The rest of the week with Gracie had gone by fairly smoothly. She was adjusting to life here fairly well it seemed, and I was adjusting to her being here at the same time.

Every morning when I would wake up to make coffee she would wake up at the same time, having me carry her around the kitchen where she would half way sleep a little more until it was time to wake up Ender.

Ashton would then take over carrying her around until it was time for me to get her dressed and ready for the day.

It was almost as if someone was carrying her at all times and I think that was her point. She didn't want anyone to leave her alone for even a second. That's probably also the reason why she had me stay with her until she fell asleep and Ashton would eventually wander downstairs looking for me and would then carry me back up to bed with him.

My fear was that Gracie had developed abandonment issues and I was very adamant about discussing them with Ashton.

"I just don't think it's normal for her to be that clingy. I mean Ender wasn't that way when he was that age, but then again girls and boys are different. But I don't think I was that way either." I thought aloud to him as we sat at the bar, compiling a grocery list for the following week.

"I don't know, Car." He shrugged. "It could just be a phase? But then again that could explain why she is so clingy and calls us Mommy and Daddy." He almost laughed.

She'd only called us Mommy and Daddy a few times after the ice cream shop incident and every time she did it broke my heart a little bit more.

"I think she does that because it's comforting to her to feel like she has a mom and dad, even though that's not really us." I leaned my head onto my hand.

"If that's what makes her feel better than I think we should let her do it." He answered.

"I'm okay with her calling me her mom, I mean that's basically what I am now though I didn't actually have her, but how long do you think it will be until she gets over it?"

"I don't know, babe, we're just gonna have to wait and see."

"How do you think she's going to handle you leaving tomorrow?" I said and he frowned.

He and Gracie had become incredibly close since she had arrived, which was apparent since she called him Dad. But she liked having male attention since she'd never had a father of her own before.

Ashton, I felt, liked that he was considered part of the family, even though I saw him that way already (though I wouldn't tell him that yet). I felt like he wanted to be that father figure to her that she never had, and honestly I was okay with that.

I had been so adamant before about taking this entire relationship slow, but now I felt like there was no point. So much had happened in this short time that I felt like nothing could surprise me anymore.

Sure, Ashton and I had only been together maybe four or five months at the most, but was it really that bad if Gracie considered him her father? He was practically that to Ender anyways.

"I don't know, I mean I'm leaving in the morning and I'll be back that night. Will she be okay?" He replied.

"Well it's your first time leaving with her here. Ender and I are used to it but she might freak out, she's like wrapped around your finger."

"Okay don't ever say that you are used to me leaving, because that breaks my heart." His frown went even deeper.

"Sorry." I bit my lip.

"You know I hate leaving you."

"I know I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way." I apologised and he just reached out and took my hand in his, intertwining the fingers.

"We'll just have to see how tomorrow goes." He gave me a hopeful little smile.

And that's exactly what we did.

The next morning proved to be an absolute nightmare.

Ashton had packed a small bag in the morning and when Gracie saw it she began to ask questions.

"I have to go to Sydney today, sweetie." He explained to her as she was hoisted up into my arms.

"You have to go?" She frowned.

"Yeah, I do. But I'll be back when you go to bed." He smiled as he downed the rest of his coffee.

She didn't say anything else, but she flopped her head down onto my collar bone.

"Ender! Ashton's about to go!" I called up the stairs and Ender thundered down them.

"See you tonight mate," Ashton gave him a fist bump. "Take care of your sister and Gracie for me."

"I will." Ender grinned.

"Bye Gracie." Ashton came over and bent down so he could tweak her nose but before he even could I looked down to see her eyes watering and I knew what was coming.

"No." She blubbered and then the tears began to fall. Hard.

"Gracie, hey, shhhh....it's okay." He cooed, his hands flitting around trying to figure out what to do.

She reached out for him and he took her up in his arms, trying to calm her down.

"Gracie, he's coming back tonight, it's going to be okay." I tried to help, but that didn't seem to work.

"I don't want you to leave." She cried into Ashton's shirt and he looked at me completely clueless on what to do.

"Gracie," He sighed sorrowfully, and used his free hand to hold the back of her head, pulling her closer.

"Daddy, don't go." She sobbed and he looked at me like someone had just shot his dog.

"Gracie come here," I moved forward and pried her off of him, her legs flailing as I tried to settle her down.

"No!" She bawled and I held her kicking feet down against my side.

"You're just going to have to leave." I told Ashton, Gracie's temper tantrum still in full swing.

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking like he wanted to help.

"Yeah, Ender used to do this and they just have to cry it out." I explained.

"Okay." He said, leaving his mouth open like he wanted to say something more but didn't.

He reached down to grab his bag and then came forward, placing his hand at my hip.

"Bye, Gracie," He leaned to press a little kiss to her cheek but she turned her head away.

"It's okay," I whispered as he leaned down to press a kiss to my lips.

"See you tonight." I smiled lightly, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah. I'll text you when I get there." He promised.

"Okay." I gave him one more kiss.

Hesitantly he backed up, and waved before he walked out the door, Gracie still cried the entire time and for a few minutes after he left.

Once she had calmed down, she went right back to her enigmatic self, just like Ender.

Ender, enjoying his new role as big brother, took Gracie outside to play to cheer her up, and I went with them, watching him teach her how to kick around the football.

Today wasn't just Ashton's first time leaving with Gracie there, it was also my first time alone with it just being Ender, Gracie, and myself.

"Car, come play with us!" Ender called out to me from where I was sitting on the ground and I joined them, kicking the ball around in a circle.

I got a text from Ashton later on that day that he had arrived and asked for Gracie's clothing size.

He had said he had a meeting to go to today and was going to stop by and see his Mum before he came back, so he wasn't going to get here till late.

Things were going to be a lot different when Ashton had to leave for work again. Gracie was going to have to learn how to ride a bike because I couldn't leave her at home by herself and I didn't want Ender riding to the school by himself either.

The other option was for me to get a car, but I had only driven Ashton's jeep once around his street and it was absolutely horrid.

I also needed to teach her to swim so I could take her out on the boat and not worry so much.

This meant I needed to buy her a bike, swim wear, and a lot more things that I needed to buy for her.

She didn't have any toys here except for her rabbit and the Olaf Ender let her use, and I felt bad. She also needed more hot weather suited clothes.

We played outside until lunch time and after lunch sent Gracie up for her nap.

Ender and I took this time to get stuff done around the house like laundry, dishes, cleaning, and other things.

"Oh, Car." Ender piped up from where he was taking out the trash. "Tomorrow at practice it's my turn to bring the team snack."

"Uh, okay. What do you want?"

"I don't care. Just don't be like Brady Hudson's Mom and bring us broccoli." He made a disgusted face and shuddered dramatically.

"Noted." I laughed. "What about crisps and dip or something like that?"

"That works." He smiled.

I added that to the grocery list and continued cleaning the kitchen.

I woke Gracie up from her nap later on and she sat on the counter while I made dinner, handing me vegetables that I asked for.

After dinner I got her into the bath and put in a lot of bubbles for her to play with.

A few nights ago I was working on my bedroom door that was starting to stick when it opened or closed, and had asked Ashton to give Gracie her bath and he had freaked out.

It took me about thirty minutes of convincing him that it was okay before he finally did it.

"Mummy, look!" Gracie squealed at me and I looked up to see her piling bubbles on her head.

"You're so silly." I said playfully and then finished washing her hair.

I wrapped her up in a towel and she ran the short distance down the hall to my room where she picked out a pink onesie and I brushed out her hair and braided it over her shoulder.

"Can we watch a movie?" Ender asked when we went downstairs.

"Sure, pick it out." I said and he and Gracie both ran to the television stand.

"Let's watch Spider-Man!" Ender yanked the Dvd out.

"No! Frozen!" Gracie protested.

"We watched that last week!" He arguably sighed at her.

"I wanna watch it!" She whined and then her eyes misted up.

"Gracie, stop that." I scolded her and she turned to me with a look like she was about to cry, her little lip trembling.

"You picked the movie last week, Ender can pick it out today." I told her and she set the movie down, walking over and throwing herself on the sofa.

"If you're going to pout the entire movie then you can go upstairs, go to bed, and not watch the movie at all." I gave her a warning and she quickly sat up, uncrossing her arms.

"Thank you." I said, and made my way to the kitchen to get everyone a drink and popcorn.

Gracie snuggled up next to me on the sofa and eventually so did Ender. Whenever Ashton was around Ender tried to act like he didn't need me so he could impress Ashton, and I always laughed it off, but it felt nice when he acted sweet to me.

Both of them were using my arms as pillows, Mr. Carrots taking residence in Gracie's grip.

We were in the last stretch of the movie when the front door opened and we all sat up to see Ashton walking through the door.

"Daddy's home!" Gracie gasped loudly and slid off the couch, Ashton barely having time to set down his bags before she did a running jump into his arms.

"Hey, sweetie!" He grinned as she hugged his neck. "See, I told you I was coming back today."

"I missed you." She snuggled up to him and he looked down at her with the sweetest, most loving smile on his lips.

"Aww, I missed you too." He laughed and kissed the top of her head, Gracie beaming.

"Can I set you down so I can go hug Carter?" He asked her and she nodded so he set her down and walked over to me.

"Welcome back." I smiled as he put his arms around my waist and leaned in for a kiss.

"Ew." Gracie squealed behind us and he laughed against my mouth.

"Hi." He gave me one more lovely kiss.

"How was your meeting?" I asked, his arms still around me.

"Long." He answered.

"Did you see your mom?"

"Yeah. Oh my gosh, I showed her a picture of Gracie and I'm pretty sure she already loves her more than me; she flipped out."

"Really?" I laughed.

"Yes. She seriously freaked out over her, she was so excited."

"That's funny." I chortled and he finally let go of me.

"I brought back some stuff." He said and went over to his bags.

He set his travel bag on the steps and then brought over a large shopping bag to the coffee table.

"Okay Gracie, before I give you your present, were you good today?" He asked as she sat down in front of him on the sofa.

She looked to me with wide eyes.

"Yes, she was good." I smiled and she bounced on the sofa cushion.

"Okay then, I guess you can have your present." He grinned and reached into the bag, pulling out a handful of clothes.

"Oh my gosh." I said and moved forward to look at them.

There were some cute tops, a few tuto like skirts, and even a few pair of shorts.

"Wow, Gracie, look!" I gasped and she happily began to look at them, going through the fabric.

"I got you something too, End." Ashton said and pulled out a pair of black and green roller skates.

"Woah." Ender jumped up to look at them. "They're awesome, thanks!"

"No problem." Ashton gave him a side hug.

"Thank you Daddy." Gracie came over and hugged Ashton's leg.

"You're welcome, Gracie." He smiled and rubbed her shoulder.

"Okay, it's bed time for you two kiddos." I clapped my hands together and they both whined.

"Uh uh, no. Ender has practice tomorrow and we have things to do." I shook my head.

"Fine." Ender frowned and took his skates in his hands. "Thanks for the skates, Ash." I leaned down and kissed him on the head as he walked by and ran up the stairs to his room.

Gracie climbed up on the couch, rolling onto her back.

I walked over and pulled the blanket over her, tickling her side and making her giggle.

"Sleep tight, love." I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Ashton snatched Mr. Carrots the stuffed bunny from the floor and brought him over to her, tucking him under the blanket by her chin.

"Night Gracie." He playfully poked her nose.

"I'll be up in a bit." I turned to Ashton and pressed a quick kiss to his jaw.

He took the rest of his stuff and headed upstairs while I laid down next to Gracie on the couch.

Surprisingly, she fell asleep fairly quickly.

I turned out the light and made my way upstairs where Ashton was changing into his pyjamas, fresh out of the shower.

I did the same and joined him in bed, cuddling up to his warmth.

"So how did it go today by yourself?" He asked me as I laid my head down on his bicep.

"It went good. She seems to be adjusting well."

"So she calmed down after I left?" A frown settling into his angelic features.

"Yeah, she cried for maybe about five minutes after and then calmed down."

"God, that broke my heart. I almost said screw it and didn't go." He admitted.

"No, you needed to go." I reached up and ran my fingers through the stands of his hair by his ear.

"My mum wants us to come out to visit. I want to take you guys to the Australia Zoo and spend more time there than we did at your first visit."

"I'd like that." I smiled. "When could we go?"

"Whenever you wanted." He shrugged.

"What about this week?" I suggested.

"Doesn't Ender have school?"

"Yeah, but it won't kill him to miss a few days. Besides I'd like to see your mom again, she was nice."

"She loves you." He smiled.

"When would you want to leave?" I asked.

"Let me make a few calls, but maybe Wednesday? We could stay until Sunday and come back."

"That works for me. I've never travelled with a four year old." I bit my lip slightly, trying to figure out how it would work.

"We'll figure it out." He assured me.

"I'm sure we will."

I closed my eyes and turned into him, and he placed his other arm around my back, trailing his fingers up and down my spine.

"You're pretty." He mumbled randomly and I burst into laughter.

"Random much?" I chuckled.

"It's true though." He kissed on my cheek.

"Since we're being random, you smell really nice." I breathed in the smell of whatever cologne his shirt smelled like.

"Thank you, I try." He joked and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, shh, I'm trying to sleep." I said and tried to get comfortable.

"Whatever." He giggled like a little boy.

The next morning consisted of the new routine we had created and Gracie was even more clingy to me than normal. She even sat on my bed while I got dressed and tried to choose my outfit for me.

We got Ender to school and Ashton spent a majority of his morning outside making calls and trying to plan our trip to Sydney.

He came back in and sat down next to me on the sofa where I was doing a puzzle with Gracie.

"Okay so we can leave Wednesday morning and come back on Sunday. We can go to the zoo on Thursday and there's some cool museums and things too. And I have a surprise for us on Saturday night." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully at his last sentence.

"Tell me!" I pushed lightly on his arm.

"Nope!" He gave me a goofy grin and then joined in on helping Gracie and I complete our puzzle. After lunch we made the trip to the grocery store and picked up the snack for Ender's team, and drove it over to the school.

The kids were all out on the field in their uniforms, doing drills.

There was a table set up off to the side where Ash helped me set up the snack for the team and once they were done with practice the kids herded the table, devouring the food it seemed almost instantaneously.

After the snack was gone we went into town and bought Chinese takeout for dinner.

At home we ate and I wrote a note to Ender's teacher for him to take so he could get his homework ahead of time. Then I went up into the attic and retrieved Gracie, mine, and Ender's suitcases.

I planned to pack tomorrow and was excited yet nervous to take Gracie on her first trip, not knowing how it would work but knowing that it would be worth it. 

--

Gracie is going on her first trip with the Chase family, I wonder how that will go (;

Well anyways, i'm super excited about this story and the directions its heading and I hope you are too. Ive received a few messages about the plot and I'm going to answer them now.

1) When is Carter going to find out about Ashton?

Soon. Very soon. (:

2) Why did Gracie call Ashton and Carter mom and dad so early into her stay?

Well technically Gracie has been without a mom for about a month, and at that age its difficult for kids to really comprehend death. Gracie knows her mom is gone but she is too young to really hold onto the grief. She has bonded with Carter and Ashton who are like her new parents and calling them as such comforts her and makes her feel better.

So thats all folks!

As always, comment and vote if you'd like and i'll see you guys in the next chapter.

much love xx -m