Ttte The Flying Scotsman - Tumblr Posts

Haven’t even started posting my main stuff for this blog (meaning for my fanfiction) and my husband and I just got into a wild conversation about trains and how a friend of ours is going to be working in the train yard here.

I was given a look because another friend knows of my feelings towards Gordon and my real husband dead freaking said, “No no she’s not interested in real trains. Maybe that one called The Flying Dutchman.” And now I can’t stop laughing.

😂😂😂

Somebody please help. All I can hear is the Pirates of the Caribbean theme to The Great Race.

Welcome to The Yellow Rose of Sodor

Hello all, all hello! Welcome to the official tumblr for The Yellow Rose of Sodor, a work of fiction created by yours truly (Kamiko!). Although you won’t find much art here to begin with, as I am but a humble writer and my skills with the artistic pen are so-so, here there will be fun prompts and asks for the characters of the series. I will try my utmost to keep up with everything and no one will be OOC to the absolute best of my abilities. Here you can also ask Camille (my OC and lead female for the fic) and the other members of the steam team questions as well! 

Let me premise with I am a young adult (cries in turning 30 this year) and there will be some adult content here. I will not be posting anything graphic or considered NSFW, nor will anything like that be given a dignified response in the asks. I will be treating these characters just like how I would want to be treated. That means any questions about their more intimate relationship will be met with the following statement: “Epic and private” 

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy your stay and feel free to stop by anytime! 

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A few questions I felt might be asked: 

Who’s my favorite character(s)?  Gordon and Henry are my top two. But I also love Donald, Douglas, Edward, James, and Paxton.

What got you into this fandom?  Funny story! I LOVED Thomas as a kid and my dad worked and retired from Union Pacific many years ago, growing up, I was around trains. Trains are awesome. I LOVE them, they are such an awesome symbol of our history and are just pretty freaking cool machines/engines. So, when I had kids of my own, I introduced them to Thomas, discovered it had gotten a CGI revamp while I was off being a preteen/teenager/young adult and I was like “WHOA! This is freaking exciting and cool!” So, I came back!  

How come you like Gordon so much?  Well.... that’s a whole question with a big honking answer that I currently don’t have the time to answer. I think it’s because Gordon has the most story and the most to offer, besides his charming personality and voice (they had no right to make him that attractive). Thomas is just a cheeky character and yes, the show is named after him, but all we know are his adventures that happen day-to-day. Gordon, we know, has a family and he’s lost a lot of that family. He has a brother that’s younger and famous and Gordon kind of has to live in that shadow and also get over his own jealousy. Technically, he was a prototype and wasn’t supposed to really stay on the line, yet here he is. He’s literally the symbol of strength and endurance. He’s here when he really shouldn’t and despite all odds is still rocking it. (That is until he was destroyed via All Engine’s Go along with everything else good in the world) 

What universe will you be focusing on?  So, from my basic understanding (I’m pretty new back in this fandom) there’s the original TV show that used the models, there’s the books, and there’s the CGI era. I really like the original TV show but I’m also living for the CGI era. I love the books too and I will be pulling from all three, but technically I’m mainly sticking with CGI. 

How does the magic/shifting work?  In my headcanon world, the magic to shift between engine and human was given by Lady to all the engines as she saw that many were being scrapped for no good reason as ‘better’ engines were being built. I couldn’t imagine, as a God, watching creations you love and cherish be thrown away, disposed of, torn apart, and burned (possibly alive), and not stepping in. So, that’s what I’ve done.  Newer engines have the ability to shapeshift and it comes just as naturally as foals/calves/kids/etc with the ability to stand and run within hours. The older ones, like the Steam Team, had to learn on their own and it originally happened one morning without them even realizing it had happened and scared the crap out of em. Now, they do it easily and when they want. 

Do the engines have rights? Can they vote? Do they earn wages?  So, I don’t want to get political in my fanfic (there’s enough drama in the world now that I really don’t want that in something I enjoy). Engines still have that deep rooted desire to be “really useful”. They want to work, they enjoy working! Getting involved in human political issues is just something they would rather stay out of. I like to think they coexist with the rest of us just like the other creatures we share this world with. If I’m being honest though, I think whatever rights an engine has, has to do with where they’re working and where in the world they are, just like everyone else. As for Sodor and the engines in this world, Sir Topham Hatt takes very good care of his engines and they’re treated like people.   As for the wages question, again, they’re still engines and don’t really understand the concept or want to understand the concept of money. They understand it for humans but they’re happy just existing. That doesn’t mean that they can’t have cool things. You’ll notice each engine has a cell phone and that’s just part of the times! It’s easier to keep up with one another on an island that way and helps out a lot. Camille has a Nintendo Switch and the others get the gaming console from Sir Topham Hatt and the others for Christmas.  Think of them like dogs but not in a rude way. They exist with us but are on a higher plane of happiness. 

Why do you have them written so young?  As long as an engine is cared for and not neglected they will look young. It’s LOTR elf rules with a small twist. They can live forever and not age. Also, have you watched the show? Edward is over 100 at this point and he still looks like he’s in his 20s/30s. Plus, there’s hints throughout the show of them acting like young adults/teenagers. Like the episode “Pouty James” where he’s called a “young steam engine” by Sir Topham Hatt much like a parent would say to their teenager “Young man” when they’re in trouble. He’s also said “steam engines these days” just like “teenagers these days”. 

Can engines get married? Are Gordon and Camille gonna get married?  Again, depends on where they’re living and if the people accept that sort of thing. Most engines just straight up don’t care. If they love another engine and want to dedicate their life to that engine, then by golly they’re gonna say they’re married or whathaveyou whether the human population likes it or not.  As for Gordon and Camille you’ll have just have to read to find out 😉 

Do they bleed/what happens when they get hurt?  I’m with @asktrio516 on this and I think that they would bleed like us, seeing as they have the ability to cry or taste, etc, but it would be a darker blood.  Injuries in their human form will translate to their engine form as well. Some injuries may be healed easier in their human form depending on part availability or how busy things are and vice versa. A serious injury in their human form may be much smaller in their engine form, or easier fixed. Just depends. 

How do they shapeshift without being naked next?  Mystique rules! They can shift the clothing onto themselves. Also anything like a cell phone or a watch or memento will also disappear with the magic dust when they shift into engines and reappear when human. Because magic, don’t ask me to explain further. 

Will there be art here?  Maybe eventually. I mean, I did buy an iPad and I'm still waiting for it. Alaska shipping is so slow. So, when it gets here and I start practicing maybe I'll be brave enough to post. 

Fanfiction List

To read the Yellow Rose of Sodor you can either go here or read it on here as I post (which will be slower, but hey, it'll all get here eventually)

The Yellow Rose of Sodor:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The Yellow Rose of Sodor Shorts (coming soon)

Monday has been made better with a fanfiction update! Chapter 4, Rails of Gold has been added! FanFiction.Net is still being a pain to add stuff to but eventually it’ll get there.

Outlast

A Yellow Rose of Sodor short

Summary: James and Camille either do a spooky movie marathon or a spooky video game for Halloween each year. This year they try out the game Outlast and it goes as well as it sounds.

If I had to give this a rating it would be T because James is naughty.

Edward x James

Camille (OC) x Gordon

Flying Scotsman and Gordon brotherly fluff.

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“I can’t believe you bought it.”  James said, staring at the TV screen as it loaded the game.

“I wanted to play a spooky game for the Spooky Season.”  Camille said with a laugh, sitting cross legged on the sectional sofa.

James sat down next to her, grabbing the red blanket folded on one of the ends, “This is insane.”

As the game loaded up, Camille stood and turned out the lights before returning to the couch and getting under the blanket with James.

“Remind me why we’re doing this?”  James asked as they watched the main character make his way to Mount Massive Asylum.

“Because we’re big brave courageous engines and aren’t afraid of no video game.”  Camille chuckled as she read the note at the beginning of the game.

“I’m not sure I’m going to like this battery mechanic.”  James noted, watching Camille make her way around the asylum’s grounds.

“Well, we survived Amnesia so I’m sure we can handle this.”  She responded, examining the armed vehicles and attempting the front door.

“This is infinitely worse than Amnesia.”  James noted, “Thomas wouldn’t even play this one with us.”

“Let him be a scaredy engine.”  Camille teased as she had Miles Upshur (the main character) climb up the ladders and scaffolding and into the asylum.  The lights flickered in the building and then broke.

“Oh noooo.” James groaned, “It starts so soon?”

“We’ve got this.” She grinned as something hissed in the game, causing both engines to startle a bit.

“Do we though?”  James joked back, as she squeezed through the small gap.

“Well nothing horrible is happening so far.”  She said, picking up a note, “Looks like they were experimenting on the patients, specifically a guy named Billy.”

“Oh, surprise, surprise.  And how is the name Billy supposed to be terrifying?”

“Maybe he was a failed project?”  Camille asked, as they heard a door shut and lock.

“Well, we’re not alone.”  James said stating the obvious.

“Ew!”  Camille wrinkled her nose, “Intestines on a plate.  I’ll take the ventilations instead.”

They both shrieked at a jump scare as they walked into a room full of headless bodies.

“Nope!  Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!”  James shouted, pulling the blanket up to his face.

“They killed us.  They got out.  The variants.”  Said a dying NPC on a pike, Camille and James watched with horrified faces, listening as he gave a little backstory and then told them to get out while they still can.

“I like this advice.  Can we go out the window?”  Camille asked genuinely.

“It’s what I would do.”  James said.

Suddenly the lights were turned on in the room, causing both of them to scream, Camille almost dropping her controller.

Edward and Gordon looked from the stairway with slightly concerned and shocked faces.

“What are you two doing?”  Edward asked, looking from the two to the screen.  He sighed, “A scary game again?”

James gave a sheepish smile at his beloved and Camille grinned stupidly, “It’s spooky season!”

Gordon was giving James a disapproving glare, noticing his girlfriend sharing a blanket with him.  James ignored him, choosing to keep his focus on Edward, “Want to join us?”

Edward scoffed but smiled, “Are you asking me if I want to watch the game with you or are you really asking me to hold your hand while you torment yourself with another scary story?”

“The latter.”  James admitted, “Not that I’m scared or anything.”

“You both just screamed as we turned the lights on.”  Gordon pointed out.

“Only because we weren’t ready for it.”  Camille said, “The game is supposed to be scary, we don’t need real life jump scares.”

Gordon rolled his eyes, but nonetheless, he and Edward sat next to their partners.  Gordon grabbed another blanket to specifically share with Camille.  James gave a harrumph as he pulled his red blanket over both him and Edward.

“You’ve got to turn the lights back off, honey.”  Camille said to Gordon, “Atmosphere is important.”

Gordon groaned and rolled his eyes but did as she asked.  As he made his way to the lights, Scotsman sauntered down the stairs and eyed the small group on the couch.

“What are you four up to?  A double date?”  He asked with a smirk.

“Aren’t you supposed to be going home?”  Gordon grumbled, side eyeing his younger brother.

“Felt like staying for the holiday.”  Scotsman said waving him off, “If you’re not doing a date what are you guys playing?”  He asked, looking at the TV.

“It’s not even Halloween yet-“ Gordon started but was interrupted by Camille.

“We’re playing Outlast for the spooky season.”  She said smiling at Scot, “James and I pick a movie series to watch or a game to play every October.  You can join, originally it was just me and James, not a date.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”  Scot said, sitting between James and Camille.  Gordon gave a frustrated growl, turning off the lights and sitting back down under the blanket that he was now sharing with his girlfriend and younger brother.  Scot just grinned at his brother.

“Alright, so, let me explain the story thus far.”  Camille said, “We are a journalist for some big company and we’re investigating the story of Mount Massive Asylum and its supposed experimentation on its patients and other unethical procedures.  We, of course, came at the dead of night on a slightly stormy night.”

“Of course.”  Scot mimicked.

“We had to break in, kind of, and the lights went out.  We’ve already seen a freaked out patient, the rooms are wide open and destroyed, and we found several beheaded people and an army guy completely decked out but with a pike through his body who told us we needed to get the hell out of here.”  Camille finished.

“Which is where we’re picking up with you guys.”  James added, “We tried to jump out the window but apparently that’s too easy.”

“So, you’re just starting.”  Gordon stated.

“Exactly!  So now we can all go through this together.”  Camille said, picking her controller up and exploring the hallway.

“Creepy.”  Edward stated, curling into James.  Although he was the older, and one might say braver, of the two engines, Edward wasn’t a big fan of how far the horror genre had progressed in his lifetime.  Where many movies were considered goofy, this new stuff was hard to watch.  James took a bit of pride in these moments where he could comfort his boyfriend instead of vice versa.

“Your battery is dying.”  Edward pointed out.

“I think I’ll be OK.”  Camille said as she sidled through shelving.

“Little Pig!”

All five engines yelped as the main character was pulled out by a rather large NPC and tossed through a glass pane.

“Nope!”  James ducked under the covers.

They listened as a priestly character talked to the main character and then the objective appeared saying to escape the asylum.

“I like that objective.”  Scotsman said as Camille examined the bloody writing on the walls and the beheaded bodies.

“Me too.”  Camille said, running around the building, using the new mechanic of peeking around the corners.

“The guy in the wheelchair is alive.”  James said.

“Thank you for stating the obvious, James.”  Gordon said with a bit of venom.

“Don’t be mean, little brother, just because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared!”  Gordon snorted, watching as Camille looked at the patients sitting around watching the TV ignoring her character.

“At least they’re not being mean to me.  I don’t like the choir music though.”  Camille said, ignoring the brothers as they began to bicker.

“Why’d you scream then?”  Scotsman continued to tease.

“I didn’t scream.”  Gordon said, “That’s not dignified.”

“You totally screamed.”

“I yelled, at most.”  Gordon glared at his brother.

The man in the wheelchair jumped out at the main character, Camille having to shake him off and all the engines had yelled out again as she fought the character off.

“Get him off!  Get him off!”  James yelled out.

Once she got away, she laughed a bit, taking a quick glance at Gordon, “You were saying, Gordon?”

“I uh-  Bite me.”  Gordon said, folding his arms across his chest.

Scotsman laughed.

“We can look behind us as we run now.”  Camille noted, “Why would I want to do that?”

“If something’s chasing you?”  Edward asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to look behind me if I am being chased.  Ignorance is bliss.”

As she examined the security office, Camille noticed that she could hide in the locker, “Why do I need to hide?”

Hide in the locker.  Don’t try to fight.

“No, no, no, no, no!”  Camille yelped, hiding in the locker after the priest tripped the power.

“That big guy is coming back.”  James said, hiding all but his eyes under the blanket.

“You were here, weren’t you?.  Little pig.  I’ll find all you whores.”  The big man said on the screen.

“Rude.”  Camile taunted.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for this game.”  James said.

“That’s why I’m playing and you’re just watching.”  Camille said.

——

A bit later

——

All the engines were well cuddled under the blankets after dealing with the twins and were screaming as Camille dodged the crazed patients and entered the elevator.

“Get in! Get in! Get in!” James shouted, his knees shaking in anticipation.

Once they were locked in, the engines all took a breath.

“Hey, we got away.” Camille said with a smile.

“Yeah, but I don’t trust whoever told us to get in this thing.”  Scotsman said as they were met with the doctor who punched the main character.

“Well, crap.”  Camille said.

“I don’t like this.”  Gordon said as they were bound to the wheelchair and wheeled away.

“Oh, he’s sarcastic.”  Edward wrinkled his nose as they were put in the elevator with the crazed doctor, “This can’t be good.”

“The trail of blood can’t be a good sign.”  Camille said.

“Shh.  Shh.  You weren’t putting that tongue to any use anyway.”  The crazed doctor said to one of the patients freaking out on the gurney.

“Oh nooo…” Camille whimpered, “I don’t like this.”

“Do we have to keep playing?  We’ve played enough tonight right?”  James whined.

“We can’t just end it here.”  Scotsman said.

“You’re not the one playing the game.”  Gordon glanced at his brother, who despite the calm outward demeanor, he could tell was getting shaky, “If Camille doesn’t want to then she doesn’t have to.”

“Maybe you just don’t want to watch.”  Scotsman said with a grin, “It’s alright little brother, I understand if it’s too scary for you.”

“Scot, I swear to Lady above, if you call me little brother one more time I’m not going to be held responsible for what I do to you.”  Gordon retorted, “We’re the same bloody height and I’m your older brother.”

Scotsman stuck his leg out from under the blanket, showing off the three wheels going up his ankle and leg, “The wheels don’t lie…”. Scot paused with a smirk, “Little brother.”

Gordon swung a pillow over Camille’s head and smacked his younger brother in the face with it with a solid PLUMP.

“Ow!  I can’t believe you actually hit me!”  Scotsman yelped.

“I can’t believe you didn’t see it coming, Scotty.” Gordon sneered.

“Ladies, ladies, you’re both pretty.  Can we please get back to the game?”  Camille said with a bit of irritation as she had to pause the game due to their little spat.

All turned their attention back to the TV as the doctor grabbed various tools, but seemed partial to a pair of large scissors.

“No!  I can’t watch!”  Edward said, ducking his head into James’ neck.

“Nope!  I’m out!”  James shouted too, hiding under the covers.

Camille let out a small scream as she hid her face behind her fingers, peeping ever so slightly as the villain cut the main character's fingers off.

Gordon and Scotsman yelled out in disgust and horror, both cringing very visibly at the violence, Gordon grabbing the pillow from earlier and barely peeked over it, while Scot hid his face in his shirt as he pulled it closer to his eyes.

“OK, OK!”  Camille called, “I call it tonight.  I can’t take it.” She paused the game and put the Switch in sleep mode.

“Agreed.  Let’s go to bed.”  Gordon said, shakily.

However, after turning off the game they realized they were stuck in the dark, as the night had gotten fairly late without their noticing.

No one moved from the couch.

“We could just sleep down here tonight.  Together.”  James suggested.

“Uh uh.  No way.”  Scotsman said, “I’m sleeping in a room where I can lock the doors.”

“Scared, little brother?”  Gordon teased heavily.

“I’m not scared!”  Scotsman said a little too quickly, “I just don’t like sleeping in open spaces.

“We slept in berths for the majority of our lives, Scotsman.”

“Yeah but it still had doors!”  Scotsman retaliated.

“Don’t you two start again.”  Edward said, starting to stand, “I’ll get the lights before you turn the TV off.”

The others nodded in agreement and Edward stumbled over to the lights, turning them on.

“Now you can turn the TV off.”  James said, and then looked at the others in a bit of a panic, “Not that I’m scared of the dark or anything.”

“I think it’s safe to admit we’re all a bit afraid of the dark tonight.”  Camille said, curling into Gordon as the two stood up.

“And someone has to drive home on this dark night.”  Gordon said, looking at his brother a bit smugly.

“No way am I driving home tonight.”  Scotsman said before backpedaling, “Because I’d rather get my beauty sleep here than drive all night and be too tired to work in the morning starting at the mainland.”

“Aren’t you getting in trouble for how much time you spend on Sodor?”  Edward asked genuinely.

“Well, I… maybe a little… but I enjoy spending time with my family and they can’t say much considering I’ve given them just about a hundred years of service without asking for much.”  Scotsman shrugged.

Edward nodded his head in consideration, “Fair enough.”

“OK, not trying to be a downer or anything, but did anyone else notice it’s storming outside?”  Camille asked as they heard a bit of rolling thunder.

“Yeah, you know what?”  James said as it got louder, “I’m out of here.”  He grabbed ahold of Edward’s hand and almost skipped up the stairs, he was so nervous.  

Edward followed a bit clumsily, not expecting the sudden movement, “James!  Cut it out!”

The small Gresley family followed shortly, Camille being the most cautious as she was the one who played the game.  Gordon held onto her shoulders, feeling her shake underneath.

“You know, maybe it’s time you stop playing horror games for the Halloween season.”  He advised, “I don’t think it’s doing your nerves any good.”

“I’m fine.”  Camille said, eyeing around the corner as they traversed the stairs.

“And we’re climbing up the staircase slowly, because…?”  Scotsman asked.

“I’m just sleepy.”  Camille said in determined denial.

“Uh huh.”  The two brothers said in unison.

As they reached the top of the stairs there was a loud thundering crash and the power went out, the night lights that lit the halls turning out, diving them into pitch darkness.  Camille screamed, practically jumping into Gordon’s arms and he couldn’t help the shocked noise that came from his mouth either.

Down the hall they could hear James shrieking in panic.

“OK, I know that Camille’s old room is now technically my guest room, but I also know you left the twin size bed in your room from when I broke my leg and I’m claiming it again tonight.”  Scot said in a shakier voice.

Camille jumped from Gordon’s arms and ran, “Well, I’m not sticking around any longer.  Nope, nope, nope!”  She practically pranced down the hallway, stretching her legs as far as they would take her.  Gordon and Scotsman followed her more quickly than they would like to admit as a second crash was heard nearby.

Camille dived under the covers of the King’s size bed soon after she threw the bedroom doors open and curled into the fetal position as it stormed.  Gordon sighed as he shut the door behind him and his brother.  Scot quickly kicked off his slippers and curled into the twin bed on the other side of the room.

Although Gordon hated to admit his own fear, he looked down at Camille with a stern gaze he knew she couldn’t see.  “No more horror games.”

The little lump moved, “I watch horror ‘let’s plays’ no problem.”

He sighed, kicking his own slippers off, “But you can’t play them without panicking or nightmares.  Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Amnesia or that alien game.”

“That was different!”  Camille complained.

“How so?”  Gordon asked, “You were freaked out about vents and face hugging aliens for weeks.”

“They’re terrifying!”  She said, curling into him as he laid beside her, “But these are just humans and although they’re being scary, they’re not as scary as chest bursting aliens.”

There was silence for a bit before they heard a whimper from the other side of the room.

“Can I sleep with you guys?”

“Absolutely no-“ Gordon started.

“Yes!  More bodies means more comfort!”

“Camille!”  Gordon complained.

“It’s not like he’s hitting on me, Gordon.”  Camille said as Scotsman slid in before Gordon could further his complaint.

“He’s a grown engine!”

“He’s your little brother.”

“I would’ve been fine but someone had to bring up face huggers and chest bursters.”  Scotsman added pointedly at Gordon.

“I didn’t know you knew about the alien franchise, Scot.”  Camille said.

“I wish I didn’t.  I get nightmares every time.”  Scot said with a shudder.

“I get it!  They’re so creepy and with the way the movie-“

“Please, let’s not talk about it?”  Scot asked seriously, “I really don’t like it.  In all honesty.  I don’t.”

Gordon couldn’t help but look at the two scared forms that slept beside him.  Camille, his everything, scared by the storm and the video game and Scotsman, his younger brother, with a new weakness he didn’t know about.  Something he might’ve teased him about but it felt so odd hearing him sound so small talking about something that genuinely scared him.  He sighed defeated, scratching the back of his head and laid down.  He kissed Camille on the forehead and ruffled his younger brother's hair.

“This is a one time thing.”  He told them, “Goodnight you two.”

“Goodnight, Gordon.”  Camille said, snuggling into him.

“Goodnight… big brother.”  Scotsman added, feeling a bit more comfortable closer to the others.

——

Down the hall, James was curled up in a small ball himself, holding onto his stuffed Rhino, Pebble.  Edward, ever the big spoon to the bigger engine, was stroking his hair and kissed the bigger engines neck.

“It’ll be OK, Jamie.  I’ve got you.”

“I’m never letting Camille convince me to do another horror game again.”  James whimpered.

“I do believe that it was a joint decision, James.  Like last year and the years before that.”  Edward scolded playfully.

“Well then… you don’t ever let me do that again.”  James said, scolding back.

“What am I, your mother?”  Edward teased.

“You’re something much more valuable than that.”  James said and turned to face Edward.  Edward smiled at him, giving him a kiss on the forehead and pulled the red engine into his chest.  James relaxed, listening to Edward’s heartbeat.

“Did you lock the bedroom door?”  James asked.

“For the fifth time, dear, yes I did.”  Edward said with a patient sigh.

“And the windows are too?”

“Yes, Jamie.”

James squeezed Pebble, curling into Edward as much as he could.

“And is-“

“James.”  Edward said sternly, “It’ll be OK.  We’re OK.  It was just a video game.”

“Yeah, but-“

“What on earth could I possibly do more to convince you everything will be OK?”  Edward said a tiny bit exasperated.

“Well… we could…” James said in a rather certain tone, trailing off a bit.

“It’s already late, James, and we have goods trains to pull tomorrow.”

James whined, “But Ed…”

“Oh no, don’t ‘but Ed’ me.  If that’s what you wanted, then you should’ve devoted more time.”

“But I’m devoting time now.”  James said, giving a small but suggestive movement against Edward, “I’ll sleep better.  It’ll get my mind off of scary things.”  He gave Edward a pout and puppy eyes, despite knowing the smaller engine couldn’t see in the dark, “Please?”

There was a bit of silence, before a sigh was heard, “Fine.  But I want NO complaints in the morning and I will not have you whine to me or Sir Topham Hatt tomorrow, you understand?”  Edward said sternly, despite leaning into James’ neck and giving him small pecks and nibbles.

James let out a giggly moan, happy regardless, “Of course, Edward dear.”

“I mean it, James.  Or there will be consequences.” Edward crawled on top of the larger engine, pulling Pebble away from him and placing her on the bedside table.

“Oooooo… I like the sound of that.  Maybe I’ll be naughty on purpose.”  James said slyly.

“I mean it, James Hughes.”  Edward said, stopping his affection.

James groaned at the sound of his full name, something he hated hearing from the older engine, “Fine, fine.  I’ll behave.” When Edward continued giving in to the younger engine, he couldn’t help but smirk and think I’ll behave… for now.

TTTE Ticklish Headcanons (SFW)

So, I realized as I was writing my fanfic and the shorts as well that I seemed to have deemed most of the characters as ticklish. I dunno why, I guess I just thought it was cute. So, I figured ‘what the heck’ and decided to make a list of headcanon for the steam team plus Flying Scotsman because I love him dearly.

Thomas

Totally ticklish everywhere

His laugh isn’t the loudest, but it’s fairly loud.

Definitely snorts

Emily and Edward have taken advantage of him being ticklish when he’s having a bad day. Edward because he’s basically like Thomas’s older brother and Emily because she’s his girlfriend

Doesn’t really have a most ticklish spot, pick a spot, any spot, and he’ll be squealing in a matter of seconds

Edward

Isn’t terribly ticklish, but has a melodic laugh

James absolute LOVES Edward’s laugh

Ticklish spots are more odd/hard to get to spots (behind his knees, his neck, right underneath his ear)

James abuses the spot underneath his ears and neck all the time when he kisses him

Once he starts giggling he has a hard time stopping

Henry

Also ticklish all over but is very shy about it and about his laugh

Can’t handle hard tickling, it hurts it doesn’t tickle

Hiro isn’t the biggest tickler so Henry is safe for the most part. But when Hiro gets in a more playful mood Henry knows he isn’t safe from tickles

His worst spots are his underarms

Gordon

Super ticklish but if you try you’ll lose a finger or ten

Camille (OC) and Scotsman are the only ones who can get away with it and not be threatened with death. Actually, they are too, but they aren’t afraid

His two spots that are equally bad are his stomach and feet, but he’s fairly ticklish all over

He almost never trusts Camille to give him foot rubs. He’s always worried about her having ulterior motives

Scotsman pinned him to the ground once, when he discovered he was ticklish, and tickled him for what felt like forever. Gordon has never been so red.

He doesn’t beg to stop. He just swears vengeance.

In full denial that he’s ticklish and will deny it every time.

James

The loudest when tickled

Has been teased by all members of the steam team about it at least once

His feet are his own worse enemy, he hates how ticklish they are

Secretly loves being tickled by Edward

Edward tickles him because he knows that James loves it

Has been tickled by Edward for pouting too much or being too grumpy

Snorts when tickled, finds it horribly embarrassing

Percy

A lot like Thomas, extremely ticklish

Hasn’t been tickled a lot because he doesn’t have a significant other to try and exploit that all the time and he thanks his lucky stars for that

Him and Thomas have play fought that has involved harmless tickling in the past

Toby

The only member of the steam team that apparently isn’t ticklish

Has been theorized it’s because he’s a steam tram

If he is, Henrietta ain’t talking

When he has seen the others get tickled and see’s them laughing he thinks it’s the absolute weirdest thing

Emily

Isn’t very ticklish but will laugh hard enough if you do manage to find a spot

Her ribs are her worst spot

Thomas has been known to sneak up on her at any given time and attack.

He has totally done hit-and-runs where she’s at a station and he tickles her and then takes his engine form and runs

The Flying Scotsman

Just as bad as his brother, but fully admits it

Has a loud but gorgeous laugh

Hates having his toes tickled because he’s so tall and he isn’t flexible enough so he can’t retaliate

He is basically stuck if you can keep him from kicking

Unlike Gordon, he doesn’t care about dignity and will beg whoever’s tickling him to stop

He quickly becomes a mess and gets embarrassed about it

I’m willing to do more headcanon’s on other characters if anyone wants. But these just came to my mind. I tagged this as SFW because apparently there can be a lot of NSFW tickling things and well, I didn’t want to go there.

This is literally the cutest thing ever and I cannot even

As an extension to my last question, since Edward, Thomas and Flying Scotsman help baby-sit Gordon. What do they usually do with him while baby-sitting him?

Thomas: Gordon and I love playing games, our favorite is hide and seek. I use the trucks and coaches to hide, and when its Gordon's turn the station master will create little areas for Gordon to hide around and in. Edward: Gordon loves stories, we like to stay in the shed and read children's books about railways. His favorite is about Ottie the post office dog and the Big Blue Train. Scotsman: My little brother loves riding in my front passenger coach. You should hear him as we thunder down the line, he is in constant giggles all the way to our final stop.

Revenge

Rated G - For everyone

Warning: Contains fluff and tickles, don’t like? Don’t read. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Also two updates in a day? I’m feeling guilty for having gone MIA.

Takes place during The Yellow Rose but didn’t have a good spot to put it. It was just fun fluff to write. Should I do more?

“Scotty, I need your help.”

Scotsman blinked a bit, having moved to a side track to rest when he was woken by a flustered looking Camille.

He yawned but smiled, “And what can I do for you, little sister?”

“It’s your brother.” Camille in her human form huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, “He’s been teasing me a lot recently and he’s not being fair about it.”

Scotsman shook his boiler, “Well, that sounds like Gordon. What’s he doing, keeping things too high?”

“Hardy har har.” Camille said dryly, “I don’t need your teasing too. I need to know if you’re up to helping me with some revenge.”

Scotsman grinned, “Against Gordon? Any day.”

Camille smiled, knowing the brothers' rivalry would come in handy someday.

“So, what’s this he’s been teasing you about?” Scotsman asked again.

Camille blushed a little and looked away, “He found out a few weeks ago… after that big storm… that I was…” she mumbled the last bit.

“I'm sorry?” Scot asked her, “You’re mumbling.”

“Well it’s hard to admit to you. You might use it against me too.” Camille said.

“How about I vow here not to until after we seek revenge on Gordon?” He grinned, “Scouts honor. Whatever this is.”

“I think that’s the closest I’m going to get because there’s no way you won’t use this against me in the future.” Camille sighed, “I’m ticklish and Gordon seems to think because he’s bigger and because it’s so ‘cute’ to make me laugh that he can tickle me whenever he wants too.”

Scotsman laughed, “Is that all? I thought it was fairly common to be ticklish.”

“I feel like most people are. But most people also don’t have behemoth size boyfriends who use their height and weight advantages to torment their tiny girlfriends.” Camille huffed.

“If it’s any consolation, Camille, I’m ticklish.” Scotsman shrugged as well as he could in engine form, “Nothing to be ashamed about.”

“I guess that makes me feel a little better… But I’ve got to get even with Gordon and he’s so much bigger than me I can’t get any sort of revenge.”

“Wait a moment, wait a moment.” Scotsman got a truly devious look on his face, “Are you saying little Gordon is ticklish too?”

Camille nodded, “Oh he’s awful if you can pin him down. I know I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone, but Scot he’s driving me crazy and you’re his brother so I figured you already knew and didn’t count.”

Scot grinned, “Oh, I didn’t know. This is very valuable information. I didn’t think Gordon would be or could be ticklish. He’s so uptight.”

“Well if I could make him giggle a bit more maybe he would unwind, but he’s too big for me.” Camille complained.

“I don’t think I’ve heard you complain of his size in any other regard.” Scotsman wiggled his eyebrows.

Camille gaped, “Flying Scotsman! Don’t you be so crude!”

Scotsman laughed loudly, “I’m only teasing, little sister. But don’t you worry, we’ll figure something out about your Gordon problem.”

——

Gordon was in a relatively good mood when he arrived back home that night in Tidmouth. The express went well with no delays or issues, Scotsman was napping when he arrived and was still asleep when he left from Vicarstown so he didn’t have his bossy brother bothering him, Spencer was nowhere to be found, and Camille and him had shared a rather private lunch that ended with them snuggling together on the break room hammock with a little PDA. He had found himself growing more bold in his affections for the little tank engine. Whenever he could steal a kiss or a hug, or maybe more if he was lucky, he certainly did it. It never interfered with work, and in fact, it made his workday better.

Today she had tried getting revenge from a few nights ago, when the others opted for a movie they weren’t interested in and decided to watch their own show upstairs in his room. Alone. Little of the show was actually watched as Camille had tried, and failed again, to tickle him. She seemed bound and determined to get a true laugh from him and it never happened. It always ended with him tickling her in retaliation, earning him her beautiful melodic laugh and that cute blush that crossed her nose which then led to more intimate affection. And that led to today where she tried a surprise attack which didn’t work at all. Try as she might, he was too strong for her to win. He did find her determination and efforts attractive and cute though.

When he walked through the doors, like most nights, the different couples were all watching some show, curled up under blankets.

“Is Camille home yet?” He asked passing them from the entryway as he removed his boots and coat.

“Her and your brother are upstairs playing on the Switch.” Edward informed him.

Gordon frowned, “What’s Scotsman doing here?”

“He said something about a passenger train that was spending the night at Callan Castle and he had volunteered to bring them back to the mainland as a surprise for the tourists.” Thomas said, sharing popcorn with Percy and Emily.

Gordon groaned. Of course Scotsman would stay the night here. Sure, he was enjoying spending more time with his brother, and Camille had made it very clear that the brotherly bond that had somehow been torn needed to be patched up, but he was so excited to have Camille alone tonight. So much for that plan.

Upstairs he found the two were in the bedroom, Scot was leaning back against the bed frame, controller in hand, and Camille was at the edge of the bed, legs in pretzel style with her controller. Both were very engrossed with whatever game they were playing. So much so that they hadn’t noticed him come in.

Annoyed, Gordon cleared his throat.

Camille glanced his way with her ever loving smile but it quickly returned to the screen, “Hey babe!”

Scotsman didn’t even bother looking, “Afternoon, little brother.”

Gordon’s eye twitched, “Scot, I’m growing weary of this little brother name calling. And ‘babe’, Camille?”

Scotsman just chuckled. Camille smiled brightly, “Babe is just a more modern love nickname. You are my babe, aren’t you?” She glanced his way briefly and winked.

Gordon blushed a little but kept his composure, “I suppose so.”

“Gotta keep up with the times, little brother.” Scotsman chided playfully.

“Scotsman.” Gordon said in a warning tone.

The announcer of the video game on screen shouted GAME!

Camille groaned as Scotsman’s character appeared in the middle of the screen posing while hers clapped at the bottom of the screen. Scotsman grinned, putting his controller down and relaxing his hands behind his head.

“I win.”

“Ugh… this time. But I’ll beat you one day.” Camille said, punching at his calf playfully.

Scotsman looked over at Gordon who had decided to get dressed in the walk-in closet. He was coming out in his more comfortable clothing when he caught an impish look in his younger brother’s eyes.

“Wanna play, little brother?” Scotsman said with a competitive sneer.

Gordon scowled, “My name is Gordon! Not ‘little brother’”.

Scot grinned, “Beat me in a game and I’ll call you by your name.”

Camille glanced between the two, opting to move to the love seat in the room. If there was anything she had learned about the competitive nature of her beloved and his brother it was to get out of the way.

Gordon furrowed his brow, “What game did you have in mind?”

Scotsman set his controller on the bedside table and then knelt ready to pounce on all fours on the bed, “How about a contest of strength?”

Gordon looked his brother over confused and curious, but then broke into a grin, “You think you can take me on, Scotsman?”

“Oh, I’m banking on it, little brother.”

With that there was a flurry of motion as Gordon tackled his younger brother on the bed as the wrestling match began. Camille pulled the switch from its dock avoiding the confrontation. She smiled and shook her head at the laughs and taunts between the two brothers.

Gordon had Scotsman pinned at one point but then Scot kneed him in the rear, knocking him over with an ‘oof’. Scot laughed triumphantly, jumping at his brother who slipped out of the way and stood ready to grapple. Scot jumped up, tackling his brother against the wall. It was turning into an all out brawl.

“I’m not paying for anything that gets broken!” Camille declared as the two wrestled.

Gordon had managed to get Scotsman pinned on the ground, this time pinning down his legs as well. He grinned wide as his younger brother squirmed beneath him.

“Who’s the little brother now?” He panted.

“A little help, Camille?” Scotsman asked, trying to wriggle his way out from under his brother. He winked at her, signaling her time to attack.

Camille jumped up on Gordon’s back, wrapping her arms around his torso and digging her fingers into his underarms.

Gordon let out something that could only be described as a cross between a surprised yelp and a squawk. He let go of his grip on Scotsman and tried to pry the smaller engine off his back, but it was hard as she tickled his underarms. Anytime he reached for her, her tiny fingers darted into his pits.

“C-Camille!” He shouted, trying to keep in his laughter through gritted teeth. His cheeks were turning pink. Worse yet, Scotsman had slipped away and was now eyeing Gordon like a hawk. His worst weakness was being let out in front of his younger brother.

“What’s the matter, Gordon?” Scotsman asked with a grin, “You suddenly seem so weak.”

Gordon clamped down on his underarms, trapping the vile fingers in there, yet they were still able to wiggle a little. He was basically curled up in a ball on the floor, Camille on top of him. He was having to breathe through his nose to keep himself from turning into a giggling mess.

Scotsman took a step towards the two and Gordon flashed what he hoped were angry eyes at him.

“Don’t you dare!” Gordon tried to snarl.

“Don’t I dare to do what Gordon?” Scotsman grinned wildly.

Knowing he was cornered, Gordon did the one thing he felt he could. He risked Camille’s tickling fingers and stood up, walking backwards into a wall with a ‘thud!’

“Oof!” Camille gasped, letting go of him.

Gordon moved from her and tried to make a break for the door.

“Oh no you don’t!” Scotsman laughed, tackling his brother to the ground. The wrestling match began again, but quickly became one sided as Scotsman wriggled his fingers against Gordon’s sides causing the older brother to laugh loudly. Although Camille’s fingers tickled and could cause him to laugh, just like everything else in their relationship Scot went in full throttle and dug his fingers into him which tickled infinitely more.

“S-s-s-s-Scot!!!!!” Gordon yelled through laughter. No matter how much he moved, the laughter breaking from him weakened him and he was unable to get himself loose from his brother. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to tell himself this was a bad dream and definitely wasn’t happening.

Scotsman was laughing alongside his brother, but not nearly as loud, “Oh Gordon, if I had known you were ticklish years ago I would’ve used it to my advantage.”

Gordon tried kicking his brother off, bucking underneath him. He wondered what he had done wrong in his life to be treated like this.

“Camille! I could use some back up!”

“This is payback for all the times you’ve teased me, Gordon.” Camille said sitting on the back of his legs, teasing his thighs.

“C-c-Camille!” He called out between loud guffaws, “Please, don’t, I w- GAHAHAHAHAHA I w-won’t tease you again!”

“Oh we know thats a lie.” She laid down on his legs, holding down an ankle, though she had to dodge a few kicks and it felt at times like riding a bucking bronco, “Why so nervous dear?”

Gordon was beginning to panic at the overwhelming feeling of being tickled and where Camille was currently teasing him at his ankles. Although he was unsure if he was ticklish there, he wasn’t ready to find out. James had once kicked Edward in the hip, meaning to tease the other, and Edward had started tickling his foot causing James to react very, very loudly.

Camille spidered her fingers up and down his socked foot causing Gordon to basically scream in laughter. He tried to remove himself from underneath the two, but he was pinned and eventually, he gave up, surrendering to those awful fingers and the laughter.

Camille was the first to let up and got off of him, “Alright, Scot, I think he’s had enough.”

Scotsman sat up on Gordon’s back, releasing his older brother, ruffling his hair to spite him just a tad more, and then stood up and walked back to the bed to lay down on. Camille curled up on her boyfriend’s back as he panted through a few remaining giggles.

“I told you I would get you eventually.” She teased, pushing a few stray hairs out of his face.

Gordon could only glare at her, which was weak at best, “You… cheated…”

“I was never going to win without someone’s help.” Camille smiled, moving to lay next to him, “I only wanted to hear you laugh once. It’ll never happen again.”

“Now why don’t I believe that?” He said looking at her through tired eyes.

“Well, it’s not like I’ll have Scot over enough for it to become a regular thing.” She chuckled, “Not like I’d do that to you anyway.” She poked his nose, “If anyone in this relationship is the one that abuses the other being ticklish, it’s you, Gordon.”

He smiled, “You have a beautiful laugh and I love hearing it.” He gave her sides a quick squeeze causing her to squeak a little and then pulled her close to him, kissing her forehead. She smiled, curling up under his neck and kissed his throat softly.

“I’m still here, you two.” Scotsman called as he flipped through channels.

Gordon groaned, eyeing his bed, “You have a guest room, go use it.”

Camille laughed, “If he sleeps in there though, where am I going to sleep?”

“You’ve slept in here with me before. Why not now?” Gordon smiled.

“Did I just hear you ask her to sleep with you? Gordon, so sinful!” Scotsman teased.

Gordon scowled up at the bed, “Would you go away?”

Camille laughed again, “We’ve basically slept together since the storm. Just not really in an intimate manner.” A blush crept across her face.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Y’all so naughty.”

“Did you just say y’all?” Camille asked, sitting up and looking at Scot who grinned at her.

“I’ve been practicing.”

“Ya did good.” She laughed, climbing back up on the bed and sitting next to him, “I’m mighty proud of ya, brother.” She said laying on the accent.

“Well, thank ya kindly sister.” Scot said in an equally heavy accent.

Gordon groaned, deciding to sit on the other side of Camille, putting her in the middle, “Please stop.”

The two just laughed. Camille curled into him and snuggled under the covers just the same, “Never.”

There was a bit of silence as the three flipped through channels.

“Also, Scot, don’t think I’ll forget about tonight. I’ll be getting you back tenfold.”

Scot laughed, “If you say so, little brother.” But secretly, he was a little bit afraid.

Since it’s summer it’s time for some Summer Pool Headcanons - TTTE style!!

❤️Pool days are awesome! The team plays chicken, sharks and minnows, Marco Polo, etc.

💛Gordon and Henry are always the bottom half of the chicken battles.

💚 Scotsman once snuck up behind Gordon and lifted him out of the water on his shoulders. It was a sight to behold.

💙 Gordon did not like it. Not one bit

💜 Thomas once pantsed James on accident in the water when they were wrestling in the water.

🤎 Gordon makes the biggest splashes off the diving board.

❤️ Emily likes to swim but prefers tanning or being the lifeguard

💛 Percy loves doing cannonballs.

💚 When Camille first appeared in a tankini Gordon about lost his mind

💙 Not in the humana-humana way, in the “you can’t come out here with all these other guys looking like that”

💜 Even that was too much skin for him

🤎 She got mad and said he was shirtless and he didn’t see her getting upset. After that scolding he backed off and she wears whatever she wants.

❤️ The other engines and teams have come at the same time. They play water volleyball whenever this happens.

💛 Duck’s nickname has been furthered by his swimming skills

💚 Henry was very concerned about swimming in a pool with others at first and would only get his feet in the pool, with all the odd things in pool water. With Hiro’s help he’s fine now.

💙 Thomas slapped Gordon with a pool noodle and Gordon chucked him in the deep end.

💜 Scot loves to twist his towel and pop Gordon on the butt with it when he gets out

🤎 Gordon got Scot in the thigh once, Scot tripped and fell back in the pool with his towel.

Feel free to add your own! What’s some of your favorite summer activities and do you think the engines would enjoy it?

That last scene between Gordon and Scot made me tear up, very nicely done!

🎁 Gift Anon 🎁

Hey Gift Anon! I’m glad you enjoyed Part 1. Part 2 will be out next week, I promise! Ponder though whether Scot will behave or not. 😉

Chapter 13 is up!! Shortly following will be the new Short Broken Bones Heal Pt. 2!  Internet is choppy today, go figure, but please be patient. 

I read the latest chapter and I can’t stop smiling! I’m glad my ideas were able to help you. You really brought everything to life, especially with the scene between Gordon and Camille. I’m waiting with bated breath for what comes next!

🎁 Gift Anon 🎁

Gift Anon! Your time to shine arrived!! 😁 I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your suggestion! It was such a fun thing to write too! I absolutely loved writing it! Thanks once again my favorite anon!

New chapter is up!! This is another one that’s in the Child AU (I’m a bit baby hungry and writing fictional characters children helps out a lot 😅)

Thank you to @smol4bluengine for doing the little roleplay weeks ago! I wouldn’t have been able to do this without their help!

Look forward to more shorts! I know Pebble is one that’s been looked forward to for a while but I’m still perfecting it, some pieces are just not molding together the way I would like.

I’ve also gotten some great help from @pxmun2 and I will be writing their fic soon! Again, lots of thanks for the fans of Yellow Rose. It wouldn’t be nearly as successful without y’all!

Thanks again!

-Kamiko

If you don’t read on Archive, here’s the short here!

A Great Father

Children AU

(Rated G)

Loosely based on a conversation between me and @smol4bluengine on tumblr. Comes before This Son of Mine.

Gordon was panicked.

He looked all around the busy station of Vicarstown, ignoring the odd looks people were giving him. He was supposed to be meeting up with his brother and his nephew any minute now for a playdate followed by a weekend with the whole family. Problem is, you can’t really have a playdate with one kid and his kid was currently missing.

“Erik!” He called, trying not to sound too panicked, but the seconds were beginning to turn to minutes. 5 to be correct.

He looked around the station, there was no sign of the little engine anywhere. Gordon’s heart began to race in his chest. Erik was an adventurous sort of child and was easily distracted. A butterfly could’ve flown nearby and he would’ve gone after it. Gordon had told his son to stay in the break room while he went to go check if Scotsman had arrived and when he’d gotten back, the boy was gone. He first checked the restroom, the little engines were much like human children, but found it empty and began to check all the cupboards and everything he could think of. But Erik was nowhere to be found.

Gordon looked around and had asked a few of the Vicarstown railway workers if they’d seen him, but so far no one had seen anything. He was starting to feel ill. What if he had hopped in one of the many trains and went off somewhere else on the island? What about him getting on the mainland? What if he was on the rails on his own, although he wasn’t wide enough to reach both sides of the rails, he could basically bounce along the rails like a car. Another engine could easily run him over!

What if someone had taken his son?

True fear reached deep in his soul. What if someone had taken Erik? Him, his cousin and his friends were the first of his kind; there might be someone out there that wanted to know the ins and outs of the toddler engines. What if… what if they started taking him apart?

Gordon tried to steady his breathing. Panicking and over-thinking would do him no good. Erik would have screamed and fought… right? Someone would have seen something. A child with grey like skin and engine wheels at his ankles, he would stick out. So then… why hadn’t anyone seen anything?

His thoughts were broken for him as he heard the familiar whistle of The Flying Scotsman pulled into the station. He looked up as the charismatic engine backed into the station. He tried to smile like he wasn’t about to have a full blown panic attack as his nephew, Mikhail, whistled at him from his brother’s cab. Scot’s fireman had to have a tight grip on him as the toddler was about ready to jump from the window.

As soon as the engine stopped, the fireman and driver hopped out with baby in tow while the large two-tendered engine shifted to his human form. Baby Mikhail, or Mikey as was his nickname, eagerly bounced in the fireman’s arms, his little wheels turning as he waited for his dad’s arms. Scot grinned wildly at the little engine, taking him in his arms and tossing him a little up in the air. Mikhail squealed with each toss. His dad rubbed noses with him and held him close. Then he turned to face his brother.

“Gordon!” He grinned brightly.

Gordon waved but the panic was written all over his face.

Scot quickly changed his expression, noticing his brother’s demeanor, “Gordon? What’s wrong?” He placed Mikhail down and the tiny engine blew bubbles at his dad’s feet. Scot looked around, “Where’s Erik?”

“I… I can’t find him.” Gordon confessed and Scot paled, “I went to check if you had arrived, I left him in the break room and told him to stay put, but when I returned… he was gone.”

“Have you called Search and Rescue? Harold?” Scotsman asked, “The faster we do, the faster he’s likely to be found.”

“No! I…” Gordon started and looked away, “I just need to look around… I’m sure he’s here.”

“Gordon… the longer we wait…” Scot started, feeling very uncomfortable with the idea of prolonging search and rescue, “What if he’s on a train to the mainland?”

“I just…if I don’t look for him some more… I…”. Gordon sighed, running a hand through his hair, messing it up from its normal brushed back state, “Camille’s going to kill me…”

Scot looked at his brother with sympathy. Gordon had been incredibly rough on himself since it had been revealed that Camille was pregnant. Of course, they all thought that it had to be some sort of error seeing as engines had never been pregnant before. They had both decided to take on the task of parenthood with building an infant engine, a small engine with which they had both donated small pieces of themselves that had been melted down and turned into major components for the baby’s body.

What neither of them had considered, and why would they considering the fact that it had never happened before, was Camille becoming essentially pregnant with the baby’s soul. It was a shock and a surprise, but basically the baby’s essence grew inside her as its body was built. And although she didn’t go through most everything that a human woman went through, it was incredibly hard on her. Gordon felt responsible for it all. She was the first ever engine to go through something like this, and although Gordon wanted to curse at Lady for what Camille was going through, Camille said she’d do it again in a heartbeat to feel that close to her son. A blessing or a curse, Gordon felt inadequate the entire time. And when the baby’s soul left Camille’s body for its own, Camille had woken up in a panic frightening both herself and her husband. If it wasn’t for the call that their son’s body was beginning to stir and wake up, Camille was beginning to assume the worst and that she had lost the baby entirely.

They had both raced in the middle of the night to the Steamworks where their son's body was completed and waited with bated breath as his tiny eyes began to open and he started to cry. Victor had theorized that just like a human baby feeling out of place outside it’s mothers womb, this baby engine would also feel frightened with his soul outside his mother and inside his own body. Camille immediately edged forward, her buffer gently touching the baby’s but when that didn’t comfort the little one, who was blinking to get his eyes adjusted to the light, she shifted to her human body and held him close to her heart, patting the top of his boiler and rocking him from side to side.

From then on out, Gordon had felt a major shift in responsibility and also a massive shift in feeling like he was inadequate. Camille had carried the baby’s soul and fell into her motherly instincts easily. Gordon, however, had always felt left out of the equation. When he approached Sir Topham Hatt about it, or rather the Conductor had dragged it out of him, the man smiled and said it was normal for a new dad to feel a little left out. He explained that it was normal for baby Erik to feel completely reliant on his mother. She was everything to him for months prior to entering his engine body, but that didn’t mean that the baby wasn’t interested or didn’t love his father. The Controller encouraged Gordon to help with the daily and nightly struggles and so Gordon jumped into his fatherly duties both terrified and readily.

Although Erik didn’t shift immediately to his human form, once he did everything became like taking care of a human toddler. He wanted to try everything and seemed to constantly get himself in some sort of trouble, whether that was putting things in his mouth that he shouldn’t, biting, or climbing his daddy’s desk and nearly toppling over. Gordon found himself, on more than one occasion, wondering how on earth he was going to get the baby to adulthood with how often it felt like he was coming to his rescue. Things were becoming very messy as well, from messy eating to messy diapers. Gordon counted himself lucky that for the most part Erik stayed in his engine form. Though he still had to have his boiler and firebox cleaned often and when the little one wanted to play that became a hassle on its own. There were lots of late nights where both parents rotated rocking and walking with an upset baby. Gordon couldn’t believe how insane it was to have to keep walking even after it seemed like the baby fell asleep. Somehow he knew his father was ready to put him down. Some nights, Gordon even took the little engine outside to just roll around the shed with the doors shut while he tried to catch a few winks.

Little Erik soon was very interested in his father and was curious to see what Gordon did for work shortly after he was able to attend work with his mother, since her work was close to home. That’s what led to today’s event of Gordon taking Erik with him on the Express to meet up with Scot and his new son, born months and months after Erik.

Scot used his foot to scoot Mikhail away from the rails and placed a hand on his older brother’s shoulder, “We’ll find him, Gordon. But if we don’t in the next ten minutes, we need to call search and rescue.”

Gordon nodded, though the sick feeling never left his stomach. He smiled somewhat, beginning to look around the station again, “I.. I don’t know how I can ever look Camille in the eyes knowing I’ve lost our son.” He sneered at himself, trying to make sure Mikhail didn’t see though, “Some father I’m turning out to be..”

“Don’t sell yourself short yet, Gordon. We’ll find him. He can’t have gone too far.” Scot picked up his child and held him close, “Was he in his engine form? Is he good at shifting yet?”

“He was in his human one…and he’s not very good at shifting yet.” Gordon looked around again. “I’ll check the break room again, if you can look around the platforms nearby.”

Scot nodded and went to his break coach where he kept his luggage separately and pulled out the bassinet-like stroller for Mikhail. The little green engine wasn’t too thrilled about being put back in a situation where he couldn’t move around and began to fuss, lip quivering while looking up at his father.

“Hey, little buddy, it’ll be OK.” Scot smiled, pulling out a dummy, “We just need to help Uncle Gordon real quick and then we can go play at the park.” The baby opened his mouth eagerly at the green pacifier and his dad put it in his mouth. With the baby content Scot began to look around, pushing the stroller as he went, looking for his little nephew.

——

Erik began shaking nervously in the train car as he got further and further from Vicarstown. Daddy had gone out of the break room and hadn’t returned for a bit. The little indigo engine had left the room in search of his father when he had heard the announcement for the train going to the animal park and he eagerly hopped aboard. Mommy worked at the animal park and he was scared without his daddy.

He had snuck aboard the cars, there were only two, and was with the passengers luggage. He was hiccuping and crying softly, scared for what was going on.

It wasn’t long before he heard the door open and he looked up at one of the railway workers.

“Erik? What on earth are you doing here?”

Erik had no idea how the human knew his name but they had soft eyes and looked greatly concerned. He shied away nonetheless, whimpering. The coachman knelt down and gently smiled, “It’s OK, Erik. I work with your mommy and daddy’s friend Thomas. That’s who you’re riding with right now.”

Erik still kept his distance, hiding himself beside some luggage. The coachman sighed, but stood back up understanding the child’s fear. He went out and spoke with both Annie and Clarabel, who then spoke to Thomas who pulled over to a side rail.

Erik really began to panic at that point, crying quite audibly. He wasn’t really sure if this was Thomas’s train, he had never been on a train before besides his parents’ own cab. Hearing the footsteps approach made his heart race and he started hiccuping again, but as the door opened and saw Thomas approach him, the sobbing began all over again.

Thomas smiled softly at the crying boy and knelt down, “Erik, how did you get on here? Your daddy is gonna be really worried about you.”

“I wan’ my daddy!!” The little engine cried, reaching out for the familiar engine.

Thomas picked the little engine up and cradled him, “Shhh, little buddy, it’ll be OK. I can get you back to your daddy in a bit, I just have to finish my jobs first.”

The little engine had quickly become a mess of tears and a bit of a runny nose, “I… I… I wan’ my d-daddy…!”

Thomas held him close, shushing him as he bounced him in his arms, “How about I call mommy and let her know where we’re at. She’s closer and we can get you to her, OK?”

Erik looked at Thomas for a few seconds, sniffling and hiccuping, and then nodded.

“Alright.” Thomas said with a smile, “Let me call your mom. She should be available right now.”

——

“Gordon, we have to call Search and Rescue. It’s been almost a full half hour.”

Gordon was in a full panic. No one had seen Erik running around, which meant that he probably did, in fact, board a train. Anyone that had seen him would’ve been on the train as well.

“Gordon!” Scotsman yelled at him, pulling him out of his panic. The younger brother looked him in the eyes, “If he’s on a mainland train now we’re going to be in a worse situation. They could take off in any given direction. Look, I’m gonna call Jess to keep an eye out and she can reach out to a couple of our cousins. You need to call Search and Rescue.”

Gordon nodded almost mindlessly and reached for his cell phone when a call came in. Both him and Scot recognized the ringtone set for Camille.

Gordon took a deep, shaky breath before answering, “Hello.”

“Gordon!” Camille sounded cheerful.

“H-Hello darling.” Gordon said, trying to compose himself.

“I was just calling to see how the play date was going. You promised me pictures and I haven’t seen anything yet. I was beginning to wonder if I had a crappy signal in the park.”

Scotsman looked at his brotherly, gently signaling for him to tell the truth. Gordon cleared his throat, “Well, you see darling, there was a bit of a mishap and that’s why-“

“Mishap? Is everything alright?” Camille cut him off.

“N-no, well, yes actually. Everything is fine. It’s just that…” Scot looked at him wide eyed as if to say ‘What are you doing??’ Gordon quickly glanced down at the sleeping engine in the buggy, “Mikhail fell asleep shortly after getting here so things haven’t worked out as well as we had hoped.”

“Oh, that’s a bummer, but I’m sure Scot’s loving that. It’s hard with a new life, I’m sure you remember.” She said sympathetically.

“Yes, I remember. Sleepless days and nights.” He sighed, bringing a hand up to his eyes to rub his temples. Scot stood next to him with a disapproving frown on his face, arms folded.

“Well, let him know things do get better. I mean, things get more difficult in different ways. Erik has a tendency to wander, I’ve actually thought about putting him on one of those kiddie leashes.” She laughed.

Gordon gave a snort, “I don’t think we should do something like that to our son. Think of his dignity.” Lady above if that isn’t a grand idea though, he thought to himself.

“I know, I know, Gordon. But some days when I’m out and about with him, he just disappears on me. Sure, I’m at the park and I can find him in a minute or two, but it scares the crap out of me! No matter how much I try to tell him he can’t go running off on mommy, it seems to happen all too often.”

Gordon felt bad that he took relief in the fact that his wife was struggling with this too. Although she had lost him for maybe a minute and Gordon was coming up on an hour.

“Oh, hey, I’ve got to go! Thomas is calling me. He’s just coming in from Vicarstown with some passengers and he’s running a bit late. I’ll take to you later, dear! Love you!”

“I love you, too, darling.”

*click*

Scot glared at him, “You’re digging your grave deeper by not telling her the truth.”

Gordon glared back, “I’m doing the best I can by keeping her from panicking.”

“She’s going to find out, Gordon! Sooner or later! And what if something bad has happened?! Is that how you want her to find out?” Scot gestured, but tried to keep his voice down for the sleeping baby.

“If I find him first then there will be no problem.” Gordon said through gritted teeth.

“IF! And if she had done this to you, you would be livid. Like she’s going to be when she finds out you lost him and then didn’t seek help immediately.”

Gordon sighed, “I’m calling Search and Rescue now.”

“Good.” Scot said, dialing his wife, “I hope they have a lot more luck than we are.”

——

When Thomas arrived at the animal park, Camille was pacing by the main gate. She had canceled one of her train rides, offering refunds for those who were meant to ride, explaining that there was a family emergency. She all but ran to the front gate, waiting for Thomas.

When Thomas came to a stop, she ran up to meet him as his driver carried a terrified Erik from the cab. When the toddler saw his mother, his tears started all over.

“Mama!!”

Camille scooped him up from the driver’s arms, “Oh my sweet baby!!” She cradled him close while he cried, “What on earth happened?? You were supposed to be with daddy today!”

When the child didn’t respond, Thomas cleared his throat, “I think I can answer that.”

Camille walked up to the end of the platform and looked at Thomas’s face, “What happened, then?”

“Well, they announced on the PA Speaker that I was going to the animal park from Vicarstown. I don’t know where Gordon was, but I’m gonna guess Erik knew that you worked here and wanted to see you. I don’t think he knew just how far away he was going to be from his dad. Originally, all he wanted was Gordon, but I couldn’t turn around so I figured I’d just hand him off to you.”

Camille bounced the boy as he wrapped both arms around her neck and cried into her shoulder, “But Gordon just told me he had Erik not but a minute before I got on the phone with you. If he’s got a kid, who’s kid is it??”

Thomas sucked in his breath through clenched teeth, “I don’t want to start any trouble, I’m just speculating, but maybe Gordon…lied?”

“But why would he??” Camille asked, her heart rate beginning to come down. However, she slowly felt her anger build.

“Well… maybe he was embarrassed? I mean, it’s not a fun thing to admit you lost your child. Or maybe he didn’t think Erik had gone far and didn’t want you to panic?”

Camille frowned, “But our child could’ve gotten really hurt…. It’s unacceptable.”

“I know that too.” Thomas said gently, “But, we all know how Gordon can get when things get out of his control. He has a really hard time asking for help and if his driver and fireman weren’t there on some occasions I’m sure he never would have.”

The female engine sighed, “He’s just lucky our baby is alright.” Erik looked up at his mother, “But you shouldn’t have run off on daddy. He’s probably worried sick about you right now.”

“Sowwy mama…”

Nevertheless, she hugged her son tight again, patting his hair down from the mess it had become, “We need to call daddy and let him know you’re OK.”

“And fast!” Came a voice from behind.

Thomas’s coachman came running towards the two, “Search and Rescue just got sent out on a call for a missing child at Vicarstown station. I’m pretty sure they’re looking for little Erik here.”

Camille reached for her phone and as she went to call Gordon, his name popped up instead.

“Gordon, I-“

“Camille, I’ve lost Erik.”

Camille’s heart stopped briefly at the words, despite knowing the child was safe and sound. The panic and worry in her husband’s voice saddened her heart though, and she found herself unable at the time to get angry with him.

“I heard about Search and Rescue, but-“

“I’ve looked all over for him, Cam.” Another pang in her chest. Gordon rarely called her by the nickname everyone else had, “I left him in the break room for just a few minutes to check if Scot and Mikhail had arrived and when I returned, he was gone. I shouldn’t have left him alone, I know, and I’m kicking myself for it.”

So that’s what happened. Erik, his little mind easily bored and distractible, left the break room to probably look for his dad, she concluded, and then heard the speaker talk about the animal park and jumped on the train headed there to see his mom.

“Gordon, I-“

“I understand if you’re angry. Scot’s nagging has been awful. I just… I thought I could find him without having to alert anyone or the authorities and I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Gordon, I have him.” She finally got through, “He jumped onto Thomas’s train to the animal park.”

“…He’s safe?”

Camille sighed softly, rubbing the toddler’s back, “He’s safe. But not very happy with himself.”

Erik looked up, showing some interest in the conversation, “Daddy?”

Camille nodded, “Daddy.”

Erik curled in her arms, “…mad?”

Camille put the phone to his ear, “Why don’t you talk to him?”

Erik was quiet for a bit and Gordon, calling for Camille wondering why the phone went silent, was about to hang up when he heard the little voice.

“Daddy…?”

——

“Erik?!” Gordon shouted with relief on the phone. Scot quickly looked up at his brother, who nodded, “Son, you were supposed to stay in the break room.”

“I got scawed…”

Gordon sighed, trying to reign in the bit of aggravation and anger he felt. There was no use getting upset now. He really wanted to get onto his son about the dangers of running away and not listening when his parents tell him something, but right now, he was just relieved his son was on the island, safe and sound with his mother.

“I’m sorry you got scared, son. I wasn’t going to be gone long.”

“It fel’ wike it…”

“You know daddy would never leave you.” Gordon replied. Scot took the hint and took care of informing the others that the child was safely found at the animal park. He was sure there was going to be some comeuppance about raising children though.

“I sowwy…”

Gordon heard his son begin to cry and it poked at his heart.

“You stay with mommy and I’ll come pick you up with Uncle Scot and Mikhail. We can go home and you two can play in the yard. How does that sound?”

Erik sniffled, “Mhm..!”

Gordon sighed with relief, a small smile forming on his face, “Hand the phone back to mama and let me talk with her.”

“Otay…”

“Hey.” Camille said, “I’ll hold onto him until you get here. Be safe, OK?”

“I… I will be.” Gordon responded.

“Hey?” She called out.

“Yes?”

“I still love you, Gordon. Don't beat yourself up.”

Gordon sighed once more, “I’m going to try really, really hard not to.”

——

That evening, back at Tidmouth Manor

All the adult engines were sitting on the back porch of the manor watching as the children played happily together. Mikhail, being the youngest, sat peacefully in a makeshift swing for baby engines as his father pushed him lightly with his foot. Everyone had gathered together and they had decided to have some water and snacks on the back porch while the children played before bedtime.

“Danny! Behave yourself please!” Emily called to her son, who was wildly chasing after an upset Erik.

“Yes, mama…” The little blue engine called, ceasing his chase of Erik who was getting irritable.

The conversation around the table was mainly focused on Mikhail and Scot and Jessica’s adjustment to parenthood, not to mention Jessica’s adjustment of learning how to care for a baby steam engine. Occasionally the baby would babble incoherently at them as if trying to join the conversation. Jessica would smile softly, albeit a bit sleep deprived, at her son and Scot would occasionally babble back at the baby causing squeals of laughter.

Edward hissed a bit as he sat down at the table after a hard days work. James looked at him worriedly, “Everything alright? Is the baby OK?”

“James, I’m fine. I’m just carrying a soul, I’m not really pregnant.” Edward said a bit grumpily, “You’re being much.”

James pouted, “Sorry for worrying about your wellbeing.”

Camille laughed, “I think that about sums up relationships while carrying little souls, wouldn’t you say, Em, Jess?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Emily called.

“Here, here.” Jess said, raising her soda can.

“I was not that bad!” Scot said in mock offense.

“No, you were worse.” Jessica said with a smirk. “I swear I couldn’t go to the bathroom without you at the door worrying about me.”

“Did you get a million texts a day? I certainly did.” Emily laughed too.

“It’s not like we’re actually pregnant.” Camille said, “We’re just carriers of the soul. We don’t have little bodies growing inside us. Not to mention, how on earth would Edward get the baby out?”

“I don’t even want to think about childbirth.” Jessica said, causing some laughter.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think male engines could even carry, but here I am.” Edward said, “And I’m certainly glad I will not be experiencing labor and delivery.”

“When you feel the soul leave for their body though, it’s an… interesting feeling.” Emily said.

“I freaked out, I won’t lie.” Camille said, looking sheepishly at Gordon.

“If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought she miscarried or someone had shot her.” Gordon said, after taking a sip, “She was crying and yelling and I thought something terrible had happened.”

“It’s not a fun feeling.” Jessica added, “After being with their little presences from months on end and then in a moment they’re gone,” She shook her head and shuddered a bit, “It certainly feels like you’ve lost the baby. It’s like a part of you just vanishes.”

“I was lucky we were going to check on the baby’s building.” Emily put her hand on Thomas’s, “I about came off the rails, but we were already on the way so it wasn’t a panic to get up and head over to the Steamworks.”

“Heavens above, how I wished that had happened.” Scot said, with a bit of a frown, “I missed it. I was in Scotland finishing up my route when I got Jess’s call.” He pretended to hold up his phone, “‘The baby’s coming! The baby’s coming!’ If someone had clocked me I’m sure I would have beat that 100 mile record coming home.”

There was a bit more laughter as Scotsman continued his story of him about causing an accident at the station he was in such a rush.

“I mean, my child was taking his first breath, opening his eyes for the first time and I was ready to run over any engine in my way.”

Jessica chuckled, “You’re here now and let’s be honest, he’s all about his daddy. Almost like he’s forgotten who carried him for almost a full year.”

Scotsman grinned, “Yeah that’s right, isn’t it buddy?” He undid the baby’s buckles and picked him up from the bassinet and held him above his head, making all sorts of noises causing Mikhail to squeal all the more.

“Has he been able to shift yet, Jess?” Camille asked.

Jessica sighed, “No, not yet. But he hasn’t exactly tried.” She smiled at the two as Scotsman tickled the baby’s boiler, “The doctors and builders think he’s just not interested yet. Seeing as he’s still in the range that we’ve seen from just your children” he gestured to Edward, Emily and Camille, “they’re not worried just yet. They think that when he really wants to start playing with us or doing things Scot does, he’ll want to. We just don’t spend a whole lot of time in our human form and that’s probably contributing.”

“That’s fair.” Emily said, “Daniel wasn’t all about shifting for a while either. He would watch Thomas in the yard shunting the trucks and hearing them fuss about it and it made him giggle. So, he enjoyed pretending with his toys that he was biffing and bashing and it took him a while to want to shift.”

“I think Erik shifted so quickly because most of the ‘pregnancy’ I stayed in my human form and I stayed shifted for most of his first few weeks. When I started going back to work and we went to see Gordon a few times is when he started wanting to be in his engine form more.”

Camille glanced over at the two children playing and snapped her fingers, looking stern, “Ah! Ah! Erik! I don’t know what you’ve got, but it doesn’t go in your mouth.”

Gordon quickly looked over and decided to go see what was going on. He walked over to his son and Danny.

Erik quickly threw the toy food down and grinned at his father, “Daddy!” He was practically bouncing, little arms reaching upward and fingers grasping open and shut for his father.

Gordon picked up his son and was quickly enveloped in a hug. Erik squeezed him tight and giggled at his father’s warmth and comfort. Gordon smiled softly and rubbed the little one’s back.

Erik pulled away and looked at his father before briefly looking down, “I sowwy daddy… I didn’ mean to wun away…”

Gordon sighed and looked the toddler engine over. Camille had eventually given him an earful and Sir Topham Hatt kept things from escalating, but deep down Gordon was still kicking himself. He felt like he honestly deserved more yelling and consequences, he had lost his child after all! But in the end, he was becoming his own worst enemy and critic. Despite everything though, he couldn’t stay mad at Erik.

“You gave your mother and I quite a scare today, Erik. You disobeyed me and could’ve gotten seriously hurt.” Gordon scolded.

The little one couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“But, you’re safe and as long as you’ve learned to listen to us I believe everything will turn out alright. Your safety is what matters most to us, son. We don’t know what we’d do without you. Your mother and I love you very much.” He gently pushed back the boy's bangs and kissed his forehead.

Erik looked a bit amazed at his father, “Daddy scawed?”

Though Gordon didn’t like admitting it, he felt that lying to the child was the worse option, “Yes, daddy got scared.”

“Bu’… daddy neva’ scawed.” Was the little reply.

Gordon glanced over at the others. Both Camille and Scot were wrapped up in the conversation and didn’t pay him any mind. His mind went back to all the chaos the three of them had gone through, all the times he either thought or nearly did actually lose them; how much they meant to him. And now with a new life, a thing that had never happened ever before (which seemed to becoming the trend of Sodor steam engines), and all the new blessings and struggles that came with being a father, Gordon realized just how foolhardy he would be to not admit he was afraid.

“Sometimes I do get scared.” Gordon admitted to the toddler.

“Bu’ daddy big and fast and stwong! And bwave!” Erik said, pretending to flex his muscles.

Gordon smirked, “Yes, I am that. But part of being brave is knowing when to admit you’re scared and doing the brave thing anyway.”

Erik looked at his father and then down, “I not bwave…”

“Says who?” Gordon asked a little offended for his son, “You were brave today, son.”

The child shook his head, “I got scawed… and cwied…”

“I’ve cried.” Gordon admitted, though not loud enough for the others to hear, “Your mother has cried before and Uncle Scot has too. Crying has nothing to do with being brave. And as for being scared, you’re still little. You have me and your mother to look for when you’re scared. We’re here to love and protect you, that’s our job. When you’re with us, scared or not, we’ll be there for you.”

Erik looked up in curiosity, “Why?”

“Because I’m your father… I’m your daddy. I’m here for you.” Gordon said with a small smile, “We’re family. We are a part of each other.”

Erik gave a small yawn and snuggled into his dad’s shoulder, “Otay.”

Gordon chuckled at the very simple answer, “OK?”

Erik smiled sleepily, “Yeah. Otay.” Another yawn, “I love you daddy…”

Gordon felt his heart swell with pride, beginning to rock the little engine boy, “I love you too, son.”

——

Gordon had returned to the chatting group moments later with a sleeping Erik in his arms. Daniel had become a bit cranky with it getting late and his friend asleep to where Emily needed to get him to bed. With things getting late, it was time to get the other littles to bed too.

Jessica and Scot were staying in the guest bedroom again, which ended up being Thomas and James’ old rooms moved together to make a bedroom and a bathroom. Little Mikhail wasn’t too thrilled to be going to bed after such excitement either and was becoming fussier by the minute. Scot checked the infant's boiler after a minute of the fussy behavior and it was concluded someone was just overtired. He asked Jess to remind him to thank the others for putting a rocking chair in the bedroom in preparation for the little guy as he sat down with the grumpy engine.

“I hope we don’t keep everyone else awake.” His wife winced as Scot rocked the fussy babe.

“They’ve each gone through this and dealt with one another’s kids.” Scot reminded him and yawned, “They’ll be fine.”

The new build wailed at his father’s attempt at settling him down.

Scot sighed, “Alright, alright, I’m up.” He stood and cradled the little engine, walking and lightly bouncing him. The baby quieted slightly but seemed to still be at odds.

“Are you sure he’s not hungry?” Jessica asked, reaching for the bottle on the side table, “I brought the bottle warmer. It won’t take long to warm the water.”

Scot looked down at the continual fussing baby and sighed in defeat, “Might as well.”

She did just that, plugging in the little device and pouring water into the little steamer before placing the bottle. It was an adjustment for her taking care of an infant steam engine, that was for sure. Had their son been a jet like herself, she felt like things would’ve been easier, but there was a deep sense of pride in these Gresley engines that she somehow felt such adoration for and after everything her husband had gone through during the steam purge, she couldn’t bring herself to ask for the infant to be built after her own kind.

When Mikhaïl let out a particularly strangled cry, Scotsman frowned at the infant, “Now there’s no need for that.”

Jessica chuckled tiredly, “He can’t communicate yet, Scot. It’s got to be hard trying to communicate your needs. Have you checked his firebox?”

Scot opened the tiny door and peeked inside, “He’s fine, love. Just cranky.”

With a little ding, the bottle was ready. Jessica tested the temperature of the water on her wrist before handing the bottle over to her husband.

“You’ve taken care of him all day, Scotty. Sure you don’t want me to take over?”

Scot sat back down with the baby and offered the bottle. Somehow, Mikhaïl will still having none of it, “Jessica, babe, you’ve been flying all over the place for the Duke and Duchess for the past several days and you’ve taken Mikhaïl with you, I can handle one day.”

“Mhm.” The brunette said skeptically, “You're doing so well, right now.”

“Shut up.” Scot teased back and stuck his tongue out, “C’mon little buddy, throw daddy a bone.”

Mikhaïl, whether out of sympathy or frustration, took the bottle, eagerly sucking down the warm water.

“Easy, Scot, too much too quick and he’s going to spit up.” Jessica warned.

Scot removed the bottle nipple from the baby's mouth with a small pop, “Easy, tiger, slow down.” After a bit of whining, he gave the bottle back.

A few more minutes and Mikhaïl had fallen asleep with the bottle in his mouth. Scot replaced it with a binky, which the little engine sucked on sleepily, and tucked the sleeping baby boy into his bassinet. Jessica pulled the bassinet to the edge of the bed, hooking it in place where she could reach her arm out and pat the sleeping baby. Scot curled up behind him and kissed her behind the ear.

“We made a cute kiddo.” The two-tendered engine smiled.

Jessica smiled, “Yes, we sure did.”

As Edward and James were getting ready for bed, their little one, Katie, had managed to sneak from her bed, where she had fallen asleep quite early enough to miss the party, and into her father’s bed with Pebble in her arms. Edward made a light hearted comment about how eventually with a second on the way she was going to have to start staying in her own bed. James, however, snuggled the raven haired little girl close.

“She’s only this little once, Ed. I don’t want to rush it.”

Edward smiled at the two. Katie looked like James and easily acted like him too. There were days that, despite the child not really biologically being theirs, that Edward began to wonder what on earth she inherited from him if anything at all. Katie snuggled into her daddy, James wrapping an arm around her, but rolled over bleary eyed and reached out for Edward.

“Papa?”

Edward smiled and took the littles one's hand, which she did her best to tug him closer. Chuckling, he curled closer, but with enough room for Katie to move around, and sighed contentedly with his little family. His belly glowed a bit, the gold light warming him with the comfort of their new little one’s soul close by. Before he could reach down to feel its warmth he felt James’ hand move from Katie to his stomach. He opened his eyes to see James looking down at the glow, almost teary eyed. He placed a hand over James and closed his eyes again, drifting soundly to sleep.

Emily and Thomas were able to wrangle Daniel into some PJ’s. Thomas, who’s bad habit was riling up the little engine before bed, was propping the little one on his feet and held the toddler’s hands out like they were wings. Danny was all giggles as his dad made plane noises as he moved him from side to side.

Emily rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Alright you two, it’s time for bed.”

“Awww…” Danny pouted as his dad stopped the game and laid him on his little bed.

Thomas chuckled, “Tomorrow’s another day, Dan. You can go play with the others. It’ll be a blast!”

“But you and mama hafta wok...” He pouted.

Emily sat down on the floor next to the bed, “But we won’t be long. You’ll have a great time tomorrow with Grandpa Hatt.”

“Will he bwing tweats?” Danny’s eyes lit up.

Thomas laughed, “Doesn't he always?”

“Mhm!” Danny said, nodding with a yawn.

“Alright, buddy, it’s time for bed.” Thomas ruffled the boys hair before pulling the covers up and climbing off the small bed. “Goodnight, kiddo-pop.”

Danny giggled sleepily at the nickname, “Nigh-nigh daddy. Nigh-nigh mummy.”

Emily fixed the little ones hair and kissed his cheek, “Goodnight baby.”

Down the hall, the remainder of the Gresley family was working their way to bed. Erik had woken up briefly, though regretted it when his mother and father had him brush hair and teeth. The little nap had him wanting to play more and he was bouncing on his parents bed as they got ready for bed.

“Erik, it’s bedtime.” Camille reminded, “Not playtime. We need to wind down.”

Erik whined at his mom’s words, opting to bounce only a little where he thought they wouldn’t hear him.

Gordon looked out the bathroom door at the bed with a firm look, toothbrush in his mouth, “Son.”

Erik sighed and laid down in defeat.

When Gordon returned to the bathroom he spat out his toothpaste and cleaned himself up, “He gets it from you.”

Camille looked at him in a fairly amused agape look, “I know you didn’t just say that.”

Knowing he had gotten under her skin, he dried his face and smirked, “It’s true.”

“No, no, I don’t think so. Last I checked you had him built as a mini Gresley tender engine, not a tank engine. He’s taking after you.” She teased back.

“Well, then he’ll be perfect.” Gordon smiled proudly.

Camille poked at him, “He already is.”

That’s when they heard the TV turn on, though the volume dropped very quickly.

Camille sighed and rolled her eyes, despite the smile on her face. But Gordon was already out the door.

“Frederick! No TV.” He said, earning sad eyes from the little engine, pouting with his full name being used.

“Bu… bu’ daddy…”

“It’s almost an hour past your bedtime, no buts young man.” Gordon turned the TV off and picked up the small engine, “It’s time for bed.”

The little boy went limp dramatically in his father’s arms and said father turned and looked at his wife, “He takes after me, huh?”

Camille giggled and walked up to the two. She brushed some of the hairs out of Erik’s face and kissed his forehead. Erik grinned and reached for his mom with delight. She held him close as she walked to his small bed and knelt down next to it.

“Goodnight my sweet boy.” She kissed the top of his head again, “Pleasant dreams.”

As she laid him in bed and tucked him in, Gordon pressed the knob on a sound machine nearby. It was a gift from Camille’s brothers, the same exact one she had gotten when she was a new engine. Although Gordon had originally teased her about it as she was an engine like him, already an adult with no childhood, the effects it had on their child to get him to sleep quicker was astounding. Now, Gordon never put Erik down without it, he didn’t care about the codependency some talked about as eventually Erik might have to sleep in a shed and noise was always plentiful.

He knelt down next to his son’s bed and softly kissed the boys head. Erik was already droopy eyed and getting cozy.

“Goodnight, my little one.” He said before turning out the bathroom lights that illuminated the room, save Camille’s bedside table lamp. For a while, he sat on the edge of his bed watching as the little one curled into a comfortable position and went to sleep. Camille sat next to him and curled into her spouse.

“You’re a great father, Gordon Gresley. Despite the hiccups.” She smiled.

“I’m just glad he’s safe.” He sighed in relief.

“We’ll talk to him.” Camille said, “Maybe get that kid leash thing.”

“Camille…” he said in a small reprimanding tone, though he still secretly thought it was a grand idea.

“Do you want to go through a day like today again?” She asked.

“….” Gordon sighed, “I’ll think about it.”

She sat up and kissed his cheek, “It’s about time we went to bed too.”

“Yes.” He yawned, “I believe you’re right.”

Both engines curled up in their bed, Gordon laid down facing Camille’s side as she turned off the light. She smiled, as she did almost every night, as he pulled her against him making her the little spoon. His arm wrapped around her, hand over her belly something that had become a habit after her pregnancy.

“Goodnight dear.” She yawned.

“Goodnight, my darling.”

Was doing some research about the Gresley A1/A3 locomotives and apparently Great Northern, the first built besides our beloved prototype Gordon, was completed in April, although we don’t know what time. The Flying Scotsman is the fourth brother, between him and North was Sir Frederick Branbury, and his birthday/buildday is February 1923. So, we can say that Gordon is probably a year older than North, given the time frame, and I believe it’s considered that Gordon is roughly a year or two older than Scotsman, especially given how long a new model is made after a prototype to remove hiccups and kinks (Sorry, Gordon dear). So, I honestly think the fandom is right celebrating Gordon’s birthday in the April (4th month for our #4 express engine) as it would be a year before Great Northern was completed.

Hey Gordon! Did you ever get Camille and Flying Scotsman back for tickling you that one time?

Gordon: The fact that that’s public knowledge speaks volumes about those loose lips of yours, Scotsman.

Flying Scotsman: Eh heh… umm…

Gordon: To answer your rather personal question anon, no I have not… at least for one pesky younger brother.

Flying Scotsman: Now, c’mon little brother, we can be civil about this. I was only helping Camille.

Gordon: This is probably the stupidest time for you to call me “little brother”, little brother.

Flying Scotsman: *chuckles nervously* Gordon, please… I really was just playing around! Y’know, that thing brothers do!

Gordon: You’ve got a ten second head-start.

Flying Scotsman: OK, OK! I’m leaving!

Guys! GUYS!! I’m having a moment!! So I thought it would be cute to have Camille’s favorite childhood show be Speed Racer after thinking of this because of how competitive and into racing Gordon is and because it’s one of my favorite childhood shows.

BUT!!!

It’s a show about 3 brothers, though Spritle is a bit of an after thought and for comedic relief, who all love racing. The older brother has to leave, for reasons or another, and the younger brother becomes to world’s favorite racer. HMMMMM… and thinks that his older brother is gone for good because of a fiery event. HMMMMMMM!!!! AND though the older brother is not faster than the younger continues to be competitive with him and hides a deeper brotherly love but continues to look out for him. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Oh my gosh! My childhood crush and my current are literally the same story. Like, anon, what have you done to meeeee???

AND IF THAT DOESNT SOLIDIFY YOUR THIRST FOR THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES OR ACCIDENTS, MASTER OOGWAY…

RACER X’S CAR IS FREAKING CALLED THE SHOOTING STAR!!!

WHAT EVEN???

Camille! Are you into Cosplay? If so, what’s your favorite Cosplay? If you could, what would you have Gordon Cosplay with you?

Camille: So I really love the idea of Cosplay and I’ve seen amazing cosplays but I haven’t ever got to do it myself. The railway keeps me fairly busy and even before I came to Sodor I didn’t have time. However, if I could get Gordon to Cosplay-

Gordon: Which you will not.

Camille: -I would have him probably be… Speed Racer from the old Cartoon Network cartoon. It matches him really well.

Gordon: His name sounds a bit on the nose, don’t you think?

Camille: Or… wait! Actually, I would have him be Racer X! The live action remake was such a treat to see and Racer X is one to drool over.

For the anon who asked for art,

As I said I'm not good at drawing, but I'm good at fun little designs. I'm much better at pencil and paper when it comes to artwork. Digital and people are not my forte. So, for you anon, I have drawn up/written everyone’s signatures instead. I know it’s not what you wanted but it was a cute idea and the best I’ve got haha. Hope you enjoy. 😊

OK, kind of a big update for The Yellow Rose, but not terribly big though. After a lot of thought and consideration, I have decided to change a background pairing for the series, which I’m going to have to fix some shorts and what not, but it’s something that has just been bothering me. I really like the original pairing but at the same time, it’s just not the one that gets me going for this fic.

Anyway, I am splitting City of Truro and Scotsman up. I really, really, really like this pairing in the Young Iron series, but honestly, I can’t see my Scotsman with him. Which was kind of a hard decision because like I said, I really like the pairing and love the way their written in another series. My Scotsman though, I just can’t see him with another male. So, I created a new character just for him and I’ve decided that when I have time I’m going to write their story, but it’s probably going to be a while so don’t get your hopes up. Anyway! So, here she is (and you should notice something different about her): Jessica!

That’s right! I’ve paired him with a jet engine! There was a part of me that was really struggling into making Jess into an engine and that’s when I realized her personality and everything that I’ve created around her weren’t engine at all, but actually that of an aircraft. It also just absolute sparked something in me with Scotsman being interested in someone that wasn’t an engine. He would explore a whole other world being with someone who could soar in the sky and touch the stars. It also got this whole dynamic going between the two of them that she would quite literally make him the Flying Scotsman. She’s fiery and fun, but not in a way like Camille. She’s got an energy to her that he just is captivated by and it excites him a great deal.

There will be more about the dynamic between them, but for now, you’ll probably notice that I’m going to be going back to some of the short’s I’ve written and some of the actual main fic and changing some things up. ALSO, she’s being added to the ASK list. So, feel free to ask her anything, including insights to her and Scotsman’s relationship.

Anyway, some people might not like the change, but it’s something that I just couldn’t get over and it had to be done. 🤷‍♀️

I really do hope that everyone comes to like her, I’m so excited to start writing more about her character!

I might have made more… I might have a problem. Scotsman, Henry, Hiro, and Camille!

Sooo… as I posted previously I’ve been messing around with AI for both fun and then for also aide in writing my fic. But recently I used an AI to create my characters, and I know there’s a battle between artists and AI but I can’t draw so I wanted to use it. Anyway, so far I’ve created my Edward, James, and Gordon. So here those beauties are!

Obviously since they’re made by AI they aren’t perfect by any means. I had another image of Edward and it had a beautiful background but the AI gave him 3 arms for… reasons??? Anyway, here is pretty much close to perfect for all 3 of these characters. Also, James should be raven haired but it couldn’t do the red highlights for whatever reason so I just went with red hair and now I can’t see him the other way. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Also The AI for Gordon i literally put in “Henry Cavill” as a reference point… sooooooo…. yeah.

More to come!!

Chapter 20 is up! Prepare the tissue!!