A/N: Just to add, after today's election, it feels quite weird posting this chapter with mentions of Washington and President Roosevelt as I'm sure he would be currently rolling in his grave - and I'm not even being funny about that.

...

"She hasn't been in her room all night."

"Well, they can't have gone out again, the cars are still here."

"And Mr. Warbucks' door is shut too."

"Do you think she's in there with him?"

The sharp clearing of Drake's throat interrupted the nattering of the young maids.

"Minnie, Daniella, do you think you could possibly be occupying yourselves with something a little more useful than standing around creating idle gossip?"

The two young ladies blushed before scuttling off to find something more productive to do. "Yes, Drake."

Drake watched them walk off with a stern gaze, then turned and glanced at Mr. Warbucks' door before continuing on down the hall.

…

Oliver rolled over and opened his eyes, blinking slowly in the morning light.

Grace, he saw, was no longer beside him, but on the other side of the room, sitting on his chaise lounger, carefully and quietly slipping her shoes onto her feet.

He let out a childlike groan. "Why are you up?"

She glanced up the sound of his voice in surprise, the corner of her mouth lifting a little in amusement. "I have work to do."

"I assure you, you won't be fired if you start work a little late today", he drawled languidly.

With both of her heels on, she stood up from the chair, giving him a tight smile. "I'm afraid you also have somewhere you need to be today."

He narrowed his eyes in thought, his face falling as realization came to him. "Oh, hell. I'm supposed to go to Washington today, aren't I?"

"Mhm."

"Can't you tell him I have the flu or something?"

"I can, but you'll only be delaying the inevitable. You know you have to meet with the President sometime."

He sighed dramatically. "Fine, but I want you to know that I hold you responsible for any agony I have to endure today."

She pursed her lips, knowing he was only partly serious. "I accept that", she answered him in a dignified manner.

She turned to leave his room but stopped when he called her name. "Grace…", he held up his index finger and beckoned her over to him.

She blinked in a stupor for a second, before even registering that he wanted her to go to him.

Slowly, she crossed the room and went to stand beside the bed. Again, he gestured for her to come closer and she sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning towards him as he kept beckoning her nearer.

When they came within mere inches of each other, Grace stared at him somewhat challengingly. "Yes, Sir?"

He raised himself up onto his elbow and with his other hand, took her gently by the chin and brought her mouth to his for a kiss that was both sweet and sultry.

Grace withdrew from him slowly, her eyes flickering open after having fluttered closed during the unexpected but by no means unpleasant lip-lock.

"For my pains", he explained with a sly smile, making Grace's heart thump in her chest.

"That'll be all, Miss Farrell", he told her with a playful lilt to his voice, noticing how much the kiss had thrown her off balance.

She stood back up on slightly unsteady legs and croaked, "I-I'll see you downstairs", before exiting the room.

As she walked down the hall which was now thankfully void of other people, she pressed her fingertips to her lips which were still tingling excitably.

…

Eventually, Oliver did get up and reluctantly left for Washington, not before arguing with Grace about whether or not he was allowed to wear his Republican pin which she vehemently told him he was not.

The pin was left on his desk.

While he was gone, Grace tried to focus on work but found it incredibly hard to concentrate.

This morning's kiss, as well as everything they had done together last night was creating such a distraction to her thoughts.

As she sat at her desk, she had to remind herself to take deep, calming breaths. She quite literally had sex on the brain. She consoled herself with the thought that it was only a biological response, a need to use her body for the thing it was designed for and not just a state of wantonness or desire, though she knew that to refute the last part entirely would mean lying to herself.

She knew she wasn't alone in it either. He was starting to show her his hand too.

His displays of intimacy were growing more affectionate, more tender each time they were together.

She didn't know yet exactly what it was he felt for her, whether it was purely primal, or something deeper. Outside of the bedroom, Grace knew he cared for her a lot. He may not have expressed it often with words, but his actions, especially of late, had undoubtedly proven it to her.

When he arrived home late that afternoon, she was anxious to see him.

He strolled into the office looking frustrated and weary.

"Welcome home", she greeted him with a compassionate smile. "How is the President?"

He scowled. "Do you know how hard it is to argue with someone so far below one's own eye line?"

She let out a mirthless laugh. "Sir! He has to use a wheelchair sometimes, he's paralyzed."

"Yes. I don't know how he expects anyone to take him seriously in his state, honestly."

Grace gave him a leveling look. "Alright. I understand that you're against him politically, but to criticize him based on his limitations is simply wrong."

Oliver recoiled in surprise. He was used to Grace challenging him, but it sounded like she was actually telling him off.

Grace took stock of her own comment and instantly felt remorseful. Despite the truth of her statement, it was no way for her to be speaking to her boss.

"I'm sorry-", she began, but Oliver cut her off. "No, Grace. You're right. No matter what I think of the man, it's wrong of me to discriminate against him because of his impairment. I appreciate you calling me out for my lack of tact."

She blinked in surprise at his words. His normal response to criticism would have been to shout or get stroppy.

She gave him a firm nod, but was still feeling quite blown away.

"Now, seeing as I spent today with President Roosevelt because of you, I really must…thank you."

That surprised Grace even more. "Thank me?"

"Mhm. You see, despite our political differences, there is one thing the President and I do have in common."

She raised her eyebrow in interest.

"We both enjoy a good stiff drink."

They both cracked a smile at that.

"Roosevelt and I talked and we both agree that this prohibition nonsense has taken far too great a toll on the economy. I mean, did you realize that prior to the enforcement of current laws, Brown-Forman Liquor alone was a ninety million dollar a year corporation?"

"My gosh, really?"

"Yes", he nodded excitedly. "And after hearing my rather convincing argument about how ending the restrictions could boost the nation's providence, the President has agreed to repeal prohibition laws by the end of this year."

It was the happiest Grace had seen him in longer than she could recall and it made Grace grin from ear to ear to see the joy on his face.

"Wow!"

He took a step towards her, close enough to whisper. "Next time I'm sending him that bottle of brandy."

She laughed. "Yes, Sir."

Noticing how close he was then and feeling dizzy because of it, she cleared her throat and gingerly took a step back.

"Well", she reached down into his desk drawer and withdrew two glass tumblers and his best bottle of brandy. "This surely deserves a toast."

"Hear, hear", he grinned in reply.

She began to pour one glass before Oliver stilled her hand. "Oh, but wait, you can't have this."

She looked at him with a furrowed brow.

"Ladies who might be pregnant shouldn't drink. I read a paper recently by Charles Stockard of Cornell University with some very compelling evidence on the subject. We wouldn't want to take the risk now, would we?"

Grace's eyes welled up at his thoughtfulness and at his optimism that she could very well be pregnant.

"No, we certainly wouldn't", she replied throatily.

He held up a finger to her and disappeared from the room, returning about a minute and a half later with a bottle of sarsaparilla.

He poured it into the empty glass and handed it to her. "Here", he said cheerfully.

"Here's to you, for getting the President and me together and finally putting an end to this damned prohibition."

Grace laughed with tears in her eyes. She was so touched by his sweetness. She clinked her glass against his with a great big beaming smile.

…

That night, after she had retired to her room, Grace lay in bed thinking about what had happened that afternoon.

She was still rather stunned by how quickly he'd changed track when she'd admonished him for mocking the President.

Thinking about it, her stern response to him had been one born from a little bit too much over-familiarity between them.

She'd been worried that she'd gone a step too far in saying what she'd said, but then he'd actually agreed with her, which was patently unheard of for a pair in their positions.

Then, when he'd so thoughtfully stopped her from drinking the alcohol due to the risk it might have posed if she was, by chance, now pregnant, and then so kindly gone to the kitchens to get her a non-alcoholic beverage to enjoy with him instead, Grace had discovered she wasn't the only one who was approaching their relationship outside professional parameters.

To the rest of the world he may have been the same old reclusive, workaholic billionaire.

To Grace, he had become the person in the world she was most in awe of.

A knock on her door startled her, she jumped out of bed quickly and crossed the room, flicking the light on when she reached the door.

She opened it to find, with no great surprise, Oliver standing there, his tie loosened around his neck and his shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

Grace didn't know if it was simply the new light she was seeing him in but he looked positively dishy.

"May I come in?" He asked in a hushed tone of voice.

She opened the door a little wider, stepping back to allow him to enter her room.

"As stated earlier, you are by all means welcome to say no, but I just wondered if you aren't by chance, already with child, the third try this month could possibly be the charm?"

Without saying a word, Grace reached back up and flicked the light back out again, then blindly took him by the hand and led him to her bed.

…

It was just five days later that they discovered that sadly, the third time that month had not in fact been the charm. Nor either of the other two times. Grace's period had yet again come and she was saddened but not as crushed as she'd been the previous month.

After seeing the doctor, they both understood how long the process really could take and that for some people, it wasn't a straightforward and easy one and they were both consoled by this fact.

Oliver sat at his desk, wiggling his pen between his fingers, his eyes fixed on Grace who was sitting across from him hard at work. She had continued on diligently and commendably that morning, even after the disappointment of finding out she was still not pregnant.

He was more determined than ever to help her fulfill her wish of becoming a Mother.

He admired her so much for her fortitude and resilience, and he adored her for reasons too numerous to mention and knew that any child who was fortunate enough to call her "Mom", would adore her just as much.

A bit of an impetuous thought came into his mind. The relationship dynamic he had with his secretary aside, Oliver was not one to make impulsive and uncalculated decisions, but for probably the first time since he was a teenager, he wanted to be a little reckless. In fact, she made him want to be that way.

"Miss Farrell, what's on my schedule for this Labor weekend?"

She looked up at him from the papers she was filling out and raised her eyebrows in surprise, setting the papers down on the desk and picking up his diary instead.

"Uh, Saturday the second of September you are meeting with August Hecksher in the morning, then you have a lunch with Robert Wagner at Tammany Hall that afternoon."

Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Sunday you're attending a degustation lunch with Howard Johnson at his new restaurant", Oliver's interest was piqued a little more by that appointment, but still not enough to sway him from another plan...

"...And Monday, of course, you have no appointments, being labor day, but there will naturally be stocks to watch and phone calls to take as always."

He thought about it for a moment but truthfully, his mind was already made up before he'd asked Grace about his schedule.

"Clear my calendar for that entire weekend."

Grace nearly dropped the diary. "What? Why?"

He gave her an easy smile. "Because, Grace, I wanna take you somewhere."

…

"Where exactly are you taking me?" Grace asked him curiously.

It was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and they had been driving for three hours already and although the scenery was magnificent and the company quite pleasant too, they were pretty far from home and in what was a rather rural area.

Of course Grace trusted him implicitly, but she was feeling quite bemused about the secretive place he was taking her and what exactly he was intending for them to do once they got there.

"Somewhere special to me. Somewhere I'd like to show you."

Off her inquisitive look, he smiled softly, "Don't worry, it's not too much further."

Grace relaxed back in the seat. She wasn't at all worried about a little trip upstate New York.

She would quite honestly follow this man to the ends of the Earth.

…

When Oliver finally stopped the car, they were in what appeared to be an empty clearing. Tall trees surrounded them and Grace noticed as she and Oliver got out of the car that they were at the bottom of a rather high hill.

When Oliver pulled their overnight bags out of the car, Grace looked at him incredulously. "What, we're just going to leave the car here?"

"Yes. This is the closest we can get to where we're going by road."

She watched as he opened his own case and pulled out a pair of ladie's knee high leather boots.

"Here, you might want to put these on."

Grace glanced at the boots, then looked to her left at the base of the steep hill. "We're not going up there, are we?"

"Yes. Believe me, the reward is worth the effort."

He knelt down on the ground, placing the boots he'd brought for her at her feet, patting his shoulder for her to lean so she could change into them.

She had a feeling that with his statement he wasn't just talking about the hike they were about to take up into the hills, but also the journey they had been on together to get her pregnant.

She smiled cutely at him as she lifted her foot and he slid off her heels one at a time, replacing them with the boots.

He put her shoes back in the car and picking up both of their cases, he inhaled deeply the fresh, clean air all around them. "Alright. Ready to climb?"

She nodded, though she had no idea where they were headed. "Lead the way."

They walked for a good forty-five minutes. Though quite a hike, it was actually very good to stretch their legs after their long car trip.

When they reached the top, Grace understood what Oliver had meant about the reward being worth the effort. The view from the top of the hill, looking down over Lake George was absolutely breathtaking.

"Oh my word. How spectacular", Grace looked out over the vista in wonderment. "How did you even know about this place?"

"I discovered it a very long time ago. It's been a while since I've been back, of course."

"It's so beautiful." Grace shook her head in awe.

"It certainly is", he agreed with her, looking out at the view with an expression of serenity on his face.

Grace gazed at him with warmth in her heart. It was so seldom she got to see him looking so relaxed and at peace.

"Is this what you brought me here for? To see this?"

He gave a little shrug. "It's part of it."

"What's the other part?" She asked him coyly, already feeling as though she knew the answer.

Without responding, he walked right up to her, making her shiver as he began kissing her neck, her heart racing in response to the unexpected action.

"Wh-what are you doing?" She stammered, clutching the sleeves of his shirt.

"I would have thought it was obvious", he murmured against her skin.

"What if somebody sees us?" She asked him, her eyes darting around to check that no one was watching them.

Ever since the incident outside the Doctor's office, she'd become quite over-cautious.

"There's no one around for miles. That's why I brought you here."

Grace swallowed thickly. If she didn't know him well, his words could have come across as quite dangerous.

But Grace had decided long ago that she trusted him implicitly. She knew she was safe with him, her mind, her body and her heart. Though he wasn't aware of it, her heart had belonged to him for quite some time now, and his words served as no threat to her, nor did his salacious actions, as a matter of fact they thrilled her.

His warm breath tickled her neck as he continued to sensually kiss it. "No staff to be wary of, no cunning reporters, no restrictions on how quiet we must be…"

Grace let out a little whimper just at the thought of what they could do in such an isolated, remote setting.

It was as if, by him bringing her here, he was allowing them the chance to shed their well-worn skins of boss and employee, to rid themselves of pretense and acknowledge that their physical relationship was no longer purely for procreation.

She tilted her head back with a moan and pulled him down with her as she slowly lowered herself to the Earth.

The rough ground served as an extra carnal sort of turn-on, not to mention the added excitement and risk of being outside and so exposed.

Oliver was overly generous and passionate to the point of ferity. He made good of the opportunity they had to truly be alone, turning it into his personal mission to make Grace feel as free as she could, to react as strongly and as untampered as she liked.

And with his unrelenting and unrestrained actions, her cries of pleasure echoed throughout the bay…

…