Archive of Our Own

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𝙰𝚄𝙶𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝟹𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟷𝟶:𝟹𝟽𝙰𝙼.

𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙽𝚃 𝚈𝙰𝚁𝙳

Liam was just about to reach for the shiny knob when he looked through the luxurious crystal-clear glass door and found exactly who he had been looking for. Having spent the past hour on the second floor of their recently acquired mansion, putting away groceries and making sure everything was perfect for the arrival of the three human beings who meant most to him, finding no sign of his wife when he walked into the master bedroom had sure caught him by surprise.

Truth be told, he had to admit that the brunette in question was famous for giving him a run for his money. However, after being together for thirty-three years and four months, with a short time apart early into their relationship along with an almost divorce about two decades back, he had absolutely no doubt he knew her better than anyone. Not only could he read her like an open book, but he could tell what she was thinking before she even had a chance to say it out loud.

I see you, Fallon Carrington.

Liam played the words in his head as he stared at his wife through the glass. The words that he would never forget saying right before he leaned in to steal a kiss from her while standing in the middle of one of the Manor’s many hallways. Their very first kiss and the one that would be kept safe in both his brain and heart for as long as he lived, because even after almost three and a half decades, he could still hear the lovely sound of her giggles echoing in his ears after being caught off guard by his mischievous act.

“There you are,” he announced his presence once he finally pulled the door open. “I thought you were still upstairs getting ready,” he mentioned while stepping onto the front porch. “I just stopped by our bedroom and you weren’t there,” he added on his down the stairs which led to the small rock path that connected the private driveway to the beach house’s entrance. 

“It’a almost eleven,” was all she managed to say at the sight of him approaching her.

“I’m pretty sure eleven and a quarter to eleven are very different things,” Liam countered while glancing briefly at the watch on his wrist. The one that had once belonged to his father and the one that he meant to give to his son in a couple of years, on his twenty-first birthday.

“I want to be here when they arrive,” Fallon confessed, her voice soft as he stepped closer to her.

“No blow drier this morning?” He wondered with a grin that indicates exactly how much he loved the way her wet brown strands would blow in the soft breeze coming from the ocean.

“I know how much you like it natural,” she murmured, offering him a small and timid smile as she crossed her arms against her chest.

“They said they’re coming, Fal, which means there’s nothing for you to worry about,” Liam reassured his wife, placing his hand on her shoulder to provide her with as much comfort as he could while standing directly behind her. He didn’t exactly know why but he could tell she was nervous. “Because they will be here, babe,” he rephrased his own sentence. He knew she missed their children dearly but he couldn’t quite grasp why she had been acting so worried and unease all morning.

“I know,” Fallon nodded while fidgeting with the peach diamond that had been sitting on her ring finger for as long as she could remember. “I know they will,” she repeated as if trying to convince her own self with her words. “I guess I just can’t wait to see them,” she confided in her husband as she thought about the last time she had seen each one of her three children. 

“Liv just texted our family’s group chat to let us know that she landed and that she’s already on her way here,” he mentioned before raising his free hand up to her opposite shoulder. “And that she can’t thank us enough for sending the jet to Baltimore to get her this morning,” he chuckled, fully aware of the kind of person his their youngest daughter had turned out to be.

“She was willing to hop on a train at five in the morning to get here on time, Liam,” Fallon sighed, only to momentarily close her eyes at the wonderful feeling of her husband pushing his skilled fingers into the stress knots of her shoulder muscles. “Not to mention that she would have to switch trains in Manhattan to then come to the Hamptons… and I couldn’t let my baby girl go through almost six hours of traveling by train when it would take the jet one hour to bring her from Maryland,” she rolled her eyes.

“You do know that she just turned twenty-four, right?” Liam couldn’t help but ask in a playful tone. “Only a few weeks ago?”

“I don’t care,” she groaned. “In my eyes, she will always be my baby girl… in fact, the three of them will always be my babies, no matter how old and grown they are,” she complemented.

“And just so we’re clear… you do realize that she doesn’t really care for that kind of luxury like we do?” He frowned while suddenly sliding his hands down her arms, all whilst taking one step closer to her in order to wrap his arms around her waist and hug her tight. “I mean, she appreciates it when we offer but she sure lives pretty well without it,” he pointed out before dropping a long and tender kiss down on her shoulder.

“Yeah, our Olivia truly is one of a kind,” Fallon commented, letting out a light and sweet laugh as she turned around in her husband’s embrace.

“Now,” Liam began as soon as she threw her arms around his neck, her ocean blue eyes locking immediately with his as she raised her chin to try and beat their height difference due to her rare lack of high heels. “Are you going to tell me what’s suddenly gotten you so nervous about having them here this Labor Day weekend?” 

“What if I say there’s nothing wrong?” She questioned back. “And that I’m not nervous?” She frowned.

“Then I would say you’re lying,” he shrugged. “Because we both know that I know you better than you know yourself so cut the crap, Fallon,” he insisted. “Let me in, babe,” he requested in a much softer tune. “Are you nervous about seeing all three of them together for the first time in a while since we’ve only been meeting them separately over the past few months because of their crazy schedules? Or is this about having dinner with Nicholas a couple of days ago?” He elaborated, hoping that approaching both topics would somehow lead him into figuring out what was currently going through his wife’s mind. “Because deny it all you want, Fal, but you and I both know you’ve been kind of distant ever since we walked out of that French restaurant,” he stated.

“The latest?”

“So this weird behavior of yours really is because of Nick,” Liam murmured while gazing deeply into her worried blue orbs. “And perhaps the fact that he asked to talk to us without Charlotte?”

“To ask us for her hand in marriage, Liam! Or have you forgotten about that very specific part of dinner?” Fallon didn’t know whether to throw her husband a puzzled look or a piercing glare as she wondered how it was even possible for him to be so calm and peaceful about all that was happening.

“No, babe, I haven’t,” he shook his head, smirking once he was finally able to confirm his theory of what was bothering his wife. “As a matter of fact, I can say that I remember it pretty damn well because we just went through that exact same conversation only three months ago when Ryan decided he wanted to ask Olivia to marry him,” his voice was firm.

“And that doesn’t scare you?” The question escaped her lips before she even had to chance to fully process it in her brain.

“Scare me?” Liam frowned in confusion. “So let me get this straight,” he paused. “You were the one who calmed me down and kept telling me, for weeks, that I had nothing to worry about because my little girl was in really good hands back when Ryan talked to us and now… now you’re the one suddenly pushing the panic button?” He couldn’t help but tease her.

“Something like that, yeah,” Fallon chuckled, fully aware of how crazy she actually sounded. She knew she had nothing to worry about. After all, both her daughters were in really good hands. “I guess my mom heart is just overly emotional lately…”

“Which is adorable,” he offered his wife a loving smile before leaning in to cover her lips with his. “But stop worrying so much, okay?” He whispered in between kisses. “Or you know… you’re going to end up with more gray hair than you already have,” he added provocatively.

“Mr. Ridley! You did not just say that!” Her eyes widened in ultimate shock. “I will let you know that my brown hair is doing just fine, thank you very much!” She groaned, throwing one of her signature eye rolls at him as she playfully hit his shoulder. “Or did you forget you literally just complimented me on my natural hair?”

“So you’re going to deny the existence of that that boxed dye under our sink?”

“I know absolutely nothing of the kind,” Fallon muttered, shrugging. “And I’m not even that old!”

“Oh, so you’re not turning sixty next January?”

“We don’t talk about that, no,” she shook her head.

“Look, just to wrap this up since they should be arriving at any minute now,” Liam began, cupping his cheek as he ran his thumb up and down her skin in the most tender of gestured. “The world has changed quite a lot since we were the girls’ age and I like to think that we raised two independent women who know they can conquer whatever they want in this life… and who know they’re human beings and not some kind of property we own,” he explained. “Which brings me to the conclusion that they’ve really found their ones because I certainly don’t know many men who would have done what both Nick and Ryan did nowadays,” he reminded her.

“Yeah, that’s a valid point,” Fallon admitted.

“And I know you’ve grown more protective of the girls over the years, especially ever since we dropped them off at their college dorms but even you have got to admit they didn’t really need to ask us if they could marry them, babe,” he went on. “Because we’ve known those two for a while now and we know how wonderful they are to our daughters… and yet they still chose to talk to us first,” he mentioned. “Ryan was clearly a mess and beyond nervous back in May, which was actually pretty funny and adorable as it shows exactly how much he cares about our daughter, but Nick had this whole speech prepared and he approached the subject in such a kind and respectful way that we didn’t even hesitate to give him our full blessing,”

“That’s true,” she spoke softly. “They really are in good hands, aren’t they?” She whispered, pushing herself on her tiptoes to rest her forehead against his as he tightened the grip of his hands on her waist.

“One with an investment banker and the other with a five-star restaurant chef?” Liam described. “Yeah, I would say they’re in really good hands, babe,” he chuckled before leaning in for another kiss, unable to resist covering his wife’s lips with his own after such a meaningful conversation. 

A kiss that started slow and gentle but that would have quickly escalated into one a lot more passionate weren’t it for the loud horn which echoed around them when they least expected it, forcing them to pull immediately apart as if they had just electrocuted one another.

“Charlotte?” Fallon guessed, her face still an inch away from his.

“Who else would make this kind of an entrance?” He could only laugh at the sight of their eldest daughter pulling into their private driveway in a cobalt blue Aston Martin DB5 Convertible 1963. 

“No one but my baby girl,” she smiled from ear to ear while turning around on her heels.

“Hey, guys!” Charlotte greeted her parents from the driver’s seat once they began approaching the vintage car. Always hand in hand. She thought at the sight of their fingers perfectly intertwined.

“You can leave it here,” Liam spoke up before his daughter even had the chance to ask directions to where she should park the vehicle. “I can take it to the covered garage later,” he added shortly after, wondering how exactly she had turned out the spitting image of her mother when she pulled the navy blue silk handkerchief that had protected her beautiful and slightly waved brown strands from the drive in a convertible off her head.

“Is this your way of being nice to your daughter so she doesn’t have to walk all the way back in these babes?” She questioned as soon as he opened the door for her and she was able to step onto the rocky driveway with her four-inch Jimmy Choo’s. “Or is this your way of asking to take this bad boy for a spin?” She threw him a puzzled look after taking off her designer sunglasses. “Because you know you can just ask, right, dad?” She teased him.

“Hi, princess,” he whispered in the softest of tunes as he pulled her in for a tight hug.

“Hi, dad,” Charlotte replied while throwing her arms around him.

“Can I just say… that dress?” She immediately turned her head towards the familiar voice.

“Hi, mom,” she couldn’t help but laugh at her mother’s teary eyes. “Come here,” she murmured before throwing herself at the woman she loved most in the entire world.

“God, I’ve missed you so much” Fallon groaned, squeezing her daughter as hard as she possibly could as one of her hands played with her hair. “You look so beautiful,” were the first words she said once they pulled apart, her eyes wandering down to the sleeveless minidress from Dolce & Gabbana’s Blu Mediterraneo collection that the younger woman was wearing. A blue and white piece that featured a flared silhouette as well as mixed painterly prints and a textured brocade construction.

“Thanks, mom,” Charlotte grinned, rolling her eyes when the older woman stepped closer to her just to give her cheek another kiss. “Dad, can you help me with my stuff?” She requested while glancing at her father.

“Of course, Charlie,” Liam agreed right away. “This is everything, right?” He asked his daughter, pointing to the two pieces of luggage that were currently sitting in the back seat of the Aston Martin. “Because I doubt you will need more than this for a three-day weekend,” he laughed lightly.

“Yes, dad, that’s all,” she mentioned before opening to the door to the passenger seat. “You want to say hi to grandma and grandpa, sweetie?” She chuckled at the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, taking the small puppy in her arms as her father reached for her suitcases.

“I swear I can feel my heart skip a beat every time I hear you say those words,” the gray haired man exhaled heavily.

“Don’t worry, dad. We’re not there yet,” Charlotte reassured him. “At least I’m not,” her tone was firm.

“Thank you very much! You can keep the change, Sir,” the three adults immediately turned towards the white gate that separated the fancy property from the road outside at the sound of the heartwarming voice they would all recognize anywhere in the world.

“Oh my God!” The firstborn shouted as soon as her eyes landed on the young woman in the floral jumpsuit in pink and orange colors designed in a sleeveless style with a halter neck, plunging neckline and elegantly flowing pant legs. “Let me see! Let me see!” She exclaimed while rushing in her sister’s direction.

“What just happened?” Liam glanced at his wife with the most confused on frowns plastered on his face as he held onto the brown and white dog who had just been unexpectedly pushed against his chest.

“Charlie wants to see the ring,” Fallon informed her husband. 

“And so do you,” he commented with a smirk, fully aware of how both brunettes operated.

“Yes, but I will let them greet each other first,” she murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder as she raised her right hand to tickle the puppy’s head. “Lady, can you please tell your grandpa to stop teasing me?” She requested in a soft tune.

“I will if you stop calling me grandpa,”

“You do know that Charlotte doesn’t even want kids, right?”

“Well, I didn’t want kids either and look where I am now,” Liam stated, their matching blue orbs filling with pure joy and adoration as they watched their daughters hug for what was probably the third time in less than five minutes.

“But perhaps you should enjoy this one for now… just in case,” Fallon suggested, allowing her eyes to wander down to the small dog in his arms only to return her attention to the private driveway at the distinct, deep-throated and somewhat syncopated vibration that she knew only a particular kind of engine could produce.

“Oh, look who finally decided to show up!” Olivia was quick to mock her brother when the handsome man in a black leather jacket pulled into the driveway on his favorite Harley Davidson motorcycle.

“Says the one who just jumped out of a cab,” Henry wasted no time throwing the blonde woman a sassy remark once he set both feet on the ground and took his black helmet off.

“And who are you to judge when you’re just as late as I am, huh?” She countered while trying not to laugh at the provocative interaction that had already become the two siblings’ signature way of greeting one another.

“I’m happy to see you too, Olive Oyl,” he rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Oh for God’s sake!” The brunette intervened. “Stop bickering and come here, you two,” she added while pulling both her little sister and her little brother into a tight hug. “It’s sure been a while, huh,” she mumbled almost incoherently.

“Who wants to bet mom is crying at this very moment?” Henry wondered before giving each one of his sisters a meaningful kiss on the cheek.

“She’s totally crying right now,” Olivia mentioned once her eyes wandered back to her parents, her right arm still squeezing her big sister’s waist and her left hand resting on her little brother’s shoulder as she stared at the older couple a few feet away from them. Their mother wasn’t the only one crying. In fact, their father was just a big of a mess as they stood side by side with one arm wrapped around each other.

“Am I the only one who has absolutely no clue as to why we’re meeting here at the Hamptons and not at home in Atlanta?” The nineteen year old man questioned.

“No,” Charlotte shook her head. “We’re both as confused as you, Pancake Hank,” she commented while using the special and playful nickname that she had given her brother almost two decades back. “I mean, I sure enjoyed not having to fly down to Georgia but I’m pretty much clueless…”

“They’ve told us nothing,” the blonde informed him. “But I think we should probably go talk to them before they turn into a puddle of tears,” she chuckled softly.

“We should, yeah,” Henry immediately agreed. “Come on, let’s go say hi to our parents,”

𝙰𝚄𝙶𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝟹𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟷:𝟺𝟺𝙿𝙼.

𝙾𝚄𝚃𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙺 - 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙳 𝙵𝙻𝙾𝙾𝚁

“Everything okay, dad?” Olivia couldn’t help but throw her father a puzzled and slightly confused look when she noticed him staring blankly at her right hand, so lost in his own thoughts that it took him almost a minute to fully acknowledge her question.

“Yeah, yeah,” Liam nodded in response, failing to form any coherent sentence as his ocean blue eyes remained entranced by the three carat diamond on his daughter’s finger. Fanciful and feminine yet contemporary and sleek, the shiny engagement ring featured a round brilliant diamond center stone poised between the House’s signature split-prongs while adorned with an additional twenty-four round 0.5 carat diamonds artfully arranged in a delicate cut-down setting.

“Are you sure?” She frowned.

“Yeah,” he replied shortly. “It’s just… that ring,” he rambled.

“Harry Winston tends to have that effect on people,” Charlotte spoke up, looking up from her bowl of ice cream as they enjoyed a wide selection of desserts outside on the deck of the mansion’s second floor. “Mostly on women though,” she teased her father.

“So now I can’t feel slightly emotional that my baby girl is engaged?” Liam faked a sob.

“Slightly?” Henry turned towards the older man. “Come on, dad, don’t pretend you didn’t know this was coming. I mean,” he paused briefly. “I think we can all admit that we always thought Charlie would be the first one to appear with a ring since she’s been in a relationship since forever,” he glanced at the eldest child with one of his playful smirks plastered on his lips, only to receive one of her signature piercing glares in return. “But still… I’m sure Ryan gave you a heads up before he got down on one knee,” he elaborated. “He did, right?” His eyes suddenly widened at the thought. “Because if he didn’t, oh boy! I might need to give him a call,”

“He did, Hank,” Olivia informed her brother before reaching for the pint of mango ice cream currently sitting in the center of the table. “There’s no need for you to give Ryan a call because he had been planning the proposal for a while and he asked not only dad but mom as well,” she explained.

“He better have,” the young man groaned.

“He really did, buddy,” Liam reassured his son. “Not that Olivia or Charlotte need our permission to get married because at the end of the day, it’s their choice, not ours,” he gestured between himself and his wife. “But we did appreciate Ryan coming to us to let us know he wanted to propose to Liv. It was quite respectful of him and that only made Fallon and I even happier that our little girl found such a special man to spend the rest of her life with,” he explained.

“Oh, baby girl,” the blonde woman murmured at the feeling of the purebred Blenheim dog suddenly resting her head against her calf under the wide table. “Are you scared?” She asked in the most tender of voices while picking her up.

“Lady doesn’t really like being taken out of the apartment,” Charlotte told her family. “Nick and I drove up to Montauk last night because his parents are in town and well, they’re not exactly huge fans of pets so it’s always very stressful for her when they’re around,” she exhaled. “But since mom said it was okay to bring her this weekend, I figured that having her here with me would be a lot better for her than leaving her home with our housekeeper,”

“She probably thinks we’re like them… poor thing,” she muttered, making sure to run her hand gently from her head all the way to her tale as the puppy lied down on her thighs. “But don’t you worry, Lady, we love you very much in this house!” She smiled brightly once the small dog began calming down at her soft touches.

“Aww, you should totally have brought Juliet!” The brunette sighed in frustration, longing to meet her sister’s new puppy. “Especially since mom sent you the jet… Lady would have loved to meet her new cousin,” she mentioned.

“I actually wanted to, to be honest,” Olivia confessed. “But she’s not even two months old yet, which means that she hasn’t gotten all of her shots yet, so I thought leaving her at home would be the smartest decision…”

“That’s fair,” Charlotte murmured while carefully dropping her silver spoon into the empty porcelain bowl. “And speaking of Juliet, young lady, you better be planning on telling us all about that proposal at some point this weekend because from what I heard, it was the sweetest thing ever and I’m simply dying to know all of the details since you wanted to wait until we were all together to tell us all at the same time!” She exclaimed before pushing herself off her chair. “I’m going to run inside to get myself another espresso… anybody want anything?” She offered politely.

“I will take one, princess,” Liam was the first one to speak.

“Me too,” Henry quickly followed.

“Alright,” she nodded. “But when I get back, I want to hear all about that proposal, Little Miss Ridley!”

“Okay, Big Miss Ridley!” The younger woman laughed lightly at the playful exchange of the nicknames they had come up with while growing up. “Although I think mom and dad should start with their big news since they apparently bought this house,” she commented, shrugging. “Because I highly doubt it this beautiful place is just another one of mom’s real estate investments,” she added shortly after.

“Well, you’re right about that, pumpkin,” Fallon began, reaching for another strawberry as she waited for her eldest daughter to return from the kitchen. “This house is not just another investment, no,” she admitted with a smile. “The truth is… as much as we love our house back in Atlanta, that mansion hasn’t felt much like home in quite a while and to be fair, dad and I haven’t been very happy there,” she explained, glancing between her daughter and son before placing her hand on top of her husband’s nearest one. “Charlotte left to Wharton over a decade ago… then you, Liv, left to Hopkins about six years ago and then it was just me, your dad and Henry,”

“Until someone decided he would rather live with his grandma than with his own parents just so he could be a short train ride away from his sisters,” Liam complemented his wife’s speech while throwing their son a teasing look.

“It’s not my fault that house was never the same once Charlie and Liv were both gone,” Henry defended himself even though he knew he didn’t have to. After all, his parents had totally supported his decision of moving out of home right after finishing eight grade to attend the high school that his father himself had attended, the best private school in Manhattan and certainly one of the best in America. “Which, I’m guessing, is exactly why you two bought this house,” he gestured to the luxurious mansion behind him.

“Well, Pancake Hank, you did leave home a lot earlier than we did, you know,” Charlotte pointed out on her way back from the kitchen with the three espressos on a shiny silver tray.

“Turns out that being the only child after growing up with two big sisters isn’t so fun as most people would think it is,” he countered, having hated everything about basically becoming an only child at the age of thirteen. “And Grandma Laura has always been like a second mother to me anyway so yeah, the first chance I got, I asked mom and dad to send me to New York for high school…”

“And you never came back,” his mother murmured.

“Mom,” Henry whispered softly.

“I didn’t mean to sound so heartbroken, prince, I’m sorry,” Fallon was quick to explain, using the nickname which she had given her son at such an early age and had used throughout most of his childhood. “Your dad and I were over the moon when you got into pre-law at Columbia and told us that you were staying in New York for at least a few more years and most likely forever,” she reminded him.

“But truth be told, kids, it really isn’t the same without the three of you there,” Liam continued after taking a sip of his strong coffee. “The mansion is way too big for just me and your mom now that we no longer have our pets with us and now that you’ve all moved out… and yeah, we’ve been traveling a lot, we’ve also been spending more time at the house in Provence whenever we can, but at the end of the day, we feel like all we really want is to be close to you guys,” he told them. “Especially ever since your grandpa passed away,” he murmured while squeezing his wife’s hand to provide her with the kind of comfort he knew she would need by the time his words were out in the open.

“But what does that mean?” Charlotte questioned.

“That you will be splitting your time between this house and Atlanta? And even France?” Olivia wondered.

“Or are you two moving here for good?” Henry asked them.

“We’re moving here for good,” their mother stated. “I was already having a sort of midlife crisis with my little boy going to college and then your grandfather passed away and I suppose everything kind of went downhill from there,” she mentioned, the last few words trailing on her tongue as she felt tears pooling into her eyes at the not so distant memory of losing her father to an unexpected heart attack in the middle of the night, only five days after her birthday. “So ever since the funeral early this year, your dad and I have been talking more and more about not wanting to be so far from the three of you,”

“We actually thought about buying a house somewhere in Pennsylvania since you’re in Maryland,” their father looked in the blonde’s direction before turning towards the other two. “And you’re both in New York… but then we realized it wasn’t exactly the kind of state that would work for the two of us,” he added while speaking for both himself and his wife.

“Why not just move to the penthouse in New York then?” The youngest of the Ridley’s threw his parents a puzzled look. “I mean, you do love that apartment quite a lot… especially you, mom,”

“We don’t see ourselves living right in the rush of a big city anymore… so right from the beginning of this house hunt, Manhattan was never really an option for us, prince,” Fallon responded. “But then your dad found this house. We came here a couple of months ago to visit and look around and we fell in love with this place the moment we set foot inside this property,” she grinned joyfully. “And surprisingly, it was the exact same feeling he and I shared when we visited our mansion in Atlanta for the first time…”

“So that’s how you knew this beach house was the one,” Charlotte commented. “It took you guys right back to where it all started…”

“Yes,” Liam nodded. 

“Something like that,” the older brunette chuckled.

“And after what happened with Blake,” the gray haired man paused. “Being closer to my mother now that’s she’s turned ninety-one helps me sleep slightly better at night,” he confessed.

“I like it,” Olivia offered her parents a smile. “It’s certainly a beautiful house and even though it looks absolutely fine right now, I can still see mom renovating it all just to get it exactly as she likes it,” she threw her mother a teasing wink. “Just like I can totally see you two being really happy here and well, I think I can speak for all three of us here,” she glanced at her siblings. “When I say that it’s going to be really nice having you two this close… yeah, I might not be as close as the two of them since I’m a couple of states away but I must admit that coming to the Hamptons is a lot more interesting than going to Georgia,” she let out a small laugh.

“We’re glad that you’re all happy about this,” Fallon spoke up. “Especially since we wanted a house with enough bedrooms so the three of you could each have your own room here, so maybe after lunch your dad and I can show you around and you can choose the bedrooms you like the most,” she proposed. “But don’t forget that you can always borrow the jet, pumpkin,” she reminded her daughter. “Even though you seem to be the only one in this family who enjoys flying commercial,” she rolled her eyes.

“It’s not like I enjoy flying commercial, mom,” she replied immediately. “Mostly because I don’t think anyone who grew up flying in their own jet actually enjoys flying commercial, but Ryan is far from being as loaded as we are and he doesn’t always feel comfortable flying in our private plane,” she explained. “He would rather pay a small fortune for first class tickets than borrow the jet even though, money wise, that doesn’t really make much sense… but truth is, I don’t really care,” she admitted in an even sweeter voice.

“Which is why you two are perfect for each other,” her sister mentioned. “I don’t think I would ever survive flying commercial…”

“I’m sure you would, princess,” Liam mentioned. “I mean, it’s not the most comfortable way of flying but it’s not like it’s the end of the world,” he chuckled.

“Well, I will gladly leave that to Ollie,” Charlotte murmured. “Because I would rather remain as one of the frequent users of the Ridley jet… and now that I’m thinking about it,” she paused momentarily. “I guess we should probably save the proposal story for later since mom and dad seem pretty emotional already,” she added through a slightly muffled whisper.

“Then how about we show you around now that we’re done eating?” Her father suggested.

“Are we still going to play some basketball, dad?” Henry asked his father, having noticed the basketball backboard and hoop the previous owners of the house had left in the driveway near the covered garage.

“Later this afternoon? Your old man kind of needs his post lunch rest before he can run around with a ball,” he said playfully.

“Of course, dad,” he nodded in response.

“I might go for a walk on the beach after you show us around,” Olivia informed her family. “In case anyone wants to join me…”

“I have some emails to go through and then I should probably give Nick a call,” Charlotte commented.

“I would love to join you, pumpkin,” Fallon offered her daughter a smile as soon as their matching blue eyes locked with one another.

“Perfect,” she whispered softly.

𝙰𝚄𝙶𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝟹𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟿:𝟸𝟿𝙿𝙼.

𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼

“Oh, you got their gifts,” Fallon raised her head to look up at her husband as soon as he returned from his short yet slightly mysterious trip to their bedroom with three boxes.

“Gifts?” Charlotte sounded surprised. “You got us gifts?” She questioned from her current spot by the bar cart as she poured herself a glass of one of her parents’ finest scotches.

“We did,” Liam replied.

“Aren’t we supposed to give you guys gifts since you just bought a new home?” She wondered.

“Well, did you?” Her mother frowned, adjusting herself more comfortably on her seat in the middle of the couch as she leaned her head against her son’s shoulder.

“I’m afraid not, I’m sorry,” the younger brunette chuckled while turning around on her stilettos. “But that’s only because we thought you two had rented this house for the weekend or something of the kind,” she explained. “I will though… later this week when I’m back in the city,” she promised her parents before taking a sip of her drink.

“Is that your second glass, Charlotte?” Her father couldn’t help but ask as he approached his other daughter, who was sitting on the couch across from her mother and brother.

“Dad, please,” Charlotte murmured on her way back to her seat. “Don’t start,” she begged after plopping down next to her mother.

“Just go easy on the alcohol, Charlie,” Fallon requested while placing one hand on her daughter’s thigh. “You already had wine at dinner and my genes are not exactly the greatest when it comes to drinking so, please, just go easy on it, alright?” Her tone was soft.

“I’m fine, guys, really,” she reassured them.

“I take it that the phone call with Nick didn’t exactly go well?” Olivia spoke up.

“His parents are pretty much the most annoying couple in the entire world,” the eldest child sighed heavily, rolling her eyes at all of the thoughts currently going through her mind before she elaborated on her sentence. “They spend most of the year in France since they’re well… French and due to the fact their entire family is apparently still living in the region as well… not to mention to run their champagne business which they’ve been doing up till this date because they refuse to hire professionals to help,” she went on. “But for basically the same reason you two got this house, they have this mansion up in Montauk, which is about an hour away from here and so at the end of this island that if you take a boat you’re basically in Providence,” she told them.

“But they still live most of the time in France, right?” Henry asked his sister.

“Yes,” Charlotte nodded. “At this mansion slash castle in Châlons-en-Champagne,” she said in her impeccable French accent. “They usually come to America at the end of summer and then stay until late October for Nick’s birthday,” she explained. “But ever since he turned thirty last year, they’ve been acting a thousand times worse because, for some reason, the fact that we’ve been dating for almost ten years and haven’t gotten married yet is as a crime, a tragedy and whatever other lame word they used to describe our relationship,” she groaned loudly, raising the crystal glass up to her lips only to finish the amber liquid in one quick gulp. “Just like they condemn the fact that Nick and I hardly ever visit them, especially not as much as we visit you,” she mentioned.

“Well, Georgia is considerably closer than France, if you think about it,” her father commented while throwing one arm over his youngest daughter’s shoulders to pull her closer to him in the sweetest of gestures.

“Yes, dad, it is… but the jet will take us anywhere we want and they know that. The Beaumont’s even have their own private plane, which they constantly offer Nick so we will visit them so it’s not like we would need to take yours to make it happen,” she told her family. “What they don’t know is that Nick doesn’t like going to France because he doesn’t really have the best memories. His parents were never really there for him, he was sent to a boarding school two hours away from their home because apparently it was the best in the country and getting and extraordinary education trumped the whole being close to family thing…”

“So basically the crappy parents your dad and I had growing up,” Fallon murmured.

“Pretty much, yes,” Charlotte nodded in response. “So he did what he could. He studied his ass off, played all kinds of sports, learned as many languages as he could and then, when the time came, only applied to colleges on this side of the Atlantic,”

“So girls really do end up with guys that, in one way or another, resemble their fathers,” the youngest Ridley pointed out as he glanced between his parents and sisters, certainly impressed with how similar to his father’s his brother-in-law’s story was. “Good to know… good to know,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.

“He doesn’t neglect his origins or anything but his parents are always saying that he needs to consider moving back, that he needs to think about what he’s going to inherit in a few decades when they’re no longer here since not only did he graduated from the best business school in America but he’s also their only child,” she exhaled while pondering whether she should get up to pour herself another glass with the risk of her parents giving her a hard time about it or whether she should just sit still. “What drives me crazy is that they make him feel bad about his decision of living here. They keep saying that he is and will always be an immigrant and an outsider and then, of course, it all goes back to the whole marriage drama because in their words, not only is he apparently too soft and insecure to lock a girl but he’s also stupid for not marrying his American girlfriend since he supposedly wants to live in this country forever,”

“Is it too late to find yourself another man?” Olivia threw her sister a teasing and playful wink once she noticed her fingers traveling back and forth around the edges of the glass. “Or maybe dad could teach him how to change his name and flee his family for good,” she added with a soft chuckle.

“That’s definitely not as easy as it sounds, pumpkin… but what does Nick have to say about all of that, Charlie?” Liam wondered, fully aware of his daughter’s boyfriend plan to propose to the young woman sometime in the near future.

“Luckily… the same as what I just told you guys,” Charlotte was quick to respond. “In spite of all of that drama, the good thing is that we’re both on the same page when it comes to his parents… but sometimes he tries to please them so they will shut up and I don’t really have the kind of patience that requires so I usually choose to just stay out of it,” she confessed.

“That’s smart, I guess,” the blonde woman spoke softly.

“But enough about me,” the oldest of the three children muttered.

“You want to open your gift, don’t you?” Henry couldn’t resist teasing his sister as he leaned slightly forward to take a proper look at her.

“Don’t pretend you’re not curious, Pancake Hank,” Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“Alright, alright,” Liam let out a light laugh, sliding on his seat to get closer to the coffee table as he thought about the what he was going to say. “This started of as an idea for Christmas,” he began while reaching for the three boxes that, on the outside, looked exactly alike. “But then we bought this house and invited you over to spend Labor Day weekend with us to finally announce that we’re moving here, for good, until the end of the year so we decided to give it to you now,” he explained with a grin on his lips and his blue orbs filled with joy, all whilst his wife smiled brightly at their children’s curious faces. “Princess, this one is yours,” he added before handing his eldest daughter the box that had been marked with her initials.

“Thank you, dad,” her voice was soft when she reached for the mysterious gift.

“Pumpkin,” he continued after turning around to give his second child her box.

“Thanks, dad,” Olivia offered him a smile before accepting the golden colored box.

“And last but not least,” he glanced at his son. “The one meant for my only boy,” he spoke in a more emotional tune once his eyes met the younger man’s matching blue ones.

“You can open it, you know,” Fallon chuckled after noticing they were all sitting completely still with their respective boxes in their hands.

“Oh my God,” Charlotte gasped seconds later, her eyes widening in ultimate surprise at the content of her box. “Is this what I think it is?” She couldn’t help but look at both her mother and father as she held, in complete awe, the book she had pretty much memorized as a child.

For some odd reason, she didn’t recognize its cover. After all, she remembered it having a mix of black and red colors with a white colored title and the one that was currently in her hand was definitely not those colors. In fact, she was holding a golden colored book with little to no detail on its cover expect for the highly familiar title written in black cursive letter. Red Roses in London. 

“What does your say?” She immediately asked her siblings, somehow worried about what opening her book would most certainly cause to her heart.

“Against All Odds,” Olivia was the first one to speak as she read the words on her book.

“Henry?” His two sisters questioned at the same time.

“The Masquerade Ball,” Henry murmured.

“Are these…” Charlotte didn’t even know what to say. “New?”

“The stories? No,” Liam shook his head. “As you all remember, you each got a box set of the Tales of the Courthouse book series when you moved out… those are the original copies but those ones,” he pointed towards the three books they were holding. “Those are special edition ones,” he informed them. “The story itself is the same but the cover is different and I think it’s important to say that these are the only three copies that exist,”

“These are our favorite stories,” the younger woman commented, still in shock with the surprise. “Charlie has always been obsessed with the proposal story, I’ve always loved the one where mom does a bunch of weird and stupid things to try and get you back and Hank has always been crazy about the Masquerade Ball one,” she described.

“Exactly,” her mother grinned.

“And let’s just say they each carry a dedication that the original ones don’t,” was all he had to say before the three young adults rushed to open the books that still remained perfectly closed in the tight grip of their fingers.

“Oh my God,” the brunette gasped just like she had done  a few minutes back when opening her gift. “Oh my God, dad,” she could feel the tears pooling in her ocean blue eyes as they read very carefully each and every word of her book’s dedication.

To Charlotte Grace Ridley

My Princess and the one who made me a father, my most important role

Had anyone told me I would get such a wonderful, beautiful and extraordinary girl if I ever decided to have children, I wouldn’t have waited so long to bring you into this world.

You’re the one who gave me the dad title and I will be forever grateful for the man I became because of you. You showed me there was a lot more to life than being lucky enough to marry to the love of your life because right from the moment I will held you in my arms for the very first time, I knew I was doomed.

It’s like my heart doubled in side at the sight of you and no matter how hard I try, words cannot describe how great my love for you really is.

Watching you grow up and turn into this incredible and brilliant woman has certainly been one of my favorite parts of life and I couldn’t be any prouder to be your dad. Thank you for giving me the chance of having my own replica of your mother but most of all… thank you for being who you are. This passionate, fierce and independent woman who will forever the hold the firstborn title in my heart.

I love you to the moon and back, baby girl. Don’t you ever forget that.

Your Dad

“God, dad,” Charlotte mumbled, the two words fading into distance before they were barely out of her mouth as she jumped off the couch and crossed the luxurious living room in a matter of seconds. “I love you so freaking much,” she murmured after throwing herself at the man on the opposite couch, wrapping her arms around him as tight as she possibly could while burying her face in the crook of his neck in an attempt to control the endless tears that were currently streaming down her rosed cheeks.

“How am I even supposed to read mine now?” Olivia wondered. “Charlotte never cries,” she stated.

“I don’t want to let you go,” she whispered in his ear.

“You don’t have to, princess,” Liam murmured softly.

“I love you so much, daddy,” she cried against his neck.

“I love you too, Charlie… more than words can say,” he replied, hoping his sweet and tender voice would slowly calm her down.

“I believe it’s my turn to reach that messy state,” the blonde woman chuckled before allowing her eyes to wander down to the dedication page of her own book.

To Olivia May Ridley

My Pumpkin and the one who chose to be my forever partner in crime, one of the brightest lights

One could say you’re the first child that I chose to bring into this world but you’re so much more because deep down, you’re a gift that was sent straight from heaven into my arms. 

I’ve never been able to figure out why or how but it’s no secret that you are a little angel hiding in the body of one of the most remarkable women I’ve ever met. One that I’m so glad I got to raise and one that I’m so lucky to call my baby girl because to me, that’s who you will always be. Thank you for picking our family and for choosing me to be your father.

The things you do, the things you say, the way you act… they just prove me over and over again how incredibly special you are and if I could give you the world, I would. In a heartbeat.

Your passion, your drive and your dedication to helping others is something that I didn’t even think was in our bloodline. You came around and proved me wrong though and everyday I thrive to be a little bit more like you. I know you’re going to do anything you put your heart to, and the possibilities are endless because you have one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known.

I love you to the moon and back, baby girl. Don’t you ever forget that.

Your Dad

“Oh dad,” Olivia gasped, her free hand flying straight to her lips as she stared blankly at the light colored page in front of her. “This,” she didn’t even know what to say. “This is so perfect,” she mumbled.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry, you know,” Liam told his girls, laughing lightly as he hugged both his daughters.

“As if you didn’t know this was going to happen when you came up these special dedications,” the youngest of the two murmured while resting her head against his.

“He even cried writing them so,” Fallon chuckled before throwing her husband a teasing wink. “It’s not like he can judge you,” she mentioned.

“And I believe that was supposed to be between me and you, Mrs. Ridley?” He threw her a playful glare.

“Well, you did just make your daughters cry with those special books of yours so it’s only fair they get to know that little behind the scenes fact about you, right, girls?” She glanced between them, smiling at the way he had one arm wrapped safely around each one of them as he struggled to let go.

“You better not be expecting me to cry,” Henry spoke up. “Because I don’t do that,”

“Would you like to bet, Pancake Hank?” Charlotte wondered, always the first one to provoke her little brother.

“I would not, Cupcake Charlie, thank you very much,” he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Because you’re worried you’re going to end up  like us?” His other sister jumped into the conversation while running her thumb under her eyes in an attempt to get ride of some of the tears that were still somewhat blurring her vision.

“Oh come on, Hank,” Fallon murmured. “Just read what your dad wrote you, huh,”

“Alright, alright,” Henry nodded in agreement, taking a deep breath as he opened the hardcover book.

To Henry Alexander Lowden Ridley,

My Buddy and the one who showed me that even on the worst days, there’s the possibility for joy

Being your father has certainly been one of my biggest challenges in life. From the moment you came into this world, I could tell you would give me a run for my money and even if I could, I simply wouldn’t change a thing.

You were brought into our family with so much love to give and to prove us just how strong we are. Words cannot describe the happiness of a man who finds out he’s having his first son and getting my own boy, who’s so much like his mama but still so much like me, has to be one of the best gifts the world has ever given me. You made us complete. You made us better. And you certainly made us stronger. All of us.

Although you’re still young, you know exactly what you want out of life and you won’t stop until you get it. Your determination, your courage and your kindness will never cease to impress me as I watch you turn into the amazing man you’re becoming and I couldn’t be prouder of you.

So don’t ever stop fighting for what you want, my boy, and remember that I will always be here for you. Let it be for advice or a shoulder to cry on. I hope I was able to teach my one and only son everything I know because deep down, I know you’re the best version of me. And with a hint of your mother’s stubbornness and a lot of her perseverance and boldness, you’re going to conquer the world.

I love you to the moon and back, son. Don’t you ever forget that.

Your Dad

“Come on, Hank! No one is going to think any less of you if you let those tears fall,” his eldest sister was the first to comment oh his watery eyes as he stared down at the book in his hand. Speechless.

“I,” Henry gasped. “I… dad,” he tried again, still trying to process the words he had just read. He wasn’t exactly the emotional type of guy, but when it came to his family, his heart felt like no other. “This means a lot, dad,” he finally spoke. “Thank you,” he offered his father a smile while his fingers continued to grip tightly onto the edges of the book.

“Are these really the only three copies?” Olivia wondered. “Don’t you and mom have one?”

“No,” Liam shook his head. “These are the only golden books,” he gestured to the hardcover books that his children were currently clenching onto, as if letting go of them even for the slightest second meant losing one of the most meaningful gifts they had ever received. “For this series that is,” he complemented a minute later, suddenly breaking the silence that started to linger around them once his wife threw him a puzzled look. After all, she had received her own golden book about a year back. One that she was certain they knew absolutely nothing about.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Charlotte frowned while glancing between her parents.

“That maybe I have a golden book as well…” Fallon allowed the words to trail on her tongue as she kept her voice low. “Just not from the children series,” she added with a shrug.

“Do we even want to know what it’s about?” The blonde woman scrunched her nose at the thought.

“Probably not,” her mother responded. 

“EW!” The three siblings exclaimed at the exact same time.

“Just kidding, guys,” the older brunette couldn’t help but chuckle at their disgusted faces. “Your dad gave me one of those golden copies of The Biggest Payday years ago and then last year he gave me a golden copy of On The Road,” she explained, smiling from ear to ear as she stared at the man who had certainly changed her life more than she even thought it was possible.

“I mean, it’s just a gesture,” Liam murmured.

“It’s a really sweet gesture, dad,” Olivia spoke in the sweetest of tunes before leaning against the side of his body, allowing him to wrap his arm around her smaller frame as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. “I will cherish this forever… just like the rest of the set, so thank you for this, dad,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome, pumpkin,” he replied while dropping a quick kiss on the top of her head.

“You want another one?” Charlotte asked all of a sudden, her ocean blue orbs meeting her mother’s as she pointed towards the empty glass in front of her.

“Yes, please,” Fallon nodded in response once her son returned to his previous seat by her side.

“Can I have one too?” Henry stared up at the older brunette as soon as his sister began walking in the bar cart’s direction, expecting his parents to give him a hard time about asking for more alcohol when they had already allowed him to have two glasses of wine at dinner.

“Henry,” his father’s voice was firm.

“You’re all drinking,” he pointed out nonchalantly.

“We’re of age, son,” Liam stated.

“I’m sure being under twenty-one never stopped you from having a glass,” the young man mumbled.

“Henry,” his mother called out in a disapproving tone. “Don’t talk to your father like that…”

“I’m sorry,” Henry sighed. “If Charlotte can have her third glass of scotch after drinking almost the entire bottle of wine at dinner, then why can’t I have one glass?” He questioned his parents.

“Because unfortunately, Charlotte is the younger version of your mother and dealing with that amount of stubbornness requires a lot of effort and patience,” Liam informed his son. “Not to mention your sister is old enough to know that she shouldn’t be drinking this much,” he rolled his eyes after turning towards his eldest daughter.

“Why do you always have to make me feel so bad about it?” Charlotte complained, groaning as she poured a generous dose of scotch into both her own and her mother’s glass.

“That’s my job, princess,” he spoke seriously. “As your dad,”

“I know but still,” she muttered while taking a sip of the strong amber liquid. “Ugh,” she added, the three letter word practically inaudible as it escaped her lips. “Are we allowing Henry to have a glass as well or not?” She wondered.

“Half a dose?” Liam glanced immediately at his son.

“Thanks, dad,” Henry threw him a wink.

“And that’s all, okay, Hank?” Fallon whispered in the nineteen year old’s ear after leaning closer to him.

“I just know that you don’t need the alcohol to feel relaxed, Charlie,” Liam commented. “You drink because you think you need it even though you don’t… especially during this small family gathering which is supposed to be about the five of us having a good time together since we haven’t done anything like this in a few months,” he went on, his eyes following the young brunette’s every move as she crossed the beautiful living room to return to the couch with the three crystal glasses of scotch. “I used to hate watching your mother drink nonstop when she was your age and I hate watching you do the exact same,” he admitted.

“If it’s so important to you, then I will stop after this one,” the young woman offered her father a small grin before plopping down next to her mother.

“Thank you,” he smiled right back at her.

“We appreciate it, princess,” Fallon complemented while giving her daughter’s knee a soft squeeze.

“We know we sound very annoying when we complain about the drinking, Charlie,” Liam continued, staring at his wife, daughter and son from his current spot across from them as his fingers ran through his other daughter’s golden locks. “And even though we know you’re a conscious and responsible woman, we only act like this because we love you and we want what’s best for you, okay?”

“I know, dad… I understand,” Charlotte nodded as she started to regret pouring herself another glass. “Any chance you can make some of that special hot cocoa of yours then?” She requested in a lower voice. “I mean, it doesn’t really feel like a real Ridley family gathering without a huge mug of that cocoa only you know how to make,” she confessed.

“With tiny marshmallows floating around,” Olivia described.

“And a tiny bit of nutmeg,” Henry added right after.

“It sure has been a while since we last had it,” the blonde mentioned.

“Well, babe, now you have to make some,” Fallon teased her husband with a playful smirk plastered on her lips.

“I would never deny my babies their favorite hot cocoa,” Liam was quick to reply as he turned his head slightly from one side to the other to look at all three of them, smiling softly when his eyes wandered through the two currently curled against their mother while the middle child found comfort by snuggling against him. “I’m not a monster,” he laughed lightly.

“We still haven’t had the chance to organize blankets up here because I still need to do some important furniture shopping,” the head of the family began. “But I can run downstairs to grab some if you’re cold,” she proposed once she realized her daughter shivering.

“Please, mom, stay,” Henry spoke up, dropping one of his hands down to her thigh to prevent her from standing up before pushing himself off the couch. “I will go get them,” he informed her after setting his empty glass on the coffee table.

“There should be some in the closet of the master bedroom,” Fallon instructed him.

“Okay,”

“Thank you, prince,” she smiled brightly.

“Of course, mom,” he threw her a wink. “Just stay put, okay?” He requested while briefly leaning forward to plant a kiss on her forehead.

“I will be right back,” Liam told his family after standing up.

“Well, since Hank’s getting us blankets and dad’s making us cocoa, how about I finally tell you the story behind this?” Olivia suggested, glancing between the four members of her family as she held her right hand up high in order to show them the shiny and elegant engagement ring.

“That would be lovely, Liv,” her mother replied. “I can say I’m not really enjoying the mystery and suspense around that proposal and to be honest, your sister might actually collapse if you don’t give us all the details soon,” she provoked her eldest daughter, throwing the words playfully at her as she gently tickled the side of her body.

“Woof! Woof!” Lady barked loudly, certainly not amused by the way her owner had just been attacked.

“It’s okay, Lady,” Charlotte reassured the worried dog, rolling her eyes at the angry face the loyal animal was currently making as she slowly ran her hand up and down her small back. “It’s just mom, sweetie, it’s okay,” she whispered.

“She’s adorable,” the youngest woman commented at the sight of the small dog wagging her tail while standing up on the couch with her head up straight and her ears cascading and moving in a messy yet funny way.

“It took her months to stop barking at Nick every time he did something like this,” she turned towards her sister. “We couldn’t even kiss on the couch the first few weeks because she would jump on him… I mean, she never bit him or anything, she just didn’t enjoy seeing him that close to me,” she explained.

“I wonder how she reacted the first time she saw you two do a lot more than just kiss,” Olivia teased the brunette, trying her best not to burst out laughing as she threw her big sister a mischievous and provocative smirk.

“Ollie!” Charlotte’s eyes widened. 

“Please, don’t pretend you’re a prude,” the blonde rolled her eyes.

“I’m not pretending anything,” she groaned in an attempt to sound as if she didn’t know what her young sister was currently talking about.

“Oh, come on, Charlie, we all know you’re the worst of the three of us,” she continued, mostly to mess around with her.

“Yeah, we do… but mom doesn’t need to know that,” the eldest child muttered.

“Know what?” Henry asked from the bottom of the stairs as he returned to the mansion’s second floor with three fleece blankets.

“Nothing!” The two young women exclaimed in unison.

“I hope you know you two are crazy,” he murmured, letting out a soft chuckle as he approached his blonde sister. “Here, Liv,” he added while handing her one of the blankets.

“Thanks, Hank,” Olivia said softly.

“I’m going to help dad in the kitchen,” the young man informed them after offering the other two blankets to his mother and eldest sister. “Any of you want anything besides the hot cocoa?” He asked politely.

“No, thank you,” Charlotte shook her head.

“Thanks, prince,” Fallon whispered, her voice soft and tender as she scooted closer to her daughter.

𝙰𝚄𝙶𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝟹𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟷𝟷:𝟸𝟶𝙿𝙼.

𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼

“So, as you all already know already, Ryan and I met in Italy back when I went backpacking through Europe with Bella, in the summer after our first year of college,” Olivia began, choosing to give her family some context before diving into the one story they were quite anxious to hear all about even though she was fully aware of how familiar they were with how she had met her future husband.

“In Verona, a few weeks before your birthday,” Henry spoke up.

“At Juliet’s house, to be exact,” Charlotte complemented while leaning slightly forward to grab another cookie from the large plate sitting on the coffee table. “I mean… could that be any more romantic?” She asked rhetorically. “I don’t think so,” she added, a second later, shaking her head as she bit onto the homemade cookie.

“Yes… at Juliet’s house,” the blonde could only chuckle at one of the best memories from her late teenage years. “I was actually standing on the stone balcony and Bella was downstairs, on the first floor, trying to capture some pictures of me acting as my silly self and pretending to be Juliet, when this guy suddenly approached her and said something to her,” she went on.

“And you thought he was flirting with your best friend,” her sister reminded her.

“Of course I did,” she groaned, pausing briefly to take a sip of her hot coca as she held her half eaten chocolate chip cookie in her left hand. “Especially since Bella even turned around and started talking back!” She rolled her eyes. “What would you have thought?”

“The same, I guess,” she laughed.

“Well, I’m particularly not surprised he was actually asking her about you,” Fallon admitted. “Because I’m pretty sure you were the most beautiful girl in that house that day,” she offered her daughter a smile before raising her white mug up to her lips. “And I think we can all agree that Ryan was totally entranced by you as he watched you pretend to be Juliet… right on her very own balcony,” she mentioned.

“I suppose so, yeah,” Olivia laughed lightly, a sign that indicated exactly how happy her fiancé made her. “But then I noticed that she wasn’t taking any more pictures so I went downstairs to see what was happening and apparently yes, he was, in fact, asking about me,” she explained with a timid eye roll.

“Tell us the quote again?” Her brother requested, frowning as he sipped on his hot drink. “The one he used as the kind of pick up line that would literally interest no girl but you, sis?” He said playfully.

“Come on, son,” Liam intervened. “Don’t say that…”

“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. For I never saw true beauty till this night,” the young woman recited, having memorized her favorite quotes of one of William Shakespeare’s many stories at the age of ten. “That’s what Romeo says to acknowledge his love for Juliet was blind and that’s the first thing that Ryan told me as soon as I approached him and Bella at the patio,” she told her family.

“Hank’s not wrong though, dad,” Charlotte stated. “I mean, we all know that Ollie loves and actually appreciates Shakespeare but to anyone else, that pick up line would have been quite weird,” she giggled.

“Yeah, yeah,” the middle child shrugged at her siblings’ endless mocking. As annoying as it was, she missed it more than anything and deep down, having moved out of the mansion over six years back, there was nothing she loved more than those moments with her brother and sister. “Keep making fun of your future brother-in-law… I’m sure Ryan will love to hear all about how lame you two think he is once we start discussing wedding details. Especially the very important details,” she complained in a rather joyful and teasing tune.

“Please,” the young brunette sighed heavily. “As if you would ever find a more incredible maid of honor,” she commented, enjoying the wonderful taste provided by the soft hint of nutmeg in her hot cocoa as she reached for another chocolate chip cookie.

“You do know he has four sisters, right?” Olivia countered almost immediately. “I’m sure I would find one just fine,” she murmured while throwing such a teasing tone at her big sister that the brunette couldn’t help but smile at the bickering which she also dearly missed having on a daily basis.

“As cliché as it was, what matters is that he gave it a shot,” their father suddenly mentioned. “And I think that was very brave of him because he would most likely not have what he has now hadn’t he used that line five years ago… at least not with this amazing girl right here that is,” he explained, pulling his daughter even closer to him as he attempted to defend his son-in-law.

“So even you think it was a lame line,” Henry turned his head towards the older man.

“At least he didn’t offer a complete stranger a fat check to marry him in front of a courthouse in the middle of the night,” she murmured.

“What is that supposed to mean, young lady?” Fallon wondered after grabbing another hazelnut cookie from the plate in front of her. No matter how much her children loved their parents’ love story, especially the very specific moment when it all started, they also really enjoyed teasing the couple about it.

“Nothing,” the blonde woman chuckled when her mother pretended to be deeply offended by her words with a fake sob.

“You better not be accepting any money out on the street from men you don’t know, Miss Ridley,” Liam told his daughter, his voice serious yet playful.

“You do realize you just made your favorite daughter sound like a prostitute, right?” Henry was quick to question his father

“Okay, yeah, that did not come out right,” he muttered in response. “I’m sorry, pumpkin, that’s definitely not what I meant,” he immediately apologized.

“Especially because you accepted a fat check from a stranger? When you married that said stranger completely out of nowhere?” The nineteen year old went on before biting into his chocolate chip cookie.

“You do know you wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t done any of that, right?” He wondered while using his son’s own tune against him. “Any of you, in fact,” he added shortly after, glancing between his children as he reached for his mug.

“Yeah… mom really locked you down, didn’t she?” Charlotte said softly, raising her chin to briefly look at her mother as her father smirked at the woman who he had fallen head over heels in love with almost thirty-five years back.

“She really did,” Liam whispered, the grin currently plastered on his lips growing wider the longer he started at the brunette across from him.

“I love you,” Fallon mouthed the words in his direction.

“I love you too,” he replied in the same way.

“Well, in case anyone is still interested in my story… I would like to say that in my defense,” Olivia began in an attempt to change the subject. “When Ryan said Romeo’s line, my first instinct was to laugh and then to ask him what exactly he was trying to achieve by throwing that one line at a random girl right in the middle of the Capulet’s patio,” she reminded the four of them.

“A date,” her sister spoke.

“Sex,” her brother blurted out at the exact same time.

“Henry!” Fallon exclaimed while involuntarily yet gently hitting his knee, her eyes wide at her son’s unexpected boldness.

“The day we met?” Olivia frowned. “Please, that’s Charlotte, not me!”

“Hey!” Charlotte gasped, almost choking on her drink at her sister’s words.

“Olivia!” Their mother exclaimed once again, her intonation the exact same from a minute prior.

“It’s not like she’s wrong, I was just not expecting Ollie to say that,” the young brunette mumbled incoherently, hoping that taking another sip of her hot cocoa would allow her to somehow hide her blushing cheeks from her parents as she held the white mug directly in front of her face.

“Charlotte!” Fallon and Liam spoke together.

“What?” She threw them a puzzled look. “It’s no secret that I’m just like mom used to be when she was young… so don’t pin this on me, Mrs. and Mr. Ridley, when you’re the ones that keep reminding me of how much I took after mom when it comes to partying and well… boys,” she rolled her eyes in her signature way.

“Hey!” Fallon groaned. “Can Liv continue her story or are the three of you going to keep up with all of this bickering and teasing?” She wondered even though she was loving every second of it. It meant her children were home. All three of them.

“She can continue,” the eldest child chuckled.

“Are you two going to behave?” The only blonde of the family asked her siblings.

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

“Jokes aside, Ollie, you got really lucky that day,” Charlotte mentioned. “You started your day walking around one your favorite cities in Italy then ended it with a first date with the man that you’re now going to marry… so I think that’s all that really matters,” she explained, setting her empty mug down on the coffee table before returning to her mother’s side to rest her head in the crook of her neck.

“You okay?” Fallon whispered in her daughter’s ear, slightly taken aback by the action.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Just tired,” she reassured her. “And slightly cold…”

“Here,” she spoke shortly, pulling the fleece blanket a couple of inches upwards in order to make sure the young woman’s arms were covered all the way up to her bare shoulders.

“Thanks, mom,”

“Anytime, princess…”

“I think you can say that I got lucky, yeah,” Olivia continued. “But I guess I was just in the right place at the right time?”

“Just like your dad walked past the courthouse at the right time all those years ago,” her mother commented. “He could have been too early or too late but no… he was there right on time to catch me crying as I tried to figure out how to clean up the mess I had made,” she told her children, her heart picking up pace as the fond memory suddenly played vividly in her brain. “Sometimes,” she paused briefly when her ocean blue orbs met her husband’s matching ones. “Not always, but sometimes… it’s just meant to be,” she concluded while taking the last sip of her hot cocoa.

“You’ve probably been to Verona what? A dozen times already?” Liam turned towards his daughter, who responded with a silent and rather simple nod. “Because I’m pretty certain you’ve been flying to Italy every year ever since Charlotte surprised you with that impromptu trip shortly before your thirteenth birthday but it wasn’t until five years ago that you met someone so special,” he reminded her, thinking back to the first time his girls had crossed the ocean together, just the two of them.

“And to think that I had broken up with Matt only a month before that trip with Bella,” she sighed.

“Which just proves that you two meeting was meant to be, pumpkin,” her father said softly. “You chose to go to Europe with your best friend in an attempt to somehow fix your broken heart and before you knew it, you were getting to know a guy that would make all of that heartache go away in no time,” he added, barely able to describe exactly how relieved he had felt when his daughter called him later that night to talk about the man she had just met. “A guy who had enough courage to throw a Romeo line at you because he was too taken by your beauty to leave without at least trying to see if he would ever have a chance with you… a guy who’s five years older than you and therefore more of a man, who knows what he wants and most important of all, who knows how to treat and take care of a woman,” he complemented.

“And the guy who showed you what true love really is,” Henry spoke up. “Not that asshole you used to date in high school,” he rolled his eyes.

“Well, thankfully, that’s all in the past now,” Olivia told her brother. “Meeting Ryan that day was definitely unexpectedly but yeah, it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she admitted with a bright grin. “Even though it took us a few months to actually act on it since we only started dating in late December when he came back to America for the holidays, even though it was more of a long distance relationship,” she chuckled. “Until he finished his gastronomy studies in both France and Italy and returned to the country to work at the five star restaurant he’s been working up until this date,”

“Meanwhile Charlotte would have jumped in bed with the guy right on the very first night,” the young man murmured provocatively.

“Are you trying to attack me for some reason or are you going through such a terrible dry spell that you want to discuss my sex life?” Charlotte leaned slightly forward to glance at her brother, who was sitting on the opposite side of their mother. “Because my sex life is going just fine, if you would like to know,”

“What’s gotten into the two of you today, huh?” Fallon threw them an annoyed glare, finding herself caught in the middle of the crossfire as her eldest and youngest child provoked each other in a way she hadn’t seen in a while. “Did something happen or did you miss each other so much that now all you want to do is tease one another?” She wondered while glancing between the two.

“I’m sorry,” they replied together.

“I will behave,” Henry mumbled.

“You better!” His sister rolled her blue orbs at him. “Sorry about this, Ollie… Henry is just such a child sometimes,” she sighed heavily. “You may continue,” she turned towards her sister.

“I’m a child?!” He groaned loudly. “Miss I would rather run away from my problems than face them like a grown up?!” He added while leaning closer to the young brunette.

“What did you just say?!”

“STOP!” Fallon shouted all of a sudden, placing one hand flat against her son’s chest and the other on her daughter’s shoulder to push them away from each other. “Go sit with your father,” she told the young man. “Now,” she said firmly.

“Taking Charlotte’s side… as usual,” Henry muttered while standing up.

“Maybe next time you should think before using what you weren’t even supposed to know in the first place against me,” Charlotte countered, pushing herself off the couch to head straight to the bar cart. “Not to mention that what I do or don’t with my life does not concern you! At all,” she rolled her eyes again, gripping tightly onto the crystal bottle of scotch before pouring a double dose of the amber liquid into the white mug which no longer contained any of her father’s special hot cocoa. “So stop acting like a jerk and stop defaming me in front of mom and dad!” She fumed before practically downing all of the drink, beyond furious at her brother.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Olivia spoke up, her voice serious yet soft as she got up to approached her big sister. “You and me… outside… now!” She instructed the brunette after taking the porcelain mug from her hand.

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟷𝟸:𝟷𝟽𝙰𝙼.

𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚈𝙰𝚁𝙳

“What the hell, Charlotte?” Olivia asked her sister seconds after dragging the brunette through the glass doors that led out to the outside deck.

“I thought you knew better than to grab a drink off my hand,” was all she could say as she walked down the slightly narrow staircase which led down to the wide swimming pool.

“I don’t really care because you’re not drinking any more alcohol tonight,” she groaned, rushing to follow her sister while running her hands up and down her bare arms to try and deal with the chilly breeze coming from the ocean. “You want to tell me what that was all about?” She questioned, hoping a sweeter and more tender tune would somehow lead to getting proper and more assertive answers from her sister.

“Henry’s just an ass, that’s what it was all about!” Charlotte complained. “None of that would have happened if he knew how to keep his mouth shut,” she rolled her eyes in frustration.

“And why would he need to keep his mouth shut?” Olivia frowned, still trying to understand what was going on between her siblings. “Oh God, Charlie,” she paused, already conjuring up a million scenarios in her head as her ocean blue eyes widened in a mix of shock and concern. “What did you do this time?” She asked despite feeling like she didn’t really want a response.

“Nothing!” She threw her arms up in the air dramatically. “I didn’t do anything, Ollie, I swear,” she insisted while staring down at the deep end of the pool.

“Then why would he say those things?”

“Because he loves to drive me crazy, that’s why,”

“He does, I suppose,” the blonde shrugged. “But he’s never rude to you, Charlie,” she admitted, unsure whether she should or not touch her sister’s hand in an attempt to provide her with some kind of comfort. “Not like he just was, I mean,” she added shortly after. “So if you didn’t do anything… then why did he act like that?” She sounded confused.

“Just leave it, Ollie,” the words were barely a whisper as they escaped her lips. “You should go back inside so you don’t freeze…”

“You don’t have a jacket either,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but I don’t really want to get back in there now so,” Charlotte replied with a small shrug as she plopped down on one of the largest pool chairs, running a hand nervously through her long brown strands as she started to feel the effects of all of the alcohol she had ingested that night.

“You mentioned something about him knowing something he wasn’t supposed to know,” Olivia began, taking a seat right next to her big sister before holding tightly onto one of her tremblings hands. “Is this about the abortion?”

“Yes, Ollie,” she nodded, sighing. “He found out about it a couple of weeks ago…”

“How?” She couldn’t help but frown. “I mean… how?! I mean, not only did it happen almost two years ago but I thought the only ones that knew about it were me, mom and Nick,” she murmured.

“Nick told him,” the brunette rolled her eyes.

“Nick did what?!”

“It wasn’t on purpose and believe me, Ollie, he was devastated when he told me what happened,” Charlotte told her sister. “They went to this baseball game a couple of weeks ago and apparently Hank started teasing Nick when he saw a tiny baseball jersey at one of the souvenir shops,” she informed her. “So inevitably, the children subject came up and while they were talking about it… Nick accidentally let it slip,” she mentioned, letting out a long and rather exhale as she stared deeply into her little sister’s eyes. “And ever since then, Hank’s been acting a bit weird towards me…”

“But why?” She wondered, fully aware of how much her brother worshipped and admired their big sister. “Does he condemn you for doing it?”

“I think he thinks I didn’t try hard enough to find a solution that included keeping the baby,” she confessed with a small and timid shrug. “He thinks I chose the easiest way out when I could have had something great,” she murmured once a sudden urge to throw up started to take over her body.

“But did you tell him why you did it?”

“Yeah… and to be honest, Ollie? It was the easiest way out if you think about it, so it’s not like I can’t blame him for having that kind of opinion,” she admitted while closing her eyes for a brief moment. “Nick had just gotten that huge promotion and he was working twelve to fifteen hours a day to prove to the C-levels that he was indeed the right one for the job. So, as you remember, when he earned the company those fifty millions dollars in one day, they all went to this bar down in Wall Street to celebrate and well, he invited me to joy them and it’s no secret to you that we got beyond wasted that night,” she went on even though her sister already knew all of that, having been the first one the brunette confided in. 

“Which is why you didn’t think much of it when you spent the entire next day throwing up,” Olivia complemented her speech.

“Exactly,” Charlotte affirmed. “But as you also know, when I found out that I was actually pregnant, Nick and I spent almost two weeks discussing it to decide what we wanted to do and whether we wanted to keep it or not…”

“And you did what you two thought was right, Charlie, and there’s absolutely no shame in doing what you, as a couple and two grown ups who respect each other, thought was the right thing to do at the time,” she said while offering her sister her signature smile, one that was filled with so much kindness and reassurance that could make any kind of worry or fear simply disappear. “You’ve never wanted kids, you were at a really great moment at VKI with those spectacular results you were getting and Nick flat out told you he didn’t think he could be a father at that specific moment because of how much he was and would be working,” she reminded her before raising her right hand up to the older woman’s face to gently tuck a strand of brown hair behind her ear. “You both work close to fifteen hours a day and one could say that’s one of the reasons as to why your relationship works so well and why you two hardly ever fight… because you find comfort in each other’s arms after a stressful day at work, you make each other laugh through simple and random texts throughout the day, you’re really good at leaving all of your work problems at work so you can focus on one another once your home and most important of all,” she paused. “You make each other beyond happy every time you’re together, no matter what’s going on in your lives and let me tell you, Charlie, not many couples can’t do that…”

“And bringing a baby into it would go against everything mom and dad built and fought for while raising us,” she whispered. “And I can’t be the one to ruin the next generation when I’m the reason mom and dad were able to prove that it is possible to have a loving and incredible family even with all of the money and drama that surrounds us,” she explained in a softer voice.

“You did what you needed to do, Charlie,” the blonde continued. “Do you remember what I told you that day at the clinic?”

“How could I ever forget, Ollie?” The eldest child frowned. “When it’s probably one of the most powerful and significant things you’ve ever said to me?” She questioned. “Not to mention that you hopped on a train to New York at the crack of dawn just to be right by my side through every step of the way, even though you knew Nick would be there with me,” she reminded her.

“So? What did I tell you that day, Charlie?”

“There are moments in life that, no matter what choice you make, giving up and facing it will hurt the exact same way,” Charlotte quoted her little sister.

“You and Nick had other priorities back then and you made that decision together, Charlie. It wasn’t your choice or his… you two decided on it together because it just wasn’t supposed to happen, not at that moment at least,” Olivia continued her speech. “So you chose what felt right at the time. You knew you wouldn’t be able to give that baby the kind of life it deserved and you made a choice, which to me, shows that you’re actually more ready to be parents than you thought you were because even by choosing abortion, you chose not to put a kid through the hell our parents went through growing up,” she pointed out. “And I think that says a lot but let me ask you something. Do you regret it?”

“No,” she answered straight away.

“And do you think Nick regrets it?” Her sister elaborated.

“I don’t think he regrets it, no,”

“But?”

“But I think he might be slowly leaning towards the idea of being a father,” Charlotte mentioned. “I mean, he hasn’t said much and that’s not exactly a subject that comes up a lot in our conversations, as weird as that may sound,” she chuckled.

“And how do you feel about the idea of becoming a mother?” Olivia wondered.

“I wouldn’t say it’s my dream… not like mom dreamed of having us, which was something that almost cost her their marriage, and not like you dream of having this huge family with Ryan, for example,” she was quick to admit. “But I think I would actually be open to the possibility if that’s something Nick really wants, I guess,” her tone was soft.

“Girls,” the two woman raised their heads and turned towards the stairs as soon as they heard the familiar voice behind them. “Is everything okay?” She asked. “I got worried when you didn’t return as fast as I thought you would so I decided to come check on you…”

“Yeah,” the eldest daughter responded immediately. “Everything is fine, mom. Ollie and I are just talking,” she told her mother.

“It’s really cold out here so why don’t you two come back inside, huh?” Fallon suggested. “I’m sure you can continue whatever you were talking about in the warmth of our living room,” she informed them.

“Not really, no,” Olivia shook her head.

“And why is that, pumpkin?” She frowned in suspicion.

“Henry recently found out I got an abortion a couple of years ago and that’s why he’s been acting weird towards me lately,” Charlotte replied. “And that’s what Ollie and I were just talking about so no, mom, we can’t exactly talk about that inside,” she added through a somewhat muffled murmur.

“Because then your dad will find out as well…”

“Exactly,” she nodded.

“Did something happen though? Your dad and I just talked to him and he’s going to apologize to you for the way he acted but if there’s something else I should know about, Charlie,” Fallon continued.

“No, mom, nothing happened. I think he might just need some time to process it, that’s all,” the young brunette shrugged. “I just don’t want dad finding out… that’s honestly my biggest concern right now, not Henry,” she muttered.

“You know, princess,” her mother turned her attention towards her, raising her hand to cup her slightly rosed cheek as she looked into the pair of ocean blue orbs that matched hers perfectly. “As proud as I am of the woman you’ve become, sometimes I hate how you ended up so much like me,” she confessed, her voice low and even a bit broken. “And while you’re so much better than I ever was, perhaps a thousand times better even, it kills me watching you make the same stupid mistakes that I made when I was your age,” she mentioned while running her thumb up and down her daughter’s cheek in the most tender of gestures.

“This isn’t your fault, mom,” Charlotte reassured her.

“I’m not saying it is, Charlie. I’m just saying that sometimes, I wish you weren’t so much like me,” she rephrased. “Because I also ended up accidentally pregnant in my late twenties… and that gave me you, making my biggest dream come true even though your dad didn’t want a baby at the time,” she offered her a smile. “And you chose not to go through with it because it wasn’t the right time for you and no one will think any less of you for going down that road, okay? Not even your dad,”

“He’s going to be so disappointed, mom,” she mumbled.

“Maybe at first, yeah, but then he will understand why you did it,” Fallon commented. “Because at the end of the day, princess, all he really wants is for you to be happy,” she spoke firmly.

“But how can you be so sure he won’t want to kill me?”

“Because deep down, princess, you’re just like me and I screwed up a lot more than you ever did,” she told her daughter. “And not once did he give up on me… he would and well, still will, give me a hard time depending on what I do but you’re his precious daughter, Charlie, the one who’s always going to be a little girl in his eyes and the one who he’s going to protect at all costs, no matter what,” she explained. “You didn’t get an abortion because you were a reckless teenager who got knocked up in high school. You got one because you knew a baby wouldn’t fit in your life at that moment and you chose that path over bringing into the world an innocent baby who would probably end up as messed up as me and your dad… so no, princess, he won’t kill you if you decide to tell him about it,”

“What if it changes the way he sees me?”

“He’s your dad, Charlie,” her mother couldn’t help but laugh. “He loves you more than anything in this world and nothing will ever change that,” she added with a smile. “I’m not saying you need to tell him, princess, but it’s been almost two years already and perhaps keeping that a secret from him is doing you more harm than good,” she shrugged. “So maybe think about it, okay?”

“What about you, mom?” Charlotte suddenly asked. “Were you disappointed when I told you that I was going to a clinic with Nick and Ollie to get that done?”

“No, princess,” she shook her head. “Not in the slightest,”

“How come?” She wondered, frowning.

“Because the only thing I ever want for you is to be happy,” Fallon blurted out, speaking each and every word with as much confidence as she could find in her body in an attempt to tell her daughter exactly what she needed to hear. “If that was the right decision for you at that point in your life, then you did everything I could ever ask of you,” she elaborated before taking one step closer to the younger woman. “You’ve grown up into an amazing woman and there isn’t a day that goes by where you don’t make me proud. I just want you to be happy, Charlotte, because that’s all a mother wants when it comes to her children and as long as I know you’re not doing anything wrong or illegal, I promise you, baby girl, nothing you choose will ever disappoint me,” she reassured her.

“And you think dad will feel the same way?”

“I know he will feel the same way,”

“But how can you even be so sure about that?” The confused brunette insisted.

“Because your dad watched me make one mistake after the other back in the day, Charlotte, and he could have walked away at any given point because I was just a girl who he could break up with if he didn’t feel like putting up with me anymore,” her mother stated. “But he chose to love you unconditionally the moment he told me he was on board with our pregnancy and when he held you for the first time, only minutes after entering this world, he made two promises to you princess. The first, that he would never let anything bad ever happen to you,”

“And the second?”

“That he would do anything to make you happy, even if that meant putting his own happiness on hold, just to see a smile on your lips and a sparkle in your eyes,” Fallon continued. “Your dad wants exactly what I want for you, princess. For you to be happy,” she repeated. “Life is not easy, Charlie, and the older we get, the more we realize it has more bumps along the way than we actually thought there would be, but you know what?”

“What?”

“When you have parents that are willing to face half of those bumps for you so your journey through life is a lot smoother, that’s when you know that you can always count on them,” she explained, grinning from ear to ear as she watched her daughter’s features soften. “And that you can always tell them anything…”

“I will tell him,” Charlotte murmured in response. “Not this weekend… but I will, mom,” she nodded, as if trying to convince herself of her sudden decision. “I will tell dad everything,”

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟶𝟷:𝟸𝟹𝙰𝙼.

𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝙴𝙳𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼

“Do you even know what that was all about?” Liam questioned, stepping out of the ensuite in nothing but a pair of black boxers as soon as he was done brushing his teeth only to find his wife already perfectly set on her side of the king sized bed.

“Huh?” Fallon frowned while looking over her glasses, suddenly pausing on her reading of the latest issue of Vogue in her iPad in order to appreciate the outstanding view in front of her.

“What happened downstairs an hour ago?” He elaborated on his way to the dresser across the bedroom. “Between Charlotte and Henry?” He added after briefly turning slightly back towards the brunette. “I mean, I know we haven’t seen both of them together in a while, but is something happening between them that I don’t know about? Did they recently fight or something?” He couldn’t help but wonder once his father heart tightening at the single thought of his children being in bad terms with one another.

“Charlie is going through some stuff and Henry ended up going way too far when teasing her,” she replied in an attempt to give her husband as little detail as possible. After all, it was not her place to tell what their daughter had done a couple of years back, especially when she was actually planning on opening up and finally telling her father all about it.

“And by that tone, I’m assuming I won’t be getting anything else besides that line that means absolutely nothing?” Liam could only sigh as he pulled the top drawer open to retrieve his dark blue pajama set.

“It’s not my stuff to tell, Liam,” Fallon’s voice was firm. She knew he knew that but sometimes, he just wished he knew more about what went on in their eldest daughter’s life. “I would if she was still a child or even a teen, like I did every time her sixteen year old self got into some kind of trouble and wanted to try and keep it from you, but she’s a grown woman now, babe… if she doesn’t want to share, then she has every right to keep things to herself,” she added with a small shrug as well as a rather apologetically smile.

“She’s not keeping things to herself if she’s telling you,” he stated, dropping the cotton shirt on the bed end before dressing into its matching pair of pants.

“Which is something she’s always done, babe,” she spoke in the most tender of tunes, hoping her soft words would bring him at least some kind of comfort. “You should skip that part tonight, you know,” she murmured completely out of the blue, throwing a mischievous grin in his direction once he reached for his pajama top. “You might feel a bit left out when it comes to Charlie but we both know that Liv usually opens up to you and not me,” she paused after quickly returning to the main topic of their conversation. “So believe me when I say that I know exactly what you’re feeling right now,” she added.

“I know, I know,” Liam exhaled heavily. “As long as there’s nothing bad happening,” he shrugged while rounding the bed to get to his side of the large mattress.

“There’s nothing bad happening, babe,” Fallon was quick to reassure her husband as he sat down by his nightstand. “I think she might just have a lot on her mind right now. You know how stressful her job can be, then there’s that whole drama with Nick’s family which she was telling us about earlier today and well… Nick did want to meet us to let us know he plans on proposing so maybe they’ve been discussing their next step?”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” he mentioned. “I just want her to be happy, Fal,” he confessed, sliding under the covers as he leaned back against the headboard. “I want all three of them to be happy, obviously, but she’s always been the one who worries me the most,” the words trailed on his tongue.

“I know, Liam… I really do,” she informed him. “But if she says she’s happy, then I believe her,”

“I do too,” Liam whispered. “I just,”

“Worry,” she finished his sentence.

“Yeah,” he affirmed through an almost inaudible response. “I can tell that she’s happy and that she loves the life she has but some things really do concern me… like how she works nonstop, doing those insane fifteen hours a day almost seven days a week, or how much she seems to be drinking lately,” he admitted, throwing his left arm across his wife’s shoulders as soon as she scooted closer to him.

“I’ve actually been meaning to talk her about those things,” Fallon commented. “But sometimes I can’t help but wonder if at some point, I screwed up and ended up being a bad example to her growing up since I used to do everything you just described when I was her age… which then leads me to wondering if this is my fault,” she muttered while resting her head in the crook of his neck.

“Don’t you dare say that, Fallon,” Liam’s eyes widened, his voice serious as he tightened his grip around her smaller frame. “You’re the best mother she could ever have and you should never question that, you hear me? Your entire world changed when you found out you were pregnant with her and with that, you changed, Fal,” he explained. “You have your flaws, yeah, and I’m sure you made plenty of mistakes over the past three decades but if there’s one thing you did right, babe, it was raise her in the best way possible,” he affirmed, offering her one of his most loving smiles before planting a long and meaningful kiss on her forehead. “But maybe try talking to her? Just in case?”

“I will,” she nodded, her eyes wandering down to the peach diamond on her ring finger as her left hand rested against his bare chest. “That dinner with Nick really threw me off my game… I usually know how to read her as soon as she walks into the room,” she groaned in slight frustration.

“She will always be your little girl, Fal,” he reassured her. “That’s what you told me, remember?” He chuckled softly.

“I know she will,” Fallon rolled her eyes. “Just like I also know that commitment is one of our daughter’s biggest fears,” she reminded her husband while staring deeply into the bright blue of his eyes. “Which is probably one of the reasons as to why he still hasn’t proposed even though they’ve been dating for almost a decade already,” she continued.

“You think she might say no?” Liam gasped in surprise, certainly not expecting that kind of concern from his wife.

“No, no,” she immediately shook her head. “Charlotte loves Nick more than anything… I’m just anxious to see her reaction, that’s all,” she admitted with a small yet loving smile.

“And have you decided whether or not you’re giving this away?” He questioned once he finally allowed his blue orbs to look away from hers, landing right on the beautiful diamond that he had given her exactly thirty-two years back.

“Not yet,” Fallon whispered while fidgeting with the heavy ring that had already become a part of her. Without it, she felt naked. Unprotected.

“You don’t have to give it to him, you know,”

“I know,” she mumbled. “I know,”

“I do understand and I can see why Nick would ask for it but it’s still your ring, babe,” Liam went on. “It’s the engagement ring that sealed our relationship and I know better than anyone how much you love it and how much it means to you since you don’t even leave our bedroom without sliding it on your finger ever single morning,” he mentioned while reaching for her left hand, lacing their fingers together once he felt her leaning her head further against his in what he could only guess was a way of searching for the kind of comfort that only he could provide her with. “And if by any chance you can’t wear it on your finger, you put it in that tiny and delicate gold chain so you can wear it around your neck instead,” he described.

“Yet I’m actually considering giving it to him,” Fallon told her husband, letting him in on what she was thinking as she dwelled on the idea of giving her own engagement ring to their future son-in-law for him to propose to their eldest daughter with it. “Because even though it’s my favorite piece of jewelry and possibly one of my most precious possessions, Charlotte has been simply obsessed with it ever since she was only two years old,” she smiled fondly at one of the most special memories she had of her firstborn as a toddler. “I can still see the tears in her eyes and the inexplicable happiness on her face when we surprised her for that Valentine’s Day as if it was yesterday… how she completely lost it when we gave her the mini red dress that we had made specially for her, just to match the one I wore to our engagement party, along with the tiny replica of this very ring and the domino clutch which, by the way, she still has and keeps in a glass display case in her closet,” she laughed lightly.

“You’re not the only one, believe me,” he offered his wife a smile after throwing his other arm around her with the sole purpose of pulling her even closer to him through a tight and heartwarming hug. “We could have told her that we were going to Disney World that day and she would still have chosen to live that moment with us,” he mentioned. “But I’m sure she would love any other ring if you don’t feel like giving it away because let’s be honest, it’s the proposal that matters, not the ring itself… the promise of a future together, the idea of having that person by your side through every step of the way… not the ring,” he added with a shrug. “I mean, the man knows exactly who he fell in love with so I have no doubt that he would go out of his way to get her the most extraordinary engagement ring,” 

“Just like you did…”

“And that’s why this ring is so important to you, babe,” Liam pointed out. “Yes, it’s a beautiful ring with a huge diamond but it’s so much more than that, Fal. It’s the symbol of our love story, it’s the main character of the lame story that I made up in one day just to surprise you with the proposal of your dreams and it’s also the piece of jewelry that has been with you through everything,” he paused briefly. He did love seeing that ring on her finger, perhaps a lot more than he would care to admit. “Sitting right next to the wedding band that even though is what actually sealed our marriage back then, we change every time we renew our vows,” 

“But that’s the thing… it’s been a part of me for over thirty years now,” she stated firmly, noticing the grin that appeared on his lips once she began running her foot up and down his leg. “And like you said, it’s the symbol of our love story and the way I see it, it could easily turn into a family heirloom, just like the diamond collection that you started when Charlie was born,” she commented, her voice sweet and filled with love. “So to me… I think it makes sense to pass it on?” She frowned, not exactly sure of what he would think of her as she indeed considered giving away the precious item, which he had been the one to slide on her finger when asking her to run away with him and be together forever. 

“It does,” the two words were nothing more than a muffled whisper as they came out of his mouth.

“I mean,” Fallon began. “I don’t think I would ever be able to choose one of our kids to pass it on to,” she continued, her ocean blue eyes locked on the diamond in question as her left hand traveled up and down his muscular chest. “But Liv has already gotten her own engagement ring, which is probably one of the most gorgeous rings I’ve ever seen and coming from me, that’s saying a lot!” She chuckled loudly. “And well… Laura gave her engagement ring to Henry when he turned eighteen, the one you didn’t want when she offered?”

“She did try to give it to me when I turned eighteen but I was so set on the idea of getting away from all those crazy Van Kirk’s that I told her I didn’t want it,” Liam explained. “Because it wouldn’t make sense for me to keep something that meaningful when I kind of wanted out of that world?” He frowned. “Not to mention how much you two hated each other back when we started dating, which is probably why she never offered it to me again,” he couldn’t help but laugh at his own thought. “At one point, she wanted me to have it but she was so determined to push you away from me that she never mentioned the ring again… not once,” he rolled his eyes.

“But then that nightmare at Henry’s birth happened and she unexpectedly became a part of our family,” she complemented. “And now it makes sense for him to carry that tradition along with her ring, especially when our little boy is our only Lowden,” she smiled brightly, suddenly feeling like she wanted to enjoy something else entirely as the clock struck two in the morning. “Legally I mean… since he’s the only one with the name that not even you have anymore,” she stated while raising her chin to meet the blue orbs that even after so many years, still had the power to make her knees weak and her heart beat faster.

“Well, we did get one of each… we have our little Carrington, who’s the better version of you, who happens to be the best version of Blake,” he described. “We have our little Van Kirk, who’s one hundred percent an heir of that family with how she looks on the outside while on the inside, she came to prove that even Van Kirk’s can be extremely kind, generous and loving,”

“Our little angel…”

“Exactly,” he nodded, smiling. “And then… we have our little Lowden, the one who actually looks like we made him together? After one that came out a mini Fallon through and through,”

“And the one that came out a mini Liam through and through?” She grinned from ear to ear as she looked at her husband with so much love that he could feel his heart clenching at how incredibly much he loved her right back.

“Something like that, yeah,” Liam laughed softly. “But no matter what you choose to do, Fal, I know it will be the right thing to do,” he reassured his wife. “You have every right to keep your own engagement ring but if you do decide to pass it on to the next generation, this special diamond right here,” he ran the back of his thumb against the rectangular, light orange colored rock. “Will be in really good hands, you can count on that,” he added a second later.

“It sure will. I’m certain it will,” Fallon spoke firmly. “But now,” she paused, the words hushed on her lips as she leaned even closer to him. “Enough about the kids,” she whispered in his ear, allowing her hand to wander from his chest down to the waistband of his pajama pants as she teased his earlobe with the tip of her tongue.

“It’s past two in the morning, babe,” he reminded her, settling both of his hands on her waist by instinct once she surprised him by straddling him with no warning at all.

“I know you’re sixty-two and all,” she began, her voice low and so sexy he immediately felt his blood rushing south.

“Are you calling me old, Mrs. Ridley?” His eyes widened.

“You’re the one who wants to sleep,” Fallon groaned in complaint.

“It’s not like it’s eight o’clock and I’m going to bed, Fal,” Liam murmured. “It is pretty late actually,” he told her.

“Then should I just go back to my side of the bed?” She wondered with a playful and provocative smirk plastered on her lips. “So you can get your beauty sleep?” She questioned.

“Instead of this?” He glanced down at their joined bodies, appreciating to the fullest the exact location where she had chosen to sit. “Please, as if I would ever say no to this kind of entertainment…”

“Then sit back and relax, Mr. Ridley,” Fallon instructed her husband while slowly pulling away from him, sliding down his body as she peppered quick yet passionate kisses down the bare skin of his abdomen. “And let your wife take care of you,” she threw him a wink before lowering her head even further, taking no longer than a few seconds to reach her intended destination as his first moan of the night echoed around the luxurious master bedroom. 

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟾:𝟺𝟼𝙰𝙼.

𝙺𝙸𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙴𝙽

“Charlie?” Fallon could only gasp in surprise when she stepped into the quiet kitchen to find her daughter standing by the counter, nursing a cup of fresh coffee as she poured some dog food into the porcelain bowl on the floor. “Is everything okay?” She asked in concern, worried that the events from the night before were still upsetting her in one way or another. “Why are you up this early?”

“Oh hi, mom,” Charlotte replied while raising her head. “Yeah, yeah, everything is fine,” she nodded.

“You do know I can read you like an open book, right?” 

“Sometimes I wish you couldn’t,” she confessed with a somewhat muffled groan.

“Is it about last night?” The young girl immediately shook her head. “Work or Nick then?” Her mother wondered, fully aware that only those two things would have the power to make her daughter forego her precious hours of beauty sleep. The two things that once kept her up at night, whenever something wasn’t going right in either one of those areas.

“Work is fine,” she sighed heavily.

“So Nick then,” Fallon concluded before taking a seat at the counter. “Tell me what’s going on,” she requested while reaching for one of the white mugs that were sitting by the coffee machine.

“I think he’s going to propose,” Charlotte went straight to the point.

“You think?” The older woman frowned, lowering her gaze down to her mug as she poured some coffee into it. “Or you know?” She added shortly after in a much more serious tone. After all, she knew a lot more than she could say. 

“Is there really a difference?”

“Well, up until last night, you two were arguing about the way his parents have been acting,” she commented. “And now, it’s not even nine in the morning and you’re already up, spiraling over the thought that your boyfriend of nine years is getting down on one knee,” she shrugged. “So what happened while you were supposedly asleep?” She wondered. “Did he call you back?”

“Yeah, actually,” the young brunette responded. “I think it was past midnight when we all went to bed?” Her mother nodded silently. “After that disagreement with Henry, Ollie chose to not even continue telling us her proposal story so I texted Nick to let him know that I had had a great day in spite of everything and that I was finally tucking in for the night. He was still up, working on some reports for Tuesday, so he called,” she explained. “We actually talked for about an hour. He apologized for saying some of the things he had said earlier and then we pretty much just talked until I fell asleep while still on the line…”

“Talked? Or-”

“Mom!” Charlotte exclaimed, her eyes wide in a mix of panic and horror at the fact that her mother would even suggest such a thing.

“It’s an honest question!”

“No, it’s not!” She groaned. “But yeah, talked,” she made it clear.

“Okay, but jokes aside… did Nick say anything that would make you suspicious?” Fallon questioned while taking a sip of her hot drink.

“No,” the younger woman murmured. “I mean, I don’t even know. I was exhausted and also considerably drunk so even if he had said anything, I’m not even sure I would have understood it clearly so… who knows,” she shrugged.

“Then what made you jump to that conclusion?” Her mother couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know, mom,” was all she managed to say as she paced back and forth around the wide kitchen, her hands running nervously through her hair as her faithful dog watched carefully her every move. “You know that feeling that wouldn’t just go away back when I was supposed to decide which college to attend?”

“How you spent your entire life set on the idea of going to Harvard only to change your mind completely out of the blue when you got all those Ivy League schools’ letters?” She said teasingly.

“Well, I did eventually choose to go to the best business school in the country so,” Charlotte reminded her. “The one you went to, as a matter of fact, Mrs. Ridley,” she spoke in a just as teasing tune before throwing a grin in the older brunette’s direction.

“I’m pretty sure you would still be the incredible business woman that you are had you chosen Harvard… but then you wouldn’t have met Nick,” Fallon pointed out. “But one thing is certain, princess, for someone who grew up always knowing what to say and pretty set on the all of things that she wanted to accomplish, you do struggle with big, life changing decisions,” she commented in a much softer voice, mostly to prevent her daughter from getting the wrong idea regarding what she was trying to say. “Just like I used to struggle,” she added only a few seconds later, somehow taking the blame for passing one of her worst insecurities on to her. 

“But you overcame it…”

“Eventually, yeah,” she nodded with a small shrug. “At some point you just do, I suppose,”

“But how?”

“When you stop worrying so much about it and you start letting yourself just… live,” her mother explained, offering her daughter the most loving of smiles while pouring some more coffee into the young woman’s mug.

“And let me guess… dad taught you that?” Charlotte grinned joyfully at the thought of everything their parents had overcome with each other’s help. It surely made her more confident and hopeful about long term relationships.

“He did, yeah,” she chuckled. “But let me tell you something, Charlie,” she paused briefly. “Deciding to go to Wharton instead of going to Harvard was one of the best decisions you’ve ever made and look at everything you’ve accomplished so far, princess… you’re not even thirty and you’re already Head of Strategic Management at Van Kirk Industries, you have your own Upper East Side penthouse, you have an amazing boyfriend,”

“Who’s probably turning into my husband if my suspicions are correct,” she completed her mother’s sentence before raising her mug up to her lips to take another sip.

“Good to know you’re saying yes if Nick does propose,” she couldn’t help but tease her eldest child.

“Like you literally just said, he’s an amazing boyfriend and I honestly can’t think of anyone else I would rather spend the rest of my life with,” the younger brunette admitted. “Especially considering everything we talked about last night, with the whole abortion thing and how he only wanted what was best for us at the time… I do think Nick is my one and I love him more than anything so yeah, mom, I suppose you could say that I want to marry him someday I’m just,” she rambled. “I’m just not sure of anything at this point. I guess,” she murmured. “I guess I just have this feeling that I can’t really explain,” she admitted after returning to the counter.

“Isn’t it possible that you may be overthinking this, princess?”

“Well, there’s always a possibility that I might be overthinking,” Charlotte rolled her eyes, eliciting a rather loud laugh from her mother. “But there’s also a chance that I might be right this time, so there’s that,”

“Why?”

“Because I once told him that I wouldn’t get married just because it’s what his parents want for us,” she spoke firmly. “And throughout the years, every time the subject came up, I told him that if we do take that step, it’s going to be for love and because we both wanted it… and last night he started asking how I felt about planning a vacation for this fall or maybe even around my birthday and I know Nick, mom, and that man has never planned anything this much ahead in his life,” she told her mother.

“Why don’t you just ask him?” Fallon suggested. “I mean, he could be just planning a surprise birthday trip for all we know,”

“In August? For December?” Charlotte frowned. “No. That’s not my boyfriend, no,” she shook her head. “Not to mention that his own birthday is practically two months before mine so why would he even be planning mine already?” She wondered out loud. “Something is not adding up and it’s killing me not knowing,” she muttered with a rather muffled groan of frustration. “But well… I guess I will have to figure out. I always do,” she added with a shrug. “What time is dad even waking up these days anyway?”

“Charlotte, I’m pretty sure you’re old enough to make your own waffles if you’re hungry,” her mother mentioned. “But to answer your question, ever since the doctor recommended he cut his gym hours short… by half,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s been waking up a lot later than he used to,” she informed her.

“Can you make me waffles?” She questioned while throwing her best puppy eyes at her mother, fully aware of the power her blue eyes had been holding over the older woman ever since she was a newborn.

“Why don’t we-” Fallon was just about to propose they started on breakfast together when the staccato notes coming from the grand piano back in the living room echoed into the open kitchen.

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟿:𝟷𝟷𝙰𝙼.

𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼

I’m nothing special, in fact I’m a bit of a bore

When I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before

“Is everyone awake already?” The older brunette couldn’t help but frown once they began heading in the direction of the beautiful song. The one that had been one of her daughter’s all time favorites for as long as she could remember.

But I have a talent, a wonderful thing

‘Cause everyone listens when I start to sing

I’m so grateful and proud

Walking into the living room in complete silence in order to make sure they wouldn’t disturb the young woman at the piano, both mother and daughter smiled brightly as the meaningful lyrics echoed around them.

All I want is to sing it out loud so I say

Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing

Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be

Without a song or a dance what are we

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

Olivia continued to sing, her fingers moving ever so delicately between the white and black keys of the grand piano while her head gently moved to the melody. And when she noticed her mother standing only a couple of feet away, she was instantly taken back to her childhood, back to when she would practice that exact song with her mother every morning, right after breakfast.

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk

She offered the brunette a smile.

She says I began to sing long before I could talk

“You did,” the blonde read on her mother’s lips, their matching blue eyes locking for a brief moment until she eventually returned her attention to the fancy black instrument in front of her.

But I often wonder, how did it all start

Who found out that nothing can capture a heart

Like a melody can

Well, whoever it was, I’m a fan

Olivia went on, taking a deep breath before moving along to the next verse of the special song, all whilst watching her mother approach the piano.

So I say

Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing

Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

Her long golden locks were still slightly mess from having just woken up and her face was bare of any make up, but it was the look on her mother’s eyes that made her feel like the prettiest girl in the room and when she least expected it, the brunette sat down right next to her.

What would life be

Without a song or a dance what are we

Fallon suddenly sang. Joining her daughter in on the song, her hands found the exact placement for the chords she needed to play without much thought as it was one of the songs which she would always be able to play by heart.

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

Olivia whispered the lyrics while resting her head on her mother’s shoulder. After all, she had been the one to introduce her to the music world, something she would be forever thankful for.

I’ve been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair

She raised her chin to glance at her mother, the wide and loving grin on the brunette’s lips indicating exactly how proud she was of her.

I wanna sing it out to everybody

What a joy! What a life! What a chance!

The young woman exclaimed as they played together, their hands dancing across the piano in perfect sync as their fingers brought to life the song that meant so much to them as mother and daughter.

Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing

Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be

Without a song or a dance what are we

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

“Thank you, mom,” Olivia whispered as soon as they reached the end of the song, practically jumping at the older woman as she threw her arms around her body to pull her into the tightest of hugs. 

“Oh, baby girl,” Fallon murmured in the softest of tunes, hugging the precious woman that would always be her little girl in her eyes before planting a long and meaningful kiss on the top of her head. “If only I was half as good as you are when it comes to music,” she confessed with teary eyes.

“You taught me everything I know,” she commented, her voice still low and even a bit muffled.

“Yet I will never play like you do,” she replied with a small shrug, inexplicably proud of the woman her little angel had become. “This is all you, Liv. This talent right here,” she gestured to the grand piano before them. “It’s all you, pumpkin,” she told her daughter.

“You do a have gift, Ollie,” Charlotte spoke up on her way towards her mother and sister. “Mom is good but you’re beyond good, little one,” she added, offering her young sister a joyful smile while gently running her fingers through the gold strands that shone as bright as gold itself. “And who knows… maybe you and Ryan will one day have a little one that’s going to be even better than you,” she threw the blonde a wink.

“Maybe,” Olivia chuckled. “Maybe even more than one? Who knows?” She wondered.

“Glad to hear that at least one of you will give me grandchildren,” Fallon commented.

“Well,” the young brunette. “Ollie has said that she wants three or four since she and Ryan want a big family so… that should make it up for me not having any?” She asked her mother. “I mean, do you think you can handle four kids every time they come visit grandma and grandpa, Mrs. Ridley?”

“I would take care of five if you gave me one too,” she teased her daughter with a playful grin.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid I have an entirely different goal at the moment…”

“Oh, the awaited CEO position when Elliott retires in a couple of years,” the blonde mentioned.

“It is possible to have both, you know?” Fallon turned around on her seat to take a proper look at her extremely career driven daughter. “I mean,” she paused momentarily. “I did,” she reminded her. “Maybe it’s not as easy as doing only one of them but what’s life without a challenge, right? Especially when that allows you to find the most precious and heartwarming of smiles every time you get home to your baby after a stressful day at work,” she explained.

“Well, mom, we never really know what the future holds so,” Charlotte replied timidly, gazing into her mother’s ocean blue orbs as she thought about everything that she wanted to accomplish in the next few years. “Maybe I will… maybe I won’t… who knows…”

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟶𝟿:𝟻𝟻𝙰𝙼.

𝙺𝙸𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙴𝙽

“So you didn’t suspect anything?” Henry asked his sister from his current spot on the opposite side of the wide kitchen counter. “When your boyfriend planned an awfully romantic two-week trip to your favorite country completely out of the blue?” He elaborated before returning his attention to the selection of fruit in front of him.

“I think that’s enough, son,” Liam mentioned at the sight of all of the berries the young man had washed. “Your mom and Charlie are probably the only ones eating it,” he informed him.

“Well, it wasn’t that out of the blue since Ryan and I travel to Italy every summer around my birthday, but the fact that he tried to make this one trip a lot more romantic than our previous ones did make me wonder whether something out of the ordinary was going to happen,” Olivia confessed after reaching for the almond milk her father had just heated up for her. “I mean, it was around the time of the fifth anniversary of when we met and not only did Ryan only book incredible and very expensive five-star hotels at all four of our destinations, even though we usually stay at normal people hotels,” she added with a soft chuckle, her ocean blue orbs sparkling in pure joy as memories from their latest trip started to play in her brain. 

“I would say that’s exactly the kind of thing a guy does to propose,” Fallon commented, staring up from her vanilla latte just in time to meet her husband’s eyes with the most meaningful of smiles on her lips. “Thanks, babe,” she added in a rather low voice when he handed her one of the golden waffles he had just taken out of the burning hot iron before placing the second one on his eldest daughter’s porcelain plate.

“Thanks, dad,” Charlotte replied shortly.

“Syrup?” He asked while taking a handful of berries from the glass bowl sitting in front of the nineteen year old. “Or whipped cream?” He looked between mother and daughter as he carefully dropped the mix of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries on top of the young woman’s waffle only to do the same for his wife a minute later. 

“Syrup, please,” the two brunettes answered at the same time.

Always in perfect sync. Liam thought to himself. 

“There you go,” he murmured after sliding the brand new glass bottle in their direction. “Straight from the finest trees of the forests of Vermont… your favorite kind,” he laughed lightly.

“You know, you spoil them way too much, dad,” the blonde spoke up, watching as her brother poured more batter into the cookware item to help their father prepare a second round of his famous homemade Belgian waffles.

“Are you jealous, Ollie?” Her sister questioned in her signature sassy voice.

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m just stating a fact,” she shrugged, throwing the young brunette the kind of eye roll which they had both inherited from their mother before stealing a blueberry from the young brunette’s plate.

“Hey!” Charlotte exclaimed, her eyes widening at the sudden action as she held the syrup bottle up in the air, ready to pour some of the amazing amber liquid all over her waffle. “That was mine, Miss Ridley!” She complained in a playful tune, mostly to mess with her little sister.

“So?” Olivia threw her a puzzled look while mischievously grabbing a raspberry.

“For someone who never really liked eating, especially fruit, you’ve sure come a long way, you know,” the oldest of the two groaned.

“And you know what’s even more ironic than watching Olivia steal fruit from Charlotte’s plate?” Henry jumped into his sister’s conversation, turning around on his sock cladded heels to look at the two women after taking some of the dishes they were no longer using to the sink. “That her soulmate and soon to be husband is a chef, at one of the most acclaimed five-star restaurants in the DC area, as a matter of fact,” he mentioned. “And who also happens to cook her the craziest and most incredible of meals every,” he paused all of a sudden. “Single,” he paused again, his voice twice as dramatic. “Day,” he finished, smirking at the middle child as the provocative words escaped his lips.

“Now imagine all the spectacular meals those two had in Italy,” the young brunette wondered.

“Maybe we should ask Ryan to take us to Italy next time he goes… what do you think, Cupcake Charlie?” He asked her.

“We really should, Pancake Hank,” she nodded in response.

“Or maybe you should let your sister continue her story?” Liam suggested while taking the next round of waffles out of the iron.

“Well, I’m sure Charlie and Henry will love hearing one of the reasons as to why I thought that maybe something was going to happen,” Olivia went on, waiting patiently for her father to hand her one of the plates as she reached for the small jar of homemade grape jam her fiancé had sent to her parents. “It’s because aside from the fancy hotels, Ryan also planned all of these cute and special little dates and since he happens to know plenty of important people in the gastronomy business, he managed to get us reservations at some fantastic restaurants that like… even mom would have to really, really bribe her way in,” she added with a soft laugh while glancing at her mother. 

“What makes you so sure Ryan didn’t bribe his way in, huh?” Her mother frowned immediately.

“Hank, put those muscles to good use, come on,” she requested all of a sudden, smirking at her brother before pushing the jar which she simply couldn’t manage to open in his direction.

“So now you can’t even open the jam your own man makes?” Henry was quick to tease her once the glass jar reached his side of the marble countertop.

“When did you become this annoying, if you don’t mind me asking?” Olivia wondered.

“Oh come on, Liv,” he sighed when the loud pop of the jar being opened with no effort at all echoed around them. “You love me,” he winked at her. “There,” he whispered before sliding the jar of jam back to.

“I certainly don’t remember the three of you teasing each other this bad last time we all got together,” Liam commented, looking between each one of his children as he worked on making more coffee.

“I think maybe Henry is jealous that he’s the only single person in this family,” Charlotte shrugged while taking a bite of her waffle.

“And who exactly said I’m single?” The teenager countered, eliciting a loud gasp from every single member of his family as the four of them immediately stopped what they were doing in order to turn towards him.

“What?” Fallon was the first one to question her son’s latest statement.

“Anything you want to share with us, son?” Liam quickly followed.

“Nope,” he shook his head. “That’s not really relevant right now because I still want to hear all about Liv’s proposal story,” he told his parents after taking a sip of his black coffee.

“Then maybe I should continue so we can find out more about Henry’s mysterious girl?” Olivia spoke up.

“Since you said yes,” her father suddenly said, closing his eyes as he pushed a generous spoonful of cherry rhubarb jam into his mouth instead of rubbing it over his waffle. “Does that mean we can have an unlimited supply of this perfection?” He asked at the wonderful taste that took over his mouth in a matter of seconds. “Because… I mean,” he muttered. “This,”

“I’m sure Ryan can make more if you want, dad,” she couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face. “He said he would never let me come visit you without at least two jars of your favorite jams… each. He knows you’re crazy about the cherry rhubarb jam just like mom loves the bourbon peach one, so I’m sure he won’t mind making more of those if you want,” she reassured him. “But me saying yes is actually the end of the story so can I go on?”

“Yes, Ollie, go on,” Charlotte’s tone was firm. “Before they interrupt you again…”

“Okay, so,” the blonde began. “Ryan and I have been dating for five years which yeah, it might be enough time with one another to take the next step but still,” she murmured, shrugging timidly. “I’m still halfway through med school and then I still have internship and residency to go through, so I wasn’t quite sure he would go down that road just yet,” she explained.

“Well, he is five years older than you,” her sister reminded her. “It makes sense for him to want to take that step with you even though there’s a long way until you finish your studies,”

“Yeah, that’s true,” she nodded. “I actually became a lot more suspicious when we arrived in Verona and I realized he had booked none other than the Relais Balcone de Giulietta hotel,” she mentioned, pronouncing the words in the impeccable Italian which she had become fluent in about a decade back. “And of course, that he had booked their finest suite for our stay there… which just happened to be the building’s most prestigious charming room up in the fourth floor with the most stunning view of both Juliet’s Balcony and Torre dei Lamberti,” she told her family. “I swear to God, I stepped onto the balcony of our room pretty much as soon as we walked inside and when my eyes landed on Juliet’s balcony, I thought that was it. That’s how it was going to happen…”

“And how that man wasn’t on his knees with that astonishing ring once she turned back around to return to their room is still beyond me!” Charlotte exclaimed dramatically.

“That would have been so adorable,” Fallon commented. “And very fitting…”

“Right?” The young brunette replied. “Can you believe that I was on my way to a meeting with the board when Ollie called me to tell me what had just happened and I pretty much embarrassed the shit out of myself when I suddenly screamed in the middle of the hallway,” she rolled her eyes in frustration at the memory.

“I’m sure people at VKI enjoyed that,” Liam teased his daughter, filling her empty mug with another round of warm and fresh coffee before dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

“Thanks, dad,”

“Oh, I bet they did,” she groaned. “I mean, Ryan would have sent Ollie straight into tears had he done that…”

“Oh, that’s for sure,” Olivia affirmed, smiling from ear to ear as she poured more jam onto her already half eaten waffle. “Just like he did when he actually proposed,” she chuckled. “Because he might have chosen to play games with my heart in Italy, but it was when we got back home that he crushed me for good,”

“Yet you keep saying this was your best Verona trip so far,” Henry mentioned. “Mom, can I try some of yours?” He questioned while gesturing to the closed jar of bourbon peach jam.

“Of course, prince,” his mother replied with a small nod.

“Because it was, Hank,” the middle child stated. “From going to all the Romeo and Juliet locations together, as we normally do, to watching the sunrise at Lake Garda, which is actually something we had never done before… everything was so incredibly romantic and perfect that it honestly didn’t take long for this trip to beat all others,” she confessed.

“Even though he didn’t propose?” Her brother wondered. “Okay, this jam tastes like heaven!” He exclaimed totally out of the blue as he grabbed another spoonful of his mother’s jam to add to his chocolate chip waffle.

“Yeah,” she nodded in response. “Because like I said… his real surprise was waiting for me at home,” she added with a joyful smile. “I think it was around five or something when we landed in DC after a fifteen hour journey from Milan, with a four hour layover in Madrid until we eventually flew back to this side of the ocean, and the international airport is about an hour from his place so, needless to say,” she paused in order to eat another piece of her grape jam covered waffle before continuing the story. “I was pretty much exhausted and drained when we got home,” she concluded.

“And that’s exactly why we have a jet,” Fallon turned towards her daughter. “Which you and Ryan are welcome to use at any time, pumpkin, no questions asked,” she reminded her.

“I know, mom, I really do and I actually appreciate that quite a lot, but he planned this one all on his own for a reason and he was so proud of everything he was able to accomplish that asking my parents for their private plane wouldn’t have been that rewarding if you think about it,” Olivia explained.

“Maybe he will feel more comfortable once you two get married and he officially becomes part of the family,” Henry spoke up. “I mean, there are worse things than flying commercial like… flying commercial in coach, but go on…”

“He probably will, yeah,” Olivia agreed. “So well, due to how tired I was after such a long flight, he offered to run me a bath and as it turns out, it was basically his way of keeping me in the bathroom for as long as he could so he could rush back to the living room to set things up and get everything ready,” she went on while raising her mug up to her lips. “And when I got out, what did I do?” She asked rhetorically. “I did both my skin and hair routine, as I do every night, and then I went looking for him in nothing but a bathrobe and with my hair still wet,”

“I’m sure Ryan enjoyed that very much though,” her sister commented.

“He did, yes,” she replied shortly, giving her sister no additional details as to how much her boyfriend had enjoyed her choice of outfit that outfit since their parents were standing right next to them. “But when I walked into the living room and saw an endless amount of candles and pink peonies scattered all over the room, I must admit I felt like killing him,” she laughed at her own words, thinking back to the exact moment it hit her that her boyfriend was on his way of becoming more than that. “I would say he prepared something similar to what dad prepared for mom all those years ago in London,” she described. “But instead of the red roses, he chose dozens of candles and my favorite flowers which, just like Charlie pointed out earlier, sent me straight into tears once I realized what was really going on,”

“I know that feeling pretty well, pumpkin,” Fallon mentioned before offering her daughter one of her brightest of grins. As happy as she already was for her little girl, she couldn’t help but find herself even more excited for what was about to come as she carefully listened to the romantic story. “When you feel tears pooling in your eyes and butterflies in your stomach and you’re not sure whether you should say anything or simply stay quiet because the element of surprise just throws you off your game completely,” she explained.

“Yet you quickly started rambling when you walked into our hotel room in London and realized it was about to happen,” Liam immediately pointed out as he thought back to one of the happiest days of his life.

“Well, dad, that’s mom, the one who rambles a bunch of silly things when she’s nervous,” the blonde laughed softly. “And yeah, mom,” she then turned in her mother’s direction. “That exact feeling… but at the same time quite mad at him for not telling me to at least put on a dress or something!” She rolled her eyes, an act that instantly made her parents grin at how much she resembled that mother at that moment.

“Yeah, I must say that wasn’t that polite of him,” Charlotte chuckled. “But I’m sure the bathrobe with nothing underneath it made things a lot easier after the proposal,” she threw her young sister a playful wink.

“Charlie!” Olivia gasped, almost choking on her last piece of waffle at her sister’s latest sentence.  “Mom and dad are listening!” She groaned, her voice low and hushed as she glared at the young brunette. “Anyway,” she sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I could tell something was going to happen but I mean… when dad proposed to mom, he waited for her to walk further into the room to surprise her even more by getting down on his knee while they were both surrounded by all those red roses, chocolate and little gifts,” she mentioned, bringing back one of the few chapters from their parents’ love story the three young adults would never get tired of hearing all about. “So you would think that my dear Ryan would at least have the decency to do the same, right? Well, apparently,” she paused dramatic. “The man had different plans entirely!”

“What did he even do when you walked into the living room?” Charlotte wondered, her eyes wide in anticipation as she completely forgot about the berries that were still on her plate. “What did he do, Ollie?” She repeated, clearly very impatient to know more.

“Admittedly, my first thought when I saw the candles and the peonies was, in fact, that he was going to propose to me that night,” she confessed. “But he was nowhere to be seen and I also found it quite odd that there was this mysterious brown paper box sitting right in the middle of the living room with this huge pink bow on top of it because I could swear there was absolutely nothing of the kind anywhere in the apartment when we arrived from the airport,” she told her family before eating another bite of her jam covered waffle. “So I walked towards the box and well, to be completely honest with you guys, I wasn’t exactly sure I was supposed to even open it but since he wasn’t around, I thought a little peaking wouldn’t hurt so why not, right?” She added with a shrug.

“You do know you could have ruined the whole surprise by doing that, right, Liv?” Liam couldn’t resist messing with his daughter as he listened carefully to her every word.

“Except that having me open that box was the surprise, dad,” the young woman countered. “Because as soon as I pulled it open, a Saint Bernard puppy jumped forward with the prettiest of sparks in her eyes and her tail wagging so fast and in so much excitement that I felt my knees weakening and my legs trembling all whilst my heart exploded with an amount of joy that I don’t think I can even put into words,” she chuckled, the smile on her rosed lips showing exactly how happy and in love she was.

“And that’s how Juliet came into your life,” Fallon murmured, hoping that keeping her voice low and even slightly muffled would somehow keep her from crying her eyes out at her youngest daughter’s story.

“I immediately picked her up and sat down on the couch with her on my lap… I was pretty much speechless and I can say even flabbergasted so it actually took me a few minutes to notice that she had one of those little barrels hanging off this beautiful red collar around her neck,” Olivia continued as images from the moment she had met her newest dog rushed through her brain. “I was so entranced by her and well, shocked that I had just gotten back from a two-week trip across the ocean to find a tiny puppy in my boyfriend’s living room!”

“I’m pretty sure a Saint Bernard puppy is far from tiny, Ollie,” her sister commented. “I mean, she’s only two months old now and I’m certain she’s bigger than Lady already,”

“Possibly, yeah,” she laughed lightly. “But what I meant to say there is that I was so surprised I didn’t even notice the white words on the little barrel, telling me to open it and once I did… a black velvet box instantly fell out of it and right onto my hand,” she spoke in the softest of tunes, smiling at the tears in both her mother’s and big sister’s eyes as her father suddenly threw an arm around her back with the sole purpose of pulling her closer to him. “And when I looked up with tears already pooling in my eyes, Ryan was standing right there… leaning against the threshold that led to the bedroom with his arms crossed against his chest and a smirk plastered on his lips, having watched everything without me even noticing it,”

“Oh my God, I’m so glad I waited for you to share every detail with us in person instead of over the phone,” Charlotte admitted, jumping off her seat before rushing towards her sister. “But please tell me Ryan got down on one knee otherwise I will be hearing from me real soon!” She exclaimed, eliciting loud laughs from her family members.

“He did, Charlie… he did,” the blonde informed her overly ecstatic sister. “Ryan approached me when he realized I was sitting completely still with one arm around Juliet and the velvet box tight in my other hand,” she chuckled. “So he approached me, gently grabbed the box and got down on one knee with the biggest smile on his lips as he tried hard not to laugh at my shocked face,” she explained while glancing between her parents and siblings.

“Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake. It’s everything except what it is! Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs. Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes, being vexed a sea nourish’d with loving tears. What is it else? a madness most discreet, a choking gall and a preserving sweet,” his words played in the depths of her brain as she remembered the speech the love of her life had prepared for that night. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night. Olivia May Ridley, will you do me the honor of being my wife, my forever soulmate and my eternal Giulietta?”

“I can say I understand that feeling really well,” her father spoke up, quickly pulling her out of her trance with his strong vocal cords. “I also tried really hard not to burst laughing at your mother,” he admitted. “The look of complete surprise in her eyes is definitely something I will never forget because even so many decades later, I remember every single expression on your mother’s face just like I remember every second of that day,” he told his children before blowing his wife a kiss.

“The same expressions your dad had on his face when you two were born,” the brunette in question turned towards her eldest daughter before her ocean blue orbs landed on her youngest girl. “And as much as I wish I could say that for all three of my children, you really can’t imagine our lives without you, prince,” she then focused on her son. “We may not have had the best of starts but your dad and I love you more than anything, my boy,” she reassured the teenager.

“I know you do, mom,” Henry replied with a bright smile. “I hate how much pain I caused you… all four of you, actually,” he paused briefly after correcting himself. “When I came into this world but I’m so glad I was born into a loving family with amazing parents and two extraordinary big sisters, who not many people are lucky enough to get,” he muttered while becoming emotional with his own choice of words. “I’m happy you found someone worth it of you, Olive Oyl, because it’s crystal clear how happy you are because of how happy he makes you… Ryan is a great man and I will gladly welcome him into the family because I know my sister will be in really good hands,” he added with a grin on his way towards her, always very protective when it came to both of his sister despite being the youngest child.

“Thank you so much, Hank,” Olivia responded with an even wider grin, resting her head on her brother’s shoulder once he threw an arm protectively around her lower back. “That means a lot to me, you know?” She murmured, battling against the tears that were already streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m so happy for you, Ollie… you have no idea!” Charlotte exclaimed before pulling her siblings into a tight hug.

“We all are, pumpkin,” Fallon complemented the young brunette, leaning closer to her husband as they watched in pure awe and adoration their children hug for what felt like two whole minutes. Perhaps even longer. “Hearing this story in person certainly made it even better because the look in your eyes as you were telling us every detail was beyond priceless, Liv,” she told her daughter. “Your dad and I had absolutely no doubt that Ryan was the right man for you, but I think I speak for both of us here when I say that proposal just made me like him even more?” She added while glancing at her husband.

“Oh yeah,” Liam nodded in response, briefly lowering his head in order to plant a meaningful and long kiss on his daughter’s forehead as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through her long golden locks. “I know how torn you’ve been about getting another dog ever since we lost Lilo over ten years ago… first, because you were so hurt you didn’t think you would ever be able to love a dog like you loved Lilo and then, because you wanted to focus on high school and getting into John Hopkins to study pre-med that you never really allowed yourself to get another one,” he reminded her.

“Until Ryan managed to figure out that her dream is actually to have as many Saint Bernards as she can,” her brother pointed out. “Even though you both live in small apartments…”

“Which actually brings up a very important question,” the older man spoke up. “Are you two moving in together now that you’re engaged and well… have a dog together?” He wondered with a frown.

“No, dad, Ryan and I are not moving in together… not now at least,” Olivia informed him, an answer that made all four members of her family glance at each other with rather confused looks on their faces. “Mostly because I live in Baltimore, only fifteen minutes from Hopkins, while Ryan lives in DC so he’s only a few minutes away from the restaurant and even though it’s only about forty miles, it usually takes an hour and a half to go from one place to another by car… sometimes even more if it’s rush hour so it wouldn’t make much sense for one of us to have to drive that much every single day, back and forth even,” she explained.

“So you’re just gonna live in separate places?” Henry was the first one to question his sister. “Even after the wedding?” He sounded confused. “How exactly does that work, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Well, I was over the moon with his proposal and I would have never said anything other than yes, but right from the start, I was pretty honest with Ryan when I told him I’m not getting married until I’m done with med school,” she continued, her tone firm. “And since I plan on moving to DC for my internship anyway and then hopefully staying there for residency as well since they have spectacular hospitals there, we figured the smartest decision would be to have the wedding after my graduation,” she told her family in the sweetest of tunes.

“But you still have two years to go,” Charlotte murmured.

“Which should be enough time to plan the wedding we really want, don’t you think?” The blonde threw her sister a puzzled look.

“I guess,” she shrugged in response. “I mean, what kind of wedding are we talking about here?”

“We’re thinking of a small ceremony in Italy since the country holds such a special meaning to us… probably somewhere by Lago di Garda,” Olivia replied. “But it’s all pretty new and we haven’t thought much about it, to be completely honest,” she confessed. “What we do know is that neither of us wants anything big so we will see,”

“Well, you have your maid of honor picked out so I guess that counts for something?” Charlotte said teasingly.

“I do, I do,” she chuckled softly. “I just hope she knows she’s walking down the aisle with Juliet,”

“Oh God, she’s going to be so huge and heavy in two years!” The young brunette widened her eyes.

“I’m sure you can handle it, Miss Ridley,”

“And who knows, Charlie,” their brother began. “Maybe you will catch the bouquet so you can finally take the next step with your man…”

“I don’t need a bunch of flowers thrown together for that,” she groaned.

“Do any of you want more waffles? Or maybe another cup of coffee?” Liam asked his wife and children as he walked to the sink with some of their dirty dishes.

“Thanks, babe,” Fallon shook her head.

“No, dad, I’m good,” Henry followed.

“Me too,” Charlotte added right after.

“Same for me,” Olivia turned towards her father. “I will help you clean up,”

“No, pumpkin, no need,” her father replied almost instantly.

“I’m happy to do it, dad,” she reassured him. “Henry mentioned going for a run and mom and Charlie are taking Lady for a walk at the beach so that leaves the two of us,” she described. “And I could really use some bonding time alone with my dad,” she offered him a joyful smile, taking a few steps in his direction before snuggling against his chest and resting her head in the crook of his neck as he wrapped his muscular arms around her smaller frame.

“Alright, alright,” Liam gave in with a small nod. “I love you so much, baby girl,”

“I love you too, dad,” Olivia mumbled. “To the moon and back…”

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟶𝟺:𝟹𝟸𝙿𝙼.

𝙳𝚁𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚆𝙰𝚈

“Someone’s been working out quite often I see,” Liam commented as he attempted to catch his breath after losing to his son in their small and rather improvised basketball game, all whilst the teenager showed little to no sign of having run after a ball for the past fifty minutes. “Because I sure don’t remember you coming out this good last time we played something,” he teased the younger man.

“Well, I have been doing the six days a week program at the gym,” Henry admitted while bending over to reach for his water bottle. “The one you’ve been trying to get me to start for as long as I can remember,” he added. “I started a few weeks after I visited you and mom in Atlanta back in March and well, the six days a week thing actually started as a project for summer but then I realized it’s a lot more rewarding than I thought it would be,” he explained, taking a long sip of his drink only to raise the plastic, reusable bottle a few inches higher in order to pour water all over his hair and face. “Ohh!” He exclaimed once the refreshing liquid hit his burning hot skin.

“Because it makes you feel good?” He wondered. “Or does that have anything to do with that mysterious girl of yours?”

“It does makes me feel really good, yeah,” he replied, purposefully avoiding his father’s second question. “I have more energy, studying no longer feels so draining and I have been sleeping remarkably well,” he described.

“Oh, I remember how well I slept when I first started dating your mom…”

“Dad!” Henry exclaimed, his eyes widening in a mix of shock and disgust at the sound of his father’s words. “I don’t want to know that!” He groaned, scrunching his nose as he desperately tried to shake the image off his brain. 

“Groan all you want, son, but don’t forget that I was your age once,” Liam murmured, drinking as much water as he could before setting his bottle back down. Perhaps age was finally catching up on him as he sure didn’t remember a silly game of basketball with his son being that exhausting.

“I still don’t care whether you used to work out for your own good or just to impress mom,” he countered before leaning forward to grab the sweaty gym shirt which he had thrown on the floor mid-game. “So please, dad, spare me of those sordid details,” he rolled his eyes. “Because I most certainly do not want to know what you and mom used to do between four walls,”

“Who said we need four walls?” He questioned playfully only to burst out laughing when his son turned towards him with such a frightened and horrified look on his face that he simply couldn’t resist.

“Remember when I asked you to spare me of those details?” Henry threw his father a puzzled look. “Like… thirty seconds ago?”

“And miss that look on your face?” Liam continued to laugh, certainly a lot more amused than the younger man with the course of their conversation. 

“Do I need to remind you of the look that you had on your face last time I flew down to Georgia only to catch you and mom going at it in the middle of the living room?” He wondered while letting out a heavy sigh. “Because I thought I was doing something nice for the two of you by surprising you with a visit and I’m pretty sure I’ve been traumatized for life ever since!” He exclaimed, his tone so dramatic it instantly reminded the older man of his eldest daughter. “So unless you would like to pay for terribly overprices therapy sessions, I suggest you stop with that little teasing of yours, dad,”

“As much as we appreciate you popping up for a visit, a little heads up that night would have been nice, you know… it would have saved all three of us from that kind of embarrassment,”

“Or maybe you two should think twice about getting naked in the middle of the mansion’s living room?”

“It’s my living room!” He exclaimed in his defense.

“Well, I will gladly never surprise you and mom again so,” Henry replied with a shrug.

“Will you tell me about your girl though?” Liam asked his son.

“There’s really anything to tell, dad,” he was quick to say. “We met a couple of months ago, then started hanging out and that’s it…”

“How did you meet?”

“You don’t want to know,” the younger man muttered, his voice fading after every word as he tried to keep that kind of information sealed.

“Henry Alexander, what the hell did you do?!”

“Nothing you wouldn’t have done when you were my age so nothing you should worry about,” Henry responded. “Since you like so much to remind me that you were once my age,” he spoke nonchalantly.

“Have you ever wondered why I now have a head full of gray hair?” Liam began. “Because I’ve been busting your sister out of trouble ever since she turned sixteen and I need to know if I need to keep an eye on you,” he explained.

“Please, I’m an angel compared to what Charlotte used to be,” he countered.

“You might not have gotten all of your mother’s DNA like she did, but you got half and that’s enough Fallon Carrington blood in your veins for your old man to worry about what a handsome man like you have been doing around Manhattan,” he commented before plopping down on the small wooden bench by the garage door. “So spill… how did you and this girl meet?”

“At this speakeasy in East Village,”

“And how exactly did you enter a speakeasy in East Village, Mister Henry?” His father inquired, already fully aware of the trick his son had used to enter the kind of bar that replicated aspects of history from the Prohibition Era of the United States.

“How is that any relevant to the story I’m telling?” Henry asked back.

“You’re not really telling me anything, if you think about it,” Liam mentioned. “And unless you magically turned twenty-one without me knowing, I will take a guess here and say that you did something not so legal to get in…”

“Well, she did the same and… to answer your question… that’s how we met,” he told his father.

“Wait until your mother finds out you’re using a fake ID to go out,” he whispered. “God, Henry!” He exhaled loudly.

“Look, if you’re going to tell mom what I’m telling you here, I might as well just go,” Henry couldn’t help but groan as he pushed himself off the white bench, his water bottle in one hand and his rolled up gym shirt in the other as he intended on walking back to the house.

“Sit down, Hank,” Liam’s tone was firm as he waited for his son to obey.

“Why? So you can lesson me on why I shouldn’t have a fake ID?” He frowned, suddenly regretting approaching the subject of how he met the girl who he was currently seeing. Deep down, as much as he seemed to like her, he wasn’t exactly sure of what they were. “When you’ve been drinking since you were what? Fourteen? Maybe fifteen?”

“I just don’t want you getting into federal trouble, son, that’s all,” he informed the younger man. “I’m not stupid and I know you drink, Henry. Do I wish you didn’t? Yes, I’m not going to lie but I’m also not going to be naive and pretend you don’t because like you just said, I started drinking when I was a teenager too, most likely a lot earlier than you even, and so has every single member of this family,”

“Then why would you tell mom something that I just told you in private?” Henry wondered, his voice breaking mid-sentence as he worried about the idea of disappointing his mother.

“I don’t have to tell your mom anything, Henry,” Liam pointed out as soon as his son sat back down. “When it comes to the three of you, she always just knows it, son,” he rolled his eyes. “So maybe stick to house parties so you don’t have to flash out a fake card in front of people, okay? I know how the Upper East Side works and I know kids will do whatever they can to get their hands on drugs and booze, but that doesn’t mean you have to act as stupid as some do,” he instructed him. “Because I will have to tell her if her precious boy ends up in jail,”

“I won’t, dad,” he reassured his father. “I mean, if that ever happened, I’m sure grandma would kill me with her bare hands before you and mom even found out about it so really… don’t worry about it,” he repeated less than a minute later. “I promise I haven’t been doing anything stupid… now, do you want to hear about Melina or not?”

“Oh, she has a name now,” he said teasingly.

“Yeah, Melina Papadakis,”

“Greek?”

“She’s American… her father was Greek but her mother is American,” the teenager mentioned. “She was born in a small town in Colorado but she moved to Chicago with her mom when she was eight, after losing her father in a car crash. She’s not exactly close to his side of the family since most of them still live in Europe up to this date… her mother says that even back when her father was still alive, he hardly ever made any effort to visit them in Greece or even contact them at all so she pretty much only knows an uncle and an aunt, who are the only ones that actually come to the country from time to time,” he explained.

“What about her mother’s family?” Liam wondered.

“I honestly don’t know, dad,” Henry confessed. “We’ve talked a little bit about our families but not much, to be fair,” he added. “Mel says her mother didn’t have any other family back when her dad died, but she thinks her mother might have a few secrets hidden in the depths of her heart… all she knows is that her parents were high school sweethearts and that her mother got pregnant during junior year. They decided to have and raise her and then got married when they both turned eighteen, but while her father continued his studies and became an accountant a few years later, her mother never went to college,” he told his father.

“How old is she?”

“Mel? Eighteen,” he replied before briefly turning around to reach for his brand new phone. “She turns nineteen in January,” he elaborated while scanning the contents of his camera’s photo album in search of a good picture to show his father. “This is Mel,” he then whispered, making sure the chosen capture was nowhere near some of the very private photos that his father was not supposed to see under any circumstances, in case he purposefully swiped to either left or right.

“A redhead, huh,” was the first thing that came out of his father’s lips once he laid his eyes on the picture the two teenagers had taken of themselves during one of their many Sunday morning strolls through Central Park. 

“Possibly the prettiest hair I’ve ever seen,” Henry described, allowing his blue orbs to wander down to the device in his hand as an urge to suddenly text the girl in question started taking control over his thoughts. “Which is exactly what she says about my eyes, as a matter of fact,” he chuckled. “Hers are hazel and depending on the sunlight they can turn a little greenish but she’s been obsessed with my blue ones ever since we met…”

“And what does she do?” Liam asked, hoping to get as much information as he could about the girl that was certainly making his son smile a lot more than he used to.

“Broadway has been her dream ever since she was a little girl and her father was actually one of her biggest supporters while her mother wanted her to study to, in her words, have a real job,” he continued. “She even applied to some schools just so her mother would stop annoying her. I think she got into University of Illinois and NYU, both to study business management, but when the time came and she had to choose, she decided to go for what her heart really wanted she’s starting her first year of Juilliard’s Bachelor of Fine Arts degree next week…”

“An actress? Damn, Hank,” he gasped. 

“Soon to be… but yeah,”

“And a very determined one, might I add,” Liam spoke up. “Because I know exactly what’s like to have to step up against your mom when it comes to what you want to study and what kind of life you want for yourself,” he reminded his son.

“That’s a lot easier when you have billions of dollars in your bank account, dad,” Henry couldn’t help but mention. “She worked at the movies’ snack bar during all four years of high school in order to save enough money to come to New York and when she got her acceptance letter from Juilliard, she didn’t think twice before moving East,” he explained. “She went to public school but from what she told me, she’s always been a great student and with her grades, she was able to get a full scholarship at Juilliard but as we both know, living in New York is beyond expensive so she’s been working at a café in order to save as much as she can. Her mother still lives in Chicago but she put everything she had in her car a couple of months ago and drove to Manhattan without looking back. In fact, she had only been in New York for about two weeks when we met,”

“She sounds like a great girl, son,” his father offered him a smile. “From what you just told me, I can only imagine she’s a girl who will fight and work hard to get what she wants while brave enough to follow her dreams because an acting career is far from easy,” he commented, carefully placing his hand on his son’s knee before giving it a soft and gentle squeeze. “Maybe you should give her your Aunt Lucy’s number. She’s in cinema not theater, but we both know how that sister of mine loves to chat, especially about her life, and sometimes she does give good advice,”

“I will,” he nodded. “That actually crossed my mind when we first started getting to know more about each other but then I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to introduce her to family just yet,” he murmured, shrugging slightly. “I wouldn’t want Aunt Lucy meeting her before you and mom… mom would kill me!”

“Oh yeah, she totally would,” Liam laughed lightly. “You seem very happy, Hank,” he said all of a sudden.

“I am, dad,” Henry affirmed right away. “We’ve only known each other for a few months so I’m not exactly sure what we are but I really like her,” he confided in his father.

“What does she think you two are to each other?”

“We haven’t really talked about it, dad,” he admitted.

“Are you exclusive?” He wondered with a frown.

“We weren’t until about a month or so,”

“But you are now?”

“I am,” Henry nodded, his voice firm and his tone serious. “And I would like to think she is too…”

“And let me ask you something, son. Does she know how rich you are?” Liam questioned. “Because last time you and I talked about relationships, you kept complaining about how you only seemed to meet girls who were more worried about the size of the guy’s bank account than the guy itself,” he stated.

“I didn’t tell Mel until our third date because I wanted to feel how it would go before I disclosed that kind of information about me but yeah, she knows I’m rich,” he responded. “I mean, you and mom are rich, grandma is rich, Charlotte is rich… I’m just a student at this point,” he chuckled softly.

“A student who happens to be a billionaire,”

“Only because you and mom made us billionaires when we were still in diapers,” the younger man shrugged. “Not because we worked hard for it,” he added shortly after. “Although Charlie doubled her fortune a few years ago… is it true that she’s richer than mom was at her age?”

“Yes,” he mumbled. “I obviously don’t understand ten percent of all of those money talks that she loves having with your mom but I do know she made some crazy investments over the past decade and they really paid off,” he informed his son.

“I’m sure dating a stockbroker has its privileges,”

“Maybe it does, but your sister has been obsessed with money and investments ever since she was a little girl and by now, she’s learned everything there is to learn about the financial market so I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned ten million into twenty overnight just by staring at a screen while sipping Dom,” Liam commented.

“God, I wish I knew how to do that kind of thing,” Henry couldn’t help but laugh.

“But unfortunately, you got my brain when it comes to math?” He asked playfully.

“I mean, I’m sure your brain is going to be quite helpful when I start Law School so I will take it,” he replied with a smirk. “I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to have one or two of Charlie’s investment skills,” he complemented.

“What about Charlie’s investment skills?” Their heads shot straight up at the sound of the familiar voice echoing around them completely out of the blue. “Ollie made banana bread and she just got it out of the oven so maybe you two should come inside for a bite because the smell is simply to die for!” She informed her brother and father as she walked down the driveway in their direction, swaying her hips as her stilettos clicked against the concrete ground.

“Why are you wearing high heels, you crazy?” Her brother immediately teased her.

“Are you going somewhere?” Her father frowned at her perfectly on point designer outfit.

“No,” Charlotte shook her head, glancing down at her Oscar de la Renta dress and Louboutin heels before returning her attention to the two men sitting a few feet away. “Anyway,” she paused. “Are you two talking about me because you need a loan or something? Or can we go inside so I can finally have a bite of my sister’s banana bread?” She wondered while looking between them.

“We weren’t talking about you, Cupcake Charlie,” Henry was quick to reassure his sister. “I was just telling dad it wouldn’t hurt to have some of those mystical skills of yours,” he told her.

“Well, considering I handle both my siblings’ investment portfolios, I would say your money is in pretty good hands, Pancake Hank,” she mentioned before throwing the teenager a wink. “And speaking of investments… Ollie didn’t make us banana bread just because she’s nice and kind. She actually wants to talk to you, dad,” she stared at her father.

“Should I be worried?” Liam asked, his eyes already filling with concern.

“No, not at all,” the brunette shook her head. “Now come on,” she spoke while turning around on her heels. “I expect to find you both inside in the next five minutes!” She exclaimed on her way back to the door she had come from.

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝚂𝚃, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟶𝟽:𝟶𝟿𝙿𝙼.

𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼

“Oh,” Liam gasped as soon as he reached the second floor of the beach house. “What is all of this?” He couldn’t help but ask at the sight of his two daughters setting up the dining table while his son threw more wood into the fireplace across the room, all whilst his wife casually read a book on the three seat couch in the living room.

“Charlie got us sushi while you and Hank showered,” Olivia answered, glancing briefly at him as she lowered the generous portion of sashimi down on the large table.

“I know Charlotte said not to worry but I-”

“There really is no reason to worry here, dad,” she immediately reassured her father, offering him her signature bright and loving smile before he even had the chance to finish his sentence. “First, your sister says you have something important to talk to me about… then, you tell me that it would be better if your brother and I got rid of all of that sweat before coming up here and now we’re having sushi for dinner when I thought I was making pasta tonight?” He wondered with a frown. “Do you know what’s going on? Because apparently nobody tells me a thing but you seem to always know what’s going on with these three,” he turned towards his wife.

“Yes,” Fallon replied shortly, dropping her book down on her lap for a moment as she lowered her reading glasses to look up at her husband. “Yes, I do,” she complemented a second later. “But only because Liv sort of asked me for advice…”

“Oh God,” he muttered, his hand flying up to his hair only to run nervously through its gray strands as he returned his attention to his middle child. “Are you pregnant?” His eyes widened and he could swear he felt his heart skipping a beat once he heard his own words out loud.

“What? Pregnant?” The blonde’s eyes widened in the exact same way, her jaw dropping to the floor as she stopped dead in her tracks on her way back to the kitchen. “No! Dad!” Was all she managed to speak, shocked and rather speechless at the idea that had just rushed through her father’s mind. “You know better than anyone that I’m not going down that road until I’m finished with my studies, dad,” she reminded him. “And as we’re all aware, I’m quite far from getting my medical degree,”

“As much as we love your pasta, dad, Charlie and I were in the mood for some sushi tonight,” Henry spoke up. “Mom said you two still haven’t tried any Japanese restaurants in the area so Charlie offered to drive to this restaurant she and Nick usually go to when they come to the Hamptons,” he explained.

“Did you two bring your folders?” Olivia asked her siblings.

“Yes,” Charlotte nodded. “Mine is right there,” she gestured to the maroon colored document folder currently sitting on the coffee table. “Mom was actually just going through it,” she told her sister.

“Mine is in my backpack downstairs, Olive Oyl,” her brother informed her. “Do you want me to go get it now or can I give it back to you later?”

“No, Hank, it’s okay,” she shook her head. “Just make sure you don’t forget to give it to me tomorrow before we leave,”

“Okay,” he murmured. “I won’t,” he reassured her.

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s happening here?” Liam questioned while staring between his wife and children.

“Yes, dad, I will,” Olivia said firmly. “But is it okay if we discuss it over dinner?”

“I suppose,” was all he managed to say as they gathered around the dining table. “This food looks delicious,”

“You’re going to love what she has to say, babe,” Fallon whispered in his ear, treating him with a quick yet tender kiss on the cheek before taking her seat at the head of the table. “That one is about to make you really proud,” she mentioned while throwing their youngest daughter a smile. “More than she already does…”

“So,” Liam mumbled. “What’s this about, Liv?” He wondered after taking his seat, between his wife and son and across from his daughters.

“Well,” the blonde began, noticing how both her sister and brother had already started reaching for what they wanted to eat as she merely sipped on Chardonnay. “As you know, Grandma Laura gave Charlie all of her VKI shares when she finished business school as a graduation present. She was already retired but she still had her seat at the board and its privileges and her shares were pretty much worth a fortune,” she explained, starting with a little bit of context before she entered the details which her father were still clueless about. “At the time, I must admit I didn’t think much about it, mostly because I never really saw myself wanting that kind of thing and to be completely honest, I thought it was very fitting for grandma to give all of those shares to the only heir of hers that actually showed interest in the family business,” she confessed with a shrug.

“But far from fair to her other three grandchildren, if you want my honest opinion,” he commented while reaching for the plate of tuna nigiri.

“That’s what she let you think, dad,” Olivia was quick to let him know. “Don’t ask me why because I really have no idea and didn’t really bother to ask but what you don’t know, is that grandma knew exactly how much those shares were worth it back then if she were to sell them at the time,” she pointed out, placing three pieces of salmon sashimi down on her place before grabbing the small bottle of soy sauce that was standing closer to her brother at the opposite side of the table. “And as soon as she transferred her shares to Charlie, she set up three investment account… each one with the exact amount those VKI shares were worth, as if she had four times that amount,” she told her father.

“So I’m assuming that’s how Emily got the money to build that stupendous art gallery of hers?”

“Correct,” she nodded in response.

“She knew you and Lucy wanted absolutely nothing to do with Van Kirk Industries, its shares or even the money itself, dad,” Charlotte jumped into the conversation, hoping her sister would appreciate her helping out with the details. “And well, I’ve always showed interest in the business even though I always thought I was going to work with mom as I was growing up,” she chuckled while glancing at the brunette in question. “She knew there was no point giving you or Lucy her shares so yeah, she gave them to me… but she gave Emily, Ollie and Hank their exact value in actual money once she decided it was finally time to have someone take over her role in the company,” she went on. “Elliott became CEO when she stepped down because of his years of experience and all of the great things he’s brought to VKI ever since he first started there, but I got her shares and her seat at the board and now, after working there for almost a decade, I’m one of the top candidates for the CEO position since he plans to retire in a couple of years,”

“And that’s amazing, princess,” Liam mentioned. “Even though I think you’re way too young to have that kind of stress in your life,” he murmured, the words barely audible on his lips as he closed his fingers around his glass of wine. 

“Mom was a lot younger than me when she started Fallon Unlimited and became its CEO,”

“My point exactly,” he sighed heavily. “Did you know about this money thing?” He asked his wife.

“No,” Fallon shook her head. “Not at all, babe. Laura never told me a thing so this was all her, I’m afraid,”

“What Ollie is doing, dad,” the eldest child paused dramatically. “That’s what’s really amazing,” she admitted.

“And what are you doing, young lady?” Liam turned towards the blonde woman.

“Well, since Henry and I were minors when Charlie graduated, grandma set up those investment accounts but she never really gave it to us,” Olivia continued. “She only sent me the papers and documents when I turned twenty-one and I’m assuming the same thing is going to happen with Henry in a couple of years. According to her, he’s allowed to do whatever he wants with the money from his thirty-first birthday forward and if something happens to her before that date, mom shall be responsible for his money until then,”

“That seems reasonable,” he whispered, taking a sip of his white one before slowly guiding his chopsticks to the bluefish sashimi at the center of his white porcelain plate. “I guess,”

“But ever since I got my hands on that money… which is certainly a lot more than I ever thought I would have even though you and mom are pretty loaded,” she laughed lightly. “I’ve been wrecking my brain around everything I could possibly do with it and about a year ago, something came to me,” she mentioned, choosing each and every word carefully despite having practiced that speech a dozen times. Not to mention the fact that she had already delivered that same speech three times already. First to her siblings, then to her grandmother, then to her aunt and cousin until she eventually reached the last but not less important member of the family. Her father. 

“I’m listening…”

“At first, I did everything I could on my own… I studied, I did all kinds of research I could think of and I even travelled around the country to find out as much as I could about what this idea of mine could potentially turn into,” Olivia continued. “But I’m selfless enough to admit there’s only so much I understand about money and investments so I took it to Charlie and then, a couple of months ago, I took it to mom in order to know what she thought about it,” she added, looking between her mother and sister as she reached for another tuna sushi.

“And what kind of investment are we talking about here, pumpkin?” Liam wondered, smiling softly at how determined his daughter seemed to be with what he could only guess was a lifetime investment that would most certainly play a gigantic part in her future.

“I know I still have a really long way ahead of me on my journey of becoming a doctor… I still have half of med school, then internship and then residency,” she rolled her eyes.

“And a marriage somewhere along the way,” her sister spoke playfully.

“And that, yes,” the blonde woman chuckled. “As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already… just kidding, just kidding,”

“Marriage does require a lot of work and effort, Liv,” her mother reminded her.

“I know, mom,” she replied with a smile, fully aware of what her future supposedly held for her. “I knew what I was getting myself into when my boyfriend got down on one knee and I said yes,”

“As long as you and Ryan are both on the same page when it comes to all of those plans… whether they’re personal or professional,” Fallon shrugged. “You should be fine, pumpkin,”

“We are, mom,” Olivia reassured her. “But back to the investment… at this point, I do think that pediatrics is my calling indeed and it’s most likely going to be my choice when I need to declare a specialty,” she told her family. “When I look back at everything I went through as a child, I think about all of the trips we made to Chicago because I had an appointment with Doctor Miller or how Carol used to cook completely different meals just for me because I had a special diet to follow while the four of you could literally have anything you wanted,” she murmured, her voice fading as the words came out through a lot more heartache than she had initially anticipated. “Just like I think about all of those tests that I had to go through twice a year to make sure I was healthy and growing as I was supposed to… and then,” she paused, downing her glass of wine in one gulp as she gathered enough strength to continue her speech. “Then I think about what Hank has been facing ever since he came into this world… or how Charlotte has been going to therapy ever since we lost Daisy in the middle of high school,”

“What do your siblings have to do with anything, Liv?” Liam couldn’t help but frown in confusion.

“You two used to take me to Chicago so many times a year that I’m pretty sure I know that city as well as I know Atlanta,” she murmured before letting out a rather loud exhale. “You had one of the country’s best pediatricians working on my case and not because I had a rare disease or something without a cure, no,” she shook her head. “But because I was a picky child who simply didn’t like to eat… you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on jet stuff just to fly me there in the comfort of our own private plane, on five-star hotels, on medical bills which I’m sure only grew as I got older and let’s not forget about all you spent on special food when I needed. All in all, you two spared no money on taking care of me just like Charlotte was brought back to life because you two made sure to find her the best therapist in Georgia after Daisy died… and just like you never hesitated on buying something with the newest and most incredible technology, no matter how freaking expensive it was, just because it would help treat Henry’s asthma,”

“We would do anything for the three of you, pumpkin,” her father was quick to say. “No questions asked… you needed help when you were little, Charlie needed help when she had to face grief for the first time in her life and Hank has been dealing with his condition for almost two decades now,” he described. “And you may all be grown ups now but your mother and I will still do anything for the three of you. We don’t care how hard or far it is to get it or how much it costs because you are the three most important humans in our lives and we would never, ever deny you anything when we can give you three the best there is out there…”

“And that’s because you and mom have the means to do it, dad. You’ve always had, ever since you were born in filthy rich families and with a silver spoon in your mouths,” Olivia countered. “Just like me, Charlie and Hank… but what about the rest of the country? What about the lower class? Or sometimes even middle class? What about those people who have no insurance and no money to go private? What about children like me, who can’t get they help they need? Or children like Hank, who struggle to breathe and live normally because the government only gives them a limited amount of inhalers per month?” She asked rhetorically. “I know I’m not going to be able to change the entire health system but what I do know is that I can do something to help… because I have an insanely high amount of money that will bring me absolutely no joy if I don’t use it to do something good,” she confessed. “So I’m going to finish my studies and I will get myself a job as a pediatrician but I’m going to dedicate a few days of my week to philanthropic purposes,”

“Told you it was amazing,” Charlotte turned towards their father.

“With grandma’s money, I’m going to start a foundation which will focus on raising money to help children in need of medical assistance but whose families can’t afford treatment,” she explained, giving the older man barely no time to even comment on everything she was saying. “But the real investment here is that I’m going to build a private practice slash clinic who will accept and take care of children of any kind and of any class… I’m already in touch some doctors I’ve met at Hopkins and some that I got to know while volunteering around Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and even Delaware and I have plenty of names who would be willing to participate on pro bono cases,” she told him.

“Which means you can start that project before you even become a doctor yourself,” Liam concluded.

“Exactly,” the middle child nodded. “The idea is for it to operate as a private practice, with doctors and nurses getting paid for what they do there but also giving the best care to those who can’t afford the treatment they need. Treatment that would be private health system level, of course,” she elaborated, staring down shyly at her plate when she noticed the proud smile on both her parents’ faces. “But it’s all still on paper at the moment so I’m estimating at least a year to get everything ready and good to go. From finding the perfect location to building the practice to getting every license to operate and then to setting everything up, there’s still a long way to go…”

“That’s,” he didn’t even know what to say. “That’s fantastic, Liv,” he muttered while tears pooled in his eyes. “You have no idea how proud I am to know that you’re only twenty-four years old, still studying and quite far from graduating and you’re already so determined to dedicating your life to that kind of purpose,” he informed his daughter. “I always knew you had that kindness in you but to hear all of this? God, Liv, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to tell you here,” he couldn’t help but let out a light and slightly muffled laugh as he stared at the young woman across from him in complete awe.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, dad,” Olivia offered him a smile. “I’ve been dying to let you in on all of this but deep down, I wanted to bring it to you when I was entirely sure I could pull this off,” she explained, reaching for a still unopened bottle of Chardonnay before pouring herself another generous glass. “Charlie did all the math, she studied and determined every risk involved, she did the valuation of the project and a bunch of other business stuff that I don’t have the slightest will to understand and she reached a number that I couldn’t meet with the money grandma gave me,” she admitted. “And during one of our meetings, we decided on something and that’s where you come in…”

“Okay,”

“But can I just say that it’s adorable how you two seem to be working together on this?” Fallon spoke up, her ocean blue orbs showing just how happy she was.

“I couldn’t let my little sister get that kind of help from a stranger,” Charlotte replied with a playful shrug. “Besides… this was all Ollie’s idea but deep down, this private practice of hers is a family business,”

“I’m naming it the John Lowden Memorial Practice, dad,”

“You’re-” Liam gasped, caught utterly off guard by his daughter’s latest words. “Oh Liv…”

“From the moment you two found out about me, you were sure that I was a gift sent from heaven and from grandpa himself,” Olivia began. “A theory that became even stronger when you realized how much I remind you of him because of the way I am and the things I do. Charlotte and Henry are clearly both Carrington’s but you know I’ve never really related to that side of the family… and while I don’t relate to the craziness of the Van Kirk’s even though this unbelievably blonde hair certainly came from them, I do believe that I was born to bring more peace, love and joy to your side of the family, dad,” she affirmed, only to surprise everyone at the table by pushing herself off the chair to head into the living room.

“What is this?” He questioned once she handed him a dark blue document folder with his name written in his youngest daughter’s familiar handwriting on its front cover.

“Like Charlie just said, the private practice and the foundation are a family business… after all, it’s supposed to honor Grandpa John. However,” she paused dramatically. “It will never be a family business if I’m the only one involved in it, which is why I’m raising the rest of the money by bringing all of the Lowden’s into this deal,” she continued. “By investing the money grandma gave me, I will have seventy percent of the business and the other thirty will be family,”

“And let me guess… I’m part of that thirty percent?”

“You’re a Lowden, aren’t you?” The blonde couldn’t resist teasing him. “By investing in it, you get five percent of the business and well… the numbers in that folder explain everything you might need to know to make your decision,”

“You do know that I don’t need to read any number to tell you that I’m one hundred percent on board with this idea, right, Liv?” Liam simply couldn’t stop smiling. He was immensely proud of his daughter and if it was up to him, he would keep telling her the exact same thing all night long.

“I just want to make sure you know where you’re investing your money, dad,” Olivia mentioned. “But if something goes wrong, blame Charlotte because she’s the one who came up with all of that,” she added playfully, mostly to mock her sister as she returned to her seat by the brunette’s side.

“Wait a second,” he mumbled. “If I’m only getting five out of the thirty percent then-”

“Every Lowden gets five percent, dad,” Henry turned towards his father. “Charlie and I brought our signed documents this weekend so we could give it to Liv in person,”

“Aunt Lucy and Emily mailed me theirs a couple of weeks ago and grandma is giving me hers this week since I will be spending a couple of days with Charlie in Manhattan before going back to Baltimore,” she explained. “You were the only one left…”

“I hope I was left for last for a good reason,”

“That’s because you’re the most important one, dad,” Olivia smiled. “I wanted to come to you with everyone already on board and now that I’ve acquired all five signatures, yours is the only one missing,”

“You’re going to change the world, aren’t you?” Liam asked with an ear to ear grin as he signed every page inside the document folder.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it like that,” she confessed as soon as he looked up at her, his blue eyes locking with her matching ones from the opposite side of the table. “But I will do my best to help people out there, in any way I can,”

“You’re an amazing woman, Liv,” he spoke while standing up. “And you make me proud every… single… day,” he added on his way towards her. “Here,” he handed her the folder. “Go change the world,” he smiled only a second later. “And don’t ever forget that I love you and that I will always be here for whatever you need, pumpkin. No matter what,”

“I love you too, daddy,” the blonde murmured, resting her head against his stomach as she hugged him as best as she could while remaining seated on her chair. “I love you too,”

𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝙽𝙳, 𝟸𝟶𝟻𝟸

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈. 𝟶𝟻:𝟸𝟺𝙿𝙼.

𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙽𝚃 𝚈𝙰𝚁𝙳

“You going straight to the penthouse?” Liam asked his son as they walked in the direction of the astonishing Harley Davidson.

“Yeah,” Henry nodded in response. “It should take me at least two hours to get to Manhattan at this time so yeah, I’m going straight home,” he explained. “School doesn’t start until next week so Mel and I are going to spend a couple of days at the cabin upstate… we actually planned on leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow so I could use a good night of sleep,” he added with a soft chuckle.

“So you two are already at that stage, huh,” the older man mentioned. “Traveling together? To our family’s cabin in upstate New York?” He questioned with a frown. “Are you sure you two are not serious, Hank?” He couldn’t resist teasing his son regarding his current relationship.

“I mean, we are serious… we’re just,” he didn’t even know how to describe what he thought they were.

“I believe you’re more serious than you think you are, son,” Liam commented. “Just make sure you treat her well, okay? With the respect that women deserve,” he spoke firmly.

“I always do, dad,” Henry reassured his father. “You don’t have to worry about that,” he said right after. “I would never toy with her feelings, dad…”

“You really care about this one, don’t you?”

“I do. I really do, dad,” his tone was serious.

“Are you riding this to the cabin?” He pointed towards the motorcycle.

“No,” the younger man shook his head. “Let’s just say that Mel is still getting used to the whole bike thing so I’m just going to take the car,” he told his father. “Apparently, I should always think twice before asking her to ride pillion,” he rolled his eyes while letting out a light sigh.

“Where have I heard those exact words before?” Liam wondered, his voice playful and filled with love as he turned his head slightly around to glance at the brunette he was lucky to call his wife.

“Well, hopefully it will grow on her… just like it grew on mom,” Henry murmured.

“One can always hope,” he chuckled, taking a couple of steps towards his son before placing both of his hands on the teenager’s shoulders. “You two be careful up there, alright?”

“We will, dad,”

“In every single way, Mr. Ridley,” Liam reformulated.

“Oh, dad! Eww!” He exclaimed.

“You’re just starting your second year of college, Hank. Not to mention that you’re way too young to be a father so don’t do anything stupid,” he explained. “So don’t give me that look when you know I’m only doing my job here… which consists on reminding you to pack enough con-”

“For the sake of our relationship, please don’t finish that sentence,” Henry begged after interrupting his father before he could even finish saying the word out loud.

“I’m happy you’re happy, son,” Liam continued. “All I ask is for you to be careful, okay? That’s all,” he offered him a smile.

“I am, dad,” he immediately replied. “I always am, don’t worry,”

“Good, good… now,” he paused briefly. “You two have fun up there,” he began. “And don’t do anything your mother would do,” he whispered in his son’s ear, eliciting a rather loud laugh from the younger man as he pulled him into a tight hug.

“I would never,” the teenager muttered with his arms still strongly wrapped around his father.

“And don’t be a stranger,” Liam requested. “Especially now that we’re living in the same state,”

“I won’t, dad,” he promised after letting go of the older man who had clearly become one of his most important role models. “But you have to promise me something too,” his tone was firm.

“Whatever you need, son,”

“You take care of her, you hear me?” Henry gestured to his mother. “We both know how she’s been on and off ever since losing grandpa so you take care of her, okay?” He elaborated, his ocean blue eyes fixated on the woman in question as she talked to his sisters a few feet away. “Don’t let that awful depression pull her back down when that’s how she deserves to feel every  single day,” he mentioned while referring to the joyful spark in her eyes as well as the beautiful smile currently plastered on her lips.

“Some feelings are strictly reserved to the three of you, Hank,” Liam commented. “But don’t you worry, okay? I’ve made not one but plenty of vows to take care of her until death do us part and that’s exactly what I’m going to do… no matter what,” he reassured his son.

“Alright,” he nodded. “It’s getting late so I should probably go say bye to her,”

“I love you, son,” he whispered before pulling his son in for another hug.

“I love you too, dad,” the teenager replied in the softest of tunes. “Now go talk to your girls while I talk to mom,” he instructed his father only to throw him a wink as he walked away.

“I thought you were going to leave without giving your mother a kiss goodbye,” Fallon spoke provocatively as soon as she noticed her son approaching.

“You and I both know I would never do such a thing, Mrs. Ridley,” Henry smirked playfully.

“Was your father giving you a hard time?” She wondered.

“No, not at all,” he whispered. “We were just talking… man to man,”

“I see,” the brunette muttered. “I’m really glad you came this weekend, prince,” she added while gently placing her right hand against his left cheek. “You have no idea how much I missed you guys,”

“You and dad are a lot closer now,” Henry reminded his mother. “It won’t take us long to meet again. I promise,” he offered her a smile.

“You better mean that,” she spoke playfully.

“Of course I do,” he laughed lightly. “Especially because I would like to ask you something,”

“What is it?” Fallon couldn’t help but frown when her son reached for her hands, clenching both of them in his fingers as he stared deeply into the bright blue of her matching blue eyes.

“How about we resume our weekly dinner dates now that you’re living this close?” Henry suggested, slightly anxious about what his mother’s response was going to be even though he knew she would never reject that kind of proposition from her beloved and only son. “Like we used to do when Liv left for Hopkins?”

“I would love that, prince,” she smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling almost immediately at the idea. “Let me know what day of the week works best for you and I will be there…”

“Will do,” he replied shortly.

“But come visit us once in a while,” Fallon requested. “I know New York City is a dream but don’t forget your parents are only a two hour drive away from you now,” she added teasingly.

“I will be back before you know it, mom,” Henry mentioned, running his thumbs absentmindedly across the back of her hands as he leaned in to plant a long and meaningful kiss on her forehead. Just like she used to do to him every night back when he was growing up. “But I’m afraid I have to go now,” he murmured.

“I know,” she exhaled loudly. “Call me as soon as you arrive at the penthouse?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, mom,” he replied, grinning at the amount of concern he could hear in his mother’s words as she threw herself at him once again to give him another hug. “I love you, mom,” he whispered in her ear while running his fingers tenderly through her long brown waves.

“I love you, prince,” Fallon smiled. “Drive safe,” she spoke before pushing herself on her tiptoes to treat his cheek with a loving yet heart-aching goodbye kiss.

“Bye mom,” Henry mumbled, the two words fading on his lips as he let go of the woman he loved most in the world in other to walk back to his motorcycle. After an amazing long weekend with his family, it was time to go back home. 

“You do know he’s probably the first one coming back, right?” She immediately turned at the sound of the familiar voice behind her, the softness mixed with the loudness of the signature Harley Davidson motor as the youngest Ridley drove out of the property.

“Is that your way of saying you’re not coming back to the Hamptons anytime soon, young lady?” Fallon asked her youngest daughter once she began walking in her direction, having already dropped her small suitcase inside the trunk and her designer handbag on the backseat of her sister’s car.

“No, not in the slightest,” Olivia shook her head. “Although we do have to consider that I’m now the only one not living in New York,”

“Well, Maryland is not that far,” she pointed out.

“It’s not,” she agreed immediately. “But we all know that Hank is a mama’s boy so… he will be back quite soon, I’m sure,” she chuckled. “And as for me,” she paused. “I will try to visit you and dad as soon as I can. You know my schedule can be very hectic and when it isn’t, it usually means exams are coming up and I have to study as if there’s no tomorrow but I will try my best to come see you once in a while, alright?”

“Just don’t forget you have a jet that you can borrow whenever you want, pumpkin,” her mother reminded her.

“I won’t, mom,” Olivia couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “But let me do things my way too, okay?”

“Okay, okay,” Fallon sighed heavily. “Which I’m assuming means you don’t want to use the jet to fly back this Friday?”

“Correct,” she stated. “The Amtrak Acela train only takes about two hours to get to Baltimore from New York… Charlie will drop me at Penn Station after lunch and Ryan will be waiting for me  at the station since he has finally gotten a weekend off work,” she explained. “So really, mom, don’t worry about it. Your daughter will be just fine taking the train home, I swear,” she offered her mother a reassuring smile.

“I’m your mother, Liv, I will always worry about you,” she commented.

“Well, try worrying a little less from time to time,” the blonde spoke playfully, smiling at the woman in front of her as she took a step forward. “I know you only want what’s best for me but I really don’t need all of that fuss and money so trust me when it comes to this, please,” she requested softly. “You’re all very fancy in this family but not everyone needs a private plane to go from one city to another,” she murmured.

“Ollie!” Charlotte exclaimed all of a sudden. “Nick will be here in twenty!” She added after ending the call with her boyfriend.

“Go say goodbye to your dad,” Fallon told her daughter. “Call me when you get to Manhattan and please, let me know as soon as you get to Baltimore later this week,” she continued, her eyes filled with concern as she hugged her middle child.

“I will, mom,” Olivia was quick to respond. “Take good care of dad and don’t forget to take care of yourself, okay?” She spoke, her voice sweet and tender. “I know some days are harder than others but eventually, we learn how to live with the pain…”

“Do we?” She mumbled barely audibly.

“Thankfully, my dad is still there,” she gestured to the man standing a couple of feet away. “So I  suppose I wouldn’t know but that man also happens to know exactly what’s like to feel and live with that kind of pain, mom… the same man who loves you more than anything in this world and would do anything in his power to put a smile on your face,” she reminded her mother. “So let him in, okay? Don’t push him away when you’re suffering just because you’re used to dealing with it on your own… dad has been by your side for over thirty years now, mom, and he’s not going anywhere so let him help you,” she said softly.

“How do you always know what to say?” The brunette wondered, her eyes lost in her daughter’s teary ones as she gently played with the end of her golden locks.

“Because I’m your little angel, remember?” The young woman grinned from ear to ear. “And I love you so… damn… much, mom,” she added before pulling her mother into the tightest hug that she could offer her.

“I love you too, pumpkin,” Fallon replied. “To the moon and back,” she whispered while planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Can I go talk to dad now?”

“Yes, yes you can…”

“I will call you every day,” Olivia reassured her. “Just like I’ve been doing ever since I moved out of home,”

“And I will be waiting for that nightly call,” her mother responded shortly before finally letting go of her. “Just like I always do,” she smiled, running her right hand across her cheek in an attempt to get rid of the tears that simply wouldn’t stop streaming as she watched her daughter head in her father’s direction.

“There’s my little girl!” Liam exclaimed while opening his arms wide for her. “Is it too late to try and convince you to stay here until the end of the week?”

“And keep you and mom from enjoying your alone time with none of your children hanging around?” Olivia countered, her tone teasing and cheerful as she allowed his strong and muscular arms to tightly hug her smaller frame. “Oh now you’re crushing me, daddy,” she muttered.

“Sorry,” he chuckled after pulling away. “I just hate watching you leave… you know how hard it is for me,” he shrugged.

“Well, watching your children leave is part of life, isn’t it?” She questioned with a frown. “We have our own lives now… our own homes… our own partners… we can’t be in the nest forever, you know?”

“I just wish we could live right across the street from one another, that’s all,” Liam commented, letting out a sigh as he threw his right arm over his daughter’s shoulders in an attempt to keep her as close as possible to his chest.

“You two could have moved to your penthouse in Manhattan… which is right in the heart of the Upper East Side, the exact neighborhood that both Charlotte and Henry live in,” the blonde reminded her father. “Yet you chose to move to the Hamptons because you didn’t feel like the city was going to make you happy,” she stated while resting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t love living this far from you, daddy, but I need to follow my dreams and sometimes, that means being away from you for a bit,” she confessed with a broken smile.

“As long as you always come back,”

“That’s our deal, isn’t it?”

“You can go wherever you want to go… as long as you always come back to your old man,” he spoke up, bringing back the deal they had made with each other right before she left for college. “I’m so proud of you, Liv. I still don’t know how to explain the fact that you’ve managed to make me even more proud that you’ve been making me all of your life but you have… the clinic, the foundation,” he paused briefly. “But most importantly, honoring your grandfather, a person who you’ve never even met… it says a lot about you and your character, pumpkin,” he affirmed, his tone firm.

“I truly believe this is what I was born to do, dad,” Olivia replied. “I know it’s not going to be an easy journey from now on, but I’m excited about what it will bring me once everything is up and running,” she informed him.

“And I have no doubt you will be amazing,” Liam reassured the young woman. “You’re an extraordinary woman and you’re going to be the best doctor this country has ever seen, I’m sure,”

“Thank you,” she whispered softly. “Why are goodbyes so freaking hard?” She asked her father, tightening the grip of her arms around his torso as she stared right up at his ocean blue orbs.

“Because it scares us to leave the comfort and security of what we know it’s safe,” he told his daughter, turning his head slightly to the side to inhale the familiar scent of her shampoo as he leaned even closer to her. “I know you struggle a lot more than your brother and sister when it comes to saying goodbye and going back home, Liv, but like you just said, you’re following your dreams and that’s exactly what I want you to do, pumpkin,” he explained. “Just like I know that struggle became a thousand times more challenging ever since your grandpa passed away early this year but I promise you I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, okay?”

“I’m afraid that’s not really something you can control, dad,” the young woman countered through a slightly muffled murmur as she stared down at the pavement beneath their feet. “I almost lost mom once and that hurt more than I thought it was even possible,” she reminded him of that permanent yet not so joyful memory of two decades back. “But now that I’ve lost grandpa,” she paused, taking a long and deep breath before shifting her eyes back to his. “I cannot bear the thought of one day losing you,” she admitted. “And that, daddy, is by far my biggest fear,”

“Nothing is going to happen, Olivia. Do you hear me?” Liam tried again. “Having the three of you here this weekend was incredible and I long to have you all back soon but you have your own life to get back to now, alright?” He spoke softly, offering his daughter a loving and heartwarming grin before dropping a kiss on the top of her head, all whilst his fingers ran slowly through the golden strands of her hair. “You’re going to spend a couple of days in the city with your sister and then you will go back to your fiancé, your precious puppy and life as you know it… so cherish these next couple of days like you did this weekend and your heart will find ease, okay?”

“I will,” Olivia nodded, hoping to try and hide at least some of the tears that were so desperately leaving her eyes as she jumped at him. “I love you more than anything, daddy,” she whispered while wrapping her arms around his neck. “You will always be my best friend in the whole wide world,”

“And you will always be my little girl, pumpkin,” he reassured her, his arms tight around her lower back as their hearts beat at the exact same pace. “No matter how old you are…”

“I should probably give Charlie a chance to say goodbye to you now,” she mentioned after holding strongly onto him for a good couple of minutes. “Nick’s going to be here soon and I told her I would get Lady settled in the car,”

“Go,” Liam instructed her. “Before I can’t find it in me to let you go,” he couldn’t help but laugh as he took a step backwards.

“Can I count on you to pop up in Baltimore sometime soon?” The middle child asked while turning back to meet her father’s eyes on her way to her sister’s luxurious, vintage car. Deep down, she knew it would only be a matter of time before they reunited once again but she had never been able to leave without shedding tears and that day wasn’t going to be any different. 

“Once a month, little one… as usual,” he threw his daughter a wink before blowing her a kiss, fully aware of how hard it was for her to say goodbye.

“Now can I get a proper goodbye?” Charlotte asked while approaching her father. “Or have you run out of tears saying goodbye to your youngest children?” She teased him, her tone playful as she swayed her hips on her way to him.

“You do know I will always have time for my firstborn, right?” Liam could only frown as he stared at his eldest daughter from top to bottom, wondering for the millionth time how much she looked like her mother. “Because you don’t have to be jealous, you know,” he added in a playful tune when she stopped in front of him.

“I’m not jealous,” she groaned while rolling her eyes.

“Of course not,” he chuckled.

“Nick should be arriving anytime soon so I guess this is it,” the brunette stated. “Thanks for everything, dad… this house is wonderful and this weekend was amazing,” she offered him a smile. “It’s great to have you and mom living closer so I hope that means we get to see each other more often. I do think I’m going to miss the mansion terribly but I really am glad to have my parents this close from now on,” she elaborated while tucking a strand of long brown hair behind her ear.

“The mansion will always be there, princess,” Liam reminded her. “It will always be our home and we can all go back as much as we want, whenever we want,” he pointed out. “But we needed the change of scenery and well,” he paused with the sole intention of lowering his voice as he leaned closer to his eldest child. “I had to take your mom out of Georgia before she deteriorated to the point of no return,” he confessed, his voice muffled and barely audible as he whispered the words in her ear. “And being closer to the three of you has given her a new sense of purpose ever since it was nothing but an idea on paper…”

“As long as you’re there for her,” Charlotte muttered, glancing briefly at her mother only to find her standing by the car as her sister finished settling the small dog in the backseat of the vehicle. “Unfortunately, we can’t be here every single day and I know she understands that but you have to promise you will take care of her,” she said firmly. “Even when she’s acting too damn stubborn to cooperate,” she laughed lightly, fully aware of how difficult to handle her mother could be sometimes. After all, she was just like her.

“I would never let your mom down, Charlie,” he spoke seriously. “And that’s something I just promised to both your brother and your sister so you don’t have to worry about it, alright? Your mother has been in a pretty dark place for a few months now but I know exactly what that feels like so trust me when I tell you that I will not let her down, not even for a minute,” he reassured his daughter. “She’s my wife, the mother of my children and the love of my life but don’t forget that no one in this family understands your mother more than you do, Charlotte,” he continued. “You know that special bond you two share?” She nodded in a quick yet silent response. “She relies on that a lot more than you think,” he added.

“I will try my best to come visit frequently,” she told him. “It’a only a two hour drive so I’m sure I can come up with something,” she mentioned with a loving grin.

“Is it okay if I ask something else of you?”

“To cut my work hours? Or to stop drinking?” Charlotte wondered, always two steps ahead of him when it came to those specific subjects.

“Both,” her father replied instantly. “Those habits are far from healthy, princess. You’re still young so you probably don’t realize how bad they are but one day it will hit you like a brick and there will be no going back,” he explained. “I’m not telling you to quit your job or to stop drinking alcohol altogether… I’m simply asking you to take care of yourself because you do tend to overdo,” he murmured, his voice soft and his eyes filled with a mix of love and concern for the woman who would always be his little girl.

“I will, okay?” She whispered, taking a step forward before burying her head in his chest. “I promise,”

“I love you, princess,” Liam mentioned while wrapping his arms around her body, allowing her to melt into his embrace as he planted a long and meaningful kiss on the top of her head. “And all I want is for you to be happy, Charlotte. That’s literally all I want in this life,” he confessed, hugging her as tight as he possibly could as his eyes wondered to his wife and daughter a few feet away.

“I know… and I love you too, dad,” Charlotte mumbled against his shirt, finding it practically impossible to lower her arms and let go of her father even though she knew she still needed to talk to her mom before eventually getting in her car to drive back to Manhattan.

“Be nice to your sister this week,” he suddenly spoke up. “And please check on your brother from time to time so he doesn’t get into any kind of trouble,” he requested.

“I will be the perfect host to Ollie… as I always am and don’t worry, dad, I’ve had my eyes on your youngest ever since he moved in with grandma,” she couldn’t help but laugh. “Bye, dad… I love you,” she whispered, turning around on her four inch stilettos after ending their conversation by giving him a loud smack on the cheek.

“I love you too, princess,”

“All set, Ollie?” The young brunette asked her sister while walking to the car currently parked in the middle of the driveway.

“Yes,” Olivia nodded in response, having already settled behind the passenger seat as the Cavalier King dog lied on the small fluffy bed located opposite of her, behind the driver’s seat. “Where’s Nick?” She questioned after checking the time on her phone.

“Arriving any minute now, I suppose,” she told the blonde. “It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for his cab to hit some traffic on the road back from his parents’ house,” she added with a small shrug. “Can we talk?” She turned towards her mother.

“Yeah, of course,” Fallon agreed, recognizing almost immediately how unease her eldest daughter felt at that very moment. “Come on, let’s go over there,” she muttered while taking the younger woman’s hand in hers to take her somewhere more private where they could talk. “I know you hate saying goodbye because you feel like crying when we all know that you like to pretend you’re strong enough to leave without dropping a single tear… but is there something else going on?” She couldn’t help but wonder as she raised her right hand to cup her left cheek.

“I don’t even know,”

“We don’t have to talk about it now since we don’t even have that much time but you can call me anytime, Charlie,” she informed her. “Or I can even drive to the city and meet you up for coffee if you want to talk in person…”

“Maybe, yeah,”

“I love you so much, princess,” Fallon whispered in her ear after pulling her into a hug. As used as she was to saying goodbye to her precious firstborn, some days still felt harder than others. “I love you so so much,” she repeated in a twice as soft tone only to find the exact opposite of what she expected to see once they were face to face again. “Hey, where did you just go?” She wondered, deeply concerned at the sudden lack of emotion in her daughter’s eyes.

“Where did I-” Charlotte muttered, the broken sentence almost inaudible on her lips. “What?” She frowned after returning her attention to the woman standing right in front of her.

“I was just telling you how much I love you and suddenly your face went blank,” she mentioned. “Come on, Charlie, talk to me… is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she nodded shyly. “I guess I just got lost in my thoughts… again,” she groaned, sighing heavily in complaint as both her body and mind not so gently reminded her of having kept her awake throughout the entire night.

“You need to slow down, Charlotte,” Fallon stated, her voice switching from sweet to firm in a matter of seconds. “You’ve been working a lot more than you should, you’ve been as stressed as ever and the worst of all… you’ve been drinking as if alcohol was going to fix your every problem and cure your every bruise but that’s not the answer, princess,” she described softly. “I’m watching you do everything that I used to do when I was your age and believe me, I don’t want to be the annoying mother who is always telling you what to do and what not to do,”

“Then don’t, mom,”

“But that doesn’t mean I will stop caring about you,” she continued. “Because I know what’s like to go through what you’re going through right now and what I’ve been trying to tell you for weeks now is that it’s not always worth it,” she explained, staring into the bright blue of the eyes that matched her hers perfectly as she tenderly ran her thumb up and down her daughter’s rosed cheek. “It’s okay to be a career driven person and it’s okay to be this incredible business shark that you’ve become but don’t throw your life away because of a company, Charlie,” she added in a more begging tune.

“What if this career is my dream, mom? What if this is what I’m supposed to do just like Ollie was born to build this incredible foundation in grandpa’s name?” Charlotte wondered when she didn’t even know how to answer her own questions or figure out her own doubts. “What if CEO of Van Kirk Industries is exactly who I was born to be?”

“But at what cost, Charlie?” Fallon questioned right away. “It’s not a dream if it costs you your peace and freedom, princess,” she countered. “As proud as I am of the woman you’ve turned into, I can’t help but worry that you’re pushing yourself too hard into becoming something that you’re not even sure it’s going to make you happy. Maybe because I raised you like this or merely because you’re an exact copy of my DNA but either way, I was once in the position you are right now and I didn’t make the right choice at the time,” she elaborated. “And I would like to think I would have chosen differently had I had someone to discuss it with me… which I didn’t,” she rolled her eyes while thinking about the hundreds of times she needed advice from her father, who was too busy working to care for what was going on in her life, or even a comforting talk with her mother, who had chosen to completely disappear without a single explanation in her early teenage years.

“I know I have you, mom,”

“You may be turning thirty in a couple of months, princess, but you’re still young!” She exclaimed. “No one is telling you to have everything figured out and no one is asking you to have all of the answers… what I’m trying to do here is make sure you see is that there’s a fine line between loving your job and living for your job,” she pointed out.

“You want to know why I was up all night?” The older brunette was quick to respond with a nod. “Because this weekend has made me realize that sometimes, even when you think something is right for you, life has a funny way of proving you the exact opposite,” she told her mother. “Dad didn’t want kids when you first started dating and look at what the two of you have now,” she gestured to their surroundings. “Not only did you have three children but you’re moving to this beautiful house so you can be closer to us… even though we have a private jet and Atlanta is just a quick flight away,” she added with a light chuckle. “Yet still, you chose to move here,”

“Your dad and I tried life as a couple… we tried living each and every day enjoying each other to the fullest while knowing the three of you were doing just fine on your own,” Fallon confided in her daughter. “And at first, it was pretty damn fun,” she smiled brightly. “From having all of the time in the world to ourselves to being able to walk naked around the house… but as it turns out, princess, we love being parents and yeah, we do need moments with no one but each other but what matters to us the most right now is that we’re close to you, Olivia and Henry,” she commented. “And losing your grandfather has made me realize that at the end of the day, family is what truly matters because life is way too short and one day we will all regret not spending one extra day together,”

“So you’re leaving everything behind just to be close to us,”

“We’re not leaving everything behind, princess,” her mother informed her. “We’re just searching for what makes us the happiest and right now,” she paused dramatically. “I can say that what makes your father and I the happiest is being close to the three of you,” she concluded, grinning.

“Even though you’re not even going to see us every day?” Charlotte couldn’t help but ask. “I mean, coming to the Hamptons is a lot easier than flying to Atlanta but that doesn’t mean I can drive all the way here for dinner every night,” she chuckled softly.

“And we’re not expecting you to do so, Charlie,” Fallon reassured her daughter. “But your dad and I needed a change and well… I needed to get out of Atlanta because the pain was just too unbearable,” she confessed. “So hopefully living by the beach and at a new house, not to mention only a short drive away from you guys, will bring light back to my life again,” she explained. “Because the three of you are what really makes me happy,”

“You know,” the younger woman began. “Hearing you talk about us like that over the past couple of days has certainly made me think,” she admitted, unsure of what words to use to express what she was feeling at that moment. “What if… what if maybe,”

“Hi, everyone! How are you?” They suddenly heard.

“Ugh, perfect timing,” Charlotte could only sigh heavily at the sight of her boyfriend stepping out of a cab right onto their driveway.

“Shouldn’t you be happier to see your man or have times changed so much that my generation doesn’t understand yours anymore?” Fallon asked playfully.

“No, mom,” she laughed lightly. “His voice just made me lose track of what I was saying,”

“And what were you saying, princess?” She frowned. “Because I’m pretty sure you were just babbling a bunch of words that didn’t exactly make a lot of sense,” she murmured.

“Can you see him?”

“Yeah, he’s talking to your dad,” the older brunette told her daughter. “Why?”

“Because I definitely don’t want him to listen to what I’m about to tell you,”

“Which is…”

“What if… maybe,” Charlotte paused again, still searching for the right words as she made sure to keep her voice low enough so no one aside from her mother would hear her. “What if maybe I want to give it a try?” She then blurted out like ripping off a bandage.

“What?” Fallon couldn’t help but frown in confusion. “Give what a try?”

“Parenthood,” she whispered while glancing at the two men standing by the stairs that led up to the front porch.

“I know your in-laws put a lot of pressure on that subject but you don’t have to have children if it’s not what you want, princess,” she reminded her daughter. “We’ve been through that plenty of times over the past few years, especially when you decided to go through that abortion a while back, and it doesn’t matter what other people say or think, princess. You’re the one writing your future, Charlotte, not them,” she complemented. “You know I would absolutely love a grandchild but if you ever go down that road, Charlie, I would like it to be because you want to go down that road,” she said firmly.

“It’s just that… every time we get together,” the younger woman spoke up. “The five of us, I mean,” she added shortly after. “I know I’ve always said I don’t want children but I guess in one way or another, having our family together like these past couple of days does make me wonder if this is something I want out of life… maybe not three kids because even you have to admit that’s a little bit crazy but not just me and Nick either, you know?” She murmured. “Does that even make sense?”

“Yes, princess, it makes a lot more sense than you think,” Fallon chuckled after reaching for one of her daughter’s hands. “And if it’s keeping you up at night, then maybe it’s something for you to consider… and discuss with your boyfriend,” she mentioned, allowing her finger to rub soft circles on the back of the eldest child’s hand as she leaned in to plant a kiss on her temple. “You’re on a great path, Charlie. You have a great job, an amazing boyfriend and most of all, you have a family that is going to support you through every step of the way… no matter what you choose,” she added while gazing deeply into her blue orbs.

“Why does being a grown up have to be so damn hard sometimes?” Charlotte groaned loudly.

“I wish I knew,” she offered her a smile. “And you probably won’t believe me if I tell you how many times I wished you wouldn’t grow up,”

“Isn’t that something all mothers wish for?” She frowned, her tone teasing.

“Well, yeah, maybe,” Fallon rambled. “But with you, princess, it has always been different,” she confessed before staring up at the cloudless sky in an attempt of controlling the tears that were so desperately trying to pool in her eyes. “Because I may love the three of you equally but you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Charlie,” she stated. “You opened a door for me to have all that I have now, you changed your father’s mind and you brought a light into my life that I had never been able to find before,” she took a deep breath. “Ever since I held you in my arms for the very first time on that cold December morning, I’ve known a different kind of love,”

“But that’s because being a mother has always been your dream, mom,” Charlotte commented. “When you were growing up, the thing you wanted most in the world was to have a healthy and loving family and when you eventually found that, the dream to have a baby only grew…”

“I’m not telling you this to convince you to have children, Charlie,”

“Oh, no, mom, I know you’re not,” she was quick to say.

“I just think you’re scared… and whether you care to admit that or not, that’s between you and your heart but deep down, I know that you’re going to be an amazing mother if that’s what you decide to do,” she offered her daughter a smile. “Children do turn your whole world upside down, I’m not going to lie, but you have no idea how rewarding it is to watch them go through every stage of life,” she murmured as memories from the three childhoods she had been lucky enough to witness played in her mind.

“Do you ever wish you could go back to when we were little?” Charlotte wondered. “Because I do… back to when things were easy and I didn’t have to make my own decisions,” she rolled her eyes.

“I’m not sure what little Charlotte you’re talking about because the one I remember certainly knew exactly what she wanted,” Fallon couldn’t help but laugh as she attempted to lighten up the mood a little bit. “But yeah, I do wish that sometimes,” she affirmed, her voice low. “But then I think about everything you’re accomplishing and where you’re are now… with all three of you making me and your dad so incredibly proud with what you’ve been doing,” she told her. “And well, it’s not like we can go back in time so all I can do now is be there for you while you all deal with the craziness that’s being an adult,” she added with a small shrug.

“It’s certainly not easy,” Charlotte groaned. “Especially when that means not seeing you every single day,” she mumbled while resting her head in the crook of her mother’s neck. “I love New York City and I’m pretty happy with my life right now but if there’s one thing I’ve always wished I could change, it’s the distance between us, mom,” she admitted with a quiet yet still noticeable sob once the older woman wrapped her arms around her back.

“You’re mom is a lot closer now, princess,” she whispered in her ear. “And as always, just a phone call away,” she added before tightening her grip around her daughter’s frame. “Is that why you may now be slowly leaning towards the idea of having a family?” She found herself wondering. Suddenly, it all made sense. “Because I’m just a short drive away now? No airports… no planes… no flying across the country anymore?”

“Maybe,” she shrugged.

“Oh, Charlie,”

“You’re my best friend, mom,” Charlotte said softly.

“And you’re mine, baby girl,” Fallon replied immediately, her right hand running up and down her daughter’s back as her left one slipped between her long brown strands in hope to provide her with the kind of comfort that only she could offer.

“And if I ever decide to go down this road, I need to know you will be around,” she whispered while breathing in the soothing scent of her mother’s so familiar perfume.

“I will, princess,” she reassured her, sliding her hand down to the ends of her hair before dropping another kiss down on her forehead. “Until the end of time…”

“Charlotte! Come on, sweetie, let’s go! It’s getting late!” Nick shouted from the car, letting his girlfriend know that he was already behind the wheel and ready to drive back to the city.

“I’m afraid it’s time to go,” the young woman murmured in defeat despite making little to no effort to let go of her mother.

“Call me as soon as you get home?” The older brunette requested when they finally managed to pull away from each other, as much as it hurt.

“I will,” Charlotte promised, clenching onto her mother’s hands as she began heading in the direction of the luxurious Aston Martin and away from the woman she loved more than anything in the world. “Do you remember what you used to say to me every night when you tucked me in?” She asked, glancing to their fully extended arms as their fingers eventually started to lose their grip on one another before looking up just in time for her teary blue orbs to meet their matching ones. 

Being her mother’s mini-me had always been one of her favorite traits, but even she had to admit that the special bond they shared was so strong it always made it inexplicably hard to leave. She knew she had to. After all, she had her own life waiting for her back in New York. She just didn’t want to.

“The one thing that could always calm you down when you were too scared to close your eyes?” Fallon wondered, receiving a small nod in response once they were suddenly too far for their grip to hold. “I wish it could stay this simple but I won’t let nobody hurt you… won’t let no one break your heart,” she spoke in the softest of tunes, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks as she felt her daughter’s fingers slipping through hers. “And even though you want to, please try to never grow up… oh don’t you ever grow up,” she whispered, sobbing rather silently while holding her arms against her chest at the sight of the young woman that reminded her so much of herself rounding the vintage car to get to the passenger seat.

“Bye, mom,” she read on her daughter’s lips as she raised her right hand to wave goodbye one last time. “I love you,”

“I love you too,” she mouthed right back before being immediately transported to when that beautiful grown woman was just as newborn, giggling and cooing all bundled up in her arms while showing a million emotions through the ocean blue of her marvelous eyes that were such a flawless copy of her own. “Oh darling, don’t ever grow up,” she whispered to herself once the car drove out of the property and the gate started to close. “Oh, never grow up.”

THE END