What's Meant to Be
Chapter One: The Picnic
"Tag, you're it!" squealed six-year-old Isabella "Belle" Black to her playmate Shawn Brady once she finally caught up to him, barely tapping him on the shoulder. Without a moment's hesitation she was off again, scampering across her backyard to avoid being tagged, and much out of breath. Blonde curls bounced around the small girl's face as she made her way to a tree in Shawn's yard, hiding behind it. Pausing for a minute to catch her breath, she realized quickly that she stopped for one minute too long, as the hand of her friend snaked around the tree, lightly tapping her arm before disappearing again.
"Gotcha," Shawn Douglas called from the other side of the tree, swiftly running away to the other side of the lawn. He was the faster of the two, and often came out the winner whenever they played tag.
"Not fair!" Belle pouted, but chased after the young boy anyway. The game continued for awhile, with Belle's father and Shawn's parents watching amusedly at their children's banter.
"You know, Brady. I think Shawn D. might just have his first girlfriend," Hope Brady said with a grin on her face, walking up beside her husband and wrapping her arms around his neck, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself," both Bo Brady and John Black blurted out, almost simultaneously. Marlena Evans Black had walked out a few seconds before this exchange, and both women took a second to laugh at the two men. Setting down a large bowl of salad onto the picnic table, their barbecue lunch was almost done being set up.
"I'm going to go pick Brady up. I'll be back in a few minutes, Doc," John said to his wife, giving Marlena a short kiss before heading out to pick up his eight-year-old son Brady Black from baseball practice. He said a simple goodbye to Bo and Hope, then walked over to Belle. Picking his little girl up, he lifted her over his shoulder, pretending to walk out with her.
"Daddy, put me down," Belle giggled, before John set her back down on the ground. She darted off, once again chasing Shawn around the yard, only temporarily distracted by her father's antics. John headed out, giving everyone a polite wave before getting into his car and driving off.
Belle eventually reached Shawn, but he was fast in getting her back. However, in the process he accidentally tripped over a tree root in her back yard, falling down on top of her as he did so.
"Ow!" Belle cried, blue eyes brimming with tears as she swiftly rolled out from underneath Shawn. The young girl whimpered, her mother already on the way over to her. "You hurt me!" she said angrily to Shawn, looking down at her knee and noticing it was bleeding, which only made her cry harder.
"I'm really sorry, Belle," Shawn said. Already standing, he offered his hand to his friend, trying to help her up. However, she wouldn't accept his help, only calming down once her mother had finally reached her.
"Mommy, he hurt me!" Belle yelled, her mother inspecting her for any injuries. "I want him to go home!" the girl whined, looking down at her knee. Shawn just stood there speechless, not sure what to do. He nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, waiting to see if Marlena would tell him that Belle was really hurt, or needed to go to the hospital, or some other horrible thing that his young mind could conjure up.
"What's the verdict, doctor?" Hope asked, walking up behind Shawn and wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, running her hand through her son's hair in an attempt to soothe him. Bo was right behind her, standing aside while the mothers did their work.
"She'll be fine," Marlena said, noting the look of relief on Shawn's face as she spoke the words. "Honey, it wasn't your fault. Accidents happen," she said softly, leaning over and patting the boy's arm reassuringly as she did so. The woman then kissed her daughter's boo-boo, helping her stand up and brush herself off.
"I'm sorry, Belle," Shawn repeated, though he noticed the glare in his friend's eyes still remained. Deciding to make a bold move, Shawn Douglas walked over to the girl, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I didn't mean it," he said, hugging her for a minute.
"Ew, gross!" spoke the distinct voice of Brady Black as he walked into the backyard, soon followed by his father. His small frame was clad in his little league uniform, which he insisted on wearing to every practice, even though they were only required to be worn during game time. It was hardly noticeable, though, under the inch or so of dirt. "What did I tell you 'bout hugging on girls?" Brady asked in the same disgusted tone.
Shawn immediately let go of Belle, taking a couple of steps back. He noticed that her expression had changed dramatically, though, and that did make him feel better. The parents watched the children, grins on their faces, but all remained silent. "Why don't you go inside, change and wash up for lunch," John told his son, watching him scurry off into the house, baseball gear and all.
"Let me help you with the rest of the food," Hope offered, Marlena nodding her head. The two walked into the house, leaving the guys in charge of Shawn and Isabella.
"The two of them really are adorable with each other," Hope continued once they made their way into the kitchen, picking up a bowl of potato salad off of the counter.
"Oh, I know it," Marlena agreed, going over to get a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge. "John doesn't like to talk about his little girl ever having a boyfriend, but men will be men. They like to say we have the trouble letting go of our children," she joked. Turning around with pitcher in hand, she was almost knocked over by an exuberant Brady who was heading towards the sink to wash up. "Careful there, buddy," Marlena said with a laugh. "I have a very important job for you, actually," Marlena said, setting the pitcher down on the counter. "Do you think you can handle it?"
"'Course I can, Marlena," the boy said, quickly drying off his hands with a dish towel. He was practically beaming when he saw his stepmother return with a huge plate of chocolate chip cookies for him to carry outside. Instantly stretching his hands out for the platter, Marlena laughed the entire time.
"Show me those muscles," the mother teased, she and Hope both cracking up as the boy showed them his muscles. "That should do it. But be careful bringing these outside, and make sure Daddy doesn't sneak any cookies," she told him, carefully setting the plate down into his arms and watching him slowly head out towards the backyard.
"Ah, he's a cutie, all right," Hope said, starting to exit the kitchen with the bowl of potato salad. Marlena was behind her in a flash with the lemonade. "We better get outside, though, before our husbands cause too much damage with the kids," Hope stated, only half kidding. Sure enough, once the reached the picnic table with the food, they saw John and Bo zooming the boys around the yard, a jealous Belle following after them. "It's time for lunch!" Hope yelled over to them.
John set Brady down, picking Belle up and flying her over to the table before placing her on the ground. "Looks delicious, as usual," John said, kissing his wife as the families sat down at the table. Each couple sat down at either side of the table, children in the middle.
"Brady, would you pass me the salad, please?" Hope asked her husband, quickly observing that the little boy across the table was trying hard to grab the salad bowl that was just out of his reach. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey," she said to Brady. "I meant for Bo to get it for me. But thanks anyway, sweetie," she said, realizing her error and making a mental note not to use her husband's nickname around the boy again so as not to confuse him.
The group continued their meal, Brady telling Shawn and Belle all about his home run at practice while the adults talked about their day at work. The children quickly got bored with their parents' conversations, and after eating two cookies each, went off to play. They headed over to Brady's tree house, which the trio only played in in Brady's presence. "You first, Belle," Brady said to his younger sister.
Belle climbed up the ladder to the playhouse, followed by Brady, and lastly Shawn. As they were climbing, Shawn looked up to Brady. "What are we gonna play today? Pirates?" he suggested, finally reaching the top and stepping up onto the platform, closing the trapdoor now that they had all reached their destination.
"Sure," Brady approved, walking over to a trunk of costumes in the corner of the tree house and taking out a pirate hat for himself and one for Shawn, tossing it over to the younger boy. He noticed the envious look on Belle's face and knew exactly why it was there. "Girls can't be pirates," Brady said, shrugging. "It's the rules."
"Brady Black, give me a pirate hat this instant!" Belle screeched, her eyes filling with as much rage as a six-year-old girl could possess. Feeling the tension between the siblings, Shawn hastily stepped over to Belle, offering her his pirate hat before things got any more heated. The girl quickly took it, plopping it on top of her head with a satisfied grin on her face, sticking her tongue out at her older brother. "Ha-ha," she said, declaring her own personal victory.
"Shawn Douglas Brady, I ought to," Brady started angrily, but then a mischievous look appeared on his face that neither Shawn nor Belle appreciated. "Since you didn't follow the rules, you gotta kiss my sister," Brady said, pleased with himself for even coming up with the idea. The two younger children both let out grunts of disapproval, which led Brady to believe that this was the best punishment he could give them, as it was equally as unpleasant for both of them. "Go ahead, Shawny," he repeated the same evil smirk on his face.
Shawn and Belle both made sickening groans once more, but they both knew you didn't mess with Brady in his own tree house. Begrudgingly, Shawn took a step closer to Belle, placing his hands on her shoulders and leaning in. Just as Shawn was about to kiss her, he jumped a mile when his mom called from down below. "Time to go, Shawn Douglas!" he heard her yell out to him.
"Bye guys!" Shawn blurted out, hurriedly using this excuse to open the trapdoor and scramble to meet his parents at the bottom of the ladder to go home. Shawn and Belle's "almost" kiss was what would have been a simple moment, but did in fact predict the path that their relationship would take in years to come.