#olive joni finch opal june

[roosterbruiser]

whenever you have the time, I’d love to hear more about Faye’s other pregnancies. I’m obsessed with Landslide. It’s a masterpiece!

sorry I let this sit in my drafts for so long!!! omg!!!

canonically, I'm making it so Faye really enjoys being pregnant (and good bc they have FIVE girls) because I've tortured her more than enough in the story :,)

here's a blurb I wrote about Olive:

And then, of course, there was Olive. And the house was never even close to quiet ever again. A crackling baby monitor, some battery-operated toy, hiccups, crying, giggling, abused piano keys crying unceremoniously, gleeful chattering, babbling, burping, tiny feet on the kitchen tile. Olive was always relentless--plagued with a never-ending case of hiccups, especially when she was upset--and walked through life with a certain boldness only her aunt had possessed. It took Olive a few moments to cry when she was born in that white-washed hospital room just before midnight--stubborn as she is, she only relented when her daddy touched her for the first time. She is the oldest daughter, the bravest, the boldest. Self-assured, secured in her place in this world. 

Faye's pregnancy with Joni is about as smooth as a pregnancy can get! chasing around a toddler keeps Faye on her toes, but Bradley always makes sure to spoil her rotten as soon as he gets home.

her biggest craving is giant salads. and we aren't talking flimsy little things, either. we're talking the words: cooked pasta, breadcrumbs, cabbage, butter lettuce, carrots, peppers, vinegar dressing, tomatoes, chicken, seeds, nuts, etc. Bradley would obviously start calling Faye "bunny" during this period bc of that!

after her less-than-steller experience birthing in a hospital, I think Faye would opt to give birth at home. she already knows that she can do it medication-free, but they go to lots of classes anyway! I imagine that Faye is only in labor for a few hours, just like she was with Olive. and then Joni Caroline is born late into the night on October 19th, 2023.

here's a blurb I wrote about it:

Then there was Joni--sweet Joni, endlessly quieter than Olive, but doted on relentlessly. Joni was always watching--those big, brown eyes lingering over still faces and laughing forms and moving screens and cloudy skies. But we--Bradley and I--we could always hear her. It was the humming. She hummed from--what feels like--birth. Always a low little vibration in her throat, her eyes far-away and glassy, her little lips a flat line. When Joni was born, when I pulled her from the warm water and onto my naked chest in the lowlight of the living room, she didn’t cry. Frantically, the midwives checked her airways while Bradley and I rubbed her back, cooing at her. Her airways were clear and she was breathing; she just didn’t have anything to say. 

similarly with Olive and Joni, the pregnancy is easy. she's a surprise baby, but it's a happy surprise! chasing after two toddlers does keep Faye on her toes, but they have family living close to them by the time she's pregnant with Finch!

they keep the gender a surprise, even though they both feel like it's a boy. they don't know why other than they just assume after two girls, they'd get a boy. they settle on the name Finch and don't really look for a girl name at all!

but as soon as Finch is born and is absolutely a girl, they decide that the name Finch is absolutely perfect anyway.

here's a blurb I wrote about it:

Finch came screaming into the world on the coldest day in February, roaring herself into this serious world with a very serious cry. As I laid on the bedroom floor, the plastic sheet beneath me crinkling with my every movement, she bawled and bawled and bawled. It wasn’t until I put her to my breast, only minutes after birth, that she relinquished all thoughts of upset. Finch has always been insistent--always attached to the boob when she was an infant, always begging for more of this, more of that. But as insistent as she has always been, she has been the kindest soul to ever touch this earth. She used to rush into the house in a frenzy, holding an ailing baby bunny, begging me to save it, mommy, save it! She was the resident bug collector, releasing spiders and centipedes outside safely. She would hold hands with anyone, would never leave without kissing us goodbye, and was never embarrassed to let her dad hold her on her shoulders at concerts--even when she was too big. 

Bradley and Faye have three sweet and perfect girls and decide what the Hell? why not have one more!

and then they get pregnant with twins. twin girls!

I feel like this is Faye's most complicated pregnancy. knowing that she is carrying twin girls is a genuine physical reminder of her own sister every single day. worrying about repeating the mistakes of her parents or repeating any part of her history is a major concern for her. Bradley's constantly rubbing knots out of her shoulders at the end of the day.

physically, she's dealing with more weight and less room in her womb, but she's been pregnant a few times by now and knows how it goes. pregnancy agrees with her, even if it's twins!

Bradley is more concerned about two newborns than anything else, especially since the other girls aren't very old yet!

but then they're born and they're the most perfect little souls to ever grace this earth. they complete the Ledger-Bradshaw family to a tee--complete with their big brown eyes and loud mouths.

here's a blurb I wrote about it:

Last came Opal and June. My last daughters stretched me to my breaking point, waiting until a cool June day to start my labor. It was my longest and most grueling one, which was unexpected. Twenty-three hours of me pacing around the house like a wild animal, heavy with two baby girls, twisting this way, stretching that way, standing up, kneeling, leaning, swaying. Little Opal was born first--and she was slow to emerge from me. Coming into my arms at four in the morning a tiny and pink thing, furrowing her brow at me as if I'd interrupted her quiet night. Shortly after Opal was June, who was sweeter and quieter. She was born with her eyes wide open and looking into mine--they were the eyes of my grandmother, deep blue and very intense. They have always been attached to me--attached to my hip. Despite being born in the same hour on the same day, Opal is louder than June. She is more than June in every way: more emotional, more angry, more happy, more hungry, more thirsty. Opal was my only daughter that cried when I left her at daycare for the first time. June held her hand quietly, diligently, but did not tear up. But when I returned only a few hours later, grocery bags in the backseat of the truck, June wrapped her arms around my leg and would not let me go. I sat in the car with them for a long time, the engine cut and the ice cream in the trunk melting, just petting their hair and explaining that I will always come back. Always. This is not to say that the twins love Bradley any less than they love me. And he loves them just as fiercely as he loves me, Olive, Joni, Finch. But they have always been my shadows. They were the last to stop breastfeeding, the last to stop sleeping in our bed, the last to take their training wheels of their bikes, the last to leave the house. And even now, when Opal needs comfort, she will openly weep and wail until we are cooing and patting her hair and kissing her cheeks. And even now, when June needs comfort, she will hold onto me and not let me go. They use their spare keys often.

[roosterbruiser]

Another Landslide thot!

As the girls get older, which parent handles serious conversations better with the girls? Do their teenage daughters have a favorite parent?

ooooo!! this is a great question!!

I think since the girls are all pretty close in age, they rely on each other for things they don't feel like they can take to Faye or Bradley. personally I think that they come to Faye for just about everything bc she's the parent that's stayed home with them. and while Bradley is by all means a very loving and accepting father, Faye is still the more gentile parent.

bc I can't handle traumatizing them anymore, I feel like they are all a really close family! they talk things out and have great communication--plus they all just love and respect each other. having parents that are as in love as Faye and Bradley are is something the girls KNOW they're lucky to have. and it only becomes more apparent as they get older and see other relationships.

however....Olive eventually begins to favor Bradley juuuuust a little bit more than Faye--especially when she gets to like toddlerhood. and Finch eventually does too! Finch is the one named after a bird so it only makes sense!

but Joni, Opal, June, Marmalade, and Buttercup all prefer Faye by a landslide. (haha)

[roosterbruiser]

Just me thinking about Girl Dad Bradley in Landslide having 4 daughters and realizing besides 4 college funds, he should go ahead and start one massive wedding fund...that way no one feels pressured to get married but everyone will have money set aside for whatever kind of wedding they do want...this man is never gonna financially recover and he is okay with that 🤣

honestly, I've been missing Landslide so much recently! happy to talk about it! this is my invitation for ppl to send Landslide thots :,)

and I think I said in the past there were four girls....but I decided there's five bc of course when they try for baby number four, they get twin girls instead :,)

this man is literally a fucking goner bc he also never learns how to say no to any of his daughters (neither does Faye, honestly!) so t hey usually end up getting whatever they want!!

I love the point you brought up that it's just one massive wedding fund so no one feels pressured to get married! that is SO Landslide!Bradley and Faye--they would absolutely do that! they're very considerate and accepting people and they love nothing in the world more than their sweet girls! and ANY choice that they make (even if it ends up being the wrong one) is more than okay with them!

[roosterbruiser]

blurb idea: everyone joking and asking Bradley how he's surviving bc he only has daughters but then you see Bradley at home painting nails, having a tea party, pretending to be at a fashion show, engaging in 5 different conversations. All that in one afternoon. And he's just so happy the entire time and can't wait to do it again 🥲

can be read as part of the Landslide universe :)

Rooster is a girl dad. it isn't even just his energy--it's a legitimate fact. first there was Olive, then there was Joni. the two of you thought for sure that the third was going to be a boy, not that it mattered either way--so imagine your surprise when you had Finch; your third daughter. and when the two of you agreed one more baby, not even in hopes of a son but just to complete your family, you were blessed with two more girls: Opal and June.

it was all the buzz around base, when Rooster came back from paternity leave a few months ago, everyone mockingly taking a knee when he entered the room like he was some sort of battle hero.

it's something Rooster is chided about relentlessly, even now. everyone falls you and your daughters the hens, calling all your get-togethers hen parties, asking how he survives the estrogen of it all. it gets especially brutal when his commander or a student points out the leftover glitter in his hair or the tutu someone snuck in his work duffel. there was also that one time he forget to take off his nail polish before work--boy, did the man have a heyday with that one.

Rooster takes it all in stride, though, happily wearing homemade ties to work and presenting scrawled drawings. he has hardly any elbow room on his desk because of all the frames that clog it.

it's a regular Wednesday in the middle of September as Rooster walks up the path to your front door, but it feels like the first day of summer to him. the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming. and inside the house, he can hear the chaos that has been brewing all day: Olive trying to stop Joni from abusing the piano and failing, Finch following you around the house and asking you about caterpillars again, Opal babbling, June crying, your steady voice, the radio playing Born in the U.S.A again (no doubt at Olive's request), the dogs whining for dinner.

it's really music to his ears.

"daddy's home!" he hears you call as he stuffs his key in the lock.

and when he swings the door open, he's knee-deep in all of it. Olive, the oldest and the most coordinated, is dodging everyone to spring over to Rooster. she takes her spot on his left leg, hugging him to her body, immediately trying to tattle on Joni for abusing Grandpa Goose's piano. Finch makes it to him second, less-coordinated and not wearing anything except a diaper and one of his neckties, a toothy grin cutting her face as she reached up for her dad. and once he's holding her, patting Olive's head in greeting as he kisses Finch's ruddy cheeks, Joni has planted herself firmly on his other leg.

you're steadily making your way to him, too, the weight of the world slipping off your shoulders as he kisses all his girls hello.

"daddy said you're not supposed to smash the keys!" Olive insists, incredulous.

Joni screws up her face, sticking her tongue out at Olive.

"I wasn't!" she insists. "daddy, Olive's lying!"

"gotta be careful with the piano," he says, patting Olive's tawny hair, then Joni's. he can hardly hear their bickering above the blasting radio. "how many times has this song played today?" he asks with a grin.

Finch takes it upon herself to answer, having recently learned numbers. she stuffs her sticky hand in Rooster's face, holding up five fingers proudly.

"five?" he asks, eyebrows raised. he kisses her little palms and she giggles at the way his mustache tickles her skin. "you girls torturing your mama when I'm not here?"

"and Opal didn't nap today," you add with a deep heave, bouncing the twins on your hips as they each mouth your sleeves, blinking up at you with their daddy's big, brown eyes. "and June had a blowout, and Finch is a nudist. Joni tried to drink out of the dog's bowl again. and the dog got into your office and found your stash of Reese's, which you were hiding from me."

"sorry, baby," Rooster insists.

"after everything I've given you?" you tease, nodding to his armful of girls and yours. "I'm offended!"

"I think I helped a little," Rooster teases.

standing before him now, you smile despite yourself. Rooster's still grinning, leaning forward to press a kiss to your lips before taking the twins from you, holding them both with one arm. he hopes he can always hold all of his girls at once, even though he knows it's not something that will stick around forever.

"just a little," you tell him, stretching your taut body out now that your child-free.

"what about me?" Olive pouts, tugging your pant leg. "what did I do?" she asks.

always wanting to be involved.

"you, little miss, made me play Bruce Springsteen all day!" you tell her, bending at the hips to stroke her cheek.

she grins at that, nodding proudly.

"yeah, I did," she confirms, blinking up at Rooster. "I love Bruce Springsteen!"

"you're a weird little kid," Rooster tells her with a teasing grin. "who raised you?"

she grins up at him, one of her front teeth missing.

"you!" she confirms.

"got me there," Rooster sighs. "I love Bruce Springsteen, too!"

Opal and June are already pressing their gummy little mouths to Rooster's chest, taking fistfuls of his mustache and t-shirt. your arms feel decidedly empty for the first time today, which you always look forward to, but never thoroughly enjoy.

"time's the tea party?" Rooster asks, leaving lingering kisses to the top of the twin's heads as Finch picks through his hair a la baby monkey searching for bugs.

"now!" Joni insists, untying his shoe.

Olive's batting Joni's hands, trying to get her to quit it, and Joni is growling at Olive.

"no being feral," you warn the both of them, pointing an accusing finger at Joni. "let daddy at least get through the door before you growl, huh?"

"but mommy," Joni whines, throwing her head back dramatically. "I'm a puppy dog!"

"you're just Joni," Olive insists, lips pursed. "this is real life."

"hey," Rooster warns, glancing down at Olive. "who made you the pretend police?"

Olive doesn't have an answer, just looking up at her dad with slanted brows and parted lips. ever the most exasperated, serious older sister in the world.

"she's been really into realism today," you tell Rooster, crossing your arms over your chest. "Jake shouldn't have let her watch Life of Pi."

Rooster starts to walk forward with a great effort, grunting as he glides across the foyer with an extra hundred pounds of giggling weight.

as he trudges through the foyer with great effort, his shirt now wet with baby slobber and his curls mussed from grubby fingers and his shoelaces unties, you watch him affectionately. anyone in the world can look at him like this, with that grin splitting his lips and that laugh sitting in his throat, and know that this is what he's meant for.

"c'mon, mama," he calls to you, glancing over his shoulder. "can't be late for the tea party!"

"with real tea," Olive clarifies, shooting you a thumbs up. "but fake cucumber sandwiches!" then she shoots you a thumbs down for affect.

"m'coming," you sigh dreamily, locking the door. "chamomile or jasmine?"

[roosterbruiser]

I'm just thinking about Uncle Bob and Auntie Nix going to Chateau Bradshaw after a long deployment and them just getting absolutely tackled by the Bradshaw girls while Bradley laughs his ass off and Faye makes sure no one gets injured.

I feel like in a way Chateau Bradshaw is home base for everyone especially in the early years before everyone else really settle down, everyone makes a visit when they get home from deployment because Faye is such a mom she'll get them reoriented into life stateside.

shut up shut up shut up this is so fucking sweet :,)

Chateau Bradshaw is definitely the first place everyone goes after deployment if they can swing it. not only because they welcome the tackling of all five Bradshaw girls, plus a solid hug from Bradley and an overall sense of comfort from Faye, but because they're home is just a home.

it's not even that it's always clean and organized and proper, because Lord knows it's not. but it's lived-in. it's warm and full of life and little hands and piano and knitting projects and homework and dogs and home cooked meals. there's always fresh bread and there's never a quiet moment. it's the kind of place where everyone wants to go after living on a giant hunk of metal for months and months on end.

so, while Uncle Bob and Auntie Nix get tackled in the entryway by a horde of little girls wearing paper crowns and tutus and glitter and braided flowers, Bradley's grinning in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. he's patiently waiting his turn to hug Phoenix and Bob, grazing the little bits of gray in his beard as he watches his daughters hang onto two of his favorite people in his childhood home. he always sees a little bit of Carole and Goose in all the girls, especially when they get excited.

and Faye, on the other hand, is smiling softly to herself in the kitchen. it's a mess of orange pulp and strawberry juice and banana peels and smushed blueberries. there's fresh coffee on the pot because Lord knows Phoenix and Bob are gonna need it to keep up with the Bradshaw Bunch. the bread is cooling on top of the oven and Faye still has flour strewn across her cheek and fruit pulp beneath her fingernails. but all the same, as she picks up the fresh fruit platter for Bob and Nix, she's the happiest she's ever been.

"no biting!" Bradley teases Joni, swooping in to scoop her and June up, kissing them both on the cheeks. "let 'em breathe, girls!"

and Bob and Phoenix are blushed with joy, getting all their hugs in, commenting on their growth, petting their curly hair.

"god, they're so big," Phoenix marvels, hugging Bradley and kissing his stubbly cheek. "when did they get so big?"

"they grow about ten inches every time I see them," Bob echoes in disbelief, holding Opal and Finch while Olive hangs onto his leg. "can't y'all just stop it already?"

"I wish," Bradley says with a tired and happy grin. "little beggars, aren't they?"

and when Faye comes out of the kitchen and into the doorway, the vision of domesticity and sweetness with her old apron and her soft edges and tarnished beauty, everyone's breath is in their throat. she's there, holding a platter of hand-cut fruits form her hand-grown garden, grinning that same grin. and she's watery in the eyes and so joyous when she laughs that it's like an alarm for all the Bradshaw girls, who detangle themselves from Bob and Bradley and start galloping towards her.

"I'm so happy you're here," Faye says.

[roosterbruiser]

Soooooooo we all know how Olive Bradshaw was conceived...when/where we the rest of the cooked up lol

here's the breakdown:

Olive: wedding night baby. bow chicka wow wow !

Joni: conceived on the night of Olive's first birthday. they had to celebrate making it past a year somehow!!

Finch: conceived on Joni's first birthday. these bitches predictable!!! it's like a running joke that all their babies are one year and nine months apart.

Opal & June: the only We're Trying To Get Pregnant babies of the entire Bradshaw Bunch!! they def looked at their sweet daughters and thought, "you know what would be nice? another daughter. just to round us out!" and then they immediately got pregnant with two bc that's just how they roll!

[roosterbruiser]

What's the age difference between the Bradshaw girls?

they're all pretty close in age!! the furthest apart is 6yrs between Olive and the twins!! so five kiddos in six years for Bradley and Faye (yes, Bradley grays early. yes, he loves his life!)

Olive Maggie (November 7th, 2021)

Joni Caroline (August 19th, 2023)

Finch Elizabeth (May 1st, 2025)

June Wylie (TWIN B January 8th, 2027)

Opal Bobbie (TWIN A January 8th, 2027)

I am reallyyyyyy picky about names btw and for the longest time, I thought June and Opal were perfect names for Bradshaw girls but I already had Olive and Joni which are O and J names....but I finally bit the bullet and I think it's cute!! little Finch is an outlier!! but that's okay :-)

btw....all the girls have nicknames

Olive is Ollie or Liv (depends on the day)

Joni is Jojo or Jo (depends on the day)

Finch is Fin or Finnie (depends on the day)

June is Nunie or Jujubee (depends on the day...again)

Opal is Opalwinfrey (Olive starts this during her Oprah era) or Bobbie (depends on the day)

[roosterbruiser]

I'm curious about the kids! They're so precious, like any kid of Faye and Bradley's would be 😭 What are their sibling relationships like with each other and how do they all together in that way, and who butts heads more and why? Oh, and did Opal and June ever go through a stage where being gremlins to their twin was fun for them?

I love the kids!!

after writing a bit more about them, I do feel like I have a better understanding of their personalities.

Olive is def the firstborn--aka, she's bossy. she's definitely the leader of the pack. she's very headstrong and stubborn! wonder who she got that from.... Olive is also a daddy's girl through and through. she's always hanging around Bradley, always wants to know what he's doing and how she can contribute.

Joni is a more withdrawn version of Olive. she's sweet and talkative and the best listener out of all the girls! I feel like her and Olive butt heads whenever Olive is trying to boss all the sisters around because Joni marches to the beat of her own drum. she kind of stands in as big sister when Olive is going off doing whatever she wants.

Finch is the typical middle child. she's more withdrawn, quiet, inquisitive. she takes a lot after Faye--she's very sweet and very caring, but doesn't go out of her way to take the attention away from others. she's the biggest reader out of the group.

Opal is definitely a miniature Olive, which is why they fight so much when they're elementary/middle school aged. she's a performer (like her daddy) and enjoys being the center of attention. she's got a great big laugh that is the center of everyone's world.

June is more like Faye, too. she's an observer and a talker. she can be very introverted or very extroverted--it definitely just depends on her mood. where Opal is more like Maggie, June is definitely like Faye--as in, June is just along for the ride most of the time. and even though June is a twin, she enjoys her alone time. she's the most independent out of all the girls.

the twins are definitely gremlins to each other sometimes, but for the most part they are entirely inseparable. the longest fight they ever have lasts about two hours and they call each other at the exact same time to apologize!

[roosterbruiser]

What do the Bradshaw girls want to be when they grow up? What do they end up doing? Do any of them follow Faye and Bradley's footsteps and go into the Navy?

great questions!! I had to think about these honestly!!

Olive is the only one of the girls who follows in her parents footsteps. Faye is less ecstatic about her decision than Bradley is, but Olive is a good pilot. she's smart, calculated, and focused. she's a natural-born leader just like her daddy.

Joni is absolutely an English girl. she's the biggest reader out of all the girls and she gets an English degree just like Faye did. Uncle Bob is unbelievably proud of her!

Finch has always loved animals and the outdoors. I imagine that she eventually becomes a park ranger--so she's worked at all the best National Parks. she loves it so much and truly knows she's found her calling.

Opal is the one who is a little lost for a while. she loves to paint and she loves music and really, just all creative art forms. but she isn't quite sure how to monetize that. while her twin and all her friends go to college, she stays home and works some odd and ends jobs while she finds her footing. eventually, she becomes a curator for a local gallery. and also Opal never goes far from her parents home--she can't be away from Faye and Bradley.

June has always been a very attentive person and good listener. she goes to school to become a therapist and ends up running her own practice!

[roosterbruiser]

Awww and idk if this is possible but in my head it is idc! At that event they would make up a special award for Bradley and his daughters would present it and then they'd get a picture of him holding a small trophy with "Best dad" or something like that written on it 😭

stop this makes me wanna cry omg!! they would absolutely have like award shows at their house once a month and the girls would be OBSESSED!!

Olive consistently wins cleanest bedroom. Joni always wins worst bedhead. Finch wins loudest snorer. Opal wins biggest mommy's girl--but June comes in a close second! Bradley wins best griller. Faye wins most-kissed!

something else I've thought about (and something I will eventually write) is Bradley putting on little performances for them on the piano! and they rearrange the whole living room and put little chairs in there + add tables + bowls of snacks + a mock-bar so they can set the ambiance of a real piano bar. and Faye gives all the girls Monopoly money and teaches them about tipping :,) so they can tip Bradley!

and he takes requests all night long! and the girls dance!! I'm weak at the knees at this thought brb