|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 22, 2016 1:39:40 GMT
As it turned out, some time away in London had been exactly what Amber needed. A bit of time with her fiancee to enjoy together, just the two of them. Still, she'd missed their son immensely. After so many months of spending every day consistently in Brody's company, being away from him had been trying for her emotionally. She never would have thought she'd take to the idea of being a stay-at-home mother, but she loved it and would have done absolutely anything for her son.
Tucked up against Brandon for the car ride from the airport to the Penthouse, she was practically giddy upon pulling up in front of their building. She tapped out a text message to Cassidy to let them know they would be up in a minute and after pulling their bags into the elevator, she happily wound her arms around Brandon and kissed him. "I'm going to miss our alone time, but I have to say it's nice to be home," she told him.
She grinned at him, excited to see Brody as the elevator reached their floor. It was only when they opened the door and she found herself face to face with an anxious looking Cassidy that her stomach dropped. "What's wrong? Is he okay? Is he sick?"
"Don't be mad," Cassidy said. "They wouldn't leave and I wasn't sure how to make them..."
Amber's former assistant stepped aside and the blonde felt herself go from worried to infuriated as she took in the sight of her own mother with Brody on her lap. "Get the fuck away from my son."
"Hello to you, too," her father greeted from the other side of the sofa.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 22, 2016 2:08:01 GMT
It was really kind of amazing how quickly the mood in a room could completely switch. Their hotel room in London had allowed them both to be temporarily carefree, to spend more time just enjoying each other's company on the bed than anywhere else, and to allow them to regroup away from the stresses and responsibilities they felt at home. It had been great to get some time away together, but Brandon had to agree with Amber's statement of it being nice to be home. He had also found it to be more difficult than he anticipated to be away from Brody for so long and the excitement Amber seemed to feel about seeing their son was palpable in the elevator on the way back up. Seeing the look on Cassidy's face when they walked in the door had caused any residual carefree feelings, and every ounce of excitement, to drain from the room.
He tensed when he spotted Amber's parents with Brody. "How did they get in here?" he asked Cassidy, though he was entirely certain that the answer didn't matter. What did matter was that they left the way they came very quickly.
"I'm sure you'll understand," he said, directing his words at her parents. "But we've obviously just gotten back from a trip and would really appreciate some time alone with our son. Now, if you wouldn't mind seeing yourselves out," he added, nodding toward the door.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 22, 2016 2:32:34 GMT
Amber scowled at her father and immediately walked towards her mother, plucking Brody off of her lap and examining him for a moment. Brody seemed to brighten immediately upon seeing her, babbling at her. She spared their son a small smile before returning to Brandon's side. She was positively seething and decided to focus on Brody instead. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to take a moment, loving the way that Brody seemed to babble at the both of them, as if he were trying to tell them what they'd missed while they were gone. Amber found that she would have loved an explanation of how her parents had gotten into the Penthouse and why.
Her father looked at Brandon for a moment, regarding him carefully before shaking his head. "Brandon, I'm sure you'll understand that we simply want to talk to our daughter. And given the fact that she's been ignoring our attempts to -"
"Blocked numbers, actually. I had no idea you were trying to reach me," Amber spat out.
"Well," her mother interjected. "Regardless, we were hoping that we could talk."
"We had thirty years to talk and never really did," Amber replied. She was exhausted from traveling and now on edge from seeing her own parents. "You heard Brandon. Leave."
"You didn't even tell us you were engaged or when the baby was born, we had to hear it from your father's associates."
"Because the last time I was engaged, you placed a bet on how long it would last - and when I told you I was pregnant you asked me if I planned on keeping it," Amber practically yelled causing Brody to squirm and fuss and leading to her immediately feeling guilty. She looked at her son sadly, trying to comfort him. "I'm so sorry," she said to the baby softly. "Mommy didn't mean to startle you."
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 22, 2016 2:46:24 GMT
Brandon found that he wasn't even willing to humor her father for a moment, taking just a brief second to look over at Brody and Amber as he seemed to try and explain the entire situation to his mother. It would have been one of those cute family moments, he knew, had it not been for the sudden appearance of Amber's family. They had never been particular fans of either Amber nor him, and the fact that they had somehow gotten into the Penthouse and had been able to con Cassidy into letting them hold their son made him absolutely livid. All he wanted at this moment was for them to leave.
"You're trespassing," he informed them calmly. "I'm going to ask you nicely to leave one last time before I call someone to have you forcibly removed. Please see yourselves to the door." Truthfully, he wasn't entirely sure how it was going to go if he did actually end up having to call anyone to force them to leave. Not only because he was sure that it was just another thing that they would choose to hold over Amber and himself, but also because he was sure that it would have proven to be more emotionally scarring on his fiancee.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 22, 2016 3:44:59 GMT
Amber tried to focus on the baby in her arms instead of on her own parents. When they didn't make a move to leave, she sighed and gently turned to Brandon. "Take Brody," she asked him, transferring their son into his arms. She walked closer to her parents and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We have nothing to talk about," she told them. "You have no business being here. You made it abundantly clear that you didn't want to be a part of my life and I will be damned if you ever come anywhere near Brody..."
"Amber, we never meant to -"
"I'm not finished yet!" she cut back in, raising her voice so loudly that she heard the baby start to fuss more, displeased and startled at the sudden loud volume of her voice and possibly realizing his own mother was upset. "I don't care why you're here, I don't want to know. All I know is the only reason that I am a good mother to my son is because I swore to myself I would never be anything like either of you. You are not permitted anywhere near me or my family ever again. Now leave." Her parents looked at each other and Amber huffed. "I said get out!"
The two of them slowly rose from their spots and started towards the door. "We really should talk soon, Amber. Please call us," her mother said, touching Amber's arm, causing her to physically recoil.
Once her parents exited, Amber looked at her son who was still fussing and wanted to comfort him until she caught Cassidy in the corner of her eye. "How the hell did they get in here, Cassidy?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 22, 2016 16:07:35 GMT
It was a strange mix of emotions to be handed Brody in that moment. On the one hand, Brandon was pleased that his son's sudden look of confusion at the loss of his mother was replaced by a smile at the sight of him. That would have been enough to have made him forget the moment of unpleasantness they had experienced walking into the Penthouse to find Amber's parents with him. But the one thing that continued to sour the entire situation was the fact that they seemed determined not to leave without speaking to her. And that, he was a little relieved to hear, was something that she was not interested in humoring at the moment.
It was odd to him that they had chosen now of all times to decide that they wanted to be part of Brody's life, or even Amber's. He had been there when the awful things that they had said to Amber had driven her to the Penthouse where she either allowed the hurt to get the best of her for a moment, or looked to him for an opportunity to forget it. They hadn't been necessarily thrilled when she had told them about their grandson, either, and Brandon supposed that it had been that which he had considered more than enough to justify keeping them out of his family's life.
Brody fussed in his arms as he too became upset at the tone that everything in the room had just taken. Trying to comfort the baby the best that he could while Amber continued to yell and to demand that her parents leave.
Brandon relaxed slightly when they finally let themselves out of the Penthouse, but he had to admit that he wanted to hear Cassidy's excuse for what happened here in the first place.
"Amber," he warned her, hoping that whatever it was that Cassidy had to say didn't inform them that letting Amber's parents inside had been intentional. "It's over now."
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 23, 2016 3:15:59 GMT
Cassidy looked at Amber and then at Brandon anxiously for a moment. "I didn't know they were Amber's parents. They showed up at the door - I answered it and I was carrying Brody because he'd just woken up from his nap. And they said it was their grandson so I just assumed - well I assumed it would be Brandon's parents since I've never met any of them before. And by the time they said something that made me realize they were your parents, Amber, they were already inside and I didn't know how to make them leave."
"So if two homeless people found their way in off the streets and called Brody their grandchild, you might just assume they're a set of our parents?"
"Homeless people wouldn't be wearing Chanel or know his name, Amber," Cassidy pointed out, feeling a bit helpless as she took the blame for this situation.
"I want you to go now, Cassidy," Amber snapped. Her blood was still boiling at the idea that her parents had had the nerve to come to the Penthouse and then had been let anywhere near Brody.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 24, 2016 20:28:19 GMT
Even before pointing out to Cassidy that his own parents still wouldn't have been necessarily welcome house guests, particularly without the two of them at home, he found his temper rising as Amber continued to snap at her former assistant, and what he would have considered to be her best friend. Brandon wasn't happy with the way that things had gone, that wasn't something that he was trying to hide, but he didn't think that it was fair that Cassidy was taking the blame for the entire thing. The problem had really been Amber's parents, they were the ones that had taken it upon themselves to come to the Penthouse in the first place, they were the ones that apparently forced their way in and placed Cassidy in an awkward position.
"Amber, stop," he demanded of her. "She didn't know. Maybe you should place the blame on your parents instead of Cassidy. Everything is fine now. Brody is fine, they're gone, we're home - let's just move past it."
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 24, 2016 21:08:06 GMT
Cassidly looked up gratefully at Brandon, shifting awkwardly. Still, Amber's expression didn't seem to soften at all and Cassidy had a sinking feeling that Brandon defending her was only going to make everything worse. "I'm going to go anyway," she said softly "I hope you guys had fun in London, I'll talk to you later," she nodded, she took a step towards Brody, still squirming in Brandon's arms. "Bye little man, Aunt Cass will see you soon. Thanks for hanging with me," she said gently before taking a step towards the door.
Amber crossed her arms in front of her, suddenly even angrier now that Brandon seemed to defend Cassidy to her. "I'm going to go unpack," she said simply, not much wanting to talk to Brandon or Cassidy at this moment and not wanting to stop Cassidy from leaving, even though she knew Brandon was right. "Do you want to keep Mommy company?" she asked Brody, turning her attention to the baby.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 24, 2016 22:12:03 GMT
Brandon let Cassidy go, thinking that it was perhaps the best for everyone if the two women took a little time away from each other. At least so that Amber calmed down enough to realize that Cassidy wasn't the one who should necessarily be taking the blame for everything that was happening. While he could certainly see Amber's side of the argument, he hoped that they both knew Cassidy well enough at this point to know that she wouldn't have allowed Amber's parents in had she known. And quite frankly, he wasn't thrilled with the fact that Amber was so quick to take it out on her friend.
"You know it's not her fault," he told her, retaining his hold on their son for the moment if only so that he could keep Amber from storming off to their bedroom and fuming. They hadn't even been home long enough to have gotten into a fight and he certainly wasn't going to let one start now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 24, 2016 22:49:44 GMT
Amber frowned at Brandon. "She shouldn't have let anyone in, period," she retorted. "What could they possibly even want to talk about?" she asked angrily, not liking that he was trying to reason with her either. She felt as though she was perfectly within her rights to be angry and while, deep down, she knew she should take it out on Cassidy, she would make up for it later - not in the moment. She didn't want to be reasoned with.
Still, the anger in her voice seemed to startle Brody and she looked at him apologetically. "I'm so sorry," she told him. "Mommy didn't mean to sound so mad." The truth was that Amber was at a loss for what to say and how to feel. She'd been wanting to come home with her husband and spend time with her son, and instead she'd been faced with a situation she wouldn't have anticipated in a million years. The sight of her parents with their son still made her so angry, she could hardly stand it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 24, 2016 23:14:06 GMT
"Maybe that's something you should talk to them about if you're really curious," he told her. Brandon wasn't thrilled about the idea of either of them speaking to her parents about anything, especially when he was sure that they probably didn't have the most innocent intentions in just showing up at the Penthouse to see Brody. And if he was being entirely honest, that alone gave him more than enough reason to continue going on disliking them. Still, he tried to calm the unhappy baby, softly assuring him that they were done yelling now.
Carefully handing him over to Amber, he sighed. "Can we just put it behind us for the moment and just relax? It's been a long last couple of days and I'm sure we would both like to just spend some time with him at the moment."
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Jan 25, 2016 0:47:11 GMT
Amber took Brody gratefully, smiling down at her son and feeling some of her tension alleviate as the little boy babbled in gibberish at her. She glanced up at Brandon, frowning at the mention that she talk to her parents and shook her head. "No, you're right. It's over. They're not worth it," she muttered turning back to Brody. "Did you get bigger while we were gone? I think you got bigger," she smiled down at him.
The idea of speaking to her parents about whatever it is that they wanted was likely to be a bad idea no matter what. Whether or not they were being sincere or if they happened to have ulterior motives, she didn't want to hear it. She'd spent enough of her time wondering why things were the way they were between her and her parents and even more time trying to put it behind her, she wouldn't let their specific brand of poison anywhere near her son.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brandon Finn on Jan 25, 2016 0:56:51 GMT
He had to admit that he was relieved when she seemingly admitted momentary defeat and focused on their son instead. Brody seemed to be thrilled that his mother had stopped being angry and was instead focusing on him. The way that he continued to babble truly made it seem like he was trying to catch her up on everything that they had missed while they were in London and Brandon smiled at the baby as he continued to smile and giggle at his mother.
"I'm surprised he hasn't already started saying actual words to you. He certainly seems like he's trying," he commented, stepping toward Amber and kissing her softly on the cheek. "I'm going to let the poor dog out of the bedroom. Unpacking can probably wait if you'd rather have a bit of family time now?"
|
|
