THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Dec 6, 2023 22:18:07 GMT
The stroller might’ve ended up being useful later – you could pack about fifty times your baby’s weight into one if you played Jenga with the bags the right way – but trying to negotiate a tank like that around a packed store at this time of year? That would’ve been insanity. Hazel’s childhood might only have actually been a handful of years, but those years had been a sharp learning curve that had prepared them for the not so little guy who currently had a fist clamped tight around a handful of beard – and would prepare for their newest addition too.
Theo supposed they could’ve strapped Bo to his mama’s chest, but at some point soon that was gonna be more like Bo riding around on top of his little brother or sister instead. It was better that dadadadada did all the heavy lifting, even if that meant the wrestling match first.
”Hey, can you get his legs in? I think the faeries came overnight and switched him out for an octopus instead.” Bo was squirming again as he tried to flip him around, tiny back to his chest, and slide him down into the baby carrier. Once Bo really got his balance and started walking it was gonna be like trying to catch greased lightning – it had been with Hazel at least. Getting into everything except what you wanted them to.
He snugged an arm around Bo’s middle, distracting him just long enough with a swoop down for mama to help that he finally loosened his grip on his beard. At the rate the kid was going that was gonna be looking threadbare soon, more strands of it pulled out than there were left. Maybe he ought to have put ‘a santa beard’ on the shopping list, cover it up, play the big guy for their little guy (Hazel was well beyond believing in Father Christmas and these days weird things that could magic their way into the house were probably on her nightmare list, just like they were his).
Shifting his weight as Bo finally slipped into place and they got him all strapped in, Theo felt the weight of his phone in his pocket, the list that they’d put together all organised on it. This year was less hectic than last, Bo was a year old now, which meant they were gonna be trying to juggle a newborn and Christmas celebrations all at the same time.
Theo grabbed his wallet and keys, stowing them in his pockets before he took Freyja’s hand and tugged her out of the door. After Bo had disturbed Thanksgiving last year, every family gathering was soon gonna involve everybody staring at Freyja’s bump and a hell of a lot of debate over when the next pop was gonna come. ”You ready to see all the lights, Bo Bear?” Theo murmured, his voice all high and excited as they headed in the direction of the square.
”Did we put the new bulbs for ours on the list?” Theo asked as he let go of Freyja’s hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders and draw him in against his side. It felt like there were a couple blown out every year when he got them out to decorate the tree – and practically every other inch of the house that was out of Bo’s rapidly growing inch – but he wasn’t about to consider swapping them out. Like so many of the ornaments, they’d bought the lights for Hazel’s first year. That probably meant they were only four years old now, but the memories of far more trees and Christmases were stamped in his memory and in his heart. Fear over what had happened with their daughter had tried to tear all those memories apart, realisation shredding them like the sun through clouds. They’d held onto them though, keeping an iron grip on all that was precious.
What wasn’t precious was the problem. Apprehension slithered through his gut, starting to knot it up as they got closer to the centre of town and the streets got busier. They’d tried so damn hard to move on from what had happened to him, they’d been happy and settled and then the hunter had reappeared, tearing open those old wounds and leaving him wary again. Suppressing a frown, Theo squeezed his wife’s shoulders and smiled down at her, trying not to see Mr Callaway’s face on every man they passed. ”What’s first on the list?”
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FREYJA DAMASCA
Psychic
Posts: 184
Age:
28
Occupation:
Analyst at The Mystic Falls Courier
Status:
Married
Partner:
Theo Damasca
Played by:
Julia
“But it’s hard, when you’re hurt, to let somebody wreck you again.”
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 18:29:01 GMT
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Post by FREYJA DAMASCA on Jan 5, 2024 18:57:27 GMT
 ━ they set me on fire, and i did a lot of burning ━
However, this was for Christmas, and she wasn’t going to just order everything on Amazon like some lazy city girl. Support the local economy and all that. Plus, Bo needed to get out, and it was a nice excuse for a family outing━okay, really, a couples outing with Bo, because he wouldn’t spoil any gifts.
“Uh huh!” Freyja called from where she was shoving a piece of peanut butter-ed toast into her mouth. She swallowed what was left of it, wiped her hands on her pants, then came over to help secure Bo into the carrier. “Oooh, who’s a squirmy boy? Are you bein’ a squirmy boy for Dada? Huh? Are you a lil’ octopus now?” She asked in a baby voice, successfully distracting Bo as they got him strapped in. He was smiling so wild he didn’t even notice he’d been restrained, and━so long as they got out the door as quickly as possible━he wouldn’t have a fit over it.
Getting into her shoes was getting progressively more difficult━she was a lot rounder around the middle now than she’d been when Gabe had visited and got the news━but Freyja considered herself a pro at this by now. Plus, she wasn’t huge (yet), and she could use the shoe horn to her advantage.
Once they were bundled up and out the door, Bo was too busy gawking at everything around them (including every face that passed) to whine or even interrupt his parents, and Freyja leaned into Theo’s side as he pulled her in. “Think so,” She hummed, “Wait, yes. Warm white so they match the others. And I think we should get a string of blue ones, ‘cause I think they’d be cute to layer on the tree. Or on the shelves by the livin’ room,” Either way, she’d be busy decorating the house while she was home━y’know, instead of slaving away on all the year-end shit for work twenty-four-seven.
Moving into the centre of town, she couldn’t help but think about Hazel’s guidance counsellor. How close he’d been all this time, and they hadn’t known━no, not just that, they didn’t even have an idea. They’d been worried, but more so of their daughter slipping out in the middle of the night, or of someone entering their home━not someone having access to their daughter whenever she was at school.
But they couldn’t spend the rest of their lives worried. They had to move on, recover, count their blessings, and hope that their big family stayed intact. Sometimes she worried she’d cursed Bo by naming him after her brother━that it was inevitable they’d lose him early.
Green eyes slipped over their baby boy━as if he any harm could come to him while he was strapped to his dad’s chest━and she smiled sadly.
No. Today was a good day. They’d spend a bunch of money, but then they’d have Christmas more or less figured out, which would take a weight off.
She forced a smile up at Theo━her husband, her light━and found that there was something in the edge of his expression, too. She figured they weren’t going to talk about it. They’d spent enough nights not sleeping, curled around each other, just emptying their hearts about this. “I dunno,” She scoffed, “You have the list.” But he was carrying their child (actually, so was she!), so Freyja slipped her hand into his pocket and retrieved his phone.
“Hmm, okay, we have a jungle gym set on our list for Bo━from Santa━and I think that’ll be in the outdoorsy, macho-man section where we can find gifts for Frank and Kit. Oh, y’know what, we forgot to brainstorm for Katja’s gift. She doesn’t seem like a generic-Bath-and-Body-Works-gift-basket kinda girl. We could see if there’s anythin’ in the same spot for her?” She asked, her eyes ticking up to Theo, just in case he’d thought of anything during the time they’d spent not discussing it. “Actually, do you know what Frank and them are gettin’ the kids? ‘Cause maybe we could get the jungle gym as a side gift for the three of ‘em, y’know, for somethin’ to do with the kids. Then we only gotta get ‘em one specific gift each. Or maybe Frank’s gonna get Bo the bath filters I asked for…” Freyja hummed in consideration as she led them into Mystic Falls’ only big store, which was more like a Mom-and-Pop version of Walmart. Even that last remaining Blockbuster put this place to shame.
THEO DAMASCA |  |
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THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Jan 14, 2024 17:33:21 GMT
One day real soon this was gonna be more like a military operation instead of just the brief assault course they had to battle through every time they needed to wrangle a little guy who was hitting that age where he hated to be restrained. Two under two, Bo ready to race ahead when they had a newborn holding them to that slower, gentler pace. Maybe there wasn’t a real age gap between Hazel and Bo, but thanks to whatever it was that had turned their daughter into a teenager overnight it felt like there’d been enough time to half forget Hazel being just like this. Parents always warned you to make the most of it, and God, that was what he’d been trying to do from the moment he’d been brought back to have all of this.
Little moments twinkling in those lights they were gonna buy, reflected in Bo’s wide eyes in a way that then etched itself into his heart. Theo carved the lines of their joined bodies into it as Freyja leaned into his side. ”Warm white and blue, got it,” Theo murmured, not yet trying to juggle his phone out of his pocket to make the note. ”They’d be cute on the shelves, way up out of this guy’s reach.” That wouldn’t last too much longer either. He lifted the hand not curled around his wife’s shoulders and caught Bo’s little fist in his own, jiggling it lightly til he had Bo giving a belly laugh. There were only so many times you could hitch stuff up to keep it out of a kid’s growing reach before it hit the ceiling. At some point you had to start trusting that they weren’t gonna cause absolute destruction with it.
Each year there’d come a crash with Hazel, a plate dropped when she’d clambered up onto a stool to help with the dishes, a pot of pens tipped over in his office – then used to decorate his office door (he’d sworn Hazel was a budding Picasso then, but cleaning it off had taken the better part of a whole weekend. Tiny accidents brushed away with a smile, his daughter’s tears over what might’ve been broken brushed away. Things didn’t matter half as much as people did. Seeing someone you loved broken shattered some part of you too, and he wasn’t sure if it ever entirely mended itself again afterwards. As a parent all you could do was tape those cracks closed, and pretend for your kids like they didn’t try and tear you apart again sometimes.
Was Hazel really settled in at Whitmore, or was she jumping at shadows, longing for her parents to be there to protect her from them? As a teenager he wouldn’t have admitted it, but he’d felt a little of that. Apart from Frank and his mom for the first time, alone in a brave new world he was trying to negotiate with bum hearing and a culture gap a mile wide. That first Christmas there he’d been sure he couldn’t stick it out, but then Frank had driven down from West Point to spend Christmas day with him and he’d known he wasn’t entirely alone there. If he’d chickened out and gone home to Okinawa, everything would’ve been different. His whole life felt like it had sprouted from that one decision.
Feeling his throat thicken at the thought, at the worries that skittered through his mind when he let the gilded edge of those blessings tarnish for a moment, he’d looked down at his wife and saw all that was right, all he’d been blessed with. Chuckling rueful, Theo grumbled and smacked a kiss down on her brow as she fished the phone out of his pocket. ”I should’ve thought about that before I strapped this little guy on. We should always leave the logistics to momma huh?” he added in a croon to Bo.
The gift planning had probably been sixty percent Freyja too – just like the gift wrapping would be, although hers was going to be all him. Layers of gift wrap bundled protectively around something that had probably choked him up as he’d seen it again. He should’ve patented that as the Theodore Damasca gift scale – another tear for each level of sentimentality he thought it had. ”Should we get Uncle Frank and Uncle Kit a giant sized version of yours Bo Bear?” he asked lightly, glad that they could discuss Bo’s gifts in front of him without him having an idea what they were talking about yet. Keeping gifts hidden from Hazel had seemed to get harder with every passing year. ”Maybe a gift basket’d make a change for her. I can’t imagine Frank getting her anything like that.” Kit maybe, although he’d have seen sides to Katja that nobody else had, the same way he’d seen all those hidden facets of Freyja from that first date on.
He hadn’t sat Frank down and interrogated him over that side of things the same way he had over the kid’s gifts. There was always that conversation in the lead up to birthday and Christmases – what were the kids still into? Their uncles were pretty good at picking up on hints dropped into those Sunday dinner conversations at least. ”I don’t know if they’d decided on what to get Bo yet, but Frank mentioned something about one of those instant cameras for Hazel. I’m sure he’d go in on the jungle gym though. You wanna shoot him a message and check?” Maybe they shoulda just taken Frank shopping with them, but that would’ve meant having to put off getting his stuff until another day.
Snagging a cart as they walked in, Theo trailed towards the first aisle. Every inch of the place looked like it was draped in Christmas stuff, lights twinkling like lures around the displays. ”I was thinking maybe I could get one of those Santa outfits. Bo’s still too small to really get it, but maybe we can get some photos with him … torture Hazel by making her join in next time she’s home. Or we get Frank or Kit to put it on.” Paint Kit’s hair and beard white and he was probably already halfway there with it. Talk Dom into an elf costume too – although he’d probably be the most foul mouthed one there’d ever been. Crap. They were gonna have to pick something up for him too if he was making Christmas dinner again this year.
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FREYJA DAMASCA
Psychic
Posts: 184
Age:
28
Occupation:
Analyst at The Mystic Falls Courier
Status:
Married
Partner:
Theo Damasca
Played by:
Julia
“But it’s hard, when you’re hurt, to let somebody wreck you again.”
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 18:29:01 GMT
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Post by FREYJA DAMASCA on Mar 4, 2024 18:08:27 GMT
━ they set me on fire, and i did a lot of burning ━
She grinned at the image of Katja opening up something incredibly feminine, but Theo was right, it might be a nice change for her. “Smelly soaps, it is. I’ll write it down.” And she tapped it into the list, then added, “I meant it as a gift for them. It’s for the kids, but somethin’ for Frank, Kit and Katja to do with ‘em. If we get it as a side gift for all of ‘em, they only need one more personal gift each.” You could always do that shit with family━her mom had cried when they got her a picture of Hazel and Bo for her last birthday, and, somehow, it was way more than enough.
Freyja glanced up as they walked in, eyeing the hanging signs over the aisles. She found ‘Outdoor Goods’ and began walking in that direction. “You can always put ‘im in the cart if your back’s startin’ t’hurt.” Freyja said lightly, then added with a grin, “I mean, I can’t just put our baby in the cart, I have to just suffer carryin’ your giant kids,” One hand went down to smooth over the roundness at her abdomen, and while her belly wasn’t huge yet, it would be in no time.
“Kit would definitely look the part,” She snorted, “But it’s cuter if it’s you. Think we should do it━rope Hazel in, too.” Freyja grinned and bumped into Theo’s side lightly (because trying to get up there to kiss him while they walked probably wouldn’t work out very well).
As they moved into the Macho-Man aisle (as she called it), Freyja’s green eyes slipped over the shelves while Bo pointed at every box with bright colours. “Uh… they don’t do much campin’, do they?” She asked, narrowing her eyes as they went more toward the sports section. “I think we should get ‘em a baseball set. ‘Cause, y’know,” Freyja’s eyes went up to Theo, a mischievous expression on her face. “Pitching and catching.” She said with a grin, then snickered. As they walked a bit further down, she puffed out an exasperated breath, “I dunno, he’s your brother.” Freyja said like she was giving up already, then started traipsing toward the end of the aisle by herself. “I feel like we’re gonna have t’get the stuff for the gift basket ourselves. We can prob’ly stop by the dollar store t’grab clear wrappin’ paper and a basket, but pick up the stuff here? Do people use loofahs anymore?” She asked the last question almost to herself, standing at the end of the aisle where it opened up on either side.
Fuck this. She hated shopping. She was hungry and a little bit h-rny, because now she was thinking about being in the shower with Theo, but, mostly, she wanted to sit down. “Why’d we think we could last a day doin’ this?” Freyja grumbled (as if she wasn’t the only one in a bad mood). “I wanna sit down. Let’s go t’the furniture section so I can test the chairs.” She smiled suddenly, her eyes twinkling at Theo as she turned on the charm.
THEO DAMASCA | wraaaap soon? |
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THEO DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 179
Status:
Married
Partner:
Freyja Damasca
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:33:58 GMT
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Post by THEO DAMASCA on Mar 25, 2024 15:28:07 GMT
Each year it felt like the list was getting longer and not just because their part of the family was gonna grow exponentially if the two of them had their way about it. What had just been him and Frank, if he hadn’t been halfway across the world, for that first decade after they’d left home spreading out. A table that’d take up the whole of Frank’s kitchen soon, the kids parked at another in the living room. Lights sparkling around them as the presents that’d been saved til the family were together pulled out from under the tree. Any lingering fears or sadness left at the door on a day like that.
Maybe eventually it wouldn’t just be their kids raising the volume level in the place. Theo wasn’t sure where his brother’s life was going that way, but after those years of babysitting for them was Kit and Katja gonna hold out much longer on having a family of their own? Not if they chose right for Christmas this year. Opening his mouth in an ‘O’ of understanding, Theo grinned. ”Smart thinking,” he murmured, narrowing his eyes at his shrewd wife. It was the sort of stuff they’d done for their parents for long enough. ”What do you think buddy? What are we gonna get your uncles and auntie Katja?” Theo lowered his head, pressing his lips to the fuzzy top of Bo’s. The family he’d never thought he’d have was the biggest gift he’d ever get.
Heavy, likely to puke down the back of his shirt without a moment’s notice, crabby, funny, perfect. He wouldn’t have swapped them for the world. He’d put up with the back ache and sleepless nights with just a little complaining. ”I can handle it,” he promised. ”Seems like the least I can do. Although, I’ll do the thing when we get home later. A massage for mama.” And his hands slid beneath her bump as he’d done with both Hazel and Bo as they’d grown bigger. Lifting gently, taking the weight of their kids in the only way he could before they’d arrived and he’d held them in his arms.
”We should make it our Christmas card for this year. Long as Bo’s not terrified of it,” Theo said with a snort. ”Hazel’ll love it. Maybe get a Mrs Claus outfit too.” Mrs Claus would undoubtedly orchestrate the whole thing, making sure it was all perfect and he’d do what she ordered. That was the way to a happy marriage, at least in his experience.
It'd been easier in the years that Frank had been away. Care packages were about as much as he could get through the mail, decent deodorant as welcome as anything else. Once he’d come back it’d been books, baseball tickets (the second for him, of course), the easy things. Now Christmas was so much more. ”Naw, not these days. Maybe when…” he’d been able to say when Bo was a little older, but Freyja hadn’t stopped and he was choking before a laugh struggled out. "You’re explaining that one Christmas morning,” he warned. ”The baseball idea ain’t bad … maybe some tickets to a game instead? They can take Hazel at least.” Or a little wiffle ball set they could use with Bo, although the plastic ball was as likely to head towards his mouth as be rolled back.
Theo trudged along behind Freyja as she drew away, murmuring down to Bo, keeping one eye on her as he took the pace a little easier. He grinned, smoothing his hands over Bo’s back and putting a bounce in his step the last couple of yards. "I could grab the stuff from the dollar store after work one day,” he offered, already seeing where this was going. ”Maybe in the jungle.” The joke was a little weak. ”How about some candles, some soaps, a little wine to enjoy in the tub…” All the pampering she could get, the ideas stowed in his own head for taking care of his wife after they were done today.
His lips curled as he sidled in. Theo pressed them against the side of her head, lingering there for a second. ”Because we can, when we’re not loaded down with this one and his little brother or sister.” When Freyja was at one hundred percent of her Warrior Princess mode and he was a little more organised than he’d ended up being. Dipping one hand into the pocket of his coat, he pulled out a plastic baggy, loaded up with snacks fresh that morning in anticipation of what was probably gonna come. He slid his other arm back around his wife and nudged her towards the furniture section. ”How about I leave you testing ‘em out and having a little brunch, while I take this guy with me and get everything we need in here? Come on.” By the time he was done tossing things in the basket Freyja would probably be ready for an actual lunch and an hour of trying to pull everything else together in one last swoop this afternoon. Then it’d be home for that massage and maybe a little something more while Bo took his nap.
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