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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 15, 2015 23:05:38 GMT
Cooper was pretty pleased with himself. The move from the hotel to a new Penthouse apartment on the Upper West Side had gone smoothly and Melanie had adapted quickly as well. In fact, it seemed that she loved it. There was a park nearby that she pleaded with him to go to on the weekends, for which he could only oblige her. And there was plenty of room for her to play and also to grow. So it was a very good sign to Cooper when he invited Madison over to join them for Movie Night in their new place so shortly after settling in. He also thought it was a good sign that Melanie had demanded the brunette woman's presence.
In fact, Melanie was chattering away to Madison about her favorite movies and which one she wanted to watch while Cooper worked in the kitchen, making popcorn and getting drinks ready. "Mel-Bell, if you tell her the entire movie, there's no point in watching it." He grinned as he looked up and saw his daughter making a face at him but then smiling brightly at Madison.
"I mean, I've already seen it a thousand times. Melanie knows every word to every song," he pointed out with a laugh, smiling at Madison warmly. The more time he spent with the woman the more he disliked spending time away from her. And the fact that Melanie had taken such a shine to her only enhanced that.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 15, 2015 23:44:01 GMT
It had seemed like after their conversation in the part about what their relationship was and what it could continue to be, it had been a lot easier for Madison to relax and just enjoy spending time with Melanie and Cooper without feeling like she still had a dozen things to ask him. And the truth was, she loved spending time with both of them. Ever since Cooper had asked her opinion on some birthday ideas for Melanie, she had taken a liking to the little girl and her affection only seemed to grow as she learned more and more about her personality. From their bonding over Pocahontas' raccoon, Meeko, to the way that she just seemed to always know how to make her laugh, Madison had only been too happy to spend time with their little family.
She hadn't hesitated in accepting the invitation to come over for a movie night and quickly found herself being brought up to speed on what made them one of Melanie's favorites. She smiled at Cooper, "Hey, I like to know what I'm getting into. Melanie's just making sure that I'm fully prepared for the sing-along."
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 0:01:34 GMT
Melanie smiled at Maddy before giving a look to her father that Cooper realized meant trouble for the day that she became a teenager. Melanie then turned back to Maddy and started to explain the snowman to her, she put her arms out dramatically and imitated the way he danced.
Cooper smiled at both of them, observing them in silence for a moment before finally walking back over to them with their snacks. The DVD was already set up in the player, though he was surprised they hadn't worn a hole in it by now. He sat between both of them, placing his arm around Madison while Melanie curled herself up against the other side of him. He pressed a quick kiss to Madison's temple and grinned at her, "Get used to this movie. She watches it...almost every day," he warned her with a chuckle.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 16, 2015 0:12:15 GMT
Maddy had smiled brightly at Melanie as she explained the cute little animated snowman, but had easily relaxed into Cooper as they had gotten comfortable on the couch together. She had felt her breath hitch in her throat for a second, trying not to jump to conclusions about what he meant about getting used to the movie. She reasoned that they had talked about what the potential had been long-term and had opted to just take things little by litte, which for her meant that she needed to stop jumping to conclusions every time they seemingly progressed in their relationship. It was strange, she admitted, being in a relationship with someone with a daughter and it had certainly had changed the nature of the relationship, at least in terms of what she had come to expect in relationships. Things had seemed to move at a much slower pace, which Cooper had told her would happen, and she found herself constantly wondering what was next for them.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 0:30:58 GMT
Cooper relaxed onto the couch, watching with amusement as Melanie slowly stood up from the couch to dance around the living room and sing along with the movie. Then he turned his attention to Maddie again. He had to be honest, the more time he'd been spending with Madison, the less he wanted to take things slowly. He found himself playing with her hair absentmindedly, moving his lips closer to her ear. "I'm really glad you're here. I mean, Melanie really wanted you to come over but so did I." He grinned at her, "Especially now that we're settled in here."
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 16, 2015 0:48:42 GMT
She shifted her weight a little, turning to look at him with a small grin. "I'm glad I'm here too," Madison admitted. When Riley had first introduced them, she had no idea that they were going to wind up where they were now. She had spent so much time wondering what things would have been like with Parker back in her life that she hadn't paid attention to the other people around her, and she certainly hadn't thought that there was another option. When things hadn't worked out, she had spent a couple of days wallowing in her own feelings before coming to the realization that she was more afraid to be alone and unhappy than she was sad over the loss of one particular person. But the truth was, she knew that if she and Cooper broke up right then that she would spend the next few days, weeks even, crying into a wine glass because she missed having him and Melanie in her life and not because she was afraid to be alone. Whether or not they realized it, they had seemingly changed what she thought her life was supposed to be like. "And you found a wonderful apartment, by the way."
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 1:01:13 GMT
Cooper smiled easily at her, nodding and looking around the place. "Yeah, I like it. It's got a lot of space to grow into." He hesitated for a moment, making sure that his daughter was fully fixated on the movie before leaning in and kissing Madison quickly. He chuckled slightly. "I really love that you're here," he stated, trying to work his way up to saying what he'd been thinking about saying for a little while now. "I don't know how I got so lucky, to find someone like you - and Mel's crazy about you," he nodded. "I wanted to warn you now, Maddy, that I'm pretty sure that I'm falling for you. So I'm also pretty glad you like the apartment, because I want you to feel comfortable here."
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 16, 2015 1:14:56 GMT
Maddy absolutely felt her heart stop in her chest. She wasn't really sure that she knew how to breathe, having felt like the wind had actually been pushed from her lungs. She had watched him intently as he seemed to explain why he had been so happy that she had accepted his invitation to come over that night. She was doing that thing where she jumped to conclusions again, but in just a few sentences he had already given her so many new questions that she wanted to ask. She just didn't know that now, with Melanie singing along to the cute little movie, was the right time for her to throw twenty questions at him. "What?" she managed to get out, her voice registering a little higher than a whisper. There were a few things that she considered herself pretty inept at, one of which was being aware of other people's feelings for her, but she kept trying to figure out if he had just told her that he loved her. And if he had made some reference that he might have seen them here together at some point.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 1:37:51 GMT
Cooper almost chuckled at Maddy's reaction. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spring that on you in the middle of a Disney movie." He smiled at her warmly. "But if there's one thing I figured out it's that it's better to be honest. If you're not there right now, that's okay - I get it. But I find myself thinking about you a lot when you're not around, and I when you are around I find myself thinking how perfect it feels. I'm not asking for any kind of commitment, I just wanted to let you know how I'm feeling about you - make you aware that my intentions are - pretty straight forward. You're incredible, Maddy. And I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to do everything I can to keep you as part of my life for as long as you want to be a part of it."
He grinned at her until Melanie turned around. "Daddy, it's the good part! Shhhhh!"
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 16, 2015 2:00:54 GMT
She pulled her attention away from him at the sound of Melanie's voice. The little girl had broken her from her trance and she looked down at her lap for a second, trying to process everything that he had said. Madison had absolutely felt herself becoming more and more attached to him, that much was obvious, and she had been thinking about him all the time really. In fact, had this been middle school she was sure that she probably would have scribbled his name and some hearts on her notebook, but she assumed that her co-workers at Harper Collins would have looked at her strangely about that. Though he mentioned that he wasn't asking for commitment, she realized that she probably would have given it to him. She turned her attention to the movie, waiting for Melanie to become ingrossed in it once more before she turned back to him. "You're pretty incredible yourself," she nodded, "And your daughter is absolutely amazing."
Maddy took a deep breath before deciding to just spit it out, "I really do love you," she commented, suddenly feeling acutely aware of what she had said. Her cheeks flushed at the realization of it.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 2:39:08 GMT
Cooper beamed at Madison, reaching with his hand to brush some hair out of her face and lean in. He pressed his lips against hers quickly. "I love you, too," he assured her. He tightened his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him and kissing the top of her head. "Melanie loves you too," he added before gesturing to the television. "Look, this is a good part."
Melanie giggled in front of them, jumping up and down while she danced along to the music and sang dramatically and off key. She spun around and ran back over to the couch, smiling at both her father and Madison. "Anna's sad," she explained to Madison. "This is the part that's sad. But later there's Olaf!"
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 16, 2015 3:09:46 GMT
Maddy grinned brightly at him, "Good." She watched Melanie exictedly explain how the plot of the movie was progressing and nodded understandingly. "And Olaf is one of the best parts, right?" she clarified with the four-year-old. "And Sven. I like Sven a lot." The truth was, she probably knew more about Frozen and the fairy tale it was based on, the Snow Queen, than she cared to admit, but it had made it so much easier for her to relate to Melanie, and she loved that. She loved being a small part of their wonderful family, and she was so happy that Cooper felt the same way. She just couldn't get it out of her head what he said about wanting her to like the apartment too. She just kept getting hung up on what it could possibly mean, and she knew she wasn't going to be able to help it when her questions started to pour out.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 3:52:50 GMT
Cooper smiled broadly at Melanie and Madison as they spoke about the movie and he relaxed a bit. He didn't know when he'd started referring to them in his head as 'his girls' but he liked it quite a bit. Melanie exclaimed something about the movie, waving her hands around wildly to explain the movie.
"Daddy's favorite song is the Reindeer song. But we sing one of the songs together. He's Hans, even though Hans is a mean guy," Melanie explained matter-of-factly. She smiled happily at the two of them and then looked back at the television. "Can Maddy sleep ovah?"
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 16, 2015 4:03:00 GMT
Maddy grinned brightly at Melanie as she continued to explain their favorite parts of the movie, and she couldn't help but continue to grin as Melanie asked if she could sleep over. "I don't know, Cooper, what do you think?" She didn't want to overstep her boundaries, and the lines that he had drawn between Melanie and the rest of his life was very important to her, so she wanted him to make the call on whether or not they were at that point. She was sure she probably would have been content staying out here on the couch, continuing to sing Frozen songs into her sleep if that's what Melanie wanted her to do. The important thing was that she didn't want to give the little girl the wrong impression, as long as it stayed the wrong impression. The second that Cooper invited her to stay the night under his terms, she knew that things had the potential to change.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Sept 16, 2015 4:15:38 GMT
Cooper chuckled a bit at Melanie's request. He ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "Well, I think that if you guys want to have a sleepover..." he nodded. "I think that might be fun and we might have to make s'mores." He smirked a bit at Madison, "If you want to, I mean."
Melanie clapped her hands together, excited at the prospect of having a sleepover with Maddy. As far as the four year old was concerned, even though Maddy was her father's friend - she was hers too. She knew the best stories and a lot of the words to all of the good movie songs. And the fact that she was spending more time with them made her a very happy kid.
"But, Melanie, if she stays over you still have to go to sleep at some point," Cooper reminded his daughter warningly.
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