Going Solo: Grace Gen 4.13

Hope was still doing well in the competition, so well in fact she was one of two girls left. Barnacle Bay was a small town so it was no surprise her being on the show made the newspaper. Being only one of two, she was able to call and talk to us finally. She sounded happy and was really enjoying her time there. Dad wasn't keen on that, he still thought Caleb spent too much time shirtless. Erin disagreed. I was excited for Hope, during her 'confessional' time she talked like she really liked this guy, she even mentioned the possibility of relocating to be with him if she won. That was crazy, but then again she was like Dad. It took the right woman for him maybe it only took the right man for her. Odd that my sister may have found him on a show like that.

After doing my daily chores, I prepared to head to Mom and Dad's place. On the way over I stopped to pick up Grandma. She'd been sick the last few weeks, but was finally feeling better. She had been watching from her place and we'd talk about it after it aired.

I'd watched the show with my family for the last 6 weeks. Six weeks...that was all it took for Caleb to be talking about possibly being in love with one of them and for my sister to be considering moving her whole life around to be with him. That seems like such a short period of time and she didn't get that much one on one time to really get to know him. At least not on air.

Dad was relieved when Erin finally told them that 'relations' weren't allowed until The One was picked. However that relief was short lived when he learned that it was 'on air' not that we saw anything, but we would see them going into the room, we'd hear audio of them making out then it would fade out and come back with them in bed after the fact. Dad was pissed and said for Hope and that boy's sake Hope had better lose. Both Grandma and Mom got onto Dad for becoming such a prude. They managed to get him quieted down for the show.

They had one last group date and the fairy Rebecca, who was the front runner started acting funny. She ended up leaving the group and Hope and Caleb spent the rest of the night together. It was strange, but watching the two of them felt right. They had this connection, similar to what Mom and Dad had. Perfect compliments to each other. I briefly wondered if I'd ever have something like that.

Caleb declared Hope 'The One'. A strange silence fell over my parents when the final shot played out. Final confessionals were played after he sent Rebecca home and we heard from Hope talking about how happy she was to have found her other half and Caleb talking about his soul mate. Dad made snide comments and Mom quickly reminded him that it wasn't nonsense unless he was downplaying their own relationship. That shut him up quick. That was until my phone rang.

"Married? Did she just say Hope was getting married?" Dad piped up when he heard the one side of my conversation.

Mom tried to shush him as Hope relayed the details to me. She sounded so happy, it was all very surreal to think in six weeks my sister went from single and dating to engaged. The moment I hung up Dad was asking me a million questions. Erin was excited about taking the trip and ran off to call all her friends, Carter grumbled something about wearing a tux and not cutting his hair.

"Grace...what the hell is your sister talking about?" Dad asked soon as I hung up.

"Well...apparently after the final show Caleb proposed and she said yes. So yeah..."

"No! She can't. I forbid it!"

"Davis you can't forbid her from doing anything," Grammy told him.

"Like hell! That...boy....how...no!"

"Davis, this is her life and what she wants. Besides, he seemed genuine in his feelings about her," Mom stated, trying to reason with him.

"Whatever...he also seemed genuine in his feelings for the 20 other women he was making out with!"

"Davis Matthew Gruber!" Everyone got quiet with Grandma Kerri pulled out the full name on Dad.

"You were a lot...wilder...than Hope has ever been. You will go and give your daughter away and do so with a smile on your face." We all tried to hide the laughs as we watched Dad get in trouble by his mom.

The next couple of days was spent making travel arrangements. With Grams' health still not 100%, she decided it was best not to take such a long trip. We promised to take plenty of pictures and she called Hope to tell her how happy she was for her.

Mom would come over and we would talk to Hope about the arrangements she and her soon to be sister in law were making. She wanted Mom to be part of the process so we spent time on Skype helping with the details.

Mom of course took any chance she had to ask me about Jonas. She was happy that I'd stopped avoiding him, but not as happy that I chose not to tell him. He didn't bring up the subject of me running off and it's not exactly an easy thing to broach the subject of being assaulted. She chose not to push the issue and just let me handle things in my own way.

I talked to Jonas and he offered to keep Vor when I mentioned not wanting to board him. I wasn't so sure it was a good idea, but he assured me he would take better care of him. We were meeting up at the park for the exchange. Coming into town made me nervous all over again since I still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, it had been with me ever since that day.

I kept Vor close to me as we approached the park. I glanced around and didn't see Jonas right away. Vor started whining as I pulled tighter on his leash. I saw Jonas step out of his store and head in my direction. I felt relived at the sight of him.

"Hey, sorry for making you wait."

"It...it's not problem."

He gave Vor a scratch behind his ear before feeding him a treat. I glanced around nervously, scanning each face.

"Grace, are you okay?"

"I...yeah I just...guess it's nerves. I haven't left Barnacle Bay in years so the idea of getting on a plane and being surrounded by strangers is making me a bit on edge."

Jonas wrapped his hand around mine and the contact had a calming effect. Ever since the day I called to visit him, I noticed he'd do little things to touch me. Our hands would brush up against each other, or he'd outright hold my hand like now. Surprisingly, I never shied away from those little instances.

"Getting out of your comfort zone is scary, but it can be a good thing as well."

He smiled at me and I felt myself returning that smile. We talked for a little while longer, and although I didn't feel as on edge, that feeling of unease didn't go away completely. He gave me a gift to take to Hope and then I headed to my parents' house.

**A/N**

So Hope will now 'officially' be Piazzagirl's character. What happens to her in my story will be a reflection of her life in Aurora Skies in Piazzagirl's story told through phone calls and such the sisters will share. Hope and Caleb will make guest appearances at times in my story because there will be events that bring them back for visits.

Hope lives in the house with Kerri so I plopped Caleb in there as well and used Master Controller to adjust the relationships. I checked in on them to see how they got along in my world. First thing Kerri did was accuse poor Caleb of being a vamp. Now she should be more than used to vamps in her life LOL. Hope's first reaction was to run outside, flirt, then bring him inside for some woo-hoo. LOL I think they may rival her parents who still can't manage to keep their hands off each other. Every time I send Grace over to visit they are walking towards the bedroom. I'm wondering when the next Gruber addition will join us at this rate LOL.