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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Mar 22, 2016 1:39:22 GMT
There were very few things that Olivia had expected in her own life. The fact that she was meant to graduate from high school and go to college had been one expectation. After that, she thought that perhaps her parents had entirely disregarded what came next. That was when she had created her own expectation. She was meant to marry some wealthy man who was more than content to buy her pretty baubles and take her on extravagant vacations where she could sip mai tais on the beach and become exceptionally tan. What she hadn't been expecting was that man would have been Parker Blye, and what had been even more surprising was that his vision of their future together was much different than her own. She blamed Brody Finn entirely for that last part, with his big blue eyes and adorable demeanor. It had softened her, and it had certainly but the thought of having a family of their own into Parker's head. It had also been Brody Finn that she was blaming for the fact that she had let her guard down. All it had taken was one, perhaps two, well - more likely several - careless nights and she found herself in a position that she hadn't been expecting at all - she was pregnant.
It was a fact that she hadn't come to terms with yet. But now, crossing into her second trimester, it had become something that she couldn't ignore any longer. The first problem had been the serious lack of alcohol in her life. She didn't appreciate that she couldn't drown out boring dinner guests with the wonderfully salty taste of a dry martini. As if that hadn't been bad enough, the intermittent bouts of morning sickness had come next. Morning sickness, she noted, which seemed incapable of telling time. Thankfully it hadn't been a daily part of her routine. But most recently, and most unforgivably, had come the changes in her body. She had managed to squeeze into her wardrobe quite comfortably, or so she thought, until that evening. When she was unable to get the zipper to slide up on one of her favorite dresses, she had lost it. Which had brought her to the thing she truly started to hate about this pregnancy - the mood swings.
After she had been able to pull herself together, she put on a new dress and fixed her make up, deciding that it was better to get this event over with so that she could come home and wallow in her own self-pity over the loss of her favorite dress. Walking into the hotel ballroom, she squeezed her husband's hand and sighed. "We have to tell people tonight, don't we?"
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Mar 22, 2016 2:04:25 GMT
Parker hadn't quite expected for things to progress the way that they had. But he couldn't help but be happy about it. He'd thought that perhaps he and Olivia would spend more time enjoying life as a married couple, though he had to assume that it was their enjoyment of that very union that had led to this. He had wanted to be a father, there was no doubt about that, but he knew it was overwhelming to the both of them - especially to his wife. He had opted to attend the Halloween event with her simply to make the appearance, but as little children ran around in their costumes, he couldn't help but feel a bit excited.
"We could wait," he told her with a nod. "It's up to you. I'm ready to take out a billboard in Times Square, but if you'd prefer make the announcement in a more intimate way, that's fine," he assured her even as they were walking into the hotel ballroom and he reminded himself it would be unfair to make a beeline to the bar to get a drink as they normally did.
Amber soon-to-be Finn had been quite happy about spending a day out with her fiance and their son, especially on Halloween. Far too many photos had already been taken of Brody in his costume as he toddled around the Penthouse with Neiko and now she was happy to bring him out to a kid-friendly social event. She'd been quite happy about taking him and watching him trick or treat in an enclosed environment where she didn't have to worry about him or where the treats he got were coming from. She squeezed Brandon's hand and watched as Brody toddled around the ballroom. For a moment it seemed like he lost track of her and got nervous, until he spotted another blonde and went in her direction. "I think Brody just decided we should say hello to Liv and Parker," she told Brandon as she took a sip from her martini glass.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Mar 22, 2016 2:31:42 GMT
Liv shook her head, "No, we don't have to wait." It wasn't that she wasn't looking forward to the prospect of being a mother, she just had no idea what exactly it entailed. Her own mother had never done much "mothering" on her own, choosing instead to vacation and spend time away from her only daughter, but Liv knew already that wasn't the type of mother that she wanted to be. With a couple of women in their social circle having recently become mothers themselves, she knew that she could have taken a look much closer to home to see what sort of influence or advice she needed. Almost on cue with her train of thought, she spotted a familiar toddler making his way over to her. Smiling at the little boy that she had been blaming for her own situation, she carefully crouched down in her dress and heels to lower herself to his level.
"Hello there," she greeted him. "Where's your mummy and daddy?" she asked, knowing that she couldn't have expected anything more than the happy giggle that she received in response.
Brandon nodded his agreement, noting that their personal life seemed to be much more dictated by their young son than he would have thought would have ever been possible. But the moment that Brody had learned how to walk, he had decided that he had gotten enough of just sitting around waiting for someone to pick him up and take him to where he wanted to go. Now it seemed like they spent most of their time chasing him around to make sure that he didn't get into anything that he shouldn't have. In all of the time that he had lived in the Penthouse, he had never thought about how many things there were that were going to need to be babyproofed when Brody started acting on his own curiosity.
Now, happily greeting Olivia Blye, he had to sigh. "He's going to slow down eventually, isn't he?" he asked teasingly, following after the toddler to greet their former classmates. "I see he decided to come and say hello."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Mar 28, 2016 1:39:16 GMT
Parker smirked at Olivia, glad that she didn't want to wait. He supposed that, in some ways, he was a bit more eager for parenthood though he wasn't the one that had to endure pregnancy. He thought what they said was right though. She did have a certain kind of glow. He smiled a bit as she bent down to greet young Brody Finn in his halloween costume. He excitedly babbled at Olivia and Parker watched happily as he imagined what their life might be like when they were parents.
Amber laughed happily at Brandon, shaking her head, "I don't think so. I have a feeling it's all going to go far too fast from here on out," she admitted as she followed after her son. She had been so excited with the most recent year for his first birthday and first words and first steps and now, while he'd gone through one Halloween, the first one he could slowly toddle around and be seemingly excited for. When they arrived behind him, she greeted Parker and Olivia with a bright smile before Brody realized they were behind him. He immediately turned around with outstretched arms and she reached down for him as he babbled excitedly at them.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Mar 28, 2016 2:11:47 GMT
Olivia smiled at the baby boy once more as he reached out for his mother and chatted away with her as though trying to relay to her everything that she had missed in the short amount of time that they had been apart. She supposed that there were absolutely some things that she was looking forward to when her own son or daughter was born, things like the way that Brody continued to giggle and smile brightly at his parents. It was the little things, that she realized, that she had never considered when she thought about having children. She had naturally just focused on what she thought would have been the worst parts, the parts where the baby was crying or was sticky. At the very least, those things seemed to pale in comparison to the rest of it for the little family in front of her and so she didn't see why it couldn't have been that way for her own family as well.
Standing back up and brushing the wrinkles out of her dress, she smiled politely at Amber. "He looks adorable," she complimented.
With everything that had happened between the four of them in the past, Liv was surprised that they had finally reached a point where they were able to reach a comfortable, almost friendly relationship. Brandon and Amber had been guests at her wedding the past February, something she would never have imagined, and the other couple's young son was the first baby that she had ever held. Those milestones had allowed her to push aside her natural state of defensiveness and sarcastic remarks, driving her to genuinely want to engage with the other two. Or maybe, a small part of her argued, it was just the hormones.
"He's getting so big, too," she added with a small smile. "At this rate he'll be able to walk you down the aisle, Amber," she teased.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Mar 30, 2016 1:11:55 GMT
Amber smiled at Liv. She was still not completely used to things between the two of them being civil with each other, let alone friendly. But stranger things had happened. Brody grinned happily at her, chirping "mamamamamama" at her - a sound she would never get tired of. She kissed his forehead and nodded at the other blonde. "Thank you, and yes - though at the rate he likes to run around now, I think that maybe I'd end up chasing him down the aisle and that simply won't do," she laughed, turning to look up at Brandon. "Though we're still sorting out the aisle-walking, might be an option," she teased.
"You're both looking well, Happy Halloween," she nodded.
Parker found himself briefly fixated on the small boy in Amber's arms, wondering what his son or daughter with Liv would be like - what they might dress as on their first Halloween and what it would be like when they took their first steps and said their first words." He smiled before nodding, grabbing a drink off of a passing tray for himself. "Thank you," he nodded at them. "Quite the party. Is any of the candy Brody gets tonight something he can eat at this age?" he asked curiously.
"No," Amber replied with a laugh. "And Brandon doesn't eat carbs anymore, so it's all mine," she joked.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Mar 30, 2016 1:40:50 GMT
Liv smiled at the small family in front of her, not willing to admit how much she was finding the little boy's love for saying his mother's name to be endearing. She supposed that it was something else that she was going to have to put in the column of things about having a baby that she supposed she was looking forward to. She had to admit, that list was starting to become much longer than the things she wasn't looking forward to. As her husband grabbed himself a drink, she quickly realized that she did actually have something else to put on that list, however. "Happy Halloween," she echoed politely.
Brandon grinned at his son, having come to terms with the fact that Brody seemed much more fond of repetitively saying "mama" over anything else, despite the fact that he had taken to encouraging him to say anything else. Though he would have easily admitted that he would have preferred Brody to say any variation of the word "dad" next, he would have taken "dog" if it meant that the little boy learned a new word. When Amber mentioned their quickly approaching wedding, he smiled at her and nodded, "It seems like there's always something new popping up that we need to make a decision on at this point."
Liv nodded, remembering the sheer number of questions her own wedding planner had thrown her way as well as the way that she had reached a point where she started to snap her responses in exhaustion from having to make so many decisions. She had to admit that she was glad that they were past the wedding planning stage now, though she supposed they were going to have to make a lot of decisions about their future child soon, too. "Well in between an upcoming wedding and Halloween candy, it seems like everything is going quite well for all of you," she added.
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Post by Riley Tyler on Mar 30, 2016 1:58:43 GMT
Riley was excited that there was finally a child-friendly event so that she and Adam could get out of the apartment and spend time with people their own age without having to leave their twins. Since Morgan and Eleanor were still infants she hadn't gone through the trouble of dressing them up in full for Halloween, instead opting for little onesies and knit hats that were patterned to make them look like little pieces of candy corn. The two of them had drifted to sleep on the town car ride over, happily tucked into their car seats, but now as she carried them into the room with her husband and gently set the car seats down upon approaching Amber, Brandon and the Blyes, they were beginning to stir. "Hi everyone, happy halloween!" she greeted them before glancing around and spotting Maddy and Cooper walking in with Melanie as well. She waved them over and then smiled at Brody. "Well doesn't he look adorable?" she asked with a laugh, reaching for Adam's hand, keeping an eye on the girls stirring in their carriers.
Amber grinned at Riley and Adam, setting Brody down so that he could peer inquisitively at the two infant twins with them even as Melanie Benson sprinted at them and hugged Brandon's legs. "Hi! I'm a princess!" she exclaimed to everyone in her tiny, squeaky voice. The dynamic certainly had changed.
Cooper watched and shook his head, "I really need her to stop going straight for Brandon every time we're out," he muttered to his wife, placing her hand on the small of her back. He was ecstatic that Maddy was also expecting a baby, but knew that a bit more time had to pass before they could tell people.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Mar 30, 2016 2:29:16 GMT
Maddy grinned brightly at her husband, wishing that she was already at a point where she was able to start telling all of their friends about their own impending addition. She smiled at the way that Melanie quickly clung to Brandon and how he easily turned his attention to her and complimented her on her princess costume. As their group continued to expand with more and more kids, she had been pleased not only to see how their friends had changed but also to see how Melanie had responded so eagerly to the addition of her own future friends. She only hoped that her step-daughter was as happy to spend time with her little brother or sister as she was to see Brandon Finn.
"It's cute," she told Cooper, smiling at the little girl. "Oh my gosh, Riley dressed up the twins. You should probably prepare for baby fever for the rest of the night," she teased, turning toward him to press a quick kiss to his lips before going over to greet her best friend and her new favorite twins.
Adam had been curious about whether or not they were going to be able to figure out how to maneuver two small infant girls to a Halloween party. The last two months had been a never-ending learning experience for them both, and though he knew he wouldn't have traded any of it for the world, he wasn't sure that either he and Riley had ever been as exhausted as they were now. This went beyond the sort of exhaustion that they had experienced in law school, long nights of studying driving them to hysteria and copious amounts of caffeine. Now, he wasn't sure that there was enough caffeine in the world that would have helped. Though he had to admit, the opportunity to venture outside of the apartment had been an added benefit.
Maddy walked over to them, greeting Adam brightly before beelining over to Riley and pulling her into a tight hug. "You look amazing. And the girls look so cute." Looking down at the little girls in the carriers, she tried to fight the urge to wake them up and hold them, fussing over how cute and well behaved they were. She figured that the least she could do to help her best friend was to let the babies sleep for a few minutes longer. She did have to admit that the sight of the babies made her heart hurt a little as she knew that she still couldn't tell Riley about her own pregnancy. "How are you? How are the girls?"
Brandon smiled at Melanie Benson, complimenting her on her princess costume. He watched as Brody toddled over to peer at the twins, looking as though he was ready for them to start playing with him already. He supposed that at the very least, now that he was walking, he would have been a much better playmate for Melanie soon.
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Post by Riley Tyler on Apr 2, 2016 1:03:36 GMT
Riley grinned at Maddy, hugging her friend tightly. "I'm okay, exhausted - but Adam and I needed a night out with some grown ups. We'll probably fall asleep in the corner in about half an hour," she laughed even as she watched the babies carefully, noting as Morgan and Ellie seemed to start to stir from their naps. Morgan yawned and Ellie scrunched her nose in her sleep. She smiled fondly at the girls and decided that even as exhausted as they both were, it was worth it. She turned her attention to Brody, who was looking curiously at the girls and laughed. "What about you, how are you?" she asked her friend with a smile.
Cooper smiled fondly at his daughter before turning his attention to his friends, he looked at an exhausted looking Adam knowingly. "They're getting bigger every time I see them," he told him with a nod. "Soon they'll start sleeping through the night, I promise," he assured him with a grin.
Meanwhile, Amber watched in amusement as Melanie showed off her costume to Brandon. As the little girl spun around she laughed softly and turned to Liv and Parker. "All of these kids around - is it like mental birth control or are you two thinking of having kids soon?" she asked curiously.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Apr 2, 2016 1:21:09 GMT
Maddy grinned back at her friend, unable to keep herself from comparing Riley's current lifestyle with one that she knew that she was quickly approaching herself. The most difficult part of the entire situation to date was standing in front of her best friend knowing that she probably shouldn't tell her that she was going to have another friend for Morgan and Ellie to play with some day soon. She glanced back over at Cooper briefly to try and get some sort of insight into how upset he would have been if she would have decided to just go for it and tell Riley anyway, but she sighed when she realized that on the off chance that something was to happen to the baby, she would have much rather dealt with it personally versus dealing with it publicly.
Smiling down at the infant baby girls, she nodded and looked back up at her friend. "I'm good. I'm really good," she smiled.
Adam nodded, "I'm counting down the days," he admitted. Though every time one of the girls smiled at her or Riley, or every time they did something new, he knew that he would have found a way to deal with the exhaustion long-term if it meant that he could keep having these moments with his daughters. After everything that he and Riley had gone through to get to this point, he would have done whatever he could to enjoy these moments for as long as possible. "I have to admit, as much as I love this stage that they're in, I'm looking forward to when they're Melanie's age too. It must be nice to be past all of this baby stuff by now, I'm sure."
Liv glanced up at her husband briefly before giving Amber a small smile. Now was as good a time as any, she supposed. "Well, actually, we ..." she hesitated, not knowing exactly how to share the news. This was unlike any other sort of bragging that she had done before, this wasn't something that she was looking forward to rubbing in, it was just something that she supposed was going to come out eventually anyway. "We're expecting."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Apr 2, 2016 1:55:20 GMT
Cooper smiled Adam, shaking his head. "It's all good, you'll miss it when they start running around and you can hardly keep up with them. And when they get older, I'm sure you'll miss when they couldn't go anywhere out of your line of sight without holding your hand," he teased, smiling at Melanie and then Maddy thoughtfully. However, he was slightly distracted when he overheard Olivia Blye announce that she was expecting. He looked at Madison then, to gauge her reaction as the other reacted to the news.
Amber clapped her hands together excitedly at Liv's news. "You are? That's fantastic congratulations," she told Liv excitedly. She remembered the first time she'd ever asked the other blonde to hold Brody and how amusing it had been, but she honestly did feel like having a child had been one of the greatest things she'd ever done - even if she'd felt ill-prepared before Brody had actually arrived. She thought, perhaps, it would have a similar effect on Olivia and Parker. "Are you two excited?"
Parker grinned as the others began to react to the news, he glanced down though - Melanie seemed to look excited but confused, Brody was already distracted by something else, and the twins were beginning to stir and look around, trying to take in their surroundings. And he thought, looking at the four of them, that he was actually genuinely excited. "We are," he told Amber with a nod.
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Post by Madison Benson on Apr 2, 2016 2:23:30 GMT
Adam gave a little shrug, smiling at the realization of how true he was finding everything Cooper was saying. "Something tells me that when they get older I might feel the need to go into overprotective dad mode." He looked over at Melanie and wondered for a moment what the twins were going to be like when they were older, not just a few years older, but even a decade older, or two decades older. Even now, knowing that he would do anything for them, he knew that it was going to make their teenage years particularly difficult.
Maddy tried to remain fixated on her best friend even as she heard that Olivia and Parker were pregnant as well, but she couldn't help but suddenly wish that she had a drink in her hand, or at the very least that she been able to share her own news as well. It didn't seem fair that Olivia got to beat her to the punch on this. Instead of expressing the frustration that she felt, she forced a small smile, trying to be genuinely excited for the other couple.
Liv couldn't fight the smile that made its way to her lips as Amber expressed what she wanted to call genuine excitement over the fact that they would soon be adding to the ever-expanding circle of children born to their former classmates. "We are, yes," she nodded.
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