By the time we finally arrived, after Aunt Catherine picked us up from god knows where in northeast Georgia, it was almost 5PM. I was prepared for a drama-filled evening, but what I didn't know was that within 24 hours my grandfather would be dead.

It was surreal pulling up to my grandparents' house for the first time all these years. To be honest I'd never expected to ever come here again, not after the way my extended family had fractured, and how my grandfather openly showed disdain for all of my relatives.

The house itself was almost closer to a mansion in terms of size. It was a plantation house that was about four times bigger than anywhere I could remember living. It had been in the Blackwell family for generations. Since my grandfather's grandfather I think. Despite the age of the building, it was obviously well maintained and the white paint was still pristine. The driveway was already packed with five other cars, two of which, were obviously more expensive than the rest, and presumably belonged to granddad and grandmom.

As the three of us got out of the car grandmom rushed out to greet us, as kind and sweet as she was when I was a kid. From there we were led into the massive house and thus began a seemingly endless parade of relatives. Uncles and aunts and cousins who I didn't remember and almost instantly forgot the names and faces of. The most distinguishing things I remember are that one uncle was a total redneck and the other was a pretentious "city slicker" as the first uncle constantly pointed out. There was also one cousin, I think from uncle number two, who had a s***-eating grin the entire time and I think tried to hit on me? Aunt Catherine almost instantly bolted for the eggnog, and it wasn't long before Grayson did the same. For once in my life, I was envious.

As the three of us got out of the car grandmom rushed out to greet us, as kind and sweet as she was when I was a kid. From there we were led into the massive house and thus began a seemingly endless parade of relatives. Uncles and aunts and cousins who I didn't remember and almost instantly forgot the names and faces of. The most distinguishing things I remember are that one uncle was a total redneck and the other was a pretentious "city slicker" as the first uncle constantly pointed out. There was also one cousin, I think from uncle number two, who had a s***-eating grin the entire time and I think tried to hit on me? Aunt Catherine almost instantly bolted for the eggnog, and it wasn't long before Grayson did the same. For once in my life, I was envious.

My jaw dropped. The room fell deathly silent. Everyone in the room stared in our direction. If an extraterrestrial had suddenly teleported in front of me, it wouldn't be even half as surprising, or terrifying.

For a moment, I'm too stunned for words. "Uh... it's nice to see you too grampa." I finally blurted out.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Why don't you come with me to my office, I have something to discuss with you."

Honestly, just the fact that he would even acknowledge me was shocking enough, but what happened next managed to be even stranger.