Everything Has Changed: Book Four

Chapter Seventeen: Lunch

Chapter Seventeen: Lunch

My grandmother got us a reservation for a really expensive restaurant in a private room. My Grandad is here and I'm standing with Ethan on my hip, waiting for Danny to get a booster seat.

"Mommy, look at the lights!" Emily exclaims, pointing to the chandelier on the ceiling.

"I know baby, it's very pretty." I say. Danny comes walking in with the seat and I pull out the chair for him. He puts it in and I set him down on top of it.

"We're not even dressed to be in this restaurant." I say to my Nana. "And this place is super expensive."

"Don't worry. You're not paying."

"For as many people that are here, I'm talking over three hundred dollars. Easily. Not including the tip."

She shrugs.

"It's worth every penny."

I sigh and sit down anyways, frustrated with her.

"Will you please explain why you went through all this trouble to get us in the same room? I know it's not just because you want Grace and I to reconcile."

"I brought you all here because I'm dying." She says.

"Ha ha, very funny." I grumble.

"I'm not kidding this time, Gracelyn."

"What do you mean you're dying?" Danny asks quietly.

"I mean I have lung cancer." She says.

"I don't believe you." I say.

"I don't know why you think it's okay to joke about this." Scott says.

"I'm not joking." She says. Her smile is gone and she doesn't look happy anymore. "I have lung cancer and they've given me three months to live."

Silence.

"Grandad?" I ask.

"It's true." He says quietly.

Nobody says anything for a very long time, so finally, she speaks up.

"I just want to see everyone here reconcile before I go." She says calmly. "When I go, Eileen has nobody left. The whole family disowned her."

"I have Steven." Mom says.

"That's not enough. What happens if you two break up?"

"Mom,"

"Eileen, stop." Nana says harshly. "If you and Steven break up, you will be alone, and we all know where that takes you."

"Let me get this straight." I rest both palms on the table. "You faked my death and my Mom death in order to get us in the same room because you have cancer. So you pretended we were dead so you could force us to reconcile, to stop my Mom from going back to alcohol."

"Mom, this is ridiculous." My Mom says harshly. "I'm not going to be Grace's burden. Don't you think I've done enough."

Nana rises from her chair.

"When are you going to stop blaming yourself for all of this?" She asks.

Mom stands up too.

"When you give me a time machine to go back in time and make sure it never happened! Who do you expect me to blame? It's not Scott's fault! It's not Grace's fault! It's not Micah's fault! The only person who is at fault with what happened is me!"

I think back to when I was in high school and college. How miserable I was, with nightmares and the whole package.

It wasn't until I accepted what happened that I managed to move on.