I've always loved Granny Marin and I think it'd be cute if we got to see Caleb meet her on screen and her be a little hard on him because she wants what's best for her grandbaby.
Caleb just arrived at Hanna's house. Today they were going down to the school to help wrap presents for the Operation Christmas Child Program aimed toward getting presents to underprivileged kids. Spencer signed them up on gift wrapping duty, partly to keep an eye on them. He and Hanna had been sober for a few weeks now (Hanna longer than him) and she probably wanted to make sure they didn't fall off the wagon. Besides that, Emily volunteered to be on the head of the committee to make sure that everything ran smoothly and she needed as many helpers as she could get. Caleb walked into the kitchen (because the Marins never locked their back door), holding bags of wrapping paper he just bought from the store on his way over.
"Hanna, did Emily say how many rolls she—?" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw an elderly woman standing at the stove cooking fresh pancakes.
"Hello," Caleb furrowed his brows?
"You must be the boyfriend," she turned holding her spatula in the air!
Caleb nodded, still unsure who this woman was. Thankfully, Hanna walked in bringing him out of his confusion.
"Hey, Caleb! This is my Grandma. She's staying with us for the holidays."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs…." He stopped not knowing her surname.
"Marin," she answered. "And it's Ms. I lost that title a long time ago," she grinned.
"Hanna," Ashley called coming into the kitchen! "Oh, morning Caleb!"
"Morning Mrs. Marin," he said politely.
"Hanna. I was just about to take a shower and I noticed there was a hairball caught in the drain," she said hinting at her to get it out.
Hanna rolled her eyes at her mom. "Of course she couldn't just take it out herself." She thought. "I'll be right back," she told Caleb.
Caleb now felt a little uneasy being left with Hanna's grandma. At least Mrs. Marin was there.
"Caleb, would you like something to drink," Mrs. Marin asked?
"No thanks. I'm good."
Just then Ashley's phone rang and she looked to see who it was. "Excuse me, I have to take this." She walked into the other room taking the call.
Caleb looked back at Ms. Marin, who was now staring daggers at him. She eyed him skeptically leaned against the island. Caleb, who felt uncomfortable, cleared his throat quietly and glanced away from her piercing stare.
"Sorry about that," Ashley walked back in having finished her call. "Regina, your pancakes are burning," she shouted looking at the pan!
Regina whipped around scooping them onto a plate. "They're alright. A little char doesn't do any harm."
"Uh, do you mind if I go ask Hanna about these," Caleb said finding a way out?
"Go ahead," Ashley answered and Caleb practically ran to the stairs.
Regina narrowed her eyes as he sprinted up the staircase. She shook her head in disapproval. "These kids. Just walking in the house like they're some damn married couple. Ridiculous."
"Our door is always unlocked, Regina," Ashley explained.
"That's your problem," she said wagging a finger. "You're too trusting. Who knows what's going on above us as we speak," she whispered.
"I have a rule; Hanna's not allowed to have any boys upstairs, especially when I'm not here. And I trust my daughter. Caleb's not a bad kid either, Regina."
"Uh huh," she rolled her eyes. "I still think you're making things too easy for them."
"And that's your opinion," Ashley said. "I know how to raise my kid." She left going upstairs.
Hanna and Caleb had been wrapping gifts for hours. Hanna was getting frustrated. She had used at least 2 sheets trying to wrap each present. She either didn't cut it long enough, causing her to rip it as she tried to stretch the paper out or she couldn't fold the edges right and then she just wanted to start all over. Caleb, however, was a pro at this.
"Here, give it to me," he said seeing Hanna get frustrated for about the hundredth time.
"Here," she handed it to him frowning, "it's ruining my manicure."
"I think your manicure is ruining the wrapping paper," Caleb joked. Her pointed nails were causing way more rips in the paper than not.
"How'd you get so good at this," she asked as he wrapped the gift quickly and efficiently?
"One Christmas, I was in this foster home and the parents had like 6 kids there before me we had to wrap the gifts for their 3 bio kids. They definitely had an agenda when it came to fostering," he lifted his brows. "They treated us like we were their elves."
"Caleb, I'm sorry." Hanna always felt so terrible when he told her stories like that and there was nothing she could say to take back all the bad years in his childhood. Because what could you say to that?
"Hey, at least I got a useful skill out of it. I've never had to waste money on mall gift wrapping," he smirked. His face wrinkled when he saw a familiar figure behind Hanna. "Hey, isn't that your grandma?"
She was talking to Spencer giving her a hug.
"Yeah, it is." Hanna got up and walked over there. "Grandma?!"
"Hanny! I thought I'd come down here and see the progress you guys made."
"Well don't come to my station. Caleb's been fixing all my bad wrapping."
"Han, if you wanna help carry the gifts to the gym instead, you can see if Emily needs anymore people," Spence said.
"Yeah, that's totally my life's dream," Hanna said laced with sarcasm. "Let me just go tell Caleb," she said about to go over there.
"That's okay, Hanny. I'll tell him." Grandma Marin walked over to the table station and sat across from Caleb. "Hanny got switched to gift gathering duty. So, I'm happy to help."
Caleb still felt a little nervous around Hanna's grandma. But he made a mental note to tease Hanna about the nickname her grandma coined.
They wrapped the gifts silently for a few moments. Hanna's grandma was a pretty good wrapper herself. Then, she started up small talk, trying to get a sense of if this guy was good enough for her granddaughter.
"So," she began ready to just cut to the chaste, "do you have good intentions with my grandbaby?"
Caleb stopped wrapping and looked at her totally thrown off guard. She really was a lady who did not waste time. "Ms. Marin," Caleb said nervously, "Hanna is the kindest, coolest, most caring person I've ever met. She helped me when I didn't have anyone else. We've been through a lot together and we've had rough moments, but there hasn't been a minute that I haven't loved your granddaughter. I would never want to hurt her."
At that moment, while Regina analyzed his words skeptically, Hanna walked up looking very frustrated. "I swear if Emily doesn't quit I'm gonna wrap her head." Caleb had to laugh at the girl in front of him and her blunt annoyance.
"Pardon me, I'm gonna go use the loo," Granny Marin spoke glancing at the awestruck boy.
"She is driving me nuts," Hanna said once her grandma left! "I can't with the back and forth and the "you put that in the wrong pile," she imitated Em. "She's not even doing any of the work."
"Oh relax," Caleb smiled, "it's only a few more hours and then you are home free."
"Easy for you to say, you don't have to deal with The Grinch who stole all my happiness on Christmas."
"Hanna," Emily shouted from the doorway a little too loudly!
"Save me," she mouthed to Caleb before going back under Emily's supervision.
Surely enough after 3 and ½ more hours, Hanna was beat. Her legs were sore from walking so much in her 4 in. heel boots. She dragged her feet through the door with her grandma close behind.
"Ugh, I need to soak my feet for 7 years," she complained.
"Your feet might start looking like mine," Regina joked. "You know, Caleb seems like a very nice young man," she said as Hanna searched through their always empty fridge.
Hanna looked back at her wondering what sparked the sudden statement.
"I'll tell ya, that boy talks about you like you're Farrah Fawcett."
"Who," Hanna looked confused?
"Honey, it's a compliment," she laughed walking out of the room. "She was very popular in my day."
Once she left Hanna pulled out her phone, having to see just how much of a "compliment" it was.
