Chapter Text
Morning came, and Grace woke up as the big spoon for once. She yawned slightly and looked towards the other woman in the bed she was in. She was met with a cascade of red hair that created a small tapestry when mixed with the slivers of pale skin that slipped through some strands of hair. She started to climb out of bed, not wanting to wake Daniela up. She quietly snuck out of the room and made her way to Alcina’s room. Once in the room, she was met with something she wasn’t ready for. Alcina was asleep in bed holding Bela and Cassandra, while Emily was sprawled over all of them.
‘That’s cute,’ Grace thought as she grabbed a change of clothes. She walked into the bathroom and started the bathwater. She set her clothes down and leaned on the bathroom sink, looking at herself in the mirror.
‘Ok Grace. Let’s go over everything. You’re in a village in Romania away from everyone you once knew, but life here is much better. My only concern right now is Emily. There’s no one her age here… But maybe I could fix that,’ She thought as she started to pace, placing one hand on her chin as she started to work out different ideas in her head.
‘How would I do that? I can’t just go around getting everyone pregnant. I don’t think they’d be the biggest fans. Or I’m completely and totally wrong about everyone,’ She thought as she glanced towards the bath. In her wild scheming to make sure Emily grew up with as normal a childhood as she could provide, she forgot why she was in the bathroom.
“Shit,” She muttered as she walked over and quickly turned off the bath water. She reached into the water and pulled the drain so the water didn’t spill out everywhere when she got in. Once the water was at a suitable level, Grace put the drain back and finally undressed, getting in the water and relaxing a little.
“Maybe Miranda has a way to help. It’s just a matter of getting to her,” She thought out loud. Almost like she summoned the woman in question, Miranda appeared next to the bathtub wearing a long black robe.
“Maybe I have a way to help, how Grace?” She asked. Grace jumped when suddenly greeted by Miranda, and she turned towards her, surprised.
“C-could you always do that?” The agent asked.
“Yes. It’s not exactly anything new,” The priestess said as she sat on the edge of the bath in a way that felt familiar to Grace. Whether she liked it or not, Miranda was Amanda, which meant the mannerisms she grew to love over their year together were there. It was very conflicting for her.
“H-how did you know I was talking about you?”
“You’re not going to like that answer.”
“You still h-have a lot to explain anyway. Might as w-well rip the baid-aid off.”
“I suppose I should.” Miranda adjusted her position and took a moment to figure out where to start.
“I hope you don’t have any plans because we’re going to be here for a while,” She said as she started. She explained everything. Her life before the mold with her daughter Eve, the Spanish flu that decimated the village, including her daughter, her discovery of the mold, her time with the Connections and Spencer, her discovery of Grace when Spencer gave her to Alyssa, how she kept eyes on Grace throughout her life and moving around until 2021 when Ethan Winters came into the picture. Miranda was close to a breakthrough with Rosemary, but it didn’t go as planned. After he “killed” the lords and Alcina’s daughters, Miranda spent four years restoring them and making sure nothing about them was changed. Which led to her final gambit to get Eve back, Elpis. It came to light by none other than Alyssa’s report, which reminded Miranda of Grace’s existence. That led to Miranda creating the Amanda persona and their year together. Grace sat in the now luke warm, at a loss for words.
“Um… if you did all this to get your daughter back, w-why not just get pregnant… again? You’ve been alive for a h-hundred years now. You could’ve h-had several Eves. W-we could’ve h-had an Eve of our own. Give Emily a sister… could’ve made something w-without all the complicated mess,” She said. Miranda wanted to argue against it, but she couldn’t. She was so focused on bringing Eve back that she didn’t think about anything else.
“Let me ask you this. If something were to happen to Emily, would you just replace her?” Miranda asked.
“No, because it w-wouldn’t be replacing h-her. She w-would still h-have a place in my h-heart, and I w-wouldn’t forget about h-her… but I can’t let the pain of loss dictate my entire life. I did that enough w-when I lost my mother. Loss is a part of life, unfortunately.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Nothing in life is Miranda. You of all people should know that after living for a century.”
“You have no right!”
“I have every right! I’m in a random village in Romania because you didn’t stop for a moment and think! I can’t understand the loss of your child, and I hope I never do. But this isn’t the right way to go about it. I’m… I’m leaving. I’m going to clear my head. I’ll talk to you at some other point… Miranda.” Grace got out of the bath, dried off, got dressed, and left, leaving Miranda in the bathroom. When she walked into the actual room, Grace was met with Alcina and Emily. Bela and Cassandra were nowhere to be found. The anger on her face faded as she looked at her daughter.
“Hey, Emily, how would you like to see Miss Donna today?” She asked.
“I’d like that a lot b-but what was—”
“Don’t worry about it. Just had to talk to Mother Miranda. Go get dressed.”
“Ok,” Emily said as she left the room. Alcina looked towards Grace with a look that was a mix of impressed and surprised.
“I’m impressed. I assumed you didn’t have it in you,” She said.
“I didn’t either, but I couldn’t let h-her h-have that. She overcomplicated things, kidnapped someone’s child, kept an eye on me while I grew up, forgot about me only to come back around after I exposed the solution to her problem. I just… can’t. I thought what we had mattered, that I meant something, but no, she was just using me to get to Elpis,” Grace complained. She felt her eyes watering as the reality of it finally came crashing down on her. She couldn’t distract herself from the matter any longer. Things sucked, but at the same time she liked it here. Even if the reason she was in this village was built on lies.
“This might sound harsh, but why don’t you and Emily go home?” Alcina asked.
“I already talked to h-her about it, and it’s clear that neither one of us w-want to leave. But I don’t w-want to see Miranda again unless I h-have to,” The agent answered.
“I’ll do what I can to help you make sure that doesn’t happen,” The vampire said as she opened her arms for a hug. Grace immediately went into it, burying her face against her.
“Thank you,” Grace mumbled before she started sobbing. Alcina gently ran her han her hand up and down Grace’s back in an attempt to soothe her. It worked a little, but Grace really just needed to get it out, and Alcina was thankfully a big shoulder to cry on. It took a few minutes, both for Grace to gather her composure and for Emily and Daniela to come to the room. There was a knock on the door, and Alcina looked towards Grace, wondering if she was ready to be seen. Grace answered that question by speaking up.
“Yeah?” She asked.
“I’m ready to go to Miss Donna’s manor,” Emily said as she walked inside the room. Daniela was behind her, looking towards Grace. She saw the tear stains on the agent’s face and raised an eyebrow.
“Everything ok, Gracie?” She asked.
“Hmm? Yeah. I’m ok. I w-will be. C’mon, let’s go,” Grace said.
“Mother, I’m going with them,” Daniela said.
“In this weather? Absolutely not,” Alcina said.
“I found a workaround for that, and it involves Grace,” The redhead said. Alcina eyed her daughter suspiciously but made a motion for her to keep going.
“You see, when I go into my swarm form, I can cling to Grace and steal her body heat long enough for the walk there,” Daniela explained.
“And she’s ok with you doing so?” Alcina asked.
“Yes/Yeah,” Both Daniela and Grace answered.
“Why do you want to come with us, Daniela?” Emily asked.
“I have my reasons,” Daniela answered. Grace glanced towards Alcina, who couldn’t help but smirk a little. It seemed those reasons were known by her mother. Which checked out. You can only hide so much over the course of fifty years.
“Very well. Be safe, Daniela. I don’t think we want to see Mother Miranda any time soon,” Alcina said.
“I will,” Daniela said.
“I’ll be sure to bring her back safely,” Grace said as she looked towards Alcina.
“I know you will, Grace. It’s a matter of if, she will return safely. Daniela has been a troublemaker,” The vampire said.
“I will be as safe as possible, Mother. Now let’s go, Gracie. Before she changes her mind,” Daniela said as she took Grace’s hand and pulled the agent out of the room. Emily followed behind them, wondering what she missed in the few days Grace was awake. When the three of them were far enough away, Daniela turned into a swarm of flies and slipped under Grace’s clothes, clinging to her body.
“Doesn’t that feel weird?” Emily asked.
“A little, but we’ve been weirder,” Grace answered as she held her hand out. Emily took it and the two set off.
“So. Gracie?” Emily asked in a slightly teasing tone.
“W-we don’t h-have to talk about it,” Grace said with a small blush.
“We don’t have to, but I wanna.”
“Emily, please.”
“It’s just that there have been exactly 3 people I know that have called you that. Jorge, Amanda, and Rebecca.”
“W-we don’t h-have to point that out… or the inevitable connection you’re making in your h-head.”
“The connection’s already been made, Grace. Since when were you and Daniela a thing? We’ve only been here two weeks, and you’ve only been awake for one of them.”
“It’s… complicated.”
“As complicated as everything else around us?”
“You’re too smart for your own good.”
“I know.” Emily grinned, feeling pretty proud of herself. Grace grumbled something and accepted defeat. They reached the manor, and thankfully, Emily didn’t ask any follow-up questions. Grace knocked on the door and waited a few moments. It took a moment, but Donna opened the door, wearing her usual veil and dress.
“Hello, Grace. Hello, Emily,” The seamstress said.
“Hello,” Emily said with a bright smile and small wave.
“Hi, Donna,” Grace said with a small wave of her own.
“Come in. I’ll get the water boiling,” Donna said as she moved to the side. Grace and Emily went inside, and Grace led Emily to the room where she had tea with Donna the day before. As they walked, Daniela flew off of Grace and went to join Donna in the kitchen. Grace and Emily heard a brief scream of surprise from the seamstress and looked in the direction of the kitchen.
“I think we should’ve warned Donna,” Emily said.
“It slipped my mind because someone got nosey,” Grace said.
“Not my fault. You’ve been pretty busy since waking up. I just wanted to make sure everything was ok.”
“Yeah. Everything w-will be.”
“Are you sure? Because I heard your conversation with Miranda. Well, part of it.”
“I’m sure. I’ll figure out a w-way to w-work it out. I just w-want to make sure everything h-here is great for you.”
“I know, but don’t do anything drastic. After eight years in the care center, I’ve come to terms with not having a normal childhood.”
“That shouldn’t be something a nine-year-old should just ‘come to terms’ w-with.”
“I know, but life is weird. Just gotta roll with the punches. Bam bam.” Emily punched the air in front of her to accentuate her point. Grace couldn’t help but giggle a little at Emily’s silliness. In the middle of their conversation, Donna walked into the room with a tray that held four cups and the different tea blends. Daniela followed in behind her, smiling from ear to ear.
“Did you—”
“Mhm.”
“Did she—”
“Mhm.”
“I’m h-happy for you.”
“No, you’re happy for us, Gracie. I told you this last night.”
“Told her what?” Emily asked.
“Grown up stuff,” Grace said. Daniela covered Grace’s mouth, leaving the agent silenced.
“You see, young Emily, me, your mommy and Donna are— Did you just lick my hand?” She asked as she looked at Grace.
“So you three are a thing now. Cool,” Emily said.
‘She’s never going to let me live this down,’ Grace thought.
“I gotta tell Sherry when we’re done here,” The kid said.
“No, you don’t. You really don’t,” Grace said.
“Who’s Sherry?” Daniela and Donna asked.
“She’s one of Grace’s friends. She also occasionally babysat me whenever Grace had a date,” Emily answered, “She also is where I get all my charm from.”
“It had to come from someone, and we know it wasn’t Grace,” Daniela said.
“It could’ve been,” Grace said, in an attempt to defend herself.
“No. It couldn’t have,” Donna chimed in. Grace turned towards the seamstress with a look of betrayal on her face.
“H-how w-would you know? W-We met yesterday,” She muttered.
“I know. You are just… obvious. I’m sorry,” The seamstress said as she set up both her and Cassandra’s tea since she knew how the chimera liked her tea.
“I am—”
“So obvious, Grace,” Emily said. Grace accepted defeat here. She was outnumbered here, so she decided to just deflect to something else.
“What kind of tea would you like, Emily?” She asked. Daniela couldn’t help but giggle a bit at this drastic change in conversation. It worked, though. Emily turned her attention towards the different teas, asking a bunch of questions about the special blend. Eventually Emily got a cup of tea of her own and sat in the chair in between Daniela and Grace.
“Thanks again for agreeing to teach Emily to sew, Donna,” Grace said as she started to set up her own tea.
“You’re welcome. After your visit, I realized that it would be nice to have someone to share this with. I’m glad you’re interested, Emily,” Donna said.
“I always read books about pretty dresses, so I want to make my own. Especially since we’re not going anywhere, anytime soon,” Emily said.
“Did Grace never get you any?” Donna asked as she glanced towards Grace.
“No, she did, but I want to make my own. It’s different. I think it’ll be more rewarding to make my own.”
“I can tell you from firsthand experience that it is, but before you can make your own dress, we’ll need your measurements.”
“Can we go do that now?”
“Of course. Come with me,” Donna said as she finished her tea. Emily downed the rest of hers before excitedly getting up and following the seamstress.
“Be careful,” Grace said as she watched the two leave.
“I will,” Emily called out. Grace turned her attention to Daniela, who was smiling even harder than after the confession.
“You’re smiling pretty h-hard,” She said in an attempt to be a tease.
“Who? Me?” Daniela asked.
“Yes. You.”
“Why shouldn’t I? I have two girlfriends, which puts me above the other two, and I held Donna’s hand.”
“Don’t rob yourself of the enjoyment by making it a competition w-with your sisters.”
“I’m not. Before Mother Miranda had us cull the village, Bela and Cassandra had a new maid paramour every month. Then there was me. Just pining for Donna while they gloated and bragged. I’m just so happy. It just feels unreal at the moment. Bite me.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know. So I can feel some pain and know I’m not sleeping.”
“Isn’t it usually ‘pinch me,’ not ‘bite me.’”
“Well, pinching isn’t any fun. Pinching is reserved for old ladies, and you’re not an old lady. So hurry up and bite me.”
“Um… ok.” Grace got up and walked around the table to be next to Daniela. Before she could go in to bite the chimera, Daniela pulled her into a soft but heated kiss, similar to the one from last night. Grace melted into it and closed her eyes, forgetting to bite Daniela. Dani pulled back from the kiss first, smiling a little.
“It’s real. It’s so real. Your lips are just the right amount of softness.”
“I’m glad to prove it’s all real.”
“Yeah. Now let’s go join Donna and Emily. I like watching Donna sew.” Daniela got up and started to make her way towards the stairs to Donna’s sewing room.
“I’m right behind you.” Grace followed behind, making sure she finished her tea first before going upstairs.