Grandma Laura

When Timothy walked into his grandmother's hospital room, he noticed it looked more like a bedroom than a hospital room. They had gone all out. The room even had an electric fireplace. Then he saw grandmother. She was laid back on a mound of pillows and looked exceptionally frail. Timothy walked over to the side of the bed and stopped. After a minute grandmother opened her eyes and looked at him that shrewd intelligence shining through.

"Hello grandmother. I am so glad to see you awake." Tim exclaimed gently.

"Timothy, I am happy to be awake. Has it really been four years?" Laura asked with disbelief, clouding her features.

"It is hard to believe, I know. But it doesn't matter now because you are on the mend. Soon we will be able to take you home." Timothy answered.

"I don't think I have ever seen you so relaxed and casual it's a stark contrast to man I last saw. Who is we?" Laura questioned with a frown.

"Probably not, there are a lot of things different about me these days." Tim said with an easy laugh. This shocked Laura. "I was referring to my wife when I said we."

"Where is Mia, Timothy?" Laura asked carefully.

Timothy grinned. "She is in the lounge waiting to see you."

"Go get her. I want to see my darling girl." Laura exclaimed. Timothy nodded with a smile, leaving the room.

A few minutes later Timothy returned to the room holding the door open for Mia. Mia walked into the room and stepped next to the bed looking down at Grandma Laura. Mia was surprised by how frail Laura looked. However, Mia noticed that Laura looked very much in control of her faculties even if her body was weak.

"Hello Grandmother, I am so happy to see you awake." Mia said smiling brightly at the older woman.

"Mia, I am so glad you are here. I was worried that I would not see you again. Come sit beside me and let me look at you." Laura exclaimed patting a spot beside her on the bed.

Mia sat down beside Laura and took the woman's thin hands in her own. Grandma Laura noticed the rings on Mia's left hand and her heart lurched. With so much time having passed of course Mia had moved on. Laura sighed.

Laura smiled at Mia. "My grandson hasn't been treating you poorly, I hope. His temperament seems to be much improved, but I worry."

Mia laughed with humor. "Timothy is a completely changed man from his former life as the heartless Mr. Barrett. Rest assured grandmother I have not been mistreated by my husband."

Laura looked at Mia sharply. "You and Tim have remarried?"

"Yes, we live in Norde City on a beautiful estate. I can't wait for you to see it." Mia exclaimed and smiled happily. Grandma Laura struggled to sit up then managing it with Mia's help hugged Mia tightly. Tim walked to stand behind the two women. Placing his hands on both women's shoulders.

Laura finally released Mia and was helped back to her reclining position. Timothy smiled warmly at his grandmother. "Many things are different from the way they used to be grandmother. We will get you caught up and when your strength returns, we hope to bring you back to Norde City to live with us." Timothy told Grandma Laura.

"Leave Bern City? How do you run Barrett Group from so far away?" Laura asked concerned.

"It took some adjusting at first, but it runs quite seamlessly now. I have a brilliant VP that eases the strain plus Mia has her own business venture in Norde City that requires her presence and..." Tim spoke quickly then paused, thinking of the twins. He looked at Mia a question in her eyes.

"Go get them, Tim. It's time." Mia said quietly. Tim turned and left the room.

"Time for what, my dear?" Laura questioned.

Mia sighed, squeezing Laura's hand. "Grandmother, a long time ago, I lied to you. I was trying to escape Mr. Barrett when he was still the man we knew then. I wanted to keep him from taking something precious from me. To do that I had to lie to a lot and to many people. One of those people was you. I am sorry for that."

Laura gave Mia a questioning look. "What did you lie about, dear?"

Timothy collected the twins and brought the four bodyguards with him. He stationed them outside his grandmother's door with orders not to let anyone enter. Tim was carrying Ginger and holding Sage's hand. Tim dropped Sage's hand and opened the door then taking his son's hand he took the children into the room. A bodyguard leaned in and closed the door behind Timothy and the children.

Laura's gasp could be heard throughout the room. Mia helped her to sit up more fully. Sage let go of his father's hand and came to stand beside his mother. Tim put Ginger down on the bed on the opposite side of Laura's legs from Mia. Mia lifted Sage and set him in her lap while Tim came to stand behind Mia with a hand on her shoulder. Laura's eyes had filled with tears and she held a hand to her throat.

"Children say hello to your great-grandmother." Timothy urged the children after introducing them by name.

Ginger looked at her father. "Does the great mean she's special?"

"Yes, Ginger that is what it means." Mia's chuckle was instant.

"Hello, special grandmother. It is lovely to meet you!" Ginger said formally.

"Hello grandma," Sage said shyly leaning back into his mother.

"Oh goodness, hello children." Laura finally managed through a small sob. "I am so very happy to meet you."

"You are quite the fibber, my dear." Laura scolded Mia lightly.

"I hope you can understand why?" Mia remarked.

Laura nodded and sighed as Ginger showed her the bracelet that her father had given her. Ginger spoke in a chirping voice about their plane ride and the hotel they were staying at. Then she went into the differences between this hotel and the last one.

Laura's frown grew. "Timothy, why are you, your wife, and the Barrett heirs living out of hotels?"

"We were in a hotel temporarily while our estate was renovated." Tim answered succinctly.

Laura huffed then smiled at Sage. "I sense there is much more to this story than that."

Mia nodded and gave Laura a tight smile. "There is and we will tell you all of it but later."

"Mia, dear when did you and Tim remarry." Laura questioned.

Mia smiled but then frowned. "About a month ago." Laura looked at Mia concerned and then looked at Tim questioningly but dropped the questions for the time being.

"What about you Sage, what are you interested in?" Laura asked the boy, hoping to engage the boy and pull him out of his shyness.

"I am a hacker, great-grandmother." Sage answered intelligently.

Laura chuckled. "At your age? Is he serious?" Laura looked at Mia then Tim.

Timothy nodded at Laura. "He is very serious and very good."

Mia grinned. "The children are exceptionally intelligent and have genius level IQs already. They attend a very special school for gifted children in Norde City. There are times when I barely believe their abilities in relation to their age."

"That is amazing. I knew that the two of you together would produce amazing children. I am so happy to be right. They are both beautiful. I look forward to getting to know them better." Laura told the parents happily, filling them with pride.

The children talked and bickered good-naturedly with each telling their grandmother stories and trying to one-up each other. Ginger's happy spirit was infectious. Sage's no-nonsense attitude perfectly reigned in his sister when she would get too exuberant and dramatic. Laura watched them with true delight as they carried on for the better part of an hour.

Mia could see that Laura was beginning to tire and finally had Tim take the children back to the lounge. Mia got Laura comfortably reclined again then she and Tim relayed the story of the last four years of their life, apart and together. Laura listened intently gasping when Tim told her of Mia's death but that he was unable to believe it and never stopped searching for Mia. She reacted with shock at Mia's story of being hypnotized and forgetting Timothy entirely. Laura laughed at the story of how Tim met Ginger even though she was horrified at the idea of such a young child alone.

Tim talked about meeting Monalise who looked like Mia but acted like a stranger. They told Laura of Sage's long illness and Tim donating bone marrow thinking it was for Ginger. Mia told Laura about Sharon and Luna nearly killing Sage when they stole the bone marrow and delayed the boy's treatment.

Laura scoffed angrily that they could do such a thing. Mia told Laura of Tim deciding to follow Mia to Norde City and taking abuse after humiliation and refusing to leave. Tim relayed the incident when he kicked his family out of Norde City due to their appalling behavior.

Tim recounted meeting Sage and realizing the boy hated him and was actively rooting against him in favor of a doctor. Mia told Laura that her and Tim started a relationship only for her to end up engaged to Nicholas. In an endeavor to stop the forced marriage they got married in secret and went into hiding at a hotel.

They told Laura they stayed in hiding until the Heir Documents were published. Then finally they moved into their estate and a few days later they got the call that she was awake and rushed to see her at the hospital.

"That is quite the story." Laura concluded with wide eyes as she tried to process everything.

"Yes, it has been an interesting few months." Mia acknowledged with a heavy breath.

"Sweetheart, it is lunchtime, and you need to eat." Tim reminded Mia.

Mia placed her hand on her stomach absentmindedly. "You're right, is there a cafe here at the hospital?"

Laura caught Mia's hand with a gasp. "Are you pregnant, Mia?"

Mia smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, it's early still but we found out a couple of weeks ago. The children do not know yet."

Laura laughed with glee. "I am so happy that this is the world I woke up to."

Tim leaned down and squeezed his grandmother's hand. "So am I and I mean that with all my heart."

Laura sent them back to the hotel for Mia to eat and rest and so that she could rest and process all the information from today's visit. Laura was thrilled at the current direction of her grandson's life but saddened that it had taken four precious years to get to this point. She wondered if she had been present, that maybe she could have given them more of that time. It didn't matter in the end since things had managed to work out.

Laura thought about her great-grandchildren. The pair of them had some much energy and life in them she looked forward to getting to know them as they grew. It was like they had been split between their parents with one child a copy of each one. Laura was thrilled at the fact that Mia was pregnant and that soon she would have a baby to hold and cuddle to her. She had hoped for that day for so many years that she had doubted it would ever happen.