Disclaimer—I wrote this for myself, but I decided to share. I deal with enough crazy drama every day, so I write fluff. I obviously don't own Good Witch.
The knock at the door came so softly that Cassie wondered if she had imagined it, that is, until the door cracked open. She could see the silhouette of her nearly 18 year old daughter standing in the doorway. "Mom," Grace whispered, "Are you awake?" Cassie glanced next to her to see Sam sleeping soundly.
"Grace? What's wrong? Hold on a second," Cassie whispered back, carefully untangling herself from her husband's limbs, as to not wake him. Grace closed the door softly as Cassie managed to extricate herself from the bed, grab her robe, and slip her slippers on her feet. Softly padding to the door, she took once last glance back at the bed, where Sam had flipped over, completely covering both sides of the bed. She chuckled to herself. I'm going to have a hard time getting back in there, she thought.
She slipped out the door, making sure to shut it gently behind her. Grace was standing in the hallway waiting for her, and the second Cassie had closed the door, Grace pounced on her, clinging on for dear life. Cassie was surprised, but allowed Grace to hold onto her as long as she wanted. When Grace finally let go, Cassie put her arm around her daughter, and whispered, "Come on, let's go make some tea and talk." Grace nodded slowly and allowed her mom to lead her down to the kitchen. Cassie got busy making the tea, and when it was ready, they took their cups in the living room.
Sitting down on the large couch, Cassie took a sip of her tea and looked expectantly at her daughter. The clock rang out 2 A.M. Glancing over at the clock that Sam had once wondered about, she smiled before bringing her attention back to her daughter. "Is there something you wanted to talk about, Grace?" Grace had been particularly quiet since the upstairs hallway. She took a deep breath. "Mom, I don't want to go to college." Cassie was shocked into silence. Grace had always been a straight-A student, and had been accepted into 8 prestigious universities. The whole family had thrown her a party when she was accepted at her top choice—Yale.
"I mean, I love Middleton. It's my home. My family is here…you're here." Grace choked out.
Cassie reached out to her daughter and pulled her in close. She knew that Grace was having a difficult time with the idea of college, but she didn't know just how scared her daughter was.
"Grace, you can't let the fear of the unknown stop you from doing what you were meant to do. I know that you've been interested in going into the medical field. Haven't you liked working with Sam?"
Grace sighed. "I've loved working at Sam's office. I guess that's part of the problem…I don't want to give up what I already have."
Just then Cassie felt, and then saw, her husband shuffling up behind them. His hair was sticking straight up and he was a little scruffy, but the sight of him always took her breath away. He placed his hands on her shoulders before turning to Grace.
"Sorry to interrupt. I woke up when I realized that there were no icy feet keeping me cold." All three of them chuckled. "I couldn't help but overhear, though. You're thinking no college?" He stepped around the couch and sat in the chair next to it to give Cassie and Grace some space. "I've been thinking about you lately, Grace. Back a couple of years ago Nick mentioned that you wanted to go to college, but also that you were more of a homebody." Sam continued, "I could tell that you were a little hesitant about leaving, so I made some calls." Grace popped her head up, confused.
At this point, Cassie looked at Sam in surprise. Sam just smiled at her and continued. "Well, you were accepted into Northwestern, correct?" Grace nodded, still wondering what Sam was going on about. "Well," he continued, "It turns out that Northwestern just started a satellite branch in Blairsville, and the dean of Biological Science and Research there is an old friend of mine from college."
A smile bloomed on Cassie's face, as realization dawned on Grace's. She looked between Cassie and Sam, eyes wide. "You mean that I could still go to college and stay at home?" Sam grinned as he looked at Grace fondly, "Of course, if you want to. I mean, you'd have to go to the main campus in Chicago eventually, especially if you want to go further than a Bachelor's degree, but you can knock out some prerequisite classes a little closer to home. I spoke with Jack and explained your internship and he's pretty impressed. He's happy to meet with you if you decide to stay."
Grace launched out of her seat, surprising everyone, and threw her arms around Sam. He looked shocked for a second before wrapping his arms around his stepdaughter and patting her on the back. He glanced at his wife sitting on the couch, watching them fondly. Grace eventually let go and stepped back with a huge grin on her face. "Thank you, Sam! I can't believe it. I'm going to accept the offer to Northwestern. They gave me the best scholarship, anyway. I can keep working at the clinic, too, if you need me." Sam smiled and nodded. Grace smiled and gave her mom a quick hug. "Sorry to wake you both up. I couldn't sleep, and I knew I wouldn't until I talked this through. Thanks, guys. " She gave Sam another quick hug. "Goodnight." With that, Grace skipped upstairs. Cassie and Sam chorused their "goodnights" as they rose slowly from their seats, reached for the other's hand, and began their trek back upstairs.
"That was pretty amazing, what you did for her," Cassie remarked, amazed. Sam smiled, "I guess you're rubbing off on me." Cassie stopped on the stairs, essentially tugging him back as he tried to continue walking. Surprised, Sam looked back. "You're something else, you know, Dr. Radford?" Sam smirked and shrugged before pulling his wife in for a quick kiss. "'I learned from the best."