Laying in bed with Annie still snuggly at her side, Grace slowly began to wake. Blinking a few times to try to adjust her eyes to the darkness she turned her head towards the clock to see just how late into the night it was. To her surprise it was almost 5 in the morning. Confused by the darkness, a flash of lighting followed by a low grumble of thunder explained it. She was torn between wanting to stay with Annie and to go find Oliver.

Annie then began to stir. "Grace," she whispered, "is it morning already?" "It is but it's still early." "Can I seep some more?" "Of course you can. Do you mind if I get up?" "No that's okay. But can Sandy stay?" "I think he'd like that. I'll come back in a little while to see if you're awake." Grace got up and repositioned the blankets so Sandy would curl up right next to Annie. The storm had turned into just a steady rain and sound along with the darkness made the house seem cozy. Grace opened the door and was met by candle light a winding trail of rose petals.

Confused but she smiled to herself as she pulled the door shut and followed the petals. They led her through the hallway, passed Oliver's office, and were leading down the stairs. There were candles on every marble step illuminating the flowery path. The petals led down this first set of stairs and across the landing to the second set of stairs which went all the way down to the foyer. There, Grace found herself surrounded by what seemed like thousands of candles, more petals, and single roses in vases all over the place. She stood taking in the scene before her until Oliver made his way into view.

"Good morning beautiful."

"Oliver what on earth?"

"Grace, yesterday made me realize how very quickly life can change. How easy it is to lose something or someone."

Grace couldn't speak. She just stood there looking at him.

"Maybe I'm crazy, but we almost lost Annie and I never want to know what it's like to almost lose you Grace." With that, he dropped to his knee before here and Grace's hand flew to her mouth. "Grace, I am so madly in love with you. I never in my life thought I would need someone the way I need you. I want to raise Annie with you. I want to fall asleep every night with you in my arms. I want to get lost in those beautiful blue eyes. I want you to be the last woman I ever kiss. I want to be the one that makes you laugh. I want to make love to you. I want to kiss away your tears when you're sad. I want to dance with you. I want to be the person that you let take care of you. I want to make babies with you. You make me the happiest I've ever been and I want to spend the rest of my life trying to do the same for you. I want to be with you forever." Grace's hand moved from her mouth to her chest. "Oliver." Oliver pulled that small velvet box from his pocket and as he cracked it open, "Grace Elizabeth Farrell, will you marry me?" She couldn't find her voice so she just nodded. Tears falling freely. Oliver pulled the ring from the box and Grace held out her hand. He slid the ring on her finger. "Oliver." She said again. He looked up at her. "Please stand up." He did as she asked and slid his hands around her waist. Still in tears she very hoarsely whispered, "I love you." And with that his lips were on hers. Their mouths were immediately open and their tongues danced together in the most passionate kiss they had shared. Any opportunity she got, Grace whispered "I love you" into his mouth.

After several minutes they pulled away from each other only slightly. Tears still fell from Grace's eyes. "I'm not doing a very good job of sticking to me word of kissing your tears away," Oliver said as tried to dry them with his thumbs. Grace softly laughed. "You said you wanted to kiss my tears away when I'm sad. I'm not sad," she pointed out.

Mrs. Greer and Mrs. Pugh stood off in the distance happily watching the scene unfold. For as long as both of them could remember, Oliver Warbucks had a heart of stone and an unpredictable temper. He was always a fair employer and they were always taken care of, but it wasn't until Grace Farrell was added to his staff that they realized that behind the stone, he had a very big heart. Smiling to themselves, the two women couldn't be happier about what they saw.

"Grace, it's still early. Let's go back upstairs for a while."

"What about all these candles?"

"I'm sure Mrs. Greer and Mrs. Pugh wouldn't mind talking care of them," he said with a wink and a slightly louder voice.

The two woman sheepishly appeared and Grace raised an eyebrow at them.

"Go on. You two go up stairs. We will take care of everything down here."

"Oh and congratulations!!!"

Grace smiled as Oliver wrapped his arms around her and led her to the stairs. The storm had picked back up and they walked quietly to Annie's room to check on her. As they peeked past the door, Sandy's head rose up. Grace brought her finger to her lips as if to quiet the dog and he looked at her only briefly before nuzzling his head back down into the blankets. Annie slept soundly. They shut the door and Oliver took Grace's hand to lead her towards the office. She pulled slightly to try to redirect him towards the bedrooms.

"Grace?"

She took a few steps backwards and pulled at his hand until he moved into her. "Please Oliver." He only looked into her eyes. "I want to be with you," she whispered.

"Grace we can't." He protested.

"Yes we can."

"Well we shouldn't then."

"Why not?"

"We should wait. Until the wedding. Until you're ready."

"I am ready. I want to be with you. Unless you don't..."

"Oh Grace. I want nothing more in the world, but I'm afraid once we start, I won't be able to stop."

"I don't want you to stop. I need to know what it feels like to be with you. I need you to make love to me, Oliver."