Chapter 32

"Don't you see?" Grace's voice had gone softer, pressing her hand against Mark's chest. "He wants you to do this. He wants you to end it quickly so he doesn't feel any pain. He deserves something worse than that, Mark." She slowly turned her head to face her father, amber eyes glistening with angry tears. "Take him out of here, take him back to the grounds where he killed your parents, and finish him." Her tone had an edge to it, a sadistic one, seeing the fear come over her father's eyes. "He wants the easy way out. That's not good enough. You and Glen make sure he feels every single ounce of pain for everything he's done to you. If you want to kill him, then do it the hard way. Don't give into what he wants."

"Ah...Grace, that's just it. While we might be monsters in our own right, we are not cold blooded killers." Mark said softly, staring down at her intently. "Not to mention how odd it would look for us to drag him from here in his current condition."

Glen sighed, finally just stepping away, his hands raised. "I'm done. I wash my hands of you Paul." He said flatly. "I know for certain our mother would have too, you would make her sick if she could see you now."

That destroyed him.

She sniffled softly and nodded, hugging him tightly around the neck before walking over to stare down at her father's eyes. "I never want to see you again. You are no longer apart of my life. When I have the child that's growing inside of me right now, I'm telling them their grandfather is dead because that's what you are to me. Dead. I hope you burn in hell for what you've done, Paul, and I know Anna is smiling down on us right now, knowing her and Marcus's death has been rectified." Grace then walked away from him, ignoring his cries for her to come back, and proceeded to run down the hospital corridor, needing to get out of there.

Mark stood there for a minute, trying to understand just what she had said that had made him freeze, then it registered, his eyes widening. He felt Glen clasp his shoulder. "Did she-"

"Yes. Come on, let's go find her before she breaks down somewhere."

Paul cringed when they both loomed over him.

"You even try to CALL her, a LETTER...and we'll hunt you down."

"And take her advice on making your death painful."

The outside air hit her wet face as Grace kept running, hissing when she got a sharp pain in her side, and knew she had to slow down. She was only about a month along, according to the doctor she'd seen. Apparently the first time her and Mark had sex is when the baby was conceived. Talk about having perfect aim. Grace sighed as she leaned against the rental car and buried her face in her hands, everything crashing down around her. Anna...her father had murdered the woman he supposedly loved because he couldn't have her. Grace couldn't take it and bent over in the grass, a mixture of what happened and morning sickness overwhelming her, vomiting violently.

He wasn't surprised to find her puking. Glen and Mark slowed their stride, neither too keen on being that close to her at the moment. Sighing, he waited until she had finished before moving to stand in front of her.

"How long have you known and how far along are you?" He asked softly, hearing Glen shuffling behind uncomfortably.

"Two weeks..." She whispered, taking the water Mark handed her and took a swig to rinse her mouth out, spitting, and handed it back to him. "A month." Grace leaned against the rental, not able to look at him, and pressed a hand to her flat stomach. "I-I didn't want you finding out this way..." At first, Grace had scheduled an abortion, but then she decided to see what Mark thought. She was going to tell him, but never found the right time. Not only did fear stop her, but her and Mark just got together, reconciled, and now there was already a baby in the picture? She trembled and bit her bottom lip, not even stopping the tears that cascaded down her pale face. "I'm sorry..."

Coughing, Glen excused himself, slipping inside the car. This wasn't something they really needed him present for, he thought, slipping his mask back on.

Mark stared down at Grace intently, his eyes boring into hers. "You should have told me the minute you knew." He said gravely, thinking there had been plenty of time for her to tell him. Sighing, he placed a hand on her still flat stomach. "What do you want to do, Grace?" He asked softly.

"I was waiting for the right time..." She whispered painfully, her heart thundering against her chest, pressing her hand over his sniffling. "I-I don't know what I want to do, Mark...this is incredibly fast." She swallowed hard, feeling his forehead press against hers, knowing she would give up the child if he didn't want it. She would give her own life for him and she knew he would do the same thing. "I'll do whatever you want. I already have the abortion scheduled, but I wanted to talk to you about it first." She said, voice cracking.

Mark's heart plummeted to his knees and then the shards slipped to his ankles, masking the pain he felt at those words. His green eyes giving nothing away, his face a perfectly schooled mask of nothingness. "You already have an abortion scheduled." He repeated flatly. "Is that what YOU want, Grace? Don't think about me, think about yourself. What do YOU want?"

"No, this is about us, Mark!" She shouted at him, knowing her hormones were off the charts right now. "I'm not making this decision by myself! I want the baby, I want it more than anything! Why wouldn't I want to have your baby? But I want to know what YOU want." She couldn't believe how much she was trembling and not able to control what was coming out of her mouth. "God I'm sorry...what's wrong with me?" She started crying, burying her face in her hands. Grace wasn't the type of person to lose her temper, ever, with anyone. She let her actions speak for her usually.

"Off-hand, I'd say your estrogen levels." He replied mildly, not bothered in the slightest that she had just irrationally flew off the handle at him, knowing if he didn't get used to it now, the next eight months were going to be Hell on earth. "Grace..." Mark gently pulled her hands from her face, staring down at her. "Gracie, look at me, darlin'."

She sniffled and slowly looked up into his green eyes, leaning back against the rental car, and felt him take her hands in his. She didn't say a word, seeing the conflicting emotion rush across his features, and had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. This scared her, these hormones. Grace had been reading about it in a book she'd purchased at Barnes and Noble, her OBGYN had recommended it.

Mark smiled gently at her, watching her breathe with an almost amused glint in his eyes. "Grace, I don't want you to have an abortion. I would NEVER want you to destroy something WE created." He gently caressed her stomach, his fingers splaying against it. "Now calm down."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck when she did, her tears subsiding, and smiled when he enveloped her in that strong, secure embrace. "Trish knew." She whispered, slowly pulling back, and bit her bottom lip. "I had to tell someone when I found out because I completely freaked out. She was the one who convinced me to talk to you about it first before I made any decisions. I was just so scared and she was there..." She seen his eyes shine warmly down at her and cleared her throat. "That...that's probably why she went off on you the way she did..."

He groaned at the memory, feeling down to absentmindedly rub his shin, knowing both of them were bruised. That bitch had a vicious kick on her. "That explains a lot...sure she's not pregnant too or is she always that sweet tempered?" He asked gruffly, trying not to be amused at the slight smirk on her face. "Wench."

"You should've seen when she walked in on Albert screwing Ivory, when her and Andrew were still together. The prick didn't even have the common courtesy to lock the door." She cringed at the memory, shaking her head. "I have never, in my entire life, seen a small woman go off like she did him. She actually punched him and sent him on his ass." Grace giggled at the memory because she'd been on her break walking the halls with Trish when it happened. "Steve is her perfect match because he has as much of a temper as her. I told her to go for it, to ask him out, and he ended up beating her to the punch." She thought it was the cutest thing, watching a Texan like Steve who drank beer and had a sailor mouth date a petite blonde who had his temper matched. "What did she do to you anyway?"

Mark had looked thoroughly amused up until Grace asked him what she had done, then he looked both embarrassed and disgruntled, reaching around to rub the back of his neck, clearing his throat. "You didn't hear her?" When she shook her head no, he sighed, Lord knew the rest of the hotel had. "She um...yelled at me." Which was an understatement. "To get my stupid ass in..." Grace was already grinning. "She blew up, totally spazzed on me and then decided to break my legs with her bare feet which are surprisingly hard for a woman."

Grace had completely lost it, knowing Trish had yelled at him, but to picture her friend kicking Mark in the shins...tears were streaming down her face as she laughed hard. She seen Glen had rolled down the window and his shoulders were shaking, knowing he'd probably overheard what Mark just said.

"My brother got beat up by a petite little thing. I wonder if Steve has any proof of that happening..." Glen rasped, he was laughing too hard at the moment.

"Are um...are your shins alright sweetie?" She asked innocently, though when he growled she lost it all over again.

"No, thank God, he doesn't." Mark growled, walking over to pull Glen halfway out the window, wrapping his arm around his neck and began digging his knuckles against the curly mop Glen called hair. "Jackass. Gracie, you stop laughing at me or else I'll think of creative ways to punish you that won't hurt my son or daughter."

"So I AM going to be an uncle and Marcus LET GO!"

Grace was laughing too hard to stop, finally regaining her breathing, her amber eyes twinkling with happiness again since the whole ordeal with Paul. "Okay enough you two, I'm hungry and I'm eating for two." She informed Mark, smiling when he released Glen, and slid in the passenger seat, buckling up. "I'll ice your shins if you want later when we're alone." She promised in a giggle, squeaking when he prodded her side and retaliated by pinching his arm.

"Woman, if you wish to eat, then stop."

"Could you not, at least, while I'm in the car?"

"Walking isn't crowded."

"Good idea, you enjoy that. I'll drive."

It did her heart good to watch them banter back and forth instead of trying to kill each other. Grace took Mark's hand in hers, lacing their fingers together and reached over to kiss his lips softly before rubbing her nose against his. "Pasta." She ordered with a grin, having been craving it for awhile, and winked at Glen in the rearview mirror. "By the way, brother, you still look handsome as ever." She meant it too before leaning her head back against the seat, closing her eyes.

"Yeah, tell me that when I have the mask on." He grumbled, folding his arms over his chest, his tone light and teasing. "It's the black and red stripes, isn't it?"

Mark hadn't been aware Glen possessed a sense of humor, arching an eyebrow. "You're going to have black and blue if you don't stop flirting with her." He only half joked, trying to drive though with Grace distracting him... "Pasta...okay, restaurant. Glen, you okay with that?"

"Yes."

"Oh yeah, they are definitely your colors, brother." She giggled when he squeezed her shoulder, patting his hand, never releasing Mark's. "You will never get over your jealousy issue will you?" She grinned when he raised an eyebrow and pressed his hand against her stomach, still not believing they were having a baby.

They were going to be a family, Glen included. She knew the brothers had made a reconciliation, Glen more so than Mark, and that just made her smile widen more. When they arrived at the restaurant, Grace was shocked to find Steve and Trish there, immediately guiding Mark and Glen over to join them. She sat down beside Trish, Mark on her other side, Glen and Steve in front of them.

After dinner finished and they parted ways, Glen actually stayed behind because he was taking Kellie, their waitress for the evening, out to a bar. Grace smiled as she watched Glen, leaning against the window, completely stuffed after two plates full of pasta, yawning tiredly. The baby also made her tired a lot quicker than normal. When Mark pulled into the hotel parking lot, Grace wasn't surprised when he carried her up to their room, bags in hand, and carried her inside before gently laying her down on the bed. She watched him take her shoes off, her bruise going away due to his miracle salve he gave her on their way to the hospital and unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them off before getting under the comforter.

"I love you Mark." She murmured softly, watching him undress, pure love in her amber eyes.

"I would hope so since you and Trish went out your way to make fun of me." He replied playfully, kicking his jeans aside before crawling in the bed beside her, planting a kiss on her hip before covering her up again, snuggling against her under the comforter, his hand resting on her stomach. "Still hungry?" He teased, knowing she was tired and kissed her cheek. "I can order you pasta for breakfast?"

"Shut up." She muttered with a smile, snuggling against him, sighing in contentment. "We're having a baby." She whispered and kissed him softly, pressing her forehead gently against his. "Are you happy?" When he nodded and said yes with no hesitation, Grace couldn't stop the grin from forming on her lips. "We're entwined," She said after a moment. "You and I. Our souls are entwined together. No matter what obstacles were thrown our way, we found our way back to each other." She explained softly, running her hand up and down his chest. "Entwined."

Mark couldn't have said it better himself, smiling at her and pressing his lips to hers. "Always, darlin'." He whispered, catching her hand in his and pulled their locked hands up, keeping them between their beating hearts. "Always and forever entwined."

The End.