State Of Grace

Chapter 30 - Maroon

When Stella and Anita got in the car, Stella was breathless, "What an ass," she said.

"What happened?" Gracie asked.

"Greg had some not-so-nice things to say about your mothers after you left," Anita said.

"I may have said some unkind things back," Stella admitted, "But I couldn't let him sit there thinking he was better than us because of his money and prejudice framed as family values."

Gracie fumed at how could someone could harbor so much hate for people based on who they love. Her mothers' marriage had no impact on other people's lives whatsoever, so why did it bother him so much? And then another thought crept up on her; if Gracie was forced to live with him, and he found out she was gay, what would he do to her then?

She'd heard of some kids being sent to church counselors and conversion therapy camps where they were told daily that they were wrong or broken just for being themselves. Parts of their identity bullied and beaten out of them until they confirmed to what a cruel society deemed acceptable.

Although life had dealt her a bad hand, Gracie was grateful she'd never had to go through that.

"Does this mean I can't come home?" Gracie asked.

"Not tonight, I'm sorry," Anita sighed, "But we have an appointment with the judge tomorrow, and he'll decide if you can go home while we wait for a custody hearing."

It was the best Gracie could expect. She knew months ago that getting adopted by the Tuckers was too good to be true. As mad as she was at Greg, she was angrier at herself for getting her hopes up, she should've known better.

Anita gave Gracie and her moms five minutes to say goodbye again, while she went into the group home to update Linda on Gracie's situation. One good thing that came out of everything she'd been through was that Anita had been working harder than ever to keep Gracie safe, if it wasn't for John, Gracie was certain she'd still be bouncing around group homes.

Stella and Lilah sat on either side of Gracie in the back seat, wrapping their arms around her and cherishing the moment of privacy.

"Maybe I should just go live with him, I don't want you to have to keep paying lawyers if the judge is just gonna rule in Greg's favor anyway," Gracie was trying to be mature about it, but she was in tears at the thought of being away from her family for another night, let alone moving out completely. But right now, anywhere seemed better than sleeping in the same room as Amber again.

"No, love, you don't need to worry about that, we promised we would fight for you and we will not stop until you're legally ours," Stella squeezed her daughter tight, dreading the moment she'd have to let her go again.

"Just another night, and we'll be back here in the morning," Lilah was crying too, "We love you," she and her wife kissed Gracie on each cheek and walked her to the door, holding her hands and rubbing her back.

Gracie did her best to gather herself before stepping inside, it wouldn't be good for her if Amber saw her crying, but as they walked up the path, Gracie saw some of the girls in the window, looking at her with her mothers. Laughing. Making crude hand gestures. Pretending to gag. She panicked but didn't say anything to her moms, seeing no use in worrying them further. She dropped their hands, said a quick goodbye, and rushed inside. Instantly, she was wracked with guilt for being embarrassed about them.

After dinner that night, the girls were cleaning up the kitchen, it was just Gracie, Amber, and Molly again. Gracie was cleaning the surfaces, Amber mopped the floor, and Molly was tying up the trash bags. Amber hadn't stopped staring at Gracie since she got back, none of the girls had. They'd all been whispering as Gracie walked by, but none of the other girls were as much of a threat as Amber.