Chapter 1
"What?!" Christian berates the other party on the phone, sending shivers down my spine. To be honest, he does still intimidate me when he goes full CEO mode. When I try to pull my hand away from his grasp, he turns and momentarily scowls at me. His eyes then softens and pulls me into a hug.
Ah...the Christian smell. He smells of wine and of course his signature smell.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Teddy calls and grabs my wrist in an effort to pull me away from his dad. Christian reluctantly releases me and gives me the good-luck-with-his-whining look which makes me giggle.
Dragging me to his toy legos, he points out the new houses he built. "Wow Teddy!" I praise him. Honestly, he is so intelligent and gifted for a 2 year old.
Well, it's going to be 2015 tomorrow and thinking about how far we've come overwhelms me. I stand abruptly, turn and to keep my tears at bay. No...no...not here Grey, keep it together.
"Welch, I'll call you back okay," Christian pushes the end-call button on his phones and saunters over to me. Welch? Was he reprimanding Welch or did he just call him?
"What's wrong baby?" Christian says in a soothing voice as he pulls me into a hug.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how far we've come, as a couple to a family" I mutter and that's it, my dam bursts.
"Don't cry Ana" He rubs my back and kisses my shoulder.
Teddy is oblivious to what is going on with his parents and honestly, I'd rather he not care as it would save me a hell of a time trying to explain to him.
All of a sudden, the quiet and calm atmosphere, only disrupted by my sniffles, is broken by the sharp piercing scream coming from the baby monitor receiver.
My parenting instincts tells me that she just woke up.
"Emma!" Christian calls with his authoritative CEO voice. Emma is our second housekeeper. She mainly helps Mrs. Jones with the work and no doubt she's second to Gail as she is still not as experienced. Almost instantly, Emma paces out of pantry and races up the stairs to my baby girl.
I grin at Christian and reach and place my hand on his cheek.
"Thank you Christian," I mutter and kiss him chastely.
"For what?" He answers with a puzzling look.
"For knowing what to do whenever I'm upset," I place my head back on his chest.
"Mrs Grey, it's what I do. I'm your husband. It's my job to make you happy"
He kisses my hair and releases me once he sees Phoebe.
Emma carries Phoebe down the stairs and hands her to Christian sullenly. Why is she upset?
The thought sweeps to the back of my mind once I see Christian nuzzling Phoebe. I end up grinning like an absolute fool at the two of them.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Teddy squeals and thrashes his arms about frantically in front of Christian.
He is obviously jealous of the pair. I roll my eyes at Teddy. This little boy, only two, but already acts like his daddy. I reach over and pull Phoebe into my arms while Christian swoops down and grabs Theodore.
Christian's eyes brightens as he throws Teddy up into the air and catches him again. Will I ever get used to this game they play without feeling a tad bit queasy from anticipation?
"Well, it's feeding time anyways," I nuzzle Phoebe and smile broadly as I listen to her adorable laughter.
Christian grins his all-american full-toothed smile and kisses me chastely before I turn and head to Phoebe's room.
