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Post by Brandon Finn on Dec 16, 2015 1:13:35 GMT
When Brandon's father had run Finn Industries he had participated in small events around the city as a way of showing appreciation or camaraderie with a variety of the vendors and partners that they worked with, and upon taking over, Brandon hadn't seen any reason to discontinue the practice. If nothing else, it provided a good opportunity for networking, something that he had quickly learned was an important part of his role. He did have to admit, however, that these events tended to be a little less drama filled, and much shorter, than the society events that he and Amber had regularly frequented. And as such it made it that much easier for them to forgo leaving Brody with a babysitter, deciding instead to bring him with them. At the very least, it made for a reasonable escape plan just in case it became too boring.
"I say it every time, but you look beautiful," he complimented, smiling at his girlfriend and their young son.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 16, 2015 1:26:39 GMT
Amber smiled at Brandon. She had been so reluctant to leave Brody with a babysitter that night, especially since Cassidy had been busy and couldn't have done it. The blonde was just so selective about who she left Brody in the care of and for how long. Events like these were simple enough that she didn't mind. Plus, she'd received so many items of clothing for the baby that it seemed silly to dress him in them only for her to play with him at the Penthouse waiting for Brandon to come home from work. She laughed softly at his compliment, "Well, you look incredibly handsome, yourself," she nodded. "Both my boys do," she added, pressing a kiss to the top of Brody's head as she held him. The stroller was nearby for later when the baby inevitably dozed off and could be set down. But at the moment their son was very awake and very curious about what was going on around him.
She looked around the room just in time to see Parker Blye walk in with his fiancee on his arm. She reminded herself that Parker and Brandon occasionally did business together and didn't necessarily dislike each other to the extend they all had when they were teenagers. If Amber were being honest with herself, she knew that she didn't even dislike Liv as much as she once had. Sure, Brandon's history with Olivia Warren had once been a difficult pill for Amber to swallow. But now Liv was engaged to Parker and Amber and Brandon were - well, they weren't engaged but they were raising a child together - a fact Amber told herself she was okay with over and over in her own head like a mantra.
Seeing as everyone else in the surrounding area was only a casual acquaintance, she wondered if it was time to bury the hatchet with Olivia. After all, having Brody had put a new perspective on things and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to hold onto any grudges or anything that might risk dredging up drama of years past.
Parker greeted a few business associates as he entered the event with Liv on his arm. He smiled down at her before glancing around and finding that, unfortunately, the crowd at this particular function was more boring that he had been dreading on the car ride over. But he knew he had to do it for the sake of networking and keeping up appearances. His eyes landed on Brandon Finn and Amber Jacobs as well as their baby. For a moment, he smiled. Despite their differences, he had to admit that as he grew older the idea of one day having children was something he liked the thought of more and more. "Shall we get a drink and say hello to a few people?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Dec 16, 2015 2:06:37 GMT
Olivia smiled at him and nodded, "That sounds lovely." While she knew that she was never going to particularly enjoy making small talk with a bunch of boring businesspeople, she had been doing it for long enough now that it had just become routine. Though, she knew that a drink was going to be exactly what she needed to make it through today, but she brightened a little at the sight of familiar faces in the crowd. As much as she hated to admit it, over time she was coming to find that people they had gone to high school with repulsed her less than they originally had, or at the very least she disliked them a lot less now. "We should probably go say hello to Brandon and Amber at some point," she mentioned offhandedly, refusing to admit that there was a good chance that those two were going to be her saving grace at this event.
Continuing to smile contentedly, Brandon reached out to touch Brody's small hand as he continued to cling to his mother. It still amazed him that this tiny little person with tiny little fingers and toes was someday going to grow up. The only thing that he had more trouble believing at times was that he and Amber created this amazing little person. Realizing how much his thoughts had been reduced into proud new dad mode, he shook his head softly and brushed a quick kiss across Amber's lips.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 16, 2015 2:20:56 GMT
Parker grinned at Liv. "How about we grab a drink and go say hi, I could stand to talk shop with Brandon about something anyway," he agreed, leading his fiancee to get a drink and then over to the other couple. His hand on the small of Liv's back, he nodded at Brandon in polite greeting. "Finn, Amber," he nodded. "And either this is Brody, or Amber has picked up a younger, more handsome man," he quipped and then nodded. "Congratulations, by the way, I don't think I've had the chance to tell you that in person."
Amber smiled softly at the British couple as they approached, she blinked at Parker for a moment but then smiled, proudly. "Yes, this is Brody." Brody gurgled and she grinned brightly, "He says hello," she added with a soft laugh. "Thank you. How's the wedding planning going?" she asked. While it still sort of gnawed at Amber that Liv had gotten engaged first, she was still trying to be okay with the timeline of things, focusing on the fact that she now had Brody - who made her so immensely happy.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Dec 16, 2015 2:44:05 GMT
"Blye, Olivia," Brandon returned the greeting, smiling politely at the other couple. Their presence served as a subtle reminder that he still hadn't proposed to Amber, though in the aftermath of his conversation with Cassidy he was feeling much more confident about his plans and was actually starting to become excited about the chance to start putting everything together. "Thank you. He did get his mother's good looks," he teased. Though the honest truth was that every day he thought he started to catch a glimpse of both him and Amber in each of Brody's physical and personality traits.
Despite her feelings having changed in general toward the couple in front of her, Liv still found it to be odd to be politely and casually discussing each others lives like this. And she didn't didn't like to admit it, but the new arrival of a small child in their social circle did nothing to make her feel at ease with any of it at all. She had never spent much time around children, and the few that she had were related, horrible, spoiled brats. Though, as the baby took in his surroundings, bright blue eyes peered in her direction and she found herself admitting that he was perhaps a little adorable. Though, she had to remind herself that it wasn't like his parents were unattractive people. Besides, she was sure that the moment he decided to start crying and making a fuss she was going to be reminded exactly why she had never especially pictured herself with children.
At the mention of wedding planning, she instinctively glanced down at her left hand for a moment. She never thought that was going to become particularly familiar feeling, and the idea of becoming Parker's wife still hadn't sunk in. They had played their cat-and-mouse game for so long that she had assumed that they would have just carried on that way, but as they continued to grow and become different people, she was realizing that she didn't mind setting the games aside and just enjoying being with him. It was very strange, admittedly. "To be entirely honest, I've completely delegated it to a wedding planner," she confessed. "Though, don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely having my say in things, I just felt like it was an awful lot of paperwork and complicated phone calls for one day."
Realizing that she was on the verge of rambling about her own wedding when the pair in front of her had yet to get engaged, some sense of long-forgotten tact sunk back in and she changed course. "How has parenthood been treating you?"
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 16, 2015 2:58:38 GMT
Parker grinned as Liv talked about the wedding, but then he noticed an older gentleman that he knew from events just like these. Noting the man flagging either him or Brandon down, he sighed and downed his drink. He clasped Brandon on the shoulder. "That's either me or you, but if it's me - you're going over there with me. Because that bloke is bloody the most ridiculous human being I've ever met." He chuckled before leaning over and kissing Liv on the cheek. "Ladies, we need to go play nice with some horrible people. Feel free to call us back over in a few minutes when you think I look as though I'm about to die of boredom."
Amber laughed softly and watched both men walk away to network before smiling at Liv. "That's good though, event planners are great. I use them for work all the time, or I'd never have time to actually do my job," she nodded. "Parenthood is...actually pretty fantastic," she admitted. She smiled down at Brody. "Something about being a parent just puts things in perspective." She grinned even as Brody began to fidget a bit more in her arms. She glanced down at the bag near her feet. "I want to grab him his pacifier, it's in the bag. Do you mind holding him while I fish it out?" she asked, barely giving Liv time to respond, she handed Liv Brody and bent down to search through the bag for it.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Dec 16, 2015 3:13:14 GMT
Liv smiled at her fiance, wishing him luck in his endeavors as he and Brandon excused themselves. Admittedly, she couldn't remember the last time that she and Amber had been alone together like this. She also couldn't remember the last time that they have been civil with each other. Considering their history, she supposed that it was a major sign of them having grown up that they were able to move past it all now. Part of her regretted the way that things had shaken out between them, between Liv's acceptance to play a role in Brandon's attempts to make Amber jealous, the physical relationship that they had engaged in while the blonde had been in California, and all of the snide remarks that had been made in between. She hadn't been a very nice person, she had always been aware of that, but she had justified it as a need to keep herself amused in such boring company. Adulthood, and rather adulthood with another person, put into perspective that maybe she hadn't actually been surrounded by boring company at all, just company that had matured a lot faster than she had.
She had barely had time to try and formulate a polite response to her explanation of parenthood before she found the poor baby being thrust into her arms. Uncertain of what she was supposed to do or how to hold him, she held him slightly away from her body, looking at him a bit skeptically. From what she knew about babies they were prone to spit up and a small voice in the back of her head reminded her that this was a very expensive dress. And shoes. Still, the baby looked up at her with his bright blue eyes and gave a soft giggle. Having no other way to describe it, she felt herself caving to him a little, deciding that he was perhaps the least unenjoyable Finn of the group. "Hello, baby," she said to him in her normal speaking voice, not sure if she was always supposed to use a baby voice when speaking to an infant.
Brandon used a pause in conversation with a business associate to look over at his girlfriend to check on how she was doing with Brody in this situation. It was one of their first outings like this with him and he couldn't help but feel as though he needed to double-check to ensure she didn't need his assistance. He was both surprised and amused to see Olivia holding Brody, looking as terrified as he might have expected her to look. "She's not - Should I be worried that she's holding my son?" he questioned the woman's fiance.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 16, 2015 3:30:24 GMT
Amber looked up at Liv, having retrieved the pacifier. She couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. "Olivia? What are you doing? That's...hold him a bit closer and support his head," she told her gently. "Like a football," she said before she realized that that was probably how Liv would in fact hold a football. "Like this," she demonstrated, holding her arms in a specific way to show Olivia the better way to hold the baby, one that would be more comfortable to Liv and Brody alike. She had to admit, she could have taken Brody right back, but there was something amusing and even a bit endearing about this sight. When Brody just giggled up at Liv again and his tiny hand reached up and touched Liv's face gently, as though he were trying to ascertain who this different person was through touch, she grinned. "He's not going to hurt you - and you won't hurt him," Amber assured her.
Parker glanced up and followed Brandon's gaze. He laughed under his breath and shook his head. "She's fine, Amber doesn't seem in any rush to take him back just yet." His gaze stayed fixed on the sight of Liv holding Brody Finn though and he smirked a bit. "Besides, it's good practice for - sometime down the line, isn't it?" he pointed out before nodding and taking a sip of his drink.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Dec 16, 2015 4:04:14 GMT
Liv shifted uncomfortably, softly clearing her throat as though the act of attempting to properly hold a baby was causing her to become physically ill. And she supposed that she could have made some sort of excuse that it had, but once she had him held correctly, and once the baby reached out to touch her, she could feel it happening again. That subtle feeling of complete contentedness. Smiling at the baby in her arms for a moment, she looked back up at Amber. "He really is quite a good baby, isn't he?" All of the horror stories that she had heard, and the sheer nuisance that her extended family had always displayed with their own offspring, she just naturally assumed that it was genetically programmed into children to be as loud, obnoxious, and messy as humanly possible. But the one that she now held in her arms was doing a decent job at proving that not all babies had to do any of those things. "He does really look like you," she added, not sure what else people were supposed to say about the children of their acquaintances or friends as it may be.
Brandon supposed that the other man had a point if Brody were in danger of being dropped by the blonde British woman, he knew that Amber would be quick to keep that from happening. Though, as he watched them for another moment, he was thinking that they were probably closer to being in danger of Olivia trying to keep Brody for her own. She seemed to be coming around to him awfully quickly. He looked back at Parker at his question and nodded. Having never really given thought to the newly engaged couple having a traditional life together he had never pictured them getting married or having children though he also had to admit that he had never considered them much of friends either. This was perhaps the most comfortable they had ever been with each other though he couldn't say that it was all bad. "It is," he said.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 16, 2015 4:12:22 GMT
Amber beamed proudly as Liv held Brody. If someone had told her even a few months ago that this would be the situation she'd found herself in, she would have laughed in their faces. But she'd meant it when she said having a baby changed perspectives. "Don't be fooled, he's still got me up at all hours of the night and can be a bit fussy in new situations, but he's pretty good," she nodded. "So good I don't know where he gets that from." When the other woman remarked that the baby looked like her, she chuckled and shook her head. "Really? I look at him and all I see is Brandon." She watched Brody for a moment and smiled contently before turning over her shoulder and flashing a bright smile at Brandon. She took a sip from her glass of water and then looked at Liv. "He likes you," she observed as Brody remained pretty still for Liv, still curious about who this new woman holding him was.
Parker turned to Brandon and nodded, dropping his voice. "If you'd like though, we can head back over there. Baby situation might be the perfect excuse to get away from this conversation. I'm pretty sure I was just called a racial slur meant for the Irish," he nodded, chuckling.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Dec 16, 2015 4:30:40 GMT
Hearing Amber's description of her nearly perfect baby's sleeping habits and fussiness, Liv decided that she still wasn't quite ready for the commitment of being a parent. Someday, maybe, she supposed. Though for right now, she was perfectly happy with her life the way that it was. Looking down at the baby again, she tried to see him from Amber's perspective and see if she could identify traces of Brandon in his appearance. She tried not to think of it as though she was attempting to connect this child with a man that she had once shared a close physical relationship, but she still had to admit that there was a little trace of weirdness in it all. Having long since been over that part of her life, she did realize that she was truly happy for her former classmates and the life that they had created together with this rather lovely child. "Perhaps in the eyes," she commented. "Though either way you can be certain that you'll have young ladies chasing him around." The baby made a soft little sighing noise and she turned to him quickly, making sure she hadn't done anything to harm him. Instead, she found that he was still gazing up at her, now reaching for her hair to play with. "Well, he has good taste," she told Amber with a smile.
Brandon caught Amber's smile and nodded at Parker's suggestion. "I get the feeling that excuse is going to become quite handy over the next several years." Making their excuses and arguing that as a new father he just didn't feel right leaving his son and girlfriend alone for too long, he was able to disengage himself and Parker from the conversation, heading back to their respective significant others.
Shaking his head at the sight of Brody so contently resting in Olivia's arms, he placed a hand on the small of Amber's back and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I never thought I would see the day where Olivia Warren held our son, did you?" he teased.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 16, 2015 4:45:54 GMT
Amber smiled up happily at Brandon, she laughed at him, shaking her head. "No, but I've been wrong before - though I rarely admit it. Anyway, to be honest, my arms were tired," she joked. Before turning to Brandon, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him quickly. "Olivia says that Brody looks like me," she told him, still having frequently insisted at home that she didn't see it and only saw bits of Brandon in their son.
Parker stood beside Olivia for a long moment, taking in the sight of her holding the infant in her arms. "Well, now," he said slowly. "That is quite the appealing sight," he admitted, smiling down at her. He looked down at the baby who seemed to coo up at Liv again. "Oi, c'mon now, little bloke. She's taken," he grinned before looking at his fiancee. "I think he's quite smitten with you, luv."
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Dec 16, 2015 13:41:42 GMT
Brandon supposed that if he really thought about it that coming to some sort of mutual agreement to be friendly with everyone had just been a matter of time. Old grudges had made it difficult to move past his problems with Adam Tyler for a long time, despite the fact that he had been well aware of the unlikeliness of anything ever happening that would have given him cause for concern. It was just that the other man's presence had reminded him of incidents he would have much rather forgotten. Though, as he tried to see things from a different perspective, he realized that neither of them were the same people they had been in high school, and neither of them were likely to play into games designed to make another person jealous. He supposed that it had particularly helped when his friendship with Riley had taken shape, allowing him to see past his assumptions of who her now-husband had been for so long.
Olivia Warren and Parker Blye fit into that too, he figured. For so long he had just come to assume that Olivia's ultimate end goal was to have everyone play into her hand. She had seduced, betrayed, and manipulated so many people since high school that he had been fairly certain that those traits were just cemented into her personality. And if there was anything to be said about their social circle, it was that they couldn't let go: not of the past, of who they thought they were supposed to be, or of each other. So the polite business relationship he had maintained with Parker over the last several years had done nothing but again remind him that not everything always stayed the same.
He had quickly come to see that even the two people in front of him were much different now, much different together, than they had been a long time ago. It was almost normal, he had to admit. It was almost even comfortable.
"He does," Brandon told his girlfriend with a smile. "But he looks like me too. I think he's a good mix."
"I actually just told Amber that you're going to have to have to lock your doors to keep away all of the girls from trying to chat up your son," Olivia quipped before turning to Parker. "And you, don't get any ideas. This is quite enough for now." Suddenly with all of the attention on the baby in her arms, and the remarks about her holding him, she felt like she needed to hand him back over to his mother. It was much too strange, she conceded. Though the tricky part came with figuring out how exactly to hand him back without dropping him - it had been a learning experience to figure out how to hold him in the first place - so she decided that maybe just for a minute more she would hold him.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 17, 2015 1:43:03 GMT
Amber smiled at Brandon, leaning up to kiss him before she heard Olivia compliment Brody again. "Yes, well, if he's anything like his father, we're going to have to lock him up to keep him from chasing after girls, too - or else he'll land himself into some trouble," she teased, eying her boyfriend and nudging him gently. "If your arms are getting tired, let me know," she told Liv gently, knowing that to a degree, the British woman was probably still not acclimated to dealing with an infant. She didn't blame her, she'd felt almost the exact same uncertainty when she'd first held a friend's baby in California. She liked to believe that things had changed for her when Brody had come along and believed that they would for Liv, too, if she and Parker decided to have children one day.
She knew that, over the years, she and Liv were more likely to be at each other's throats than anyone else. But it seemed Brody also served as the great peacekeeper that their lives were missing. Grudges seemed silly when bigger things came along and put them in new light.
Parker grinned a bit at Liv and shook his head, "I have no ideas," he lied to her. "I'm not rushing anything. I'm just saying - it's a very new and not at all unpleasant sight." He finished his drink and turned his attention to the couple in front of him. "Ten years ago if someone would have told me this were going to be how the four of us were spending our Saturday, I might have taken them to get serious medical attention," he admitted honestly. "Funny how things change."
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Dec 17, 2015 2:32:41 GMT
Though he knew that Amber was only teasing, Brandon did have to admit that there was perhaps a little bit of worry behind her statement, at least on his end. If Brody did end up taking after him in that particularly manner, he wasn't sure if it was pride or guilt that he was going to feel. And having found himself standing with two women that he had history with, he was beginning to think that were certainly positives and negatives to his son inheriting that set of personality traits. The good thing, he reassured himself, was that they still had plenty of time to shape him into becoming the sort of adult that they hoped he would become.
Nodding at Parker's statement, he had to admit that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant situation.
Liv looked up from the baby for a second, if only to give Parker a skeptical look as he tried to brush away the idea that he had already started thinking about what their family would have been like some day. When he had first proposed, she had to admit that family was the last thing on her mind. The idea of marriage sounded like a perfectly valid next step in her relationship and she hadn't thought past the perception that marriage would just be an extention of their current relationship. She had spent much of her life growing up with Parker, and while they had spent considerable time apart and he had nearly married someone else, when they had finally found their way back to each other she had started to assume that it was going to be it for her. What came after the vows, well, that had just never factored in to any of her plans. She would have been perfectly content just dating the man to her side for the rest of her life, but it truly seemed like he was all in. He seemed to want all of this, the big wedding, the children, everything - and she was still getting used to that idea.
The more she thought about it the more she realized that she was a little more freaked out by the idea than she had initially thought. Giving another smile to the baby in her arms, she figured that now was a perfectly good time to hand him back to his mother. "You don't mind?" she asked Amber before carefully shifting the baby's weight to pass him back over.
She had to admit that it felt like a weight had been lifted, not only from her arms but from her shoulders too. With her hands now free, she wrapped an arm around Parker and pulled herself close to him, appreciating the comfort that he seemed to provide even when she was the one who had caused her own discomfort. "Funny, indeed," she echoed.
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