Love You Forever (2013 Wattys Finalist)

Chapter 12 - A Sad Reunion

As soon as Robert was in his room, he picked up his laptop, sat on his bed, and did the only thing he was interested in doing anymore. He went on the internet and clicked on the bookmark he'd made of where he'd last been on Google Maps. He began scrolling down the coast of the state of Washington. He hadn't made it that far the night before, but he was taking his time. He didn't want to miss it because he wasn't being careful. He knew it was there. He'd find it eventually.

---Then---

Georgie was sitting on the couch next to Robert's mum, when he came downstairs, carrying his open laptop.

"Look, Robert! I'm knitting!" she said excitedly, holding up a small dark blue rectangle on a knitting needle. "Your mom is teaching me!"

"You already knew how to knit, Georgie," his mum said kindly.

"Yes, but I forgot. You had to teach me until I remembered," she said, smiling happily at his mum.

"I want you to look at something," Robert said, sitting next to her so she could look at the laptop screen. "Is this someone you know?" he asked knowingly with a smile. Georgie's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes went wide.

"Robert! That's Grandma May!" she nearly shouted, then pointed to the screen. "That's her address! How did you do that?"

"You had me memorize her name and the city she lived in so I could find her, remember? I looked her up. I told you, Georgie. You can find anything on the internet."

"That's wonderful, Robbie! You found Georgie's grandma!" his mum said excitedly.

"Well, not really, Alice. She's my foster grandma," Georgie said. "She was a friend of my parents. When we moved near Chicago, my mom wanted to get a job working as a school teacher. That's the job she used to have before she moved to America." Robert hadn't heard that before.

"Grandma May was one of our neighbors. My mom knew she worked as a teacher in Chicago and asked her about it, because she was trying to see if she could get a job there. She never got the job but they became really good friends. Frankie and I always called her Grandma May because we didn't have grandparents anymore." Then Georgie's voice got quieter.

"The day my family was in the accident, I was with her and I – just kind of – stayed with her. The state made her my foster parent because I didn't have any other relatives, you know? I was an orphan. But I always called her my foster grandma. I loved her like she was my real grandma," she finished quietly.

"Well, I think you should call her," Robert said.

"Really?" she said in a hushed voice, as if she couldn't believe it, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yeah, you want to talk to her don't you? Tell her you're alright?" he asked quietly. She nodded, too overwhelmed to say anything as she blinked hard. He had an idea.

"I'll tell you what. Let's get you set up with an e-mail address and when you talk to her, you can give it to her. That way you can write to each other whenever you like and you can even send her pictures."

It was the perfect distraction, and she was excited when it was time to make the call. He handed her his mobile and she carefully pressed each number, then placed it to her ear. When she heard it connect through, she smiled at Robert, saying excitedly, "It's ringing!"

She was sitting so close to him, he could clearly hear the woman on the other end say, "Hello?" when she answered.

"Grandma May? It's Georgie," she said, her voice already wavering.

Robert heard a shriek and then, "Georgie! Is that really you?" Georgie collapsed against him, immediately overwhelmed.

"Yes! It's me – Grandma – May!" she was barely able to say because she was crying so hard. Robert couldn't help remembering the night he'd returned home and how emotional he'd been when he'd heard his dad's voice. He felt his throat getting tight and even his mum wiped her eyes listening to their reunion.