"Have my parents come for me?!" Annie exclaimed with a voice filled with hope and excitement and a smile bigger than she had ever had on her face.
Grace's bright blue eyes widen as she looked for the courage to speak. She felt Annie's expectant look and Oliver's concerned gaze. "We haven't found them, Annie."
Annie's face fell instantly and her shoulders dropped. She looked from Grace to Oliver, ducked her head, and slowly walked away.
Moving to stand next to Oliver, Grace spoke, "I interviewed 865 couples, none of them knew about the locket. I never realized how many dishonest people there are in New York."
Oliver watched Grace carefully as she spoke. Her eyes were filled with pain and Oliver felt like his heart was breaking. He slowly raised his hand and brought it to the back of Grace's neck. Her head turned in surprise at the touch and Oliver used her movement as an opportunity to pull her to him. He placed a soft kiss to her lips and another to her temple.
"Oliver..." Grace whispered slowly. He moved in and found her lips again with an increased amount of need. Just as Grace was gathering the courage to kiss him back, he pulled away only enough to speak against her lips, "I should go talk to her." Grace nodded her head sadly and watched him walk away towards Annie.
Hours later, after putting Annie to bed, Grace slowly made her way towards Oliver's office. Face to face with the dark mahogany door, she raised her fist to knock, but remembering the first name basis, the more frequent moments, and the kisses, she slowly dropped her hand to the door knob and with a turn, gently pushed the door open. Oliver sat at his desk with his head resting in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. The look on his face was something Grace hadn't seen from him before. "Oliver?" She questioned gently.
He looked up from the papers, "Grace," he replied, "is Annie asleep?" She only nodded.
He rose from his desk and made his way towards her and in a voice slightly more gruff than he anticipated said, "I wanted to apologize to you."
Confused Grace replied, "Apologize? Whatever for?"
"For earlier today. Outside."
Suddenly Grace realized that he was talking about kissing her and her heart sank into her stomach. She dropped her head slightly in hopes that the tears she felt stinging her eyes wouldn't fall. "You don't need to apologize for that," she whispered.
"You were upset and I caught you off guard. That isn't how our first kiss should have happened."
"I... what? I thought you were apologizing for kissing me?"
"I am apologizing for HOW the kiss happened, not THAT the kiss happened."
The combination of the words he was saying and the way he was looking at her was too much for Grace. She drew in a shaky breath and as she blinked, those tears she was trying so hard to fight rolled down her cheeks. Oliver took the remaining steps towards her and placed a hand on each side of her face, wiping her tears with his large thumbs. Grace gripped his forearms with her hands in an attempt to steady herself.
"Grace, I've fallen in love with you. I need you to know that no matter what happens with Annie, I need you as more than a secretary and I want to be with you. Having Annie here may have helped me realize how I felt, but if there were no Annie I would still love you and want to make Annie all over again with you."
"Oliver." Grace's few tears had turned into crying. She pulled his hands away from her face and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you too. So much." That was all she could say before his hands found their way to her waist and pulled her in. Their lips met. Oliver ran his hands up and down Grace's sides before sliding them around to her lower back. A slow "mmmm" came from Grace and with that, he opened his mouth slightly to taste her lips with his tongue. Grace's mouth opened at the feel and as their tongues collided for the first time, Grace slid her hand up the back of Oliver's smooth head. As oxygen became an issue, they reluctantly pulled away from each other. Their eyes met and reality began to come creeping back around them.
"Oliver?" Grace whispered.
"Yes love?" Her heart swelled and her stomach flipped at his response.
"What are we going to do about Annie?"
"Exactly what we promised her. Help her find her parents. No matter how much we don't want to, that's all she's ever wanted." Grace nodded her head in agreement before dropping it to Oliver's shoulder and burying her face in his neck. Her hand rested in his chest and the combination of his scent and the steady beat of his heart calmed her. "I love you," she whispered against his neck. Before Oliver could respond their was a sharp knock at the door. Grace stood and pulled herself from him. Oliver grasped her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and said in a low voice, "come in."
"Sir. There is a Mr. and Mrs. Mudge here requesting to speak with you. It appears they are here for Annie."
"Thank you Drake, we'll..."
"Pardon me for interrupting Sir, but they are insisting it is very urgent."
Oliver only nodded and began walking past Drake and out of his office. His grip on Grace's hand tightened slightly and as they moved closer to the foyer, not caring that Drake was in step behind them, he raised their hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.
After introductions and brief conversation was made, Oliver suggested that Grace bring the Mudge's into the office for some questions while he go speak with Annie. Avoiding eye contact with the Mudge's, Oliver placed the lightest of kisses on Grace's lips and turned towards the stairs to get Annie.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur, and before he knew it, Oliver was standing on his balcony watching the Mudge's usher Annie into the back of their car. He watched as the car drove away and then took a deep breath and turned back towards the house to look for Grace. His search was over before it began. She was sitting in his chair staring at the framed picture of Annie on his desk.
"Grace?" She looked up at him and her eyes were red as tears poured down her face. She sniffed and unsuccessfully attempted to wipe the tears away with the back of her hand. Oliver held his hand out to her, "come here." She took his hand and stood up to move towards Oliver. He then moved himself to sit in the chair she just vacated and pulled her into his lap. She clung to him as he rubbed her back. "Shhh sweetheart. Everything will be okay."
"I loved her so much," Grace whispered.
"I know you did love. I did too, but we made her a promise and now she has her parents back."
For the second time that night, Grace buried her face in Oliver's neck, occasionally pressing her lips to it. Oliver moved one hand into her hair, and continued to rub her back slowly with the other. He soon noticed deep even breaths against his neck and looked down to see Grace had fallen asleep. Smiling down at her, he knew she was exhausted from the stress and worry of the last few days so he was relieved that she was sleeping.
Oliver was content on holding her in his arms for a while but they were once again interrupted. This time by a loud commotion downstairs. Grace awoke with a start as they both wished for some peace and quiet. The commotion only grew so they went out to see what was happening. They were greeted by a mob of little girls all yelling and shouting about Annie and Miss Hannigan and how "they wasn't her parents. They was bad people!"
Phone calls, investigations, and speeding car rides through the city led them to the foot of the B O Bridge. Scrambling from the car, Oliver reached for Grace and they made their way over the railroad tracks just as Annie reached the top of the lifted bridge. She made her way up and over the top all while Rooster tried to pry her tiny fingers from the metal. Grace gasped and his her face in Oliver's shoulder. Bringing his hand up to hold her head too him, his eyes never left Annie. Once she was securely in Punjab's grasp he whispered Grace's name to get her attention. She looked up and they both made there way closer to where Annie and Punjab were descending.
Annie was in Oliver's arms as fast as Punjab's feet hit the ground. Grace flung herself to Annie and Oliver, then to Punjab, and back to Annie and Oliver holding on for dear life. She felt Oliver shift Annie to one side so he could wrap his other arm around Grace and pull her in closer. The three of them stood together for quite some time. Grace tilted her head back and pressed a kiss to the underside of Oliver's jaw. He then leaned down and kissed her deeply. Pulling back he looked from her to Annie and whispered, "let's go home." They both smiled at him.
Annie was uncharacteristically quite on the ride home and she clung tightly to Grace. Trying to soothe her, Grace rubbed her back and smoothed her bright red curls back to place kisses on her forehead. Annie said nothing, just held on tighter. Oliver glanced over at them and removed one hand from the steering wheel to pat Annie's back and then hold onto to Grace's hand. "Almost home," he said as he gave her hand a squeeze.
The three of them walked into the now quiet house together. Upon their entrance, Mrs. Greer made her appearance. "Oh Annie, am I glad to see you! What do you say we get you cleaned up?"
Annie smiled softly but hesitated. "Grace?" she asked if a quiet voice.
"Yes dear?"
"Do you think... I mean would it be alright..."
"Yes Annie?"
"Could you give me my bath tonight? And you and Mr. Warbucks tuck me in?"
Grace glanced at Mrs. Greer who simply smiled and then turned back to Annie, "oh of course we will."
Oliver scooped Annie up in his arms, "well lets hop to it then!" A true smile broke on her face for the first time since they got home. Grace walked up behind them and slid her hands up Oliver's back stopping at his shoulders. Smiling up at Annie she then turned her head, "thank you Mrs. Greer."
The three of them made their way upstairs to Annie's room and as Grace bathed Annie and readied her for bed, Oliver pulled back the blankets and prepared her bed. Once Annie was situated under her covers Oliver sat on the edge of the bed, Grace standing next to him. "Annie," he said, "is there anything else we can get for you?" She shook her head.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Grace asked. Before either of them knew was was happening, Annie stood up, flung herself at Grace and Oliver throwing her arms around them and burst into tears, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," she repeated over and over.
"Annie!" Oliver said, "what on earth are you apologizing for?!" And she only seemed to cry harder.
Grace managed to pull the little girl off of them and got her to sit down against the pillows. Rubbing her cheek Grace spoke in a low voice,"Annie, sweetheart, take a deep breath. Calm down. Shhh take a deep breath." Annie's breathing slowed but the tears still fell from her eyes. "Annie, what's wrong sweetheart?"
"I'm sorry." She whispered again.
"For what? Annie you have nothing to be sorry for," Grace tried to reassure her.
"Yes I do! After we started looking for my parents I realized that I didn't really want to find them."
"Annie what are you talking about?" Oliver asked.
"It's just, I started to think about how much I liked being here with both of you. But since I told you I wanted to find my real parents we had to keep looking. If I would have just told you that I wanted to stay here with you I wouldn't have caused so much trouble. And none of this bad stuff would have happened."
"Oh Annie," Grace sighed.
"Annie listen to me," Oliver said firmly but gently, "for as long as you can remember you wanted to find your parents and there was nothing wrong with still wanting that when you got here. I don't want you to feel like you have to apologize because Grace and I love you very much and all we've ever wanted is for you to be happy. I wish things hadn't gone the way they had but what matters now is that you're here, you're safe, and we aren't going to let anything happen to you ever again."
"Am I here for good?"
"You better believe it!"
Annie was on her feet again with her arms around Oliver and reaching for Grace. "I love you. Both of you. ... Grace?"
"Yes Annie?"
"Would you mind sleeping in here tonight?"
"Of course. Just let me go change." Grace made her way to the door, pausing to look back at Annie and Oliver. She was smiling up at him and he was stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers.
"We love you very much Annie," Oliver said.
Annie smiled before her face turned serious and she looked Oliver square in the eye, "And you love Grace too? Right?"
"Annie, the only person in this world I love as much as I love you, is Grace." Annie smiled and then yawned.
"I think the day is finally catching up with you," Oliver said as he heard Grace reappear in the room. He leaned over and kissed Annie on the forehead, "good night sweetie," he whispered.
"Good night," she whispered back.
Oliver stood and made his way over to Grace. Keeping his back to Annie, he pulled Grace in and kissed her slowly and deeply. Her arms wrapped around his waist was he brought his hands up into her hair. Pulling back, he spoke is hushed tones against her lips, "goodnight sweetheart. I love you." She smiled against him and kissed him again. "Mmm I love you too. Goodnight." Oliver went to back away but Grace's hold on him didn't loosen. "Grace?" He questioned. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to leave you," she whispered. She felt herself blush slightly of embarrassment and dropped her head down. Oliver leaned up and kissed her hairline before taking her chin between his thumb and finger and bringing her face up to meet his. "I don't want to leave you either love, but it's only till morning. Take care of our girl." Grace smiled and kissed him once more before going to get into bed. She held her arm up and Annie happily snuggled into her side. To Grace's surprise, Oliver had followed her back to the bed. He pulled the blankets up around both of them and first leaned down to give Annie one more kiss on the forehead, "goodnight." He then brushed a strand of hair from Grace's face before kissing her again, "goodnight love." With that, he left the room, Sandy repositioned himself to lay on top of Annie's feet and his head resting on Grace's thigh, and Grace pulled Annie closer as they both drifted off to sleep.
Oliver made his way down the dark, quiet hallway back to his office. He walked over to the wall to the right of his desk and carefully removed a framed sketch of the Empire State Building that hung there. Behind it, his wall safe. He reached to the back of the safe and under a pile of paperwork was a small, velvet box. Taking in a deep breath, he opened it. His grandmother's ring. His grandfather spent way more than he could afford on that ring but it was beautiful and his grandmother loved it. The main diamond itself wasn't huge, but it was surrounded by smaller diamonds and the intricate design of the metal around the stones and throughout the band is was made it special.
Before she died, his grandmother gave the ring to his father who proposed to Oliver's mother with it. Oliver was young when his mother died and it was only a couple years later that his father was very sick. He gave the ring to him and said "now Oliver I know you are too young to understand this but I want you to listen to me. That ring is very important to the Warbucks family. I want you to take good care of it."
"But papa, what am I supposed to do with it?" "One day, when you're grown up Oli, you might find the right girl to give it to."
"How do I know she's the right girl, papa?"
"You'll know son. You will feel like you've never felt before. Nothing else in the world will seem important as long as you have her in your arms. Give her the ring, and spend the rest of your life making her feel how she makes you feel."
Oliver shut the safe, hung the picture back on the wall, and with the small velvet box safely in hand, he went to his room to go to sleep.