2)
November 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4, Felix and Milo are 9, Nessa Phoenix is 38, Colette Marin is 31.
previously: climb club family // the plain-looking plucky friend // the blonde photographer // the boys always know first // they made vows
warnings: little bit saucy, additional spice linked elsewhere
Jordan had been distracted since Maria and JoJo came to join his adventure. He had skipped more climbing sessions than he wanted to admit. But now that they were settled, it was time to pick up the slack. “Go climb, my love,” Maria told him. “You’re not quitting this thing on my behalf. Isn’t it the whole reason we’re here?”
“So you guys check out the park. Nessa will show you everything, and I’ll meet up with you later for dinner.”
Jordan was quite proud of the skewers he’d grilled for the group tonight. It was his turn to make dinner for climb club after hours.
boxes and squares #5.2: come down from the clouds (1/2)
November 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4, Felix and Milo are 9, Lou Corelli is 29, Dom is 58, Judith is 54.
previously: a freeloading loser // that money is not for spending on your boyfriend // this beach is for dancing
Go ahead and live this fairytale for just a little bit longer.
You could almost fool yourself that it could last forever, like you can just forget that fairytales aren’t real.
boxes and squares #5.1: live the fairytale
November 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26, Johanna is 4. (Flashback Jordan is 24, Colette is 27.)
* grab yourself a steamy beverage and a cozy chair, this one is long! 5100 words and 65 pictures!
** warnings: briefly NSFW.
What are you going to do in Nevada? Not stay there, Maria would soon find out, because Jordan mentioned the wild horses in Arizona and Johanna lost her little mind over the idea. So now they were in Arizona, scouting the canyons for wild horses. Among this and many other things she never would have guessed her life could include, there was the sound of yodeling on the canyon walls. Back and forth, a booming manly echo answered by sprightly little girl song, growing closer and mixed with laughter. He taught her to yodel. Maria never would have guessed that he knew how to yodel, but so he did, and now they both did.
* grab yourself a steamy beverage and a cozy chair, this one is long! 5100 words and 65 pictures!
** warnings: briefly NSFW.
What are you going to do in Nevada? Not stay there, Maria would soon find out, because Jordan mentioned the wild horses in Arizona and Johanna lost her little mind over the idea. So now they were in Arizona, scouting the canyons for wild horses. Among this and many other things she never would have guessed her life could include, there was the sound of yodeling on the canyon walls. Back and forth, a booming manly echo answered by sprightly little girl song, growing closer and mixed with laughter. He taught her to yodel. Maria never would have guessed that he knew how to yodel, but so he did, and now they both did.
Long after their sound gave them away, Maria saw them emerge around the bend of the trail, carrying back their sacks full of treasure. Would it be rocks, pine cones, sticks shaped like swords?
“Did you see any horses?”
“No, we found bugs! We’re gonna eat them!” Johanna’s face was bright with the idea.
“Oh, God, no! You can’t eat a bug!”
“Jordan said we can!”
She gaped at him in horror. He shrugged with a sheepish grin. “How’s it different from eating any other animal?”
Maria was prepared for there to be bugs on this wild adventure, but she never imagined they were going to eat them!
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