"If there's nothing else, son, I'm hanging up. I'm on a walk with Jane and Lilian.”
"Mom, when will you guys be back?"
Heath hurriedly asked out of fear that if he was too slow about it, his mother would hang up on him.
He noticed that whenever they were on holiday, they were always very impatient when they were on calls with him.
Were they annoyed he was disturbing their lovey-dovey time?
They had been married for decades now and were even more affectionate than young couples were. It was truly enviable.
Heath hoped one day he too would find someone who shared his values and that they remained deeply in love into their old age.
Grandma May was not around anymore.
If she were, she would definitely help them out with finding matches.
Liam and Tania were worried too, but they did not get as personally involved like Grandma May did when she was arranging her grandsons' matches.
He really missed his great-nana. Why had God not let her live until she was a hundred and twenty?
"I can't say for sure. Your dad and I are spending a few days in Havenmill, then we're going to stay with Austin for a while. It's been a long time since we met up with him, and your dad and uncle should have some brotherly bonding time."
Heath asked, "Don't Uncle Austin and Aunt Isabella come home every year for Christmas?"
"Those few days aren't enough. They live in Satbury year-round and your dad really misses your uncle. This time, we should let them have some quality time together. We should be considerate of your dad."
Heath pouted. "Mom, you can just be honest and say you want to stay on holiday a little longer. Don't use Uncle Austin as an excuse. Alright, you guys have fun. I've got things covered at home."
"Heath, you really are my precious Lil' Bun.”
Heath said, amused, “Mom, I'm already twenty-seven. I'm not a Lil' Bun anymore.”
Lil' Bun was his nickname, and sometimes, they would still call him that. He was fine being called that at home, but outside, it made him want to hide himself in a hole.
"Even if you're ninety-seven, as long as I still live, you'll be my Lil' Bun."
Heath laughed. "Alright, alright. Then, when I'm ninety-seven, I still want to hear you call me Lil' Bun."
"By the time you're ninety-seven, I'll have been long dead, reincarnated, and grown up.
"I dare not wish to live to a hundred. I'll be content as long as I live to eighty, become a grandmother, and watch my grandchildren grow into adults."
Ever since she met Zachary, she had become a figure of envy. Everyone said she had a very good life and was very lucky.
All Serenity wished for was the same thing Grandma May had, to live until her grandchildren grew into adults and could hold their own.
Serenity did not harbor any grand hopes of living to see her great-grandchildren. After all, one could not be too greedy. She already had plenty. Of course, if God let her live until she was a hundred, that would be a bonus.
She would be overjoyed about it.
"You have to live to a hundred, like Great-Nana did. Dad said people in our family all have long lives."
The women who married into the York family were exceptionally long-lived. The men lived to seventy or eighty like anyone else, and the York women consistently outlived them.
"Well then, with your Great-Nana as an example, I hope to grow old with your father and truly share our lives to the end."
Grandma May had not been able to do so with her husband. After her husband passed on, she was very sad for a long time. Even though she managed to overcome her grief later oh, sadness still knocked on her door sometimes.
Grandma May lived for another two decades or so after her husband passed, watching their grandchildren get married and have children of their own on his behalf.
“Alright, I'm hanging up. If we keep going, we could talk until the next morning." Serenity hung up after.
The mother and son duo could talk for hours, even about the smallest things. If she did not hang up first, they really could keep chatting until dawn.
Having been hung up on, Heath grumbled, "So much for always being her precious Lil' Bun. She left
me alone at home and hung up on me not even half an hour in on the phone."
Though he grumbled, he still had to get on with his duties.
After all, he was the young head of the family.