Chapter 22 Melanie
“Rise and shine!” Kyle bellowed and yanked the comforter off me.
“Kyle!” I groaned and pulled an extra pillow over my face.
Growing up, Kyle had loved nothing more than torturing me with his obnoxious antics or his hilarious pranks.
“Come on. Mom made your favorite breakfast.” He reached out and started tickling one of my feet. I kicked out at him and giggled until a wave of nausea forced me to bolt from the bed.
“Mel?” he called after me, sounding alarmed.
I skidded into the bathroom we had shared as teenagers and barely made it to the toilet in time.
“Are you okay?” his voice was quiet, and he looked nervous as he stood in the doorway. Griffin appeared behind him, looking like he’d just woken up.
“Out!” I grumbled at both of them.
I definitely don’t need an audience looking like this.
“It’s just morning sickness.” Griffin said calmly. He shot me a smile and patted Kyle’s shoulder before he turned and walked away.
“Okay, I’ll let mom know you need a few.” Kyle said awkwardly, and I gave him a thumbs up as another dry heave shook my frame.
I opted to take a quick shower when I caught sight of myself in the mirror while I was brushing my teeth.
No wonder Griffin was quick to run away. I thought to myself with a little chuckle.
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“I’m sorry I kept you all waiting.” I apologized as I entered the dining room and saw that my family hadn’t started eating without me. “Does anything need to be heated back up?” I felt guilty for taking the extra few minutes to shower.
“Don’t be silly, I had it all covered and warm until we hear the shower stop.” My mom smiled and patted the seat next to her. “Come sit. I want to hear all about my future grandbaby!”
“There’s not much to tell yet.” I chuckled and shook my head.
“I’m planning on calling the local doctor here and getting an initial appointment this week.
I don’t know how long I will be staying in town, but I will eventually have to go back home and deal with the mess there.
” I scowled and spooned some eggs onto my plate.
“You are welcome to stay as long as you want.” My father said from the end of the table.
“I have to go back in the next few days.” Kyle looked upset, and Griffin nodded in agreement.
“I’ll be returning to the office tonight.” Griffin looked at me as he said it, and I felt a sad tug in my chest.
“I can’t even express how grateful I am that you took this much time to help me.” I said and blinked back the burn I was feeling in my eyes.
“Mel…” he started.
I waved my hands at him, “don’t mind me. It’s the stupid hormones.” I laughed.
Kyle had a scowl on his face as he looked between the two of us, and I watched as his lips settled into a thin line.
“Griffin will go back tonight but I’ll join him two days from now.” He mumbled and started eating.
“What’s left to do with Gram’s estate?” I looked at my mother and then at my dad.
“We need to go to the lawyer’s office for the will and then we need to finish cleaning out the house.” My father said with a heavy sigh.
“We also need to decide what we want to do with her house.” My mother whispered.
“Can we afford to keep it?” I asked. The house had so many happy memories attached to it and had been in the family since Gram was a little girl. I knew that the house was important to us all.
“Unless there are some alarming surprises, yes.” My father nodded.
“Of course we can.” Kyle rolled his eyes. “You guys forget that I have a very successful company.”
“Afford it was bad wording.” I amended, “Honestly, the last time I checked the investments I made for the company were doing really well and there should be plenty of money. We just can’t put anything in my name until the divorce goes through.”
“Do you think Ben is going to make this ugly?” My mother looked so sad.
“Right now, I don’t feel like I know Ben well enough to say if he will or not.” I admitted, “Penelope says that anything Gram left will be well protected because Gram took precautions.” I shrugged at their confused expressions. “Penelope hadn’t been able to elaborate beyond that.”
The rest of breakfast was filled with small talk and lighthearted jokes.
Afterwards, my mother went with me to the grocery store to pick up a few odds and ends, while my father went to work and Kyle went to Gram’s house to continue working on the clean-out.
We all agreed to meet at the lawyer’s office that afternoon.
We even invited Griffin to tag along since he was spending most of the day catching up on work back at the house.
“Do you ever miss living in a smaller town?” My mother asked as we strolled up and down the aisles.
“There is a certain nostalgia but no… I can’t picture living here full time.” I glanced at her expression as her smile dropped. “Mom, have you ever thought about moving closer to me?”
“I’m not sure we would like the big city life.” She rubbed her hands together nervously and chewed on her lip.
“I wasn’t thinking in the city… I was thinking that maybe we could move to the beach near the new pharmacy… I know dad has mentioned it.”
My mother pursed her lips. “Yes, he has mentioned it…” she scowled a little, and I couldn’t help but start laughing.
“Mom, you can’t be mad at him for wanting to live closer to his daughter… or wanting to be near an ocean again.”
My father had grown up on the East Coast, in Maine; North Dakota had never been his idea of the perfect place, but my mother had always loved it, and she was his idea of the perfect woman.
“He spent the first thirty years of your marriage living where you wanted… maybe it’s your turn to follow him…” I said gently.
“I know.” She sighed. She had never lived far from home and rarely ventured outside of the state, and I knew the idea was terrifying to her.
“Can we have spaghetti for dinner?” I asked suddenly. “With garlic bread?”
She looked over at me, surprised by the randomness of my request, and then laughed at the serious expression on my face.
“I take it you just had your first official craving?”
“Is that what just happened? I suddenly could almost taste the spaghetti dinners we used to have with Gram on Sundays.” I blinked back tears again and huffed. “These damn hormones are turning me into a big crybaby.”