Only Human

3.5

Hey. It's been a while. Here's a bad update. I have a month until I have to get this done. I promise I'm going to do it for y'all. Love ya! (i hope you know I'm not proud of this chapter and I will be editing it heavily in the future.)

"Grandma?"

"What is it, Sweetheart?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Gabriel and I are engaged!" I exclaimed, smiling widely. I was sitting in my apartment waiting for Gabriel to pick me up so we could go to a New Years' party with some people our age in his pack. 

"Congratulations honey! I knew the two of you would figure out all of your issues!" She cheered. I laughed, blushing as I recalled how rocky the first month or two of our relationship had been. 

"Thanks, Grandma. How are you feeling today?" I asked her, peeking out the window. I thought I had heard the hum of an engine but I couldn't be too sure. 

"It ebbs and it flows, Dear. But today is a good day," She replied truthfully. I forgot all about looking for Gabriel to pull up and focused on Grandma. 

"I'm glad it's been a good day. Do you have any fun plans tonight?" I asked, trying to distract her and myself. I hated thinking about how she was dying. 

"Sam and his family are coming over. This is an exciting New Years!" She said. 

"What makes it exciting?"

"Well, this may be my last one. That makes it pretty special!" She sounded very bright and cheery for someone who was talking about her own death. 

"GRANDMA!" I admonished her, my jaw dropping. I flopped onto my couch, exasperated with her. 

"What? I'm just staying honest," She said. I could hear the smile in her voice and for some reason it bothered me. She could tell. "I know it sounds like I don't value my life, or that I don't care that I'm going to die. I'm sorry that that makes this hard for you. But I get to see my parents again. And you Grandpa has been waiting for me for a long time. I'm getting pretty excited to see him again. I'm not going to do anything reckless, I just am not angry that this is happening to me."

"I suppose I can support that. I'm going to miss you," I whispered the last part, choking up. I curled into myself and tucked my hair behind my ear as tears began falling. Grandma had been there for me through everything, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what a world without her would be like. 

"Oh honey," She started, her tone apologetic. "I'm going to miss you too. But you have so many happy things to look forward to! You're going to get married! I'm going to do my very best to stick around for that. You're going to start a family. You're going to graduate college. You're going to change the lives of so many people. I love you, but I don't need to be around for you to live your dreams."

What she was saying made sense, but it only made me cry harder. 

"I know you don't need to be around for it, but I want you to be around for it," I confessed, snorting my snot back into my nose. The sound was not pretty, but, as usual, I was out of tissues. 

"I promise, I'll be watching it all from Heaven. I'll take care of your kids for you while they wait. It's not a sad thing, I promise," Grandma comforted me. The image of her lovingly caring for my future children spread warmth to my heart. 

"Okay," I mumbled. 

"Now, what are your plans for the night? I'm sure you and that hunk of yours are going to some sort of function together?" She asked. I laughed, standing up and walking into my bathroom. I put the phone on speaker and set to work fixing my appearance. The ugly cry was necessary, it just ruined my makeup and hair.