Meant to Be

There was no need for jackets here – the weather was too warm, the air too dry. All Vegas had to offer was the blazing sun and dry desert. Everyone coming out of the terminal wore touristy clothing – colorful shirts, khaki shorts, long socks, visors, and the famous fanny pack clinging around their waists.

Brendon held his phone close to his ear as he reached for the luggage. “Ma it’s okay. Tell Mason not to come. I already got a cab.” He paused listening to his mother’s response. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you guys in a little bit.” He smiled. “Love ya too. Oh wait! Can you guys be nice when we get there please?” Another pause. “Ma, please. I know you don’t understand, but it’d be nice not to have any awkwardness while we’re there.” He nodded his head. “Thanks. Okay, bye.”

He made his way towards the pick-up and drop-off area of the airport, where he saw Kayla sitting near one of the exits. She looked up at him and smiled, causing him to smile in return.

“Who were you talking to?” she asked.

“Oh, that was my mom,” he said placing his phone back in his pocket. “She just wanted to know if my brother needed to pick us up, uh, but I told her I called a cab.”

“Do they know?” she asked out of nowhere.

He raised an eyebrow at her, unsure of what she meant exactly. “No, I told you I’d tell them in person…when we got there,” he said thinking she meant about the baby.

She shook her head. “No not that. I meant do they know about what happened between us.”

Brendon took a seat next to her, grabbing her hands, settling them in his. “They don’t know. I don’t tell them much about my love life. It’s as if nothing ever happened between us. Anything they remember about you is from Thanksgiving,” he lied.

In fact, he had expressed his grievances to his sister Kara, whom he always felt closes to since they were only four years apart, and by the time he knew it, his entire family knew of what had happened, though it didn’t bother him. However, now that he and Kayla were back together, he didn’t want any uncomfortableness between her and his family.

She squeezed his hands and smiled brightly at him, letting out a relieved sigh. “Good. I don’t want them to hate me.”

After reassuring her that his family didn’t hate her, they waited a few more minutes before the cab came to pick them up. Brendon could tell how uneasy Kayla was feeling just from the way she kept fidgeting in her seat.

He placed a hand over one of hers and rubbed it. “Kayla, relax. Everything’s gonna be fine,” he said smiling at her reassuringly.

“I know; I’m just nervous. I hope they take the baby news well.”

He nodded his head with uncertainty, knowing they would more than likely no react well to the news. The cab pulled up to the big two story red house. He hadn’t been to it in years and he began to feel nostalgic. He remembered the staying here during the summer days with his cousin when they were younger, running around the front yard or riding their bikes to the nearby park. He smiled as the memories reeled in this head.

“This doesn’t look like your house. Unless your family moved?” Kayla said looking at the house.

“Oh, no this is my grandmother’s house. My mom told me that everyone was here and to just meet them here, so…” he said shrugging his shoulders.

Brendon grabbed the bags and walked towards the front door, while Kayla trailed behind him. After knocking a couple of times, a petite woman with brown hair and eyes, answered the door and instantly smiled when she noticed it was Brendon.

She held her arms open. “My baby, Brendon. Come give your mother a hug,” his mother, Grace, said with a big smile.

He let go of the bags and wrapped his arms around the small woman. “Hey ma.”

Grace looked passed him and noticed Kayla standing there not knowing what to do. She let go of Brendon and went to hug her, taking Brendon’s advice on being nice to her.

“Kayla. It’s so nice to see you again,” she said.

“It’s nice to see you too Mrs. Urie.”

“Well you two come inside and say hello to everyone. We’re just getting things ready for tomorrow,” she said motioning for them to follow her.

Brendon looked back and held out his hand for Kayla. She took it and they both walked into the house together. When his mom said everyone she meant everyone. In the family room were his half-brothers, Matt and Mason, along with their father, Boyd, and soon to be brother-in-law, Josh.

“Hey guys!” Brendon waved. “You all remember Kayla?” he asked turning his head towards her.

She waved shyly at them. “Hello,” she said and received a unison “Hi” from all four men, who were too busy watching a show.

“The girls are in the kitchen,” Brendon heard his mother say before she went upstairs.

Sitting around the table were his other siblings, his half-sisters Valerie and Kara, his paternal grandmother, Sophia, and his sister-in-law, Matt’s wife, Lily. They were all organizing things for the wedding while gossiping amongst themselves.

They all stopped and stared at them, as if waiting for them to perform a magic trick. Then they all got up and came straight to them, both Brendon and Kayla receiving hugs from all four women.

“Look our prodigal bother has finally come home,” Valerie laughed.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. It hasn’t even been that long since I came home.” He went towards Kara, the younger of his two sisters, and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I can’t believe you’re getting married tomorrow!” he said shaking her gently.

“I know! I’m so excited. I’m really glad you were able to make it,” she said placing her hands on his shoulders. She then grabbed his hand and led him out the back door. “Come on I wanna talk to you.” He groaned knowing what she wanted to talk to him about, following her to the back porch.

Kara stood in front of him, arms folded across her chest, with that look on her face that read “what were you thinking?”

Brendon laughed a little. “What?” he asked.

“I am completely in awe and not in a good way. Why is she here? The last I heard she was in bed with two other guys when you got home and things were over between you too. Explain,” she said waiting for him to answer.

He hung his head and then brought it back to her eye level. “It’s a lot to explain.”

“We have time. Go on,” she insisted.

He sighed. “Fine, but if I tell you, you have to swear you won’t say anything to anyone. I mean it,” he said holding out his pinky.

She nodded her head in agreement and grabbed his pinky with hers. “Promise. Now tell me what’s going on.”

“Kayla’s pregnant.”

For once Kara didn’t have anything to say back, completely taken aback by what she just learned. She hung her mouth open in shock.

“And she explained what happened that night, but to be honest, I don’t know if the baby’s mine, but I couldn’t just leave her. I mean what if it is mine?” he explained.

She shook her head in disbelief. “I still don’t get it. I mean why get back with her. There’s the option of being supportive without being with her you know.”

“I know, but I thought maybe we could just work things out, see what happens.”

“Then why go all the way to Seattle to forget about Kayla, then come back and become involved with her again?”

“Trust me, I one hundred percent forgot about her when I was there…hey wait. How did you know I was in Seattle? I didn’t tell anyone,” he asked curiously.

“Aunt Karen called mom and told her you were staying with Jason, but that’s beside the point. So, what happened in Seattle that made you completely forget about you know who?” she asked wanting the details of his trip.

“Well when I got there, Jason had already left on his business trip, so when I arrived at his apartment, his girlfriend answered and…”

“Oh my gosh Brendon, did you hook up with Jason’s girlfriend?” she asked punching him in the arm.

He held up in his hands in defense. “Wait, wait, hear me out. I did, but you’ll never guess who it was?”

“Brendon I wouldn’t care if it was freakin’ Megan Fox, you don’t do that to family members,” she said angrily.

“It was Olivia.”

Her eyes widened. “Olivia? Olivia Adams? You’re old girlfriend Olivia?”

“Yes, that Olivia. How weird is it that of all people, she would be Jason’s girlfriend, she would be the one to be there? I thought it was fate,” he said smiling into the distance.

“So what happened? It obviously wasn’t a happy ending.”

“It was gonna be, until the day she was supposed to come LA with me, she decided that she wanted to stay with Jason and I wasn’t gonna stop her.”

“Oh I’m sorry Brendon. I’m also sorry that this is about to get even more awkward.”

“What do you mean?” he asked a little afraid of how she said it.

“Well you and Kayla are staying here and Jason RSVP’d for two, which I assume the other one is Olivia, and they’re staying here too.”

“What?”

The back door opened and peering through was their grandmother, Sophia. “Brendon dear, your girlfriend went to sleep already. Said she was feeling tired. Oh and your cousin Jason just got here and he brought a lovely woman with him. Come say hello,” she said before going back inside.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said aloud.