Disclaimer: I do not own. Just borrowing for a little more time till the next fan fiction I start. ;-) I'm not making money on this, just having fun.

Author's Note: I know I'm evil and cruel. I'm terribly sorry for that but hopefully this chapter will make up for it…somewhat. To answer Lallyb1743, there is one more chapter and an Epilogue. So hang in there folks, you're almost there.

Sins of the Father

Chapter Sixteen: The Scent of Rain

Grace leaned against the small tree in the graveyard and watched the procession from the back of the crowd. Of course, it wasn't that big of a crowd but she still kept her distance. She hadn't seen or heard from Bobby since he left her hospital room a week ago. Alex had visited her though, every night for the past week. She hadn't seen much of Bobby either but at least he answered the phone when she called.

"I didn't think you would make it."

Grace turned to see Alex standing next to her. She looked tired and worn out. Grace nodded. "I talked my doctor into releasing me this morning."

"How did you do that?"

"I told him I was leaving. I said I had someplace that I needed to be today."

"Are you going back?"

"I've had enough of hospitals. I can take care of the wound now. It's almost healed up anyway."

Alex gave her an unconvinced look but nodded anyway. "Bobby has tomorrow off but then Deakins is expecting him back to work."

"How is he?"

Alex shrugged. "Hurting. But that's all I know. I've had two minute conversations with him and this is the first time I've actually seen him."

"I didn't even know if he wanted me here."

"Fran Goren was your friend too from what I've heard. Besides, he needs someone around him now and he only keeps me at arms length."

Grace noticed that the crowd was starting to disperse. She watched as Bobby made his way back to the parking area with a slow stride. He never looked around the area as he walked towards the black Jetta that had a waiting driver in it.

"Who's that?" Grace asked.

Alex let out a frustrated noise. "His brother. It took him four days to track him down."

"Well, at least he has someone to be with now." Grace turned to go but Alex stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"He didn't see you, Grace."

"Sure."

"You want a ride home?"

"Yeah, okay."

Grace followed Alex back to her car and lowered herself carefully into the passenger's side. Her wound wasn't nearly has healed as she had told Alex but she wasn't going to miss the funeral. She had hoped for an acknowledgement from Bobby but was too afraid to talk to him. Alex was probably right. He just hadn't seen her.

"Did Olivia Benson come to see you any more?" Alex asked once they left the graveyard.

"A couple times. Mostly to ream me out for using the info she gave me to get a pen in my chest."

"What info was that?"

"After you called me about Wallace getting arrested I called Olivia Benson to see how a child molestation victim would react. What would they look for in a person who could gain their trust? Benson told me that the first thing they would want in a confidant is to know that they went through a similar event. It would establish a connection. I told her the advice worked but she didn't seem too happy about that."

"Might have had something to do with you laying in a hospital bed after taking her advice."

Grace laughed slightly. "Might."

Alex pulled up to the curb by Larry's bar. "This good enough?"

"Oh yeah, I wanted to stop in and see my Uncle anyway. Thanks for the ride."

"Sure. And Grace, don't give up on Bobby."

Grace pulled herself out of Alex's car and leaned back down to respond her. "He has till tomorrow to call me before I pound down his door."

Alex smiled. "Call me if you need back up."

Grace shut the door and watched Alex pull away from the curb before heading into the bar. It was late afternoon, clouds were starting to roll in for yet another April shower. It seemed to match Grace's mood. There was a storm coming and the best thing to do before a storm was loosen up with a few drinks. If anything, she needed something to take away the pain in her chest. Leaving the hospital the way she had, her doctor didn't prescribe any painkillers for her. He still expected to see her back that night. Grace stepped into her Uncle's bar and noticed the surprised look on his face. This was definitely going to be a long night.

Bobby sat down on his leather couch, a scotch glass in one hand, whiskey in the other. His brother had dropped him off at his apartment and quickly left to catch the next plane out of town. He didn't even know where his brother was going. He couldn't even remember what had transpired this past week. All he knew was the hurt that was inside him. That dull, empty feeling that seemed to overtake all other emotions.

He never remembered crying as much as he had this past week either. It seemed like it was an uncontrollable force where he just wept at any given time with no warning. He had to get control of that before going back to work. Deakins had very generous with him by giving him the past week and tomorrow off. He needed to repay that kindness by showing up ready to do his job and not fall apart for any reason.

He finished his glass of whiskey and poured himself another one, leaning into the couch so his head rested on the back. The apartment never seemed to be lonely before but with the loss his mother and the absence of Grace only seemed to amplify the silence.

Grace.

He had tried not to notice her presence at the funeral and graveyard but he simply couldn't. At first he thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him, like it had this past week. But then he noticed Alex talking with her at the gravesite and realized that Grace wasn't a figment of his imagination. Once he admitted to himself that she was indeed there, standing and looking unharmed, he became overwhelmed with the emotion of relief. She was there, alive and wanting to be there.

He had called the hospital as soon as he entered the apartment and found that Grace had been temporarily released from the hospital, expected to be back that night. He highly doubted that Grace was going to go back to the hospital which meant she was home. She was two blocks away from him. She was so close. Before his mind had time to talk him out of it, he finished the second glass of whiskey and grabbed his coat.

Grace changed out her dark skirt and black top she had worn to the funeral into flannel pants and long sleeved T-shirt. She had made herself a cup of tea and settled into her armchair to watch the show Mother Nature was putting on. The clouds had decided to open up and unleash the water they held. Grace had gotten caught in the chilly downpour in her not so quick walk across the street. Unfortunately the cold water had taken her buzz off and she was back to hurting again, inside and out.

A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts. She wondered if maybe it was Ed Green checking up on her. Or perhaps Alex. Carefully she pushed herself out of the chair and there was another knock, louder this time.

"Hang on, I'm coming."

She peeked through the peephole in the door and was startled by what she saw. Bobby was standing there, dripping wet and shivering. Sliding back the deadbolt and unlocking the doorknob, she opened the door to him.

"Did you walk here?"

"Y-yes."

"Come in," she stood back and let him come into her apartment. She was shocked by his arrival, to say the least. She had expected him to close himself off from the world and everyone in it. Instead, he shows up on the doorstep of the woman he's been avoiding for the past week. "Let me get you a towel."

If he heard he didn't acknowledge what she had said. Grace merely went into her hall closet and pulled a towel from the lowest shelf. Her next stop was the closet in the bedroom. Bobby had left an extra pair of clothes in there for when her niece and nephew came over to play in the snow in Central Park. Grace had promised to take them and Bobby had the day off so he came with them. He had brought a change of clothes figuring on snowball fights and sledding. Grace smiled at the memory. He was right to bring extra clothes.

She found him standing in her kitchen, still shivering and dripping large droplets of water. He must have noticed her curious look.

"D-didn't want to d-drip on your c-carpet."

"It's only water, Bobby." She laid the clothes on the kitchen counter and unfolded the towel. "You left those clothes here from-"

"Central Park."

"Yeah."

"That was a g-good day."

"It was, yes. I need you to sit down, Bobby." Grace pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and he reluctantly sat down in it. Once he was seated, Grace dropped the towel over his head and rubbed his hair, head and neck like she would have her nephew's. His shivering started to subside but his head remained bowed. Grace tugged on his wet jacket and finally, with his help, was able to get soaking wet coat off him.

"Th-thanks."

"Why don't you go take a hot shower and warm up?"

He reached out and wrapped his icy fingers around her wrist. "We need to talk."

"We'll talk afterwards."

Slowly he stood up, took the clothes off the counter and headed out of the kitchen. A couple minutes later she heard the water turn on. She put the kitchen chair back and sat down on the couch, still holding the damp towel in her hands. She really didn't know what to expect when he emerged from the shower, whether it was to finish off the relationship they had or if it was to continue. Given the very recent passing of his mother, Grace was unfortunately putting her money of the former.

Letting out the breath she had been holding, she leaned back against her couch and watched the rain run down the window. If he wanted to end the relationship, she would let him. She had quickly learned from their four months of being together that it was next to impossible to argue with him. He always had his arguments planned out with a logical defense for each point. If he wanted out that bad, she would give it him, without question or debate. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, as the saying goes.

Grace swiped at her eyes, brushing away the tears that had formed. She had better get it out of her system before he came back into the living room. She didn't want him to leave. She had enjoyed the past four months entirely too much to just have him walk out because he was worried over getting her hurt. But the tears weren't just over that. Alex had been right. Fran had been her friend too. She had rekindled that relationship from eight years ago in the past few months.

She hung her head and wept for Fran and Bobby. She buried her head in the still damp towel and sobbed. But something stopped her tears in an instant. Pulling back from the terrycloth, she stared at it for a moment before lifting it to her face again. She inhaled deeply and found that she had not been mistaken. She could smell his cologne that had rubbed off onto the towel.