AN:
I do not own a thing!
Things happen
Chapter nineteen
~Things happen~
November 10th 2014
PR-department
Forrester Creations
Los Angeles.
"Who are you?" Liam asks with a tiny hint of jealousy in his voice at the sight of Steffy´s blinding glittery-ish smile and the joy in her eyes.
The other one just gets the wind knocked out of their chest.
"Hey, Eric, do you need to sit down?" Ridge asks as he hears Eric lose his breath, Eric just nods his head and a chair comes rolling over the floor. "Well, I guess I know the answer to that question now."
Steffy turns back towards her father. "What question?"
Ridge just points between Graham and Eric hoping that Steffy would figure it out and as she does, she starts laughing.
Michala, Graham and Liam look at the two of them after Ridge starts laughing as well. Graham then looks over at Liam.
"Graham Gregory, PR-genius previously placed in Paris." He reaches his hand out to shake Liam´s, who hesitates, but takes it anyway.
"But how did you think up that combo?" Ridge asks after he has calmed down. "I mean, Eric was here in LA and Graham was in Paris."
"Well, I planned on calling today to ask if he wanted to come work with me again when Michala goes on maternity leave and figured he'd say yes." Steffy just shrugs her shoulders.
"It's a shame I beat you to it by a week isn't it?"
"Nope!"
"Why not?" Ridge asks confused.
"Because it got him here sooner and it'll give Michala and Thomas more incentive to find a house for their growing family." Steffy sees that Michala looks down onto the floor. "Oh, you thought I didn't know about that?"
Michala shakes her head and Steffy pulls Graham close again before looking up into his eyes. "My new housemate!"
Graham´s face breaks up in a big smile.
Eric has finally calmed himself down. "Uhm.."
Steffy turns her attention towards him. "Hey! Welcome back to the real world!" She chuckles a bit. "Was there something you needed to see me about?"
"No, I needed to talk to Ridge about him coming to see us in the legal department, but he had already wandered away from his office!"
"Well then, you take him with you and dad can hand Kelleigh over to her father!" Steffy smiles as she watches her dad give Kelleigh to Liam, she then turns her attention to Liam. "Was there something you needed?"
"Nah, I just dropped Hope off at work since her car decided to malfunction and thought I'd get some time with my daughter!" Liam says with a smile and Steffy responds with her own.
"It's your day off work, today right?" Steffy asks and Liam nods. "Just gonna be working on the house?" Liam nods again. "Why don't you bring Kelleigh home with you?"
She sees Liam light up with joy at the opportunity presented in front of him and turns her head towards her daughter. "You wanna go home with Daddy and then he'll bring you back when he goes and get aunty Hope again?" The smile on her daughter's face at the prospect of spending time with daddy before going home with her mother for the evening was too good to miss.
"Mommamamamamama!" Steffy smiles.
"Looks like that's a plan." Liam looks between his daughter and her mother.
"That's settled then! Just drop her off when you come and get Hope and spend the day with your daughter!" Steffy smiles. "Have fun!"
"Oh, trust me! We will!" He says while sniffing his daughter's hair. "Have a productive and fun day!"
"That's the plan!" Steffy says as Liam leaves with her daughter. "I love you baby girl!"
"mommamama!" Kelleigh looks over her father's shoulder and waves back at her mother when she sees her waving at her.
"That is one gorgeous little girl you have there, Steffy!" Graham says. "You must be so proud!"
"I have good material to work with!" Steffy says with a shy smile.
"Oh, don't make yourself sound less important, if I'm not mistaken you had full custody until just a few months ago, that girl is 99% you, Steffy!" Graham brings her closer to offer a supportive side hug.
"We had a tough start, but we got there in the end."
"Trust me Steffy, I've been there the entire time since before she was born, you are a wonderful mother and that's why we want you to be our baby´s Godmother and sign a similar set of papers that we did for Kelleigh." Michala says with a smile on her face at Steffy´s shocked face. "Oh please, like you didn't know it would happen!"
Steffy shakes her head to get out of the shock. "No, I didn't. But I will gladly be your baby´s Godmother."
As Steffy smiles, Nathan walks through the door with a garment bag. "That it?"
"It is!" Nathan smiles at her.
Steffy turns her attention to Graham. "Can you close the door? This is a secret!"
"I'm just here to find out if it's what you wanted it to be and wondered if you'd want to see the fitting later?" Nathan waits until Graham has closed the door though before opening the garment bag.
"I do want to be there for the fitting." He takes the dress out and holds it up.
Steffy walks over and runs her hand over the lace, satin trims and flowy skirt. "I can't believe you got it done so fast!"
"Well, I've been spending a lot of time with my sewing machine at home, but I followed your sketch and fabric desires to a T." Nathan looks down at the dress. "I made it a little bit too big, just so that I can get a sense of the fit."
Both Graham and Michala look at each other with confusion on their faces. Graham raises his eyebrows and then turns to Michala. "Do you know what they're talking about?" Michala just shakes her head.
"It's exactly what I wanted." It makes her tear up a little bit. "Now, I don't know if Michala has thought about how many/if any bridesmaids she's going to have, but I think that this dress would be very complimentary to her wedding dress!"
Steffy had walked over to her desk and retrieved a design sheet as she spoke and shows it to Nathan. "That would absolutely complement Michala´s dress! They would also work well with Bridget´s dress, don't you think?"
"Now that you mention it, they would actually." Steffy noticed that he purposefully left out the dress in front of them and followed his train of thought very nicely.
"Isn't that Bridget´s dress?" Michala asks.
"No, this one is for someone else."
"But who else could it be? Nobody else have even talked about even the chance of getting married?"
Steffy just smiles her mysterious smile and shrugs her shoulders.
~Things happen~
A couple of hours later sees Steffy making her way over to the design studio to see if her plans worked.
"Oh, come on! Please help me out a little!" She can hear Nathan´s voice through the door.
Caroline looks up when she hears the door open. "Oh, Steffy can help you!"
"No, she can't, it's a fitting and for a fitting to work I need someone who's as close to the body I'm designing for and looking at you, you fit that description much more then Steffy does!"
Caroline growls in frustration. "Okay, fine, I'll do it!"
She walks over and takes the dress and goes behind the room divider set up against one of the corners. It takes her about five minutes and then she walks out. She walks over to the podium in the middle of the room and everyone gasps at the sight. Steffy however smiles big on the inside because she already knew it would be gorgeous, the only thing revealing her thoughts is the sparkle in her eyes.
"So, who is this dress for anyway?" Caroline looks at herself in the mirror. "I mean, since when are you a wedding dress designer?"
"It's for my sister, she told me a few weeks ago and I designed this one for her, but I'm not a wedding dress designer as you said. She lives close to my parents so I can't exactly have fittings with her and you're doing great as a stand in!"
Steffy decides to walk through the door. "Hey, that's one gorgeous dress, Caroline, but I don't think it's quite casual enough for a lunch date with your favorite PR-genius!"
Caroline laughs. "Well, I'm only helping with the fitting."
"Well, Hope, Aly, Graham and Michala are all ready to go, or do you need more time?" She directs the question to both of them.
"No, I've got all I need to know, Caroline can just change back right now if she wants to." Nathan looks between the two women.
"Good! This was making me feel a little uncomfortable wearing another woman's wedding dress!" Caroline shivers a bit.
"I'll need to borrow you again when I'm done with all the alterations!" Nathan warns Caroline as she walks away.
"Can you maybe warn me beforehand that time so I'm prepared for it?" Caroline tilts her head as she's talking.
"Absolutely!" Nathan smiles.
Caroline walks behind the room divider again and Steffy walks over to Nathan.
"It fit just like I thought it would! I just have to take it in here and there, but it fit just like I wanted it too! You really are such a good designer when it comes to dresses like that! After working with her for the last six months I can say that you fit that dress to her like a T. You really do know the people you work with!" Nathan whispers so that no one else hears their discussion.
"Good!" Steffy smiles. "It looked exactly the way I wanted it to!"
"Hey Steffy!" Caroline says from behind the divider.
"Yeah?"
"Who's Graham?" Caroline steps into her shoes and then walks around the divider again. "You mentioned Aly, Graham, Hope and Michala. Who's Graham?"
"You'll see!" Steffy says with a smile. "Are you ready for lunch?"
"Not just yet, I have some papers that the legal department needed looked over before 1 PM, so I'll do that and we can go after that?"
Steffy thinks for a few seconds realizing that it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Rick for a few seconds. "Sounds good! Send me a text when you're ready to go and we'll meet you out front!"
"Hey Steffy!" Nathan looks around.
"Yeah?" Steffy looks confused.
"Where's Kelleigh? She hasn't stopped by yet and I'm kind of starting to get withdrawals." He laughs a little at the end.
"Oh, Liam dropped by this morning after dropping Hope off because her car stopped working properly and he had a day off so Kelleigh is with her father fixing up the house!" Steffy smiles. "If you're still here when he drops her off when he's picking Hope up, I'll bring her by for a bit?"
"Awesome!" Nathan smiles with a goofy look on his face.
Caroline looks on with a confused look on her face, there are absolutely no sparks flying between Steffy and Nathan and she thought there had to have been sparks between them. But no, there weren't even a little flicker of something.
"Oh, Caroline!" Steffy gets her attention. "Has dad told you that he's bringing in one more jewelry designer?" Caroline shakes her head. "Granddad´s niece Ivy Forrester was asked if she'd want to come work with us here in the States for a while and she accepted. She should be arriving soon!"
Caroline nods her head. "But she'll be working with Quinn, right?"
"She'll have her design room and work shop here, but Quinn will be her 'boss' I'd guess you'd say?" Steffy adjusts her hair while thinking. "Anyway, I'll see you later!"
Steffy walks away.
"Thank you for helping out!" Nathan says as Steffy rounds a corner.
Sometime later, Steffy knocks on Rick´s door and hears him calling for her to come in. She opens the door and peaks her head through and Rick waves her in.
"So, how did the fitting go?" Rick drops everything to get the scoop.
"Nathan made the dress a little bit too big on purpose so that he had a little wiggle room and the next fitting will be in a while, hopefully you have proposed already by then, but it's beautiful, I'm very proud of it!" Steffy smiles. "Caroline had a bad start of our trip though, she accused me of keeping secrets with you and that maybe we were having an affair behind her back and some things happened. I'm not mad at her about any of it because I am keeping secrets with you, but I really wish December 23rd would roll around sooner rather than later. Have you thought about how you're going to do it?"
"I have actually, I'm taking her to see her favorite Opera and I'm proposing during the last intermission." Rick leans back in his chair looking so proud.
"I like it! I really don't have to tell you that she'll say yes, though right?"
"No, you don't. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, but she'll understand when I propose!"
"That answer you sent to Bridget really threw her off. What made you send it to Bridget?"
"Well, I thought I sent it to you?" Rick frowns as he looks through the texts, he sent last week. "Oh no!"
"Oh, don't worry, Bridget figured it out during our shopping trip the day we came to Miami, she sent it to me and I knew what you meant. It's all good!"
Steffy´s phone makes a noise to indicate that she had gotten a text message. "Well, I got to go, your fiancé to be has finished with the papers and is ready to go to lunch. Hey! You wanna come with?"
"Well, it's a girls dinner right? Maybe not my scene?"
"But Graham is coming, you'd have a man to talk to."
"Graham´s here? When did he get here? Why is he here?"
"Well, my right hand is going on maternity leave in a little bit, who else would I want to work with?"
"That is true! It would be nice to talk to him again."
"Why don't you 'run into' us on the way out?"
"I'm guessing you'll be going back to PR before leaving?"
"Yes, I'm on pick up run today." Steffy thinks for a few seconds. "I think I need to go to my office across the hall first though. So, I'll just drop by in a minute or so and ask you then?"
"Sounds good!"
Steffy leaves and then doesn't come back until ten minutes later, she knocks on the door. "Hey! You wanna follow us to lunch today?" She peaks her head through the door.
Rick looks at the clock and takes a few seconds to answer. "Sure! Who's coming?"
"Your girlfriend, niece, future niece in law, a friend of mine, your sister and myself."
They start walking. Rick holds his wallet in his hand and Steffy has a big pile of papers in hers. They peak through the door into the design studio.
"Hey Caroline! I got your text! Was on the other side of the building at my office and found a bunch of papers, but I walked by your boyfriend's office and asked if he wanted to come with." At the mere mention of Steffy talking to Rick, Caroline´s eyes got dark. "Anyway, I need to drop off these papers, but I thought I'd drop him off here while I do that if that's okay?"
"Sure, are the others ready?"
"Yup! Will pick them up on the way!" Steffy then walks away.
She gets to the PR-department and drops off the papers and gathers her lunch buddies. When they turn the corner, Rick and Caroline walk out the door from the design studio and Graham stops.
"Well, well, if it isn't Rick Forrester. It's been a while!"
Rick freezes in place for a few seconds and then turns around and looks at the man who caught his attention. "Graham Gregory. It sure has! How come you're in the US?" Rick walks over and gives the man a hug.
"Well..." He points towards Michala´s bump.
"Oh, right. I should've known you'd be the one they'd call into fill her shoes for the time she's away."
The two men laugh as they start walking. Caroline looks towards Steffy and raises her eyebrows. "That's Graham?" She asks with a wink as she gets closer.
"Yes!" Steffy just smiles.
~Things happen~
Later that night, Caroline comes out of the bathroom looking at the man lying on the bed in front of her. "Who is that Graham guy? I know he worked at Forrester´s Paris-office, but how do you and Steffy know him?"
"Well, Graham started working here a year or so before Steffy came back from London after Ridge asked her to come back from college. They've been close ever since Steffy climbed the ladder in PR after Bill took over the company. So, when Steffy left LA two years ago, he followed her to Paris. When she came back to LA, he decided to stay in Paris for a while longer and then when Ridge called last week, he jumped on it." Rick adjusts himself as Caroline comes to the bed and cuddles into his side. "They spent most days together while she was there. I guess he became some sort of support through the pregnancy."
"Oh, okay."
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, there was this weird tension between the two of you and I'm confused."
"Oh, that tension is there because I accused him of trying to take my fiancé from me once."
"Really? Why would he do that?"
"Well, he wouldn't take my fiancé from me. More than likely he'd take me from my fiancé."
Caroline´s eyes grow big. "What?"
"Well, he's gay, I was so sure that the bond that had formed between him and Steffy had attraction at the base of it and I accused him of trying to take her away from me. Turns out he and Steffy are just really good friends."
"Did you just say Steffy was your fiancé?" Caroline´s voice has an anger to it that Rick isn't used to.
"I did. I thought you knew about that? Our engagement announcement was all over Eye on Fashion back in the day."
"So, you're telling me that I have nothing to worry about even though you're having secret meetings with your ex-fiancé, a woman you were planning on marrying?"
"Yes, because that was five years ago and both of us have moved on. Besides, the base of that relationship was me wanting to punish Ridge for the things he'd done to my mother, or at least what I believed he'd done to my mother. After talking to Hope following her breakthrough after Taylor and Ridge had married again, I realized that mom wasn't the innocent woman getting thrown away by the love of her life that she had presented herself as. That's all over though. There's nothing for you to worry about, any romance that might have existed between me and Steffy is long gone." He turns towards the bedside table and turns off the light.
Five minutes later, he's sleeping, but Caroline is still awake with all sorts of thoughts rolling around in her brain.
~Things happen~
November 18th 2015
Forrester Creations
Steffy Forrester was walking around Forrester Creation and had just come to the design studio, she opens the door and lets the woman walking with her in through the door. Steffy also walks through the door and smiles at Caroline when she looks up.
"Hi! I wanted to show Ivy around the company and we're just about done, PR and Design are the only places left! Anyway, this is my granddad´s niece, Ivy Forrester!"
Ivy looks around. "It's so bright in here!" She smiles. "Do I have the same light in my studio?"
"Why don't you go see?" Steffy pointed towards a door to the back of the room they were in.
Ivy walks over and opens the door, looks inside and then turns back towards Steffy with a smile on her face. "I do!"
"Well then, should we go and take a look at the PR-department and then we can go see dad and have you sign all the papers."
"Absolutely! I can't wait to get to work!"
The next few weeks flew by.
~Things happen~
January 5th 2015
Design studio
She had gotten a text the night before that the dress was almost done and that Nathan needed a fitting and she had been preparing herself for it.
Right now, she was putting the dress on and it almost fit her like a glove, making her confused.
She walks over to the podium that Nathan had pulled out and placed a mirror in front of and stands on it with her back towards the mirror, not wanting to look at herself in the wedding dress.
All of a sudden commotion happens as Kelleigh comes toddling through the door with Steffy coming after her, swooping her up as she's almost reaching Caroline where she's standing.
"I thought I told you to wait for me, little lady!" Steffy scolds her daughter.
"Natan!" Kelleigh says while reaching out for Nathan to take her.
Caroline looks on and there's still no sparks between Steffy and Nathan. "In a minute princess!" Nathan smiles big at the little girl in Steffy´s arms and Steffy then turns her attention towards Caroline.
"Oh, that's gorgeous! Can I have one?" Steffy turns towards Nathan as she asks.
"Well, I would say yes, but since I didn't design it, I can't give you any promises!" Nathan says with a smile as he turns Caroline around so that she's looking into the mirror.
"What do you mean you didn't design this dress?" Caroline looks petrified. "Did you steal this dress design from someone else? Is your sister even getting married?"
Steffy notices that Caroline has closed her eyes as Nathan turned her around. "Caroline!"
"Yes Steffy?"
"Look in the mirror!"
Caroline gives a big sigh and then slowly opens her eyes to see herself in a dress that could've probably been picked from her brain had someone reached into it and opened the file where her perfect wedding dress was stored. Her eyes dart over towards Steffy. "Is this a Steffy Forrester original?"
"Yes!" Steffy watches her closely in the mirror and sees the moment Caroline realizes it's her dress. "Catch her!"
Nathan registers what Steffy said just as Caroline starts falling to the floor and reaches out and manages to slow her fall down. "Well, that went better than I thought!" Nathan chuckles. "Now, princess, I believe my attention was demanded! Your mommy can take care of aunty Caroline don't you think?"
"Mhmm...!" Kelleigh reaches for him and as he takes her and has her close to him, she leans her head down on his shoulder and the two looks on as Steffy pulls on Caroline´s legs to get blood flow back on track.
It takes about five minutes for Caroline to regain consciousness. "What happened?"
"You fainted!"
"Why?"
"Because you had a realization about something." Steffy gives her a small smile. "You ready to stand up?"
"Yeah." Caroline is still a little disoriented. "What was this realization I had?"
"Let's just get you up!" Steffy helps Caroline get back on her feet and then she's back in front of the mirror.
"Steffy!" Caroline has looked in the mirror once again.
"Yes?" Steffy smiles towards her former fiancé's current fiancé.
"This is my dress isn't it? You designed my wedding dress for me before you even knew there was an engagement."
"I did!" Steffy smiles as she pulls on the skirt to make it look like it should before looking up into Caroline´s eyes. "Rick came to me and asked if I could design a wedding dress for you, so I did. It's one of the last of the secrets he and I have been keeping from you these last few months. We've been planning a huge part of your wedding."
Caroline just looks at Steffy with wonder in her eyes. "I'm so sorry!"
"Oh, I know. I knew you'd feel bad when you realized what had gone on behind your back because of the way you've been behaving thinking it was something else entirely. Anyway, I don't worry about it too much." Steffy smiles.
"So, what's left in the planning of Rick and I´s wedding?"
"Flowers, food, cake and honeymoon." Steffy starts working on the dress. "Oh, and a date for the ceremony and reception! Rick and I thought you'd want to be in on that!"
Caroline chuckles. "So, have you started on Katherine´s dress yet?"
"We had our last fitting yesterday!" Steffy looks over at her daughter and Nathan. "A few more seams and it's done. How are things going with Michala and Bridget´s dresses?"
"We need Michala to come by today or tomorrow for her last fitting and we'll start with Bridget´s fittings as soon as Derek proposes! How are you feeling since Thomas and Michala moved out?"
"Well, I knew they were moving out because of the baby. I mean, we could've worked it out without them moving, but I also understand that since they were two and not just one, they'd want more space and the house they moved to is gorgeous! I'm happy for them and Graham moved right in so it's all good! Then when Wyatt moved out to move in with Jessica, Ivy moved in so my village is intact!" Steffy pulls on one of the seams that seems to not lay like it should and as it goes back, it lays just like she thinks it should. "Now, this dress will fit so much better with the right kind of underwear. Do you remember that corset-set you bought in Miami?"
"Yes! I do! But that's in a burgundy color, wouldn't work very well with the dress though."
"I know, that's why I bought the same set in a more suitable color." Steffy laughs at the look on Caroline´s face. "What? You didn't think I'd miss that chance to get your measurements, did you?"
"That's why she measured me so much?"
"Yeah, all part of the plan!" Steffy smiles at her future aunt-in law. "So, how are things working out with Ivy?"
Caroline has walked back over to take the dress off. "Well." Caroline grunts when the zipper gets caught. "We don't see her much, but I've never had an issue with her work. She's really fast with everything. We like working with her! Right guys?"
"Yeah! She's great, she's a lot of fun to talk to!" Sally smiles towards Steffy. "Once in a while she brings out her design sheets and sits here with us while designing, or she'll bring her tools out and finish a design while talking to us."
"I agree with Sally!" Both Jacob and David exclaim.
Nathan just smiles.
Just as they're talking, the door to Ivy´s work space opens and she walks out the door.
"Vy! Vy!" Kelleigh sees her and starts struggling against Nathan´s arms.
Ivy tilts her head. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"
Ivy places what she's carrying with her down on the desk closest to Kelleigh and walks over to the man holding the baby and Caroline sees sparks flying all over the place. Catching on quickly, Caroline darts her head over to look at Steffy.
Steffy sees Caroline looking at her and just smiles while nodding. Caroline walks over to Steffy. "That's why you didn't want to force anything with him isn't it?"
"No, I didn't want to force anything with him because I wasn't interested in having anything other than a friendship with him, plus, my daughter is crushing so bad on him. Then the first time I saw him with Ivy it just clicked. It's like with Bridget and Derek, I thought he might be someone I could potentially see as a love interest, but then Derek started giving off vibes that reminded me so much of Bridget and look where we are now!"
"You know, it's almost like you see into people´s hearts and then just make a match in your head and it just works out."
"Yeah, the only couple in our circle that I haven't felt that way about is Liam and Hope, they just don't send out the signals I usually see between two people. Not like Hope and Oliver did. But as long as they're happy and content with each other, I'm going to be happy for them!"
"Yeah, I really wouldn't have seen them as a couple if I hadn't been at their wedding. Watching you and Liam before you left for Paris made so much more sense. But on the other hand, Rick and I wouldn't really make sense either."
Steffy laughs out loud. "Oh please, the signals that the two of you are sending each other are like two magnets being drawn towards each other. Your signals wrap around each other like a spiral. The only ones with a better connection are Thomas and Michala." Steffy takes a deep breath. "Anyway, I was only here for the fitting and letting my baby see her crush. Now, I have work to do!"
She focuses her attention towards her daughter again. "Hey baby!"
Kelleigh forces herself to look over Ivy´s shoulder at her mother. "Mommamamamama." Kelleigh tilts her head.
"Time to go back to work!" She can practically see Kelleigh deflating and then her bottom lip starts quivering. "We've been here for over an hour, that's way more than we planned!"
Tiny tears flow down the little girl´s cheek. "Oh, honey, I know. How about Nathan comes over for dinner tonight?"
Kelleigh turns her attention over at Nathan when the words 'comes over' comes over her mother's lips.
"Well, he is coming over tonight, he's picking me up for an outing, but I guess we can eat dinner with you guys first?" Ivy interjects, looking to see if the suggestion is agreeable with the rest of the group.
"That would work! Would save us both some money!" Nathan says. "Besides, I'd get to spend time with my most favorite girl ever! Now, I believe mommy wanted to go back to work Princess, so how about you go and approve of a printed add or something and I'll see you later today?"
With that said, Kelleigh starts reaching for her mother and Steffy gladly takes over. "So, we'll see you tonight then?"
"Yes!"
The evening turned out to be a success and Kelleigh fell asleep right on time, leaving Steffy to be able to focus on her book after Ivy and Nathan left to go to the movies. About half an hour in, Graham comes walking down the stairs before sitting himself down on the couch.
"So, Kelleigh sleeping?"
"Yeah and one more chapter to go."
"So, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing okay, I have almost everything I ever wanted, all that's left is love. But it'll happen when it happens."
"So, should I call my brother or what?" Graham laughs a little.
"I don't know. What could possibly make you think he'd be perfect for me?" Steffy lays her head down on the back of the armchair she's sitting on.
"Well, for starters, he's the straight version of me."
"Well, why not? What's the worst that could happen?"
"You could hate each other, but maybe it's a risk worth taking?"
"I'll give him a call!" Graham runs his hand up and down Steffy´s left arm before leaving Steffy to finish her book.
Exactly one hour later, Steffy stretches her back before putting the book back in the book shelf and she starts picking up her phone after searching for a new one before going up to bed.
Just as she's about to go through the door, Graham looks out from his 'apartment' and stops her. "I called him, he laughed out loud, but agreed to come visit in a few weeks. I guess we'll see if my match making skills are as good as yours!"
Steffy tilts her head and laughs at him. "Good night, Graham!"
He nods his head and then pulls his head back inside before going to bed.
~Things happen~
February 6th 2015
Steffy´s house.
It was Saturday and time to meal prep again. She had her plan all mapped out and everything she'd need in the fridges all over the house. When the doorbell rang, she walked there just like normal thinking it's her brother and his wife, Jessica and Wyatt, Liam and Hope or Bridget and Derek, there was a chance that Rick and Caroline would join them to fix next week's dinners, but that wasn't a sure thing. But when she heard someone rushing down the stairs to open the door before she could, so she's becoming a little bit confused.
"What's going on?"
She walks to the hallway to see what's going on.
"Well, when you said you'd be here in February, I didn't think you'd actually come!" Graham says with laughter in his voice.
"Well, you've built this woman up so much I had to come see if she's everything you've said she is!"
"Okay, so, now I've been transported back one hundred years in time because someone wants to arrange a marriage for me?" Steffy leans against the door way with her hands crossed over her chest looking straight into Graham´s eyes. "Seriously, what has the world come to?"
"Well, I just asked if you wanted to meet him, you said yes."
"That I did!" Steffy walks over to stand by Graham, having not even looked at the man standing in the doorway of her house. She raises her gaze from the shorter brother to glance at the older brother. "Well, you were right Graham, he does look like the straight version of you. Just like you said." Steffy says with a big smile on her face and her eyes twinkles. "So, Mr Gregory, do I match your brother´s description of me?" She twirls around once.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure yet. I mean, I've known who you are for years now, but I don't know you other then what my brother has told me, but that's only the good stuff, not any of the bad."
"Well, it's a good thing you know who I am, because I don't even know your first name!"
Graham´s eyes grew large and he looked at her with horror in them. "I haven't told you his name?"
"No, you've always called him your brother." Steffy tilts her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Steffy Forrester, meet Elliot Gregory, my five minutes older than me brother." He holds out his hand to indicate who he's talking about. "Elliot, meet Steffy Forrester, PR genius extra ordinaire! And also wedding dress designer!"
The two of them shake hands. "So, do you know where Ivy is? She was supposed to help me today."
"I believe she was snatched up by Nathan an hour or so ago? But hey, Elliot can help!"
Steffy nods her head. "So, Graham, can you gather up what Ivy didn't and I'll get Elliot on chopping duties?"
"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for the others?"
"The faster I can get ours done, the faster I can help with the others. I have about three hours' worth of food to make before I can start helping everyone else and I need to have that done soon, so, the sooner I start with ours, the more time I can give everyone else. Besides, they'll start dropping by within the hour. So, chop chop!"
Steffy and Elliot stand behind and watch Graham walk towards the kitchen behind the Hall, the moment he walks through the door, Steffy turns around and walks towards the main kitchen of the house. Elliot following close behind.
When he enters the kitchen, she's already placed everything she needs him to chop that was already in the kitchen on the table with a cutting board and a knife. After getting instructions, he gets to it, placing everything in plastic bags to put in the fridge for when they're needed.
Steffy starts making batters for muffins, places ingredients in the bread machine and the ground beef, ground pork, ground chicken and ground turkey in different pots and pans on the stove. She also places cut up cubes of pork on a roasting pan together with carrots, potatoes and onions that would end up in a bigger pot on the stove later for a big casserole. There's also a pan getting ready for diced chicken breast together with zucchini, red onions, tomatoes and corn for a pasta dish.
Ten minutes in, Graham walks through the door with a big load in his arms. "So, where do you want this?"
Steffy points towards the island and Graham places the bags and everything on it. "What do you need help with?"
"Can you take that pan and put it in the oven in the Hall kitchen please?" Graham nods his head, grabs it and leaves.
"So, where's that daughter of yours?"
"She's with her grandparents today, mom and dad wanted Kelleigh time so I obliged and set up this meal prep day. Liam and Hope will go to my parents tomorrow and bring her home as it's their week next week." Steffy says with a big smile on her face.
"Yeah, I heard there was drama going on there for a bit?" Elliot places the knife down before looking at her seriously.
"Yeah, but we've worked past it. We're in a much better place now than when I came back from Paris."
"Good job traveling back by boat and train while eight, almost nine months pregnant, I don't think many women would do that."
"It was something I had to do, Liam needed to know he was becoming a father and I needed Kelleigh to be born where I was born." Steffy starts pouring the muffin batter into the muffin tin and puts it in the oven. She starts sniffing the air and then pulls out a seasoning blend and pours it over the ground pork, to start on the taco pie and then starts putting together the dough for it, wraps it up and places it in the fridge to cool down.
Then she stands in front of the island, places her hands on it and stretches out her back before sighing and then moving to put a different spice blend and some honey in the ground chicken and ground turkey except leaving the honey out in that one, stirs them around and the kitchen fills up with the most exiting smells to tickle all of their noses. For the ground beef, she pours some salt, black pepper and garlic powder, before splashing down some barbeque sauce and hot sauce in it. Once again delicious smells fill the kitchen.
"So, what exactly are you doing today? I mean, what dishes?"
"There will be a lot of pasta sauces, some soups, some pies and you saw me put in a tray for a stew and the muffins, I've got bread going in the bread machine and a few of the pasta sauces will be used in more than one way. We're making dinners and in some cases lunches for three adults and an eighteen-months old today for the next month or so, of course we'll deviate from the plan over the month to come, but I like having food almost already made in the freezer for me to just get out and warm up whenever." She wiffs the smells from the different pots on the stove before walking over to the table and starts peeling carrots to speed up the cutting process. "We're in the beginning of February, so it's mostly filling meals with a pasta, rice or potato side. I'll be oven roasting some salmon fillets together with some broccoli later."
"Sounds delicious!"
"It should be! Some of the recipes I haven't tried yet, so it's new to all of us. But I can't say it smells bad." She looks up at the sound of the doorbell calling her attention. "Could you go get that while I take the muffins out?"
"Sure!" Elliot puts everything he's working with down and walks into the hallway again, before opening the door. Seeing a man that looked very much like an older version male version of Steffy on the other side of the door and a very pregnant woman on his left side, he opens it up and lets them in. He reaches his hand out to shake the man´s hand.
"Hey, I've known you for over seven years Graham, I don't think we need to introduce ourselves, do you?" Thomas smiles at the man in front of him.
"Well," Elliot tilts his head to one side. "had I actually been Graham, that would've been true. Hi! I'm Graham's older brother, Elliot!"
Michala starts laughing before taking Elliot´s hand.
"Michala James Forrester! 38 weeks pregnant! We're here to bulk up on pre-cocked meals for when the baby comes!" The two shake hands.
"Yeah, sorry, you just look just like Graham."
Elliot laughs a little. "Yeah, there's a reason for that!"
"Really? What might that be?"
"I'm only five minutes older!"
"Oh!"
"So, do you need help with anything?"
"I've got a bunch of groceries that needs to be taken in from the car, but if I can just leave my wife here with you to lead her into the kitchen, I'd appreciate it!"
Elliot holds his arm out. "Absolutely, can I offer you some support my lady?"
Michala laughs and walks over to him and leans on him for support. Steffy looks up from the stove as they enter the kitchen.
"I've gotten the movie room ready for you if you'd like to watch some movies while your husband works on the food?"
"You know, I really don't know how you did everything you did when you were this far along with Kelleigh!" Michala makes a face before groaning while sitting down at the table. "I can help with the chopping of vegetables and all that, but everything hurts! Thank you for getting the movie room ready!"
"Yeah, I put some plastic over one of the chairs and laid down some towels on top just in case your water breaks, I also placed a baby monitor so that you can call for help if you need it! You help however much you can and then tell us that you need to move, we've got lots of strong looking dudes that can help get you up and down the stairs."
Michala just laughs.
Over the next hour or so, Liam and Hope as well as Wyatt and Jessica come by, Bridget and Derek, Rick and Caroline arrive at the same time and just invade the house, don't even bother knocking.
The two couples stand in the doorway into the kitchen and watch the show going on for five minutes before anyone sees them.
"Well, it looks like there's too many cooks in the kitchen." Rick jokes a little. "I'm also seeing double, maybe there's something wrong with me?"
Steffy breaks into a big smile. "Oh, you're not the only one seeing double, there's nothing wrong with you!"
Elliot walks over and holds his hand out. "Elliot Gregory!"
"Oh, Rick Forrester!" Rick shakes his hand.
"So, you're the one who almost ripped my brother´s head off for spending too much time with his best friend? Hah, my brother trying to steal another man´s female fiancé, that's laughable!"
"I am, sorry for that by the way!" He directs the last part to both Steffy and Graham.
Thomas starts laughing so hard people start looking at him funny. "Seriously? You thought that Graham was trying to steal Steffy away from you? You're just weird!"
Everyone laughs a little at Rick for that.
"Hey Steffy!" Comes from the baby monitor. "I don't know why my husband is laughing so hard, but could you please tell him that he needs to bring the car out front?"
Steffy just looks at her brother who has his mouth open and has stopped laughing. She waves her left hand in front of his face. "Well, get going! Elliot can bring her down!" She then turns to Elliot. "Shoo!"
~Things happen~
AN:
We were entering the twenties when I realized it was getting way to long, but things will continue in the next one.
So, who is this Elliot Gregory guy and why does Graham believe that the fact that Elliot is the straight version of himself mean that he's perfect for Steffy?
Oh and for those of you who are having a bit of trouble picturing the two Gregory brothers, do a search on youtube for Dan Vasc and you'll see them, although, the two Gregory brothers are a couple of years older than him.