"Hey Grandma Sarah! Hey Grandpa Merrick!" I shouted from the living room of my grandparent's house as I walked in the door. It had been two months since I had seen them.
"Oh my! Let me see my grandson's face!" My Grandma Sarah shouted from the kitchen. They had just finished eating lunch and were talking at the kitchen table.
"Don't worry. I haven't changed that much," I said as I met her at the kitchen doorway. She gave me a hug.
"Oh my goodness!" my Grandma Sarah shouted as the hug ended. She backed out of the doorway so I could get into the kitchen. "You look like your grandfather when he was your age."
"Well I'll be damned," my Grandpa Merrick said as he laughed. He stood up from his chair. "You sure as hell look a lot like me."
I smiled. "You don't have to get up for me Grandpa Merrick," I told him. He stood up anyway. "So, is that a good thing?" Both of my grandparents laughed.
"I don't know. Your grandfather was always one to get into trouble." She turned to my Grandpa Merrick and smiled. He returned her smile.
"How long have you been in town? Have you gone to see your other grandparents? By the way, how are they?" Grandpa Merrick asked. He walked towards me and shook my hand.
"I just got back. I was going to go see mom and dad, but they aren't home. So I decided to come see the two of you first. As for Grandma Joyce and Grandpa RJ, they are doing well. I called them earlier to see if they would be home. You know Grandpa RJ. He loves to travel," I said. I hadn't seen either one of them since I moved out. They had left to go on a month cruise to Alaska a week before I moved.
"Well, don't forget to go by and see them," my Grandma Sarah said. She hugged me again.
"I won't." I looked around the kitchen. I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. "Where is Zen?"
"He's on the porch sun bathing," Grandpa Merrick said.
Zen was my Grandpa Merrick's husky. He got Zen when he was just a pup on the day I was born, eighteen years ago. My first memory of Zen was when I had fallen out of a tree and broke my arm when I was four years old. Zen ran to my grandparent's house and began to bark wildly. About a minute later my Grandpa Merrick was rushing out of the house to see what the commotion was about. Zen led him straight to me. I was very relieved.
After I got my cast my Grandpa RJ and Grandpa Merrick, separately, told me that trees were not for me and that I should just stay on the ground. Both Grandma Joyce and Grandma Sarah thought that they were being too harsh on me.
"So, how is school going?" my Grandma Sarah asked.
"It's going. I've made some really great friends and my classes are going well. It is a lot better than high school. You couldn't pay me go to back and be a student."
"I knew you would like it. So, tell us about your friends," my Grandma Sarah insisted. I sat down at the head of the table so I would be between both my grandparents.
"Well there is Ryan and Michelle Evans, Sara Myers, Devin Cooper, and Daniel Delgado. We all call him Dan for short. They are a little crazy, but their good people and amazing friends. Though, they do have a habit of disappearing."
"Disappearing?" my Grandma Sarah asked. She looked confused.
"Yeah, sometimes they will disappear, but they always reappear later in the day. They all make good grades. And it is rare if they ever skip class." I was trying to calm her down. I didn't want her to think that they were going off and doing drugs or something to that nature.
"Oh, ok. You had me worried for a minute. Can't let our oldest grandson get mixed up with the wrong crowd," she said as she sighed. Then a smile crossed her lips. She turned towards my Grandpa Merrick. He was lost in his own thoughts. Her smile faded. "Honey, are you ok?"
My Grandpa Merrick looked at her. "Everything is fine. I'm just thinking." She nodded, as if she was sending him some kind of signal. "Well then, I'm gonna head off to my shop. I want to finish that damn project that I'm working on for your uncle," he said as he headed to the door. He shook my hand. "Come by later, before you head back to Turtle Cove." I nodded. "Well then, take care."
He walked out of the door as my Grandma Sarah got up. "So, what are you going to do the rest of the day?"
"I'm gonna go see Grandma Joyce and Grandpa RJ. They said that they would be home at two and its one forty-five right now. So, I guess I better head off."
"Well, be careful," she said as she hugged me again. She let go and I headed towards the back of the kitchen.
"I will," I said as I headed out the back door to see Zen before I left. I passed by their refrigerator and saw that Grandpa Merrick had made a metal plate that read 'Baliton Family' and stuck it on the top. Under it were tons of pictures of me and my younger cousins. I smiled as I started to remember some of the crazy things that we would do. Then I turned my attention back to leaving and started walking to the back door. I said goodbye to my Grandma Sarah one last time as I reached the door.
I walked outside to see Zen sitting up. It looked like he was waiting for me. I walked over to him and pet him for about ten minutes. Then I got in my car and headed to see my other grandparents.