Taylor gave Grace a ride to the airport with her driver, she kissed her in the backseat like she needed to make up for lost time and she did. Grace mumbled apologies into it until she was blue in the face and Taylor told her to politely shut up and kiss her properly.
She definitely kissed her properly. The driver was extremely uncomfortable the entire time.
Grace didn't want their first real kiss again to be in front of the cameras but right after burning the wedding dress, she did pull Taylor into a hug and felt kisses on her skin as she did so. Little expressions of intimacy, plastered on her face with genuine love.
They said goodbye in the drop off area, Taylor admitted that she could use a couple days with friends in London to get her head straight and Grace had settling in to do so it was best they take some time apart. She could see in her mannerisms that Grace was struggling not to drink, she was slightly more shaky, and she didn't want to complicate that anymore than she already had.
The one thing they could both agree on was that it felt so much better to no longer have those troubled months lingering over them like they had, Taylor and Grace had never felt so much relief.
Grace hated flying coach, she'd only done it a few times with Parker in an emergency and it was so much more exhausting to navigate without her helper. She already missed him dearly.
He was going golfing the next day with Mathers and to Grace, that felt completely appropriate.
She did not sleep on the plane. People recognized her, she could feel the eyes. It didn't help that the news had been playing at the gate or that someone sitting next to her was reading a hot off the press newspaper with the faxed over documents.
She had never been so glad to see a near stranger in her life until she saw Amber and Gracie wave to her after she picked up her bag. She didn't have much to keep in terms of clothes and Parker had promised to mail the couple small boxes of photos and trinkets.
"Say hi to Auntie Grace," Amber told the little girl softly. She buried her face in her mother's neck to play shy, "Hey, you ready to go?"
"Yes, thank you for picking me up," Grace pulled the handle on her suitcase and it did not simply extend but rather it came right out with a snap, "Oh."
"You've got that thing Michael's got, don't you? Where if something is going to go wrong, it will?" She chuckled.
"I hope not."
Once Amber helped her reattach the pull handle on her luggage and load it into the car, she passed her a phone, "That's for you. It's got all the numbers you should need. The guys from work, Mike, my dad and me. Local number, unlimited nationwide call and text. There's also poison control and a few other emergency services right in your contacts... I learned the hard way with your brother."
Grace examined it, "I have a phone."
"With a London number that probably got cut off after yesterday, It's ninety dollars a month and you can transfer your pictures and data onto the new one."
"Thank you," she sunk in her seat, it was a little more uncomfortable than she remembered. Amber's truck smelled like old french fries and she had no idea that was what she was smelling, all she knew was that it wasn't pleasant.
"What's up?" The blonde asked knowingly.
"I did something bad."
"Does it have anything to do with the international pop superstar you were photographed with last night?" Her sponsor chuckled, "Girl, I've got social media. They're trying to decide on a ship name for you two."
Grace blushed furiously, "What is a ship name?"
"Pirates!" Gracie shrieked at the top of her lungs from the backseat, almost bursting Grace's ear drum. Her hand gripped the door panel like she was bracing for a crash.
"Does she do that a lot?"
"Yeah... we've decided one is enough."
"I feel as though that is a good idea," the brunette chuckled softly, "Gracie, do you like pirates?"
"No," the two-year-old sighed, she kicked her feet in her carseat and adjusted the stuffed dog on her lap.
Grace unpacked her suitcase and looked at the small guest room she could now call home. It was about half the size of her empty closet Taylor liked to hide in and the window was small, it let in just enough light that she didn't need the lamp on.
"Auntie Gracie," she turned to look at the little girl smacking her door with her palm instead of knocking, "Why you my name?"
Grace had very little experience interacting with children, most of it was from when she would serve food at the shelters, "Why do you have my name?"
"I don't know!" Gracie smiled, her face and gestures were practically animated. She raised her shoulders and arms to display her confusion.
"Can we share?" Grace thought that would likely be the best compromise over exposing the intricate details of the family history.
"No."
Grace paused, "Well... okay then."
"Gracie! I'm home!" Michael's voice called through the house. The toddler turned on her heels and scooted down the stairs on her butt to meet her father at the bottom. Grace waved to him from the landing.
"Your daughter has just let me know we are not able to share a name," Grace chuckled, she was so much more relaxed the second he arrived because he was familiar and everything else was not.
"She can share, she just says no to everything," he pretended to attack her with a claw hand before she screamed joyfully and slithered out of his arms to go find Amber, "Your flight was good? You getting settled in okay?"
"All good," she nodded, "I need a meeting, though."
"Yeah, right after dinner," he agreed. The first week was the hardest and with the sudden changes happening, he couldn't imagine how difficult it truly was for his sister.
Amber made spaghetti, which was not all that different from the things Grace was used to except the sauce came from a can and there was some sort of oily bread being served with a caesar salad absolutely soaked in dressing. She managed to get it down, overdue for a proper meal after a busy couple days.
The idea of forgetting to eat reminded her of Taylor and she realized that she needed to give her a call and pass along her new phone number once she figured out how to find out what it was. Phone settings were so confusing and she had just gotten used to the old one.
Michael said goodnight to little Gracie before they left for the meeting and she couldn't believe how much he actually loved his child. It was hard to watch because she didn't know if she would be able to love her own kids like that if she ever had any, she didn't know how to do it because no one had ever shown her that. She knew to be kind, she knew that her big words wouldn't always land, but she couldn't see herself being a good mom.
"You look like you can't poop."
"Pardon?" Grace glared at him with surprise, "What the fuck?"
"You're making a face, you look like you can't poop. I've got a toddler, I know a poop face," he tapped the steering wheel amusedly.
"May I inquire about a personal matter?"
"Uh, yep. Pretty sure we crossed that line when we swam around in the same uterus for nine and a half months."
"Where is my brother who used to not say such graphic things?!" She finally broke and laughed, "You're disgusting, Michael."
"Ask what you want to ask," he chuckled. He turned the volume down on the radio as he did so that they could both hear clearly.
"It's stupid," she waved it off.
He hummed, "Don't say that. Ask me what you want to know."
Grace stared out the window for a moment and tried to think of a polite way of saying what was on her mind, "How do you not hate your daughter? Or... I suppose, how do you know how to be a parent? The revolving door of kidnapper nanny's did not exactly set the best example."
"Oh," he considered it for a second, "I've got Amber and she's like, the coolest person I've ever met. Chris, too. It- it wasn't really hard to figure out, feed the baby, change the baby, love the baby."
"My girlfriend is the coolest person I've ever met, is that a good sign?" Grace fidgeted with her bracelet instinctively, the mere reminder of Taylor had her doing it often.
He smiled, "I hope so. How'd you get her to take you back?"
"She just showed up!" Grace sat up and exclaimed it because she couldn't believe it, "I've apologized approximately one hundred and thirty-seven times, however."
"Ha, yeah, that takes some work. You don't have to swing for the fences, just try to hit the ball."
"I like that analogy, is that football?"
"Baseball... close enough. Hey, ditzy Evelyn's pregnant, boy or girl? There hasn't been a birth announcement."
"It's a boy, they're naming him Robert William. She's not due for a few more weeks."
Michael faked a gag, "If you're going to name your kid after someone, you have to make sure they're worth it and he is not. I mail them all a picture of my middle finger every few months, just in case you were curious, that's how much I hate them."
Grace looked at him again, "Shut up."
"I'm dead serious. I take one, print out three copies at the photo centre and then pay for postage to send each of them their own envelope," he giggled like a middle school boy leaving a bag of flaming poop on the neighbour's doorstep.
"God, I've missed you so much. I set my wedding dress on fire last night and I've never enjoyed something like I did that."
"Let's send them one after the meeting, we can't drink but we can party."
"Is that your idea of partying around here?" Grace sighed, that sounded fun but not in a party type of way.
He nodded, "Unless you go into the city. Oh! I picked up something for you on the way home, it's in the glovebox."
Grace curiously opened it up and saw a manual there that hadn't been there a couple days before, "New York Official Driver's Manual."
"You study that and then take the written test, we'll get you the required hours for your road test and then you won't need someone to drive you around. It'll take a couple months, easy enough."
"Hm," she opened it up and flipped through it, "Thank you. I do look forward to that."
Michael agreed silently. It was less than ten seconds before Grace quietly exploded and opened up her phone.
"I'm going to call Taylor even though it's eleven o'clock in London to tell her about this."
Michael couldn't judge her for that because he had those moments too. Things that felt out of reach for them for so long started to happen and all he wanted to do was call someone and tell them all about it.
Taylor answered the unknown number with a disguised voice, "Hello?"
"Hi! It's me, I have a New York phone number now. Michael got me a driver's manual so if I get my license then I can visit you in the city just like before but without the eight hour flight!"
"Hi, sweetheart," Taylor giggled happily at how excited Grace sounded, "It's only a three hour car ride then. Each way, though."
"Yes. Okay, I must go. I'm headed to tell other alcoholics about my problems so they can feel as traumatized as I do. I love you!" Grace bounced her feet against the floor mat, unable to hold still.
"I love you," Taylor covered her mouth because her friends were laughing at how hard she was blushing, "You're okay?"
"I'm good, are you okay?"
"I'm good, I'm out with the girls. Call me tomorrow after work. Be safe!"
Grace said goodbye once more and then turned her phone off. She was about to get out of the truck Michael had parked when he said, "You're really gay?"
"No shit."
"I still don't think I would have guessed that."