Rose Abbott dropped a rather large cardboard box in the middle of the Brown's living room. Andy was standing next to her and Ephram was sitting on the piano bench, watching them with a curious smirk. Gracie was sitting next to him, gazing up at him. He was too busy watching Amy's mother open the box to notice the small child staring at him. Rose pulled out a box knife and cut all of the tape keeping the lids of the box closed. When it opened she reached in and pulled out a small dress, filled with more frills than should be possible for one dress. But Rose smiled upon seeing it, memories crawling their way back into the spotlight. She held the small dress in her hands as Andy looked through the rest of the box.
"Oh, Amy wore this to my parents' 40th anniversary. She was so cute," Rose told them. Ephram started laughing but stopped himself. He had imagined a little Amy wearing all of those frills.
"Rose, these are great. But are you sure we can use them?" Andy asked her. Rose waved it off.
"You need them, it's fine. They weren't of any use up in the attic, anyway," Rose reassured him, with a smile at Gracie who had turned to watch as the box was opened. Gracie smiled back and laughed a little. Rose leaned close to Andy.
"Isn't she the cutest child you've ever seen?" Rose asked him. Andy looked up at Gracie again, who was now smiling at him. He nodded.
"Oh yea. She's way cuter than Ephram ever was," Andy told her. Ephram looked up at him.
"If you think that bothers me, it doesn't," Ephram told him. Andy chuckled and continued looking through the box. Gracie hopped off of the piano bench and walked over to the box. She reached into the box and pulled out a set of pint-sized bunny ears. She put them on and started giggling. Then she found the nose and put that on after having some trouble getting it around the ears. She laughed some more and started hopping around the living room.
"So cute," Rose said.
At that moment Delia opened the door and walked into the house. First she was surprised to see the mayor standing in her living room with a giant box, but then she was even more surprised to see the small girl/bunny hopping around her living room.
"Dad…" Delia said. Andy turned from the hopping girl to the confused one.
"Delia, meet Gracie, Gracie, meet Delia. Gracie will be staying with us for awhile," Andy explained. The smaller girl hopped over and stopped in front of Delia. Gracie removed the bunny nose and placed it up on her forehead.
"Hi," she said to Delia, smiling.
"Hi," Delia responded.
"You're pretty," Gracie told her. Delia smiled.
"So are you," Delia responded. Gracie giggled. Gracie turned and looked up at Rose.
"You're pretty too!" Gracie told her. Rose smiled and leaned forward a bit.
"Why thank you dear," Rose told her.
"Hey, Gracie…" Andy said, bending down to one knee. Gracie walked over to him. Andy got close to her and pointed her attention toward Ephram.
"Is Ephram pretty?" Andy asked her. A smile took over the little girl's face. She nodded excitedly.
"Yeah!" she yelled and continued hopping around. Ephram scoffed and turned away from his grinning father. Andy took to his feet again. He turned to Rose.
"I love that kid," he told her and she laughed. Then she sighed.
"Well, I better get going. This town doesn't run itself. If you need anything else don't be afraid to ask," Rose told him. He nodded and ushered her to the door.
"Thank you Rose."
"Oh, it's no problem Andy. Goodbye."
"Good bye," he said and closed the door behind her. Gracie hopped over to Delia and took her hand.
"Wanna play?" Gracie asked her.
"Okay," Delia said. Gracie smiled and pulled Delia out of the room. Andy walked back into the living room and over to the box. Ephram was still sitting on the piano bench, pouting. Andy shook his head with a grin.
"You want to help me get this upstairs?" Andy asked his son. Ephram, knowing it wasn't really a question but a command, helped his father.
Later that night the four of them were sitting at the kitchen table. Delia had given her normal spot to Gracie and moved down one. Ephram and Delia, having become accustomed to Andy's cooking, took only a little of what was there. Gracie, however, was served by Andy himself, who placed a good amount on her plate, hoping she would just eat what she wanted. Gracie ate it happily and with smiles. Delia and Ephram stared on with wonder. Andy, however, had a large grin on his face that he made sure his children saw. Gracie liked his cooking. He loved that kid.
Ephram closed his locker at the end of the school day and spun the dial back to zero. He adjusted the strap of his bag slung over his shoulder and turned to walk down the hall. He let out a gasp of surprise as he found Amy standing right in front of him. She smiled and he smiled back.
"Hi Ham," she said. He sighed.
"Hi, Amy," he replied.
"So how's the 'tater tot?" she asked him. He scoffed, smiling.
"She's fine," he said walking past her; she took to his side.
"My mom says she thinks you're pretty," Amy teased. Ephram frowned and gave her a glance.
"Yea well, she also likes my dad's cooking," he told her. She smiled, not realizing how much of an oddity that really is.
"Well, the whole town's talking about her. This little girl who suddenly appears out of no where. No past, no idea where she belongs," Amy said. Ephram looked at her as they walked and suddenly an idea came to his mind.
"Would you like to meet her?" Ephram asked. Amy turned to look at him, surprised.
"Yeah."
"Well I, I'm going to pick her up now. Dad enrolled her in Kindergarten. It's on my way home so I'm in charge of picking her up," he explained. She nodded.
"Cool. That'd be great," she said. He smiled.
"Great. You'll like her, she is kinda cute," he said. Amy nodded.
Ephram navigated the hallways of the small building. There were three Kindergarten classes in the whole of Everwood, and they were in the same building with the three Pre-K classes in Everwood. It was kind of a small building only a few blocks from the high school. This was the first day Ephram had come to this school to pick up Gracie, so he was kind of lost. It was perfect too, being completely lost and followed by the girl he'd do anything to impress. It was just, perfect. But, eventually he found room 102 and walked in. There were a bunch of small kids, some parents, a teacher, and an aide. All of the small children were already bundled up and ready for whatever weather they might face.
"Ephram!" he heard yelled and Gracie ran over to him. She wrapped both of her arms all the way around his legs and squeezed. She hit him so forcibly he had to stable himself against the wall. The teacher walked over to them with a caring smile. She was no longer a young woman, with a few gray hairs advancing from her temples, but she was not old. Actually, compared to the teachers Ephram and Amy had been staring at all day, she looked fun.
"You must be Ephram," the teacher said. Ephram laughed slightly, looking down at the child still attached to his legs.
"Yeah, I think half of Everwood knows that now," he said. The teacher smiled.
"Gracie is a very energetic young girl. She seems very happy and, adjusted," the teacher said. Ephram looked at her curiously.
"What do you mean 'adjusted?'" he asked her. The teacher went over several ways of explaining it in her mind before speaking the one she chose.
"Well, you see, most of the time when we get a new child, there's usually a period of time it takes for them to adjust. Adjust to the rules we have here, cleaning up certain things, getting along without their parents. Adjusting to the normal routine. But, Gracie just fit right in. She followed all of the rules, she always cleaned up after herself, and she never mentioned her parents. Which, I believe is a different conversation…" the teacher explained. Ephram nodded.
"Yeah, right."
"Um, there is something else," the teacher said in a whisper, leaning in closer to Ephram, "I thought that if I asked her to draw her family, it might help us find out who she is…" she said, her face showing that nothing good came from it.
"Yeah…" Ephram said, wanting to get it over with.
"Well, she drew this…" she said walking to a table behind her, picking up a piece of construction paper, and walking back. She handed him the paper. On the paper were three figures. One was presumably a man with a beard and a long white coat, another was a tall figure with purple hair and a mad face, and the other was a small girl with long hair and a baseball cap. Beneath them where the words 'Docktor Brown,' 'Efrum,' and 'Deeleea,' respectively. Ephram frowned and looked up at the teacher who nodded.
"Can I keep this?" he asked her. She nodded.
"Oh yes, it's hers," she said with a smile.
"Okay. Come on Gracie, it's time to let go of Ephram so we can go home," he told her. Gracie let go of him and looked up at him with a smile. The teacher bent down to look at her.
"I'll see you tomorrow Gracie, okay?" she asked her. Gracie responded with a smile and a nod.
"Let's go. Thanks," Ephram said taking the girl's hand in his left hand and walking down the hallway.
Amy, who had yet to say a word or laugh, watched the small girl walk down the hall, trying to match her stride with Ephram's but failing miserably. Amy smiled. It was about then, actually, that Gracie first noticed her. Gracie stopped walking and pulled Ephram back. Both he and Amy turned and looked down at her. The girl, seemingly made completely out of smiles, now had a very poignant pout on her face. It was directed toward Amy.
"Gracie, what's wrong?" Ephram asked her.
"Her!" Gracie replied, raising her finger and pointing it at Amy. Amy looked at Ephram, surprised.
"That's my friend, Amy," Ephram explained to the young girl. She looked up at him.
"Your friend?" she asked him. He nodded.
"From school. You know how you have friends at school?" Ephram asked her. She nodded. "Well, Amy is my friend from school."
Gracie looked from Ephram, to Amy, and then back at Ephram again.
"Does she wet herself too?" Gracie asked. Amy gasped in surprise and Ephram started laughing but quickly suppressed it.
"Uh, um, I don't think so… Now come on, I think we have cookies at home," he said tugging at the girl slightly. Gracie came and walked alongside him again, this time holding onto his hand with both of hers, and staring angrily at Amy.