"Is there any cheese?"

Grace asked as she removed the top half of the burger bun pointedly.

They were seated around the table, plates of food before them. The light was dim, the air smelled of hot food and the ever present hint of Connie's perfume, and the windows were an ink black flecked with the white of more freshly falling snow.

Connie leant back in her chair, surveying the view before her, Charlie sat opposite her, his expression light and smiling as he spoke to Rita about a particularly humerus patient that he had treated the day before.

"In the fridge, sweetheart."

She said reaching out for her glass, and Grace hopped down from her chair quickly to make her way over to the fridge.

Connie sipped her wine, swallowing it's warmth, listening quietly to the familiar chat between Rita and Charlie, feeling herself grow warmer, more relaxed as she listened to Rita's out burst of a laugh, and Charlie's gentle chuckle as he reached the punch line of his story. It was all so homely, all so much more than she could have wished for, when just a few months ago, she had come home every night to a dark, empty house that made her shiver and cry long into the night. Alone.

"This is mouldy!"

Grace exclaimed, breaking Connie's train of thought as held out a plate of blue cheese at arms length.

"Grace! It's not - "

She paused, touched her fingers to her smile before quietly excusing herself and standing up, slipping along behind Rita with just a touch to the other woman's shoulders, and to Grace who stood grimacing at the cheese with an expression that made Connie bite her lip against a laugh.

She reached up to the top shelf of the fridge and withdrew a hard block of cheddar cheese.

"Grated or sliced?"

She asked, opening the drawer next to the sink to locate either the cheese knife or the grater.

Grace paused, contemplating the question with more thought than seemed necessary.

"Sliced, please. Like daddy has."

She decided finally, and watched as Connie retrieved the knife and sliced two even slices and set them on the side for Grace to take.

"I'm not sure this is anything like what your father would have."

Connie murmured as she wrapped the cheese back up and placed it back into the fridge. She remembered very well the state of American cheese...

Grace murmured a 'thank you', and they sat back down at the table. Rita slipping a hand quickly across Connie's knee, squeezing gently and glancing at her, smiling.

"I really appreciate this, you know."

Charlie said, gesturing with his glass of water, and Connie raised her eyebrows, her forehead creasing with a frown though her lips smiled.

"It's us who should be thanking you! Having Grace for so long..."

"Oh, it was a pleasure!"

Charlie glanced to Grace who was in the process of taking an enormous bite out of her burger.

The room bristled with the unsaid, everything that could not be spoken with Grace present. Connie drew in a breath and leant back in her chair. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Grace chewing, open mouthed due to the size of her mouthful – something which she would have chastised her for before. And Rita, next to her, spearing a chip with her fork and rising it up before her, pausing with it in mid air, her lips moving, smiling, her eyes widening and narrowing as she spoke. She exhaled and glanced across at Charlie as she reached again for her glass. He was nodding, listening intently to whatever it was Rita was saying.

She sighed. And as she sighed she felt the last bit of tension fall free from her body. Grace was fine. She told herself. And as for herself, she may not have gone where she intended to go, but she had ended up where she needed to be, she had one less thing to hide...

-.-

Just another 'getting their chapter. Next will be very drunk/smutty bedtime, then on to the meeting of the parents. And yes, there will also be some awkward Connie/Dixie scenes in the near future! xxx