Ch.26
We arrived at my grandparent's estate in Spain, which looked as huge and beautiful as always. The estate had one huge two-story building where everyone lived, with two smaller buildings next to it. One was a large once-live-in servant house, converted to a garage. It houses many classic cars that my Grandfather loves collecting. The other building was a guest house but converted to a huge indoor pool that has a large attached jacuzzi.
The buildings looked to be made of white marble, with bricks decorating certain parts of it and old-style clay tile roofing. In between the buildings was a large garden covering several hundred meters, with a large fountain in the center. Plus the surrounding lands were owned by my family too, which covered several dozen acres. Overall it was very overwhelming for Alex who stood there in a daze seeing this.
"I tried to warn you," I say to Alex as we walk over to my Grandparents greeting my parents and sister. The butler and maids working here, brought in our belongings bringing them to our rooms.
"Uh…yeah," Alex says while looking around in a daze still.
"¡Abuelo! ¡Abuela!" (Grandpa! Grandma!) I say while giving my grandparents a hug with my Grandma giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"¡Siento que creces cada vez que te vemos!" (I feel like you grow bigger every time we see you!) Grandma says to me after greeting me and giving me a quick look over.
"Ya veo que soy una asesina de mujeres," (Already a lady killer I see) Grandpa says to me with a chuckle seeing Alex standing behind me awkwardly. My Grandma slaps his shoulder at his joke. Though Alex can understand us since she learned Spanish for my family, her face became red hearing my Grandpa too.
"Encantada de verlos a los dos de nuevo," (Nice to see you both again) Alex says with a slightly nervous smile as my Grandma pulls her into a hug greeting her. With my Grandpa shaking her hand in greeting, once my Grandma was done hugging Alex.
"¡Veo que tu español ha mejorado mucho!" (I see your Spanish has gotten much better!) Grandma says to Alex with a smile as Alex nods her head with a small smile at the super friendly greeting from my Grandma.
"Bueno, ¡entra, entra! ¡Todos ustedes deben estar muriendo de hambre! Hay comida dentro," (Well, come in, come in! You all must be starving! There is food inside) Grandma says ushering us both inside.
My family already entered the house as Alex and I were talking to my Grandparents. With them in the dining room, I see them eating with my Aunt talking to them while snuggling Olivia who is giggling at my Aunt spoiling her. Entering my Aunt smiles over at us while still holding Olivia.
"Gabe! ¡Mucho tiempo sin verlo! Álex también! ¿Cómo están ambos?" (Gabe! Long time no see! Alex too! How are you both?) Aunt Sandra says to us seeing us enter the dinning room.
"¿He sido buena y tu?" (I've been good and you?) I say to my Aunt who nods her head hearing me.
"Misma," (Same) Alex says since she is still slowly warming up to the environment she is in.
"Bien bien. Yo también he sido bueno, enseñando a los niños lo mismo siempre," (Good, good. I've been good too, teaching the kids same always) Sandra says to us nodding her head as we sit down and grab some food.
We then spent the first few hours talking with my family catching up, as Alex slowly but surely warmed up and started to relax. Since we got there a couple of hours before noon and ate brunch, we decided to go swimming in the indoor pool. There we spent the next few hours of the day relaxing and spending time with one another.
After eating dinner, my Dad and Grandpa pulled me aside as the women talked in the living room. Alex while sitting there slightly uncomfortable at all the questions my family threw at her, still answered them all. The three of us went outside, where my Dad and Grandpa lighted up some cigars.
"¿Puede Gabe tener uno? ¿Gabe quiere uno?" (Can Gabe have one? Gabe want one?) Grandpa says to my Dad before my Dad nods his head, and then turns to me. I shrug and take it, as I smoked them in my past life once in a while.
"A diferencia de Estados Unidos, donde conseguir un puro cubano auténtico es casi imposible. Aquí puedes conseguirlos fácilmente y son geniales," (Unlike in America, where getting a real Cuban cigar is almost impossible. Here you can get them easily and they are great) Grandpa says handing me one and a lighter, as my Dad and him are already puffing on ones.
I just nod my head taking it and lighting it up. Seeing me do this like second nature makes both my Grandpa and Dad give me raised eyebrow looks. I then realized my mistake here, not acting like I've never smoked one before.
"Uhm…" I say trying to think of an excuse.
"Todos éramos jóvenes una vez," (We were all young once) Grandpa says dismissing the looks with a chuckle, as my Dad just sighs thinking I smoked these before. Which I did just not in this life.
We then stood there in silence just enjoying the night sky and night noises, while smoking our cigars. With my Dad and Grandpa sipping on some Ratafia, though I just had some Coca-cola. Then my Grandpa broke the silence with a statement and a question directed at me.
"Alex y tú habéis estado juntos desde hace un tiempo. Ustedes van a ir a la universidad en dos años... Veo la forma en que la miran, tal como yo miraba a su abuela, a su papá y a su mamá," (So, you and Alex have been together for a while now. You guys are going to be going to college in two years... I see the way you look at her, just like the way I looked at your Grandma and your Dad, your Mom) Grandpa says to me with a curious look at me while trying to judge my facial expression, before turning serious.
"Lo que digo es... Sé que eres joven, pero algunas personas ya han considerado el matrimonio a tu edad... ¿Alguna vez has pensado en eso con Alex?" (What I am saying is... I know you are young, but some people have already considered marriage at your age... Have you ever thought about that with Alex?) Grandpa says to me with my Dad coughing on his cigar having not expected that from my Grandpa, as neither did I since I was staring at my Grandfather with a surprised look.
"¡¿Qué?! ¿Por qué?" (What?! Why?) I am taken aback by this question which I didn't think I would get for another few years.
I mean I already was thinking about it but that was because I was being influenced by my past life too I believe. I know I love Alex and have heavily considered wanting to marry her, but I wanted to wait until we both graduated college. I figured getting married after that would be better, even if she goes back for a master's or doctorate, with me going to medical school.
"Francisco, ¿de dónde viene esto?" (Francisco, where is this coming from?) Dad says to Grandpa very surprised by this while my Grandpa shrugs seeing our looks.
"Sólo tenía curiosidad. ¿Me estás diciendo Ed que no ves el amor que se tienen el uno al otro? ¿Y Gabe, estás diciendo que nunca pensaste en eso?" (I was just curious. Are you telling me Ed that you don't see the love the two have for each other? And Gabe are you saying you never even thought about that?) Grandpa says eyeing us both as I open and then close my mouth since I can't deny that.
"¡Francisco, todavía son niños!" (Francisco, they are still kids!) Dad says to Grandpa who snorts hearing him.
"Ah, ¿lo son? Ambos son más inteligentes que la mayoría de las personas y definitivamente ambos ya se han acostado juntos. Además ambos se miran con un amor que sólo tienen las personas que están listas para casarse. ¡Sé que son jóvenes y no digo que se casen mañana! Pero tenía curiosidad por saber si mi nieto ya lo había considerado. Eso es todo," (Oh, are they? Both are smarter than most people, and both have definitely already slept together. Plus they both look at each other with love that only people who are ready to marry have. I know they are young and I am not saying to get married tomorrow! But, I was just curious if my grandson has considered that yet. That is all) Grandpa says while dismissing my Dad's incredulous look.
My face become red from embarrassment at my Grandpa calling me out like that, as my Dad tries to think of something to say but can't seem to argue with my Grandpa either. My Dad then looks at me and sees my face, before sighing and seeming to have come to an agreement with my Grandpa.
"Soy demasiado joven para ser abuelo... Gabe... no me hagas abuelo hasta dentro de unos años, por favor," (I'm too young to be a grandpa... Gabe... don't make me a grandpa for another few years, please) Dad says to me as Grandpa chuckles, with me giving my Dad an annoyed look.
"Les habría dado a ti y a Alex una habitación, pero tu mamá y tu abuela me habrían matado," (I'd have given you and Alex one room, but your Mom and Grandma would have killed me) Grandpa says still chuckling as I just sigh annoyed with both older men poking fun at me.
"¿Cuántos años tenían usted y la abuela cuando se casaron?" (How old were you and Grandma when you guys got married?) I ask my Grandpa after a few minutes of silence after the last conversation.
"Sólo unos años mayor que tú," (Only a few years older than you) Grandpa says with a smirk as my Dad just sighs.
We then spent another hour or so outside talking and finishing our cigars before heading back inside. There we can see my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt have found some baby pictures of me showing them to Alex. Somehow they appear to be only the most embarrassing ones too. I just give them all an annoyed look as Alex is laughing while looking at some of them.
"¡Francisco! Nuestro nieto huele a puros... Gabe, ¿fumaste alguno?" (Francisco! Our grandson smells of cigars... Gabe, did you smoke any?) Grandma says as they all turn to us and smell the cigars we just smoked.
"No, no lo hice. Sólo el abuelo y el papá los fumaban," (No, I didn't. Only Grandpa and Dad smoked them) I say covering for all of us, as Grandma and my Mom give us all suspicious looks, with my Aunt and Alex giving us knowing smirks.
The next few days, we traveled around the local area showing the beautiful places and tourist attractions to Alex and Olivia. Olivia has been here a few times already, but was very young and didn't remember most of the places we visited before. While Alex was enjoying seeing all of this.
Then on the fourth day, all the women left to go shopping around. Alex tagged along too even though she was not a big shopper like her sister Haley. While my Dad, Grandpa, and I hung out at the house playing some poker with my Grandpa's friends who came over while the women were out.
We used really money for the betting, though I was using my Grandpa's money since I did not have a job. It was super fun, as everyone was smoking cigars, drinking, and joking around. I wasn't drinking, but I still enjoyed seeing everyone else getting buzzed and messing with one another. While my Grandpa's friend told me stories from when my Grandpa was younger.