My Next Door Neighbor

Chapter 40

Penelope's POV

I smile at the scene in front of me. Liam and Grayson. "I'm glad that Grayson is awake. Liam was so upset and kept asking when he could play with him again" I smile at Maria. "Yea I know, and Liam loves Grayson" Maria nods before looking at me seriously. "How are you feeling after your..um" She points at my stomach. I smile softly.

"I'm doing better now that Grayson is awake. It was tough in the beginning of my miscarriage, I kept thinking what I could've done differently but Travis and my dad helped through it and Grayson has been reassuring me and making me feel loved and making sure I know it isn't my fault every since he woke up" Maria nods.

"That's good. How long has he been awake again?" I smile. "Two weeks, just a few more days here and they'll discharge him" She bumps my shoulder, giving me a knowing smile. "I bet you'll be real happy for him to be home" I blush, smiling softly. "Well we can't do that, not yet at least but yes I'm very happy to have him home again. I've missed him" She smiles and then checks her phone.

"Okay, we gotta go. Gotta visit Liam's dad" I raise my eyebrow. "Uhh" She smiles gently. "Him and I divorced when I was pregnant with Liam and then he got convicted of a crime he didn't commit. He got released a few months back and he's been good for Liam. He's changed, they both have" I smile and bump her shoulder.

"Maybe you two will patch things up" She blushes. "That wouldn't be so bad" I laugh. "Hey, does he know about your douche of an ex?" She nods. "I told him. He got pissed, said that if he ever sees the dude then he'll actually go to jail for a crime he did commit. I laughed it off and told him it wasn't that big of a deal. That we're safe from him. Carlos, that Liam's dad. Carlos was like, 'he hurt my ex-wife and my son. It is a big deal.' And then he gently took my hand and told me that he's here now and I wasn't alone" I smile.

"That's sweet. I'm definitely rooting for you two" She smiles and tucks her hair behind her ear. "So am I" She turns to Liam and Grayson. "Come on Liam, time to go to your Papi's house. Say bye" Liam nods and turns back to Grayson. "Bye! And you promise you'll play Minecraft with me when you're better?" Grayson smiles, nodding, holding up his pinky.

"I pinky promise" Liam hooks his pinky around Grayson's before jumping off the bed and running to me, hugging me. "Bye pen!" I laugh softly and ruffle his hair. "Bye Liam" He grabs his moms hand and they both walk out. I walk to Grayson's bed where he moves and I lay down next to him. "I love Liam, he's a good kid. But he has a dad?" I smile and nod and tell him everything Maria told me.

After I'm done he smiles. "That makes me the third person to root for them. He sounds like a nice guy, a guy that I would be friends with" I turn to him. "Question" He looks at me and smiles. "Answer" I bite my lip and he growls softly. "You know what that does-" I interrupt him. "Marry me" His eyes widen. "What?" I smile. "I said, marry me" He smiles.

"Aww sunshine. Yes but no" I furrow my eyebrows. "Yes but no? What kind of answer is that?" He chuckles. "Yes as in, I will marry you eventually. No as in, I've already planned my proposal to you and it involves something that you really like" I smile. "Really? Like what?" He shakes his head. "That's a secret, you'll just have to wait a find out" I frown. "I really hate surprises" He grins. "I know"

~*~

He finally got discharged four days after Maria and Liam's visit and I'm driving us home now. "Now when we get home Gray. I won't let you push yourself. You're still feeling discomfort from your crash. So no more cooking me breakfast, lunch or dinner. I can do that. No more sexual activities. Work from home and-" he cuts me off.

"No" I furrow my brows. "What do you mean no?" He chuckles. "I mean no. I will still cook you food, and I agree. No sex but that doesn't mean I can't finger you or eat your pussy out. Sure, I'll work from home. I can definitely do that but not cook you food" I scoff, ignoring the way my body reacted to his words of fingering me or eating me out.

"It's just food, it's not that important. I can do it for us" He hums out a no. "I don't know if I ever told you but acts of service is my love language. So please, just let me do the cooking" I nod, admitting my defeat. "Alright" We arrive at our complex soon enough and I get out first to go around and open his door.

"I don't know if I should be angry at myself for not opening your door or be very flattered" I roll my eyes. "Just be flattered" I close the door behind him and open the back door to take out his bag. "I can carry it sunshine" I shake my head. "It's okay, I got it. It's really light" He opens his beautiful mouth.

"Don't argue with me, I'm stubborn" He chuckles, nodding and kissing my head. "That you are but you're my stubborn girl" I smile and grab his hand, walking into to the elevator and pressing the button to our level.

"You should know, I slept in your apartment the whole time you were in the hospital" He smiles and brings my hand to his lips, kissing it softly. "Wouldn't have it any other way" I nod.

"Also I wanted to let you know. When we have our rainbow baby, I'll be getting a midwife. I do not want to have our baby in the hospital. I'd rather feel the physical pain of childbirth in the comfort of my home than in a place where I've already lost two babies and almost lost you" He nods.

"I think that's great. If you want, we can start looking for a midwife just to know who we'd want during your pregnancy" I nod. The elevator dings and we get off on our level. I hear a door open further down the hall. I look and see Lucy coming out of her apartment. "Shit" Both Grayson and I say, we rush to his apartment to quickly open it when we're stopped by her voice.

"Are you okay?" We both turn around to see her looking concerned. "Huh?" I say out loud. "I've noticed Grayson hasn't been here for quite awhile" She turns to me.

"And you seemed so sad, so at first I thought you guys had broken up but then I seen that he hadn't come back to his apartment and without meaning to, I heard you talking on the phone in a somber voice saying you were going to the hospital to visit him again and that's when I knew something had happened to Grayson"

Grayson glanced at me with a slight turn of his head when she mentioned of me talking sadly into the phone. "I just wanted to know if you were alright Grayson a-and Penelope. And I wanted to let you know that I'm done. I'll let you be, I've been a bitch and awful to the both of you but you especially Grayson. I'll be moving soon and I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay and apologize"

Damn, she has a heart? "Thank you Lucy, and we're both fine. And for me personally, I don't think I can accept your apology but I can appreciate it. So, thank you again" She nods and smiles softly at us. "It's clear you guys love each other very much, live happily. At least one of us deserve happiness" She turns to walk away but I stop her.

"W-What do you mean?" She sighs and turns back to us. "I'm gay and my parents are homophobic. And reason why I chased Grayson so much is because they liked him and thought he'd be perfect for me. They had someone keep tabs on me to see if I could succeed in 'getting him' but I just stop after I found you guys were dating for real, not the time when his brother was here. The other time" She smiles softly.

"I found a girl. She was perfect. Strong, kind, beautiful, hard headed but she was mine. My Nicole. But she left me. I though we had something real but she left me, with no note, text, or letter. I tried looking for her on the internet but it's like she vanished. So that's what I mean when I say at least one of us deserve happiness" Stunned, Grayson and I couldn't say anything.

"Bye" Lucy says and walks back to her apartment. We both don't utter a word until we're inside. "That was sad" I nod. I put the bag down on a high chair at the counter. "I don't understand why people are still homophobic. Just let people live their lives, they ain't hurting you"

Grayson walks up behind me and holds me. "Yeah I agree" I nod and go to walk away but he holds me. "Just, let me hold you, please. It's been too long" I nod and lean back, wrapping my arms around his. "I love you" He says as he leans down and kisses my cheek. I close my eyes and lean closer to him. "I love you"