"Okay!" Leila said, nodding her head in agreement. Chris then left and made her way to Gary.
The sun had set in the horizon. The old man recently took up a new hobby — gardening. And he took great pleasure in the activity. An area in his backyard had already been set aside as his garden. When Chris arrived, he was taking care of the flowers.
She headed to the backyard and saw Gary removing weeds. He wore a leather apron and had a sickle in his hand.
Chris paused at the entrance of the garden. She took a moment to watch her grandfather working with his flowers. Smiling, she called out,"Grandpa!" Upon hearing her voice, Gary straightened and turned towards the girl. "What brings you here? As you can see, I'm busy," he said.
"Grandpa, can you leave your flowers for a while and come with me? Our guests have arrived," the young woman urged. When he didn't move, Chris became impatient and walked towards the old man. She thought of dragging him out with her.
"Stop! Stay there. I'm coming," Gary exclaimed. He had just finished watering the flowers, so the flowerbeds were a bit muddy. Gary feared his pregnant granddaughter might be injured walking on wet soil, so he did not want her to come closer.
He may be old, but Gary was sturdy and walked towards his granddaughter steadily. Then he stopped and brushed off the dirt on his clothes and apron. "Who are your mysterious friends? Are you not going to tell me?" he asked curiously.
"You'll know when you see them," she replied with a mysterious smile. Chris was determined to surprise her grandfather. The old man took off his apron and strode towards the house. He stopped as the girl grabbed his arm, looking puzzled. "Aren't you going to change clothes before meeting our guests? You have mud all over them," she pointed out with a slight frown.
Gary looked at his clothes and agreed with his granddaughter's assessment. So, he headed upstairs to put on clean clothes. As he came down the stairs, Leila was fidgeting on the couch, her expression tense. She felt so uneasy that she didn't even notice the boy was no longer beside her.
Leila's presence was a complete surprise for the old man. He remembered the time Autumn and Charles were fighting a lot over this woman. 'Is she the guest Chris was referring to?' he wondered.
"What's going on?" the old man asked, as he turned to his granddaughter with a stern look. Autumn might no longer be with them, but Gary was not about to allow a wretched woman to take her place as his granddaughter-in-law.
Chris didn't answer him. Instead, she looked around for Charlie and wondered where he was. "I'll explain later," she told Gary.
She turned to Leila and asked,"Where is Charlie?" The boy was nowhere to be seen. "Bring him in now," she ordered Leila.
"If Charlie doesn't come in soon, grandpa will lose his temper," she muttered to herself.
Leila whirled around to look for the boy and found him staring at a chessboard. "Charlie, come here. Say hello to your great grandpa," she directed the child.
Both Gary and Chris were looking at where the boy stood. When Charlie turned around, the old man was stunned.
Charlie stared at Charles' grandfather, and then looked at him from head to foot. Finally, he greeted him courteously,"Hello, great-grandpa."
"Great-grandpa?" Gary mumbled in disbelief. 'I wonder who's going to tell me what is happening, ' he thought, giving the ladies a puzzled look.
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