Chapter 39- A Spoiled Granddaughter
"Do you think Jason will like my oatmeal cookies?" Aiden, carrying a plate of cookies, asked Elizabeth as they walked past Sam with Cameron and Jake.
"I think he'll love them," Elizabeth said.
"They're sugar-free, egg-free, dairy-free, gluten free," Aiden said. "So that won't make him sicker, right?"
"That's right," Elizabeth said.
Cameron groaned. "I don't know, cookies without sugar would make me sick…"
Elizabeth sighed. "They're not going to make him sick… Have your painting ready, Jake?"
"Yeah…" Jake scrunched his face as he looked at the small canvas. "I don't know… It's kind of cheesy."
"Your dad loves motorcycles and you painted it, so he'll love it."
"Why don't you have a gift for Jason, Cam?" Aiden asked.
Cameron shrugged. "My presence is a gift to all."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's real nice, Cameron…"
"It's true," Cameron said as they disappeared down the hallway.
The elevator doors opened, and Julian and Alexis stepped out, Alexis carried a large bouquet of flowers.
"Lex, those are going to take up so much room!" Julian said.
"They'll brighten her room up. I want to give her something…"
"Then give her a twenty…" Julian suggested. "Lots of grandparents hand over wads of cash to their grandkids."
Sam laughed a little.
"I'm not buying her love!" Alexis groaned. "Well, unless she needs money then I'll give it to her… but I think flowers are a good start before we begin to spoil her."
"They're going to take up her bedside table and will probably just get in the way."
"It's the least I can do."
"The flowers are beautiful." Sam walked over to them. "Willow's going to love them."
"Thank you!" Alexis smirked at Julian. "See, our daughter agrees with me."
"Oooo…" Julian placed a hand over his heart. "Sam, how could you turn on your old man like that and join in on your mother's crazy ideas?"
Sam sniggered. "This time, I think it's a good idea."
Alexis smiled. "How are things going?"
Sam sighed. "Harmony keeps coming around trying to get Willow to join V-Town. But other than that, she's recovering well. We told her this morning. Jax and I did most of the talking and we shared some tears, but she did say she wants to work on building a relationship with us."
"That's wonderful," Alexis said. "It'll take time and she's probably overwhelmed right now. But you're definitely off to a better start than we were."
Sam nodded. "Even though Harmony is driving me crazy right now… she did tell me a bit of what Willow was like as a child. She's always loved children and animals. But what surprised me, is that she was a genius and skipped several grades. She must get it from you and Molly, maybe Jax, she definitely doesn't get it from me."
Alexis scrunched her face. "You're smart too, just in a different way. Your mind works more like your father's…"
"I guess… so, Jax is going to hang around the hospital during Danny's swim meet. Just to make sure Harmony's not pressuring her about V-town. Then I'll come back later."
"Yeah, we thought we'd drive you," Julian said. "That way you don't lose your parking spot."
They headed to Willow's hospital room and pushed the door open. Jax and Josslyn were on either side of her.
"So, you watch Riverdale too?" Josslyn grinned. "I've had a huge crush on Cole Sprouse since I was a kid."
"Me too," Willow said. "I watched the Suite Life every chance I got."
"Maybe when Season 5 starts we can have weekly hangouts and watch it," Josslyn suggested.
Willow nodded. "I'd like that."
"Well, I better go find Cam," Josslyn said. "He's here too and we're heading to the beach with our friends."
Jax rose. "I'll walk you out. But I'll be back in a bit."
Willow smiled a little.
Josslyn followed her dad to the door, then turned back. "By the way, I'm glad you're not Nelle." They passed by Sam, Julian, and Alexis and left.
"Willow, darling…" Alexis walked over and set the flowers on her bedside table, covering most of it.
Julian sighed. "You'll have to excuse your grandmother. You'll quickly learn that she has crazy ideas that she instills on the rest of us."
"Well, they're very lovely…" Willow said softly.
"You'll also learn quickly that your grandfather puts down my ideas."
Julian crossed his arms. "She barely has room to breathe now."
"Uh guys…" Sam tried to cut in.
Julian pulled out his wallet and handed Willow a twenty-dollar bill.
"Um, I don't—" Willow started to say.
Alexis groaned.
"See, Lex," Julian said. "That's all we had to give her. It doesn't take up space and will give her a little gas money when she gets out of here."
Alexis scoffed. "Are you trying to one-up me with our granddaughter? Well, I can do better than that." She pulled out a fifty-dollar bill from her purse and gave it to Willow. "There you go sweetheart."
Sam rolled her eyes.
"Fifty?" Julian scrunched his face. "Is that the best you can do?" He handed her a hundred-dollar bill.
"Oh, that's real nice, Julian," Alexis said, then removed her golden hooped earrings and handed them to Willow. "These are 24-karat. They're my favourite pair. I think they'll look lovely on you."
"I really don't—" Willow tried.
"Oh, real clever, Lex," Julian said. "You know I don't have jewelry to give."
"Mom, Dad…" Sam interrupted. "A word in the hallway before we go?"
"Sure, honey," Alexis said, then gave Willow's hand a soft squeeze. "I'm so glad you're going to make a full recovery. We'll come visit you soon."
Sam took Julian and Alexis by the arms and took them out to the hallway.
Julian smiled. "I think that went really well."
Sam's eyes grew wide. "Uh, no. I don't want you to scare her off. Don't overindulge her so much and compete with it at that."
"But that's what grandparents are for," Julian said.
"Did you really have to keep one-upping me?" Alexis set her hands on her hips.
"You're the one who started giving her jewelry."
Sam groaned as they continued bickering, then walked back into Willow's room.
"I am so sorry," Sam said. "I don't know what's gotten into them today."
"It's okay…" Willow stared at the money and the earrings in her hands. "I should give it back though."
Sam sighed. "Knowing them, they won't let you. They mean well, they're just showing it in a weird way right now."
"I just don't want them to think I'm expecting it."
"Nobody thinks that." Sam sat at edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay. I'm just ready to get out of here."
"It was nice to see you with Josslyn."
Willow smiled a little. "I always wanted a sister."
"Well, Josslyn is a great girl. All of your siblings are great, and they'll be lucky to have you too. Speaking of which, I'm heading over to Danny's swim meet in a few minutes."
Willow lowered her gaze.
"But Jax is going to hang around and I'll be back later."
She looked up at her again. "You guys don't have to. I'm a big girl, you don't need to babysit me."
"We want to be here. Please know that."