Title: Home is where your heart is, right? 2/?

Author: Christen (purplehaysc@netscape.net) and if you want a quick response from meaning during the week email me at (23405@sjamail.net)

Disclaimer: these characters belong to Once and Again except any characters you do not recognize

Distribution: Take it, but let me know. If you have any of my other fics, go ahead.

Comments: email me all you comments and suggestions.

The phone rang for the third time and Tiffany finally picked it up. "Hello?" She asked still half-asleep.

"Tiffany, it's Lily. Did I wake you? I'm sorry if I did." Lily said realizing that Tiffany sounded like she had just woken up.

"Actually I'm glad you called. Jake and I had accidentally fallen asleep while reading to Mady. We needed to be woken up."

"Well then I'm glad I could help."

"Me too, so do you need to talk to Jake?" Tiffany asked knowingly.

"Yeah if you don't mind getting him."

"No problem. Jake? Lily's on the phone." Tiffany said and eventually gave the phone to Jake.

"Lily?" Jake asked as he grabbed the phone.

"Jake, I'm sorry to call so late but we need to talk."

"Ok, what's wrong? Is it Zoe or Grace?" Jake asked worried.

"Grace."

"Is she ok? I mean she isn't hurt or anything is she?"

"No, not physically if that's what you're thinking."

"Ok then what's wrong with her?"

"She doesn't want to go to Australia."

"Since when? I thought she was looking forward to it?"

"I thought she was too but she's not. She's crying a lot because of it."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well that's why I called you. I was hoping that you could maybe let Grace live with you."

"Lily…. " Jake started to say.

"Jake, you always say you want to spend more time with the girls."

"But Lily you know I don't have the room."

"But you can make it."

"No I can't. Plus Grace likes living with you and she's never given me any indication that she wanted to live me."

"She may not want to but she needs to, Jake."

"But…" Jake started to say.

"Jake she's your daughter too and the very least you owe her this."

"Look Lily ask me for anything else. Then I would give it to her but there is no way that I have enough space for her. I'm sorry. I really am." Jake said truthfully.

"You always are." Lily said mad as she hung up the phone.

Grace was working on her Physics homework when Zoe came in her room with the phone.

"It's for you." Zoe said as she handed it to her.

"I really don't want to talk to any one." Grace said as she pushed the phone away.

"Yeah well it's Eli and he's not going to stop calling till you talk to him." Zoe said as she handed it back to her.

"Fine." Grace said as she took the phone. "You're going to leave right?" Grace told Zoe who was just standing there.

"Fine, I'll let you have your privacy." Zoe said as she walked out of Grace's room and closed the door.

"So E, what do you want?" Grace asked annoyed as she picked up the phone.

"It's nice to talk to you too, Grace." Eli said sarcastically.

"Well I would have said that but I didn't think you wanted me to lie."

Eli laughed. "So how are things at home?"

"They're ok, I guess."

"Good."

There was a minute of silence.

"Eli, why did you really call? I know you don't just want to how things are over here."

"Well you got me there. I called because my dad was hoping I could figure out what was wrong with you."

"Wrong with me?" Grace asked confused. "Now why would he think something was wrong with me?"

"Lily called and told him you to didn't want to come to Australia. Is that true?"

"How did she know I didn't want to go?"

"All I was told was that she saw you crying or something. So why don't you want to move to Australia?"

"Eli… look I'm not really going to have this conversation with you."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't. I don't really know how I'm going to tell you what you want to hear."

"All I want to hear is the truth."

"No you don't. You just want to hear my excuse for not moving out there. And honestly I don't have one."

"Then maybe that means that you don't have any reason not to move out here."

"I don't think so. Look Eli thanks for calling and all but as I said earlier I'm not having this conversation with you so…"

"Fine I'll go but Grace make sure you don't want to come out here before you tell you tell Lily because there's really no reason to stress out any more then she already is you know since she's pregnant and all."

"I know that's why I haven't said anything yet."

"Ok good. Bye Grace."

"Bye Eli." Grace said as she hung up the phone.

"So what do you think of my new job?" August asked Chris as he handed her a glass of wine.

"That you're crazy and you should quit while you still can."

August laughed. "How can you say that?"

"Because you don't need to work for a school that you were fired from."

"But I won't even be working there. I'll be working out of my home."

"But there's still a chance you could run into trouble."

"By trouble you mean Grace Manning, right?"

"You know trouble by any other name?"

"This has nothing to do with her. I made sure of that."

"Yeah I bet you did but still…" Chris started to say.

"Stop. Look can you please just be happy for me? That's all I'm asking." August begged.

"Ok, fine but only as long as you understand that this does not mean that I approve of the job."

"Of course not." August said smiling.