Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next installment. This is the only chapter that kept me from labeling this story as "Family/Humor." (I'm really sorry about this chapter.) Well, enjoy!
Chapter 3 – Grace
She sits alone in the office, trying in vain to finish reading over the latest script revisions from their show. She sighs, tossing the script down on the desk, knowing her efforts are fruitless today.
Looking out the window at the pouring rain and hearing the wind howl, she shivers, wrapping her black sweater around her tighter. She feels the cold all the way down to her bones, and this house…this house that was always so warm with love and happiness…no longer warms her up. Instead it is now a dark empty shell of the place it once was.
CC shakes her head, willing the thoughts away. She didn't cry when the police arrived at the house and said there had been an accident. She didn't cry when Maxwell and Niles returned from the hospital and announced that Sara had died. She didn't cry as she planned her best friend's funeral while Maxwell was holed up in his room and Niles took care of the confused, devastated children. She didn't cry earlier as she watched the casket being lowered into the ground. So she sure as hell wasn't going to cry now, alone in the office, taking care of business as usual so that Maxwell could grieve in peace.
She clenches her teeth as her hands shake, trying to fight back the tears. She needs a drink. That'll calm her down.
CC turns the lights off in the office, knowing that getting any actual work done tonight is a lost cause, and she then makes her way into the living room. She nearly sighs in relief that the bar is still fully stocked, and she pours herself a generous glass of whiskey. Just as she is about to take her first sip, footsteps on the stairwell startle her. She debates rushing back into the office, knowing if it's Maxwell or one of the children, she'll be completely at a loss for what to do or say.
She is relieved when she realizes it is only Niles, however, he is not alone. In his arms is the youngest Sheffield, still sniffling from the probable crying she had done upon waking up.
"Shhh, shh, Miss Grace. We don't want to wake up your sister and brother, do we?" Niles asks in soothing tones.
"Want…Mama," the toddler cries, her chubby little fingers rubbing tiredly at her eyes.
CC's heart sinks as she watches the butler take a seat on the sofa, cradling the little girl in his arms.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Grace. I'm so sorry," he says over and over again, and CC can tell he is almost at the point of losing it.
She puts the untouched glass of whiskey back down on the bar, and the clatter of the glass on the marble surface startles Niles.
"Oh, Miss Babcock, I didn't realize you were still here," he says tiredly and without any trace of the usual hostility he reserves for her in his voice. The two have come to an unspoken agreement to be civil to one another since Sara's death. CC cannot tell if she is thankful (she doesn't really have the energy to fight anyway) or if she misses exchanging barbs with her archenemy.
"Do you want me to-" she clears her throat, her voice suddenly hoarse, "Do you want me to go get Maxwell?"
Niles closes his eyes and shakes his head slowly.
"You've already tried Maxwell?" She guesses.
He nods. "He didn't answer."
CC isn't surprised. Maxwell hadn't left his room since returning from the hospital and telling the children of Sara's death, only coming out for the funeral and burial.
She clears her throat again, "Well, I guess I should-"
"Mama?" Grace lifts her head from Niles' arms at the sound of a woman's voice.
CC freezes.
"Mama?" Her voice is more desperate and Grace begins fighting Niles' arms, trying to turn around to follow the voice.
"Niles?" CC asks, a slight panic in her voice.
Niles tries to calm the child, doing his best to rock her back to sleep, but it is no use.
"Mama? Mama?! MAMA?" Grace wails, finally freeing herself from Niles grip and turning around to locate the voice.
CC thinks for sure that once Grace turns around, she'll realize it's not her mother. CC and Sara look…looked nothing alike, aside from both having blonde hair. The room is nearly dark though, with the chandelier on its dimmest setting, and Grace is young enough and delirious enough with exhaustion to believe anything.
"MAMA? Want….Mama," Grace's cries get louder and louder and her arms reach out for CC to take her.
"Niles, I don't know what to do. I'm not…I can't…" CC's voice nearly breaks as she trails off.
Niles nods, tears forming in his eyes.
"Just go, Miss Babcock. She'll fall asleep eventually."
CC turns to gather her things, when a piercing shriek echoes throughout the room.
"NO! Don't…go….want…Mama," Grace gets out in between sobs.
Before she realizes what she's doing, CC quickly makes it back to the couch. She scoops Grace up in her arms and sits back down next to Niles, rocking the girl while holding her tightly.
"Miss Babcock, you don't have to—" Niles starts, shocked at her actions.
"Shhh, Grace. It's okay, it's okay," She says, ignoring Niles as she rubs the little girl's back comfortingly.
Eventually, the rocking and CC's voice calm Grace down, and when CC feels the arms around her neck loosen, she realizes the child has fallen asleep.
"Niles?" She whispers, startling him from the trance he has been in since she took the child from his arms.
"Hmm? Oh, I will take her up to her room," He holds out his arms to receive the little girl, but CC shakes her head.
"I don't want to wake her up. Just show me where her room is, please."
Niles nods, and leads her up the stairs into the nursery. CC places the toddler into her crib, gently tucks her in, and strokes the light brown hair off the child's face before turning and leaving the room.
Niles follows her back down the stairs and watches as she walks back to the bar, immediately picking up the forgotten glass of whiskey, giving her hands something to do.
"Miss Babcock, I don't know how to thank you for what you did tonight. Miss Grace has done that every night since, and I think that's the first time she has truly fallen completely asleep."
CC nods, still not turning around. Niles notices her arms have not moved; she is still gripping the glass in her hands, not drinking.
"Miss Babcock?" He walks over to where she stands and places a hand on her shoulder.
She turns around, her eyes filled with tears and her hands trembling.
"She's gone, Niles. She's really gone."
Niles takes the drink from her hands, places it back on the bar, and envelops her in his arms as her knees give out, and CC finally breaks down. For a few minutes, she doesn't register that she is in the arms of a man whom she is supposed to hate. She simply clutches the lapels of his jacket, buries her face in his shoulder, and cries for all she is worth.
When she is all cried out, CC disentangles herself from his arms, tucking her hair behind her ears self-consciously.
"I'm sorry, Niles. I don't know what came over me."
"Mrs. Sheffield was your friend," Niles says.
"She was my best friend," CC nods, wiping the remnant tears from her eyes, "I should go. Thanks, Niles…for everything."
"You're welcome, Miss Babcock." He gives her a genuine smile as he sinks back down onto the couch, the exhaustion from the day hitting him.
She gathers her things and heads for the door, pausing as she turns the nob.
"Hey, Niles?"
Surprised, he turns his head around from his spot on the sofa, "Yes?"
"Does Grace really do that every night?" She asks.
"Yes, why?" He looks at her confusedly.
"Just wondering," She mutters as she exits the Sheffield mansion.
Niles shrugs, not thinking anything of it, as he gets up to lock the house up for the night.
The next day, when Niles answers the door, CC is standing there with a large suitcase in each hand.
"What are you doing?" Niles asks.
CC shrugs, "Look you said the kid was having a hard time and I got her to go to sleep so I'm just gonna stay here for a little to help with her and the other kids if they need it. I don't know…don't make a big deal about it or anything."
"Wasn't going to," Niles moves out of her way so she can get by and watches as she lugs the suitcases up the stairs.
He shakes his head, chuckling to himself as he gets back to his work, feeling for the first time in a week that they will all be okay.