AN: Thank you for the incredible reviews on the last chapter, it meant the world! It was hard to get the sensitivity of the topic in with Ana's past and your reviews reassured me I did that, so again thanks!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ana and Christian rolled to a stop outside a small bungalow at the bottom of a cul-de-sac where each house had trees and US Flags. It was very quaint.

"How are you feeling?" Christian asked as Ana examined the off yellow walls and the grey door. There was a little veranda with a white picket fence and it was all so pretty. It was the home of childhood dreams for Ana.

"Nervous." Ana admitted.

They had journeyed to Montesano to meet Raymond Steele. It had been completely Ana's decision to do this. After her second therapy session with Mary Griffith, and a realisation that her mind was really being affected by the way they were handling her past, she felt she needed to do this before things got worse. Mary had warned her things would definitely get worse, the script for anti-anxiety had been issued and she'd already started the anti-depressant so that it would be in her system and working when things started to get harder. So she was doing this now, before she wouldn't be able to.

It frightened her, the way her nightmares had come back with more vividness than ever before but also how frequent she would get flashbacks to Mister and Madam. If she was upset or stressed, the flashbacks would come with a vengeance and she was already remembering things she'd never remembered before. Things were going to get really tough and Ana felt she owed it to Ray to meet him properly before she would possibly get too caught up in facing the trauma that she struggled to function. She'd accepted that was likely to happen.

"Do you think he'll like me?" Ana asked making no move to leave the car.

"I think he'll love you." Christian said taking her hand in his own. "Ana, he's waited eighteen years for this moment. He won't care what you've been through, how you've turned out, he will love you because you are you."

Ana shuddered; she didn't know how to feel about that. After all, they were strangers, despite the fact he'd looked for her all these years, he knew nothing of her.

The grey door swung open and Raymond Steele stepped onto the porch. He'd made more of an effort than when they'd seen him in his wife-beater vest and sweat pants last time. Instead, he was wearing a short-sleeve button-up shirt and a pair of brown cargo pants having clearly made the effort for them.

He waved awkwardly, a thin-lipped smile on his face. Ana could see he was nervous too and she was glad it wasn't just her. It was obvious who they were, they'd come in Christian's sports car again and despite the windows being blacked out and Raymond being unable to see them, he'd raised his hand to wave anyway. Maybe it was to encourage them out of the car.

"Come on." Ana said tugging at the door handle to open the door. Christian followed suit and climbed out too.

Standing on the sidewalk looking up at her step-father, Ana took a deep breath and raised her hand and gave an awkward wave. Christian hurried to her side and took her hand before they walked up the garden path together, with Ray watching, it was very uncomfortable.

"Hi Raymond." Ana said as they walked up the steps to the veranda.

"Annie." He smiled and Ana shuddered, would he be able to call her Ana? That was her name after all but he knew her as Annie-Rose, the five-year-old little girl. She decided not to correct him and allowed Christian to encourage her inside, where Raymond was signalling the door with his hand.

The entered a long and bright living space, there were cream walls and a hardwood floor, a long brown leather couch that looked like it hadn't had much use, and a matching armchair that had signs of wear and tear showing where Raymond preferred to sit. In the far corner a small dining table and chairs and on the other side a computer desk and chair.

"Please sit." Raymond signalled the couch and Ana and Christian shuffled behind a small coffee table and took a seat, Ana smoothing down her light blue floral summer dress as she did. She was incredibly nervous, her stomach felt like a washing machine on spin. "The kettle has just boiled; can I get you coffee or…"

"Coffee would be lovely, thank you." Ana said hurriedly, wanting to put him out of his misery. He looked like a lost little boy despite clearly being in his fifties. He smoothed his hand through his shaved head and looked awkwardly at Christian.

"Coffee would be nice thanks." Christian replied and Ray nodded before he shuffled off to the end of the room, to where Ana guessed the kitchen was.

Ana and Christian both took the opportunity to look around the room. The walls were covered in pictures but when Ana's eyes fell onto her graduation portrait that had been taken just after she'd put on her cap and gown on the ceremony morning, she looked at Christian.

"I hope you don't mind." Christian muttered. "Just after the whole thing with the press finding out, I thought he would want a proper picture of you."

"It's a bit weird." Ana muttered and Christian rubbed her back softly. Raymond was a proud father, he'd put the portrait on the wall by the big TV. Ana turned to look at the wall behind her, there were many pictures of her and her mother with Ray. Had these pictures been up all these years? Ana shuddered, this whole thing was weird.

Ray bought through the sugar and cream first followed by two mugs of coffee for Ana and Christian. He then went back for his own coffee before he took his seat in the armchair. It took a lot of strength not to examine Ana, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable but it was crazy how much she looked like her mother, the same dark hair and big crystal blue eyes.

"So uh, thank you for… for you know coming." Ray said looking into his coffee. He hadn't imagined this being this awkward, but of course for years he had imagined a very joyful reunion. Finding out that Ana had no memory of him whatsoever had been excruciating. He'd loved her as his own and had hoped she would have missed him as much as he had missed her.

"Thank you for having us." Ana replied politely while looking into her coffee.

The silence was awkward, probably because they both had questions to ask and things to say but feared saying or asking the wrong thing.

"You know, you look like your Mom." Ray said trying to break the awkwardness, Ana's eyes met Raymond's and he gulped.

"I thought that when I saw her photo." Ana smiled awkwardly. "I don't remember her."

"Stanley said you had no memory of life with us." Ray replied and Ana grimaced, this was really, really, awkward and she was starting to regret coming.

"What was my Mom like?" Ana asked as it was one of the things she wanted to know most.

"Well…" Raymond glanced up at the wedding portrait that hung just behind Ana's head, it was of him, Carla and Ana on the happiest day of his life. "She was a free spirit." He chuckled. "Your Mom was always looking for the next project or adventure. She was very arts and crafty, liked making things with her hands and would flit from one thing to another."

"She sounds bipolar." Ana replied and Ray chuckled and rubbed his chin, it was a good way to describe the way Carla was. "What was she like as a Mom?"

"Well… your Mom struggled with you, after losing your Dad, she found being a single Mom hard and your grandparents wouldn't help much because your Mom got pregnant young with a boy she barely knew. She had bad depression after you were born, she loved you so much though and when she finally got help, not long after I met her, she became the most amazing, most loving mother." Raymond smiled at the memories; it had been hard when he first met Carla. He'd fallen head over heels in love and would have done anything for her, he became Annie's primary parent while Carla got help. He didn't tell Ana that she'd gone away to get her head straight, and that for nearly six months of her little life, he'd been the only parent she'd had. At the moment, details like that weren't important.

"What were my grandparents like?" Ana asked, intrigued to hear they hadn't helped her Mom with her.

"Your grandma was old fashioned." He replied at once. "I'll be honest I never really got to know her. She didn't like that I was older than your Mom, she thought I was bad news." He chuckled uncomfortably. "Your grandfather was under her thumb." He added and Ana nodded, that was enough to know that her grandparents hadn't been great people. "Your grandfather adored you though. He came over lots to play with you." Ana gulped, it was hard hearing that because she had no memory of it, she wished she could remember it so that when her nightmares plagued and the flashbacks came, she could remember that a small portion of her childhood was good, before the accident.

The silence fell again and Ana added cream to her coffee before taking a hearty gulp, enjoying the burn as it went down her throat. She looked at her graduation photo again, it was very weird seeing it up on the wall. Christian had put one on the side table in Escala when they had come but that was nice, seeing it up on this stranger's wall was just odd.

"So what do you do Raymond?" Christian asked deciding to help Ana out as it was clear she was running out of questions and conversation points.

"I'm a carpenter." Ray replied.

"Oh awesome." Christian smiled when he realised Ray wasn't going to expand on that. "You fish?" He asked having seen the fishing poles by the front door.

"Yeah." Ray nodded. "You?"

"It's been a while but I used to go with my Dad a lot." Christian replied and Ana breathed, Christian was making this so much easier.

"What about you Annie? Ever been fishing?" Raymond asked wanting to include her in the conversation.

"No." She answered but she didn't expand anymore than that and he glanced at Christian for more help.

"I'll have to take you." Christian nudged her and she grimaced, fishing didn't sound like an activity she wanted to take part in but she managed a nod anyway, just to be polite.

"We should be thinking about heading home." Ana said having had enough now, this was too much, too uncomfortable. While she wanted to get to know Ray, maybe next time they could invite him to Seattle and they could get to know each other in a place she felt comfortable and confident.

"Ok." Christian nodded understanding what Ana was doing. They all rose to their feet and Ana was quick to make her way to the door, Christian and Ray behind her. She wanted to breathe the fresh hair, not the heavy atmosphere that was in the house.

"Thank you for coming." Ray said as they all stood out on the porch. He understood this had to be difficult and wasn't blaming the young woman in front of him for wanting to leave so soon, he didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to talk to her and so he was just letting her lead everything.

"Thanks for having us." Christian said reaching his hand forward to shake Ray's which he took, he was grateful to the younger man who had made an effort to let him know about Ana while she'd been figuring out if she wanted to meet him and get to know him. Ana stood there uncomfortably shuffling her foot, she was really ready to get away now.

"Thanks." Ana said as the men released hands.

"Uh…" Ray rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Can I give you a hug?" Ana asked looking at the floor, so she didn't see the way Raymond's eyes lit up at her question.

"I'd like that." He replied trying not to sound too excited.

Ana stepped up to him and awkwardly put her hands around his back, he quickly bought his around her shoulders. She sighed softly, her eyes shut, this was a man who'd never given up on her, after all these years. He'd hoped and prayed for her return and here she was but unsure how to behave and what to say. She held it longer than he'd expected before pulling back.

"Officer Carter said you were going to adopt me." Ana said and he nodded. "Why?"

"You were my daughter Annie, we just needed to make it official. I was also worried about your Mom, she could be so flighty, I was scared she'd take you and I'd never see you again, have no right to see you…" Ana bought her hand to his shoulder and stopped him, it was obviously making him incredibly uncomfortable talking about this.

"Thank you." She said and his eyes met hers as she smiled. "For never giving up on me. That means a lot you know."

"Never Annie-Rose, you were my everything, my baby girl…" His voice cracked and she hugged him again, a little more comfortable this time. He rubbed her back, relieved he was being give this chance to hold her again.

"It's going to take some time before I'll be able to see you again. I'm… I'm getting therapy to help with everything and it's going to get worse before it get better. But maybe… when I'm up for it you could come stay with us in Seattle?" Ana said surprising both Ray and Christian, she was clearly shy about asking but Ray's heart was singing at the fact she was making it clear she wanted to build a relationship with him.

"I'd really like that." He said awkwardly, he didn't want to appear too enthusiastic after all but he was getting a chance to spend time with his daughter and he would take every opportunity he could to do that.

"Did I call you Dad?" Ana asked once again looking at the ground.

"Yes." Ray chuckled as he remembered. "I was your Daddy Annie but if you're not comfortable with that…"

"No… I just… I guess wanted to know what I used to call you… it will take time I guess and I just… maybe we should just see how things go…" Ana really felt awkward now and Ray put his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Whatever you want, whenever you're ready." He said gently and Ana nodded, she was really ready to go now.

"We'll be in touch." She said and she quickly leaned in kissed his cheek and hurried off, leaving Christian behind to give Raymond a small nod.

When Christian joined Ana in the car he went for her hand but she snatched it back. He tried not to be hurt, he didn't know what was going through her mind, so he started the car and headed for home.

"Sorry… I just needed to get out of there." Ana said her hand going to his thigh. "I didn't want us getting held up outside talking." She explained and he nodded and took hold of her hand which she didn't reject this time. "It was just weird you know. Like… I don't know… the more we were there the more I felt like… like I was connected to him. I don't have any memories, nothing came back to me it was just this feeling inside." Ana explained as tears prickled at her eyes. "Do you think that's possible?"

"Of course. Ana, he was your Dad, even if not by blood. Even if you don't have any specific memories, there could be some kind of residual memory in there…" Ana nodded, she didn't understand it but there was definitely a connection there, calling him Dad had been at the tip of her tongue but she didn't want to make the situation any more awkward by calling him Dad, that's why she'd asked him if that's what she used to call him. She had wanted to call him Dad.

"It was nice to hear him call me Annie… like I have no regrets changing my name and I don't want anyone else to call me Annie but… I liked it that he called me that." Ana said as they continued on their journey home. Christian just smiled, if nothing else, she would cope with the knowledge of where she came from, that much was obvious. He was so incredibly proud of her, how far she'd come in the few months they'd known each other. She'd been through so much in her life and things hadn't been plain sailing the entire time they'd known each other, she'd had to face her past, face her daemons, learn things about herself she didn't even know or remember and she surprised him with her strength and grace at every turn. Every time he didn't think he could love her anymore, she'd do or say something and he'd fall that much harder.