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Chapter 3

Every Saturday and half of Sunday, John had off. During that time, there was a part-time caretaker who came in to take over for him. While he hated leaving Martha, he was glad to have this time to be able to go and visit his own mother.

His mother was fifteen years older than Martha, but she was much healthier and able to care for herself. But he still enjoyed his weekends with her. He would arrive early on Saturday morning and stay until right before lunch on Sundays.

Each Sunday morning, he awoke in his childhood bedroom. It still had some of the old posters on the walls that he had as a young teen. Even after trying to convince his mother that she could redecorate, she refused to do so. She said she liked the memories.

John pulled at the edge of one of the faded posters. It was torn and the light tug made it drop some. Worried his mother might get upset, John quickly tried to fix the poster on the wall. Then he stepped out of his bedroom to find his mother had already made breakfast.

"You don't have to make me breakfast every Sunday morning," he told her, walking over to her to kiss her cheek.

"You're my little boy," she answered. "I'll always make you breakfast when you're here."

"I'm hardly a little boy anymore, Mother."

"You'll always be to me."

John just chuckled and began to grab plates and cutlery to set the table for the both of them. He did enjoy these weekends with his mother. It was a good way for them to catch up over how their weeks went. His mother tried to insist that he not spend all of his free time with her and try to put himself out there, but he told her no. He'd done the married life and now he was happy with his job and spending the rest of his life with her.

"So," his mother said, taking a seat at the table. "How's the icy boss?"

John laughed.

"Still icy," he replied.

"Do you know why she's so icy? Any clues, yet?"

"No," John simply said. "And I don't care to know. She keeps our lives rather separated. I tried to speak to her the other day about her mother's condition and she basically told me she knew and had no intentions of spending more time with her. Her mother could be within her last months of life and Ms. Smith seemingly doesn't care at all."

John's mother, Nora, twisted her lips.

"That's sad," she murmured. "She has children?"

"Yes, two little girls."

"Is she cold with them?"

"No," John stated. "But I have only seen her interact with them a few times. As I said, I rarely see any of them."

"Maybe something happened between her and her mother. She must care a little bit to have her mother being cared for," Nora wondered aloud. "She's a single mother?"

"Yes, I haven't seen the ex. As far as I know, she's the sole parent of the girls."

"Perhaps she's overwhelmed."

"But even overwhelmed, wouldn't you care for your mother?"

Nora gave her son a sweet smile, bringing her hand over to rest it on his cheek.

"You're a good son, John. You made being a single mother easy and I still struggled. I had to keep the food on the table and the house in order."

"She's got a maid and a nanny, Mother. I don't think she's struggling monetarily."

"It doesn't have to be monetarily. Having money doesn't fix all of a person's problems," she smartly said. "Maybe you should try and get to know her more, understand why she's the way that she is."

John sighed, but nodded, even though he didn't plan on following his mother's advice. He knew she meant well, but he and Ms. Smith got along well enough for him to do his job correctly.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Taking in a deep breath, Anna iced the cake in front of her. It was lopsided. She was never much of a baker or a cook. She should have asked the nanny to make her a cake the day before while she was with the kids.

Gracie climbed up on the chair next to her and reached her little finger out and into the cup of icing.

"Yum," Gracie told her mother, before sticking her finger back into the cup and lifting it up to Anna's lips. "Try it?"

"No, Gracie. Stop putting your fingers in the icing. Now it has your germs in it." Gracie just licked the new icing off her finger and then randomly kissed Anna on the cheek, making Anna smile. She turned her attention back to her youngest daughter and kissed her back. "Oh Gracie Lou, you make me very happy, you know that?" Gracie nodded, making her blonde pigtails bounce. Gracie looked a lot like she had as a toddler. Arya looked more like her sister with her dark hair and dark eyes. Neither really looked like their father and Anna was fine with that.

Thinking of Arya, Anna scanned the kitchen and living room for her oldest. She found her curled up on the couch reading a book with headphones in her ears to block out the sound of Peppa Pig. Anna walked over to her and gently pulled the headphones off Arya's head. The little girl glanced up and when she saw it was her mother she smiled.

"Let's go. It's your Granny's birthday today. We're going to take her a cake."

"Oh! I drew her a picture!" Arya said, remembering. She jumped up from the couch and ran to her room. Gracie quickly followed behind her. Anna watched them disappear into their bedrooms and then come back out with pictures in their hands. They both happily showed her their photos they had drawn.

"When did you do these?"

"This morning when you mentioned it was her birthday," Arya answered. "Do you think she'll like them?"

"I do," Anna replied, giving her girls a small smile. They were both so pure and innocent. She hoped she hadn't made the worst mistake bringing her mother into their home.

After she grabbed the cake, she and the girls walked downstairs to do the small celebration with her mother. She had already informed Mr. Bates of what her plan was, so hopefully she was dressed and prepared for their visit. He had seemed shocked when she mentioned they were doing something special for her birthday, but she ignored it. She had learned to ignore other people's opinions about her a long time ago.

"Happy birthday, Granny!" Arya yelled, running into the bright living room.

Her mother was dressed and had a big smile when Arya ran up to show her the picture she drew her.

"Oh, my sweet Laura," Martha said, patting Arya's head.

"I'm Arya," Arya reminded her, shaking her head. Gracie, following her sister, also handed Martha a photo.

"Oh, Anna," Martha murmured, attempting to lift Gracie into her lap. Anna swallowed hard. She stepped forward and pulled Gracie back toward her.

"Mum, I'm Anna," she reminded her. "These are your grandchildren: Arya and Gracie. They're my girls."

"Right, right," Martha replied, though she looked confused.

"We're going to Facetime with Laura and her boys after we have cake. Where's Mr. Bates?"

At the sound of his name, Mr. Bates walked out from the downstairs bathroom. The room grew even more uncomfortable.

"Right," Anna began. "We'll sing and do cake and then call my sister."

"Why cake?" Martha questioned.

"It's your birthday," Anna quickly reminded her mother. Anna then turned away from her mother and the girls. She walked over to grab the cake and brought it over to the table in front of her mother. As she stepped closer, she found that her mother had brought Gracie into her lap and had Arya close beside her.

"Here," Mr. Bates offered, taking the knife from Anna's hand. "Let me. That way you can spend the time with your mum."

"Thanks," Anna said, but she just stepped back. Gracie had taken one of Martha's hands into her own and the two had begun to sing the song about the different fingers. Arya, who felt she was too old for that toddler song, just twisted her braid with her finger.

When the song was over, Anna decided it was time to step in.

"Gracie, why don't you come and take a seat over here and you can eat your cake," she tried. But Gracie shook her head.

"My Anna can sit in my lap," Martha stated, before she kissed the top of Gracie's head. "And my Laura right here next to me." Anna blinked harshly.

"Can you cut that any quicker?" Anna nearly bit at Mr. Bates. "We need to call my sister soon and then get upstairs so my mother can nap."

Mr. Bates gave her a look, but didn't say anything. He gave them each a plate of cake and Anna told them all to eat it quickly.

"I'll go ahead and call your Aunt Laura," Anna told the girls. She set her iPad on the table and had it call her sister.

When her sister and three little boys showed up on the screen, Martha asked who it was. Laura tried to explain, but Martha just grew agitated.

"It's time for her nap," Anna explained to Laura. "You can call her later today. Love you and the boys." Then she hung it up.

She felt a nervous energy around her and couldn't wait to be back upstairs.

"Would you like me to read you a book, Anna? What about your favorite, The Velveteen Rabbit?"

"Her name is Gracie," Anna impatiently said, pulling Gracie out of her mother's lap. "Come on Arya." She grabbed at Arya's hand and began to lead both of her girls back upstairs. Arya complained slightly about not finishing her cake, but Anna just ignored her. She closed the door behind them and told her girls she would make them another cake or take them out for doughnuts.

"Doughnuts!" The two girls exclaimed.

"Alright, let's go."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

John heard the door slam above them and narrowed his lips into a thin line. What on earth was that? He felt uncomfortable and embarrassed for Martha. She seemed completely confused, wiping her lips with one of the napkins.

"I'm sorry about that," John began, as he tried to smooth over what had just happened for Martha's sake.

"It's alright. I've already forgotten," Martha said with a slight chuckle in her voice. They could hear the sound of feet rushing toward the front door and Martha looked up. "Did I call the little one Anna again?"

"You did."

"Oh," Martha murmured. "Yes, she hates that. Can we call my Laura? I haven't spoken to her in ages."

"Yes," John said, with a small smile. "We can."

John had only spoken to Laura a few times, but she seemed much more patient with her mother and always willing to speak to her often. Martha had a small device where she could call her and it appeared that Laura answered nearly every day. John wondered why she wasn't the one caring for her mother and why Anna, who seemed to hate her mother, chose to do it. He was not sure that this was the best set up for any of them.

To be continued...

Still an icy Anna and a confused John. But don't worry, I have a plan ;)