I. L'instant [H.S]

LIV

Harry hasn't called.

That's all I can think about as I arrive at my grandparents' house. My aunt Lily's car is parked outside along a few more, I wonder for a moment if my mother is here but then I realise it's only Wednesday and if I'm not mistaken, my Nan's hosting her weekly gatherings for tea and biscuits which is something my mother dislikes and could be less than interested to participate in. When I ring the bell, one of my Nan's old friends opens up, smiling kindly at me and quickly recognising me even though I don't have the slightless idea of who she might be.

"Thank you." I smile back at her when I get in. "Where's my.."

Nan walks out of the living room, dressed all in neutral colours and a ominous smile hanging from her lips. "Emilia, sweetheart." She says with a soft lovey tone which is a bit unlike her.

My Nan's always been a bit of a hard woman, the pet names and tender gestures have never been her thing and that's something that I've always felt is more genuine to her character than whenever she tries to pretend she's a sweet lovely grandmother like she is right now. But I go along with it and smile and hug her tight when she opens her arms and tells me Opa is waiting for me in his study and leads her friend back to their gathering.

Opa's study is this small, compact room that's filled to the brim with books, maps, and old but thorough diagrams of all kinds of weapons. History, specially war and army, has always been his passion aside from numbers. The room smells of vetiver and coffee, all mixed up with Opa's familiar cologne. He's sitting by the floor to ceiling window, with his spectacles hanging from the lip of his nose as he reads something on the iPad I gave him two Christmas ago.

"Maus." He smiles the moment I close the door behind me. "Come, sit with me."

A sense of relief and familiarity takes over in a second. It's been a while since I last roamed around my granddad's study but the place looks exactly the same as I remember it, the amber coloured light comes pouring down the window, framing perfectly the silhouette of the man that's always been the epitome of strength in my life. As I throw my bag over a chair by the oak desk and shrug away from my coat, I slide my phone out of my trouser's pocket and quickly take a picture of my granddad as he looks back to his book.

"What are you doing, dear?" he asks softly as I take a bit to centre the image better.

I take a couple photos and then he lifts his eyes up to me over the frame of his glasses. "Smile."

He chuckles, his whole body vibrating with the lovely deep sound. "Look at you, maus."

"What?" I ask, saving the photos and turning the phone off.

As I make my way to him, he puts his iPad away. "You're already a woman. It seems although you were a little girl rushing around the house just a few years ago."

I drag the round ottoman closer to his chair and sit. "Theo and I loved to race down the yard to see who was faster." Theo would always win, I knew he would, even though he'd try to drag down at the end to let me get to the finish line first.

Nodding, he puts a hand over one of mine. "I remember." he chuckles. "You two would drive your Nan mad with the screaming and bloody knees."

Back then my mother would be working hard, almost fifteen hours a day, to get her bakery up and running. We didn't get to spend much time together those couple of years but living with Nan and Opa seemed like heaven. There was always baked good around the house, Nan would keep herself busy with her roses and Opa would spend most of the day at his gentlemen's club or locked inside this study.

"I talked to your mother over the phone this morning." Opa says after a few more minutes of reminiscing. "Graham is here."

His tone isn't excited in the slightless but it's not hostile either. There was a time Opa couldn't even hear the mention of my father's name because of all the pain he had brought upon his daughter, those were first months when we'd just moved back from Scotland and Opa wasn't half the sweet man he is now. I remember I used to be frightened by him, always trying to hide or be in a separate room from him just to keep myself from having to look into his hard expression. He was silent and strict, severe when it came to discipline and extremely intimidating whenever he would tell me and Theo to behave properly and accordingly to the situation.