* graceful / truths !

he was right, of course he was; sage knew what sebastian greene was like and even more so what he was like around his son. nodding softly sage melted into his touch, turning her head into his palm to press a kiss to his hand when they parted. “mind is still pretty worried about you,” she admitted, a furrow in her brow that didn’t seem to want to go away. the words he spoke were those of someone she didn’t need to worry about, but, the way he said them wasn’t as convincing. “if there’s something going on, i just want you to tell me, we deal with things together, don’t we?” sage coaxed softly, hating the idea that she knew something was bothering him while she didn’t know enough to help. he might have told her not to worry but it didn’t help the slightest with the anxious pit in her stomach growing, something was on his mind and the way ollie hesitate to tell her wasn’t doing much to calm her down. “please, ol? don’t shut me out.”

if it hadn’t been for the way she felt his touch trembling against her leg sage might have believed him. but the way it went heat seemed like a dumb excuse and the brunette rolled her eyes quickly, huffing lightly, “want to try that again?” she asked softly, a question and yet she was after the answer she wanted, regardless of whether or not it was the one he wanted to give her. shifting where she sat sage picked up his hand between hers, gaze gentle as she held his hand between her own, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, “i know you, ol,” speaking gently, trying to coax him into remembering she was someone he could trust, someone who cared about him, someone who wanted him to share what was bothering so she could help, “you’ve been distant since you saw your dad, can i at least now why i should be worrying about you?” even now, holding his hand between hers as she spoke, littering soft kisses across his skin she could feel the tremble in his limb. if ollie tried to tell her again nothing was wrong it would be insane, something was up and while his voice may not have betrayed anything, but his body did.

in no way did sage trust sebastian greene. from the moment when she first met ollie she had felt a mistrust towards his dad, but it never changed the way that she felt about his son. it might have made meeting his dad awkward when all she could feel as she had shook his hand was ice cold dread rushing through her. but not being fond of sebastian greene hadn’t stopped her from falling for ollivander greene. she was still susceptible to the whispers mr greene put in her head, causing her to take notice of how, yes, ollie had been acting weirder than he normally did. at first she didn’t think much of it, but with looks and what she assumed were words he selected carefully sebastian had managed to get her ready to confront her boyfriend. sitting together, her legs swung over his lap, hand playing mindlessly with his hair sage sighed softly, even now ollie looked distant, as if there was something on his mind he both wanted to tell her and absolutely did not at the same time. “ollie... what’s going on?” nuzzling closer to him the younger woman pressed her lips to his jaw lightly, “tell me, if something’s bothering you i can help.”

“it’s not a quality i have any issues with, that’s for sure,” sage whispered, the smile on her lips almost a giggle as they drew apart as their daughter returned. the brunette was tempted to let her fingers curl into his shirt to, to selfishly let their toddler put herself to sleep so she could stay in her husband’s arms. instead sage hummed in response to his words, “promise?” she asked, singing the word with a softness in her voice, “i’m going to check on matty first,” she confirmed eyes fluttering close when his lips pressed against her forehead. on her way to their son’s nursery sage crouched down next to toni, opening her arms for the little girl to fall into her embrace and sage kissed her head gently, “good night, trouble, i love you.” leaving ollie to get their daughter into bed, sage made her way to their son, watching the small boy sleeping in his crib, fingers clutching his favourite stuffed animal with a tight grip.

every word he spoke seemed impossible to comprehend. shaking her head sage opened her mouth in an attempt to respond, finding herself speechless as she heard the car start on the other end of the line. “jesus christ, ollie,” sage whimpered softly, pulling matty into her arms, holding the small boy close to her, pressing a kiss to the side of his head, “did you ask who picked her up? if she had disappeared the school would have called, someone must’ve picked her up at the end of the day,” if ollie was right, if it was someone he had managed to piss off it was a longshot, they would’ve lied, but this was toni, and sage would go through every desperate idea until she had the girl in her arms, “come home, we’ll call the school and we’ll find her together,” sage pleaded softly, “please ollie, i can’t sit here and just wait, i need to help you find her,” they were going to find her. those were the words sage hung onto, they would find her. matty cooed in her amrs, pressing a chubby palm against her face and sage laughed, lightly, the sound lacking any joy as she forced herself to offer the boy a smile, “everything’s fine, sweetheart, nothing’s going to happen to you or your sister ever,” she promised, “come home ollie, i’ll call the school and we’ll find her together, i love you,” sage ended the call, immediately phoning the school unable to keep her voice from shaking as she required about who picked up their daughter, feeling her blood run cold when she received the answer thanking them before hanging up, sending a text to her husband, have you heard anything about your father lately? 

the moment toni rounded the corner sage moved quickly, her arm hitting over ollie’s midsection even as a smile remained on her features, laughter close as she spoke, “you’re incorrigible,” she smiled as his lips pressed against hers again, the passionate kiss drawing a sigh from the brunette. “before she drags out every princess book in her bookshelf out here, you mean?” sage clarified, brushing her lips over his jaw, “not long enough.” despite her words sage continued to move her lips along his jaw, and as if on cue a small ‘huff’ was heard from behind them and sage pulled away, “did you make up your mind, trouble?” sage asked, immediately pressing her face into ollie’s shoulder as she noticed the pile of books toni was struggling to carry, shoulders shaking with laughter, whispering, “our daughter has you whipped.”

humming the words to a lullaby she remembered her mother singing to her before her parents death sage watched matty sitting on the floor in front of the couch. the small boy held blocks in his hands, trying to fit the right shapes into the correct holes. it wasn’t going great; at the moment the curly haired boy was trying to shove the star into the rectangular slot. laughter escaped her as she slid off the couch, sitting next to her son on the blanket before glancing towards the watch on her wrist, ollie should be coming home with toni soon, it was family night. almost as soon as the thought entered her mind her phone rang and a smile spread across her lips as she read the name on the screen, “hi babe,” sage hummed, though the joyous feeling drained out of her system in seconds, nerves taking over as he posed the question, “no, toni’s at school, you’re meant to be picking her up,” sage reminded him, fingers reaching out to brush through matty’s curls in an attempt to ground herself, “ollie, what’s going on?”

the raven haired woman could only hum, arching a brow at her husband. the expression did not remain for long as the giggles from their daughter filled the room as ollie focused his attention on toni. “one story, sweetheart,” sage said, not sure if she was telling her husband or her daughter, it was more likely than not that she was telling both of them. with a gentle hand she guided their daughter away, letting the toddler go grab the book she wanted to read before turning to ollie, “hi, husband,” sage smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips as their daughter disappeared to find the storybook she wanted.

it was a wise decision, sage driving was a danger when she was well rested and fully awake, in the middle of the night when her boyfriend decided he was too restless to sleep letting her behind the wheel was outright dangerous. “if you weren’t right in making that decision i would argue against that, mr greene,” sage still countered, flashing a smile. she didn’t pretend to bother to hide rolling her eyes, she didn’t need to, not when it was around ollie. “for you information i wasn’t planning on not wearing a shirt,” sage informed him, deadpanning tone in her voice though she still smiled as he tugged a shirt over her head, the fabric draping over her smaller frame comfortably. “lets go, we’ve got a city to get out of and probably morning traffic to beat somewhere wherever we end up,” she hummed, grabbing his hand as she took a step back, tugging him with her towards the door.

watching ollie with toni was the only answer sage needed to know that every decision that had lead them here had been worth it. at one point she had thought the only thing they’d ever need was them, but now, with toni and matty and the life they built anything else seemed unthinkable. “i assume you wouldn’t be trying to turn us girls against each other, are you now?” sage teased, nudging his foot lightly with hers as she shifted toni on her hip. “trouble here wants dad to read her a bedtime story,” she fondly rubbed her daughter’s back, pressing a kiss into the wild curls on her head. 

sage reached behind her, fingers searching for the light switch on the bedside table, smirk showing on her features as the lamp brightened the room, “better?” the brunette asked, rubbing the heel of her hand against her eye in an effort to wake herself up. several things would’ve been easier if she had it in her to say no to him; at the moment sleep seemed to definitely be one of them. shaking her head, laugh slipping past her lips she watched him, “you drive first, i get the first hours to sleep,” sage cheerfully declared, following him out of bed as she reached for her jeans, pulling them up over her hips, “also, when we stumble upon something open, coffee, please,” she hummed, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

it was far from a life sage had imagined for herself, trading in busy streets and late subways in new york city for the serenity of a cabin on the outskirts of a small town. it wasn’t what she had ever thought, but when she had finally gotten matty down to sleep in his crib and antônia played quietly with her blocks it was nothing short of perfection. smiling she stroked a gentle hand over her son’s head as the door opened, and sage moved to her daughter, picking up the girl in her arms, “sounds like daddy’s home, do you want to go say hi to him?” she asked, already exciting the room a smile on her lips as ollie came into her line of sight, “hey, babe,” sage hummed, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek, “matty’s asleep but this one, missed her daddy, didn’t you?” sage tickled the small girl’s side, giggles escaping the girl, curly hair bouncing as she squirmed.

with a soft sigh sage began to stir, slowly coming out of her slumber, fingers trailing up his chest, “i’m awake now,” she whispered breathlessly, mind spinning as she felt his lips on her neck; but not enough for her to miss the absurdity of his question. “now? ollie, it’s,” sage paused to look over at the clock, “babe, it’s like 2am,” the continuation of her sentence came out as a whine and she shifted, looking at him with tired eyes. it was then she noticed the excitement, just how happy he seemed to be at the idea of driving somewhere and sage smiled, “where are we going?”