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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 13, 2015 23:15:19 GMT
Big sunglasses perched were on her nose as Cassidy made brief small talk with Brandon and Amber's doorman for a moment. She had been invited over for lunch and part of her was mildly worried that Amber had found out that she'd gone to Brandon the other day and she was going to get in trouble. She played out all of the worst case scenarios in the elevator and was still pretty sure that she was keeping her job, so she relaxed a bit.
When the elevator doors slid open and Amber let her into the apartment, she removed her sunglasses and sighed. "Before we talk about whatever we have to talk about, can I just say I had the worst date last night?" she started. "I mean, I spent most of my night sitting there while he drunkenly lamented his lack of a musical career and I felt too awkward to just leave him there. So I had to schlepp my way back up town," she checked her watch. "Five hours ago, go to the gym, shower, get ready, and come here. I don't get it. I should be considered a catch. If I went back to Wisconsin and everyone my age wasn't already married with their second kid, I would be a catch there. I'd be metropolitan and worldly!"
Amber chuckled softly. "Come in, Cassidy. Can I take your jacket?"
Cassidy huffed and sighed a bit. "Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 13, 2015 23:27:04 GMT
For Brandon, knowing that someone else was about to know about everything that he and Amber had discussed at length was making it feel that much more real. He was having a hard time even saying it to himself, admitting the fact that he and Amber were about to experience a significant change in their lives. They had decided to just take things little by little for now and so he kept trying to figure out how he felt about the entire thing, and the truth was that he was kind of terrified of it. And now, hearing that Cassidy had made it over to their apartment, he could feel a sense of anxiety rising. Pushing the feeling away, he walked in the direction of the door. "Cassidy," he greeted her. It had, after all, been Amber's assistant who had been the one who had forced him to step out from behind his desk and take the initiative to find out what had been going on with Amber. He wasn't sure if he was entirely grateful for that just yet.
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 0:09:19 GMT
"Hiya Brandon!" she exclaimed upon seeing him. "I didn't know that you were having lunch with us too," she nodded. Happily settling in, removing her jacket and moving further into the Penthouse. "You know, I have to say that I'm really happy that you're not a musician, for Amber's sake."
Amber pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why don't we sit down at eat?" she suggested. She really did adore Cassidy, but sometimes the full brunt of the younger woman's energy was a lot to deal with. Especially in this instance, where she knew that maybe both she and Brandon were a bit on edge.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 14, 2015 0:19:10 GMT
"Me too," he agreed before taking Amber's suggestion and moving to the table. Truth be told he hadn't really thought about what they were going to say to Cassidy, at least not aside from the obvious. And really, he didn't know what it was going to mean for them in terms of their roles at work. Amber was soon going to find herself with three months off of work where their roles were going to be much more focused on being parents to their new baby and he wasn't sure how much of a role Cassidy wanted to play in that. But, he reminded himself, Amber and Cassidy's relationship had proven to be much more than just the standard employer/employee relationship, and so he had to admit that he doubted that things were really going to change that much. It was just yet another question that he didn't know the answer to when it came to what all of this meant for their future.
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 0:31:13 GMT
Amber had ordered them lunch prior to Cassidy showing up. She realized that, this was actually the first time they were having company over since she'd moved into the Penthouse and that sort of excited her in an odd way. "Cass, did you submit the paper work to FIT?" she asked as she finished bringing everything over to the table.
Cassidy nodded. "Yeah, I'm all set, actually." She turned to Brandon with a smile. "I never finished college," she admitted. "There was a thing, with a guy," she waved her hand dismissively. "He was going on tour and convinced me to leave school six classes short of graduating and get a job to sort of help him out financially. So I did and I bailed on my internship at TeenVogue. But two weeks into the tour, he called me and dumped me - so Amber found out and gave me a job. But she says I have to go back to finish my degree. So Amber called someone she still knows at FIT and got me in for late registration for some classes." She turned back to Amber. "Two of them are online, and then I have one once a week on Fridays. It doesn't coincide with any of our normal meetings."
Amber smiled a bit at Cassidy and nodded, taking her seat at the table. "That's good, Cassidy. But I told you that you can take whatever time you need to. If you don't keep up with your coursework, I'll lessen your responsibilities. No excuses."
Cassidy laughed but rolled her eyes but laughed slightly. "Fine." she eyed her lunch for a moment before looking at the couple she was eating with. "So what's up, guys?" she asked curiously.
"Well," Amber started slowly. "We invited you over because I wanted to talk to you about something pretty important..."
"You're not taking the Paris job, are you?" Cassidy interrupted with a frown. "Because, yeah, I heard about it. And I get it, you want a Fashion Editor run. But I don't want to go and I don't think you do either."
Amber paused, eying her assistant curiously. She tilted her head. "You don't want to study fashion in Paris and possibly become an editor yourself out there?" While she still had no intention of taking the Paris job at all, she was a bit curious about why Cassidy was so opposed to it. It was, honestly, a big opportunity and an experience that the younger woman should have wanted to pad her resume with. "You can't stay my assistant forever, Cass," she said gently.
"I know that," Cassidy mumbled, sinking a few inches in her chair and poking her food with her fork. "But we just moved and you're so happy here. You're going to be the Fashion Editor and Glamour or Vogue or something within the next couple of year. Besides, you're so happy here - you wouldn't be happy in Paris and you know it. Because he's not going to suddenly learn French and move his family's company there - he can't." She pursed her lips and shook her head. "We should stay in New York."
"We're staying in New York. That's not what I wanted to tell you."
"Oh," Cassidy said sheepishly. "Then what is it?"
"I wanted to let you know, and we're really not telling anyone else because it's soon - but I figured there was no use trying to keep it from you. I'm pregnant."
Cassidy's eyes went wide and she beamed, clasping her hands together excitedly. "Really?!" she exclaimed. "You're pregnant? That's so exciting! I'm the first one that gets to know? I promise I won't tell anyone, obviously. This is great! Screw Paris, there's going to be a baby!" She grinned at both of them. "Congratulations! I'm going to plan the best baby shower. And baby sit all the time."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 14, 2015 1:05:23 GMT
Thinking about what it was going to feel like to hear it said aloud and actually hearing it were two totally different things. As the two women at the table rambled on about Cassidy's school enrollment and the potential for Amber to take the job in Paris, Brandon had started to think about what it was going to mean to have someone else know about the fact that Amber was pregnant. She had mentioned his parents before and he had pushed off the thought of actually telling them, assuming that they were more of a passing mention than they were an actual conversation. It would be something that he brought up the next time he saw him, which at this point he figured would probably be Thanksgiving or Christmas, and it would probably be the answer to the question of what was new in his life outside of work. In all honesty, his relationship with his parents had never bothered him until he was faced with the question of what kind of father he wanted to be for their kid.
He had been on the cusp of feeling entirely overwhelmed when Amber made her announcement and Cassidy's excitement took over. He smiled at her, "Thanks. We're still trying to figure it all out but I'll definitely put you at the top of the list for babysitters." It sounded completely foreign hearing himself talk about it. Babysitters immediately made him think of all sorts of scenarios that led in a much more adult manner and he realized he was going to have to stop thinking that way once they started hiring them for their own child. Babysitters and nannys, getting them enrolled in school and daycare, he would have sighed at the sheer volume of work they had to do over the next few years. But, he had to admit, it was nice having Cassidy on their side already.
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 1:12:00 GMT
Cassidy grinned happily at Brandon and Amber. "This is so great," she insisted. "You guys can count on me for anything you need." She turned to Amber, her expression serious. "No more caffeine, and we're going to start eating organic more," she insisted. She reached into her pocket to fish out her cell phone, tapping away on it. "Let me know when you need doctors appointments, and I'll get them all scheduled. In fact, maybe we should work on slowly making your schedule a little lighter. Should I order some books? I just got Amazon Prime, so I get free two-day shipping."
"Cassidy," Amber laughed softly, reaching to put a hand on her friend's wrist and force her to put down her phone. "It's still very early, I think my schedule can stay just where it is for now. I'll just probably need you to take point on a few projects as time goes on."
"I'm really happy for you both," Cassidy gushed. "Can you name the baby after me?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 14, 2015 1:32:08 GMT
Cassidy's enthusiasm must have been contagious because, for the first time since he had been told about the baby, he felt himself able to push aside his concerns for a moment and just enjoy what was happening. In all reality, the fact that he and Amber were having a baby was something that he knew would happen someday and he had assumed that when it happened that he would have been happy about it too. It wasn't all bad, he had to admit, there were parts of it that he was sure he would look forward to eventually. But right now he was more focused on what she had said about ordering books, and so he made a mental note to look into that more when he got back to the office.
"What if it's not a girl?" he asked. "Do we still have to name it Cassidy?"
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 1:43:56 GMT
Cassidy considered Brandon's question. "I think that's up to you. But, I mean, I think I have a great name. And it would really help me make the most of living vicariously through your relationship," she joked. She beamed at them both. "So you guys must be so excited!" she grinned at them, she turned to Amber. "Can I tell my mom? She's been asking about how you are. She sent - oh she sent this great care package the other day and there's some stuff in it for you. Who are you going to tell next?"
Amber grinned at her assistant, thoroughly amused by how excited she was for them. It was contagious. "Cassidy, you just said you weren't going to tell anyone. Most people don't say anything until the first trimester is over. There's a lot more chance of something going wrong during the first twelve weeks, so we're just trying to keep it to ourselves until then. You're really immersed in my daily life, so I figured if I started ducking out for doctor's appointments and cutting down my caffeine intake, you'd launch some sort of grand investigation to find out what was wrong. What was in the care package?"
"She sent you candy from that shop you liked near my house, and cookies, and a book she thought you'd like. But what about your parents? Aren't you going to tell them they're going to be grandparents?" Cassidy asked inquisitively. "I mean I know you don't really talk to them much, but this is a big deal, right?"
"I hadn't really thought of them at all, actually. Tell your mother I said thank you."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 14, 2015 2:15:23 GMT
Brandon had watched Cassidy for a second, unsure of how much about Amber's parents she actually knew. The last time he had seen them had been in high school and from what he remembered it hadn't been a necessarily enjoyable experience. Amber had spent a lot of her time here when they were younger as a way to get away from her parents and he had barely even given it much thought when he considered who they would want to tell. He was getting the feeling that Cassidy's family was a lot different than his family or Amber's. "I think that aside from you, we're just going to refrain from telling anyone else for a little while."
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 2:22:46 GMT
Cassidy smiled a bit. "Well, that makes me pretty special." She looked between them for a moment and then laughed softly. "Your kid is going to be so pretty, it's almost unfair to the rest of the world."
Amber cleared her throat, suddenly feeling a little bit nauseous. She'd gone most of the day without any instance of morning sickness but she was pretty sure now that one of the first things she was going to try to teach her unborn son or daughter was how to tell the damn time. "Would you guys excuse me for a moment," she said quickly, rising from the table and making her way to the bathroom. She didn't necessarily want to break up the festivities. It was nice that Cassidy was so excited and that it seemed to be at least a little contagious. So she quietly excused herself away to the restroom to deal with this unpleasant aspect of pregnancy privately.
Cassidy waited until Amber was out of sight, turning to Brandon with a bright smile. "See? I was totally right to come see you the other day, I mean, I wasn't sure. But I knew something was up. This is so exciting! My instincts are rarely off. I mean, with other people. My instincts for myself are pretty horrible, but whatever. Are you excited?" she grinned at him.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 14, 2015 2:52:54 GMT
Brandon looked after Amber for a moment, uncertain if he was supposed to go after her and make sure that she was okay. Had she been hungover or had gotten the flu he would have brought her a glass of water and taken care of her until she felt better, but this was something different. And this was something that he wasn't going to be able to predict when it happened and so he knew that he wasn't going to be able to be there for her every time. There were a lot of things that he was going to have to get used to and figure out what the rules were. He assumed that this would all be part of the plan when they sat down to figure everything out.
He smiled at Cassidy, "You were absolutely right. Thank you for telling me to talk to her." But when it came to his excitement over it, he wasn't sure that's exactly how he would have classified it. "I am ... not entirely sure how I feel," he admitted. "It's a little overwhelming."
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 3:00:08 GMT
Cassidy tilted her head a bit at Brandon, briefly wondering if out of the three people in the apartment right now if she was the most excited. "Yeah, that's normal," she assured him. "I've got three older brothers, two older sisters and I'm the only one that doesn't have a kid yet - but based on my keen powers of observation, having a kid is kind of scary, especially the first time around. It's actually kind of good, I think, to feel that way. Because it means you care, you know? My mom always says the only thing you need to raise a kid right isn't money or experience or some kind of instruction manual. It's love," she nodded. "You can do that. You two are so absurdly in love with each other, I'm sure you guys are going to be just as awesome at loving your kid." She shrugged. "The rest kind of falls into place. There have been a lot of kids in my family, all of them ended up all right - and my brothers are idiots." She grinned at him. "You guys can call me if you need anything, too."
She took a bite of her food and washed it down with water. "If you weren't overwhelmed or something, I'd be worried. It's normal. It's a good start."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Sept 14, 2015 3:19:14 GMT
Brandon felt a little relieved when he heard her say that it was normal to feel overwhelmed, it made it seem a lot less intimidating to think that he and Amber were going to be responsible for another person soon. He kept fixating a lot on what Cassidy had said about love being enough. As much as he would have liked to have made fun of her for using such a cliche, he wanted to think that it was going to be enough for them to be great at it. He truly did love Amber more than he ever thought possible, and he hoped that when their baby was born that the feeling transferred over. "I can see now why she keeps you around," Brandon told her. "And you better prepared for us to take you up on that babysitting offer. From what I can gather, we're going to need quite a few nights to ourselves every once in a while."
With Amber out of the room, another thought occurred to him. "You had mentioned something about books... Don't tell Amber that I asked you to do this, but do you think you could have some sent over to my office?"
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Post by Cassidy Miller on Sept 14, 2015 3:27:06 GMT
Cassidy grinned at Brandon. "I'm a great babysitter, really no-nonsense about bed time but I know all the best games and snacks," she told him proudly. She actually was a pretty good Aunt, she'd had a lot of practice over the years. "And yeah, there's very little that I wouldn't do for Amber," she admitted. "She's like another big sister, you know?" she shrugged. "And you're as good for her as I originally assumed before we even got to New York. Maybe even better than I thought. So, yeah." When he asked about the books, she laughed, a wide smile breaking out across her face. "Yeah, I can do that. I'll take care of it tonight and send them to your office - they should get there Monday at eight the latest," she grinned. "I'm probably going to schedule her first few appointments soon, too. Do you want the dates and times so you can go too?"
Amber emerged not long after from the bathroom, she took her seat again and took a sip of water. While she'd temporarily lost her appetite, she still smiled at Brandon and Cassidy, reaching under the table for Brandon's hand. "What'd I miss?"
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