My dear little broccolis💚💚💚,

💚 So, this is me doing a favour to the same someone who PMed me and asked to upload two of my stories with the FSOG names. I already did it for Forbidden Fruit, and now, here comes the second. The original fic is published under the Mortal Instruments franchise. If you're one of my old readers, well, you already know this story, so only read it if you want to read it with other characters in mind; if you're a new reader, well hang on and let's see how this Ana and Christian work in here.

💚 I hope that you will like this chapter. From the title, it is very easy to know what will happen, but I hope that you will still be surprised by the content...

Chapter 32 ~ The Presence Of Two Mothers (1,7K)

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Lily's PoV

As the cab slowly made its way toward Ana's childhood home, Lily looked at the brunette who was lost in her thoughts. The verdict had been given earlier during the morning, and it was clearly visible that a weight had been taken out of the young girl's shoulders. Just in the way she carried herself, she seemed to really feel that she was free.

After the hearing had been closed, they all had a well-deserved brunch with Kate and Mrs Lincoln during which Lily surprisingly discovered the depth of the friendship between the elderly and Ana. She knew from her numerous visits at the bar that Kate and Ana were really close, but she never would have expected to see Ana find herself a true friend in someone who had such a huge age gap with her. And still, their friendship felt true. Lily heard from the corner of her ear Ana explain to Mrs Lincoln the tumults of her young life, and strangely enough, she seemed rather free doing so. Lily even heard Mrs Lincoln asking about Christian, and why he did not stay to brunch and celebrate with them.

Christian had left soon after the hearing, along with his parents, and making Lily understand that his relationship with Ana was not something that he was willing (or ready) to put to the past. That realisation came when Christian's mother took Ana in her arms, whispering sweet and reassuring words in the young girl's ear in a motherly embrace, while Christian was looking at the scene as if this was something completely natural.

And at one look at her husband, Lily saw that Franklin had understood what this simple gesture meant: Ana was already part of Christian's family, and Christian's parents did not hesitate in showing it to her. After all, they came to support her, when they could have stayed in their hometown and send her a simple message of congratulations.

Lily remembered how Franklin had remained stoic when Carrick gently patted Ana's shoulder in what could have been a fatherly embrace if they would have been a bit closer. She knew that, even though Franklin did not say anything, this was something that bothered him since Ana always tensed when he touched her, but did not seem to have any problems with Carrick doing so. Of course, Lily knew that it was due to the fact that Ana spent already many weekends in the presence of Carrick and that he had built a relationship of trust with her, and that, at the moment, Ana was really confused upon her relationship with Franklin; but Franklin was only human after all.

It was the same thing as for the relationship between Christian and Ana. Lily knew that deep down, Franklin did not actually mind their couple, nor even their age gap. What he minded was the fact that his own relationship with Ana was shortened by another man. A man that he knew, nonetheless and that therefore he could not hate or despise.

And the only thing reassuring Franklin that maybe he would fully have his daughter was the fact that, though Christian's feelings for Ana were clear and obvious, Ana's were very well hidden. This was something Lily had to give to Ana, when it came to her personal life, she was very hard to read. Even for her who was reading people for a living, Ana was often a conundrum.

And the present moment was just a perfect example. Lily had persuaded herself that Ana would never want to set foot again in her old house because of all the painful memories, and yet, she was the one who said that she wanted to quickly swing by, refusing that Franklin came with her. And this was something that Lily had troubles understanding. She saw how Ana leaned on her father for support during the trial, so she couldn't understand why she was suddenly refusing the support that he was willing and eager to give her.

"Can I ask you something?" Lily asked as the taxi was taking a turn to enter a residential area. Ana looked away from the window, her eyes haunted by ghosts for a very brief second before she gently smiled at Lily and said with a quiet voice:

"Sure."

"Why didn't you want Franklin to come with you?"

Ana blushed a little, apparently embarrassed by the question, and she looked down on her hands as she stuttered her explanation: "I … I didn't want it to be awkward for Franklin. I mean … my Mom is obviously going to be there, and … I don't know … It just seemed like it would be plain awkward for the two of them … But I didn't want to go alone, so I asked you. Sorry."

Lily's heart swelled for the young brunette as she was struggling to say her words out loud, and she couldn't help but reach her hand out to touch Ana's on her knee as she told her: "Ana, honey. It is not your job to make your parents happy and feel safe. It is the other way around. You shouldn't worry yourself about anything but living your life as happily as you can, while they do their best to make this life happen for you."

"I don't know … I just … I don't want to cause any more trouble to anyone," Ana murmured, shrugging while her eyes were still cast downward. Lily squeezed a little the young girl's hand, before assuring her:

"You're not a trouble to anyone, Ana."

But as she was expecting it, Ana was still doubtful concerning the veracity of her words. And so, Lily gently took the brunette's chin to lift her face up and force her to look at her in the eyes as she promised: "Trust me, Ana, you no bother to anyone. And this is your future stepmother talking, not the shrink."

With pleasure, Lily watched Ana's pupils dilate with bliss as the full meaning of her words reached the young girl's brain. Lily knew that Franklin had started a procedure of custody the minute he recognised Ana, but since she was a runaway child, the paperwork was being more difficult than it should be, which was why Franklin did not want to tell Ana yet about it, even though Lily thought this was a bad idea. Lily could tell that Ana had a problem of trust with other people, but also a problem of recognition. It was obvious in her way to always step aside from the centre of any sort of conversation. And she knew that the best way to help Ana was to clearly assure her that she had a place somewhere, especially among the family with whom she belonged to.

Two minutes after Lily let Ana understand that she would soon be an official part of her family, the cab pulled in front of a residential house, a little bit secluded from the others. The house was very plain and simple with all sorts of different gnomes on the front yard that made Ana grimace a bit as she got out of the car and explained: "The gnomes have always been here. And they have always crept me out, as far as I can remember. Look at this one. It looks like he's about to eat your soul and wear your skin at some pompous gala."

Lily restrained a chuckle at this elaborate imaginary life that Ana had invented the friendly gnome merrily laughing while holding its stomach. Ana gave one last look to the gnomes, shivering before she softly knocked at the door of what used to be her house.

Carla came to open the door, barely half a second later, her blue eyes devouring her daughter as if this was the last time she would get to see the young girl. Ana refused to meet her mother's gaze, and simply mumbled under her breath: "I just need a minute. I won't be long."

Then she turned to Lily, hesitating on saying something; but before Lily could propose to follow her inside, Ana shook he head and rushed inside the house, leaving the two women alone in front of the main door. Lily did her best to not judge or analyse the person standing in front of her, knowing that doing so would be neither fair or ethical; and she contented on simply watching closely what Carla physically looked like.

She recalled what Franklin had told her when he first saw Ana, that it was as if he had seen Carla's ghost; and even though the years between mother and daughter were obvious, Lily could clearly see why. Ana was a little bit taller than her mother, but everything else was a carbon copy of Carla Wilks, making Lily suddenly look for something of Franklin's in Ana's feature. But at first sight, they had no resemblance. Lily knew that they had the same hands, delicate, long-fingered and perfect to play the piano and that they actually had the same wrinkle appearing on their forehead when they would frown of worry, but that was how far their resemblance would go.

For a long minute, none of the women talked, before Carla finally broke the heavy silence and asked: "Are you Franklin's wife?"

"I am," Lily answered, trying to not feel awkward about the situation. She always assured Franklin that she had absolutely no problem with him having a long lost child, and she knew deep in her heart that she did not hold any sort of resentment against Ana, but her mother was a different story. And no matter how good she was at her job, Lily could not tell if she was bothered by the fact that Carla was now a real person and not just an idea out of thin air, or because she was an ex of her husband.

"I have some papers to give him. I can post them to him, but it will be faster if I give them to you," Carla said, and Lily simply nodded, wondering what kind of papers Carla could want to give to Franklin. For a brief second, Carla disappeared before coming back with different kinds of envelops that she gave to Lily. Ana came back at the same moment, looking at her mother with anxiety as she said: "I was looking for my baby photo albums."

"I moved them to your room. Let me go and fetch them for you."

As Carla disappeared inside the house, Ana passed the threshold to be next to Lily who was expectantly looking at her. There was a few seconds of silence before Ana explained: "To be honest, I did not want to come back. But … I thought that Franklin would like to see what I looked like when I was a baby and stuff."

Lily was stopped from saying anything by Carla who came back with four heavy albums that she entrusted with Ana; and when she saw that the two brunettes were in need of a private moment, Lily walked back to the cab that was waiting for them, and told him that they were about to go back to the hotel. Still, she heard Carla telling her daughter: "Live well and happy, Stacia."

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

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💚 The next chapter will be from Franklin's point-of-view before we go back to the normal first-person point-of-view. In this chapter, I wanted to show that in this family that Ana is going to start with Franklin and Lily, Lily is the pillar that gets them all together. Sure, she is a shrink, but, she really takes the role of the mother, even if she isn't Ana's biological mom. But that doesn't stop her from still being human, and feeling weird about Carla.

~ Anyway, question times:

1. How do you feel about this little moment Ana and Lily shared?

2. What do you think of Ana's gesture for Franklin?

3. How do you feel about Carla, and what do you think there is in the envelope?

4. What was your favourite part?

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💚Anyway, E.L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.

Love, Mina 💚💚💚