Brandon Paredes Cabero was the first - and only - child of single mother, Angela Paredes Cabero. It was an early summer morning, on Independence Day in 1985, when she went into labor at a hospital in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York. She hadn't planned on becoming pregnant with him but, when she'd learned of her pregnancy roughly six months prior, she'd immediately fallen in love with the tiny life form growing inside her. It didn't matter that she'd be raising him alone after her marriage with hotshot lawyer, Richard Sterling, had gone awry. In fact, it wasn't until after their divorce had been finalized that Angela learned that she was expecting and, after weeks of going back and forth between whether or not she should inform the glorified sperm donor, the news slipped out during an argument between the estranged former couple. At first, Richard had tried to do the right thing but Angela wasn't at all receptive to his advances. After many failed attempts, Richard left her alone, citing that he would still take care of his obligation financially but would otherwise stay out of her and the child's life so long as that's what they both wanted. Angela hadn't been foolish enough to believe that the child would never question his parentage but, for some time, she operated under the pretense that the questions would never come up. In short, seven pound (even) and twenty-two inch Brandon Paredes Cabero was not the product of a two-parent household. Still, Brandon had a fairly typical upbringing. And, despite the money that Richard would send biweekly for him, lived in a modest two bedroom apartment while whatever they received was put into a savings account.

As a child, Brandon was a veritable fount of inquiries, and Angela realized early on that she wouldn't be able to keep the expected (though unwanted) questions at bay. There was a story for everything and, more than anything else, Brandon wanted to know what it was. For the first eight years of his life, they remained in Brooklyn amidst the things that were familiar to the both of them (but especially Angela). It wasn't until shortly after Brandon's eighth birthday, when Angela fell ill, that the mother and son pair made their way to the much more laid back atmosphere that suburban New York offered - Irvington, to be precise. It was also at this time, when young Brandon was forced into the role of caretaker, that the questions Angela had studiously avoided for years resurfaced. Like any other inquisitive child, the little boy wanted to know why he didn't have a father and, unable to lie to him (especially in the state that she was in and not knowing if she'd ever get a chance to tell him when he was older), Angela relayed the relatively short story of her marriage to Richard and explained what had happened in the best way that she knew how to a child of Brandon's age. While he didn't fully grasp what he was being told at the time, wisdom came with age and Brandon soon grew resentful of the man who fathered him, despite the fact that Angela had been the one to decline the help being offered before he had even been born. Miraculously, after three years of fighting breast cancer, Angela went into remission. Brandon was eleven at the time.

His middle and high school years were relatively normal. While Brandon wasn't the most academic person, he got decent enough grades and kept out of trouble (serious trouble, at least). For that, Angela was grateful. She knew it could be worse, after all, and it had always been a worry of hers that she wouldn't be able to pull off the stand-in role of father. But, the fact that she'd been diagnosed with cancer while Brandon was still young played a large part in his maturity level and he knew better than to do anything that would cause his mother unnecessary stress. That fear that he could still lose her at any moment was one that made up a large part of who he was as a teenager, and even well into adulthood. He wasn't perfect by any means, and there were times where the trouble he did get into caused Angela more grief than was entirely necessary, but that was part and parcel with being a teenager. He tried, though, and as far as Angela was concerned, that's what was important. She knew, after all, that given the circumstances (only child to a single mother who had just beaten cancer), it could have been a whole lot worse than what it was. He could have been a serious problem child, so a few less than stellar grades and a detention or two over the years wasn't anything for her to be concerned with in the least. Her tolerance for Brandon's slight rebellion (which was a bit of an overstatement) didn't go unnoticed by the young man. Because of that, he tried even harder to be better than he was as much as possible.

It was during his junior year at Irvington High school when Brandon met Matthew Bragg-Spencer. Despite the fact that the boy was younger than him, and had an older brother the same age as Brandon, the two quickly became thick as thieves. It was the first real friendship Brandon has ever had in his life and, in some ways, it showed. He was always quick to agree to hanging out after school, whether at his own house or at Matt's house, and the two were basically inseparable. But, up until he'd met Matt, Brandon hadn't had any concept of what a best friend was, really. So, it was nice to know that he had someone like that in his life; someone he could turn to and depend on no matter the situation or circumstances. It was around this time that Brandon began dating Holly Ammeson and, through her, met Aalish Guerra. Just like with Matt, the age difference between himself and the girls were not a concern for him at all. He finally fit in with someone, and that was all that really mattered to him. Even back then, he knew the friendships he'd built with them were the kind of friendships that would stand the test of time. That, years down the road when they'd all grown up and found their own paths in life, the bond they'd formed in high school would keep them tethered to each other through all of the ups and downs, and every single obstacle life decided to throw at them over time. Thankfully, he'd been right about that, and there's no one else in the world he's closer to, family aside, than the three of them.

High school graduation brought with it a plethora of changes that Brandon hadn't expected. It was the first time over the course of the friendships that he'd forged with Matt, Holly, and Aalish that he realized how much of a difference a year or two could make. He was graduating, moving forward in life, but his friends weren't. Their lives were different, in so many ways, and their schedules conflicted more often than not as Brandon moved on to college. The most unexpected change, though, was the way his relationship with Holly just sort of fizzled out. There hadn't been any definitive moment where a decision was made about whether or not they should stay together or not. It just happened. One day they were dating, boyfriend and girlfriend and making promises of forever that they fully intended on keeping, and the next they were barely talking to each other on the phone, let alone seeing each other. The pair remained friends, though, close as they'd ever been. They still hung out, when time allow for it. And, even if neither of them admitted to or acknowledged it, the feelings they'd felt for each other during the time that they'd bene dating were still there. They'd just been pushed down and buried, ignored in the face of what had transpired in an effort at keeping things from becoming awkward. At the time, it had been for the best. At the time, they'd had no idea they'd come back together one day, their relationship much stronger because of the time they'd spent living their own lives as individuals rather than two halves of one whole.

In 2007, however, Holly came to him with a proposal. She wanted to open an event planning business, and wanted him to come on-board as an in-house videographer. The request wasn't something that Brandon needed to think about, or mull over. While it wasn't what he ultimately wanted to do with his life, and as a career, it was a step in that general direction. Beside that, Holly was still one of his closest friends and there wasn't much that he wouldn't do for her. His acceptance came with one stipulation, though: he wanted to invest in the company, too. He didn't want to just be an employee, and he wanted to really help her to get it up and running, whatever it took. After all, he had the money that his father had sent every month since before he was born squirrled away in a savings account, and this was an endeavor that would be worth the expenses that it would accrue. Because he knew Holly, and he knew she wouldn't let it fail. So, the two - along with the help of her parents - went into business together, adding to an already overloaded schedule for Brandon, but allowing him to utilize what he had learned so far in the years he'd spent pursuing a higher education. And, it wasn't perfect, in the beginning. There were ups and downs and struggles along the way. But, they were dedicated and professional and, in time, the business took off. Not the biggest, or the most sought after, but definitely one of those reliable ones that ended up on everyone's list. And that was what was important.

College was something altogether different than Brandon had ever expected. In high school, he'd done well, but he'd never bothered to go above and beyond what was absolutely required of him. That wasn't the case at Tisch, though, and he found himself working harder than he ever had before - jumping into things feet first and figure out where to go from there after the fact. It wasn't the degree he was after, though he left NYU with three of them, it was the education in a field that had grabbed his attention long before he'd known what to call it. All in all, it was an experience that he'd been glad to have been able to take part in, but he was also glad to put the days of all nights are more caffeine in his sytem than should have been legally allowed, behind him. Though he didn't expect much of a celebration for his accomplishments, he was happy to spend the night with his family and close friends, just like they'd all done years prior when he'd survived high school. It was a week after his graduation that he got a gift that had been completely unexpected. A gift that, for years, he had no idea what to do with. It was a letter from Richard Sterling. It explained to him everything Angela had already told him, as well as a couple of very important things she hadn't known at all: that he had a younger half-sister, and that they lived nearby. It was a shocking revelation for him, especially since he'd been raised as an only child, and Brandon wasn't entirely sure what to do with that information. For weeks, he kept the letter on him at all times, re-reading it frequently as he contemplated what to do with what he'd been told. The resentment that he'd always felt toward Richard from the moment he'd first learned about him continued to grow during that time. It was more justified, though, especially when he took into consideration the fact that he wanted to meet his sister; that he wanted to get to know the girl he shared half a genetic make-up with. But, she was just as much in the dark as he'd been until the letter arrived, and Brandon knew it wouldn't exactly be fair to her for him to upend her life the way his had been.

Things changed a few years later, though. He and Holly reconnected during an impromptu road trip to the Florida Keys, and finally realized that the feelings they'd spent so long ignoring and trying to bury weren't just going to go away. It took a little bit of prompting and prodding from their friends, of course, but the two eventually found themselves back together. It was different this time, though. This wasn't a high school relationship, and they'd learned in the years that had passed since they'd last dated that things wouldn't work unless they worked at it. So, they did. They worked at it everyday, making what they had stronger than it had ever been, while remaining focused on two things: someday and forever. Someday they would get married, and they'd be together forever. If there was one other thing they'd learned during their time apart it was that being apart simply wouldn't work for them. It couldn't. It was obvious by the way they'd remained friends, and by the way they'd fallen right back into being a couple as if no time had passed at all. It was Holly who pushed Brandon to tell Rebecca that he was her brother, and it was her who was with him when that conversation happened, in the middle of the afternoon at a nearby park where the group of friends (that had grown and expanded over the years) had decided to stage a snowball fight in early January. It was Holly who prodded him just the right amount to get him to open up to, and connect with Rebecca when he wasn't sure how to go about doing that, or if the younger girl would even be receptive to it. And it was her infinite wisdom and unending support that helped him and Bex to build the relationship they have now.

The beginning of Brandon and Holly's "forever" started in February of 2012 when, one morning before she'd even woken up for the day, he slipped an engagement ring on her finger and asked her to be his wife. Despite the fear and worry he'd felt leading up that moment for what her response would be, deep down Brandon knew there was no other way she would even think of answering that question but with a yes. A little more than three months later, the two were married in her parents backyard, with their family and closest friends present. Now, over two years later, they're still going strong. Happily married, and loving every second of it as they try and find their way in life as one unit; two halves of a whole. They're working on making a relationship work, while running a business side by side, utilizing both their educations and degrees to combine their specific specialties into one well-oiled machine. Life is life, though, and it's presented them with their fair share of ups and downs. But, as they have in the past, they've weathered the storms and come out on the other side stronger than ever each and every time. Like they'll continue to do in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. Because that's the only way "forever" will work, and they're determined to make that happen.