Disclaimer: 'Nough said

A/N: Sorry for any typos, feel free to let me know about them, as I didn't proofread this chapter since it took so long. The only thing I'm going to say about taking so long for this is don't get used to me updating super fast again…It's a looooonnng story and let's face it would you rather read that or this fiction? Still I do apologize and hope you don't hate me too much.

Chapter 7 – I'll Be

"Hey," Adam's voice was quieter than usual. He hadn't heard Grace come in. He was in the kitchen making some coffee and heating up some leftovers from the night before when she appeared in his line of sight. She was cradling the sleeping form of Stone, to Adam's presumption. He could see nothing but the back of the little boy. Stone's head was burrowed sideways onto Grace's shoulder; his forehead nestled against her neck. His right arm hung loosely down along his body and his left arm dangled just barely on Grace's right shoulder, teetering on the verge of sliding off. His legs were curled around Grace's waist and Grace's hands were clasped under his rear, holding him to her as she looked on at Adam.

"Hey," She replied back equally quiet. Adam smiled nervously at Grace, unsure what to say next. He watched her sway slightly, like she was afraid if she stood still that Stone would wake up. Adam smiled to himself; Grace had gone maternal on him. Of course, he wouldn't dare vocalize this realization. Grace's eyes narrowed slightly at him; she was well aware what he was thinking.

Adam cleared his throat and stepped closer. He sat a coffee mug down on the table next to where Grace was standing. He wanted to reach out and hug her, why he wasn't positive, but instead he pulled out a chair for her to sit down in. Grace situated herself in the chair, careful not to jostle Stone much. Adam strained his neck, trying to see Stone's face.

"Sorry…he'll wake up eventually," She assured.

Adam smiled. "It's okay," He put his own mug down and then collected the glad container full of leftover chicken alfredo and plopped it down on the table between them, dropping a fork for Grace next to her hand before he used his own to dig in.

"So…" Adam spoke again after they'd picked at the food for a few minutes. "How did…everything go?"

Grace twirled her fork in the container and ran her hand absently along Stone's back as she thought about this question. "It went…well," She cleared her throat. "Joan's still…pissed-but she stopped in front of Stone," She kept her eyes averted.

"They've been quizzing me for like, two days now," Adam smirked. "They think I know more than them…about all of this," He shrugged.

Grace made a face and inwardly cringed. There it was-more grief Grace had managed to cause. She sighed softly and offered Adam an apology. Adam smiled at her.

"Please, it was actually kind of fun," He grinned.

Grace cocked an eyebrow. "How could that have been fun?"

Adam shrugged. "The two of them always have some secret or other…it was nice to give them a taste of how it felt," He suggested.

Grace was going to respond but Stone jolted against her. His head lifted so slightly off of her shoulder, that Grace was almost unsure it had actually happened. She turned her head down and looked at him, putting her fork down to move his hair out of his eyes.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," She greeted the groggy little boy. He blinked at her, noticing that they weren't at Luke's house anymore and that they weren't in a car. His eyes were too fuzzy just yet to realize that he'd been in this place before already. "It's all right, we're at uncle Adam's house," Grace lifted a finger and pointed. "See."

Stone slowly lifted his head and turned it slowly, cautiously. He wasn't as scared as when he met Luke, probably because this time he was seated firmly, protectively, in Grace's lap, still clutching at her shoulder. Stone peered at Adam. Adam smiled brightly and offered a tiny wave.

"Hey Stone," He continued to smile warmly at Stone.

Stone, tired, grumpy and worn from meeting people all day, put his head back down on Grace's shoulder but kept eyeing Adam. Adam stood, cleared away his and Grace's mugs as well as the leftovers. He reached into a cabinet and pulled out a box of Girl Scout cookies. He dug a few of them out and walked back over, placing most of them on the table, but holding one out for Stone-a peace offering. Stone looked up at Grace for her approval. After she nodded, he reached out slowly and accepted it. He watched Adam slip the end of his own cookie in his mouth and nip a little bite off before mimicking and doing the same.

20 minutes and a short chit chat later, Stone was once again asleep and Adam was just on the verge of sleep. Grace was prepared to make camp on the old pull out couch that Adam's mom used to pull out for their sleepover nights when Grace had 'runaway' to Adam's house, seeking solace.

"Cha, please, I'm so prepared," Adam stopped her with a grin. "You're shacking up in my old room."

Grace was prepared to protest, but she stalled herself. Adam wouldn't take no for an answer, she was aware. Resigned to face the facts, Grace nodded. She stood, careful not to jostle Stone, who was out cold against her anyhow. She followed Adam, though she knew exactly where she was going. The room was different, Grace noted as she looked around. It was decorated as a guest bedroom for sure. There was a Queen sized bed against the wall, a small TV across from it, a nightstand with a small lamp and a clock and various other generic decorative items.

"You know where everything is," Adam assured with a smile as he watch Grace one-handedly pull the covers back, lay Stone carefully down and tuck him in snuggly with his stuffed animal. She ran her hand over his hair and face quickly, lost in a short thought. "And I'm up the hall if you need anything, okay?" Adam added, his voice soft and quiet.

Grace nodded slowly. "Thank you," She couldn't think of anything else to say to him.

Adam only smiled. He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, not caring if she was going to fight. Strangely enough, she didn't. She didn't hug him back but she didn't push away from him. He hazarded a glance in the dark at Stone's sleeping form and smiled down at Grace. "How on Earth did something that perfect come out of you?" He asked with a grin and an arched eyebrow.

Grace narrowed her eyes and swatted at him, taking a step back. "Wasn't me who gave him the perfect-ness, that's how," She explained.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Goodnight, Grace," He said, turning and exiting the room.

"Night," Grace waited a moment after Adam left before shutting the door of the room. She turned on the TV and kept the volume on only one notch as she got changed. Afterwards, she carefully climbed into the bed, leaning her head on her elbow and bringing herself close to Stone. She didn't know what was going to happen now and that always scared her. Grace brushed her hand along Stone's hair, watching him and glancing at the TV every now and then. She wasn't sure what time she'd fallen asleep.

To say it was shocking for Grace to wake up in the morning and not have Stone sleeping in the bed next to her as he had been during the night was one of the understatements of the century. It fact as soon as her brain came out of its sleep state, she saw up straight in bed and her eyes scanned the room. She was in the process of calling his name out in the hallway when she heard noise downstairs and laughing. She recognized Adam's laughter and then the sound of Stone's giggles and she placed a hand on her forehead in an attempt to calm down.

"Throwing a party and not inviting me? Who taught you manners?" Grace directed the question to Stone as she'd entered the kitchen, voice light and joking as she poked a playfully finger into Stone's side. The boy giggled and fell against his mom, grinning up at her.

"You did mommy!" Stone told her, big toothy grin opened wide at her as he looked up at her, chin resting against her stomach in a hug. Adam watched with interest as Grace pretended to be shocked.

"I did?" She asked in a singsong tone. "What was I thinking?" She shrugged her shoulders up, shaking her head at herself as Stone giggled again. "What are you making?" She ran her hand through his messy hair and prayed that whatever it was involved coffee somewhere along the line.

"Floppy jackets," Stone replied solemnly with a resolved nod. Adam pressed his teeth to his bottom lip to stifle a chuckle as he loaded a plate with various shaped flapjacks.

"Floppy jackets huh? What do they taste like?" Grace asked, exchanging a quick glance with Adam; a wordless hello.

"Like breakfast," Stone stated in an obvious tone. He backed away from Grace and climbed up into a chair, sitting down and swinging his legs back and forth once there.

"Homemade floppy jackets," Adam announced, placing a plate down in front of Stone and one in front of Grace. He sat down in front of his own plate after bringing over two mugs of coffee.

"What do you say, kiddo?" Grace asked pointedly when Stone immediately set about squeezing half a bottle of syrup onto his flapjacks.

Stone looked at her innocently, syrup bottle poised over the plate, still leaking the sticky goo as he looked at his mom. He blinked once and then looked at Adam.

"Thank you for my floppy jackets." He finally said. He looked back at Grace, trying to gauge if this had been what she wanted. Grace granted him a small smile and a nod; permission to commence in getting covered in syrup as he ate the breakfast food with his hands.

"You're welcome." Adam replied, cutting his own food. He chewed a forkful of them as he watched Grace sit across the table, sipping her mug of coffee and watching Stone with an amused look. "Wow," Adam smirked. Grace looked over at him questioningly. "You became all…domesticated." He pretended to be shocked, grin on his face.

Grace narrowed her eyes. "Watch it Rove, I can still inflict pain." She warned him.

Adam put his hands up in defense. "I'm merely calling it as I see it." He said innocently.

Grace glanced at Stone to assure he was still occupied. He was busy using his fingers to races through the syrup while making racecar sounds. She looked back at Adam and spoke.

"What's on your mind, Grace?" Adam asked knowingly after a sip of his coffee washed down his mouthful of food.

"Can you watch him…just for an hour, two tops?" She asked him as she nibbled at the corner of her bottom lip. Adam arched a curious eyebrow but nodded. Grace put her mug down and stood up. "Right, I'm going to change. I'll be down in a few minutes." She said. Adam and Stone both nodded and Grace walked off.

She returned, cleaned up and dressed for the day roughly twenty minutes later. Stone was still playing with his plate, syrup all over his hands, mouth and chin. Grace walked to him and leaned down to drop a kiss to the top of his head.

"Uncle Adam's going to watch you for a little while so I can run out and take care of some things, capiche?" She asked. Stone looked at her for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay mommy," He smiled and then went back to playing with the syrup and making noises.

"Take your time doing whatever you need to do," Adam told her. Grace sent him a thankful look and then left.

Another fifteen or so minutes later and Grace was knocking on the Luke's door. She stood nervously on the front porch, arms crossed over herself as she waited. She rocked back on her heels and turned her back to the door, contemplating running. And then the door opened.

"Look, Hank how many times do I have to tell you, the mail goes into that little box-," Joan cut off mid sentence. Her brow furrowed and she rubbed her eyes, no doubt thinking she was still asleep as Grace turned around to come face to face with her. "Grace?" Joan asked, a little confused.

Grace nodded. "Hey, Girardi…" She wasn't sure if Joan's anger was going to return and she was planning a quick exit if it was. "I was just coming to talk to-,"

"Luke's not here. He went to get some test results." Joan cut Grace off, stepping aside and waving for the other woman to enter the house. Grace hesitated before sauntering inside.

"Test results?" Grace asked curiously. What kind of test results? Joan nodded with a yawn, shutting the door behind Grace and then leading the way into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Joan nodded. "Test results. You want some coffee?" Joan asked as she poured herself a mug.

"Uh, sure." Grace nodded. "What kind of test results?" She asked as Joan walked two mugs to the kitchen table, signaling for Grace to sit down. Grace sat adjacent to Joan as Joan looked over her coffee mug at her long lost friend. She really didn't know at all?

"Grace," Joan sat up a little straighter, fingers tapping at her ceramic mug. She let her eyes lift to Grace's. "Do you know anything about what's been going on with Luke since you've been gone?" She asked.

"Well, just what my magazine wrote about his work," Grace replied. Her heart had started pounding. Something didn't seem right. Joan cleared her throat.

"Grace, Luke's been sick. Of and on, for a while now," Joan chose her words carefully.

"Sick how?" Grace asked, feeling a little paranoid, protective and terrified all at once as she sat bolt upright in her chair, stiff and worried. Joan opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by someone in the doorway.

"I have leukemia."

Joan and Grace both looked at him, standing in the doorway, downtrodden and trying to hide the emotion playing on his face. Joan's eyes filled up but she blinked the tears away, something Grace had never seen Joan able to do. Joan stood to her feet and crossed to Luke.

"Are they sure?" She asked, though she knew the answer. Luke simply nodded and Joan hugged him tightly. Grace just sat, stunned, in her chair, staring at Luke.

"Joan, can you…gives us some time…?" He asked his sister. Joan nodded, glancing between them quickly before leaving the room. Luke watched Grace. Grace looked at Luke, eyes filling slowly. "Grace-," He began slowly.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Grace's voice came out in a hushed down.

Luke pressed his lips together. He walked over and pulled a chair right in front of her to sit down facing her. Sitting down, he took her hands in his own. "I didn't want it to affect anything that was going on…not with Stone and us…" He looked at her apologetically. "I didn't know for sure without the results of the test," He sighed and looked down. This wasn't an easy thing for him either. He didn't want to go through it again, especially not now with Stone and Grace. He didn't like the prospect of them witnessing his fight.

"We have a lot to discuss…" Grace said slowly, voice wavering a little.

Luke nodded. "I know." He kept his eyes trained on his lap.

Slowly, as she took a deep breath, Grace reached out and touched his face. Her hands rested on his cheeks as her eyes roamed over his face. Everything about it had been locked in her memory for 6 years.

"I came here to tell you I love you." She forced the sentence out, mostly because it had been stuck inside of her for too long. Her eyes wavered again, threatening to spill over. Luke's eyes landed on and locked with Grace's. He was at a temporary loss for what to say to her. Grace leaned forward, pulling him towards her into a kiss that they both had needed for a long time.

When darkness falls upon your heart and soul/I'll be the light that shines for you/When you forget how beautiful you are/I'll be there to remind you/When you can't find your way/I'll find my way to you/When troubles come around I will come to you/I'll be your shoulder when you need someone to lean on/Be your shelter when you need someone to see you through/I'll be there to carry you/I'll be there/I'll be the rock that will be strong for you/The one that will hold on to you/When you feel that rain falling down/Where there's nobody else around/I'll be/And when you're there with no one there to hold/I'll be the arms that reach for you/And when you feel your faith is running low/I'll be there to believe in you/When all you find are lies/I'll be the truth you need/When you need someone to run to/You can run to me/ I'll be your shoulder when you need someone to lean on/Be your shelter when you need someone to see you through/I'll be there to carry you/I'll be there/I'll be the rock that will be strong for you/The one that will hold on to you/When you feel that rain falling down/Where there's nobody else around/I'll be/I'll be the sun/When your heart's filled with rain/I'll be the one/To chase the rain away/ I'll be your shoulder when you need someone to lean on/Be your shelter when you need someone to see you through/I'll be there to carry you/I'll be there/I'll be the rock that will be strong for you/The one that will hold on to you/When you feel that rain falling down/Where there's nobody else around/I'll be/I'll be

AN: Okay so it wasn't as long as I would have liked for a long awaited (maybe) return, but I'm coming off of major writer's block, major family issues, severe sleep deprivation and exhaustion so sue me. I don't expect reviews, but come and say hello if you're still reading this after all this time, will you? I've missed you all terribly. Much love as always.