After avoiding Carla for days, Ana finally decided to meet with her mother to discuss the emotional affair that Carla had for almost six years. It was a conversation that Ana was not looking forward to having, but she realized that she needed to hear her mother out.

"Elliot said that Mia and Ethan are joining us tonight for dinner.", Christian said as he and Ana finished breakfast the morning of the talk. He and Ana were having dinner that evening with Kate and Elliot. Kate had vowed to play match maker for Mia and Ethan, and it appeared her efforts were succeeding.

"What have you got going on today ?", Ana asked as she began clearing the table.

"Actually, nothing. I have some paperwork that I need to work on. Has your mom talked to your dad yet?"

"Not in person. She said that they talked on the phone the other night, but it was only small talk. My dad told her that he still loves her, but needs more time to process things. Christian, what if they get a divorce?" Christian rose from his chair and walked over to the sink where Ana was standing. He could see the hurt in her eyes and wanted nothing more than to take away the pain she was feeling.

"Your parents love each other too much for that to happen. I'm confident that they will work it out." As they began putting away the breakfast dishes, Christian couldn't help but smile as he looked at Ana. How was it possible that his love for her love grew more and more every day?

"What's with the smile?"

"I was just thinking about how much I love you.", he said as he kissed her.

"I love you too." Just as Ana was about to kiss Christian, Carla walked into the kitchen.

"Hi.", Carla said sadly as she looked at her daughter and Christian. Her eyes were red from crying and lack of sleep.

"Hi Mom." Ana slowly walked over to her mother and gave her a quick hug.

"Good morning Carla. How was your drive?", Christian asked as he hugged her.

"It was good." Christian looked at Ana and then Carla and noticed the awkwardness between the two women.

"I'm going to do some work in the study. You two play nice.", he said as he kissed Ana before leaving the kitchen. Ana remained in her spot by the sink as Carla looked at the floor.

"Do you want to go in the living room so we can talk?"

"Yes, that will be fine.", Carla answered as they went into the living room. Carla nervously stood by the sofa before Ana motioned for her mother to sit down. Ana smiled as she sat down in a chair across from Carla. "Ana, thank you for agreeing to talk. I know that you have a lot of questions, and I want to answer all of them."

"I realized that I shouldn't avoid talking with you. When you told me about the affair, I was in shock. I needed some time to process everything, but I'm ready to talk now."

"Ok. Where to begin.", Carla said as she tried to find the right words for what she needed to say. "remember when I told you that your father was the love of my life?" Ana nodded as she recalled the statement her mother had made at the hospital after Ray's accident. "That is true. I have never loved another man."

"Why did you cheat?"

"When Matt died, I was so lost. You were still at home, but you were always with Kate and never wanted to talk. Your father always conveniently had to work. I found myself alone. True, I had friends, but they would sugar coat things for me. They would say everything is going to be ok, but they never really listened. I longed for someone to talk to and listen to me. About two months after Matt died, I was supposed to meet your father for lunch, but he cancelled at the last minute. I ended up going to lunch alone. As I was sitting in the restaurant, I noticed a man sitting alone at the table next to me. The place started getting busy so he came over and asked if he could sit at the table with me since we were both alone."

"That was Mitchell?", Ana asked as she listened to Carla recount how she met the man with whom she had the affair.

"Yeah. We started talking, and he told me how he had just lost his best friend. They had been best friends since they were four, and he was devastated by his death. Mitchell said that he felt empty and isolated. The feelings he described were the same feelings that I was experiencing. When we had finished our meal, he gave me his number in case I needed to talk. I wasn't planning on calling him. A week later, I spent all day cooking this special dinner for you and your father, but you said that you were going to Kate's. Your father once again had to work late so I called Mitchell to talk. We talked for hours. Ana, I felt so guilty for it."

"Then why did you keep doing it?"

"Everytime I thought that things were getting better, they would get worse. It felt so good talking to someone. We would meet for lunch and talk on the phone. There were a few times when he would kiss me. The kisses were never passionate, but they made me feel wanted. I broke things off, but then you went to college and never came home, not even for holidays. Once again, I felt like my world was closing in on me so I called Mitchell. We began talking again. It continued off and on until your birthday. When you called and told me that you wanted to celebrate, I was overjoyed. You had finally decided to stop putting the barriers up. Then, Christian talked to your dad. He was able to get Ray to open up. I realized that my family was finally coming together."

"Mom, I'm sorry that I pushed you away. I was so lost that I didn't even think about you were going through. I was hell bent on dealing with things on my own and didn't consider anyone else's feelings. I should have been there for you. Dad should have been there. It's going to take some time, but Dad will come around."

"I love you Ana.", Carla said tearfully as she and Ana hugged.

"I love you too Mom."

Ana and Carla spent a few more hours talking about things before Carla left. Ana was still hurt by her mother's affair, but she understood more clearly why it happened. If more communication had taken place in the Steele home, things would have been different.

"How did it go?" Christian asked as Ana walked into his study.

"It went well, I think. How is your work going?"

"Done.", he laughed. "I have something for you." Christian walked over to the closet in the study and came back with a box as Ana looked on with questioning eyes. "I was at my parents' house yesterday and found this." Ana opened the box and found a letterman jacket inside with the name Grey on the back. "I had this in high school."

"Why do you have it now?", Ana giggled as Christian removed the jacket from the box and slipped it around her shoulder.

"Guys give their girlfriends their letterman jackets when they're going steady.", he said as he kissed her.