Cry, my beloved people

Unexpected Part 46

Joe, Lucy and the twins, that were a year younger than Gregory were glad to see her.  Joe gave her a bear hug, then Lucy followed with a hug and a "Good to see you again."  The twins, Roman and Rosy were running around to look for Gregory.  They wanted to give him his present and looked disappointed when they learned about their fishing trip.

"Don't worry, look, grandma made him a beautiful cake and I told grandpa to bring him home at about three so that all of us can celebrate his birthday with him.  It is half-past two already, in the meantime you can collect the eggs from the chicken pen for grandma."  Her mom told them.

"Yea," they both screamed and ran off with the basket."

"Are you sure you want a basket full of broken eggs, mom?" Joe joked.

"Shame on you, you don't have a lot of faith in their abilities, have you?"  Louise laughed at her brother.

"It's okay, we will make scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow."  Her mom laughed, but she gave Joe a "shame on you" look when the twins entered with the basket filled with perfect eggs.

"Look, Granny, we handled them with care," Roman said while Rosie nodded.

"Thank you, I know you would,  now go and wash your hands quickly, I heard grandpa's truck outside."  Her mom said.

Gregory stormed into the kitchen. "Look, mom, I caught a fish!" He squealed and looked over his shoulder at the bucket carried by her dad, who had a "what did I tell you" smirk on his face.

After all the oo's and aa's about Gregory's first catch, grandma laid the table, while Gregory had a nice bath and grandpa showered.

The roast and baked potatoes with green beans and pumpkin fritters reminded Louise of all the happy family gatherings around this old table here on the farm.  In her heart, she hoped that this weekend will be one of Gregory's best memories too.  She smiled at how hungry he was and how much he enjoyed the roast and pumpkin fritters, as he asked for second helpings.

Her dad noticed it too as he stated: "Our little fisherman has built up a healthy appetite," while he winked at her.

It was time to lit the candles on the "Car" cake that grandma baked and decorated, to the kid's delight.  After the candles were blown and each of them had a nice big slice of cake, the kids were off to bed, but for the next hour, they were still talking and laughing in their room.  As cousins, they had a lot of catching up to do.

The weekend helped Louise to focus on her priorities in life.  She took Gregory to church the next Sunday and every Sunday after that, as he wanted to attend Sunday school and she gladly encouraged it.

About a year later Gregory started school, he was a happy child and enjoyed school and Sunday school.

It was in his second school year, shortly after his eighth birthday, that their manager called Louise into her office. She looked nervous as she said: "I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, but due to our scaling down and that the department that you are working is closing down, I have to inform you that we can't make use of your services anymore."

Louise stared at her blankly, her jaw tightened as her mouth opened to say something, but her brain could not formulate any words.