"Um," Grace looked over at him, double-checking the sincerity of his invitation before she replied, "Sure." It wasn't that she didn't trust Will, or the fact that he was making an effort to get to know her – because he was, and she appreciated it – but she didn't want to push the issue or make him uncomfortable. He seemed relaxed enough, though, and she was on his turf, so, yeah, she could spare half an hour before meeting up with her papa. "But Papa wants me to meet him at Pop's pawn shop in the next couple of hours."
"Not a problem," Will promised evenly.
Grace eyed Ana as she sat down at the bar, checking to see if she was upset at the mention of Jefferson. Ana caught her stare, pulling a teasing face before she said, "No, it isn't. Jefferson and I have had chances to talk that you didn't know about, and we've decided to… be grownups and get along for your sake."
Grace grinned, then turned to Will as a thought struck her. "What about you?"
"What about me?" he repeated. "Jefferson's basically still a hermit, and certainly no… threat. I am capable of being an actual 'grownup' when I want to be."
"The fact that you put actual air quotes around 'grownup' make me question that," Grace deadpanned.
Will smirked and flicked a chocolate chip at her in protest, but when she caught it in her mouth he laughed and clapped for her.
Ana rolled her eyes even as she attempted to bite back her smile, muttering, "I am surrounded by children."
"That's what I said!" Grace replied cheerfully, surprised again at how relaxed she felt here.
She'd never gotten so comfortable around strangers so quickly… but then… these people weren't meant to be strangers to her. Scarred as she knew they were, childish as Will was acting, these two were her family, and not just by choice like so many others in her life. Ana was her mother, and Will was her… stepfather. Huh; I have one of those now. Funny how quickly she could let people in when she let her guard down.
"What are you grinning about?" Ana asked her curiously.
"Ah…" she smiled. "Coming home one more time."
Ana smiled right back at her and pulled her into a hug.
"Aw, come on now, Ana, what about me?!" Will protested teasingly, looking at his wife… and not paying attention to Grace.
So Grace arched an eyebrow and decided to do something daring. She released Ana and whipped around to squeeze Will tightly around the waist before he could get a clue. He went rigid with surprise for a long few seconds before his hands slipped to her back as he patted her awkwardly between the shoulder blades. Two seconds more and he wrapped his arms more firmly around her shoulders, giving her a real hug. Ana smiled as she wrapped her arms around both Will and Grace from behind her daughter. For the second time that morning, Grace was caught in the middle… and this time it was kind of nice.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," Jefferson said gravely as Grace met him outside Gold's Pawnshop.
"Okay…" Grace murmured curiously, slinging her overnight bag over her shoulder.
"Zelena."
"Is she okay?" Grace asked urgently, realizing how since Anastasia had shown up she'd barely thought of Zelena and the trouble she might well be encountering.
"Yeah, oh yeah!" He raised his eyebrows. "Actually, Regina and Snow must've said some pretty convincing things at the convent, because they've left her alone since then, and I don't think we're going to have any trouble."
"That's great!... But why did you want to meet here?"
"Ah, yeah," Jefferson shuffled his feet, suddenly muttering to himself, "This is probably horrible timing; they're going to think that I'm just trying to make a statement because of Annie and she'll say no and-"
"Papa!" Grace caught him before he could go unreachably far into his mumblings. During his long years alone he'd developed a habit of talking to himself, and though he'd gotten better about it, he still did it when he became uncomfortable enough. She grabbed her papa's hand, starting to decipher what he'd been mumbling about before she asked him quietly, "Are you going to ask Zelena to marry you?"
"Would…" he sent her the puppy dog eyes that put Will's to shame. "You mind?"
"No!" Grace yelped. "Of course not!" She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I would love that."
"Would Zelena?" he asked uncertainly, and, good grief, sometimes he made Grace feel like the adult out of the two of them!
She couldn't help the giggle that burst out of her mouth as she said, "Of course she would, silly! She is your true love. That's why we're here, isn't it?" she realized suddenly. "You wanted my help to pick out an engagement ring."
"Do you think Mr. Gold will sell me one?"
She considered the question for a second before deciding, "I think so." She tugged him towards the shop door, declaring, "There's only one way to find out."
Grace was pulling him into the cool interior of the pawnshop before he could object – she realized suddenly where she got her shyness from – and Mr. Gold stared expectantly at them from behind the counter, drawling, "I was beginning to wonder if you were even going to come in."
She made a face at him as Jefferson said, "I want an engagement ring."
"For Zelena, I take it?" Mr. Gold asked, not appearing the least bit ruffled by the idea. Jefferson nodded. "Do you have anything in particular in mind?"
"Silver… maybe an emerald in there somewhere?"
"Come now," Mr. Gold leaned against the counter and eyed Jefferson casually. "You're a hatter; you deal in fashion and design. You've got to have a more concrete idea than that." He grabbed the notepad from beside the register and slid it towards Jefferson along with a pen. "Here. Design."
Jefferson blinked at the page with a thoughtful look in his eye before he began to sketch. After a couple dozen strokes of pencil against paper, he flipped the notebook back towards Rumplestiltskin. The sorcerer stared at the page intently for a moment before ghosting his hand over the counter top. Left behind was a simple ring box of black velvet. Jefferson opened the box and smiled at its contents, nodding his thanks at Mr. Gold as the pawnbroker named his price.