They lay in the grass together, breathing deeply, drowsy and content, enjoying the warm breeze and the feeling of one another's embrace.

"It's going to get dark soon", Grace voiced lazily.

"Mm, I know. It's alright, we don't have far to go to get to where we're staying."

She turned her head to him in interest. "Where are we staying?"

He smiled happily at her. "You'll see very soon. Come on."

As much as he would've loved to loll on the hilltop with her longer, he was equally excited to move on to their evening's destination.

And as soon as they crossed over to the other side of the hill, Oliver pointed down into a little cove in the bay where a small cabin sat nestled in between some large pine trees.

"That is where we're going."

"That little hut down there?"

"Mhm."

She grinned widely at him as he took her hand in his and together they jogged down the hill and across a little creek until they arrived at the gate leading up to the cabin.

"How charming", she exclaimed in wonder. "Whose place is this?"

He smiled softly at her. "It's mine."

Grace blinked at him in surprise. "What? How do I not know about it?"

"I bought it in nineteen-thirteen, it cost me fifteen thousand dollars. It was my intention to come up here quite regularly but with the beginning of the World War the following year, I got very busy and well, I kept being busy and…honestly, this is the first time I've been back here in twenty years."

Grace looked at him, stunned. "But it looks in such good condition."

"I have a caretaker, Martin, he lives here usually. Right now he's down in Schenectady with his family. He was more than happy to take vacation there when I told him we were coming for the weekend."

Grace shook her head in disbelief. She thought she knew all there was to know about her boss. She realized now that she had likely only scratched the surface. "I can't believe you haven't been here in twenty years, and that you wanted to bring me here."

"Well…it's a special place to me and…you're also very special to me."

Grace felt deeply touched by his words, her eyes became misty in response to them.

He walked over and took her case out of her hands. "It's getting dark, let's go inside."

She followed him up the wooden stairs and into the modest cabin. It was a little more stately than a shack, but not much more opulent in terms of the layout. There was a great room with an antique velvet couch and a fireplace. On the opposite side of the room there was a coal stove and a metal wash basin. In the center, a small wooden table with two chairs. The back of the room led to a bedroom with a modest wrought iron bed.

"There's no electricity here of course, so we'll have to start lighting some candles. If we can find them, that is." He began to look around.

Grace crossed the room and rifled through the drawers until she found the matches. She took one out and struck it, lighting the candelabra that was atop the cabinet before she handed the box to Oliver.

"Bravo", he smiled gratefully at her and immediately went to the coal range to light the fire underneath the burner. "I'm starting to feel quite hungry. How about I make us some dinner?"

Grace's eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling with how high they went. "You're going to cook?"

"Absolutely. I was once a very self-sufficient man, you know", he said proudly, making Grace smirk a little. He walked over to the kitchen shelf and pulled a can off of it. "I can rustle up a can of baked beans as well as anyone."

Grace cackled. "Oh my goodness, that's too much, honestly. You're spoiling us!"

He narrowed his eyes at her playfully. "I'll have you know that when I was a boy, baked beans were considered a luxury."

He pulled a saucepan down from the pot rack and put it on the stove top. "Now, there must be a can opener around here somewhere."

Grace smiled, looking around the room. She found a drawer and instinctively guessed that it held just the utensil they were looking for.

He thanked her as she passed it to him, then opened the can and poured its contents into the saucepan.

As Grace looked around the kitchen, she made an observation. "I don't see a refrigerator, or even an icebox."

"There isn't one. That's what the creek is for. Anything you want to keep cold gets bottled or wrapped up and tied around the rocks in the creek."

Grace strolled up the end of the house towards the bedroom. "I don't see a washroom either."

"Again - that's what the creek is for."

Grace's jaw dropped. "I would never have imagined you being comfortable in a place that's so primitive."

"I wasn't always rich, you know. In fact, before I started earning lots of money and got used to the finer things in life, I used to have quite an adventurous spirit."

"Well, I must say, judging by the things we've done these past few months, I don't think your adventurous spirit has been lost altogether", he turned from the coal range to find her smiling coyly at him and he couldn't help but return it.

"Perhaps I have you to thank for that."

She shrugged lightly. "I may have had the initial desire but doing this together was your idea."

"Well, there's certainly no one else I would have suggested it to so, again, I have you to thank."

Grace's features softened at his words.

"I'm just grateful you didn't slap me silly for even suggesting it."

She bowed her head, biting her bottom lip softly. He did have a point. She might well have taken his offer completely the wrong way, deemed it not only unprofessional but indecent. Now though, she couldn't even fathom not getting the chance to know him on such an intimate level.

"Well, I still wanted to keep my job", she joked.

"Yes, I wanted you to keep your job too. That was my entire motivation at the start."

She stared at him shyly. "And what is your motivation now?"

He paused for a moment at the question, knowing whatever answer he gave her would be significant and telling of his feelings for her.

"Now I just want to keep you, full stop."

He gazed into her eyes and she stared back full of emotion.

At the sound of hissing, she gasped and he swore, scraping the bottom of the bubbling pot of beans to save them from being burnt.

"Damn. I'd forgotten how hot cooking over fire can get."

Grace cleared her throat. "Where is the crockery kept?"

"Heaven knows."

She chuckled. "I'll find it."

She rummaged around the kitchen. There were literally only two of everything. It was so minimalistic and rustic. Grace was amazed at how the image she'd had of him was being transformed before her eyes.

He served them up their beans and Grace took her share gratefully.

They sat at the table, happily devouring their dinner as the darkness fell outside, encasing them in just the low light of the candelabra.

"Mmm, my compliments to the chef", Grace grinned after finishing her meal.

"Oh, thank you", he replied with a chuckle.

"Gee, a lady could really get used to such finery, you know", she continued to tease him.

"Well, I can't promise to be able to uphold the same standard going forward. It was quite an effort, you know", he played back with her.

"Oh, I know. The time it took to open that tin, I mean to say…"

They both laughed.

"Shall I wash up?" Grace offered.

"Well you could, but that would mean a trip to the creek in the dark to get the water to boil."

"Of course, no running water", Grace realized. "I'll do it in the morning."

"Good thinking. It could get chilly during the night. I'll light the fire", he said, tapping the table before getting to his feet, walking across the room to the fireplace and crouching down in front of it.

Grace watched him loading the firewood and stoking the flame, marveling at how capable he was. Back home he had everyone fooled and she supposed he had earned the entitlement of being waited on. Still, it was wonderful to see him utilizing skills she hadn't realized he possessed.

Without the suit, the flashy house, the expensive cars, he'd truly never been more attractive to her.

She sat down beside him, in front of the now flickering fire. "You suit being out here, you know", she said to him with a gentle smile.

He smiled back at her. "Do you think so? I suppose it's fairly far removed from my usual environment, isn't it?"

"You know, being here with you, in this place that you love, seeing how at ease you are, I feel as if, for the first time, I'm really seeing you."

"And? How do you like me?" He asked her with the corner of his mouth upturned coyly.

The glint in his eye made Grace laugh girlishly. She replied softly but truthfully. "I like you very much. Possibly more than I'm supposed to."

"Well then, it seems as if we're both facing the same conundrum", he said gently, taking her hand in his.

She raised her eyes to his. There was both hesitance and hope in them.

She watched calmly as he closed the gap between them, his lips meeting hers in the most heart-melting kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, the kiss deepening, becoming more passionate but still filled with tenderness.

The kiss was significant in that it was their first one not to follow any other physical intimacy. It was soft and unhurried and so telling of the way they felt about each other.

They both knew that their carefully constructed plan to conceive, without it becoming more, was well and truly over. Without feelings becoming involved, without passion and pleasure taking precedence.

Although they had yet to acknowledge it verbally, they knew their relationship had irreversibly changed.

Oliver knew it when he invited Grace to the cabin with him. Grace had, if she was honest with herself, known things were evolving between them on the day he had come back from visiting President Hoover with the red rose for her.

In many ways, for many years, he had made Grace feel as though she was his number one person. That day though, in spite of her sadness, he had made her feel truly cared for and very special.

And now, here they were, the fire behind them creating no more heat than had already existed between them. In each other's embrace, he felt liberated and she felt safe.

Together there, against the backdrop of firelight, for the first time, Grace and Oliver made love.

…

After a relaxed and refreshing, peaceful and playful weekend, Grace and Oliver returned home.

When they walked in through the doors and into the foyer, they each had an arm around each other, causing every member of staff to stare at them with wide eyes and gleeful smiles.

They looked so gloriously happy and so incredibly in love. They'd yet to express as much to each other in words, but there had been teetering allusions to their deep and mutual feelings during their time away.

"Hello everybody", Oliver beamed at his staff who all stared back in bemusement. Who was this carefree, casual guy who'd taken the place of their boss?

He turned to Grace and murmured so only she could hear: "Take some time to get settled. I'll see you in the office when you're ready."

"Alright", she smiled discreetly in reply.

As soon as he'd left the room, all the members of the staff began barraging Grace with questions about her weekend away with Mr. Warbucks.

She quieted them all with her hands and told them all simply, with a wry little grin. "A lady does not kiss and tell."

Their "oohs" and catcalls followed her as she walked upstairs to take a long awaited hot bath.

…

In spite of the lovely time they'd had away together, the two of them found no difficulty in settling back into their normal working rhythm - although they did engage in a little horseplay at various times throughout the day.

"Would you bring me that report on the Trenton factory, please?"

"Sure." Grace rose from the desk and crossed over to the filing cabinet. With her back turned, she couldn't see him but after she'd pulled the requested file out of the cabinet and spun back around to take it to him, he found herself eye-to-eye with him, staring at her heatedly and backing her up against the wooden drawers.

She gasped as he dropped his head and started necking her. "We're at work", she reminded him breathlessly.

"I know", he replied, uncaringly.

His unabashed and deviant actions made her whimper. She'd never been so turned on as he'd made her feel in the past few days.

A knock on the office door had them quickly jumping apart.

"I'm…sorry to disturb you both", Drake paused for a moment, not having expected to find them up from their desk.

"It's alright Drake, what is it?" Oliver queried.

"There's a telephone call for you, Miss Farrell. A Mr. Fred Sinclair. He…sounds quite distressed."

Grace glanced at Oliver with concern on her face. "I have to take this, please."

"Of course", he said immediately, looking worried for her.

She rushed out of the room and down the hall to answer the telephone in the reception.

"Fred? It's Grace."

"Oh Grace, thank God I got hold of you."

Hearing the distress in his voice made Grace panic. "What's wrong Fred? Has something happened to Gloria?"

"She's…She's in the hospital, Grace. Lenox Hill. I think it's serious but they won't let me see her", her friend's husband sounded close to tears.

"I'm on my way", she assured him, before hanging up the phone and sprinting towards the door as fast as she could go, calling to Drake on the way, "Tell Mr. Warbucks I've taken the Bentley!"

Drake had been trying to avoid the gossip about his boss and his colleague, but seeing Grace presuming it was ok to take Mr. Warbucks' car without even asking him gave Drake a good deal of insight into how far their relationship had really progressed.

Despite also being concerned by whatever was happening to make Grace rush out the door, Drake couldn't help the little smile that appeared on his face as he shouted back to her, "Yes, Miss!"

…

When Grace arrived at Lenox Hill Hospital, she went straight to the emergency department and quickly located the distraught looking Fred Sinclair.

"Fred!" She immediately embraced him. "What's happening?"

"They say there's been some kind of internal r-rupture", he struggled to get the unpleasant words out. "She fainted earlier at home and now they're saying she's bleeding inside. Th-the baby's gone, Grace. We've lost another one", he sighed mournfully.

"Oh, Fred. I'm sorry, I didn't even know Gloria was pregnant again. I haven't kept very good contact with her these past few months."

Fred swallowed thickly. "She's in surgery now. They have to remove some…some parts, I don't know what exactly, but the doctor says she won't be able to carry children again."

Grace's heart sank. She was crushed for her friend.

"I'm so sorry, Fred."

Fred stood there in that hospital corridor with Grace clutching his hand, sobbing with grief and pain for his wife. "My poor Gloria. She's going to be heartbroken. I can't help but feel relieved, though. The doctors said she could have died from this, Grace. I could have lost her too. I don't know what I would've done then."

Grace looked at him sorrowfully.

"At least now I know she won't ever be in that kind of danger again. I couldn't lose her, I just couldn't."

Grace extended her arms out to him and he hugged her tightly, holding him as he wept.

After Gloria had come out of surgery, Grace was allowed to go in and see her, with a promise to Fred to report everything back to him.

Gloria was still groggy but looked crestfallen when Grace sat down beside her bed.

"Gracie", the woman whimpered and it broke Grace's heart to see her friend in such pain.

"My darling, I'm so sorry", Grace held her while she cried.

"It's over, Gracie. I c-can't have children anymore."

"I know, Fred told me. I don't know what to say, Gloria."

Grace was not only devastated for her friend, but the ordeal she and Fred had both been through in losing their child and almost Gloria too, was making Grace consider her own situation and whether the risks for even becoming pregnant were just too high.

She had a lot to think about as she drove home that evening.

Gloria's near-death experience had struck the fear of God into her. She'd never stopped to consider there being any potential risks to her own health if she were to become pregnant.

She knew Mr. Warbucks just wouldn't be able to cope. They had made their agreement explicitly so that Grace could stay with him. What would he do if he ended up losing her because of it?

Her heart was heavy as she walked into the office.

He immediately came to her, wrapping her in a hug. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"My old friend from college. She's in the hospital. It was her husband who called me this morning."

"What's the matter with her?"

"Sh-she was pregnant and something inside of her burst. She lost the baby and nearly died herself."

Oliver's face darkened. "How awful."

Grace shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "I…I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"Try to get pregnant. I think there's a reason why I haven't been able to and seeing as I've been having so much trouble with it, I can't help but feel that if we ever were successful, I'd have just as much trouble with the pregnancy too. Maybe even this kind of trouble." She looked at him, her whole body tense with anguish. "I just can't take that risk. I'm sorry.."

Oliver looked at her in shock. "Grace…just to say this happened to your friend, doesn't mean it's going to happen to you too."

"I'm not sure I want to take the chance."

He shook his head in disbelief. "We can't stop now, Grace. We need to keep trying. I want us to", he reached out and enveloped both of her hands in his.

His words left the wrong impression on Grace and her eyes flew to his in outrage.

She snatched her hands away from his. "Is this just about getting your oats?"

Oliver's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping in shock at her turn of phrase. "Of course it isn't. What kind of insinuation is that?"

"Well, why then? Why do you want to keep doing this so badly, in spite of the risks?"

He sighed helplessly. "Because I've started to think about what it might actually be like for us to have a child and I've…grown rather fond of the idea. What it would mean for me to have an heir, to have someone born in my likeness, someone to carry on my legacy. I haven't spent my life forming very close relationships and I too am starting to realize that…this may also be my only chance to become a Father."

Grace took a step backwards, shaking her head at him. "But that…that wasn't our arrangement. You said you didn't want a child, you said you had no interest in children."

"I've had a change of heart. You have made me change my heart", he shrugged, then set his eyes on her emotively. "Don't you think if I could make another human just like you, I'd do so in a heartbeat?"

Grace felt like crying. His words and expression were so sincere but the pressure that his revelation suddenly put on her was immense.

She didn't know how she would manage to still face him, to go on working for him every day, knowing that she'd let him down. It was bad enough living with her own sadness and now she would feel responsible for his as well.

The guilt compiled onto the grief was such an excruciating thing to feel but Grace was just so scared of going through a trauma such as Gloria had.

"I appreciate that, I really do. But…I'm sorry, I just can't. I-I don't want to do this anymore." Her voice shook as she said it.

She was feeling so terribly conflicted. She knew she and Oliver both would miss their newfound intimacy and the way it brought them closer. They would each be much lonelier, and Grace did mourn for that part she was giving up, but she was more fearful of the consequences if things went wrong. The risk was just too great.

Oliver bowed his head in defeat. "Very well. I respect your decision. If the thought of having a child with me causes you so much anguish, I certainly won't force you."

"Wait! That's not…", her voice died with a sob as she tried to take his hand as he pushed past her out of the room.

She knew she couldn't expect him to understand where she was coming from but she had hoped he might be reasonable enough to show her some care and compassion.

They had just arrived at such a wonderful and exciting place in their relationship and she hated herself for pressing pause on that now, not just for his sake but for hers as well.

Part of her hoped he would still be willing to allow their romantic relationship to grow, but really she knew that to ask him to have a relationship with her without a sexual component would be unfair to him.

Especially considering how good she knew he was at it.

Grace held her head in her hands and sobbed. Now she not only had to get used to a life without the love of a child, but without his love as well.