#arthur fluff

Arthur took a step back, his head spinning as a million different scenarios came to mind. His heart began to thump in his chest and his stomach sunk. Every noise around him became muffled and distanced as he stared down the dirt road that led to and from Lupine Valley Ranch. 

“Daddy?” Daisy said his name, her voice shaky and fearful. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew something wasn’t right. 

When he didn’t answer her, she tried to move towards him, but Hosea put his hand on her shoulder. 

“Daddy!” 

Arthur snapped his head in her direction, the sound of her frantic voice bringing him out of whatever daze he was in. 

There were tears in his little girl’s eyes as she stood on the top step in front of Hosea. 

“Daisy.” He whispered. What would he tell her if her mother never came back? How would he tell her? Would he even be able to tell her? 

Arthur took a step towards her but found that his knees were shaky and untrustworthy. 

John was standing right there, having been checking on Abigail, and put his hand on Arthur’s arm when he saw that Arthur was almost about to collapse. 

“Whoa, Arthur. Take it easy.”

Arthur brought his gaze up to John, trying to fight back tears. 

“What do I– How do I-I tell her?”

“Let’s just get inside first. Uncle’s goin’ to get Charles and Sadie.”

***

Hosea ushered Daisy inside and right behind them were John, Abigail, and Arthur. 

“Abigail, will you take Daisy for a minute?” Hosea asked her. 

“Of course.” 

Hosea watched as Abigail went into the kitchen to sit with Daisy at the table. 

“You okay, son?” He moved towards Arthur. The man was white as a ghost as he stood near the front windows of the living room with his hands on his hips.

“How do I tell her, Hosea?” Arthur brought a hand up to rub his mouth. “How do I tell Daisy?”

“Y/N isn’t dead, Arthur.” Hosea reminded him. “We’ve got no reason to believe that, so there’s no reason for us to start acting like it.”

“It’s Micah we are talkin’ about! You know what that man is capable of!” 

“I know, I know.” Hosea nodded steadily. “That’s why we’ve got to keep our heads. As soon as Sadie and Charles get here, we’ll figure out what to do.”

“I ain’t waitin’.” Arthur shook his head. “Tell them to meet me in Strawberry.”

Without another word, he left the living room and went to the bedroom he shared with you. 

“If he leaves this ranch, John, go with him, please.” Hosea said. John nodded his head. 

***

Abigail found Arthur in his bedroom loading a shotgun. 

“Arthur?”

“Abigail.” He strapped the gun over his shoulder and then reached into the wardrobe where he kept the guns he rarely used. 

“Arthur, there’s something I have to tell you.”

He put a carton of bullets into a pocket on his jacket and reached for another carton. 

“Y/N told me she thinks she’s pregnant.”

He paused for a moment to take in her words. His hand rested on the shelf, bracing himself while he let everything settle into place. 

Abigail shifted where she stood, wringing her hands together. She didn’t say anything further, fearing that she’d say the wrong thing. 

Arthur nodded his head slowly as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

“I know.” 

“You know?” Abigail furrowed her brows.

“Just noticed a few things that have been different about her recently. Things that were different with her when she was pregnant with Daisy.” Arthur’s voice was quiet. He turned his head to look out of one of the bedroom windows. “She loves coffee. Always has…. But when she was pregnant with Daisy, Y/N…. She couldn’t stand the smell of it. Same for any time meat of any sort was bein’ cooked. Had to have the windows open and air out the house any time we cooked a meal for nine whole months. Couldn’t stand the smell of anything when she was pregnant.”

Arthur smiled just a little at the memories. You never had a weak stomach until you were carrying Daisy. 

The smile slowly faded from his face and was replaced with something more solemn and heartbreaking. 

“Abigail, what am I gonna do if I lose–,”

“That ain’t gonna happen, Arthur.” She stopped him. “Y/N is as strong as iron.”

“But Micah’s worse than anything we’ve ever seen before. He’s not afraid to–,” Arthur stopped himself. 

Abigail’s stomach churned at the possibilities. With Micah Bell, the horrors you could face were endless. 

The sound of horses outside caught Abigail’s attention. She went over to the window and peaked outside.  

“It’s Charles and Sadie.”

***

“What the hell happened?” Sadie asked as Arthur walked out onto the front porch. 

“Micah’s got Y/N.” Arthur’s hand came up to hold on to the strap of the rifle across his chest. 

“What? How?”

“She and Abigail went down to Strawberry. They ran into him there.”

“Is Abigail okay?” Charles looked beyond Arthur to John. 

“She’s shook up is all, and worried out of her mind about Y/N.” John answered. 

“Well what are we waitin’ for?” Sadie threw her hands into the air. “Let’s go to Strawberry and see what we can find out!”

John and Charles moved to mount their horses, but Arthur hesitated. 

“I-I have to go see Daisy real quick.” He shook his head softly. A part of him knew there was no time to waste, but another part of him couldn’t stand the thought of leaving his daughter without saying something. What if you were already gone and he didn’t make it back? He couldn’t leave without saying at least a little goodbye to Daisy.

“Go.” Charles gave him a nod. 

***

Arthur slipped into the house through the front door, setting the rifle down by the door. He moved quickly down the hallway towards Daisy’s room. 

Abigail had all three kids in the room. Jack was reading while Abigail, Grace, and Daisy talked.

Abigail was the first to notice his presence in the doorway. 

“Arthur.”

“Abigail. Just need to talk to Daisy a minute.”

“Daddy!” Daisy jumped up from where she was sitting on the floor and ran to him. 

With his hand on the back of her head, he guided her towards the middle of the hallway so that they would have a bit of privacy. 

Arthur’s heart began to race and all the air in his lungs seemed to be pushed out. He ran a hand over his face before kneeling down to be at Daisy’s height. 

“I…. Sweetpea, I need you to be on your best behavior for papa and Aunt Abigail while I’m gone, okay?”

“Where are you going?”

He paused, tilting his head down a little. 

“I’ve got to go get momma.”

“Where is she? Is she lost?”

“Just a little.” Arthur smiled, putting his hand on her cheek. “But I want you to know that we both love you to pieces, your momma and me do. You know that, don’t ya?”

“Yeah!” She giggled. “Go find her, daddy! We’re supposed to make cookies with Aunt Lucy today.”

Arthur leaned forward to kiss her head. He fought the urge to squeeze her as tight as possible. If this was his last time seeing his little girl, he wanted to hold her as tight as he could. But he didn’t want to cause her any alarm. Daisy was just like you. She was a worrier by nature. 

“Go on back to Aunt Abigail, sweetpea.”

He watched her run down the hallway. 

A few moments later, Carson came to sit next to him, nudging Arthur’s arm with his nose. 

“Hey, boy.” He petted the dog’s head. “You take care of her, alright?”

“You talk as if you know you won’t make it back.” Hosea spoke from the end of the hall.

Arthur stood to his feet, hastily wiping his face clear of tears with swipe of his hand.

“This isn’t a suicide mission–,”

“I’m not lettin’ John or Charles come with me, Hosea.” Arthur firmly shook his head. “They got families of their own. I can’t have Lucy lose her husband and her baby lose its father, or-or Grace and Jackie lose their father.”

“You know they won’t let you go alone! Y/N is their family!”

“She wouldn’t want them to! If anything happened to them and-and she knew about it–,”

“All this talking is wasting time that she may not have! Now go and find her, and bring her back home! And quit being so goddamn stubborn about it! We’re a family, and we’ll take care of this as a family!” 

Arthur grumbled under his breath as he left through the front door, grabbing the rifle he sat down on the way out. 

***

Charles, Sadie, and John watched as Arthur approached them. 

“What’s the plan?” John asked. 

“John, Charles, I need you both to stay here.”

“What?” John furrowed his brows. 

“Someone needs to stay here and watch over the women and children.”

“You’re putting us on babysittin’ duty?” 

“What’s going on, Arthur?” Charles knew there was more to Arthur’s reasoning. There had to be.

“I don’t got time to explain it, Charles. You gotta be here for Lucy and John’s gotta be here for the kids and for Abigail. Me and Sadie can handle this.”

“Arthur, we don’t know what exactly we are walking into–,”

“You boys can argue all day long, but I’m goin’ after Y/N. Heeyah!” Sadie took off in a gallop down the dirt driveway. 

“You two stay here! That’s final!” Arthur shouted before following behind her. 

“He’s crazy.” John shook his head.

“I’m not letting them go after Micah Bell alone.” Charles said. “Who knows how many men he’s got on his side.”

“Then let’s go!”

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“HEY!” You announce. “Why so jumpy babe?” You joke.

“Hey, theres my girl” He was so happy to see you, as always. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder. “Well you scared the shit outta me, but that tickled, too” He chuckled. You give him a puzzled yet pleased look.

“Arthur Morgan is ticklish? Oh my… not so tough after all are ya?” You tease.

“Oh shut up, come here” He pulls you into a sweet passionate kiss. He was pretty drunk already. You could taste it on him. “I was just getting ready to leave actually, I hope you wasn’t planning to stay long” He informs.

“Alright well I’ll leave with you babe” You say, smiling and admiring his facial features.

You two arrive back to camp on your horses, seeing the whole family gathered around the warm essence of the burning logs.  You two walk hand in hand to the campfire. That man was putty in your hands.

“Hey look who it is!” Charles announces your arrival

“Where you kids been off to?” Hosea asks, drinking some whisky.

“We were in Valentine drinking. Well I was drinking. Y/n just stopped by” Arthur answers.

“Yeah, he’s feeling pretty good already, I gotta catch up” You say. And with that, Javier tosses you the bottle of bourbon he was putting a dent in already. It wasn’t long until you were feeling all warm and fuzzy from the alcohol. Not to mention pretty playful. You shove Arthur onto the ground and try to pin him down to tickle him. It obviously doesn’t work, he is way too strong for you. Plus had lost a lot of strength from the alcohol. Arthur began to laugh his ass off at your drunken attempt.

“Nooooo, babe let me, let me tickle you” You whine. “Pleeeeaaase”

“Morgan…ticklish? Oh I’d like to see that” Bill says “Wait, y/n, let me help you” He says, dropping his bottle and coming behind Arthur, quickly pinning him down. You immediately began to tickle his sides. He was squirming and laughing in a way you’d never heard before. You were dying laughing at the same time, not letting up in the slightest.

“Y/n stop…pl-please stop” He could barely breathe from the laughter now. Everyone around the fire was teasing him. You decide to finally let up on him. Bill releases his grip. Arthur catches his breath. If he wasn’t drunk he would be so embarrassed. Instead he just comes at you, tickling you back. You just give in, laughing so loud.

“Don’t feel too good does it?” Arthur giggles. He was kind enough not to torture you for long.