From afar, I saw Cindy in a black dress, standing tall before Grandmother's grave.
Theo saw her too and turned to look at me. "You invited her?" I asked him.
"Of course not?"
No matter how things were like, he would not have invited her if he was bringing me to visit Grandmother.
He stepped over and faced Cindy. His expression was cold, and his voice was low. "Why are you here?"
“Theowy, why are you here?" Cindy turned around, a look of shock etched on her face.
I scoffed in my heart. For her to wait here bright and early in the morning, it was a no-brainer that she had gotten news that Theo would be here.
Theo frowned.
"Theowy, do you really think that I came all the way here on purpose to bump into you? I swear, I didn’t know you were coming today. I kept dreaming about Daddy and Mommy recently. Maybe it’s because I’ve found my biological parents and they’re a little unhappy about it, so I came over to visit them. Since it was on the way, I came to visit Grandmother as well.
Who knew we would be fated to meet?"
Cindy's speech was well-rehearsed and even seemed genuine.
I did not know that her parents were buried here too. A pang of displeasure bloomed in my heart, so I did not pay any more attention to them. I took the things that we had brought from Theo and arranged them by Grandmother's headstone.
After arranging the flowers, I bowed as a sign of respect because my growing belly was getting in the way of me sitting down at the side of the headstone. I looked at Grandmother's warm smile in the photo on her headstone. As I reminisced about all the times she cared for me, my tears flowed down my cheeks.
Theo walked over and pulled me into his embrace. He wiped my tears off my face and said in his deep voice, "She would want you to be happy, so don't cry."
I nodded faintly and turned toward the headstone." Grandmother, how are you doing over there? Theo and I are here to visit you. Oh, right, we're expecting, Grandmother. It's your great-grandchild. The baby is healthy, and when they're born, we'll bring them to visit you once more.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Woman From Hell novel (Wanda and Theo)