The Monster's Little Angel

Chapter 25

Ashton was driving with Quinn in the passenger seat, in his electric blue Lamborghini. Archer and some of his bodyguards were in the black SUV just in front of them.

"Where are we going again?" Ashton asked, slightly glancing over at Quinn.

"My grandparents holiday home. They own a beach house in Miami and sometimes they invite dad and I for lunch. Since you're my boyfriend, my dad thought it would be a good idea if you met them," Quinn replied bluntly, giving him a sweet smile at the end of her reply.

"I'm meeting your grandparents?"

"Yes, my grandma will love you, since you're my first love."

That sentence filled Ashton with hope. After dealing with her trigger-happy father for so long, it would be nice to finally have a family member on his side that didn't want to kill him.

His hope however did not last when Quinn's next words came.

"I'm not sure about grandpa though."

***

"Ash, we're here. Park the car over there," Quinn spoke as she pointed to where he should park.

He carefully parked the car and Quinn immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the car, skipping towards the entrance. Everyone got out of Archer's car too, Major being one of the passengers that Quinn immediately cuddled close to her.

Meanwhile, Ashton took a few calming breaths before he got out of the car himself. He walked calmly towards the entrance to see her grandparents already waiting for them, at the top of the steps.

Quinn's grandmother was a very beautiful woman for her age. She seemed to be in her early sixties but with her lack of wrinkles, she could have easily passed for someone in their mid-fourties. Her long curls of dark brown hair had many streaks of grey in it. She had dazzling blue eyes that could have been spotted from a mile away. Her features were soft and delicate, with a joyful smile plastered on her plump lips. She was a thin woman but you could see she wasn't starving herself. She had fabulous curves for her age and she was quite tall. Her outfit was a large black sun hat with a white ribbon around it and a long, white, strapless beach dress with white flats.

Her grandfather looked around his late sixties and he looked rather threatening. He had dark grey locks of hair that was thick and neatly gelled back. He had dark brown eyes that were warm like a fresh cup of coffee. His features were hard and rugged; they gave him a look of sterness. He was a tall and strong looking man. He was wearing a simple grey polo shirt, long white comfy pants and a pair of dark brown sandals.

Her grandfather looked very intimidating until Quinn yelled, "Pop-pop!"

She rushed up to him, with her arms wide open. Once her arms wrapped around him in a big hug, he hugged her right back, a warm smile on his face.

Quinn pulled away and immediately hugged her grandmother. "Nanna!" Quinn exclaimed, hugging her grandmother tightly.

"Hello my baby cake!" her grandmother excitedly exclaimed, hugging her granddaughter equally as tight before turning her head to the happy-looking dog, "And hello to you too, Major."

As they pulled apart, her grandmother caught sight of Ashton and she gave him a sweet smile. "Who is that, baby cake?" she asked, motioning her head at Ashton.

"That's my boyfriend, Nanna," Quinn replied happily.

Her grandmother gasped, her eyes becoming wide as she made her way down the entrance stairs. Once she was in front of Ashton, she instantly pulled him into a death grip hug.

She pulled away and then greeted him properly. "Hello, young man. I'm Quinn's grandmother, Sarah. What might your name be?"

"Ashton Hunter. A pleasure to meet you," Ashton replied.

"Let me introduce you to Quinn's grandfather." she turned to her husband and yelled, "Henry, get your butt over here!"

She turned back smiling sweetly as her husband made his way over to her.

"Meet Ashton. He is Quinny's boyfriend," Sarah explained cheerfully.

Henry smiled warmly at Ashton as he firmly shook his hand and greeted him. "Nice to meet you. Always knew Quinn would find a decent guy."

Ashton smiled as he walked over to Quinn, wrapping his tattooed arm around her waist. They both, along with Major, then followed her father and grandparents into their holiday home to have their wonderful lunchtime meal.

***

Ashton just came out of the guest bathroom and was walking back to the backyard to join the other people. As he passed down the main hallway, he noticed many family photos.

Two specific pictures caught his attention.

The first photo was of a very young Quinn, who couldn't have been older than three years old at the time. She was playing in her dad's office, smiling cheerfully at the camera. Her big grey eyes held an unknown cheerfulness. She had cute dark brown curls of long hair done up in two ponytails and multi-coloured paint splatters covered her face and clothes. She was really adorable.

The second photo - right next to the first photo - was of a woman. She was beautiful. Big and cheerful grey eyes, short golden blonde hair, small-ish body, and she seemed to be six or seven months pregnant. She was showing off her baby bump with a pastel yellow ribbon tied around it. Her hand was gently set on her baby bump and the smile on her face was just pleasant to see.

As he stared at the photo, trying to figure out who the woman was, Quinn's grandfather showed up next to him.

"Everything okay, Ashton?" he questioned.

"Everything's fine, sir. It's just, who is that woman?" Ashton asked, pointing to the picture of the woman.

"Oh, that's Monica, Quinn's mother."

A tense silence filled the space between them. Ashton wanted to try and ignore it but the sad look on the old man's face as he stared at the picture was hard to ignore.

"She was just seven months pregnant in this photo. This was taken on the day when Archer had her take her official baby bump photos. She was so happy and excited on that day that she could almost barely sit still. Archer had to pay the photographer more for the extra hours he was putting in."

Ashton gave Henry a sympathetic look. It must have been hard to talk about his late daughter-in-law.

"I'm so sorry about your loss, sir."

"No, don't be. It wasn't your fault and besides, my only sorrow is that Quinn never got to meet her own mother."

"Ash! Pop-pop! What's taking you so long?" They heard Quinn calling them from outside and both chuckled at how cute she sounded.

"Well, Quinn has her dad. And you guys. That's pretty amazing in my books," Ashton stated as he gave Henry a comforting smile.

Henry smiled back at Ashton warmly. "Thanks and now she has you too. Now, let's get back before Sarah starts calling us. And trust me, you don't want that." he chuckled as they both went back towards the backyard.