Level Two. When Gran met Grandpa.

Level Two – When Gran met Grandpa.

By Michelle Lloyd.

New One’s Gran was aspirational.  She was a lovely sort and according to Little Herbert’s Grandpa a bit of a diamond.

How was this known?  Well it all started with a certain mistake of an encounter.  New One loved his Gran going to his school to get him because she always had treats with her and he could have grandparent and grandchild time with her and him alone.  She could be very funny to listen to because of her stories about the past and when Gran took New One home they always had time for jokes and smiles.

One afternoon it had been Gran’s turn to get New One from school only she had gotten herself a bit held up.  New One waited with Little Herbert, his Dad and Grandpa.  They all waved the other member of their trio, R V, off.

It was Little Herbert, New One and Little Herbert’s Dad and Grandpa who waited…and waited…it started to get a bit of a worry as to where Gran had got to but Little Herbert’s Dad insisted that they would stay with him until she arrived.

Nearly twenty minutes later a huffing and puffing, dishevelled racing up to them Gran fell on New One with kisses and explanations.  Apparently the transportation she had planned on using had arrived late and then she thought that she had lost her bag and could not get off at the right stop because of it.  She thanked Little Herbert, his Dad and Grandpa for waiting with New One until she got there.  They all assured her it was quite all right, well everyone did apart from Grandpa, who joked that maybe if she drove her own transportation then she could be more assured of when she needed to get where.  This did not go down well with Gran, who New One noticed, shot Little Herbert’s Grandpa a dirty look of anger.  As if he knew her circumstances, it was extremely presumptuous, that look said it all.  Thanking everyone once again she took New One and it was off they went to exit the school.  As she walked out with him, in a bit of a huff, Gran told New One she thought it was quite rude of that man to assume anything of her circumstances.

They had nearly got out to the road when they were stopped by the same focus of Gran’s upset and he actually asked them out to a local shop for tea.  Excuses were made, Little Herbert’s Dad looked rather embarrassed by it all but Grandpa was not to be pushed aside.  Insist did he that Little Herbert and New One would love to have tea and a treat and that after their hard day at school they should be allowed a bit of a perk.  Adamant was Gran that no, they had to get on and while she thanked him for the thought the answer was a no.

It took a bit of time before New One and his Gran realised that they were being followed as they made their way home.  It was a Grandpa in pursuit who shouted, coughed and then shouted out again for them to stop and please reconsider.  Gran looked a bit perplexed and slightly out of sorts about it all thought New One.  Little Herbert looked a bit confused about his Grandpa’s sudden need for a treat but he shrugged his shoulders and along with New One they decided maybe it was in all their interests to go for it.  Grandpa was an absolute riot when he started to talk about and show his inventions and as they saw so little of him New One really did want to have tea with him.  He told his Gran so and with everyone having put their pleas out to her, she relented and off to tea they went.

The tea started off well but that was until sugary treats were offered and Gran declined.  According to Grandpa there was nothing to New One’s Gran and she should dig in.  Gran took offence to this stating that she thought it was extremely rude of him to comment on her appearance and size.  New One and Little Herbert were a little lost at what they should do.  There was silence at the table.  Little Herbert’s Dad tried to get the conversation going again with a bit of a chat about the weather but then Grandpa told him not to intervene on his behalf and he thought that at their age they had earned their right to speak up about what they thought.  New One’s Gran had heard enough, having her appearance mentioned and her age was too much for her and she announced that they would be leaving, at which time Grandpa far from looking crest fallen told her not to be so chiding about everything and to go with the flow a bit more.  New One and Little Herbert thought this hilarious.  But Gran did not.

Firmly taken in hand was New One and off they swept only to be stopped once again by a Grandpa who told them they could not leave yet as they had not seen his latest invention.  Gran was about to say in no uncertain terms and that she had no inclination to see his invention, but it was too late, the beeping had started and New One and Little Herbert both knew what that meant…

Little Herbert’s Dad told the waitress they were extremely sorry and helped to clean up as the broken plates were swept off the floor.  Grandpa’s latest invention, a kind of cross between a robot and a mini-plane had shot out of his front coat pocket and in a mad whirl of motion that chaotically cleared their table of any crockery.

New One’s Gran had nearly been knocked off her feet and Grandpa had told her he thought maybe he had a few teething problems.  Little Herbert and New One had been in fits of hysterics but Gran was not at all amused.

It took a lot of persuading and New One pleading but finally Gran agreed to stay and listen to Grandpa’s sorry, one that Little Herbert’s Dad, was keen for him to make.  Grandpa found it difficult to do much talking and on deciding that maybe flowers would lift her spirits instead, he went into his side pocket and pulled out a plastic stem that shot out a gentle stream of water right into Gran’s eye.  Grandpa looked at a rather irate looking Dad and exclaimed he forgot that it did that!

New One and Little Herbert thought that their Gran and Grandpa respectively would not ever see each other again.  It was quite an odd piece of news to receive when New One’s Mum told him that the pair had in fact seen each other again after that tea shop debacle, it had been Little Herbert’s Dad who had the idea for Grandpa to say sorry properly and this time with no inventions or tricks up his sleeve and oddly enough the grandparents had gone out several times since.  It proved New One thought that while appearances could be deceiving, one should not ever lose hope about what could be in the future.