The Good Life

A year later

*Alex*

Last month the greatest thing happened. Rian proposed to Cassadee at the place where they had their first date. He was afraid to do it at first, but I assured him he had nothing to worry about. He and Cass had been together forever so it was time for them to take it to the next step. Tonight they were having an engagement party in the ballroom at The Hilton Hotel downtown.

Jack and I were getting ready and trying to keep track of Izzy at the same time. Since she was thirteen months now she could walk around for a little while before falling straight on her butt. She also can say Da and Pa but those were basically the only words she knows so far. Being a parent was a little more stressful because Izzy could do more than sit in one spot. She hardly crawled around so that step wasn’t so difficult but now we had to childproof everything, especially the stairs and cabinets.

“Izzy, sit right here while Papa and Dada do their hair okay?” Jack told Izzy as he sat her down on a chair in our bathroom. She nodded her head and played with her baby doll we got her for her birthday. I could tell she was bored to death, but she likes to touch anything and everything she could get her hands on and we didn’t have time get ready and stop her from doing things she shouldn’t be doing at the same time.

“I’m starving hopefully they have lots of food at this thing.” I fussed while I straightened my hair.

“Only you would care more for food then your friends’ engagement party.” Jack scoffed.

“I care about their engagement party…I’m just starving.” I laughed.

“Do you think it’s a good idea for us to bring Izzy to this thing? She’ll be the only toddler there and she’s going to cranky when she gets sleepy.” Jack worried.

“I think it she’ll be fine. This will be great practice for the wedding since she’s going to be a flower girl.” I said.

“Yeah but their wedding won’t be for another year so she’ll be more controlled by then.” He said.
“And she’ll be able to walk better.” I chuckled.

I looked in the mirror and saw Izzy slide out of her chair and try to walkout of the bathroom, but Jack said something before I could. “Izzy you have to stay in your seat, honey.” He said, sounding more like he was asking than telling her too.

“Paaaa!” She cried and crossed her arms pouting as he sat her back in the chair. She was turning out to be a drama queen.

“Just for a few more minutes.” He told her and went back to the mirror.

“She’s pissed at you.” I whispered to Jack and laughed.

“I know! I hate when she’s upset with me.” Jack whined.

A few minutes later I saw Izzy attempt to get out of her seat again. “Isabella Gaskarth get your butt back in that chair.” I scolded. She looked at me with her big sad eyes and slowly moved back to sit in the chair. She poked out her bottom lip and looked down at her hands. She makes me feel awful every time I scold her.

“Alex! You broke her heart!” Jack said being dramatic. I rolled my eyes as he went over and picked her up and went to finish getting her ready. We have two different parenting styles. It was like a good cop bad cop situation, I being the bad cop of course.

When I finished my hair I went into the living room and waited on Jack to come down stairs with Izzy ready to go. The party didn’t start for another thirty minutes, but the drive was going to take a little more than half of that time. After a while, Jack walked down with a much happier Izzy. She was trying to talk to him but she was just saying made up words so Jack was just nodding his head and agreeing to everything she “said”.

“Pa zip an ah ba” She told Jack.

“I know you’re ready to go!” Jack exclaimed. Izzy was dressed in a beige dress with black polka dots and a black headband on her thick curly hair.

“You look so cute, Angel!” I said to Izzy, but she turned her head away from me and into Jack’s shoulder.

“She’s still upset with you.” Jack stated the obvious and I rolled my eyes at him. I grabbed the keys and we walked out to the car. Jack placed Izzy in her car seat then got in the car so we could go.
We got to the Hilton ten minutes after the party started, but isn’t a big deal. Jack took Izzy out of her car seat and I gave the keys to the valet attendee. We walked into the lobby and followed the signs to get to the ballroom. The decorations in there were impressive it looked like what you’d expect a wedding reception to look like and it looked expensive, but Cass’s parents paid for the whole thing.

The first people we walked into was Alan and Austin. They were standing near the open bar drinking beer. “Hey guys!” I said as we approached them. They both said hello back and we gave each other hugs.

“Why are you so beautiful?” Alan smiled at Izzy.

“She gets all her looks from me.” I joked and everyone rolled their eyes at me.

“The only thing she gets from you is her temper and her stubbornness.” Jack said.

“Oh whatever! Have you two seen Cass or Rian?” I asked Austin and Alan.

“I saw Rian a few minutes ago by the hors d'oeuvres table.” Alan told me.

“Thanks!” I told him. Jack and I walked over to the hors d’oeuvres table. We didn’t see Rian or Cass.
“This place is way too big if we can’t find the guest of honor.” Jack said and I agreed. I noticed he kept switching the arm he was holding Izzy with cause after a while she did get kind of heavy.

“You can sit her down. I’m sure she won’t run off too far before we catch her.” I told him. He slowly lowered Izzy to the ground without any protest. I doubt she would run off because she didn’t know most of the people here.

I grabbed a plate and starting loading it with all the food I could fit onto it. Jack shook his head at me because he told me to eat something like an hour before we left, but I didn’t listen.

“I should have known I’d find you by the food.” I heard Cass say behind me. I turned around to hug her and Rian.

“Shut up I’m starving!” I pouted.

“I told you to eat before we left.” Jack nagged and he hugged Cass and Rian.

“Izzy! You look gorgeous!” Cass gasped and picked Izzy up.

“Mmm da goo” Izzy babbled.

“Yeah you’re so pretty.” Cass laughed.

“How long have you two been here?” Rian asked us.

“Just a few minutes. We ran into Austin and Alan and talked to them for a few minutes then we came here.” Jack told him.

“Yeah those two are like best friends now.” Rian said.

“You sound jealous.” I teased him.

“I’m not jealous!” Rian said quickly, sounding jealous. Cass’s parents walked over before we could say anything else. I’ve only met them once at one of Cass’s birthday dinners a long time ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t remember me.

“Hey Mom” Cass mumbled sounding annoyed. She wasn’t really fond of her mother because she could be kind of rude.
“Sweetie don’t mumble it’s not attractive.” Her mom said.

“Sure. Mom these are my friends Alex and Jack and this is their daughter Izzy.” Cass introduced us.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” She said in an uninterested tone. “Cassadee there are some more relatives you need to say hi to.” She said and dragged Cass away with her.

“She um seems nice.” Jack lied.

“Yeah she’s an angel.” Rian said sarcastically. “I don’t know how Cass’s dad puts up with her.”

“Love?” Jack tried.

“There isn’t enough love in the world.” I mumbled and Jack elbowed me in the side. I turned to glare at him and saw Oli and Hannah walking over.

“Hey sorry we’re late.” Oli apologized.

“Oh no worries.” Rian said.

Izzy squealed when she saw Oli she loved when he came around because he was so playful with her. “Hey, Babycakes!” Oli exclaimed as he picked her up and held her above his head. She giggled and kicked her legs happily.

“Why does she like you so much?” I said to Oli.

“Who doesn’t like me?” He said cockily.

“Rian do you and Cassadee have a date picked out for the wedding yet?” Hannah asked, changing the subject.

“We don’t have the exact date, but we know it’ll be sometime next year in December.” He said.

“That gives you plenty of time to plan it out.” Jack said.

“Yeah and save up because this thing is going to cost a ton.” Rian complained.

I felt a weight be added to my plate I was holding and looked down to see Izzy hand in my ranch dressing. Oli was holding her at the perfect height for her to reach the plate. She stuck one of her fingers in her mouth and her eyes widen at the taste. “Mmmm” She hummed.

“You’re a messy girl.” Jack laughed and went to grab a napkin to clean her hand off with. Before he could get to her hands, she touch Oli’s face and got ranch all over his cheek.

“Ew I didn’t want any!!” Oli cried. Rian, Hannah, and I burst into laughter as Jack grabbed another napkin to clean Oli’s face off with.

“Is she hungry?” I asked Jack.

“No I feed her when I told you to eat before we left. She’s just being a little piggy and wanting to eat because she saw you eating.” He said.

“Da” She said and reached her hands out for me to pick her up.

“Oh you just want to come to me because I have food in my hands.” I said. I handed my plate to Jack and grabbed Izzy from Oli. She yawned and laid her head on my shoulder. “Never mind you’re sleepy.”

“It’s only ten pm Izzy you shouldn’t be sleepy yet.” Oli said.

“This is late for her. Usually she’s in bed by nine.” Jack chuckled.

“Why are Austin and Alan over there by themselves?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t know it’s like their on a date or something.” I said.

“Wait I know Alan is umm…not straight, but what about Austin?” Oli asked awkwardly.

“I think Austin might be bisexual.” I said and Rian agreed. It’s sad we’re his friends and we don’t know this stuff for sure.

“Aw wouldn’t it be cute if they started dating!” Jack exclaimed.

“Yeah it seems like they’re each other’s type.” I said.

We talked for a little over an hour longer before Rian had to leave to go talk to other guest at the party. Cass came over to say hi to Oli and Hannah, but her mom came by and dragged her away again. Izzy had fallen asleep and was drooling on my shoulder. That was a sign it was time for us to go home. We went to find Cass and Rian goodnight. Oli and Hannah followed us because they we’re ready to leave too.

We found Cass talking to her dad one side of the room and told her bye and then we had to walk to the other side of the ballroom to tell Rian bye. I didn’t see Austin or Alan inside so we couldn’t tell them bye. We all walked outside and gave our tickets to the valet attendees so they could go grab our cars. It was five minutes before they brought our cars out. I put Izzy in her car seat without her waking up and I drove us home.

Notes

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen again. Enjoy!!