A Most Graceful Life Ch. 12

"Grace," gulped Stephen, setting the test down. "You're pregnant? You're having a baby?"

Grace took another step closer to him, "We're having a baby, Stephen."

He rushed towards her, completely closing the distance and hugged her firmly in his arms. "We're having a baby! You're pregnant, and we're having a baby!" He announced, excitedly.

"Yes, we are," Grace laughed, heartily, thrilled that he was as happy as she had been to tell him.

"How incredible!" He picked up the test again, looking at it firmly. "How far along?"

"About seven weeks, give or take," Grace replied. "I can feel the changes in my body already, even without the magic. I just wanted to surprise you with it, and show you how happy its made me."

"How happy it's made us," he corrected, leaning down to kiss her. "Grace, we're having a baby. A little you!"

"Mixed with a lot of you," she added with a giggle.

"Do you know what the sex is? I mean, did you before you were set free?"

She nodded slowly, a smile forming at both ends of her mouth. "Do you want to know?"

"I probably should," he answered, thinking about it for a moment. "Especially if you know. We should know together."

Grace reached out to grab his hand, and placed it against her belly. While it was still too early to show, and way too early for any movement, she wanted her child to feel his father's touch against her. Looking up into his eyes, she finally replied, "It's a boy. We're having a boy."

"A boy! That's so amazing! We're having a boy, Grace!" Stephen celebrated visibly, earning several laughs from Grace as he hopped around the room in excitement. He finally came back to her again, settling down and pulling her into his arms. "We're having a boy," he whispered one last time.

"You're forgetting one more exciting tidbit, my love," she replied, her eyes blazing with mischief. She glanced down at the top of her shirt. "My boobs are about to grow about another size because of this."

"This is the best day of my life," chuckled Stephen, eyeing her breasts teasingly, before settling on another kiss. The expectant parents celebrated the rest of the night the best way they knew how, and looked forward to the growth of their new family, and the many more children that would follow.

A new sense of purpose filled his life, and right then and there Stephen resolved to be the best father he could possible be. He kissed the top of Grace's head and looked out the front window of their apartment, eagerly awaiting the future promise of his life with Grace. It had never seemed brighter than it did right now.

Epilogue - 50 Years Later

"Now, if I may have your attention everyone, the maid of honor would like to give her toast," announced the emcee, as a microphone was taken over to the bridal party table, and a taller, honey blonde haired girl stood on her feet, resplendent in her deep purple dress. She began her toast much like every other wedding toast, first thanking the bride and groom for allowing her to be there, and then following with an older story that described her friendship with the bride that went back many years. She told a couple stories of them from high school, and proceeded to say how beautiful the wedding was, and how she wished many years of happiness for the newlywed couple.

"I'd also like to thank all those who made it here in attendance tonight, especially those coming a long way," gushed the maid of honor, reading from her note cards. "I'd also like to thank the grandparents of the bride for being here, coming here all the way from Kansas!"

"That's us," Grace leaned over and whispered, as they both put up short little waves as the crowd applauded them. Stephen looked on and managed a gentle smile, as he watched the bride stand and press her face against the microphone. "I love you, Grandma and Grandpa!" The bride, his granddaughter Brittany, spoke out loud, earning another round of applause.

Grace scooted her seat closer to him, and gently laid her head against his shoulder, "I do so love weddings," she gushed, a phrase he was well used to at this point in his life.

"I've noticed," he chuckled, while taking another bite of his wedding cake. It was red velvet, one of his favorite flavors, and he made a mental note to thank whomever had picked it.

"You should slow down on the cake," teased Grace, watching him devour another mouthful. "You know what all that sugar does to your system."

"Bah, not today. In fact, I may get another piece," chuckled Stephen, with red crumbs falling out of his mouth. It was enough to make his wife laugh at his shamelessness.

"I'm going to hit the ladies room. Try not to dance with any of these younger girls while I'm away," she joked, as she got up from the table and began her walk over to the restrooms. Stephen turned to watch her. At one time, Grace stood up straight (if never very tall), with an erect spine, and pulled back shoulders. Yet, the years had aged them both considerably, and she now walked with a slight hunch to her back. Whereas her hair had once been a delightfully wavy light brown, it had turned mostly gray a while back, similar to his own.

The truth was that time had aged them. Fifty years will do that to you. Yet, there was always something youthful and exciting about her sky blue eyes, and even after all this time, he still felt his heart seize up whenever she cast them in his direction. It had been that way for his entire life.

And what a life it had been. Fifty years, six children, and thirteen grandchildren later, the Willow family had grown quite substantially. The best part was that on special occasions such as this one, they were all reunited here in one room.

Stephen looked over at the main table for the parents of the newlyweds, and spotted his oldest son, Dan, and his wife Mara. It was their eldest daughter (and his first granddaughter), Brittany, that was getting married tonight. Her two sisters served in the bridal party as well, and her three brothers sat next to their own parents.

Dan must have felt his eyes on him, and he soon caught him looking over. Stephen gave a subtle nod of approval to his son, who was aging as swiftly as he was. Dan now had gray at his own temples, and it wouldn't be very many years until he resembled his hunched over father.

Stephen looked around once again, spotting his other son, Theodore, or Ted for short. Named after his own grandfather, Ted was quite the curious mix. He had his great grandfather's wit and humor, but had his mother's light brown hair, and bright blue eyes. His own family of three surrounded him, and his wife, Kristin at their own table.

Searching for another table, Stephen found two of his other daughters, Anna and Paige, sitting at a table with their respective husbands, Greg and Michael. Greg and Anna had two sons between them, while Michael and Paige had only married last year. Paige's quickly growing belly signaled the birth of a new grandchild here soon.

His last daughter, Chelsea, sat at another table by her own family, surrounded by her twin sons, Brandon and Brian, who were each being cradled by their parents. Her husband, Aaron, had been rather surprised to find out how twins ran in the family, but was taking to fatherhood quite well.

Of course, any mention of twins reminded him of his own brothers, and Chris and Chase were not far away either, sitting with their entire families as well, though they were no longer the uninterested twelve year old boys that he frequently remembered from his younger days. The twins were still as tight as glue, something that he was happy to note that their wives understood very well.

It was such a lovely gathering of the family for this joyous occasion. He wished his mother was still alive to see it, as she would have enjoyed seeing her great granddaughter finally get married. Yet Theresa had passed away almost five years prior, having finally succumbed to old age. It didn't come as much of a surprise to Stephen and Grace when she passed, as her husband, Jim, had predeceased her by only a few months. Once his great, loving heart finally gave out, it seemed she wouldn't last much longer either. Stephen's wish from fifty years ago managed to hold true, and together they spent what remained of their lives in loving harmony, just as he always wanted it to be.

"What are you looking at there, old man?" Grace's voice interrupted his thoughts, as she sat back down beside him. Her eyes twinkled mischievously, as they always did when she was feeling playful.

"Just looking out at the whole family, young lady," Stephen chuckled, nodding off in every direction where their children lay.

Grace slipped her hand in his. "We've made a beautiful family."

"That we have, my love," replied Stephen.

"You owe me a dance later, you hear? I don't want any of the women here getting any bright ideas about you," she teased, reaching over to brush off another layer of red velvet crumbs.

"Honey, I can't help it if they like me. I'm still a handsome man," Stephen chuckled, a comical farce, and a wonder that he could keep a straight face saying it. He had long since passed off of anyone's radar, save for Grace.

"It's time like these I wish I still had my magic, just to punish you for that statement," she joked, swatting at his wrist.

Stephen smiled, remembering those long since past times when Grace was still a genie before he had set her free. At times, he had practically forgotten her magical origins, as Grace had taken to humanity like a duck to water. It wasn't a hard transition for her, seeing as she had started out as a human to begin with, yet they made her new life work exceptionally well, as evidenced by their large family.

"Nothing to worry about, dear. You're still the best looking twenty five hundred year old lady I've ever seen," he responded, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Don't you forget it," she quipped back.

Stephen pulled out his own pocket watch, noting that it was getting late in the evening. This particular watch, while not a member of the same collection his grandfather had gifted him, was a retirement present he had received when his stake at the old grocery store was bought out. The new owners, knowing his affinity for the old watch designs, selected the intricate, gold-plated watch as a way to send him off into his golden years.

Things had gone spectacularly well over the course of his life at Price Chopper. Ever since being made manager at the young age of twenty one, his climb up the ladder exploded rather quickly. When his former senior manager, Eric Barnes, retired after ten more years, Stephen stepped into the role of senior manager and ran the entire store. After the original owners decided to pull out, it was Stephen who purchased his own stake in the store, becoming part owner as well. And later on in life, when the store was bought out one last time by a conglomerate back east, it was Stephen who walked away with a nice amount of money to begin an early retirement. This watch came directly from that buyout.

Yet the store wasn't the only activity that was making him money. Due mostly to Grace's push, he was able to self-publish a line of fantasy stories under a pen name to keep his anonymity. While initially slow to catch on, as the series progressed, they became more popular and the royalties started coming in more quickly as he neared the end of the book. It was quite the novel experience to earn money from your writings alone, and a notable point of pride to be a published author.

The store and the books had been good to him and his family. It was only because of that fact that he was able to have such a big family to begin with. Feeding five children and a wife on one salary can be daunting enough, yet they found ways to make it work. Now, of course, no one really wanted for anything since the buyout. Who would have thought that taking a stock clerk position at a local grocery store at the prime age of sixteen would have turned into quite the lucrative career after all?

"And now I'd like to welcome all my couples out there to the dance floor. We have a few slow, and tender songs on the lineup now."

Stephen returned to the present, hearing the announcement from the emcee. He felt the firm little hand of his wife sneak in to grab his own.

"Come on, my love. Time to show your wife a good time," she grinned, standing up with him.

"I thought I did that this morning," he quipped.

"I wouldn't say no to a round two," she returned, her eyes assuming that mischievous quality one more.

Taking their positions, Grace slipped her arms around her husband, and they began to dance slowly to wonderfully slow love song, as did the rest of the couples on the floor. The newlyweds themselves were holding onto one another tightly in the center, with every couple radiating out around them.

"You ever wonder when we turned into the little old grandparents?" Grace asked. Stephen chuckled slightly, as he had lost several inches with age. Grace never had them to begin with, always being tiny, and now their heads barely poked out of the crowd.

"I'm not sure," he replied, thoughtfully, before looking down into her eyes. "But if that's the price I need to pay for a life with you, I'll pay it gladly."

Grace smiled warmly looking up to meet his eyes, "I love you, Stephen. After all these years, and all these children, I love you just as much as the day we met."

"You mean, that day when you showed up in my bedroom kneeling on the floor?"

"You were so frightened of me at first," she giggled.

"It's not every day a half naked genie shows up in my bedroom," he laughed.

Grace looked out into the crowd. "What do you think they would do, if they all knew what I originally was?"

Stephen followed her eyes, as they settled on each one of their children. Of course, none of them knew the truth. In fact, they were the only two who knew the real story of her origins, and they intended to keep it that way. There was no good reason to dig up ancient history, and Stephen didn't want any of the children to look at their mother any differently.

"I bet they would ask you to write down your story," he noted. "Besides, how many former genies do you know?"

She laughed, and playfully slapped his chest. Their eldest son Dan, and his wife, Mara, bumped up next to the them on the dance floor.

"Holding up okay, Mom and Dad?" He asked, with a smile on his face. He looked so much like Stephen that it was almost like looking into a twenty year old mirror. Stephen looked down to see the chain of his son's own pocket watch, attached to his belt. It was a gift from father to son so many years back, and it warmed his heart to see his son keeping their family tradition alive.

"We're doing just perfectly, son," Grace replied. "It's a lovely wedding. Brittany looks so happy."

"That she is," smiled Mara. "If you two need anything, let us know."

"Thank you, dear," replied Stephen as they slowly danced away from them.

"He looks so much like you," Grace noted, after they were out of earshot.

Stephen looked over and then nodded. "He always has. Not to mention, even Mara is tiny like you. Must run in the family to like tiny women," he chuckled.

"Do you want me to ask if she is or ever was a genie, too?" Grace laughed.

"Nah, I doubt the same family would get lucky twice," replied Stephen, before gazing down into her bright blue eyes. "You're truly one of a kind."

Grace leaned up and kissed him. "I could say the same thing of you. You are the best man I know, and it's been the highlight of my life to spend every moment with you, my love."

Stephen pressed into her kiss, and pulled away with his own mischief brewing in his eyes. "You say that now, but tell me what you really think after knowing me longer than fifty years!"

*****

Author's Note: Thank you for joining me on Stephen & Grace's journey. It was a challenging story to write at times, and my sincere hope is that I was able to tell their story as it was meant to be told. Grace is probably one of my favorite characters I've ever written, and I'll miss her bubbly personality the most.

I am already working on a new story that I intend to publish here. I'm about 14k words in, and I doubt it will be as long as this one. This new story will be more of a thriller, but with the core story being that of a romance in a tropical location. If you would like to have updates on that process as I go along with it, as well as notifications when I publish, please follow me on Lit.

Thank you once again, and if you enjoyed the story, please leave me a comment.

-CJ