Finding Beauty

Brooke

It'd been two days into Spring Break and Cason and I were having the best time. I didn't leave the treehouse and Cason came and went, since he had work and his family to tend to. He was the kindest guy I'd met. He was always looking out for me and I would probably never understand why. He came back and I waved.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Just finished work. You okay here?" He asked.

"Yeah, how was work?" I asked.

"Nothing special," he shrugged. His phone buzzed and his eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"My grandma is sick," he said.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," he tried to keep calm. "She's a tough lady. We're going to see her. She's in Mississippi."

"Keep me updated, okay?" I asked.

"Why don't you come? Aiden is too young to deal with this kind of thing right now, and I'll need to help my mom just in case Grams doesn't make it," he said.

"You sure your mom would be okay with that?" I asked.

"She's gonna have to be," he smirked.

"I don't want to—"

"You have done nothing wrong. My mom shouldn't be so judgmental towards you. You were nothing but kind to her when you met her. Plus, when she sees you helping out, surely she'll change her mind," he said.

"Okay," I said after a minute. "I'd love to meet little Aiden anyway."

He smiled and we went to his house to pack and load up. When I walked in, Cason's mom looked at me with disgust. It almost scared me, but I didn't let it show. I understood why she hated me.

"Mom, Brooke is coming. Grams will love her, plus you can get to know her better. It's not up for negotiation," Cason said.

"Fine. Only because my mom is sick and we need to leave now," she said, not wanting to put up a fight.

Aiden came up to me and I waved.

"Aiden, this is my friend Brooke," he introduced.

"Hi," Aiden waved.

"Hi," I smiled at him. "You okay with me coming to meet your grandma?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "But we call her Grams."

"I caught on," I laughed, looking at Cason.

"I'm gonna go pack mine and his things," Cason said, leaving me alone with Aiden.

"So," I said. "Why do y'all call her Grams?"

"She doesn't like 'grandma.' She says 'Grams' makes her sound cooler," he laughed.

"You and Grams close?" I asked.

He shrugged. "She lives pretty far, but she FaceTimes."

"That's good," I smiled.

Cason and his mom came back and we all loaded up in Cason's mom's truck. We drove and Cason sat in the passenger seat, while Aiden and I chilled in the back. A few hours into the drive, he fell asleep in my lap and I draped his space blanket over him. Cason's mom looked at me in the rear view and I looked out the window.

*

It was almost noon the next day when we finally made it to Mississippi. We found the hospital where Grams was staying at and we went in. Not wanting to wake Aiden, I carried him and Cason laughed.