Unfolding

Chapter 8

"You don't have to bo-" Aiden cut me off before I could finish.

"Starving." He grinned up at his grandmother. Turning towards me, he bent towards my ear to whisper, "Trust me, its best if you let her feed you. Otherwise you'll never hear the end of it."

"She just got here!" I scolded. "At least let her get settled in."

Before Aiden had a chance to reply, his grandmother spoke. "Aiden darlin', why don't you go get cleaned up while Natalie and I get acquainted."

He shot me an apologetic smile and shrugged. He bent over to kiss his grandmothers cheek before going upstairs to presumably take a shower.

"So, Natalie was it?" Aiden's grandmother spoke as she began chopping some tomatoes.

"Yes ma'am." I said nervously. There was something about her demeanor that told me she was a no bullshit kind of person – a quality I admired.

"Tell me about yourself sweetheart." She continued, whisking some eggs into a bowl. "You're the first girl I've seen my grandson bring home, and I have to admit the curiosity is killing me.

What was this, the first day of class where we all go around in a circle introducing ourself?

Nevertheless, I smiled politely as began telling her about myself.

Remind me to kill Aiden when were alone next.

"And do you like school?" She probed.

I chuckled. "Does anyone really like school? We all go because we have to, but if were being honest here, the education system could use a sever upgrade. I mean, they spend six years teaching you the same algebraic equation, when most graduates don't even know what a W-2 is and how to file their taxes. When has y=mx+b ever been useful outside a math class?"

Out of breath, I glanced at Aiden's grandmother mortified, not being able to believe that I just said all of that to a stranger. I know I'm not wrong, but what if she was a math teacher. Oh my god! She's going to hate me forever.

She finally stopped chopping and looked up at me smiling. "I like you." I visibly let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"So, Mrs. Cooper," I grinned. "Do you have any embarrassing stories of Aiden you'd like to share."

"Oh darlin' please, call me Amy. Mrs. Cooper is Aiden's other grandmother." She shuddered, which made me even more confused. "And that boy was trouble from the moment he learned how to walk. His mama told me that when Aiden was two, they were all sitting in church listening to a sermon when all of a sudden they heard a familiar voice yell 'Mama! Poop. Wipe!' He waddled down the aisle with his pants around his knees looking for his mama and squealing."

Oh, my god. I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my lips.

"It's safe to say, Grace never showed her face at that church again." Amy laughed as she recalled the memory.

Aiden took that exact moment to walk in and find his grandmother and I sitting around, laughing our asses off. "What's going on here?" He asked cautiously.

"Nothing baby." Amy dismissed.

I, on the other hand, could not pass up this perfect moment to embarrass him. "Hey Aiden, do you have a wipe? I think there's some poop you missed." It's safe to say that his face went a bright pink in a matter of seconds.

There were tears in the corner of my eye as I hunched over laughing.

"Amy!" he groaned, visibly embarrassed. Mission accomplished, I thought.