Title: Picture Perfect

Author:Sabrinasmom3

Rating:PG

Disclaimer:I don't own Joan of Arcadia or the actors, blah, blah blah.

Summary:Luke and Grace do normal, everyday things together that end up meaning much more and that someone else sees as picture perfect.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I guess I was wrong to think I could quietly bow out of this story without anyone noticing. I'm glad you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it!

The walk home was quiet. Grace, of course, was thinking about how things went with her father and what the future might be like, depending on his choice.

Luke, on the other hand, couldn't get his mind off what he had just seen at the Polanski home.

After leaving Grace in the foyer, Luke had hurried up the stairs, anxious to get her bag packed and get downstairs before she was finished talking to her dad. When he got to the top of the stairs, he was hit with a stench worse than anything he had ever before experienced. It was a mixture of a strong sour smell accented by sickeningly sweet fruitiness, the stab of alcohol and a hint of sweat and body odor. He looked down and saw Grace's mom sprawled out on the floor in front of Grace's door. Her mouth was wide open and there was a puddle of old vomit pooled around her head. Her lids were half open, but her eyes appeared to be rolled back in her head. At first, Luke thought she might be dead, but then she snorted out a snore. He shook his head and stepped over her into Grace's room. He found a bag and started throwing things from list in. He just couldn't believe that Grace had to deal with this on a daily basis. He knew, intellectually, what alcoholism was like, but he'd never seen it before and now realized that he didn't have the first clue how bad it really was. He tried to imagine seeing his parents like that, but he couldn't. He had all he could do not to cry for Grace. What proved even more difficult was resisting the urge to haul off and kick the comatose drunk on his way back out the door.

When they walked into the house, Luke's mom was on the phone and looking none too happy about it. "Mr. Polanski, I don't think you are fully aware of the seriousness of this situation…Yes, I am allowing Grace to stay here, as a friend of the family, but if you insist on threatening me…Sir, with all due respect, you may be her father but technically, I am a teacher and my husband is a police officer and as such, if we believe that this incident qualifies as an ongoing abusive situation, we are both obligated, under the law, to report it to the proper authorities…No, I don't want that either, which is why Grace is staying with us until you can make other arrangements." With that, she held the phone up and looked at it to make sure he had hung up on her before ending the call.

Luke and Grace both just stood there with their mouths hanging open. If Grace was the kind of person who did that sort of thing, which she wasn't, she would have hugged Mrs. Girardi then and there. Luckily, Luke was. He rushed over and pulled his mother into an all out bear hug. He had never been so proud of her. Although the worry lines on her forehead were still visible, she couldn't help but laugh at her son's crushing show of affection.

"Alright, alright. You're a lot stronger than when you hugged me as a little boy. Let me go before you break a rib." Luke did as he was told and started to turn away. Then he thought better of it and turned back to plant a big kiss on his mom's cheek. She just shook her head and walked out of the room.

Not knowing what else to do, Luke and Grace settled in on the couch to watch TV until dinner. It wasn't unusual for Grace to be there, so no one really noticed anything odd until dinnertime. Everyone was already at the table when the couple went to sit down. Grace had almost forgotten how bad she looked until Mr. Girardi, Kevin and Joan sat staring at her. Once the initial shock was over, Joan jumped out of her chair and ran over to Grace. Grace held her hand up to stop Joan. "Whoa, Girardi! I'm fine. Sit down and eat your dinner. I'll fill you in while you eat. I don't think I could eat anything yet anyway."

"I thought that might be a problem, Grace, so I made some soup for you. I hope you like chicken noodle." Once again, Grace was amazed by the compassion and thoughtfulness of this family. As the Girardis ate and Grace sipped her soup, Grace told the cliff notes version of the story to Joan and the others. Luke and Mrs. Girardi added commentary now and then. When she was finished, Mrs. Girardi looked hopefully at her husband. "I'm sorry I didn't speak with you before saying Grace could stay, but there really wasn't time and I really didn't think anyone would mind." She looked at him expectantly. He grinned and shook his head. "Like it would have made any difference what I said anyway. I haven't been this outnumbered since I wanted to go to Alcatraz instead of Disneyland during our family vacation." When he spoke to Grace, he turned serious. "You're welcome to stay here this week and any time you don't feel safe at home." Grace nodded slightly, looked down at her soup and pretended to look for stray noodles.