Run, Girl (If You Can)

When the ceremony officially ended Keeley headed to the designated meeting place Aaron texted her about. She was surprised to find that most of her friends were there as well. Valentina was probably in the middle of a rotation right now but Aiden, Cameron, and Jennica all waved at her as she approached.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked with a bright smile on her face.

"I wasn't about to miss your graduation!" Jennica replied as she hugged her friend. "Congratulations, Doctor!"

When Keeley turned to Aiden questioningly he shrugged. "Aaron said he'd pay for my dinner if I came so here I am."

Cameron elbowed him in the ribs but she only laughed. That seemed like something he would do. It warmed her heart to see all of these people come out to celebrate her accomplishment.

"I'm so proud of you, honeybun!" her dad said as he hugged her tightly.

Keeley ignored the snickers at her dad's silly nickname. She was too happy to be bothered by something like that right now. She had finally done something worth her father being proud of.

"For the record, I'm proud of you too," Aaron said as he smiled at her from behind her dad.

After her dad released her she practically launched herself at her husband. She dangled off of his neck as he spun her around.

She giggled in exhilaration. "Can you believe it, Aaron? I really did it! I got my PhD!"

He kissed the top of her head. "I knew you would. You can do anything you set your mind to."

"Quit being lovey dovey already so we can take pictures and go eat!"

"You're just jealous your girlfriend is halfway across the world," Aaron said with a glare in Aiden's direction.

He reacted dramatically, clutching his heart. "Aaron, you wound me."

Cameron thought the whole thing was hilarious. Jennica merely shook her head at their antics with an amused smile on her face.

They took a lot of pictures. By herself, with her dad and Aaron, and group shots with all of her friends. They had to find a random bystander to get a shot with all of them in it.

Of all the pictures taken, her favorite was probably the silly face one with her friends. Cameron and Jennica had matching grimaces, Aiden was sticking his tongue out and had one eye shut, she had squished her cheeks together with her hands so she looked like a fish, and Aaron looked over the group like they were crazy.

Her heart was full as she looked at it. She had such good friends in this life. Never again would she have to deal with being shamed or isolated. She would only surround herself with people she actually enjoyed spending time with.

"Who's ready for some food?" she asked. "I really want steak."

"I've been ready this entire time," Aiden chuckled before hurrying towards the parking lot and urging everyone else to come along.

"Where do you know him from?" her dad whispered. "He's a funny one."

"He was my neighbor but he's also Aaron's friend."

It was kind of interesting how their friend groups ended up overlapping. Planning get-togethers like this was a lot easier because of it. She was glad that the people they cared about meshed well together.

Sitting around talking as they waited for their appetizers to show up was a lot of fun. Keeley couldn't remember the last time she felt so relaxed. It had been quite a while.

She sat in between her father and husband in their rounded corner booth. Robert contributed to the conversation a lot more than Aaron did but he mostly just seemed happy to be there even though his friends exasperated him a bit.

She felt an upsurge of affection for him. He set this up for her because he knew how much she enjoyed being around other people. These days he really knew what she wanted out of life and cared about her getting it.

Keeley reached out and rubbed the top of his leg near the knee under the table. He turned to her in surprise and she simply gave him the brightest smile she could. Aaron gazed at her lovingly in response before moving his arm so it rested on her shoulders.

Her heart stuttered slightly because of the look on his face. It wasn't the first time he looked at her that way but somehow it caught her off guard.

"So what are you going to do now that you're officially a geneticist?" Jennica asked as she picked up another roll from the basket on the table.

"Nothing," she said with a laugh. "I want to be there for the babies when they're little. Aaron offered to fund my research so I'm going to go back to that once they're in preschool."

A low whistle went around the table. Everyone was impressed by his dedication.

"Wow, way to be supportive."

"Somebody sure loves you!"

She smiled softly. Yeah. He really did. Being loved by Aaron was a beautiful thing.

===

Graydon didn't want to spend his Saturday following Lacy Knighton around and making sure she stayed away from Aaron's apartment building but he did want Aaron to trust him so here he was.

She had the dullest life. For the past three hours she had been moving from store to store with a group of other socialites. Didn't they have anything better to do with their time?

At the end of their shopping spree, they tried to decide on a place to eat. Lacy wanted to have Italian food so they ended up going to a bistro near the shopping district.

He heaved a sigh of relief. It was nearly six and Aaron said he only needed her away from his place until seven. Since they hadn't gotten their food yet, they would surely be stuck here until after then.

Today hadn't ended up being a problem after all. He had proved his reliability. But what about in the future? Keeley couldn't stay inside forever.

Graydon didn't even know how far along she was. She could be trapped inside for months before giving birth. Even after that…the babies would be born safely but then what?

Lacy was completely obsessed—there was no way she would let them live in peace. It would be better for everyone if she was out of the picture. Unfortunately, he hadn't figured out a way to make her death look like an accident yet.

It was the only way. Aaron could get rid of his father by completing his plan but she would always be lurking at the edges of his life unless she was dead. Graydon couldn't allow her to ruin his happiness like that.

He had seen firsthand how much Aaron loved his wife. After growing up under Alistair Hale's thumb he deserved to live happily with her away from it all. That wouldn't be possible with Lacy Knighton around.

Getting her out of the way was the least he could do.  Maybe once she was out of the picture Aaron would finally relax enough to give Graydon a chance to be a part of his life.