why are you here? #1.5: valentine

February 2088, three weeks after Maria’s birthday.




“Are you working Valentine’s dinner?” Jordan asked.

“Of course,” Maria said. “It’s not like I have a Valentine, silly.” She willed herself not to look him in the eyes and swoon. She was embarrassing herself enough already. “What about you, what do you guys do for Valentine’s Day?”

No, she didn’t really want to know, but it seemed like the thing to ask.

“Ha, no,” he laughed awkwardly. “Um, actually, we’re not like that. Not anymore. I’ll probably just work. I might as well.”

why are you here? #1: birthday cake (3/3)

content warnings (!!!) sexual situations, questionable consent // nsfw, 18+ 

January didn’t suit Colette, with the cold, the dirty road slush, and her skin dry as sandpaper. Granted, the summer rain and heat didn’t suit her, either. Colette preferred the specific two weeks of late September when the fall air was crisp and the colors were lovely, too early for all that gaudy Halloween decor, not too early for pumpkin spice everything, which she would scoff at in public and devour in private.

The boys were behaving themselves tonight. She ordered some pizza for dinner, after which the boys put on a movie in the living room and she sat at the dining room table with her laptop to do some work.

Jordan said he would be home late. Some work errand that had him driving hours out into the countryside for a delivery, and she tried to tell him, you know you should ask for per diem pay, for meals and gas reimbursement. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” he would say, but he never complained about things when he should.

why are you here? #1: birthday cake (2/3)

January 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26.

They started out on the highway to bring back their bounty of eggs to the hotel. It wasn’t very late yet, but these early January nights had ended the day hours ago. Now the road shone ahead of them with the light of a full moon on the fresh white snow. The green glow of the dashboard lit Jordan’s face, and Maria took the opportunity to study him deeply as he drove, with little chance he’d catch her staring, as he told a story about his boys and how they messed up the living room couch and Colette blamed him for it. How he didn’t seem angry, only bemused and accepting of his fate.

why are you here? #1: birthday cake (1/3)

January 2088. Jordan Graham is 28, Maria Boone is 26.

warnings: gross? 🤮

The day was gray and sloshy, that icy, sleety rain that might have been snow if it were only a couple degrees colder. Maria sat beside Jordan in his parked his truck on the sodden gravel driveway of the farm where they were sent to source some free range duck eggs that were supposed to be the best in the state. They waited silently for a full minute for the scene to change.

It didn’t change.
Maria’s brown curls were already frizzing up around her face in a puffy mess. And she wore brand new suede boots, too tight and stiff on her feet and she’d only been sitting in a truck so far. He said to wear boots, so she wore boots.

These were not the kind of boots he meant.

round 2088-2092 (Boxes & Squares stories)

* story timeline spanning 2088 through 2090

[previous round]

2088

why are you here?: January - August 2088 (aka, B&S book 0, the prequel)

-- #1: birthday cake, part 1 (January 2088)
-- #1: birthday cake, part 2 (January 2088)
-- #1: birthday cake, part 3 (January 2088)
-- #1.5: valentine (February 2088)

-- #2: little sparks catch fire, part 1 (March-May 2088)

my sweetheart #1: it wasn’t funny after all (Justin)

-- #2: little sparks catch fire, part 2 (June 2088)

-- #3: a cage left open (July 2088)

-- #4: then go (August 2088)

my sweetheart stories: June - September 2088 (also B&S book 1)

-- my sweetheart #3: feral (Jordan, Ingrid, Maria)

-- my sweetheart #4: someone else’s wedding (Maria)

-- my sweetheart #5: the rocket man (Keri)

-- my sweetheart #6: carve our names in a heart on a tree (Justin & Stephanie)

-- my sweetheart #7: don’t be sorry (Jordan)

-- my sweetheart #8: the honeymoon (Justin & Stephanie)

-- my sweetheart #9: uprooted (Jordan)

-- my sweetheart #10: call it what you want (Jordan, Ingrid, Maria)

September: (aka B&S book 2)
intermission: a rebel yell, Ingrid's version

boxes and squares #1: go your own way (Jordan, Ingrid)

boxes and squares #2: this is not that story again (Ingrid)

October: (aka B&S book 3)
boxes and squares #3: what dreams? (Maria, Jordan, Stephanie, Lou)

intermission: when time runs out (Jack, Micah)

postcards from grad school (various)

boxes and squares, book 4: the answer (October 2088)

-- #4.0: the boys (Jordan, Colette, Mick)

-- #4.1: first fall apart (Jordan, Maria, Colette)

-- #4.2: then have some faith (Maria, Milo, Jordan)

-- #4.3: then fall in love (Jordan, Jack, Nessa, Maria)

-- #4.4: now know the answer (Jordan, Maria)

-- #4.5: home is wherever you are, part 1 (Jordan, Maria)

-- #4.5: home is wherever you are, part 2 (Jordan, Maria, Felix, Milo, Lou)

-- #4.5: home is wherever you are, part 3 (Maria, Stephanie, Lou)

November:
look how they shine, Akiyama/McCarthy family update

boxes and squares, book 5: the fairytale (November 2088)
-- #5.1: live the fairytale (Maria, Jordan, Johanna)

-- #5.2: come down from the clouds, part 1 (Maria, Jordan, Lou, Dom, Judith)

-- #5.2: come down from the clouds, part 2 (Maria, Jordan, Colette)

-- #5.3: hindsight is a bitch, part 1 (Colette)

-- #5.3: hindsight is a bitch, part 2 (Jordan)

-- #5.3: hindsight is a bitch, part 3 (Colette)

-- #5.4: togetherness (Colette, Jordan)

-- #5.5: kill the fairytale, part 1 (Jordan, Maria)

-- #5.5: kill the fairytale, part 2 (Jordan, Maria)

-- #5.6: fuck you, thank you (Colette, Jordan, Maria)

bad girlfriend, book 5.5 (December-February 2088/89)

-- cozy intermission fluff (Jordan, Maria, Stephanie)
-- part 1 (Lou, Maria)
-- part 2 (Lou, Jamie, Maria)

-- part 3 (Colette, Jordan, Maria)

-- part 4 (Jordan, Maria, Judith, Lou, Jamie)

-- part 5

-- part 6

-- part 7

the best thing you never hoped for, book 5.75 (March-April 2089)

-- coming soon

boxes and squares, book 6: little boxes (spring-fall 2089)

-- currently drafting

postcards from an ill-timed supernova

June, July, August 2088.

#1: sunshine girls

Summer of 2088 in Copper Hill, Michigan. The sun is hot. The local swimming hole is murky and nobody knows what hides in its depths.

“Dead bodies,” Bianca teases.

“Nuh uh,” Julia cries. “Stop it, I’m telling Dad!”

“Leeches.” Lily giggles, her fingers tickling up Willow’s shoulder.

“Seaweed,” Willow shouts, grabbing a clump. Throw, splat. Squeals, splashing, laughter.



The days are long and sweaty and sweet. In twenty years, when four little girls have become women swamped with jobs and family and life, when they think back on their childhood, this will be what they remember.  

make a wish

June 2088. Lucy Deppiesse is 22, Cassie is 2, Eris is 6 months. Delphie and Dakota are 18. Shannon Brett is 17, Jacob Collins is 16.

Previously: Dallas is sent to Fort Hollow to build rockets // Shannon struggles to break up with Jake 

Lucy once said she wanted seven children, but the truth was, she could barely handle two. 

It rained far too much here in Washington. Cassie didn’t mind the rain. And maybe Lucy promised they would play outside one last time before bed. But then Eris needed to nurse, again. Growth spurt. She needed a bounce and a burp, and then she spit up. The little squirt aimed straight for Lucy’s cleavage and soaked her all the way down to the underboob. They both needed a change of clothes. Then the rain started. The downpour was too intense to bring the baby out. Too intense for a strong-willed, toddler, too, but try telling that to Cassie. “Why? Mama, you said. You said.” 

And Cassie wasn’t wrong. Lucy did say, didn’t she? 

There was no one to help. They worked Dallas to the bone here, twelve-hour shifts most days of the week. Her neighbor, Marlie, was eight months pregnant and ready to pop. It should have been so lucky to have a teenager next door, but Marlie’s moody teenage son scared Lucy and she would never ask for his help. Everyone else on base had somewhere to be and something to do.

So, sorry, teary little one, so it seems sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would. So it seems, sometimes, you don’t get to play outside one more time before bed even though you were given a promise. 

But they were so blessed to be here, together, after everything they’d been through. So blessed.