“Thank you so much for coming in today, folks… Have a wonderful rest of your day…” A teenage server smiled happily, waving to the couple that was just starting to leave.
    “You too, honey, keep working hard!” The elderly woman joked with a smile, her and her husband walking towards the front door.
    “I will…!” The teen called back, going over and taking care of his credit slip for clearing the table. He hummed happily as he walked back to the kitchen, dishes and cups in his hand. “Corner…” He alerted anyone who was around, taking care of the trash and dishes.
    “Jin? I have a question.” The host said as she walked up, the teen looking over with a hum.
    “What’s up…?”
    “There’s an older woman that just came in asking about you, do you know her?”

Jin walked over and poked his head out from the in door to the kitchen, seeing an older woman sitting in his section. She had dark skin and her black hair was pinned back with some grey streaks all throughout. She was an all around super sweet-looking woman, but Jin certainly didn’t know her.
    “No, I don’t know her, but it’s fine… Maybe she came in one time and learned my name…?” He told the host, shrugging. The host shrugged back and excused herself, going back to the host stand as Jin walked out to grab some napkins and silverware. He put on a smile and walked over to the woman’s table, greeting her kindly. “Good afternoon…! My name is Jin and I’ll be your server, can I start you off with something to drink…?”
    “Ah! Hola dulce chico! Mira lo grande que estaś ahora!” The older woman gushed in Spanish, causing Jin’s cheeks to flush pink. Now, since he’s been living with Night and working for his uncle, the adult siblings have been giving him lessons in Spanish, so he understood a good portion of what she said. The sixteen-year-old held a hand to his cheek and smiled warmly, letting out a soft, breathy laugh.
    “Gracias señora, eso es muy dulce de tu parte…” 
    “Ah, you speak my language! And very good I may add!” The woman spoke again, this time in English with her Spanish drawl. “My name is Alice, I’m Alex and Night’s mamá.”

Jin felt his heart stop for a moment as shock invaded his green eyes, obviously stunned about the news. He had never met her but had heard a ton about her, smiling wildly.
    “It’s so nice to finally meet you…! Mama and uncle Alex have told me so much about you…”
    “It’s so nice to meet you, mijo! Your mamá has sent me so many pictures of you, I just had to meet you in person. Your tío told me you worked here on the weekends, so I dropped by!” Alice reached forward and took one of his hands, adjusting her glasses. “Oh Dios, eres un joven tan apuesto… All healed up from the terrible abuse you faced.”
    “Mamá! This is quite the surprise!” Night’s voice suddenly called, the twenty-one year old manager strolling up when she heard a familiar voice. Alice, upon seeing her daughter and her heavily pregnant belly, gushed and stood to hug her.
    “Mija, you’re glowing! You look great!”
    “Thank you mamá! Does Alex know you’re here?”
    “No, I came here to surprise everyone! Is your husband here as well?”
    “Over at the bar making drinks like a pro.” Night smiled, pointing over to the bar. Her husband indeed was making a drink and Alice smiled, then gushing over Jin.
    “Oh, your son is so precious! And very smart, he answered me in Spanish when I greeted him.”
    “I thought it would be really polite…” Jin bumped into the conversation, smiling anxiously. Night ruffled his hair and smiled, looking to her mother.
    “He’s a very quick learner for español. That was very polite of you, Jin, I’m very proud.”

Jin’s cheeks burned a deeper red as he tried to hide his face, smiling in embarrassment. He had excused himself from the conversation to hide out in the back, finding his uncle outside the back door and smoking a cigarette.
    “Mama is gonna kill you if she finds out you’re smoking again…” The teen threatened jokingly, causing Alex to laugh.
    “Your mother doesn’t scare me, mijo. What are you doing back here? Everything okay?” The twenty-five-year-old asked in slight concern, blowing the smoke away from his nephew’s direction.
    “I’m alright, yeah, just slightly overwhelmed… I just met abuela…”
    “… ¡¿Que?!” The sudden exclamation caused Jin to jump and Alex to sputter and cough, the owner looking at him in shock. “¡¿Mi mamá está en el comedor?!”
    “Well, yeah… Why is that such a bad thing…?”
    “My mother is a sweet woman, yes, but she can be extremely overbearing. I love her, but she doesn’t know how to keep her voice down or how to keep compliments to a minimum.”
    “Yeah, I can see that…” Jin mumbled, a hand on his bright red cheek. Alex sighed in exasperation and took another puff of his cigarette, his eyebrows knit together in annoyance before he sighed.
    “I guess I have to go out there…” He mumbled and finished his cigarette, putting the butt in the bucket outside. “We haven’t been very busy today so finish up on your tables and start your outs.” He ruffled his nephew’s hair and strained a smile, disappearing through the door.

Jin shook his head and smiled, trailing after him and closing the door behind him.

~~~

Within the hour, Jin had finished his outs, cashed out his tables, did his checkout and clocked out.

Alice was still in the restaurant and insisted Jin come sit with her for a wonderful meal and a conversation. Jin, being a polite young man, agreed with a smile and sat across from her. The two did, in fact, have a wonderful conversation and Alice even helped him with some of his Spanish and the pronunciations.
    “Wonderful mijo! My goodness, you’re so smart.” She gushed, clapping her hands together happily. Jin blushed as he sipped his drink, smiling warmly.
    “Thank you, abuela…” He responded softly, resting a hand on his cheek. Alice smiled back and soon tapped the table softly, thinking about something.
    “I know you haven’t had much of a good life at first and I’m certainly happy that my daughter took you in, do you like being a part of this family?”
    “I really do… Mama helped me when she could’ve just walked away, adopted me when she could’ve sent me to foster care… I’m very grateful for the life I have now with this family…” Jin smiled sadly, looking at her with an all too familiar look.

She’s seen that look before…

A memory fronted from years ago, a little blonde girl looking up at her with sad grey eyes.
    “Miss Alice, do I get to stay with you…?” Her voice was small and broken, her hands holding onto her shirt. A young Alice blinked before she bent down and kissed her head.
    “Even better than that, you’re coming to live with us. You’re a part of our family now, mija.” She spoke softly, tucking a strand of hair behind the child’s ear. Tears had filled the child’s eyes before she started crying, hugging her tightly. The vision faded and tears filled Alice’s eyes, standing and walking over to her grandson and hugging him tightly.
    “I’m so happy that you’re my grandson, honey. You remind me of a certain someone years ago…” She spoke softly, trying to keep her voice steady. Jin, not thinking anything of it, hugged her back, nuzzling his nose in her shoulder.
    “Certain someone…? Who…?” He asked curiously, the two pulling away. Alice smiled and laughed softly, tucking a strand of hair behind the teen’s ear.

“Why, your mother of course.”~

NightBear15 signing off…

~~ Again, Spanish isn't my first language so I'm so sorry :')

Abuela Alice has made her appearance! I've had the idea for a few days and finally wrote it out! With the help of Google translate of course ^^'

Spanish translations: IN ORDER

"Hello sweet boy! Look at how big you've gotten!"

"Thank you ma'am, that's very sweet of you"

"Oh goodness, you're such a handsome young man..."

"What?!"

"My mom is in the dining room?!"

Hope this helps~! ~~