Will doesn't break up with Vince, Leo doesn't call off his wedding, and Grace faces raising the baby alone. This will eventually be Grace/Karen.
Change of Plans
Chapter 1 – Moving Out
"I already told you, just because I'm moving in with Vince doesn't mean that you can't stay here," Will said as he was packing away all his pots and pans. "I'll even keep paying the rent for you." Grace was resting at the table, watching Will as he boxed things up. "Of course it does. Not only would it be too weird for me to live in this apartment without you, but I don't have any of my own stuff. You do realize that everything in the kitchen is yours, right? You're packing it all as we speak." Will sighed, and abandoned his task for a moment to sit down next to Grace. "Look, I'll leave you some things, if that will keep you here. I just don't want you staying at that hotel until you find a new place." Will took Grace's hands into his own. "I know you, Grace. You won't even start looking for another month. And I definitely won't have you still living in a hotel when the baby comes. You know this is a bad idea."
Grace sighed and she got up, breaking her hands away from Will's. "It might be a bad idea, but I just can't stay here. And I'm not going to be able to find a new place quickly enough to not have to stay at a hotel for awhile. But I swear I'll look right away, Will, I have the baby to think of now too. I'm going to get back to packing up my room, then. My back feels better now." She walked off, clearly annoyed, and left Will sitting alone at the kitchen table, upset at Grace's annoyance, but not at all surprised. He had expected her to get easily angry with him. After all, he'd told her he would help her with the baby, and now he was moving in with Vince to start a life of his own, leaving her by herself. He knew that his offer of monetarily helping with the baby paled in comparison to his previous offer of helping to raise the child, but they both knew that if Will would be happy with Vince, he should go with him. Grace was just having understandable trouble accepting it.
Will still hadn't gotten up yet when he heard the door open. He turned around, expecting to see Vince, but what he saw was Karen. 'Great. Exactly what I need right now…' he thought, but smiled at her as she shut the door. "Honey, what did you want? Rosie gave me your message to come over here. It better be good," Karen said, setting down her bag and taking off her coat. Will got up, smiling again, as he remembered that he had indeed called for her earlier. The smile would hopefully help, as he knew that it would be hard to get Karen to do what he was about to ask her. "I wanted to see if you'd help Grace with her packing. Vince had said he'd help her, but he got called in to work and we don't know when he'll be back. And I wasn't about to waste my breath asking Jack." Not surprisingly, Karen rolled her eyes. "Of course I won't! I have people to do these things for me!" She gave Will one of her 'this-answer-should-have-been-obvious' looks, and got out her cell to start barking orders at Rosario. Only seconds later, she walked through the door and went directly to Grace's room, giving Karen a dirty look along the way. Not exactly what Will had been hoping for, but at least Grace was getting some help.
"Now, why aren't you helping her? You were just sitting there. You better not be using me for my help, Wilma!" Karen said accusingly, pointing a finger at Will and walking over to him. "They've got better things to do than help people move!" Will sighed. "I'm packing up my own stuff. I'd only stopped for a bit to talk to Grace. She stomped off just before you came in." Will hated to explain himself to Karen, but he felt the need to talk about what was going on, and at the moment Karen was his only option. Once he said that, she'd stopped her advance and rolled her eyes. "Are you two fighting again? You two really need to knock this off. Mommy and Daddy fighting can't be good for the baby." She shook her head as she took a seat. "I just don't know why she won't stay here until she finds a new place," Will said with a tired tone, choosing to ignore Karen's comment about the baby. "She's insisting on staying at a hotel and gets mad every time I offer to pay for something. I'm doing the best I can." Feeling uncomfortable talking to Karen like this while facing her, he got back up and started on his packing again. Karen followed him with her eyes. "Honey, don't keep going on. I don't really feel like hearing it. But Grace is welcome to stay with me until she finds a place." Will, though momentarily floored by Karen's random act of generosity, quickly broke into a smile. "That is a wonderful idea! She really can't be living at the Holiday Inn. Thank you, Karen." Karen blinked. "Well yeah honey, I already told her she could! She said the exact same thing, I was assuming she was moving in. I've already got a room for her." Will's smile quickly vanished as he realized that Grace's insistence on moving into a hotel had been faked, just to upset him.