Before // Zion Kuwonu

Chapter 19

Up north where my grandmother lives is absolutely beautiful. It's a farmland, very allergenic for my nose but big trees all flourished. Rows and rows of almond and walnut trees in some areas. Everyone knows each other fairly, very kind and welcoming.

The driveway of my grandmother is fairly clear but slightly dusted with some falling leaves compared to her neighbors, Barbara. Barbara's yard is always covered in leaves and every year my sister and I take them up for her.

I park in the driveway, the leaves crunching from the tires, and immediately run out to the front porch, opening the door. My grandmothers Daschund or other known as a wiener dog immediately begins to bark crazily until he realizes it is me. From that realization, Baxter, the dog, stops barking and starts to whine from excitement.

Nana walks in from the kitchen, "There is my granddaughter!"

"Nana!" I shout giving her a big hug.

Hugs from her feel the greatest and I am still shorter than her being 5'6 compared to her 5'9 figure.

Zion walks in the house greeting, "Hello."

My grandmother released me and embraces Zion with a warm hug.

"Its amazing to meet you Zion!"

"Its great to finally meet the infamous Nana, thank you for having me," He responds politely as the hug breaks up.

I bend down to pet Baxter and see that he got too excited that he puddled himself, "uh oh Nana, Baxter puddled himself again."

It was a common thing.

"Damn it Baxter!" Mg grandmother curses and goes into the kitchen for some paper towels to clean up the mess.

Zion laughs and bends down next to me as Baxter gives me a hug and licks my face.

"Oh Baxter buddy," I mumble avoiding getting his kisses in my mouth.

I grab his long body and introduce him to Zion, allowing him to sniff his hand then begins to wag his tail again.

"What a cutie," Zion gushes.

The sight of him with the dog is too cute.

Once my grandma is done cleaning the piddle, she throws away the trash and washes her hands.

"Sorry about that," Nana states, "This is going to be the most crowded thankgiving ever so you guys might have to sleep on an air mattress if that is alright with you," she informs us.

"That's perfect," Zion reassures her.

"My god, hoodie and jeans," my grandmother notices, "That's how you know your perfect for Hazel."

We all laugh and stand up from petting the dog.

"I'm going to unpack, I have some presents for you," I state, dusting off imaginary dust from my jeans.

"Oooo," my grandma gets exciting, "Is it your art?"

"Yup," I state, beginning to walk back to the car trunk.

Zion and I grab our luggage and put them in the game room for now.

"So we will be sleeping in the office room?" I check.

"Yeah, be sure to show Zion around," My grandmother reminds.

We grab out bags and drag them upstairs to drop them off into the office room, a room with a writing desk, computer desk, bookshelf, and a closet filled with clothes and books.

"So this is the office room, upstairs is my grandma's room, guest room and bathroom," I point out, "down stairs in the game room, living room, kitchen, dining room, guest bedroom, and bathroom and the garage. And outside is the patio."

"Wow," Zion says.

I face him, intertwining our hands together, smiling very happily.

Zion looks deeply into my eyes. Knowing what he was thinking, I give him a quick kiss on the lips then rest my head on his chest, still holding my hands with his clammy ones.

"This is the life," I state, satisfied with my life at the moment.

"A house, family, love," Zion comments making me literally melt.

"Amen to that," I agree, blushing at the thought that I had finally found love.

I smile to myself and just rest my head on his warm chest for a minute, breathing in deeply.

"I love your grandmother already," Zion tells me.

I look up at him, maintaining the hug position, "Thank god, that would have been a deal breaker."

A smirk grows on his face, "You broke the first rule."

"My bad, I wont ever do that again," I state innocently, breaking apart, collecting my drawings for my grandmother.

Zion realizes his mistake and follows after me as I walk down the stair again, "No no, it's alright!"

I laugh and see my grandmother sitting at the mini table next to the kitchen, on her phone.

"Nana I got the drawings for you," I call out.

"Oh, great let's see these beautiful peices," My grandma looks up, putting down her phone.

I place my artwork on the table, three in total, still saving some for her christmas present that she asks for every year.

"Wow these are amazing," she examines then in wonder, completely mesmerized.

One being a sketch, one being a painting, and one being a marker drawing.

"Thank you very much!" My grandma smiles.

I give her a big cheesy smile.

"Well you dad is going to be here at 1:30 so," she checks her watch, "half an hour, hopefully he will drive up to the airport tomorrow to pick up your cousins."

"Ok, sounds good," I agree, "Do you think we can go through a puzzle in time?"

My grandma thinks for a moment, "I dont see why we cant try."

The rest of the day is filled with quality family time and going out to the country club for dinner. No moments of sadness, only ecstacy.

*****

Thankgiving bream was absolutely amazing. We watched a bunch of classic movies, ate a lot of food and pie, played so many family games, carved pumpkins, solved the puzzle, avoided black friday at all costs except Zion dragged me the mall so I ended up not avoiding it, and got to see my beautiful cousins and uncle for the first time in five years. Zion and I slept peacefully on the air mattress cuddling with my cousins and raked up leaves, following family traditions.

Going home is hard when I had such an amazing time.

I walk Zion to his door, he quickly puts his luggage in the entrance and focuses back on me.

"You know what I'm really thankful," Zion says deadass serious.

"Mmm," I say swaying our bodies together, peacefully as we hug for a long time.

Looking at him as he responds, "Being in love with someone who makes me the happiest person alive."

I blush at his words.

"Having someone incredibly gorgeous, funny, kind, and genuine."

I look down, starting to tear up from the overwhelming amount of joy from this and the past week.

"I'm thankful for having someone in my life that makes me happy, who will be there for me, who actually loves me and for someone who I love to love."

"Zion," I call.

"Mm."

"I'm thankful for you, Zion."

"Hazel?"

"Mm?" I hum, mesmerized by his  beautiful brown eyes.

"I'm beyond thankful for you, Hazel."

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I honestly cant tell if this was short. To be completely honest with you guys, I dont re read these chapter over again which thoroughly explains why there are so many typos.