I kept his last name for the kids. I've started doing my own housekeeping and cooking again. I'm fine with that. It's not hard since I'm working from home. I've decided that whenever Phoebe turns 2 in 4 months that I am going to go back to work in my office.

Liam is really enjoying school. Phoebe will be starting school herself next year. I'm not looking forward to that. Time flies by too quickly.

Christian had his first visitation last week for just 2 hours after he got off work and then they came back home. Ryan stayed over there with them. Partly to just wait to bring them back home after the visit, but partly because I asked him to secretly spy for me and let me know if there's any other women coming or going and if there's any other strange activities going on. He said that everything was as normal as should be expected. That was a relief.

It has been 3 years since our divorce. I finally feel whole again. I'm living my best life with my children. I don't date, nor do I want to.

The kids have grown a lot over the last 3 years. Liam is now 11. I cannot believe it. Phoebe is 7 and Teddy is almost 5 and will start school himself next year. We have stayed in our Seattle home, with the exception of a couple of weeks during the summer whenever we go and stay at our New York home so that I can spend some time in the New York GP office. A couple of years ago, Christian took over Cross Industries.

Gideon is still in prison, paying for his crimes. From what I know, Sasha is still in jail, but I heard that Elena is out. I'm sure Christian went back to contracting subs, although whenever Ryan takes the kids over, there are absolutely no signs of other women around there. I wouldn't mind if Christian were to move on, but I'd like to meet anyone woman before he introduces them to the kids. Christian has been taking the kids every other weekend. They've enjoyed their time with him. Liam is old enough that he tells me everything that happens there and he never says anything about another woman so I'm not worried about that yet.

I have not spoken to Christian directly in the last 3 years. He comes to their birthday parties, as well as all the other Greys, aside from Mia. Kate and I have spent a lot more time together over the last 3 years. Ava will be starting school next year with her best friend/cousin next year. I avoid Christian anytime I see him. It hurts too much. I still love him just as much as the day we got married, but I cannot tell him that.

Christian has attempted to contact me a few times over the years, but I won't answer for him. He knows that if he wants to tell me something important, he needs to go through Grace, Carrick, Elliot or Kate. I invite the Greys, aside from Christian and Mia, over for Wednesday dinners. I felt it was only appropriate because I won't come to family dinners because of Mia and Christian. We enjoy our time together.

Kate has been trying to encourage me to make up with Mia. I told her that it won't happen anytime soon because of what she has done, but I told her I may give her another chance to be a friend someday. I'm just not ready yet. What she did and said, is still seared in my mind as if she just said and did it yesterday. It's been easing up just a bit with every passing year. Kate says that she wants to apologize to me. I'm just not ready to hear it now.

The main reason that I avoid Christian, is because I am still very much in love with him and I'm afraid that if I see him, I will either jump him or have my heart broken again. I don't want to relive the pain of divorce ever again. It's part of the reason that I refuse to date. Christian is right. I clung onto him. I fell deep and hard and I know that is just the way I love and that I'll fall into the same pattern with another man. I can't do it.

2 years ago, I purchased one last pony for Teddy. Now we have 3 adult horses named Peter, Polly and Fred. The kids love them. I had Elliot build onto the stable and expand the amount of space that they had in our meadow so that they would be more comfortable out there. All 3 kids now know how to ride supervised.

Tomorrow is Teddy's birthday and everyone is coming over for the day to celebrate. Ethan is no longer with Mia because of what she did, but Kate asked me to invite him because she says I could at least use one more friend. I agreed so he will be here as well.

I just finished putting the kids down for the night and I'm having my nightly glass of wine before bed in the tub. Whenever I get out, I get dried off and dressed in a nightie as usual. I lay down and just as I'm about to fall asleep, there's a knock on my bedroom door. What the fuck?

I get up and put on a robe and go answer it. It's Gibson. "What is it, Gibson?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but someone is here to see you."

"Who?"

"Mr. Grey." UGH fuck!

"Okay." He nods and turns and walks away. I guess the time has come to talk to my ex-husband. I straighten my hair up and make my way downstairs. I find him standing in the foyer with a smile on his face. I smile back. "How can I help you, Christian?"

"Can we talk?" I nod. The sexual tension that I've always felt with his mere presence is as high as it has ever been. I must resist the urge to jump him.

I nod. "Sure. Let's go to the family room. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you." I nod. I have a seat on the couch and he sits on the opposite side. I look over at him and he is staring at me and I see the familiar look of love and adoration in his eyes.

"What would you like to talk about?" I ask.

He points to the seat next to me. "May I?" I nod. He takes my hand in his and looks into my eyes. "Ana, I miss you. My life is dull and meaningless without you. I've found myself and I don't like who I am whenever I'm alone and have no one to share it with."

I look away. Must resist. Must resist. I look back into those mesmerizing grey eyes. "I've missed you, too, Christian."

He smiles and places a hand softly on my cheek and I lean into his touch. It's been entirely too long since I felt his touch on my face. He looks at me with a serious expression on his face. "Are you seeing anyone, Ana?"

I shake my head. "No. I just can't. I cannot imagine being with anyone else. What about you?" I shut up before I say anything I will regret.

"No. I can't either, Ana. I even tried to get a sub a couple of years ago, but I can't. I'm lost without you, Ana."

"I'm not lost without you; however, I may have been avoiding you because I didn't think I could resist you. Also, I knew there was the possibility that you would just reject me and I couldn't go through that again, Christian."

"May I kiss you, Ana?" I close my eyes. I've got to be sure before I let this happen.

I open my eyes and look back into his. I want this. I want this so fucking bad. "Please."

He kisses me sweetly. I can no longer resist and I wrap my arms around his neck and entangle my fingers in his gorgeous copper locks and pull his head closer as I deepen the kiss. He eagerly reciprocates and he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap. I adjust myself so that I'm sitting astride him. Our passionate kiss doesn't stop. This is my home. My one and only true love. Maybe he will be mine again? FUCK, I hope so!

I pull back so our lips are barely touching. "Please take me to bed, Christian." He smiles against my lips and he grabs onto my thighs and stands up. I wrap my thighs tightly around his waist as we resume our kiss. As soon as we're in the bedroom door, he puts me down and unties the sash on my robe and throws it onto the ground and he lifts my nightie over my head. I unbuckle his jeans and take off his shirt over his head and then pull down his pants and boxers. He kicks them off and then lays me back on the bed and he towers over me. He pulls back just a bit.

"What do you want, Ana?" he whispers against my lips.

"Please fuck me, Christian." I tell him.

His lips crash back into mine and he thrusts his full length into me at once. I gasp. "Home." He whispers.

"Home." He begins thrusting hard and fast and I'm quickly building. I haven't had so much as an orgasm in over 3 years. I feel my body tense and the most intense orgasm I remember washes over me and as soon as my inner muscles start contracting, he groans as he begins to empty himself inside my core. He continues his relentless thrusts until our orgasms end. "Fuck." I say. It's really all I can say right now.

"I love you, Ana." He says as he looks into my eyes.

"I love you, too, Christian." I say with a smile, which leads him to smile and his lips crash into mine and I feel his cock harden again and he has his way with me again and it's fucking phenomenal. This continues for hours, until we are both spent. He kisses me sweetly as he pulls out and lies beside me and pulls me in to his chest.

"I've missed this. I've missed us. I don't want to be apart from you anymore, Ana. Was this just a fuck or will you please be my girlfriend again?"

I lift my head and look up at him. "Have you been seeing Flynn and working on yourself, Christian?"

"I have. I've put in the work. It only made me more confident in the fact that I need you to bring your joy and color back into my life. I understand if that's not what you want..."

I cut him off with a kiss. "It is what I want. It's what I've always wanted. I'd love to be your girlfriend again, Mr. Grey." He smiles widely.

"Thank you, Ana. Thank you for giving me another chance after I had been so awful to you."

"Thank you for asking me, Mr. Grey. I was so scared that you'd moved on with a sub or a girlfriend, so I avoided you like the plague, because of the fear of rejection, as I stated before. I miss and love you immensely."

"Okay. We're going to do this right this time, Ana. I'm going to take you on proper dates and sweep you off of your feet."

I smile. "That sounds like a fantastic plan. I have one request, though."

He furrows his brow. "What is it?"

"I'd like you to take me to the playroom. It's probably dusty in there by now because I haven't had the code."

He chuckles. "Now?"

"Not now. Tomorrow night?"

"I'd love to play with you again, Ana. I haven't been in a playroom since the last time we went in there." He tells me.

"Okay. It's a date then. I couldn't ask for a better first date. We have a lot of missed orgasms to make up for."

"I agree." He kisses me sweetly. "Let's get some sleep now, baby. Or should I go back to the Penthouse? I don't want to jump back into this any quicker than you are ready for."

I put my hand softly on the side of his face and rub his sexy stubble. "Please stay the night with your girlfriend tonight, Christian." He smiles again.

"Okay. Let's get some sleep, then."

I nod. I lean up and kiss him sweetly. "Good night, Christian. I love you."

"I love you, too, Ana. Good night." He kisses me one more time and I lay my head on his chest and sling my leg over his and fall asleep rather quickly and have the best night's sleep that I've had in 3 years.

I wake up in the morning to kisses on my neck. "Mmm… Please don't stop."

"Never, baby." I roll over and kiss him feverishly. I roll him onto his back and sit astride him and slide down onto his awaiting erection and I fuck him this time and it's pretty magnificent. He seems to agree.

After my 3rd orgasm, we come undone together. I collapse on him and he holds me for at least a few minutes before I kiss him sweetly and roll off of him and curl into his side again. "We should shower and get ready for our son's 5th birthday party, Mr. Grey. Your clothes are still in the closet where you left them."

"Let me just hold you for a few more minutes first." He holds me for a few more minutes and then we get up. He fucks me in the shower and after we get cleaned up and we go to our closets and get dressed for Teddy's big day.

"Christian, should we keep this a secret for now?" I ask.

"What do you think? It's up to you because if I had my way, I'd go run through Seattle screaming proudly."

I giggle. "Well, I just think we shouldn't make Teddy's Day about us. So how about Wednesday, at my weekly dinner with your parents and Kate and Elliot, we can announce it. How does that sound to you?"

"You make a good point. I think that's a fabulous idea."

I give him a sweet kiss. "Let's go have breakfast with the kids. They will be excited to see you here."

He grins at me. "Let's do." I turn to walk away and he smacks me on the butt, causing me to giggle. We go downstairs as casually as possible and act like nothing is going on. The kids are very excited to see that Christian is here. I cook us breakfast and we eat together as a family again. I truly hope it lasts this time. We haven't discussed the Mia situation yet. I hope it doesn't cause the same problems that it did 3 years ago.

Once we're all finished eating, Christian helps me to take the dishes to the kitchen and clean up as the kids go and get ready for the day. We flirt shamelessly as we clean up and it feels like the early days of our relationship again. I hope our relationship goes better this time.

Whenever Grace, Carrick, Elliot and Kate arrive, we decorate for the party as the kids play in their toy room upstairs. Once everything is in place, Gail comes over to cook the birthday lunch and my Dad arrives.

About 30 minutes later, Ethan arrives and he gives me a bear hug as soon as he comes in the door. "It's nice to see you again, Ana. How have you been?"

"I've been great, actually. You?"

"I can't complain, but I'm lonely these days."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Go on out back. There's refreshments out there."

"Okay." He finally lets go of me and goes out back. I follow shortly behind him since everyone has finally arrived. I get myself some wine and find Kate.

"Hi, Kate." I give her a proper hug. "We should hang out more often. I know we hang out more often now than we have since I came home the first time, but I think we should hang out even more." I suggest.

"I agree. Let's go sit on the deck and talk while the boys play with the children." I giggle.

"Let's do." I put my arm out for her and she loops hers through mine and we go to the deck. We sit down on side-by-side loungers and sip our wine.

"I think you should go on a date with Ethan, Ana. He really likes you and you've been single for 3 years. It has to be time by now."

I giggle. "You're as persistent as ever. I can't because I already have a boyfriend."

She gasps. "Who? Spill, Steele."

I giggle again. "You will find out soon enough." I wink at her.

"You're a cruel woman, Anastasia Grey." She says.

"So I've been told." We laugh together and talk for a little while longer as we watch the children enjoy themselves. My eyes keep drifting back to Christian, but Kate doesn't notice or at least doesn't say anything about it.

Ethan approaches us. "Ana, can I talk to you?"

I nod. "Of course, Ethan." I tell him. He smiles.

"Well, I'm going to spend some time with the little ones." Kate announces as she gets up. She is a sneaky woman. I know what she's up to.

"Have a seat, Ethan." I tell him and he sits in the lounger that Kate previously occupied.

"Ana, you have pretty great kids. I don't know if I've ever told you that before."

I smile. "Thank you, Ethan. I've tried my best to raise them right."

"Well, you have done an excellent job." I nod and smile at him. "Ana, I have a question."

"Okay."

"Would you care to join me for dinner or lunch sometime. I'd like to get to know you better." He says.

"As friends, yes. That's all I can do now." I reply.

He smiles with an optimistic look in his eyes. "Great. How about next Friday?"

"Sounds good."

"Lunch or dinner?" He asks.

"Lunch is good." I tell him.

"Alright, it's a date."

I furrow my brow. "Not a date. It's a lunch between friends."

"Right. Sorry. That came out wrong. I am always so nervous whenever I'm close to you."

I smile and look back out at the other people mingling at the party. "Ethan, I'm going to go out and get involved in these festivities."

He nods. "Okay. It was nice talking to you and I will contact you about lunch Friday so we can set up an exact time and date."

"Okay. Later, Ethan."

"Later, Ana." I get up and refill my wine glass and head out to the party and Christian doesn't look as happy as he did before I went up there with Kate. Odd.

He looks at me and he appears to be upset. But why? I continue to mingle. We have an amazing lunch and Teddy just loves his presents. Before dinner, everyone but Christian leaves. I make us dinner and once it's done, we eat together as a family again. We talk casually, but I can still tell that something is bothering Christian. I'm sure we will discuss it once the kids are in bed.

We watch a movie together after dinner until the kids get tired. They all had an eventful and exhausting day so we put them to bed and Christian and I head back downstairs for some wine. I go to get the wine, but he stops me. "I've got it, baby." I nod. I reach up and kiss him sweetly before having a seat on the couch.

He finally comes back with the wine bottle and glasses and he sits next to me. He sets them on the table and pours us both a glass of wine. He picks them both up and hands me mine before he sits back and looks into my eyes. "What's bothering you, Christian?"

"What were you talking to Ethan about, Ana?"

I shake my head. "He wants to be friends. We're going to have a friendly lunch together next week."

He looks away from me. He's jealous! "I don't like it, Ana. I'm not your husband, though, so you can do whatever you like. Just remember that I don't share. I could tell the first time we were in the same room with Kavanagh together that he wanted to get into your panties. He still had that look today."

I take his face in my hands and turn it towards me. "Nothing will happen, Christian. I've got a boyfriend now who I would like to keep. I will not do anything that could possibly ruin us again. I want to do this right this time and I want it to last. We're just going as friends and if he tries anything, I vow to leave immediately."

He smiles. "I trust you. I don't think I trusted you enough before. Over the last 3 years, I discovered how much I do love and trust you. I just wish that I'd realized it before it was too late."

"Thank you. Let's not look back, only forward. I have a question, though, but I don't want to dampen the potential mood."

He furrows his brow. "What is it?"

"It's about Mia. Where have you landed on that whole situation?"

He sighs and looks away again. "I struggled with it for a long time, Ana. After speaking to my therapist, he helped me to realize that you were right by saying what you said about the situation. She's my sister and we've always been extremely close so it was hard to accept. Her and I didn't talk for over a year, but before we stopped talking, I told her that she should see Flynn herself. He told me that she had made significant progress over that year. She reached out to me and wanted to meet for lunch. She apologized and seemed sincere. She thanked me for not having her arrested and said that she knows now that she deserved to be arrested. She said she's sorry for all of the awful things that she said about you. She said she was angry with herself and was projecting it all onto you. She also thanked me for getting her in to see Flynn and she said he has helped her significantly."

I'm shocked. "Kate has trying to push me to talk to her again, but I just haven't been ready yet. Maybe someday soon I can, at the very least, meet with her and hear her out."

He smiles. "I think you should. Over the last year and a half that we've been talking again, I've seen a great change in her. I guess that all she needed was a neutral party to help her to see what she needed to see."

"I believe you."

We drink a few more glasses of wine together and talk casually. "I believe I have a date with you in the playroom?"

I look into his eyes and smile. I put my glass down. "Yes, sir." I can see the sparkle in his eyes that he used to get whenever I called him sir in the past. He puts his wine glass down as well and he stands and offers me his hand. I gladly take it and he helps me up and leads me upstairs. He closes and locks the door behind us as we go into the bedroom and he guides me into his closet. He puts in the code and I am shivering in anticipation of what awaits me in the playroom.

Once the door is open, he encourages me to go in ahead of him. It's still just as we left it the last time we came in here. He wraps his arms around my waist and moves my hair over to one side. He kisses my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "Get into position and I will be right back, baby."

"Yes, sir." He leaves the room and I take off all of my clothes except my panties and I braid my hair before assuming my kneeling position by the door. Fuck, I've missed this. He comes back into the room in those jeans that I love so much and wanders around to, presumably, gather up stuff to use on me and I'm getting more excited by the minute. He finally comes back to me and lays his hand on my head.

"Stand." I stand as gracefully as possible and he turns me around to face him. He has a blindfold in his hands. "Are you ready to play, Ana?"

I cannot hide the smile on my face. "Yes, sir." He puts the blindfold over my eyes and ties it behind my head. He leads me across the room and begins restraining me. I know that he's about to reintroduce me to the many pleasures that only he can give me and I cannot contain my excitement.

We have a highly pleasurable time in the playroom. He reenacted our first time in there and it was even better than the first time. Afterwards, he carried me to bed like last time and after he goes and cleans the room and locks it, he gets into bed with me and worships my body sensually and delicately.

I fall asleep, safe and thoroughly sated in the arms of my boyfriend.

I wake up in the morning to find my man staring at me again. "Can I help you, Mr. Grey?"

He smiles and puts his hand on the side of my face and puts a stray hair behind my ear. "I want to take you out on a date tonight. We should probably take this more slowly, like a normal boyfriend and girlfriend. I will stay nights at the penthouse, most of the time, and take you on dates. How does that sound to you?"

I smile. "I think that you're probably right, although, I will miss the excellent sleep that I've had the last 2 nights with you in my bed again."

"Me, too. I don't want to screw this up this time. We need to do this right. I will come by after work and spend time with the kids while you get ready for our date."

"I like that plan, Mr. Grey."

He gives me a sweet kiss. "Let's get up and get ready for work and then I'll see you again this evening."

I nod. "Okay." He kisses me sweetly and we get out of bed and take a shower together before getting dressed for work. We go and eat breakfast with the kids and we send Phoebe and Liam off to school before we go out and get into our SUVs. Christian helps me into mine with Gibson and he buckles me in and gives me a sweet kiss.

"I'll see you after work. I love you."

I nod. "I love you, too, Christian." He shuts my door and goes to get into his with Taylor and we head to work.

I have an uneventful day at work and work through a couple manuscripts and some contracts. Whenever it's time to go home, I have Gibson take me to a boutique to pick out a new dress for my date tonight. I'm super excited about it. Christian has always made our dates special events.

I got a new white chiffon dress and I believe that Christian will love it. I get matching heels and a clutch. Of course, I also got some new sexy lingerie to go with it.

By the time I get home, Christian is already here. I take my new stuff up to the bedroom and come down and greet him and the children before going upstairs to get dressed. I take a quick shower because I'm too eager for this date to take a long bath. Maybe I will after our date. I get dressed and put my hair up. I put on some light makeup and jewelry that isn't too flashy. I grab my clutch and check myself out in the mirror and I'm quite pleased with the way I look.