I'm at work the following day, going through the motions, missing my husband, whenever a man grabs my ass. I quickly grab his arm and twist it around and punch him right in the face without thinking about it. He screams at me. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!!" and he lunges at me so I punch him again and he falls backwards. I go up to the bar where Jeff is standing, obviously in shock.

"I apologize, but I fucking quit!" and I drop my tray on the bar and I walk as quickly as I can to the door. I quickly get into my car and take off. I drive down a country road for a little bit to calm myself before I get home. I finally head back home and I take a deep breath before getting out of my car.

Whenever I arrive home, the kids are in bed and Gail is waiting for me. She notices my hand and doctors it while I tell her what happened. I guess I have to find a new job.

Over the last 5 months, I am secretly miserable, but I keep it together for my kids. I can tell that they miss their Daddy too. They ask about him a lot, but I just tell them that we'll see him again soon, even though I'm beginning to lose hope. I'm sure he probably has a sub by now and he is forgetting about us. I hate the thought, but what am I supposed to think whenever he left me and I haven't seen or heard from him in 5 months.

Shortly after I quit my job, I was hired at a small boutique by a kind woman named Mary Anne. I actually love this job and I get to dress like a decent woman again. I just wish my husband was around here to see it.

I cry myself to sleep a lot. Taylor and Gail left 3 weeks after he left to join him. Gail helped me to find a new babysitter. Roberta is a good fit. She is about 53 years old and she reminds me a lot of Helen. The kids love her.

I miss my extended family and friends. I run into Jeff a few times and he has apologized for the behavior of the man at the pub and practically begged me to come back, but I politely declined.

This next month, Liam will be turning 7 and Phoebe will turn 2. I wish that Christian would be with us for that. I also wish that they would find and put away all of the fuckers that are after me so that we can go home to our family and, mostly, my husband.

I brought the kids to Cleveland and while we were there, I got on the internet to check how my husband is doing. I find new pictures of him and he is just as handsome as ever, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he is miserable. He is still wearing his wedding band, so that is a good sign. I read articles about him and find a few where they speculate that we're getting a divorce. These make me cry until I see articles where he explains that he is NOT divorcing me and this makes me happier. His business has, apparently, been booming since shortly after his return to Seattle. I just miss him so damn much.

Luke and I have become pretty good friends since I don't really have any here. He is a pretty good guy. He told me how Bianca broke off the engagement whenever he said that he had to go away.

We're sitting on the couch, drinking and talking whenever he leans into me and tries to kiss me, but I back away and quickly jump off of the couch. "What the fuck are you doing, Luke?"

"Come on, Ana. Christian left you. He isn't coming back. I know you feel this connection between us. There's nothing holding us back from being together now."

I scoff. "There is something that will ALWAYS hold us back, Luke. I don't love you. I love my husband and we WILL be back together soon. I will NEVER be with anyone other than him. You are a good friend, Luke, but it has NEVER been anything more than that to me. I think you should go and pack up your stuff and head back to Seattle."

"But, Ana…"

I cut him off. "No, Luke! GO! NOW!!" He nods reluctantly and gets up and walks out of the house without another word. I go off to bed and cry myself to sleep. What the fuck was he thinking?

The next day, I go into work, as usual.

I just got home from work and excused Roberta to go home and I'm helping Liam with his homework while Phoebe plays with some of her toys in the living room. I hear a car pull up, so I go to the door to see who it is.

I'm shocked whenever I see my husband get out of the car. I swing the screen door open and run out to him and I run into his arms and hug him tightly. "You're back!? Are you staying?"

He pulls back from the hug and puts a hand on each shoulder, worrying me that he is going to ask for a divorce or something. I furrow my brow. "No, Ana. I'm here to bring you home. It's finally over." I gasp, thoroughly relieved and I wrap my arms tightly around his waist. He picks me up and kisses me passionately. "I've missed you, Mrs. Grey." He whispers against my lips.

"I've missed you as well, Mr. Grey."

"Let's get you and the kids packed and head home and get back into OUR lives."

I smile. "Let's do." About that time, Liam comes out of the house holding Phoebe's hand. Once they are off the porch, he lets go of her hand and screams. Christian lets me down and I go to Phoebe and pick her up and bring her to Christian as well.

"DADDY!! You're home?" he asks excitedly as he wraps his arms around Christian.

"No, but WE are finally going home."

"YAY! I miss my friends and family. Let's go now!!"

Christian chuckles. "First, we need to pack you guys up. Go get some of your stuff together. We can't take everything, but we will replace what we can whenever we get there."

"Okay, Daddy." Liam takes off running inside and Christian takes Phoebe from me and wraps his arms around her.

"Daddy. Miss you." She says and I see tears starting to form in his eyes but he holds them back by clearing his throat.

"Daddy missed you, too, princess."

He puts his free arm around my waist and guides me into the house while still holding Phoebe.

Once we are packed, he loads everything into the SUV and after everyone is safely buckled in, we start our journey back to Cleveland to get on a jet and head home after almost a year. Whenever we get there, I find that the FBI jet is waiting for us.

On the way home, Lisa gives me back all of my stuff, including my engagement ring, which I happily put back on my finger immediately. On the flight, I tell Christian about the new job I had started the week following him leaving. I also tell him about what Sawyer said and did and to say he is mad would be the understatement of the century.

We all talk the rest of the way home and once the jet lands in Seattle, Phoebe and Liam are asleep because it is late. Christian carries Liam and I carry Phoebe and Taylor is there waiting for us. We put the kids into the SUV and Christian helps me in and he gets in himself and he holds me as close as possible as we travel home.

Whenever we arrive, we carry our sleeping children to bed. Christian takes me to our room and loves me really quick, before we head downstairs and drink some wine and talk some more about our time apart. I finally beg him to take me back to bed and we spend the night worshipping each other's bodies and it is glorious.

Over the next 3 days, we just spend time alone with our family before we finally go and let the family that we're home. Tonight is the weekly family dinner at the Grey's manor so we've decided to make our surprise appearance there. My Dad will be there because, apparently, the Greys have been inviting him to join weekly since our disappearance. I heard from Christian that he is distraught each time he sees him, but that he seems quite angry with him. He probably blames Christian for my disappearance.

Once everyone is ready, we load up in the SUV and head out to Bellevue. When we arrive at the Grey's manor, Christian helps me out and we get the kids out. I see my Dad's truck so I know that he is already here. We came just a little late, hoping everyone would be here by the time we arrive so that we can explain the situation to everyone at once instead of telling people individually.

We approach the door and knock. Christian is holding Phoebe and Liam is standing between us. Grace opens the door and her face immediately registers shock. "Ana?" I nod with a smile and she wraps her arms around me and I start crying. I've missed these people immensely. She pulls back from the hug and I see tears in her eyes as well. She hugs and kisses the children and then she gives Christian a hug. She invites us all in.

She picks Phoebe back up and kisses her on the head as she leads us to the family room. "Grace, who is it?" we hear Carrick ask.

"It's Christian." She says as we approach the family room. She's the first to pass into the family room holding Phoebe. "And his family." She adds as we join her in the family room. Liam runs past us and starts to hug everyone. I immediately spot my Daddy and quickly approach him and I see tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm back, Daddy." I say as he stands and I wrap my arms around him tightly and he hugs me tightly as well.

"I've missed you, Annie." He says.

"We've missed you, too, Daddy. I'm so sorry that I had to leave you again."

"Where have you been?"

"It's a long story, but I want to discuss it with everyone at once."

He releases me and I release him as well. "Okay." He says. "Good to have you back, kid." He says as he pinches my cheek. I smile at him and make my way around the room hugging everyone. Everyone is fighting back tears. After we all get in our hugs, we have a seat and Christian and I proceed to tell them the whole story of what had happened and there were tears around the room.

"Well, we're happy to finally have you all back. We have missed you." Grace says.

"We have missed you as well."

"Well" she starts and wipes away a stray tear and stands up. "Let's go have family dinner."

Everyone agrees and we go and eat and Kate keeps looking at me like she's dying to tell me something so I will talk to her privately after the meal.

We all talk casually over our spectacular meal and Liam tells everyone about his adventures out in the country. He gets really excited whenever he tells them about riding the horse.

Once the meal is through, we all retreat back to the family room. "Christian, I'm going to go and talk to Kate for a little bit. We have to catch up."

He kisses me sweetly, "Hurry back, baby."

"I will." I say with a smile and I approach Kate. "Can we talk privately?"

"Sure." She says and leads me out to the back deck. We sit on some lounge chairs and she has her purse with her.

"What's going on, Kate? I could tell throughout dinner that you look like you wanted to tell me something."

She sighs and picks up her purse and pulls out what looks like a newspaper and puts it on her lap.

"I don't want to upset this first family dinner with us all back together finally, so I need you to promise to save your reaction to this for whenever you get home."

I furrow my brow. I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this. "I promise."

She sighs again and picks up the paper and unfolds it and hands it to me. "I hate to be the one to show you this, but you deserve to know."

I look at it and I'm immediately face to face with a picture of my husband and Sasha in what looks like an intense kiss and I gasp. "Read the caption."

I nod and start to read:

"We received this anonymous photo today of Christian Grey in what appears to be a very steamy embrace with his former fiancé, Sasha Bennett. Is this the end of his marriage with Anastasia Grey? From the looks of this picture, I'd say it is. We will have more on this story as it becomes available to us."

I'm shocked by what I'm seeing and I begin to sob quietly. Kate wraps her arms around me. "what the fuck, Kate?" I ask.

"Sasha came back a couple of months ago. Her and Christian were spotted together at least 2 times. Mia was ecstatic that she was back. After a couple of weeks, she said that Sasha headed back to Georgia abruptly, but wouldn't say why. I'm so sorry, Ana."

I wipe away my tears and shake my head. " No need for you to be sorry. I needed to know this, like you said. I'm actually glad that you're the one that told me so that you were here to comfort me. I would've preferred that my husband tell me, but apparently he is trying to keep this a secret from me. Who in the family has seen this?"

"I don't know. No one else has mentioned it and I've kept it to myself. I didn't want it to escalate and cause more problems."

"Well, fuck. I am not sure what to do at this point."

"Well, my advice, give him a chance to explain at least. If you don't like his explanation, you can walk away or do whatever you feel like doing. Just please don't run away from us again."

"I never ran away Kate. I didn't have a choice when it came to leaving either time."

"I know. I just don't want to lose you again."

I hug her tighter. "You'll never lose me. You're my best friend and sister."

"I feel the same about you, Ana. Now, we need to calm you down and get back in there."

I pull back from the hug and nod. She tells me a few jokes and I'm laughing so hard that I forget what's going on temporarily. I can't cry anymore until I get home. "I'm good now."

She smiles at me. "Okay. Come here and let me straighten up your face and we can rejoin the family."

I nod and she cleans up my face and helps me up and holds my hand as we walk back inside. Whenever I see my husband, the feeling of fury returns, but I shove it down. It can wait until we get home. I plaster on a smile as my husband turns to me and I walk into his arms. "I want to go home, Christian." I tell him. We need to have this conversation sooner rather than later. Kate gave me the article and I have it in my own purse now.

He looks down at me and gives me a devilish grin. "Let's head home then."

He announces that we are leaving and Grace quickly asks to keep the kids for the night since Liam isn't starting back at school just yet. We agree to it. Good. The house will be empty except for us so I can yell at him without worrying about the kids hearing us.

We say our goodbyes and give our kids love before we head out the door. As soon as we're out, I let go of Christian's hand and walk quickly to the SUV, where Taylor is already holding the door open. I climb in, not giving Christian a chance to help and I slam the door shut. I see him standing out there looking confused but I don't really give a fuck at this point.

He comes around and gets in the other side. I buckle myself in before he has the chance to try. I avoid looking at him. "Ana.."

I cut him off. "We will discuss it whenever we get home, Christian. I'm going to need some wine to talk to you right now." He doesn't say another word.

I look out the window the whole way home with silent tears running down my cheeks. Did my husband cheat on me? Yes. Kissing someone like that is considered cheating by most people, myself included.

Whenever we arrive home, I unbuckle and jump out and rush into the house and go straight to the wine cellar and grab a couple of bottles of wine. I grab a few wine glasses from the kitchen and go straight for the family room and sit on the couch. It doesn't take long before he joins me, but I still don't look at him.

I pour us some wine and I pick up my own and leave his sitting on the table. He scoffs and leans over and picks it up himself. "Ana, what the fuck is going on?"

I scoff. I dig the paper out of my purse and I throw it at him. "You tell me what the fuck is and has been going on while I was gone."

I start crying again as I hear him opening the paper. I take another drink of my wine, emptying my glass and I refill it. I hear him gasp.

"Ana, this isn't what it looks like." he says.

I scoff again. I look up at him as he continues to look at the paper. "What it looks like, Christian, is you are locked in a passionate kiss with fucking Sasha. That's what it looks like. What the fuck are you trying to say? You think I'm imagining things?"

He looks back at me and wads up the paper and throws it into a nearby trash can. He attempts to scoot closer to me, but I back away from him. "Ana, she kissed me. I admit, I got lost for just a moment, but once I realized what was going on, I pushed her away. That is the only time that happened and the only thing that happened between Sasha and I."

I sigh again and shake my head and look back at my wine glass and take another drink. "Kate told me that it wasn't the only time you were spotted out with her. This is just the only picture that was taken, apparently. How am I supposed to believe you whenever you purposely hid this from me? How can I know that there isn't more that wasn't caught on camera that you just want to keep hidden from me?"

"Ana, look at me please. I need you to look me in the eyes while I tell you this. I know that you're good at reading people and I want you to see that I'm not lying to you or hiding anything."

I turn my head and look into his eyes. "Ana, I promise you that NOTHING else happened with anyone, including Sasha, anytime after we reunited a couple of years ago. There is no one else for me, Ana. You are IT for me. I swear this to you."

I'm crying again at this point. "Christian, as much as I want to believe you, this is still cheating. It LOOKS like you're being honest, but it also looked like you had nothing to hide when I looked at you before tonight." I look away from him again and I drink more wine.

I hear him sigh, sounding defeated. "SO, are you leaving me, Ana?"

I scoff. "To be honest, Christian, it feels like YOU left me. You did actually leave me in Ohio. I need you Christian, but I don't know how to handle this. Why didn't you tell me about this before I found out about it elsewhere?"

"Because it meant nothing. It was insignificant to me. I never saw her again after that kiss."

"SO, what lead to that kiss, Christian? Did you lead her on or something?"

He sighs again. "She came back and claimed she wanted to be friends. I figured it wouldn't hurt since she did give us a daughter. She asked me to take her to lunch and it was a friendly lunch, although she flirted with me a little. I just let it slide, thinking that I was imagining things. We had dinner again the next day and the flirtation began to increase and, I'll admit, I flirted back JUST a little. I quit after a few minutes and after our meal was done, I gave her a simple hug and left.

A couple of days later, she asked me to dinner again and I agreed. She flirted with me relentlessly this time. I told her that I am happily married, but she seemed to just dismiss it because she kept flirting. She kept touching me and after a while, it felt like YOU were touching me. She kissed me and I gave in for less than a minute and when I caught myself, I pushed her away and told her that we would never be anything more than friends, but that now, we wouldn't even be friends because of her behavior. I told her to leave me and my family alone now. That's the last time that I saw or heard from her.

I swear to you, Ana. There was absolutely nothing else that happened with her or ANYONE else! I can't lose you, Ana. Please don't leave me. I'm sorry for leaving you in Ohio. I regretted the decision before I even got to Cleveland, but being stubborn, I couldn't back down and kept going. I honestly wish I had never come back before you."

I can tell that he is being honest, but I can't stop thinking about the fact that regardless of the fact that it was for less than a minute, it still disrespected our marriage and our family. "Christian, I won't leave, but I need space. I need time to think about all of this. I told you before that I was yours forever. If it was more than this, I would not be so forgiving so do NOT go getting ideas in your head. I'd like to drink some more wine in silence. I want to be near you, but that's it for now."

He nods reluctantly. As much as I desire this handsome creature, I can't give in to my desires at a time like this. We drink wine together and after a little while, I grab his hand and just hold it. I keep drinking and it seems like he slowed down significantly, but that doesn't stop me.

After the bottle of wine is done, I announce, "I'm going to bed now. I'd prefer if you slept in a guest room or something, but you can come get some night clothes." he nods at me. I kick off my heels and stand up. I'm a little wobbly, but I start moving and succeed at making it upstairs. I'm in my closet stripping whenever I hear him come in. I smell him in my closet before I see him. I turn to look at him, wondering why he is in MY closet instead of his own. "Christian.."

Is all I get out of my mouth before he quickly approaches me and his lips crash into mine and he kisses me sensually. I am just frozen for a few moments before I give in to his passionate assault. I wrap my arms around his neck and return his kiss with equal fervor. He lifts me by my ass and he pushes me up against the back wall of my closet. It only takes a few minutes before he thrusts his full length inside of me and I cry out, begging for more. "Please don't stop, Christian!"

He smiles against my lips just before his crash back into mine as he strokes me from the inside, hard and fast, and it is thrilling. I am loving it and keep crying out for more. He keeps giving me more. It seems like hours, but I'm not sure how long it takes before he says, "Come with me, Ana!" and my body immediately responds to his command and I come hard around his throbbing cock and I can feel my inner muscles milking him dry as he continues his fast and furious thrusts. Fuck, post-argument sex is pretty hot!

Once both of our orgasms finally ends, he thrusts a few more times before he just holds me tight. "I'm so sorry, Ana. You should know that I'm yours and YOURS alone, FOREVER! It was a slipup and I swear to you that nothing like that will EVER happen again. Please believe me."

I am silently crying again. "I still need time to think, Christian. You disrespected our marriage and family. I can't just act like that never happened until I am 100% sure that you're fully repentant for it. Do you understand?"

He nods reluctantly. "I do. Can I at least hold you while you sleep?"

I sigh. Stubborn ass beautiful man. "I guess I'm okay with that. Don't get cocky on me, though, thinking that everything is magically back to normal."

"I won't, I swear. I will be humble and accept any punishment or hoops you have for me to jump through. I will do absolutely anything that I possibly can to make this up to you."

I nod and smile softly and kiss him sweetly. He kisses me sweetly one more time as he pulls out and he lets me down and finds me a nightie, sans panties, since I know I won't resist this man's delicious sexual charms. I will have fun letting him make this up to me. I just hope that this doesn't remain a problem and cause a permanent rift in our relationship. He takes my hand and leads me to bed and I lay down as he goes around and climbs in behind me and wraps his arms around me tight. "I love you, Anastasia Grey."

"I love you, too, Christian Grey. Good night."

"Good night, baby." he says and I drift off to sleep, safe, in his loving arms. I hope we can get past this.