Accepting Grace

Chapter 3

Grace walked with the man out to a silver BMW. The man stopped and opened the trunk, so Grace set her things in.

"My name is Adam by the way," the man said.

Grace nodded and opened her door, flopped onto to the seat and buckled herself. Then closed the door.

"I'm Grace."

Adam got into the font seat and pulled into the road. "We have two sons and a daughter. Their names are Nathan, Joel and Gabby."

Grace nodded as she tried to find her voice. "How old are they?" She finally managed to ask.

"Nathan is sixteen, Joel is four and Gabby is two and a half." Adam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Exactly how old are you?"

"I'm 12."

The car was silent, besides the constant whiring of the tires pulling them closer to Adam's home and farther away from Grace's.

"Bless the Lord, Oh my soul. Oh my soul. Worship his holy name."

Grace looked at Adam trying to figure out where the music was coming from. The radio wasn't on...

"Hold on, hold on," Adam muttered as he pulled over. Once stopped he pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered the call.

"Hello?"

Grace heard a muffled woman's voice as Adam glanced over to her.

"No, all she has with her is her school stuff so she'll have to borrow yours.... Yeah, I know.... I love you too. Bye." He hung up then pulled back into the road.

"That was my wife, Bethany. She wondering if you had any clothes with you... I assumed you didn't since you were at school."

Grace nodded and they shifted into uncomfortable silence once again. They stayed this way until they pulled into Adam's drive way.

Grace looked up at the house searching the wall for a door. Finally she found one. Slowly she unbuckled and opened her door. She headed towards the trunk of the car to grab her backpack but Adam already had and he was closing it by the time Grace got there.

Adam slung the backpack onto his shoulders then walked past Grace motioning for her to follow as he walked up the driveway towards the door.

The door opened before the two had reached it and two little kids ran out. Grace stopped but Adam continued.

"Daddy!" a little boy shouted. Grace assumed this was Joel. Adam scooped him up into a big bear hug.

The other kid was slower as she was littler. "Dada!" She said imitating Joel. This must be Gabby. She was also scooped into a bear hug.

"Oh!" Adam groaned, pretending that carrying the two was really hard. "Hi, my two little balls of energy."

A woman exited the house next and walked over to Adam. "Hello love," she said after giving him a peck on the cheek. Then she walked over to Grace who was still standing on the outside of the family.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Bethany said and wrapped Grace into a hug. Grace leaned into the hug and let the tears fall.

Adam and the kids went inside but Bethany stood with Grace rubbing her back and letting her cry for a few minutes. Only once Grace had no more tears left in her did Bethany say, "I know it hurts but right now we need to get food into you. Okay?"

Grace nodded knowing again this was a statement and not a question. She wipped her tears and slowly stopped crying, then let Bethany lead her inside.

Once inside Grace was attacked but Gabby and Joel. "Who are you?" Joel asked.

"This is Grace and she's going to stay with us tonight... Now Joel go get your brother for dinner and Gabby go to Daddy," Bethany said as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Gabby ran off but Joel stayed put "No," he said with a little smirk.

Bethany raised her eyebrows. "No?" She questioned.

Grace watched as the scene unfolded as she had only one baby sibling and didn't know how Bethany would react.

"Did you just tell your mother no?" She asked bending down until she was eye to eye with Joel.

Joel looked at the floor and didn't seem to sure about himself anymore. "Yes..."

"What would Jesus say to disobeying your mommy?" Bethany asked and Joel looked sad while Grace looked confused.

"Who is Jesus? Wait, isn't Jesus the guy Jamie was talking about?" She wondered.

"Jesus wouldn't like it..." he muttered.

"No, he wouldn't. But if you say your sorry and you mean it then Jesus will forgive you."

Joel looked at Bethany, "Sorry Mommy."

"Why is Jesus such a big deal?  she thought.

"I forgive you and Jesus does too. Now go get your brother for dinner." Bethany stood up as Joel ran off.

"Okay, right this way." Bethany lead Grace through the living room and into the dinning room.

"Where do you want me to sit?" Grace asked quietly.

"Anywhere," Bethany said as she sat in between Gabby's highchair and Adam. Grace sat on the other side of the high chair. As she sat down Joel came into the dinning room and sat by Grace. He was followed by a shorter and less hairy version of Adam, who Grace could only assume was Nathan. He sat next to Joel and Adam.

Everyone bowed their head and closed their eyes with their hands folded. Grace coppied them.

"Heavenly Father, thank you for Grace being able to be with us tonight. Please help her not be too sad over the loss of her parents. Please help her to feel your unconditional love for her. Thank you for the wonderful meal Bethany has prepared. Amen."

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Authors note: Hello there! Thanks for reading this! Could you please leave comments on how this story could improve? I would love to read them! Thanks!
-Emily