Chapter 2.18 – The Wolf in Grandmother’s Clothing

Warning: Coarse Language

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“…Mum?”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t that. This was James and Tyler’s mother? I had never seen anything like this woman in my life. Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, her hair lank and greasy, and her face so thin it appeared almost skeletal. The leathery skin stretched over her skull was yellowed and wrinkled, and the blood-red colour on her lips did little to hide a mouthful of broken and decayed teeth. I shuddered to think what she could possibly have been through to make her appearance so horrific.

To top it all off, she was filthy. I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose as the woman stepped over the threshold into the house, with arms outstretched towards my husband and a grin that looked more like a leer plastered across her sunken face.

“James…” she croaked in a hoarse whisper, shutting the door behind her. “My dear boy.”

I glanced at James, and saw him scowl as he stepped away from her. The shock had worn off quickly, to be replaced with anger. “What the hell do you want?” he growled.

The smile slid instantly from her face as she recoiled, looking fearful.

“Now, now, Jimsie,” she said hastily, “Let’s try to keep things civil-“

“Civil my ass!” I had never seen James furious like this. “You abandoned us! You had two children who needed you, but you didn’t give two shits about them, did you? All you ever thought about was where your next fix was coming from. I swear, you’ve got some nerve turning up here expecting me to be ‘civil’!”

“Hey, that’s not true,” she protested. “I swear I never meant to leave you kids, it wasn’t my fault! They took me away against my will!”

“Right, and I suppose all that crap you were taking, shooting up every night, neglecting your daughter for years, all of that was against your will too?” He was shaking. “What are you even doing here now? Did you come to apologise, to make up for your mistakes or some crap? Because it’s too late! I want you out of my house, now!”

He started trying to shove her towards the door, but she wouldn’t budge. “My sentence is up,” she pleaded. “I need a place to stay. Not for too long, just-“

“Nope. No way. No fucking way.“

“James, please, hear me out-“

“No! There is nothing you could say that would convince me to take you in after everything you’ve done! I don’t want to see you, Tyler doesn’t want to see you. We had to figure things out for ourselves when you weren’t there for us, now you can do the same. Have a nice life.”

In spite of his harsh words, a malicious grin spread across her face. “Funny you should mention Tyler,” she said nonchalantly, watching his face carefully for his reaction. “After all… living with you isn’t my only option. If you won’t take in your poor, elderly mother, well, perhaps I’ll have to pay your sister a visit.”

She smirked knowingly. James had gone pale. “Don’t you dare touch her.”

Her grin widened. “Two weeks, Jimsie, that’s all I’m asking for.”

James was silent. I could see his mind racing, going over every possibility, but she had him cornered and we all knew it. There was nothing James wouldn’t do to protect Tyler. His gaze darted to me, and I nodded to let him know that I understood.

He turned back to his mother, speaking through clenched teeth. “Fine. One week. One week, and then you’re gone.”

“But Jimsie-“

 “No. One week, that’s it. And it’s only on one condition: you stay the hell away from my sister.”

She shrugged. “Fine. I didn’t want to see the little ingrate anyway.” James snarled angrily, but I laid a cautionary hand on his arm. Let it go.

Thus the deal with the devil was made. Knowing what I knew of James’ childhood, I was no fan of the woman myself, but I knew she had given him no choice. I was more worried about the impact her visit would have on our own children, and Flynn in particular, who was still only a toddler. From the way she had spoken about Tyler, I was determined to ensure that contact between the kids and their grandmother would be minimal. Unfortunately, my plan was short-lived, as I stumbled upon her and Diana talking together in the living room the very next morning.

“Who are you?” Di was asking. I had intended to explain the situation to her and Emily when they woke up, but apparently, Di had beaten me to it.

“I’m your father’s mum,” was the reply.

“So you’re… my grandmother?”

“That’s right.”

“I didn’t know I had another grandma!” Di cried excitedly. Then she hesitated. “Can I call you ‘grandma’?”

‘Grandma’ grimaced, and looked away in distaste. “I would rather you didn’t.”

“Oh, okay,” Di said politely. “So does this mean I have a second grandpa as well?”

“Theoretically.” The woman looked uncomfortable.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why? Is he dead? Does he live somewhere else?”

She didn’t answer – her eyes were darting from door to door, probably searching for an escape route. Much as I enjoyed watching her squirm, I wasn’t a fan of her spending time alone with my daughter, so I intervened.

“Di, why don’t you leave your grandmother alone for a while? There’s something I need you to do for me.”

“Did you know Gran- my grandmother was here, Mummy?” Di asked me as I led her out of the room.

I hesitated. “… Yes, I did. She arrived last night.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I was going to, sweetheart. Actually, I was going to talk to you and your sister about it this morning. Why don’t you go and find her, and then I’ll explain everything?”

In the end, Diana and Emily were pretty okay with the idea of having their grandmother living with us, and even seemed excited. That was concerning for different reasons, but the worst part of the visit actually happened one morning several days later, when I opened the door to an unexpected guest – possibly the worst guest to have under the circumstances, although ordinarily I would have been delighted by her presence.

Tyler chatted happily to me as she walked into the room, barely even paying attention to her surroundings. “I’m sorry to turn up out of the blue like this, Bee. I was just driving by your house and I thought, hey, I haven’t seen James and Bianca in forever! So I thought I’d drop in. Man, is that Flynn? He’s grown so much since I last saw him!”

Smiling, she looked up at me, but her smile faded when she saw my face. Misinterpreting my worried expression, she backtracked quickly. “I’m sorry, I should have called, shouldn’t I? You guys are probably busy, I can come back another time.”

“What?” I said. “Oh, no, we’re not busy. It’s just that…” I trailed off as Tyler’s gaze landed on her mother, who was relaxing in one of the armchairs near the fire.

“Hello, Tyler.”

Ty stood rooted to the spot, her eyes wide, as her mother shuffled forward to greet her. “What a surprise to see you here! Not as much of a surprise as it is for you, though, I imagine.”

Tyler, apparently struck dumb with shock, didn’t respond, except to shake her head ever so slightly. Her eyes remained wide and staring, fixed on her mother’s face as if she were unable to tear them away.

After a few moments, the woman spoke again, with a false cheeriness that made me sick to my stomach. “You sure have grown since the last time I saw you, Tyler! How many years has it been? Ten? Fifteen?”

Tyler ignored the question. “Does James know you’re here?” she asked quietly, trying to conceal the tremor in her voice.

“James?” a wide grin spread across the woman’s face. “Why, of course! James was the one who invited me to stay!”

Tyler averted her eyes, looking hurt and confused, but was saved the necessity of responding by her brother, who entered the room at that moment.

“Tyler!” he gasped when his eyes landed on her… then narrowed as he took in who she was with. He crossed the room in three strides, caught his mother by the shoulder and turned her roughly to face him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“What? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Nothing wrong? Let me refresh your memory, then, since you’ve obviously damaged it so severely you can’t remember a conversation that happened five days ago. There was a condition to you staying here.”

“And? I have stayed away from her. I can’t help it if she comes traipsing in here unannounced, can I?”

James looked disgusted. I suddenly came to my senses and remembered that Flynn was still sitting in my arms, and this was not a confrontation that he should be present for. I wasn’t even sure I should be present for it. I quietly excused myself and took Flynn upstairs to our room.

When I came back downstairs half an hour later, Tyler was gone, and I could see James’ mother watching television in the next room. I found James in the nursery when I went to put Flynn down for his nap.

“So?” I prompted him gently.

He sighed. “Ty’s gone home, but I made sure she was okay.”

“And your mother?”

“She’s here until the end of the week, like we agreed. I don’t want her to go chasing Tyler down if we kick her out early. But after that, I’ll make sure she’s out of all of our lives for good.”

In the end, James didn’t have to do anything. The following morning was the last time we saw that woman.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t call a death a good thing, but under the circumstances… well, it certainly made everything a lot less complicated. I was just thankful that it happened while the girls were at school, so they weren’t there to witness something so horrible.

The paramedics said it was cardiac arrest. I knew that was common in the elderly, and even more so for those whose bodies were as damaged as hers was. Yet somehow, it still felt entirely unexpected. Apparently, it had been virtually painless, which would have been a comforting fact if comfort had really been needed. Both James and Tyler seemed more relieved than anything else that she was out of their lives for good, and the kids had barely even met her. After everyone got over the initial shock of the situation, it was only a matter of weeks before life pretty much returned to normal.

“What did you get for question three, Di?”

I smiled as I watched my two daughters sitting together at the dining table, both working hard on their homework for school the next day. Or rather, Emily was working hard – Di had already finished her own work, and was now helping her sister with hers.

Di had always been a bright child, and though she had been terribly excited for school when she had first started, I hadn’t expected it to last – but it had. If anything, she was loving it more with every passing day. Even when she had finished her homework and triple-checked every line, she could reliably be found upstairs in one of the bedrooms, studying as if the elementary school was setting exams every other day.

With Di and Emily getting along for a change, James and I had more time than ever to spend with our son. Though not as quick a learner as his eldest sister had been, Flynn was an obedient child, and he was growing with every passing day. I treasured every moment I got to spend with him, knowing that very soon they would be gone, and my youngest baby would be joining his sisters in ‘big school’. I sighed… the time had gone so quickly.

After the incident with James’ mother, the months fairly flew by, and before I knew it, it was time for Flynn’s birthday. I held my son for the last time as he blew out his candles, then stood back to watch him grow from a toddler into a little boy.

My little boy.

He looked more like his grandfather than ever. Filled with emotion, and ignoring his protests, I leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead, then wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, hoping he hadn’t seen the tears in my eyes.

He was such a handsome child, and in spite of everything that had happened, he had grown up so well. I hugged him to me tightly, hoping in the act of physical reassurance to convey some small portion of the overwhelming love I felt for him.

If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that the beautiful boy in my arms, and his sisters also, deserved nothing but the very best in life. And I would do everything in my power to give it to them.

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And that’s it for Generation Two! I hope you enjoyed Bianca’s story as much as I did. After this, there will be a couple of Gen 2 extras before we pick up the story again with Generation Three.

There’s still a week left on the heir poll, so don’t forget to head over and cast your vote on which of Bianca’s children you think would make the best legacy heir! After the poll closes, I’ll be announcing the winner and letting you know when to expect the next chapter, so stay tuned for that as well.