Chapter Forty-five

"Grant, honey?" Abby's heart melted as she stood over the couch, looking at the two of them finally together. "Chloe, sweetie?"

Grant stirred first. "Aunt Abby?" He said his voice groggy. He began to panic. "Mom..."

She knew what he was asking. "She's doing OK." Abby promised, trying to calm him. "She's awake."

Chloe's eyes fluttered open. For a second she didn't know quite where she was. Then she could hear his heart beating and she knew she wanted to stay right here forever. "Grant?" She whispered against his neck.

"Chloe." Grant sighed as he placed a kiss on her hair. "Wake up."

He moved to sit up and brought her with him. As he did, Chloe was shocked to see Abby standing nearby.

"Mrs. Donovan. Hi." She said, completely embarrassed.

"Hi sweetie." Abby said with a smile.

"I was just…" Chloe tried to explain as she moved out of Grant's arms.

Abby could tell what the poor girl was thinking. Abby shifted Becky's toy rabbit in her arms and smiled wider. "It's OK. I just came to tell Grant that his mom's doing better. I'm here to sit with Becky so he can go spend some time with her."

"You sure she's OK?" He asked then.

"She is. She needs some time to rest. I'm going to be honest with you." Abby's voice got soft as she blinked back tears. "It's still touch and go as far the baby is concerned. Your mom took a really nasty spill. But, the good news is there's still a great chance that they'll both be just fine. Mostly, she's worried about all of you. She needs you there, sweetie. Go on ahead."

"OK. I'm just going to change. I'll be down in a second." Without thinking, Grant gave Chloe a quick kiss and ran up the stairs.

Chloe straightened her skirt and smoothed down her hair. She was suddenly very nervous.

"Mrs. Donovan?" Chloe suggested sweetly. "You know, I'd be happy to stay with Becky. I don't mind. Then you could go back too."

Abby couldn't help smiling. Like she would ever keep them apart after it took them so long to get together.

"That's very sweet of you Chloe but I can't let you do that." She insisted. "You should stay with Grant. He needs you."

Chloe hoped he did. She knew how much she needed him. She nodded as she moved to put on her shoes, still nervous that despite the circumstances, it was all too good to be true.

To Grant there wasn't even a question as to where Chloe needed to be. He bounded down the stairs. He grabbed her jacket and reached for her hand. "Clo?" He called to her.

"Coming." Chloe smiled at Abby as she let him lead her out the door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Rafe..." Alison whispered as she struggled to open her eyes.

"No, Mom. It's me." Grant said softly as he sat beside her.

"Grant..." Alison smiled as her eyes began to focus. "God, you look just like your father."

"What? You're kidding me. I don't have any gray hair do I?" He laughed as he ran a hand over his head.

"No. You're such a smart aleck." Alison smiled wider. "You look so much like him. That's a good thing, honey. Trust me."

"I'm so glad you're awake now. How're you feeling?" He asked as he took her hand in his.

"Better. I'll be even better when I get a chance to see all of my kids. How's my Becky?" She asked her voice soft. She knew how good he always was to her.

He didn't want to lie to her. "She's not so good, Mom. She's all confused. I tried to make her understand..." He trailed off.

"I'm sure you did." Alison gave his hand a squeeze.

"Aunt Abby's with her now. I think she might do better than me. And she'll bring her to see you. They're going to bend the rules a little bit I think to get her in here."

"I'm sure you did plenty. You're so good, Grant." She said, her eyes filling up. "You make me so proud."

He blushed a bit, embarrassed at the compliment. "For what?" He said looking down. "I don't do much."

"That's so untrue." She replied, her voice rising a bit. "You're absolutely amazing. You do so very much for all of us. Part of what makes you so incredible is that it's so effortless to you, you don't even realize it."

Alison could see he still didn't believe her. "You work with your dad all the time, and that makes him so happy, that he has someone who's taken pride in the business he's made. You share his gift, and you use the powers you have so wisely. And you are so good for your sisters. You calm Katie down when she gets too crazed and you take care of Becky like she's your own. I can see it now. You'll be a wonderful father."

He almost cried listening to her words. A tear or two might have escaped actually. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand.

She loved the fact that she could get to him like that. Alison placed a hand on his cheek and made him meet her eyes. "Do me a favor, though sweetie. OK? It's actually a favor for you."

"You name it, Mom." He said with a grin. "Anything you want."

She smiled at him and whispered. "Tell Chloe you love her."

"What?!" Grant was shocked. How did she know?

Now that Alison had brought it up she was on a roll. "Stop wasting time. It's silly. Can't you see she loves you too?"

"I can - actually." He said with a laugh. "Mom? You can ask me for another favor because I already took care of that one."

Now it was Alison's turn to be shocked. "What?!"

"Chloe's here with me. She came over last night and we - umm - talked." He said, blushing again.

Alison laughed at him. He looked exactly like his father now, back when she first met him. "You "talked" huh?"

Even though it was a bit awkward to talk to his mother about it he was so deliriously happy he just didn't care.

"Yeah. We did. She loves me, Mom." Grant's voice was full of awe.

Alison's wasn't at all. "Of course she does." She said as she held his hand tightly in hers. "What's not to love?"