Get Back to You 14 The invitation to the Party

"If you want to have this party, you gotta let me work for it, baby. I am still contacting my friends." Giselle responded and went to her room.

"Mom?" Lia called her mother.

"Yeah, baby. What is it?"

"Can I design the invitation?"

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

"That sounds good. Alright, I will leave the invitation to you." Giselle gave the signal.

"Oh, it's awesome, it's awesome. Alright. Deal." Lia went running back to her room and she locked the door. It looked as if she wanted to work without any disturbance and to surprise her mother. She was excited to help with the party.

"haha..." Giselle laughed. 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 took the decision herself to go abroad and study. Her parents never agreed to the decision. They were also never informed about Giselle's marriage or about Lia's birth. Even when her mother tried to reach her via mail or phone calls, Giselle just avoided them. It was her darkest period. She avoided almost anyone she ever had a relationship. 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 few seconds until someone answered the call.

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

Giselle's entire body was frozen hearing her father's voice after a long time. Her father's voice which grew old now used to be bold and loud. The time she had lost can never be found again. This made her sad and depressed. She couldn't reply spontaneously. However, the voice, on the other hand, kept saying "hello". Hearing no response from the caller, the old man announced that he is about to hang up. Giselle heard the announcement. Regardless of her frozen body, she opened her mouth and spoke to her father.

"Dad." She said a very low tone.

The room was 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 trembling.

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 a little sound of weeping. She couldn't properly respond.

"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 kept shouting for his wife.

Soon after a minute, another voice reached 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 was 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 save her 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 completely, 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 big weight on her chest was being lifted off. As the situation went on like that, Lia came out of her room, hoping like a rabbit. She had a paper in her hand. She covered the used side upon her chest and hopped to her mother's 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 passed her phone to Lia without telling 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, are you there?" Eric enquired.

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

Eric went into shock. "Gran...grandpa..." he whispered to himself. Melanie looked at him, she took over the call now. She said "hello, Giselle what happened, your father is talking to himself. He looks so shocked."

"Grandmaaaaaaaa..." Lia called.

Now, it was Melanie who went into shock. She kept whispering "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 speak to her grandparents.

"Hello, Grandma, grandpa. My name is 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 too, Can you come? I don't know the date, but mom will inform you though. So, can you please come? I want to see you."

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 don'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 call 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 continuously.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. You will see them soon. Now, I have to call the others too. So, yeah let me make a copy of your invitation and send it to them. Okay?"

"Yes." Lia smiled brightly.

The relationship bonded again and the family will be reunited soon.

Chapter end