#mcu parent

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Another weekday, another school run. You adored your son, he was the best thing that was in your life, not your wealth, your company. The school run in the morning was horrific, both of you having to drag yourselves to the car, both of you still pretty much asleep. You sighed as you left your office and reached your car, placing your coffee in the cupholder before you began your drive to his school.

The drive was fine, the school was fine, the pick-up was also fine, it was just the judgements from other parents when you arrived that wasn’t fine. You knew your family had a comfortable income, but you didn’t treat anybody any different or look down on anybody, you made sure that both you and your son stayed humble, but you always felt the stares and whispers as you pulled up in your A-class Mercedes and they were the ones who looked down on you because of it.

Once again you ignored the stares and whispers as you left your car, arriving later at the school than other parents due to your job, you did your best not to let it bother you.

“She is always late, I guess having flashy cars isn’t everything, I’d never put work and money before my child.”

“I bet her poor son barely receives any attention, she’s just working in that office the whole time.”

“I heard from one of the other mom’s that she’s going through a divorce with her wife due to her cheating.”

“Oh dear, the poor boy is going to grow within a broken family, he’s already having to deal without having a father, never mind having to deal with the divorce of his mom’s. I always did prefer her wife; she was a lovely lady. However, I do feel like that boy needs a father, he always seems a bit sensitive.”

You kept your eyes fixated on the floor as you ignored the not-so-quiet whispers around you. You and your son both knew that what got rumoured wasn’t true and that’s all that mattered to the both of you. The comments directed about Michael needing a father were the ones that were the hardest to ignore, alongside the comments about you being the cheater when the fact was it was your wife.

They had no idea what happened behind closed doors, the fact his other mother was a lying, cheating, manipulative, selfish excuse of a woman who was never there for him, even before she decided to get herself knocked up by the guy who just so happened to be the donor of the son you already have, you always thought there was something going on between the two but your love for her blinded you.

You sighed as you ran your fingers through your hair waiting for Michael to come out of his classroom. You jumped when you felt a hand on your shoulder and you quickly turned, startling the blonde in front of you resulting in her dropping some papers she was carrying.

“Sorry,” you muttered quietly as you knelt to help her scoop up the papers that were now scattered across the floor. You glanced back at the blonde who cleared her throat slightly before speaking, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of Mr Lang’s class, I’m here to pick up my daughter but I only know where the main office is,” she gushed nervously. You smiled gently at her, now realising you’ve never seen her before, so she must have only just moved here.

“You’re in the right place,” you smiled gently as the both of you stood upright, “My son is in the same class, they should be coming out soon, I’m Y/N, Y/N Marsh- Y/L/N, I’m uh, I’m Y/N Y/L/N.” The younger woman looked at you confused about the sudden change of last name but decided not to press it as she shook your hand, “I’m Carol Winters, it’s nice to meet you Y/N, do you mind if I stand with you?” You quickly shook your head smiling at the shorter woman, “I’d appreciate the company,” you admitted a little too quickly.

Carol smiled back at you as she stood with you looking around the playground, your voice broke her out of her thoughts, “So, what made you choose me to speak to? Out of all the other women?” you questioned gently. You weren’t really sure if you wanted to know the answer, but Carol had no problem with replying, “Well I overheard the group of women over there whispering and gossiping about one of the other moms and I just felt as though it was extremely unnecessary, I can’t even begin to imagine how the woman it was about feels, what I heard was absolutely dreadful, I wonder if she knows,” she murmured.

You fidgeted slightly in your spot, “She knows, she just chooses to ignore it,” you muttered, not daring to bring your eyes up to connect with hers. Carol’s gaze fixed on you, and she frowned deeply as she turned her body to face you, “The woman they’re talking about is you, isn’t it?” she pressed gently and you sighed as you shrugged a little, turning to face her, “Yes, it is but I don’t even care at this point, it’s gone on for years, I’ve grown tired of it.”

Carol frowned at your confession, but you just shrugged again and turned your attention back to the classroom door, waiting for your son to appear so you could finally go home, you wanted the ground to open underneath you and swallow you whole, “For the record, my own opinion of you is more important than some shitty rumours, I think you’re lovely,” Carol declared.

You looked back towards the blonde and smiles softly, “Thank you, I think you’re lovely too,” you confessed. The both of you were pulled out of your thoughts by the laughter and sounds of children, flooding from their classrooms and your eyes locked with Michael as you gave him the biggest smile as you knelt down to his height.

Michael smiled back at you as he sprinted into your arms before peppering kisses all over your face, you laughed gently as you lifted him up and rested him on your hip, “There’s my favourite boy! How was your day today?” Michael smiled wide at your words and nodded excitedly, “It’s been so good mommy! I made some drawings, we played soccer and I made a new friend,” he listed happily.

Carol smiled at Michael causing him to go bright red and hide his face into your neck, you chuckled slightly as you moved his bag to your free arm and rubbed his back, “I made a new friend too bud, this is Carol, are you gonna say hi?” Michael glanced at you and then Carol and nodded as he stuck his hand out, “I’m Michael, hello Carol!”

You smiled at your sons’ manners as did Carol as she shook his tiny hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Michael. I’m Carol, I’m sure me and your mom are going to be best friends,” she grinned to which you gladly returned.

A small voice broke up your conversation, “Mama!” You looked up at the classroom door and noticed a small girl with bright shining eyes and curly blonde hair, the spitting image of Carol, that must be her daughter. Carol smiled waving as the little girl took off running towards her mother, not even hesitating to jump into her arms as Carol laughed kissing her forehead. You smiled at the duo, the little girl waved happily at you and noticed Michael in your arms, “Mama! That’s my new best friend Michael! He likes it when I call him Mikey,” she stated proudly, you smiled more knowing this must be the new friend he spoke about.

You grinned as the children chattered amongst themselves and you sent Carol a comforting smile, “Well I guess this means we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other,” you joked smiling down at the shorter woman. Much to your surprise, Carol was already beaming up at you, “I won’t argue with that,” she teased.

-----

That was the first time you met Carol, and she had been your best friend ever since. She had supported you through your divorce, held you whilst you cried, protected you when you snapped, helped you clean up after you flipped, she was your rock. The main thing was she helped you find a new place for yourself and Michael which was closer to her, her husband Mark, and her daughter Lily. Lily and Michael had gotten closer than ever during their time at school and with how often they saw each other outside of school, they were mistaken for siblings a lot, much to the joy of the two, they loved it.

The fact your children were so close made it much easier for you and Carol to see each other often, her husband went away on business regularly, so it was common for you to have sleepovers at each other’s houses and go on family days out together, it was sweet, and you’d never been so grateful to have a friend like Carol to get you through one of the hardest parts of your life.

It had been nearly a year since your friendship with Carol had blossomed and you were both currently at the mall with the kid’s buying things for Michael’s birthday party at the weekend. You couldn’t believe that your little man was turning 6 already, Carol was quick to offer her help when you mentioned about having a bigger than usual, birthday party to help him forget it’ll be the first birthday he’ll have had where his other mother is officially not in the picture, she didn’t just decide to not turn up to the party.

Carol looked over at you as you were wiping the mess from the children’s faces after they finished their treat of McDonald’s whilst explaining where you were going to head next. She realised that today in particular you were struggling slightly with keeping your emotions in check, but she knew better than to bring it up, especially in front of the little ones.

She watched as you held both their hands as you walked towards Hobbycraft. That was something Carol had learnt about you early on, you were very imaginative and creative, you loved to make, design, and build things. It was very much why you loved your job so much, being able to plan, design and then go on to build amazing buildings and sculptures, Carol was severely impressed the first time you ever took her to your workplace.

Originally, she was very shocked at the invitation you gave her to come to your building and office with you as she knew how busy you could be, she had also never been invited to her husband’s office before, so she assumed a person’s office was sacred and she didn’t want to be in the way. You spent the whole day listening to any input from Carol as you planned a new school building, you were pleasantly surprised at the thoughts and ideas that Carol had, she was very insightful.

Carol walked beside you as you released the kids’ hands and let them explore the aisles that you walked through, both knowing to stay in your and Carol’s sights. Your hand brushed against Carol’s, and she smiled linking her arm with yours as she held onto your forearm, you immediately felt yourself relax into her touch.

Any tension or upset immediately vanished from your body as she gently stroked her thumb across your arm, “You’re okay, I know this is hard for you but me and Lily will be here with you to support you,” Carol promised. You nodded as you squeezed your best friend’s hand before you grabbed everything you needed to make the decorations for Michael’s prince and princesses birthday party.

You sat down on the bench outside of Hobbycraft as you double, then triple checked all the bags, “I think I’ve got everything,” you muttered to yourself more than anybody.

Carol chuckled gently and shook her head before walking up behind you, placing her hands on your shoulders and began massaging them causing a groan to fall from your mouth, “Y/N you honestly need to relax, everything is going to be perfect, you stressing yourself out won’t help anything, besides, that’s what I’m here for. I’m here to help because I love you and I love Michael and he’s gonna have a great birthday,” she assured before kissing your cheek.

You nodded leaning into her side as Michael sat on your lap, “Carol is right mommy, I’m gonna have the bestest birthday ever!” he cheered as you smiled down at him and pressed a loving kiss to his forehead.

“Excuse me, ladies?”

You and Carol both looked up at the voice in front of you, you smiled at the elderly lady, and who you could only assume to be her husband, that stood in front of you, “Hi, can we help you?” You questioned gently, initially confused by the sudden interaction.

The woman smiled at you and Carol, “Me and my husband couldn’t help but watch you and your little family and we just wanted to come over to say how brave you both are, we understand it’s a different time now compared to back when we were young, but even so. I also wanted to let you know how beautiful your family is, you’re such a lovely looking couple and you have the most adorable children,” she admitted.

You chuckled gently at the confusion, “Oh, me and Carol aren’t-”

“Aw, thank you so much, that’s so sweet,” Carol interrupted to which you raised an eyebrow, “What my wife was trying to say was that we aren’t very used to the kind of compliments you have just given us. It’s always nice when we receive such kind comments, isn’t it honey?” She probed whilst looking at you, she had a mischievous glint in her eyes, but you couldn’t help but notice the fluttering in your stomach when she referred to you as her wife.

You cleared your throat slightly, recognising Carol’s look for you to play along, as you nodded holding Carol’s hand, “Yep, totally right, that’s exactly what I was trying to say,” you flustered.

The older woman smiled at both of you and you both moved up to let her and her husband sit on the bench as they spoke to you about your perfect ‘family’, “So how long have you two been married?”

You were the first to answer this time as you rested your head on Carol’s shoulder, “We’ve been married for ten years, dating for fifteen, high school sweethearts are what we are, isn’t it darling?” you teased Carol who nodded and pressed a kiss to your forehead, a kiss that felt like it set your body alight, a warm blush crept up your neck onto your cheeks.

You were hoping neither of them noticed as you removed yourself from Carol’s shoulder and readjusted, the now sleeping Michael in your lap, but of course, the woman noticed, “Aww, that is so sweet, even after nearly two decades of dating your wife still makes you blush like a lovestruck teenager,” she cooed as the blush on your face deepened in colour.

Carol’s eyes moved to fixate on you as you dodged her graze, missing the toothy smile that spread across her face, she turned her attention back to the woman entertaining her for a while longer before deciding it was time to head home, “Yeah, the kids are exhausted so we better get them home and to bed, it’s been so lovely speaking with you,” Carol grinned at the elderly lady.

You began to get the bags together as you kept Michael in your arms, letting Lily lean against your leg as she yawned loudly. The older woman cooed at the sight before she left with her husband, Carol turned her attention back to you giving you a gentle smile as she lifted Lily into her arms and helped you with the bags.

You both stayed quiet during the walk back to the car, it wasn’t an awkward or upsetting silence, in fact it was a very comfortable one. Once you had both strapped the kids in the car, you began the drive back to Carol’s house to drop the duo off, you were the first one to break the silence, “So, I’m your wife now?” You teased as Carol laughed throwing her head back, you smiled to yourself loving the sound of her laugh, she nodded before answering you, “Well, of course, you are, I think anyone would be lucky to have you as their wife.”

The atmosphere of the car shifted dramatically, your grip on the steering wheel tightened as tears threatened to spill from your eyes, Carol frowned at your sudden reaction before she leant over to take your hand in hers to provide some sort of comfort, “I’m sorry, I really should start thinking before I open my mouth, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she sniffled.

You glanced at Carol out the corner of your eye as a frown began to form on your face, guilt beginning to eat you from the inside knowing you’ve made Carol cry by overreacting about something that shouldn’t affect you.

“Carol, don’t even blame yourself, it was my fault, I just, it’s hard for me to remember I was a wife once and it was to my high school sweetheart, but my love just wasn’t enough,” you scoffed as you felt the annoyance begin to surge through your body. Carol gripped your hand a bit tighter and you immediately started to calm yourself, her touch was one of your biggest comforts.

You had realised this in the first few months of the friendship you had with Carol, whenever you needed her, she was there, even if you didn’t know exactly what you needed to be okay, Carol did, and you appreciated her so much. It wasn’t long before you pulled up at Carol’s house and noticed the sigh leave her lips when she realised her husband’s car wasn’t there, you gave her a sympathetic smile as you tapped your fingers on the wheel.

“Would you like to stay at mine tonight?” you questioned meekly. She nodded as she smiled at you, “Yes please, I just don’t fancy being alone tonight, besides, I don’t think you really want to be alone tonight either,” she observed getting you to nod in agreement.

Once you finally reached your house you carried both kids inside as Carol grabbed the shopping bags, you walked upstairs to Michael’s room laying the two young ones down before you tucked them in and pressed a soft kiss to each of their foreheads. You tiptoed out of the room and back downstairs to Carol before letting yourself drop onto the sofa beside her, “So…wine?” you hinted playfully at Carol, and she nodded immediately.

You shuffled yourself off the couch and into the kitchen to grab 2 glasses and a fresh bottle of your finest red before sauntering back to the front room, again sitting beside Carol, “This is well deserved, right?” you implied cheekily. Carol moved to tuck her feet underneath herself as she brought her glass to her lips, “Oh yeah, this is deserved, we’re moms, any glass of wine is deserved,” she joked.

You smiled at her relaxed demeanour and spent the rest of the night chatting away as your brought each other up to speed on anything that had happened in your lives since the last time you saw each other, that time only being a couple of days ago.

You watched as Carol waved her arms around as she enthusiastically recalled a story about something that had happened at the supermarket she shopped at, you couldn’t tear your gaze away from her, your eyes fixated on her plump lips.

You were falling for your best friend and there was absolutely nothing you could do to stop yourself.

-----

“Carol, are you nearly ready? We’re going to be late!” You shouted to the blonde who was still doing the finishing touches of her makeup. You heard a dramatic groan, and you rolled your eyes chuckling to yourself, “I’m trying! This stupid fucking eyelash won’t stay on!” you heard the blonde whine.

You laughed as the 2, now 11 years old, children stood next to you gasped loudly, “Oooooh Carol said a bad word mom, she needs her mouth washing with soap,” Michael taunted to which Lily rolled her eyes. “Your mom says bad words all the time Mikey, they both need their mouths washing out with soap,” she retorted playfully.

Michael shrugged knowing that Lily was right to which you gasped loudly in mock offence, “How dare you, I will have you know I have never spoken a sinful word in my entire life,” you remarked teasingly. Both Mikey and Lily looked at each other and then you, the facial expression of ‘you’ve got to be joking’ obvious on their faces, to which you again just shrugged.

You heard footsteps begin their descent down the carpeted stairs and you turned your attention to the sudden sound and smiles wide as Carol came into view.

Her freshly curled blonde hair draped loosely across her shoulders as the blue dress she had on clung to her figure perfectly. “Wow,” you breathed as you tried to regather your thoughts, “You look incredible Carol.” Carol smiled and began to blush at your comment before she turned her attention to the kids, “Well? What do you think?” she wondered shyly, both kids smiled wide.

“Mom, you look amazing!”

“Carol, you look so pretty!”

You smiled at the blonde and she smiled back, Mikey stepped forward taking her hand and smiled, “Can I walk you to the car m’lady?” he joked smiling as Carol took his hand.

“Yes you may, young sir,” she mimicked back as they walked towards the car so you could finally set off to Lily and Mikey’s 5th grade graduation. You smiled at the pair before turning your attention to Lily who looked like she was on the verge of tears, you frowned as you knelt down taking her hands in yours, “What’s wrong honey?”

Lily sniffled before meeting your gaze, “Y/N, do you know where my dad is? He said he’d come to the graduation, mom said he promised and we’re leaving for it now and he’s not here.”

You frowned at the confession and chewed the inside of your cheek before answering, “I think he got called out on a really important business meeting honey, I’m sorry that he’s not here, I’m sure he’s missing every second of being here with you,” you whispered comfortingly.

As much as you respected Mark, he was really beginning to test your patience as of late, he worked far too much in your opinion and didn’t spend enough time with his family and the only way he made up for it was with expensive gifts. It reminded you very much of your previous marriage except Lily was old enough for it to be noticeable to her too.

Lily’s hiccups grabbed your attention once more, “What a dickhead,” she muttered to herself, your eyes widened in shock, as did hers as she realised the phrase that came out of her mouth, and she covered her mouth quickly. “Oh god, please don’t tell my mom I said that, she’ll throw a shoe,” she panicked as you laughed at the vision of Carol throwing a shoe due to the fact her precious little girl swore.

You stroked Lily’s cheek gently and let her relax into your touch, “You’re right, he is a bit of a dickhead isn’t he?” you joked as she smiled nodding and let you wipe her eyes, you locked your pinky with hers and kissed them to seal the promise of you not telling if she won’t, to which she agreed.

You both made your way to the car, Lily giving you one last tight hug before she clambered into the back seat. You opened the door to the driver’s side sliding in before setting off to the school, you felt Carol’s eyes burning into you the whole way there, but you refused to take your eyes off the road.

Once you had arrived you let the kids out first and smiled as they held hands to walk inside together, as you went to follow you felt Carol grab your arm gently, “What was all that about at the house with you and Lily?” You sighed and entwined your fingers with Carol, handholding was a common occurrence when you went places together, and slowly began your walk inside.

“Lily asked me if I knew where her dad was. If I knew why he wasn’t here at the graduation after you said that he promised to be here for her. She got really upset so I just did my best to cheer her up, she’ll be okay, she’s strong like her mom,” you explained carefully.

Carol frowned at the situation and pulled your arm making you both come to a stop, you looked at the blonde with a confused look before she threw her arms around your neck to hug you tight.

You relaxed into her touch and wrapped your arms around her slender waist, not wasting any time to give her the same comfort she always gave you those many years ago, “You’re okay, let’s just go have fun yeah? I’ll order us takeout once we get home if everyone’s tried to have a good time,” you bargained cheekily, earning a gentle slap on the chest from Carol as she laughed walking into the school, holding comfortably onto your arm.

Carol looked over at you as you took your seats and couldn’t stop smiling, her thoughts being overridden about how good you look in your black pantsuit with your hair in a loose bun, the way your loose curls at the front framed your face, how you have been there for the past 5 years and never let her, or even Lily, down.

You could feel Carol’s eyes burning into you, so you turned your attention towards her and smiled softly, “It’s rude to stare y’know and it’s a little creepy,” you whispered playfully.

Carol shrugged leaning her head on your shoulder as she shivered slightly, “I wouldn’t say I was staring necessarily, it’s more along the lines of I was admiring,” she taunted, you smiled at the blonde resting your head on top of hers gently holding her hand.

Acting like this was a regular occurrence with Carol, both of you being comfortable and trusting with each other and you appreciated it, you kissed the top of her head as you chuckled slightly, “Are you flirting with me Mrs Winters?” you questioned teasingly.

Carol looked up at you and just nodded as she shrugged, there was nothing unfamiliar about it, you and Carol playfully flirted with each other all the time, except this time you didn’t know there was a slight truth behind the blonde’s words.

You stayed sat comfortably, ignoring the stares and whispers from other parents, you didn’t care what anybody else thought and neither did Carol, you were both extremely happy in each other’s company.

You smiled standing up to clap with Carol as you watched Michael get his diploma and then you did the same for Lily as they came bounding over to you both instead of going to sit back with their class, not that you and Carol minded, this was your children’s world and you both were just living in it.

You stayed for the rest of the ceremony and let the kids talk to their friends before you excused the four of you for you all to leave and go grab a few pizzas before returning to your house.

You flopped onto the sofa placing Carol’s glass of wine on the table in front, alongside the 3 pizzas all of you were sharing together. You smiled at the kids as they dug in whilst some random movie played in the background, you turned your attention to the voice coming down the stairs, “Y/N, Can I wear your sweater? It smells like you; I can't promise to give it back though."

You smiled at Carol who now stood in front of you in one of your sweaters, accompanied by a pair of shorts before she came to sit next to you and grabbed her glass of wine with some slices of pizza, “By the looks of it, I couldn’t exactly say no, could I,” you questioned smiling and she shook her head as she smiled back.

You could feel yourself getting tired as you leant further into the sofa, your eyes were heavy, your eyes snapped open at the sudden sound of a loud clap and then erupted laughter from the kids and Carol as you rolled your eyes and stood up, “Right, bedtime, all of you, right now,” you demanded playfully.

Of course, you were met with whines, even more so from Carol, you just shook your head and pointed to the stairs, “Beds, right now, or you’re all grounded.”

You laughed as they all sprinted upstairs, you made sure to wait for a little before following so you tidied the front room before walking upstairs. You walked into Mikey’s room and smiled at the children in the bunk beds before you pressed a kiss onto his forehead, “Nanite sweetie,” you whispered gently as he cuddled into his covers falling asleep almost immediately.

You stood on your tiptoes so you could see Lily on the top bunk, you stroked the hair out of her face and smiled softly, “How are you feeling angel, are you alright?” you asked calmly.

She nodded slightly before she threw her arms around you, you smiled gently as you kissed the top of her blonde curls, “I’m glad you’re okay honey, just get some sleep alright?”

You felt her nod against your shoulder before you tucked her back in, exhaustion written in her face as she rubbed her eyes.

“Night mommy,” she whispered tiredly, your body froze, and your breath hitched slightly. You were sure you heard that right, but you knew it was best to ignore it, she was exhausted and emotional, the poor girl.

You walked back to your room and smiled at Carol who was still wrapped up in your sweater, your smile quickly turned into a frown once you realised her eyes were red like she’d been crying. “Carol? What’s happened?” you queried comfortingly.

You frowned even more as she choked back a sob, Carol sniffled as she wiped her eyes on the sleeves of your sweater, “Can I have a cuddle? Please?”, she questioned hesitantly as though you were going to tell her no.

You moved through your room and slid into bed beside her as you spooned her, your bodies moulded together like jigsaw pieces as you held her close, you peppered her shoulders and head in gentle kisses to calm her down.

“Speak to me, what’s going on?” you repeated, this time even more of a gentle quiet tone laced it. She didn’t say anything, she just passed you her phone, you frowned at the uncharacteristic quietness from Carol as her phone screen glared brightly.

You scrolled through the messages before Carol and her husband, vicious words being directed from both sides, mainly his.

You frowned as a photo of him, and another woman popped up on the screen wrapped up in bed covers, you decided you didn’t want to see anymore and you placed her phone down on the side before you pulled her closer to you and kissed her head. “You’re gonna be okay, I’ve got you, I’ll always have you,” you promised and started whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

Carol sniffled as she rested her head on your chest listening to the steady rhythm of your heartbeat, the comfort she had with you heightened as she glanced up at you.

She smiled to herself as she watched you try and fight off the sleep that was overcoming you, your eyes slowly shut as your head drooped but your hand never stopped tracing patterns on her back to give her comfort.

Carol stayed up a little while longer, the upset of the situation with her husband, soon to be ex-husband, long gone from her mind as memories of the past 5 years of yours and her friendship flashed through her mind, she never realised how much you had an impact on her until now.

She relaxed more keeping her head rested on your chest as she began to give in to the sleep that was calling her name, she intertwined your legs and moved your arm to wrap around her waist, instinctively you pulled her closer.

Carol was falling, she knew she was, but she also knew she wanted you to catch her.

-----

“Are you sure it’s okay? I don’t want to invade your space Y/N,” Carol muttered as you helped her carry some of her things into your home.

You scoffed slightly at your best friend’s stupid comment, “Of course it’s okay, even if your house wasn’t being renovated, you’d still be more than welcome to stay here,” you promised the younger woman.

She smiled gently at you as she followed you into the house, she watched as you carried her suitcase into your room and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “I’m staying in here?” Carol questioned as you placed the suitcase on the floor.

You immediately stopped in your tracks and turned to face her, “Oh. I mean, I thought so? If not that’s okay, I’m more than happy to get the spare room sorted for you if you’d prefer. I just thought because we’ve kind of always shared a bed when we’ve had our sleepovers that you’d want to do it again,” you rambled nervously, your voice beginning to get caught in your throat.

Carol placed a finger on your lips as she smiled, “It’s fine, I was just checking you wanted me in here and didn’t feel like you had to have me in here,” she admitted truthfully.

You smiled sadly at your best friend before you pulled her into a tight hug and as she comfortably tucked herself under your chin and hugged back, it hurt you to know that since the divorce a few years ago, your friend hadn’t really been the same since.

The first thing that you noticed is that she doubted everything she did, which included her own parenting skills, she had no reason to feel as though she had failed but she still did.

Carol had broken the news to Lily and was relatively shocked when there wasn’t too much of a reaction from the young girl, did everybody sense her marriage was coming to an end? Everybody but her?

There was plenty of other things that accompanied her doubt, she lost any confidence she had with her looks and within herself, she lost all motivation she had to ensure that she could keep doing what she loved, she was a broken woman and all you wanted to do was be there to help fix her.

***

You frowned as you watched your friend pace in her front room as she chewed nervously at her nails, “Carol, what’s going on?” you questioned cautiously, scared that the younger woman was going to break at your attempt of comfort.

“Am I doing the right thing?” She questioned quickly, you blinked slowly at her as you processed her question.

“Are you doing the right thing by divorcing your cheating husband? Of course you are, nobody would expect you to do any different, he’s a prick who doesn’t deserve you or Lily” you stated a bit harsher than intended, frustrated at the fact she had this overwhelming amount of guilt for just wanting to be happy.

You strode over to where she had stopped in the middle of her room as tears cascaded down her cheeks, she flinched slightly but immediately relaxed as you cupped her face wiping her tears away with your thumb, “You are worth so much more than you currently believe you are, there is no need for the doubt and the guilt, you and Lily deserve to be happy, especially considering that arsehole couldn’t even care less about making sure either of you are okay,” you comforted gently.

Carol sniffled and then nodded as you continued.

“I’ve been more of a parent to Lily these past few years than he has,” you muttered more to yourself than Carol, but she heard and she didn’t argue because she knew you were right.

Carol sniffled once more as she leant her head into your hand and relaxed at your soft touch, “Also, you’re eating and showering tonight, even if I have to do it for you myself,” you joked carefully and smiled when you received soft laughter in return, but you ended up doing exactly as you promised.

That night you made sure to eat at a separate time from the kids so neither of them grew concerned or upset at how either of you may have been acting, you cut up Carol’s food for her and even fed it to her for a short while.

Carol felt embarrassed at the situation, but you knew she just didn’t have the care or motivation to want to look after herself right now, it was a repeat of when you were going through your own divorce about 7 years prior.

You smiled as you carried her upstairs to her bedroom and sat her on the bed moving the hair out of her face, “I’m gonna run you a bath so you can relax, okay?” you instructed gently as she nodded.

You didn’t waste time in running her a hot bubble bath, you checked to ensure the water wouldn’t scald her before you returned to the bedroom sticking your hand out for her which she grabbed gently so you could walk her to the bathroom.

You faced the wall as she stripped herself off before getting into the tub, “I’ll be in the bedroom if you need me, okay?” you spoke softly. As you tried to leave the bathroom, Carol grabbed your wrist firmly in a desperate attempt to get you to stay with her.

You looked at her nervous, seemingly dull eyes and didn’t even need to be asked before you sat down on the floor next to the tub as she kept a hold of your hand. You stayed with her the entire time she had her bath, the bubbles covering her modesty as you helped her wash her hair before she climbed out of the bath and dried herself off.

One you made your way back to the bedroom, Carol rooted through your drawers for some clothes. You made sure to look away as she got changed into one of your shirts and a pair of your boxers. Usually, you’d have made a joke about her stealing your clothes, but you recognised her body language became more relaxed as she found comfort in wearing your clothes, you watched as she smelt your t-shirt before she curled up into the covers.

You climbed into bed and laid next to her and gently pulled her into you, “I love you y’know,” you whispered gently as you ran your fingers through her hair, she turned to face you and nuzzled her head into your neck as she gripped your shirt, “I love you too, thank you,” she muttered shyly before she fell asleep, practically laid on top of you.

***

It had been 5 years since the night she found out about her cheating husband, how she realised she was absolutely infatuated with you. The thing that had been stopping her is that she was certain you only saw her as a friend, she didn’t want to ruin or jeopardise the 10, nearly 11, year friendship you both had built.

Carol watched as you unpacked her clothes into the other side of your wardrobe, she smiled at you before she hugged you from behind and mumbled into your shoulder, “Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate it.”

You turned to look over your shoulder at the shorter woman and you felt your body go warm due to her touch as you slowly broke out of her grip to face her, “You’re more than welcome, it’s going to be fun, the kids should be back from school soon so I’ll get started on food,” you kissed her cheek before you walked to the kitchen, missing the deep blush that crept up her neck and onto her cheeks.

Carol finished unpacking upstairs and was interrupted by a loud screech, she bolted downstairs to see both kids absolutely drenched in mud after their soccer session.

She looked at you who was losing your mind over the mud that’s been trailed through the house, she laughed as you ushered the 17-year-olds outside into the back garden, making sure none of them touched anything on the way through, “What about your car?” you interrogated Mikey, “Is it covered in mud now too?”

He quickly shook his head at his mother’s accusing tone, “Of course not, I covered my car in dust sheets, it was Lily’s idea,” he stated proudly as you huffed in annoyance due to the fact, he’ll protect the cleanliness of his car but not your living room.

“I don’t think your mama is gonna be best pleased when she finds out you got mud all over the side of her car,” you warned, Mikey and Lily glanced at each other as they recognised you referred to Carol as both of their Mama but electively decided not to say anything about it.

Carol’s head snapped up at the mention of her car and her eyebrow raised, “They did what, dear?” she questioned astonished, as she made her way over to stand by your side, to which the kids both smiled sheepishly and you nodded.

“Oh yes darling,” Mikey and Lily smiled knowingly at each other when they heard the domesticated nickname fall from your lips. “There is now a lovely amount of mud smeared on the side of your car from when they came running into the house, so I think we better hose them off, don’t you agree?” you questioned playfully as Carol nodded mischievously, “Oh yes, I agree.”

The kids looked at you and Carol with pleading eyes, “No, mom, just think about this, I’m your precious baby boy, you don’t need to spray me with a hose,” Mikey bargained as Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Yes Mikey, just defend yourself, that’s cool,” she argued playfully.

You and Carol watched the kids bicker amongst themselves until Lily gasped loudly when Mikey shot her in the forehead with a nerf gun, "Did you seriously just shoot me in the head with a nerf bullet? Where the hell did you even get the nerf gun fro-”

She cuts herself off as she saw Mikey begin to point to his shorts, which she knew for a fact didn’t have pockets, because she was wearing the same ones. Lily grimaced and she shook her head, “In fact, I really don’t want to know, disgusting boy.”

Mikey smiled cheekily before they both screamed out when you sprayed them with the hose. Luckily, it was summer so they couldn’t complain about being freezing and it, surprisingly, made them feel better after being so sweaty and warm from soccer practice.

You laughed as the kids started to shake themselves dry like dogs before Carol threw them both a towel and sent them upstairs to go and shower.

Mikey looked over at Lily who was already looking at him as they climbed the stairs, “Did you realise that my mom referred to your Mama as mine too?” he asked the smaller girl. Lily immediately nodded and smiled at him,

“Yeah, I did. Did you notice that they called each other really domesticated pet names, as if they were married?” Mikey tilted his head in confusion and Lily groaned,

“Boys are so fucking dumb,” she muttered to herself before she looked back up at Mikey. “Well, my mama called your mom dear, and then your mom called my mama darling,” she paused as her thoughts swarmed herself.

“Wait, do you think they’re dating, and they’ve just not told us?” Lily gasped to which Mikey immediately shook his head.

Mikey knew that if anything like that was the case, you’d have told him, you tell him everything, “No, surely not, my mom would have told me.”

He saw the expression on Lily’s face change to one of disappointment, “Why? Do you want them to date?” he questioned gently, to which Lily immediately got defensive and shrugged, “I don’t care, not really.” Mikey raised an eyebrow and then smirked.

“That’s not what your diary said,” he spoke quickly before he ran to the safety of his bathroom. Lily gasped loudly and snapped her head to watch the older boy run upstairs, “MICHAEL Y/L/N! YOU GET BACK HERE!” She bellowed as she sprinted after him.

She slammed her fists on his door as he laughed manically, it didn’t take very long for Mikey to eventually give in. He opened the door which resulted in Lily collapsing onto the floor from the sudden lack of support, she huffed as she stood up with her arms folded, about to curse him out for reading her diary but then gasped when her eyes zoned in on his neck, “Mikey, is that a hickey on your neck?!”

Mikey’s hand immediately moved to his neck as he tried to cover the deep purple bruise to which Lily smirked, “So, that’s where you snuck out to last night,” she teased as he turned a deep shade of red from embarrassment. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell, as long as you help me try and get out parents together and never look through my diary again,” she warned.

Mikey contemplated for a second, it was obvious the feelings you and Carol had for each other to everyone but yourselves, when it came to either of you noticing any of the signs you were both clueless.

Mikey nodded in agreement, “Okay, I’ll help. Besides, it’s obvious that they’re in love with each other, they just need that little bit of a push to get the ball rolling,” he stated confidently to which Lily agreed before they went their separate ways to shower.

-----

Carol and Lily had been living at your house for a couple of months now, the work on Carol’s house kept being pushed back and delayed and resulted in her still needing to stay with you. Carol gushed her apologies about how long it was taking, how sorry she was that they still had to stay and that if you wanted them to leave, they would.

Those apologies fell on deaf ears, in fact, you were secretly overjoyed that the construction was taking so long on Carol’s house, you had grown used to Carol and Lily being around and there was honestly nobody else you could dream of wanting to share a home with.

Through the time Carol had been staying with you, your relationship has changed, not dramatically, but there is definitely something different. The two of you had gotten even closer than before, you had become ever more domesticated to each other.

Some days it was you who woke up earlier in the morning to cook breakfast for everybody, then to be greeted by a kiss on the cheek from Carol as she watches you potter around the kitchen.

Other nights where Carol had been cooking food so that it was ready for when you came home from work and you gave her a kiss on the cheek as you hugged her from behind, infatuated with watching her cook.

You spent more time in each other’s arms than separated, there was a lot of lunch dates or going to surprise each other at work, it just made the feelings you had for each other grow stronger, but both of you still refused to act on your feelings, much to the frustration of your kids.

Both of your children had noticed this change in dynamic, there had been numerous times they’d somehow played you into having only each other’s company in the evening, which usually ended up with you cuddled up to each other on the couch or in bed, content with the closeness of your warm bodies and each other’s company.

Other times they made plans to ensure that you had to do things together to benefit the house or the two of them, whether this was parent-teacher conference meetings, sports games, dance recitals.

It wasn’t long for the rumours to get started up at their high school, to which Mikey got extremely defensive over you and Carol, he had always seen Carol as a second mother from when he had first met her, he loved the both of you dearly.

Hence why he was now in the principal’s office being scolded for punching a kid who was being homophobic towards both of you.

Lily sighed as she sat down next to her bother figure, also being dragged into the blame as she refused to tell him to stop fighting with the other boy and then she ended up fighting his girlfriend, “I just don’t understand why they,” she pointed viciously to the boy and girl sat across the room, “Aren’t being punished for being a homophobic piece of shit,” she snapped venomously.

The headteacher glared at her, “That’s enough Miss Danvers! Both of you are suspended for the rest of the week, get out of my office,” he huffed before he turned his attention to the other boy.

Lily huffed in frustration as she grabbed her bag and stormed out of the office, Mikey hot on her heels. “Lil…Lilly…Lil! Will you stop?!” He finally shouted.

Lily turned to face him as tears cascaded down her cheeks, “What Mikey? I just want to go home, please?”

She begged as she gripped the books in her arms tighter, Mikey frowned but nodded as he took her hand walking back to her car, she hiccupped passing him the keys so he could drive them both home.

Mikey glanced at her before breaking the silence, "You're gonna be in deep shit when Mama finds out" he joked, Lily huffed at him and glared sharply.

“Wow Mikey, that makes me feel so much better, thanks for that,” she snapped, her voice laced with sarcasm. “Besides, you’re gonna be in deep shit when Mom finds out,” she counter argued as she lent further back in her seat, the both of them comfortable with the fact they refer to each other’s parents as their own.

Your head lifted when you heard the front door open, “Babe?” you shouted confused, only to be met with Carol’s voice from upstairs, “What?!” You frowned in confusion as you closed your book, the kids walking into your view, “the kids are home…4 hours early!” You shouted back.

You watched them both groan as they flopped onto the couch near you, the sound of rushed footsteps coming down the stairs before Carol moved to sit next to you, misjudging the amount of space and basically ended up in your lap, which you didn’t mind.

You felt Carol about to move but you just tightened your arms around her midriff, she smiled down at you as she relaxed into your touch before looking at Lily whose eyes were still red from crying.

“What happened?” Carol questioned gently to which Lily just sniffled as you looked at Mikey and frowned gently, “Mike? What’s happened? Why’s your sister been crying?”

You blinked slowly as you analysed the words that came out of your mouth, Lily’s head snapped up to look at you and you could feel Carol’s fixed on you. You gulped slightly, not daring to open your mouth once more as you did your best not to immediately start crying.

You loosened your grip on Carol giving her the opportunity to move away from you, but she didn’t, you didn’t even realise what you said until it was too late, but Mikey just nodded at you.

“Well, today at school we were sat in the cafeteria and one of the school’s biggest arseholes and his shitty girlfriend came up to us trying to start a problem, at first I ignored it when he started teasing me about my gameplay and things because I assumed he was jealous,” he explained calmly and both you and Carol nodded before motioning him to carry on.

He sighed running his hand through his hair, “But then he started saying horrible things about the two of you, being blatantly homophobic and just being disgusting and I snapped and punched him… a lot,” he admitted truthfully as he refused to meet your gaze. “The boy’s girlfriend kept screaming at Lily telling her to make me stop, but she didn’t so the girl hit Lily and obviously, she fought back, so now we’ve both been suspended for a week and we’re really sorry.”

You moved Carol from your lap, she immediately pouted at the loss of contact as you walked over to Mikey and Lily. You knelt in front of them before you laughed high-fiving them both, the two of them looked at you shocked, “Y-You’re not mad?” Lily stammered.

You immediately shook your head, “Of course not, I would never be mad at either of you for defending someone who couldn’t defend themselves, or for defending what you believe in, but I do want the juicy details on how it went,” you chuckled.

Mikey stood up and began playfighting with you as a re-enactment of what happened and Lily joined in too, feeling relaxed at the fact you’re not mad. Suddenly, you were interrupted by Carol clearing her throat, you turned to face her and gulped slightly as her eyebrow was raised and arms were folded.

The three of you immediately calmed down and Carol spoke slowly, “I don’t like the fact either of you got in a fight, but I am proud to say that your mom and I have obviously raised the most loving and respectful children. Just next time at least make it so you don’t get caught,” she sighed and the kids quickly nodded before they were dismissed to their room.

You stayed frozen in your spot; your eyes fixated to the floor as you heard footsteps moving towards you. You gulped slightly as Carol placed her finger under your chin and lifted your head to make you look at her, “Do you want to talk about what happened a minute ago?”

You chewed the inside of your cheek nervously before you took a deep breath, “I’m sick of pretending Carol,” you admitted, your eyes darted to the floor as you started to become teary.

Carol frowned and went to place her hand on your cheek, a flash of hurt crossed her face as you moved away, your back hitting the wall and looked back up at her, “I love you Carol,” you expressed, as your voice betrayed you and broke slightly.

Carol tilted her head confused, “Y/N, I love you to-,” you groaned frustratedly, tears falling from your eyes. “No Carol, you don’t get it. I’m in love with you! I want to be with you, I want us to be a family. God, I’d even marry you tomorrow if I had the chance!”

Carol jumped at your words, you whined slightly as you looked up at the ceiling to blink your hot tears away, missing the smile that spread across Carol’s face at your confession. You hiccupped as you heard steps come towards you, Carol’s hands holding your head, to bring it down to look at her, her body getting closer to yours.

Your breath hitched at the sudden closeness, the way you could feel her hot breath on your lips, the way her soft thumbs caressed your cheeks. “Carol, what are you doing?” you whispered quietly.

She looked at you through her long eyelashes before she wet her lips with her tongue. “Nothing that the both of us don’t want me to do,” she confessed as she placed her plump lips upon your own.

You had frozen at the sudden contact, but then let yourself relax into Carol’s touch and allowed yourself to move your own lips against hers in a fiery and passionate fashion. Carol gripped your shirt pulling you tighter as she stood on her tiptoes and then pulled away, both of you breathless.

You smiled gently at Carol as you moved a loose strand of hair from her face, “I’ve waited nearly 12 years to do that Miss Danvers,” you confessed, and she smiled pecking your lips once more, her eyes full of love and adoration.

“Now you’ll never have to wait again, I’m yours Y/N, I think I always have been.”

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