CHAPTER 5

Sick Night

Because of this routine, she had grown more comfortable and became close with James and his grandmother throughout their gathering. There was a whole good deal of talking and laughing when the three were always wrapt up together on the road. Time had proved that James' grandmother was considered to be the center of their attention. She was exactly a perfect example of an old chatterbox, but an endearing chatterbox. The old lady would pour out about the story of her past in her youthful days.

Once, there was a time when the old lady stopped talking and wore a vague look. It only happened when she was carried away by her sudden flashback. A wistful look passed over her wrinkled face whenever she was caught up by the past. It was a look that was familiar and not a stranger to Lena. Every time when the old woman talked about her memories, all the things she would mention were about her family, school friends, sweethearts, and heartbreaks she went through as a teenager herself. But there were also a good deal of moments when she laughed and sighed as she shared them those precious times back in her day. Here, Lena was greatly touched by the sweet scene she witnessed and because of their strong bond, it would be hard for her to forget after this.

"I may have lost my dear young face, but I will never lose my girlish soul," and she went on. "If anything happens to me in the near future, I tell you, and I'm going to say this to you now, James." The old lady turned from the side window and faced her grandson in a grave tone, "Marry a decent girl that has a strong faithful heart, devoted to you and most importantly, one that is able to bring up your children well. Then that is enough for you to have a good family." With that, James looked mortified at this sudden advice he received.

After James had dropped his grandmother off in front of the neighbour's house, he drove on and shook his head.

"I have no idea what's gotten into her lately," James remarked bewilderedly.

Lena stifled a laugh. "Is she always like this?"

He shrugged and tilted his wondering head. "Well, if you are asking if she talks a lot, she does. But I don't recall her giving a serious lecture to me-Other than that time when I brought over my friends to her house." James said hoarsely and hardly understood why his grandmother brought such a topic before.

Later, on the same day during the evening hour, Lena was invited to the old lady's house. Upon her arrival, a breath of marvel escaped from her mouth. She had never seen a house this beautiful in her life, with ever so many plants and flowers outside the porch. It was enough to enthrall her. Through the delicate arched flowers, the immaculate grass was laid with flower pots, small statues, minuscule bugs crawled upon the leaves and the birds hummed melodiously in the herb garden. When they were about to reach inside, she held her sparkling eyes on the place. It was simple but utterly lovely. In a way, it was classically designed to have this soft view. The garden was the very place she fell in love with, and all the pretty things around her welcomed in joy.

"I've never seen a garden that pretty before." Lena drew a dreamy breath and stared straight at the window after they came inside.

"Thank you, dear. It's one of the places where I can find beauty of peace. I always have my ways of taking care of our garden, and often when James came to visit, he would help and do the chores here." She smiled radiantly, so did her kind eyes.

"Both of you must be very close," Lena observed.

"Oh, yes we are. He's my only grandson and I am grateful that we spend a lot of time together. But we all have our quarrelling, especially when he hangs around with his friends too much. I know I can trust my grandson, but I dislike it when his friends are around. They do certain things I find it a bit troubling when they influence my grandson. Apparently, it is the new norm in your generation," The old lady rolled her eyes in disappointment. "And his parents-well I won't say anything about his parents since they're always busy going abroad. There isn't anything he could do in the house, so he always accompanies me. Perhaps that is why we are too close and I'm afraid it might harm him someday."

"A grandmother as good as a saint could never harm anyone. Let alone James. I can tell he cares a lot about you, ma'am," Lena quickly replied with passion.

"He does," she admitted. "But I am no saint, my dear. We've all got our ups and downs, you know."

Lena nodded and thought her to be the most loveliest woman she had encountered so far aside from her mother. "You're right, ma'am."

The old lady tittered and tapped her cane one last time. "By the way, you can call me Amelia. I feel like ma'am sounds too old for me."

A faint smile formed in her lips. "Okay, Amelia." Somehow, the name sounded beautiful in her ears.

On her way back, Lena finally went inside her house and closed the door behind. She locked it and went upstairs to her room where she found Betty beside her little girl. Little Serena stood in the crib while Betty was sitting placidly on the chair beside the bureau. The infant looked up when she sensed Lena's presence and did a light jump which brought her sister a radiant smile.

"She's already standing like a little gosling. Isn't she adorable?" Betty asked as she fed the infant in the crib.

"She is adorable, but she isn't a gosling." Lena answered dryly, drew nearer and gently brushed back the thin hair from Serena's smooth forehead.

"Aah-ohhh!" Serena babbled in an adorable tone. The two young girls were both in awe when little Serena bounced joyfully again.

"If only I could pinch those cheeks forever!" exclaimed Betty, piping up with fervour as she stood to her feet and bent over the crib.

Before Betty was about to pinch little Serena, Lena reached her and slapped Betty's forearm lightly. "Control yourself." Lena's jaw tightened and she took little Serena out of the crib and carry her in her arms.

"Don't be so curt." Betty stuck her tongue out as if the knots in a string broke loose. "I really want to pinch her, not too hard. I know it won't harm her, I hope."

Lena shook her head and blinked several times. "N-not a good idea."

Betty pouted and dropped her brows. "If you don't trust me then—fine I'll go— Goodbye!" The babysitter huffed and marched off the room in high dudgeon. Lena rolled her emerald eyes.

She'll get over it by tomorrow.

After Betty left the house, Lena rubbed her nose together with her little sister and carried her all the way downstairs. She put her little sister down on the sofa and walked toward the kitchen. In the middle of cooking dinner for her father, she instantly remembered her father would come home late. A faint chuckle escaped from her as she gracefully turned off the heat and stopped short.

Silly me

Then in a flash, the sound startled her body when she heard a bang came from the living room.

What on earth...

Lena jumped and rushed out immediately to check Serena. She looked over the counter, and there she was, her little sister was beaming upon her face. The infant was all fine and left with no guilt.

"Oh, Serena. You gave me a scare." Lena picked her up again and discovered the broken pieces of glass laid on the floor which fell not a minute ago. There was a look of horror in her expression. "I'm so glad it wasn't that big-My dear sister, you could've gotten yourself hurt. This is all my fault, I should've kept my eye on you." And so, she kissed the darling creature in sheer relief and Lena swept the floor with a broom before she went to bed.

During the middle of the cloudy night, the wail from her little sister was too loud and the cry kept stinging her ears like an earthquake shaking the room. The cry disrupted her sleep, so she had no choice but to hop out from her bed and pick her little sister up from the crib. Lena began to hum in her precious little ears and rocked her back and forth.

"Sweet Serena, shh, my little one," Lena whispered softly, but the cry had gotten worse than before. For a moment, Lena touched her bald forehead and knew for certain-it wasn't a good idea to go to school tomorrow. Little Serena's temperature was too high at this point.

"You are having a fever are you, my little Serena?" Lena slowly kissed her little sister's bald head as the moon traced their existence through the open-window.