Year/Job
Owner of Club Brielle
He's good bad, but he's not evil. |
Travis
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Post by Lawrence Gable on Nov 22, 2015 23:22:46 GMT -8
When Lawrence graduated from Hogwarts, he had amassed a wealth of 7,500 Galleons, which according to an internet wizard money converter, is roughly the equivalent of 75,000 US dollars. Now, you might call foul because how could Lawrence have possibly collected that much money from his prefect scheme? But the truth was, Lawrence had been raising this money since his days in America. Devotees may recall the time that Lawrence blackmailed twenty-five thousand dollars out of an old crush’s father. Of course a good couple thousand of that had gone to the private investigator that Lawrence had to hire to prove the man’s infidelity, but the point is that Lawrence was always trying to find ways to earn a little extra cash. Each Galleon, or Magic Dollar before conversion, would go into the bank. Lawrence was saving for the future, he planned to build an empire with that money.
But that was before he met Brielle Quinn.
As soon as graduation was over, Lawrence was dipping into his money. First it was to put his mom and his new step-father in a nice house. Mrs. Gable, or whatever her new name is now, didn’t want any of Larry’s “graduation money,” as he called it, but Lawrence insisted that they at least let him meet them half-way. That was a good chunk of the pot gone. Then there was the wedding. If I remember correctly, it’s the duty of the bride’s family to pay for the majority of the wedding, but since Lawrence had never gotten Michael Quinn’s blessing, they didn’t get any funding—Michael didn’t lend a single knut, or ding-dong in American magical money, to the occasion.
After the honeymoon, Lawrence’s wealth was dwindling and he saw that his dream of bribing and cheating the system to the top would have to wait. This realization came to Lawrence upon the discovery that his wife was pregnant. Like with a baby, pregnant! Brielle and Lawrence would have to live as common peasants while they put their life of luxury on hold. He found himself an unpaid internship at the Ministry of Magic, and despite the humble rank, the internship was a pretty big deal. Lawrence had been selected over nearly a hundred other applicants from fifteen different countries for the job. There was plenty of room for mobility, evidenced by the number of members of the Wizengamot who had started out as unpaid interns, and it provided Lawrence with opportunities to get in a room with some very important people. It seemed that, despite his recent setbacks and financial problems, Lawrence could still talk his way into even the most prestigious of unpaid internships.
The couple settled down in a tiny London apartment while Lawrence exhausted the rest of his Empire Fund on rent and utilities, insisting that Brielle, in her condition—which was definitely pregnant—shouldn’t have to work. If their new home, which didn’t have the moat he’d always dreamed of, wasn’t humbling enough, he was working as the personal assistant to an old classmate and rival, one Sebastian “Bash” Naggston. The same Bash Naggston who had chased after Lawrence’s wife for seven years, the same Bash Naggston who had threatened her into dating him for half a year, the same Bash Naggston with the Aryan Blonde feathered hair, and if he wasn’t awful enough, he’d recently added a few catchphrases to his list of terrible quirks (“What’s the hippity-haps, people?” and “Blow me, I’m rich.” No one really understood where that second one came from).
Bash had used his family’s connection to find himself a comfy desk job in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He wasn’t so bad now that Lawrence was his subordinate, but that was mostly because he wanted nothing to do with a pregnant Brielle. “That well’s been tapped, brother,” he’d once said. “I’m like one of those charities, you know? Going around, building wells for poor African villages.” It was a weird metaphor. And also terrible. Just pretty much everything about working under Bask Naggston was terrible, especially since Lawrence had to watch while Bash took credit for all of his work. That was the advantage of having a personal assistant, you see.
But Lawrence knew that he wouldn’t have to wait long for his promotion, as long as he continued working as hard as he did. And at the end of every day he could return to his home and see the face of the woman who made it all worth it, his beautiful Brielle. And that bump, getting bigger every day, reminding him why he’d traded a dynasty of crime for the ordinary life.
Unfortunately, there were also owls, perched somewhere near his front door waiting with bad news tied to their talons. Lawrence tore open the envelope outside, hoping to keep the news of their debt from Brielle for as long as he could. She didn’t need that kind of stress. Not right now. He jammed the bill into his pocket, paused for a moment to compose himself, and then stepped inside of the flat.
He found Brielle at the stove and walked over to embrace her, kissing her on the back of the head and placing his hands on her belly. He took a deep breath, a sort of sigh of relief to be standing there with the love of his life after a particularly frustrating day of work. After a moment he simply said, “Hi,” and then asked, “How are my girls doing?”
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Year/Job
National Quidditch Team Sporting Director
Wizengamot
Goddamn, she murdered everybody and I was her witness. |
Gryffindor
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Post by Gabrielle Quinn on Nov 25, 2015 22:51:17 GMT -8
If someone had asked Brielle what she was going to be after graduation, she would have said Auror, Healer, Dragon Trainer. She had always been an ambitious girl and had big dreams. Despite failing a year, her grades were enough for her to pursue a career as an Auror. That was her dream, Dragon Trainer was just her back up. There was also no denying the fact that she was planning on marrying Lawrence Gable. It wasn't just a ploy to spite her parents anymore, she was truly in love with Lawrence. She thought she would have both a promising career and a happy marriage, and she did end up in a happy marriage.
When she married Lawrence, she saw her dreams come true. Even though her father did end up walking her down the aisle, he wanted nothing more than for Camilla to let him go home so he could sulk in his study. Brielle understood that maybe this was hard for her dad, he was letting his little girl go, unwillingly. The part that actually hurt Brielle's feelings was the fact that Michael was more than willing to accept Anya's marriage to Theodore Platt. Everyone knows Michael Quinn was an avid Teddielle shipper. Except not really. The point was that Mr. Quinn didn't care much fro Lawrence and Brielle together. Camilla was more indifferent than anything, but sometimes she would sway toward her husband's side.
Despite not having support from her parents, Brielle and Lawrence went about their lives together. After a honeymoon somewhere in America, but definitely not Detroit, the young newlyweds moved into a small apartment in London. Her life was just beginning and she was more than ecstatic to be sharing it with Larry. Brielle had been in the process of filing out paperwork for the Auror Training Program when it happened. She had not been feeling well for a few days, but she figured it was the flu. Except she only felt that way in the morning, she couldn't get any food in her system unless she was willing to experience it rising up her throat and out of her mouth. Her energy was low, lower than it had ever been, and anytime she pressed herself against Larry, she felt the soreness in her breasts. Then one morning, as she was returning from buying groceries, the sweet little old lady next door stopped her. Mrs. Jones lived by herself... and ten cats. Her children were all grown and the only time they took time to visit her was during the Christmas holiday. She spent a lot of her time baking and she had on more than one occasion delivered a freshly baked pie for the Gables. Brielle thought Mrs Jones wanted to give her another pie, but the lady smiled brightly and reached her hand out grab one of Brielle's grocery bags.
"Oh, dear, you shouldn't be carrying this much in you condition. It's not good for the little one."
Her words rang in Brielle's mind the rest of the day, while she waited for the pregnancy test to be done, then after that while she waited for Lawrence to get home. Telling him was easier than she thought, because as soon as he stepped through the doorway, she blurted out that she was pregnant.
That had been a little more than five months prior and Brielle was kind of still getting used this whole being pregnant thing. The morning sickness was bad, but it was gradually decreasing. However, the one thing she couldn't get used to was the sudden movement in her swollen belly. The first time the baby moved was scary, but wonderful. Every time it moved, Brielle would place her hands over her belly and would stay still for a minute, hoping to feel it again.
Brielle was too wrapped in her world to realize what was going on around her. She wasn't into keeping track of Lawrence's money, he was capable of doing that. So when she stopped receiving bills, she thought he was taking care of everything. Never once had he complained to her or given any indication that they were basically running out of money.
"I'm just saying, maybe you should give it a thought." Camilla's voice rang through the small room. Brielle was sitting by fireplace. her face too close to the fire. "Vince is just such a nice guy."
"Mom, I'm five months pregnant," Brielle stated for the third time in this conversation.
"Oh, Gabrielle, those are just details."
"This conversation is over, I have to finish dinner." Brielle paused for a second before adding, "Tell dad I love him, I know he's there."
Then she hung up, or whatever people do to hang up on someone when using the Floor Network. Brielle took one deep breath and walked back to the stove. She was lucky she had magic on her side, because she would have burned the place down by this point. She peered into the pot, she had been making spaghetti or something because she's from Italy. She heard when Larry opened the door, but didn't turn around. She wanted to get the food done, the sooner that happened the sooner she could sit down. Her feet were killing her.
A smiled appeared on her lips as Lawrence's arms went around her waist and his hands rested on her belly. "Claire, daddy's home," she whispered, then felt her cheeks turning bright red. She often spoke to her baby, but Larry wasn't around to see that during the day. It almost felt silly to her. She managed to turn around to face her husband and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "We're happy you're home. How was your day?"
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Year/Job
Owner of Club Brielle
He's good bad, but he's not evil. |
Travis
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Post by Lawrence Gable on Nov 26, 2015 21:20:54 GMT -8
A common narrative tells of two lovers who rush to get married far too soon—it might be a stretch to call them lovers, but this was the case with my brother and his wife, who didn’t actually love each other at all but were too scared to dump each other because it would inevitably leave one, or both of them, homeless. The obvious solution, of course, was to get married. It didn’t end well. I mention this because Brielle and Lawrence were a surprising exception. Despite all of the dissenters pushing Brielle in the direction of a better suitor like Vince Kilgour, they were genuinely ready to be married. The truth was that in four years, Brielle and Lawrence had been through enough drama to last an entire marriage. While some people might have looked at their breakups, including one broken engagement, as a red flag, they were the sort of tests that time and time again proved the Gables’ durability.
Living in poverty wasn’t something that Lawrence had expected for himself or his wife. She had come from an upper class family herself and he would feel like a failure if he were unable to provide for her in the same way her father had, or better, but this was just another test that they were going to pass. The fact that Brielle would stay with Lawrence even when he couldn’t give her the house, or the magic!yacht, or all the fur coats in the world was evidence enough for Lawrence that he’d made the right decision. There was never any doubt that he’d made the right decision.
As far as baby Gable was concerned, Lawrence didn’t even see that as a problem. It was true that he was going to have to start making money soon to provide for Brielle and his daughter, but babies weren’t something to overcome like a bad job. Lawrence was suffering from his own case of the flu when Brielle started getting sick, so he didn’t really think much of it when she started throwing up. Her moody disposition wasn’t much to question either, because this was the same girl who had once wanted to kill him over a crown. Or something. Those were pretty much the only signs that Lawrence knew to look for, so that was why it was such a shock when Brielle blurted the news to him one afternoon as he returned home from work.
“No,” Lawrence had said, before he was overtaken by a wave of vertigo, but he fought the urge to collapse to the floor and simply let a small smiles cross his lips. “Oh Brielle,” he whispered as he pulled her close. “That’s such great news.” And it was. Lawrence wasn’t trying to get his wife pregnant, but it certainly wasn’t something he was opposed to. They’d already gotten married super young, why wouldn’t they have a baby at twenty-one? Larry had always envisioned Brielle as a working woman, she was a tough lady with an active body and mind, and he didn’t expect her to sit around all day as his housekeeper. He genuinely felt guilty that he’d derailed her Auror ambitions, but there was a lot of that going around. If you’d asked Lawrence what he was going to be after graduation, he wouldn’t have said “Minion for Bash Naggston.”
Resting his hands on Brielle’s belly, it was still hard to believe that this was actually her belly. He still couldn’t believe that he’d gotten Brielle Quinn pregnant, all the Bash Naggstons and Vince Kilgours in the world couldn’t take that away from him. But Brielle wasn’t the only noticing differences between expecting and not expecting. It was easier for Lawrence, being the one who wasn’t pregnant and all, but he still had to suffer through her mood swings which had only grown more violent with the pregnancy, and then there was the subject of their intimacy which made Lawrence feel awkward now that he could visualize his daughter inside of Brielle, now that he’d seen her on the sonogram. But intimate moments like that had been traded for intimate moments like this, when Lawrence greeted Brielle at the end of every day with a smile and a hug.
“Claire, daddy’s home,” Brielle whispered to their baby, and though she might not be able to see, it made Lawrence grin. She turned around now and kissed Lawrence on the cheek, and before she could lean out enough, he placed a quick kiss of his own on her lips. “We’re happy you’re home. How was your day?”
“It didn’t start until I got home, as far as I’m concerned,” Which was unfortunate, because Lawrence had to wake up every day at five in the morning, and he didn’t get home until five in the evening. He never got to spend as much time with his wife as he wanted, but he always tried to make it worth it. “But you know, it’s just the same old thing. Never a dull moment working for You-Know-Who,” Most wizards might use that name in reference to Voldemort, but Larry had reserved the name solely for Bash. You-Know-Who was dead now anyway, I think. Are we even following this site’s plot still? Eh. Anyway. “You’re making spaghetti,” he asked, and probably should have left it at that, but added a quick, “again?” to the end of his question. It was an honest question, because pasta seemed to be the only thing Brielle ever wanted to cook. He wondered if it was pregnancy cravings, yearning for the food of her people, you know? “Which is great,” he said as he found his seat at the dinner table. “Your spaghetti’s even better than my mother’s.”
At the table, as he waited for Brielle to finish dinner, he crumpled the bill around in his pocket as he considered whether it was time to tell her. It wasn’t easy for Lawrence to hide the details of their finances from his wife, and every hidden letter was like the beating heart beneath the floorboards. “Brielle,” it had taken all of his courage just to say her name. He paused to clear his throat and then continued, “We need to talk…about…well, I guess everything.”
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Year/Job
National Quidditch Team Sporting Director
Wizengamot
Goddamn, she murdered everybody and I was her witness. |
Gryffindor
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Post by Gabrielle Quinn on Nov 27, 2015 22:22:59 GMT -8
Should Brielle tell Lawrence that his mother had given her the recipe for the spaghetti? Probably, but it didn't mean she was going to tell him now. Brielle didn't see herself as the perfect housewife, it was not her goal in life, but she felt a sense of pride every time Larry complimented her cooking. She had a suspicion that he was only doing it because that's what Lawrence did and she was totally cool with it. "Claire wanted spaghetti," She was lying, of course, to cover up the fact that she only had two recipes in her repertoire. She figured she had a couple more months of cooking the same meals over and over again until Lawrence had enough and she'd had to learn more.
As she placed two plates on their small dining table, she couldn't help but notice the look on his face. Brielle wasn't a complete idiot, she had to know something was going on, something bad. She sat next to him, relieved from the extra weight her body was carrying these days. Her hand reached out, gently squeezing his arm. "Why do you look so nervous? I promise you won't get food poisoning... again." The only thing she could think of was to make a joke.
What was going on with him? She'd never seen him like this before. For a minute, her mind went into over drive, trying to figure it out. Was he about to tell her that he was leaving her? It was irrational, but if you were Brielle and you had experienced what she'd been feeling lately, it would make sense. She'd always been a beautiful girl and very active. However, she soon realized that when it came to pregnancies, gaining weight was not an option, no matter how active she was. The whole experience of the pregnancy, as a whole, was amazing. However, she felt like a stranger in her own body. And Lawrence didn't seem very interested in her lately, in her mind at least. Her hormones were raging all the time, but every time she tried to initiate any sort of intimate moment with him it was a no go. So she couldn't be blamed for thinking this was the end of the line.
Brielle's hand loosened the grip on his arm and she looked down at her lap. After a long, loud sigh she nodded at him. "I know, Lawrence... Go ahead and just say it." Her hand moved from his arm to her belly, hoping that it would be quick and painless for all parties. But if he thought she was going down without a fight, he was dead wrong!
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Year/Job
Owner of Club Brielle
He's good bad, but he's not evil. |
Travis
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Post by Lawrence Gable on Nov 28, 2015 0:35:06 GMT -8
It’s not that Lawrence didn’t find Brielle attractive anymore, though her fear made a lot of sense. He spent more time away from the home these days, and she was just left with Mrs. Jones’ cats. But it wasn’t the life Lawrence had wanted either when they got together in high school. He had been saving money for this very purpose, so they could be a step ahead of everyone else, so they could live a happy life. But that was kind of the thing about life, nothing really does work out the way you plan it. As for their intimacy, Lawrence’s problems were more ideological than physical. Brielle was carrying something so pure and innocent, he didn’t feel comfortable being amorous. He did miss the old days, but there were only three more months of this, right?
“Why do you look so nervous? I promise you won't get food poisoning... again.” Lawrence forced a smile, though he could feel the tension in the room building. Brielle wasn’t much of a joker, which meant that she was as nervous as he was. Was it time to tell her? The only reason he was keeping their finances secret was because he wanted to protect her. Brielle had enough stress to deal without the concern of money, throwing more onto that pile could be dangerous for a woman six months pregnant. What if she went into early labor? It could be dangerous for both baby Claire and his wife.
“Brielle,” Lawrence spoke, but he couldn’t look at his wife. Instead, he focused on the spaghetti swirling around his fork. No one did make a spaghetti better than Brielle’s, but he couldn’t imagine eating on this stomach. “We need to talk…about…well, I guess everything.” He felt Brielle’s grip loosen on his arm, like she was slipping away from him. He hadn’t considered that maybe she felt that he was slipping away from her. Times were very stressful right now, and everything he’d done in their marriage, he’d done for her. He hoped that Brielle could see that, but a more rational, less pregnant Brielle probably wouldn’t even see it that way.
“I know, Lawrence... Go ahead and just say it.”
Slowly now, Lawrence looked up from his dinner and into Brielle’s eyes. She knew? How? Was it the way he had been acting? Lawrence was up there with the best liars, but it was never easy lying to Brielle. Like how Walter White could lie to anyone but Skyler for some reason. Not to invite the comparison. Lawrence nodded with her, his mouth half open like he wanted to speak, but nothing was coming out. From his pocket he removed the bill and placed it onto the table.
“Okay,” he finally spoke. “I’ll just say it then…we’re out of money.” He could feel the weight dropping from his chest. For the first time in months, Lawrence felt the comfort of breathing again. “Wow,” he smiled. “I never knew it would feel this good to say that. I guess…I guess I’ve been scared to admit to myself, but we can’t keep living like this. Between our wedding and my mother’s wedding and the apartment and…” he looked down at Brielle’s belly, like he was scared to mention Claire for fear that she would resent it. “We’re going broke fast.”
Lawrence grabbed hold of Brielle’s hand and sighed. “I love you and our baby so much. I wanted to give you more than this, Brielle. I…understand if you want to go. Your parents could take better care of you than I can, and your dad’s probably got a whole rolodex of suitors for you.” He paused, judging Brielle’s expression to determine where exactly she was right now. Was she just going to take a break, or would they go through the whole formal divorce? “But,” he continued. “If you still want to make this work…we’re going to have to do something.”
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Year/Job
National Quidditch Team Sporting Director
Wizengamot
Goddamn, she murdered everybody and I was her witness. |
Gryffindor
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Post by Gabrielle Quinn on Nov 28, 2015 15:58:25 GMT -8
There was this brief moment when Lawrence sat there with his mouth open but nothing came out. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds but her mind once again went crazy with speculation. He was about to tell her that he didn't want her anymore, she could feel it in her gut. What would happen to her? She was going to be homeless and a single mother soon. But she was Brielle Gable Quinn, she could get through anything. She was going to raise her daughter without help from anyone, Claire was going to grow up to be a wonderful young woman. Then in about fifteen years she'd run into Lawrence once more, when he'd be the Minister of magic, and she'd show him! Even if he did have a new, younger, prettier, American wife by his side. He'd regret ever leaving Gabrielle Quinn!
“I’ll just say it then…we’re out of money.”
That was enough to snap her back to reality. She was looking right at him, but wasn't really sure if what she'd heard was correct. She had to force herself to look away from her husband enough to pay attention to the bill in front of her. She reached for it, opening it, then carefully read it over. Before she could say anything, Larry was already speaking again. Brielle almost felt insulted by the words coming out of his mouth. She trusted him more than anyone and that meant a lot. Sure, she was crazy sometimes and her imagination ran wild, but she always knew she had Larry to pull her back down from her irrational thoughts. She'd been completely honest with him, but he didn't feel the obligation to do the same for her? That's not what marriage was supposed to be about.
The movement in her stomach took her by surprise this time, but she wasn't sure it was her baby causing this sensation. She felt nauseous, she had get outside. Brielle pulled her hand away from Larry's grip and pushed her chair back. Her legs were weak but they managed to get to the front door. She flung the door open then took a deep breath of fresh air. How could he doubt that she wanted to stay with him? Brielle couldn't remember how life had been before Larry showed up, she'd had him in her life since she was sixteen and she wasn't going to let him go that easily. However, it didn't look like Larry was ready to fight to stay together, judging by his words. She wasn't going to go back to her parents, no matter how many other suitors they had waiting for her. She'd been perfectly happy thinking of the future of this family, there was no room for anyone else.
The night was colder than she had expected, but Brielle wasn't going to go back inside. Thinking out being in that small kitchen was suffocating enough. She'd never been one to show emotion and she certainly didn't approve of crying in public, but she couldn't stop the warm tears from rolling down on her cheeks as she sat down on the stoop.
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Year/Job
Owner of Club Brielle
He's good bad, but he's not evil. |
Travis
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Post by Lawrence Gable on Nov 28, 2015 16:37:29 GMT -8
It wasn’t hard for Lawrence to doubt his place in Brielle’s life. Her parents had been giving her the silent treatment since the wedding, he had taken her from her life of luxury and penned her up in this shabby apartment, and to foul up an already fouled up situation, he’d gotten her pregnant. Though that was a point Lawrence would contend Brielle was more to blame, but they were married anyway, and the thought of raising a baby girl with the woman he loved more than anyone else in the world was one of the few things that still made Lawrence happy. Regardless, if Brielle wasn’t resenting Lawrence for ruining her life, he was going to resent himself for her. Brielle was the one who had to put her life on hold while carrying his baby, and Lawrence had barely made a concession. While his once-active wife played the role of homemaker, he was off pursuing his political dreams as an unpaid intern at the Ministry of Magic. If he had any honor, he would suck it up and take a job somewhere on Diagon Alley. These were the kinds of thoughts that kept Lawrence up at night.
The thought of going to Michael Quinn for support was even harder to bear than working retail. Lawrence’s last exchange with his father-in-law was less than amicable, and he could only imagine that Michael had grown bitterer since his daughter’s pregnancy. Michael had never taken a swing at Lawrence—even if he did, Larry always felt he’d send someone like Vince to do it for him—but if there was ever a good enough reason to punch a son-in-law, ruining the daughter’s life seemed like a winner. It wasn’t that Lawrence was afraid of Michal, he was just, well yeah, he was afraid of Michael. The guy was super rich, and super rich people know how to make not super rich people disappear. Really, the only reason Lawrence probably hadn’t disappeared yet was out of Michael’s respect for his daughter’s feelings. That is one bridge that cannot be unburned.
“You don’t think your dad knows anyone…in wetwork?” If Brielle was going to leave him, it was probably best that Lawrence return to Michigan. His dad’s business was always waiting for him there anyway. But while Lawrence imagined his future without Brielle, which may or may not have included faking his own death to escape Brielle’s vengeful father, his wife slid out of her chair.
Lawrence watched with a frown as Brielle silently stepped outside. It wasn’t the reaction Lawrence had anticipated—Brielle had more of an explosive personality, it was almost more distressing to see her remove herself from a situation rather than confronting it with violence. It didn’t take too long, alone in the apartment, for Lawrence to realize his mistake. He followed Brielle outside, and found her sitting there on the stoop.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking a seat next to her. The sun was setting but Brielle’s face was framed from in gold from their porch light. Lawrence could see her tears shining down her face, it was the first time he’d seen her cry in a very long time. “I just didn’t think…I’m a failure, Brielle. I’ve failed you, us, in literally every way and…I didn’t think you would want to stay with me when you heard the truth. I mean, I work for Bash Naggston for crying out loud!”
Reaching his arm around Brielle’s shoulder, Lawrence pulled her into his body, placing his chin against her head. There was another moment of silence as he held her, letting her cry. “You know I’d fight for you, right?” he asked in a soothing whisper. “I wouldn’t just give you up to one of your dad’s suitors; I’ve been fighting my whole life to be with you.” Lawrence hoped that Brielle would forgive him for his moment of weakness, forgive him for withholding their debts.
“We can move in with my mom,” And Doug. “I’ll take a second job if I have to. But we’ll make it work Brielle, we’ll make it work together.”
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Year/Job
National Quidditch Team Sporting Director
Wizengamot
Goddamn, she murdered everybody and I was her witness. |
Gryffindor
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Post by Gabrielle Quinn on Jan 15, 2016 17:49:09 GMT -8
It was true that Brielle had been raised in a wealthy family, but Michael Quinn wasn't one to flaunt his hard earned money. The house he purchased was big enough to house Brielle, Liliana and himself. He was trying to teach his daughters that money wasn't meant to be spent on frivolous objects. And though Liliana's head didn't get the memo, Brielle instilled the same ideas her father offered. She wasn't with Larry because one day he'd be rich, she was with him because she truly loved him. No amount of money, or lack of money, was going to change that fact.
Brielle didn't move when she first felt his warm arm pull her toward his body, but she eventually gave in and rested her head against him. There was no attempt on her part to wipe the tears away, it'd been so long since she cried, this was almost a relief. For the past few months she'd done everything in her power to keep a positive attitude, despite the fact that she'd been at home for the most part. Brielle needed to constantly be moving, but her body was still not used to carrying another human being and she was certainly not used to providing for Claire either. The more her pregnancy progress, the less she could physically do. However, Lawrence was also out in the world trying to provide for her and their child, she couldn't possibly complain. Instead, Brielle made an effort to greet him with a smile every time he walked through the door. They'd always been bad a communication and this was their downfall. Had they been honest about their feelings, they could have come up with a solution. Instead, Brielle found herself crying in the arms of her husband.
Her head slightly shook underneath him, "No." She at least knew how Larry felt about his mother's husband. Brielle personally liked the man, he'd been polite enough to her and she could see he cared for Nancy. That should have been enough for Lawrence to accept him, right? However, Larry was mimicking Michael's own attitude toward him. "We're not moving in with your mom and I won't go running to my dad. We're going to figure something out, it's always been just the two of us. Well, three now."
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Year/Job
Owner of Club Brielle
He's good bad, but he's not evil. |
Travis
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Post by Lawrence Gable on Feb 7, 2016 0:26:05 GMT -8
Lawrence didn’t have many memories of his father. What memories he did have he clung to, replaying them in his head until they were warped like a well-worn VHS. Who knew what was a real memory or just a thought that his mother had placed in his head. Some were good and some were bad, certainly the result of Nancy Gable’s fluctuation on her husband. Sometimes he was an honest man doing dishonest work to keep his family going, other times he was the duplicitous crook who died trying to rob a gas station. But one memory Lawrence was certain was genuine: the memory of his father bringing home gifts for his mother. It seemed like Charles Gable always had new piece of jewelry for his wife to admire. But Lawrence had another memory, one from long after his father’s death. He remembered Nancy selling off her jewelry, week by week, just to keep the electricity on. For Nancy, they were trinkets to remember her husband, both symbols of his love and greed.
Nancy tried to raise her son the right way, but there was still a bit of Charles that couldn’t be raised out of him. Maybe it was that bit of Charles that Lawrence want to spoil Brielle. When he couldn’t give her anything she wanted, when she had to go to work because he couldn’t support them on his own income. Of course Brielle would probably argue that she wasn’t a homemaker anyway, but Larry wanted that to be Brielle’s choice. He never wanted her to work because she had to, and there he had failed. But it was moments like this, as Brielle leaned against him silently sobbing, that Lawrence was able to take a step back and see that marriage wasn’t just about the good life. It was about the life with Brielle.
“No,” she said. And though Brielle had been crying, Lawrence could still hear the strength that had attracted him to her when they were so much younger. “We're not moving in with your mom and I won't go running to my dad. We're going to figure something out, it's always been just the two of us. Well, three now.”
Lawrence looked down at her tummy, and as he gently ran his hand through Brielle’s hand, he reached down to rest his other hand on her stomach. “Do you remember in school when Bash split us up? There were those couple of months when we didn’t even talk…and I knew, deep down, that you didn’t really care about him, that you were just worried about what he could do to me. But it was hard for my mind not to wander. Sometimes it feels like, from the moment I first kissed you, everyone’s conspired to keep us apart. And I guess…that’s what I’ve been doing too. I should have told you about our problems, but I thought it would protect you. I didn’t think that it was driving us apart. I miss us, Brielle. And not when I could buy you things but…just us. I guess I got so caught up in fighting for you that I never realized I hadn’t lost you.”
He took a moment, swallowing back his own tears. He wanted to be strong for Brielle, if not in the past, then right now. Brielle was right. It didn’t matter who Lawrence worked for, because nothing else had ever mattered but how they felt for each other.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, placing a soft kiss on her neck, moving slowly up to her ear before whispering, “I love you so much.”
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