Braver Than I Used to Be

Chapter Twenty-Four

My dad made sure he didn't work for the weekend my grandmother came to visit. I even talked him into paying for half of her ticket since she said she had a few suitcases of things for us she was bringing.

I felt bad because I knew my dad wanted me to be this excited about meeting his family again. I think the problem was, I didn't like surprises. I was having such a hard time with family, and I wasn't ready for them. For some reason it meant a lot to me that my mom's mother supported me and loved me the way my mother should have. I did talk to my dad about it, since I worried about him being offended, but when I sat him down and explained things, he understood. He even promised not to surprise me anymore, next time he would talk to me.

Lucille insisted on taking a taxi to our house because she didn't want to "be crying in the airport" were her exact words.

I was sitting in my room with Matthew and Ray when the doorbell rang. I let my dad answer it and I heard him greet her and they were talking for a few minutes.

"Are you ready?" I said to Ray.

He nodded, "I think so."

"I'll wait here, I don't want to get in the middle of the reunion." Matthew said.

I knew he wouldn't be in the middle of anything, but I knew it made him feel like he was interfering when it came to what seemed like private moments.

"I'll come get you."

As we walked to the stairs my heart fluttered.

When she came into view my steps slowed, my mother looked so much like her. She was taller than average, I'd say about five seven, and thin. Her hair was long, gray and straight. Her face had some wrinkles, but she looked good for what I assumed her age was.

The thing was, when I looked at her, I remembered her.

She looked up to see us and immediately started crying and I couldn't help myself, so did I. I remembered us lying in bed together and she was telling me a bedtime story because I was crying. I remembered that I didn't want to tell her why I was crying, but I knew it was because of him.

When Ray and I went to hug her, I caught him crying too. She hugged us so tight and just kept saying how big we got.

She pulled away from us and held my face, "Do you remember me yet?" I nodded and then she did the same thing to Ray and he nodded as well. I had a feeling he did or he wouldn't be tearing up.

My Dad brought all her bags in and set her up in the guest room.

"Where is this boy at? Matthew?" she asked when we went to sit on the couch.

I brought him down and introduced them to each other. He sat next to me and my grandmother brought in about three of her four suitcases.

"What are these?" Ray asked.

"Eleven years of Christmas and birthday presents I bought every year just in case I got to you see. I have been saving them for you guys."

I looked at my dad and felt slightly annoyed because now I just didn't understand how he could turn her down every year. When he saw my face, I knew he felt bad as well. There was no question about it.

We sat there for about an hour and opened presents. She told us which age each gift was for. A lot of them were toys from about six to eleven years old. Then she would buy expensive gifts, like watches and other jewelry. For this past Christmas, she bought me a FitBit and Ray got a GoPro. I mean I knew Ray would never use a GoPro, but not like she knew that.

When it came time to make dinner, she insisted on making dessert. Matthew helped us cook, as he was still learning. After prepping her apple pie, she put it in just before we sat to eat dinner.