Tess kept him wrapped up close for a moment, even after the kiss was over, smiling. "Well it's another step on the journey, isn't it?" They had always moved pretty fast. They had been friends at first sight, dating within a week, making love very shortly after...This seemed to be perfectly in synch with their timelines. And in a way Tess felt like she was already married to him, too. They took care of one another. She felt safe with him. Living here permanently would be convenient, even aside from the niceness of it all. She was crazy about him and about Grace, too. She couldn't stop smiling now, giggling even. It was strange, but nice. "I don't think I've ever been this happy. Well....I mean there's a celebratory happy dance every time I produce a negative pee stick, but that's different."
"Danno, more pizza!" Grace called from the next room. Tess sighed and kissed him softly again before releasing him to go about bringing more of the food to his daughter. Their daughter? No, that didn't seem right, even though she pretty much considered Grace to be hers, too. She went to the fridge and grabbed a juice box and a couple of beers for them. "Grab me some more of that pizza too, please." She told him, hands full of beverages. She returned to the dining room, where Lilly was chewing a piece of crust almost the size of her head.
After shaking her head at the dog, she jokingly offered one of the beers to Grace, who made a face. "Those stink so bad, I don't know how you drink 'em." Tess smiled, remembering when she would tell her father things like that. "It's an acquired taste," She replied, just like David used to tell her when she would ask. She passed Grace the juice box and sat back down, popping the cap off of her beer. "I can't believe you thought we were getting married like we wouldn't tell you, dude." She teased, taking a sip of the alcohol. "You would be the first to know, okay?"
"I better," Grace teased back after a sip of her juice.