A/N: You readers are awesome! I love you guys! So, to show you how much I love you, here is another chapter! It's one of my best chapters! It has lots and lots of Lacey! I love Lacey. She's so young and naïve!
Disclaimer: I do not own Body of Proof or that sort of thing.
XoxoX
Chapter Eight: Grandparenthood
"Lacey's here!" Sammie jumped up from the table and ran to the door. She opened it and tackled the person who had rung the doorbell.
"Waaahh!" The man said as he was knocked over unexpectedly by a strange ten year old girl.
"Sammie, what are you doing?" Lacey asked her little sister.
God, you move across town and suddenly your sister is in the 'tackle everybody' phase. Lacey thought, pulling Sammie to her feet and hugging her. "Hey, squirt!" She said.
"Hi, Lacey!" Sammie said excitedly. Then she wriggled her way out of her sister's arms and looked at the man on the ground. "Who's that?"
"I'm Josh." He grunted, pulling himself to his feet. He had short, dark brown hair and green eyes, definitely not bad looking. To Sammie's eleven year old mind, Josh was a hunk!
"Yeah." Lacey agreed. "Where's Mom and Peter?"
"In the kitchen." Sammie answered, spitting a little as she spoke. Her two missing teeth made that happen a lot.
"Okay, thanks. Let's go inside." Lacey ushered her sister, followed by Josh, inside the house.
"Hey, Lace…" Megan trailed off as she noticed the man standing behind her daughter. "Why, hello." She said awkwardly.
There was an awkward silence. "Who's your friend?" Peter asked, jaw locked. He was calculating the closest weapon of torture.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Dunlop. I'm Josh." He held out a hand for Peter to shake.
Peter, instead, gave him the glare of promise. Promising unending physical pain.
Josh held his hand out to Megan, who hesitantly shook it. So Thanksgiving dinner was pretty awkward. Afterwards, Megan, Lacey and Sammie were all in the kitchen doing dishes (or in Sammie's case, eating seconds of dessert). Megan and Lacey talked, mostly.
"So, what do you think of Josh?" Lacey asked.
"He seems nice." Megan answered in the awkwardness.
"No, seriously, Mom!" She said. Lacey was twenty seven years old, and thought it was time to be completely serious.
"He's nice." Megan repeated. "I like him."
The conversation in the living room was even more awkward. Peter sat down with Josh and cleaned his old Glock as he talked, scaring the piss out of Josh.
"So, tell me a little about yourself, Josh." Peter said, cocking his gun, pointing it a little too close to Josh's head.
"Well...umm…I'm working as an assistant at a local law firm." He answered nervously.
"You want to be a lawyer?" Peter asked.
"Y-yes, sir." Josh stuttered as Peter wiped out the barrel of his gun.
Peter nodded. "Respectable profession. What about Lacey?"
"I'm sorry?" Josh raised his eyebrows.
"You and Lacey. Where do you stand?"
"You mean, in our relationship?" Josh asked. "Uh, great, actually. She's an amazing girl," Peter examined his full magazine intently, hoping to strike as much fear in the young man as possible. "and I love being around her.
"And there was something very important I'd like to ask you, sir." Josh leaned in, ignoring his fear of being shot in the forehead.
"I'm listening." Peter set the Glock on the coffee table.
"I really love Lacey. And I've talked to her father already about this, but I wanted to make sure it was okay with you, too."
"Spit it out." Peter said.
"I'd like your permission to ask Lacey to marry me." Josh said in one breath. He braces himself for the gunfire, but none came.
Peter held his jaw. "Huh." Was all he said.
"I've been dating her for almost a year now, and I wanted to get your permission before I, you know…take the next step." Josh continued.
"Well, I gotta say," Peter sighed. "I'm glad you had the decency to ask first."
Josh waited for the 'but…"
"Before I answer, I have one quick question for you." Peter told Josh.
Josh leaned in.
"Say I had to break every bone in your body," Peter began. "what would you want broken first?"
Josh swallowed. "My neck, because then I wouldn't have to feel the pain from getting the other 205 bones broken."
"Good answer." Peter slung an arm over Josh's shoulders. "You have my permission."
Josh was about to jump up when Peter gripped his collarbone like a vice. "But you harm Lacey in any way, I'll make sure your neck gets broken last. Got it?"
Josh nodded.
"Good boy. Now let's go finish cleaning up."
XoxoX
"We're pregnant." Lacey announced. Sammie, being thirteen, nearly choked on the chicken she had been eating.
Josh and Lacey had been married for just over a year, and were already expecting.
"You mean, like, with a baby?" Sammie asked, finally managing to swallow the food.
"Yeah." Lacey answered. Lacey's birthday party had taken an awkward turn with this announcement. Peter gripped the steak knife in his hands and got an evil look in his eyes, all too familiar to Josh.
"Wow." Megan said in the silence.
Wow, indeed!
XoxoX
"Mom, what do I do?" Lacey wept, the baby boy screaming in her arms.
"Here, let me take him." Megan offered, holding her arms out for the child. Lacey was thirty years old, but looked even older from the sleep she had been missing thanks to baby Jacob.
"God, Mom. I don't know how much longer I can do this!" Lacey flopped down on the couch, the best feeling she had had in weeks.
"It gets better, I promise." Megan told her daughter, bouncing her grandson up and down gently.
"I'm going to need your help." Lacey admitted. "Like, a lot."
Megan smiled. "I know you will. But you're perfectly capable of being a grown up on your own."
"Thanks." Lacey smiled.
"Now, I'll keep Jacob quiet. You can get some sleep."
"Thank you so much, Mom!" Lacey nearly started crying. And within minutes, she was fast asleep on the sofa.
Jacob remained silent throughout the night. Megan and Peter still couldn't believe the fact that they were grandparents. They were so old!
XoxoX
Please remember that I like reviews! : ) I like reviews a lot. Like A LOT a lot. Thank you again for reading! I love family chapters! And I enjoyed giving Lacey a husband and such.
By the way, I still need a LOT of reviews before I update Lifeguard, Deathguard! I'll even be nice and change my demands to 114 reviews : ) That's less than 115!