Sixteenth Summer

A letter from grandpa

    Days passed and I felt myself lighter. Ash was opening more to me and we had started to hang out more. I would go visit him at work and take him lunch. It seems as if things were back to the way they were before. Well, similar to before.

    I turned to the kitchen and found my mom there making something.

    "Hey mom," I said while hugging her from behind.

    "Hi honey. You got mail this morning," she said while stirring the food.

    "Oh. I wonder from who," I replied while giving her a kiss on the cheek.

    I'm the type of person who gets excited when they get a package on the mail. Might seem weird, but hey, who cares.

    I got the letter and box that were addressed to me and looked at them. First, I opened the letter and found that it was from the girls back home. Aww, they are adorable, I thought as I looked over the note they sent me with a photograph of them at Disney World.

Alex,

Wish you were here with us! We miss you a lot! We got you souvenirs and gifts from Disney World. Plus, we even got you autographs from the Disney princesses and stuff. When are you coming home? Your birthday is not far and we wanted to celebrate with the guys as we always do. We love you!

    I froze at that last sentence they wrote. My birthday not being far? What?

    I quickly looked over at the calendar that was on the wall and found that it was already going to be August. Only a few more weeks before I had to go back.

    I almost wanted to cry at the thought. Just when things had started to go right, I will ruin that by leaving back home for school. I don't think my parents would come back next summer since dad has to work and mom had wanted to take classes. Grandma also had said that she would probably move in with us.

    No...

    I looked towards the box and found that it was from my aunt back home. Weird, I thought. She rarely sends anything.

    I opened the package and found several things in there. A letter, a wooden box, photographs, and a journal. I first opened the letter and found the familiar loopy handwriting of my aunt.

Hi sweetheart,

You might be wondering what's all of this. This all belonged to your grandpa once upon a time. He wanted you to have all of this when the time was right, and I could not think of a better time than now. Look inside the wooden box. The key is in the journal. Hope this brings you all peace as it did to me.

Love,

Your aunt

    I quickly opened up the journal and found the key pressed into it as a bookmark. I got it and opened the wooden box. I found a photograph of Ash and me, and I found a letter in it too. What's with all these letters?

My Alex,

I hope that you have been taking care of yourself now that I'm not here to look after you. You have grown up to a wonderful young lady who is very patient and has lots of love to give. I hope that you and Ash have grown closer now than ever before. That young man needs someone who is there for him and that is willing to give him time. Your mom and grandma need someone who is their anchor because I know these women. You and your dad are so much alike in many ways that it's scary sometimes. I want you to have the house so that you can come back every summer or every holiday you want. Your grandma already knows of this so I'm sure that she already put it under your name. The garage and the truck I gave to Ash a while ago. That way you two have something that will remind you of your childhood here with me.

Don't change into someone else Alex. That's all I ask. Ash needs you more than you can imagine. Come back for him. I love you. I'll look over you from wherever I am. I love you.

Papa Bear

    I was an emotional mess. Seeing grandpa's familiar handwriting and what he had written made me cry harder. Now I knew why Ash was at the garage. It was his. His home.

    Wait, so I'm the legal owner of this house. I can come back any time since it is mine. They can't sell it or anything. I felt so relieved that I almost sagged against the wall. I got the letter, folded it back into the envelope, and closed the box. It felt as if the hole that was previously in my chest was being stitched back together by everything that had happened to me in the last hour.

    The journal was leather-bound and had an air of antiqueness to it. The scripture stitched onto the cover looked as if it was carefully made. None of the stitches looked out of place and still had not frayed. I wonder where this journal is from.

    I opened it and found an opening written unto the first page by my grandfather.

    Make your dreams come true, little one.

    I then turned the page and found that it was some kind of diary. Some of the pages held photographs of my family or of places where grandpa had visited for the first time. I wanted to read all of it, to find what it had hidden, but I was pressed for time. I had agreed to go with Ash today to go buy some stuff that he needs for the garage. Seems like he wanted to remodel the garage to his liking and needs.

    I put everything back in the box and told myself that I would look at this later. I was out the door and on my way to go meet Ash at work. Maybe he would like to read the journal with me. After all, he did spend a lot of time with my grandpa as well.

    I got to the café and Leah told me that Ash would be out in a minute. She and I became good friends over the course of several weeks since I started to drop by every day. She was older than me by three years, but that didn't matter. She was like an older sister to me.

    Ash out of nowhere came out and hugged me from behind. I almost screamed because I thought it was someone else, but he just said, "It's me."

    I attempted to hit him, but he just laughed and hugged me harder. Who could stay mad at this guy? Not me.

    We went to several stores and he got various things that I would never buy for myself because of the price. Seriously, where does this kid get his money? I don't think it's just from working at the café.

    "Ash?" I call him.

    "Hmm?"

    "What do you really do for a living?" I asked while staring at him suspiciously.

    "What do you mean, love?" he asked while looking confused.

    "How come you are buying all these things when you don't really need it? Have you seen the price tag on some of the things you just bought?"

    "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, love. I work as an undercover drug lord. That and I also sell people's kidneys," he said while managing to keep a straight face. "I guess now that you know I have to keep you quiet about my secret."

    I just looked at him with an are you serious look and he burst out laughing. So much for being an "undercover drug lord." He couldn't stop laughing and honestly he looked like the best thing in the world. His laugh and smile made my day any day.

    He got everything he needed and we headed off home. My parents had planned a date today so my grandma would be home with me tonight. My grandma had planned a movie night for us two. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if Ash came over for dinner though.

    "Hey want to stay for dinner?" I asked him while looking down at my hands. Why am I so nervous?

    "Sure. I mean if your parents won't mind," he told me while interlocking our hands.

    I looked up at him and he just smiled at me. I could never get tired of this.