The first week of Grace's new life had been sobering in a way different than being sober. She was exhausted practically all of the time, she had never eaten so many horrible salads and of course, she was actually sober. What she could do with those seven hours a week she was spending in meetings, well, she'd have seven more hours of sleep that she desperately wanted.
The dogs Amber's dad had were not particularly bothersome during the day but she had come to the conclusion that she was a cat person if anything. She could hear them barking when a neighbour half a mile down the road whispered in the night, they barked at just about anything over nothing. She wanted to drop them off outside of the shelter with a note saying Free German Shepherds!
Not that she would really consider doing that... but sober thoughts were scary thoughts sometimes.
The morning Taylor was supposed to drive in was a Saturday during the second week of May. She had flown in from Nashville and had plans to get a hotel in Glenville where Grace was just outside of, about three hours north of New York City, and stay for the weekend so they could spend a bit of time together.
Taylor was working on putting an album rollout together, she had just finished it and she was so proud but terrified of the reception she would receive. Especially now that people would make the connection about who the songs were inspired by.
After breakfast, Grace was sitting at the kitchen table with her niece who refused to wash the syrup off her cheeks, both colouring with crayons on scrap paper. Grace was drawing a house and Gracie was drawing an abstract piece inspired by her past life, as Amber called it.
"Alright, it's Saturday so I'm going to a meeting with your father, which means you are here with the child," Michael looked at their whiteboard calendar while talking to his wife.
"I need to get away from said child," Amber hummed, "We swapped last night so you could go with Grace, it's my turn."
"You could all go together, I can watch her," Grace offered softly. She looked up from her colouring for a moment, "She already ate so she's fine. Right, Gracie?"
"No," Gracie sighed even though she replied to everything with a no. Amber called it a phase but Grace kind of thought it might be the right way to get through life while giving people low expectations.
"Are you sure?" Michael asked, he scratched at his neck nervously, "You don't have any babysitting experience."
"Taylor will be here in half an hour, she loves kids. It'll be fine, Michael. Go, enjoy!" Grace shooed them and then covered Gracie's ears, "Wait! Does she know about non-straight people?"
Amber walked up to the table and crouched down. Gracie quickly shook her aunt's hands off her ears with a groan, "Hey, do you care if Aunt Grace dates a girl?"
"No," Gracie shrugged, she didn't know what that meant but that was always her reply.
"There you go. Just... keep it like, rated G, would you?"
"Jeez, Amber," Michael said, "She has common sense."
"We'll be fine then."
"Gracie, what number do you call if there's an emergency?" Michael asked, double checking because he remembered his childhood.
"One, two, three, four!" Gracie held her crayons up ceremoniously and the brunette sitting next to her started to laugh.
"Say bye!" Grace exaggerated a wave until the little girl copied it and the couple finally left. Grace studied the drawing and hummed, "Have you played chess yet?"
"No," Gracie mumbled without interest, "Play tea party?"
"Tea party?" The former heiress raised her eyebrows, "You like tea? No, wait, you're two so caffeine would be a poor choice. Okay, we can have a tea party once Taylor arrives."
"No, tea party," she fumbled her way off the dining room chair and latched her impressively strong hand across Grace's arm to drag her towards the play kitchen. She opened the cupboard and jumped up in the air excitedly as she pulled out the cups.
Taylor was a bit earlier than Grace expected. When there was a knock on the door, she looked at the toddler and the lock and then decided the toddler would be fine for thirty seconds while she walked across the room to unlock the deadbolt. She did not bother to remove the pink feather boa or princess crown Gracie had dressed her in.
She swung the door open and wrapped her arms around Taylor without warning. Taylor reciprocated it as she inhaled the smell of Grace's perfume and felt her shoulders drop, "I love your look."
She squeezed Grace so much that in the end, she picked the shorter woman up and spun her around idly like the end of the romance movie but less gracefully. When she put her back on her feet, she saw a little girl with eyes just like Grace standing at the door, "Up?"
Taylor and Grace both chuckled a little, "Hi bud, I'm Taylor."
"No," Gracie crinkled her face up, "Up?"
"Can I pick her up?"
"I don't know, I would imagine if you can lift her than it's permissible."
"C'mere," Taylor scooped her up and set her on her hip, "She looks so much like you, that's your nose right there."
"Everyone loves her, we went into town last night for pizza and I would think half the population stopped by the table to give her money to buy a gum ball," Grace chuckled, "I don't think they know she has fifteen billion dollars."
"Don't tell them that," Taylor swayed a little, "We don't need another traumatized heiress kidnapped at three, do we?"
"No!" Gracie giggled at Taylor's tone and then she lunged for Grace to hold her, "Auntie Grace."
"God, I want a baby," Taylor sighed as she looked at Grace with the toddler. Grace looked panicked so she clarified, "Babies are cute, I don't actually want one of my own."
"Okay, okay," Grace stepped inside and set the child down, "Welcome to my new home."
"It really is a farm," Taylor glanced at the muddy boots on the mat.
"Unfortunately," Grace grimaced a little bit still chuckled drily, "You know what, I would still take it over brunch with my mother."
"I'm glad. You look good, Grace," Taylor slipped her shoes off, "Where is everyone?"
"They went to AA so I am babysitting," Grace finally took the tiara off and placed it on Taylor's head with a gentle smile. She wrapped the feathery boa around her girlfriend's neck, "That is an excellent look on you."
"I liked it on you," Taylor glanced to make sure Gracie wasn't paying attention and stole a kiss for the first time in too long, "Your lips taste funny."
"I'm using drugstore chapstick," Grace blushed, "I'm also wearing Amber's pre-pregnancy hand-me-downs."
"Nothing wrong with that, you're starting over."
"I know," Grace inhaled and took a seat on the couch near Gracie's play set, "It's good. I feel... okay."
"Just okay?" Taylor moved a throw pillow over and ignored the dog hair on the sofa so she could lean against Grace's shoulder.
"I do not do well with change."
"I don't know anyone who does."
"I'm really glad you're here, darling," Grace carefully removed the boa that was tickling her face and Taylor placed the tiara on the table before she returned to her position.
"What are they like? Your brother and Amber, I mean," she was a nervous about meeting them. Meeting the Kent's was one thing in itself but Michael was the person Grace actually cared about. The blonde knew his opinion of her would matter to Grace.
"Warm," that was the first word that Grace would think of to describe them, "They hug me often— all of the time, randomly. He slips in and out of his accent because he tries to hide it. She makes fun of him for it. Amber reminds me of you just a tad. She laughs a lot and she pushes him out of his comfort zone. If it were not for you, I would not be okay and I think she does that for Michael."
"They sound amazing."
"They are."
They entertained Gracie for the next hour until everyone else got home. The footsteps on the stairs up to the porch had Taylor nervous, suddenly she was on her feet to awkwardly wave as Grace's brother waved back just the same.
"Oh my god, you are so much prettier in person!" Amber exclaimed and rushed towards Taylor to pull her into a hug, "I'm sorry, I'm a hugger. Can I hug you?"
"Uh, yeah," Taylor chuckled, "Thank you. Hi!"
Taylor could immediately see why Grace had referred to them as warm, Amber radiated energy and looked like she was buzzing just from being alive.
"How are you?" Michael extended his hand because he didn't exactly have the hugging strangers gene.
"Good, you?" She reciprocated it and studied his face as she did. She could see a lot of Grace's features in it, she would recognize them anywhere.
"Good, thanks," he turned to Grace and said, "Everything good with Gracie?"
"We had fake tea and played dress up," she gestured to the costume bin scattered across the floor. There were princess dresses and various hats all over the rug and Gracie was trying to wiggle into a Spiderman costume that was too small unless she removed the first two costumes she had already dressed herself in.
"Awesome. Hey, little dude," he squatted down to her level, "What are you dressing up as?"
"No," she shook her head and he pursed his lips to accept that. He couldn't wait until she babbled on with normal speech patterns.
"Okay... we will be back tomorrow," Grace had quickly run up the stairs and got her suitcase as Taylor and Amber chatted like strangers at the bus stop.
"Leaving already?" Amber raised her eyebrows, "No meeting for you tonight then?"
"I'll go to two tomorrow," Grace offered as a compromise, "I'll be fine. I'm going to spend the night with Taylor."
"Oh, alright then," Taylor hadn't been made aware of the plan. She had gotten a room at the hotel Grace had stayed in during the trip she had tracked Michael down on but she had thought they'd spend the day getting know everyone.
"It's all good," Michael told his wife calmly, "Be safe. We can meet you for breakfast at the cafe at nine."
Grace needed to get away from them and have time alone with Taylor. She was fed up with short calls and voicemails, they were both so busy. Taylor could meet them properly tomorrow, they would forgive them for it.
Grace dragged Taylor to the car and loaded her suitcase into the backseat next to Taylor's. The blonde went along with it because she didn't really protest the idea all that much.
"I feel a bit rude leaving like that," she admitted as she turned the key in the ignition. She had made no attempt to stop her.
"I think they can tell I need a break from them," Grace let her shoulders down, "They are wonderful but I am used to people leaving me alone and someone is always in my face."
"I'm going to be in your face, is that any better?"
"Yes, actually it's much better because it's you."
Grace offered to check Taylor in because she knew she was more recognizable to the American eye than her and she didn't want news of Taylor being in nowhere, USA ruining the privacy the locals gave them.
The hotel was not anything like The Mark Hotel, in fact, she checked to make sure there was actually clean sheets on the bed before she let them put the bags down. The second she did, she turned and pulled Taylor into a kiss. She was desperate for the contact, almost steering her right to the bed.
"Bad news," Taylor mumbled, "No sex."
"Pardon?" Grace pulled back and met Taylor's blue eyes with her green, "What have I done?"
"I'm on my period, don't worry," Taylor recalled the times she had avoided it when she was upset with Grace for not leaving. She didn't realize it had given her a slight complex about the matter.
"No," Grace sighed, "You're not supposed to be until next week."
"Are you keeping track...?" Taylor bit her lip to suppress a laugh. That was the most Grace thing ever.
"It's simple math," Grace nodded, "That is mildly infuriating."
"The stress from lately threw me off. Sorry."
"Don't apologize," Grace shook her head and ran her finger along Taylor's jaw. She allowed her to move off the wall by backing up, "We can still cuddle and talk."
"Yeah. I mean, like, we can still have sex. It's not like it stops you," she chuckled with a blush.
"It's not really that rewarding that way," Grace smiled at the offer but declined as she usually did when they ended up in that situation, "All I really want is to spend time with you."
"Are you sure you don't want to go to a meeting? I know that's important."
"You asked them to clean out the fridge when you made the reservation and if I'm here then I'm not drinking. I'll go in the morning before breakfast, the community centre is right around the corner."
"Promise me?" Taylor extended her pinky.
Grace wrapped her own around it and promised before she took a seat on the bed, "Tell me everything that is going on with you. I want to hear it all."
"Sweetheart, I want to know about your job and life here and how you're doing. My shit doesn't matter right now," Taylor sat next to her and appreciated how Grace's green eyes reflected against the light from the window. They always looked so bright and clear in the daylight.
"I'm fine. Work is hard albeit the challenge is entertaining. Life here is peculiar... Amber keeps taking me to Target and I don't understand why we go after every meeting. I sleep, I work, I eat, I go a meeting and then I call you and go to bed. There's nothing exciting about it," Grace felt silly even talking about her days. They were just as uninteresting as they had been when she spent her time organizing chess collections, if not more so.
"You look tired," Taylor had never seen bags under Grace's eyes until that day. She wasn't as put together as usual.
"I am," Grace finally admitted, "I'm okay, though. Please do not allow my Target concealer to yield concern."
"I'm sorry but it's kind of funny that you're poor now," Taylor didn't laugh but she smiled, "Do you want me to get you some makeup? Or some better clothes?"
"No...?" Grace felt slightly offended, "I don't need your charity. It's important to me that I work for what I have, I've never had that option before."
Taylor could see the offence on her lover's face and immediately realized that comment had been out of line, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I know you're working so hard."
"I told you when you came back that I'm not who I used to be. You knew that."
"I did, yeah," Taylor looked down at her lap, "Baby, I'm sorry. I- I was insensitive there."
Grace had two options. She could let it develop into a fight and waste their entire day together or let it go and get the time and affection she had desperately craved.
"It's okay," Grace swallowed her pride and wrapped her arms around Taylor's shoulders from the side, "You had good intentions."
"I brought you a present," Taylor hummed quietly, she felt guilt hang around in her chest.
"No you did not."
"I did," Taylor had forgotten she had put it in her purse until she retrieved it from the nightstand and passed it over, "I thought you would appreciate your first piece of designer apparel."
"You bought me a Prada keychain?" Grace did not bring it closer to herself to examine it.
"I didn't even buy it, they mailed it to me for free," Taylor laughed, "What do you think?"
"I love you... but even though I have no money, I will not accept Prada."