Famous Five
Chapter 25
Christian
My father took his last breath in the middle of the night three days after I met him in the hospital. Ana and I were asleep when Grant woke us up with the call. Mary was sleeping by his side when she heard the heart monitor flat line.
I couldn't imagine what she was feeling. To her, he was the hardworking man who won her heart. She had forgiven him for his wrongs from his past before he met her. He was the man that loved her with all his heart.
After my meltdown, I finally sat down and had a heart to heart with him. We talked about what happened after he left me with my mom. He met Grant's mother a year after he left us. He got her pregnant and ran for the same reason that he left me for.
He talked about checking into rehab after nearly dying from a car accident six years after he left me. That was his sign from above that he needed to get his life together. So he did. He got out of rehab six months later, found a job as a mechanic.
He bumped into Mary, who was a waitress at a diner two years later and they married three years after that. He told me that he never made contact with me because he was too embarrassed and because he was ashamed. He kept tabs on me though. He watched me build F5 with the boys and he also kept tabs on Grant and his success.
I told him about Grace and Garrick. I told him about college, meeting Jackson and Ana, about how we started the business. We got to talking about Grant and what this meant for us. Ana was introduced to him that same night and he took a liking to her instantly.
He apologized profusely and even though he ruined most of my childhood, I forgave him. His last dying wish was to make amends with his long lost sons and who was I to deny him. Ana, Grant, and I continued to visit him for the next few days, not knowing when he would be gone.
After receiving Grant's call, we got up and went to the hospital. Mary was sitting in the waiting room by herself, silently crying into Frank's jacket. Ana went to her first and pulled her into an embrace. The doctor came to talk to me and Grant about our father's arrangements.
He went peacefully, his heart just gave out and his body couldn't fight the cancer anymore. We nodded as the doctor relay the information to us. Frank and Mary didn't have a lot of money besides his savings so Grant and I agreed to take care of the funeral.
After hugging Mary and trying to calm her, Grant and I returned to the hotel while Ana stayed with her.
I started making calls and setting up the funeral. Grant called the bank that Mary had and set up a savings account, transferring a 100 thousand dollars from each of us. We felt like Mary should be comfortable for the rest of her life. She spent majority of the last year taking care of a dying man. She was the most heartwarming and caring woman we've ever met. She reminded me a lot of Grace.
A couple of hours later Ana walks through the door of our hotel room. Her eyes are red from all the crying she shared with Mary. I was sitting in a loveseat, ending my call with the floral shop. She came and sat in my lap, embracing me tightly. I breathed the scent of her and instantly calm.
"I love you," she mutters into my neck.
"Love you too," I whisper, kissing her forehead. We stay that way for I don't know how long. A few minutes pass before Grant walks in from the other room.
"I took care of the casket and headstone. I don't know how many people knew Frank and Mary so I don't know how many people are going to show up at the funeral." He shut off his phone and leaned against the door frame. Ana lifted her head and stared at him before returning her gaze to me.
"You know I can see the resemblance between you two." She inquires and I chuckle.
"Yeah but I think we know who the better looking one is." I wink at her and she lets out a small laugh.
Grant smiles. "Just because I don't grace the cover of GQ magazine doesn't mean I don't get my fair share of the ladies." He winks.
"I'm sure you do." Ana responds with a smile.
"But Christian is lucky for having you. Makes me want to have what you two have someday."
Ana smiles and looks down at me. "And you will." She kisses me before getting off my lap. She leaves to go brew us some coffee. Grant comes to sit down next to me.
"I never thanked you for doing this. I mean at the beginning; I didn't think I was going to thank you but I'm glad you pushed me to do this."
Grant raised his gaze to me.
"All my life I wanted to know who my father was, what he was like. My mom refused to tell me anything about him. Most of the time just saying he was a deadbeat and that I didn't need to concern myself with him. So when I was old enough to start investigating for myself, I found him. However, mom was right about him being a deadbeat and so I let it go. Then years later I find myself in Manhattan on a business trip. I was getting sick of eating the hotel food so I went down to the diner around the corner and bumped into Mary. She told me she had to work double shifts to cover for her husband's hospital bills. She was so genuine and for some reason I just wanted to help her out. So I looked into her husband, made a few connections and found him to be our father. She told me that his last wish was to reconnect with his lost sons so I dug around so more. Then I told her who I was and she introduced me to Frank. It's crazy to think that all it took was for me to go to the diner that they met all those years ago to find my father and to bring us all together."
"It's been a crazy few days."
"I'll say. But I'm glad I got to know you and Ana."
"About that, why did you fight with me over Fell Corp?"
Grant let out a small chuckle. "We're both businessmen. I just thought it be fun. Plus, you're kind of hard to get a hold of so I figured I needed to do something drastic to get your attention. So I bought out Fell Corp."
I smile. "Well you certainly got my attention, little bro." I tried out the sentiment and Grant smirked at me.
"Good lord, I'm never going to live that one down am I?" We shared at laugh.
Two days later, I'm straightening my black tie as Ana slips on her flats. She returns to my side and helps me with my tie. She helps me with my jacket and smooths out any wrinkles. She gives me a sad smile and I kiss her chastely.
"Thank you for being here with me." I whisper as I pull her close.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." She leans her forehead against mine. We stand in each other's' embrace for a while. A knock from the door tells us that Grant's ready. We all head down to the limo and head towards Frank and Mary's house in the suburbs. We pick up Mary and head towards the graveyard.
As we pull up to the burial site, I noticed a few familiar faces. I turn to Ana and she squeezes my hand. "I thought you would like your closets friends to be here with you." I silently thank her with a kiss to her forehead and step out of the limo. Jackson, Sylvia, Gideon, Eva, Bennett, Chloe, Gabe, and Mia were all standing there.
"Hey guys," I greet them and Eva runs to hug me.
"We're so sorry for your loss Christian," Sylvia says, hugging me next.
"Thanks guys. It means a lot that you're here."
"We're always here for you buddy," Gideon responds, hugging me.
"We all have Ana to thank for telling us too." Jackson nods at the woman I love. I grasp her hand in mine and we walk towards the burial site.
We're standing in the front with Mary as she holds onto Ana for support. The priest gives his sermon as we watch the casket get lower into the ground. Grant spoke a few words before we each took our turn, grabbing a handful of dirt and letting it fall upon our father.
We all returned to Frank and Mary's residence after the burial. The girls went about fixing a late lunch as they guys got to know Mary. I took my time, looking at all the pictures of Mary and Frank. They never had any children so most of them were of the couple during their vacations before Frank got sick.
When Chloe called us for lunch, we all sat down at the dining room table. Before we started to eat, I stood up and raised my glass to Mary.
"To the woman who stood by the man she loved, no matter what his past was life, no matter what he done wrong. I think I speak for all of us at the table when I say we can only hope to find what you and Frank had. I know I just got to know you but I sure hope to get to know you even better. If it wasn't for you, we would never had made it here. To Mary, thank you for bringing this family together."
Everyone joins in on the cheer and Mary thanks me. After the men had cleaned up the dishes and put everything away, we all took seats in the living room as Mary told us about her favorite memories of Frank: their first date, his marriage proposal, that time he got them stuck in the elevator during their third anniversary. We laughed, we cried, we smiled through every memory with her.
We eventually left and returned to the hotel. Grant was catching a late flight back to Washington. He needed to get back to work. Ana and I were booked to leave in the morning with the rest of the gang.
As we got into bed, she turned to face me and I wrapped my arms around her. I pulled her close and let out a sigh. "It's been a long day." She murmurs.
"It's been a long week."
She nods and kisses my nose lightly. "I love you Christian Grey."
"You do huh?" I ask and she nods.
"Then marry me."
AN: Hello all! I am so sorry for leaving you all for so long! Family took up my summer time and now that I'm back at school, life's gotten pretty busy. Plus, I got total writers' block and had no idea what to write. Well I'm going to try and update as much as possible. I feel like this story is coming to a close soon. Thanks for sticking with me! Enjoy and have a happy day! :)