AN: This one is dedicated to Mara Roberts, who cared enough to e-mail me and finally kick this plot bunny in the butt. Gary, Marissa, Grace and I all thank you.

Chapter 3: The Lunch Date

The next day came and Grace remained her usual charming self, enchanting George and various McGinty's customers with her smile and ability to snuggle. On those rare occasions when neither Gary nor Marissa was holding her, the baby never lacked for a pair of willing arms.

Which was a good thing, because tomorrow's paper had Gary a little ... distracted.

It wasn't the actual news. In yet another incredibly slow news day the closest thing to a crises that had been reported was an early morning mugging, and in the end the only thing Gary had really been needed for was to shout out a warning. The intended victim, a 53 year old woman who taught several classes at a local dojo, had taken care of the rest.

It was as he was walking home from that, searching for something slightly more urgent than a shoe sale, that he had first seen the picture. Marissa ... well, she'd been as beautiful as he'd ever seen her.

Now, though, sitting in his office and trying to figure out what he was going to do about it, a part of him would have preferred a good car crash. It would have been so much easier to deal with.

"Gary?" As if she could sense his thoughts Marissa suddenly appeared in the doorway, her purse over her shoulder and Grace gurgling very securely in her arms. Though a bit frazzled, she was still beautiful. "Gracie and I finished the inventory for the week, and I thought that if the paper didn't have anything for you to do I could go out for an early lunch ..."

"No!" Gary practically leapt out of his chair, enough desperation in his voice to make both ladies' eyes widen. "You ... you can't."

"Is everything alright, Gary?" Concern clear on her face, Marissa moved forward and touched his arm. As always, she was kind enough not to mention he was clearly losing his mind. "You sound terrified."

Gary flushed, running a hand through his hair. This was not the kind of thing he should be terrified about. In fact, if he were any kind of friend at all he should be shoving her out the door. "I'm ... I'm fine. It's just ..." Lie, Gary, you know you can do it. Chuck managed this sort of thing all the time. "... you shouldn't go out yet. It's ... we ..."

The baby looked up at him, waiting for a sensible answer. When none was forthcoming she sniffed audibly, giving him an idea."Grace ... Grace would miss you. Kids need secure environments and all that, and you're by far the best thing in her life right now." In either of their lives, come to think of it ...

Knowing her cue, Grace began a piteous sob almost the moment he finished speaking. Gary sent her a silent but heartfelt thank you.

Marissa, skeptical of the performance, nevertheless began a gentle rocking motion even as her eyebrows furrowed. "I could take the baby with me, if you want. It's still my turn for a little while yet, and I'm sure she would be happy to get some fresh air."

"I ..." Gary froze, suddenly bereft of an answer. Would it be enough? "Could ... you hold on for a second?" He took a few steps back, sliding the paper out of his pocket as carefully as he could.

It had been the community pages that had reached out and smacked him. It wasn't a story, really, but the photographer was probably going to consider that for the best - not only would pesky questions have ruined what was clearly a moment, but Drew Harper, financeer and one of the richest men in the city, had both a great right hook and several judges for close friends.

Besides, when you saw two people looking at each other like he and Marissa were, words really didn't seem to matter.

"Gary ..." There was a note of warning in her voice now. "I can hear the paper rustling. If you read about something bad happening, I wish you'd just tell me."

"It's nothing. I'm just ... seeing if anything new's come up." Unfortunately, it hadn't. The picture was still there, and there was no sign of Grace's tiny little form anywhere. Was it supposed to happen later? "You weren't ... planning on meeting anyone for that lunch, were you? Someone who might be worried if you don't show up?"

"No - lately, there hasn't been anyone to meet." Surprised at how calm she suddenly felt, Marissa set the baby down in the makeshift bassinet on Gary's desk and navigated around the table to meet him. Quietly taking the paper out of his hands and setting it on the chair, she gently reached up and took his face in both her hands. "You're not going to tell me about this, are you?"

Gary's breath caught. "I'm sorry. I ... I can't." His skin felt so ... alive everywhere she touched him. Why hadn't he ever noticed it before? And what in the world was he going to do when she stopped? "It's just ..."

"It's okay. You don't need to." Her hand moved up, resting gently against his suddenly hyper-sensitive lips. "It'll be okay, Gary. With you, it always is."

Gary swallowed. He should be feeling incredibly guilty, he knew, for denying Mr. Harper the wonder that Marissa would have been in his life, especially when it had taken Gary so long to realize what she had done for his. But ... but ... "I don't want to lose you," he whispered, unsure of all the many ways he meant it.

She smiled. "You won't." Then she hugged him, warm and comforting, and all Gary could do was slide his arms around her and breathe in the scent of her hair. How could he have been such an idiot ...

"We could eat up at my place," he said finally. He had no real idea what he was going to do next, but the idea of Marissa more than three feet away was more than he could take at the moment. "You know, just the three of us. Anything you want."

She pulled back slightly. "Are you sure you won't be busy?"

Gary smiled down at her, knowing she could hear it. "Not with anything that matters."

Grace, from her front row seat on the desk, gurgled approvingly.