Chapter 15

A month after telling Luke her secret, Grace came clean to Joan. Joan cried and Grace yelled, but other than that, the conversation went well.

Joan took on the annoying habit of calling Grace's house every night, checking if Grace was lucid or not. This ended when Grace threatened to change her phone number.

A month after telling Joan, Grace told Adam. He claimed he should have realized she was in trouble and tried to help her. Grace managed to read the entire business section of the paper during his rant.

A week after telling Adam, Grace told her dad. He yelled; she cried.

Then she really did change her number, because she just couldn't handle the constant calls from her concerned father and guilty friend.

Luke stepped in at this point, and Grace remained on good terms with her father and oldest friend

Luke was always there for Grace, though she did nothing to make his devotion to her easier. In fact, she actively fought against him in the beginning. During the first few months she gave into temptation at least once a week instead of calling him. She rationalized that she was saving him the inconvenience of dealing with her, but deep down she knew she was wrong.

A year after she confided in Luke, he asked her out. She smacked him over the head, and demanded to know what the last few months had been, if they hadn't been in a relationship. She almost cried when his face broke into a goofy grin. Then he kissed her and her grin became a little goofy, too.

Joan smirked when Grace and Luke showed up at her engagement party as a couple. Adam laughed, and that's when Grace knew she and Adam were going to be okay.

xxxxx

Grace stood in front of the mirror with her eyes closed. She did not want to see what the dress looked like.

"Is everyone decent?" Luke called from outside the door.

"It's just me," Grace yelled, eyes still closed.

Luke walked in.

"I didn't say you could come in, geek," she exclaimed, turning away from the mirror to glare at him. "I never said I was decent."

"Please," he scoffed. "Like I haven't seen you naked before."

"Dude! Your parents are in the house."

"They're so wrapped up in the wedding they wouldn't notice if we made love in front of them."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Grace asked, exasperated. "Don't call it 'making love.' We're not thirteen."

Luke wisely let the conversation drop. Grace took a deep breath and prepared to look in the mirror.

"Just look in the mirror, for God's sake," Luke snapped. "I'm sick of hearing how much you hate the dress. Joan's the bride, and you wear what she picks. No one will blame you for it."

"Are you saying I look so bad people will be wondering who to blame?" Grace teased.

"Mirror. Now."

Grace stuck her tongue out at him and looked in the mirror.

"Holy shit," she breathed. It was a sleek maroon dress with a plunging neckline, and Grace resisted the cover her chest. What had Joan been thinking?

"It's an amazing dress," Luke said honestly. "You look stunning."

Grace nodded, not quite convinced.

Joan burst into the room. Seeing Grace, she rushed over.

"Grace, Grace," she begged, "you have to zip me up. Mom left me, and I need you to zip my dress up."

Grace quickly stopped laughing and zipped up the wedding dress.

"You look good, sis," Luke said.

Joan started, clearly noticing him for the first time. "You, too, little bro. Now go find Mom. I need help putting the veil on. Then find Joe and tell him I will skin him alive he doesn't wear the cummerbund."

With a wave and a chuckle, Luke disappeared.

"Don't trust me with the veil?" Grace asked Joan.

"Nope, sorry."

They laughed, and the wedding proceeded without a hitch.

xxxxx

The reception was almost over when Luke convinced Grace to dance with him. They talked softly as the danced, debating the author of Joe's vows. Luke was convinced he had written them himself, but Grace didn't think Joe was eloquent enough to write such romantic dribble.

Conversation had lapsed when Luke brought up the dreaded topic. "Did you drink any of the champagne, Grace?"

"Of course not," she said sharply.

"Good."

"Did you really think I would?"

"No, I didn't," Luke said with a warm smile.

"Good." She moved a little closer to him. "I haven't had anything for almost four months. I'm not going to ruin that record over a wedding."

"Is there anything you will ruin it over?"

"I don't so," she said slowly. "I really think I'm done with it."

Luke couldn't help himsel; he pulled her flush against him and hugged her tightly.

"Girardi, people can see us," she hissed.

"Do you really care what other people think?"

"I care what your parents think."

"Why?"

"Because they're going to become my in-laws," she stated matter-of-factly.

"They—what?" he choked.

"I saw the ring in your dresser, dork."

"Dammit."

"Don't stress it. And don't think this counts as a proposal. You still owe me a question."

"I'll keep that in mind."

xxxxx

Though both Grace and Luke knew they would get married, neither of them was in a hurry to tie the knot. Luke wanted to find a steady job he liked, and Grace refused to consider marriage until she had been sober for a year. They never talked about the ring in Luke's dresser.

Luke moved around a lot, but never found a job he really liked. Grace kept her job at the bookstore, eventually becoming the floor manager.

Joan and Joe had a baby boy. Grace babysat sometimes, and it was that more than anything else that convinced her she was ready for marriage. She was even ready for children, if they decided to have any.

Two weeks later, Luke gave Grace a copy of Weddings for Dummies. A ring was hidden in the chapter "Left Hand, Fourth Finger."

And thus started the longest engagement in Girardi history. Grace wouldn't set a date until she proved to Luke she wasn't entirely dependent on him. For a month she refused to talk to him, as a test to her willpower. She passed, not even once reaching for a shot glass. Luke breathed a sigh of relief, and then made her promise to never leave him like that again.

Grace had been prepared to fight with her dad about the wedding, as she wasn't marrying a Jewish boy, nor was she being at a temple. He surprised her, however, by simply requesting that he be allowed to bless the union. Grace happily agreed, and asked that he do so in Hebrew. He smiled when he said that, and proclaimed that "at least he got one thing right." When Grace asked what that meant, he simply nodded to her and told her he loved her.

They finally set a date for the following year, and Grace ordered Luke to find a job while she took care of the wedding details.

Only Joan's intervention stopped Grace from calling off the reception and dragging Luke to Las Vegas. Grace tried to protest that she had always dreamed of getting married by Elvis, but Joan called in reinforcements, and soon Grace was being scolded by Joan, Helen and her father.

Needless to say, the wedding was a lovely affair. The centerpieces even matched Luke's bowtie.

xxxxx

"Grace," Luke said happily. "Grace, wake up."

"Mmphmh."

"Good morning to you, too."

"Whtimizt?"

"Come again?"

Grace groaned and rolled over so she faced the bedside table. The clock glared at her.

"Why," she asked angrily, "did you wake me up at six thirty in the morning?"

"Do you know what today is?" he asked excitedly.

"The day you're going to die?"

"No, not quite." He jumped out of the bed and started pulling on his ratty old robe. "Today is our first wedding anniversary."

"You woke me up at six thirty in the morning to tell me that? Why the hell did I marry you?"

"Because you can't survive without me."

"Yes, I can," she protested.

"But you choose not to."

"Well, yeah, I've kind of grown fond of you." Grace finally gave into his excitement and got up. "You better have coffee brewing, geek."

Bickering happily, the walked into the kitchen.

Grace studied Luke as she drank her coffee. He had always been so good to her. Too good, really, but she loved him for it. She remembered when he stood by her, when he refused to let her drink. She remembered the horrible fights they used to have, and the insults they would hurl at each other. She remembered when she finally broke down sobbing in his arms and promised never to drink again. She remembered when they visited the graveyard, leaving a sunflower for Elizabeth, a purple rose for Judith and a bouquet of daisies for her mother.

Grace remembered the good times, too. She remembered the times she had surprised him, made him laugh. She had been shocked to realize he was as dependent on her as she was on him, and she had reveled in it. She remembered when he admitted that no one else could pull his thoughts away from science like she could.

And most of all, Grace remembered the night he told her he loved her. That was the night she poured herself a shot of vodka and had no desire to drink it. None at all.

Grace pulled her thoughts back to the present and looked at her husband. He was such a good man. She leaned across the table and kissed him soundly.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything," he said several minutes later, "but what was that for?"

"Thank you," she said simply. "For everything."

And Luke understood, as Grace had known he would. Luke always understood.

xxxxx

xxxxx

And so it ends.
Thank you for reading and reviewing this fic.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.