For the Love of Gracie (32 page)

It was a simple request; I stepped out of the bedroom.  Derrick looked up with excitement and then disappointment when he saw me.  "Wow. Way to make a girl feel good," I stated sarcastically. 

He grinned. "Sorry, nothing personal, Gracie.  Is something wrong with MJ?" 

I shook my head. "She needed a minute, that's all."  His pearly whites glistened as his smile illuminated the room. I followed his gaze to see MJ stepping out of the bedroom. 

Derrick stepped forward with a single flower, a pink carnation.  "You look amazing.  I picked this one because you said your favorite color is pink and roses seem cliché."  

She smiled. "I love it. I can't believe you remembered my favorite color." 

"Pink isn't exactly a stretch for favorite color when it comes to women," Ash said teasingly. 

I nudged him with my elbow; he chuckled in response. Derrick discreetly scratched his head with his middle finger sticking up towards Ashton. 

Ash snickered. "Mature, man." 

Derrick knelt down. "Katelyn, can I have a hug, baby girl?"

Katelyn ran to hug his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  She went to MJ next for a hug.  MJ bent to meet her embrace as Katelyn whispered, "You look pretty." 

MJ whispered back, "Thanks sweetie."  Derrick held his hand out for MJ.  She took it and turned to me with a wink.  I smiled and gave her a thumbs-up for luck. 

Ashton had Katelyn in his lap, on the couch.  I sat next to them.  "What would you like to do Miss Katie?" 

She shied away from me, pressing her face against Ash's neck.  Ashton kissed her cheek.

"Are you going to be shy for Gracie?"  

She nodded. 

He chuckled and tickled her stomach causing her to have a fit of giggles. 

Ashton nodded his head for me to scoot closer.  "Katelyn, you know how your daddy is your favorite person in the world?" 

She nodded excitedly. 

"Well, Gracie is my favorite person in the world."   

There is nothing he could have said that would have warmed my heart more than that. 

Katelyn's eyes became large. "She is?" She leaned down and whispered, "She's very pretty." 

He replied in a whisper, "I think so too." 

I blushed as he turned and winked at me.  Ashton's phone rang.  He smirked knowingly.

"You answer that, B
oo.  You know it's your dad checking in." 

Katelyn answered and it was, in fact, Derrick.  Ashton laughed. "He calls to check on her every hour when he's gone.  He's so whipped." 

I smiled. "That's sweet." 

He nodded in agreement. "He's a good dad. I'm proud of him." 

"Let's head downstairs and watch a movie," Ash suggested once the phone call ended.

Katelyn looked up and said, "Can we watch
Brave
?" 

He scrunched up his nose in thought and said, "Well…I guess so." 

She cheered and he carried her downstairs while I made popcorn and drinks.  My phone beeped with a text from Angel. 

I sent a text to Ash letting him know I'd be a few minutes.  "Hey Angel, what's up sweets?" 

She sounded slightly relieved. "I called to check on you. Cameron told me about the webcam.  Are you alright?" 

Plopping down on the couch, I pulled my legs up underneath myself.  "I'm fine, sweetie. I'm at Ash's; we're babysitting his niece right now. Look, I want you and MJ to stay with us at his house for a bit." 

Angel protested, "You know I like my own space."

"I know. I'm worried about Hudson coming there for me, though, and I don't want you or MJ getting hurt. Please, Angel." 

She sighed. "What about if Cameron and Gavin come stay here, in your room?" 

I thought about it a moment. "I guess there is something to be said for safety in numbers. Fine.  Promise me, though, if you hear anything out of Hudson you'll call me."

Angel agreed to let me know immediately if there was trouble. While I had her on the phone, I sent a text to Cameron to work out him moving in. He decided to use it as practice to see if he could live with Gavin.

After hanging up with Angel, I skipped down the stairs to join Ash and Katelyn. When I reached the bottom step, Katelyn was laying up against Ash's chest with her head resting on his shoulder.  They were both sound asleep.  I bent down next to the couch and stared at the adorable sight in front of me. 

Ashton stirred slightly.  His eyes opened and he smiled at me.  "You look so cute I didn’t want to disturb you." 

He shifted to lay her on the couch and waved me over.  "Aww, I liked seeing her in your arms." 

He grinned. "I love when she falls asleep like that. She snores quietly in my ear and it's the cutest thing.  The downside is she's warm and it gets sweaty.  Besides with this cast it feels more confined than usual." 

His arm wrapped around me as I leaned against him, pulling my knees up to my chest. He kissed my head. "What took you so long up there?" 

I chuckled. "Did you miss me?" 

He rubbed my arm. "Always." 

"Angel called.  She refuses to move in, but came up with a plan to have Cameron and Gavin stay there for a bit." 

He responded, "Do you think that's a good idea?  Hudson gave Cameron a pretty good beating before." 

"Safety in numbers, I believe.  If Hudson is watching the house and sees that I'm not there, he won't go there, most likely."

Katelyn rolled over, rubbing her eyes and shifting her body on the couch.  Her mouth fell open as she began to snore again. 

I smiled, "She is so beautiful." 

Ashton reached for my hand, "So we haven't talk about our future much, do you want kids?"

Turning to face him, I draped my legs over his and pressed my hand against his heart.  "I'd love to have kids
with you
." 

"You didn’t want them before?" he asked. 

I shook my head. "It's not that. I've always loved children.  It never seemed like marriage or a family was in my future though.  I've dated
a lot
of jerks, none that I saw the possibility of a future with."  

He smiled. "I can't wait to see you pregnant.  I know you will be even more radiant than you are now.  Not that I am rushing us to have kids. I'd like to have a few years to travel, do things we want to do, you know?" 

"Sounds amazing." I said, sincerely. 

He took my hand, running his thumb across my ring finger.  "What about getting married? Did you mean it that day at the park?  If I proposed, you'd say yes?" 

Katelyn whimpered in her sleep and it turned into a sob.  I moved, to allow Ashton to get up and check on her. 

His phone rang and he laughed. "That's Derrick. Somehow he always knows when she is in distress, I swear he has surveillance on this kid." 

"Hey Derrick," I answered. 

"Gracie, is my girl alright?" 

I glanced over to see Katelyn snuggled in Ash's arms as he sang softly to her.  His voice was soft and low.  She had stopped crying and was falling asleep again.  Her tiny arms were gripping his neck as he placed kisses in her hair.  

"She had a bad dream it seems. Ash has her almost to sleep again."

"We'll be back shortly.  Give her a kiss for me," he said. 

"I will.  It's going well, right?" 

He sighed. "Yeah, definitely.  MJ is in the restroom right now.  I gotta tell you Gracie, I've never had so much in common with someone.  She's amazing.  She's so funny, too.  Hopefully she's enjoying her time with me as well. She gets a little quiet at times." 

"Be patient with her. She's been very nervous about this date. I know she's really into you. She's been hurt a lot, so she is pretty cautious."

He cleared his throat. "She's on her way back. Thanks Gracie, that made me feel better." 

Chapter Twenty-Six

An hour later, we heard the car pull up into the driveway.  We had moved upstairs to the living room, Katelyn still slept peacefully in Ash's arms.  After a few minutes, they still hadn’t made it to the door.  "Maybe that wasn’t them?" 

Ashton seemed confused. "It sounded too close to be anyone else.  I'll look outside." He gently placed Katelyn on the couch, careful not to disturb her sleep.

When
he opened the door, I saw the back of Mary Jane's head, with Derrick's hand pressed against it, as they shared a very passionate kiss.  I squealed excitedly.  He motioned for me to quiet down, laughing at my giddiness.  As he was shutting the door, they came up for air.  Derrick peered around MJ's head and blushed when he saw us watching. 

I waved. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt." 

Mary Jane turned and was blushing as well. 

"Katelyn is asleep on
the couch." 

Derrick stepped by me to go inside
, while I slipped outside.  I shut the door to speak to Mary Jane. "So? How did it go?" 

The humongous smile on her face was enough answer for me.  We both squealed with delight.  I hugged her. "I'm so excited for you! So dish, how was the kiss?" 

Mary Jane beamed even more. "I'm surprised I can still stand, it was so good!"

Derrick stepped outside once more.  He smiled at Mary Jane and turned to me.  "Thanks for babysitting tonight. I'll be back in the morning to take you to the range, k?" 

I nodded. "Sure." 

He glanced at MJ again and I took the hint. "I'll go inside so you two can say goodnight."

Derrick stopped by the next morning to take me to the range. Ashton wanted to go with us, so Derrick asked MJ to go as well and make it sort of a double date. They dropped Katelyn off at his parents for the day, before picking us up.

Ashton had the bright idea that afterward, we could go with them to get Katelyn, so he could introduce me to his parents.

Thanks Ash
, I was already nervous enough.  Let’s add meeting the parents, something else I'd never done. He had wanted to introduce me to them when they came to the hospital, but I was with Cameron at my house both times they stopped in.

My stomach was in knots as we pulled into the parking lot
of the gun range. Ashton reached out for my hand when we stepped out of the car. I squeezed it tightly.

He stepped off to the side of the walkway, pulling me to a stop with him. “You sure you want to do this bug? I won’t make you.”

I nodded. “I know you wouldn’t. I’m nervous, but I’m going to face my fear and see how it goes.”

When we stepped inside, it was like a normal shop. There were several counters with guns and other weapons displayed inside.  The man at the counter welcomed us inside.  Ashton and Derrick paid for three of us to shoot.  Derrick was going to teach Mary Jane as well. She was a bit more enthusiastic about it than me.  They instructed us to go down the stairs and follow the instructions listed on the wall.

Before we went inside, we had to put our eye and ear protection on.  Ashton had bought Mary Jane and I pink headsets.  He placed mine over my ears and tested how much I could hear.  I could still make out his voice.  It was as if he were standing outside a closed window speaking to me.  Next, he handed me goggles for my eyes.  He motioned for me to remove the headphones for a moment. 

"Yeah?" I said as my ears readjusted to the white noise around me again. 

"When we go in, Derrick is going to show you how to hold it and to shoot.  If you're uncomfortable, in any way, you can stop.  I'll be right there for you." 

I nodded and glanced at Derrick who was going over the information with Mary Jane.

We secured our headphones again.  Derrick led the way through the first door.  Once we were all in, he opened the next door and we stepped through.

The range was a long hallway with an exit door at the other end.  There were stalls, divided by short walls, all along the hallway.  Each stall was only about three by four feet, at the most.  There was a wooden plank across the front for setting your guns and ammunition. 

Ash stood with Mary Jane while Derrick loaded the weapon for me.  I asked him to load only one bullet for my first time, in case I dropped it out of fear. After loading it, he handed it to me. 

I felt my chest tighten as the panic set in.  My chest rose with each panicked breath.  I closed my eyes and took one deep breath.  He placed my hands on the gun, instructing me to make sure my finger jutted straight along the side of it and not on the trigger. 

Derrick prepared the target and placed it a few feet ahead of me. There was something about the shape of a man standing that close that made me even more nervous. 

I motioned for him to move it back further. Once it was at a comfortable distance, he pointed at the gun and gave me a questioning thumbs up.  It was sitting on the plank in front of me.