Confessions of a Teenage Caffeine Addict

37 // Family

It's important to take the time

to tell the people you love,

how much you love them...

—Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

____________________________________

KATIE

NOVEMBER // 4 MONTHS EARLIER

"Finnegan Jameson Hawthorne, you have exactly thirty seconds to get your little butt down these stairs!" Nora shouted, one hand cupped against the side of her mouth as she leaned against the bannister. I looked up from my book to see Finn hopping down the stairs moments later.

"I've been try to tie this thing forever." He held up a red bowtie that had little powder blue squares on dotting it. I watched as Nora knelt down to tie it, her eyes level with his.

"There, now you look fit for a party."

"Do I look dapper?" Finn looked up at her.

"Incredibly dapper." She touched his head. "You know... Nana and Papa are here." She said with a sly smile before heading back into the kitchen to check on dinner.

"Katie, come on." Finn dragged me off of the couch before I even had time to protest.

"There's the man of the hour!" Dad said as we walked into the living room. Finn ran over to two people who I could only assume were Nana and Papa, but I wasn't sure if they were mine or not. I watched as he threw himself into their arms. "Hi, sweat pea." Dad smiled at me.

"Hi," I didn't really know what else to say because there was so much happening right now. Typically, 'grandparents' and 'overstimulation' don't belong in the same sentence, but that law didn't apply to me since I hadn't seen them since I was eight and my memory of them was fuzzy at best.

"Holy cow, you shot up like a beanstalk!" the older gentleman said as he made his way over to me and pulled me into a hug. And right then, I remembered. That hug reminded me of cigar smoke and back scratches, stolen cookies from the cookie jar and mini-golf.

I hugged him back. "Papa," I mumbled into his chest.

"Long time no see, kid," He said to me, and I hoped he was glaring at my dad. I pulled away from the hug to find that he and Nana were both shooting daggers at Dad. Good.

"Wait, Katie," Finn said.

"Yeah, Finny?" I looked over at the little boy sitting on the arm of one of the couches.

"These are your grandparents too?" he asked. I nodded. "Oh my gosh, we share grandparents?" Clearly this whole idea of being related was quite perplexing to him.

I laughed. "Well, we are related."

"Are you and Ava related?" Finn asked in the most innocent way possible.

I opened my mouth to reply, when thankfully, Ava saved me. "Of course we are, Finnegan." Her hand slipped into mine for a brief moment and I gave it a squeeze.

I decided that grandparents were a new concept to me. I mean, they were and they weren't. The grandparents on Mum's side died before I was born and I had very few memories of the ones on Dad's side. Before Papa hugged me, I didn't have a problem with that, but as soon as he let go, I found myself wishing for more jelly-donuts on Sunday mornings and half-finished crossword puzzles. There was a pit deep in my stomach filled with resentment, towards Finn of all people—so innocent—he didn't realize how lucky he was to have a family, grandparents and snuggles included.