A Helping Hand

What Gracie doesn't understand is that Sydney would rather wait for Michael to be well enough to go with them rather than to go without him.

I also think it's cute that even though Michael didn't care about his own health in the beginning, he's taking extra precautions to make sure he doesn't cause Sydney to get sick.

Chris
 
awww YAY I'm so happy that he's doing better! And now they've said they love each other....YAY!!! Can't wait for more! Omgosh I just so happy that they're finally together now!
 
Since they're already living together, I guess it's a good idea to take their relationship slow. Or not, I don't know.
 
Chapter 35
The next morning when Michael awoke, Sydney was still sleeping peacefully, her body curled around his. Feeling a coughing spell coming on, Michael slipped from the bed as quickly yet carefully as possible before slipping into the bathroom, where his coughs would be muffled. Upon returning to the bedroom he found that Sydney was beginning to stir. “Sorry,” he croaked.

“’sokay. I was half awake anyway,” she mumbled before yawning. Then she gestured for Michael to return to bed and he did as she asked. “Did you sleep well?”

“Pretty well,” he nodded. “You?”

“Good. I love sleeping beside you,” she smiled at him.

He laughed softly and smiled as well. “Me too,” he said. Then he groaned slightly and rolled onto his back. “Ugh, what day is it? I feel like I’ve been absent from the real world forever…”

“Well its Saturday and you’ve been absent from the real world for about a week and a half,” she told him seriously.

“A week and a half out of work… I’m sure they’ve fired me by now,” he sighed sadly.

Sydney was silent for a moment before responding. “Well…I can make sure they don’t if you really want to keep your job,” she said. He glanced over at her, curiously. “It’s just…this illness should be a wake up call for you. I mean, you don’t have to constantly think about making money to find a place for you and Grace. You’re not leaving now, are you?” she asked in an almost dangerous tone. Michael smiled softly and shook his head. “Exactly. So do what you want, Michael. You hate being a janitor, I know you do. What do you want to do with your life? What do you really want?” she asked.

He was silent for a few minutes as he stared up at the canopy top of her bed. Then, suddenly, he rolled over onto his side so he could look her in the eye. “When I was younger…I always wanted to open my own bakery. I loved making cookies and cakes and pies; its fun to me.”

“Then do that,” Sydney encouraged. He shook his head looking rather embarrassed. “Yes! Do that. Michael you’d be so good at that. You have such a talent – everything you make is amazing! I’d go there every day to buy cookies.”

“You wouldn’t,” he laughed.

“I so totally would!” she assured him. “Go on; do it.”

“Syd I can’t. I don’t even want to think about how much money it would take to open my own bakery. Not to mention the business skills that I don’t have. Plus… I think I’d like to go to a culinary school to learn some more tricks of the trade, so to speak.”

“So do that then,” Sydney told him. “I’m sure there’s a school that starts this summer. You can enroll in that…and then maybe once you graduate you could find a job working as an assistant chef until you feel comfortable branching off on your own. Then, I’ll give you the money to start your bakery and I’ll do the business stuff for it – lord knows I know how to do that,” she said with a slight eye roll.

Michael could not help but laugh softly at this, yet he was utterly amazed by the faith she had in him. “I dunno yet…,” he said cautiously. Truthfully, he was not sure he was brave enough to start completely over career-wise at the age of thirty and a half.

“Promise me you’ll think about it?” Sydney asked.

“Promise,” Michael confirmed with a nod. They lay in silence for a few moments before Michael looked over at her once more. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Always,” she smiled.

“Well…the truth is I had enough money for Grace and I to move out back in February. I even looked at some places, too, but, in the end I just…couldn’t. Is that alright?” he asked cautiously.

“More than alright,” she beamed. Michael making the decision to stay there with her when he could have moved out meant more than Sydney could ever express. They had come so far from the time when he made accepting a meal from her seem as though it was supreme torture. His desire to be there only reaffirmed the love and trust they had with each other, at least it did in Sydney’s mind. “What made you stay, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Grace,” he said simply. “It’s been so hard for me – us. She doesn’t have a female role model in her life and I was concerned how that would affect her. But here…she has you and she loves you and I knew that if we left she would be incredibly upset…I would be too,” he said honestly. Unable to express quite how much that meant to her in words, Sydney leaned over and gave Michael a very long kiss.

When they broke their kiss, Michael couldn’t help but laugh softly. “You’re going to catch my pneumonia,” he told her seriously.

“Eh,” Sydney shrugged. “A least I’ll go to the doctor,” she said pointedly. Michael blushed slightly. “See, you need to listen to me the next time.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I guess I should get up though…Grace’ll be up soon.”

“Yep and Santa needs walked…oh wait – are we going to tell Grace? I mean…she’ll see us kissing and wonder what’s going on,” Sydney said rather nervously, not looking forward to the first time that happened.

“Well, I don’t know what your plans are but I actually wasn’t planning on scarring my daughter by making out with you in front of her,” Michael said very seriously.

Sydney laughed. “I wasn’t planning on licking you in front of her Michael, but…you know, a quick kiss is obviously something we haven’t done before. We’ve hardly even hugged in front of her!”

“Yeah that’s a good point,” Michael sighed. “Alright we’ll tell her at breakfast,” he determined. Then, they parted so that they could get ready for the day before Grace awoke.


Fifteen minutes later, Michael met Sydney in the kitchen, where she was putting on a pot of coffee for herself. He walked up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist, giving her a hug from behind. She let out a soft giggle and turned her head back to give him a kiss on the chin. “I’m gonna take Santa out; I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“’Kay,” he said through a yawn. After sipping on some coffee, Michael went upstairs to wake Grace. He was not looking forward to the conversation they were going to have regarding Sydney, not that he thought she would be strictly against a relationship between the two of them; that wasn’t the problem. He merely was unsure of what to say and afraid of some questions that might be asked on Grace’s part.

“Are you feeling better Daddy?” she asked.

“I’m feeling much better, sweetie; thanks for asking,” he smiled down at her. The two of them descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen, where Michael retrieved a bowl and some cereal for Grace to eat. Then, he grabbed a banana for himself and sat down beside her. “Grace, honey I need to talk to you about something.”

“What?” Grace asked.

“Well, um, you see…Sydney and I – we’re going to be in a relationship now. You know, like, dating…do you know what I mean?” he asked, cringing inwardly at his inability to explain things. Grace nodded and he continued, “Is that alright?”

Before Grace could answer, Sydney returned to the kitchen with Santa on her leash. Noticing the serious talk going on between father and daughter, she hovered by Santa’s food bowl, which was on the other side of the kitchen from them.

“Yeah I guess,” Grace said in a rather lack-luster way.

Concerned, Michael’s brow furrowed. “Did you not want me to be in a relationship with Sydney?” He had not expected that sort of response and was thus unprepared of how to react to it.

“No, that’s okay. I was just gonna ask for it for my birthday…now I don’t know what to ask for!” she exclaimed as though it was actually a difficult problem.

At this comment, Michael and Sydney both laughed. “You were going to ask for it for your birthday!?” Michael asked her. She nodded with a grin. “You silly girl – you can’t do that!”

“Why not? It woulda been a great present!” she told him.

“Well now you can have something better,” Sydney told her.

“Well I already got a puppy…and now this…what else is there?” Grace asked seriously.

Sydney could hardly believe this response until she remembered that with Michael and Grace’s dire financial status, she probably did not receive much in the way of nonessential items for her birthday the previous summer. “Well I dunno…but you’ve still got some time to think about it, okay?” Sydney told her.

“Okay…but its gonna be tough!” Grace exclaimed. Then, Sydney and Michael laughed once more.
 
I think Grace also wasn't too much surprised I mean they live together for months now and for her the relationship Sydney and Vaughn have till now was like a family-like relationship... minus the hugs and kissing (and make-out sessions) :loll :rolleyes:

So... all in all it ended up nice!!!!!!!!
 
I'm so glad Michael decided he wants to go to culinary school and finally open up his own bakery. With his talent and Sydney's business knowledge I'm sure he'll be successful when he decides to branch out on his own. Not only will their relationship be good, they'll probably end up being great business partners too.

It was also cute that all Grace wanted for a birthday present was for Sydney and Michael to start dating. Since that is already happening Sydney and Michael can concetrate on giving her something really special.

Chris
 
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