Second time lucky

34

It had been a few weeks since Kyle had shown up at my house and two days since Riley had been here. I hadn't even begun to unpack the baggage of thoughts and emotions in my head, and yet somehow I still felt better.

Better because somehow even with limited answers I knew he wasn't mad at me for not knowing what It was I wanted. Better because somehow I knew that this was for the best for us both and now we both understood that.

Nothing was going to change my love for him, just as nothing would change his love for me, but maybe. Just maybe, it was a different kind of love. The love you get 'before' you actually fall irreversibly in love. The kind of love that feels the same in retrospect until you finally take a step back and realize that you were both meant to cross paths, but in a different way than you thought.

It was the most accurate reason I could think of. We were supposed to get close and He was supposed to help me become a stronger version of myself, but we weren't supposed to last together. He had a family, his true love that he needed to get back to, and I had the twins and my confusing feelings for Riley to unscramble.

Maybe there was a future for us, one where he could be uncle Kyle to the kids again, and perhaps we could be friends, but only time would tell. He still had a lot to figure out with Hannah and Ryan and I couldn't blame him for putting his family first, I would do the same.

Riley was another story all together. We had been getting along as we usually did, but I still didn't know if what I felt towards him was just my past talking, or whether the past was trying to show me that he was always supposed to be my future.

I guess that's how life and love works though. It's unexpected and it doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it's the smallest things that tell you everything you need to know, you just have to be able to see them.

I was surprised to see my mother calling me as I waited for the kids to get home from school.

"Hey mom." I answered.

"Hey baby, so your brother is coming to visit this weekend and we wanted to see if you and the kids wanted to drive up so we could all spend some time together?"

"Yeah that sounds nice." I smiled to myself.

"So how have things been going for you?"

"Good I guess. Just busy."

"Well that's nice to hear. How is everyone else? Kyle? Riley? The rest of the clan?" She asked.

"Everyone is fine." I told her not wanting to admit to all the chaos or my obnoxious night of wild drinking. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"We look forward to it. Love you."

"Love you too mom."

I disconnected the call and sighed. I loved my family and I missed them, but I despised packing. Still I mustered the energy to dig out the suitcases from the attic and pack some clothes for the kids and then my clothes.

It was a long drive to my parents and the last time I had done it Kyle was with me. It was a New Years thing they had thrown, and my parents and Riley's had insisted that I take the twins. They were two at the time and me and Kyle hadn't even started dating yet.

I remember how he had insisted we went, offered to drive and entertained the kids with a variety of car games as we made the long trip to Tennessee. Then he spent the whole time trying to make sure I was happy as the kids soaked up all the attention from my parents.

It was on that trip that my brother had graciously told me to move on from Riley. To chase happiness wherever I could find it.

"Holding onto the past doesn't make you happy in the future Britt." He had said.