[attr="class","JULES"]

When Jules opened his eyes, he rolled over to wrap a lazy arm around Drela, but she wasn't there. Normally that wouldn't be too odd, but this was Sunday morning, their lazy morning. Jules didn't hear movement around the house, and he couldn’t help the worry that he felt building. It may be irrational, but he found himself easily worried these days. [break][break]

Life had been going too smoothly for too long now. [break][break]

Slipping out of bed, Jules started getting dressed. He was going to go look for Drela, to see if she was okay, but before he finished buttoning his shirt he heard the door creak open. Jules turned, smile spreading when he laid eyes on Drela. [break][break]

"Hi." She greeted, hand not leaving the doorknob. "Can I talk to you?" [break][break]

“Good morning, beautiful.” He started across the room, but paused when she asked if they could talk. Something was wrong. It was a gut feeling, since he’d woken and she wasn’t in their bed. “Of course we can talk. You can tell me anything, Drela.” [break][break]

Jules watched her move to sit on the bed, and he felt his anxiety spiking. "So, I have something to tell you and...and I don't want you to freak out, okay?" Was she unhappy with him? Had she decided to leave the farm? None of that would make sense, everything had been fine, good, even. Jules leaned against the wall and watched her picking at her nails. She was nervous, he recognized the signs. [break][break]

He didn’t have to wait long before she blurted out what she was trying to tell him, what she was worrying over. [break][break]

"Um...I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant. I'm like two months late." [break][break]

For a second, Jules could feel the breath catch in his throat as he let the words sink in, as he processed the fact that they had created another life. They were going to have a baby! [break][break]

“Really?” Jules moved closer, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Drela. They’d been careful, but they’d been together for so long now, almost nine years. They weren’t kids anymore, and as much as his brother had lectured him in those early years, Jules couldn’t imagine he’d be anything other than excited for them now. He’d be getting a niece or nephew, his kids would have a little cousin to play with and teach and protect. Jules was so excited about the prospect. [break][break]

“This is great news.” Jules searched Drela’s face, taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently. “Isn’t it?” [break]

[attr="class","JULESfoot"]Jules ft. Drela new template for KtDA - Jules finding out Drela is pregnant

Featuring Seth

[attr="class","EMERSON"]

CW: Nonrecent death/loss [break][break]

The sun beat down, warm rays caressing Emie’s cheek as she sat in the grass, back against the cement headstone at Emmett’s grave. This summer was the eighth anniversary of the crash that took away her twin brother and their mother. She’d marked another milestone without them this year when she graduated college. [break][break]

“It’s been a weird year, Em.” She sighed, picking at a blade of grass beneath her crossed legs. “How have you been? I hope you and mom are somewhere together, living it up and doing all the things you never got to do here.” It wasn’t fair. Emmett had goals. He’d been so sure of himself. And he was taken away. She wished she had been able to save him, to save her mom. For years, she struggled with the fact that she’d only been able to save herself. [break][break]

Now she was twenty-two years old, she was a college graduate, and she was going to try to find her first real, adult job. Even after eight years, it was hard to think that she was doing all the things he never got to do. “I hope you’re proud of me, of how hard I’ve worked. I hope I’m living enough for the both of us.” [break][break]

As she had walked across that stage in her cap and gown, smiling and shaking hands, pausing for a picture with a huge smile across her face, she was still missing her brother. Still wondering how they would have celebrated their graduation together. “It’s been lonely down here without you. Emmett. I miss you all the time, and I wonder what you’d be doing now., who you’d be.. You were always the smart one. I bet you’d be on your way to medical school, law school, some kind of graduate program.” Emie looked up, trying to keep the tears stinging the corners of her eyes from falling. [break][break]

As blessed as her life had been, as loved as she was with her dad and stepmother and the rest of her siblings, nothing would ever fill the hole that Emmett had left. [break]

EMIE | Post graduation, visiting Emmett’s grave.

[attr="class","STORMblack"][break]
test text. testy test. test test testing still.... [break][break]

And I'll use you as a focal point [break]
So I don't lose sight of what I want [break]
And I've moved further than I thought I could [break]
But I missed you more than I thought I would [break]
And I'll use you as a warning sign [break]
That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind [break][break]

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be [break]
Right in front of me [break]
Talk some sense to me [break][break]

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be [break]
Right in front of me [break]
Talk some sense to me [break][break]

And I'll use you as a makeshift gauge [break]
Of how much to give and how much to take [break]
Oh I'll use you as a warning sign [break]
That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind [break][break]

Oh and I found love where it wasn't supposed to be [break]
Right in front of me [break]
Talk some sense to me [break][break]

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be [break]
Right in front of me [break]
Talk some sense to me [break][break]

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be [break]
Right in front of me [break]
Talk some sense to me [break][break]

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be [break]
Right in front of me [break]
Talk some sense to me [break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","DOLL"]
CW: mentions of alcoholism/substance abuse and child neglect[break][break]

Maddie stared at her reflection in the mirror. She fixed the small smudge of lipstick that had settled on the left side of her lip. She had to look perfect tonight, she had to look put together. She’d be seeing her mother and brother, having dinner at Mason’s house to apparently celebrate their mother’s completion of rehab. [break][break]

Mason hadn't told Maddie that he’d put Miranda in rehab. Again. Maddie would have told him that he was wasting his money, wasting his time and energy. There was no way that Miranda would be able to stay sober. Maddie didn’t believe it would stick, not now. Not after so many tries. Not when she couldn’t get sober for them, when she spent their entire childhoods ignoring them for her vices. [break][break]

It wasn’t like Maddie hadn't inherited those same addictions. She went out drinking more nights than not. But that’s why she didn’t keep a bottle in her apartment. She didn’t have kids or a family to care for. She didn’t prioritize booze over rent and utility bills. [break][break]

Just like her old dollhouse, Maddie had cracks that could be peered through. She was falling apart. But if you didn’t look too closely, you couldn’t see all the imperfections. Tonight, Maddie was going to do her best to appear put together, poised, perfect. [break][break]