An abnormally early knock on Grace's bedroom door is what woke her the following morning.
Scrunching up her face at the unexpected sound, she quickly rose out of bed and grabbed her dressing gown off the back of her chair, throwing it on hastily and dashing to open the door.
She was quite shocked to find herself face to face with her employer. "Good…morning?" She greeted him slowly and suspiciously.
"Good morning, Miss Farrell. I wondered if you might permit me to come in? There's something I wish to discuss with you."
She stared at him like he'd lost all his senses. "In my bedroom?"
His face turned red as he responded nervously. "Well, yes, you see, I feel this particular discussion would be best held in a more private setting."
After a few moments of staring at him in astonishment, Grace poked her head out the door to make sure there was no one else around to witness him coming into her room before she stepped back to allow him to enter.
As she closed the door behind him, he suddenly began to feel incredibly anxious. "Miss Farrell…"
"Yes, Mr. Warbucks?" She waited expectantly.
"Oh damn, now that I'm here, I…I'm not entirely sure what to say, or at least, how best to word it…"
"Mr. Warbucks, if you've come here to try and dissuade me from the idea of having a child, I…"
He shook his head quickly. "I'm not trying to dissuade you. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe that you should have the chance to be a Mother. I think no one in the world would be a better one. I mean, I know first hand how well you take care of me", he shot her a wry little smile.
Grace was taken aback by the compliment. She didn't expect him to say such a thing, to acknowledge her in that way. Not really knowing how to react to him being so sincere, she raised her eyebrows at him and asked jokingly, "Are you comparing yourself to a child?"
He stared at her with a deadpan expression and grunted, "Miss Farrell, I'm trying to be serious."
She pursed her lips, "I'm sorry. Please go on."
He threw her a look of exasperation that was partly playfull. It was at that moment, as he searched for the right words to say and she waited for him to continue, Oliver realized something.
It wasn't just her work ethic he would miss if she ever moved away. It was her companionship too.
That's why, as insane as he knew the idea was, he had to voice it anyhow - for his sake as much as hers.
"I can't let you go, I need you here, plain and simple, but I also know I can't expect you not to pursue your dream of having a child."
"Which puts us at an impasse", Grace voiced knowingly.
"Yes, that's why I want to put something to you."
She looked at him warily. "OK…"
"Well, first, I suppose I'd better ask you how important the whole idea of a husband to go along with a child is to you?"
Grace raised her eyebrows at him. "Well, call me old fashioned but I hadn't really considered there being an alternative."
"Ah", he said, looking even more hesitant.
"But I suppose these are progressive times and we as humans must think progressively too", she said wisely.
There was the slightest bit of relief on Oliver's face. "In that case, I…have a proposition for you."
"Which is?"
"That I myself help you to have a child."
Grace folded her arms in front of herself, narrowing her eyes at him in confusion. "How exactly would you do that?"
Oliver blinked at her. Was she seriously not understanding what he was suggesting to her?
He cleared his throat, rasping, "I'm not sure how to be any clearer about this while still remaining delicate…I'm proposing that I be the one to Father your child."
The way Grace was looking at him nearly had him thinking he must have grown an extra head. "W-what?"
"Strictly in the biological sense. You would be the one responsible for raising the child. Of course, I'd still naturally support you by paying your wages, but as far as the parenting side of things goes…"
Grace's head was spinning. Understandably he'd had more time to think about this than she had but he seemed to be a thousand steps ahead of where she was at currently. She was frankly still stuck on the idea of conceiving - with him.
"You do realize how babies are made, don't you?" She asked him slowly.
He cleared his throat, a blush rising to his cheeks. "Of course."
"And you…are suggesting…that you and I…do that?" Grace struggled to get the words out of her mouth.
"As far as I know that's the only way", he whispered awkwardly, his face flushing even further.
Grace felt herself go warm all over. She folded her arms over herself even tighter, feeling terribly self-conscious about having this conversation with him while standing in her bedroom, dressed in her nightgown.
"It wouldn't have to be a big to-do, we could look at it as simply a…business transaction."
Grace covered her mouth, practically choking at his choice of words and the absurdity of them. She struggled to form a response, and even more embarrassingly, struggled not to let her mind imagine the two of them performing the necessary act.
Taking her silence for hesitation, Oliver added, "You wouldn't even have to tell the child that it was mine. It's not as if I have any interest in children."
Grace glanced at him sideways. Aside from the sorrow she felt over him not being open to the joy that children could bring, she was also slightly concerned about having to raise the child on her own.
Mind you, if she was given the chance to stay and carry on as Mr. Warbucks' secretary, she knew she and her child would be surrounded by the loving support of many friends and that they would need for nothing.
Perhaps it was the best possible solution Grace could ask for.
As much as he would've had people believe, she knew that Oliver Warbucks was a kind-hearted man. So she also had to consider that if he did end up Fathering her baby, he would potentially grow to love their child more than he could have currently believed possible.
"You might feel that way now, but how do you know your feelings won't change? Especially once the baby is born."
They both blinked in realization of the fact that she was actually speaking as if she were considering this.
"Well, perhaps that remains to be seen. But there are a lot of steps to climb before we reach that platform anyway, aren't there?"
Grace bit her lip, considering his proposition, hardly able to believe she was in fact considering it, but at the same time, immensely touched that her boss thought so highly of her that he was willing to do such a thing for her.
"What about my work? I know you're only making this offer so that I'll stay here with you but I will naturally have to - want to spend some time during the day with my child. I still won't be as available to you as I am now."
"No, but you'll be accessible. At least more so than you would if you moved away", he reasoned.
"You would still have to make allowances for me to be able to have enough time away from the office though, you understand that don't you?"
"Yes, I understand. I'm not naive enough not to realize that a child would take up a lot of your time, but he or she could be occupied in other ways, by other people, while we continue to work. It would be a change of pace, I know, but it wouldn't mean you would have to change your life completely."
Grace was quite sure that a child would in fact change both of their lives completely, but she could also understand where Mr. Warbucks was coming from. For one thing, there wouldn't be the added element of a new relationship with a romantic partner to adjust to. He hadn't said it in so many words but Grace could tell that Mr. Warbucks had been concerned about that causing a distraction to Grace's concentration at work.
"How would you suggest we go about the um…conception part?" Grace blushed as she asked the question.
"Well, as previously discussed, I believe there is only one way", he rubbed his neck, looking a little sheepish.
Grace closed her eyes, trying to ignore the feelings of pure mortification she felt about having this conversation with him. "I mean, are we to…try once and then that'll be it?"
Oliver twisted his lips in thought. "Well, as far as I'm aware, the first time is not always successful. I wouldn't expect we'd make a habit of it, though. I'm sure you'd also like to keep our arrangement private?"
"Well, yes, I mean, at this stage at least. Certainly if I was to become pregnant, we would likely need to have another discussion about those terms."
Oliver almost let out a laugh at how she sounded. She spoke as she would if she were conducting any other business deal.
"How long do you think it would take before we would know whether we had been…successful or not?"
"Um", Grace thought about her friend Gloria. Of course Grace didn't know for sure, but she presumed that Gloria and Fred's first child had been conceived after they had been married. Gloria had been so excited to tell Grace she was with child, and then of course, devastated by the loss of the baby, as well as the two that followed.
Grace could recall her saying that the fetus had been determined to be a little over three months when she had miscarried and Gloria and Fred had known they were expecting for about a month before that.
"I think it should be able to be determined by a doctor after about eight weeks", Grace estimated.
"Then how about we try once and then arrange a doctor to examine you eight weeks afterwards, and if you're not yet pregnant, we repeat the process again."
Grace considered his suggestion carefully before making a response. "And how many times do you think we ought to…try?" Her cheeks flushed again.
"Why don't we play that by ear?" He smiled tightly, unwilling to set any terms around their rather unique arrangement.
"Alright", Grace nodded slowly, then stood there looking at him for several minutes until he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "When…do you think we should um…begin?"
"Well, ordinarily I'd expect a man to at least take me to dinner first but you've done that many times already", Grace smirked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood after quite a tense conversation.
Oliver closed his eyes and sighed. He admired her attempt at levity but there was simply no denying how awkward his proposition was. He knew it when he'd first thought of it himself and in fact, he'd very nearly talked himself out of it for this very reason.
"Actually though, I am in fact currently m-menstruating, so it'll have to wait for a few days at least." Grace couldn't believe she was discussing her menstrual cycle with her boss.
"I see, yes…well…fair enough", he replied, looking flustered. "Perhaps early next week?"
"Yes, that should be fine."
"It'll probably be best done away from home. Would you like to make a reservation at the Waldorf?"
"Alright - I'm happy to pay for it", she added quickly.
Oliver let out a small chuckle. "No, Grace. You just book it and I'll cover it."
"Thank you", she said shyly, her heart suddenly thumping in realization of what they were planning.
Oliver released a long breath, feeling quite anxious himself. Not only because there was now a great deal of pressure on him to be able to fulfill the necessary duty, but because he was worried about how it could go on to affect their relationship once they'd completed the deed.
Would they still be able to work together after the fact? Would they even be able to look at each other?
There was of course, the risk of this whole thing completely backfiring on him. If his and Grace's relationship became strained because of this, he could end up losing her anyway.
"Are you sure you're comfortable with this? I wouldn't blame you if you said no."
Grace's face softened at his sincerity. "Mr. Warbucks, I know your motivations are pure. I understand your reasons completely, and I consider it to be genuinely the most kind and generous offer a person could ever make. Will it be comfortable? No, it probably won't be. Will we have difficulty working together because of it? Well, all I can say is that aside from the immense gratitude I will feel towards you, I promise to try my hardest not to let it affect my professionalism."
"As do I", he assured her with a steady gaze.
"And to be honest, I've been feeling so terribly conflicted. My wish to be a Mother has become all-consuming but at the same time, I could never really imagine leaving this place. This is my home", she teared up, feeling overcome with emotion. "Now I don't have to decide. Thank you…so much."
"I hope this proves to you just how much I value you."
Grace's eyes became misty. "It does. "
"Well, I'll see you downstairs in a little while", he said by way of dismissing himself.
Grace watched him go and then stood still in the middle of her bedroom floor for a few minutes trying to convince herself that that conversation had really just happened.
…
Surprisingly for them both, they managed to get through the day's work efficiently.
At the end of it, before retiring for bed, Grace let him know, "By the way, I um…I've booked us into the Waldorf for next Tuesday night."
"Oh…Good, fine." he acknowledged her anxiously.
"Are you sure you're willing to go through with it?" She asked him seriously.
"Why? Are you having reservations?" He asked quickly, which suggested to her that he may have been himself.
"No, I just want to make sure you've completely thought it through."
He squared his jaw and stared into her eyes. "I've thought through what it would be like if I didn't have you here and honestly, after that, anything else seemed less daunting."
Grace nearly cried at his touching words. He really was a remarkable man.
On autonomous feet, she found herself quickly going over to him and wrapping him in a grateful hug. He was surprised by the action, but after a moment, wrapped his arms around her in return. The embrace was warm and full of mutual care.
When they slowly pulled apart, Grace stared into his eyes and smiled shyly.
"What?" He probed.
"I'd like it if the baby had your eyes."
He laughed softly in astonishment, not having expected her to say such a thing. "Well let's just hope it doesn't have my hair."
Grace laughed heartily at that, her face softening tenderly as she bid him "Good night."
"Good night, Grace", his voice was full of gentleness too and it brought great comfort to her as she climbed the stairs, thinking to herself that as unconventional as making her baby was going to be, she couldn't help but feel immensely fortunate.