Ana
"Are you kidding me? You've lived in Seattle for all of your life and you've never been to Alki Beach Park?" I ask Christian in disbelieve.
"Almost my entire life. I was born in Detroit and the Grey's moved here with Elliot and I when I was five."
"And they never took you to this park?"
"No, I can honestly say that me being here is a first, Miss Steele." He says.
"Well, then you've missed out on a lot. This is without a doubt my favorite place in Seattle."
"I see, and I thought your favorite place in Seattle is wherever I am." He says with the most adorable pout.
I wrap my arms around his hips and smile up at him. "Nope, but this is my favorite place in the whole wide world."
"I can live with that... do you want to have our picnic here or do you want to go down to the beach?"
"I would like to go to the beach, but it depends if you like dogs or not, because there are usually lots of dogs."
"The beach it is... Elliot and I always wanted to have a dog, but our Dad was worried we wouldn't take proper care of it or lose interest. Actually, I believe he just doesn't like dogs at all."
"You could always get one now." I offer, but he shakes his head.
"You know my busy schedule, Ana. Leaving it to Mrs. Jones to take care of it wouldn't be fair." He says, but I make a mental note to visit some animal shelters in the near future. Maybe, I can get him a dog for Christmas. After all my schedule is not half as busy as his, so I could walk the dog too and take care of it whenever Christian doesn't have the time. Though I need to talk to Gail first, if she is afraid of dogs or worse allergic we can't have a dog at the penthouse.
"I know what you are thinking about, Ana." Christian interrupts my thoughts.
"No, you don't." I grin.
"Yes, I do. You are thinking about buying a dog."
"Oh look, over there, that's the perfect spot for our picnic." I try to distract him and skip ahead to the spot at the beach I've just found.
Christian follows me and two minutes later we sit down on a blanket and I unpack the picnic basket.
"Ana, you don't have to buy me a dog." He starts again.
"I know that I don't have to, but you have to see it like this. There are so many dogs and other animals in shelters; maybe one of them is just waiting for you to pick him up. It's a good cause and I can help you to take care of it... and I was going to talk to Gail about it first. If she is allergic or afraid of dogs then it won't work anyway." I reply and frown when I see that Christian is grinning at me like a loon.
"What?" I ask and he keeps smiling
"Nothing." He says and grins even brighter when I hand him the sandwich I made for him while talking.
"Stop it. Why are you grinning like that?"
"I just like it how much attention you pay."
"Huh?"
"My sandwich... chicken breast with mustard and a tiny bit of mayonnaise, no tomato, red onions and red bell pepper."
"You've forgot the two slices of pickles." I grin back.
"See, you know me better than I know myself."
"When it comes to your eating habits maybe... but let's see what is my favorite sandwich?"
"That's easy, because I was horrified the first time I saw you eat it. Your favorite sandwich is apple butter, peanut butter, green apple and hot sauce." He says and shudders.
"Hey, it's delicious and you haven't even tried it, so maybe you like it too."
"Baby, I would do almost everything for you, but I won't ever try this sticky mess of nastiness!" He says and it makes me laugh.
"Okay, whatever... oh I thought how about I cook tonight?"
"You don't have to, Ana."
"I know, but I miss cooking. We could stop at a supermarket on our way home and buy all the ingredients for a nice meal." It's true that I have missed to cook, but I also want to show Christian's parents that I'm just a normal girl. So, maybe if they see that I like normal things like cooking they won't think that I'm a gold-digger... or maybe that's just wishful thinking.
We are just about to leave the park when my Dad calls and I talk to him while Christian folds the blanket and puts everything back into picnic basket.
"Something important?" Christian asks after I have finished the phone call.
"Do you have to work next weekend?"
"I can re-arrange my schedule, why?"
"Well, every August there is this summer fest in Montesano. It's at Lake Silvia, there is a fishing contest, live music and huge bonfire and my Dad wanted to know if we would like to join him."
"Fishing contest? Do you think your Dad would mind if I ask Elliot to join us?"
"You enjoy fishing?"
"Yes, so what do you think?"
"Sure, maybe I could ask Mia to join us too. She can keep me company while you guys are fishing."
"Deal, say we leave early Saturday morning and return late Sunday evening. I'll have Andrea book a hotel for us."
"Why? We can stay at my Dad's place. He doesn't mind if your siblings join us and if we share my old bedroom, then Mia can have the guestroom and Elliot can sleep in the living room, though usually my Dad and I like to camp at Lake Sylvia for the weekend."
"Well, camping at the lake it is then."
"Great! I'll call my Dad to tell him once we are back home."
Going to the supermarket with Christian is surprisingly entertaining. Mostly because he is like a toddler in a toy store. He is looking at literally every item in the shelves and even though we are only halfway through the store our cart is already about to overflow.
"Christian... just out of curiosity, when was the last time you've been to a supermarket?" I ask amused.
"I'm not quite sure, probably as a child with my mother."
"What? What about your time in college?"
"Ana, I can't cook to safe my life, I usually ordered pizza or I ate on campus."
"Hmm, we should really start to work on your kitchen skills. How about you help me to cook dinner tonight?"
"I'm not sure my parents would appreciate to leave my place with food poisoning." He says deadpan and I shake my head.
"I won't let that happen. Cooking is fun; you'll like it once you get the hang of it. Trust me."
"I highly doubt that, but I give it a try... holy fuck, look at that... I had no idea there were so many different kinds of chips... urgh waffle and chicken? Who the hell would want to eat chips in that flavor?" He says.
"Obviously you." I laugh when he puts a bag of them along with five other flavors in the cart.
"Consider it research." He replies with a wink and is off to the next aisle. I make a quick detour to get tampons before I make my way to find Christian. I'm actually grateful that Mrs. Jones is doing all the shopping, but I draw the line when it comes to my tampons. I was mortified when she asked me over breakfast one morning if I had a preference when it comes to the brand of my feminine hygiene products, so I'd rather buy them myself.
When I find Christian he is in front of the freezers collecting an ice-cream parlors worth of different ice creams and popsicles. Dear Lord, we will all end up suffering from diabetes if he makes us try all that ice-cream.
Next to me is an old lady giving me sympathetic glances when she sees Christian dumping everything in our cart only to take off again.
"You have to be strict with him, dear. I have a nephew with special needs too; he used to behave just like that..." She says and I have to fight the urge to laugh.
"Oh... no, that's my boyfriend... I know it's hard to believe but he hasn't been in a supermarket since he was a kid..."
"Really? Well... he is a handsome young man... just make sure he doesn't eat it all at once..." She answer with a wink and takes off. Since I have all I need for tonight's dinner in my cart I just follow Christian through every aisle and can't help but smile the entire time. It's extraordinary that such a mundane task as grocery shopping can be so much fun for him.
"I can't believe that this is so much fun, we should do this once a week." He says when we are waiting in line.
"Sure, maybe next time I'll take you to Wal-Mart, that's like triple the size of this place." I explain.
"Really? That sounds interesting, how about Thursday after work?"
"Looks like we are having a date." I chuckle and we hit a little rough spot when I hand my credit card to the lady behind the register before he can, but wisely he decides that this isn't the place for an argument.
At home he excuses himself to make some phone calls and I help Gail to put all the groceries away, before I call my Dad to tell him that Christian and I will be there next weekend and that we will most likely bring his siblings with us. After that I decide to call Mia.
She is excited right away and wants to bring her friend Amy along, as they had plans to meet this weekend. For a moment I think about calling Ethan, Kate's brother to join us too, so that we are an even group of six, but decide against it. He would only remind me of Kate the entire weekend. She still calls me at least once a day, but I refuse to take her calls. I just don't want her to use me to get back at Christian... he has been through so much in his life and I would never forgive myself if I was the reason that any of it became public knowledge.
Deciding to take a bath I head into the bedroom, get undressed and put my robe on before I start to draw a bath.
"Mind if I join you?" I hear Christian behind me when I'm just about to climb into the tub.
"You know I don't." I answer with a smile and get into the tub. Christian gets in behind me and pulls me close so I am resting against his chest.
After a while I notice that he is absentmindedly stroking the scar on my inner thigh.
"Ask me." I whisper and he kisses my shoulder.
"Did he give you this scar? Your mother's third husband?"
"Not directly. When my mother and I moved in with him, I was completely impressed and overwhelmed by the size of his home. It was a huge old mansion with high gates and walls surrounding it. I thought it was like that to keep people from getting in... but it wasn't. It was to keep the people inside from getting out. After what he did to my mother... I knew I had to do something. We were both scared to death and his home had become a prison for us. He was controlling us 24/7 and if he wasn't at home his security made sure we wouldn't get out or even call someone. My mom had gotten a terrible infection from the caning and he refused to let her see a doctor. Her fever was rising and I was scared she would die. After two days I knew he would let her die before he would do the right thing. I waited until the middle of the night and managed to sneak out of the house, but I didn't know the combination for the gate. It would have been impossible for me to climb the walls, they were way too high. So I climbed over the gate, there was barbwire on top of it. I managed not to hurt myself when I climbed over the gate to get out, but after I had called my Dad for help and went back the barbwire cut into my skin. That's how I got the scar."
Behind me I feel Christian tense and turn to look at him. "It's okay... I'm proud of this scar; I got it because I saved my mother's life."
"You shouldn't have had to go through something like that."
"It's in the past... the next day my Dad came and he got us out of there. That day I made a promise to myself that I would never look back, I can't change my past, but I refuse to let my past define who I am today."
"Can I ask you one more thing?"
"Yes." I reply in the hope that we can let the topic rest after that.
"You are so close to your mother... why did you decide to stay with your stepfather, when she moved to Georgia?"
"My mother met Bob shortly after we returned to Montesano. I had just started therapy and I wasn't ready to move again. My Dad made me feel safe and I was afraid that Bob would turn out just as bad as husband number three. And of course Ray wasn't about to let me move again anytime soon. Ray has lost a child before, he wasn't about to take any chances where my safety is concerned."
"He lost a child?" Christian asks and I sigh.
"Ray was married before... he and his wife had a son. One day his wife wanted to visit her parents in Portland. A drunk driver drove into their car, she and her son died on impact. His name was Daniel; he would be my age now. My mom and Ray met in a support group for people who lost their spouses and children. He once told me that having me in his life made him feel whole again. He was a Dad without child and I was a child without Dad... maybe we were meant to end up as father and daughter." I muse and I feel Christian smile against my shoulder.
"He must be very proud to have you as his daughter."
"And I am proud to call him my Dad."
An hour later I know that Christian wasn't kidding when he told me that his kitchen skills are nearly none existent. Actually, even that would be putting it mildly. I've asked him to cut an onion into dices and he did... well kind of, the poor onion ended up being cut into four huge chunks and when I asked him to cut it into smaller dices he managed to cut his finger so deep, at first I was afraid he would need stitches, but Taylor looked at it and told us that a bandage would do.
Now, Christian is standing behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder while I'm cooking.
"You make cooking look so easy." He murmurs and I smile.
"Well, you make a lot of things that I couldn't do in a million years look easy too."
"Like what?"
"Flying a helicopter, being the CEO of a business empire, waking up in the morning looking like freaking GQ model... oh and walking without stumbling over your own two feet every five seconds." I giggle and he laughs.
"I agree, I'm a pretty good walker... especially in comparison with you." He says and I can feel his erection poking me when he pulls me closer against him.
"Really... oh my gosh... your parents will be here any second, Christian. That's so inappropriate." I try to sound serious, but actually knowing that he is constantly hard for me is the biggest turn on... ever!
"I could always drag you into my study for a quickie."
"No! I need to watch the food or else everything will be burned."
"Are you rejecting me, Miss Steele?" He asks in mock horror.
"For now, yes I do."
"And later?"
"Later I'm all yours. Oh, I didn't ask, do you know if your parents like garlic?" I ask as I am about to put the garlic in the pan.
"We both like garlic, Anastasia." We both hear the voice of his mother and turn around. Shit, I hope they haven't been there listening for too long.
After saying hello, Christian offers his parents something to drink and I continue to cook.
"Do you cook often, Anastasia?" Christian's dad asks me.
"I used to cook every day, Mr. Grey. Since I've been here it's only the third time. Gail is adamant about leaving all the cooking and cleaning to her. I'm still trying to get used to it. Oh, and please, call me Ana."
"Ana is a great cook, dad... and she knows a lot about food. Today we went to a supermarket... it was fun actually, I haven't been in a place like that for years." Christian tells his parents.
"Well, I'm sure it was nice for a change not having to buy groceries on a budget, Anastasia." His mother adds and I have to bite my tongue. Christ, I get it, she is a momma bear, but that doesn't give her the right to go all bitchy on me.
"Actually, food is the one thing where I never cared about the prices, Dr. Trevelyan. It's important to eat healthy, so I always make sure to buy organic food."
"Really, I'm sure you always had a boyfriend to buy you nice things then." She says and before I can answer Christian is on his feet.
"Mom, I don't want to fight with you, but I am not happy about the way you are treating my girlfriend. One, I didn't pay for the groceries, Ana did and two, Ana never had a boyfriend before me, I know that for a fact." He says and I reach out to squeeze his hand. I don't want him to fight with his parents.
"It's okay." I whisper and his look is clearly telling me that it is not okay.
"Christian, I am worried about you. Believe me, there is nothing I want more than for you to be happy and in love with a beautiful girl like Anastasia. Still, I can't help but wonder why all of this has to happen so fast. You've never mentioned her to any of us before the day of her accident and now she is living with you. Clearly you are supporting her financially too and I just don't want you to end up getting hurt or taken advantage of." His mother says and as much as I understand her behavior, it still hurts.
"I didn't mention Ana before that day, because she wasn't talking to me and rightfully so. I lied to her and hurt her feelings. I was ashamed of my behavior and very much confused about the feelings I have for her. She refused to listen to me for weeks and I am just happy that she forgave me. Maybe us moving in together seems rushed to everyone else, but it felt and still feels right to us, isn't that all that counts, Mom?"
His mother sighs heavily and looks at him. "Christian, I'm just worried that you end up getting hurt and you hardly know Anastasia..."
"Gracie, let them be." His father says and both Dr. Trevelyan and Christian look at him in surprise.
"Look Ana, I'm being honest, I have questioned your motives for moving in with my son so quickly too. As a lawyer, I can't help but look for answers and investigate when something seems suspicious. So, I have run a background check on you and I do believe that you really are the sweet and kind girl that you seem to be. Therefore, I'm happy that Christian has found himself a girlfriend like you."
"Well, that explain where Christian gets the habit of running background checks on people. All I want to say is that I really understand that you are worried about your son. After everything he has been through, you wouldn't be loving parents if you weren't worried." I stop when his mother gasps.
"You told her?" She asks Christian.
"Yes, Ana knows all there is to know about me. We can't build a healthy relationship by keeping secrets from each other. Mom, please. I'm asking you to give Ana a fair chance; if I trust her then you can trust her too."
"Oh for pity sake! Don't look at me like that Christian Trevelyan Grey! Good God, it's impossible to say no to you if you give me that look." She mutters under her breath and I have to hold back my laughter, because I know exactly how she feels. Christian has this lost puppy look from time to time where he could make me do everything for him, just by looking at me like that.
"Come on, Gracie, he is a grown man." Her husband implores her and finally I see a smile appear on her face.
"Fine, I'll trust your judgment, Christian... but please, there is no rush. You two need to get to know each other... so don't come to me next week to tell me that you are getting married or that I am going to be a grandmother."
"Don't worry, Mom. Ana and I have already agreed that children are not a topic we need to discuss anytime soon." Christian says and finally we move on to a more relaxed conversation, mostly filled with Christian telling his parents from his adventures at the supermarket.
I can't say that I am really comfortable around his mother now, but I do adore his Dad, who much to his wife's dismay loves to make naughty jokes which had me in stitches several times during the dinner.
But when Christian tells him about our plans for the weekend, his Dad is all ears.
"What is this fishing contest about, Ana?" He asks.
"All the man go out on the lake on boats and whoever returns after four hours with the biggest fish wins a trophy. My Dad has won it five years in a row now."
"Really, can everyone join?"
"Yes."
"Grace, how about we join the kids this weekend?"
"Oh Carrick, as if I'm having a choice now. I know you, in your mind you've already put that trophy above the fireplace in your study." Dr. Trevelyan says.
"Well then, afraid of some competition, son?" He asks Christian with a smirk.
"Afraid of you Dad... I'm sorry when was the last time you caught a fish that was bigger than a guppy?" Christian chuckles and they engage in some friendly banter while I clear the table for dessert.
"Anastasia?" I hear Christian mother behind me while I'm loading the dishwasher and have to fight the urge to roll my eyes.
"Do you need something, Dr. Trevelyan?"
"No, thank you. I wanted to apologize. My behavior towards you wasn't right. All I can say in my defense is that I love my children with all my heart... and Christian, he has been through enough. We all have been through a lot in the last six months, but you know that. I just want you to know, that I really do hope that you won't hold a grudge against me."
"I'm not. I want us to get along. Your son means so much to me; I would never intentionally hurt him. He deserves to be happy. His money means nothing to me, actually it's quite the opposite. You see, I have been through some hard times in my life too. My mother has been married to a very wealthy man once and he made both our life hell on earth. I'd rather be with a man who doesn't have a dollar to his name, than to be with someone just for the size of his bank account. Your son is a remarkable young man, he is kind, loving, he makes me laugh and he makes me feel safe... I would have moved in with him if he would live in an apartment the size of a shoebox. All of this..." I gesture around the apartment. "It means nothing to me. All that matters to me is Christian himself." I tell her and she gives me a big, genuine smile.
"I'm very glad to hear that, Ana. I just want my son to be happy and I have to say that I have rarely seen him this relaxed and at ease as he was tonight. You are good for him and he deserves good things in his life. Maybe this weekend will be good for us to have some time to talk and get to know each other, or are you competing in the contest too?"
"No, I know how to fish, but it is not very appealing to me, but I would love for us to talk some more. I know that Christian is very close to you, so I want us to get along."
"Good, now let's bring the dessert on the table. Carrick hates to wait, especially when he is allowed to have dessert." She says with a wink and helps me to carry the dessert to the table. I don't know if I will ever end up being best friends with Christian's mother, but it would be nice to be on a friendly basis at least...