Ruin The Wedding (The Murphy Brothers #1)

𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠

This had to be a joke.

That was the only explanation that Fabian could think of because obviously, Asher wouldn't have tried to hook him up with this pregnant, pink-haired, tattooed woman.

Even if Fabian was looking for someone - and he wasn't because of Nora - his brother knew what kind of women he liked and who wasn't exactly his type. Yeah, maybe he could eventually get over the childish pink hair or the tattoos but the children were a different conversation.

It wasn't that he hated children but he just had a slight dislike to them, especially the young ones who screamed non-stop every hour every day. At almost thirty, he still thought that he was too young to get children of his own because he had too much work and responsibility of his own.

Maybe there was another Charlie who Asher was trying to hook him up with one who wasn't... that much. Now Fabian even considered talking with him about whether or not it was a good idea to spend time with her.

That was because although Asher wasn't part of the family business, he was still a Murphy. They needed to think about their reputation and who their family was seen with. That was what their parents, especially his father, had taught him since he was a a child. It had been inevitable even then that Fabian would one day step in his father's shoes and become the CEO.

The fact that Asher didn't even go to college and chose to be a firefighter instead was still the talk of the town and now the same continued with Seth since he wanted nothing to do with the family business either. It was disappointing for everyone, including Fabian himself who had dreamed of working alongside his brothers.

"Isn't she cute? I mean, the dress is a bit too big but she looks exactly like Sleeping Beauty, right?" Charlie was showing off some pictures of her daughter to everyone. Right now almost everyone had gathered around her in the kitchen, trying to get a look at some strange child they didn't know.

Seeing Fabian staring at her from the living room where he had been scrolling his phone, she smiled unsurely, almost even nervously and asked, "You want to see?"

Fabian shook his head and her smile fell from her lips before looking away frowning. Goddammit!

Sighing, he walked to the kitchen while thinking of how stupid he was for doing this before standing behind Charlie. Then she looked behind and their eyes stayed connected a few seconds before she smiled again, eyes softening.

"I took this on last Halloween when she was four months old," she explained and showed the phone to Fabian. There was a picture of a small, blonde baby who was lying down on a bed wearing a red princess dress and a crown.

"Cute," was all that he said, earning another grin from Charlie before she turned to talk with Petra and Harriet from Asher's work.

All of these people were strangers to him because he had never met any of them except Noelle of course. During the day he had forced himself to make small talk with them, knowing very well that it would be a long time until he met them again, including Charlie.

"Pretty, right?" Asher asked, suddenly standing next to him while drinking another beer. Looking at him, Fabian's frown deepened when he noticed the way he was smirking and wiggling his eyebrows at him, nodding toward his new friend.

Kill me now, Fabian shook his head and wondered for the hundredth of times tonight if it was too early to leave. Not that he cared about being rude, especially to Asher.

"I'm still engaged," he reminded his brother who only rolled his eyes impatiently and annoyed because Fabian didn't join his fun little game.

"Yeah yeah, I know. That was just an innocent question!" Innocent my ass, he doesn't even know what that word means.