They were halfway through the park when Grace slowed down her steps and waited for Lillian and Carson to come closer before she addressed her friend with a wide smile:
"Carson, you'll never guess who contacted us by letter!", at his curious look Grace's smile grew "Charlotte and Millie!"
Carson raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Wow, that's a blast from the past!", he commented, his lips curling up in a smile "How are they?"
Grace fell into a step with her friend, her palm still resting in the crook of Lucas' arm.
"They are doing great. In fact, Millie is studying to become a social worker and Charlotte just got a job as a teacher in Capitol City for a year. She will be replacing a woman who is on her pregnancy leave" explained Grace and continued "However, they don't want to be far away from each other so Millie is coming with her. She will continue her studies in Capitol City. They asked us if we could help them find the lodgings", with those words Grace glanced at Lillian with a happy smile on her face.
Lillian's lips curled up as she took over the story.
"So, we invited them to live with us. They could help me at the orphanage once Grace moves out after the wedding", she said.
Grace's facial expression turned serious as she looked at Lillian.
"I will still come over to work, Lillian", she said and her sister's eyes softened.
"I know, Gracie. But, you won't be there all the time. What if something happens during the night?", Lillian smiled softly "You can't be at two places at the same time. And this way Charlotte and Millie will save the money they would spend on the rent."
Lucas smiled softly.
"I think that's a wonderful idea", he said and his eyes shone with warmth as Grace looked up at him with a smile on her face "Those are two sisters who were with you in Hope Valley once, right? The ones you helped to stay together even though that new director of the orphanage was against it?"
Grace nodded, her smile thoughtful while Lillian pressed her lips tightly together and looking down, she put her gloved palms in the pockets of her coat and spoke quietly:
"It was like reliving our own separation again", she swallowed hard "We couldn't let her do it."
Carson slightly creased his eyebrows as he remembered those days.
"Luckily, Millie started to talk", he said, his smile curling up a bit "And now she is studying to become a social worker you say?"
Grace nodded.
"Yeah. She says she wants to help children who lost their parents the way she and Charlotte did", she held more tightly on Lucas' arm and he slowly let go of her hand, only to wrap his arm around her waist and he pulled her slowly to his side.
You are not alone anymore.
And you'll never be alone again.
He watched as his lovely Grace looked up at him, her eyes warm, a small smile on her lips.
I love you.
She smiled as their eyes communicated, without a word uttered.
"So, we called them and they accepted our proposition", Lillian's voice was heard and as all three of them glanced at her, she continued with a happy smile on her face "So, now Gracie will have bridesmaids as well!"
Grace smiled, her heart thumping loudly from happiness. She giggled as she snuggled even more into Lucas' side.
"They were ecstatic when they heard that Henry will also be at our wedding", she said warmly "They are looking so much forward to see him."
Lucas gently squeezed Grace's waist and placed a soft kiss on her hair as they kept on walking.
Carson glanced at the two of them, his forehead slightly creased in confusion.
"Speaking of the wedding…weren't you two supposed to have a food tasting with Gustave yesterday?", he watched as Grace grimaced, Lucas shook his head while exhaling in frustration and as Carson turned to look at Lillian, he saw her rolling her eyes full force. Carson let out a small chuckle and asked "Alright, what did I miss?"
Lucas took a deep breath in.
"Gustave had a fit saying that he needs more time to make food samples and…", he creased his eyebrows, his eyes sparkling with mirth as he glanced at Grace "How did he say again?"
Grace grinned, only to clear her throat and frowning in an imitation of Gustave, she started to ramble with a thick French accent:
"You can't be serious! What am I, a machine?! There is so much to do!", she made a show out of throwing her hands up in the air and slamming them down in frustration as she huffed out "But, of course you do not understand that, mon frére! I would get three Michelin's stars way easier than I could explain the importance of cuisine to you, Lucas!"
By now, Lillian, Lucas and Carson laughed like crazy at Grace's imitation of Gustave. Lucas wiped tears of laughter and his heart soared at hearing Grace's crystal laughter.
You are one of a kind, Grace Bennett.
And I love you so much.
—--
Before they left the park Carson surprised them all by pulling out the camera and taking a few photos. They even stopped a man and asked him to make a few photos of the four of them.
As they continued toward the exit of the park Lucas glanced at his friend.
"I completely forgot that you love photography. If you weren't our best man, I would hire you as our photographer", as Carson chuckled, putting his camera away Lucas addressed Grace and Lillian "He made amazing photos at Clara's and Jesse's wedding."
Carson raised his eyebrows, his smirk widening.
"Oh, I don't think your Mother would like to have an amateur photographer for her son's wedding!", quipped Carson, causing all of them to laugh "When are your parents coming, Lucas?"
Lucas smiled as he inhaled deeply.
"At the beginning of February", he glanced at his fiancée with an adoring smile "Right after Grace hosts that dinner."
Grace smirked mischievously and Carson grinned, recognizing all too well a look on his good friend's face.
"Oh, I can tell that it is going to be an interesting dinner already!", he quipped.
Grace stifled her laughter, blinking fast as a damsel in distress.
"What gave me away?", she deadpanned, sending all of them into a new round of laughter.
—--
After learning that Carson likes photography Grace and Lillian showed him the art galleries in Capitol City. Some of them even had photo exhibitions with photographers attending the opening nights. Because it was Sunday, they were closed, but he took a note to visit them someday.
As they walked around Capitol City, Carson felt such peace as his friends took such good care of keeping him occupied. He knew why they were doing this and he was grateful and moved by their good hearts beyond words.
Amber came to his mind occasionally today, but not as a painful ache, but as a loving memory. He will always cherish a time they spent together, but instead of letting the sadness of losing her affect his life in a bad way, he decided that he won't settle for anything less than what he had from her.
Love.
A true, real, abiding love.
And that meant that the next time Faith calls him he will tell her to stop. Lucas was right - he has to close that chapter of his life once and for all so he could move on.
Enough was enough.
He got so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice that they arrived in front of the restaurant and that Grace and Lucas had already entered.
It was a soft, gentle touch of a gloved palm on his forearm that snapped him out of his mood. He looked up and saw Lillian watching him with concern.
"Hey", she said quietly "Are you okay?"
He smiled sadly.
"Yeah. Just thinking", he swallowed hard before adding quietly "Thank you."
Lillian gently squeezed his forearm and gave him a thoughtful smile.
"Come on. Let's make sure those two behave properly", she quipped.
Carson chuckled and nodded. As he opened the doors of the restaurant for her, they both went inside.
—--
Lillian took her napkin, rolled it into a ball and threw it at Lucas, pretending to be mad. He made a show out of ducking his head and defending himself with his hands from her little air-bomb.
"Oh, come on!", laughed Lillian "Somebody would think that I threw a nuclear bomb on you!"
Lucas smirked as he took his glass of wine.
"Which would result in you going to the Court and ending up in jail for killing the high Government official!", quipped Lucas, earning himself a death glare from his soon-to-be sister-in-law.
Carson laughed as he looked at Lucas and asked:
"Wait, you really made Lillian think that Prime Minister is coming to the orphanage to see how are they working?!", as Lucas simply smirked and took a sip of his wine, Carson glanced at Grace, chuckling in disbelief "And you didn't tell her that it is just a prank?!"
Grace nearly doubled over from giggling like mad and it was all confirmation that Carson needed.
"You two are horrible!", exclaimed Carson, laughing in disbelief.
Lucas nearly choked on his wine from laughter as Grace put her arms on the table and slammed her head on her forearms, laughing like there is no tomorrow. He started to laugh too and pretty soon they were both in absolute hysterics!
Carson shook his head and Lillian huffed out a breath as she glanced at him.
"See what I have to put up with?", as the laughter only increased, she chuckled at her silly sister's and Lucas' antics before quipping "The morons had me worked up until six in the afternoon when Grace finally couldn't hold back anymore and begun to laugh like an idiot", shaking her head she added "And that was AFTER I cleaned up every little corner and was pissed off what's taking him so long to get there."
Carson raised his eyebrows as he chuckled, while Grace picked up her head and taking a few breaths in to calm down, she squeaked out, her eyes widening:
"Grace, call Lucas, ask him what is taking that dumbass so long to get here!", she spoke in an annoying tone of voice, imitating Lillian, and then rolled her eyes full force as she added "I don't care if they are discussing another planet!! Tell Lucas to bring the moron over or I will personally storm in his office and interrupt their oh so important meeting!", by now, Grace's words were barely coherent as giggles bubbled up back again and Lucas was crying from laughter beside her.
Lillian tried to keep a serious, furious facial expression, but just seeing her baby sister so happy and carefree made it mission impossible.
She took her fork and digged in her meal, muttering:
"You two are lucky that I love you. Otherwise, I would kill both of you", as she said those words Lillian took a bite of her food and Grace got up from her chair, hurrying to her sister. Stopping behind Lillian, she leaned down and hugged her from behind. Lillian chuckled warmly and held Grace's forearm as they swayed in a silly little sisters' dance before Grace kissed her hair.
—--
Is this as good as it's gonna get
I've given all I can give
But the rivers still get wider, wider.
I'm lost on the road alone,
Familiar and yet unknown,
Remember when this was on.
This could be a home if we try to build it,
This could be a life that's one in the million,
All the hard times they've gotta be worth it,
Time and time and time again.
Is this the life that I used to know,
A life I can call my own,
And we're holding on when I should just let go.
We've been here all along,
Through the valleys we carry on,
The journey takes us higher, higher.
This could be a home if we try to build it,
This could be a life that's one in the million,
All the hard times yeah they were worth it
Time and time and time again
Time and time and time again.
This could be a home if we try to build it,
This could be a life that's one in the million,
All the hard times yeah they were worth it
Time and
Time and time and time again.
This could be a home if we try to build it,
This could be a life that's one in the million,
All the hard times yeah they were worth it
Time and time and time again.
This could be a home if we try to build it,
This could be a life that's one in the million,
Time and time and time again.
All the hard times yeah they were worth it,
Time and
Time and time and time again.
("Time and time again" - Wild)