Unconditional Love

Happy Tears

The last two weeks passed as a blur. Grace was recovering well and so Connie returned to work. Every day she'd spend her breaks and lunch with Grace and every day, Jacob would join her. He'd been careful at first, not to overstay his welcome, but Grace seemed to appreciate his presence and he could see the calmness he restored in Connie - while she never said it, she loved knowing he was there, every step of the way.

He wondered the department aimlessly in his search for her. "Jacob..." Noel called out to him from across the desk at reception. "Mrs Beauchamp asked me to pass on a message- Says she's been called to an emergency meeting and was hoping you could still check in on Grace."

"Alright, thanks mate."

Jacob hesitated. Grace seemed to be fine with him but it had never been just the two of them, not for longer than brief moments at a time. He chose to ignore the doubts in his mind and followed his heart and Connie's request.

Grace was sat up slightly, staring into space, deep in thought. Jacob thought about waiting for a few minutes- an idea that was more closely related to his earlier hesitance opposed to his genuine belief that Grace might just want some more time alone.

His decision was made for him when Grace left her trance and looked towards the door where Jacob stood, unsure as to what to do with himself. She sported a bright smile and it proved enough to convince him to dismiss his uncertainty as he entered the room.

"Hey, trouble. How you doing?"

She shrugged. "I just want to go home."

"Hmm. Missing the luxuries of your own room?"

"My TV mainly." She responded bluntly.

Jacob chuckled. "And what's wrong with the one here?"

"It's tiny. And all they have is the news channel."

Jacob's light laughter filled the room with a warmth that comforted her and it brought to mind the train of thought she had pursued just moments ago.

They sat in an awkward silence as Grace tried to reach a final decision and Jacob tried to think of a way to approach the sensitive topic that was on his mind.

They called each other's names simultaneously. Then laughed as they did a short dance of manners until eventually Grace said "Okay, okay, I'll go first."

Jacob held a breath. In a split second he had already thought of the number of things that Grace could possibly want to say.

"I'm sorry, Jacob."

He was puzzled. That was one phrase he was not expecting to hear. He looked at her in confusion and she began to explain.

"When I woke up, the first thing I saw was my mum and the tears that her eyes were tired of shedding. I knew when I heard your voice that you'd been there for her because I can only imagine how much she was worrying and how having you by her side would have helped."

Grace looked down with guilt.

"It was me who made mum break up with you. I told her that if she didn't I'd move back to America... permanently. I made her choose because I was scared that if she kept dating you, soon enough I'd be pushed aside again and forgotten."

Grace couldn't help the tears that fell and Jacob restrained himself from allowing the water brimming in his eyes to fall too.

"I could tell it was hard for both of you to be apart and I feel so guilty and selfish for causing that. Seeing you make Mum laugh and smile like you have done for the past 14 days just made me think about how much she needs you and I don't want to stand in the way of her being happy. So I was hoping...maybe...if you wanted...you could make things right with her ...and I promise I won't hold it against her at all. In fact, it's made me happier seeing her with you."

Jacob was speechless. He didn't know what to do as he took a moment to process everything he'd just heard. Grace waited anxiously for a response, sniffling through her tears and seconds later, which appeared to last much longer to both of them, Jacob let out a sigh, followed by a light chuckle and then he looked up at Grace with sympathy as he brushed away her falling tears.

"Grace Beauchamp I promise you I will do everything I possibly can to make your mum happy, every day, for the rest of my life."

"Grace, darling..." Connie walked in but stopped immediately as she saw the tears running down her daughter's face. She looked to Jacob, waiting for him to explain but Grace responded to Connie's growing impatience as Jacob seemed lost for words.

"It's fine mum. Honestly...these are happy tears."

Jacob and Grace smiled together at Connie who was relieved to see her baby girl happy once more. They invited her to come and sit down and tell them all the things Hanssen said in the emergency meeting that annoyed her and Connie swiftly began working down the list before she even reached the seat beside them...much to their instant, adoring amusement.