Lilith & Hunter: The Raven's Nest

Grandparents

“Um sweet flea, are you going to let us in?” 

No, I thought to myself but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. I was too stunned to think of a proper answer so I just stepped aside so they could come in.

Why were they here? Why hadn’t they called ahead? Why didn’t they give me time to mentally prepare myself for this?

My discussion with Darius had made me forget about mother not reaching out. I thought I was over all this but I was wrong. Seeing her at my doorstep along with father made all those feelings come rushing back. 

“Sorry for intruding on you like this.” 

“It’s okay dad.” That was a lie. Part of me wanted them to leave and come back later when I was ready. 

They both made their way in and I closed the door behind them taking a moment to try to calm myself. After all, it wasn’t like I didn’t want my parents visiting me, it's just that it took me completely off guard. I’ve been living in this home for years yet this was the first time they got to see it. When I turned around I saw them awkwardly standing in the middle of my living room. 

“This is the first time we’ve been here. Your house is very neat and clean. It’s the exact opposite of Edalyn’s home.” jested my mother. 

“Ha..ha ha yes the nanny keeps things clean,” I said keeping my voice as even as possible. Good Lilith, just keep this up. You can do this.  “So what brings you here so early in the morning and unannounced.” 

“Sorry I know this is really short notice. I wanted to schedule something with you but … well your father came home and he’s going to be leaving soon you see and I wanted for us both to be present to see the baby,” dad cleared his throat making mother stop. Her expression changed to that of shame and she looked down before continuing. “And you see I um…didn't have your contact information to let you know we were coming.”

Hearing that hurt but at least she was trying. If we wanted to repair our relationship we had to start somewhere. Right? I’m sure she tried asking Edalyn for my information but knowing my sister she wouldn’t have given it to her so she would have to come to me directly. 

“That’s okay mother, I’ll write it down for you before you go.” A look of relief filled her face and she quickly bounced back to her normal self. “Please take a seat. You two must be exhausted. You must have traveled through the night to get here so early.”

“Thank you dear and yes we headed out as soon as your father woke up yesterday,” she said while taking a seat on the sofa next to dad who had let himself drop on the seat.

“Sorry, it took us so long to come. I received your letter just a few weeks ago and as soon as I did I tried rushing home. I made it back a couple of days ago and rested up a bit before coming here. I wanted to be in top shape to meet my grandson. “ he said, smiling at Hunter. 

Noticing my father’s attention was now on him Hunter tried using me to hide his face bashfully from him. I would have assumed maybe he was frightened if it wasn’t for the sound of his giggling.

“Well, this is new. He’s normally not shy around people.” I noted. I moved closer to my father and took a seat next to him. As I did Hunter sneaked a peek at my father and noticed he was closer. He once again tried using me to hide from him but there was nowhere to go. “Hahaha it’s okay Hunter there’s no reason to be afraid.” 

After a moment he settled down and slowly looked at my father once more. Not wanting to startle him again, my father stayed still and watched Hunter to see what he would do. Hunter stared at him for a moment then very carefully reached out to try and touch my father’s beard. Realizing what Hunter was doing my father smiled and let it happen. As soon as Hunter’s hand touched my father’s beard he let out a small gasp and a spark of curiosity flashed across his eyes. He then repositioned himself so that he was sitting on my lap so he could use both hands to explore this new thing in front of him. It was a very tender moment until Hunter grabbed onto my father’s beard and pulled down hard.