1April 18th, 2005

Grace hated to admit it but it was really nice being in love. She hated it when Holly would go on and on about how much she loved Carlos and all that mushy stuff. But right now…She could feel herself slip up and talk about Brendan.
"And then you know how he gets." Holly laughed. Grace blinked her eyes and looked at her.
"What?" Grace asked. Holly smiled.
"You weren't paying attention to a single word that I was saying were you?" Holly asked. Grace shook her head.
"I was thinking. Sorry." She said.
"You weren't thinking. You were fantizing about a certain cop." Holly said. Grace gave her a look.
"Maybe." Grace sighed deeply, "Okay, look. Don't say anything to anyone but…we're in love."

"I knew it!" Holly cried. Grace groaned as she jumped out of the bus. "You were just too happy and that twinkle in your eye."
"Forget it Holly." Grace mumbled as she ran up the stairs.
"Forget what?" DK asked.
"Nothing." Grace said pulling her jacket off.
"Her and Finney are-" Holly was cut off by Grace's hand over her mouth.
"Finney and I are seeing each other. No reason for that to go any further." She shrugged. DK looked at the woman as if they were insane.
"Did you smoke something while you were out there?" He asked them.
"No. No we did not." Grace let go of Holly and sat down at the table. DK shrugged his shoulders and left the women alone. "Holly, please just keep it quiet."
"But why? Being in love means yous hould be shouting it from the roof top. You should be screaming it at the top of your lungs." Holly told her.
"That's…That's just not me…" Grace tucked her hair behind her ears nervously.
"Make it be you." Holly said, "There is no better feeling in the world that being in love."
"I'm in love." grace shook her head.
"That's it." Holly said, "Now hang out the window and shout it at the top of your lungs."
"God, I couldn't do that." Grace began to laugh.
"I'll do it after you." Holly said, "I dare you."
"We're not children, holly. We shouldn't be acting like them." Grace told her. She hated feeling like an idiot and she knew that was what she would feel like if she did what Holly said.
"Oh but it's fun to every once and awhile." Holly stood up and pulled Grace to her feet, "I'll do it after you." Grace looked at Holly and began to laugh.
"Oh I must be nuts." She shook her head and walked into the living room. She looked at DK, "Excuse me for a moment. What you see here is not the real me.""Whatever." DK mumbled. Grace opened up the window. She was doing this and she wasn't even drunk. She took a deep breath and hung out the window.
"you can do it." Holly egged her on.
"I'M IN LOVE!" grace screamed out the window.
"I'm in love too!" grace looked down and saw Brendan looking up her. Grace's cheeks flamed bright red. "I hope youre screaming about me."
"I'm screaming about you." Grace nodded.
"I'll show you how much I love you tonight." Brendan chuckled.
"Brendan…." grace glanced at the people walking on the streets.
"They already think youre crazy so it's okay." Brendan said as the sirens began to shriek behind grace, "I love you, Grace."
"I love you too." Grace closed the window. Okay, so maybe proclaiming your love wasn't the worse thing to do in the world. A little silly, but not bad.

May 1st, 2005

Brendan stood in the doorway watching Grace as she slept. She was gorgeous. He was such a lucky man to have a woman like that in his life. He counted his blessings every single day. He knew when he had first met her that she was gorgeous but there was something more beautiful about a woman the day after an amazing night.

"Yore staring at me." Grace mumbled. Brendan chuckled as he walked over to the bed.

"I can't help it. Yore beautiful." He said.

"Bed head is beautiful?" Grace asked. Brendan nodded.

"I have something I want to give you." He said. Grace scrubbed her eyes as Brendan walked over to his dresser. "I know we discussed it before, but...I want to do it. I don't think I can wait much longer."

"For what?" Grace asked. She looked over and saw Brendan holding a diamond ring. She sat up in bed. She was suddenly wide awake, "Brendan..."

"Just listen, grace." Brendan sat on the edge of the bed.

"Okay..." Grace whispered.

"I love you. I love you more than anything I've ever loved before. I knew from the moment I met you that I wanted you to be my wife. I know how life is short and I don't want this chance to pass me by. I want you as my wife." Brendan said, "Now I'm not saying we need to get married this year...but someday I want to. I know we've discussed this and I know we haven't known each other for very long but neither did Nieto and Levine and they're getting married soon. I love you, Grace. I want you to have my name and my children."

"Wow..." grace's heart was racing fast. She never thought of herself as the marrying type, but once she met Brendan she knew she wanted to marry him.

"We can have a long engagement if that makes you feel better." Brendan said, "I've discussed this with my mother. This ring was hers. My father gave it to her and it would mean the world to me if you accepted it."

"Brendan..." Grace said.

"What?" Brendan asked.

"Technically you haven't asked me anything yet." She said with a playful smile upon her face. Brendan chuckled nervously.

"Grace, will you marry me?" He asked.

"Of course I will." She said taking the ring and sliding it onto her finger, "it fits perfectly."

"No apprehension?" He asked her. Grace shook her head.

"None at all. I've known you were the one for awhile now." grace leaned over and kissed him softly. "You should call your mother."

"Now?" Brendan asked.

"Yes now." Grace leaned over and grabbed the cordless, "Here."

"Thanks." He chuckled. Brendan dialed his mother's number and waited for her to pick up, "Hey, let me speak with Ma...because I said..." Grace chuckled as she listened to his end of the conversation, "Hey, Ma... Fine. Guess what...No, not that. Yore going to have a daughter-in-law soon... yes we are. Thank you. Yore the first...Yore welcome, Ma. Grace sends her love. All right. I need breakfast too. Tell Sissy. I love you too...Bye."

"So, is she happy?" Grace asked him.

"She's thrilled and wants to discuss wedding plans with you." Brendan chuckled.

"Fun...We've been engaged for five minutes and she's already planning it." Grace smiled as she slid out of bed.

"She means no harm." Brendan said to her. Grace grabbed a brush off of the dresser and began to brush her hair.

"Oh I know." She said looking at him, "I mean it may be nice. Lord knows my mother wont be any help."

"Maybe she will be. You should talk to her." Brendan said. Grace shook her head.

"I can do this by myself and maybe with your mom and sisters help." She said, "Are you hungry?"

"Very." Brendan said to her.

"I'll make you some eggs and sausages. How does that sound?" She asked him. Brendan sighed and nodded.

"That sounds fine." Brendan stood up watching Grace walk down the hallway, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Grace said, "Toast?"

"Toast will be fine." Brendan said, "Do you want to talk about this?"

"Brendan, there's nothing to talk about. We're engaged and I'm thrilled beyond belief." Grace said to him, "Later we'll discuss wedding date and all that fun stuff but for now lets just enjoy this feeling all right?"

"All right." Brendan said as he stood in the doorway. She was still beautiful when she was upset and stressed. She would be beautiful no matter how pissed she got. It was Grace.