Generation 2, Chapter 9: Family meetings can be awkward

The artistic side of my mother is coming through strong in Starlight Shores. Just to be courteous, I promised my mom we could go sight seeing the next day. And that's exactly what we end up doing. All the while my mother is taking pictures of the wildlife, my thoughts keep escaping to Aaron. As my mom and I were hugging last night, Aaron peeked through the door, and my mom saw him. I literally fell over the furniture as I ran to close the door, slamming it in his poor face. If he ever speaks to me again, it'll be a miracle.

"Who was that? A stalker?" my mom had asked me.

"Nope. Just my next door neighbor checking up on me, probably wondering why the door was open. I live in a great apartment, y'know..."

"Sweetheart? Are you alright?" her words cut into my daydream, yanking me back before I spiral away in my thoughts.

"You want the truth? No, I'm not alright, mom. I have so much stress. So many doubts. In the past few months my first ever boyfriend went crazy, and that hit me hard. And now I'm keeping a secret from Bridget. Even from you and dad," I confess, not caring to turn around to face my mother's concerned face. It's easier to pour out my life's troubles by not looking at her eyes.

"Well, sweetie, if you need to talk to someone... I'm here. I'll always be there for my kids."

I can feel my mother's deep blue eyes staring into the back of my head, trying to figure out what on earth I could be keeping a secret.

"Does it have something to do with that gentleman that came into the apartment last night, perhaps?" my mother guesses. And darn it, she guessed right, as always.

"It does," I confirm, "We went on a date last night. I really like him, mom, I seriously do. But the thing is, Bridget is in love with the guy. Maybe I have to let him go so Bridget can be happy for once."

"Kaylin...," I feel my mother's hand rest on my shoulder. "You don't always have to sacrifice something so that someone else will be happy. You have a right to be selfish. I was selfish with your father, to be honest. If there was another woman that wanted to him, I would probably have killed her. But luckily, there was no other woman. Now don't go killing your sister just to have a man, but... Try and talk it out. What is the guy's choice, for example. He's the key to everything in this situation."

"You know, listening to all that... There's someone you should meet. You guys are like, on the same wavelength or something. She texted me almost the exact same thing a while ago," I suggest, finally turning around to look at my mom. "And that person would be my best friend, Janelle."

There are two reasons why I suggested my mom meet Janelle. One, it would be nice to have my mom get to know some of my friends here, and two, they're so much alike. The two of them together would be able to give dynamite advice, but they'd also be able to have one hell of a conversation. My fingers slide over to my Blackberry, and I quickly ask Janelle where she's hanging out.

"@ library", the text comes back.

"I hope you still like books mom, 'cause we're going to the library to meet up with Janelle."

Four minutes later, my mom and I make our way up the stairs leading to the modernized library building.

Janelle is where she always is when she isn't socializing - behind a computer. That girl has a BIG addiction to games, which is weird, seeing as she still retains her popularity around town, and is an extreme extrovert.

"Hello, there, computer nerd," I casually greet her with some teasing.  "I brought someone along to meet."

"Oh puh-leaze. I definitely don't need your help with hooking me up with a blind date. If I want to have a boyfriend, I'll get a boyfriend, so stop fuc-"

"This is the girl you wanted me to meet?" my mother interrupts Janelle just before she could start cussing. Her eyes dart to me, worried and scared at the same time.

"Yeah," I shrug. "If she would just take a moment to look up from the screen, she wouldn't be so bad with her words."

With great dramatic suspense, Janelle takes here time to shift her gaze to the new person in the room. From the expression on her face, I can see she's a bit shocked and embarrassed.

"Uh, hi? May I ask who are you?" Janelle clears her throat.

"This is my mom, Destiny. So glad that your behaving yourself in front of the grown ups," I cross my arms, wiggling my eyebrows at her, testing her patience.

"Oh shut up!" Janelle hisses at me, while in turn getting up from her seat to shake hands with my mother. "Pleasure to meet you, Misses Webber. Uh, excuse my theatricals, I'm not usually so rude."

"I'll take your word for it," my mom smiles. "Could we perhaps sit down somewhere to talk? I believe my daughter has something to talk about."

With the attitude of a professional hostess, Janelle politely guides my mother to the couch area, graciously complimenting my mother on her young complexion. To tell the truth, it's peculiar to me how my mother could still look so good after all the years and all the kids she has had. Perhaps she just uses a incredible ointment that softens her skin and all the wrinkles. I should definitely ask her the name of the miracle cream.

"I know you wanted to talk to your mom about the past experience with Charlie, but we have a problem on our hands," my best friend states as she sits down.

"Like what?" my mom and I ask simultaneously.

"Um, this is hard to say... Some stupid paparazzi caught pictures of you and Aaron on your date. More specifically, the kiss on the beach. It's all over Facebook. I'm surprised you haven't checked in yet, but it's understandable."

"So the entire freakin' world knows about me and Aaron? Including Bridget?" I nearly screech.

"It depends on if she checked her Facebook yet. And if you look through that window right this moment, you'll notice that she did indeed check it."

Outside the window, Bridget is approaching, with a no-nonsense attitude and looking not at all happy.

"W-wh-what happened to Bridget? She has blue hair?! When did that happen?!" my mother gawks at me, then at Janelle.

"She actually had blue and green hair before that, but dyed it to blue a while ago. It looks good on her," Janelle explains.

"Over my dead body will I let that girl get away with it!" she protests, and jumps out of her seat.

"Uh, mom, I think it's best if I handle this first. You can yell at her later, perhaps. And besides, she's an adult, she makes her own choices now."

Placing my hand gently on my mom's shoulder, I put a little pressure into it, and guide her back to a sitting position. Shooting a last scared look at Janelle, I walk to the library's entrance, not too ready to embrace the wrath of my sister.

"You lied to me," Bridget immediately starts accusing as I walk through the doors.

"I didn't mean to, Bridget. I didn't know, or think, that things between me and Aaron would work out. And if it didn't, you'd get a chance at him."

"Do you really think I want a chance at him after I saw you two snogging together on the beach? The paparazzi took some very detailed pics. It's obvious you like him, Kaylin, and it's as clear as daylight that he likes you too. I don't have a chance in hell to get a man like that. So in a way, thank you, for making me see the light and realizing that I was expecting way too much."

"Bridget, NO! You should expect a lot. You can have a quality boyfriend, if you would just-"

"Nope, it's over," Bridget ignores my plea. "You know, if you would have told me beforehand that you liked him, I would have moved on. But you gave me false hope, and that shattered everything. Don't worry, I'll be out of your apartment by the end of the day."

Without another word, she turns around and starts running down the street.

"BRIDGET!" I call back one last time. What had I just done? I ruined the relationship between my sister, and shattered any chance she had of becoming normal. I am one horrible human being, never being able to do something right in my life.

"What happened?" Janelle asks from behind me, standing alongside my mother.

"I destroyed her life...," I whimper. "I destroyed her love."

"Surely, it cannot be that bad," my mother tries to reason. "There must be a way to contact her, tell her to come back. If you could just explain to her-"

"Explaining won't change a thing, mom," I whisper, "I lied to her, and that hurt her. She won't forgive me easily."

The rest of the day passes normally for my mother and Janelle. It's as if nothing strange happened just a few hours ago. I, on the other hand, am much more affected by Bridget's departure from my life. Instead of joining their conversation, I just hide myself away in a secluded part of my mind. The only time I'm forced out of it is when Janelle suggests I change into my stage outfit and demonstrate my singing talent to my mom. And being Janelle, she doesn't take 'no' for an answer. I let my voice carry out my sadness, letting the whole world know my feelings - something that I don't do very often. But for once, it's nice to let go. 

"She sounds fantastic," I hear my mother whisper to Janelle. "I have no idea where she got that beautiful voice from. Her father sounds like an animal when he sings, and I don't sound that melodious either."

"Well, she gave birth to some new talent that will hopefully run through future family genes," Janelle comments, brightly smiling at her with confidence.

"I agree with you on that," Aaron appears out of no where with that response, and I can't help but smile and be awkward at the same time. So this is what it feels to be in love?

"Who's your new friend?" he asks innocently. "She's pretty cute. Does she live around here? I don't think I've seen her before."

"Uh, Aaron, you might want to eh, shut up now...," Janelle trails off.

"Why?"

"Because this 'cute new friend' is Kaylin's mother," the tersely reply comes from my mother.

"This... This is the misses Webber? Oh crap. Oh shit. Um, sorry, misses Webber, but you look so...young? I didn't expect Kaylin's mother to be so good-looking..."

"Uh, Aaron, not to be offensive, but this would be a great time to just stop talking," I suggest, echoing Janelle's previous words.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Aaron, right?" my mother grumbles, then turns silent. That frown between her eyebrows frightens me. "Kaylin, is this the boy you said you liked?"

"MOM!"

"Well, is he or is he not?"

"Um... He is."

It's not hard to see that my mother is angry. Aaron didn't really make the best first impression. That may complicate things for us a lot. The entire room's atmosphere turns cold, and the customers turn silent as they chuck down their drinks.

"Aaron, please go stand there by my daughter. I have a few questions for you."

As Aaron comes to stand next to me, his hand touches mine, soothing me. While I'm freaking out, he's taking everything in stride. Lucky bastard. In response to his light touch, I grasp his hand tightly, making it obvious to my mom that I like him, and nothing will be able to change that.

"Young man, do you like my daughter?" my mother questions straightforwardly.

"Uh, yes ma'am."

"You don't sound so sure of yourself...," she states, crossing her arms in front of her.

"MOM!" I shout out again.

"No, it's alright, Kaylin. Yes, I do like your daughter ma'am."

"And do you plan to have a serious relationship with her, or are you looking for a one-night-stand?"

"No, I'm not looking for something like that. Not with Kaylin. She's special, I know that."

Him saying that gives me so much confidence. Confidence in myself, and confidence in our relationship. We both smile brightly at my mom. It's not hard for anyone to see that we make each other happy, and that we're good friends.

"I like you better, now, Aaron. Thank you for being so honest. Now we only have one problem: What am I going to tell your father about you two? He's going to be here in a few minutes."

"...Say what?" I ask dully.

"Oh, yes. He couldn't make it on the first flight to Starlight Shores because of business meetings, so he had to drive all the way here, which took much much longer. I'm not sure how he'll react to you two. You know how protective your father is and all, especially with you."

I force Aaron to turn away from my mother and Janelle. It's best if no one heard my warning to him. "Aaron, it might be a good idea for you to sneak out the backdoor now and run off to your car."

"Just because your dad is coming now? Surely he can't be that bad. I admit I've never met any of my date's fathers before, but I can handle it, I think."

"You haven't met my dad. He's very over-protective of me, because I'm his eldest daughter, and also the only one who hasn't screwed up. He actually carries a pistol around, under his jacket, especially for such occasions."

My almost-boyfriend's eyes pop wide open. "A pistol? A real one? A loaded one?" he gulps.

"Yeah," I confirm.

"Honey, I'm here!" I hear the all too familiar deep voice that belongs to my father entering the room.

"Darling!" my mother calls out to my father, and walks towards him to greet him.

"Hi daddy," I smile politely, absently eyeing Aaron as he starts to sneak away.

"Hello, my dear. How've you been? You haven't called in a while, and we've been pretty darn worried that something has happened."

"Nope, nothing has happened, nothing at all..." my sentence drifts off as I watch Aaron run away like hell is after him.

"Who's that fella out there? He looks like he has seen a ghost."

"He might have," I joked. "Or just something really scary."

"Oh, you two," my mother shakes her head, and turns her attention back to my dad. "Hello there, Handsome. I missed you so much while you were away."

"I think I'm gonna leave now, give you two some privacy...," Janelle comments, grabbing her purse.

"Yeah, me too," I nod. "I'll be right back, mom, dad."

"Aaron, wait up! You don't need to run anymore! Nobody's watching you," I call as soon as I catch up to Aaron. Poor soul, he hasn't even started up his car yet, too out of breath to move any further.

"I... I need a break... Don't...want to be shot at...," the words come out in breathless hiccups.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. I don't think my dad would really have shot you, to be honest."

"Can't be to careful, I guess," Aaron shrugs. "I'm sorry that the meeting with your parents didn't go so well. I haven't met any of my date's mothers, not even to mention their fathers. It's all very new to me."

I smile, and wrap my arms around his body soothingly, trying to calm his shuddering. Who would have thought that the thought of meeting my father could be that scary.

"Hey, Kaylin?" his words interrupt my inward musing.

"Yeah?"

"I haven't told you this before, or anyone for that matter, but... I love you."

He's right. He hadn't told me that before, and hearing him say it out loud makes my world go spinning with happiness.