#shotonce

@shotonce PHONED IN ! – [ 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 ] ― sender and receiver see each other again after a period of being apart

Alastor had never expected to be given the life he had – a partner, much less children, had been things that had not only seemed too far from his grasp, but, in all sincerity, things he had never envisioned himself wanting. And it still held true that it was not a future he had wanted for himself. But this not being something he desired could co-exist easily with the concept that his family had become something he could not envision himself living without.

He had been the second to go, following shortly after his youngest son in an ill-advised attempt to avenge him. Loneliness was not something he had ever let settle within him, too self-centered before meeting Cosette and, then, once he had met her, not having ever had spent a day without her by his side.

But when he'd arrived . . . It was quiet. It was lonely.

He had busied himself with gaining power, and, slowly, his family began to trickle in. Perhaps he should be disappointed that they'd wound up in Hell, but neither disappointment nor any amount of surprise found him. Of course they had. They would always find each other, wouldn't they ? And it was better they were with him than anywhere else. Here, he would protect them unlike how he had failed to in his life.

Perhaps in his past life, long before childhood love and babies had swept him up, he'd consider the concept of being able to recognize your blood anywhere foolish. But how true it had turned out to be.

❝ Oh, my girl, ❞ Alastor coos, steadying her by her shoulders before pulling Amelie tight against his body, uncaring of if the affection was wanted or not. Other than the static overlay atop his voice, it was undeniably his. Once he's had his fill of holding her tight, she's pulled back by her shoulders again to be studied with pride.