When Our Stars Aligned

Chapter Twenty-Six

When the movie finally came to an end I had to nudge Kendall awake.

"I wasn't sleeping" he said while rubbing his eyes.

"Yes you were! You've been snoring for the past 20 minutes!" I informed him.

"I do not snore" he defended.

"Uh yeah you do" Jenna shot back. Kendall sighed defeated as Jenna and I laughed at him. "Is anyone else hungry?" Jenna asked.

As soon as she said that Kendall's stomach began to growl. I looked at Kendall with big eyes, "I'll take that as a yes!"

"How about a family cookout?" Kendall offered. I looked at him like he was completely out of his mind. "It's the end of December Kendall. That's a little too cold for a cookout" I laughed.

"Then how about a cook...in?" he joked. "We'll invite your family over and cook hamburgers and stuff like a regular cookout just inside."

"I guess that could work! I'll call them" I said as I grabbed my phone off the coffee table and dialed my mom.

After the third ring she answered. "Hey sweet girl! What's up?"

"Hey momma nothing really. Do you and dad have dinner plans? Or aunt Jen and uncle John?"

"They're over here now and we were about to cook supper why?"

"Don't cook anything! Come over here, Kendall has some weird urge to cookout so we're gonna grill hamburgers and all that inside! Plus aunt Jen has to pick up Jenna."

"Okay! We'll see you in about twenty minutes."

"Bye mom!" I hung up the phone and tossed it on the couch. "They're coming!" I squealed.

"We better get started then" Kendall said standing up. The three of us went into the kitchen and started working on dinner.

Twenty minutes later my family came bursting through the door without even knocking. Kendall was patting out the hamburger patties and Jenna and I were mixing a salad when they all waltzed into the kitchen. "Hey everybody!" I greeted.

Both of my parents and aunt and uncle made their rounds, hugging and kissing Kendall and I. "Who's bright idea was a cookout in the middle of winter?" my aunt blurted out.

"That would be the pretty idiot fixing the burgers" I said winking at Kendall.

"Hey! It's a cookin not a cookout. Plus it's good family time" he said trying to defend himself.

"Good excuse" my aunt joked.

"There's beer and wine in the fridge if you guys want any" Kendall offered. As he finished the burgers and I finished the salad, my mom and aunt each got a glass of wine while my dad and uncle grabbed a beer.

"Babe could you grab me a beer?" Kendall asked as I stood at the sinking washing my hands. I reached in the fridge and pulled one out, popping the top off before placing it on the counter.

"While you guys grill I'm gonna go catch up with them" I said standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Where are the kids?" I asked as I walked in the living room to join the ladies.

"Downstairs trying out the games" my mom said.

"So family time huh?" my aunt asked quizzically, "How much did you pay him to say that?"

I chuckled at her question, "Not a dime! He worked late last night and I think he wanted to get his mind off work for a bit. He seemed really stressed yesterday..."