Saving Grace Extras

There's so Much to Do

Part Two of Three

The purple jewel gleams on Grace's finger as she turns her hand this way and that in the restaurant's lighting. The sunlight coming in through the window behind Peter only adds to the effect.

Peter raises his amused brows, his mouth half full of french fries. "Enjoying yourself over there?"

Grace smiles at him. She was wondering at the fact that she's actually engaged to the love of her life, even after the many months of being so. Instead of saying that, however, she jokes, "Just appreciating your impeccable taste."

He laughs. "Well, I'm glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn't."

"Peter, this is probably one of the prettiest things I've ever owned."

"Even prettier than your wedding dress...?" Peter asks. He's mentioned the dress often, impatient to see what it'll look like. Grace almost wants to make Pepper promise not to take pictures of it when they go get it, for fear of Peter's managing to get a look at them.

"I haven't bought it yet. I don't even know what it'll look like." Of course, she has an idea of what she wants, but she's open to other options.

Peter sighs. "Okay. But when you do get it-"

"You will still have to wait for our wedding day," Grace finishes. "It's tradition."

"Since when are we traditional?"

"In, like, two areas — including this one. And, even then, we already agreed to do a first look before the actual ceremony, which isn't exactly tradition."

"I guess," Peter replies, looking back down at his food. Grace just laughs at him.

After a pause, she adds, "We're going to get the dress this weekend."

"Who all is going?"

"Me, obviously-" Peter chuckles at that "- Mom, Morgan, Wanda, May, MJ, and Hannah's coming in from Tennessee Friday night to go. I think she, Wanda, MJ, and Morgan are gonna look for their bridesmaids dresses, too."

"How excited is Morgan to look for her dress?" Peter asks; seeing as she's too old to be a flower girl, Morgan's been made a junior bridesmaid, and the honor of throwing petals has been given to Ellie, who's just turned a year old and will need the assistance of her mother. It's still unclear whether little Sammy, now four and set to be ring bearer, will need Harley to help him out or not.

"On a scale from one to ten?" Grace replies. "About one thousand." Peter chuckles, and Grace adds, "I hope she picks a dress that fits her well."

"You could always get it altered."

"I guess," Grace replies, then sighing. "It'll add yet another thing to do for this wedding."

Peter raises a brow at her. "Well, now, you don't sound so enthusiastic." He wipes his hands on his napkin. "Should I be worried, or...?"

Grace chuckles, shaking her head. "No... it's just, there's so much to do; with the flowers and the cake and the menu and the dresses and the tuxes and the makeup and the hair and the venue and decorations and colors and songs and the reception stuff and all the other stuff I can't think of off the top of my head." She takes a breath, propping her head up on her hand and looking across the table at him. "Sometimes I wanna just up and elope. Just go to the courthouse right now and have it done, start our lives together and all that."

The thought is tempting to Peter, and he considers it for a moment, matching her position, looking back at her with a glint in his eye. She thinks he's actually going to agree for a moment, but then his expression changes. He sighs. "Morgan would kill us," he declares.