just_another: (016)
They're actually having a baby shower.

Joel is fairly certain his mother wouldn't have let them get away without something, even if he had insisted it be small and consist only of family, but for some reason he and Spencer have allowed themselves to be talked into a real shower. With invitations and food and little baby themed games to play. It's sort of strange, looking at it from his position, given that Erin is the one who's going to be giving birth and therefore is the one in the glowing pregnant woman position at this entire gathering.

She'd sweetly agreed to attend and had even whispered to Joel that she would take the brunt of the attention if she could manage it. He had whispered back that he knew they had picked her for a good reason.

But here they are. Several weeks have passed, the invitations have gone out and the decorations have been put up all over Joel and Spencer's living room. He had agreed to lift the enchantments on the house for the extent of the party, which means that anyone can open the door to their guests, they don't all have to be invited in by either Joel or Spencer, and it makes him a little nervous, but he understands the usefulness of others being able to answer the door. At least for today.

It's the decorations that keep getting to him. Sweet little ducks and zebras and monkeys, little jungle animals all over the walls. The bottle and rattle shaped cookies are pretty cute, but those aren't going to be left when the baby gets here. The animal theme, though, is fairly close to the nearly finished nursery Joel has been working on upstairs and he can't help but grin at the decorations.

Spencer, on the other hand, can't stop coming back round to the center of the living room to stare at the enormous sign that's been strung up above a table already stacked with gifts when a majority of their guests haven't even arrived yet. He'd been worried this morning that the day would overwhelm him, that knowing so many people would be coming into their home would be daunting when just a year ago, he'd never even once invited company over before meeting Joel; but so far, he feels calm, in spite of having had to watch Joel remove the enchantments that act as their security on the house. If someone wishes to crash a baby shower--which he doesn't imagine will happen anyway--then they'll have to face not only the wrath of a room that will be filled with witches and sirens, but the wrath of his mother- and sister-in-law, as well. That's not a sight Spencer thinks would be very pretty to witness.

Still, he feels light, perhaps a lingering effect of the having the chance to fall in love with Joel a second time during the spell that had taken over the town. Certainly, a great deal of his contentment has to do with the fact that he won't have to worry about losing his husband in a crowd but even beyond that, he's excited.

So much has changed in the course of the past year and weeks from now, they'll be holding their newborn in their arms for the very first time without another care in the world but for who they've been looking forward to meeting since they'd decided to take this journey together. There's something a bit strange about realizing that it's all coming to a head, that the waiting will soon be over and they'll be fathers at last, but when the first knock on the door comes, Spencer can't help but smile.

[Baby shower for Joel and Spencer's wee one. Erin, their surrogate, is present and is currently 31 weeks pregnant. If you're even a little friendly with either of them, Joel's mother sent an invitation, but the enchantments have been taken off the house for the event and so it's not an impossible party to crash. If anyone wants to crash a baby shower...]
just_another: (011)
There's a storm coming, darling. Be safe.

Joel supposes he should not be out on the water, not with his mother's warning still echoing in his ears, but he had needed to get out of the palace for a time. The water has long since been the only place he has felt truly comfortable and while most of his kingdom would not expect for their prince to be manning his own sailboat, he's never quite been able to give up the habit. The ocean, his boat, it's where he feels truly at peace, the only place of true silence where he can sink into his thoughts and consider his life as it lay before him.

He has long since passed the age where his parents had expected him to marry and he has put them off time and again. Now, nearing thirty, he suspects he won't be able to put them off any longer. There is to be a ball held soon and they will expect him to choose a bride. There are many things Joel still does not know about himself -- where these abilities come from, for example, that he can lift a hand and stop a weapon from coming near him -- but he is certain he does not want to be married. Not to any of the women being offered to him.

There seems to be little he can do about it, though, and so today he has chosen to escape.

There is a storm coming, his mother was right about that. He can see it brewing to the east, but it looks far enough away that he thinks he still has plenty of time. The sailboat is small but sturdy and Joel is well in control of the vessel even as the wind picks up and sends waves smacking against the boat's body. He reaches down, adjusts the sail, and sends himself further out into the water. A reckless decision, perhaps, but he needs the time alone. He needs time to think.

It isn't until a wave splashes across the deck that Joel realizes he's sailing straight into the storm. That it isn't nearly as far away as he'd thought. That at this rate, he'll be in real danger within moments. Sailing out of the storm seems to be an unlikely option, not with the wind picking up around him, battering his sail and his small boat. The only real option seems to be to sail through.

He's standing to prepare for that when a rope snaps and the mast slams back toward him with a speed he can't brace himself for. It hits his chest, sends him down against the edge of the boat where he knocks his head against the wood. He's in the water without realizing, cold waves splashing over his face, but he can't lift his arms to swim. He can't do anything.

And as he slips under the stormy surface, Joel realizes how much more peaceful it is under the waves.

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Joel Waters-Baker

May 2025

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