You Think I Won't Talk?-Chapter 468

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"Elizabeth, child! You’re late for chess! Come watch Marlo lose again, haha~"

"I won’t lose, August... I’m only having mercy on you, old man."

"You’re the old man... and a crybaby at that."

"Is Gramps Marlo losing?" — Entertained by their energetic welcome, I climbed the three steps to the front terrace where both Gramps Marlo and Gramps August played. Walking to their side to watch a game I never truly learned but liked to watch them play.

"Eli... You think I’ll lose...?" — Gramps Marlo said, looking at me with cute sad eyes... to which I was weak but also mischievous.

"! N-no, of course... yes, Gramps. Sorry."

"Haha! See!? Eli knows what’s good, Marlo!"

"Eli hasn’t seen me at my best! Just you wait!" — Gramps Marlo declared focusing on the game while the front door opened by the owner of the house.

"Oh! Darling, you’re here~ I thought these two were being loud for nothing." — My dearest Granny said, walking slowly towards me, with open arms to welcome me again in her house... making me bend to receive the hug since my height was greater than hers.

"Hey, granny~ I just arrived. How’s your day, I’m not late am I?"

"Hoho~ No darling you aren’t... hm? Darling, did you bring something there? I may be old but this nose knows when something smells good~" — Granny Martha said, peeking with her curious eyes into the bag I brought with me.

"Ah... haha, yeah, well... I tried baking a pie... I don’t think it turned out that well but-"

"You made a child, pie? Ack!"

"It’s a pie, not a child, Marlo! Eli isn’t married yet, she’s not the Virgin Mary either!"

"Don’t say things like that August! So disrespectful!"

’... Heh... he wasn’t wrong though. LOL’ — I thought while I watched the chaos of those lovely three, giggling at how easy mood we had and how cute they were while discussing everything. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"... Yet? Did you get a boyfriend Eli?" — Grampa Marlo asked after taking a moment to actually consider Gramps August’s joke, making me laugh since he was as cute a slow gramps as I remembered in my heart. — "He has to meet all of us first... You can’t marry if we don’t meet him, right Martha?"

"What are you asking me? We are not her parents..."

"Haha~ Come on, Geezers, don’t worry. I don’t think I want a boyfriend right now."

"Oh, that’s good. But remember if you get one he has to meet us first. We’ll see if he’s good for you... or her, these new generations are different so-"

"I’m not a lesbian so it should be a he, sir August."

"Good! It’s tough to accommodate, I was getting nervous."

"What’s with that kind of question?... Let Eli decide, she’s smart. Right darling?"

"Uh... I want to believe I am so... yes. Ouch! Why~?"

"Elizabeth." — Granny Martha said my name in reproach to my aloof answer, making me shrug playfully while I covered the arm she pushed, acting like a victim since I always liked making them glare at answers I knew would annoy them or make them play along.

"Oh, leave it! We are men, Martha. Eli should rely on our eyes. We can tell when a boy is good. It may be of use to her."

"Ah! Stop talking August, what would you know! I’m to tell our darling how to choose a good man and that will be it!"

"... but I said I’m not interested..."

"You’ll still have to learn! Now shush, go prepare the plates, I’ll tell these men they have no right to a say!"

"... Okay~ Good luck geezers~"

"Ugh... Martha don’t reproach us, we’re too old for that..."

"Then don’t talk foolishly to our girl as if you were children! She will believe you goofs have good eyes when even glasses can’t help you!"

"Huh?!!? Says who has a failed cataract surgery in her history!"

"What did you say?!"

"Haha! I won, Eli!"

"What?!"

A quiet and nice spring afternoon with the geezers in a weekend... A day when Granny Martha had invited us to her house... so my birthday could be celebrated with those who healed my lonely heart... I knew well what that day was while I watched and laughed. Happy to see their wrinkly and grumpy cute faces again... warming everything I felt bitter inside like they did while I was by their side.

"Really gramps?!" — I said rushing back to see for myself, surprised at the miracle.

"Yeah! I won this match!"

"You wish! You cheated somewhere!"

"I didn’t!"

"Hahaha~ Then you didn’t win??" — I asked while August was already arranging the chess pieces for another game.

"I did! But August’s a bad loser."

"Shut it we’ll play again and properly see."

"Ah, wait, geezers, do all of you want to try the pie I baked?... I warn you that if it’s bad I don’t have money for the hospital."

"Come on child! We’ve eaten our wife’s failures in the kitchen all our life, bring that here."

"I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow so if it’s that bad I have my insurance, hahaha~"

"Ouf, do not pay attention to them, darling. Serve it, I’ll help with the tea. Robert and Rose will arrive soon, they said they have a surprise for you."

The peace of that noon was palpable even as the memory was made... I could remember that clearly... the jokes and their teasing as well as my mischievous whispers with the geezers while hiding from the grannies since they were more correct than us...

"... psst, Grampa Marlo..."

"Hm? What is it, girl?"

"... If I do get a boyfriend will you meet him?"

"!? Of course I-"

"What are you two whispering about? Let me in." — Gramps August said... as if ready for gossip, which we liked a lot. Receiving gramps Marlo’s proud reply.

"Eli’s asking if I’ll meet her boyfriend when she gets one."

"Huh? Why only you, I want to meet him too, kid. Don’t be stingy."

"Both of you will meet him... but don’t tell granny Martha. I do want your approval geezers."

"Hehehe~ fine. We’ll make sure he knows his place."

"?? What place? Gramps, don’t tell me you want to meet him to scare him."

"If I don’t like him, I sure will. You have to find a good man, Eli. Or August and I will become strict. You don’t want that, mhm!"

"Young men these days don’t appreciate good women. You need one that does, kid. So we’ll make sure tha boy is worthy."