Ch 1: Future Together

Ana and Christian were looking forward to their future together. Ana was standing on the deck in the backyard of her family's home. She and Christian were having a house built at Laurel Falls. There were going to be meeting with Gia Mateo to discuss the plans further. Christian came up behind his wife as he circled her waist with his arms.

"I can't believe it," Ana whispered, closing her eyes for a moment, feeling her husbands warm body behind hers. "I just can't believe it's happening."

"Believe it baby. We're finally free of my mother," he whispered into her hair. "We have so much to look forward to," he said, feeling of her tummy. They were finally going to be able to live a life free of crime and Grace. She was behind bars where she belonged. It took a long time for them to get to that point.

Once Grace had been arrested, it took them while to book her and get all the necessary paperwork done. She sat in the holding cell thinking about how she gotten there.

"Why? Why did this happen to me? I was only trying to protect my family. That's all it was," Grace cried out as she held onto the cold steel bars. She remembered how it all went down, they all showed up at the mansion waiting for her.

A month ago…

Ana and Christian had been called to appear in court. Once they arrived, they stepped out of the elevator into a hallway. There they saw Matt, Vanessa, Mia and Ethan. They didn't know why they were there when Ross had told them this was an informal meeting with the judge.

Ross arrived as they all asked him why they were all called when it was supposed to be an informal meeting. Before he had the chance to say anything the judge came out.

"This meeting is not at all informal. I called you all here to get the the bottom of this mess," he told them.

"But, your honor, with all due respect, my wife already made a statement to the police," Matt told the judge.

"Yes, I have that right here," the judge told him. "But that doesn't excuse for the fact that a man is dead. Now if you al would join me in my chamber, we will get started." They all went into the judges chambers as they all had a seat. "Go ahead and have a seat, we might be here a while."

"Your honor, I really don't understand…" Ross began saying.

"No, I can see that you don't. You want to argue your disapproval of how I run things. Duly noted. But, we're all here to find out what exactly happened in this case that almost caused an innocent woman to go into death row. Any objections, counselor?" the judge asked. Ross shook his head. "Now I must say counselor that I'm sorry about what your client went through, but, a lot of it was caused by her own hands or in this case her loved ones." Then the judge looked at Christian as he stated, "Judging by the proximity I figure that's you," he said, pointing his finger at him. "Your very lucky that you weren't brought up on charges yourself. I have to say how appalled I am at the amount of deception and lies in this case. I have gone over the transcript at least three times and I can't for the life of me make heads or tales of it. So with that, I have decided to start this case over again."

A security officer came into the chamber as he said, "Your other witness is here."

"Send her in," the judge stated.

Grace entered into the room as everyone stared back at her. Matt got up and told the judge that he didn't like the fact that his wife was having to be in the same room as Grace.

"What's your name son?" the judge asked him as Matt told him. "Well Matt, I understand your frustration and yes I have read the statement that your wife gave the police. I however; did not like the fact that she said it was an accident. That won't fly with me as anyone could say I didn't mean to do it. Now what I planned to do today is cut through the red tape and let the chips fall where they may."

Everyone stared back at the judge as they knew it would be a long day. So he told them he wanted to go through everything to get to the bottom of what happened and he wanted to truth.

Mia knew it was her turn to speak. "Your honor, you will need to start with me. I didn't like Ben Warren as most of the town didn't…" she began saying.

"Young lady, I wanted to make myself clear here today. I don't want opinions, just the facts. Now go on."

"My mother began dating Ben and I didn't like the man at all. I wanted him out of the house and our lives, so I began formulating a plan…" Mia began getting choked up a abit as Ethan comforted her. "I began writing in my journal intimate details about Ben. I wanted my mother to think that there was something going on between so that she would break up with him. So I planned for Ben and myself to be in bed together, only he went to take a shower. So I took my clothes off and climbed into his bed. Once he was out he saw me and was in shock. I heard my mother call out for me and when she came in and saw us together, they argued and then she shot Ben. Your honor I have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life," Mia told him. "I know I'm partly responsible for his death."

The judge looked back at Mia, he could tell she was being sincere. "Young lady, it takes courage to come forward with this, but, to be fair, you aren't not the only one responsible for this man's death. But, you did play a part in setting up the events that took place afterwards."

"Your honor…" Mia started again.

"Yes, Ms Grey?"

"I just wanted to say one more thing. Ben was shot twice that night by two different people. But only one person wanted Ben dead and that was my mother Grace Grey," Mia stated to the judge.

Grace looked back at her daughter as she couldn't believe her own flesh and blood was feeding her to the wolves, literally! But she also thought it was only because of Ana's influence on her daughter and son.

"Young lady, I have given you a warning. Now, I get that there was two shots, but you can't tell me who shot him on purpose. I already stated I wanted facts not opinions."

"I was there your honor…"

"Ms Grey… I get that you were there. Isn't it true that you had an earlier encounter with Vanessa and that caused her to hunt down Ben herself?"

"Yes but your honor she was only trying to protect me," Mia argued with the judge.

"Again, this is the last time I will say this. That is your opinion. You don't know what Mrs Reardon frame of mind was that night. No one does except her. Now your intention is that your mother was the only one who had the intention of killing Ben, but that is simply not true," the judge told her.

"My wife is not a murder!" Matt shouted.

"That will be enough, Mr Reardon," the judge told him firmly. "She will get her chance."

"Please your honor, Matt was only trying to protect his wife. Now if we keep going down this rabbit hole we will never get to the truth." Ross stated to the judge.

Grace couldn't take it anymore so she decided to speak up. "Your honor, I wanted to make a confession. You want the truth, start with me," she told him. Everyone gasped as they couldn't believe it. Was Grace actually going to tell the truth?"

"Yes Mrs Grey, you may go ahead and speak."

Grace began telling him that she did go to Ben's apartment that night after she had read her daughters journal on her feelings for Ben. She was afraid that he could hurt her daughter and wanted to protect her.

"When I arrived at Ben's apartment, I called out for her and when neither of them answered, I continued to his bedroom. I was shocked to see Mia half naked and Ben in a towel. So I shot him, yes, I shot Ben."

The judge sat back in his chair as he started to Grace, "How nice of you to come forward and adit you shot the man. Now, I think we're finally getting somewhere.

"Its true that I did shoot him. But that wasn't the shot that killed him. I was so distraught over what happened that I made my daughter leave. So I took her out and arranged for a driver to get her to take her home. When I arrived back in Ben's apartment that's when I saw her. I saw Vanessa Reardon shoot Ben in cold blood." Everyone stood up as they all defended Vanessa telling the judge that Grace was the one who shot Ben in cold blood.

The judge tried to get order in his chambers as they were all getting very emotional and the scene was getting intense. Not even his voice could get their attention. He slammed his gavel down and shouted, "Order in the chamber!" The room came to a dead silence. He looked at all of them as they stood there glaring back at the judge. "Now look all of you, I get that you all are very emotional, but you have to think logically. Please calm down," he told them all as they all began to sit back down. The judge looked back at Grace as he said, "Are you telling me that you were a witness to a capital offence and that your just now coming forward?" he asked Grace.

"Your honor, if I had come forward in the very beginning about my part in Ben's shooting and that the real killer was lying in the hospital in a coma, the DA would have had a field day…"

Speaking of the DA, Doris had come in while Mia had given her testimony on what happened and she was taking notes. She listened more to what Grace was saying.

"However, now that Vanessa had come out of her comatose state, I no longer fear hiding the truth anymore. She was the one who killed Ben," Grace stated firmly.

Vanessa had enough and began to say, "Your honor, may I speak my peace now?"

"Yes, Mrs Reardon. You have been quite up until now, it's your turn to speak."

"The only people in that room that know the real truth was myself and Ben," Vanessa replied, as she looked over at Grace. "Now part of what you said was true. After Mia had come to see me in the hospital and told me what was happening, I got extremely upset. So if anyone would ask me if when I went to his apartment if I had murder in my heart," she said, then choked back some tears and tried to gather her thoughts. "I'm sorry your honor, this is rather difficult for me. Ben had hurt my family a great deal, my son Ethan who was to attend college last fall ended up being arrested for a crime he didn't commit. So yes in a way when I went over there I did want to hurt him. But, once I had arrived, I opened the door and saw that the room had been in some disarray. Once I had come in further, I saw blood and realized something had happened."

"But, you did pick up the gun," the judge stated to her.

"Yes I did. But that was before I had seen Ben laying on the floor. You see, I picked up the gun as I wanted to get it out of the way. Ben reached up and grabbed a hold of my hand that was holding the gun. He looked up at me and into my eyes and begged for help. We started struggling as I told him to let go, but he wouldn't. He just kept yelling at me to get help. We continued to struggle then the gun went off," Vanessa told the judge.

The judge looked back at Vanessa and said, "You realize the DA does not buy your story and she thinks its too convenient. I must admit...that I agree with her."

Everyone looked back at the judge as they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Was he actually saying that Vanessa was going to be charged with Ben's murder and that Grace would get away with everything?

Ross stood up and said to him, "Your honor, I have something that I need to show you. I just picked this up this morning," he told him.

"What is it counselor?" the judge asked.

"Vanessa Reardon, through her testimony as just acquitted herself and I can prove it."

"I'm all ears counselor," the judge told Ross.

"This is the forensics report. There are only three in existence. You, me and the DA. Now it will show that yes there were two shots. One at close range and the other at a distance."

Doris began to speak up, "Your honor, I know where Ross is going with this. This has nothing to do with intent."

"This report has everything to do with the intent Ms Wolff. Now let me explain. You just heard two witnesses. Grace admitted that she shot Ben at a distance and Vanessa at a close range. Vanessa's testimony speaks for itself as she said there was a struggle. Now your honor the angle of the gun in this report shows that there was in fact a struggle in the second shot. The residue of the shot clearly showed there was movement of the gun when it went off during the struggle. Your honor if you take Vanessa's testimony and compare it to the forensics report it clearly states that there was a struggle declaring Vanessa has never seen this report."

Wow! This changes everything. The judge looked back at Vanessa as he looked into her eyes. "Mrs Reardon, have you seen this report?"

Vanessa looked him back in the eyes as she replied, "No your honor. This is the first I've heard about it."

"I must say, that I'm inclined to believe you." Then the judge told Doris as he said, "Ms Wolff, I want you to give me a report in the morning that the case in the state versus Ana Grey is now closed and the verdict of not guilty."

Ana cried just then she said mouthed 'thank you' to the judge. "Also declare the acquittal of Mrs Reardon. Now I have not forgotten Grace Grey's role in this case. I will need a report of charges brought against her on with perjury, bribery, fraud and murder in the first degree of Ben Warren."

"Your honor please!" Grace begged him. "You can't do this to me, I saw Vanessa shoot Ben in cold blood."

"Bailiff if you would please take Grace Grey into custody. This case is dismissed. Ana, Vanessa and Mia, you all are free to go."

They all breathed a sigh of relief that it was finally over! Christian held his wife in his arms as he began saying, "Your free baby! We're free finally!"

Grace had been handcuffed and walked into a holding cell. She couldn't believe this was happening to her.

"How did this happen? How did I end up in jail? Oh Ben, we were so close! I've got to find a way out of this…" Grace said to herself.

"You put yourself in here," a voice told her from outside of the bars. Grace looked up and saw her son standing there. Grace got up as she put her hands onto the cold steel bars. "You came! You actually came," she told him.

"How does it feel mother? How does it feel to be locked up like an animal?" he asked her firmly. His hands were in the pockets of his slacks as he stood looking back at the woman who used to be his mother.

"Are you enjoying this? You really like seeing me in here?" Grace asked her son. "The woman who raised you, a woman who loved you more than any other woman could love you."

"You don't know what love is. I couldn't believe I never saw it before...you're nothing but an old bitter woman who would stop at nothing to destroy people's lives. You nearly destroyed Ana and my marriage to her…"

"It's always about her isn't it!" Grace yelled at her son.

"No. Your going to prison because you were a lousy mother, Grace," Christian bitterly told her.

"Don't call me Grace. I am your mother," she told her son. "If you didn't care about me at all, you wouldn't be here."

"So long Grace," Christian told her as he left the jail cell.

"No!" Grace screamed after her son. "Please, Christian, come back!" she cried out. "I did this for you. All of you. For our family."

Meanwhile everyone had gathered at Towers for a celebration. They were all celebrating the fact that Ana was free finally and that Grace was the one who would play for Ben's murder. Ross was congratulating everyone on how they handled themselves through the whole process. Just as they were clinking their glasses, Christian took Ana's elbow as he pulled her aside.

"Have you had a chance to take the test yet?" he asked Ana.

"Not yet," she told him.

"What's wrong? Are you not sure?"

"I don't know, I haven't really had time to process everything yet. Did you go see your mother?"

He looked back at his wife. "Yeah I did."

"What happened?"

"I just got a few things off my chest that I needed to say. Ana, she's not the same woman who raised me. She deserves everything she's getting."

"Still...she's your mother," Ana told him empathically.

"Your amazing you know that. After everything she's done to you, your still thinking about her. Baby, please, let's not let her spoil what is going on right now."

"Your right, I'm sorry," she told him giving him a brief kiss.

"You know all these people are here for you right? They are here because they love you and your a special part of their lives," he told her.

"Are you trying to make me cry?"

"Not exactly. I just wanted you to know how much you do mean to them and to me," he said.

"Hey," Rick said interrupting their moment. "It's time," he was telling Christian.

"What's going on?" she asked them both.

"You'll see," Christian replied, kissing her on the forehead.

Rick couldn't believe how beautiful his sister looked tonight. "What? Why are you looking at me that way?" she asked her brother.

"You just look happy. Your glowing Ana. I'm just glad to see a smile on your face."

"I have a lot to be thankful for…"

"Yes you do. I'm just so proud of you, of the way how you handled yourself all through the trial, and the fact that your birth mother came back into your life. You seem to be handling that part quite well."

"To be honest, Carla is the last thing on my mind right now. I just wanted to enjoy my life with Christian."

"You serve it, kiddo," Rick told her giving his sister a hug.

Christian began clicking on a champagne glass to get everyone's attention. "Could I get everyone's attention please and grab a glass of the bubbly," he directed. He saw Abby come in as well as Carla. But he ignored carla and went back to what he was doing. "I wanted to make a toast to Ana and her freedom, but first I have quite a few thanks to give. There is quite a few people in here who were there for us from the beginning. First to my sister Mia, who showed so much courage and bravery throughout this ordeal, thank you sis," he said looking at Mia. She mouthed thank you to her brother. "Ethan, Vanessa and Matt, you risked so much to help us out. Ross you helped Ana in her case and we will never forget that and will be indebted to you always."

"You will be when you get his bill!" Rick stated as everyone laughed.

"Touche!" Christian replied back, laughing as well. "Richard and Cassie, thank you for sheltering us and protecting us when we needed it. Abby and Rick, you were there to help us pick up the pieces and last but not least, Rebecca for the clean up hitter who got Ruth to recant her statement. Really, I can't say thank you enough."

"Back to the toast Christian," Rebecca said to him.

"Yes and thank you. Enough about all of you," he said looking back at his beautiful wife. "Ana, what could I say to you? You're no doubt the most important person in all our lives especially mine," he said getting choked up. "Man, I'm sorry…I just...can't believe we're standing here today and your are free baby. Welcome home sweetheart, I love you," he expressed his love for Ana. "To Ana!" he exclaimed as he walked over to her and everyone cheered to Ana as well. "May you never have a dark day ever again, and may you always feel the love of these people and for those who can't be here tonight, your mother Maureen who is always with you especially tonight." he told her giving her a kiss.

Everyone was still celebrating at Towers once Ana gotten a phone call. "Hey, kate! Where are you?"

"I'm still at home with Jose. Is the party still going on?"

"Yeah. I wish you would come."

"I don't know…"Kate sighed. "I wasn't sure if I should."

"Why? Kate, I want you here if you could make it."

"Really? You want me there?" Kate replied, she still felt funny about everything.

"Yes of course. Your my friend and I want you here. Could you be here in ten minutes?" Ana asked her.

"Yeah. Give me some time and I will be there. I just have to change," Kate told her.

The two of them hung up and Carla had been watching her daughter all night. Christian had been talking to another friend when Bernardo walked up behind Christian. He put his hand onto Christian's shoulder. He turned and saw his former foe.

"Bernardo, what brings you here?" Christian asked firmly, clenching his teeth.

"I'm came here to offer you a congratulations on the freedom of your wife," Bernardo claimed.

The man walked across the room as he grabbed himself a glass of champagne. Christian followed him.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Look, I know we've had our differences…"

"Differences?" Christian question him as he folded his arms across his chest. "Is that what you call it?"

"I know that things between you and my daughter are over and in the past."

"Really? Your willing to let that go just like that?"

"Things have changed, Christian, since your mother is locked up in prison. Your now the one who is the new head of the family," Bernardo suggested.

"I'm no longer in that life, find yourself another flunky," Christian told him firmly.

"Don't you get it? Are you really that naive? You were born into this Christian. Rather you like it or not, you can never leave this organization. Am I making myself clear?" Bernardo told him.

Ana was talking to Cassie and thanking her for her and Richards help. Cassie explained to Ana that if it were them, Ana would have done the same thing.

"I just want for you and Christian to have a happy life. Please come to SC sometime as our official guests. We'd love to have you."

"Maybe we will," Ana told her.

"Excuse me, could I borrow Ana for a moment?" Carla asked them.

"I'm going to get me a drink, excuse me," Cassie told Ana, as she made her exit.

"You look so happy. I'm just glad to see you out of that legal mess," Carla said to her daughter.

"Thank you," Ana replied back.

"I was also hoping that we could set aside a time so we could talk. I really would love a relationship with you."

"Carla, I know you mean well, but that's the last thing on my mind right now."

"I just thought you could use a mother to talk to…"

"Maureen was my mother," Ana stated.

"I know that she was the one who raised you. But I was the one who brought you into this world. All I'm asking for is a chance to get to know you. Look, I don't want to take anymore of your time. Just think about what I said." Carla said as she started to walk away.

"No, not just yet. You get to say what you wanted, now it's my turn," Ana stated to Carla firmly, a sthe two women looked at each other in the eyes.

Meanwhile Christian was talking to Bernardo about his family and the fact that his mother was now in prison.

"I know what this is about. Your afraid with Grace in jail that she could turn you over to the feds to make a deal."

"The thought had crossed my mind. But to be honest, no one in the organization wants her back. She's a loose cannon, they all see that now. They would much rather deal with you."

"I told you, I'm out," Christian replied to him sharply.

"And I told you it's not that easy. You can't just walk away," Bernardo explained.

"Oh really? Just watch me. I'm done and this conversation is over," Christian replied tightly as he walked away from him.

Ana and Carla were still talking about maybe having a relationship. When Carla almost walked away, Ana had stopped her telling her she had more to say.

"This is what I don't get. Why was it so easy for you to just give me up? Why didn't you come looking for me?"

"I thought I was doing what was best for you at that time. Ana, you have grown into such a beautiful young woman with a whole future ahead of you. I just wanted to be part of that."

"How did you feel when you found out you were pregnant?"

"Are you kidding? It changed my life. Why do you ask?"

"Never mind. It's not…. I'm going to find my husband." Ana told Carla as she left her standing there.

Ana saw her husband sitting at a table when she approached him. "Hey you! I don't think I could wait any longer…" she told him.

"Oh really?" he winked at his wife, thinking she wanted to go have sex.

"Not that silly! I just need to know if I'm pregnant or not. All this waiting is driving me crazy."

"Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one going crazy. So your going to take it right now?" he asked her.

"Yes," Ana said nervously. "Wish me luck!"

"I'll do more than that," he told her, grabbing her face as he kissed her passionately. "I love you, baby."

"I love you. Be right back," she said, taking off for the ladies room.

Christian walked over to Matt and Vanessa who were ready to leave. They were congratulating him and Ana on her freedom and wishing them both well. He told them bye. Ana stepped out of the ladies bathroom and watched her husband saying goodbye to their friends. When he turned he saw her motion for him. He walked towards her as she took a few steps back to have more privacy.

"Well, what's the verdict? Are we pregnant?" he asked her.

Ana looked back at her husband with a sullen face at first. "It seems I won't be fitting into my regular clothes much longer…"

"Are you serious?" he asked, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Two lines means I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby!" she squealed lowly to him.

"Oh, baby!" he said, picking her up and twirling her around with happiness and excitement. "You just made me the happiest man alive." He set her down on her feet as he said, "No one can touch us now sweetie." The two of them hugged each other on the fact that they were going to finally have a family.

A/N: Okay, so we now know that they are expecting! Grace is in jail. More to come!