Chapter Fifty-Three

"It... broke?" I only nodded with my back turned to the woman still sitting on the bed behind me. I could tell by the sound of her voice that Claire was ready to start blaming herself for what happened, but I didn't have the patience for dealing with her self-confidence issues at the moment. Not when I had to think about what could happen in the next nine months if things went down the way I was thinking they were going to... For me, it came down to a lot more than just some crying and wailing because the only thing I could see were the dollars and cents start to roll in front of my eyes. "Gray?"

"The damn thing broke, okay? I don't know how the hell it happened, but it did. Just give me a minute, will you you?" I swore again and ran my fingers through my hair before picking myself off the mattress and reaching for my jeans. "Knew I shouldn't have trusted it..."

Claire didn't say anything at first, not even to calm me down, but when I finally looked at her, I could tell she wanted to. The only thing I wanted was for her to leave me the hell alone for a while. I just hoped she'd take the hint and wait until I was cooled off before she started asking any more questions.

"Are you leaving?"

"Just going to the store," I muttered as I pulled on a shirt. "You want me to pick you up anything?" She only sat there with the blankets held up over her chest. "I said, 'Do you want me to pick anything while I'm at the store?'"

"Gray." I only grunted in reply, not even bothering to look up as I shoved my foot into my boot, but soon enough I felt Claire's tiny hand take a hold of my arm. "You know how I feel about this. If it broke and I'm-"

"Yeah, I know, you're keeping it." Right when I said it, I felt something warm and fuzzy stuffed in the toe of my other boot. Without even bothering to look to see what it was, I reached into it and pulled out the small cat that had fallen asleep there. "Just like every other damn thing we have around here. That's how it is, isn't it?"

"Is that how it is with me, too?" she asked. I whipped my head back around to meet her gaze dead on, but when I did, I saw there were tears in her eyes. She was crying... "Am I just here like everything else?"

"No, it's not like that," I grumbled, running my fingers through my hair again. "Come on, Claire... don't cry over something like this. You know I'm not mad." She might have nodded, but the truth was she was still crying just like she was before. I knew the best thing for me to do was to hold her or whatever, but I just stood there like a dumb ass. "It's just..."

"Yes, I know," she agreed, wiping away her tears. Then, after taking a deep and shaky breath, she made herself give me a little smile. "I think I'm going to go and take a shower."

She didn't even wait for an answer from me before she went and disappeared into the bathroom. When she was gone, though, I only sighed. "Damn woman... getting me all pissed over nothing," I muttered angrily, forcing my foot down into my boot at last. "She knows I can't stand it." Not that I was really blaming her, of course, since it wasn't her fault. At least not entirely. "What the hell am I supposed to do, though?'

I hadn't even gotten around to asking her to marry me yet.

Leaving her alone for a while probably wasn't the best thing for me to do, but I knew I needed to get away to get my head back on straight. I wouldn't be gone for very long, just a drive around the neighborhood, and then I'd be right back to talk about a few things. If I was lucky, though, I might be able to avoid it. After all, Claire hated talking about it as much as I did, so there was a good chance I'd be right.

Feeling the leather of the steering wheel against my hand, I relaxed almost immediately. I always felt better as soon as I got into the truck and put some asphalt under my tires. It wasn't like anything else I had ever done in my life, and right then, it was just the thing I needed.

To be honest, I just about forgot to stop at the store before heading back, but after I got there, I had a feeling I was doing something wrong. I wouldn't go and buy the stuff when Claire told me not to. There was still the question of what I should buy, and it all came down to me not wanting to be a total ass. One walk through the small corner store, though, and I decided against getting anything. The only reason I even bothered was because of the damn mess up from that morning, but I figured it wouldn't matter all that much. Knowing her, she'd forgive me even if I didn't bring anything home with me for her.

The only question was whether I could forgive myself for making the little woman cry.

The house was quiet when I finally got back. Claire was usually waiting for me in the kitchen if I went out, but she was no where in sight. The only one waiting for me was the small ball of fluff I'd brought home for her, and I'd had just about enough of the damn thing as it was.

"Pip, get out of my way, will ya?" I nudged him aside with the toe of my boot, but he just started to play with my laces. "Fucking hell," I sighed, picking him up by the scruff of his neck. "You never know when to quit, do you?"

"Gray, are you home?" Claire came out from the bedroom in her favorite turtleneck and a pair of jeans, but I had to smile to see there was still a towel wrapped around her head. "There was a phone call while you were out."

"Yeah? Who was it?"

"Someone called Saibara," she explained, stumbling over the pronunciation of the name as she reached out for the kitten. My eyes just widened. "He sounded like an older man... but he said he really needed to talk to you about something."

I didn't even bother to say anything to her while she was continuing to talk to me. I was too busy just trying to keep my temper under control, and thankfully, I was able to do it even if it was still clear that I was annoyed at the very least. Especially when I almost ripped the phone right off the wall and stabbed at the number pad. "Gramps, what the hell are you calling here for?" I hissed, doing my best to keep my voice down. "I told you to call me at work if you needed to talk to me that damn bad."

"Still as disrespectful as you ever were." I felt my whole body go rigid to hear his voice, but I didn't want Claire to see me so uneasy. It wasn't going to be easy, though. "And who's that woman you've got over there?"

"None of your business," I snapped back. "Now, are you gonna tell me why you're calling me, or am I going to have to hang up on you?"

"Give the damn phone to that girl," he muttered. "A hell of a lot easier to talk to her than it is you."

"Just tell me what you want," I demanded, grinding my teeth together. "I don't have all day."

"Gray?" Claire tugged gently on my sleeve, her eyes looking up at me in confusion, but when I looked down at her, I was more irritated than anything else. "Is something wrong? Who is it?"

"Your father is back here," my grandfather explained. "He's staying with me for now, but he keeps asking me about you." I'd been trying to keep the young woman from hearing him, but for a moment, I thought it may have been too late. If she heard him, I would need to explain, and that was something I wasn't so sure I could do. "Answer me, will you?"

"Is that your grandfather?"

"Can both of you just shut up for a minute?" I set the phone down and walked away, cursing under my breath and heading back into the bedroom to calm myself back down all over again. When I came back, though, Claire was on the phone. "What are you dong?"

Before I could take it back from her, she hung up, and then she turned to look back at me. She seemed so damn proud of herself, too, which was really made me nervous in the end. "Well, that was pleasant," she mused with a smile. "His name is a little unusual, but he seems nice enough to me."

If only she knew.

"What'd you say to him?" I asked, biting back my anger as best I could. She had no idea what she was doing when it came to talking to someone like Gramps. I could only guess at what kind of shit he would put me through just by knowing she was there at all... "Wait, what did he say to you?"

"Just that he wanted to have us over for Easter," she replied with the smile still on her face. "He's your only family, isn't he?" She didn't. "You shouldn't be so hard on him, you know." She wouldn't. "He was just asking if we'd like to see him at Easter." She did. "I hope you don't mind that I said yes."

"Mind telling me why?" I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You've never even met him!"

"Which is why I think this would be the perfect opportunity for us to meet," she assured me. It was then that her smile disappeared, and even as a grown man, I was still a little nervous to have her look so determined. A look I had learned early on meant serious business when it came from a woman like her. "I don't see why I shouldn't meet him when you've met my family."

"But why Easter of all damn times?" I asked with another heavy sigh. I had never really been the religious type, so celebrating a holiday for something I didn't even believe in seemed pointless to me. After all, even as a kid, I knew my mother was, and look what good it did her. "It's just going to be us and him."

"That's fine with me. It might make it easier for me to get to know him." With that, I knew there'd be no arguing with her any further. She'd made up her mind, and when that happened, nothing I could do or say would make her change it. Thinking about it that way made me realize that she was even more stubborn than me. "As for earlier... let's just wait and see what happens. After all, there's no guarantee that I'm going to be pregnant with only one try."

"I wasn't trying," I reminded her bitterly, feeling my face heat up at just the thought of it. "The damn thing just broke..."

"Gray." Claire's voice was firm as she said it, and I knew even without looking at her that she wasn't happy with me. When I did look up, though, her eyes were narrowed, and I swore she was going to throw a fit at any minute. Something I had never seen her do before and wasn't so sure I wanted to. "I know you know the difference between what sex feels like with or without a condom, so don't even try that with me."

That just about did it for me. One more word out of her mouth like that, and I knew I'd lose it on her. I might not hit her or even threaten to, but I could still feel one hell of a roar burning up my throat. "And here I thought you were so damn innocent."

"Being innocent isn't the same as being stupid!" she shot right back. "Now, please. I don't want to argue. We were both just fine when you came back here, so..." She sighed and ran her own fingers through her bangs before blowing them out of her face again. A sight that, despite me still being pissed off, just about made me crack a smile and forget the whole thing had ever happened at all. "Anyway, we won't be going to see your grandfather for two months yet, so there's no reason to get all upset. Besides, I'm sure things will turn out just fine even when we do go see him."

I damn well hoped so.