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Chapter 44 : A Fresh Start

"Robert erm grandpa . . . I don't know what to call you," I said nervously and  sat on the couch.

"You can call me anything you like, it doesn't matter. What does matter is . . . what do you feel about all this?" Robert asked curiously while putting down some books on the desk and I shrugged.

"It's all weird and I honestly don't know what to feel. I like you because you're nice to me and I dislike you because you weren't nice to my mum," I said bluntly and he sighed wearily. "Like come on, you shouldn't have done that . . . She needed support then."

"That's fair, although I did apologise to your mum after your brother was born. We didn't mean to abandon her, it was just a lot to take in," he said earnestly and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Then why did you abandon her if you didn't mean to?"

"It's because your mother, George, had great plans for her future. She was very ambitious and then suddenly getting pregnant at what? Sixteen? It felt like we failed to raise her properly," he said in a barely audible voice and swallowed hard.

I couldn't fathom what my mum went through with total abandonment from her parents at such a young age. But at the same time, I did feel that my mum should have been more careful. It was reckless of her to do what she did and I swore to her that I wouldn't have sex until I got married. Not that I had any problem doing it before, my mum was so pleased when I promised her. She didn't want me to get pregnant in my teens like her and I agreed completely. I was such a child, how would I be able to raise a kid on my own?

And if the kid turned out exactly like me, then oh the horrors!

"What did grandma think of my mum?" I asked curiously and Robert smiled ruefully.

"You grandma recovered quickly from the news and started planning about baby shower, shopping for the baby and all of that stuff. I had to control her to be a little strict on your mum," he said, chuckling lightly and then finally looking at me. "Your grandma was something else and in many ways, you remind me of her."

"But grandma was evil, wasn't she? She left you when you took Clark in, that's horrible!" I exclaimed, appalled that he would compare me to an old woman such as her.

"No, she didn't leave me because of Clark. She had no problem with me providing shelter to an orphan, she was just tired of marriage. She wanted the big break in her life, so she left me. She'll come back soon when she runs out of money," he said nonchalantly and we both burst out laughing.

"What's going on?" I heard Clark's voice and my head whipped towards the door.

"Robert was telling me about my grandma, have you ever met her?" I questioned and he shook his head in denial. He sat next to me on the couch and I averted my eyes back to Robert. "What's grandma like, Robert?"

"Oh, she's fierce, bubbly, cheerful and still acts like a young girl," he replied with a hint of humour lacing his voice and passed me one of the books kept on the desk. "This is how your grandma looked like, here."

I placed the book on my lap, took a sharp breath and flipped the page. I narrowed my eyes at the picture stuck on the colourful page of the scrapbook and nudged Clark. "What?"

"Here look, doesn't she seem a bit familiar?" I asked and slowly realization of who she was sank in me.

I had already met my grandma! She was that old lady who screamed 'Bomb!' at the airport. She was the one I later met at the bar because of whom I landed in jail! That vile, conniving, old hag was my grandma!

"Yeah," Clark whispered in disbelief and I could see from the looks of his face that he recognized her too.

"Your poor grandma, I hope she's alright. I hope she comes back soon, poor soul wouldn't be able to live on her own," Robert said in a sorrowful voice and flipped through the the pages of a book.