State Of Grace

Chapter 21 - How You Get The Girl

Gracie woke up smiling from ear to ear on Saturday morning. All night she dreamed of a life spent with Rachel at her side and a family she could call her own. Since hearing how important she was to her foster siblings, she'd been allowing herself to hope a little more, for most of her life there was no point wasting time wanting things that she never thought she'd have. But here she was, waiting to hear if she would be adopted, in a perfect relationship with the girl of her dreams, things were starting to go well.

And tonight she would get to spend an evening with Rachel, completely uninterrupted and away from the hustle and bustle of the busy family home. They wouldn't have to sit on the beach where the cold winds left them shivering as the sun went down each night.

Now that her homework was finished, and her plans were made, all she had to do was call Sarah and let her know that she wouldn't be joining her and her family on their boat. Maia was already downstairs eating breakfast but Riley was still snoring away, so Gracie went into the bathroom so she didn't wake her.

"Hey Gracie, what time are you guys coming?" Sarah asked.

"Actually Sarah, I can't make it, I totally forgot that I promised Amy and Elle we would work on our essays together." As usual, she felt terrible for lying, but she and Rachel needed this time together. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, right," Sarah was silent for a moment, "I get it, school comes first," she was trying to sound unbothered, but Gracie could tell she was a little upset about it.

"But I'll be at group tomorrow, and maybe after that, we could hang out? Like we used to?" Gracie hadn't been making time for Sarah lately, but with everything that had been going on, Sarah understood, and Gracie desperately wanted to make it up to her.

"Yeah, for sure, as long as you're not replacing me with your new friends," Sarah joked.

"I could never," Gracie smiled, excited to see her best friend again, "Okay, I have to go but I'll see you tomorrow at the hospital."

Gracie hung up the phone and went back into the bedroom to start packing an overnight bag, ready for Rachel to come and pick her up.

"Hey," Riley was just waking up, "Was that Sarah on the phone?" She got up and made her bed.

"Oh, yeah, I was just telling her I couldn't make it today, but we have plans to hang out tomorrow, so it's all good," Gracie dug through her drawers to find her favorite pajamas to wear at Rachel's apartment.

"Well, we'll miss you on the boat, but have fun tonight. Are you coming down for breakfast?" Riley yawned and put her slippers on.

"I'll be down in a second, I just have to pack my stuff."

Once Riley left the room, Gracie pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Rachel.

"Pick me up at noon, but wait around the corner so no one sees," she wrote, and Rachel responded with a kissy-face emoticon.

Gracie put her backpack by the front door and joined the rest of her family at the kitchen table, they were all talking excitedly about something.

"What did I miss?" Gracie sat between her brothers.

"We're going camping," Marco said.

"I don't see why we can't go on a real vacation, with a beach and a pool and cute surfer guys," Maia moaned, she was the only one who didn't seem excited about the prospect of camping.

"Look, guys, we've talked about this, camping is the best option for us at the moment," Stella explained, "Anything else would just be too expensive, love."

"That sounds fun, when are you guys going?" Gracie asked.

"You're coming too!" Riley said, "Right moms?"