The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Since they were the hosts, they could not afford to disappear for too long from the party, especially with Cedric still downstairs alone. "Grandma, Grandma," Melody walked over to Beatrice and called out a few times.

Beatrice had not woken up yet, but they could not let her continue sleeping on the couch. Sleeping like that could easily lead to catching a cold. "Hmm?" Beatrice finally opened her eyes, looking around a bit disoriented. "Oh my, I really am getting old. Did I really doze off just like that?"

Melody helped Beatrice sit up while Lucas poured her a glass of room-temperature water.

"You must've been exhausted, Grandma. From now on, let Lucas and I take care of these things," Melody said.

Beatrice was heartened to see how close Lucas and Melody had become with each other. After she tidied up a bit, Melody helped touch up her makeup before they returned to the party.

"Where did our birthday girl disappear to? We were looking all around for you," joked Amber Hoyles, one of Beatrice's longtime friends.

"Blame it on my age. Just a couple of drinks, and I dozed off on the couch. I'd probably still be sleeping right now if Melody hadn't woken me up. Melody, come here, this is Amber. Say hello," Beatrice said, introducing Melody to Amber, whom she met for the first time.

so well-behaved, I like her too. Melody, if one day Lucas doesn't treat you right, come to me, and I'll introduce you to someone else," Amber said

you like her so much, go find another one! I'm not going

an even better one. Just

two elderly ladies exchanged a few more teasing remarks before wrapping their arms around each other and leaning in closely to chat. It was

in such high

happy together, Lucas took Melody to another area and handed her a glass of

Is Grandma Amber a good friend of hers?" asked

nodded and took a sip of his drink. "When I was little, Grandma Amber used to come

friend, then. It's not easy to keep a friendship going for so