Don't Let Us Go

Mother's Advise

"Who is this beauty?" Mama Grace complimented of the little girl in her son's lap over FaceTime.

Waving her small hand, the shy child gave a silent hello.

"Ma, this is Gracianna. Your granddaughter."  Spencer ripped the bandaid off, causing his mother to choke on her afternoon cup of tea.

Little Cici giggled at the result of her Dad's late reveal of her existence.

"....My....what?" Mama Grace coughed, needing to hear the statement again, in case she heard incorrectly.

"She's my daughter, Ma." Spencer rephrased.

"Which one of these fast little groupies have you knocked up, boy!" His mother immediately went into scolding mode, causing Cici to cover her ears in shock.

Widening his eyes, he instinctivly jerked back from the phone, as if his mom could reach through the screen and smack him silly. Scared by his mother's obvious anger towards his hypothetical indecency, Spencer reverted into a childish natural, immediately needing to explain his actions.

"It's not what you think, Ma. I didn't hook up with no random. She's mine and Liv's little girl." Spencer informed an upset Mama Grace, hoping to lighten her mood. "Olivia was pregnant when we broke up. I just found out myself this morning."

"What are you talking about, Spencer?" Mama Grace gasped, stunned by the turn of events. "Are you saying she hid my grand baby from you? Olivia wouldn't do that. Not Billy's girl."

"I don't know why she did it. I haven't gotten in touch with her yet." Spencer detailed,"I thought I'd introduce yall first, then deal with Olivia afterward." He added, stroking Gracianna's curls.

"Her name...." Mama Grace teared up, gazing at her apparent granddaughter. "She's umm...."

"Yeah, Ma. She's named after you." Spencer grinned as his mom cried lightly at the news. "Olivia named her after you and Pops. Tell your grandma your full name, Ci." He insisted gently, giving his daughter a comforting pat on the back.

"Grac..ianna... Cori...lynn...James." She mumbled, still getting used to the idea of her grandmother whom she'd heard of but never met.

Unable to resist, Mama Grace let more tears flow, processing her granddaughter's namesake.

"That's a beautiful name for a precious little girl." Mama Grace complimented once more.

"Thanks, Nana." Cici giggled again, amused by how easily her grandmother cried. "I've also wanted to meet you. Mama says I got most of my brains from you and Lolo."

"Who's Lolo?" Mama Grace laughed at the nickname.

"Olivia's mom. That's what she calls her."

"Uh, huh. Lolo is married to Papa Bi." Cici agreed with her father, adding Billy Baker to the mix.

"So Billy and Laura knew about her and didn't bother to let either of us know. Unbelievable." Mama Grace snapped towards no one in particular.

"Baby girl, let me speak to your Nana real quick." Spencer whispered into Cici's ear, kissing the side of her head.

"Ok." Gracianna nodded, hopping off of Spencer's lap, "Nice to finally meet you, Nana."

"You too, pretty girl. I will speak to you more after your daddy and I talk." Mama Grace promised as the little smiled before trotting off.

Once she was at a good distance, Mama Grace became frank. "Who do they think they are keeping a whole child from her own family?! If Olivia hadn't decided to come clean, I would have missed the entire life of my only grandbaby." She fumed.