I had come to my grandfather’s house because he had called me personally a week earlier and asked me to bring Danielle and Harper for dinner, and his voice had sounded warm and almost relieved as if he truly wanted us there. He said he missed Harper and wanted to see everyone together, and I believed him like a man who keeps hoping things will change even after being proven wrong too many times.
Now the room was calmly deciding whether I deserved to stay.
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could form a single word, Uncle Peter stood up so quickly that his chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor.
“That is enough,” he said with a voice shaking from anger. “It is Christmas, for heaven’s sake.”
For a brief moment I felt relief, like someone had grabbed my wrist while I was sinking beneath dark water.
Then heavy footsteps approached from the hallway, steady and deliberate, and Grandpa Walter entered with the same calm authority he had carried his entire life, standing tall with neatly combed gray hair and eyes that missed nothing despite his age.
Uncle Peter turned toward him, breathing hard with frustration.
“Dad, you cannot be serious about this,” he said firmly.