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Friday

Finally, the big day arrived. The cast was coming off.  The date had been circled on more than one calendar.  Nick wanted to take her to the hospital and be there for the unveiling of the leg, but Grace refused.  She knew her leg would be all scaly and hairy and she sure wasn't letting him look at it that way.

Nick acquiesced reluctantly and said he was planning on seeing it later then.  He wanted to give his own opinion by the laying on of hands and possibly lips.  Grace gulped and said it sounded like unorthodox medical treatment to her.  Nick told her he’d pick her up at 8:00.

Grace took a cab to the hospital.  Nurse Pinero was on duty and greeted her warmly.  She directed her to the outpatient department where Grace would have the cast removed. 

As Grace was moving away, Agnes said, "So, Ms. Barrett, how are you and young Mr. Nick getting on?"  She had been having her son follow the progress of their relationship on the Internet.  Her son thought she was crazy, but Agnes had been there at the beginning of their relationship and she felt a maternal interest in the pair.

Grace looked back at her and smiled.  "Let's just say I won't be the only one glad to be rid of this," she said pointing at the cast.

The procedure for removing the cast was noisy and messy, but it didn't take long.  The intern used a sawing tool to cut through the plaster and then with a jerk and a pop, the cast was off.

"Oooooh, gross!" was Grace's immediate reaction when she looked down.  Whatever tan there had been on her leg had faded and her skin looked pasty.  She had worn loose-fitting pants to the hospital and quickly pulled her pantleg down over the offending limb. 

Grace slid carefully down from the examining table, almost afraid to put weight on her foot.  She moved from one foot to the other shifting her weight back and forth, timidly at first and then with more confidence.  She put her weight on her left foot and rotated her right ankle around and around.  She wanted to cheer or sing, but limited herself to a beaming smile and a deep sigh of satisfaction.

"Now, no dancing the Highland Fling for a while yet," cautioned the doctor, a young intern, operating under the watchful eye of a veteran nurse.

"But," Grace protested, "the Olympic long jump trials are next week."

The doctor frowned and was about to dash Grace's Olympic hopes when a chuckle from the nurse showed him he was being teased.  "Just be careful, and take it slowly," admonished the doctor.  "And don't miss any of your therapy appointments.  You don't want to re-injure it."

"Don't worry," stated Grace, "That's the last thing I want to do."

Grace found her way back to the entrance of the ER, resisting the desire to skip.  She would never be able to explain that to Nick.  Well, yes, I really wanted to get to you, but this inexplicable desire to pretend I was five years old just overtook me and I fell down again.

She was heading for the taxi phone when a voice beside her said, "Paging Ms. Barrett.  Ms. Grace Barrett."  She stopped and turned to the hypnotic green eyes of Kevin Richardson.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Kevin grinned down at her.  "I am on a mission from a higher authority," he said seriously, but his eyes twinkled in amusement.

"God?" Grace asked wonderingly.

"Higher!" said Kevin, "Wife!"  He took her by the hand.  "Come with me."

He led her from the hospital.  She looked over her shoulder and winked at Agnes who was staring and smiling.

Kevin led Grace out to his car.  They drove through the streets chatting.  He asked her about her leg. She asked him about JWR.  He asked about her latest project.  She asked about their upcoming album.  Neither mentioned Nick.

Kevin pulled into the driveway of a house.  Grace assumed it was his.  This was confirmed when the front door was thrown open and she was gathered into a tight hug by Kristin.  She shepherded Grace into the house and then turned to Kevin.  "Thanks, Babe.  Your work here is done."

"Awww, can't I stay and watch?" asked Kevin with a grin.

"Nope.  Girl stuff.  Scram."  Kristin led Grace down a long hallway to a bathroom. 

"Take off your pants," she said to Grace, "and sit there."  She pointed to a small padded bench.  She turned away to a counter and started rooting among an array of bottles and tubes.

"I don't wear underwear," said Grace, which caused Kristin to swing back to her in alarm.  "Just kidding," said Grace and dropped her pants to the floor.  She stepped out of them and sat on the bench.

Kristin laughed.  She really liked this girl.  She pulled on some rubber gloves and motioned to the counter.  "What we have here is a veritable salon of depilatories.  We're going to make you smooth-limbed for your handsome prince."

"Well, you're going to have your work cut out for you," said Grace, motioning to her right leg.

Kristin looked at the leg and wrinkled her nose in distaste.  "No job is too hard for the Queen of Depilation."  She frowned.  "Depilatoriness?" she asked.

Grace answered in her prissiest voice.  "I believe the proper technical term is 'unwanted hair removal'."

Kevin sat in another room listening to the shrieks of laughter coming from the bathroom.  He smiled to himself.  Women!  Lord only knew what they were doing in there.  He thought about Grace for a moment.  Kristin really liked her.  And Nick was in love with her.  Kevin could easily see that.  He liked her too and he wanted to give this his whole-hearted approval but...there was something.  He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something not quite right.  He recalled AJ's words about 'Kevin wrecking it'.  He was determined that he was going to say nothing.  This might work out for his beloved little brother.  He truly hoped so.  But if it didn't, he was not going to say 'I told you so' and he was certainly not going to put himself in a position where anyone could blame him.  Another shriek of laughter made him think that he needed to do something male, so he headed to the kitchen for a beer.

"This is amazing," said Grace, as Kristin smeared cream all over both her legs from the knees down.

"Well, we want them to match, don't we?" said Kristin.  "And I was afraid your first instinct would be to grab a razor and hack away at yourself."

Grace nodded, "Let's just say if there had been any sandpaper handy, I'd be a raw, bleeding mess by now."

Kristin shook her head.  "We don't want that.  We want nice, smooth legs - no nicks."

"No nicks for Nick," said Grace and the ensuing explosion of laughter was what sent Kevin on his search for manly suds.

Half an hour later, Kristin announced that she was satisfied.  Grace looked down at her legs.  They were smooth and hairless.  They had been massaged and moisturized.  And one of them was decidedly paler than the other.  The women looked at each other and shrugged.  Nothing they could do about that.

"Look at it this way," said Kristin.  "I'm pretty sure that Nick really wants to kiss that ankle that he last saw trapped in a sewer grating.  This way, he'll be sure to get the right one.

Grace laughed again and then became serious.  "Kristin, this was very sweet of you. I know that Kevin doesn't..."

Kristin held up a hand.  "Kevin is a man," she said, as if that explained everything.  "It will take him longer to see what I see, but he'll get there.  And I see that you are right for Nick, and he is right for you.  Okay, put your pants back on, girl.  Now, you're ready to face the world."

Kristin and Grace emerged from the bathroom.  Kevin didn't know what magic his darling wife had worked, and he frankly didn't want to have the details, but Grace was glowing.  Rather than dwell on female topics, he grabbed his car keys and announced, "On to part two of the Great Grace Adventure."

Kristin gave him a look and he shut up immediately.  Part two? thought Grace.  Was someone going to shave her head?

They drove in silence to Grace's building.  When they pulled up in front, Kevin turned to her with a smile.  "Okay, young lady, there you go."

Grace thanked him and got out of the car.  Before she closed the door, she leaned in and said, "I would die before I would hurt him."  Kevin nodded at her and she closed the door.

She entered the building and waved at Jermaine as she headed for the elevator.  "Get out those dancing shoes," he called to her.

"Not yet, Jermaine, but soon!" she answered back.

She got off the elevator and walked to her door.  It was slightly ajar and had a paper taped to it that said, Two-legged creatures welcome here.  She pushed open the door and peered inside.  "Hello," she said tentatively.

Nick leapt up from the sofa.  He looked at her legs.  Grace did a little dance and finished with her arms out.  Ta da!  Nick came over and took her by the hand.  He didn’t kiss her, which disappointed her somewhat, but instead, led her to the bathroom.  He smiled down at her.  “To quote from one of our songs, ‘your every wish will be done’.” He kissed her on the forehead and pushed open the bathroom door.

Grace gasped and threw her hands over her mouth.  The room was full of candles.  The bathtub was full of bubbles.  There were flowers everywhere. 

"Enjoy, my sweet little water baby," said Nick.  "I'll be back at 8."  And he left, closing the bathroom door behind him.

Grace was transfixed. Then she smiled and slowly unbuttoned her blouse.  She took a long time removing her clothes, admiring the flowers and savoring the anticipation.  Finally, she stepped into the tub.  A long sigh of satisfaction came from her as she sank down.  Oh God, the joy of being wet, of sinking up to her neck in water and sweet-smelling bubbles - joyous, just joyous.  She blew a handful of bubbles off her hand and tipped her head back on the edge of the tub.  She moved her hands under the water to make waves.  Delicious!  She was going to go swimming at the first opportunity.  Maybe off Nick's boat.  .  Ahhh…Nick.  What a beautiful thing he had done for her.  Your every wish will be done.  She sobered for a moment when she realized that the line came from the song, Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely.  She thought about what lay ahead.  No, she wouldn’t go there just yet.  She’d think about that when she had to.  She pulled herself under the water and became a fish.