Welcome to the Sequel to How to Love Someone the Right Way. This is essential Part III, but thought it warranted starting a whole new story. Here we are 18 years later! I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

Ana POV

How did we get here? It feels just like yesterday that my babies were born, and today they turn 18. It wasn't without struggles but we made it. I've been dreading this day, and now that we're here I'm not exactly sure how to react. Christian has been telling me for a week now that today is just like any other day, but I know inside he didn't want this day to come either. It means they are growing up and ready to leave the nest. Tomorrow the girls will know if they are accepted to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. There was no way the girls could go anywhere without one another. They have been attached to the hip ever since they learned how to walk and talk. Emily wants to be an actor and Charlotte wants to be a director, it's fitting really. Benny, truly my favorite child, has decided to stay close to home and attend the University of Washington. He's going to be pre-med with the career goal of following in his grandmother's footsteps and becoming a pediatrician. The only one still deciding what he's going to do next year is Teddy. He has a full baseball scholarship waiting for him at the University of North Carolina; however that is all dependent on which round he is drafted in for the major leagues. Christian and I both agreed that Teddy can forgo college if he is drafted in either the first of second round; anything beyond that he's going to college.

I can't sleep and I feel the need to reminisce, so I slip out of bed while Christian is dead to the world, and pad down to my library and pull out a few scrapbooks. The first page I turn to is their first birthday party. That was such a great day and a huge milestone for our family. We really went overboard on the birthday party. I decorate the whole house in a Circus theme. We even had a Big Top erected in our backyard where we had clowns, jugglers and a few circus acts along with pony rides. I know the kids don't have any memories from that day, but I wanted to make it special. Since they don't have their own days to celebrate, we always tried to make it special for each of them. We started a tradition that year, each kid got their own birthday cake and we sang happy birthday four times. Then over the years, the kids got tired of having to share their birthday party so they each got to pick out a special activity in addition to a combined family party. January is a tough time of year for a host of activities so we got creative. Teddy always picked some kind of sporting event, while the girls always wanted to go to some play or musical that was in town. Most times, they convinced Christian to fly them to New York to see something on Broadway. And of course Christian would never say no. I think that's why their hearts were set on going to college in New York. As for Benny, he was always the wild card. We never knew what to expect. One year he wanted to be a zookeeper for a day, and for his 10th birthday he wanted to spend the day with Christian and go gliding. I was against it, but in the end I was the one who lost out on that one. Last year, he wanted to go scuba diving.

This year it's a tall order and again the kids got their way and I lost out. Christian is taking Teddy and Benny to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, while we girls head to New York for a weekend of shopping and to see a few new shows. As for Benny he's still deciding, he has it narrowed down to taking his first flying lesson with Christian in Charlie Tango, or going with Jose on a photography trip. One rule I had that for my children was that they had to wait until they turned 18 before they could learn to fly, Christian has tried to change my mind over the years, but I was adamant with this rule. Benny has always had a passion for photography and Jose was the best teacher. Jose is currently working on his fourth photography book focusing on famous world landscapes. If he decides on the trip, Benny will accompany Jose when he photographs the Grand Canyon.

"Ana, what are you doing?" Christian says sitting next to me on the couch and covering himself up with the blanket as I put my head on his shoulder.

"I couldn't sleep. Can you believe our babies are 18?"

"No, it's gone by so fast."

"Do you regret anything over these last 18 years?"

"Ana, what is this all about?"

"I don't know, I just want to know that we did everything we could to prepare them for the real world."

"Anastasia, you are the best mother four kids could have asked for."

"Then why do they want to leave me?"

"Is this what this is all about?"

I look up and nod and the tears are flooding down my cheeks.

"Ana, they are not leaving us; they are just going to college."

"But why are they going so far away, I don't know if I can handle it."

"You know that we can go visit anytime. It's only a five-hour flight to New York and remember we still don't know what Teddy has up his sleeve and we will still have Benny close by."

"That's why he's my favorite child."

"You know if you keep saying that around the other three they will start to get a complex," He says and we both start to laugh."

"Feel better?"

"A little."

"Come back to bed and I can make it a whole lot better."

Christian POV

I hate seeing Anastasia like this, I feel like I can't do anything to help her. Maybe talking to someone like Dr. Flynn would help. It sure helped when Ana saw Dr. Carr for those first few years after the babies were born. She was the one who pulled Ana out of her funk and she learned to accept her body was beautiful.

I felt it was important as the kids were growing up that we spent as much time with them as possible. Ana and I agreed that shortly after their first birthday, we wanted to be more of a normal family so every weekend it was just us and the kids. The rest of the staff was always off with the exception of Taylor, Sawyer or Blankers. They were needed if we left our house. I also took a small step back from work making sure that I was home by five every night, and cut out the unnecessary trips that the family couldn't accompany me. It did wonders for Ana and I, and I felt like we were more of a team. Plus I didn't want her to take on the burden of raising for our children alone. I'm grateful for Jamieson who has really stepped up over the years. Now, he has never taken the place of Ros but he has done an amazing job with GEH.

As for Ana, professionally she has really flourished. When she returned to work a few days a week it really made a difference. I encouraged her to get out of the house and at first I think she was unhappy with me, but it didn't take long before she was thriving again. Unfortunately, the store couldn't withstand the advancement of technology and people were not buying as many actual books versus simply clicking a button on their handheld device. So eventually there was no reason to keep the store open. Before the kids started preschool, it was a sad day when we closed down the store. Ana took it the hardest. She felt like she let Burt down, but I had to show her that she was the most successful non big box store in Seattle. Ana couldn't bear to sell the building so instead we converted it to an office and it is the new home of Grey Publishing. Ana is the President and Hannah Rodriguez is the Managing Editor. It took a few years to get off the ground, but Ana has really made a splash in the publishing world, and this has been the best thing for her.

I'm just happy that over the years our staff really became our family and stuck around. Gail and Taylor still live with us and having Sophie here was such a blessing. She was almost like a older sister to our kids. We were sad the day she left us to head off to college in New York. I think that's another reason why they love New York is because Sophie still lives there and is a very successful attorney for our GEH New York office.

As for Jessica, she was a godsend for Ana and I, but Blankers was really the lucky one. They ended up getting married about three years after the babies were born and now they have their own family living just a few miles away from us. When their first child was born, Ana and I thought they needed a home of their own. They ended up having two more children, Jessica returned to her nursing job as once the kids went to school full-time. There wasn't a need to have Jessica and I know that she desired to go back to her job at the hospital.

Last week Blankers, Taylor, Sawyer and I had a conversation about security for the children next year. We decided that Blankers will continue to serve as Benny's personal security and we will need to start interviewing for security for the girls and Teddy once they solidify their plans.

Teddy is the only one out of the four that I am truly worried about. I really wish he would try college at least for a year before becoming a professional ball player. Deep down I have come to the understanding that that's not going to happen. As one of the top prospects in the country, Teddy has been sought after since he was 16. He has played on several high-caliber teams and even competed internationally. It's amazing to watch him play; he reminds me a lot of me when I was a competitive rower. One of my only regrets is that once I left Harvard I left rowing behind and never looked back. For Teddy, playing ball just comes so natural. He eats, sleeps and even dreams about baseball. I will never forget when he was five I took him to a Mariners game and we got the chance to go out on the field before the game, he told me that one day he would play on this field and ever since then he has worked toward this dream. Now he has the chance to make that dream a reality.

Now, as I hold my wife in my arms, I realize the one thing that has never changed throughout the last 18 years is my unwavering love for my beautiful Anastasia, if anything our love has just grown stronger.