Okay, after a long break, I am back! Please, please, hold your applause. You know the deal, I don't own Once and Again, Julia Whelan, Shane West, nope, none of it's mine.
I want to thank the reviewers for the last chapter, I was the most uncertain about it, but you guys really helped me to see it was good.
Marianne-Thanks, and I kinda threw that in as a twist. It's my world right?
Ry-ry-Thank you. Let's just say you guessed it right, eventually, and I'm agreeing with you on the Shane West bit.
Jake- Thanks, I've just always wrote in script format, it get to be a bit more stuctured. And I like the way you think, the story having to be more interesting and a little twisted.
Jen- Thanks a lot. And I'm glad you're thinking about the future of the story. It means it might actually be okay.
EGFAN74- Glad you're thinking about who it might have been. Thanks.
Cara-Wow! You saw right into the entire basis for my story, and sort of predicted part of my next chapter. Thanks a lot.
Anyway, on with the story…
What, you thought I wouldn't make you wait a little more?
ELI: Um, Mom, what are you doing here? (He and Grace had jumped apart quickly, all futile, as the anger in Karen's eyes is replaced by confusion, embarassment, and, was that happiness?)
GRACE: Karen, um, hi. We were just-I was just-I was just going to crawl in a hole. (She sits on the bed. Karen only notices now that she is wearing an old rock band t-shirt, obviously Eli's, and Eli is only in a pair of sweatpants. She is not usually a suspicous person, but it didn't take a top lawyer to figure out what was going on.)
KAREN: Eli, I came to get your lazy butt out of bed. But it seems Grace beat me to it. (Karen smirks at Grace, who blushes deeply, and Eli lightly laughs at his mother's unusually coy statement.) I told Rick I'd come straight in here, he was in a hurry. Lily is already gone. She took Zoe with her. So, if you don't want Jessie in on, whatever this is, I suggest being out of bed in-(Jessie steps into the kitchen, her feet echoing on the linoleum. She calls for Eli.)
JESSIE: ( Off shot.) Eli!
GRACE: I want her to know. (She calmly walks out of the room before Eli could protest. He turns to his mother.)
ELI: Did you need something?
KAREN: You're just going to let her tell Jessie?
ELI: We have nothing to hide. So…
KAREN: Yeah, I saw the news. I want to talk about representing her case.
ELI: Why did you come to me?
KAREN: To find out any details I need to know before I ask her if she wants me to represent her. It's not the kind of lawyer I am, but this is wrong. This is my family.
ELI: Family. God. (He didn't realize he said it out loud. Grace came back into the room, and they heard a door close upstairs. Jessie was probably calling Katie. Karen looked at Grace, seeing a vulnerability in Grace's eyes she probably wasn't used to.)
KAREN: Grace. I was just telling Eli. I need to know everything. This is going to get nasty, and I want to represent your case.
GRACE: Everything? (Suddenly the world closed in around her. She ran to Eli's bathroom and threw up, barely making it to the toilet. Karen became concerned, and as she and Eli helped Grace rinse her face and mouth, she felt of Grace's forehead.
KAREN: You're not running a fever, your eyes look relatively clear. What's the matter? (Grace panicked.)
GRACE: It's just, a lot to process.
KAREN: Mm-hmm. (She looks at Eli.)
B/W: KAREN: It's so painfully clear that she's in pain. And I get that she needs someone, but Eli? He's as confused as she is. I just wonder if they're setting themselves out to fall. I try really hard to want what's best for everyone, but part of me knows that they see each other a different way. It was obvious when I first knew Grace. She saw something in Eli, that no one else saw. And it made him feel like he was worth it. But, seeing so much into a person's soul can cause a lot of damage. I know. (She looks down into her hands, at her left hand, where there is no ring. It's obvious that Karen still sees that ring, though.
ELI: Mom, can we do this later? (He is trying to be supportive of both of them, but it's hard.)
KAREN: No, Grace, I think I know what's going on, but I need you to tell me. No notes, no tape recorder, I need to know. (She puts her hand on Grace's arm, and she saw staring back at her a Grace that everyone thought had long since disappeared, a fearful Grace.)
GRACE: I think I may be pregnant.