Over the last 3 months, we have celebrated Teddy's 7th birthday and Lily's 10th. Everyone had a blast at both. Gideon wasn't invited or welcome at either, so Mia didn't come either, which is fine. Whatever it takes to not have Gideon near our home.
Natalie is now 28 weeks pregnant with our babies. We found out 2 months ago that we are having a boy and a girl. We will have 3 of each gender now. Natalie and the babies are all healthy and everyone is happy.
Mia and Gideon are getting married tomorrow. I wasn't included in their wedding planning and I won't be in the wedding party which, again, is fine with me. Kate, Mia, Natalie, and I went on a spa day today and it went well, although Mia never said a word to me. She is probably mad because I've been less than welcoming to Gideon being in our family. Everyone else fully understands my viewpoint. Kate expressed that she doesn't like him either, mostly because of the hell he put me through. He isn't welcome at their house either.
Grace and Carrick don't seem fond of him, but because of Mia, they have accepted him. Elliot, much like Christian and I, is NOT a fan at all.
Kate is her MOH. Apparently, Gideon has a friend from New York be his best man. I wouldn't allow the children to be in their wedding. They asked, but I refused. I don't want them any closer to Gideon than they have to be.
It's Saturday morning and Christian, the kids, and I are getting ready for the wedding. Whenever we arrive at the Grey's manor, we have a seat close to the back along with Elliot and Ava. Mia comes down the aisle with Carrick after Kate and her dress is so elegant and she's even wearing a little crown on her head. She really does look like a princess.
I'd be happy for her, if I didn't have a feeling that this marriage is just a ruse to catch Christian and I with our guards down. Mia will be moving to New York with Gideon after their honeymoon. The wedding ceremony goes beautifully. Whenever we get to the reception, Christian, Natalie, Elliot, the kids and I are all seated at one table.
After the traditional dances, we go and dance ourselves. Whenever it gets late, we all head home. We don't even wait to see the bride and groom off.
Kate and Elliot leave with Ava at the same time. Kate is now about 34 weeks pregnant and she is having a boy this time. They are naming him Beau. I can't wait to meet him.
Whenever we get home, we put the kids down and we have some wine before we go to bed ourselves.
After we eat breakfast in the morning, we decide to go for a swim in our indoor pool as a family since it's raining outside. We're all enjoying ourselves. I'm sitting on the deck of the pool whenever Liam approaches me with a worried expression on his face. "What's wrong, Liam?" I ask.
He sits down on the lounger next to me. "I need to talk to you and dad in private." I nod.
"Go get the nanny to stay in here with the other kids. I will let dad know."
He gets up and walk up to the side of the pool where Christian is standing. "Christian, Liam needs to talk to us in private. I sent him to go and get the nanny to stay in here with the other kids while we go."
"Do you know what it's about?"
I shake my head. "No idea. I just hope he didn't knock some girl up or something like that." He smiles.
"Let's go, then. The nanny just came in." I nod and he leads me to the towels and we dry off before leading Liam into Christian's office. Liam sits down on the middle of the couch and we sit on either side of him. I put my hand on his back and Christian does as well. "What is it, buddy?" Christian asks him.
"Please don't be mad at me." I furrow my brow.
"We promise not to be mad. What's bothering you? You can tell us anything." I reassure him.
"This is difficult for me to say, but I'm just going to spit it out." We nod. "I'm gay."
"Why do you think that we'd be mad at you for that, Liam? If that's who you are, we will still love and accept you because we only want you to be your true self and be happy." Christian tells him and I nod in agreement.
He sighs in relief. "Oh, thank God. Tim's parents kicked him out of the house whenever he told them."
I furrow my brow. "Seriously? That's just messed up." I say.
"That's not how good parents should react. Is Tim safe somewhere now?" Christian asks.
"Yes, he's staying with his grandma now." Liam says.
"Good." Christian says.
Liam wraps an arm around both of us. "Thank you for accepting me as I am. I've been wanting to tell you for a while, but I've been afraid that you'd react like his parents did. I love you both. You're the best parents ever."
"We're happy for you, Liam. I have one question, though. Are you dating anyone now?"
He shakes his head. "I dated Tim for a couple of months, but that ended a while ago. We're good friends now."
"You do know to be safe if you ever become intimate with someone, right?" Christian asks.
Liam blushes. "Yes, Dad. We discussed it in health class last year. Can we go swim now? I feel much better after getting that off of my chest. I will behave better now. Holding in that secret took it's toll on my mood."
"We understand. We are here for you no matter what, Liam. We love you." I tell him.
He nods. "I know." He says with a smile. I kiss his cheek and then he gets up.
Christian and I stand up as well. Liam leaves the office first and Christian wraps an arm around me as we walk back out to our pool and Liam looks as if a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. We are proud of him.
We're proud of all of our children for various reasons, but we're proud of Liam for overcoming this obstacle and starting this new chapter in his life.
Over the last 2 months, our lives have been pleasantly uneventful.
Mia and Gideon came back from their honeymoon recently and we were forced into an awkward dinner to welcome them back before they moved Mia to New York. They are gone now.
We celebrated our 1-year anniversary alone at our island off the coast of the Maldives. We had a fantastic time. We spent the weekend there again. As per usual, Christian made it romantic and highly pleasurable.
Kate and Elliot welcomed baby Beau 2 weeks ago. He is very handsome. Kate says that this will be their last child. I guess we shall see.
Natalie is now 36 weeks pregnant. Since she is so big and her body is so small, we are going in for her to be induced today. We can't wait to meet our newest babies. The kids and our families can't wait either. Christian and I will be taking 6-week maternity and paternity leave once the babies are born. We have already decided on names for the babies, but as with the other 2, we are announcing their names after they are born.
I'm in my closet, putting the finishing touches on my light makeup whenever my husband comes in and wraps his arms around my waist. "Are you ready to go meet our babies, Mrs. Grey?"
I turn around in his arms after setting down my lip gloss and I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him sweetly. "I'm very ready, Mr. Grey. What about you?"
"I'm very ready myself. Let's go." I smile and nod and he takes my hand and leads me downstairs. We let the children know that we are leaving and that we will have babies the next time that we see them. We get Natalie and we get into the SUV and head to the hospital. We already have their car seats strapped in.
Whenever we arrive at the hospital, we help Natalie out and we walk her up to labor and delivery, where they have already set up a suite for us.
I help Natalie into the gown and the nurses come in and hook her up to machines and they give her the Pitocin to start contractions. Christian comes back into the room and we both stand on either side of her and hold her hands and support her throughout her contractions.
Once she is dilated to 5, they give her an epidural to make her more comfortable. After a few more hours, they tell her that it is time to push. I smile up at Christian and he smiles back. They get everything set up and then they help us to get Natalie into position. We support her as she pushes and pushes.
After 20 minutes, our daughter is born and we hear her cries. The nurses immediately take her to assess her. Since she is technically premature, they have to be more thorough with their examination. After another 10 minutes, our son is born. I'm really crying the happy tears at this point. I lean down and kiss Natalie's cheek once she is laid back down. "Thank you so much for this, Natalie."
"You're welcome. Thank you both for being so good to me throughout this entire process. Go and spend some time with your babies. You can come and visit me later after they are all settled in." I smile and hug her lightly and Christian does the same. We approach the little incubators where our babies are and the nurses tell us that they are both extremely healthy. Let us both hold one as we follow them back to NICU. We admire our babies the entire way.
Once we arrive, they take them back from us and tell us to go to the usual window. The same nurse that was here for the other 2 is still working here so she is familiar with us. We watch as they further assess them. They weigh them and our daughter is 5 pounds and our son is 5 pounds and 1 ounce. They signal for us to come around and they let us give them their first sponge baths. We get them dressed and bundled up and then we take them back out into the room where we've gotten to spend time with the other 2 that were born here. We feed them while we admire them. Our daughter has chestnut colored hair like mine and grey eyes like her father and our son is the opposite with Christian's copper hair and my bright blue eyes. They are absolutely beautiful. After we spend about an hour alone with them, we go out and the entire family, including Mia and Gideon, are waiting there for us.
Christian and I have a seat with the babies and we hear oohs and awws from around the room. Christian looks at me. "It's time?" he asks me and I nod.
He looks up at everyone. "We would like to introduce our daughter, Penelope Rose Grey and our son, Elijah Carrick Grey." Everyone likes their names and our children come and meet them first and then my Dad, Grace and Carrick. Afterwards, Kate, Elliot, Ava, and Beau. Finally, Mia approaches and Gideon is right behind her.
"They're adorable." Gideon says. I ignore him. I don't want him near any of our children.
Once everyone spends an hour with us, they leave and we go back and they set us up in the usual room. We are going to let Natalie get some sleep and visit her while the pediatrician has the twins tomorrow.
After they come and take the twins to see their doctor, Christian and I head back to Natalie's room. We knock before we enter. "Come in." we hear her say.
We enter the room and find that her boyfriend is here and she is wearing her beautiful smile. "How are they?" she asks.
"They are magnificent. Thank you so much for this Natalie, it means the world to us." I say.
"We're going to give you extra compensation for the next 6 months so that you can get on your feet. We can never thank you enough for this, Natalie." Christian adds.
"Thank you, but you don't have to." She says.
"We insist." Christian replies.
"Thank you both for being so great to me. It was a joy to bear your children for you. Your other kids are so magnificent that I already know that you're great parents."
We continue to talk to her for a little while longer. This is a closed adoption process so we aren't supposed to talk to or meet with her anymore after today. This makes me kind of sad because we owe this woman so much. The extra compensation should be adequate to show her our appreciation, though.
After about an hour, we say our goodbyes and head back to our room. We get there just before the pediatrician and nurse come in with our babies. They tell us that they checked out perfectly and Elijah's circumcision went well. They want us to stay here until at least tomorrow, though. It's fine with us. The other children are being well taken care of. Taylor brings us a change of clothes. We already have their going home outfits.
The next day, we are released to take them home. Once we arrive, we are greeted by our children and my dad. My dad stays with us an hour before he heads home to give us our family time.
After the kids spend another 30 minutes with us, we take the babies to their rooms after they eat and we change them and put them to bed. We take the monitor into our rooms and nap while they do. We learned that quick from the others. We will be sleep-deprived zombies if we don't.
Over the last 6 weeks, we have bonded well with our babies. The Greys and my dad threw us a welcome home party for the babies a week after we got home with them. Thankfully, Mia and Gideon didn't come.
The other kids love their baby sister and brother. They are a big help with them. Natalie officially moved out of our guest house a week after the babies were born. We will miss her.
With twins, it's a little harder to get their sleep schedules regulated so we're still sleep deprived after all. As always, it is very much worth it. They are wonderful and beautiful babies.
Christian is headed back to work tomorrow. I'm waiting for another 2 weeks. I'm afraid I'll miss the babies too much. I've considered working from home again, but I'm not sure. Christian and I are toying with the idea of setting up a nursery in my office so that I can keep the babies near me while I work. We haven't come to a final decision, though.
Christian and I have resumed our adult activities weeks ago. It's not as frequent as it was before because the babies demand so much of our time, but once I get back to work, the nanny will be more active in their lives so that we have more time for one another.
It's been 2 weeks since Christian went back to work and today is my first day back. I'm excited and sad at the same time. It will be okay, though.
Christian drops me off at my floor and escorts me in, saying he has something to show me. He leads me into the office next to mine. He turned it into a nursery and it's decorated beautifully and there's a window and door into my office and a monitor that I can take into my office so that I can hear them whenever they cry. I turn around and hug and kiss my husband and thank him. "They can stay here with you a couple of days a week while you work and the nanny can keep them the rest of the time. What do you think, baby?"
I smile. "I love it. It sounds perfect. You certainly know how to keep your wife happy, Mr. Grey."
He kisses me sweetly. "How about we go into your office and I will make you even happier?"
"Mmm… I like that idea." He takes my hand and we close the door and lock up and he leads me into my office and he bends me over my desk and fucks me properly. It definitely made me happier and it made my day even better. I love that man so much.
The next day whenever I get to my office, I find a dozen roses on my desk. Christian must've sent them. He's so sweet. I sit down my stuff and sit behind my desk. I take the card off the flowers.
From: Your Secret Admirer
That's all that the card says. I guess that they aren't from my husband. I decide to take this to my husband immediately. I have no idea who they could be from.
I tell my assistant that I will be back shortly and I get onto the elevator and head up to the 20th floor.
Whenever I arrive, Andrea tells me that he has someone in with him at the moment and to have a seat. I nod and walk over and have a seat in the waiting room. 20 minutes later, the door opens and Gideon Cross comes out. He smirks at me as he walks by. What the fuck is that about?
"You can go in now, Mrs. Grey." Andrea tells me and I stand up.
"Thank you, Andrea." I say as I walk past her. Whenever I enter the room, I find my husband standing, staring out the floor to ceiling windows. "Do you have a little time for your wife, Mr. Grey?" I ask to get his attention.
He turns around with a smile upon his ridiculously handsome face and he approaches me. We meet in the middle and he wraps his arms around me and I wrap my own arms around his neck. He leans down and kisses me sweetly. "What brings you in this early, Mrs. Grey?" He asks me.
"Before we get to that, why was Gideon here?" I ask.
He sighs and leads me to the couch and he helps me to have a seat and he sits right beside me. He looks into my eyes. "He wants to purchase Cross Industries back." I furrow my brow.
"So, are you going to sell to him?" I ask.
"I don't want to because of all the bullshit he put us through, but…" he veers off and rubs his face with the palms of both hands. "Mia begged me and he IS offering twice the value. So, essentially, yes. I am selling it back to him."
This frustrates me but fuck it. Arguing with him about it will get me absolutely nowhere. "Okay."
He turns back to me and looks into my eyes. "So, what brings you in this morning, Ana?"
I pull the card out of my purse and hand it to him. "This was on my desk with a dozen roses. I have no clue who sent it."
"Hmm… I will have Taylor investigate. He can go to this florist and find out who purchased them."
"Thank you. I just wanted to bring it to you immediately because of the whole 'no secrets' and 'total honesty' thing."
"Well, thank you for that, baby. Do you feel up to indulging in some dessert?" he asks with a twinkle in his eyes. My smile brightens.
"I was actually having a sweet tooth so that sounds like a fine idea, Mr. Grey." I tell him.
His lips crash into mine and he kisses me with passion. "Door locked?" he asks.
"No." I go to get it, but he stops me.
"You stay and get out of those panties and ready for me and I will be right back." I smile.
"Yes, sir." He goes to the door and I stand and take off my panties and then I get back onto the couch on my hands and knees and flip the skirt up on my dress to expose my ass and core. He comes up behind me and squeezes my ass cheeks just before he dives in and fucks me deliciously.
After we're both straightened back up, he walks me to the elevator and says that he will see me in my office for lunch.
When I get back to my office, I take the roses out and set them on the reception desk. They creep me out now. I get back into my office and kick back and start working on manuscripts. It's just before lunch when my phone rings and it's my husband. I answer.
"How may I help you, Mr. Grey?" I ask.
"My dad is in the hospital. Do you want to come with me or not?" I can hear the urgency and concern in his voice.
"I'm with you through everything. Let me get wrapped up really quick and I'll wait for you at the elevator."
"Thank you, baby. I love you."
"I love you, too, Mr. Grey." I hang up and throw a manuscript into my bag and let Stacey know that I won't be back in today and I wait for the elevator to open. Whenever it does, there stands my distraught husband. I immediately get on and set my bag on the floor and wrap my arms around him to comfort him.
I don't know what happened to Carrick, but it can't be good at all if it upsets Christian this much.
On the way to the hospital, he explains to me that they believe his dad had a stroke, but he lost consciousness so they aren't sure.
Whenever we arrive, we get out and I wrap an arm around Christian's waist as we rush inside. We find the rest of the Greys in the waiting room. They all look equally distraught, except Gideon. He seems unnaturally calm as he comforts his wife.
After hours, a doctor approaches the room and everyone stands up. "Are you all here for Carrick Grey?" he asks.
"Yes. What's wrong with my husband?" Grace asks.
"Have a seat, Mrs. Grey." He tells her. This can't be good. She nods and has a seat and we all stand around as he sits on the table in front of her and takes her hand. "Mr. Grey had an aneurysm burst. The neurosurgeons took him in to stop the bleed and repair the vessels, but it was too late. He is officially brain dead. We have to wait at least 6 hours to confirm it, but we need to know if he's an organ donor by that time. I'm sorry. Take your time. We're having him put into a room upstairs and you can all take turns visiting with him."
Everyone in the room, aside from Gideon, is crying at this point. Mia has her arm around her mother and Elliot joins as well. Christian holds onto me and I hold him to try to comfort him. It's not easy for Christian to express his emotions, but I will be here for him no matter what happens. He is losing his father and that breaks my heart for him. The kids and I all loved Carrick as well. My heart is broken for them, as well as the rest of the family also.
Once the doctor leaves the rooms and most of the sobs die down, we all head upstairs to the ICU waiting room. Grace is escorted into the room with Elliot first. After a while, Elliot comes back out and Christian and I go in next. This obviously pisses Mia off, but at this point her feelings about me are invalid. I'm here to comfort my husband.
When we enter the room, we find Grace sitting at Carrick's side with tears running down her face. Christian approaches her first and she looks up at him and without letting go of Carrick's hand she stands up and Christian wraps his arms around her and she wraps her free arm around him. They stand like this for a little while before he releases her and he nods for me to come hug her and I do so. "I'm so sorry, Grace. We will all be here for you." She just nods and cries on my shoulder.
She finally lets go of me and sits back in her chair and stares at Carrick and continues to cry. Christian walks around to the opposite side of the bed and I wrap an arm around his waist as he says goodbye to the man that raised him. The man who made him into the man he is today.
After a little while, we hug Grace again and leave the room so that Mia can come in as well. Over the next several hours, everyone takes turns going in so that Grace isn't alone in there and so that we can all say our proper goodbyes.
The doctor comes in and Christian tells me to go out and get everyone else so that we can all be here for Carrick's final moments before they take him to surgery to harvest his organs. Everyone approaches and kisses his cheek and then Elliot and Christian both take one of Grace's arms and guides her out of the room. As they wheel Carrick down the hall. She starts screaming for him and lets out a gut-wrenching sob as she somehow gets out of their grasp and takes off running down the hall after them. I follow her and they stop and she kisses him one last time on the cheek. "I'll love you always. I'll see you when it's my time." She says and I fight back the tears and wrap my arm around her and we slowly walk back to everyone else.
We go to the surgical waiting room to wait to see Carrick without the tubes and wires after surgery. We wait for hours before the doctor approaches us and leads us all to his room. He looks so peaceful. Everyone says their goodbyes one final time and then we give Grace some time alone with her husband.
She doesn't come out after 30 minutes so Christian and Elliot go in to check on her. I hear Christian scream. "GET A DOCTOR IN HERE NOW!!!" What the fuck is going on?
A little later, doctors and nurses run into the room. A few come back out and rush back in with a stretcher. Elliot and Christian stay in the room. The doctors and nurses come racing out of the room and I see that Grace is on the stretcher. Oh no! Christian and Elliot come over to us with tears running down their cheeks and Christian wraps his arms around me and Elliot wraps his arms around Kate. "What happened?"
"She was unresponsive whenever we got into the room. She had no pulse so we called them in. They are still working to try to get her back. We have no idea what happened." He replies and I tighten my grip on his waist and I hold him as he cries and I cry with him. I hope she comes back to us.
We go back to the waiting room and wait for word. After a couple of hours, a doctor approaches us. The same one that worked on Carrick. We all stand. "After numerous attempts to resuscitate Mrs. Grey, we regret to inform you that she didn't make it. We believe that she had sudden cardiac death. There isn't an explanation, but we can tell you that she did not suffer. I hate to bring you this news after you all just lost Mr. Grey."
Everyone is sobbing hard now. These Grey kids just lost both parents within hours of one another. "Can we see her to say goodbye?" Elliot asks.
He nods. "Yes. I will lead you to her."
He leads us all to the room where Grace is laying. There are tubes and stuff laying around on the floor. Everyone says their goodbyes and after hours, we all leave to head to our homes. I am holding onto Christian and he is leaning on me. I feel for all of their kids. I couldn't imagine losing 2 parents in one day. Grace and Carrick were exceptional people and will be missed dearly. I guess the next step is to plan a funeral, probably for both at the same time.
All I know for sure is that I will be by my husband's side and support him throughout his grief with whatever he may want or need. That is my obligation as his wife. We have to break this news to the children. They will be devastated.
The car ride home is silent. Whenever we arrive, I walk Christian to the couch and ask him to sit. "Do you need anything to drink?" I ask.
He looks up at me and nods. "Bring me the bourbon." I nod and kiss his forehead.
I go and fetch the bourbon and come back and set it on the table and pour him a glass and I hand it to him and sit beside him and wrap my arm around him. "I'm sorry, Christian. I wish I knew what to say."
"Just stay here with me. That's what I need right now. In the morning, we have to tell the children and they will be upset."
I nod. "I love you, Christian. I will be here with you for absolutely any and every thing that you need. Please don't let this close you off from us."
He nods. "I won't. I need you and the children to help me through this."
"We will be here. I promise." He gives me a sad smile and kisses me sweetly. I lay my head on his shoulder and wrap my other arm around him and just hold him.
After his third glass of bourbon is empty, he stands and offers me his hand and I take it. He leads me upstairs and we peek in on the older children and whenever we get to the twins, they are starting to stir, so we take care of them together until they go back to sleep. I grab the monitor and we go to our room. I help him out of his clothes and strip myself. We lay down and I lay my head on his chest as he looks up at the ceiling.
"I don't know how to live in a world without them, Ana. The only time that I've lived without them was before they adopted me and I had a horrible life until they came along." He admits.
"Christian, I will help you however I can. I swear that to you. Your pain is my pain."
"Thank you, baby. I'm so lucky to have you as my wife." He says as he kisses the top of my head.
"I'm lucky to have you as my husband. I will do absolutely nothing that could possibly compromise our bond. EVER!"
He lifts my head to where I'm looking at him. He kisses me sweetly. "Will you let me get lost in you, Mrs. Grey? I need to get lost in you right now." I give him a sweet mile.
"My body is a vessel for your comfort, happiness, and pleasure. Please get lost in me." He smiles and his lips crash into mine as he rolls me onto my back and he loves me slowly and we both cry simultaneously throughout. After hours, we finally both come undone together and he collapses on me and I just hold him as he sobs into my pillow. "I've got you, Christian. Forever. Let it all out."
After about 30 minutes, his tears die down and he lifts his head and kisses me sweetly. "Thank you, Ana."
I put my hand gently on the side of his face. "Don't you know by now that I will do anything to make you even the slightest bit happier?"
He smiles genuinely. "As a matter of fact, I do." He kisses me sweetly as he pulls out and he lies down beside me. Right after we get comfortable, the babies wake up again.
"I've got it. You get your rest. You had a pretty rough day."
He nods. "Okay. Holler at me if you need any help, though."
"I will. I love you."
"I love you, too, Mrs. Grey."
After I get the babies back to sleep, I come back to bed to find my husband fast asleep. I take off my robe and get back into bed and lay my head on his chest and drape my arm and leg over him and drift off into a deep sleep myself.
I'm woke up by the babies a few more times before daylight, but I take care of it myself so Christian can rest.
In the morning, I'm awoken by my husband kissing my neck. He rolls me onto my back and he fucks me. It takes a little longer than usual, but after we climax together, he thanks me and he cries some more and I cry with him. We finally get up and shower together and then we go and get dressed in comfortable clothes since we will be staying home with the kids today.
Whenever we finish eating breakfast with the older kids, we ask them to meet us in the family room so that we can talk to them about something. They look concerned but they go in there and have a seat and leave seats for Christian and I. We sit together and I hold his hand. He nods at me, signaling for me to tell them. I nod back.
"Kids, I have to tell you something that is going to be difficult to hear. Just know that we are all staying home together to be there for one another. We are going to need it." I pause and look to Christian and squeeze his hand and I look back around the room at the kids. "Mimi and Pops passed away yesterday. They both went to heaven." Suddenly, it hits them and they are all sobbing. Liam takes off running up the stairs.
"I'll get Liam." Christian tells me and I nod. I comfort the other kids. They all hug me at the same time and I hug them back the best that I can. Christian finally comes back alone. "He just needs some time to work through it." I nod and give him a sad smile. The kids all hug Christian as well. We all sit around the room comforting each other and crying.
I go up to talk to Liam. I knock before I enter because, apparently, teenagers don't like their privacy being invaded. He tells me to come in and I close the door behind me and he is curled up in a ball on the bed. I get onto the bed behind him and wrap my arms around him. "Let it out, Liam. You're allowed to feel your feelings. I've got you."
He begins to sob and I just hold him until his sobs die down. He finally turns around and looks at me. "They're really gone?"
I nod. "I wish they weren't. Your dad is going to need us all to comfort him as well. He just lost the 2 people that raised him and this is hard on him as well."
He nods. "Let me freshen up and I will come down."
I kiss his cheek. "Okay, buddy. See you down there." I get up and he does as well. I leave the room as he goes into his bathroom. I go downstairs and rejoin everyone else and we all spend the day comforting each other and taking care of Penny and Elijah.
Over the last 2 months, things have really calmed back down. Christian helped Elliot and Mia plan their parents' funeral. I stood by Christian's side, as promised.
Their funeral was heart breaking, but beautiful at the same time. They lived together and they died together. There were a lot of people there and a LOT of tears were shed.
At the will reading, we learned that they left all 3 of their children a third of their net worth. They willed various cherished belongings to each. They left the grandchildren each a trust fund that they will have access to at 18. They left the spouses some hand me down memorabilia as well.
I was shocked to discover that they left me in charge of Coping Together. I guess we can't miss those Galas anymore. The rest of their worldly possessions were distributed equally between the kids and their families.
The kids all agreed to keep their house unoccupied and only to be used for family get-togethers and celebrations. Christian contributed his share of the money to Coping together because he said that he doesn't need it. He's quite philanthropic.
The unexpected deaths of Grace and Carrick led me to contact my mother so that is my goal for today. Life is too short to hold grudges. I just have to use caution with us so that she doesn't take advantage of us.
The kids are all dealing with the death of 2 of their grandparents at the same time as well as can be expected. They started back at school after their summer break which was about a month ago, following Liam and Phoebe's birthdays.
The twins are now almost 4 months old. They are starting to develop their own little personalities. They've got their sleep schedules pretty much in sync now, so we only have to get up with them twice a night, tops.
Liam and Phoebe had their birthdays and Liam is now 14 and Phoebe is 10. Liam's behavior has improved significantly since he finally came out to us. We are so proud of all of our children. All of our children have always excelled in their studies and, for the most part, they have excellent grades. They are all intelligent children.
The children are at school today and my husband is at work. I'm going in late today. I wanted to be home with the babies whenever I call my mom. I may need them to calm me after I talk to her. That depends if she upsets me or not. I just put the babies back down and I am staring at my phone with her number on the screen.
I finally hit the dial number.
"Hello?" she answers.
"Hi, Mom." I say.
"Oh, Ana. It's so nice to hear from you. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing great. How are you?" I ask.
"Well, I'm currently having some health issues, but I'd like to meet with you in person to discuss that as it's a pretty extensive list." I'm wondering if this is a sympathy ruse, but I go with it.
"Can you come to Seattle? I'd rather not be away from the children after the last couple of months that they have had."
"What happened the last couple of months?" she asks because she's nosy.
"Christian's parents both passed away. It was hard on everyone. They were exceptional people."
"Oh, that's terrible. I can come to Seattle. Could you help me with a ticket and a hotel?"
Of course. Here we go with the money already. "Sure. I'd like to apologize in person anyways."
"Apologize for what?" she asks.
"For not talking to you for almost 20 years."
"Okay. Let me know whenever you get the flight taken care of and I will see you whenever I get there. Bob can't come because he has a busy week with work."
"Okay. I'll get you booked on a flight and email you the details."
"Okay. Thank you. See you soon."
"See you soon, Mom." I hang up and drop my phone on the table. I hope that I didn't just open a can of worms that should've stayed closed.
I hear the babies fuss so I get them up and bring them downstairs and spend a couple of hours with them before I decide that I need to go into work and leave them with the nanny.