wave after wave 🌊 [rini au]

fall ; 24

"You, girl, sit with me. You boys, get lost," Ricky's grandmother pointed at Nini and gestured to the seat next to her, where her husband was seated before, and pointed at said husband and her grandson shooing them away. Nini and Ricky exchanged a look before the girl proceeded to take a seat next to the older woman, giving him a small wave as his grandad pulled him toward the house. Nini could see the worry in his eyes, neither of them knew what she was about to say; Ricky's bet was that it was not going to be something nice. In the end, he couldn't help himself but plant a kiss on her head before leaving her to her own devices, a way to apologise for their situation and give her courage.

The brunette girl did her best to not glance at her boyfriend who was standing on the veranda, eyes on her as he spoke with his grandfather.

"Staring at him isn't going to help your situation, Ms Roberts. I suggest you take your eyes off him and focus on the conversation we are having," The old woman spoke, her voice cold, causing goosebumps to rise up the back of Nini's neck.

"Tell me why do you like our Ricky?" Mrs Bowen gestured at Nini to talk. Our Ricky? The question had actually caught the young girl off-guard, she was really anticipating a lecture or scolding or whatever it was, maybe asking about her family or why she was here. Asking about why she liked the Bowen boy was the last thing she expected. If she was surprised, it didn't show because she barely inhaled before she began speaking, a smile growing on her face.

"He was the first person who saw me for who I was, and didn't associate me with my family members," She felt the older woman's stare narrow at that statement and waved her hands frantically to diffuse the situation. "Don't get me wrong, I love my family. But, everywhere I went, it felt like people didn't really care about me as Nina Roberts but as Nini, my parents' daughter and my brothers' sister. Ricky was the first one who really respected my relationship with my brothers' too, and he was sweet enough to seek their opinions before making any moves." Nini couldn't read the grandma's expression, she had kept a straight face as she heard these things about her grandson. "He's also really passionate about his job; it's something I really admire about him — we're both young and some would say it's the time to go out, have fun and be a little crazy, but he's so disciplined, sleeping early so that he can wake up early for duty the next day. He's constantly improving himself to be a better lifeguard, to be better at the prevention and education part of it as well..." She trailed off a little at the end, watching closely for her reaction.

"Tell me more about his lifeguarding in Kauai," The poison in Mrs Bowen's voice faded, her tone brimming with curiosity. Nini's heart leaped in her chest as she heard the change in heart, and the smile on her face grew, "We actually had a little fight because of his job when we were getting to know each other. I'd visited him while he was on duty and he refused to talk to me, I was angry and ignored for a while after that but we found our way back to each other in the end. He told me that he never wanted anything to distract him from being attentive at work, after the incident during his junior lifeguard training a while back. But, after we talked, he really did try to loosen up a bit, he got more friendly to beach visitors, while continuing to be attentive to what was happening out at sea. He learnt to rely on his lifeguard buddies to cover the ocean if he was patrolling the beach. He's been training everyday to stay in shape. I'm proud of him for working so hard."

There was a moment of silence as the older lady pondered upon the words that the younger girl spoke of her grandson, knowing that Ricky was no longer a failure of her husband's legacy. She then moved on to ask more about Nini's family, of whom she spoke well of, the girl's future plans and more about the young couple's relationship.

Ricky was in the kitchen speaking with some of his cousins, listening to the stories they told about lifeguarding on the North Shore. He really wanted his girlfriend to be there to listen to all the amazing stories, and also to comfort him for feeling a little sad that he wasn't lifeguarding with them. A message pinged on his phone, the screen lighting up with a text from Nate, asking if the two of them were doing okay and having fun. It was then he realised that he had left Nate's little sister alone with his evil grandmother for half an hour already. He dashed out through the back door and was about to walk over to them but he was held back by his grandfather, who sat in a rocking chair watching his wife. "This Nina is really something, boy. You got really lucky," Ricky's face scrunched up in confusion, and he began to observe their interactions. His grandmother wasn't smiling but she most definitely wasn't frowning, that was a definite improvement. "Your grandma just expected more from you, Ricky. Can you imagine the most disciplined boy you've seen grown up go off the tracks to do his own thing, the boy you favoured the most left your island for another?" The old deep voice beside him burst a bubble in the million and one thoughts in Ricky's head. "She most definitely did not favour me, Grandpa. She kept nagging and nagging and nagging about how I couldn't do things right." Ricky resisted, thinking back at how things used to be in his childhood.