Underneath The Mistletoe {Phan} (Book Three)

🌨Three🌨

*****

"Phil, is your great grandma nice?" Ellie asked me as I pulled into the driveway of my great grandmother's house.
"Oh yes, she's very nice." I assured her as I stepped out of the car a few moments later. "You have nothing to worry about."
"Okay." Ellie got out of the car almost as soon as I did and I could tell just by the way that she spoke that she was nervous about going in there.
"Hey, it'll be okay." I said, trying to reassure her.
She shook her head. "What if your great grandma doesn't like me?"
"Don't say that. She will like you. She likes almost everyone that she meets. She loves meeting new people." I held out my hand towards her. "Now, come on, let's not keep her waiting anymore. She's been dying to meet you ever since I called her telling her that I was bringing a special guest with me."
"M-Me? A-A special guest?" Ellie asked in disbelief as she placed her tiny hand in my much larger hand.
"Why, of course. You're special, Ellie." I smiled as I began leading her up to the front door. "Even if you don't believe that you are, I will always think that you're special." Saying these words to her hurt me like agreeing with Dan that we were going to have her live with my great grandma had hurt me earlier.
"Thank you Phil." Ellie let go of my hand and wrapped her arms around mine at that moment. "No one's ever told me that, not even my mom and dad. In fact, I've been thinking about them a lot lately."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." She nodded slightly as she placed her hand in mine once more as we waited for my great grandma to answer the door. "I'll start missing them when I think about them. But then I'll realize that I have you and Dan and I won't miss them anymore. If they hadn't left me, I wouldn't have met you and Dan. And I don't know where I would be if I hadn't met you two. I think I wouldn't be happy like I am living with you guys."
"Ellie..." I trailed off as I felt tears forming in my eyes. I didn't want to cry in front of her because knowing me, I'd confess to her that Dan and I were going to have her live with my great grandma after Christmas. I didn't want her to know this until the time came because I wanted to give her a good Christmas first.
Thankfully, my great grandma answered the door before Ellie could question me on what I was going to say.
"Hi there Phil." Granny, a name that I've been calling her since I was small, gave me a smile as she stepped into the doorway. "I haven't seen you since the wedding. How have you and Dan been?"
"We've been great." I forced myself to smile. Thinking about the whole thing with Ellie was upsetting me more than I thought it was. "How've you been Granny?"
"I've been quite well." She seemed to know that my smile was fake based on the puzzled look on her face that seemed to ask me, "Are you sure that you're okay?" Nonetheless, she didn't question me. "Lonely, but well."
I looked down and saw that Ellie was hiding behind my leg. She was more nervous than I originally thought she was. I gently placed my hand on her back and gave her a small push so that Granny could see her.
"Granny, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is my great grandma." I kept my hand on her back so that she wouldn't be as nervous as she already was.
"Hi there Ellie." Granny bent down on her knees slightly so that she was more on Ellie's level. "Phil told me a little bit about you while him and I were on the phone. You're a really pretty girl, you know that?"
"W-What?" Ellie covered her face with her hands. "N-No, no one's ever told me that."
"That's such a shame." Granny frowned. "Well, Phil will be such a good dad to you and tell things like that on a regular basis."
"G-Granny..." I choked out, barely managing to speak because of what she had just said.
"I knew that something was wrong." Granny got up from being kneeled over slightly. "Come inside so that we can talk about it."
I nodded as I looked down at Ellie. "Ellie, I left my glasses in the car. Would you do me a favor and go get them for me?"
She nodded. "Where are they?"
"They should be in the glove box. Do you know what that is?"
She nodded again.
"Well, they should be in there. If they aren't in there, I more than likely left them at home."
"Okay Phil, I'll get them for you." She said right before she turned around and headed towards the car.
"Make sure you lock the car before you come inside!" I called after her as Granny opened the door, which allowed me to step inside. I felt bad for Ellie as I did because I didn't actually need my glasses as all. I had made sure to put in my contacts before leaving to go to Granny's house.
But there was no way that I was going to say what I planned to say to Granny within earshot of Ellie.