She finds her grandfather in his office - his special quiet place - with a freezer pack on his face.
She makes sure to whisper. "Grandpa?"
He doesn't move, so she slips through the door and closes it.
"Grandpa?"
One of his fingers twitches. She approaches and tugs tentatively on his sleeve.
"Grandpa?"
"Ye-e-es?"
She has to be careful. She knows what she wants, but she needs to butter him up a bit.
"How's your head?"
"Your grandmother's killing me."
"Oh." She spins one of his cufflinks between her fingers. He's wearing the silvery ones with the black Hs on them. They're her favorites.
He lifts the freezer pack from one eye. "What can I do for you?" She's wearing the blue pajamas with the yellow stars. They're his favorites.
She looks up from under her lashes.
"Will you tell me a story?"
"A bedtime story?"
She looks down again. "Or a longer one." She keeps her eyes on his cufflink. "I'm not very sleepy."
"Hmmm."
"Please?"
"I don't know, it's pretty late."
"Pretty please?" Her lashes flutter. He caves.
"Well... I guess we could do one story." He lifts her into the big leather chair beside him. "What kind of -"
"The True Love story!" She's bouncing.
"True Love story..." He squints as though thinking. "...I don't think I know any of those."
"Yes, you do!"
He knows what she's talking about, but he holds out. "I do?"
"Yeah, the one about Pam and Jim! You know, the True Love story."
He eyes her suspiciously. "Sounds like I've already told it to you."
"Oh... well, I've forgotten it mostly. You could tell me again." Flutter, flutter.
He sets the freezer pack aside. "Oh, alright. The True Love story."
"Yay," she whispers, and closes her eye so she can picture it better.
He smiles a little. It is a good story. "Let's see... how does it begin?..."