Elsie just wants her grandson Josh to meet someone he can consider settling down with. When a young teacher enrolls at her daycare, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot. But when Josh meets Allison, Elsie learns they already have a connection.
I’m a nosy grandmother. Not in a bad way: I just want my grandson Josh to get on with his life. He’s 27 and spends most of his time at work or play.
On weekends he stays at home, working on something or playing.
A person playing | Source: Pexels
“You need to get out more, Josh,” I said. “I want you to live your life to the fullest! Don’t you want to meet someone?”
“I understand, Grandma,” he said, pausing his game. “But I’m not interested right now. Work takes up all my time and energy, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
“You’re not getting any younger,” I said, giving him some chips to snack on.
“It’s because you’re surrounded by children all day, so you just want great-grandchildren,” she laughed.
A person with a bowl of chips | Source: Pexels
Josh wasn’t wrong. I was a kindergarten teacher and loved every moment of it. But I was done with the life of raising children away from home. Now, at 70, I wanted a quiet life of knitting and baking – a gentle life, as Josh would say.
I’m leaving my position at the school at the end of the year. And maybe it’s just maternal instinct, but I wanted to know that Josh would be okay and not so alone.
Children playing with wooden blocks | Source: Pexels
A few months ago, we welcomed a new teacher to the nursery, Allison.
She was a few years younger than Josh, and I loved having her around during the day. So of course I thought I’d pair her up with him.
But I knew my grandson: Josh would never agree to an arranged date. He probably wouldn’t even show up.
The next best thing was to invite Allison to dinner, where Josh would be forced to meet her.
A smiling young woman | Source: Pexels
“Alli,” I said to her one day during class, “would you like to come to dinner?”
“Yes! Of course I will, Mrs. Barnard,” he said. “I’ve missed family dinners so much since I moved here. It’ll be great.”
I arranged for Allison to come over for dinner on a Friday night. She kept talking about coming over early to help cook or bring stuff over.
“Please let me help, Mrs. Barnard,” she pleaded as she helped me put away toys one afternoon.
Toys scattered on the floor | Source: Pexels
“You can bring dessert,” I said. “And call me Elsie.”
I adored her.
And I knew he would complement Josh well.
But nothing on earth could have prepared me for the connection between Josh and Allison.
A table service | Source: Pexels
That night, while I was setting the table, Josh walked in.
“What’s this about?” he asked, nodding toward the table.
“We’re having dinner with a new teacher, okay?” I said, putting the cutlery away.
“Sure, do you need me to help you?” he asked.
Cutlery in a jar | Source: Pexels
Allison arrived, her presence a breath of fresh air, and she was carrying a cake with her.
He hugged me at the door and made himself at home, while Josh remained in his bedroom.
And then the whole evening turned upside down.
“Allison?” Josh’s voice came from the doorway, a mix of disbelief and an inexplicable hint of recognition.
“Josh?” Allison replied, her eyes wide. “Mrs. Barnard, is this your grandson? Josh?”
A chocolate cake | Source: Pexels
Confusion enveloped the room like a thick fog.
“Wait, do you two know each other?” I asked, my heart racing at the possibility that they knew each other.
“Yes, Grandma,” Josh said, sitting up.
“How?” I persisted. We were past the niceties; I needed to know more.
“Allison is my sister,” he declared, each word echoing with the weight of a thousand untold stories.
The room fell silent.
A shocked elderly woman | Source: Pexels
“Please explain,” I said to Josh.
Josh is not my biological grandson. In fact, I had spent years of my life wanting to have a child, but I had problems with personal relationships. So, when I was 48, I took the plunge and went to an orphanage.
That’s where I met Josh. He was 5 years old and a survivor of an accident in which his parents had died.
“Elsie,” Mandy, the social worker, told me, “He’s a great boy! He’s curious, charming and polite as always. He just needs a chance to get out of here and live.”
A smiling child | Source: Pexels
When I met him, he was a scared kid who had lost the people most important to him.
“What about the rest of your family?” I asked. “Wouldn’t they come looking for you?”
“There’s no one else,” Mandy said. “We’ve been looking for him. That’s why they had to separate him from his sister as well. They adopted her three weeks ago.”
“And the family didn’t want to take Josh?” I asked.
An older woman talking | Source: Pexels
“Unfortunately, no,” Mandy admitted. “They just wanted the youngest child we had, so they could have as much of his childhood as possible.”
In the end, despite my requests for more information about Josh’s sister, there was no way to release such confidential information.
I adopted Josh as his grandmother because I was getting gray hairs, and I didn’t want anyone to ask him why his mother was so old.
A smiling girl | Source: Pexels
In the end, when she turned 15, I told her the truth about the adoption, but nothing about her sister because I didn’t have the information.
So Josh has known the truth, or as much of the truth as possible.
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“Grandma, after you told me the truth about my adoption, I felt at ease. After all, you had chosen me. But I felt like there was more to the story, you know?”
A boy standing with birthday balloons | Source: Pexels
I nodded. I didn’t want to interrupt him. But I would choose this guy every time.
“So, a few months ago, I went back to the orphanage and they told me about a sister: Allison. And they were able to give me information because we were biological siblings.”
“And then Josh found me on Facebook,” Allison added. “We’d been talking for a while. He didn’t tell me the truth at first, though.”
“Well, I didn’t know if you knew the truth or not,” Josh replied. “I couldn’t just say that I found your details in an old file from an orphanage.”
A pile of old files | Source: Pexels
“I didn’t think our first meeting would happen here, at your house,” Allison said.
“I think we need to get dinner,” I said, getting up to go get the food.
As we sat at the table, I silently watched Josh and Allison reunite. I had no idea there was a possibility that they even knew each other, let alone that they were siblings.
Josh ate in silence, processing his thoughts as he chewed. Allison’s eyes were glassy; I wondered what she was thinking and if she was okay.
Food on a table | Source: Pexels
“Grandma, why did you invite Allison?” Josh asked, pouring more wine.
“Because I wanted to play matchmaker,” I answered honestly.
Allison started laughing and soon the room was filled with laughter.
The feeling of awkwardness that had overwhelmed me at first turned into a deep joy: I had hoped to bring love into Josh’s life, but I never imagined it would come in the form of a bond between brothers long separated by fate.
But their roles in each other’s lives were restored.
Wine being poured | Source: Pexels
Later, when Allison took over the dishes, Josh and I stayed outside.
“I can’t believe it,” Josh whispered, his voice cracking with emotion as he turned to me.
“I’m as surprised as you are,” I said, looking up at the night sky.
“You’ve given me so much,” he said. “And now, unwittingly, you’ve brought Allison back. We’ve been talking, but neither of us had the courage to really get to know each other.”
The rest of the evening unfolded with stories of childhood memories lost and found, of sorrows and hopes, and of the unbreakable bond of family.
A man looking at the stars | Source: Pexels
That night, lying in bed, the house silent again, I couldn’t help but feel that their meeting was predestined by some other force.
At least now, Allison will be in Josh’s life, one way or another.
A smiling older woman | Source: Pexels
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This work is inspired by real people and events, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or real events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher do not guarantee the accuracy of events or the depiction of characters, and are not responsible for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and the opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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