From Azalea

Day 10

Day 10:

"Good morning, bud," Grant's Dad caught him going down the stairs to the kitchen. Grant looked down in surprise. His dad was seated at the table and had an instant coffee in one hand and a piece of toast in the other.

"H-Hi."

"Not a morning person? Don't worry, neither am I. Why do you think I have a cup of coffee?"

Grant ignored Kody to reach into a cupboard for the box of cereal and a bowl. Grant joined his dad. A long silence followed, only disrupted by the slurp of coffee and the crunch of cereal, so this is what Grant had always thought about. When Grant's dad was done, the slurps ceased, but his dad didn't get up and go away. Grant finished and cleaned up his dad's coffee cup and his own dishes, something he'd seen good sons do in films and such.

"Thanks," Kody said curtly, stunned by Grant's behaviour.

"You're welcome."

"Did we get off on the wrong foot or something, because you were all cool yesterday and now you... don't want to talk to me?"

"I, I don't know what to say," Grant replied sheepishly.

"Oh! That's easy, you just say anything and everything that pops in your head, but remember your filter!"

"Filter, what's a filter?"

"Don't say just everything that come to mind, say most of it, but leave out the parts that would get you in trouble or might be offensive. 'Kay?"

"Okay."

"Ah!" Kody exclaimed and raced up the stairs away from Grant. Grant could hear the heavy footfalls his dad made through the floor. What Kody brought down was a 1947 Gibson Les Paul. He dumped it into Grant's arms as Grant gazed astoundedly at the polished instrument. Grant turned it around in his hands.

"You can play it if you want to," Kody offered. "It always helped my blather mouth if there was a song I could sing to."

"I don't know how to, at least, not the real thing. Can you?"

"A little. I'm not as good as Kaitlyn."

"My mother?"

"Right, but I'll show you what I can do," Kody took the guitar back into his hands and adjusted his fingers along the strings. "It's a really old song, I'll warn you."

"Just play already," Grant insisted.

"Fine." You are my sunshine began to resonate out of the guitar as Kody played flawlessly. He played with grace, his movements seamless. He rocked his body with the music. Grant watched the way his hands moved. When the song was over, they sat still, taking in the last drops of the enchanting atmosphere.

"That was great," Grant said, floored.

"I've known it for years, I've been working on something much more impressive, I can't quite play it right yet..."

"I want to hear it," Grant pushed.

"Well, ok," Kody sat up a little straight, repositioning his hands. Less smoothly this time, he pulled each note out. It sounded beautiful and complex. He transitioned to the next string of notes. Fumbling, he abruptly muted the strings with his palm as a nasty buzz cut the melody. "Ugh, I can never get that part right!"

"You're playing that part wrong. Give it here," a woman with long light brown hair came down from the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt demanded.

"Ah, Grant, this is your mom, Kaitlyn." Kody surrendered the Guitar to Grant's Mom.

"Hi. Mom," He said separately testing out the words.

"Oh, hi. You sure have grown up, Grant." Kaitlyn adjusted her fingers on the strings, before playing the same lines that his dad had failed, perfectly. She continued the song and finished it. They ate dinner together and played an old board game called Monopoly. Grant was like a plant soaking up sunshine as he did with his parents attention. Grant played Kody's old guitar with many corrections from his mom. He enjoyed the feel of the real instrument in his hands. It took him a few tries to get used to it. His hands were clumsy, but he'd been learning for years in the online world, so once he adjusted, he could shred.