How it Happened

Three

Three

106 days until the wedding

     The morning sun leaks in from the sliding glass door and I shift around in my seat as it warms my left arm. My phone remains poised in one hand as I scoop up cereal with the other, all the while praying that brown artificially colored milk doesn't land on my neon pink work polo.

     Social media has never really been my thing, but scrolling through relatable Instagram posts, that are most likely from Tumblr, has become a summer morning ritual I can never seem to erase.

     Fluffy pink slippers catch my attention in my peripheral vision as they languidly shuffle into the kitchen, but I pay no mind to them as my eyes continue their dance around small black words. Once the milk from my spoon gets a little too close to dripping on my khaki shorts I finally go to exit out of the meaningless distraction, but movement has me glancing back over to a cheetah print robe. A fleeting glance quickly becomes a double take as my spoon goes clattering back into my bowl.

     "Grandma?" My questions isn't as urgent as I wanted it to be, but luckily the dramatics of my spoon managed to catch both my parents attention as we watch my grandma as she seizes in her chair with her left hand clutched to her chest, and her eyes beginning to roll back.

     "Josephine!" my mom gasps just as my dad's chair scrapes against the floor as he yells, "mom!"

     "Oh good." The seizing immediately stops with a wave of my grandma's hand as she adjusts the sides of her robe. "Glad to know you'd look up from those electronic boxes long enough to notice if I was dying."

     "Really, ma?" My dad disapprovingly shakes his head as he carries his empty coffee mug over to the sink.

     My grandma ignores the clear distain written on my parent's faces and sends me a wink when she meets my gaze to match her already satisfied smile.

     The smile is then replaced by a jolt when a ding resonates from her robe pocket and she quickly slides out her own smart phone. Her gasp keeps my parents attention for a few more seconds before the smile reappears.

     "Blake Sheldon just retweeted me."

     "The country singer?" My mom's eyes widen as she gets up to see it for herself with her coffee mug clutched to her chest.

     My grandma quickly shoos her away. "No, silly, the one from that hula dancing class I took in Miami."

     "Hypocrite," my dad mumbles behind me, no doubt returning his attention back down to his own phone.

     "But anyway," Grandma Josephine continues oblivious to his comment. "Where's the bride to be?" 

     "In her apartment." I laugh.

     "Where she's been living for the past three years," my mom continues.

     "With Ben," I finish.

     My dad grunts as if begrudgingly giving his confirmation on the subject.

     "Oh no, no, no, that won't do." 

     My mom and I share a wary look before returning our attention back over to my grandma's pursed lips.

     "Shouldn't she be moving back home?"

     My mom doesn't even try to hold back her laugh as she walks over to my dad and my dad even chuckles as my mom disposes her now empty cup in the sink behind him.

     "What do you want me to say? She's twenty-five and has been more than capable of living on her own."

     "No, I mean, because of the wedding."