Finding a New Life Ch. 11-12

I apologize for how long it took to get these chapters out ... things have been busy lately due to illness and injuries.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

-2 weeks later-

"So Grace, what are your wedding plans looking like?" Lily wanted to know.

"Mom said she'd kill us both if we tried to elope, and she's decided to hire a wedding planner," Grace said, wrinkling her nose.

"Who's wedding is it?" Tyler asked, snagging half of Grace's turkey sandwich.

"Mine," Grace said, sticking out her tongue at her brother.

"Then plan your dream wedding," Lily told Grace.

"Mom has all these things she wants to do though," Grace protested.

"Grace, it's your wedding. Mom got to plan her wedding, you plan yours. Have her help if you want, but don't let her plan something that only she wants," Tyler told his sister.

"How many people does your mom want to invite?" Lily asked.

"Like five hundred," Grace answered. Lily wrinkled her nose.

"And how many do you want to invite?" Lily questioned.

"No more than fifty," Grace admitted.

"So tell your mother that! Don't be so agreeable! It's your big day, not hers," Lily encouraged her friend.

"Mom, can I talk to you?" Grace asked, walking in the foyer of her mother's large home.

"Of course Grace, but tell me, what do you think of this for a dress?" Caroline wanted to know, showing her daughter a dress in a magazine.

"It's a little busy," Grace said, eying the dress warily.

"What did you want to talk about?" Caroline asked, sitting down in a chair in the living room.

"About the wedding, mom, I don't want it to be a big wedding, I just want it to be a nice, small wedding," Grace told her mother.

"But Grace, we have so many family friends and business associates of your father's to invite!" Caroline protested.

"Mom, dad may have a lot of business associates, but he isn't the President of the United States who has to invite every single person who's invested or donated money, time or resources! This is my wedding, and you have the guest list at four hundred and fifty people! I want to trim that down," Grace said, trying to keep her voice calm.

"But Grace, we'll disappoint so many people!" Caroline protested again.

"Caroline, let Grace plan her own wedding," Greg said, walking into the living room.

"How many people did you want to trim from the invite list?" Caroline asked with a sigh.

"Four hundred," Grace answered. Caroline shook her head.

"We can't cut four hundred people!" Caroline said stubbornly.

"Mom, you have two choices. You can help me plan the wedding that I want to plan, or Grant and I follow Ty and Lily's lead and go to Vegas," Grace told her mother before standing up and walking out of the house.

~~~~~~~~~

"Grace, seriously, slow down!" Lily exclaimed, struggling with the double stroller as she tried to keep up with her friend.

"My mother makes me sooo mad sometimes!" Grace growled, coming to a stop in front of a bridal boutique.

"What happened when you talked to your mom about the wedding?" Lily wanted to know.

"She told me that she had a guest list of four hundred and fifty people, and when I told her that I wanted to cut four hundred off the people on that list, she about blew a gasket," Grace answered. Lily sighed.

"Why do you think Ty and I eloped?" Lily said with a grin.

"I told her that she has two choices. She can help me plan my wedding the way I want it done or Grant and I can go to Vegas," Grace told her friend. Lily grinned again.

"That's the way to do it," she agreed. "Do you want to go find a dress that doesn't look like something Marie Antoinette would have worn?" Lily asked.

Grace nodded and followed Lily into the store.

-Hours later-

"Do you think Grant will like it?" Grace asked as she, Lily and the kids returned to Lily's house.

"Girl, Grant will take one look at you in that dress and he will begin salivating worse than Pavlov's dogs when the bell was chimed," Lily said with a grin.

"Let me see," Tyler said quietly as he took a sleeping Mia out of her stroller.

"Go put your kids down," Grace said with a laugh. Lily picked David up out of his car seat and followed Tyler to the kids' room. David woke up and trained a sleepy pair of brown eyes on his mother's face as she changed his diaper and refastened his onesie before placing him gently in the bassinet.

Once the kids were down for a nap, Tyler and Lily returned to the living room where Grace was waiting.

"C'mon, I'll help you get into your dress," Lily told Grace, leading her into her room. When Grace was zipped up, Lily and Grace returned to the living room.

"Damn Grace, you look great!" Tyler told his sister. Grace smiled and looked up as Eli walked in with her parents.

"You look beautiful," Greg said with a smile before kissing Grace's cheek.

"Is that the dress you want to get married in?" Caroline asked her daughter. Grace nodded.

"It's very simple," Caroline observed.

"I think it looks elegant," Lily said in her friend's defense.

"I still think the one in the magazine would suit Grace better," Caroline protested.

"Nonsense. Grace looks absolutely stunning in her dress," Greg told Caroline.

"Mom, I meant what I said this morning. This is my wedding, and I don't want more than fifty to seventy five people at the wedding; for both my side of the family and Grant's side. We want it to be a small wedding, not an overwhelmingly big wedding," Grace told her mother.

"The wedding planner will have a fit!" Caroline declared.

"What's the wedding planner's phone number?" Grace asked. Caroline handed Grace a piece of paper with the wedding planner's name and phone number on it. "Is this Margo Campbell?" Grace asked when a woman picked up the phone. Grace smiled when the woman confirmed her identity. "This is Grace Billings. I understand my mother has hired you to plan my wedding." Grace rolled her eyes when Margo began rambling ideas. "Look, Margo, I'm sure you know what you're doing, but I'm sorry, we do not need your services. I will be planning my own wedding with my fiancee. My mother will not be able to over ride this, it is my decision and that is final," Grace told Margo. She hung up before Margo could protest.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my God," Grace groaned, looking in the mirror. Lily looked up at her friend with a small smile.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"I look like shit," Grace whined.

"You just look nervous. Come on, let's get you in your dress and then I'll fix your hair and makeup," Lily told Grace. She helped Grace into her dress and watched as Grace settled down onto the stool. Grace tried to not to fidget as Lily began pulling the rollers from her hair. Soft curls cascaded down over Grace's shoulders and Lily scooped some of Grace's hair and tied a pale pink satin ribbon around the hair before letting it fall back against her shoulder blades. Lily picked up the powder brush and brushed foundation over Grace's face before sweeping blush over Grace's cheeks and eye shadow over her lids. "I'll let you do your mascara and eye liner if you want it," Lily murmured after brushing some lip stick over Grace's lips. Grace took the wand to the mascara and applied some mascara lightly over her lashes.

Both girls looked up to see Greg and Tyler walking into the bride's room. Mia held tightly to her grandfather's hand.

"Look at you!" Grace said with a big smile. Mia wore a dress that matched Grace's, only it was a pale peach instead of an ivory. Greg handed Mia a little basket filled with flower petals.

"Are you ready?" Greg asked his only daughter. Grace nodded and took her father's arm as they headed towards the sanctuary.

"I'm sorry we couldn't go on a real honeymoon, but with Doctor Larson on maternity, the clinic was short staffed and could only give me a few days," Grant apologized.

"It's okay. Anywhere is fine as long as we're together," Grace said with a smile as Grant opened the door to the honeymoon suite. "I love you," she murmured as Grant lifted her into his arms and carried her into the room.

"Hey," Lily said, holding the door for Grace.

"Hey," Grace said brightly.

"You look like you've had fun," Lily observed with a grin.

"Four days of uninterrupted bliss," Grace said with a laugh.

"Aunt Grace!" Mia exclaimed, looking up as her mother and Grace walked into the living room.

"Hey kiddo!" Grace said with a big smile.

"I missed you!" Mia told Grace, climbing into her lap.

"I missed you too kiddo," Grace gave Mia a tight hug. "And where is my nephew?" Grace wanted to know.

"Sleeping," Lily answered. The look on Lily's face made Grace laugh.

"A bit overwhelmed?" Grace observed. Lily nodded.

"Let's just say it was easier to work and take care of Mia then it is to take care of two small children," Lily said with a small smile. "But I don't mind," she murmured.

"Grant and I will take Mia to the zoo next weekend, he has Saturday off," Grace offered.

"Do you want to go to the zoo Mia?" Lily asked her daughter. Mia's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. "Saturday it is," Lily smiled at her daughter. "So how was your honeymoon?" Lily asked her sister in law.

"Short," Grace admitted. Lily laughed. "But fun," she added. Lily grinned.

"I bet. Ty can't wait to be an uncle," Lily told Grace.

"He's going to have to wait awhile, Grant's schedule is super hectic right now," Grace said.

"Birth control?" Lily asked. Grace nodded. "Too bad," Lily commented.

"We want kids, but we also want to plan for them," Grace said. Lily nodded.

"I understand completely," Lily said.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Monkeys!" Mia exclaimed. Grace laughed and paused in front of the monkey cage so Mia could watch them climb on the trees in the enclosure.

"Having fun?" Grant asked Grace.

"I love spending time with Mia. Are you having fun?" Grace murmured.

"Sure. Mia's a joy, but I'd really love to spend the weekends with you alone," Grant said with a devilish grin. Grace laughed.

"We have the rest of our lives for that," Grace told him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

"Mommy, I don't feel good," Mia said, trudging into Lily's room.

"What's wrong sweetie?"

"My head hurts," Mia whimpered, climbing onto her mother's bed. "And I'm hot," she added. Lily pressed her wrist against Mia's forehead.

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked.

"Mia has a fever," Lily murmured. Tyler read the panic in Lily's eyes.

"Lil, it's just a fever," Tyler said.

"This is how it started before," Lily said, her voice just barely above a whisper. Tyler squeezed Lily's hand.

"Give her some Tylenol and calm her back down. You can call her doctor in the morning," Tyler said. Lily nodded and slid out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

"Hello Lily, Mia," Doctor Harper said, walking into the exam room. "I hear you have a fever," he added. Mia nodded miserably.

"Lets have a look," Doctor Harper put his stethoscope in his ear and began the examination.

"Don't worry Lily, it looks like it's just an ear infection and a mild case of strep throat. I'll take some blood and run it just to be safe, but I think Mia's fine," Doctor Harper told Lily. Lily smiled with relief and took the prescriptions from him. "I'll have a nurse call you with the results," he added as he watched Lily and Mia leave the room.

-3 days later-

"Hello?" Lily asked, answering the phone.

"This is Carla from doctor Harper's office with results for Mia's blood tests. He would like you to bring Mia back in for some additional tests as soon as possible. He's up at Mott's Children's Hospital at University hospital and has an opening at three thirty, can you make it?" Carla asked.

"Yes, of course," Lily said before hanging up the phone, her mind and heart racing.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Doctor Harper, why do you need to run more tests?" Lily asked, fearing the worst. Tyler sat silently in his chair, holding Mia on his lap.

"Her white blood cell count is a little high," Doctor Harper began.

"Is her cancer back?" Lily asked, her eyes widening.

"I don't know. Let me run a few tests. I'll put a rush on them and we should know by tomorrow afternoon," doctor Harper told Lily. Lily nodded as a nurse walked in and crouched down in front of Mia. The minute Mia's eyes fell on the needle in her hand, she started screaming.

"No mommy! Don't let them hurt me mommy!" Lily closed her eyes as she tried to block out her daughter's screams. A second nurse came in and held Mia's legs down while Tyler managed to keep Mia's arms still while the blood was drawn.

"I'm sorry baby," Lily murmured, taking Mia from Tyler.

"They hurt me mommy," Mia whimpered into Lily's neck.

"I know sweetie, I'm sorry," Lily whispered, rubbing her daughter's back.

"Sit down Lily, pacing isn't going to make the phone ring," Tyler said from his seat on the couch. Lily sank onto the couch with a sigh as her mind raced with possibilities. "I'm sure everything is fine," Tyler added.

"I don't know if I can do this again," Lily whispered. Tyler stood up with a sigh, walked over to Lily and crouched down in front of her.

"You aren't alone Lily and Mia is going to be just fine," Tyler promised, taking her hands in his and squeezing them gently. They sat there like that until the phone rang, making Lily jump.

"This is Ty Billings," Tyler said, answering the phone.

"Mr. Billings, this is doctor Harper. I need for you and Lily to come to my office so we can discuss Mia's test results," doctor Harper said, his voice had a grim undertone to it.

"When?" Tyler asked, looking at Lily.

"Now," doctor Harper replied.

By the time Tyler, Lily and Mia got to his office, Lily felt like she was going to be ill. "What's wrong with my daughter doctor?" Lily demanded to know as he ushered them inside.

"I have the test results back. The Leukemia is back, but I think with some chemo, we can beat it," doctor Harper said.

"When do we start?" Tyler asked, finding Lily's hand with his own.

"Right now." Doctor Harper handed Tyler a packet of papers. "Take her down to Motts right now and get her admitted. I've already called them and told them you're coming," he told them.

Lily and Tyler sat quietly as they drove from the doctor's office to the hospital.

"I feel so numb. I can't believe this is happening again," Lily said softly as she and Tyler watched a nurse take Mia's vital signs.

"We'll get through this and Mia will be just fine," Tyler murmured.

"How do you know?" Lily asked as Mia returned from the scale.

"I just do," Tyler answered, exchanging the paper work for his daughter.