Grandma Helen
Over the next couple of weeks, I join Hayley and her adorable mutts on their weekly walks. I tell her about my life and ask about hers. I want to know as much about her as I can before I set my plan into motion. There’s a sadness about her at times and I can’t help but wonder what put that look in her eyes. She’s extremely loyal, that I can tell from just a few conversations. She seems to care about this old women even though she barely knows me. I can tell her work keeps her busy but every time I have asked to see her or talk to her, she has made time for me. None of my grandson’s other girlfriends had even thought to talk to me beyond a “hello" and small talk about the weather. Not to say that they were bad people. They just weren’t right for my grandson. Each time I see Hayley I am more and more convinced that she is the right woman for my Xander.
But how do I get them together? It will take more than a simple introduction. My grandson will do as I ask if I tell him about the cancer. He will do it, he will do anything if he thought it would give me the strength to fight this disease, but asking him to date Hayley isn't enough. I need him to fall in love with her and that wont happen on a few dates when he feels forced. He needs to be around her all the time to see what I see in her. I can’t force his feelings, those he has to find on his own. Marriage is their best chance at falling in love.
I just have to give them a chance and the spark will flare on its own. I will need Hayley’s help with that, but how will she react? My grandson will marry her but how do I convince her to agree?
Xander
Gran's waiting for me as I get home. All my favourite dishes are laid out on the formal dining table. That's my first clue something is up. Don’t get me wrong, gran is an awesome cook, but we have a chef and gran generally only cooks on special occasions. The second clue is the way she's fidgeting with the hem of her sweater . Gran fidgets when she's pondering something. “Wow, what's the special occasion?” I ask as I walk over to kiss her cheek and give her a hug.
“Can't I just spoil my favourite grandson everything now and then?" she smiles as she hugs me back.
“No complaints here, you can spoil your ONLY grandson anytime you want". I know there’s something on her mind but I keep quiet as we sit down to eat, allowing her to take the lead.
Our meal is over and my fork and knife on the plate before she begins, “Xander, I haven’t been feeling well lately…I went to the hospital and did some blood work….the results are back. It's cancer. The doctor is very hopeful. It was picked up early and he thinks my treatment options are promising", she continues.
I stare blankly at her for a second, before I'm rushing out of my seat to pull gran into my arms. I didn’t even know she was unwell. What type of grandson am I? She went to the doctor alone, got these life altering results on her own. Oh man.“ I’m so sorry gran. I’m sorry you’ve been going through this on your own. We are gong to get through this. We will get you the best specialist. Everything is going to be fine. You are not alone anymore.” I whisper as I hold onto her like my depends on it.
Gran taps my back soothingly, “I haven’t been going through this alone, my boy, don’t put that on you. I have a new friend that’s been a real help to me. In fact I would like you to meet her.”
“New friend? Is she from your senior citizens club”.
“No", she laughs “I met her on the beach, the day I got the news and she’s closer to your age than mine dear"
Someone my age on the day my gran gets bad news? Seems a little too coincidental to me. She kept in contact with gran all this while? There are a lot of opportunistic women out there that would latch onto gran once they knew who she was just to get access to me and the family empire. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad my gran hasn’t been alone through this whole process but I need to make sure this is legitimate. That this women really cares about my gran. I won’t allow anyone to use her. She has a heart of gold and I've seen women my age try to get in her good books in the past just to get to me.
” Sure gran, I would love to meet her. What’s her name?” I ask. Just as soon as I've done a background check on her, I add to myself.
Hayley Grandma Helen has a specialist appointment today and asked me to come with her. I offered to pick her up but she insisted we meet there. Strange but ok. I've grown really attached to the older women. My own grandparent’s passed away a few years back and so it’s nice to have her around.I'm busy texting a whatsapp message as I enter the reception area of the doctors suite. Then I decide to delete the message altogether. It’s a message from my ex. Yes, the cheating a**hole, that’s now married. It’s just a simple “hi, how are you” message, but I refuse to respond. I am not getting dragged into that mess again.I put my phone away and plaster a bright smile on my face as I look up to greet gran.Only grans not alone. Beside her is Mr green eyes himself, in all his sexy glory. What on earth? I stand there staring at them not quite being able to putt two and two
XanderI stare at her retreating back, still grinning to myself at her blush. I notice gran smiling at me and I hug her to my side “ready to go" I say.Gran keeps the grin in her face as we get into the range rover. She’s quiet, till we enter the massive gates enclosing our property. Then she turns in her seat and faces me.“ In all seriousness Xander, I have something to ask of you and before you say anything, know I've thought long and hard about this and I need you to hear me out with an open mind"“Gran?” I ask, more than a little confused. Just a few minutes ago she was smiling at me and now she’s all serious. What could be going on.Gran holds her hand up to me to stop me from speaking, “ Just listen, my boy. I have always wanted and will always want what’s best for you. You believe that, don’t you?”“Ofcos I do gran"
HayleyMy alarm goes of at 4am and I press snooze. I do this two more times until I can’t put of getting out of bed any longer and finally pry my eyes open at around 5am, give or take a minute…or five. To say I love sleep is an understatement but unfortunately with my shifts at work, its really hard for my body to adapt to any sort of regular sleep pattern. I don’t have time to grab breakfast as I rush out the door at 6am but this isn’t anything new.I get to work and two people have called in sick with the flu. We are so short staffed. My day goes by in a blur as I handle queries and try to process as many urgent patient samples as possible.By the end of my shift , I’m mentally and physically exhausted and all I want is a hot shower, food and my bed. In that order. The last thing I’m prepared for is to see grandma Helen waiting for me outside my office building. How did she even know where I work, let
HayleyI have been living my life in the shadows for awhile now. It’s still a struggle to forget all the hurt I’ve felt from past betrayals. It feels like everything bad that could happen, happens when you let down your guard and choose to be happy, or at least that’s been my experience. So why am I agreeing to gran?Why am I feeling a little excited about this? Like life is giving me a second chance.I'm still lost in my thoughts when my phone begins to vibrate and Ava Max “On me" starts playing. I stare at the screen a little blankly not recognising the number. I'm about to put the phone back down when gran exclaims "What are you doing, answer it. It’s probably Xander! I gave him your number this morning”.“What??? No. No way!”, I say throwing the phone on the table. This is all happening way too fast.Grandma Helen promptly presses answer and puts the call on loudspeaker befo
Hayley You make a spur of the moment decision and then the next morning it hits you…like what have I done? I've already met with gran Helen again. We’ve gone over a plan of sorts. I'm to meet Xander later. Play it by ear and basically agree to whatever his proposal might be. Gran and I spoke about my family this morning and what I would say to them and we both agreed it would be best they think this marriage is real. How I'm supposed to convince them of that, I have no idea, especially after my anti social life-style these last few years. All of this is assuming Xander is even going to propose marriage! What if gran has it wrong and he has something completely different that he wants to talk to me about? That would be the biggest joke of all I think as I chuckle to myself like a lunatic. I’ve been standing in front of my white built in cupboard for the past hour and getting more depressed by the minute. Nothing looks good on me!
XanderI'm early. I always am. In business it has proven to give me the edge. It’s one of the reasons I hold multiple investments and businesses and the reason I’m a billionaire at twenty-seven. I'm never flustered because I am always prepared. I wasn’t born into money. Everything I have, I've worked damn hard for, that’s why now, I play as hard as I work. I've earned it.So for Gran to want me to settle down at 27 has had me in knots. I can’t just do as she says but I can’t jeopardize her health as well. I’d never forgive myself if I refuse the women who has never asked a thing of me and then something happens to her. That’s why I decided to go with the flow but on my own terms. If gran wants me to marry, the girl of her choice, I will, but it will only be until I’m sure gran is out of the woods health wise and long enough to convince her I’ve tried to make this marriage w
Xander “I'm all ears", she says as she leans forward to give me her full attention and inadvertently pushes her breasts together giving me a glimpse of them over the top of her dress. Well fuck me. Does this girl know what she’s doing to me? I try to bring my attention back to her eyes but damn is it hard with those plump twin peaks begging for my attention. “Erm yeah…” I say as I try to get a grip. This is not going how I planned. I knew we had chemistry from the day at the doctor’s room, but this is ridiculous. I feel like a horny teenager. “…I have a business proposition for you", I say as I force myself to snap out of it. I can’t go down this road with Hayley, not if I want this plan to work. “A business proposition?” “Yes…like I said, my gran thinks highly of you and I think highly of her so I'm hoping we can reach an agreement that will be mutually benef
XanderI am laying on my king size bed thinking about my night out, more accurately I’m thinking about my future wife to be. Eyes open or closed all I see are Hayley and those “fuck me” heels she had on. I imagine my hands peeling of every layer of clothing until all she has left are those heels wrapped around my waist.The effect she has on me is not what I expected and I have a feeling the next few months are going to be interesting. I stare at my phone and decide to message her, I can’t seem to help myself. I need to know where her heads at. She responds and we decide to meet tomorrow to go through the terms of the contract. I find myself looking forward to seeing her and that worries me. Besides barely knowing her, I know I can’t afford to mix business with pleasure.I wake to sunlight streaming in through the French windows overlooking the property’s vast gardens. I haven
EpilogueA few months later…XanderDuring the last three weeks of Hayley’s pregnancy, her doctor insisted that she should spend them at the hospital. I wasn’t too thrilled by this and was prepared to get a full time midwife and equipment installed at home but then Hayley made me realise it would be safer for the babies if we were in a hospital environment.So here we are going into week three, anxious to meet our babies but also stressed from being in the hospital this long.Hayley is missing her fur babies so I periodically bring them to the hospital and take her outside to the car park to see them. They are also missing her and I have to split my time between the hospital and home. Hayley won’t allow me to stay with her at the hospital because she wants at least one of us home with the dog’s and Sebastian at night.G
Hayley“So how does it feel knowing you don’t have to go to work today or any other day for that matter?” Xander asks me as we lie in bed exhausted from a very intense round of sex.“Surreal. It feels surreal…You’re not going to the office today are you?”“Is that a serious question? Ofcos I am not going to the office. There’s no way I am leaving your side for the foreseeable future beautiful, especially not after yesterday. I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”“How did you guys find me? I was in the middle of nowhere.”“Your wedding ring has a tracker and we tracked his rental car's GPS as well.”“My ring has a what?” I ask, looking at my beautiful wedding ring.“All our jewelry does beautiful, even m
XanderI feel like a pervert for wanting her so badly despite knowing the ordeal she has been through but I manage to control myself long enough to try and wash the days events from her delectable body and it doesn’t help when she looks at me so adorably with those fuck me eyes. She is so beautiful. I don’t know how I got so lucky.I want to help her dry off and change but I know my willpower is already strained so I let her go while I strip and try to find some release in the shower. Something I haven’t had to do since I was a teenager.When I make it back to our room, Hayley is already curled up under the covers fast asleep. She looks so tired, I know I made the right call not to make love to her in the shower. I pull the covers back to get into the bed and she instinctively turns to me and snuggles into my side as I get into the bed.I can’t sleep as
HayleyAfter Amanda dropped the unexpected bombshell, we pestered her to no end for details.Eventually she said, “All I will say is that he doesn’t know what he wants. Not all women are prepared to settle for crumbs. I deserve better than that.”With that cryptic statement we all looked at her a bit dumbfounded, wanting to know more but not knowing how to ask. My sister in law, never one to be shy, tried to prod a little more but that was all Amanda was prepared to say.“Guys can we please change the subject, I don’t know why I even opened my mouth”“You opened your mouth because you needed to get it off your chest. I for one am glad you did,” replied my sister in law.I had been stuffing my mouth with mini pizzas and hadn’t said much until now, busy trying to digest my food and what could
HayleyChef is waiting by the door for us and as we get close to the last step she rushes to hug me, tears streaming down her face. Xander is about to tell her to be careful with me but I shake my head to indicate no to him and he keeps quiet.“Child I am too old for this. You and Helen both in one day…” she cries on my shoulder.“It’s okay Hannah. Don’t cry. Gran and I are both fine” I say as I gently rub her back. “Can we go inside now? Whatever you made smells divine and I am starving.”Chef smiles at that because she loves feeding people.“Xander said Zola wouldn’t eat. Has she eaten anything yet?”“No she hasn’t but I suspect that will change now that you are here.”“Poor baby let me go feed her before everyone gets
HayleyThe doctor kicks Xander and I out after allowing us a quick minute with Gran.When we leave Gran’s room, I notice that everyone in the waiting room has already noticed the commotion in Gran’s room and are looking at us with huge grins on their faces.“I can’t believe that worked,” says a stunned Xander beside me.“Me neither!” I grin back at him.“Is your Gran really awake?” Amanda asks Xander.“Yes. Thank God.”The atmosphere is so different from just a short while back. Everyone is happy and chatting. I almost can’t believe that so much has happened in the last few hours. I am just glad everything is the way it should be now.When the doctor comes out to speak to us, the room goes quiet as we wait to hear what she h
HayleyWhen the plane lands, I finally get a chance to thank the guys for all their help. Xander introduces me to his friend Carlos, whom I only saw in passing at our wedding.The guys leave Xander and I to take one of the Range Rovers, while they squeeze into the other two cars parked on the tarmac at the airstrip.“Xander this is ridiculous. Some of them can come with us. We have so much space.”“Don’t worry about them. They will be fine. Besides, I don’t want to share you with anyone just yet.”“How are my babies? I can’t wait to see them.”“They are fine. They missed you too. Especially Zola. Chef called me to tell me she wouldn’t eat…and you know how much she loves food.”“Oh no. My poor baby.”&ldquo
HayleyXander carries me onto the plane and I have to admit it feels blissful. He hasn’t said anything else to me. Just held onto me so tightly as if his life depended on it.When we enter the plane, Dr Guzman is already waiting for us. Xander places me down gently on a chair that’s already in the reclining position.“Hi Dr Guzman,” I say smiling at the worried looking doctor.“Haley my dear, I am so glad you’re okay. I was worried sick about you. Are you hurt? Are you dizzy.”Xander is still silent. He is standing behind the doctor paying careful attention me.“Erm…I am not feeling dizzy anymore. Whatever he gave me is starting to wear off.”I notice Xander’s jaw clench but I have to tell the doctor about the fall. I am worried about the babies.
HayleyIn the middle of nowhere. That’s where I am. I quickly shake the feeling of desolation that comes over me. I have to get back to Xander. I have so much to live for. There has to be a car around here somewhere.“I didn’t go through all this trouble just to let you go so easily honey."I hear Keith’s voice from the open doorway. There is a trickle of blood running down his forehead but it doesn’t seem to bother him. I quickly turn, feeling dizzy again, to see him pointing a gun at me.“I’m going to let what you just did slide and put it down to shock but don’t you ever fucking do that to me again Haley. I promise you, you won’t like the consequences. Now get your ass back in this house or I will drag you back.”I want to tell him to fuck off but I haven’t regained my strength and I still