Chapter Eighteen

"Oh my, Lisa, I have such a beautiful baby and you kept her away from me?"

Mum looked at me with a smile that said 'I told you so'

I moved closer to my grandmother and hugged her briefly.

"It's really so nice to meet you finally, grandmother"

She hugged me back and I perceived the scent of her Amaffi fragrance perfume, which she imports from France.

My grandmother really looked nice and so young. She looked like she was in her late 50's than late 60's.

"You're beautiful Sonia. Now I see where my little Cathy gets her beauty from" She responded.

I was taken aback.

"You've met Cathy?" I asked.

"Who hasn't met Cathy?" This was from my mum. Both she and my grandmother laughed.

"Cathy comes here during some holidays. Everyone knows her in town here. She's such a little delight"

At this point, I couldn't help but feel jealous of my daughter.

"Let me get you both something to eat. I made lasagne"

"You made it?" I asked her.

"Yeah, of course" She said and looked from my mum to me. "Your mum doesn't make lasagne for you?"

"I've never eaten home made lasagne before" I admitted, with all honesty.

"That's my fault baby and I'm sorry. We hardly ever ate any homemade food while you were still growing up because of how focused I was on my work" My mum responded and am impalpable silence filled the living room.

Suddenly my grandmother broke the silence by hitting a crying pan on the kitchen sink.

"Enough of bringing up the past. Does anyone want to go back to living in the past? Because I sure don't want to. That's a very scary place"

I exchanged knowing glances at my mum and we both laughed in understanding.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and I stood up to go open it.

"Uh hello" The visitor greeted. He was a tall guy and he was putting on a baseball cap.

"Hi, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm James, and I want to see Nancy"

I realised Nancy could be my grandmother's name.

What a granddaughter I was!!

"Oh, come in! She's in the kitchen now" I opened the door wider and let him in.

My mum was no longer in the living room.

I figured she must have gone to her bedroom or something.

I really needed to ask my grandmother a lot of questions and get to know her.

"Sonia, is that James?" My grandmother shouted from the kitchen. Her voice was so loud, that I felt embarrassed.

I looked at James and he was smiling knowingly.

It seems he was really close to my grandmother. I longed to be a part of that familiarity.

And then I heard this voice strongly.

'*Talk to him*'

I looked up at him and caught him staring at me already. I quickly looked away.

"So are you a relative of Nancy's?" He asked first. I drew in a breath, and released it slowly before responding.

"Yeah. I'm her granddaughter. My name's Sonia"

"Oh yeah. You really are. Welcome back to America. She told me you were at Scotland for a very long field trip. Are you back now finally or you'd still go back?"

"Oh no. I'm back to stay" I replied with a smile,wondering what else my grandmother must have told him.

"Alright, that's nice to hear. So if you're Nancy's granddaughter, Little Cathy is your daughter, right?"

"Yeah. She is. Do you have any kids, James?" I asked.

"Yeah, well no. Well, not really"

I laughed in amusement.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My siblings have kids. My twin brother has four kids, my immediate elder sister has six children. Our eldest brother has three boys and my youngest sister has a daughter"

My mouth was practically open, as I listened to him. I was really astonished. That was too much!!

"Oh my God!!"

"Yeah"

"Why then are you still single?" I asked, as I tried to smile.

He just gave a lopsided grin, "Because I haven't met my woman"

"And why haven't you?"

"I've met a lot of woman, but I haven't met Her. I have a feeling I'll meet her by Christmas" He responded confidently.

Before I could say anything, my grandmother came in, carrying a tray of food.

She looked round.

"I see you've gotten acquainted with James. Where's your mother?" She asked me.

"Uh I dunno. I came in and didn't find her. Let me try calling her"

I called my mum, and after three consecutive rings without her answering, I gave up.

Dinner with my grandmother and James wasn't that bad. In fact, I really enjoyed it.

"Aren't you going back home?" I asked James after three rounds of Scrabble game that left me at the losing end.

"Here's my home. I live here, temporarily" He responded.

I looked at my grandmother.

"Yeah, honey. I can't stay in this big house all by myself so he volunteered to come stay here with me. He pays rent, even though I ask him not to. Do you have a problem with that?" She asked, in a concerned tone.

"No, it's okay. Well at least I won't be the only young adult here" I responded boldly, much to my amazement and they all laughed.

My phone beeped, indicating a text message and when I tapped on it to read it, I realized it was from my mum.

Turns out she's taken flight back to New York.

"Is everything okay, Sonia?" James asked.

"Looks like my mum's ditched me" I held up my phone to show him the message and he just smiled.

"Grandma you knew and didn't tell me"

"Your mum asked me not to tell you, and God knows how strict that woman can be" She rolled her eyes.

James and I both laughed.

It seemed I was going to enjoy my stay here in Alabama.

"Don't worry. I gat you covered. How long are you here for?" James asked me.

"I have no idea. I guess I'll go back before my birthday because I think mum's planning something big for my birthday"

I noticed my grandmother and James exchanged knowing glances.

"What's that?" I asked James.

"Nothing" He said, and winked at me.

"I'm going to bed now" I said, standing up, rubbing my overfilled belly, courtesy of my grandmother.

She was deeply engrossed in the romantic movie she was watching.

"Isn't it too early to sleep? Let's have two bottles of lemonade and probably play one more round of Scrabble, then have our night prayers before going to bed" James said.

I would have refused the offer, but he said it so nicely I had to accept it, and I ended up enjoying it. I didn't even feel sleepy.

In actual fact, I wanted to play another round, but James showed me - in fact, he led me - to my room, which was just opposite his.

"We have a lot of things to do tomorrow, Sonia!! Sleep tight, and try not to dream about me. I know I'm handsome" He yelled from his bedroom, knowing fully well I could also hear him.

I went to bed with the only beautiful thought on my mind.

I'm in love with Birmingham, Alabama!

And I like James a lot!!

I am happy !!!