Grandparents

The car pulled up under the overhang for the hotel where the Connors were staying. When the car was put into park April turned looking at the two people in the car with her. “I hope you don’t mind ma’am that I don’t help you up to your room, but I think you will have plenty of assistance.” She said motioned to Bailey in the backseat and then pointing out toward the passenger side window where everyone could easily see Candi running to the car with abandon. She was wearing a black tank top, black bicycle shorts that had a pink line across the side and some white sneakers. “Thank you for the ride, it was a pleasure meeting you April and I look forward to continuing our chat tonight at the party.” Happy to be away from the woman that had locked his manhood away Bailey pulled on the door handle. When he did the door didn’t budge and he tried a second time, and then a third. It was obviously just a child lock on the door, but for just a second or two his chest started to get tight. Bailey felt like he was literally trapped in the car, much like his manhood was trapped, like he was trapped in the role of the opposite gender seven years his junior. He started to pull on the door handle frantically, causing April to look at him in confusion and anger.

All of his focus was on the door handle that wasn’t doing it's one job, when suddenly to him the door swung open. With freedom upon him Bailey sprung from the door and collided with Candi, who threw her arms around her best friend. Candi’s arms were wrapped around Bailey’s upper body and as they collided Bailey wrapped his around her waist reflexively to keep himself from tumbling. As he tried to steady himself he felt the girl start bouncing in his arms as she made a high pitched sound in excitement. “You can be so subdued sometimes I love it when you are just as excited as me!” Taking a small step back and still very much being in Bailey’s personal space Candi inspected his changed looks, but looked away as her grandmother got out of the car. The excitable teen held both her fists in front of her mouth hiding her huge smile as she looked at the elderly woman. To Bailey it looked like she was vibrating with excitement, like a coiled spring ready to release its energy. “Nana! I missed you so much!” It wasn’t till she opened her arms ready to accept the embrace did Candi bolt forward to hug her grandmother and give her a kiss on the cheek. “Candace my dear it is nice to see you and I wish I still held an ounce of the energy you possess. Today is a special day and it makes sense to be happy as you are. I brought you a few gifts to celebrate, maybe we open one together before tonight. So long as you don’t tell your father.” Candi’s eyes were practically sparkling at the idea of getting presents and nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes a hundred times yes! Oh my god I love you Nana, but not because of the presents.” The elderly woman smiled warmly and patted her granddaughter on the cheek. “But they don’t hurt.” Again Candi nodded, biting the corner of her lower lip. “Presents always help.” She said giving her another hug before getting a look on her face like she had forgotten something and turned to Bailey and pulled him closer by the hand.

“Don’t we look alike!? WhenwefirstmetsomeonesaidwelookedliketwinsandIjustlovedthatsomuchandsheislikelittlesistertome” Bailey looked at his friend surprise as she talked so fast it was like there were no spaces between the words and not sure how he felt that he understood her. “Slower dear.. And maybe we talk as we go inside.” Edna turned to look at April in the car and gave a little wave. “Bailey is in good hands, I will watch the girls before the party. Drive safe now.” April nodded to her and looked over at Bailey as she leaned closer to the passenger side of the car. “Bailey, make sure you listen to Mrs. Connors, she is in charge. Now be good and I will see you later.” Bailey got a flashback to when he had to pretend he was some preteen girl with how she was talking to him. His very first instinct was to tell her how he could take care of himself, but with recently saying his mantra out loud to her the words were much fresher on his mind. “Yes ma’am, I will be a good girl.” With that April drove away and Candi led the other two into the hotel and up to her room. “No Candace, what were you trying to tell me earlier and remember I can’t keep up with you like I used to.” Enda gave a few reassuring pats to her granddaughter's arm as they road the elevator up. “I was saying that when we met someone and they said.” Candi halted her story as her grandmother held up her hand. “When you and who met? I’m happy to listen to every story you have and will consider myself better for it, but make sure you tell it so I can follow.” Candi gave a little nod. “Yes Nana, I will. When Bailey and I met it was at a park for one of Daddy's work thingies. I’m always alone at them, but I met Bailey and her Mom. Oh my god Nana she is so pretty, she reminds me of my mom so much. She is pretty and nice to me and and I think Daddy loves her and oh my god is she smart. I think she is smarter than Daddy and I told him so and he didn’t say anything back except I saw the smile on his face. What was I saying?”

The afternoon passed with Bailey listening to Candi retell the story of how they met, he felt some anger when she talked about Derrick the smug bastard being in love with his Mandy. He flashed with embarrassment when she mentioned how August kissed him at that park bench by the snack bar and how they thought the two were twins or at least sisters. The older woman had looked at Bailey again at that part of the story and he already knew what she was thinking with how she confused them. So long as Candi stayed close to on track with her story she didn’t interrupt, and waited till the girl was done till she talked. “I will admit I see similarities, but twins might be a stretch. Boys see two pretty blonde green eyed girls and then their brains let them see little else. Tell me Candace, it seems like you have a lot of love for Bailey. How would you feel if your father married again and she became your sister?” Bailey thought he might have been upset or raged against such a thing. Derrick… He could see why someone would find him appealing, and he had cried when the two kissed under the fireworks. Now though after knowing his name would be cleared with the PI and how happy his mothers face was that he was doing all of this for her. No Derrick was a temporary distraction, one that frustrated him, but only that. In the end Derrick would be gone and he would be staying. Bailey felt Candi grip his hand as she gave him a small smile before turning her attention back to her grandmother. “Having a full family again would be me getting every wish I could make. Wishes fountains, birthday cakes, shooting stars and getting a little sister would make it all so much better.”

The emotion in her voice, and how he could see her tearing up pulled something in Bailey’s heart. This girl so full of energy and having many friends, had felt alone for a long time. She clung to her father like he was a life preserver in that sea, all of her friends just people that happen to be nearby, not those she felt close to. Maybe part of it was because she had to keep going wherever her father did in his travels, maybe because… Bailey felt himself tearing up as well, that familiar loneliness. It was like a void that couldn’t be filled or at least you didn’t think it could be. Friends like Chuck were a distraction from it, his love… Bailey remembered laying on the couch with his head on Mandy’s lap as she ran her fingers through his hair and looked down at him with so much love. She had made him forget the void was even there, but she was gone more and more. The more she worked, the more she was away the worse that void felt, the more he tried to fill it with distractions like Chuck, drinking or girls. He understood Candi, he understood what it felt like to be alone when you have others around. Her hand, her fingers intertwined in his own told him how him being around her helped her forget about that void. It made him happy, proud and incredibly sad for her knowing that Bailey Ann wouldn’t be around long enough to help fill that void in. “I can see by your tears you feel the same way. Now I warn you girls, love does not just happen. You are young and your romances and feelings are real, never let someone say you don’t know love because you are young. Love comes in many forms, like two friends feeling like they are sisters. Young love like you will feel for a boy will be like a bonfire, large and powerful. Though they do not last. Real love, the love people think about when they get married is like a smaller fire that so long as you work it, feed it will keep forever. I say this because sometimes when one dates, even at an age like your father it could just be one of those bonfire and not something that lasts. You understand my lesson?” Candi sniffled a little and nodded. “Yes Nana.” The elderly woman’s gaze shifted to Bailey. “Yes Nana.” He responded copying Candi instead of calling her Mrs. Connors, he kicked himself for it and averted his gaze from her as he felt Candi squeeze his hand in approval.

Sitting at the table Candi got out a deck of cards and the two of them showed Bailey how to play a game called Queens and they continued to talk and share stories. Bailey was not prepared for the question Nana Connors asked him, it wasn’t in the backstory, not something anyone had even thought of. “So you get to me Candace’s grandmother, what of your grandparents Bailey?” His eyes focused on his cards that he held in one hand and twirled a strand of hair in the other for a long pause. He had never met Mandy’s Mom, she had passed before they started to date. His mind touched the memory of his dead parents like it was a sharp piece of glass and thought of his father. He had never talked about his parents as far as he could remember, there were little stories but never any specifics. He just knew they weren’t around and his mother.. His real mother, she was the product of a split home. He had no idea where her father was, or if he was alive, but he did know her mom, his grandmother. A tall thin woman that always had candy in her pockets to give him, she was gone. He remembered balling his eyes out at her funeral when he was twelve, it was cancer. It was always cancer that stole his family away, pulling pieces of him away each time it came into his life. His stupid emotions were not in any way under his control today and he only got out one word before his tears came and came heavy. “Caner.” Before Candi could reach for him or say a word Bailey ran from the table and into the bathroom in Candi’s room. The door slamming behind him as he slid to the floor leaning against it, his knees pressing up into his chest as his arms wrapped around them and he just cried.

It could have just been a minute, ten or an hour he wasn’t sure, but a light knocking came to the door he had pressed his body against. “Bailey, let me in.” Candi's voice soft and full of concern. He could hear the door handle turn and the door push into him, so he leaned forward and off to the side a little so she could squeeze in. Bailey looked up at her, his eyes still refusing to halt their evacuation of tears, he could see her look of worry. She didn’t say anything, just joined him on the floor and put her arm around his shoulder. At some point he had ended up leaning into her and weeping on her shirt, ruining his makeup and the tank top she wore. When his tears had settled, he laid there with her. His face resting on her young supple breasts and now that he mind was clear he was very much aware of them and so was his constrained member. Still he stayed, it felt nice to be held and tried to ignore his baser instincts. “You know, for someone so pretty you cry ugly.” Bailey pulled back from his friend and scowled at her a little and when he did something in his hand fell, something he hadn’t realized he was still clutching. His hand of cards were still in his hand when he ran and he had clutched onto them tightly enough to bend them and he hadn’t realized. Candi looked at the cards and then back to Bailey. “You know, you could have just said you didn’t want to play.” It made Bailey laugh and him laughing was enough for Candi to laugh. Between her two comments the tension in his chest and shoulders lifted away and it felt wonderful to just sit there on the floor and laugh.