State of Grace (Complete)

Interested party...

A/N Short chapter.

The day of the wedding is a grey day, the rain has slowed but everything is damp and humid. Water droplets cling to the grass and I am very careful when I walk over to the Reeds' house. Maggie is driving all of us to the reception hall where the whole wedding is being held. There's a room for the ceremony and another for the reception, plus we have a big changing room for us to use. I am so excited to wear my fancy dress that I'm having a hard time sitting still.

When we arrive, the boys head out to their dressing room, which has a tv or something I hope, because I know it will take us longer to get ready and the wedding doesn't start for an hour. Andrea has been here getting ready with her sister for the past hour, so when we get into the ladies dressing room, she's already in her dress and looks totally beautiful.

We prepare and Maggie does my hair and a tiny bit of make-up. When I look into the mirror, I barely recognize myself—I look like a princess! My hair is partly up, with curly pieces around my face and big looping curls piled on my head, held up with some flowers, the same as in the little basket I get to hold. The music starts and we get in our positions. I have to go first and drop flower petals like we practiced last night at rehearsal, but I don't think I can do it by myself with a full room and everyone looking.

"Maggie, I can't walk by myself, I feel like I might throw up," I am trying not to get too worked up, but I am shaking and my stomach is doing nervous flip-flops.

"No problem, Kiddo, I'll be back."

When she returns, she has Ian and Chris with her, they both look so handsome in their suits with their ties and boutonnieres. "Let them walk with you."

"Gracie, you look really pretty." Ian says softly, looking at me with a tender smile.

"Totally beautiful dress," Chris adds, grinning.

They each take an arm, and we walk like that, slowly up the aisle.

The wedding was amazing, eating and dancing and having a great time. Andrea and Steve looked so happy, and thankfully the twins did too. I danced with Ian first, then Chris, then Steve, and it was great, but exhausting. Near the end of the night, Ian, Chris and I just found a spot under a table and rested, watching the people go by until Maggie carried me to the car. I slept over with the twins that night, and it was the best day ever.

Over the summer, Ian and Chris go camping with their dad again, but this time Missy doesn't go with them. For the time they are away, I play with Melody and Audra, and we have a lot of fun. We use the treehouse as a hospital for injured dolls, wrapping them in bandages. We also go for walks in the forest and pick wild flowers. It's different from the games I normally play in the Reeds' yard, but enjoyable to do games that don't have bodycounts.

"Do you think the twins are cute, Melody?" Audra asks as we have a snack on my front porch. We are sitting in the porch swing eating popcorn.

"Of course they are. Don't you think so, Grace?" Melody turns for my opinion.

I consider the question, I haven't really thought of them like that. "I guess, I mean they have nice hair and good smiles."

"I think I'd like to date one of them." Audra says decisively.

"Which one?" I ask, intrigued.

"I don't know, does it really matter?" Melody asks, "I mean they both look the same."

I take offence at this, "No they don't. Ian has a birthmark on his ear and they have different smiles. Right now Chris is a little bit taller, and Ian's got a bit of a crooked tooth," I explain. "Besides, they have totally different personalities."

"Either way, they're cute and you need to have a boy-girl party this year for your birthday. You can't keep hogging them, you can only have one." Audra tells me, annoyed.

"I'm not hogging them, they're my best friends." I say defensively.

"We thought we were your best friends."

I don't want to make Audra mad, especially since it is nice to have other friends, so I capitulate, "How about I see if I can have a party with everyone?" I'm pretty sure this was her goal, anyway.

"What kind of party?" Melody asks, plotting, her eyebrow raised.