Page 105 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas
“The paper, of course! What kind of grandparent wouldn’t save clippings of their grandbaby on his biggest day?”
“The paper?” Jeannie murmured.
The older man, who had been completely silent and stoic so far, pulled out a folded newspaper clipping and held it out.From my vantage point, my shifter-enhanced sight was able to make out that the headline was about the cancer center and its high success rate. In the collage of pictures underneath it was Max ringing the cancer-free bell, and another was what looked like a birthday celebration, with Jeannie kneeling next to his wheelchair, both of them wearing party hats.
This definitely wasn’t a happy reunion at all.
“I see,” Jeannie said dully, and I straightened, ready to take a step forward and escort the older people firmly away if they tried pressing anything.
“Look, I know we didn’t leave off on the best note the last time, but surely you can understand it was quite a shock to learn that our grandson had cancer and that he beat it. We tried to find you right away, but as you can imagine, it took us a while.”
Wait, that article was how they found out that Max was sick? That meant they hadn’t been in contact with their daughter for at least three years. Their tone made it sound like it was a simple misunderstanding between them, but simple misunderstandings didn’t cause a single mother to cut her parents off in a time when she needed all the support she could get.
I barely managed to suppress a growl. I had gone from alert and worried to full-on ready to throw down. Which definitely wasn’t a possibility. They had to be in their fifties, but the bear within me didn’t care. I had no doubt that these were the people who had given Jeannie her hang-ups about accepting help and made her believe she could only rely on herself.
“Look, Max is recovering from a bad bout of pneumonia, so this isn’t a good time.”
“Pneumonia! Oh dear! Is the poor thing all right?”
“My sonis taking medication and being treated appropriately.”
Finally, the two people acknowledged Jeannie’s terse tone. Her father frowned, while her mother plastered a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m sorry, dear. I know we made a lot of mistakes, but please, we’d like to make our amends. It’s not right for you to have to do this all on your own.”
Oh…
That was…
That was kind of whatIhad said.
I liked it better when it came from me.
“You deserve so much, and we failed to give you that. For that we are so, so, sorry. Really, we just want a chance to make it up to you, and fix what we broke.”
Jeannie stiffened slightly, and I knew she had to be channeling through a thousand different emotions.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” I hedged from behind her. I didn’t want to interfere without being asked into the conversation, but I also didn’t want Jeannie to think she had to deal with this on her own. I had no idea if it was just bad blood between her and her parents, or debilitating trauma, but either way, it was up to her how she handled it. I would support her no matter what.
“And who is this?” her father asked somewhat tersely. I could see where Jeannie had gotten her “serious” tone from. I couldn’t help but wonder if that frustrated her, or perhaps even scared her a little. The bear and human sides of me were both anxious to get her away from them so I could check in with her.
“No one you need to worry about. If you want, we can meet on Thursday while Max is at physical therapy.”
“Meet where? Here?”
“No. Absolutely not. I do not want you appearing in front of my house without a specific invitation ever again. I’m giving you a chance, but I’m telling you right here and now, if you try to pull anything like you did back when I was a kid, I willfile a restraining order so fast your head will spin.” I hated, absolutelyhatedthat Jeannie was having to deal with this on top of everything else, but I couldn’t help but be intensely proud of how she was handling it. Always such a warrior. Always so brave. “We’ll meet at the café on the corner of Main and Third Street. Cuppa Love, it’s called. Be there at two and we can have this talk. If you’re serious about making amends, I’m willing to discuss the possibility of you being in Max’s life. But make no mistake, I’ve protected him from everything I had to deal with growing up, and he will never,everhave to go through the things I did. Understand?”
“Of course, Junie-berry, of course. We only want what’s best for you.”
“So, you say. And just so you know, my name is Jeannie. Refer to me as such. Goodnight.”
With that, she closed the door in their faces. She stared at the solid wood and took several long breaths.
I didn’t say anything, didn’t move as she inhaled and exhaled shakily. When she finally turned to me, I extended my hand, exuding all the calming pheromones I could.
“I’m here for whatever you want to say. And if you want to say nothing, that’s okay. The same deal is on where I can go back to making you dinner, you take a nice long hot shower, and then we all eat up in Max’s room while the girls read to him. Whatever is happening, you don’t have to deal with it right now.
“But if youwantto explain, I’m ready to listen.”
She took a deep, shuddering breath, but still no words escaped her mouth. Instead, she gripped my hand firmly and pulled me back to the kitchen, the farthest point in the house from the stairs leading to the second floor and Max’s bedroom.
