Home is where the heart is at ~ Zachary Merrick (book 2)

~5~

~Alyssa~
All of the cousins and Zack were swimming around while I sat at a table. I had a swimsuit on and I wasn't trying to hide anything, I just wasn't in the full mood to swim.

Watching all of my cousins attack Zack with water while he was carrying Malachi on his shoulders put a smile on my face.

"I thought you'd be in the pool with everyone." My Grandpa Ben, my Dad's Dad, sat down next to me. "Hi, Grandpa. Yeah, I'll get in soon. Just thinking."

He set his cane against the table. "What are you thinking about?" I sighed. "Everything? How fast life is moving. I mean, Malachi turns two tomorrow, I'm eighteen and about to graduate, Zack turns twenty in a couple weeks. It's all so fast."

I looked at him and he had a small smile on his wrinkled face. No matter if you were sobbing or angry or just needing support, his smiles would always make you smile.

"I know how you feel, Alyssa. I thought it was all going too fast when one day I was married and the next, all my children were grown up and I was watching all my grandchildren grow up. And now it's been almost five years since your grandmother died and it has gone way too fast."

It was quiet besides the screaming children.

I missed Grandma Jane.

"Do you ever think about her? How she'd randomly bake for you, her hugs and kisses, making sure that you felt loved?"

He nodded and looked at me. "All the time. However, I know that she's still here with us in spirit. And she's so happy she's still able to watch everyone grow up, even if it's from Heaven."

I put my hand on his and smiled.

Zack walked up to us, soaking wet. "Hey, are you gonna hop in with us? I'm kinda tired of fending off a ton of children."

None of my teen cousins were even in the pool. Most of them were in the hot tub or sitting by the pool, playing games.

"Yeah. Let me get all of them in the pool and we can all play together." I gave Grandpa a kiss on the cheek and walked over to the ones playing games.

~Zachary~
I watched Alyssa steal the games from some of her cousins and walked towards the hot tub. "Zachary, right?" Ben grabbed my attention and I looked at him.

"Yes, sir." I sat down for a minute and he glanced at me. "I see the way you look at Alyssa. You look at her like she's the only thing that matters in the world. Money, your career, friends, they all come second to her."

It was true. Although I was trying my best to focus on my career, it came to be a close second compared to Alyssa.

"Yes. I love her so much." The older man smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. "This was the ring I used to propose to my wife. If she were here with us, she'd tell you how much she loves how you treat Alyssa."

He handed me a small, velvet box and I opened it. Inside was a rose gold ring with a red stone. I closed the box and gazed at him. "Oh, I'm not sure."

I hadn't even thought of where Alyssa and I would be after she graduates. He smiled. "Save it for the future. Wether it be in a few months or a few years, I want you to use that."

I thanked him. I set it by my towel and found Alyssa, standing between the hot tub and the pool.

Her cousins were refusing to leave the hot tub. I stood next to Alyssa. "Lyss, I think they're afraid of acting like children with us and want to be lame."

Tristan, her oldest cousin and was only a few months younger than me, scoffed. "Lame? We're relaxing! Like adults do."

I crossed my arms. "I'm nearly twenty and I'm still playing in the pool with all the children. Come join, it'll be fun. And if it's not, then I'll treat you guys to ice cream."

They all agreed and jumped into the pool, getting really cold immediately. I pushed Alyssa into the pool and hopped in behind her.

She surfaced and glared at me. "I wasn't ready!" I laughed and wrapped my arms around her. "Sure you were! You just needed a little push."

She groaned and swam away, getting everyone ready to play some games.