I'm terribly sorry for this delay but i've been struggling with writing this story a bit. I have the ideas but the writing out part has been difficult. Thank you to everyone who has messaged and PM's about it. I promise I will not abandon this story, I just need time to get back into the groove how to write for it. More information in the authors note at the bottom.

Bandrocks is officially the godmother to the future Steele-Grey babies. Just wanted to put that out there ;)

Chapter song: This is the beginning - BOY

Chapter 79 – this is the beginning

Present day: Tuesday, September 8th, 2020

CPOV

WHAT? I turn to look at Ana who's equally shocked as I am. She's... pregnant?

The doctor clocks our surprise gives us a small nod. "I'll give you two some time. I'll be back in say, 10 minutes?"

Ana looks back at me with tears in her eyes. Is that fear and apprehension?

She starts to slowly shake her head. "Christian... I..." but I lean in and kiss her hard. It takes her a few moments to reciprocate and a small moan escapes her. I pull back and wipe the falling tears.

"No wonder the sex has been different."

Her brows furrow and I sense a slight panic in her voice. "What do you mean? Good different or bad different?"

"Amazing different." I whisper against her lips making her giggle. We haven't been able to do too much since Aria was staying with us but her body has been reacting differently. I thought it was because we hadn't been together in two weeks. Not that making her orgasm was difficult but for the past two nights it's be definitely quicker and a little more intense for her. I have no complaints. If this is a sign of things to come then I'm all signed up.

"Are you okay with this?" She asks in a small and wavering voice. "I know you said you wanted us to wait a year... but..."

"Let's just say, it serves me right... I should've known from how easily we made that deal." I smirk and she rolls her eyes. "I told you Ana, I want this with you. If it's with you, I want it all."

She nods, teary eyed and whispers. "I love you."

"I love you." I whisper back. "... and our little intruder." She throws her head back and laughs.

Dr. Garcia comes back after a while and gives us a general rundown on what to take care of and look out for during the first trimester along with writing a prescription for pre-natal vitamins. When we get back to Seattle, Ana will schedule an appointment with Dr. Greene.

As Dr. Garcia leaves, Nita walks in with a worried look.

"Meri jaan, what happened? Are you okay?" Nita asks as she hugs Ana and goes to look all over her.

"Yeah, Mama. I'm fine. I'm sorry to worry you, I just had some cramping..." Ana begins and then holds Nita's hands. "It's actually good it happened because it turns out you're going to be a Nani." She smiles.

Nita stares at Ana, then me and then fixes her eyes back on Ana. Once it hits her she starts to cry and hug Ana tightly. "Oh darling... this is the best news ever. I'm so happy for you. I'm happy for you both." She releases Ana and gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I can't wait..."

"Please don't cry... don't worry you'll be the hottest Nani on the block... I promise." Ana laughs through the tears and Nita shakes her head.

"Aanu, stop being silly. Are you hungry? Craving anything in particular? I'll go home and make you something... and Christian, I can tell you right now. She's going to crave fries and ice-cream. Sometimes both together in the bowl... just don't let her eat too much of it. We don't want to risk any gestational diabetes."

I chuckle. "I'll try my best. She's pretty scary when she's not pregnant, this will be a whole new experience." Ana gives me a look while Nita laughs and gives my hand a light squeeze.

"I'm right here, guys. And relax, Ma. I'll eat healthy... for the most part." She snickers.

Once the IV bag finished, we head back to the hotel and had dinner with Nita. We kept the conversation light as we could. I could tell they were both exhausted, physically and more so emotionally. I suppose we all were. Aria was finally going back to Rania and Raees, which meant Ana and I would finally have time to ourselves to unwind form the enormity of today and in a way, the past nine months. Before dropping us off at Ana's suite, Mr. Benoit let Ana know that there was a package waiting for her in the living area of her room. It would be the last of item she was to receive in regards to the Will.

We both informed Mr. Benoit and Taylor of pregnancy which resulted in a slightly jovial handshake from Taylor, while Ana cut through the bullshit and gave Taylor a hug. Mr. Benoit gave me an impassive look and shook my hand mumbling a simple congratulations. Ana told him to snap out of it but he rolled his eyes with a chuckle. She joked that he's probably thinking about how she's increased his workload now.

I drew us a bath and we got in, sitting opposite from each other. Ana's been completely zoned out for the most part. I've called a few times but it was only when I picked up her foot and started to massage it that I was able to bring her out of the reverie she had escaped to.

"Baby... what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry... I just..." she looks down at the water with a tense expression. "I still feel overwhelmed. I should feel relief." She looks up and her eyes are red. "... but I don't. I can't stop thinking about Nita."

"What about her?"

"Since December she's found out that she's not Nani's biological daughter, lost her father, found out all this shit about me and Vishaal... lost the only mother she's ever known and today she lost her sister... I'm responsible for all that. I... I.. I've just taken from her. Her family is gone." I see her bottom lip quiver but she doesn't cry. I pull her close and she wraps her arms around me, burying her face in my neck.

"Ana, you didn't do anything. She chose you and you're her family. She has Rania, Karan, Aashu, Ahad and Priya... she's not completely alone."

"But she'll be completely alone here. I'm just going to fuck off and head back to Seattle... she'll be all alone here to deal with this emotionally..."

"You think she'd consider moving to Seattle?"

She giggles. "San Francisco is in her blood and she loves what she does...I guess she can travel a little more now. She'd cut down on it in the last year because of Nana and Nani but now there's nothing holding her back."

I kiss her forehead. "Why don't you feel relief?"

"I don't know. I guess I got so used to holding on to all this trauma and letting it define me that... now that he's out of my life... I'm still scared. It all feels to good to be true. What if he doesn't plead guilty? What if I wake up tomorrow morning and this will all be a nightmare or dream. I don't know. I can't run this company. I have so much to learn, what if I fuck it up? What if I fuck up this pregnancy? And turn out to be a shitty mom like Carla?" she asks in a strained voice. "Maybe if I had punched him in the face, I would've felt a little bit relief." She giggles and I laugh.

"Hey, look at me." She pulls back and swallows, while I hold her face and give her a small kiss. "You're not alone Ana. All this is true and it's real. That fucker will plead guilty and you will wake up tomorrow and this will all be real. You will not fuck up this company. Karan and Rania know what they are doing and will guide you. I can always help if you need it. You will not fuck up this pregnancy and most of all; you could never be a shitty mom like Carla. It's impossible, baby."

"You have so much faith in me..." She mumbles, looking down.

"Just like you have faith in me, baby." She gives me a small smile and nods.

Once we're done with the bath. We call Grace and Carrick to tell them the news. As predicted, Mom starts crying while Dad chokes up. Our next call is to Kate and Elliot where Kate bursts into tears.

"Good job knocking her up bro. Nothing like trapping a billionaire heiress. Looks like we both did good." Elliot wiggles his eyebrows laughing like the hyena he is, eliciting a smack up the head from Kate and giggle from Ana.

"Fuck off, Lelliot." I smirk.

"Watch the press still butcher me... they love him way too much." Ana groans and we hang up a little while later. We call Mia but she doesn't answer so Ana sends a video of us with the good news.

"I thought couples usually wait, that's what Ros did."

"Yeah they do. Usually till they pass the 12th week mark but... I don't want to keep this from our families. It's been so tense and one obstacle after the other since we met, I want us to be happy now. I know there's still a risk but... I still want to celebrate this."

I give her a smile and lean in for a small kiss. "I love you."

"I love you."

We remain seated on the couch, mostly in silence. I see Ana staring at the package on the coffee table in front of us.

"Aren't you going to open it?"

She takes a deep breath. "I don't know if I can handle anymore from today but I'm also really curious so I guess, I'll just shut up and go in for the kill." She reluctantly gets up and opens the package. It's a box with an ornate necklace and headpiece.

"You wore this headpiece on Aashu's wedding."

"Yeah... I did." She says quietly. "This belonged to Nani's mother. It was passed down to her on her wedding and then ever since then, every woman in the family has worn it at their engagement or some wedding related event. Alia Khala wore it when she got engaged to Rish Uncle, Nita wore it when she married dad, Rania wore it at her engagement so did Kiran... but she passed it to me. I always thought Kiran would get it." She says while running her fingers across the jewels.

"It's beautiful... she left it to someone who would really value it."

"Yeah, I guess." She closes the box and puts it back on the table. She picks up the manila envelope that contains two sealed letters with a small white card that has a set of instructions written in Urdu script.

"The instructions say that I'm supposed to read the letter that has my name written on it first... this is how my name is written in Urdu." She says with a smile. The second envelope simply says Mr. Karim. "Um... this is my dad's handwriting." She runs her fingers over the letters and puts it to the side.

She opens the letter addressed to her. It's all written in Urdu and she asks for a few minutes to read it before she can translate. While she reads she has a small smile. "He's started the letter talking about you. Look." She points to a word. "That's what your name looks like in Urdu." She smiles back at me.

"It looks complicated."

"Mine looks complicated too. Interestingly enough, he didn't write out my name as Aana but Anastasia in Urdu." She holds up the envelope and we compare our names.

"What does he say about me?" I'm dying to know.

"He remembers you from the Harvard seminar. He says, in all his years of talking to people and in the few student seminars he's done, you're the only one to have asked him about maintaining one's soul and integrity in business and that he saw a sadness in your eyes. He had hoped that you find peace one day and that he's been following your career, saying you've done really well for yourself." She smiles and kisses the corner of my mouth. "Do you remember the answer he gave you?"

"He said that one of the ways to ensure that I maintain soul and integrity was to make sure I had the right woman by my side. That the partnership I'd have at home would be a source of peace and would help me navigate everything else in life... honestly at the time I thought it was complete and utter bullshit. I just thought he was lucky..."

"Do you still believe that it was bullshit?"

"No, I don't anymore. It was just a different time in my life... I never thought any of that was for me."

She smiles back. "Nani told me that all advice doesn't have to make sense when it's given to us. Sometimes we have to live a little life before we understand it. Once Nana and Nani got married, he'd run every thing about the business by her. She was his confidante. They were a team. He supported her when she wanted to go to Stanford for her MBA back in the 70's. His business grew because of her; I guess that's why he eventually transferred the company in her name."

"And they left it to you." I bring her hand to my lips for a kiss.

She looks down at the letter and silently nods, chewing her bottom lip. She continues to read letter and as she goes on, I see tears start to fall from her eyes. Once she's done reading all three pages of the letter, she tosses it on the table across from us.

"This is fucking bullshit. He doesn't get to say all this, asking me for forgiveness after he's died. THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT." She roars and takes deep breaths.

"Hey, come here... what did he say?" I pull her close to me.

"I can't... " She shakes her head. "I can't deal with all this Christian. This is all too much and I'm overwhelmed." She buries her face in my chest and sobs.

"I know, this day has been a long time coming and it's been a lot for you." I kiss her hair and rub her back. After she calms down a little bit, I get her a glass of water to drink. "Ana, Dr. Garcia said you can't let the stress get to you."

"I know... I'm trying... " She murmurs putting the glass away. "I just feel like I'm going to explode or something. I don't... " She closes her eyes. "I'm just so angry right now. Why couldn't he just have told me this while he was alive? He kept me so far away. I kept thinking I wasn't worthy, that I was... " She shakes her head.

"What did he say, baby?"

"He said a few things. Mostly explained why he was distant. Nani told him what happened with me a few days before he died. He knew what she was going to do and was in full support of it. He's asking for forgiveness because he kept me at a distance on purpose. He said he was afraid of Kiran and Vishaal's jealous nature." She shakes her head closing her eyes. "He knew of the jealousy between the Kapadia cousins, even though it was one sided, he didn't go into detail but I have an idea of what he's alluding to... there have been some violent incidents between them... anyway, he goes on to say that he saw me as the embodiment of all the values he wanted to instill in his grandchildren from the beginning and he really tried to influence and teach them but he failed." She takes a deep breath before continuing.

"He was a afraid that if he doted on me too much or favored me, that they would hurt me or try to hurt me, thinking I'd get a stake in the inheritance. I guess Uncle Rish was grooming them separately given that Nita didn't have biological children, it just made sense that Kiran and Vishaal would get everything... and that after my accident, he felt even more guilty. He couldn't bear to see me all broken like that so he kept himself at a distance. I don't accept this. This is all bullshit." She ends through gritted teeth. "

"Is that all he said?"

"No. He said that he was proud of me; that he's always been proud of me because from a young age he could see that I knew my own mind and had a big heart, just like Nita and that Ray had done an exceptional job raising me."

"He should've told you this while he was alive."

"He did, when I was in SF after the wedding..." She wipes her eyes. "He's never been mean to me but I longed for some affirmation at times. I saw how he'd compliment and joke with Rania, Vishaal and Kiran. He'd rarely do it with me, he was just polite to me. I wanted... no I needed a father figure after Ray and... I don't know. I guess I just expected too much... whatever, I'm going to read Dad's letter."

She goes to open the envelope and starts reading the letter.

Dear Mr. Karim,

I write this letter to you in hopes of making my intentions clear about your daughter. I understand you have reservations, I would too, being the father to a little girl myself but I assure you, I only want to love and protect Nita. I may not have much but I have a wealth of love to give her. She has changed my life in just a few short weeks. I have never met anyone like her and moreover she makes me believe in myself.

I understand that you may think that I am only after her wealth or that I just need someone to play a mother to Annie. Truth is, money really doesn't hold much meaning to me beyond needing it to live my life comfortably and provide for my family as honestly as I can. I will sign whatever you need to confirm that and protect Nita in the process. As for wanting a mother for my daughter, I will not lie, I do. But I also know that not just any woman could fill that role. I see in Nita the qualities that I want my daughter to embody and carry on through her life. In just a short span of time, they've gotten close and I can already see a change in Annie.

I am a simple man Mr. Karim but I always make promises that I intend to keep. I promise to love and care for Nita to the best of my ability. I will treat her with the respect that I would expect from any man who came knocking on my door claiming that he loved my daughter and wanted to marry her. I want to grow old with Nita and grow our family. She has a tremendous light in her and in my experience, all good things we love and need, grow in the light.

I hope you will consider giving us your blessing.

Sincerely,

Raymond Steele

"I miss him so much. I wish he was here. I wish they were all still here." She chokes out.

"If you tell Nita, I ate this, I will murder you." Ana giggles with a mouthful of chocolate cake and icecream.

"These cravings are going to get worse aren't they?" I ask, thoroughly amused at this new development in her. I love seeing her eat. It calms me to know that she's taken care of.

She shrugs and laughs. "Say your prayers, Grey." I take the plate from her hand and put it on the side table and climb on top and hold her arms above her head, making her squeal and giggle.

"We need to talk about something important." I whisper against her lips.

"What would that be?" She wiggles her eyebrows in return.

"Billionaire sex." I smirk and she laughs out loud but her cheeks grow red and she closes her eyes in embarrassment. "What? Don't go all shy on me, Miss Steele."

She leans up to give me a small kiss. "Can't I just have good ol' vanilla sex right now with my man? I feel like billionaire sex requires a lot of planning and my imagination is a little shot right now." She says pouting against my lips.

"You can have whatever you like." I chuckle and begin to kiss her.

She wraps herself around me, her hands tangled in my hair, softly moaning as my hands roam around her body that's changing. She's more sensitive to my touch now. She even moves differently, with urgency but still gets lost in the feeling of us being so close together. It's addictive watching her this way.

"Christian, please..." She moaned softly in my ear as I slowly moved in and out of her wanting to make this last as long as I could. "Make me yours..." she whispered against my lips before holding my face between her hands and kissing me deeply.

We locked eyes as I continued to increase the force of my thrusts, climbing higher till she fell apart with me.

"How does my girl feel?"

"Hmm, technically I've graduated from your girl to your baby mama." She giggles and it makes me laugh.

"So that makes me your..."

"Baby daddy!" She cheered and laughed.

We continued to talk, lying in each other's embrace and showing affection till I started to move down her front till I reached my intended destination and began to kiss her entire abdomen area. My child was growing in here. It was a feeling that brought forth feelings or fear and joy.

"According to Google, you're the size of a poppy seed so I don't know if you have ears but I still feel a need to make this statement." I spoke directly to her skin, making her giggle while she ran her hand through my hair. "If you end up being a boy, please don't be an asshole like me and if you end up being a girl, please don't be scary like your mother. I can't handle being outnumbered and terrorized." I chuckle making Ana laugh before she pulled me up to her face.

"You're going to be an amazing father, Mr. Grey." She said with tears in her yes. "I love you so much."

"You make me better, Miss Steele, only you. I love you."

A/N: Thank you for still sticking and checking on this story. I know I said i'd update twice a month... ugh, my brain is just lame right now.

Carol222: please check your PM's I replied to you :) thank you for your thoughtful reviews.

Anasofia: girl you crazy but I love you.

WIlson68 & Zdsg: thank you for your reviews. my heart is exploding with love. Zdsg please check your PM's :)

NEW STORY ALERT: DON'T LEAVE ME HERE

What happens when you wait too long? Your secrets eventually catch up to you and you miss out on what's important and true.

Do I have a problem? Yes I do. My brain can't stand still. I have a new story called Don't Leave Me Here, an AU set in NYC.

Tis angsty but it's different from this one. It has 9 chapters so far and is narrators POV which is a new style for me. Check it out and let me know what you think!