Canary /Discontinued/

Chapter 22

Narrator's POV:

The engine stopped in front of the two-story house.
The brunette opened up the door on the driver's side and got out.

“C'mon kids, it's time to see grandma and grandpa.” She said to her twins as she has undone their seatbelts.

Melanie and Tony hopped out of the car as soon as they were free and ran up to the metal gates while their mother got their stuff out of the trunk.

Mel turned around with sparkling eyes and a bright grin,
“Will Pebbles be here too?”
The six-year-old asked her mother full of excitement.

Elizabeth chuckled a bit before she answered,
“Maybe.
It all depends on whether Spencer comes here straight from the school or not.”

The white door opened up in front of them as a familiar face greeted them.

“Grandma!”
The kids screamed in unison as they threw themselves on her.

“Good to see you, kiddos.” Their grandfather said as he showed up in the doorway.
Right after, he opened up his arms and greeted his only daughter with a hug.
“I missed you, Elly.”

“I missed you too, dad.”

“Is Spencer here already?” Elizabeth asked her parents as she dragged their suitcases up the stairs.

“Not yet. He phoned a while ago saying that he'll be late.”

“I see.”
The woman answered as she went over to the living room, followed by the rest of her family.

“Soo…

Where's Jackson?”
Mrs. Raveno asked as she placed a tray of cookies on the coffee table.

Elizabeth sighed deeply before answering her mother's question.
“He's still abroad. He said that the Mongolian branch's manager is a brainless monkey who can't even hold the instructions right, let alone lead a whole section.
He also said that the training will last a month longer than he expected.”

“Oh dearie, at times like this I feel like he spends more time at work than he does with you three.”

Elly wanted to argue.
She really did;

but she knew that her mother is only concerned, that's why she's saying this. So, she just averted her light-brown eyes from her and stared at the lights reflection on the wall instead.
The orange shapes it drew on the wall seemed absolutely enchanting.

* Ring*

The doorbells sound seemed to have saved her in a sense. The woman stood up from her seat and answered the door.

The familiar dark green eyes of her brother met her light-brown ones.
“Took you long enough.”
She teased the younger boy as she ruffled up his hair.

“Sorry, I missed the bus.”
Spencer said as he walked past her while making sure to bump shoulders with her for old times sake.

The sound of tiny footsteps met their ears as the twins peeked out from behind the living room's door frame.

With a squeal of joy, they ran up to their uncle and pried to carriers out of his hands.
They threw a 'Hey uncle' his way before taking off with the cats.

“I didn't know you got another one.” Elizabeth stated as she nodded in the direction her twins just ran off to.

“I found him in the bushes near the fountain. He didn't want to leave his mother's side.”

“Then why didn't you leave him there or take both of them?” She asked with a raised brow.

“She was dead.

The maggots were already swarming the body.”
He said while being unable to wipe the disgusted expression off his face.

“So… What's the little guys name?”
“Proteus.”

“ Oh, you and your mythology mania.” His sister teased him as she playfully rolled her eyes.

“Mom!” Tony called from the living room.
“One of them got under the couch and I can't get it out!”

The siblings shared a look before going over to the living room.
Both of the twins were kneeling on the ground trying to fit under the couch. Pebbles laid in the armchair, watching them with a bored look.

“Go and get some food.
Paté, meat or even just whipped cream, it'll lure him out.”
Spencer told his niece.
Melanie nodded her head and took off towards the kitchen.

About 5 minutes and a ton of crashing noises later, the girl reemerged from the kitchen carrying a pile of stuff.

She dumped them onto the coffee table, ripped open a packaging and held a bar of chocolate out towards the cat.

Spencer shook his head with an amused smile,
“I didn't mean chocolate. He can get sick from it.”

The children gasped in horror.
The concept of getting sick from chocolate, of all things, was beyond odd to them.

I mean …

How?

Cat?
Chocolate?
Sick??
Impossible!

Mel pulled the bar back with a pout that she eliminated straight away as she took a large bite out of it.

Finally, finding something edible for pets, Spencer opened up the can and put it on the ground.

In no time, Proteus zoomed out from underneath the couch and began to chow down.

“DINNER'S READY! “ A voice croaked from the kitchen.

The six of them headed over right after they managed to separate the kids from the poor cats.
The siblings got a rather nice surprise as they saw their grandparents already by the table.

They didn't think that they'd show up at all.
After all, one of their grandmas has a heart disease, the other has cholesterol problems and her husband has dementia.
And yet, here they were, all four of them.

After exchanging the usual cheek pinches, kisses and such, the rest of the family finally settled down in their seats.

Spencer ran his gaze through the room. It was comforting to know that his family is still doing okay, but he still felt like people are missing.
Two people to be exact.

That good for nothing, Jackson, and HIS sweetheart.

He imagined the (h/c) sitting right by his side.
She'd hold his hand throughout the meal and her smile would shine so brightly even sunglasses would be useless.

He knew that everyone would be glad to have her join the family.
Tony and Melanie would be overjoyed to have an aunt, especially since she also has a pet. Elizabeth would finally stop nagging him about his single state.
His parents would be happy for him and would accept their new in-laws right away.

A wishful sigh broke out of him.
'Soon it'll come true.' he thought to himself.

His grandma Rose looked over at him.

“How are things doing, dear?
How's school going?”
She asked him the overused questions that came up every single damn time they met.

“Things are doing great, grandma.
I have this giant project I'm working on currently, I'm sure that I'll do great.”
He shot her a bright smile to validate his statement.

Rose nodded approvingly and directed her superficial inquiries towards the rest of the table.

As soon as he was let off the hook, he went back to his fantasies.

Maladaptive daydreaming, how nice it sounds.

He denied having any illnesses though; therefore what he's doing is just some innocent daydreaming.
Or at least, that's what he tried to comfort and reassure himself with.