~A Once and Again Series~

The Way We Were

Chapter 22//Along for the Ride

"So the plan is you'll go to your father's for the 23rd and the 24th, and part of Christmas day. Then you'll come back and spend the rest of Christmas day here." Lily explained over the dinner table.

"Sounds good," Grace said quietly... this would be the first Christmas that her parents were separated. And who knows... by next Christmas, her mother could be married to Rick, and everything would change once again.

"And," Lily took a deep breath, not sure how the next part would go over. "Rick and his kids are going to come over on Christmas evening and spend the night."

"Cool! Like a sleepover?" Zoe grinned.

Grace squirmed; she didn't even want to ask where Rick would be sleeping...

[[Grace - It's totally weird to know that your mother is having sex with a man who's not your father... or even that she's having sex at all! *nose crinkles up* It's like... why can't parents just stop doing it, when they get old? Cause, it's totally disgusting...]]

"Grace, what do you think?" Lily asked carefully.

Grace looked up from her macaroni, "I just don't know where we're all going to sleep... I mean the kids," She added quickly.

"Oh," Lily thought about it. "Well, the living room couch pulls out into a bed. I'm sure Eli wouldn't mind sleeping there. And Jessie could stay in your room."

"No, I want Jessie to sleep in MY room," Zoe complained.

"But, honey, Grace's bed is bigger..." Lily explained.

"Wait, so where am I going to sleep?" Grace asked, frowning.

"Oh, you can stay on your floor or something..." Lily sighed, "Grace, it's only one night."

"Why can't they just come over for dinner and then sleep at their own place?" Grace questioned. Lily was silent.

[[Grace - I don't know where my mother gets these ideas... it's almost like she's trying it out... seeing how all of us under one roof goes. And if it goes good, then I guess nothing would be stopping her from asking Rick to move in with us... *looks away*]]

"Fine. Whatever," Grace said. She stabbed at her macaroni noodles angrily.

"No, not 'whatever', Grace... I won't do this if you don't want to." Lily looked over at her daughter.

"That's crap, mom! You'll do whatever you want, when you want to! You've always have!" Grace stood up, walking away from her half-eaten dinner. Lily followed her into the living room.

"Grace!" Lily's face was tight with tension. "I thought you'd love the idea of them spending the night."

"Why?" Grace stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Did you think that I'd feel that way just because of... Eli? Because you know what, mother? This isn't about HIM!"

Grace stormed up the stairs. Lily watched her go, pained.

* * *

Grace was curled up on her bed, when her mother knocked on her door.

"Grace?" Lily questioned. Grace was silent, and Lily stepped in.

"Honey, what's this about?" Lily asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Grace continued looking at the wall. Finally she spoke up, "Are you going to marry him?"

Lily was flabbergasted. She paused, thinking of the right words. "Most likely, yes. But not now, not tomorrow, not next week..."

"So, you're going to marry him, and he's going to move in here, and everything's going to change." Grace stated.

"Gracie, that's a long ways away. I'm still legally married to your dad you know."

"What was wrong with Daddy?" Grace sat up, looking at her mother. "Why aren't you together anymore?"

Lily put a hand on Grace's shoulder. "Oh, honey, we've talked about this before. Jake and I just can't be married anymore. It wasn't working out. There were just too many problems."

[[Grace - *smiling* When I was little, I used to love to watch my mother and father together. They loved each other... even little me could see that. They'd kiss, and hold hands, and whisper to each other...... *loses smile* but somewhere they lost that. And now I look at them, and I don't see the love between them anymore. And I wonder where it went? How can you just stop loving someone?]]

"So, you think Rick is the right one?" Grace asked.

"I know Rick is the right one," Lily said with a smile. "I hope you will see that too."

Grace looked down at her hands.

[[Grace - *looking down at her hands* And now when I look at my mother and Rick... I see what I used to see between my parents. *looks up* She loves him. And he loves her... Everything's going to change...]]

"I think I do see it, mom," Grace said softly.

"I'm glad."

"Mom, are... is Dad going to be okay... all alone?" Grace asked when her mother began to leave the room.

"What do you mean?" Lily stopped, looking at her questioningly.

"On Christmas... we've never spent one apart yet." Grace clarified herself.

"Oh, Gracie," Lily took her in her arms, hugging her fiercely. "Don't you worry about your father. He'll be alright. We'll all be alright."

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" Rick greeted Lily as she opened the door to them.

"Merry Christmas!" Lily cried, just as enthusiastically. "Hi Jessie, Eli."

"Hi." Jessie and Eli said together, both looking a little out of place as they carried their overnight bags into the house. Rick caught Lily and gave her a quick kiss.

"Jess!" Zoe yelled, running into the room. "You have to see the new computer game I got."

Jessie followed Zoe away. Eli looked back at his father, who was whispering something to Lily. He hesitated, then started up the stairs. The sign on the first door told him it was the one he wanted. Eli knocked on Grace's door.

Grace opened it, and her mouth dropped open a bit, as she took in his presence. "Uh, hi. I didn't think you guys were coming until later."

Eli shrugged, "You should have seen my dad. He was hopping around like a two-year old. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and we came here early." Eli looked past her.

"Oh, my room's a mess." Grace warned, letting him in. She hesitated, and then closed the door behind him. She surveyed the room, making sure nothing embarrassing was lying around. Eli sat down on her bed.

"We came up with a name," He announced.

"For the band?" Grace asked, interested.

"Yeah. We're Anti-inflammatory." Eli said with a smile.

"That's... cool," Grace said, when she failed to find the right word. She picked up a few shirts from her desktop and moved them to her dresser. She turned back, looking at Eli. "Okay, are you as bewildered by this as me?"

"You mean this overnight date thing?" Eli asked. Grace nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of weird. Okay, it's very weird. It's like if they want to have sex, then why do they need to drag us along?"

Grace laughed. "Exactly! It wouldn't be THAT weird if just your dad was staying over, because I'm pretty sure he has when Zoe and I have been at my dad's, but for them to make you guys stay too..."

Eli nodded his agreement. He paused. "I think they're trying it out...seeing how having us all live together goes."

Grace sighed, and sat down next to Eli on the bed. "That's exactly what I think." She looked at him. "Pretty soon we might be step- siblings."

"Not that soon, I hope..." Eli said, then wondered if he said too much.

[[Eli - I really like Grace. I never expected to, but I do... I don't know what comes next though. Do we become girlfriend and boyfriend... or stepsister and stepbrother? ..................... or both?]]

Eli looked over at Grace, who was looking at her hands. Eli studied her profile, taking in her beauty.

[[Eli - I think I like her TOO much... I'm not supposed to like someone THIS much. I didn't even like Jennifer this much.... and so what do I do? *deep breath* Because liking someone this much scares me. *long look into camera*]]

* * *

"Move over!" Jessie cried.

She pushed at Eli, who pushed into Grace, who cried out, "Hey!"

"Shut up... the good part's coming!" Zoe cried from her spot on the other side of Jessie. She stared into the television, transfixed, as Dorothy began to click her heels.

"There's no place like home... there's no place like home..."

Grace shoved Eli. Eli shoved her back. Jessie groaned at the two of them. Zoe turned around, shushing them.

The four of them were sitting, or laying- in Zoe's case, on the opened sofa bed in the living room. Their parents were no where to be seen, and Grace had a good guess that they were already upstairs in her mother's bedroom.

Zoe sighed dreamingly, as the movie credits began to roll. "I love that movie!"

"She's the only one," Grace whispered to Eli. Grace, Eli and Jessie had all been restless throughout the movie. They had talked, eaten snacks, and basically ignored the television screen.

"Okay, can we watch another one?" Zoe asked, getting up. She went to the shelf and began picking out another movie.

"Zoe, don't you think you should go to bed?" Grace asked, hoping to be saved from watching The Lion King or While You Were Sleeping, or any other of the movies Grace had already seen a million times.

"I'm not a baby!" Zoe cried angrily.

"Well, maybe you and Jessie could go play that computer game some more," Eli suggested, taking a sidelong glance at Grace, who was dressed in a pair of blue plaid pajamas. She looked really cute.

[[Eli - *smiles*]]

Jessie scowled at her brother, making sure Zoe didn't see. She had already spent a couple hours with Zoe playing that game. Eli sighed. "Why don't we just watch something on TV?" He suggested, to make everyone happy.

Zoe came over, hopping on the sofa bed. "We don't have any good channels, though. My friend, Doreen, she has, like, 300 channels! We only have, like 30."

Eli flipped through the channels, but couldn't find anything. He handed the remote off to Zoe. "I've got to go to the bathroom," He explained as he crawled past Grace and off the sofa bed.

Eli went down the hall and into the bathroom. When he came out he paused, looking at the montage of family pictures hanging on the walls. A young Grace at 7 probably, missing a few baby teeth, smiled happily at him in one picture. Eli smiled back. He went back in the family room, finding only Grace sitting on the bed.

"They're making popcorn," Grace explained.

"Really?" Eli asked. "Zoe already ate that whole bag of chips. I can't believe she's still hungry."

"Actually it was Jessie's idea," Grace told him.

Eli was surprised. His sister was never usually hungry... in fact, Eli couldn't remember the last time Jessie had eaten anything that wasn't part of a meal. She never usually snacked. This new information pleased Eli, as it lessened his subconscious worries about his sister, which he hadn't even realized he had had. "Find anything good?" Eli asked, looking at the TV, as he sat down next to her.

Grace shook her head, "Zoe decided we're going to watch the Titanic."

"Uh... how long is that movie again?" Eli asked.

"Three hours, I think," Grace laughed.

* * *

An hour into the movie, Grace laid back on the bed, closing her eyes. She felt warm breath on her skin and opened them again to see Eli looking down at her, his face close to his. "Are you going to sleep?" He whispered, so not to disturb Jessie and Zoe at the foot of the bed, who were entrenched in the saga of Titanic.

"I don't know," Grace whispered back. "It is late."

"Okay, goodnight," Eli said, rolling over onto his own back.

Grace turned her head slightly, looking at him laying next to her less than a foot away. "Do you mind?" She asked.

Eli turned his head, "Hmm?"

"I mean, this is supposed to be your bed for the night, and I'm..."

"I don't mind," Eli said quickly.

[[Grace - *smiles*]]

"Really?" Grace asked. She looked deep into his eyes.

"Really," Eli assured her.

"Eli.... goodnight," Grace whispered, closing her eyes, the long day obliviously making her tired. Her breathing evened out, and Eli sensed that she was asleep. He watched her, and gradually his own eyelids grew heavy and fell down over his eyes.

* * *