Cuando Bradley llegó al parque, Meredith ya estaba ahí. Ojalá no haya esperado mucho.

Como Brad no tiene ninguna experiencia en citas, lo que hizo fue conversar sobre el clima, la escuela, las vacaciones. Oh, y le mostró a Mer algunos videos graciosos de su celular. A Brad le falta un largo camino por recorrer para llegar a ser un verdadero Langerak, si saben a qué me refiero). 

A Meredith también le gustan los gatos. así que le encantaron los videos. Al final de la "cita", le dijo que lo había pasado muy bien.

También le dijo que su nuevo corte de pelo lo hacía lucir 'realmente bien'. Wow. Eso es mucho más de lo que Bradley esperaba. Mientras se despiden, él evalúa su propia actuación...

"Bueno, no estuvo tan mal. Daniel me mataría si supiera como fue, tendré que pedirle algunos consejos para la próxima. Por ahora me doy un 6 de calificación".

Antes de irse, Bradley le pidió a Meredith una segunda cita, y ella aceptó. ¡Fiu, qué suerte!

"Pensándolo bien, creo que me daré un ocho, por lo que Mer dijo del cabello y por conseguir otra cita. Prometo que la próxima será diferente, nada de videos tontos y eso. No te defraudaré Mer", pensó mientras dejaba el parque.

Si Brad supiera lo emocionada que estaba Meredith, se lo había pasado de maravilla y ya contaba los días para verlo de nuevo. Claro, no se hace demasiadas ilusiones, pues sabe que él pronto se convertirá en joven adulto y se irá a la Universidad. ¿Se olvidará de ella entonces? ¿Regresará siquiera a Island Paradise?

Mientras se dirige a casa, Bradley va soñando ya con su segunda cita con Meredith. Apenas puede esperar, pero tendrá que prepararse. ¿Debería pedirle consejo a su papá? ¡Él sabe más sobre mujeres que cualquier otro Langerak! O quizás es muy pronto para invocar sus conocimientos? Oh, bueno, ya veremos...

Cuando Bradley llegó a casa, Jean se encontraba en el jardín, como siempre, tocando la guitarra pacíficamente. Buena música de fondo.

 

No hay forma de que Bradley se siente gruñón esta noche. Al contrario, es la noche más feliz de su vida.

"Sip, valió la pena el corte de pelo, absolutamente".

Para él todo está resuelto, pero no sabe que su vida y la de su medio hermano están a punto de dar un giro de 180 grados.

(Continuará...)

There's a reason, however, that Bradley, grumpy and all, has agreed to get a haircut. A very good reason, he finally asked out Meredith Henderson, nanny to his half-siblings, and she said yes. His first date! Hopefully it's worth it to have cut off his beloved long hair.

Bradley, grumpy as ever because he had to get a haircut.

He and Jean decided to try new hairstyles. I don't know if they will keep them or go back to the old ones, Bradley seems to miss his long hair. 

Bradley, at the Spring Festival.

Brad agreed to attend the Festival with his half-brother Jean to strengthen family ties.

 

Those were difficult days for the whole family, especially for Simon, Daniel and Jessica.  Bradley was just a newborn, he had arrived by surprise and at an inopportune time, and Cassandra, although she loved him with all her heart, as she loved her other children, motherhood was already beginning to weigh on her. She missed her glory days as an acrobat and recognized star. 

And here's Bradley, trying to bond with his half-brother Henri.

 

Sometimes it's not easy, (especially knowing that Henri and his siblings are the children of the woman who caused his parents' divorce), but he'll try, at least for the time he has left before he goes to college. He's really trying, despite his bad temper, and he's making progress.

"Bravo, André, way to go!" exclaimed Tony to the applause of the (3) guests. 

The celebration is not over yet, now Jeannine leaves André on the floor because it's time to grow.

And here he goes...

 

There you go. André has grown into a handsome boy - watch out, Island Paradise girls!

It's time to split the cake, but Brad is angry that it has fallen to Phillip Alto to take care of his half-siblings, again Meredith didn't come, and Phillip is very annoying.

Anyway, André goes to get his piece of cake. He doesn't look very happy, perhaps because he knows that starting tomorrow he will have to go to school like all the big kids. No more staying at home playing with mom and his siblings. *Sigh

"Okay André, here we go. One, two..."

André gets ready and...

"Three!"

André blows with all his might, (helped by his mother, of course).

"Genial, André!"

"¡Lo lograste!", exclaman en turno Bradley y Jean.

It's André's birthday!

André is ready to blow out the candles, in his mother’s arms, while his brother Jean cheers.

Tony and Bradley join the celebration.

André is more than ready.

Tony and Jeannine are arriving home from their idyllic trip and the first thing they find is Tony arguing with Zoe Allston.

The cause is that Zoe has resumed her babysitting position, which means that Meredith, for whom Bradley has a special affection, won't be back for quite some time. 

"Are you saying Mer's not coming anymore?" Bradley asks grumpily.

"I'm saying, she'll come when I get my time off again," Zoe patiently replied.

"Well, I'd rather she come."

"Brad!" Tony intervened.

Zoe immediately forgot about the incident and started taking pictures of Tony. How do you waste the opportunity to take pictures of a celebrity like that?

"That's no way to treat Zoe, she's not to blame that Meredith wasn't still here. If you want to see her ask her out, problem solved. Now can you tell me where Jean is? Her mother wants to see him."

"How should I know, I'm not his keeper."

"That was rude too, you better start showing some respect. For starters, go change into some decent clothes. Then you come back here and apologize to Zoe."

Bradley grumbled off to change clothes, but when he returned, Zoe had already gone down to the kitchen with Jeannine. Tony sends him downstairs to apologize to her. Again in a bad mood, Bradley stormed down the stairs. Tony let out a sigh, the honeymoon is over, he's back home and back to his reality: two teenagers and three infants to raise. Hopefully college will start soon.

At dinnertime, the boys were briefed on their return trip to Champs Les Sims, which seemed a bit sudden to both of them, but Jean took it rather better than Bradley.

And just when they are going to need her the most, Zoe Allston, the nanny decides to quit. 

"Oh, but don't worry Mr. Langerak," said Zoe I already have my replacement, my friend Meredith will be here in a little while to babysit André, Henri and Marlene."

(Phew, thank goodness!) 

Tony immediately approved the new nanny. It was urgent for someone to take care of the children during his trip and there was no time to ask for letters of recommendation and such things. Of course, he knows he can also count on Jean and Brad, but they are not "experts" on children, and besides, they must devote themselves to their homework if they want to finish high school and go to college. Let's let someone with experience like Meredith, Zoe's understudy, handle it.

Meredith made her appearance later that night. Bradley and Mer seem to like each other because they both blush constantly while near each other. Brad has never been much of a social butterfly, but he makes Meredith a lot of conversation. They definitely like each other. Hopefully it won't be a problem to leave them alone?

Meanwhile downstairs...

"What's going on up there?" Bradly asked grumpily.

"What do you think is going on. Dad and Mom are on their honeymoon remember?", replied Jean to the point.

"'Gross,'" Brad mumbled as he wolfed down his bread and jam.

"Why gross? They're two adults, they're married and they love each other. You're going to be an adult in a few months too, you're supposed to understand that."

"I get it, I just can't believe my dad's still...well, you know, at his age..."

"Dad not that old, he's a healthy man, in his prime, I don't see anything wrong with him."

"Maybe, but what about my mom? She just called, she sure needs him, doesn't he care?"

"We don't know what your mom wanted, but whatever it is, your dad will figure it out. Now stop being childish and help me with the kids."

"They're your siblings, aren't they? Well you take care of them, I'm out of here."

Bradley stormed out of the house. Jean let out a sigh. Henri, in her arms, was on the verge of tears, frightened by Bradley's tone of voice. Jean hurried to calm him.

"Don't mind him, Henri, he's a spoiled brat.  He behaves worse than you, Marlene and André combined. To think I'll have to put up with him on a daily basis from now on..."

It wasn't just one drink but two, maybe three, but that's nothing to Tony, so he kept on in his five senses, although a bit more relaxed.

Before going to bed he went to check on the boys, who were already asleep (or pretending to be) in the room that used to belong to their older brothers Simon and Daniel.

As he was about to leave for his bedroom, he received a call from Jeannine. 

"Jeannine? What's up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to hear your voice and know if we're good."

"Of course we're good, dear, don't worry," he lied.

"And the boys?"

"Sleeping, they were exhausted."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know, soon maybe."

"Maybe? Are you running away from me, Tony?" asked Jeannine, with a tinge of desperation in her voice.

"Running away? From you? No, not at all. I just wanted to spend some quality time with my kids, that's all."

"On our honeymoon."

"Our honeymoon was unfortunately called off, but I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Really, so you're not thinking of leaving me?"

Jeannine's question is like a spear, straight to Tony's heart. The obvious answer is "no, of course I'm not thinking of leaving you", but for some reason Tony is speechless for a few seconds, pondering his words, "I'll make it up to you I promise". Did he ever get tired of making promises he couldn't keep?I mean, it's his sincere desire to keep this one, it's just...

"Tony, are you still there?", Jeannine's distressed voice, brings him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, yes I am here."

"Then answer me, are you planning to leave me to go back to Cassandra, is that why you left?"

"No, of course not. Er, listen, honey, it's late, I'm in the kids' room and I don't want to wake them. I'll call you later okay?"

Jeannine is naturally brave, she has never made a scene of jealousy or the slightest drama to him, but this time, her silence says it all.

The intensity of their conversation eventually wakes up Jean and Bradley, who decide to go downstairs to watch TV while their parents finish sorting out their issues. 

"Are you sure you'll be back?" asked Jeannine.

"Of course, love, just give me a few more days, please, okay?".

"Okay, we'll wait for you. You know, the kids miss you."

"And I miss them, give them a kiss for me," Tony replied.

"I miss you too," Jeannine added.

"And I miss you," Tony replied. This time he's telling the truth.

Jeannine hangs up without saying goodbye, Tony knows what that means, it's what she does when she realizes he's lying. So many years together, she knows him well, she knows something is off. And she's not mistaken.

It's late at night in Champs Les Sims, the whole town is asleep, and Tony has gone to sleep too. He didn't call Jeannine again, not because he doesn't want to, he misses her, terribly, that part is true, but he's started missing Cassandra too, again. He's not sure about his feelings, his heart is a total mess now and he doesn't want to keep lying to Jeannine. He needs to think... But he's exhausted and the vodka has started to kick in... Anyway, tomorrow is another day.