The following morning, Grace made her way downstairs apprehensively. She prayed that Oliver would not ask questions about their conversation the previous night. She was so incredibly embarrassed by the whole thing and frankly quite devastated by the way he'd responded to her.

The worst of it was, she still loved him desperately. Despite how much he'd upset and angered her, despite the kind of woman he clearly thought she was. He was the only man she wanted and he had rejected her in the worst possible way.

Her heart felt as though it had been ripped in two.

She drew in a deep breath before walking into his office. She was surprised to meet his eyes upon entering. Ordinarily his focus would be on work and he would acknowledge her briefly before returning to it, but this morning it seemed that he had been waiting for her arrival with anticipation.

She paused in step and blinked, feeling quite exposed under his expectant gaze. "Good morning", she murmured softly, feeling her heart hammering in her chest simply due to the intensity of his expression.

Damn it, how was she going to get through today, trying to push aside her feelings if he stared at her like that?

"Good morning, Grace", he responded in an uncharacteristically unguarded way. "How are you this morning?"

Her eyes cut to his in surprise. It wasn't a question he normally asked her. Usually after a brief greeting, it would be straight to business.

"Fine thank you", she replied warily, honestly wishing to simply carry on with work as normal.

She'd really taken a chance the previous night, had tried to be brave and tell him how she felt and what she wanted, and he had completely misconstrued what she'd said. He had really hurt her, and yet, she wouldn't get mad with him, she only wanted to press on and try to forget it had ever happened.

Oliver looked as if he was about to say something, but then changed his mind at the last second, his mouth closing again in defeat. He didn't really know what to say anyhow. He decided that if Grace wasn't going to bring it up last night's conversation again then neither would he. Still, the dialogue she'd opened between them had made him feel quite unsettled and truth be told, rather insecure.

He dropped his eyes to the paperwork in front of him, his brow furrowed deeply.

Grace took in his despondent expression and began to feel slightly bad about her coolness towards him. "How are you?" She asked him, offering him the same olive branch he'd offered her.

"Fine, I guess. A little tired. I uh, didn't sleep very well."

Grace frowned, knowing that what she had said to him and how heated it had all become had probably been the cause of his sleeplessness.

She sighed, trying to consider things from his perspective. She was an empathetic person who tried to see things from the point of view of others. When they were wed, the two of them had made an agreement, a verbal contract to remain professional, to be married without the expectation of a romantic relationship. How could he be blamed for being thrown by her suddenly wanting to change all of that? Her feelings for him were quite deeply concealed - heck, even she hadn't really realized they were there until very recently, so what would have led him to assume that when she talked about adding a romance to her life, she meant with him? As far as he knew, she didn't even think of him in that way.

It's true that she was his wife, and legally he could do what married men do with their wives, even if she didn't want to. But he didn't, he'd only ever been respectful of the boundaries they had set up, and Grace supposed she should be thankful to him for that. But then perhaps he didn't even want to, perhaps he just wasn't interested in her in that way. That was another thing Grace had to consider - but then, if that was true, why did he get so upset when he thought she wanted to have a relationship with another man?

Grace groaned internally, it wasn't even nine o'clock in the morning yet and already she had a headache.

"Have you given much thought to Annie's party?" Oliver asked, pulling her from her internal thoughts.

"Yes!" Grace replied quickly, grateful he'd chosen a neutral topic to talk about. "I know how much she loves animals so I thought I'd arrange for a couple of ponies to be brought in for her and her friends to ride."

"She'll love that", Oliver smiled softly in acknowledgement.

"Yes", Grace couldn't help but smile back. "And I thought perhaps some circus performers. She's not overly keen on clowns, but maybe some acrobats or something, or a magician for entertainment."

A small chuckle fell from Oliver's mouth. "If we're doing all these wonderful things for her now, how are we ever going to top it when it comes to her birthday?"

"It'll be her first birthday since being adopted. It's going to be special no matter what we do", Grace reminded him.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Will there be food at this party?"

Grace laughed at his question. "Yes, of course. Hot dogs and ice cream."

"And popcorn. I want popcorn", Oliver added and Grace smiled fondly at him, remembering their first night with Annie and how happy he'd been to have popcorn at the movies. She wrote it down on her list.

"I also thought about fireworks. It is the fourth of July after all."

"Yes, I think that'd be appropriate. Provided the proper safety precautions were put in place, of course."

"Absolutely", Grace agreed.

They talked through a few more ideas for the party before Grace began to telephone the various vendors and entertainers. She had to get onto it quickly as the fourth of July was less than a week away. Obviously, the amount of money she could offer them would work in her favor.

Oliver and Grace fell into an easy working rhythm, just as they usually did. The lingering feelings of disappointment and doubt following the previous evening's chat were still there, but they managed to carry on professionally and cordially.

Grace became distracted with organizing the party and they both became busy with work, which was, thankfully for them, something that never stopped.

If it hadn't been for Annie, the pair would have continued working through lunch, but their daughter had been playing outside all morning and they knew she would want to spend some time with them, and honestly they both looked forward to seeing her too.

As she rose from the desk, Grace stopped to stack the papers she'd been sorting through, wanting to return to a tidy work space. Oliver paused to wait for her. Not realizing this, when she spun around to leave the room, she came face to face with him, the two mere inches apart from one another.

Grace inhaled sharply, instantly overwhelmed by his nearness. He was so close their heaving chests were almost touching.

Despite how he'd offended her, Grace couldn't shake her feelings of love and desire for her husband. Looking into his brightly shining eyes, breathing in his masculine scent, Grace barely tampered a whimper and instead rasped, "Excuse me, please."

He was looking deep into her eyes and for a very small moment Grace wondered if he might have been craving her as much as she was him.

If he was, he wasn't ready to acknowledge it, and instead, he stepped aside as she'd asked and let her walk out of the room ahead of him.

Off the back of their intense encounter, their lunch was a somewhat strained affair.

Annie must have noticed that there was a change between her parents as well. They were unusually quiet and rigid. After cheerfully updating them on her morning's activities, the young girl glanced between her parents with a frown on her face.

"Are the two of you fighting?" She asked forlornly.

Grace and Oliver glanced at each other quickly before they both turned to Annie.

"No hunny, we're not fighting", Oliver said reassuringly.

"Actually, sweetheart, um…we're just being a little quiet because, well…I suppose you might as well know", Grace put on a fake laugh. "We're planning a special party for you for the fourth of July."

Annie's eyes lit up immediately, her entire demeanor changing in an instant.

"That's why we may appear to be being so secretive at the moment", Grace told a half truth.

"A party? For me?" Annie squealed excitedly.

"That's right", Oliver nodded, doing his best to look enthused.

"Gee! My very own party! Oh, I can't wait!"

Her exuberance was enough to bring a smile to both Grace and Oliver's faces.

Lunch became slightly less awkward and more uplifting after that, with Annie's excited chatter. Grace and Oliver's tense moment was slowly forgotten again.

When they returned to the office, Oliver strolled casually alongside Grace and said, "Well, she's certainly very excited about her party, isn't she?"

"Yes, she sure is", Grace beamed, truly very pleased over her daughter's happiness. "I've managed to secure most of the bookings already but I couldn't get hold of the acrobats. I'll try them again this evening."

"We're attending that exhibition tonight at the Brooklyn museum, remember?"

"Oh gosh, yes, I'd forgotten", Grace replied, becoming instantly flustered by her own forgetfulness and distraction.

"Remind me again, which one of us is the secretary?" Oliver teased her with a little smirk.

Grace narrowed her eyes at him in jest, before biting her lip in contemplation. "I'll have to think about what I'm going to wear."

"Mm. why don't you wear that thing you wore to the theater the other week?"

"Which "thing" was that?" She questioned him with a chuckle, trying to search her memory for the outfit he was referring to.

"You know the uh, the one with the beads across the front", he motioned to his own midriff and Grace realized which gown he was referring to. "Oh, that one." She blushed as the thought occurred to her that he'd obviously been staring at the front of her dress long enough to remember the beads.

"That was nice", he shrugged, a sort of dreamy smile coming to his face as he recalled how pretty she'd looked in it. "It was very nice, in fact."

Grace blushed harder. Oliver seemed to be in a sort of trance. She wasn't even sure if he was aware of what he was saying.

So he had noticed her and how she looked, and by the sound of his tone, he'd thought she looked rather good.

Perhaps he wasn't as oblivious to her as she might have thought. Grace was still pretty upset with her husband for the assumption he'd made about her last evening, but if there was even the slightest indication that he might in fact be interested in her, or feel attraction to her, she couldn't help but feel hopeful about that.

The two of them continued working for a little while longer before they went and had a walk around the grounds with Annie, who was very happy to have their company for a little while before her parents had to go out. Annie would miss them very much, of course, but she was equally as happy to spend the evening with the staff who were all like extended family to her.

At a quarter to six, Grace and Oliver met downstairs, both ready to go out. They each gave Annie a hug and a kiss goodnight before making their way out to the car.

After his comment about her dress from earlier, Grace couldn't help but notice every time Oliver's eyes drifted over her. She found it both amusing and frustrating that he averted his gaze every time she caught him staring.

They rode to the Brooklyn Museum in the back of the Duesenberg and Oliver took Grace's hand as she exited the vehicle. She looped her arm through his and they joined the crowd of people shuffling inside the building.

Once inside the gallery, Oliver picked two glasses of champagne off of a tray and handed one to Grace. Oliver quipped, "I'm going to need this."

"Is the art not to your taste?" Grace murmured in his ear.

"It's not the art, it's the people", Oliver grimaced and Grace bit back a laugh.

Of course, everybody there knew who they were, and everybody wanted to speak with them that night it seemed. The dowager Mrs. Appleby, who never missed an event like this, was a very kind and friendly old woman but one who could spend an entire evening completely talking about herself. Grace and Oliver found themselves at the receiving end of a long update about all fourteen of her grandchildren...

"...And bonny little Martha has just had her first birthday", Mrs. Appleby beamed, finally reaching the end of the list. Oliver and Grace silently thanked the Lord that there was a pause in conversation where they might be able to excuse themselves, but then the elderly woman asked them a question which stopped them in their tracks.

"And what of the two of you, hmm? You've been married nearly six months, have you not? I daresay we can expect to hear the joyous news that there's a child of your own on the way in the very near future?" She grinned toothily at them.

Neither Grace nor Oliver knew how to respond to her. They both froze and took a glance at one another, each of them silently asking the other for help.

"Ah", Oliver chuckled nervously. "Dear Mrs. Appleby. As wonderful as that would be, I'm afraid I'm a little advanced in years to be Fathering a child, let alone trying to keep up with it."

Grace laughed along with him, although she felt absolutely inexplicably crushed by his words. It wasn't as if having a child was ever part of their deal, and until this very moment, Grace had not even considered it. Was it simply because he was completely ruling it out that had her feeling so devastated?

"But of course, we already have our delightful daughter Annie", Oliver went on to say to Mrs. Appleby and the woman nodded her head. "Oh of course, and what a wonderful thing you've done for that dear girl, taking her in like that."

"Having her has been just as wonderful for us", Grace told the older woman, blinking away tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. What was wrong with her? Why had she suddenly become so emotional about not being able to have a child that she'd never even considered having in the first place?

Oliver looked at her with concern on his face. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her becoming distressed.

"Will you both excuse me, please? I need to find the powder room", Grace smiled shakily and politely wished Mrs. Appleby a pleasant evening before walking away swiftly to find the restroom.

She barrelled in through the stall of the thankfully, empty bathroom and locked the door, sitting down quickly, her spiraling thoughts making her feel rather dizzy.

What had made her become so heartsick by the thought of not having a baby of her own? Was it purely a biological reaction? A feeling of inadequacy over not being able to do the very thing that women were specifically designed for?

Or was she just sad that she would never have the chance to create a person in her likeness. A little version of herself who might have all of her best attributes, who would carry her blood and her life force.

She had made a promise to herself when she'd accepted Oliver's proposal of marriage, that she wasn't going to be swayed by these kinds of thoughts or fantasies. She had told herself that to have Annie as her child would be more than enough for her. So, why did she suddenly feel differently?

It was because of him, she realized. It wasn't just that she wanted to have a child of her own. She wanted to have his child.

The implication of what that meant made her cheeks become warm. She couldn't deny that when she'd sat next to him in that movie theater watching those racy scenes that she hadn't thought about being cherished in the same way as the woman on the screen. That she hadn't glanced across at him and wondered if he might be able to elicit the same response that the male character was able to evoke from his female counterpart.

It wasn't just the act of making love to him that she was having fantasies about however. It was the idea of holding a sweet, precious baby in her arms. A little one who had Oliver's eyes and cheeky personality. God help them though if the child had their Father's temper!

Grace grinned softly to herself, but it vanished as quickly as it came as her heart completely sank. What was she thinking? How could she allow her mind to drift to such ridiculous thoughts?

She and Oliver would never have a kid together. She and Oliver were unlikely to ever even sleep together. Hell, they couldn't even have a conversation about the idea of there being intimacy between them.

He'd assumed something completely different from what she had been trying to communicate to him the night before, and she didn't know how to come back from that. How to tell him that it was him who she wanted, who she needed, who she loved. And anyway, he had shut her down. He'd made it quite clear that this marriage was nothing more than a business arrangement to him, and that's all he ever intended for it to be. What would be the point in telling him of her own feelings, just to be rejected? It would only make things more awkward between them, and more difficult to stay together for Annie's sake.

Instead, she knew she had to find a way to push through. She still admired and greatly respected her husband, and she loved her daughter, and that was the way she knew she ought to feel. Now, and forever.

She dabbed her eyes with some toilet tissue and schooled her features before leaving the stall With a newfound resolve, she moved to exit the restroom and re-join the crowd. She opened the door and gasped in shock when she unexpectedly came face to face with her husband.

"Oliver…What are you doing here?" She panted in surprise.

"You seemed upset. I came to see that you're alright", he said. There was concern written all over his face.

Grace blinked, becoming overwhelmed with emotion all over again. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Of course I worry about you, you're my wife", he told her seriously.

She swallowed a thick lump in her throat. "As you said last night, we're only married on paper."

Her words left him mystified. She seemed so on edge around him lately and he had absolutely no idea why. He'd been as respectful of her as he could possibly be. He'd made a conscious effort to make her feel more appreciated at work, he'd begun spending more time with her and Annie, making every effort to emulate the feeling of family for them both, even if theirs was an unconventional one. Hell, he'd even agreed for her to find whatever happiness he knew she could not find with him and Annie, someplace else, with someone else. He felt he was being as accommodating and understanding as he could possibly be, but somehow, he was only making things worse for her.

"Grace, will you please tell me what it is I've done to make you feel this way?" He asked her in desperation.

Grace stared at him a moment, then shook her head as she swallowed back more tears. "Nothing. You've done nothing."

As she squeezed past him and he watched her walk away, Oliver began to wonder if perhaps that was the entire root of the problem.