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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 15, 2016 15:46:31 GMT
There's that saying that time flies when you're having fun. In the time that he had gotten to know Cassidy, Jeremy had come to the realization that he was sure he could spend hundreds of years with her and it would have felt like nothing more than a few days. It was weird to think that they had been together for a little over a year at this point when it seemed like he had just taken her on their first date. It was even weirder to think that their first date had also been his first blind date. He wasn't sure what had driven him to agree to go, whether it was because his boss had tried to set him up with someone or not, but ultimately he had been glad that he had.
He couldn't really remember what his expectation of her had been, though he knew that he had been pleasantly surprised to have actually met her. Given the little that he knew about the sort of women that he could only assume that Brandon Finn would have known, and given the very little that he had actually been told about her, he hadn't expected that he would have gotten so involved so quickly. If he was being honest with himself, he knew that he could be a little weird, a little quirky even, and a lot of nerdy. But Cassidy had been, too. She was beautiful, charming, adorable, and she matched his own quirkiness with her own, too.
He had fallen for her very quickly after their first few dates and so he had enjoyed the opportunity to introduce her to his family over the holidays. Staying in New York had meant, however, that he hadn't yet met her own family. Admittedly, he was a little intimidated about it, too. His own family was pretty compact and so the idea of spending time with her several brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, as well as her parents had put him a little on edge. Having decided to spend New Years in Wisconsin with them, Jeremy had spent the entire flight and subsequent cab ride to her parents' house rubbing his palms on the front of his pants, trying not to let his nerves overwhelm him.
It was more important that her family liked him than he cared to admit to her, especially as the thought had continued to occur to him that this was the woman that he could see spending his life with. He had tried to figure out if it was more the idea of meeting her parents, or the realization that he wanted to marry her that had kept the nerves at the forefront on the trip. Maybe a little bit of both, he decided. Suddenly all of the questions came flooding at him: should he ask her parents' permission? Was it too soon? Would she say yes? Should they have moved in together first? Did this mean that they were going to have to spend more time with Brandon and Amber? Was her family even going to like him? Would they approve?
He reached for her hand across the backseat of the cab, giving it a small squeeze, if only to comfort himself and stop his own mental barrage of questions. "Are you excited to be home? Nervous?"
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 16, 2016 3:28:14 GMT
Cassidy thought that it was very sweet that Jeremy seemed so nervous about meeting her entire family. But she was also excited to get home to see them, since moving to New York, she hadn't had much time to go back and visit them. While she loved her job and loved her friends, she was glad to be getting back home for a while. She'd packed her bags and included some pictures of Brody to show her mother, who had taken to Amber like a seventh child when they'd never had. Her mother had once come to New York for the weekend, Cassidy inviting her so that she could take her to see a musical on Broadway and also taken her to dinner, she'd met Jeremy and had immediately taken to him.
She also was coming home with the big news that she'd been promoted from Assistant to the Beauty Editor to Beauty Editor, though she thought that the change in jobs might have been a bit lost on everyone in her family. Still, she was relieved to not be worrying about her job security anymore and was excited to take a few days to herself to spend with Jeremy and her family before beginning work officially in her new position.
Smiling brightly at Jeremy n the cab, she shook her head at him. "I'm excited to see everyone, but not nervous. You shouldn't be nervous either," she told him. "Mom loves you, you know. She asks about you whenever she calls, she brings up her glamorous weekend in Manhattan and how charming you were," she teased. As the cab pulled up in front of her house, she looked at the cars parked in the driveway and on the street in front of the house. "Oh boy," she said. "Looks like we're the last ones to get here," she told him, slipping out of the cab and paying the driver. "Are you ready for this? We will not quiz you on names no matter what anyone says."
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 16, 2016 3:38:31 GMT
He figured that it was easier to dismiss the nerves than it was to actually force them away. And while he was glad that she wasn't nervous about introducing him to her entire family, he supposed that he was also relieved that he had already won over her mother. Jeremy still didn't want to let on to her how important it was to him that her family liked him, figuring that she might have put more weight into their opinion than he was willing to give it - though, a very large part of him knew that if they disliked him for any reason it was going to make it much harder on him in the long run. Not only because he hoped to see himself with Cassidy for quite some time, but also because he knew how much her family meant to her.
"Oh, good," he said, albiet a little more sarcastically than he had meant to. He blamed it entirely on the nerves and got out of the cab, helping her to pull their bags out of the trunk. Once they were standing there with their bags beside them and the cab pulling away, he realized that he actually felt much more nervous than he had allowed himself to before this moment. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be," he told her, giving her a sincere smile. "Your older brothers aren't the violent type, right? They generally deal well with you bringing boyfriends home?"
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 16, 2016 3:50:00 GMT
Cassidy looked up at Jeremy and frowned a bit at him, "Hey," she said gently, letting go of the handle of her bag and leaning up to kiss him quickly. "First of all, I've never really brought a boyfriend home. None of the guys I've been out with before were that serious," she told him. "And second of all, it doesn't matter - if they bug you just let me know and I'll take care of it. And third of all, I know it's going to be crowded - but just you, me, my parents, Danny and his wife are going to be here at night, so it won't be that bad. It's just...cozy when everyone is here," she explained to him even as she pushed the door open.
"We're here!" she announced loudly, though it was hardly heard over the ruckus already going inside. It took one of her nieces jumping up and shrieking her name happily for everyone to quiet down and turn to look at them. She smiled brightly at them as her nieces and nephews ran over, almost knocking her over. They then turned their attention to Jeremy.
"Who is this?"
"Is this your boyfriend?"
"What's his name?"
"Are you two going to get married?"
"Daddy says he's old."
"He doesn't look that old."
"Aunt Cassidy is old, too."
"No she's not, you're stupid."
Sighing, Cassidy put two fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, effectively quieting the entire house down. "Hey! Enough! This is Jeremy Thomas. He is my boyfriend. He is thirty four, which is not old. I am twenty-seven, which is not old. Peter, your Dad is wrong a lot. Jenny, it's not nice to call people stupid. Now if everyone quiets down, I can give you gifts."
Carol Miller laughed, walking over to hug her daughter. "I taught her that whistle," she told Jeremy before going to hug him too. "Come in, come in. I'm so glad that you're here! How was your flight? Are you both hungry? We don't really do that sit down at a table together thing with everyone, so it's more like grab a plate and find a surface to sit on," she laughed.
Cassidy's father, meanwhile, nudged her brother Danny who immediately stood up and offered to take their bags upstairs, kissing Cassidy on the forehead as he went but didn't say very much to Jeremy himself. Cassidy made a mental note to smack him upside the head later for that. Taking Jeremy's hand, she smiled at her mother, "Mom, we'll help ourselves to some food, just give him a minute to adjust."
She led him into the dining room, she placed her hand on his arm and smiled at him. "I'm going to go fix us some plates, don't you let them scare you, okay?" she told him softly before turning to everyone else. "You all be nice, or I won't make pie tomorrow," she threatened but then smiled at them.
Her father was more than happy to introduce himself, kicking out a chair for Jeremy to sit in. He went over names around the room, Christopher, Mary, Charles, Charlotte - Danny had taken their bags. There was almost a dozen grandchildren between all of them. He wouldn't be expected to remember any of the names, Jim assured him.
Christopher turned to Jeremy with a smile, "So, Jeremy, you're dating our baby sister. That's a pretty big deal," he nodded. "Have you ever been married or been to jail?"
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 17, 2016 1:52:02 GMT
Jeremy grinned as his girlfriend effectively took control of the room, impressed by the way that she not only seemed so at home here, in what was effectively her home, but also that everyone seemed to respect her so much. If it hadn't been important to him before that they liked him, it was certainly important now. He was pleased that he, at least, had Cassidy's mother on his side already. He smiled at her and hugged her back, letting her know how glad he was to see her again.
Sitting down in the chair that her father had pushed out for him, he tried to make note of all of the names that he had just learned, even if he had been assured that there wasn't going to be a quiz. When Cassidy's brother turned to him, he mentally braced himself for what he was sure was going to be the interrogation that he had been expecting. He wasn't sure that he would have expected any less of them, particularly when it was a big deal like he had mentioned. "No. Never married and never been to jail."
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 17, 2016 2:58:40 GMT
Daniel Miler returned downstairs after depositing Cassidy and Jeremy's things upstairs. "Hey Cass, I put your bags in your old room," he called out, turning to Jeremy, "You'll be in Charlie's old room - we don't let Charlie stay in it anymore even when he comes to visit because he moved to Minnesota and became a Vikings fan."
"Traitor!" Cassidy exclaimed from the kitchen, returning back with a plate to place in front of Jeremy, she kissed him on the cheek and looked at her mother warily. "Separate rooms?" she asked.
"You'll live for a weekend, Cass," Danny chimed in.
"So," Mary started, examining Jeremy closely as Cassidy left to make a plate for herself. "Never married? Not even close? You're in your mid-thirties now, aren't you?" she asked. "Never found the right girl or..."
"Hey," Christopher chimed in. "Mary, cool it. He just got here, and tons of guys I know that aren't married yet," he informed her. "Not everyone gets married young."
"You did."
"I met Sarah in junior high. And before you say that you did too, let's not forget that it's because there were a whole splendid five months between your wedding and Jenny being born." He turned to Jeremy with a grin and shook his head. "You make my sister happy if she brought you home to put you through the entire family, and Ma came back from New York practically ready to leave Pop and steal you away, so you're all right in my book - as long as you don't root for the Vikings, like our former brother Chucky over there."
Cassidy shook her head and walked back over to the table, placing her food down next to Jeremy and dropping onto his lap, if only for the lack of chairs. "Chris, I'd never bring a Vikings fan into this house." She shot a withering glance at her brother Charles but then laughed, taking a bite of her mother's macaroni and cheese. She turned to Jeremy with a bright smile.
"Aunt Cass! You said their were presents," whined one of the kids.
Cassidy laughed, rolling her eyes. "There are, but I just got in. Let me eat."
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 17, 2016 3:15:34 GMT
Being surrounded by a large family reminded Jeremy a little of watching a tennis match. There was so much back and forth between everyone, so many quick responses to things that were said, that he was entirely certain that he could sit in the background and just watch them for the entire weekend and be perfectly content with it. He was even willing to concede that he was fine with he and Cassidy being in separate rooms, just because he found the dynamic of their family so wonderfully fascinating. Having grown up with just his older brother, a brother that he barely even kept in touch with now, he loved seeing them all tease each other and stick up for each other in this way. If he ever had a family, he decided, he thought that he might have liked to have a large family like this so that they could all take care of each other.
He smiled appreciatively at Christopher, who he had already decided was probably his current favorite of all of Cassidy's siblings, and nodded. "No, definitely not a Vikings fan," he assured them.
Figuring that no harm would be caused in answering Mary's question, he turned to her, smile still placed on his lips. "No, not even close. I've never been in a relationship like this where I have ever thought it might be a possibility."
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 18, 2016 21:07:35 GMT
Cassidy's posture straightened slightly at Jeremy's comment and she felt about a dozen sets of eyes on them both. She took another bite of her food. Still she couldn't help but smile to herself, carefully trying to avoid her mother's knowing look. Instead, Christopher changed the topic to football and the family began to rag on Charles for his traitorous new allegiance thanks to his Minnesota-born wife. Still, Cassidy turned to Jeremy a moment later and placed another kiss on his cheek, unable to contain a bright smile.
Danny, however, seemed to have a lot of questions for Cassidy about her relationship with Jeremy. After about five questions that she thought were too incessant, she kicked her brother under the table and glared at him. "Can you not?"
"Danny's just protective because Cassidy is the only one that he's older than, so it's his only chance to play big brother," Christopher explained easily, taking a sip from his Green Bay Packers coffee mug.
"Cassidy," her mother said. "Why don't you take the car into town and get us some more eggs and milk, we're out and we fully expect you to make dessert tonight and I have to make breakfast tomorrow."
Cassidy nodded, reaching for the keys her father was already holding out for her. "Got it, an entire farm's worth of eggs and milk." She kissed her father on the cheek and then hugged Christopher, "Make sure everyone is nice to him while I'm gone," she pouted before winking at Jeremy and turning to the kids. "Okay, I've got enough room in the car for two very tiny helpers, who can carry eggs without breaking them?"
A few minutes later, with two of the kids in tow, Cassidy was out the door.
Danny still looked a bit skeptically at Jeremy for a moment and while everyone lapsed into easy conversation, he glanced at Mary - both of them leaning in. "So where exactly do you see this relationship with our baby sister going?" Danny asked him.
Christopher smacked Danny upside the head easily. "You don't have to answer this one, he's apparently got a few screws loose that I haven't been able to knock back into place."
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 19, 2016 1:14:29 GMT
He hadn't even realized what he had said until it was too late. It had taken Cassidy and her mother's reaction for him to realize what he had implied, but Jeremy had tried to ignore it because he knew that deep down it was just something that he meant. He did think that marriage to Cassidy was a possibility, in fact, the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that he needed to start coming up with the perfect way to ask her to marry him. Figuring that a year-long relationship had given him enough time to know that it was something he really, truly wanted, the entire thought made him almost giddy to get back to New York so that he could buy a ring and ask her.
Part of him had thought about offering to help her with her errand, but it seemed like she was perfectly content letting him continue to get to know her family while she continued to bond with her nieces and nephews. He had to smile at the way that she was with them, and with the knowledge that he was going to propose to her, the thought of how amazing she would be when it was their turn arose as well. He pushed that thought away quickly and hesitated for the briefest moment once she had left. Smiling softly at Cassidy's siblings, he figured that he might as well have been honest with them. He certainly wasn't going to get on their good side by lying, he supposed.
Clearing his throat softly, he realized that it was the first time he was going to say it out loud. "I love Cassidy a lot. And the last year with her has been absolutely amazing. I would like to ask her to marry me. I just need to find a ring first, and figure out how to ask her. That is if you're all okay with me doing so?" Considering how close Cassidy's family was, he knew that their approval was more important than the words that he used or the ring that he bought, so he only hoped that they weren't hostile about his intention to propose.
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 20, 2016 1:43:34 GMT
The room fell almost completely silent with the exception of the rest of the kids still playing, though even the older ones seemed to slow their activities and pay attention to Jeremy. Charlotte was the first one to smile broadly, clasping her hands together with excitement, without even giving an answer, she and Christopher's wife dove into a flurry of hushed whispers, practically planning the wedding already. Danny cleared his throat, "You want to marry her?" he echoed, considering this for the first time. Much of Danny's protectiveness did have to do with Cassidy being the only sibling younger than him, but at the same time, he felt a bit more secure in it knowing Jeremy's intentions. Still, he gave Jeremy the toughest look he could manage. "If you ever hurt her..."
"Down boy," Christopher chuckled, he nodded at Jeremy. "Well, like I said - you already won over Ma, and Cassidy seems to be really happy with you, so I think it's a great idea."
Cassidy's father cleared his throat, fixing Jeremy with a stern look for a moment. "So you're telling me that you want to marry my baby daughter..." he started before a wide smile broke out onto his face. "Well, I'll be damned, about time. I'll be honest with you, we were all a bit surprised and maybe even a little wary when Cassidy told us about you and how old you are - but the way she's talked about you from day one - we all knew that it would come to this. Now, who had the over under on this."
"Chucky, we all owe him five bucks," Charlotte chimed in. "Hey, where'd Ma go?"
Carol Miller had slipped from the room shortly after Jeremy had posed his question, a moment later returning with a small red ring box. She walked over to Jeremy and smiled broadly at him. "Well, I know that you and Cassidy live this very fancy and cosmopolitan life right now, and this certainly didn't come from Tiffany's and it's a bit old fashioned. But this was Cassidy's grandmother's engagement ring and none of my boys ever used it - actually, I'm not quite sure why we held onto it for this long. But if you like it, I certainly would love for my daughter to have it."
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 20, 2016 2:10:47 GMT
At the sudden silence, Jeremy could feel his palms becoming a little clammy again. He knew that it was incredibly important to have her family in full support of his intentions, and he had even expected to have to explain himself or to try and justify why, after just a year of dating, he knew that he wanted to be with Cassidy for the rest of his life. He had smiled softly as her sister and sister-in-law expressed excitement first, and when Cassidy's brother, Danny, rounded on him he braced himself for the worst. He wasn't actually sure what he would have done had he said no - had anyone said that it was a horrible idea or that they didn't support the two of them together.
"I fully expect all of you to pummel me if I ever did anything to hurt her," he said, nodding his agreement to Danny's warning. As the rest of her family slowly started expressing their approval of his intentions, he grinned at them. Turning to Cassidy's father, he gave another nod. "I'm glad that you approve," he laughed at the fact that they had apparently had a bet over this at some point and shook his head, feeling an overwhelming moment of relief as it all began to set in. He supposed that with their approval, all that was left was to actually ask Cassidy.
When Cassidy's mother come over to him and presented him with a ring box, he knew that he didn't even need to open it to know that it was going to be perfect for his girlfriend. Being able to give her something that was part of her family heritage, as well as something that was unique and unlike anyone else's, was absolutely perfect. He couldn't keep himself from hugging Carol Miller appreciatively, still grinning at her. "Thank you. This is absolutely perfect. Now I just need to find out how I'm going to ask her."
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 20, 2016 2:32:15 GMT
Charlotte cleared her throat, smiling at Jeremy. "Well, I hate to say this - but you're going to have to ask her as soon as you're one hundred percent sure because my kids," she pointed at her children who were now seemingly fascinated with the adult conversation. "They cannot keep a secret," she winced and looked at him apologetically. "But if it helps, Cassidy isn't the sort of person that needs an elaborate proposal, I don't think."
Carol laughed softly, clapping her hands together, "Plus, if you ask her soon, we can all celebrate!"
Christopher pinched the bridge of his nose. "Geez, guys, can you give the guy a minute to think about it on his own?" he laughed, turning to Jeremy. "Charlotte's right though, no matter how you ask Cassidy - it's going to be fine."
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 20, 2016 3:01:11 GMT
Considering what everyone had said about doing it sooner rather than later, he hated to admit that he had already started thinking about what could have been the best way to both provide her with a sweet and considerate proposal and to provide everyone with a reason to celebrate. He looked at Christopher, appreciative of the ally that he seemed to have formed in Cassidy's family already. "It's okay," he said, dismissing the fact that Cassidy's nieces and nephews couldn't keep a secret. "Do you think it would be okay if I asked her this weekend then?" He hesitated for a second as the pieces slowly started coming together for him. "Actually, would it be okay if I asked her tonight? It gives you plenty of time to celebrate," he teased Carol softly, "And we wouldn't have to worry about any secret keeping."
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Jan 20, 2016 3:28:18 GMT
Carol smiled at Jeremy, nodding at him and leaning down to give him another hug. "I think that would be absolutely perfect," she nodded at him and everyone else began to chatter excitedly about the upcoming proposal.
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When Cassidy returned, she was carting several gallons of milk, five dozen cartons of eggs, and even so she didn't think it would be enough - they were over twenty people including the kids and with her plans to bake for everyone and her mother's plans to make breakfast for the weekend, she was sure someone else would be running to the store before breakfast was on the table the next day. Still, she sighed gratefully when her niece opened the door for her and she walked in carefully balancing her groceries. "I'm back. Mr. Landry at the grocery store sure can talk still. Of course he called me Charlotte and Mary and once even Danny before he got my name right, but at least he knew I was a Miller," she laughed, as she made a beeline into the kitchen to put everything in the refrigerator.
She peeked out and smiled at Jeremy. "You survived!" she exclaimed before grinning and walking over to him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Did they all behave? Because if not I'll take 'em out back," she teased.
It took her a moment to realize several members of her family were staring at or trying hard not to stare at her. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Is this because I dyed my hair again while I was in New York? It was only two shades!" she paused. "Is it worse? Did someone die? Is it Nan?
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Post by Jeremy Thomas on Jan 20, 2016 13:51:54 GMT
All of the nerves that Jeremy had felt up to that point had been justified by various circumstances. On the plane his nerves had been justified by the fact that he had come to the realization that he wanted to marry to woman sitting beside him, that he wanted her family to like him, that he wanted them to support their relationship together. And while he had to admit that he had known that Cassidy had been the right person for him for a little while now, it had taken the trip to Wisconsin for him to realize that he was ready to propose to her. He supposed that it might have seemed to her like it was coming out of left field, like he maybe hadn't given it much thought considering the fact that they hadn't made any other serious commitments in their relationship, but with the support of her family, he knew that he was doing the right thing. The idea that he wouldn't propose at this point disappointed him to no end, and now that Carol Miller had gifted him with the perfect engagement ring for Cassidy - one that he knew that she was going to love - his nerves had shifted toward the impending proposal.
How exactly was a person supposed to propose when he knew that everyone in the room not only knew it was coming, but could hardly keep their excitement in check? He had no idea how people proposed at restaurants or sporting events. Maybe, he thought suddenly, he should have taken a page out of Brandon Finn's book and done it when it was just the two of them at home. But, he added, that wasn't quite the same. He and Cassidy didn't live together, they didn't have an infant son, they didn't have anything that made one of their apartments a better location than anywhere else. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he thought that proposing here - in her childhood home with all of her family present - was perfect.
It was just a matter of how to get started. With her reappearance at the house and her excited fluttering around her family, he could do nothing more than just smile at her and wait for her to run out of steam. When she started questioning them about deaths in the family, he figured there was no time like the present.
Turning to her, he continued to smile at her, feeling the weight of the ring box in his pocket already. "No deaths that I'm aware of," he assured her. Sighing slightly, he tried to brace himself for what it was that he wanted to say or what would have sounded a bit more coherent than just him rambling on about how much he loved her. "Your family has been great," he told her. "You... are great," he could have kicked himself for already having started this off terribly. "Cassidy, I was so nervous to come out here and meet everyone, not just because I wanted everyone to like me but because it was important to me that you saw that I could be part of your family, too."
Pausing briefly, he took her hands in his, "I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and your big, wonderful family." Choosing that moment to go all out, he retrieved the ring box from his pocket and got down on one knee. The nerves rose to the surface again as he popped the box open and presented her with her grandmother's ring. "Cassidy, will you marry me?"
Smiling brightly at her, he wasn't sure what compelled him to continue on. "Even though I asked you in front of your entire family and now you probably feel obligated not to say no."
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