Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

87. Brendon.

Callie had a blast in Las Vegas with my family. She was so touched that my siblings and their families learned a little sign language and wanted to learn more. She was teaching the kids signs for things all weekend.

Sarah and I took her to the Strip and showed her the hotels and casinos and while she couldn't go into any of the casinos, being that she's 12, she was mesmerized by the lights and how busy it was.

We took her for dinner there, too. She loved it. Callie was all smiles all weekend. It couldn't have been a better trip.

"I'm so sad you have to go home tomorrow," my mom said to me Saturday night. I interpreted for Callie.

"Me too," Callie said.

"Same," I said. "But I have work to do, and Callie has school."

She stuck her tongue out at that. I laughed. She was enjoying school now that Melanie was out of the picture.

Her friends were great kids and we'd had them over at the house a few times. And Callie had gone to theirs as well. She was finally spreading her wings and seeing what the world had to offer her.

She was still seeing her therapist and seemed to be doing very well. Obviously the therapist couldn't tell us too much about what they talked about, but she said she saw great improvement in Callie and that she seemed to accept that what had happened in her past, while terrible and heartbreaking, was not her fault and that she didn't deserve it, but that not all men in her life will do what her father did. She was making great strides according to her therapist. And we saw that with the way she warmed up to my brothers in law much quicker than she had when she moved in with us.

Sunday morning we got up somewhat early to get to the airport for our 10:00 flight. Callie was tired, having been up with her cousins late. She leaned her head on me as we sat in the lounge waiting for our flight. I had my arm around her. Sarah smiled over at us as she read her book.

"She had a really good time, I think," Sarah said.

"I think so," I replied with a smile, looking down at our daughter, who had fallen asleep on me.

"It was so sweet of your family to learn some sign language to say hello to her," Sarah mused.

"Yeah. I think my mom set that up. Callie was impressed, I think."

"She's our kid. It's only fair her family gets to learn how to communicate with her. The kids picked stuff up so fast!"

"The older kids traded phone numbers with her apparently, and they're planning on taking more lessons."

Sarah smiled at us.

Finally, our flight was called. I woke Callie up who looked at me bleary eyed and signed 'why'. If she could speak, I swear she'd be whining.

"Come on. You can nap on the plane," I said to her. She got up, picked up her backpack and followed me. Sarah took her hand and walked with her.

We got settled on the plane and as soon as we took off, Callie was out like a light. I got a blanket for her from a flight attendant and covered her up. She curled up onto me and my heart swelled.

The flight was otherwise uneventful, which is how I like flights to be in general, and I woke Callie up as we were descending into L.A.

"We're home, sweetheart," I said. Callie looked around the aircraft and then out the window. She smiled.

"That was an easy flight," she signed.

"Sure. When you sleep the entire way, it's a piece of cake. My arms, however, are exhausted," I said.

"Why?" Callie asked.

"Flapping them to keep the plane in the air," I replied. Callie looked at me and then rolled her eyes. But she had a smile on her face.

Sarah was smiling as well. She also rolled her eyes at me.

"No one appreciates my humour," I pretended to be upset.

"Because you aren't funny," Callie said, shrugging, as if it were a well-known thing.

"You don't think I'm funny?" I said, once again pretending to be sad.

"I never said that," she said.

"You just did," I countered.

"No, I said you aren't funny. It's not that I think you aren't funny. It's that I know you aren't," she grinned at me. I pretended to be wounded.

"I still love you, though," she said, and then gave me a tight hug.

I pulled her close and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. She was getting tall. In just a few months, she'd shot up at least six inches.

"I think we're going to need to go shopping for clothes for you again, soon," I said. "You're getting so tall!"

"It's okay," she said. "I have enough clothes."

Sarah looked over at her.

"Callie, it's okay. We want to get you new clothes as much as you need clothes."

Callie shrugged.

We got to the car and packed our luggage into the trunk. The three of us piled in and I drove us home. Zack and Kala had the dogs and would bring them home tomorrow. Callie would likely be at school but they'd be home when she got home.

We got home, Sarah started laundry and Callie checked that she'd done any homework she had.

It was still early in the day, so we decided to walk down to the library and park. Callie didn't want to go anywhere near the park. I couldn't really blame her. She hadn't had a good experience there.

We walked back towards the house. It we went by the streets so we could stop and get ice cream on the way home. There was a small ice cream shop out on the Main Street that we liked.

With ice creams in hand, the three of us walked home. It was so nice and relaxing.

The upcoming months were going to be busy with a new album in the works.