One of Those Nights

Mila almost felt sorry for Mike as they approached the front door of her childhood home. For the first time since she had told him she was pregnant, he genuinely looked somewhat afraid. No ego, no cocky personality and certainly no wit.

"You'll be fine," said Mila as she took his hand in hers and stroked it reassuringly with her thumb. "They're really not that bad."

He managed to flash her a small but sweet smile taking a deep breath as she returned the gesture.

Dressed in a dark gray buttoned up shirt and a pair of black jeans, Mila could tell that he was definitely making an effort to impress her parents. And although he was pretty much tattooed from head to toe, he figured covering his arms would lessen the disappointment in their daughter bringing someone like him home.

"What if they don't like me? I mean, look at you... Look at this house. You're way out of my league," he panicked.

"Mike."

But Mike only sighed and Mila dropped his hand from hers, only to pull him into a homely embrace. She hated how he thought the social status of her family had anything to do with their relationship.

"We're in this together," she muffled against his chest as she held him, only to part moments later.

"You're too good to me," said Mike.

Mila only smiled. "Now are you ready?"

Mike took an exaggerated deep breath for the hundredth time that evening as his hand linked with Mila's and nodded.

A million and one thoughts, both positive and negative, raced through his mind as Mila brought her pointer finger to the doorbell and pressed it.

Time seemed to drag along slowly before the sound of footsteps approaching the door were heard, followed by the door swinging open promptly.

Mike took as much of the mousy haired brunette in as he could before Mila's hand fell from his grip, embracing her mother into a hug.

You could tell just by the mousy brunette a facial features that she was Mila's mother.

"Mila," she gushed, averting her attention to Mila's now three month baby bump. "You're glowing."

"Ma, you saw me last week. Not much has changed."

Mike had often heard the term, 'You're glowing,' in reference to pregnant women in movies, but he had never heard the words spoken in real life scenarios. For a second he wondered what it actually meant, but his thoughts were immediately interrupted.

"And you... You must be Mike," Mila's mother announced.

She held out her arms, welcoming Mike into a warm embrace that made the chill of the evening seem almost non existent. In that moment, Mike couldn't help but think that if she was pretending to be nice, she was doing a damn good job at it.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs Kerr," said Mike as the two parted.

"Oh please, Eleanor is just fine."

Mike smiled sweetly before Mila's mother, Eleanor, continued.

"Greer and Joshua are joining us tonight," Eleanor informed as she averted her attention back to Mila.

Joshua was Greer's fiancé and apart from his incredibly terrible jokes, he was okay. He worked in IT and was the kind of guy who enjoyed playing golf. In other words, he was absolutely boring.

"Oh, great. Wonder what kind of lame jokes he has for us tonight," Mila rolled her eyes half heartedly.

"Don't be like that," her mother reasoned. "He's a nice guy."

It was the kind of comment that had Mike second guessing if Joshua was the butt of all Kerr family jokes, or if they genuinely liked the guy.

Mila didn't respond and there was a long pause before Eleanor ushered the couple inside.

"Well, come in," she urged.

And they did.

Mike made an effort to study his surroundings intently as he and Mila followed Eleanor through the house and to the kitchen.

On the small walk, Mike had noticed immediately that The Kerr's had a beautiful family home. With hues of whites and creams and blue complimenting all of its interior, it was simplistic and beach-inspired.

"Where's my little girl?" A voice belonging to an older man announced as the three approached the open space of the kitchen.

Mila's father David wore a navy sweater with lightly tanned coloured trousers.

His presence caused Mike to stiffen his posture.

"Hi, dad," greeted Mila almost embarrassed by her fathers announcement. "This is...Mike," she breathed. "And Mike, this is my dad."

Mike firmly shook David Kerr's hand. His father, Vic Senior, had taught him that a firm handshake always gave off the best first impressions, and Mike was willing to do almost anything to get a decent first impression from Mila's father. After all, he knew that if he were David Kerr, he'd want to kill him for what he had done to his daughter.

"Pleasure, Mike," David nodded.

"Likewise," assured Mike as their hands parted.

"It's nice of you to join us. I heard you just got back from the UK? You must be exhausted."

Mike was jet lagged to all hell but opted on shrugging instead of complaining.

"You get used to it after being on the road for so long."

"You must be in need of drink, I bet. Whiskey, beer... wine?"

It was then in that moment that Mike felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. It was something in the way that David spoke so casually that made him feel at ease.

In most situations, he would have chosen the whiskey, but in this situation, he chose the beer.

"Oh, beer will do. Thank you."

"Corona?"

Mike smiled. "And lime."

David returned the smile before disappearing to the fridge. He too enjoyed his Corona with lime.

"Where's Greer and Josh?" Mila questioned as she turned to her mother who was prodding around the kitchen, preparing the last of the dinner.

"Right here," A voice piped up, entering the kitchen.

"Well if it isn't my favourite sister," Mila smiled, extending her arms outwards.

Mila hadn't seen Greer since the announcement of her pregnancy due to Greer's extensive work schedule in marketing, and she had missed her greatly.

"Mila," Greer squealed, Josh following behind her. "Oh my gosh, you have a little bump and all!"

Mila blushed a little, looking down at her stomach and then back to Greer. You could always count on Greer Kerr to be just that little bit over the top.

"Well, she is pregnant," scoffed David as he fixed wedges of limes into both his and Mike's beer.

Mike tried to suppress his laughter, holding the back of his hand to his mouth and coughing instead. He didn't want Greer to think he were rude.

But Greer just rolled her eyes at her fathers comment and hugged her sister tightly, only to pull away moments later.

"Hi Mila," Josh greeted from beside Greer.

"Hey, Josh. Guys, this is Mike. Mike, this is my big sister Greer and her fiancé Josh."

Mike waved at the two. Greer's hair was much shorter than Mila's and was what you would describe as a more dirtier kind of blonde. Joshua on the other hand had dark hair which was short and dressed smart.

"Nice to meet you both," he said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Greer replied.

David then returned with two beers and before Mike knew it, the entire family was sitting at the table amongst a delicious banquet of food Eleanor Kerr had prepared.

"So," Eleanor started as she cut into a piece of braised lamb on her plate. "Have you two discussed the due date of the baby? Will you be home, Mike?"

Whilst Mike was in the UK the two in fact did talk about the due date and the options they had.

"Yes mother, he will," nodded Mila, answering for Mike. "Mike's basically on tour non stop in two weeks right up until the baby's due date... With a few breaks here and there," she frowned. "But the baby is due on the 12th of May, which of course can change."

"The 12th is the last day of tour," added Mike. "I'll be in San Fran and then we have 3 days off before I head to the UK again. But Mila knows that if she goes into labour earlier than the 12th I'll drop everything to be with her. I want to be there more than anything."

Eleanor nodded and Mila knew it was a nod of concern but brushed it off. Her and Mike had a plan and that's all that mattered.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Questioned her father, causing Mike to swallow hard.

"Yes," assured Mila. "Mike will be home after June."

"Well, I'm pleased the two of you have at least thought about this. Both your mother, Greer and I will be here to help you through. You know that, right?"

"Thanks dad. Mike's family has been extremely supportive and it means a lot to the both of us that all of you are as well."

Mike nodded in agreement before talking.

"We know its not the ideal situation but Mila and I can't wait to be parents. And I can't thank you enough for welcoming me into your home."

David, Eleanor, Greer and Josh all fixed their eyes on Mike and smiled. Mila on the other hand took his hand in hers, placed on the table and squeezed it tightly, leaning towards him and kissing his cheek quickly.

"Welcome to the family, Mike," David smiled, holding up his beer in the gesture of a toast.

The Kerr's weren't so bad after all.