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.
Grace laughs, sitting back up. "Oh, for sure."
"And the house isn't ready yet, besides."
Grace groans. "And there's that to worry about, too."
"At least we won't have to deal with moving all the boxes," Peter replies. Pepper, Morgan, May, Ned, Happy, Rhodey, Sam, and Bucky are going to take all their boxes and appliances and put them in the new house while Grace and Peter are on their honeymoon.
"But we have to pack all the boxes," Grace says. "And then we have to unpack them."
"Oh, that'll be a blast. We'll just turn on a little Bublé, and it'll be done in no time."
Grace laughs, picturing them in their new, cozy house, making it look like a home as "L O V E" plays in the background, with soft laughter and love in the air. But she knows that trying to assemble IKEA furniture will produce a very different environment — one not even Bublé can calm. Still, she looks forward to it.
"Alright," she says, getting out cash for the tip as Peter pays the bill, seeing as the roles were reversed the last time they went out. "Ready to go pick out some flowers?"
"I've been ready since the day I was born," Peter jokes, and Grace laughs.
~~~~
Morgan's laughter fills the car as she talks with Wanda and Hannah in the backseat, about what exactly Grace doesn't know. Her mind is filled, as it usually is these days, with the wedding. Today, though, it's mostly the dress she's thinking about, as she's going to try some on right now.
May and MJ are going to meet them at the dress shop, their appointment scheduled for just fifteen minutes from now. They're close enough, however, that they don't have to worry about being late. Grace feels a sense of giddy excitement when they arrive, both May and MJ already there.
They all walk in, a couple conversations going on at once, while Grace just looks around, seeing a multitude of dresses she wants to try on already, if only for the fun of it. A woman named Lily meets them at the front, determines who the bride is, and leads them to where they'll be for the next two hours. She then brings out a small cheese platter and something nonalcoholic to drink, considering Morgan is there.
Finally, she pulls a few dresses out of the nearby dressing room. "I went ahead and pulled some dresses out for you based on the style and budget you described over the phone," she says. The dresses are ballgowns, both white, though one has a floral pattern on it and the other is jeweled on the top.
Grace goes in to try them on, starting with the jeweled one. It's slightly big, but that's no problem. Lily clips it on the back so it appears to fit on the front, and Grace admires herself in the mirror for a bit, liking the look of the dress.
Upon her re-entering the room, there are a couple gasps, and Pepper soon starts tearing up. Lily puts the matching veil on Grace, and that just makes it worse.
"Mom, it's only the first dress," Grace chides, laughing.
Pepper laughs through her tears. "I know, I know."
Grace tries on the other one and receives similar reactions, and she finds she likes the second one better. "I like the floral pattern," she says as she looks in the mirror.
Morgan agrees. "It matches your ring."
"And that skirt isn't as big; it doesn't swallow you as much as the other one did," Hannah adds. MJ, May, and Pepper agree with this, and Grace does, too.
Lily puts the jeweled dress away while Grace, still wearing the floral one, holds her skirt up and looks through the shop. Elsewhere, Morgan is picking out dresses and having Pepper and May carry them, while MJ, Wanda, and Hannah are off by themselves, also picking out more dresses for Grace to try on.
When she finds a couple, she returns, while everyone else comes back with just one, aside from Morgan, who brings three. All are ball gowns, white, and similar but for the details.
Grace rules out the sleeveless ones, not liking the look as much, though she keeps one off-the-shoulder one. Others get ruled out for being itchy or for just the lack of enthusiasm about the details. Another gets ruled out for the train alone, as it's so long Grace is sure it'll cause a disaster. Lily reminds her they can alter it, but Grace doesn't think the rest of the dress is worth it, anyway.
The entire time, she waits for a feeling. Pepper, May, and Hannah all told her that they just knew. They put on their dresses for the first time and felt that it was the one. Grace hasn't felt that yet.
She doesn't expect to, putting on some dresses just for fun, dancing around in them, trying not to laugh as Wanda flips her veil over her head dramatically, and laughing freely later when MJ pretends to be Peter and fake sobs and everything.
Finally, she tells the store to hold the floral one — which they'll do until the end of the day — and they depart for the next appointment at the next shop. Once there, the same process begins again (only without snacks this time), and they all go hunting for dresses, looking for "the one."
They find one Grace likes better than the floral dress from the first store, this other one being an off-the-shoulder with lace, long sleeves and a short train. She tries on more dresses for fun, though less than at the first place, and Pepper cries some more, then May does, and then Wanda, and then Morgan and Hannah join in, too. MJ's eyes are a bit glassy, and she chalks it up everybody else crying except for Grace. She still feels excitement, she still feels giddy, and she thinks about Peter when wearing every dress, wondering how he'd like it, what he'd say. She voices this question when in the off-the-shoulder one, and MJ snorts.
"You could be wearing a trash bag, and he'd still love it," she declares. "He'd be all..." and then she launches into the impression again, and Morgan joins in this time, and May laughs so hard that she cries.
Next is lunch, and Grace is actually thankful for a break, though she still thinks about the dress. She hopes it's out there today, or else Hannah's gonna have to clear her schedule for another weekend to come up, which could take ages. It would be disappointing to return home without having bought the dress today, and stressful, too.
After lunch, they head to the third store, and it's all much the same, though the dresses are different. For most of their time there, Grace finds nothing she likes as much as the off-the-shoulder one, or even the floral one, and she decides to try on a pink one just for the fun of it. It reminds many of them of a prom dress and is immediately scrapped, though Grace never seriously considered it in the first place.
Finally, Grace, Hannah, and the woman helping them — Kate — go on the hunt for more dresses, as their time begins to draw to a close. They comb through each one, and Grace picks up a couple, though she can't tell if they're the one.
Then, Hannah, farther down the row they're in, pulls one out. "What about this?"
It's white, with a floral pattern beaded onto the entire skirt, and it has two straps instead of sleeves, like Grace had taken a liking to, but there's floral lace draped over the top and down the back of the dress. It's only on closer inspection that Grace realizes it isn't white, but light blue.
A thrill runs through her, as their colors for the wedding are light blue and gold. "It would match perfectly," Hannah says, and Kate takes it back to the dressing room for them with the others in Grace's hands. She and Hannah continue looking, but nothing seems better than the blue one. So, they head back, and Grace musters the patience to save it for last.
The other dresses are nice, and May particularly likes one, but Grace wants to try on the blue one before anything is decided. Everyone seems a bit skeptical about the dress, considering how the pink one looked on her, but gasps fill the room when Grace steps out, smiling brightly.
Kate gets the veil, which is short so it doesn't interfere with the lace on the dress, and it just completes the whole thing.
Morgan looks at Grace with wonder. "You look just like a princess." Pepper cries more than she ever has the entire day, and May, Hannah, and Wanda are much in the same boat. MJ cries, too, and she blames this on Grace now crying, knowing in her heart that this is the one. She looks in the mirror, imagines her wedding day, standing in front of Peter, picturing his face when he turns around and looks at her in the dress for the first time, when he reads his vows, when they say, "I do," to each other.
She steps down from the platform in front of the mirror and Pepper, a tissue in one hand, hugs her. And Grace's tears are falling for a different reason now, a thought striking her.
"Mom?" she asks quietly.
Pepper pulls back to look at her. "Yeah?"
"Do you think... Do you think Nat and Dad would like it?"
Pepper, her tears having started to subside, begins crying again. "Oh, honey," she breathes, taking her daughter's hands. "They would love it. I know they would. You're a beautiful bride." Grace smiles a tearful smile at her and hugs her again.
Then, reluctantly, she goes back in the dressing room and takes off the dress, which she asks Kate to hold for her. They have one more shop to visit, though Grace rightly predicts that nothing there will top that blue one. They swing back to the third shop after leaving the fourth, and Hannah, Wanda, MJ, and Morgan go hunting for bridesmaid dresses while they're there. Grace wants them all the be the same color — light blue — though different styles. Kate helps them again, and they find what they need, including gold jewelry and shoes. They leave the dress there, as it has to be altered, and Grace beams on the way back home.
She stays at her Mom's that night, since Hannah is there, and Peter drops by for dinner. Try as he might, not a soul in the house will tell him a thing about the wedding dress aside from Morgan, who only says that it makes Grace look like a princess.
"Well, I already knew that," Peter replies, shaking his head at her.
~~~~
Grace stands at the cabin, looking out the window at the decorations they went ahead and put up. They look small from here, being a bit further into the trees, but she can make out the chairs — dark wood with white cushions, a light blue and gold flower arrangement on the back of each one. The altar, made from what looks like thick, dark twigs, is also adorned with flowers, and Happy and Rhodey are going to put the fairy lights on it tomorrow morning. The white runner still needs to be rolled out down the aisle, but Pepper was afraid of everyone at the rehearsal dinner dirtying it up tonight.
The dinner was small, as both the bachelorette and the bachelor party were going to have food. The bachelorette party was to be at the cabin. Pepper, Morgan, Wanda, May, MJ, and Hannah were all there, of course. They also added on Ellie, while Sammy was with his father at the hotel Peter was having his bachelor party at, his party about as mild and family-friendly as Grace's (even with Sam and Bucky insisting on helping Ned plan Peter's). It was hard to tell what they were doing over there, and Grace didn't dwell on it for long after her husband-to-be left with Harley, Sammy, Ned, Happy, Rhodey, Bucky, and Sam.
Meanwhile, at the cabin, they ordered pizza, lounged around, and danced in the living room in matching pajamas (and they were aware how cheesy it was, but May and Pepper had the idea and Grace thought it would be funny). Some board games were busted out, and Morgan ended up beating all of them in Monopoly.
Then, Pepper opened a bottle of wine after Hannah put Ellie to bed and Morgan reluctantly trekked upstairs, though no one drank more than a glass, and they watched cheesy romcoms and Wanda teased Grace whenever a sappy scene came on and mentioned Peter, and MJ soon joined in. Later, MJ piped up that she was in the mood for some cookies, and Hannah seconded this, so soon they were in the kitchen baking a small batch of cookies. They ate most of them, though they saved some for the kids to have tomorrow.
Eventually, they got tired, and everyone had to be up early to get ready, so they headed to bed, Wanda rooming with Grace, Pepper going to Morgan's room and sacrificing her bed for MJ and Hannah (and Ellie), and May drove down to the hotel to be there for Peter in the morning.
Wanda was getting into bed when Grace passed the open door of her room, but Grace wasn't ready to go to bed yet and instead went downstairs for some water. So, here she is, looking out the window. Her cup of water is sitting on the kitchen counter, still mostly full.
She's excited but nervous — why the latter, she doesn't know, but she is.
Maybe she's afraid Peter will change his mind and run off, or she'll wake up tomorrow and it'll all be a dream — and he isn't really here at all. He's still gone, and she's still seventeen or eighteen or even twenty, just dreaming about him being here again. But she pinches herself, and it feels real.
With a sigh, she decides to try and sleep, and so goes over to grab her cup to drink her water before heading upstairs. When she walks to the counter, though, she notices three pictures, framed, laying down near on the edge, closer to the door. She knows what they are already, having picked them out herself, but she didn't know Pepper — because it must've been her mom — had put them in the kitchen.
They're meant to go outside tomorrow, to sit in three seats reserved just for them, right at the front.
The first one is Vision, and it's a picture Grace took on her phone once upon a time, after the whole Accords situation, before he left. She'd gotten him to smile, and he stood with his charming awkwardness at the stove, where he was attempting to cook. They cropped the photo so the background wouldn't show, though.
Next was Nat. Grace had a hard time deciding which picture to use, and so went with the one she'd painted for her funeral — the one where she was smiling, mid-laugh, her hair just braided before they left to get the Stones. It was the most recent one, and it was happy.
Finally, her father.
It was his birthday, the last one he had, though they didn't know it at the time. For his gift, Grace painted him a family portrait. In the original, it was leaned back against his legs while he sat on the couch, but they cropped it out.
Grace picks up the picture, smiles softly at it, then decides to go ahead and put the pictures out now, despite the darkness. She grabs her phone, turns on the flashlight, and heads out, the pictures tucked against her chest in one arm.
It's a short walk to the altar, and the sight of it raises Grace's nerves and excitement, then she turns to the task at hand.
She place Vision's first, in the chair on the end in the front row, on her side — though it doesn't much matter, as Grace and Peter really have the same friends — and she gets down on the ground in front of it, looking at it for a moment.
She sighs. "Hey, Vis. I know we've never 'talked' like this... there was a lot going on, and I figured you were with Wanda, but now she's back and all and, well, she had a lot of trouble dealing with that for awhile, but she's doing better now. She's gonna be a bridesmaid in my wedding, actually." She chuckled a little. "What a way to 'tell you,' huh? Peter and I are getting married tomorrow, and I wanted you to be there, but... well, we have to do a picture instead. But you got a chair all to yourself. I think Wanda will stand close to here. She looks beautiful in her dress. I wish you could see it." She pauses, frowning, then says, "Well, anyway... I miss you. And I wish you were here..."
She turns and moves on to Nat, a lump in her throat as she puts the picture on the chair next to Vis's.
She swallows. "Hey, Nat. We haven't talked in awhile, but... I'm, uh, I'm getting married tomorrow. To Peter — though I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise. I told you I was gonna marry him before. I never thought I would get to, but... we got him back. We got everybody back. Everybody but you and Vis..." Grace wipes her eyes on her sleeve. "I really miss you, Nat. And I know I've told you before, but I love you, too. I just wish you were here..." she sniffs "... I wish we could've gotten that Stone without anybody dying for it. And I hate that it happened, Nat, but thank you. You gave me tomorrow. I just wish you were here to see it..." She looks at the picture for a moment more, then takes a calming breath and moves to the chair on the other end of the row.
She puts his picture up, then sits, looking at it for a moment, trying to find the words to say, trying to say them without sobbing. Trying to be intelligible, even though he can't hear her anyway.
She takes a shaky breath. "Hey, Dad. I know we haven't talked in a while..." She's at a loss for a moment, wondering what to say.
Then someone else clears their throat and says, "Maybe from your perspective."
She turns around, at first scared, then seeing who it is. She can hardly believe it. "Dad?"
He smiles at her — a smile she remembers so well, even now. "Hey, sweetheart," he says, and it's so wonderful to hear him say it again. It feels like home.
Grace stands, walking over to him, still not really believing it's him, amazed. "I... All the times I've done this... you've... you've never... talked back."
He sighs sadly at that. "So I really am going to die, aren't I?" She frowns, then nods, and he shrugs. "Can't say I wasn't expecting it."
"I..." she starts, but then she stops herself and hugs him instead, at first not believing she would be able to, worried he would disappear like smoke when she tried to touch him. But he doesn't. "Gosh, Dad, I've missed you so much."
He rubs her back comfortingly, and they sway back and forth a little, and Grace feels just like a kid again, but in a good way. "Hey, I know," he says. "But there's no reason to cry. This was the only way. And I- I'm glad I got to save the world in the process. I'm glad I was able to save you. And your mom, and Happy, and Morgan, and Peter, and Harley, and — well, everyone." He pulls back to look at her face. "How are they anyway? You've got to be, what, twenty five now?"
She smiles at him, with watery eyes. "Twenty seven."
"Wow," he breathes.
"And we're great," she continues. "It's been hard, of course, but... we're sticking together. We're healing. There's still a Tony-Stark-shaped hole in our hearts, but... we're healing."
He chuckles. "I'm glad to hear it."
Grace frowns a little, remembering her younger sister, asleep upstairs. "Morgan misses you a lot. And so does Mom."
He sighs. "Yeah, that's the bad part about all of this..."
"Yeah, it really sucks," she replies, nodding with a small, mirthless laugh.
They go quiet for a bit, then he clears his throat again. "Well... I'm assuming you're still with Peter?" he asks, slightly changing the subject.
Grace rolls her eyes and chuckles. "Of course I am, Dad. There's nobody else I'd ever be with. Not even now that I can go out and meet new people."
Tony laughs. "I figured as much. You guys were always so sickeningly in love with each other."
Grace smiles widely. "You know, that's kinda the reason I even talked to you again today..." He raises a brow at that, and her smile somehow grows. "We're getting married tomorrow."
Tears spring to his eyes and his mouth opens slightly, in happy surprise. But his voice contains a bit of regret. "I wish I were there."
Her smile shrinks. "I do, too. But I guess a picture will have to do."
"Who are you talking to?" a voice asks, and Grace turns around, spying Morgan with a flashlight from the kitchen pointed at the ground.
"Morgan..." her dad says, and only then can she see him. Her eyes alight, and she gasps and runs to him, throwing her arms around him.
"You're back!" she says, and he shakes his head sadly.
"No, Maguna," he replies. "I'm just here to say goodbye." She frowns, and he changes the subject. "So, what are you gonna do in your sister's wedding tomorrow? You the flower girl?"
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "No. I'm too old. I'm a bridesmaid."
Tony looks at Grace, who mouths, "Junior," and he nods before turning back to Morgan.
"I wish I could see you," he says.
Morgan frowns. "Me, too." After a pause, she starts talking again, telling him everything. "Harley's baby is going to be flower girl, by the way. She's one, so Hannah's gonna have to help her. And his son is the ring bearer — he's old enough to walk by himself. And Wanda is maid of honor and MJ and Hannah are bridesmaids, too, and Ned is best man, and Harley and Sam and Bucky are groomsmen, and- and look at Grace's ring! I helped Peter pick it out."
Grace shows him the ring, and he smiles at it, then at her. He then hugs her again, kissing her forehead. "I love you, sweetheart."
Grace, with an aching heart, knows it's time for him to go. "I love you, too, Dad."
He hugs Morgan once more, kissing her forehead, too. "I love you, pumpkin."
"I love you, too," she replies sadly.
He steps back, and then he fades away, as if he were never there at all. But Grace and Morgan know that he was, and they'll carry that memory with them for the rest of their lives.
~~~~
Grace walks Morgan back to her room, where Pepper is sleeping soundly, which is why she didn't know that Morgan was still awake and watching the fireflies outside her window; that's how she saw Grace walking outside, and she decided to follow her — and she's glad she did.
Grace is glad, too, as she heads to her own room. Wanda is asleep, so Grace is sure to be quiet, but when she moves the blanket to get in bed, she realizes it wasn't necessary.
"Are you alright?" Wanda whispers, turning to look at her.
Grace nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. Couldn't sleep."
Wanda chuckles. "You're excited, aren't you?"
Grace thinks of Peter, probably already asleep, if nerves and excitement don't keep him up, too, and she thinks of tomorrow, when they'll be married, then the two weeks afterward, when they'll be in Europe, redoing that awful trip they had with his school about four years ago. She thinks of the months and the years afterward, living together, making a home together, having a family, raising kids, all the fights and the make ups, the mistakes and the apologizes, the love and the laughter and all of it. She smiles, pulling the blanket over her shoulders. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm... I'm ecstatic."
The nerves are now gone, and, despite feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve, she manages to fall asleep, her father, husband-to-be, and family all close to her heart.