Loves Second Chance

Chapter Twelve

It has been two weeks since 'move in day', and everything was going well. Grace was still in her wheelchair, and she couldn't wait until she was able to walk again. All three of them were starting to have cabin fever. Ryan wouldn't let any of them raise a finger, Martha took care of the house, food, and did the shopping, if they wanted something that wasn't in the apartment, he either sent one Martha to get it, or he'd get it himself. John had been coming over on his days off from the station and spending time with Grace, he brought her pizza and movies almost every night. They played a lot of board games together, he told her when she had her cast removed and out of the wheelchair, he was getting them Guitar Hero. For a man that wanted to live in his own house, he sure spent a lot of time in his old apartment. One night, he even fell asleep on the floor.

Tonight, Lacey was putting her foot down, if they couldn't go out and have some fun; the fun would have to come to them. She hadn't seen her best friend Samantha since before her sister's funeral and she really missed her. She loved spending time with Ryan, Grace and John but occasionally, a woman just needs some 'girl time'. The first step was to call Samantha, Kerry and Melissa from the coffee shop to make sure they could make it. Once she'd done that, then she called the most important person and asked for her help.

She picked up on the first ring. "Hello, Martha, it's Lacey. I was wondering if you could help me out."

"Sure, Lacey, whatever you need, I'll be glad to help you." Her voice was cheerful as always.

"I haven't seen my girlfriends for a while, and I've invited them over tonight at six. I wondered if you could make up some party food for us, and maybe pick up some ice cream. I know Melissa loves chicken wings, Kerry is into enchiladas and Samantha loves chili dogs. I'll order me and Grace a pizza. Could you also grab us a case of beer and a case of Mt. Dew? I think that should tide us over."

"Sure, that's no problem, Lacey; I'll have to your apartment by six." She said and hung up.

Once that was taken care of, Lacey had one more thing to handle, and that was the guys. Speaking of the guys, when she walked into the living room, they were sitting everywhere watching a movie and playing cards. "Doesn't anyone work around here anymore? I may have moved in here, but I didn't take you both to raise." Four sets of eyes looked up at her, stopping mid-stream in what they were doing.

"I'm sorry to inform all of you, but Grace and I are having a party tonight and none of you are invited. You'll just have to go elsewhere for your entertainment this evening." Lacey laughed when she saw the sad puppy dog eyes that greeted her statement.

"What kind of a party, Sweetheart?" Ryan stood up and walked over to her.

"Nothing major. I invited my best friends. Samantha, Melissa and Kerry over tonight to hang out. I haven't seen any of them since Lorena died and I miss them. I love spending time with you and John, but I deserve a 'Girls Night In'. Marthas agreed to make us some party food!"

"Girls Night In', Sweetheart?" he asked with his lips twitching up in an almost smile.

"Yeah, since Grace is too young to go to a bar, we're bringing the party here."

"I see. What time does this 'Girls Night In' start?" His eyebrow raised in question.

"Six o'clock. Is when I told them all to be here, is that time, okay?"

"Sure Sweetheart. No problem. Since it's only noon and I won't get to spend the evening with you, I want to take just you to lunch. I know you haven't been out of the apartment once in the last couple of weeks. I know how 'crazy' you get when you have to stay inside. How about we have John stay here for a couple of hours and keep Grace entertained. Martha can bring their lunch to them here."