AN: thank you for all of your warm reviews. All characters belong to E.L. James. I'm just playing with them. Reviews are encouraging and make me very happy. Please read and review.

Frank Lambert was eagerly waiting for his little girl to be born when he was deployed to join his fellows in the war. In two short months, his angel would be here and he was beyond devastated that he couldn't hold her the minute she's born. He just hoped that his mother and carla would put aside their differences and reconcile while he was gone. If not for them or him, for the sake of his daughter.

His mother, Alexandra, thought of Carla as a, well,a gold digging hoe and near begged him not to marry her. Sure, Carla was young and vain, a little hare brained but he loved her in a way and he wasn't going to refuse to make an honest woman out of her when she came to him with the news of pregnancy. His mother on the other hand, always thought that Carla was not a good match for him . Her being 20 and being with a 35 year old him was a bitter pill to swallow for his mother. Alexandra repeatedly expressed her concerns about Carla trapping him with a baby and him being foolish, rather vehemently.

Sure, they had been together for short span of an year and the news was certainly a surprise to him but he didn't think Carla was the sort of woman to try and trap a man with baby. He was looking forward to his daughter being born since within minutes of the news. He's a 35 year old man and he never felt more proud.

It wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to be deployed as he had just two more years before he could get off the army. He made plans to buy a rundown bar, renovate and run it in the small town near the army base. He had been saving up to settle down with a happy little family of his own. But, c'est la vie. They just returned from the Carla's fortnight's appointment with the doctor when he saw the deployment orders on his doorstep. He tried telling himself that it was going to be okay but he was apprehensive all the same. He put all of his life's savings in a trust fund for his little girl, made to be available when she's going to college.

That was the day frank and Carla decided to go ahead and name the baby. He named her Anastasia, after his beloved mother, Alexandra. Carla agreed quite happily much to his surprise quoting that its a princess name for her little princess.

On September 13th, little Anastasia was born. She had everyone in the hospital wrapped around her little finger and not one person wanted to let go. She was an attentive child, always looking around for noise and her eyes wide, the bluest anyone ever seen.

Alexandra saw his son's eyes shine through little anastasia and even her vast differences with Carla couldn't stop her from being there with little Ana.

Two days after Ana's birth was when Alexandra received the dreaded phone call and her world came crashing down. From then on, looking at little ana only reminded her of the loss of her only son. In a way, ana felt like a bad omen to her. So, when the six weeks recovery period was over and Carla was deemed fit to continue with daily activities, she didn't hesitate to throw out the lady who created a rift between her and her only son and the bad omen baby, right onto the streets, without a care. If she had kept aside her grief and thought about her actions for a fraction of a minute, she would've seen a 20 yr old orphan and her baby that her son asked her to take care of, desperately in need of some help, both emotionally and financially.

Carla Lambert née Murray found herself a little studio apartment around the base after spending a week in the head shelter with a newborn and decided to look for a job before they ran out of the leftover measly funds. She found a job as a nanny to a group of families and it allowed her to take care of her baby as well. It was a tough time for both the girls.

One day, a bright winter day at that, Carla took the now six months old ana for a walk in the park. Ana had been a little restless lately, seemingly searching for something or someone and Carla thought that the greenery would help her calm down a little. She dreaded the discussion about her father or his family when Ana started asking questions.

38 year old Raymond theodore Steele just got out of the army few months prior. He felt that he had served his country for his worth and was looking forward to joining the civilian life. Ray decided on opening his own carpenters workshop, and expand it depending on its success.

This particular day in February, he was walking old Mrs.Beasley's 6yr old German Shepherd in the park. Skipper was just uncontrollable, always running ahead and getting away and he had no idea how old, frail Mrs. Beasley managed to do it. The dog just snatched himself off the leash and ran ahead. Ray doubted he would find the dog easily. So, He started walking languidly, resigned himself for hours of dog searching. A few meters ahead, he found a sight that stopped him in his tracks.

Skipper, the three foot German Shepherd, was being squished by a child in a stroller, occasionally being hit by unstable movements of the child and occasional unintelligible squeal and the fierce dog just endured all of it without a squeak. As he walked forward, he got full view of the 20 something year old lady and the baby.

The little girl was wrapped a soft yellow woolen onesie, her head covered by a bright red hat, Her big eyes the brightest blue, her cheeks pink and nose red from the cold air, her smile wide with two little teeth peeking out and unassuming.

Thus began the greatest love story of all time. A love story we see everyday in our lives. Between a father and his daughter, biological or not.