Over the last two months, we have bonded well with our beautiful Phoebe. Liam truly loves her and he helps us with her in small ways. He is a very good big brother so far. He wears his big brother shirt a lot. It's cute. We spend our time with him between caring for her whenever Liam isn't at school. He started school the week after Kate and Elliot's wedding. He loves it and tells us about all of his new friends and teachers.
Christian and I both took paternity and maternity leave from work for the first 6 weeks after Phoebe was born. I still haven't gone back to work, but I will be going back after we return from our honeymoon. I am going to miss the kids while we are gone, but I know that they will be in good hands with the Greys. Apparently, Grace is a pediatrician. I'm not sure how I didn't know that already. I am nervous about leaving Phoebe behind while she is still so young, but Christian assures me that it will be okay and I trust him.
We haven't heard any more from Sasha, which is good. She is doing as she said she would. Mia said that she moved out to Georgia already and that she was doing good and getting back to her old life. We're happy for her.
Christian has been trying to talk me into hiring a nanny for whenever I return to work. I have finally relented and insisted that I stay home at least 2 weeks after our honeymoon to train the nanny on Phoebe and Liam's routines so that I will be more comfortable with it. He agreed to my terms.
We haven't had any more drama over the past two months, thankfully. Christian put out a press release regarding the newest addition to my family and asked the public to give us privacy as a family. We don't want them getting pictures of Phoebe until she is at least older. She doesn't need to be exposed to all of that while she is still so young. So far, they have respected our privacy as Christian asked them to do. We're afraid that they may show up at our wedding tomorrow, though. We will do our best to shield Phoebe from them, though. We have a new CPO for Phoebe and Liam has Reynolds on him. He goes to school with him. I didn't think that a CPO was necessary for Phoebe yet since she's always with one of us, but he explained why he wants her to have one and, as usual, I agree so I relented.
Tomorrow is our big day. We are FINALLY getting married. We are getting married in the Grey's gardens as Kate and Elliot did. The decorating and final preparations are all being kept a secret from me, which perturbs me slightly, but overall, I am okay with it. It isn't like I can stop them from making it a huge event.
Yesterday, Kate, Mia and I went on a spa day and it was magnificent, as it was before Kate's wedding. Kate is my MOH and Mia is a bridesmaid. Phoebe will be our little flower girl. Kate will hold her throughout the wedding until she starts getting fussy and then Gail will take her into the house to settle her down so that we can still continue our ceremony. Elliot is Christian's Best Man and as I said before, Liam is a little groomsman as he sort of was for Elliot's wedding. He will also be ring bearer. He has big responsibilities that day, but I have faith that he will impress us all and do great.
Today, Christian and I are spending the day with Phoebe and Liam before we leave for our honeymoon after the wedding tomorrow. Around noon, we will take Liam over to Grace. Phoebe will stay with Kate and I at my house tonight. Grace will take her when we leave for our secret honeymoon destination. Christian has succeeded at, once again, keeping his lips sealed about where we are going. I am both nervous and thrilled. I don't care where we go as long as I am alone with him, but I know that whatever it is will be absolutely amazing because it seems that everything he does is. I'm nervous about leaving the kids, especially Phoebe. I have spent the last 8 weeks bonding with her all of the time and I just don't want her to forget me or something. Kate and Grace both reassured me that she would never forget me now that we have bonded and I believe them so I'm just going to make the most of the time I have left with her before we leave and I will love her little cheeks off for a couple of weeks after we return before returning to work.
Kate and Elliot had a great time on their honeymoon and whenever they arrived home, they announced that they are going to try for their own baby. We are all so happy for them.
Christian and I spent a couple of hours in the playroom this morning while Phoebe was asleep and Gail kept Liam occupied. We kept the monitor in there with us, in case Phoebe woke up. It would've been difficult to get out of our compromising positions, had she woken up, but luckily, she stayed asleep like the sweet little angel that she is. Afterwards, I asked Christian to make love to me and to make it count because we weren't going to have sex again until after we are married. He didn't like the idea of not having sex ago, but he got over it after a remarkable round of love making.
We spend the rest of the day together with our son and then after Grace comes to get him, we spend the rest of the day drinking wine, cuddling and talking in between caring for our beautiful daughter and eating. We are doing just that whenever there is a knock at the door. I look up at him. "I guess the time has come, Mr. Grey."
He smiles back at me. "I believe it has, Mrs. Grey. Let's get the door." I nod and sit up and he gets up and helps me up and we go to the door and let in Kate and Elliot. I hug them both and we stand in the foyer. I kiss and hug Christian. He puts his fingers back under my chin and lifts it so that I'm looking at him. "I will see you at the altar, Mrs. Grey." I smile. I love that I am about to be Anastasia Grey.
"I'll see you at the altar, Mr. Grey." He leans down and kisses me sweetly and him and Elliot leave. I invite Kate to have wine with me again and we sit and drink wine and chat until Phoebe starts to cry. I go and take care of her and Kate joins me. After we get her back to sleep, we go back down to the family room and drink and talk for a couple more hours before Phoebe wakes again.
"I will help you and then we need to get you to bed so you can get your beauty sleep, although you are always beautiful." I smile at her.
"Let's go." We go up and take care of her again and once she is asleep. I take the monitor back to my room and Kate hugs me at the door.
"I will wake you in the morning."
I giggle. "I know you will."
"I will be downstairs if you need me."
"Okay." She walks off and I go into my room and lay the baby monitor on the nightstand and I change into my nightie and lay down, cuddling my groom's pillow, which smells like him, until I drift off to sleep and have sweet dreams about my big day tomorrow.
I wake up in the morning to Kate in my room singing an absolutely horrendous version of 'here comes the bride'. "Don't quit your day job, Kate, because I hate to break it to you, but THAT was horrible." We both start to laugh.
"Get up and get cleaned up and dressed in easily removable clothes and meet us downstairs for breakfast. Mia is already downstairs feeding Phoebe."
"Okay. Okay." I get up and she leaves the room and closes the door as I head into the bathroom. I take a shower. A bath would take too long and I'm in a hurry to get married today. After my refreshing shower, I get dressed in the same clothes I got dressed in the morning of Kate's wedding. Once I'm done, I head downstairs, I head straight to Kate, who is now holding Phoebe and I take her from her and sniff and kiss her sweet little head before taking her into my own arms.
"I gave her a bath a little bit ago." Mia announces.
"Thank you, Mia. She smells wonderful."
She smiles. We sit at the breakfast and I eat while holding onto my daughter. Once we're done eating, Sawyer takes all four of us to the Grey's manor. I'm so excited and just a little nervous. I just hope that this day goes perfectly without any drama. Whenever we pull up to the front gate, I am disappointed to find paps camped out there. Sawyer gets us through them and after the gate closes back up, we pull up as close to the front door as possible and he helps us all out.
Once again, Grace answers the door. She hugs us, being careful with me since I'm holding Phoebe. She invites us in. "I will take her so you can go get dressed. We will have her dressed and ready whenever you come back down." I smile at her and I hand Phoebe to her.
"Thank you, Grace." We're greeted by Liam again and he is so excited about today. I tell him that I have to go get dressed and that I will see him at the altar, he gives me a hug and kiss and runs off to do whatever he's going to do. Whenever we get to Mia's room, we talk while we wait for hair and makeup. Whenever they arrive, they do their jobs and make us all more beautiful. Once we're beautified, the artists leave and I slip them a tip. Kate and Mia get dressed and I get everything on, aside from my dress. I haven't seen the finished product yet. Kate's mother made it so I'm sure it will be extravagant.
Once we're all prepared, except for my dress, there is a knock on the door so Kate hides me while Mia goes to answer the door. She comes back with a box for me and I open it. There is a note on top.
'I want my beautiful wife to be adorned in jewels so that she knows just how treasured. I can't wait to see you up there, baby. I love you' -Your Groom'
Swoon. He is the sweetest. I take the note out and sit it to the side. Under it is an exquisite, but fairly modest, Diamond necklace with Sapphires on it. There is a matching bracelet and earrings as there was the last time. I set it down. I can put it on once I am in my dress. "Are you ready, Ana?" Kate asks as they come out with a big bag on a hanger and I know that it's my dress.
"I'm so ready, Kate. Let's see it!" She and Mia carefully unzip it to reveal a beautiful white gown with a princess neckline and covered in Italian lace. It is absolutely gorgeous. Once they get it all the way out, they turn it around and it has a deep v-cut open back that will almost go to my butt crack. I'm about to cry whenever, Kate and Mia approach me with it.
"Stop your crying. You'll mess up your beautiful face." I suck in the tears to keep them from falling and I turn and look into the mirror as they help me into my extravagant dress. It is gorgeous and it makes me feel like a princess. It is form fitting and has a slit in the side and a rather long train. Once it is on, they carefully put my veil in my hair. About the same time that they are finishing me, there's a knock on the door. "I've got it!" Mia says excitedly. Kate puts the finishing touches on me.
"It's perfect, Annie." I hear from behind me and I turn around to find my Daddy. "You look like a princess, Annie."
I look down at my dress and twirl just a little. "I feel like a princess, Daddy." I almost start to cry, but Kate stops me.
"Let's get your jewelry on and then let's go and get you married!" Kate says and I nod. I look back at the mirror and she helps me to put it on and I do look like a princess. I turn back to my Daddy.
"You look even more like a princess now." He says.
I giggle. I can't cry so I will giggle. My Dad offers me his arm and Mia goes out ahead of us and Kate stands behind me and lifts my train to help us to get down the aisle. Once we walk out onto the deck, I see a lot of people from here and the tent is BIG so I can only imagine how many people are inside. There are multi-colored flowers on both sides of a trail that leads up to the tent and all of the trees around are decorated with something silver and purple. I love those colors. I am suddenly a ball of nerves. "Are you okay, Annie?" he asks.
"I am fantastic, Daddy. Just a little anxious about how many people are most likely here."
"Just hold onto me and I will make sure you get down the aisle in one piece. I know the prize at the end of the aisle is worth it to you. Grace approaches us with my daughter dressed in a beautiful little pink frilly dress. I give her a kiss on the head leaving a little lipstick. I go to wipe it off. "Leave it, Annie. It gives her even more character." I giggle. Grace walks with us to the end of the aisle. I look up and see that there is a quite elaborate setup with mostly white flowers and rose petals lining the aisle and there's gold decorations around the room and there are a LOT of people. Once we are at the end of the aisle, Kate straightens out my train and comes and gives me a kiss on the cheek and she takes our baby and goes down the aisle. Mia is already up there.
Elliot comes down the aisle and escorts Grace to her seat and then he takes his place back beside Christian. This is when my eyes meet his and I am absolutely lost in his gaze with his beautiful bright smile, showing how happy he is to see me. All of the nervousness I felt earlier is now gone and him and I are now the only people here.
"Are you ready, Annie?" my Dad asks.
"More ready than I've ever been for anything in my entire life Daddy. Let's do this."
I glance at him with a smile and tears in my eyes. He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabs my eyes, careful not to mess up my makeup and he stuffs it back into his pocket. "Let's get you to your lucky groom before you mess up your pretty face." I smile and nod and look back to my groom.
This is when I realize that everyone is standing up and all eyes are on me. My Daddy walks me down the aisle gracefully. I've never felt as graceful and confident as I do in this moment. Whenever we reach Christian, I notice a tear in his eye. He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabs his eyes. I look to Daddy and he takes my hand and places it in Christian's. "Take care of her, son."
Christian replies, "I will cherish her and our children forever, Ray." My Dad nods, satisfied with this answer and I turn back to him and he kisses my cheek.
"Congratulations, kid." When he pulls back, I notice that he has a single tear on his cheek, but he quickly turns away and wipes it away on the way back to his chair. I resume my eye contact with Christian and he takes my other hand as well and Kate rushes out to straighten up my train again. She must've handed Phoebe to Mia. I glance back to Mia and sure enough, she is holding our beautiful daughter. I glance over at my son and he has a huge grin on his face. When I look into my groom's eyes, I can feel the strength of his love for me and it is even stronger than before and I didn't imagine that was possible.
The preacher tells everyone else to be seated and Christian and I remain gazing into one another's eyes. We listen to the preacher give his welcoming speech and he proceeds to talk about what he has learned from Christian and I over the last 4 months. We had been going to him because it was a requirement for him to officiate our wedding. We didn't mind, though. We just told him bits and pieces about our relationship. He was really kind.
Whenever it is time to give our vows, Liam approaches us and presents the rings to Christian. "Thank you, buddy." He tells him and he just smiles. We hear Phoebe start to fuss and I glance back to check on her and see Mia walking out with her. She is okay, Ana. Christian clears his throat to get my attention back.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, baby." He smiles and looks into my eyes. He takes my left hand back in his right hand and then he puts my wedding band at the end of my ring finger as he starts to talk. He stares into my eyes. "Anastasia, I solemnly vow that I will safeguard and hold dear and deep in my heart our union and you. I promise to love you faithfully, forsaking all others, through the good times and the bad, in sickness or in health, regardless of where life takes us. I will protect you, trust you, and respect you. I will share your joys and sorrows and comfort you in times of need. I promise to cherish you and uphold your hopes and dreams and keep you safe at my side. All that is mine is now yours. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love from this moment on for as long as we both shall live." He slides the ring onto my finger and I look back into his eyes and smile through my tears.
Liam approaches me and hands me Christian's ring. "Thank you, Liam." He smiles and backs up to his place beside Elliot. I look back to Christian. I take his left hand in my right hand and I put the ring at the end of his finger. I look up into his eyes. "Christian, I give you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, to stand by your side in good times and in bad, to share your joy as well as your sorrows. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals and dreams, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, to share my hopes and dreams with you, and bring you solace in times of need. And to cherish you for as long as we both shall live." I slide the ring onto his finger the rest of the way and take both of his hands in mine and squeeze while looking up at him with tears in my eyes and an uncontrollable smile upon my deliriously happy face.
He smiles back at me and I've never been as happy as I am in this moment. "Christian Grey, do you take Anastasia Steele to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold until death do you part?" the preacher asks Christian.
Christian smiles. "I do." I cannot stop smiling.
"Anastasia Steele, do you take Christian Grey to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold until death do you part?" the preacher asks me.
"I do."
"It is now my honor and duty to pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Christian puts one hand on the back of my head and wraps the other around my waist and his lips make contact with my own and I wrap my arms around his neck as he gives me a phenomenal passionate kiss. We can hear people applauding. When he finally pulls back, he whispers, "I love you, Mrs. Grey," against my lips."
"I love you, too, Mr. Grey." He grins and kisses me for just a little longer before he pulls back and helps me back to my feet the rest of the way. He keeps his arms around my waist and there is a tap on my shoulder. I turn my head and Kate hands me a beautiful bouquet that, apparently, someone forgot to give me before I came down the aisle. It's okay, though. This is the happiest day of my life and I have it and my family for the rest of my life now. "Thank you, Kate." She nods and Christian takes my hand and lifts it above our heads.
The preacher announces, "I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Christian Grey." There is another round of applause and Christian puts our hands down and kisses me sweetly one more time before offering me his arm to walk me back down the aisle. He takes my hand and walks us over to another huge tent. He walks me into it and it is yet another elaborate setup with dim lighting set up and I see a dance floor and band set up across the room behind all of the tables.
"I love it, Christian." I say as I look around in awe.
He kisses the top of my head. "Only the best for my wife." I smile up at him and stand on my tip toes and kiss him sweetly.
"I love you, husband."
"I love you, too, wife."
We greet our guests and get a lot of congratulations from a lot of people. Gail finally brings Phoebe to us for a little bit after we stop greeting guests and we love on her for a little bit before passing her off to Grace. Christian guides me to our table. Kate helps to take off the veil and to tie up my train and Christian pulls out my seat and helps me into my seat. He sits beside me and takes my hand in his and kisses me sweetly again. Kate sits beside me and Liam sits next to Christian and Elliot is on the other side of him. Mia is sitting on the other side of Kate.
Kate and Elliot give touching speeches that bring me to tears and my husband hands me his handkerchief with a kiss and keep his arm wrapped around me. After the toasts, we have a lovely, extravagant meal. There are several courses. I've never had such a sophisticated meal before. I know that Christian was behind all of this and I love him all the more for it. He is, quite possibly, the best husband in existence, but I could be impartial.
After our meals, everyone mingles and talks for a while before the dance starts. Christian stays by my side the entire time. In lieu of wedding presents, we requested that everyone make donations to Coping Together. It was obviously Christian's idea because I had no idea that it existed, but it just proves what a marvelous man he truly is.
Whenever it is time to dance, I am nervous. I've never danced before until Christian gave me lessons to prepare for this. I know he will guide me though and he will not let me fall. We dance together gracefully, staring into each other's eyes. After our dance, my Daddy cuts in and we dance together and he tells me how proud he is of me and how far I have come, leading me to cry, once again. He hands me his handkerchief and I wipe my eyes. After our dance, I wrap my arms around him and thank him for everything he's ever done to make me the woman that I am today. He's too proud to accept my praise so he just nods with a smile as Christian approaches and he puts my hand in his and walks away. The rest of the wedding party, including Liam, join us on the dance floor and it is beautiful and Liam enjoys himself thoroughly.
After our dances, we go and spend time with Phoebe, since Liam is off dancing and playing with some other kids that are here. We finally decide to go and get dressed in our honeymoon clothes. We go back down and we love on our children a little longer. As we get ready to leave, Kate hands me my bouquet and we kiss and hug my kids one last time.
All the single women gather and I turn around and throw my bouquet, just before we get into the waiting SUV to leave to the jet and then to our honeymoon. Whenever I turn around, I hear Christian growl under his breath as I notice that Mia caught it. I giggle and put my hand on my stomach and lean up and kiss him sweetly. "Christian, she is a 30 year old woman and she is bound to get married someday. It will be okay." I kiss him sweetly one more time before I stand back up normal again.
"I know, baby. I'm just not ready to accept that she is an adult, but I fully understand." I wink at him and then he helps me into the already open door of our SUV and closes the door. He goes around to the other side and gets in himself. He buckles me in and then buckles himself in. "I love you, Mrs. Grey." He says to me and I smile at him.
"I love you, too, Mr. Grey." He takes my hand and Taylor and Sawyer takes us to the jet. I realized on the way that Christian stared at me the whole time.