Tell Me You Love Me

Grandma Talks(Onety-Onety-One)

Riley's POV(Nine years old)

I found myself in our back yard by my favorite tree. When I was little, my dad put a swing on it so that when he couldn't take me flying, I could fly all by myself. It seems that my dad's abilities skipped over me and Malia got all of it. (We've found her floating on the ceiling more than once).

Anyway, Mom was doing laundry and Dad was doing some kind of project in the bathroom that involved fixing the plumbing and my only other alternative activity was watching My Little Pony with Malia(6) and Rayne(5) which I was NOT going to be doing under any circumstance. 

So, outside it was. I was just swinging lazily on my swing, twisting my dad's old watch around my wrist when a beautiful woman came up to me.

"Oh, Riley dear, hello, hello!" She gushed and suddenly there was a lavish chair beside my swing, angled so she could see me better. 

"Ah, yes, such lovely blond locks! My, you do look like your father. With your mother's eyes(where have you heard that last bit before, lol). "

My eyes were wide. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Well, Aphrodite, of course!"

I gasped. "Grandma?!"

She chuckled. "My you've gotten big. I haven't seen you since the day your sister was born. How old is she now?"

"Six," I muttered numbly, still in awe at the goddess that showed up at my house to talk to me. "My other sister's five."

"Other sister? But I thought there were complications--Oh yes, the adoption. I remember now."

This lady is weird, I thought to myself.

She frowned. "Yes, your mother thought so too," she said.

My eyes widened in horror. "Did I say that out loud?"

Aphrodite's eyes twinkled. "Yes you did, sweetheart."

I didn't know what to say, so I focused on my sneakers. I could see the TV through the windows of the house and my sisters were still sitting there, right where I left them.

"Ah, well lets have a snack, shall we?" And there was a dainty little table full of scones, cookies, cupcakes, and tea. She poured me a cup and studied me a moment before adding a bit of cream and honey. 

"Let's have a chat," she said. I nodded, busy stuffing cookies into mouth.

She stared at me, looking me right in the eyes. "I do love your eyes. Three different colors that sort of coexist. Ooh! I know what would be so much fun! What if your eyes changed with your mood! Like that jewelry the mortals wear! Would you like that?"

"Uh-huh!" I nodded eagerly around my scone. "Hm," she said. "How about the green when you're sad, brown when you're happy, and blue...blue when you're...deep in thought! Yes, brilliant." She snapped her fingers and I blinked a few times.

She reached up until I lost sight of her hand in the sunlight and pulled down a handheld mirror. She handed it to me. My eyes were brown, with just traces of the blue and green. 

"They'll always hold all of the colors, but the one that shows the most...that will tell your feelings."

And the longer I stared at my reflection, the more blue my eyes looked and suddenly it was like the brown never existed.

"Now into more pressing matters. Do you have any crushes?" She seemed like a teenage girl at a slumber party. I blushed. I was about to answer that no, I didn't really like any of the girls in my class at school, when she interrupted me.

"Do you know...hm. Let's bless you with early awareness, then. Sarah's pretty cute, huh? And what about Lucas?"

I blushed. "Well, uh..."

And just then, I heard voices calling my name. "Riley! Riley, where are you?" It was my mom. Mom and Dad were coming around the house when they spotted me on the swing with Aphrodite, surrounded by food and Mom ran over while Dad followed at a slower pace.

"Mom..." Mom said suspiciously. "We're just having a chat!" Aphrodite said defensively. 

"It's never just a chat," Mom said. Aphrodite rolled her eyes before turning back to me. "We must have more of these Grandma Talks in the future," she said with a wink and disappeared, taking the tea party with her.

I was surrounded by my worried parents in seconds. "Are you okay?" My mom gushed. "What did she do? What did she say?"

Dad just stared on, concern clear on his features. "She just asked me if I had a crush on any of the kids in my class," I said. "That's...all she said?" Dad asked.

"Well...I can't really remember what else--"

"Riley, what happened to your eyes?" Mom interrupted me.

I grinned. "Grandma fixed them!"

Mom looked sad at this. "Ri, she didn't fix them. They were beautiful before. She changed them, yes. But she didn't fix them."

I felt a bit guilty being excited about something that made my mom sad.

My mom is freakishly good at picking out little things that change in a person's mood and she tried for a smile.

"Well what's new about them, then?" She asked, trying to be excited for me.

I felt better about it so I decided to tell them.

"Well my eyes used to look like yours, Mom, the three colors? But now they change with my mood! Like green when I'm sad, brown when I'm happy, and blue when...when...when I'm thinking deeply!"

"Well that's nice," she said.

The look she gave my dad clearly said, "I'll be having a talk with Aphrodite."

"Well buddy, let's go inside. Maybe if we hurry, we can get to the TV before the next episode of My Little Pony and we can watch a movie."

"Okay, Dad," I agreed, and together the three of us headed inside, the swing swinging in the wind behind us.