April 4th, 2005
Brendan was on cloud nine. He had every reason to be. Grace was feeling more comfortable being in a relationship with him. She had no problem with holding his hand in public or him wrapping his arm around her shoulders. It was nice to be this happy. Brendan knew it'd just get better.
"Mom?" Brendan walked into the house, shrugging off his jacket.
"In the kitchen." Marion called out. Brendan walked down the familiar hallway and stepped into the kitchen. He smiled as he watched his mother. She pulled out a tray of chocolate chip cookies from the oven, "Hey sweetheart."
"Hey." Brendan walked over and kissed her cheek.
"How is work going?" Marion asked. She hated having her eldest child being a police officer. She saw the stress that Cathel was under.
"You know, like work." Brendan grabbed a cookie and bounced the hot piece in his hand, "Where the kids?"
"School, Brendan." Marion chuckled, "it's one o'clock in the afternoon."
"Oh yeah." He said sitting at the kitchen table.
"Tara got onto the cheerleading squad for next years season." She said going to the fridge to grab the milk. Brendan chuckled as he shook his head.
"I can't picture her being cheery and jumping around." He said.
"Oh she'll be fine." Marion laughed. She handed her son a glass of milk as she sat down, "So why are you here?"
"I love you too, Ma." Brendan smiled.
"You know what I mean." Marion rolled her eyes. Brendan bit into the cookie as he thought about it.
"Well, how did you know dad was the one?" He asked. Marion's face brightened, but he could still see the sadness behind her eyes.
"I wanted him to be the one the moment I met him but the moment your father said I love you….I knew he was the one." Marion said, "At the mere mention of his name, my stomach would start to tingle. Why?"
"I was just wondering." Brendan said. Marion shook her head.
"No. You were not just wondering." She said to him, "Tell me. Is it about Grace?" Brendan's stomach began to tingle.
"I suppose so." he said.
"I suppose so." Marion mocked her son's voice. Brendan snickered.
"Okay, yes. It's about Grace." He said.
"Have you said I love you yet?" Marion asked. Brendan nodded, "Oh Brend…"
"Oh don't start planning our wedding just yet." He said.
"I'm not." Marion picked up a cookie, "But you seem to have had that idea on your brain."
"I did, but now it's gone." Brendan said. Marion groan.
"You certainly are your father's son." She said as she got up. Brendan watched her leave the room. Two years ago, he would have taken that as the highest form of compliment, but now…he wasn't sure if he did.
"Can I take some of these cookies home for Grace?" Brendan yelled.
"Stop yelling." Marion said walking back into the kitchen, "Yes you can."
"Thanks." Brendan said as Marion slid a small velvet box towards him. He stared at it, "What is this?"
"That's the ring your father gave me when he proposed." Marion said.
"Mom…" Brendan looked at her.
"Now I'm not saying to propose to her tonight, tomorrow or even next month." Marion said, "But I want you to use this…if that's what you want." Brendan opened up the box. The diamond wasn't huge, but it was perfect. It would look perfect on Grace's finger.
"It's beautiful." He said, "But I'm not ready to propose to Grace yet."
"Well that's fine. But when you are, you have the ring." Marion said, "Now I need to do laundry. Those kids don't know how to do their own crap yet."
"Don't say crap." Brendan smiled looking at the ring. So here it was. This ring WAS perfect. Brendan hoped he would know when the perfect time to propose to her would be.
Grace walked up the stairs to her apartment. She already knew Brendan was there. His car was out front and she could hear music coming from her apartment. She smiled opening the door.
"Hey." Grace tossed her keys onto the table and walked in.
"Hey." He walked over and gave her a quick kiss. She glanced at the cookies.
"You baked?" She asked. He shook his head.
"No my mom did." Brendan said.
"You went to see your mom?" Grace asked. Brendan nodded. "How is she doing?"
"She's getting along." Brendan said as he watched Grace eat the cookie. "She gave me her engagement ring." Grace looked up at him, her eyes were wide.
"What?" She crocked out. Suddenly her throat felt very very dry.
"The engagement ring my dad used to propose to her with…She gave it to me." Brendan explained, "Would you like to see it?" Grace quickly shook her head.
"No." She said. Brendan chuckled. That was the exact reaction he had expected from Grace.
"I'm not going to propose to you, Grace." He said. She finally exhaled.
"Good because we're not there yet…" Grace put the other half of the cookie down. She thought about it for a moment, "I don't know how much of a good wife I would be."
"You would be a great wife." Brendan said, "You will be a great wife." He watched Grace's cheeks turn pink.
"Brendan…I don't know if I ever want to get married." Grace said.
"Of course you do." Brendan said, "But not for awhile. I don't want to get married for awhile either. I want to live together first."
"Good." She said, "Wait, was this all a set up to make us live together." Brendan chuckled and hung his head.
"You saw through it?" He asked.
"Yeah I did." Grace crossed her arms over her chest, "You want to live with me?"
"Yes." Brendan said, "Would you want to live with me?"
"If you clean up after yourself." Grace seriously said.
"My mother trained me well." Brendan said.
"And if you're the one doing the moving." Grace said, "I like my apartment and I hate moving. I don't want to move ever again."
"Deal." Brendan said, "I don't care where I live as long as it's with you." Grace smiled as she wrapped her arms around Brendan. God, that thought terrified her.