14 The invitation to the Party

After the end of the breakfast, Lia started to follow her mother as if a baby duck imprinting its mother.

When Giselle washed the dishes, she stood by her side and watched.

After cleaning dishes, she went to organize the dining table, Lia tailed her closely.

Giselle did not get annoyed and only thought it to be cute.

"Mother, mother, when's the party?" Lia nudged while circling her steadily.

Giselle chuckles slightly.

"Party?"

"What party?" Giselle asked as if she is hearing it the first time.

Lia's cute doe eyes grew wider in shock.

Without wasting a minute, Lia started throwing a tantrum.

The entire scene which is supposed to be cute turned into a tragedy.

"Okay. Okay"

"If you want to have this party, you have to let me work for it, baby."

Lia's tantrum slowly reduced.

"I am still contacting my friends," Giselle assured.

Giselle promised to have this party, only then, Lia stopped with her fit.

Like a sweet, pampering child, she pushed Giselle to her room as if she doesn't want her mother to waste any second.

Giselle obediently went along with Lia.

Since the morning routine ended, Giselle thought she would continue to reach out to her friends.

...

"Mom?" Lia called her mother.

"Lia?" Giselle peeked out to find her baby standing near the door; hiding her body and showing only her face.

"What is it?" Giselle asks.

"Are you planning to send an invitation to the guests?"

"Yes."

"Then, can I design it?" Lia requests.

Giselle came out of her room, looking surprised. She never thought about the idea.

"That sounds great. Alright, I will leave the invitation to you." Giselle agreed.

"Really?"

"Can I do it?"

Lia started to jump in joy, asking if she can design the invitation to their welcoming party.

Giselle acknowledged.

Lia went racing back to her room and locked the door. It appeared as if she wants to work without any disturbance and surprise her mother. She was excited to help her mother with the party.

Giselle smiled at the little girl's enthusiasm. She looked at the time; it was 10:00 AM. She went back to her room to make the guests list.

***

Giselle planned this party to be small, and so, she made sure to invite her closest friends and relatives. On top of the list, the first one was her parents. She looked at their names and went numb.

It has been a long time since she spoke with her parents.

Giselle decided to go abroad and study. Her parents never agreed to that decision. They were also never informed about Giselle's marriage or Lia's birth. Even when her mother tried to reach her via mail or phone calls, Giselle just evaded all of it. It was her darkest period, but this party is for the best. One can ignore people but can never avoid their own family. She reached out her phone to call her parents after a long time.

She could hear the ringing, it was loud, and her heartbeat kept rising. The tension lasted for a few seconds until someone answered the call.

"Hello..." a soft old man's voice spoke on the other end.

'F- Father!'

Giselle's entire body froze hearing her father's voice after a long time. Her father's voice which grew old now used to be daring and loud. The time she had lost can never get replaced; It made her sad and depressed.

She couldn't reply spontaneously. However, the voice, on the other hand, kept saying, "hello."

The man declared that he is about to hang up after hearing no response from the caller.

Giselle heard it.

Regardless of her stiffened body, she opened her mouth and spoke to her father.

"Dad," Giselle said a very faint tone.

The room filled with silence. After a few seconds, the old man replied, "G...Giselle?"

"Is that Giselle? Baby, is that you?" the old man's voice kept shaking.

Giselle broke out in tears; she couldn't stop them. The tears kept falling down her cheeks. She didn't make a loud noise but little sounds of weeping. She couldn't correctly react.

"Giselle, is that you? tell me, baby." the old man kept asking.

"Hmm..." Giselle finally responded. She became a little child once again.

"yes- yes- yes- yes, dad. It's me. It's me, dad" She cried in joy.

...

"Melanie, come here." the old man screamed for his wife.

Soon after a minute, another voice swept through the phone. It was an old female.

"what is it?"

"It's our girl. Speak to her," the old man passed the phone to his wife.

"Mom, Mom, Is that you, Mom?" Giselle rushed.

"Giselle?"

"Mom, mom, How are you, dad? How is he? How are you guys?" Giselle kept asking them questions.

Giselle's parents, Eric and Melanie both of them after a long time spoke with their daughter. It was an emotional moment. Instead of happiness, their conversation filled with questions from each other. Giselle's mom, Melanie, often scolded in between for not responding to her previously sent emails or calls. But her dad would come rescuing by telling his wife to focus on the present. They kept answering each other's questions and cried together. Giselle forgot the purpose of the call and enjoyed talking to her parents. She missed their love and care for a long time. Despite their anger, they always looked after her and cared for her deeply. Even when her sister avoided her entirely, Eric and Melanie believed in their daughter.

"So, you came back here, huh? You should have called us sooner." Melaine complained.

Eric, who was by her side, shushed her.

"She just called after a long time, why do you have to go ahead and make her feel bad?" Eric got mad.

"But, honey, she never calls us, I'm scared if she might again avoid us."

Both the elders kept conversing within themselves. Giselle, who was on the other end, kept listening to her parents arguing. Her tears slowed down, and she was smiling. It was as if a heavyweight on her chest was being lifted off. As the situation went on like that, Lia came out of her room, bouncing like a rabbit. She had a paper in her hand. She covered the worked side upon her chest and leaped to her mother room to surprise her. Giselle saw her approaching and got excited. She waved at her daughter to come soon. Lia ran immediately towards her mom. Giselle took off her phone and told Lia that it's her grandmother and grandfather. Her face lit up, and she asked for the phone immediately. Giselle passes her phone to Lia without mentioning anything to her parents.

"Hello," the little girl's voice spoke.

Soon, Eric and Melanie stopped arguing. They forgot that they were on a call. Hearing a little girls voice, Eric was scared that if the call got cut or something. He got the phone from Melanie to check.

"Hello, Giselle, is that you?" Eric inquired.

"Grandpa..." Lia's sweet angel voice echoed in his ears.

Eric went into hysteria.

"Gran- grandpa-" he murmured to himself.

Melanie looked at him; Bewildered at his state, she took over the call now.

She said, "Hello Giselle, what happened? Your father is talking to himself. He looks so shocked."

"Grandma," Lia called.

Now, it was Melanie who went into shock. She kept repeating, "grandma, grandma..."

However, she gained her conscious back. But she doesn't know what to speak anymore.

"Grandma, please put the mobile on speaker for me." Lia requested.

Melanie obeyed those words and put the phone on speaker. Lia went ahead to address her grandparents.

"Hello, Grandma, grandpa!"

"I'm Lia, your granddaughter. Nice to talk to you."

"Grandma, grandpa, we are going to have a welcoming party at our home."

"I made the invitation can you come?"

"I don't know the date, but mom will inform you though, so can you please come?"

"I want to meet you two."

Eric and Melanie agreed instantly.

"Lia..." both of them called out at the same time.

Giselle and Lia were laughing at the elder's cute reactions.

However, all the good news can't be revealed now itself. Giselle took over the phone and informed her parents about their party.

"If you want to see your granddaughter, then both of you must come to this party. I will soon inform you of the date. Take care, mom, dad. Love you."

"What? No, Giselle doesn't hang up, let me speak to my granddaughter. Honey, tell her." Melanie responded.

Eric was still in shock and couldn't recover from the happiness of listening to her granddaughter's voice.

"Mom, I gotta go, have to invite the others too...I will call you again. Then, you can talk to her for hours. Okay?"

"A...alright. Okay. Okay. We will come for sure to the party. Call me later. Take care both of you. Love you." Melanie replied.

The call ended.

Melanie patted on her husband's shoulder. He then came back to reality. They both looked at each other and smiled. Tears of joy rolled down their cheeks, and they hugged each other.

On the other end, Lia jumped around happily.

"Yay, yay, yay, I spoke to grandma and grandpa, Mom, I can't wait to meet them. Mom, I love you. I love you. I love you," She kissed her mother endlessly.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. You will get to meet both soon. Now, I have to call the others too. So, yeah let me make a copy of your invitation and send it to our guests, okay?"

"Yes." Lia smiled brightly.

The broken relationship bonded again, and the family will be reunited soon for Giselle and Lia.