Chapter 114

"Dad, Thanks for talking about all of this stuff with me. I know I'm lucky to have an amazing girl like Claire as a girlfriend, and I do want to be sure I treat her really well," said Blake as he and Bobby finished up what had become a long conversation between the two of them. "And thanks for asking me my opinion about having Grace around. I like her, and I'm glad you're with her now, since you love her. Oh and one more question. What do you want me to call Grace? I call Claire's mom Ms. McLeod, because I want her to know I respect her because she's my girlfriend's mom, but this is different. Can I just call her Grace or do I have to call her Ms. McLeod or ma'am to show her respect?" asked Blake.

"I think just Grace is perfect, as long as you treat her with respect then you don't need to give her any special title. I think she would be really embarrassed if you did."

"Okay good. I'm glad I can just call her Grace. I like her, and I'll be respectful to her for you Dad, but she doesn't get to punish me and stuff right?" asked Blake.

"No, she's my girlfriend, not your disciplinarian. but if she catches you doing something you shouldn't be doing, you can assume she'll tell me about it and I'll deal with you as needed,"

"Do you think you'll marry Grace?" asked Blake.

"I know that I love her, and I hope we will get to that point. I do see her as someone I could be with for the rest of my life, but she was married until very recently, and it doesn't seem like there is any reason to rush into marriage yet. That bloke didn't treat her very well, and I just want to give our relationship some time to grow and see what it can become. If I start to think about proposing at some point, I'll give you a heads up before I make any additions to the family, okay?"

"Thanks Dad. Weddings are super fun, so I wouldn't mind going to another one in the future," said Blake, thinking of how much fun he had the night before with Claire and Xander. "I'm going to go play video games if we are all done. Dad, I love you, I'm glad you and Grace are together, and I'm glad you want to help me be a good man and a good boyfriend to Claire. I understand what you mean about being a good man and treating others well. I know I'm a lucky guy to have a girl like Claire as my girlfriend and I want to treat her nicely. I'm glad I have you too. It helps to have a bloke to talk to about all this stuff." said Blake as he gave his dad a hug. "Good night, and if you want to invite Grace over tonight Dad, feel free. I'm planning on hanging in my room for the rest of the night," said Blake.

"Thanks Blake, I'll let you know when she is coming over," said Bobby, feeling proud of the man his son was becoming. Bobby took his phone out and texted Grace.

"Hey beautiful, are you around to talk?" he sent,

"I'm just hanging with my sisters. Not doing much. Tired from last night, but still really happy...' she replied.

"Do you want to come over? I'd like to see you and talk to you about some stuff." sent Bobby.

"Is everything alright? I can come by in a few minutes." write Grace.

"Everything is great, but I'd like to see you." typed Bobby, as he knocked on Blake's room and let him know Grace would be coming over in a few minutes.

A few minutes later, Grace pulled into a spot in front of Bobby's cottage. She realized she was feeling nervous to see him. So much had changed between them in the last twenty-four hours, and Grace wasn't sure exactly how things would be at Bobby's house, especially with Blake home, but she knew she had to find out, so she climbed out of her Hilux and knocked on the door.

"Hey, I'm glad you're here," said Bobby as he came to the door. He grabbed her and kissed her before she ever set foot inside.

"Well, that's a nice welcome," said Grace.

"I love that I can kiss you, now. Do you want to come in, or we could drink a beer on the porch if you want." said Bobby.

"Beer on the porch sounds nice for now," said Grace. "Is Blake home?"

"Yeah, he's in his room, that was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about," said Bobby.

"Good, because that's something I wanted to talk to you about too," said Grace, nervously.

"I'll grab the drinks, have a seat." said Bobby as he left the doorway and went back into his house.

"Sure." said Grace, as she tried to make herself comfortable in one of the adirondack chairs.

"Thanks for coming over. Obviously a lot has changed between us in the last twenty-four hours, and I know I love you and want to be with you. I want you to be my girlfriend, but I think we are going to have to figure out exactly what that means and how it will work," said Bobby.

"I love you and want to be with you too, but you're right, we have some things to figure out," said Grace.

"Obviously, I've got kids, and while Brooks is grown and won't be living in the house, Blake is still young and he will be living here with me whenever he's in town. This is his home too, so I wanted to make sure we are all comfortable, because I definitely want you to sleep over sometimes, and feel comfortable here, and I want Blake to be comfortable in his home, too," said Bobby.

"Blake was something I wanted to talk to you about. He's a good kid, and I don't want him to feel like I'm invading his space or anything." said Grace. "I've never been with someone who had kids before, so it's all new to me."

"Blake and I had a very long talk this afternoon, and this relationship was one of our main topics. He and I are on the same page with some things, and I wanted to make sure you were on that page too. I asked Blake how he felt about you staying over, and overall, he's fine with having you here some nights, but we worked out some rules, to make sure everyone is comfortable," said Bobby. "We worked out rules for him having his girlfriend around too, actually."

"Great, what did you decide, because I want to make sure Blake is okay with everything with us," said Grace.

"So the first thing that Blake and I agreed to is that he gets to know in advance if you're going to be coming over. He wants the opportunity to check the house and make sure he didn't leave anything embarrassing out, and to know you'll be around," said Bobby. "So no surprise visits while Blake is in town please."

"Well, that seems reasonable. I won't come over unannounced when Blake is in town. I'll always check in with you first, and you can let Blake know if I'll be coming by," said Grace. "That seems easy enough."

"Great, he also requested that you respect his privacy and don't go into his bedroom, even to get dirty dishes or something. I know you probably wouldn't go in his room, and I'm not going to ask you to round up his dirty dishes ever, but it was something he specifically mentioned and wanted to discuss with me, so I want to be able to honestly tell him we agreed to that."

"I promise the only reason I would go in Blake's room is if there was some type of emergency, other than that, that is his personal space and I respect his privacy, he has every right to want to keep his bedroom private from me," said Grace.

"Yeah, his requests are all very reasonable, but I wanted to go through them all the same, because they were important to him. His final request was that when he is in town, that I don't spend every night with you. He said he wanted to make sure we still had time for bloke stuff, and that some nights, it can just be me and my boys, especially with Brooks moving back, he still wants some father and son time," said Bobby.

"Bobby. I think that's really sweet. You've raised some great young men. You're a really good father. I find that really attractive, by the way. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you spending time with your boys. We can figure out some sort of schedule if we need to, but if that is everything Blake needs to be comfortable with me being here, that's very doable," said Grace as she reached over and kissed Bobby on the cheek.

"So Blake also told me I should ask you to stay over tonight, so do you want to?" said Bobby, hoping she would stay with him.

"I want to stay with you tonight, Bobby. I agreed to babysit Kelly while Jaz and Ben go on their honeymoon, so we won't be able to have sleepovers for a while once they leave in a couple days. Regan is going to stay an extra few days or so, to help me, but it's my responsibility to take care of Kelly. I reckon we should take advantage of sleepovers while we can," said Grace.

"I agree," said Bobby as he held Grace's hand. "There was one other thing Blake and I spoke about, and it's not about you staying over, but rather, he was a little freaked out that I'm now dating his girlfriend's cousin, especially because you sort of have an aunt/niece type of relationship with Claire," said Bobby, "We both realized it could make things a little more complicated."

"Yeah I thought about that too, but I don't actually think it will be all that big of a deal. I don't have the same level of relationship with Claire that I do with Jaz or Jodi or even Charlotte. I love Claire, she's my little cuz, but I'm not her confidant. We aren't close like that. My relationship with Claire is nowhere near where her and Jodi are," admitted Grace. "I lived in Perth for most of Claire's life, so we just don't have a close relationship like she and Jodi have."

"None of us really know what kind of a factor it will play, but we tried to establish a few rules to deal with any potential problems. The first is that if our girlfriends get annoyed with each other or if there is any type of family disagreement, we do our jobs as boyfriends and we support our girlfriends and we let you vent, and if you happen to say anything less than flattering about other family members, we will keep it to ourselves. We don't tell each other what our girlfriends say. We ask that you and Claire do the same for us. I guarantee there will be times when Blake is annoyed with me, and he may vent to Claire. We ask that Claire doesn't go tell you or whatever. It just seems like it will cause more problems if what people are saying in anger or frustration is repeated later. I'm not sure how much you vent to Claire, but we figured it was a good place to start," said Bobby.

"Yeah, I wouldn't complain about my boyfriend to Claire. I usually vent to Jaz or Regan or even Tess. Maybe I'll try to stick with Jaz and Regan and keep Tess out of issues involving you or Blake," said Grace.

"Yeah, it's a little complicated. I guess maybe just try not to talk to Claire about our relationship or more likely, encourage Claire to have someone to talk with about her relationship that isn't you?" said Bobby, feeling awkward.

"I know what you mean, and Claire and I have never talked about our relationships with each other, so I don't think you need to worry about that at all. Claire seems to be pretty close to Charlotte, so I reckon that is her go to for advice, or Tess and Jodi. I've got Jaz right here, and Regan just a phone call away, so I don't think that'll be an issue. Claire is my little cousin, and I love her and I think it's awesome she has her first boyfriend, and I'm glad it's Blake, because he is good guy who wants to treat her well, but I've been living in Perth for the last eight years, I'm not the one she would go to for love advice. You guys don't have to worry about that," said Grace. "I actually have one more thing we should add to this list. Stevie is one of my best friends, but she is your boss, so let's not put her in any weird situations by complaining about the other person to her either."

"Yes, good point. Let's try to leave Stevie and Ben out of our squabbles as they arise as well. Okay, good. I'm glad we got that all out. Anything else you want to discuss as we try to navigate this whole thing?" said Bobby, feeling less awkward after getting through everything he had spoken to about Blake. "Blake and I have agreed to try to confront any problems that we have by being calm and respectful, so hopefully we can deal with all problems as they arise."

"I think communicating respectfully is the key to most relationships in life. Claire and I are not nearly as close as you and Blake are, so I don't actually think that will be a really big issue on our end, but I agree that calm and respectful communication is key to most relationships," said Grace.

"I think we should try to communicate with each other about everything the same way, " said Bobby.

"I agree, it's going to be really important, and Bobby, I admit, I'm not always the best at it. Sometimes, I shut down and I sulk on my own. I've had a hard time asking for help, but I'm getting better. Me moving here was my way of asking for help, and Jaz and the other McLeods knew it. In the past, I've suffered more than I should have because I wouldn't ask for help from my friends and family. I've gotten myself in trouble because I wouldn't ask for help, and I've been trying really hard not to repeat those mistakes. When I was with Gavin, things weren't great a lot of the time. I was by myself a lot in Perth, and sometimes I just suffered in silence, and didn't ask for help when I needed it, not enough anyway, even from Gavin. He cheated on me, but I could have done some things better too. I know I'm not without fault in that relationship," said Grace.

"You're not alone, Grace," said Bobby.

"I know. I came back here to have my support system, so I could get help when I needed it. My family will be there if I need them. Jaz is here. I know Regan would get on a flight and be there for me if I needed her. I know Ben and Dylan try to protect me as much as they protect their own wives. I know Tess and Jodi and everyone at Drovers would be here in a moment if I asked them to be. I realized how much of a support system I really have here now. I'm so lucky to have it. I know I don't need to do things all on my own anymore, but sometimes, I still forget that. I was on my own for a long time, Bobby." said Grace, realizing she needed to just lay everything out on the line for Bobby if this relationship was going to work. She needed to be completely honest about everything so she wasn't holding anything back from him.

"I know you're independent, it's something I admire about you," said Bobby. "I feel lucky when you invite me to be part of yourself and your thoughts."

"Then let me tell you everything, because I want you to be a part of me, but I want to tell you this first," said Grace, before she continued. "I left home and joined the professional rodeo when I turned eighteen. I didn't get along with my parents or my sisters very well. My parents were very unhappily married until they finally divorced when I was sixteen. I was spending a lot of time away from home well before that anyway. They fought like the dickens and I think all three of us just thought that was how people communicated, so we didn't treat each other very well either. I took after my dad. I had a short fuse, and I held grudges. I always assumed the worst in people, and I was really defensive. I didn't even go to my father's funeral because I was too mad at him for being a bastard, but at that point, I was well on my way to being just like him. Jaz is eight and half years younger than me, and she was still very young when they divorced. I don't know if it was better that she spent less time in that environment, or worse that she had her family together for the least amount of time, but basically my entire childhood was spent listening to my parents fight and then Regan and I imitating our parents and fighting with each other. I didn't treat my sisters well, and I left as soon as I could go," confessed Grace.

Bobby just held her hand and listened as she told him what she needed to share.

"I was on my own until Regan convinced me to come here when I was thirty-two. That's when we inherited shares of Drovers Run from Jodi, whom I had never even met. Regan convinced me to stay at Drovers and we fixed a lot of the problems between us. Jaz came later and we worked out our problems too. I fixed things for the most part with my mother too, before she passed away, but I didn't get the chance with my father. I've become a much better person since that day, but I had gotten used to pushing everyone away for so long. I guess, I never felt like I deserved kindness from others because I didn't think I was a very good person myself. It's been a hard habit to break, and sometimes I still default to that. I've had to relearn how to do a lot of things, including how to be a part of a happy family, in the last thirteen years. I've grown a lot, Bobby, and I've become a much better person, but I'm not nearly there yet," said Grac, looking up at him and holding his hand. "Are you sure you want to be in a relationship with me? I'm fragile, and scarred and sometimes I panic and push the best people away. I need to be alone to process things sometimes, but I promise I will try to be a better person for you, and communicate with you, because Bobby, you're the best person I know, the most kind and patient, and I'm not really sure why you love me, but I believe that you do. I really want to keep your love, for you to love me back, but I wanted you to know everything, my whole fucked up childhood, and the fact that I didn't get a positive relationship with my sisters until my thirties. I'm not as good of a person as you think I am," she said, feeling vulnerable.

Bobby stood up and pulled Grace up with him so they were standing together. He wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. "Grace, I love you, all of you. You are so hard on yourself sometimes. Don't try to self sabotage this. We have something beautiful together. I come from a messed up family life too. I have plenty of things I'm not proud of either. I wish I had a better relationship with my sister. Grace, I know you're not perfect. I'm not perfect either. I would hate it if you were perfect, because then you wouldn't be you, and I love you," said Bobby as he held her close. "Grace, I'm so proud of the way you have grown as a person and are still trying to grow. Maybe your relationship with your sisters wasn't good growing up, but look at where it is now. The three of you are so close. Jaz was so happy to have you move back to Wilgul with her. I saw her the day after you told her you were coming back. She was crying with happiness because she loves you so much and loves having you close. You are a wonderful aunt to Kelly and Gracie, and a wonderful friend to so many people. You were a wonderful friend to me, so wonderful, that I couldn't help but fall in love with you. I know you think I helped you through the rough days after your divorce, but you have helped me so much too," said Bobby. "Helping you gave me purpose and it showed me what a good woman was, what it looks like when a woman cared about her partner and was committed to her relationship, because I didn't know what that looked like anymore. You've shown me what it feels like to have true friends, because my best mate slept with my wife, over and over again, and lied to me repeatedly about it. Grace, you have helped me to trust people again," said Bobby, admitting his most vulnerable feelings. "You showed me that I'm worthy of love, because I haven't always felt that way either. All of those feelings of insecurity you've had. I've had them too. I knew how hurt you were, because I felt that hurt too. Grace, the truth is, I didn't know I could ever feel like this. I've never felt like this before. My feelings for you are more powerful than any feelings I've had for any woman. You showed me I can love again, and how beautiful and pure it can be. Grace, you have no idea how much you have done for me. You made me whole again."

"I've never had a successful romance with anyone, and my heart has been crushed pretty badly before, and I love you so much that now you have the power to destroy it again, but I want you to have my heart. I'm giving it to you because I trust you. I really want to have a successful relationship with you. I want it to be us, living happily ever after, together, old and gray, sitting on rocking chairs looking out over the land, with your grandkids running around. I want to be your happily ever after and for you to be mine," said Grace. "I think we can have that."

"I feel like I'm already living my happily ever after, sitting here, with you here, looking so beautiful, sharing our hearts, being together, being in love. My boys and you are all I need for a happily ever after," said Bobby.

"Bobby, you became a huge part of my support system, it's how I fell in love with you, you helped me, and supported me through everything. You just seemed to get it. You're so patient and kind. I think I fell in love with you that day, when I tried screaming to get my anger out, but instead I fell apart and had a complete breakdown. You were so good to me. The first time I met you, I thought you were cute, in the garage with the demo derby car, and I was flirting with you because i wanted to hook up, as a rebound, but I'm really glad we didn't hook up that day, even though that was why I stayed to help you paint the demo car that night. I'm glad we didn't, because it made last night so special, being with you," said Grace. "but it was the way you helped me and comforted me that day out there when I broke down, that you got my heart. You helped me so much that day and so many other days , and you didn't make me feel embarrassed about feeling so badly or falling apart and making a scene. That wasn't my first breakdown like that, and honestly Bobby, it probably won't be the last. I know I don't ever have to be alone when I feel that bad. I know I have people who can help me get through it, and I know to ask now. I know I have you, Bobby. I feel safe when I'm with you. I feel like it doesn't matter what happens because when I have your arms around me, I'm okay. I want to be the same for you. I want to make you feel safe. How can I do that for you?" asked Grace.

"You already do, Grace. I have never felt better than when you're in my arms. I feel like I could do anything right now since you're with me. I feel like I could ride a brumby in a dressage competition. Grace, we do this for each other, that's what we do, we support each other, and help each other through the tough times, and celebrate the good times together. We can be a great couple, Grace. We just need to trust each other and talk to each other. I love you," said Bobby as he kissed Grace.

"I love you too," said Grace.

"Do you want to come inside?" asked Bobby.

"I do, but I'd actually like to talk to Blake for a few minutes out here first. Do you mind if I ask him to join me out here?" asked Grace.

"Well sure, but you don't have to, he knew we were going to discuss those things."

"I want him to hear it from me. I don't want you to always have to act as an in between for us. Blake is a nice young man, and I'd like to talk to him if I could," said Grace. "I'm hoping to be around here for a while, and I'd like to start developing a relationship with Blake.

"Okay, I understand. I hope you're around here for a while too," said Bobby as he stood up and went into the cottage and knocked on Blake's door. "Hey Blake, Grace wanted to talk to you. Are you dressed and decent enough to come out to the porch?" he asked through the door.

"Yeah I'm fine, let me just pause the game" said Blake as he yelled through his closed bedroom door. He opened it and walked out the front door and took a seat in the adirondack chair that Bobby had been sitting in in.

"So Blake, I know you and your dad had a conversation today about how things will change since I'm dating your dad now, and we talked about them too. I wanted to first of all thank you for arranging things like you did last night. It was kind, and it made your father and I really happy, and I really appreciate that you wanted your dad to be happy. I want him to be happy too. I'm in a new relationship with him, but that also means you and I have entered into a new relationship too, and I really want us to get along well, so I wanted to say this to you myself. I promise to respect your space and privacy. I will never go into your bedroom unless there's an emergency situation. I won't show up unannounced. It's your home and you have a right to know who's coming to your home and who's spending the night. I respect that," said Grace.

"Thanks Grace, I appreciate that," said Blake.

"I also wanted to say that if you ever decide you need some space, or alone time, even if I'm already here. Maybe you're having a bad day or something. You can just tell your dad you need some space, and I'll leave, so you can just be with your dad, no questions asked. I know I'm not your mom or anything like that, and I'm not going to try to pretend I am, but I wanted you to know that I am someone who cares about you, and I'm someone who will help you if I can," said Grace.

"Thanks, that's really good to know. I think you're nice. I'm glad my dad is with you." said Blake. "I had been telling him to tell you how he felt about you for a while."

"I also wanted to acknowledge that, yes, I am your girlfriend's older cousin, but I promise not to ever talk about you or your father with Claire. We all need to vent sometimes, and we are cousins, but we have different people we can talk to. Just like I respect your desire for privacy in your bedroom, I respect your desire for privacy in your relationship, so I promise to do what I can to prevent our family connection from getting weird or awkward for anyone," said Grace.

"Thanks, I was feeling kind of weird about that." admitted Blake.

"I think you're a nice young man Blake, and I would like for us to become better friends. I love your father, and I will do my best to make him happy. I promise to try not to try to mess up your life here too much or get in your way too much. I want Bobby in my life, and I know you and Brooks are part of the package, and I think that's awesome. You and Brooks are amazing young men, and I want to get to know you both better." said Grace. "I also wanted to give you the opportunity to ask me any questions if you have them."

"I think I'm alright with questions, Grace, but I'm glad we talked, and I'm glad you're with my dad. I kept telling him he should just tell you how he felt about you. I'm glad you finally did something about it because he wouldn't make a move. He really loves you. He was practically singing about you from the rooftops. He seems really happy now, and I've never seen him smile as much as he did today on the ride home. We kept telling him to tell you how he loved you, so I'm glad you finally know how much he cares about you. Thanks Grace, have a good night." said Blake with a smile as he walked back into the house.

"Okay, that was okay," Grace whispered to herself as she nodded with contentment at the conversation she had with Blake. She took a few minutes to gather herself and whispered, "Thank you, Finn, that was helpful advice."

"Grace, is everything okay out here?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah, everything is okay," siad Grace as she took a deep breath and smiled at Bobby. "Everything is great. I'm ready now, Bobby." Grace meant what she said. She truly felt ready to be in a relationship again. She felt ready to trust her heart to Bobby. She felt worthy of his love, and believed he would always love her back and always choose her.

"Me too, beautiful, let's go to bed." said Bobby as he kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."