A Most Graceful Life Ch. 06

Stephen looked back and forth between Grace and his mother. "Okay, Mom." Before he turned to leave, he leaned into Grace, "Going to be okay?"

Theresa interrupted before Grace could answer, "She'll be fine! It's not like I'm some monster after all," she chuckled.

"Don't worry, babe. I'll be fine," laughed Grace.

"Alright," replied Stephen. "I'll be back down soon." After giving Grace a quick peck on the lips, he made his way down the hallway to his room, but not before mentally reaching out to Grace.

"Still holding up okay over there?"

"A little nervous, but doing okay," came the thought back from Grace.

"You're doing great, babe," he thought, before getting into his room to change.

Before Grace had a chance to respond, Theresa turned and patted her hand, "Would you like something to drink, dear? You're probably parched from being at the gym!"

"Yes, please," smiled Grace. "I wouldn't turn down some water right now."

"Well, just follow me into the kitchen." The two women made their way into the family kitchen, and Theresa filled up a cup with water to give to Grace. As Grace took her first sip, Theresa watched her closely, appraising her silently.

"So, Grace, what brought you back to Kansas? Are you going to school here?"

Grace set her cup down on the counter. "Maybe. I'm not sure yet what my plans are. When I was in Chicago, I lived with my Aunt Sarah, but she was very old, and she recently passed."

"I'm so sorry to hear that, dear."

Grace gave a sad smile, "It was a long time coming, unfortunately. She battled cancer for a long time. When Aunt Sarah passed, I found myself not wanting to stay in the "concrete jungle" any more and really wanted to get back to my roots. I had only attended a few semesters at a local school there, but I'm looking into perhaps going back and transferring the credits here."

Theresa nodded as she listened, taking in the girl's story. She poured herself a glass of water as well, and gestured for Grace to sit at the table with her.

"So are you living here in town then?"

Grace nodded, "A little place, not far from here. It's not much, but I make it work," she giggled.

"Not many would willingly move back to such a smaller area, especially when they were in the big city for so long," noted Theresa.

"It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, to leave Chicago, but I felt like it was time for something new. A change of scenery," Grace smiled. "Luckily, so far, it's turned out incredibly for me. Ever since I met Stephen."

"If you're going to break his heart, please do it sooner rather than later," said Theresa, giving Grace a knowing look. "I'm afraid to see what would happen after losing someone like you, especially if you drag it out."

Grace just sat there, blinking, before a look of confusion dawned on her face. "I'm sorry?"

"Grace, I may be old, but I'm not blind. I see you. All of you. You're a gorgeous woman, and I'm sure you could have your pick of men anywhere. And although I love my son, and would do anything for him, I'm also aware that you are quite out of his league. What is the angle? Do you string him along for a few dates, perhaps some pity sex, and get him to pay your rent for a few months? Maybe buy you a new wardrobe? Just enough until you are off to the next guy? How does it work, Grace?"

Grace swallowed hard, feeling her eyes begin to tear up, "Mrs. Willow, I swear it's nothing like that."

Theresa continued, "To think that I was so naive to believe that he was coming out of his depression on his own. I should have realized sooner that someone like you were behind this."

"Mrs. Willow, I would never hurt Stephen. Ever. I-"

"Do you understand that he hasn't had the easiest life? He needs to work to help support the family. Couldn't stay in college past a single semester due to lack of money. His father took off when he was young and left me struggling with three young boys. Not to mention, I don't think he's ever had a real girlfriend before. If you were looking for a good victim, you couldn't have picked a better target, but I won't let it happen to my son."

Grace's hand reached out to touch Theresa's, in an effort to get her to listen to what she had to say. "Mrs. Willow. Theresa. I'm in love with Stephen. I love him. I'm not sure what it will take to have you believe me," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "When I first met Stephen, I was almost in awe of him. He was just so.. genuine. He has such a caring soul, that it's impossible to not feel a certain way in his presence."

"When he smiles at me, I can feel my heart seize up. When he grabs my hand, I feel alive. I may only be twenty one, but I know what love is. Or rather, I know it now after being with Stephen. He's so loving, and mature, and wise, even for his age. He's the best man I've ever met."

"I swear to you, Theresa, that this not some game, or stunt. The moment I met him, I was a goner. I've given him my heart freely, willingly, and want to pursue this as long as possible. I promise you that." She gave a small smile as Theresa's expression softened, her own eyes looking now rather watery as well.

"I love my son, Grace. I want what's best for him. He's had to sacrifice a lot over the years, and I'm tired of seeing him hurting. For the past few days, I haven't seen him this happy in years."

"I can't say that I knew him from before, but his personality is practically magnetic. I find myself wanting to be with him all the time," smiled Grace.

"His father used to be like that as well, at one time," noted Theresa, before briefly zoning out. She took another sip of her water, and then looked back at Grace. "I want to trust you, I do, Grace. In time, my full trust will be earned as long as you are good to him."

"I promise to only be good to him. If I'm half as good to him as he is to me, we'll never have a problem!"

"I can see the love he has for you in his eyes. I can see for your words and your reaction that you return that same love just as powerfully. As long as you two treat each other right, I don't have any objections." Theresa smiled gently, and patted Grace's hand.

"Everything okay in here?" Stephen's head popped into the kitchen, looking greatly refreshed and wearing a simple collared shirt and a fresh pair of jeans.

"Everything is going great now, sweetie," smiled Theresa, looking up at her son.

"Really good," agreed Grace, looking over at Theresa and reaching a common understanding together.

"Grace, do you want to get changed? I think you have some spare clothes in my room," offered Stephen.

"Yes! I need to make myself presentable," giggled Grace, rising up from the table. "Be right back!"

Grace headed towards Stephen's room, but not before giving him a quick kiss. Stephen's cheeks flushed as he saw his mother staring, but then walked over to the dinner table and took Grace's seat.

"Well...," he started.

"Well?" Theresa arched an eyebrow.

"What do you think?"

"She cares for you greatly, sweetie. I didn't think I realized it until after talking with her just now."

Stephen gave a boyish smile, "I care about her a lot, too."

Theresa gave him a knowing look, "She said she's in love with you."

"I.. um, think I do, too. Love her, that is," he sputtered nervously.

"I'm happy for you, Stephen," Theresa gave a sad smile, before standing up to give her eldest son a warm hug.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Stephen chuckled nervously, as his mother sniffled into his shoulder.

"Tears of happiness, I swear," giggled Theresa. "It's just so nice to see love back in this house again. Well, that kind of love."

Stephen didn't respond, and just softly patted his mother's back. He didn't need her to explain that comment. Ever since his father left, this house has been practically empty of healthy, passionate love. Although he recognized he was in love with Grace, a part of him didn't like to remind his mother of what she had lost. Theresa Willow deserved to be as happy as anyone.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get all sappy on you," she said, pulling away and giving him a sad smile.

"It's all good, mom. I understand," smiled Stephen.

"I should probably get started on dinner. The twins will be home any moment now!"

With those words, Theresa turned her attention to the stove, and started to prepare the chicken for dinner. Grace reappeared shortly after, looking incredibly gorgeous. The ponytail was gone, and her long light brown hair was now wavy, just as Stephen liked. She was wearing a casual light blue summer dress that covered down to her elbows and knees. Even though it didn't display any cleavage, her bust line still stood out rather proudly, giving just a hint of the size below. She looked absolutely fantastic.

"It's already starting to smell wonderful in here," remarked Grace, as she stepped fully into the kitchen.

"Thank you, dear," smiled Theresa before looking back at the young woman. "You look beautiful, Grace. That color really suits you!"

"Thank you, Theresa," Grace beamed. "I was hoping Stephen might like it," she said, shyly casting her eyes in the direction of her boyfriend.

"Like it? I love it," Stephen gulped, still taking in how well her legs looked, and the curves of her body.

"What are you trying to do? Keep me hard all dinner?" He thought to her, while looking over with a playful smirk.

"How else is a girl supposed to get some?" Grace replied, before winking at him.

Stephen just grinned to himself, while shaking his head.

"Theresa, may I do anything to help? I love to cook," offered Grace, stepping towards the stove.

"You know what," thought Theresa. "I could use a hand, as long as you don't mind?"

"I'd love to," replied Grace.

"Why don't you cut up these green beans for me?"

"Consider it done," giggled Grace.

"So, Grace, how did you learn to cook?"

"A lot of it came from my aunt," said Grace, smiling fondly. For the next thirty minutes, the two women worked side by side, crafting dinner. Since it was a recipe that Theresa had made many times before, she was quite comfortable giving directions and showing Grace how she wanted each task completed. Grace was the real trooper, an able listener who performed each task and really had Theresa singing her praises by the end.

"That's perfect, Grace, thank you!" Theresa beamed, as she took the platter of rolled chicken cutlets to set into the baking pan.

For his part, Stephen mostly sat back and watched, engaging in conversation when his name was brought up, or weighing his opinion when it was asked. Grace would always find a way to keep him near the spotlight, even if it was just to give him tastes or nibbles of what she had just prepared.

"Here, babe, try this," she said, casually sitting down in his lap, to slip a piece of cooked chicken in his mouth."

"Mmm, that's delicious. You two make a good team!"

Grace beamed at him with her best smile, kissing him thoroughly before returning back to work. It wasn't much longer after that they all heard the front door open.

"MOM! We're home," shouted one of the twins, with his voice echoing into the kitchen.

"In the kitchen," she yelled back, before resuming her full attention back to dinner.

One by one, Chase and Chris entered the kitchen as they normally would, only to freeze when they caught sight of Grace, who just smiled fondly at them.

"Um, hi," managed Chase, making eye contact with the gorgeous brunette.

"Hi there, you must be Chase and Chris! I'm Grace, and it's nice to meet you. Stephen has told me so much about you two!" Grace beamed in the friendliest voice she could muster.

"Uh, Stephen has?" Chris muttered, looking back and forth between Grace and his eldest brother, still sitting at the table.

"Boys, Grace will be joining us for dinner tonight. She and Stephen are dating now," replied Theresa, rather nonchalantly, while cutting up lettuce for a salad.

Chase's eyes bulged, turning to Stephen. "You're dating HER? We thought you were gay!"

"Hey! Be nice to your brother," snipped Theresa, narrowing her eyes at the twins.

For his part, Stephen smiled, surprisingly. "Not gay, obviously. But thanks for the confidence, guys." He then got up from the table and wrapped his warms around Grace, who in turn, kissed him soundly.

"No way," whispered the twins almost in unison.

"Go get cleaned up you two! Your grandparents will be here any time now!"

As the two twins scampered out of the kitchen back to their room, Theresa turned to Grace, "They can be quite a handful."

Grace just giggled, "I can imagine! Having three young boys all at once must have been quite the experience."

Theresa sighed, "Like you wouldn't believe. I think my nerves are permanently frayed from that experience."

"Hey now," replied Stephen, defensively. "I wasn't that bad!"

"Of course not, dear. That was more directed towards your brothers. Of course, I had your father to help me during most of your younger years," replied Theresa, with a sorrowful expression on her face.

Stephen recognized that continuing that conversation would lead down a bad path, so he chose to drop it. No sense in bringing up ancient history on a night that was supposed to be enjoyable. Thankfully, it wasn't quiet in the kitchen for very long before the doorbell went off.

"That must be my parents," said Theresa, rushing out of the kitchen to the door, and leaving the young couple to themselves for a moment.

"Am I doing okay?" Grace whispered to Stephen.

"You're doing amazing. I couldn't be more proud of you," he replied, giving her a gentle kiss.

Grace beamed with a smile long enough to last until the whole family came back into the kitchen.

"My goodness, who let the supermodel in here?" Grandpa exclaimed playfully, getting his first look at Grace. His words were enough to make her blush a deep shade of red.

"Hey Grandpa, Grandma," said Stephen, rushing up to hug them. "I want you to meet my girlfriend, Grace."

"It's so nice to meet you both," smiled Grace, while adding a little wave.

"So this is your girl now, huh, Stephen?" Grandpa asked, giving a sly smile over to his grandson as he hobbled across the kitchen using his cane. "Good job, my boy," he grinned, patting him on the back.

"Ted!" Grandma whispered. "Behave yourself!" Grandma than reached out to Grace, taking her hands in her own. "Lovely to meet you, dear!"

"Thanks, Grandpa," chuckled Stephen. "I rather like her myself, too."

"Well, very nice to meet you, young lady. You can call me Grandpa Ted if you like. Or just Grandpa. Just don't call me late for dinner," he grinned.

"I've heard a lot about you Grandpa Ted," giggled Grace.

"It's all true, I swear," he laughed, and then visibly sniffed into the air, "My, my Theresa, it smells excellent in here!"

"Wait until you try it first, Dad," said Theresa, pulling a full tray out from the oven.

Grandpa sidled up to me and gently elbowed my side, "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll sneak a few bites in before the twins get back down here."

Stephen and Grace could only chuckle, as the older man grabbed a fork and began to try to snatch a bite of chicken fresh out of the oven.

"Dad, hold on a minute," laughed Theresa.

"So Grace," began Grandma, taking a seat at the table. "Are you from around here?"

"I was born here, but I've spent most of my life out in Chicago," smiled Grace, while helping to set the table.

"Chicago, hmm? I could tell, you don't seem like a native Kansan," replied Grandma.

"What makes you say that?" Grace asked, stopping to look at her.

"Just grandmotherly intuition," she smiled, cryptically, while giving a knowing look. "Plus, you don't seem to have our accent!"

"Oh, Grandpa, that reminds me. I have something to show you," said Stephen, holding up his hand before dashing out to his room.

"I hope he's not expecting me to follow him that fast," quipped Grandpa, earning a round of snickers from the rest of the women. Luckily, he didn't have to, and Stephen reappeared a moment later clutching something in his hand.

"Look what we managed to get fixed recently," said Stephen, pressing a small bundle into his hands.

"Is that the 1905 Elgin?" Grandpa asked, looking down at the pocket watch in his hand. "My goodness, Stephen, how did you get this fixed so fast?"

"I had a little help," grinned Stephen, gesturing to Grace.

"Grace, you helped too?

Grace beamed with a smile, before giving a subtle nod.

"How incredible," Grandpa mentioned, turning his attention back to the watch. "You know this watch belonged to my grandfather, right? It hasn't ticked on its own in close to fifty years."

"That's why I was so excited to show you," chuckled Stephen.

Grandpa Ted spent a few more minutes looking over the watch, and even opening the back panel to look at the inner workings, all the while telling the history behind the watch and how his own grandfather had come to possess it. Finally, he closed the watch, and looked back up at Stephen.

"She's a keeper, Stephen. You marry that girl, you hear?" Grandpa grinned, gesturing to Grace.

"Don't worry, Grandpa," laughed Stephen. "I'm pretty fond of her myself."

Grace could only blush in the face of her praise.

"Dinner's ready everyone!" Mom announced, setting the plate of chicken in the middle of the table.

"Finally, we're starved," the twins replied, before rushing to take their usual seats at the table.

Theresa spent one last minute making sure everyone had something to drink before sitting down at the last open seat at the table.

"Should we say grace?" asked Grandma.

"Grace. Let's eat," quipped Grandpa, who quickly pointed at new addition at the table, while picking up his fork.

"Not so fast, Dad," said mom, while putting her hand on his forearm. "For real, please."

"Oh fine," he chuckled, putting his fork back down. Around the table, everyone put their hands together while Grandpa led them off in a non-traditional prayer.

"Thank you, O holy one, for this bountiful harvest you have placed in front of us. Thank you for our health and the presence of our loved ones. Thank you for bringing Grace to our table, both literally and figuratively, and into Stephen's life. We give thanks for this meal in your name. Amen."

"Amen," replied the rest of the table in unison.

Dinner was a lively affair, as was typical whenever Grandpa Ted was around. While the entire family dined, he would tease, joke, and tell stories, while Grandma largely tried to keep him reined in with her own devastating form of wit as well. The twins were largely quiet, although Stephen caught them several times sneaking stares at Grace as if confirming she wasn't just a figment of their imagination.

Yet, Stephen couldn't remember a family get together where he laughed more. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if it was because his grandparents were just in rare form today, or from having Grace by his side, but a smile never left his face during the entire meal.

"Well, I'm stuffed," said Grandpa finally, leaning back in his chair and patting his stomach appropriately. "Theresa, you're an excellent cook!"

"Yeah, Mom, that was really good," agreed Stephen, cleaning off the last bit of food from his plate.

"It was amazing, Mrs. Willow," smiled Grace.

"It seems I have a bunch of flatterers here," grinned Theresa. "But thank you all!"

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I need to get comfortable now," announced Grandpa, before getting up from the table. "Come on boys, let's find something on the tube!"

In a mass exodus from the kitchen, Grandpa, Chase, and Chris snuck out to the family room, arranging themselves in various comfortable positions on the furniture. Grandma even followed herself, making room for a seat right next to her wily husband.