Mom knocked on Nonna's door and it only took seconds for her to open it, and her eyes start to brighten.
"Jackson, my baby boy. I'm so happy you could make it." Nonna said pulling my dad into a hug. "Come in. Come in. Make yourselves at home." I love Nonna. She's always so welcoming and loving, but strict and honest when you need it the most.
"Stacy, thank you for coming." Nonna said bringing Mom into a hug. She saw the twins and stopped them to do a group hug, "You two are getting big." They smiled. They love Nonna just as much as I do. She smirked, "Go to the kitchen. I have chocolate ice cream and I'll give you each a bowl if you're good." They cheered as they ran past her into the house.
Nonna looked at me and her eyes were big and bright. I could tell she lost a little light in herself since the last time I saw her, but she's a strong woman. "My little bellisima baby." She said pulling me into a rib crunching hug. "It's been forever since I've seen you, my baby."
I nodded returning the favor of the hug lightly, "I know, Nonna. I'm sorry."
She pulled away and turned her attention towards Lauren, "I don't remember having two grand daughters from Jackson."
I smiled at her cuteness, "Nonna, this is Lauren. My girlfriend."
"You've finally got a pretty girlfriend. Thank the heavens. The last one you had was a complete mess. I mean she looked like a sl-"
"Nonna. Enough." I interrupted her before she could do too much damage. Our family had this thing about filters. We didn't believe in them.
We walked in the house and I saw Frankie sitting in the chair opposite from Ariana in the den while everyone else was in the living room. They were looking at old photo albums.
I put my hands over Ariana's eyes and leaned in to whisper into her ear, "Gimme all yo money and no one gets hurt." I whispered in a deep voice.
She giggled, "Sorry, I left my money in my other Chanel bag."
I pulled my hands off her eyes and jumped over the couch to sit beside her and give her a quick peck on the cheek, "What a greedy mother fucker."
I walked over to Frankie and gave him a hug. Lauren was pulled over by Ariana and embraced in a grande-family hug.
I took my seat on the other couch and Lauren quickly followed but she scooted me close so that my body was on hers. She put one arm around my waist, and grabbed my hand to hold it with her free hand.
Ariana held up a photo album in her hand to show me a picture, "Look at this photo of our little angel."
It was a picture of Grandpa holding her and I couldn't look at it. I averted my eyes and looked down at Lauren's hand to get my mind off of it.
"Mhm." I replied trying to keep my composure which I'm sure wouldn't last long being in this house. Every corner was a memory.
"You aren't even looking, y/n." She smiled.
I glanced up and nodded, "It's cute."
She pursed her lips noticing something was wrong but looked back down at the photo album.
--
The rest of the Grande family showed up quickly. They were all friendly, and loud, but there was a piece missing. It didn't feel right.
Lauren got acquainted with my cousin 'Fonzy' who's really into motorcycles. They sat in the dining room going over different types of bikes and parts. Little war stories that made each other laugh. I liked seeing Lauren so passionate about something. She was so different at school compared to how she was outside of it. Well, the parts of her I saw was different. There was something more to her and I admired that.
While I was staring intently at my girlfriend from a far, I felt someone wrap their hands around my waist. I looked back to see it was my short and cheery Nonna. "I'm sure a picture would last longer than stalking her."
I smirked, "I'm not stalking. I just got distracted."
She gave me a kiss on the cheek and smiled, "She's a pretty girl, y/n. I can see why."
"Thanks Nonna."
Nonna grabbed my hand and started to pull me through the hall way to the bedroom parts of the house, "Come with me. I need to talk to you. We haven't seen each other in a very long time."
I was dreading talking to Nonna one on one. She'd bring up the whole Grandpa thing plus we'd get really emotional about other topics. We always did.
She brought me to hers and Gramps old room and sat me down on the bed. She walked over to her closet to grab something. I watched her as she walked back with a large box in her hands.
There was bow tied around it to keep it closed. She set it on the bed beside me then sat down in front of me. Nonna grabbed my hand and smiled warmly, "It's time we talk about everything."
"Everything?" I questioned her.
She nodded, "I know why you didn't come down to see your Grandpa. I'm not dumb, y/n." I looked down and frowned thinking about him. I never properly mourned him so it's not the easiest topic for me. "He asked for you. Ya know?"
I looked up to her, "Why?"
"Why not? He was nuts about you."
I shook my head, "No. He was nuts about Ari and Frankie. Grayson, Dylan, and I were just the back ups."
She swatted my hand, "Don't say that. He loved all of you just as much as the next. Maybe some more than others at times." She winked to me. "He really wanted to see you, though."
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to be here. Not to see him like... that." I admitted biting my bottom lip to try to keep it from quivering.
She nodded, "I know. It was hard for all of us, belissima. That's why he wanted me to give you this. He wrote a letter to you a week before he passed and told me to give you this. He knew you weren't going to come see him, and I'm sure he respected it."
I looked over to see the white box and pulled the ribbon off of the box. I pulled the top off and my heart almost crumbled to pieces.