CPOV

"Darling, here you are."

I turn to see my wife smiling at me, I take her in my arms as a show of love on my part, but truth be told, it's more of a pathetic attempt to steel myself, as I prepare to introduce my wife to my one night stand.

"Yes, I'm here. Where have you been, love?" I ask as I kiss her cheek, turning her away from my pint-sized indiscretion. Yes, she's a tiny little thing, but she wields the power to bring my world down in one fell swoop. I kiss my wife's other cheek and turn her away from Ana in the hopes that she will take this as an opportunity to discreetly disappear.

"I was with your mother and Kate and the other uh...ladies. You know, just making small talk." My wife replies as she breaks free from my embrace.

I see Ana, still standing there. Shit, now what?

"Uh huh, I know." I reply.

My wife can stand up to the strongest, most opinionated and most powerful women in Seattle. She's no wallflower, if you push, she will push back and she says what is on her mind. She's strong, confident and beautiful.

"Oh?" My wife says as she smiles at Ana who unfortunately looks like a deer in headlights. "And who do we have here?"

Ana smiles and I quickly say, "This is Brady Quinn's wife."

"Oh! Elliot has been going on and on about Quinn and how happy he is to have your husband as part of his team. That says a lot. Elliot is very particular. Well, when it comes to chosing his employees, in other aspects, not so much."

What is going on with my wife? Why is she going on and on, she's the queen of small talk and what's more, she's taking a dig at Kate. Why would she do that now? And why in front of Ana? She doesn't even know her.

Ana stands there, not saying a word.

Shit!

This can go one of two ways, very bad or much worse.

"Christian darling? Aren't you going to introduce me?" My wife asks as she smiles at Ana. She's sizing her up and making no attempt to hide it. My head is spinning and I cannot understand what is happening here.

"Christian, introduce me darling." My wife demands as she tugs on my hand.

Shit!

I forgot. Well, it's not like I don't have a good fucking reason to lose my etiquette. How is it that you go about introducing your wife to the woman you fucked not three months earlier?

"I'm sorry love. I don't know what I was thinking. Claire, this is Ana Brady. Ana Brady, this is my beautiful wife Claire, Mrs. Claire Grey."

Ana extends her delicate hand and Claire envelops her in a hug. What the hell is that all about?

This behavior is unlike my wife, this is the sort of thing that Mia would do, not Claire. Perhaps she's had a little too much to drink tonight? I could use that to my advantage when we go home, she'll be completely relaxed and I can have my way with her, over and over again. That is, if Ana doesn't slip up and say something that would fuck up my life forever.

"Ana dear, welcome to Seattle. It's so nice to meet you and where is this husband of yours? Where is Quinn? I'm just dying to meet him." Claire says as she scans the area looking for the fucker that left me to deal with his wife and mine. This is a fucking nightmare!

"I'm sorry, I...I don't know." Ana replies quietly. "I think I should leave, I...I don't belong here. This is not what I expected. I need to find my husband and speak to him."

No! Don't speak! Don't say a thing! This can't come out! I love my wife! Stay away from her!

"Don't tell me he left you here alone, without a friend." Claire asks as she takes her hand.

Jesus, this is bad, very bad.

"Apparently he's speaking to a Mr. Jose Rodriguez, a famous photographer." Ana says as her shoulders hunch in defeat. Her husband left her to fend for herself in a place with total strangers. My anger towards Ana and her presence is slowly replaced by sadness and empathy as she is lost among this sea of people.

"Jose? Oh good luck if you think you can pry him away now. Jose is quite the talker. Come, join us inside. Quinn will be fine, he'll be meeting many new and important people. It's true what they say, "It isn't what you know, it's who you know," especially here in Seattle. Come now, there are so many people who I would like for you to meet. Now tell me everything Ana. How long have you been in town? I bet you don't know many people, I'll get you introduced to all the right people, stick with me Ana." Claire says, as she whisks my one stand away from me and see them walk arm in arm together.

Kill me now!

"Darling, where are you? What are you thinking?" Claire asks, as I've been quietly thanking the gods above for not allowing my indiscretion to blow up in my face and shatter my world.

"I was wondering what got into you this evening. You were very...friendly." I reply as I take her hand in mine, recalling her odd behavior towards Ana.

"Don't you like me friendly?" Claire whispers in my ear as she unbuckles her seat belt and sits on my lap.

"You know I do, but only with me." I say as I hike up her dress and stroke her thigh.

"Christian, stop. Let's wait till we get home."

"Come on baby, I've missed you tonight. You look so sexy in your little black dress." I plead as I work my up to her sweet spot.

"No," Claire states as she takes my hand and places it on her lap, "We're almost home and the last thing I want is Taylor opening the door while we're..."

"Fine." I snap quietly.

Shit! I just want to fuck my wife, I need to connect with her, desperately.

"Christian, please don't be upset with me. Don't you remember the last time we tried to do this? You had just hired Luke and just as we were starting to get lost in each other, he opened the door and was startled by the show."

"Oh, but what a show it was, my love."

"Christian, I was horrified! I never want the staff to see me in that manner. You lose the edge, your control over your servants. You become more human and relatable. We need to maintain a safe distance from the help if they are to do their job to the fullest extent."

I've lost track of the time as I hear Taylor open our door.

"Sir?" Taylor says as he stands aside to allow my assist my wife.

"Thanks Taylor." I say as I extend my hand to Claire.

"Come to bed darling." I hear Claire call out, as I check the nursery next to our bedroom and gaze on my sleeping angel.

Little Steel is sound asleep, she is so sweet and innocent, blissfully unaware of the circumstances that brought her to us. Her father was killed in a car accident and her mother, so crushed by the loss of her husband, turned to drugs as a way to numb her pain. She eventually died of an overdose.

Thankfully, Steel was not abused, but she was neglected. Claire and I were able to speed up the adoption, the Grey name and the money that goes with it, can speed up any process.

Little Steel was ours within two weeks from the time that we petitioned for her adoption. She was only three months old at the time. I cannot believe that she has been with us for nine months.

I think back to the moment when we officially became Steel's parents. I asked Claire what name we should christen our angel with. Claire wasn't feeling well as we went to the adoption agency and said, "I don't know darling, why don't you pick her name."

"Me? I wouldn't know what to..."

My mind then went rushing back to circumstances of her birth.

We were informed that little Steel was born three months premature and was immediately transported to the top NICU in Seattle. Seattle Children's Hospital. Baby Girl Angel, as she was so aptly named was quite the fighter, her lungs had not been fully developed. One of the nurses had made a comment to me about how strong Baby Girl Angel was during her hospital stay. I asked the nurse how she remembered my daughter, as I brought her in for a check up, as we prepared to make the adoption final. She said that Baby Girl Angel may have had under developed lungs but she was most definitely loud and very opinionated when it came time to feed her and change her diaper.

She said, "That little girl is strong, strong as..."

"Steel." I said as I completed her thought.

The nurse contemplated the word, "Steel?" She said as she tapped her finger to her lips and smiled. "Yes, I think you're right, she is strong as Steel."

We had a wonderful party for Steel two weeks ago at my parent's home. Escala is not very kid friendly, not that we had any children at Steel's party. It was only my family and Claire's parents who attended and Claire's parents have since continued to travel the world.

Perhaps Claire being an only child contributes to the fact that she doesn't want any more children. I have to be patient with Claire, I know she'll come around.

"What did you think of the party darling?" Claire asks as she washes her face.

She's staring at me, intently, trying to read me, does she know?

"I thought you did a fantastic job, then again, you always do. You never disappoint, love." I say as I finish brushing my teeth and prepare to join Claire in bed.

"I'm not talking about the party, I know it was a huge success." Claire says as she lies down in bed.

"Oh, then what are you talking about?" I ask as I take off my shirt and lie down next to Claire.

"I'm talking about the people, you know. The who's who of Seattle. We met a few newcomers who will now join in, on our little social circle."

"If you're talking about that leach, Hyde, don't even think about it. I saw the way he was ogling you."

"Oh Christian, don't be silly. I was talking about Quinn and Ana." Claire says as she looks at me and nods, I nod back.

It's our way of silent communication when Claire wants to initiate contact with me.

I need to know when I'm about to be touched, I tend to have panic attacks and sometimes lash out. There are times when I have become violent.

I flinch as she slowly lies on top of my chest.

"I'm sorry Christian, I thought you knew that I was going to touch you."

"It's ok, love." I say as I wrap my arms around her.

I flinched because she mentioned Quinn and Ana. Mainly Ana, in our bed no less!

"Christian, I've been thinking..."

"About what?"

"About us."

"Oh? What about us?"

"Well, I know I asked for you to give me one year before we try or even think about adding to our family but..."

Holy shit! Is she ready?

"Claire? Are you? Do you want to start a family?" I ask as I look down and cup her chin up to face me.

She smiles and nods her head.

"Oh Claire! Thanks, love! What do you want to do? Adopt? Have one of our own? I'm fine with whatever you decide."

"I want to have your baby, Christian. I want to have a little part of you and a part of me in the form of a little person, to show the union of our love."

"That's means no more condoms. You have to deal with mess."

"I can always shower right after, it's a small inconvenience when you think about the final reward."

"Oh Claire, I do love you." I exclaim as I get lost in my wife many times over.

Author's Note

I do hope that with this chapter, I was able to clarify a few things.

Thanks,

Stem