23 comments/ 16345 views/ 11 favorites 3. The Grace I've Known Ch. 16-18 By: inspirixis1 For some reason Literotica posted chapters 13, 14 & 15 of this story out of sequence. If you are reading this from the 'new' list you probably need to go to my profile page to read 13,14&15 before reading this. CHAPTER SIXTEEN There were so many ways he could have prevented this. If he hadn't have pushed Grace to testify none of this would have happened. If he had have slept in the guest room with her he could have warned her and made her hide in the closet or something. If he had have gone into the kitchen and killed McCarran first she might not have gotten shot. If he had have listened to her and put his dirty teacup in the sink instead of leaving it on the coffee table she might not be lying in the intensive care unit with a million tubes threaded through her body. Nicholas' brain couldn't help but go over and over again every single way he could have prevented this. All he had to do was to take his damn teacup into the kitchen like she had asked him to do a million times, it would have been so easy that it was excruciating. It was his fault. He was responsible for Grace's safety and he had fucked up and he would always have to live with that. He was ready to receive Sam's wrath, in fact he welcomed it, he wanted Sam to hit him and abuse him and to tell him how worthless he was, but he didn't. When Sam showed up in the waiting room he hugged Emma first and then he hugged Nicholas and he thanked him and called him 'son'. It was the absolute worst thing he could have said. Nicholas was wracked with guilt, Sam's misplaced gratitude only made him feel worse. Aunt Julia hired him a lawyer who she guaranteed was one of the best defense lawyers in Massachusetts, and he dealt with the police. They weren't laying any charges against Nicholas yet but the lawyer didn't like how it looked. Nicholas could easily be charged with murder over the first two guys, the ones that he'd taken out with out them even knowing he was there. The only things he had going for him were the fact that a foot was not usually considered a deadly weapon and that he hadn't said anything to the police. He was so glad that he had called Sam before talking to the police. Davis, the cop who had driven him to the hospital, tried to get Nicholas to tell him what had happened. He was pretty clever in his approach, he put on the whole hero worship act. "Dude, I wish I knew how to defend myself like that, you must be like some sort of martial arts warrior or something," he said. Nicholas didn't take the bait, he just said that he was tired and wanted to see his girlfriend. Thank god Sam had told him not to say anything to the police. It turns out that no matter how certain you are that someone is in your home to try and kill you or someone you love it is illegal to fight them until the danger is immediate. That means if you kill someone before they have a chance to point their gun at you you've committed murder. So legally Nicholas had murdered two men. The lawyer was also worried about the forth guy, the one Nicholas beat to death with the broom in the stairwell. Apparently it was significant that the fight had occurred in an area that was technically outside of Nicholas' home. Also the broom could be interpreted as a weapon, but the fact that the other man had discharged his handgun several times, made it unlikely that any charges would be laid in that case. It was all one big horrible nightmare. He never dreamed that he would be a murderer. The strange thing was that he didn't feel bad about taking the lives of so many. He knew those were the men who had raped Grace. He knew they were in their apartment to kill her and much as he tried, he felt no remorse for killing them, which was disconcerting. Nicholas had always believed that he was a good person. If he were honest with himself he would admit that being a 'good' person was something that he prided himself on. But did good people murder others? Was his use of deadly force justifiable? He thought so. Those men had come freely to his apartment to kill his Grace. They weren't there to scare or threaten her, they were there to murder her. This wasn't the same as sparring or being in a bar fight. This was kill or be killed. Maybe one day he would feel remorseful over their deaths but not now. Now he couldn't see how he could have arrived at any other acceptable outcome without their deaths. Maybe if there was just one or two of them he could have used Aikido to neutralize them, but there were four of them and they were all armed. No. The only way to save Grace and Emma had been to kill them. It didn't matter if Nicholas went to prison, so long as Grace was alive and safe he could live with himself. The only thing that he regretted was how much he had enjoyed killing the last guy. The other three had died quickly and probably close to painlessly, but not the forth guy. The guy in the stairwell had suffered and Nicholas had enjoyed it. Nicholas knew what rage was and he knew that he was not in a rage when he killed that man. He was stone cold sober and 100% in control, and he had enjoyed it. That was the part that bothered him. That man had to die, but he didn't have to die so painfully. Nicholas had never realized that he had a sadistic streak. Of course most people never would. Most people would never be faced with a situation like that. Adrian came to the hospital to visit and so did Charlotte. Adrian wanted to know what had happened but Nicholas' lawyer had told him not to talk to anyone about it and so he kept his mouth shut. "Dude, I'm your friend, you can tell me what happened," he said. He was clearly offended by Nicholas' reluctance. "Look," Nicholas spoke to him in a hushed tone, "Grace has a gunshot wound to the abdomen, four men are dead and I have bruises on my feet, you put the pieces together. My lawyer says not to talk to anyone about it." Adrian looked shocked. "You don't think you're going to get charged?" Nicholas shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me.' Adrian blinked in disbelief and then shook his head. "No. Don't worry about it Nicholas, it wont happen. I'll take care of it." Nicholas had no idea what Adrian thought he could do about it so he just said, "Okay, whatever." It was two days before Grace was transferred out of the intensive care unit and into a regular floor ward. Nicholas stood beside her bed for as long the visiting hours allowed. At first she had one of those breathing machines hooked up to her and the steady whir of it and the blipping of the machine monitoring her heart was incredibly reassuring. Once she left the intensive care unit they took away all of the medical gear and it made Nicholas nervous. How would they know if she stopped breathing? The doctors said she was going to be alright, but how did they know? She looked so frail. The visiting hours were not very long, which was both a blessing and a curse. It meant that he didn't have to feel guilty for not spending all day in the hospital, but then Nicholas had plenty of time to worry about being charged with murder. On the fourth day the nurse told them that she had been awake and asking for Kolya. For some reason that made him feel good. He had been the first person she asked for. She was asleep when the visiting hours started. Nicholas stood beside the bed and took her hand between his and just stood there, enjoying her warmth. She was alive. Adrian arrived not long after with a big bunch of irises and an older man dressed in a suit that Nicholas guessed must be his father. Nicholas was confused, why was Adrian bringing his father to visit Grace? Maybe she had met him before? He didn't remember if she had. Adrian introduced his dad to them all, his name was Charles Wheeler, the name was familiar but Nicholas was too tired to try and remember where he'd heard it. Charles' eyes lingered on Nicholas and he could have sworn that the man tensed in fear. "Can we talk to you privately?" Adrian asked Nicholas. Nicholas looked down at Grace, he didn't want to leave her to talk to Adrian and his dad, he only got to see her for a few hours a day and she might wake up. "Nicholas, you want to talk to us." Adrian spoke with such authority, it was weird, usually he was so laid back. "Okay." Nicholas put Grace's hand down and left the room with them. Down in the coffee shop Adrian introduced his dad properly, he was the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General, that must have been how Nicholas knew his name. They had a weird stilted conversation. Nicholas' lawyer's words echoed around his head, even though Charles assured him that they were talking 'off the record,' he still felt uncomfortable, and he got the feeling that Charles was uncomfortable with him too. Adrian kept on shooting his dad confused looks, like this wasn't usually the way he acted. He asked pretty basic questions. He wanted to know if Nicholas knew the men who had been in their apartment and if he had ever been in any fights before. He wanted to know what Nicholas thought about martial arts and the use of deadly force. And then he did something strange. He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry Nicholas, I have to ask... Is Gray the name you were born with?" Nicholas was shocked, what did his name have to do with anything? "No." "Your birth name...?" "Chandrasekhar, why?" Charles nodded slowly, looking down into his cup of coffee. "You just look like someone I knew once." He looked up suddenly. "Listen, don't worry about this mess from the other night, there wont be any charges laid." Nicholas didn't know what to say. "Ah... thank you, I appreciate it," he stuttered. He was so relieved. Who would have known that being friends with Adrian would end up keeping him out of prison? When he got back up to Grace's room she was awake, it was the best moment of his life. He was so relieved about the murder charges and then to see her half-sitting in the hospital bed with her eyes open and smiling at him, it was almost more than he could bear. "Kolya," she said as she reached her hand out to him. Her voice was grainy and dry. Nicholas crossed the room to her quickly and took her hand. "Gracie, you're awake." He kissed her hand and held it to his face. "Milaya, I've been so worried about you." He heard his voice crack with emotion. Grace's thumb stroked the sensitive skin just below his ear. "It's okay Kolya, they say I'm going to be alright." Oh to feel Grace move, to hear her voice, even if it was raspy. Nicholas was so happy and relieved that tears welled in his eyes. He nodded lamely. "Come on, give them some space." He heard Emma whispering to Sam. "We'll come back again tonight Gracie," Emma said. She leaned over Sam, who was at the opposite side of the bed to Nicholas and kissed Grace on the cheek. "Sleep well baby girl," Sam murmured and then he kissed her on the forehead and he too got up and left. "How do you feel?" Nicholas asked. "Kind of spacey. I think they must have me on a bunch of drugs, it aches but it doesn't hurt too badly." Nicholas nodded. "I'm so sorry Gracie, this is all my fault, I should have known better." Grace's brow furrowed in confusion and she said, "But mom said you saved us... She said that you stopped him." She cocked her head to the side in question. "I don't understand, what happened?" Nicholas didn't know how much to tell her. He had just recently learned that it was not a good idea to lie or keep things from her, even if he thought that it was for her own protection, and so he told her the truth. He told her the whole truth, all the way up to what had just happened with Adrian's dad. The only thing he left out was the sense of satisfaction he got from beating the man in the stairwell, nobody would ever know about that. "Oh baby, come here, lie with me," Grace said gently. Squeezing onto the hospital bed beside Grace was not that difficult because she didn't take up much room. She was such a small person, not much bigger than a child, but she was his world. She smelled like iodine and burnt matches but Nicholas didn't care, he snuggled in close to her and buried his face into her neck. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your parents Gracie, it was wrong of me." "Mm," she sighed. "It's okay Kolya, just don't do it again." Her breathing was going deep, she was falling asleep. "I love you Grace," Nicholas whispered and kissed her on her neck. Grace sighed again and her hand, which was resting on his arm, squeezed lightly and then she was asleep. Nicholas went home to their apartment for the second time since the attack that afternoon. The first time had been awful, Grace's blood was all over the place and he could still smell the cigarettes and aftershave. He called the same cleaning service that he had used when Adrian and his buddy had moved out after the summer and when he went back for the second time everything was spotless and smelled like artificial pine scent. It was better the second time, but Nicholas couldn't see how he could live here anymore, his hair stood on end and he kept on whipping around to see if there was anyone behind him. It was stupid, he knew he was being paranoid, but he didn't feel safe here anymore. He packed a bag full of his clothes and a bag full of Grace's clothes and went back to the hotel that he and Sam and Emma had been staying at. He called a real estate agent and two days later he had signed the lease on a new apartment. It was in a less convenient location, but it was roomier and it had big bay windows that over looked a pretty tree lined street in the front and it had a small private courtyard in the back. Nicholas called a removal company and had them pack up the old apartment and move it all into the new apartment. He could tell that Sam thought he was being lazy but the thought of moving everything himself was just too exhausting, even with the volunteered help of Sam and Adrian. Sam was a person who thought each person on this earth should be self sufficient and willing to do everything themselves. Nicholas believed in paying other people to do things he didn't like doing. Money was just an asset to him, something that could be traded to make life possible, and if you had enough of it to make life easier and better. Nicholas had enough money so he didn't see why he shouldn't trade it to make life easier. Besides, it was good for the economy to pay people to do stuff for him. The new apartment didn't have built-in bookshelves like the old one did and there was room for another couch so he went furniture shopping and Sam went with him. Despite his disapproval of the use of a removal company, Sam seemed to be back to his usual self around Nicholas. He couldn't be sure, but he suspected that the hostility that Sam had shown him over the summer was just for show. He found a set of bookshelves and a couch with a pull-out bed that were well made and they fit the requirements that Grace had specified so he bought them. Sam wanted to pay for them but Nicholas told him not to worry about it. "At least let me pay for Grace's half," Sam said. Grace's half? What did that mean? "Don't worry about it Sam," he reiterated. "We have enough money for this sort of stuff." Actually they had enough money for all sorts of stuff, Nicholas had put most of his movie money into the stock market and had gotten really lucky with a couple of trades. That cellulose-based plastic cup company had won a contract with Burger King and he'd made thirty-seven thousand dollars on it alone, and he still owned some shares in it. "You have enough money Nicholas, I'm not sure about Grace," Sam said. Cleary he still thought of them as separate entities. Nicholas paused. He might as well ask Sam now. He had been planning on asking him soon anyway and he seemed like he was in a good mood. A furniture store wasn't exactly what he had in mind but you've got to take your opportunities when they come. "Sam... how would you feel if I told you that I was planning on asking Grace to marry me?" Sam blinked. There was silence for a few seconds. "Well, I guess I'd be happy." It looked like Sam was trying to repress a smile. The corner of one side of his mouth was turned up just slightly. Nicholas breathed out. He hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath. "Okay. Can I have your permission to ask your daughter to marry me?" Sam was smiling outright now, he looked like he was enjoying this. He started laughing. "Of course Nicholas." Nicholas didn't get it. "What's so funny?" "I just didn't realize you were so old fashioned. I hope you don't expect me to pay you a dowry," he joked. Nicholas looked at him completely deadpan and said in a very serious voice, "Sam, I am Indian you know." Sam stopped laughing and a look of shock passed over his face, his bright blue eyes bulged out of his head and his mouth gaped open. Nicholas let him suffer for a few seconds before he started laughing. "You should see the look on your face Sam. I should take a photo." Sam caught on that it was a joke and started laughing again. Nicholas fought the urge to dodge and let him land a punch on his arm. "So, can I ask you a stupid question?" Nicholas asked. "Sure, it seems like you're on a roll," Sam teased. Nicholas smiled and rolled his eyes. "Do you think Grace would want me to choose a ring and surprise her with it, or should I have her choose it herself?" "Ah..." Sam appeared to be thinking about it. "I know what your dad would say. He would say to surprise her, but I don't know if I agree or not. She is the one who is going to have to wear it and look at it for the rest of her life, I think she deserves a say in it." "Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. There are so many different styles, I don't know what she would like best." "Do you know how you're going to ask?" Sam was being surprisingly chatty, he actually seemed to be excited. "Huh? No. I probably wont do it for ages, I just thought that I'd mention it while I had you here on your own." "Oh." He seemed disappointed. "How did you ask Emma?" Nicholas asked. He had heard his mom and dad's story a million times but he'd never heard about Sam and Emma's engagement. Sam smiled. "We were in Europe, riding our bicycles through the Alps. I am terrible at languages, especially pronunciation, so whenever I needed to talk to anyone I'd just get my phrasebook out and point to the phrase that I wanted to say or point to what I wanted, but Emma wanted to talk. The problem was that as soon as people realized we were American they'd start speaking English. "Finally we pulled into this tiny little town in a beautiful valley and Emma went into the store to buy food for lunch. I guess there was a kid behind the counter who was more than happy to speak French and she came back out with a paper bag full of food and a huge smile on her face. All I saw was a loaf of bread poking out of the top so I didn't think anything of it, I just shoved it in my pannier and off we went up the side of a mountain. "Well, we got half way up and decided to stop for lunch at a pullout that had a nice view. We got settled and Emma pulled out the bag of food, but everything was all wrong, she'd bought potatoes instead of apples and some weird crusty cheese that smelled like ass. Instead of cured meat she had bought a brick of lard. The look on her face was priceless and I started laughing, and then she started laughing, and I just asked." Sam stared off into the distance, smiling, caught in his memories. "I hadn't planned on asking her when we were in Europe. I was probably going to do something really boring and cliché, I'm not really that creative when it comes to real life, but it was just a perfect moment, you know? She was so beautiful and so happy that I couldn't not ask. 3. The Grace I've Known Ch. 16-18 "I didn't have a ring. I had been thinking about asking her for a long time and I had saved money for one but I ended up spending it all on the vacation. Emma had been sick and her doctor thought a vacation might be good for her." "Wait, riding a bicycle up and down mountains is good for a sick person?" It didn't make any sense. Sam turned to him, serious all of a sudden. "Mentally ill." "Oh." "We lost a child. We got pregnant by accident when we were your age and she miscarried. She was deeply depressed for a long time. That was when I got Cassie from the pound. Cassie helped, and having the vacation to look forward to helped a bit too I think. "Anyway, that day in the French Alps was perfect, no matter what came before or after." The next week, when Grace had been discharged from the hospital and after Sam and Emma had gone back to Denver, a very large package arrived on their doorstep. It looked heavy so he asked the delivery guys to bring it into the living room where he unwrapped it. It was addressed just to him and so he didn't feel bad about opening it while Grace was sleeping. It was the cedar chest that had sat at the foot of Sam and Emma's bed for as long as he could remember. He ran his fingers over the skillful woodwork and remembered all of the times he'd hidden in there as child playing hide and seek, or found his brother or a cousin hiding in there. He opened the lid and breathed in the sharp fresh fragrance. There were some blankets in there and an envelope taped to the underside of the lid. "Nicholas," the note read, Sam's slanty messy handwriting was immediately identifiable. "This is the chest that Grace's great great grandfather gave to her great grandmother when she was engaged. Emma's and my Nanna (Granddad John's mom) gave it to us as a wedding gift. I hope we can agree that the matter of the dowry is now resolved. Sam." Then at the bottom of the page it said, "By the way, the choice of blankets had nothing to do with me, it was entirely Emma's doing." Nicholas pulled the blankets out to try and figure out why Sam had felt the need to add that last line. The first two were not surprising, one was a quilt and the other was a regular woven woolen one that you might put over the end of a bed, but when he pulled out the third one he understood. It was soft and pink with fuzzy yellow ducks sewn around the bottom edge and it was way too small for a regular bed. It was a child's blanket. As he dug lower in the chest there were more children's blankets and then baby blankets too. He smiled as he thought of the arguments Sam must have made as he tried to prevent Emma from sending them baby blankets. Nicholas called Adrian and asked him to come around to help him move the cedar chest into the master bedroom. Grace was still supposed to be staying mostly in bed. It would be weeks before she was strong enough to help him move furniture around. Adrian came over that evening and they moved the cedar chest into the bedroom and then they ordered pizza for dinner. Grace wanted to get up to eat so Nicholas helped her to walk slowly and carefully into the living room and they ate on the couch. They were talking about Grace and Nicholas' family. Adrian thought it was weird that Grace's parents had sent them baby blankets and then somehow they were talking about Nicholas' mom and dad. "So you weren't actually raised by your biological father at all?" Adrian asked. "No. He died before I was born. Mom met Tyler when I was three, which was when I met Grace for the first time." Nicholas leaned over and squeezed Grace's hand. "And that was the beginning of the end." Adrian chuckled. "Something like that," Grace agreed as she squeezed Nicholas' hand back. "How is Sarah? I haven't seen her around lately." "No." Adrian frowned. "That would be because we're not seeing each other anymore." "Oh. I'm sorry Adrian, are you okay?" Grace asked gently. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said dejectedly. "It just wasn't working the way it should." After they'd finished eating dinner Grace was obviously struggling to stay awake on the couch so Adrian left. Nicholas walked him out and thanked him for his help with the cedar chest. "Hey, I don't think I ever thanked you properly for getting you dad involved with that legal mess. I really appreciate your help, I'd probably be in a whole lot of shit right now if it weren't for you." Adrian shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about it. There is nobody I know who deserves to be in prison less than you Nicholas. Besides, if you hadn't restrained me at the courthouse I probably would have been facing assault charges, there isn't a square inch of that place that's not monitored by CCTV. There's only so far having a powerful father can take you." "Hm... well thanks nonetheless." Adrian nodded and turned to walk down the front stairs. "Oh, and I'm sorry to hear about Sarah. That's a bummer." Adrian turned back to Nicholas and sighed. "Thanks. It just wasn't going to work long term, she had some issues with my choices in life." Nicholas nodded, he hoped that Sarah being afraid of him wasn't a contributing factor, she never had learned to trust him. "I'm just so ready for a proper relationship, you know? When am I going to find my Grace?" Adrian asked. Nicholas shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I have no idea how to find your soul mate. I just got lucky." He did feel lucky. After Adrian left Nicholas took Grace back to bed and lay with her and kissed her and stroked her hair until she fell asleep. Grace had to sleep on her back and he slept curled into her side, holding her hand. After everything that had happened he felt so lucky to have her, every day that they had together was like a bonus. He thought that feeling would probably wear off, but it didn't. He felt pure unadulterated joy when he was with Grace. She was so tender towards him. When they were sitting together she would absentmindedly play with his hair at the base of his skull or trace the bones in the back of his hand with her fingertips. And she wanted him. She wanted him inside of her. Before she was even properly healed she was asking him to put his cock inside her. At first it hurt her for him to move so he would just hold himself still and touch her thighs and the lips of her pussy and rub her breasts and clitoris until he felt her shiver and contract around him. Grace had to be washed very carefully so that her wounds wouldn't get infected. Nicholas bought a plastic chair for her to sit on in the shower and he washed her one body part at a time, making sure that no water went where it wasn't supposed to go. Of course these showers quickly degraded into love making. At first Grace just wanted to suck on his cock, but before long he was the one sitting on the plastic chair and Grace was on his lap rocking and gyrating with his cock inside her while he kissed her and she moaned his name. Of course they were careful. Emma had taken him aside and warned him about how other drugs decreased the effectiveness of the pill. It had been embarrassing, but after Sam had divulged their accidental pregnancy Nicholas didn't feel offended. Emma was just trying to help. Even if she had sent them baby blankets, the last thing that Grace needed was a baby to take up residence in her womb before she was properly healed. They didn't think it wise to travel so they spent thanksgiving with Aunt Julia and her family that year, but by the time Christmas rolled around Grace was pretty much better, so they went home to Denver. They were surprised to find that their bedrooms were interchanged. Nicholas' bed was in Grace's room and boxes of his stuff were on her floor. He was confused until his mom showed him what used to be his room, now painted in pastel yellow and blue with a flower motif around the bottom of the walls. "Sam and Emma gave us Grace's twin bed to use when the baby gets old enough," she explained. "So we set up your queen bed in Grace's room. I hope you don't feel like we're throwing you out, that's not what we want. If you want to sleep here we can arrange something, we just need this extra space for the baby." Nicholas smiled. "It's okay mom, I'd prefer to sleep with Grace anyway." She smiled and nodded. How could you argue with a woman who was so pregnant she looked like she was about to burst? Zach and Beth were staying in the guest room at his parents' house and it only took a few days for Nicholas to figure out that Beth was pregnant too. He didn't say anything to Zach about it but he told Grace his suspicions. "Jesus," she muttered, "it's like it's going out of style." They were playing fetch in the park with Zeus, his dad's new dog. He was a friendly mutt but he wasn't the brightest, he would bring the ball back but forget to drop it before he ran back out to anticipate the next throw. "Hey Gracie what do you think about moving back here after we graduate?" Nicholas asked. "You don't mean home do you? You don't really want to move in with my parents?" "No," he laughed. "Just back to the area, like driving distance to home." "Well I'd be happy to do that but I thought you wanted to go to New York City? To try and go to Wall Street?" "Yeah, that's what I had assumed I wanted," he admitted. "But now I think I'd prefer to come back here. The finance industry in New York is so fast and all consuming, I'd hardly have any time to spend with you." Grace was nodding and he could tell that she was trying not to smile. "What would you do here? I mean, I think I could find a job pretty easily but I don't think there are many investment firms here." "Well, that's another thing that I wanted to talk to you about. I was thinking about asking Zach and Beth if they wanted to open a restaurant here with us." Grace looked up in surprise. "A restaurant? Where did this all come from?" "I've been thinking about it for a while. It would be kind of perfect. I think there's room for more fine dining in Denver and there's definitely the patronage available. I could run the financial side of the business and Zach and Beth could handle the day to day running of it." "You know they don't have any money, right?" Grace asked. "You know you would be the one taking the risk with your money." Nicholas nodded. "That's okay. They're family. I'd give them money to start their own restaurant if that's what they wanted... so long as you agreed." She smiled. "Yeah, I agree. I think it's a great idea." Zach and Beth thought it was a great idea too. Even though Nicholas and Grace wouldn't graduate for another year and a half they started throwing ideas around and planning immediately. Their parents were overjoyed at the prospect of them all moving back to Denver. Everyone was so excited. It snowed on Christmas eve and Grace woke him up early to show him the view from her window. The moon was out and her parents' back yard was blanketed in snow. It looked like a winter wonderland. They went back to bed and he made love to her slowly and quietly. Grace was so beautiful in the soft moonlight. He used long fluid strokes while leaning back on his knees and traced the curves of her body with his palms. Grace held her arms up for him. "Closer," she whispered, and he leaned down over her, being careful not to press down where her surgery wound was. He loved this position but it always seemed to give Grace a flashback. He was guarded while he waited to see if she would need comforting, but she didn't have a flashback today, today she gazed into his eyes and whispered his name and Nicholas relaxed and lost himself in her. He loved to kiss her mouth while he was moving inside her. He loved to drop his lips to her ear and whisper to her how much he loved her while he felt her hot breath against his cheek. He loved to feel her soft breasts pressed against his chest and her hands in his hair. Being with Grace like this was pure bliss. After they had made love he held her close for a long time and they kissed and whispered to each other and giggled about the gifts they had bought for their brothers and parents. When they heard her brothers getting up they called Lucas, Zach and Beth to tell them to come over, and then they put on their snow gear and went outside with them and pelted each other with snowballs and tackled each other into the snow. Grace was the only one who wasn't allowed to be tackled and she stood there, bouncing on her toes dodging and throwing snowballs like a pro. It was still below freezing and the snow was soft and powdery and so chilly on the skin. Oliver had just turned fourteen and was in the middle of a gigantic growth spurt. He was so uncoordinated, his brain hadn't caught up to realizing how big his body was, it made Nicholas laugh to watch him try to dodge snowballs. It was an excellent Christmas, easily the best one he'd ever had. Madeline Galloway Gray was born on January 21st, two days before Nicholas turned twenty-one. He and Grace got on a plane and went back to Denver to meet his new sister. Nicholas tried really hard not to notice how good Grace looked cradling a baby in her arms. His mom came home from the hospital on his birthday and Sam and Grace cooked a big dinner that everyone ate together at Sam and Emma's house. After dinner his mom and dad asked him to come home with them so they could give him his gift. He really wasn't expecting anything, which is why he was so totally blown away when his dad presented him with a piece of jewelry that had been in his family for four generations. It was a diamond ring that he had seen his mom wear on special occasions. "Dad, are you sure? This is kind of a big deal." "Yeah," he replied. "It gets passed down to the oldest child, that's the way it works." "But... Lucas?" His dad looked him straight in the eye. "Lucas is not my oldest child, he'll get something else." Nicholas nodded lamely. He was overwhelmed. What was with everyone giving him family heirlooms all of a sudden? "Besides," his dad continued with a big cheeky grin on his face, "I have a feeling that I'll approve of the girl who will end up wearing it." CHAPTER SEVENTEEN SPRING, JUNIOR YEAR Grace loved their new apartment. It had high ceilings and huge windows that the light streamed in through. The living room had an old fashioned wood stove for heating and two big bay windows that overlooked the little street with its big trees and wide sidewalks. She loved to do her homework sitting in the bay window with a blanket on her lap, looking up to wave when the neighbors walked past on their way to the park with their kids. As the weeks passed she watched the snow melt away and the daffodils and tulips poke their heads up and bloom while the trees budded. She couldn't wait for the weather to warm up enough for her to start her own garden on their back patio. She had to give up her observation point for a few days when her dad and Micah came to visit to look at universities. They moved the sofa bed over by the windows and bought Japanese-style screens to give Micah some privacy. It was almost like having a second guest room. Micah got the royal treatment with his university visits. Grace took him around Boston University, Nicholas showed him Harvard and Adrian gave him a tour of Northeastern. He met with the swimming coaches, who were invariably thrilled, Matthew was kicking ass in his first year at USC and all of the coaches were jumping out of their skins trying to recruit a Watson. When they were alone in the apartment Grace asked him about it. "Do you actually want to take a swimming scholarship?" She asked. Micah looked uncomfortable. "No, not really. I mean it would be convenient not to have to pay for school but I don't want to have to race Matthew, and as soon as Matthew graduates I'll have to race Ollie who is pretty close to being able to kick my ass as it is. It will be degrading to have my little brother beat me." "So don't do it. I've never understood why you don't switch to cycling. I mean, you're good at swimming but you're much better suited to the bike." "Cycling?" Micah seemed surprised. "Yeah, haven't you ever thought about it?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Kind of. Whenever I'm riding I always think it would be cool to race but I have no idea how you would go about doing it." "Well, figure it out... If you want to that is, nobody says you have to play sports. Just because it's what everyone else does doesn't mean you have to do it as well." Micah nodded thoughtfully. "Cycling..." Grace smiled. She hoped Micah would quit swimming, he obviously didn't enjoy it so there was no point in him continuing to torture himself. There was a pause and then Micah said, "Gracie?" "Yeah?" "Were you... raped?" He asked shyly. Grace felt like she had been punched in the stomach. She was trying to get used to this, to people knowing. When she had been shot it was all over the local news and so most of the people at school and at rowing had found out. It was still hard to have the question come from her little brother though. She nodded. "Yes. How did you find out?" "After you were shot I looked at the Boston Globe to see if there was a news report on it and it said that the person who shot you was on trial for rape. It made sense when I thought about it, mom was visiting you in the middle of the semester and she hadn't given us a reason, and then there was how weird you were acting a couple of Christmases ago... How you flipped out when I was playing with you..." Micah looked like he was about to start crying. His forehead was wrinkled and his eyes were watery. "That wasn't your fault Mikey, there was no way you could have known. Nicholas was the only one who knew back then." Micah nodded and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry Gracie. I wish that hadn't happened to you." Grace closed the few feet between them and hugged him. Micah's long arms folded around her. "I know. Me too. Everyone wishes it hadn't happened. But think of it this way, if it hadn't happened you wouldn't have such a cool ninja sister." Micah laughed. "Ninja sister?" "Yeah sure, didn't you know that I got my blue belt? I could teach you a thing or two you know." "Okay, shoot." By the time Nicholas got home from his class and her dad got back from his jog Grace and Micah had cleared all of the furniture to the edges of the living room and laid the couch cushions on the floor to soften their falls as they practiced. Nicholas laughed and took his shoes off and bowed as if he were entering a real dojo. Grace was momentarily struck by how beautiful he was when he laughed like that. She had thought Nicholas was handsome for a long time, but for some reason every now and then she would see him with fresh eyes and fall in love all over again. A few weeks later Micah called her to tell her that he had joined a cycling team. "I'm still going to swimming training a few times a week, I'm just trying out the cycling thing," he said. She was glad. She had a feeling Micah was going to be much happier when he stopped trying to be Matthew. He called on a Monday afternoon and she told Nicholas about their conversation as they were walking that night. They hadn't walked at night for a while and she realized that she had missed it. They had long ago finished the Freedom Trail and Nicholas' band had broken up after Brandon, the lead singer, had graduated and moved to D.C. so they didn't go out late at night very often anymore. Nicholas was leading her in the direction of downtown but she didn't really think about where they were going. They were talking about Micah and whether or not it was worth it to do something you don't really like in order to stay out of debt through college. Grace was against it but Nicholas, always the economist, made some pretty compelling arguments. 3. The Grace I've Known Ch. 16-18 Nicholas was on a special academic scholarship so his school was paid for but Grace wasn't as smart as him. In her second year she had been given a partial scholarship for rowing, and she had a work-study job that helped, but she had still taken out student loans to close the gap. She didn't really see it as a big deal, almost everyone she knew was in debt, it was just something that you did and paid for later. 

 Nicholas approved of her loans up to a point. He didn't mind them taking on debt so long as it was just for paying tuition, he called it a smart investment. 

 "We're doing pretty well milaya," he told her when they were deciding how much to take out on her next loan. }I think we have a good foundation to build on."

 He took care of their money. He told her what he was doing with it but mostly she just smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He was always talking about their debt to asset ratio, but it was something that Grace had only a marginal interest in, she had long ago relinquished control of her finances to Nicholas. 
 It took her a while to realize why they were where they were. The Boston Massacre Memorial was pretty unassuming, just a circle of dark grey stones set into the sidewalk, she didn't even notice it until Nicholas stopped walking and pulled her close to him. "Do you remember this place?" He asked. She smiled up at him. "Of course I remember. This is the place where you first kissed me." He smiled back and nodded. "That was exactly one year ago." A year. It felt like more, so much had happened since then, so much had changed but there was one thing that hadn't. She still loved Nicholas. She still felt connected to him, as if there were a thousand invisible strings that bound them together. Nicholas lived inside her. His gentle, serious, peaceful soul lived side by side with hers in her heart. "I remember you left me speechless. You took my breath away," she reminisced. "I remember feeling relived," he said. "I had been in love with you for so long. I had waited so long to give you that kiss and then when you kissed me back it was as if my life had just begun. Everything that happened before you loved me was dull Gracie, I only started to see colors when you kissed me back." Grace lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips against his. Nicholas' hands were in the small of her back and he squeezed her to him gently as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They shared a slow warm kiss, reliving that wonderful moment when both of their lives changed. "When did you fall in love with me?" She asked when they were walking home. "At Zach's wedding." "Really? You can really pinpoint the time?" "I can pinpoint the exact moment. It was when we were dancing... or trying to dance. You were so beautiful milaya. You were smiling and laughing when you stepped on my feet and you smelled like Jasmine. Of course at the time I didn't realize what it was, I thought that I wanted you because of how beautiful you are, it took me a while to realize that I wanted you because of who you are." She squeezed his hand. She had no idea how she had gotten so lucky, how she had made the man of her dreams fall in love with her. "When did you fall in love with me?" He asked. "I don't know. Adrian was the one who told me." "Adrian told you?" "Yeah, I guess I'm a bit slow." He laughed. "Remind me to thank him." The ice broke on the river in early April and it was magnificent to be back on the water. At first the coaches had said that Grace was only allowed to cox the junior varsity boat because she had taken the fall off, but since the team found out what had happened with the court case and the shooting there was a back-lash and so she was allowed to cox the varsity boat again. It actually felt liberating for the rape not to be a secret anymore. There were still a few select people who she would prefer not to know, she hoped it would be a few years before Ollie found out for example, but in general she found that it was easier to be herself when she could freely acknowledge that horrible crime and her long and rocky recovery. The girls on the rowing team all reacted differently to finding out that she had been raped. There were some people who acknowledged it and got on with life as if nothing had changed. They would say something like, "Hey Grace I heard about what happened and I'm sorry you went through that. If you need anything you can count on me," and that was the end of it. These became Grace's favorite people. Unfortunately not everyone handled it so well. Some people wanted to comfort and support her and talk about how she felt which was extremely annoying. Others whispered to each other and acted weird when she was around, they lowered their heads so they wouldn't have to look her in the eye. Stacie was part of this group. It was a bit disappointing. She had thought that Stacie was her friend, in fact she was the first friend she had made in Boston. It didn't really matter though, she had Nicholas, who was more than she could ever have wished for, and they had Adrian. One Adrian was worth a thousand Stacies. The last weekend in April brought unseasonably warm weather, tank top weather. "What do you want to do today milaya?" Nicholas asked on Saturday morning. He was sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper in front of him, wearing a t-shirt and the pants of his tobok. Nicholas still practiced taekwondo in the mornings while she was at rowing. "I want to go rowing," she replied. He smiled. "But you just got back from rowing, don't you want a break?" Grace stepped her leg over him and settled into his lap. "I will take a break for precisely the length of time it takes to make love to you Nicholas... Amir.... Chandrasekhar.... Galloway.... Gray," she said, planting kisses on his face between each one of his names. "And then we are going to go down to the boathouse and I'm going to teach you how to row." Grace continued to kiss Nicholas' face and neck while his hands roamed beneath her t-shirt, gliding over her skin and caressing her sensitive spots. Nicholas knew all of them. He knew that she liked it when he stroked her neck below her ear with his thumb, that it drove her mad with desire when he kissed the insides of her elbows and wrists. He pulled her shirt over her head and she could feel her body responding to him, the warmth in her belly, the wetness between the lips of her pussy and that tingling feeling she got in her lips and breasts. His mouth was moving along her shoulder, just below her clavicle, another of her many weak spots when it came to Nicholas. She felt his hands on her back and then the slackening of her bra as he undid the clasp and removed it. He leaned back from her and stared down at her breasts. "Oh Gracie," he moaned as he cupped them in his hands, "they are so, so amazing." Grace laughed at him, Nicholas was borderline obsessed with her breasts, if he had his way she would go around the house topless all day. Much as it amused her, his fascination came in handy at times like these, Nicholas was perfectly happy to fondle and kiss and suck on her breasts for as long as she wanted, and that was usually quite a long time. She leaned back on the table using her elbows for support and watched him worship her body. His head was bowed over her chest as he licked and suckled one breast and squeezed and fondled the other. God it felt amazing. Nicholas alternated between kissing and licking her flesh and sucking her nipples, each time he went back to the nipple he would suck a little harder until he was really manhandling her breasts and she was grinding her pelvis into his groin and moaning for more. Nicholas stood up with her hips in his hands and pushed her back onto the table. She heard the newspaper crinkle under her as he pulled her shorts and underwear off and stripped his pants away and lined his cock up with her sopping wet pussy. Grace saw stars when he pushed himself inside her and heard herself moan a deep guttural sound. He felt so amazing. Nothing could compare to the feeling of Nicholas pumping her pussy in his long smooth strokes and hearing him murmur her name. "Oh Gracie... you're so beautiful baby... you feel so good..." His voice was low and labored. Nicholas' face was contorted in pleasure, his eyes were heavily lidded and his forehead wrinkled as he worked his cock in and out of her slick passage, delivering warm sensuous tingles to her with every pass. He gathered speed slowly and smoothly so that she didn't even notice that eventually he was hammering her hard, his balls slapping against her ass cheeks as he held her legs apart by her ankles. It felt so good. There was a special spot inside her that came to life only when Nicholas was pounding her hard like this. He wasn't going to last very long this morning, Grace could tell. He wasn't usually very vocal during sex unless he was trying not to cum, and already he was moaning with his eyes closed. She knew as soon as she told him to open his eyes he would cum. It was okay, she knew he would hold it for as long as she needed him to. She let her hand drop to her pussy to bring herself closer quicker. "Mm... harder Kolya," she begged. Nicholas' eyes squeezed tightly and his hands moved to her hips, grasping her firmly as he pounded roughly into her pussy. "Oh yeah... like that baby..." Grace's voice was becoming breathless as she got closer to the point of no return. Sometimes she liked it like this, for Nicholas to fuck her. It had taken a long time for them to get to the point where sex could be rough without worrying about it, but now that they were there it was fabulous. They didn't worry because Grace rarely had flashbacks anymore, in fact she couldn't even remember the last time she'd had one. Now the only thing they worried about was adequate birth control. She loved the idea of having Nicholas' babies but not now, not for at least a few more years. That didn't mean she didn't love the idea of him cumming inside her. She loved it when Nicholas came inside her and it was even better when they came together. Nicholas was pretty talented in that regard. It's not like he could cum on command or anything, but he could hold it if she wasn't ready yet. But now Grace was getting pretty close to being ready for him. That special warm feeling in her belly was multiplying, it was getting bigger and hotter and pricklier with each of his hard thrusts. "Oh Kolya..." She moaned. Nicholas threw his head back and continued to nail her hard. "Oh baby..." It was coming, the heat was spreading, the edges of it twisting and curling down her legs and up her spine. She was about to cum. "Kolya look at me..." Nicholas' eyes opened and he looked down into hers as the first waves if her orgasm rippled through her body. "Ah..." She felt all of the breath leaving her body. Nicholas's face crumbled as he plunged himself deep within her and his body stiffened. She felt him pulsing inside her as he moaned her name and then she felt that special warmth. He slid in and out of her a few more times, but now gently. Now he was soft and tender with her. "Oh Gracie," he sighed. "My Gracie." He leaned over her and stroked the side of her face. "My beautiful Grace." He leaned further and kissed her on her lips as she let her fingers meander through his hair. "Sorry that wasn't very long baby," he apologized. "Don't be stupid, it was wonderful," she reassured him. "Besides, we can do it again tonight, or tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that..." His face was right above hers and he smiled. "How about we do it all of those times?" She smiled back. "Deal." She wasn't upset or concerned by how fast it had been, she couldn't blame him for his brevity. They hadn't had sex for three days when usually they did it every day, so he was probably feeling backed up. She had noticed that his stamina was inversely proportional to the length of time since they had made love last. They'd had a busy week. Nicholas was preparing for a seminar with Charlotte Sensei and the rowing team had been seat racing for positions in the Varsity boat this week so they had both been tired and their schedules hadn't matched up. The seminar was on how to use Aikido to defend against different types of martial arts and Nicholas had been practicing a lot with Charlotte Sensei to prepare for it. Grace didn't really see much of Charlotte outside of the dojo anymore, and that was fine with her. They had dinner together every now and then and she and Nicholas had tea with her after practice some nights, but that was about it. Charlotte had been a good friend and had helped her to realize her own strength, but now that the ordeal with the rape trial was over she had receded back into her original role as a teacher. Nicholas peeled himself off her, it was hot and muggy in their apartment and his body was covered in a thin layer of sweat. They showered together and he cleaned her breasts very, very thoroughly and then they went down to the boathouse. It was a little cooler by the river, the air was still fresh down there. Grace couldn't help but smile at Nicholas when he got in the boat for the first time. He was so hesitant. She'd never seen him so nervous before. She gave him a tutorial while she was still squatting on the dock and hanging onto the side of the boat. She told him which side was port and which was starboard and showed him the 'safety position.' They were using a big fat wooden double scull tub so they'd really have to do something stupid to flip it. She sat in the stroke seat and he was in the bow. After she pushed them off the dock she let him experiment with the balance so he could get comfortable. She turned around and sat backwards in her seat so that she was facing him and held the handles of her oars loosely so that his movements would control the balance of the boat. He was so tentative, he was only game to make small movements and then quickly bring his hands back together to the safety position. "Good, you're doing really well," she encouraged him. "How does that feel?" "Weird. I'm not used to balancing with my hands." He smiled at her nervously. "We're in a huge boat Kolya, there is pretty much no way that we're going to fall out. You can move your hands apart further, in fact why don't you try to touch the oar handles to your legs one at a time?" He looked hesitant. He tired but he chickened out half way down and went back to the safety position. She smiled. "Just let go. Let it flow babe, let the blades rest on the water and just move with the boat." "Move with the boat?" "Yeah, let it move under you. Don't focus so much on your hands as how your body wants to move in response to the boat." He stared at her seriously, obviously listening to what she had to say and then he nodded and closed his eyes. His whole body relaxed visibly and he tilted from his hips to starboard until the port side oar handle touched his thigh, and then back to the middle. He opened his eyes. "Huh," he said. "You don't really balance with your hands at all do you?" She smiled at him. "Nope." He smiled back and this time he didn't look nervous anymore. She explained the stroke to him and had him build it from the finish forward in baby steps. First he rowed just using his arms, then his torso and arms, then his legs torso and arms. "Am I getting it?" He had a broad grin on his face, he looked like he was enjoying himself. "Yeah, I think you're getting it." He was actually doing really well for his first time on the water, he had relaxed and was going with the flow. "Do you like it?" "Yeah, I do. It is pretty amazing to be in the middle of the river and to feel it moving around you." "How does your stroke feel?" She asked. "Ah... still kind of disjointed and spasmodic." He grinned at her. "But it is a beautiful day and I'm rowing a pretty girl around so I can deal with that." "Oh, so I'm just a pretty girl to you now?" She teased. "Of course not Gracie, you are my milaya, you know that." She smiled. Of course she knew that she was more than just a pretty girl to him. "Do you know what that means?" "What?" "The word milaya, do you know what it means?" She only knew because Adrian had told her. "Probably not, but I know what it means to me." "What?" "It means the center of my universe." He said it so matter-of-factly, like it was something that he was intimately comfortable with, like it was a part of him. Grace's heart soared as she watched this man that she loved so much confess his love for her while he humored her by letting her teach him how to row. The sky was so blue and the river so beautiful. The trees on the banks were all leafed out and flowers grew down near the waters edge. The stately old bridges were straight out of a fairy tale. The sun heated her skin and only served to increase that warm glow that she felt deep in her belly after Nicholas made love to her vigorously like he had this morning. She breathed in deeply and reveled in the weightlessness of her life. Nicholas was perfect, her family was wonderful, she adored their apartment, the rowing season was going well and she had just over a year left of college, then they would move back to Denver. Not only was her present perfect but her future was looking pretty damn good too. She was so incredibly happy. She could do this forever. Living with Nicholas, taking care of him and letting him take care of her, making decisions about their future together. She wanted to do this forever. It was such a wonderful day. She knew she had a huge smile plastered on her face. "Gracie..." Nicholas' smooth deep voice rustled her heart. He was still rowing, he came close to her for the catch then pushed away for each stroke. "Mm?" "Will you marry me?" For some reason it didn't surprise her. It was certainly unexpected, but it wasn't surprising because it felt so right. She smiled at him. "Yes, of course I will." She felt the prickle of tears in the corners of her eyes. He rolled towards her on his seat but he didn't drop the blades of the oars back into the water for another stroke, he let them rest on the water and leaned closer to her. She let go of her oars and moved towards him and when their lips met tears did fall from her eyes. She scrambled towards him and he laughed and rolled back to make room for her on his lap. They kissed and laughed together in the middle of the river for a long time. Grace had never known happiness like this. They would spend the rest of their lives together, she had already known it but to make it official was somehow special. She would be Nicholas' wife. She would have Nicholas' children. They would grow old together. When they got home he surprised her by presenting her with a ring. "If you want a different one we can go and choose one, but this is for you regardless. It was Dedushka's grandmother's ring," he explained. "Kolya, it's beautiful." It was stunning. It was small and dainty and exquisitely made and it fit her perfectly. Dedushka was huge, it was funny for her to think that his ancestor's hands were as small as hers. "Why would I want something else?" Nicholas shrugged his shoulders. "I just wasn't sure. Also, you'll have to give that to our oldest child, to pass it on. Sometimes I see old ladies who still wear engagement rings, I wasn't sure if you would feel bad giving yours away." Grace put her arms around his neck. "Well maybe you could buy me a new one when we pass this one on. Maybe you could propose again when we have kids our age. I think that would be very romantic." Nicholas put his arms around her waist and kissed her. "Anything you want milaya." 3. The Grace I've Known Ch. 16-18 They put the phone on speaker to call their parents. They called hers first and they were happy and excited but it was Nicholas' dad who was the funniest. He was so excited. "Where is it going to be?" He asked excitedly. "Are you coming to Denver or are we going to Boston? Or... Oh my god, are you going to have a destination wedding?" Grace couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. "No," she replied. "I think we'll do it in Denver." She was looking at Nicholas as she spoke and he smiled and nodded. She had always imagined getting married in her parents' back yard. Nicholas' parents had been married in his dad's parents' backyard, it was the first wedding she had been to, and it was so beautiful and romantic. Her parents didn't have a big tree with red flowers like Babushka and Dedushka did, but she still thought it would be special. "Okay, good," Tyler said. "You have to come home soon so we can start planning. What sort of music do you want?" Grace was taken aback, she had hardly thought past the location, she had no idea what sort of music she wanted. "Um, I don't know..." "What is your color theme going to be? Do you want to have assigned seating or will it be cocktail style? Are you going to wear your hair up or down?" Nicholas was already laughing and Grace joined him. "Ah, you two are no fun," Tyler complained. "Here, talk to Luka, mom and I are going over to Sam and Emma's place." "Hello?" Lucas' voice came over the line. "Hi Luka," Grace said. "Gracie? What's going on? Why is dad in a tizzy?" "We got engaged," she replied. "You got engaged? To who?" He teased. "To me dumb-ass," Nicholas interjected. Lucas laughed. "Well congratulations. Hey, does this mean that we'll be related to the Watsons?" "Yeah, that's the way it works," Nicholas said. "Sweet. Maybe that means we can dump Maddy on them some nights, I swear that kid is going to be the death of me, she never shuts up." "Oh, she's that bad huh?" Grace asked. "Yeah but apparently she's not as bad as Nicholas was. Dad said that he was a 'spirited' child, but I think that's just a code word for 'little shit.'" Grace laughed. "Hey, at least I grew out of it," Nicholas emphasized the 'I' to tease his brother. Lucas chuckled. He was only sixteen but already he chuckled like a man. "Hey, I'm going over to the Watsons', I think I'm missing out on the action. I think dad is going to have this whole wedding planned for you by the end of the night and I want to give my input. I want to make sure my preference for puffy pink bridesmaids dresses is known." They called around to the rest of their family, Matthew who had just finished a day of racing at USC, Zach and Beth, and then Adrian. Nicholas' dad called them back a few times to ask questions and they could hear his mom and her parents in the background laughing. It sounded like they were all getting thoroughly sloshed. Nicholas took her out to her favorite Thai restaurant for dinner and they talked about the wedding. He thought they should wait until the summer after they graduated, and she agreed. It would give them just over a year to organize it, which seemed about right. They didn't want anything too big or fancy but they also didn't want to rush and feel stressed out about organizing it. When they got home Nicholas made love to her slowly. He kissed and stroked her in all of the places that drove her mad with desire and murmured tender words to her. "You are my number one priority Gracie," he told her. "I am going to make sure you are the happiest wife on the face of the earth." "Mm," she sighed. "Just so long as we are always together Kolya." "Of course," he assured her. "We will always be together Grace. I will always look after you." That's all she really cared about. Having a wedding to plan was exciting and wearing his ring was special and romantic but all she really wanted was to spend her life with Nicholas. So long as she knew that was her future she was happy.