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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 6, 2015 18:56:11 GMT
Cooper had been thinking a lot since coming back from his weekend away in the Hamptons. Ever since becoming a single father, his priorities had always been on his daughter. He'd ignored the prospect of dating entirely because he thought that it might confuse his daughter to a certain degree or even hurt her and he couldn't stand that idea. But there was something about Madison Walker that he liked - her kindness, her intelligence, and her genuine personality were only a few of the things that he admired about her. On their weekend away, Melanie had taken a real shine to Maddy, which eased Cooper's mind quite a bit. He knew it probably wasn't fair to most other women, but his four year old daughter's approval was worth Melanie's weight in gold.
On his way to pick Melanie up from pre-school, he called Maddy and asked if she had time to meet him for coffee in the part later in the day and when she'd agreed, he felt a sense of nervousness he hadn't necessarily felt before in his life.
"Daddy, watch this!" Melanie shouted before she went down the slide with a bright smile on her face. He watched Melanie play on the playground for a few moments, ordering two coffees from the coffee cart nearby and waiting for Madison to join him.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 6, 2015 19:26:33 GMT
Maddy had justified that there had never been a good time to talk to Cooper about all of the scenarios she had mentioned to Amber and Riley on their pre-Hamptons shopping trip. Every time she started thinking about it again, she reasoned that it wasn't a good time to chat, that there was no point in bringing up something that had the potential of being uncomfortable when they were having a perfectly good date, or weekend. And so she had put it on the back burner, willing herself to just try and be more focused on what was happening now, how much she enjoyed things the way they were, without having to worry about whether or not any of this made sense in the long run.
When he had invited her to grab coffee in the park, she had momentarily thought about bringing up some of her concerns with him, but she tried to reason that this also wasn't the best time. All things considered, she was sure that she was more than happy to keep putting it off until he decided that it was a concern for him. She smiled as she approached where he was watching Melanie play. "Hi," she greeted him.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 6, 2015 19:55:43 GMT
Cooper turned and greeted Madison with a grin. "Hey," he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips before offering a cup of coffee and gesturing to a park bench. Once the two of them were seated, he cast a quick glance to check on Melanie and then relaxed a bit. "She's getting too big," he acknowledged. "She asks a lot of questions about Brandon Finn and draws him pictures a lot, I think I'm going to have to build a tower and lock her in there until she's thirty," he laughed.
"How was work today?" he asked her.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 6, 2015 20:18:30 GMT
She accepted the coffee gratefully, feeling comfort in the warmth of the cup. It always seemed like the moment summer officially ended that she felt the need for fall to arrive that much faster, and this year the weather seemed to be sending a slightly cooler front in response. She sat down on the bench and took a sip of her coffee, looking over at Melanie. She smiled at Cooper and nodded, "There are probably worst first crushes to have," she admitted, knowing that Melanie probably wasn't the first girl to have a crush on Brandon Finn, at least that's what she would have assumed looking at their classmates growing up. "But I hear the teenage years are generally pretty bad - so a tower might be helpful then, for sure." She nodded, smiling at her own little joke.
"Work was good - it's always hard coming back from a long weekend though. How's your day been?"
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 6, 2015 20:54:37 GMT
Cooper chuckled, dreading the idea of the little girl running around the playground ever becoming a teenager. "Today was all right, the nanny's sick, so I took off early to pick up Melanie from school, spent the afternoon with her." He ran his hand through his hair before looking at her. "I was thinking, I had a really good time this past weekend and a big part of that is that you were there," he nodded, taking a sip of coffee. "And I sort of wanted to talk to you about that," he started. "And a lot of things, really." He took a breath and glanced at her, offering her a small smile. "I...do you like me?" he asked with a sheepish chuckle. "Because I really like you."
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 6, 2015 21:14:50 GMT
She felt her heartbeat pick up for a moment when he mentioned that he wanted to talk to her, but she laughed at his question. "Of course I do," she admitted. Had he not followed the question up with his own statement of his feelings for her, she might have been afraid that he was trying to break up with her, and in that moment the fear that he was going to really showed her that she needed to stop putting off talking to him about her concerns. Maybe, she reasoned, that's what he was actually going to talk to her about. "Why? Is everything okay?"
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 6, 2015 21:32:06 GMT
Cooper looked at her and smiled, reaching for her hand. "I haven't dated anyone since Melanie's mother left," he acknowledged. "I didn't think it was right unless it was with someone I could see myself being serious with. And I really like you, Maddy. But I thought it was only fair to you to talk to you and make sure you were okay with everything that comes along with dating me. I've got Melanie. And I'm in no way looking for someone to replace my ex-wife for her, but I only want to get seriously involved with someone who's okay with the fact that she's part of the package deal. And I know it's not fair to just assume that someone is okay with it," he squeezed her hand. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm not looking to play the field. I have always been the kind of man that knows what he wants and goes for it and I don't waste much time either, I just wanted to talk to you about that because if you think that maybe all of the baggage I come with is too much - then I wanted us to be able to talk about it."
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 6, 2015 21:58:39 GMT
Maddy looked at him, trying to take in everything that he was saying. She looked down, biting at her lower lip while she thought about the scenarios that she had already recited to her friends, and while they seemed to align with his own concerns, there was an uncertainty that she was feeling. It wasn't that she disliked Melanie in any way, in fact, she had come to care for her very much over the time that they had spent together. It was just that she wasn't sure that she had ever thought about being somebody's step-mother - if they ever got to that point. She wasn't actually sure what her future would look like if she kept following this particular path and as much as she hated to think about it, she kept coming back to the idea of how awful everyone thought their step-mothers were in all of the fairy tales she grew up reading. She didn't want to be like that, and she didn't want to try and fill anyone else's shoes in either Melanie or Cooper's lives. "I just - I want you to be sure that I'm the right person for your life," she admitted. "I'm not sure if I even know how to do any of this and so I understand if you think that it's just not a good fit."
She sighed softly and tried to just spit out what she was feeling, what she had been trying to say for a while now, "I really like you too, but I know that you have other priorities and other things come first for you. And I'm okay with that, I really am - everyone has some sort of baggage. I just want to make sure that you think that I'm the right person to be in your life, and in Melanie's."
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 6, 2015 22:16:04 GMT
Cooper smiled at her. "I'll tell you what I know for sure," he started. "I know that you're smart, kind, funny, sweet, and beautiful. I know that I care about you a lot. I know you're someone I want in my life and in Melanie's and if that's something you think you could want to, then yes - I want you there. I want us to keep dating, I want Melanie to spend time with you because I already know that she likes you. But I also want you to know if it ever feels like too much for you, all you have to do is tell me," he nodded. He took a sip of coffee and smiled at her, "I guess what I'm trying to say, is - yes, I think you're the right person. Which is why in the two years I've been raising Melanie on my own - you were the only woman I ever wanted to ask out on a date."
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 6, 2015 23:05:53 GMT
She couldn't help but continue to smile at him. Madison knew that as long as he wanted her in his life, she was willing to be there. But he did continue to bring up a good point, it was a lot to take on all of a sudden. In her previous relationships, it had been simple. If the relationship ended they simply parted ways and worked on fixing whatever wounds they had from the breakup. She hadn't had to worry about anyone else's feelings getting hurt along the way, but the inclusion of a four-year-old in their little relationship changed things, and she wasn't sure what the plan was for that. "I'm so glad you feel that way, but I have to ask," she confessed. "What if things end up not working out? Not to say that they won't," she added quickly, hoping that it truly wasn't the case. "I mean, I don't want to make things more difficult on anyone. And I know that it's a big deal to date someone again after everything that you've gone through, but what if something happens and things just don't work out?"
She really hoped that wasn't the case, at least she realized she was hoping that it would work out more than she had originally thought she would.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 7, 2015 0:41:40 GMT
Cooper leaned back against the bench, glancing to check on Melanie once more before turning to face Madison. "If things aren't working out anywhere down the line, the only thing I can hope is that you'll come and talk to me about it, even if we weren't dating, Maddy - I like you a lot. I'm too old for dramatic break-ups and I wouldn't put Melanie through that - or someone that I care about. If things don't work out, we'll talk, we'll figure it out - amicably, I hope." He looked at her and shrugged a shoulder up, "I've never really done anything like this before, so I think maybe you and I can figure some parts of it together as we go along. And I'd like to think we're both smart people, we can figure it out," he smiled at her.
Melanie chose that moment to run up to them, breathless and laughing from whatever she and the other kids had been up to on the playground. "Hi!" she greeted Maddy brightly.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 7, 2015 0:52:11 GMT
Maddy nodded, realizing now how much she appreciated his honesty and his willingness to talk through whatever issues they might encounter down the road. It was odd considering the fact that this was the first time that she found herself in a truly adult relationship, and she was so relieved to have him on the same page. Besides, she was sure that she needed to infuse more spontaneity in her life and so handling things as they came about could be interesting, it could be nice to try and not plan everything out for once. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea," she agreed with him.
"Hi!" She greeted the little girl in response. "You look like you're having fun."
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 7, 2015 1:03:34 GMT
Melanie smiled brightly at Madison, nodding her head. "Daddy, can Maddy come watch Pocahontas with us?" she asked eagerly before turning to the brunette woman with bright eyes. "There's a raccoon! He steals crackers!" she exclaimed, moving her hands animatedly.
Cooper laughed softly, pulling his daughter into his arms and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Well, Madison is more than welcome to come join us for dinner and a movie tonight if she'd like to," he nodded.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 7, 2015 1:21:53 GMT
Maddy laughed and nodded, "I would love to watch Pocahontas with you, the raccoon was always my favorite part," she said to Melanie. Regardless of what happened now or in the future, she truly was happy to spend time with them now watching Disney movies, or going out on a more traditional date with Cooper. She was glad that they had finally had the chance to talk and she had been able to air some of her "what if" scenarios as it had suddenly made her feel that much more comfortable with the entire situation.
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