A/N: This chapter is a little shorter, but I felt like it was a good place to stop.

Anastasia leaves Dr. Greene's office with a bittersweet feeling in her heart. She knows she needs some time to process all the information that Dr. Greene has just given her, but she also knows she promised Christian that she'd head straight to his office after the appointment. They kissed on it. She can't break a sealed promise. She's hoping that explaining everything to Christian will help make her see things a little more clearly. She's got a long road ahead of her and she's got some difficult decisions to make.

Christian has already texted her three times, asking if she's alright and wondering why she isn't answering. She's spent a long time with her OBGYN, going over everything in fine detail. It ended up taking longer than she had expected and she knows that Christian is probably pulling his hair out by now.

*Just left Dr. Greene's office. On my way.*

She hears the ping of her phone again, but she doesn't dare look at it while driving. The last thing she needs is to get into an accident over a text message. Christian knows that she's okay and that she's coming, so whatever he's said can wait a few more minutes.

XxXxXx

Christian paces in his office while he waits for Anastasia to text him. Her appointment was scheduled for 9:30 am and it is now just after 11:00 am. What could be taking so long? Surely, it can't be good news. He sends her text after text, asking if she's okay, but gets no answer.

"Maybe I should drive over there." He mumbles, pacing. He knows that if Anastasia is okay and he shows up, he's in for an earful...but if she isn't okay and does need him…

His phone pings and he dives for his desk, where his cell phone sits.

Reading her text, makes him settle a little bit. She'll be here soon.

*Why did it take so fucking long? Hurry up, woman!*

His best friend is going to have him turning gray before his thirtieth birthday. He's thankful that he doesn't have another woman to entertain at the moment, because he doesn't think he has enough energy for both. He's done nothing, but worry sick over Anastasia since Monday, when they went to the ED. It's now Wednesday, but it feels like it's been much longer. He hasn't slept, gotten much work done, or been able to concentrate enough to even play the piano...something that has always calmed him in the past. Nothing will calm him until he knows that his best friend, his Ana, is okay.

Christian tries to sit at his desk and relax a little before she comes, but it's hard to.

He buzzes Andrea.

"Yes, Mr. Grey?"

"When Ms. Steele comes up, bring her tea."

"Yes, sir."

He sits back in his chair, doing his best to calm his nerves. He closes his eyes and takes slow, deep breaths in and out, calming his rapid heart rate.

Hearing the door to his office, Christian opens his eyes, and Anastasia slips in, shutting the door behind her. He immediately pops out of his chair and strides over to her.

"Ana? Ana, what'd she say?"

Anastasia keeps her eyes downcast, trying to keep herself together. Christian being by her side is a welcome relief, but with that relief comes the need to cry. She knows if she's just given a few extra seconds, she can swallow her tears back and she'll be fine.

"Ana?" Christian doesn't like how quiet she is. She won't even look at him. He lifts her chin with his index finger, finding her eyes. As soon as she makes eye contact with him, the dam breaks. She lets out a sob and covers her face with her hands as she cries.

He pulls her against him and she hides in his neck as she clings to him. She breathes in deeply, finding comfort in his familiar smell and the warmth of his body heat. She knows that he's her world… her entire galaxy… and she doesn't know what she'd do without him. He's her safe place to land and she knows she could never put into words how much he means to her and how much she appreciates it. Knowing this only makes her sob harder.

Christian rubs her back and squeezes her close, feeling her shatter in his arms. Swallowing back his own tears, he now knows that the news she got can't be good.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Andrea slip in with Anastasia's tea and he nods over to his desk, silently asking her to set it there.

"I've got you, Ana. I've got you. I'll do everything I can to make it better, I promise." He presses his lips to her hair and picks her up, startling her a little. He moves them both to the couch where he sits with her straddling his lap, her face still in his neck as she cries big, ugly sobs into his neck.

Christian knows that Anastasia needs to cry it out, so he doesn't bother trying to hush her or ask her to stop. Crying is such a therapeutic way of overcoming harsh emotions and he won't deny her this form of therapy, now. Although he wants to know what the doctor said, he'll wait patiently and hold her until she's ready to come out of hiding.

He rubs her back, hugs her close, and presses kisses to her hair until she finally settles enough to relax against him. It's takes her almost twenty minutes, but she finally reappears.

Anastasia sniffles and wipes at her eyes as she looks at Christian's shirt. His expensive button-up is stained with her tears. "I'm sorry." She reaches up and runs her hand over the wet spot, surveying the damage.

He shakes his head. "No reason to be. It's just a shirt."

She nods, understanding. "I just need to use the restroom to freshen up." She slides off his lap to use his personal bathroom and Christian frowns at the loss. Anastasia was a comforting, warm weight in is lap, even if she was upset. It reminded him that she was here, she was safe, and she trusted him.

After Anastasia splashes some water on her face and cleans herself up, she slips her shoes off and curls up next to Christian on the couch.

"What happened, love? What'd Dr. Greene say?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his handkerchief for her. She takes it appreciatively.

"Thanks." She chews her lip and plays with the handkerchief between her fingers. "A lot. We talked for a long time." She sniffles. "She says that it's a pretty serious case. Evidently, it's been happening for a long time because she said the build-up is pretty bad. She said that there's no way I could carry a child with my uterus looking like this." Her chin trembles and a few tears leak out of her eyes, but she swallows back her emotions. If she doesn't she might never get through this.

"What? No, Ana…" He takes her hand in his. "There has to be something she can do."

Anastasia nods. "There's a chance. If I have surgery to clean all the old tissue out. She said that it's possible I could get pregnant on my own after that, but it's not very likely. Plus, I don't have anyone to get pregnant with. She said that a better option is IVF."

"IVF?" He asks. It sounds familiar, but he can't place it.

"Yes. In Vitro Fertilization."

Christian's eyebrows knit together. "Like a test tube baby?"

She shakes her head. "More like a petri dish baby."

Christian looks down at their hands entwined together. "And you'll have to have surgery?" He doesn't like the sound of that.

"Yes. She strongly recommends it no matter what I choose. She said it'll help a lot with the pain and it'll help with scarring and the probability of cancer won't be as high."

It doesn't make sense to him. "Why now? I mean, why would the pain come out of nowhere if it's been an issue for so long?"

Anastasia shrugs. "Dr. Greene says there's no rhyme or reason to it. She said some women with severe endometriosis have little to no pain, while other women who only have a little bit of build up can feel like they're insides are being torn to pieces. She said it's lucky that I felt the pain, because it might have been too late to salvage my uterus to try for children by the time I looked into why I wasn't becoming pregnant." She shakes her head and a few more tears leak out. "I don't know if lucky is the proper word for it."

"Do you want to try this in vitro thing?" He asks, curious.

Anastasia stays quiet for a few moments, thinking. "I...I don't know. I want a child more than anything right now, but I don't want to bring one into the world if I can't take care of them properly. I work a full-time job and I don't even have a boyfriend. I'd be a single mom. Is that really fair to a baby?"

Christian's heart aches at her words. He remembers how much his birth mother struggled to support the two of them before she passed away. Of course, she was also an addict and a prostitute, but he doesn't know how long she had been that way. When he thinks about his birth mother, he worries that he's the reason why she had to become what she was...that she had to sell her body to make ends meet for the two of them. Maybe if he had never been born, she wouldn't have had to live that lifestyle and she wouldn't have become an addict. She might still be alive. There's a possibility that it could have been his fault, but he refuses to let the same happen to Anastasia.

"Even if you raise a child by yourself, you won't be a single mom. You have me, you have your parents, you have my family...Gail and Taylor...None of us are going to let you do this by yourself. You just have to let us help. Hell, let the kid call me Daddy. You know I'm not going anywhere. I'll be the stand-in."

His comment makes her giggle and his heart that has been aching since Monday suddenly feels a load lighter.

"You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better." She gives him a soft smile and he gives her a wink.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm the best."

Her smile widens. "I guess as many times as I have to remind you that I'm always right."

He opens his arms for her. "Come here."

"But you hate when I make you hug me."

Christian rolls his eyes. "You aren't making me this time. I want to."

Sliding over to him, she settles against him and holds him tight. "Thank you, Christian. For everything. I don't know how I could get through this without you."

He plays with her hair, curling one of her tendrils around his index finger. "That's what I'm here for, love." He slides down in the couch a little, getting comfortable and lets her cuddle into his side. "So? How do you feel about all this? Do you know what you're going to do...or want to do?"

She messes with the buttons on the front of his shirt. "I think...I think I'd like to try it. I have to have the surgery first and see if the doctor can get my uterus cleaned out enough and then if she gives me the okay, I'll have to give myself hormone shots so that they can grab a few of my eggs. If they manage to get a few good ones, then I'll need sperm. I'll have to research my options there. Sperm banks...I know there's one in Seattle."

Christian frowns at the thought of Ana carrying some random man's baby. At least, this way the birth father won't have any rights to the child. If Anastasia would have happened to be dating at the moment and use that man's sperm, he could fight for rights if something happened between the two of them.

"One step at a time, then, Ana." He didn't like the idea of her going under the knife, but there wasn't much choice. "Let's concentrate on having the surgery right now and then we'll go from there."

Anastasia nods. "Yes, that's probably best."

"Did Dr. Greene say when you'd likely be having the surgery?"

"Next Friday."

Next...what? Next Friday?!" Christian wasn't expecting this. "But...but that's next week! You just found this all out, Ana. They aren't going to give you time to process it all?"

"Hey…" She looks up at him from her spot on his chest and reaches up to cup his stubbled cheek. "It'll be okay. It was my decision. If they do it now, then I'll be given the green light to start the hormone shots after my next period. I just want to get this moving, Christian. If I can't have a baby...then, I want to know and put this all behind me."

The thought of Anastasia being put under and cut open really upsets Christian, but he knows there's nothing he can do to stop it. "I'll make sure to move my appointments that day."

Anastasia's eyebrows knit together. "Christian, there's no need. I'm hoping my parents...or at least my mother...can come down for it." She knows she'll have to pay for their plane tickets, but she's more than willing to do so to have them here with her.

"Don't be ridiculous. Would you go to work on a day I was having surgery?"

She frowns. "No, I guess not. Okay, fine. You can entertain my mother, then."

He rolls his eyes dramatically. "Great. Just what I want. Another Steele woman sobbing on my shoulder."

"Christian!" Anastasia swats at his chest, admonishing him. "She has my father, you know. Hopefully he'll come, too."

"Can they afford to both fly to Seattle?"

"I'll pay for it." She answers, not worried about it.

"No, you won't. Let me take care of it."

She looks up at him. "Really, it's no problem. I'll do it. I'm the one that needs them here, Christian. I've got enough-"

"Stop it." He cuts her off. "You'll let me do this. Promise me."

She rolls her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if you just say that to have an excuse to kiss me."

He grins. "Maybe, but I do like having the assurance that you'll do as I say."

"As you say?" She cocks an eyebrow at him and sits up. "I don't think I'll be promising anything, Grey. I'll do as I please." She crosses her arms and gives him a cross look, challenging him.

"Oh, I think you will." He lunges at her and she squeals, trying to make a break for it, but fails miserably. Holding her down on the couch, he tickles her ribs while she flails around.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Christian's hand must have slid down too far and he pulls away from her, horrified that he hurt her.

"Ana, I'm so sorry, I didn't…" He trails off, seeing a smile on her face. "You little brat. That's it!" He lunges for her again and holds her wrists above her head, securing them with one hand. "Kiss on it!"

She giggles and turns her head to the side. "No!"

"Do as I say, Anastasia!"

She shakes her head and presses her lips together, trying to hide them.

He grabs her chin and tries to turn her head, but she won't budge. Instead, he leans down and rubs his stubble against her neck, making her squeal and turn her head toward him. He tries to kiss her quickly, but she manages to dodge him and he ends up kissing her cheek.

"You aren't going to win this, girl. You might as well give in!" He holds her face in place and she sucks in her lips when his lips try to come in contact with hers. "Fine. You want to do this the hard way? Then so be it." He squeezes her cheeks together, using his thumb and index finger and her lips pop out, making her look like a fish.

Finally, his lips come in contact with hers. "Ah, that's better. Now, let me take care of it."

She begins to giggle. "Leh go uh my face." She says through her fish lips.

"Nope. You made me work for this. I think I'll enjoy it a little longer." He ducks down and presses his lips to hers over and over in quick succession, making her giggle even more.

"Done yeh?" She asks, making him laugh.

"I quite enjoy listening to you try to talk like this."

She wiggles underneath him and he feels a sudden stirring deep in his stomach that makes him release her and sit back quickly. Don't go there, Grey. He liked that a little too much.

His sudden surrender from their little game confuses Anastasia and she sits up quickly, her eyebrows knitted together to form a 'V'. "Is something wrong?"

He licks his lips and gives her a smile. "I just decided to have pity on you, Steele. I had to act before I changed my mind."

She rolls her eyes and rubs her cheeks, which are sore from being squished. "You're a savage, you know that?"

Christian wiggles his eyebrows. "You don't even know the half of it, love."