#brad;

brad had been spending most of the day out on the farm working while emma and ava stayed home. he was relieved there was nothing wrong with their baby girl, having feared the worst as a father but wanting to keep his cool for emma’s sake. though they were engaged now, he still felt distant from emma. simply because they had a baby to take care of that took up a lot of their time but he still craved being closer to her, even if it involved their baby in the mix. finishing up early, he hurried the chickens back in the cooper before he headed inside for the night, flicking off the back porch lights and shutting the sliding glass door behind him. “hey, baby.” spotting ava in her pen, he beamed as he resisted the urge to carry her just because he was dirty from outside. instead, he came up behind emma and slipped his arms around her wait, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “hey, you.” he whispered, knowing he was distracting her from wedding planning but not caring at the moment. “this looks like stuff that can wait till tomorrow. come watch a movie with us..”

brad had never been one for enjoying the spotlight but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like being announced as king and queen alongside his girlfriend. compared to all the other potential nominees, they were the couple that had been together the longest and so it was only right. after prom, everyone headed to meet at a designated spot. it was somewhere between a mix of a party and a tailgate and he could only hope they didn’t get caught because his queen was very much the mayor’s daughter. of course, none of them were of legal drinking age but that didn’t stop them from copping some cases of beer. he clutched one in his hand, an arm slung around her shoulders as he pressed a wet kiss to her cheek. “hey, have i told you you look amazing tonight? i think i should tell you--you look ah-ma-zing.” he mused, having said so for the fifth time that night.

at this point, brad was all out of ideas on what to do to make things work between them. he didn’t think talking did much help since every time they talked, it seemed like they were going around in circles. however, she seemed convinced that’s what they needed. upon hearing his sister had finally left, he made his way back home and unloaded her things into the house. “daddy’s home!” he shouted as he carried in two boxes tucked under his arms. his brow arched toward the kitchen, noticing she really hadn’t cooked as she said she wouldn’t. however, saying anything now would make her feel like she had to whip him something up and so he bit his tongue. “where’s my baby? ‘sssss...” he added at the end, smirking as he popped into ava’s room since she’d told him she was going to feed her.

since they’d arrived back in town, brad had made it his calling to spend more time with ava. things between him and emma weren’t so good and at this point, he wasn’t sure what to do or say to make them better. it seemed as if it was just going to take some time for them to figure out their footing again. meanwhile, he was also trying to get his footing with his daughter. the best way he could think of was by giving her a farm-wide tour of the land, insisting to his mom he’d bring her back soon. he started by the chickens, then the cows, into the barn and eventually to the horses. ava sucked on her pacifier while he rambled to her. having lost track of time at some point because he overheard his name being called from the patio. “what?!” he called out, gesturing with an arm out as he squinted, trying to figure out from the distance if it was his mom or emma.

the road trip to the west coast was a long trek. especially since he’d never actually travelled out of the state before--much less across the country. but being alone with emma for days was just what he wanted. by the end of the trip, climbing into bed and holding her while they slept came natural to him. they’d arrived at her place late in the night and so it caused his brow to raise at the sight of a car in her driveway. “is that...” he trailed off, not even wanting to finish his sentence. though she insisted he wasn’t her boyfriend, if the guy liked her, it was reason enough for him not to like him. he didn’t even bother to unload their bags from the trunk, heading toward the door instead and gesturing her to open up with her key as if he was prepared to fight.

every year, the town hosted the annual halloween festival that was similar to a fair. the walkers had their own station where his parents sold goods and even provided the pies for the pie eating contest. brad on the other hand was in charge of gathering the pumpkins and this was his second trip from the ranch to unload more of them from the bed of his truck. he was sweating despite the cool air. though kevin was helping him out, it was still hard labour. he stood on the bed of truck, tossing pumpkins down to his friend who then set them down. they had a steady workflow going until he laid eyes on emma and he was suddenly distracted. tossing the pumpkin just a foot away from where kevin was and smashing it in the process. “oh, shit!” he cursed as kevin questioned what the hell he was looking at until he realized it. “hey, doofus! focus!” he snapped his fingers at him. “hey, emma.” he grinned, waving from his truck. “i’ll be back.” he told kevin as he quickly hopped off to head over to her.

brad didn’t actually believe emma was back. especially when his friends were all trying to convince him to believe them. they all messed around so much that he simply refused to believe it until he texted her himself to find out. he wished he knew how long she was staying for because the last thing he wanted to do was let himself get close to her again if she was just going to back but right now he wasn’t thinking about that. just focused on getting to pattys. he had just finished up working at the ranch and so he hadn’t even had a chance to shower and change into nicer clothes. not that patty’s required them. it was a casual diner but he hadn’t seen her in practically a year and part of him wanted to look good. even though he knew she used to like him sweaty and dirty just the same as cleaned up. before he could get to patty’s, he noticed a familiar car on the side of the road with the hazard lights on. his brow furrowed as he slowed down and pulled over behind it before making his way over to the driver’s side. he opened his mouth to say something but he was too taken aback by seeing her for the first time in so long through the window.