Dreams: Ch 2
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Annie. I only dream of it, lol.
Author's Note: If you read this, please, please, please review it. I know it doesn't always happen because truthfully, I don't always review, but I would really like it. And all italicized parts of this story are dreams. Anyhow, let's get on with the story!
Later that night, just after Grace put Annie and Sandy back to bed, Mr. Warbucks decided that they would call it quits for the night.
The second Grace heard him say that she popped up out of her chair and practically ran out of the room. She quickly took her hair down and put her night gown on. She opened the door to go check on Annie and Sandy, but when she opened it she found Mr. Warbucks, one fist up as if to knock and still dressed in his suit.
"Oh sir, I'm sorry." she said, suddenly realizing that she didn't have a robe on, and how thin the material of her night gown was.
"May I have a word with you Miss Farrell?" He asked shifting uncomfortably from her appearance.
"Certainly sir."
"I know I've said this before Miss Farrell, but it still feels as if you're trying to get away from me."
"Sir I simply wanted to go check on Annie."
"Of course Miss Farrell, I must have been... thinking of something else." He stepped aside to let her out.
She went over to the door of Annie's room and pushed it opened. When she looked in she saw Annie sitting straight up in her bed with Sandy on her lap.
"Annie, honey? What's wrong?" Grace asked sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I can't sleep here Miss Farrell. I've never slept in a room alone before."
"You sound exactly like I did when I first got here. This was my first job. Mr. Warbucks actually picked me up out of the gutter and asked me and my family to come work for him. I jumped at the chance to get out of there, but most of my family was afraid of people with a lot of money. The only person that came with me was my sister, but now she's gone." Grace explained petting Sandy.
"Wow! I never thought you could've come from there Miss Farrell."
"Yes Annie. I do owe everything I have to Mr. Warbucks. Without him I wouldn't be here with you."
"You really like him, don't you?"
"Of course I do Annie. He's the only person I know that would do something like that for another."
"Then why don't you get married." Annie asked moving over so Grace could lie down.
"It's not that easy Annie. He's been sweeter to me than anyone and I adore him, but I could never tell him."
"Why not?" Annie asked lying down while Sandy lay between them.
"It just doesn't work like that. When you work for someone you can't just go and tell them that you love them."
"Oh." Annie yawned and fell asleep. Grace tried to fight it, but finally in the end she dozed off.
A very pregnant Grace walked down the stairs and into a sun drenched living room. Annie sat on the floor playing jacks while Sandy was lying next to the radio and Mr. Warbucks was sitting on the couch reading the paper.
As another pain her Grace stumbled to the couch. "Oliver..."
"What's the matter Grace?" He asked worry evident on his face.
"It's time!"
The next morning Grace awoke with a start as someone knocked on the door. She glanced over at Annie's clock and shot out of bed when she saw that it was already after eight. She quietly went to the door and opened it revealing an extremely startled Drake.
"Good morning Drake." She said with a smile.
"Good morning Miss Farrell." He said unsure of what to say. "I'm here to bring Annie her breakfast. I'm sure Mrs. Pugh will have yours ready."
"Thank you Drake." she said leaving the room to get dressed.
As she walked to her room Grace caught a quick glance of Mr. Warbucks walking down the stairs in his smoking jacket. 'Oh that's going to be wonderful for my imagination.' She thought already remembering the sight.
About twenty minutes later as Grace was walking down the same stairs she was tripped by a dog running after her. Luckily Mr. Warbucks was at the bottom of the stairs to keep her from hitting the floor.
"Well, good morning Miss Farrell." Mr. Warbucks smiled catching her. "I wasn't expecting to have a beautiful woman in my arms this morning, but I'm not complaining.
She blushed, "What can I say except thank you Mr. Warbucks."
"Well Miss Farrell," he said letting go of her and straightening his jacket, "I suggest you get some breakfast, I'll meet you in my office when you're ready."
"Yes sir." she replied quietly looking down at her shoes, too afraid to look back up at him.
He left the room and she went over to the table. Mrs. Pugh came out almost the moment she sat down and brought her out some oat meal and a cup of tea. "Don't worry about it too much dear. Remember you have Annie to look after now." Mrs. Pugh said smiling.
"Yes, at least I have her." Grace gave her a small smile.
As soon as Grace finished her breakfast she went straight to the office to find Mr. Warbucks back behind his desk. Glasses shadowing his face as he read the last stock market report with a scowl. "Any new developments sir?" Grace asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately no Miss Farrell. It's only getting worse as the days go." He replied looking up at her then replacing the ticker tape back on his desk.
"Maybe tomorrow." she smiled.
"Perhaps. What is on the agenda for today Miss Farrell?"
"Um... there is a meeting with President Roosevelt about his New Deal plan, other than that just the normal."
Later that afternoon Annie and Punjab were playing with air planes in Mr. Warbucks's office. Finally Mr. Warbucks had enough, "Don't encourage her Punjab."
Grace cut in before any yelling really started, "I'm sorry sir. Maybe I should take her out."
"Good idea Miss Farrell. Where would you like to go?" He asked Annie firmly.
"To Washington, to meet President Roosevelt!" she giggled.
"How about a movie." Grace interrupted again.
"Pepper went to a movie once, before she came to the orphanage, she said it was swell. And Miss Hannigan goes all the time." Annie exclaimed.
"Good. Take her to Radio City Music Hall." Mr. Warbucks said waving them off.
"But aren't you going to take me?" Annie's demeanor suddenly deflated.
"Contrary to what you think Annie, Miss Farrell doesn't do everything around here. I'm a busy man, a very busy man." He replied harshly.
"That's okay, no one has to take me anywhere. I'll go practice my backhand." Annie said starting to leave the room, then turning around, "Pepper lies a lot. She probably hasn't been to a movie either. In fact I think it's better not to know what you're missing."
Mr. Warbucks finally gave in, "Punjab, buy out the eight o'clock show. Let's all go to the movies."
That night after the movies Mr. Warbucks carried Annie silently into her bedroom. Grace gently took off her shoes and socks, "Will you go get her night-gown, it's behind the bathroom door?"
"Certainly," he said a normal volume, and then whispered, "certainly."
As soon as Mr. Warbucks had gotten back Grace quickly changed her into her night-gown and tucked her snuggly into bed. Mr. Warbucks carefully watched as she did this. "How did you..." he started a little too loudly, as Grace raised a finger for him to be quieter. "How did you learn that?"
"Learn what?" she asked surprised.
"That?"
"What?"
"To put her to bed?"
"Well you put her to bed too." Grace answered with a smile.
"I did?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes you did."
"Good heavens." he smiled.
She let out a slight giggle and turned her attention back to Annie. Grace gave her a light, motherly, kiss on the forehead and gave Sandy a pat on the head.
When she straightened back up she flashed Mr. Warbucks a smile and saying, "Good night sir." quickly leaving the room to go to bed.
Grace walked out of a small room in a pristine white, lacy gown, and a veil over her face. Annie walked in front of her in a baby blue dress. Grace met her father at the back of the ornately decorated church and they walked together down the aisle, towards the love of her life. Once down the aisle her father lifted her veil and kissed her cheek, then handed her over to the man of her dreams.
The next morning Grace jumped out of the bed the second that the alarm clock rang. She was still in a wonderful mood from the night before so that she almost floated to her vanity. She stared at her reflection for a long while, remembering what Annie said last night, "Miss Hannigan says, a man don't look at your brains." 'Maybe there is some truth to that. The only night that Mr. Warbucks truly looked at me was the night he came to see me after I'd gotten ready for bed.' That was what really made her decide.
A while later Grace literally flounced down the stairs and out to the patio. There she found the beautiful breakfast Mrs. Pugh and her staff had made. She grabbed a plate full of food and finished it easily before Mr. Warbucks joined her, as always with the morning paper in his hand.
"Good morning Mr. Warbucks!" She said cheerfully.
"Good morning Miss Farrell." He replied getting a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee.
A few minutes later she noticed his coffee was gone so she brought the pot over to him saying, "That was a wonderful evening you gave her last night sir, just wonderful."
"I'm going to have to close a factory in Pittsburg, Miss Farrell." He replied never looking up from his paper.
"About Annie…" she hesitantly said, her eyes cast down.
"What about Annie?" He asked getting another spoon full of oatmeal.
"Could we keep her?" She waited for a split second after asking while his head whipped around. "You haven't seen that horrible orphanage. I can't bear to send her back there. I can't."
He looked at her like she'd gone nuts, "Get a hold of yourself Miss Farrell. What's come over you?"
"She wouldn't be a bother. I'd take care of her." She begged, "You have plenty of room here. The staff adores her. We could take her on as your ward. Couldn't we?"
"Absolutely not! I'm a businessman. I love money, I love power, I love capitalism. I do not now or never will love children."
Her expression immediately changed, "Watching you with her last night I thought maybe…" she started to walk away.
He lightly grabbed her arm easily saying, "Grace." keeping his hand there while she sat down.
"Yes?" she asked in an almost inaudible whisper.
"I just noticed something."
"Yes?" she asked again.
"You're awfully pretty when you argue with me."
As he said this she just beamed, she couldn't stop smiling, "Thank you sir, but…"
"Oliver." He corrected.
"Oliver…" she smiled again, then got serious. "Do you really just love money and power and capitalism? You know they're never going to love you back."
"Your teeth are crooked." He noticed.
"I'll have them fixed." She said quietly looking down at the table.
"I like them crooked."
"I'll leave 'em." She smiled again.
"Thank you."
"I could have the papers signed this morning." She said looking into his eyes for some kind of confirmation.
"Grace?"
"Oliver?"
"It means a great deal to you, doesn't it?" he asked sincerely.
"Yes, it means a great deal to me."
"Then I'll do it myself." He finally smiled.
She was elated, "Oh, oh I could just kiss you!" After realizing what she said she turned and started to walk away.
"Grace!"
"Yes?" she whirled around.
"Get her a little gift, something form Tiffany's. A new locket!"
"Oh that's a good idea! And you, you be careful when you go to that orphanage, that woman's got claws and fangs!"
A few days later, after Annie and Mr. Warbucks got back from Washington Grace met him in the library after Annie had gone to bed. She lightly tapped on the doorframe, "Oliver, are you okay?"
"Oh Grace, come in, come in." He said standing up when he heard her voice.
She easily walked over and took a seat. He sat next to her and took her hand in his. "This whole thing with Annie is much harder than I'd bargained for. I thought that we would have found her parents by now."
"You can stop this whenever you like." Grace said looking down at their connected hands, "All you have to do is send her back."
He took one of his hands away from hers and put it under her chin to raise her eyes to meet his. "I made a promise to both of you and I intend to keep it." He replied running his thumb across her jaw.
The tears that she'd been trying to hold back finally spilled over. She buried her head in his chest and he automatically wrapped his arms around her. Once her tears subsided, a few minutes later, she lifted her head again with tears still evident on her face. "I'm sorry." She finally said, her voice slightly hoarse from crying. "It's just… what's going to happen if her real parents do come for her? I understand that it would be a wonderful thing for her, but it would also mean that we lose her."
"We must think of Annie and what would be right for her." He easily told her, rubbing her back gently. "If it were you, wouldn't you want to live with your parents?"
"Oh Oliver, you can't use me as an example. My parents were horrible. I lived in the streets for five years before you came along." She replied looking down at her hands again.
"But I did come along." He said seriously, taking her hand again.
"I just keep thinking about where I would be if you hadn't. I would probably be in a gutter somewhere, begging for food or stealing it."
"Grace, you must remember, you're here now. You're safe with me. I would never let you go back there again." He easily cupped her face in his hand and ran his thumb across his cheek.
She smiled up at him and as their eyes met she slowly felt his hand pulling her face towards his. She closed her eyes as their lips met. Suddenly all of her senses seemed to be heightened, the soft feel of his lips on hers, the musky smell of his cologne, the easy way his arms wrapped around her waist, and the sugar she could swear she could taste as their kiss went on. Her hands automatically went up his arms to his chest, then traveled to his neck and then back up to his face.
If it wasn't for the lack of oxygen they probably would never have stopped. She slowly eased herself back, taking her hands away from his face and back down to his chest.
"Grace." He said gently
"Yes Oliver?" she questioned dreamily.
"I love you."