"I forgot to ask, do your parents live nearby?" I ask.

"Oh shit, I should have warned you," he replies. "They're in Port Townsend now. They moved there a few years ago."

"That's pretty far. Are we taking the ferry?"

"No, we're flying," he casually replies.

"I keep forgetting you're wealthy."

He grins, "It sure beats the nearly 3-hour commute."

As we drove in amicable silence, I began to get nervous. I haven't seen Mia in a very long time, we tried to keep in contact, but life got in the way. Christian turned on the dedicated Christmas radio station and my favorite song came on, Bing Crosby's White Christmas.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten

And children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow…

I couldn't help but start singing to the song and Christian started singing along too. He had the perfect baritone.

"I forgot that you were always such a great singer," I laughed.

"Oh, you don't remember when I sang to you in the café?" he feigned upset.

"I'm still trying to block that from memory, my therapist and I are working on it," I jest.

He howls, "I'm offended."

"Well, I haven't been back since," I laugh.

My anxiety about this weekend dissipated a bit but came back when we parked at the train station. I inhaled deeply and pushed myself to get out of the car.

"Are you going to be okay?" Christian asked.

"I think so," I reply truthfully.

I don't know why I felt so nervous meeting Mia, we used to be such good friends. Christian opened the door for me, and then we both walked side by side to the café. We heard her Mia before we saw her.

"You guys!" she yells.

My eyes dart to her voice, but she was already running towards us.

"Anastasia!" she squeals as she engulfs me into a tight hug. Christian stands to the side. "I'm so happy to see you, it's been so long!"

I wrap my arms around her in an embrace, "I know, it's so great to see you."

"This is going to be the best Christmas, ever!" she exclaims and finally lets me go.

"Hey, Mia," Christian interjects.

"Hey, big bro, can you grab my luggage?"

"Oh, so I'm chop liver," Christian jokes.

"Ahh, I see your mug all the time," she laughs as Mia walks us out. All I hear is Christian laughing as he walks back to her table. I turn my head and see him quickly grab her three-piece luggage, I opened the door for him and the three of us walk out into the cold.

Our drive was filled with laughter and a lot of reminiscing. It was a lot of memories that I had buried for years.

"A little to the left," I giggle, I was directing Christian as he was pinning the stockings on the mantle.

"I think we should just measure it," Christian grumbles.

"You'll be fine," I reply as I walk over to hug him from behind.

"I almost forgot," Christian exclaims, wrapping his arms around mine and then turning around to face me. "My mom got this for you because you didn't have one last year."

We detach and he walks to the other side of the room to grab a small box.

Handing it to me, "Open it."

My palms began to sweat, the box was so beautiful. It was a crème-coloured box with a gorgeous forest green velvet bow. Christian brought me to the couch, I was extremely nervous, I had never received such a beautifully wrapped gift. I untied the bow reverently and slowly pulled the lid off, while Christian fidgeted with his hands.

After I removed the delicate crepe paper, I found a beautiful white and gold stocking with my full name delicately stitched into the fabric. It was gorgeous and matched the rest of the Grey's stocking. I was overwhelmed, I had never felt so loved.

"Do you like it?" Christian asked eagerly.

I was speechless.

"I don't know what to say," I begin. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad that you like it," Christian replies, "it's official. You're part of the family!"

"This is absolutely amazing," I cry out. "Thank you so much! I have to say thank you to your mom."

"She'll be home in a couple of hours, let's put it up now," Christian was practically giddy.

"Your family is…" I begin, "wonderful."

"Do you want to stop at this place?" Christian asks, breaking me from my musings. "I've gotten some dessert and wine from this place."

"Oh, who were you entertaining, big bro?" Mia teases.

"I can enjoy dessert and wine on my own," Christian retorts.

"I'll just hop out quickly and grab a few things," I reply trying to break up whatever these two were going to get into.

"I'll come with you," Mia replies, hopping out of the car and opening my door immediately. "Christian can stay here."

"Yeah, yeah," Christian waves at us and pulls out his phone.

"I'll be quick," I promise.

"Take your time," he replies giving me a quick smile.

Mia linked her arm with mine, "I'm really happy that you came."

"Me too," I smile.

"Christian has been hopeless for the last ten years, he really missed you," she confesses.

I didn't really have anything to reply to that, I didn't feel comfortable opening up to Mia about this. It was already complicated between Christian and me, I didn't want to complicate it further with other people's opinions.

I nod and walk quickly into the shop grabbing a few things that would make up a beautiful thank you basket. I grab a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvee, caviar, dark chocolate truffles, and some other treats. I was lucky enough to have located a basket to put the items in and the shop clerk wrapped it once everything was arranged.

"My parents are going to love this," Mia gushes. "and they're going to love that you're coming!"

Mia had been talking a mile a minute, it's always been nice when we were together because she was always so excited to just chat. We quickly hopped back into the car and sped through the streets of Seattle.

We made it to the airport hangar where Christian kept his helicopter. Before I even noticed we were all strapped in and Christian was sitting next to me, ready to pilot the plane.

"Excuse me," I looked at him shocked, "you didn't tell me you were flying us!"

"I got my pilot license a while ago and fly all the time, no need to worry."

"Christian…" I began.

"I would never let anything happen to you."

I nod, and we take off.

And the man was not wrong, he was impressively confident. He looked like he did this every day and once we were in the air all my worries were swept away by the views. I had never flown in a helicopter before and seeing Seattle in this way was breathtaking, Christian was nice enough to point out some views. The flight didn't take too long, and we were landing in Port Townsend in less than 45 minutes, but panic set in once I realized that I was going to see his parents for the first time in ten years. It wasn't like meeting Mia, I had intense butterflies that made me feel a little nauseous. I was a big ball of nerves.

We hopped into the awaiting car and drove to their home, my anxiety was rising, and I wanted to throw up a little. I haven't seen the Grey's since I last saw Christian. It was all well and good to hope that we could just pick up from where we had left off, but I knew that I would sooner win the lottery before that would happen. And luckily, I'm not delusional enough to pretend everything would be exactly the same so tried to steel my resolve before we arrived at their home.

The Grey's new home was a sprawling Victorian mansion decked to the tee with Christmas lights and decorations. It was stunning.

Mia was the first one out as she bounded up the stairs. I was gathering my courage to leave the car when Christian opened my door and offered me his hand.

"Everything will be okay," he whispered with a smile as I got out of the car. "I promise, they are very excited to see you."

"Thanks," I murmur almost believing him. I walked to the trunk of the car to help Christian grab all of our bags and my gift. It was also giving buying me time for my heart to stop pumping so hard that it felt like my chest was constricting.

"Let's have a safe word," Christian jokes. "What should it be?"

I roll my eyes at him but laugh softly.

"Let's think," he muses, "mention the foliage on the trees if you want me to swoop in and take you away… And if you mention Venezuela then I will change the subject."

"Those are literally so random!" I laugh. "How will I ever fit this into any conversation?"

"Exactly," he exclaims, "you won't be able to mix them up at all."

"Christian, Ana!" Mia interrupts us from the main doors. "Hurry up!"

"If you helped us with your luggage we would already up there," Christian yells out. He looks at me earnestly, "I'm serious, Ana. Just say the word and I'll be right there."

"Thanks," I reply, squeezing his arm. "Let's go or Mia will lose her mind."

Once we had everything out of the trunk and got it to the door, I finally get a glance at Grace who was still wrapped in Mia's embrace. She didn't look any different from when I last spoke to her.

"Anastasia," she breathes. "I'm so happy that you could come and join us for Christmas." Her face was warm and kind, it felt like I was still that teenager. She wrapped me in a warm hug, "I've missed you so."

"I've missed you," I replied honestly.

She holds me by the shoulders to look at me, "You are breathtaking."

I blush from the attention, "Thank you."

"Let's get inside and out of the cold," she smiles, wrapping her hand around my shoulders and walks me inside her home. "Carrick will be home in half an hour, we're just about to have dinner. I hope that you're hungry."

"I am," I reply honestly.

"Go freshen up and I'll see you momentarily," Grace smiles and squeezes my hand, "I'm really happy that you came."

Christian walks us to one of the guest rooms overlooking the water.

"Christian, this is amazing," I replied in awe.

"Yeah, they splurged a little bit, I'll give you the tour later. I haven't spent a lot of time here so I'm still orienting myself with the space," he jokes. "Once you're ready, I'll meet you downstairs."

He drops my bag on the lounger and excuses himself. I take in the beautiful view of the water and the lights from across the water. I quickly slip on a nicer sweater and freshen up my make-up, I can't believe I'm actually here.

I walk down the expansive staircase and see that Christian was waiting for me at the base of the stairs. He looked just like he did all those years ago.

"Ready? My dad's home early and very excited to see you," he warns.

"I'm excited to see him."

Before I can see the rest of the house, I was ushered to the dining room where Carrick and Grace were. This was all major déjà vu.

"Anastasia," Carrick greets me with a hug. I think this is the most human contact I've had physically in a very long time. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing well, thanks!" I reply, hugging him in return.

"How are you, Carrick?" I ask.

"I'm doing well, I'm thrilled that you're here with us this Christmas."

"Me too," I replied.

"Dad!" Mia bounces in excitedly past Christian.

"Hey, kiddo," Carrick enthused and gives her a huge hug.

"Hi, Dad," Christian greets him.

"Hello, Christian," Carrick replies and gives Christian those side-man hugs.

The dinner went by quickly and Grace served some of the items from the gift basket, but giddily whispered that she kept the caviar and champagne for a special occasion. I laughed and tried to tell her that she needn't share anything with us and that they were all of her and Carrick. She shushes me and we join the others in the conversation.

After dessert and tea was served and the conversation was dying down. Mia excuses herself to take a video call from her new mystery man.

"Christian, you should show Anastasia around the house, it's best seen in the evening," Grace replies as we start to depart from the dining room.

"Sure thing, mom," Christian agrees and stands up. He quickly walked around the table and helped me pull my chair out. Always the gentleman.

Apparently, Carrick and Grace wanted to have a place by the water, so they had chosen a home that overlooked and had access to the bay. They had every amenity that you could think of.

We started on the second floor of the home and worked our way down. The third floor was the master suite with a terrace that overlooked the water and a fire pit, but since it was his parents' space we didn't want to intrude. On the second floor, there was a home office and the guest rooms. On the first floor, there was the den, dining room, the formal dining room, and their expansive kitchen. In the basement, there was a wine cellar and a movie room. We grabbed our jackets and walked down the backyard that had two private docks with some deck chairs overlooking the water.

"This place is gorgeous," I gush.

"Yeah, it's a great place," Christian replies. We walk silently down to the docks where a bench faced the water. "Are you going to be warm enough?"

"Yeah, I will be."

"Turn around," Christian nudges me as we get the edge of the deck. "The Christmas lights are on."

I turn my heads towards the house and finally take the view in. They had meticulously placed Christmas lights around the entire home and beautiful warm yellow lights on their trees.

"This is amazing," I say in awe.

"Thank you for coming, Ana," he whispers.

I didn't reply but allowed myself to lean on him as we continue to take in the beautiful lights.