As always, I don't own The Good Wife, or the characters. I am just borrowing them.

I hope I did not romanticize eating disorders by writing this story. I hope I stayed true to the nature of the disease that consumes your life, if only just by scraping the surface. There are many parts I wrote and then left out, because I did not want to trigger someone's disorder.

To those who wanted more Alicia/Will in this story, and more Alicia helping Grace, I tried. I really did. But every time I wrote it, it came out more like an autobiography as opposed to fiction. Alicia became my mother on the page, and it was very out of character for her. I plan to write more A/W centric stories, but this was not one of them, and for that, I apologize.

The final chapter in this story is dedicated to my Mom, sisters, and the few friends who helped me battle my own eating disorder, and the relapses, and body dismorphia. I never would have made it without them.


Grace looked at herself in mirror, as she clasped the necklace around her neck. Today was an important day. She did a final outfit check, and smiled. She loved the new dress her mom had bought for her. She went to grab her new shoes out of the closet when an old picture caught her eye. Stopping for a moment, she studied the picture. It was taken several years before, at her highschool graduation. Zack had taken the picture, and Will and her mom stood on either side of her. She had still been in recovery at that time. You could see how her bones jutted out, even under her cap and gown. How sickly she looked. She was smiling, but it looked painful, forced. Well, today would be different. She would don a cap and gown once again, but this time she was graduating from college, with a degree in Health Science. She was going to take pictures, and smile real, happy, healthy smiles. It had been a long road to get here. Yes, she had relapses, and yes she had landed herself in the hospital twice more. No, it wasn't all smooth sailing. No, she didn't just snap her fingers and magically get better. Yes, Jackie had made a few more snide, off-handed comments, causing more than a few tears. Yes, the press eventually got ahold of the story and printed it for the world to see. Yes, it took an extra year to finish college because of "health reasons". But, now she was graduating. She was going to be a nutritionist, and help people learn how to eat healthy. All because her family didn't give up on her, never stopped believing in her. Will especially. When her mom first married him, she had no idea how much he would mean to her. How he would help her, save her. Become her hero.

So, two years later when she was planning her wedding to Josh, a lawyer from Will's firm that he had introduced her to, she felt it was only right to let him know how much he was loved. He and Peter both walked her down the aisle, one on each side. When they let go, she gave Peter a quick, hug and kiss on the cheek, then turned to Will. He felt the tears well up in eyes, and pulled her into a bear hug, and whispered in her ear.

"I love you so much, Gracie. So much. I am so proud of you, baby girl."

She was so thankful for waterproof makeup.

"I love you too, Will. Here, take this. Read it, when you have time."

He looked down at what she had given him, and saw an envelope with his name on the front. He slipped it in his pocket, and pulled her in for one more hug.

He cried during the ceremony, watching her say "I do." A few tears slipped, when he watched Grace and Peter dance to "I Loved Her First". He wasn't expecting it, when the DJ announced that the bride would like to dance with her stepdad and could Will Gardner please make his way to the dance floor. He had no idea she had planned this. As he took her hand, and the song started to play, he listened to see what song she had chosen. At first, he couldn't place the familiar acoustic tune, but when the lyrics started, he started to cry. The song was "He Didn't Have To Be", by Brad Paisley, but this was a different artist, a female artist, with some of the lyrics slightly changed. After the first verse, he realized it was Grace singing and playing. He had taught her to play guitar over the years, and she had gotten quite good. He had no idea she could sing so well or how she had recorded the song, but once he figured out it was her, the tears wouldn't stop. As the final few notes of the song played, and the whole room was in tears, she whispered,
"I hope, someday, I can be half the parent, you didn't have to be. I love you."

Later that night, after seeing the happy couple off to the airport, Alicia fell asleep immediately. She had cried more than he had that day, and was emotionally and physically drained. He was too, but wasn't quite ready for bed. He sat at the kitchen table, with a glass of scotch, just thinking over the events of the day. He took off his tux jacket, and heard the rustle of paper. Searching the pockets, he found the envelope Grace gave him at the ceremony.
Opening it, he found a letter, along with a picture of the two of them sitting on the couch with their guitars. He picked up the letter and began to read.

"Dear Will,
I have gone to write this letter many times over the past seven years. Every time I start it, I can never find the right words to say what I want to say. But, I think this time, I figured it out.
Thank you. From the very bottom of my heart, and every fiber of my being, I thank you. For coming into our lives, and treating me like I was your own daughter. For noticing me enough to realize something was off. For being there with me every step of the way during my recovery from my eating disorder. For dropping everything thing, every time I needed you. For fighting my demons with me. For fighting the battles you didn't have to. For all the unconditional love and support. For making me believe I was beautiful. For going on runs, and being a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on. For celebrating my little victories, like they were big victories. For celebrating my big victories like I conquered the world. With you supporting me, I felt like dreams that once seemed impossible, could come true. And they did. I graduated highschool, and college, and by the time you read this, I got married. And you have been there for it all. None of this could have happened if you hadn't held my hand all the years so I could eat. You have kept me from completely falling apart more than once. You are, and always will be, my hero.
I love you.

Love, Grace"

When he got to the end of the letter, he cried again. He had no idea how much marrying Alicia was going to change his life all those years ago, but he was glad to have been blessed with his beautiful wife and her two awesome children. It hadn't been always been easy, but the love he had for his family was immeasurable. Being able to be there for Grace, to help her through the most hellish time of her life, taught him so much about how much everybody needs to feel loved and know they are beautiful. It changed the way he treated people everyday. And even though she said he was hero, Grace would always be his hero.


And with that, our story is concluded. If you, or someone you know has eating disorder, PLEASE get help. Eating disorders are not glamorous, they aren't fun, they are not a life style choice. They are a disease. They are hell. They are deadly. National Eating Disorder Awareness has an amazing webpage, with great resources. If you need help, please message me.
I can only hope that if you are suffering, you can get help. Do not feel ashamed or embarrassed. It is NOT YOUR FAULT you developed an eating disorder, but you can get your self on the road to recovery.

Thank you to all my readers who stuck through this until the end. You are all so amazing. Always remember you are beautiful, important, and amazing.
Stay Be-You-tiful.