thursday came quickly and grace and gus were already loading their bags into gus' car by 7am. "ready baby?" gus asked, the drive from from detroit to long island was 10 and a half hours but gus opted to drive rather than fly. "does your mom even know we're coming?" grace asked "no, i'll call her on the way" gus shrugged. gus sat smiling to himself as he drove along the highway "what's got you so smiley?" grace asked "we're gonna go see my mom! i miss her so much" gus said full of joy, "you're adorable" grace loved how much gus loved his mom. gus had been driving for about 3 hours, he took a cigarette out to light "gustav åhr i swear to god if you light that in here" grace said, she hated when he smoked "sorry baby" he said putting it back in the box, he'd just wait until the next stop. gus decided he'd call his mom now. he used the bluetooth in his car to dial his moms number, he waited anxiously as it rang "hello? who's this?" liza answered, gus smiled at the sound of his mom's voice "mom, it's me it's gus" he reminded his mom of who he was "gustav? is it really you?" his mom said in disbelief "yeah mom, it's really me" he smiled "oh gus, i miss you so much! what makes you call? i haven't heard from you in years!" liza said, obvious happiness in her voice "mom, im coming to see you im driving right now. actually, grace and i are coming to see you. grace is my girlfriend, i wanted her to meet you" gus said unable to contain his excitement "oh wow gus that's so good! a girlfriend, i can't wait to meet her. when will you be here?" liza asked, completely overjoyed that she would get to see her son again "7 hours, we were coming from detroit" gus explained to his mom "so that's where you disappeared to, oh honey i can't wait to se you!" liza exclaimed "bye mom, i'll see you soon" gus ended the call. "your mom seems sweet" grace commented "she is, trust me" gus told her. grace and gus spent the next few hours singing and being stupid together, grace loved when gus sang. he had a beautiful voice, gus always sang to her when she was having a bad day. they had 2 hours left of their journey but grace fell asleep in the passenger seat, gus turned the music down so she could sleep. gus drive quietly until they were only about 20 minutes away, he squeezed grace's thigh "baby, were almost there" gus woke her. grace yawned and shifted around in her seat "you can't be that tired baby it's only 6pm" gus teased her "ive just been sitting im tired" she defended herself "it's okay baby, im just kidding. here we're gonna be there in just a few seconds" gus said pulling into the driveway of a house "this is it" gus sat and smile at his childhood home "let's go in then" grace said, getting out of the car. her and gus approached the door, he knocked and his mom opened the door in seconds "gustav!" his mom exclaimed pulling him into a hug "hi mom, i missed you" gus said to liza. grace smiled at gus and his moms reunion. "i love you mom, im sorry" gus whispered to his mother "it's okay gus, you're here now" she told him. liza stepped away from her son and turned to face grace "honey, you must be grace it's so lovely to meet you!" she said hugging grace "it's lovely to meet you ms. womack" grace said nervously to her "please hun, call me liza" she told grace "sorry, liza. gus is a fantastic guy" grace spoke about her son "im glad you have each other, im sure you're good for him" liza told grace. "oskar, your brother and his girlfriend are here!" liza called out. heavy footsteps came down the stairs, oskar appeared "gus, bro" oskar have him a side hug, "hey bro, im back" gus told his brother "i missed you so much man, i have so much to tell you about" oskar and gus disappeared somewhere down the hall, leaving grace with liza. "let's go sit down sweetie" liza led grace to the living room couches "is that gus?" grace asked, pointing at the photos of a young boy on the table "oh yes, he was just a boy when those were taken. here let me show you more" liza said, very happy to tell grace about her boy. liza went over to a shelf and grabbed a small photo book and sat beside grace, she showed photos of gus growing up "he was always a sweet boy, even when things got a bit rough for him" liza spoke highly of her son, grace assumed gus never told her depths of his past. "he was such a cute kid" grace commented "oh he really was, wow i can't believe how much ive missed him" liza continued to look through gus' old photos "he's lucky to have a mom, especially one as sweet as you" grace told her, liza smiled "aren't you the nicest thing, what about your mom?" liza asked "i lost her when i was 14, overdose" grace explained "oh sweetie that's terrible, im so sorry honey. well as long as you're making gus happy i consider you like family" grace smiled at her compassion "thank you, that means a lot. i honestly hope i have him around for a really long time" grace laughed at herself for already confessing her love for gus to his mom. grace heard loud footsteps coming down the hall, gus and oskar reappearing "so nice of you to finally join us" liza said sarcastically "sorry mom, brother stuff" gus said, they both had smug looks on their faces. gus looked at the photos scattered across the table "mom were you showing her my baby pictures?" gus sounded annoyed "of course i was, i wouldn't be your mom if i didn't embarrass you just a little bit" liza joked, gus shrugged because she was right "you were such a cute kid" grace told gus "were?" he asked "im still cute" he stuck his tongue out, everyone laughing. "you guys must be hungry after that drive, i'll go start dinner" liza headed towards the kitchen "i'll help" grace offered and followed her into the kitchen. grace heard gus and his older brother bantering about something in the other room "boys" liza sighed "tell me about it" grace sighed back. grace called gus and oskar in for dinner. grace got along with gus' family great, especially his mom and that made gus unbelievably happy. grace and gus spent the next few hours catching up with gus' family, and getting to know grace. gus announced that him and grace were going to head to bed, grace following him back to his childhood bedroom to get ready for bed. grace changed into her usual sleeping attire of underwear and one of gus' shirts. grace cuddled up to gus' side ready to sleep. "you know i haven't fucked you in this bed yet" gus mentioned "gustav this is your mother's house" grace hit his chest lightly "just sayin" he tried to say innocently "goodnight gus" grace cut him off and laid her head on his chest to fall asleep.
