Grace (BWWM)

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Hello, a quick thank you for reading. Feel free to vote and/or comment on the chapters, it helps get the book out to more people. Enjoy!

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Aside from Austin's announcement earlier, things go well that evening. Dinner happens later than usual, but it happens. We all clean up and the kids head to the basement, leaving Grace and me alone. She was silent for most of dinner.

"Let's watch a movie," I say. We're sitting together on one of the couches in the living room, and she looks over at me.

"A movie?"

"Yeah," Neither of us watch much TV, but this may be a good distraction. She looks at me a minute longer before getting up and heading to a closet in the hallway. It doesn't take her long to come back with something. A VHS tape to be exact.

"That old thing?" I ask, surprised. "I remember watching that once when the twins were a lot younger. It was when Sherry and I came to help you out," I say, recalling that first night. She smiles gently.

"Yeah I remember thinking it really wasn't a great choice for five-year-olds." I smile sheepishly.

"I wasn't quite aware. I enjoyed it though."

"Yeah, I remember. Would you like to watch it again, for old time's sake?"

"Sure, amuse this old man," I say, and she lifts an eyebrow, rolling her eyes.

"You're not an old man, Joe and you do not act like one."

"What do I act like then?" I ask as she slips the tape out of its case and into the VCR.

"Like a child," she simply says, her back to me. I let out a surprised laugh, not expecting that.

"That's quite the opposite."

"No, you act like a man, but you're lively as well. You've got more energy than some guys your age."

I grin.

"You're complimenting me of your own volition."

"Don't get too used to it," she says dryly, and I laugh. Grace pushes play on the tape and walks back to the couch, a smile on her face. I smile as well, hoping this'll take her mind off things.

Advertisements for other movies come up first and I'm taken aback by how old some of these movies are.

"It's been a while," I say, chuckling.

"Yeah. I forgot about all these ads they used to do."

"It's nostalgic."

I don't have any kids myself so most of the things I know related to children, I know from the four in this house. I remember seeing all this stuff all those years ago.

"Man. They're all grown up now."

"They're still kids," Grace says plainly. I look over at her to see her attention glued to the TV, but I know she's thinking back as well.

"They're growing up, Gracie," I say gently.

She shrugs. "They're my babies," she mutters, the corners of her mouth turning down.

"You grew up too, you know." It's a natural thing.

"Yeah . . . my mother couldn't wait for me to grow up."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, she always talked about the next stage. She couldn't wait for me to walk when I was crawling, to go to primary school when I was walking, to go to secondary school once I entered primary. Heck, she was talking to me about grandchildren when I just started going out with Lance." She gives a laugh but cuts it short.