Chapter 15
Christmas Eve, we had a lovely day. Taylor and Gail had the day off, allowing them to have a nice Christmas Eve together. Taylor will have to work all day today, so it was the least we could do.
Christian gave me an introduction to a Dom/sub relationship yesterday. There were no punishments. I followed everything Christian said for me to do. It was nice, not thinking about anything, listening to Christian's instructions. I was thinking he would want me to give him a blow job every hour, or fuck me in the kitchen, something random, but he did none of that.
I only wore lacy panties, the ones he chose. He had me make us breakfast, lunch, and dinner, making sure I ate every bite. Christian had me suck him off at one point, but it was like he could read my mind. I was in our room, starting to think about the work I should be doing, but he came at the moment my mind started to drift off. He had me get on my knees and pleasure him, and I did thoroughly. I stopped thinking about everything, except him.
It was pointless to think about all the AMC requests now. If people really wanted to run an AMC franchise, they could wait till after Christmas. I don't know why I was so stressed about everything.
I got to swim naked in the indoor pool again. Christian watched me, enjoying the view. I swam a good ten laps, realizing I do need to work out. It is a good stress reliever, among other things. When I was done, Christian helped me out of the pool. He dried me off and carried me to the shower. We showered together and made love. Afterward, he took care of me, drying me off again, and combed and braided my hair. He decided I didn't need any more clothes.
When he had to finish some work, he didn't get to from the night before, I wrapped the presents we were going to bring over for today and unpacked my clothes and random things from my condo. The movers kept everything organized, placing my boxes in their appropriate rooms. I have a few boxes in one of the guest rooms.
We are going to make it my own room, but I am not sure what I want it to be yet. I was thinking yesterday, it would be good to have a chef's office, which would consist of your typical office furniture, but I would also have an inspiration board, a place to have random ingredients, a preparation table, and storage space. I would not need a full kitchen or anything, somewhere I can put food together and taste them. Be able to sit and think about dishes I would want to try to make. The guest room is right next to the kitchen, so it would be perfect.
When he was done working, we watched a few classic Christmas movies in the movie room, one's Christian never seen before. We watch Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, The Little Drummer boy, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Charlie Brown's Christmas. My favorite moment was when he declared Snoopy was a dick.
When it was getting late, he carried me to our bedroom and made love to me. We had sex a few times, but nothing too crazy. The day wasn't about sex, making me feel silly and naïve about how Christian would treat me as a submissive. It was perfect.
~oOo~
"She can take a cab for all I care. This is ridiculous." Christian, Taylor and I are waiting in the Audi SUV at the SeaTac airport. It is raining, cats and dogs, if anyone is interested in adopting. Snarky Ana, I like. We have been waiting for an hour and had to drive around several times, so we wouldn't get a ticket. I called my mother. I text her. I even checked with the airport, making sure her flight came in. It was only delayed 10 minutes. She should be here by now. Maybe she is waiting for her red carpet and paparazzi?
"Let's go inside. Maybe she is waiting for us." Christian offers, rubbing my back to calm me down.
"I told her to meet me outside, and she said she would."
"I can go in and check Ana," Taylor asks.
"Fine, I'm sorry you have to go out in the rain."
"No need to apologize Ana." Taylor insists, smiling back at me in the rear-view mirror. He gets out from the driver seat, pulls out his umbrella, hopefully not getting too wet, and heads into the airport.
"This is just like her, not following instructions."
"Like her daughter." He jokes.
"Hey! I only don't follow instructions when I'm stressed out…and when I want to get spanked." I whisper. He chuckles.
"There she is." I huff. She has three bags, all being held by Taylor, who is somehow holding the umbrella over her too. Christian quickly gets out to help. I would rather see her drown. I get out anyways.
"Anastasia, what took you so long?!" She says, already angry at me.
"Hello to you too." I politely hug her. Christian helps Taylor put her luggage in the trunk. "I told you we would be outside." I defend.
"I wasn't going to wait outside in this absurd weather." It is just rain, not a fucking hurricane. "It took your lovely fiancé here to finally come and get me," she says, wrapping her arm around Taylor. Taylor looks seriously uncomfortable. "Tell your security to hurry up. I do not want to wait any longer." She stresses, glaring at Christian, who is standing in the rain, looking seriously amused.
"Mom, this is Christian Grey, MY BOYFRIEND. Christian, this is Carla Wilks."
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Wilks" Christian graciously offers his hand.
"Oh." she sighed, dropping Taylor's arm like a hot potato. "It is lovely to finally meet Ana's fiancé." Is she really going to do this all day? Oh god, she is going to drive him away. Hurry, promise sexual favors later tonight. "You should really hire some better help, Christian. I can probably help you find someone." Really, ready to fire Taylor already. Taylor opens the car door for Christian and my mother. She then closes the door on me. I want to scream. Just get Taylor's gun and end it.
"Remember, only a couple of days Ana." Taylor reminds me, opening the passenger door for me. I mouth a 'Thank you' towards him, truly grateful for everything Taylor does. He takes care of GEH, Christian and I. I always feel safe around him. He is the reason why we haven't had troubles with Elena. He has someone always watching her. She hasn't been able to bother us anymore, only annoying Grace occasionally with her phone calls and emails asking for forgiveness. But Grace can take care of her, in her own way. You know it's bad when you are thinking about Elena.
I try to get out of my head and join the conversation. I turn back and realize my mother is barraging Christian with complaints, and he seems unsure how to handle it. I try to distract her, the best way I know how. Make it about her.
"I'm sorry I didn't meet you at the airport. You must have been worried." I express to her.
"Annie, I was expecting a sign with my name on it and some assistance with my bags. You didn't really expect me to do this all by myself." I was close to the red carpet. "You should really teach your butler here, how to do his job." And the hits keep on coming. Taylor only chuckles quietly.
"He is not our butler, he's our security. And it was my fault, I should have gotten you."
"It was really my fault, Ms. Wilks. I was in a rush to get to my parent's house." Christian interjects.
"Oh Christian, it's not a problem. I'm sorry for being so inconsiderate." Can forgive Christian for being rude in a second. Can't help your own daughter when she was raped. Wow! I try to ignore my inner voice, considering she is going to make me mad reminding me of the truth.
"No need to apologize Ms. Wilks. We should be at my parents' house on time if we leave now."
"Please Christian, call me mom." Oh god!
"He can call you Carla. He has a mother" I command. She glares at me.
"I will not take that tone from you, Annie. You will not talk to your mother like that." What is she going to do, put her over her knee and spank you? We only let one person do that.
"I'm sorry mom." I relent again, but I feel my heart breaking every time.
"What's this about going to your parent's house?"
"We need to go to Christian's parent's house now. I'm helping then cook dinner, so I don't want to be too late."
"They are not having a caterer?"
"No, my mother likes to make home cook meals for family dinners. She likes to keep it personal." Christian comments.
"We can't go. I need to change." Carla decides for us.
"Mom, you can change there. Grace won't mind." I try to demand.
"I can't go over there looking like this. Let's go home, so I can change. I also want a tour of your fabulous penthouse. I heard such amazing things about it." We've told her nothing.
"I need to be at the Greys soon, the dishes I'm making take a lot of preparation time."
"Annie, I know your cooking skills, a sandwich or whatever doesn't take hours to make."
"You don't know what I'm making, and you don't know my cooking. I am making everything from scratch, and I need to be there now. You can get cleaned up at the Greys. That's final!" I turn around, ending the conversation. I already know my mother has something ready in her arsenal, and it is called guilt. Don't you let her get to you!
"I want to look nice for Christian's parents." (sniffle) "I don't want to look like a fool." (sniffle) "I had a long flight from Los Angeles. I was lucky to even find a flight that would get me here." (sniffle) "It cost me practically an arm and a leg to get her." (sniffle)
I am not even going to look back at her. I'm pretty sure she is whipping a phony tear right now.
"We should have enough time to stop by your hotel." Christian offers.
"Christian." I turn back around, chastising him.
"Oh, thank you, Christian, for being so sweet. I won't take too long, really, I promise." I glare at him, not wanting him to cave in, but he shrugs his shoulders, unsure what to do. Taylor takes a different exit to go to my mother's hotel. I turn back around, feeling like I lost this battle. We are winning the war baby, I promise.
"I am staying at a hotel? Do you not want me to stay at your nice penthouse Christian?" Fuck.
~oOo~
Two and half hours later, we are at the Grey's house. Christian had to call twice telling them we were going to be late. I had to direct Mia on starting my dishes.
I was lucky she was there. At one point, I thought she was going to have to work Christmas at AMC Seattle, but I made sure she got the holidays off. She will be working tomorrow, but she doesn't seem to mind.
Mia started preparing my side dishes and dessert. Tonight, we will be having candied yams, savory roasted root vegetables, apple cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole and pecan pie. Grace already started on a Christmas ham and prime rib. I hopefully will just have to taste the dishes, check if it needs any seasoning, and put it in the oven. I apologize several times to Mia and Grace, but they dismiss my apology, stating I have nothing to be sorry about. I wish that was true.
Taylor parked the car, and Christian helps my mother out. I help get the presents, not even wanting to look at my mother at this point. "What a lovely home. Is your penthouse like this?" Carla asks, acting innocent as usual.
"No, Ana and I live in a large condo near work, in downtown Seattle."
"Oh." She replies with disappointment. "Will you be moving to a house like this after you get married?"
I decide to jump in. "Mom, Christian and I-"
"I hope so. I wouldn't mind a home in this neighborhood if Ana likes it too of course." He turns back and winks at me. I blush with his gesture. I want to be happy with his talk of the future, but I hate leading my mother on, especially after she meets the Greys.
"Merry Christmas, Christian." Grace walks out to greet Christian. Christian hastily drops my mother's arm, to hug and kiss his mother.
"Merry Christmas mom." Their relationship usually makes me beam, but today it makes me shrink thinking I don't have that with my mother.
"Ana darling, Merry Christmas to you too." She turns towards me, hugging and kissing me on the cheek. I think you do have that relationship, just with someone else's mother. "Let me help you with those,"
"Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too Grace." Grace grabs the presents in my hands and heads inside, not acknowledging my mother yet.
"How rude is she." Carla murmurs to me.
"Don't you dare start, or I will throw you out myself." I reprimand, making sure no one else can hear me, except for her.
"Stop worrying. I will not embarrass you." Shouldn't worry about embarrassment. Ruining everything you build, I'm most worried about.
We walk into the foyer, taking our coats off, and Taylor places the rest of the gifts in the foyer. He acknowledges Grace and Carrick, who is helping with our coats, with a Merry Christmas. Taylor then leaves to most likely meet with Reynolds to review security measures for the day.
I eventually make the introductions. "Mom, this is Carrick Grey and Dr. Grace Grey, Christian's parents. Carrick and Grace, this is my mother Carla Wilks."
"Nice to meet you. Call us Carrick and Grace" Carrick speaks, with both of them offering their hands.
"Nice to meet you." Carla shakes their hands. "You can call me, Ms. Wilks." Fuck me!
"Well please…Ms. Wilks, come inside. Make yourself comfortable." Grace offers. She shows her into the living room. She follows Carrick and wraps her arms right around Christians. I am about to walk, when Grace, stops me. She grabs me on either side of my shoulder, and asks me honestly, "Are you okay?"
"Honestly?" She nods her head yes. "No." She embraces me with a fierce hug, one that I needed all day.
"You will be." And we continue with our day.
~oOo~
"I think it is official. Carla is going to marry Elliot." Kate jokes, walking into the kitchen with champagne and orange juice in hand, most likely leaving the loud cackling coming from the living room. "Can't charm my father for the life of him, but has Carla wrapped around his finger."
Kate didn't have a very good Christmas Eve dinner with her parents. Instead of being rude towards Elliot, they bragged about their son Ethan, talking about how great he is. Nothing better than telling one man how much better another man is. Elliot took it all in, but he never got to ask Kate's father for his blessing. He pulled me aside a while ago asking what he should do, and I told him not to worry about it, ask her anyways. I also gave him my blessing, if that meant anything. For him, it did. He is going along with the proposal.
"Carla is…interesting," Grace says, as she takes out of the oven the last of dinner.
We will still be having dinner on time, even though I came late. Mia was able to prepare everything perfectly. I shouldn't be surprised. She is a really good chef. She did train in Paris. True, I guess she is ahead of me in that case.
"I don't know. She is kind of weird." Mia comments.
"Mia!" Grace reprimands.
"What? She kept asking if she can get a tour of the house. I think she is going to rob the place later." Mia jokes, which we can't help but laugh.
"She has a thing for houses," I explain to them. "I think because she always wanted a mansion."
"Oh, well I can give her a tour later." Grace offers.
"No that is ok. I can do it." I don't know what Carla will say to Grace alone.
We move the food out to the dining room table, and announce dinner is ready, and everyone comes into the dining room. Carla has her arm wrapped around Elliot, laughing at one of his jokes. She even sits next to him, forcing Kate to sit across from him. Luckily, she doesn't seem angry, amused by Carla. She even mouths drama towards me.
We all sit down at the grand table, starting to pass the food around. We probably have too much food, considering it is only Grace, Carrick, Kate, Elliot, Mia, Christian, Myself and Carla. But, Grace was planning to give the leftovers to the staff at Coping Together. They have their own Christmas party, bringing leftovers for the staff, and anyone who is at their center right now. It is gracious of them and makes me happy to provide some food.
We have lite conversations, talking about our past week, and plans for the New Year. Mia is excited about her promotion. She knows she will have to work hard to be head chef, but she is ready and motivated to do it. She even has some recipe ideas.
Elliot will be working on a rejuvenation project in the Seattle area. He is going to buy vacant properties that have long been abandoned. He is going to flip them, and either sell the properties or rent them out. It is his way of giving back to the community that has brought him so much success.
Kate and I talked about our expansion plans with AMC, and how excited but nervous we are. We have a lot of work to do and nervous about the upcoming challenges, but we know it will be great for business.
Grace and Carrick discussed how they are preparing for retirement. Their children were surprised by this, but they promised they are going to work less. Grace was more hesitant about this since she doesn't have a pediatrician to replace her at her Doctor's office. It makes her apprehensive to walk away from her practice. Carrick, however, is ready to retire, and will only work a couple of days a week next year. He will be an AMC advisor and hope to teach some classes at the University of Washington law school. He is better prepared for retirement.
Carla was next in offering her plans for the New Year. We should skip her.
"I plan to be there for my family more." She casually offers, looking at me specifically. "I want to help people in need." She almost sounds sincere.
"In what way?" Kate asks.
"Well, I have a longtime friend Stephen, who desperately needs my help. He has no home and very little money. I want to help him get back on his feet."
Did I hear her correctly? "What's his name?" I ask.
"Stephen Morton, you remember him, Annie. He finally got out of his unfortunate situation, and he contacted me for help. I feel so sorry for him, considering he has no family. His parents died, and he never had any children when he lost is significant other. It's rather sad," she explains to the group. They all nod, agreeing with her attention, except for Kate and Christian, who stare at me, waiting for my reaction. I swallow hard, as it sinks in what she said. "I was also hoping to go on vacation in Cuba. I hear it is lovely." She continues to describe how great it is, but I'm not paying attention to her. I start to shake thinking about Stephen. Christian notices this right away.
"We'll be right back." Christian quickly interrupts, to Carla's disgust. "I remembered, there's something I want to show Ana," Christian announces to the table. He moves us out of the dining room, practically dragging me since I have lost a will to move or speak right now. We walk out to the backyard. It is a cold night, and he offers his blazer, but I decline. I welcome the cold air.
I can't believe Stephen was released from prison. With work and my relationship with Christian, I completely forgot about his release date. Thinking about it, he has been out for a year. If he contacted my mother, he is going to try and contact me, I'm sure of it.
What am I going to do?
~oOo~
"I don't know what I'm going to do about Stephen," I admit to Christian as we walk into the boathouse. "I don't want to see him."
"You won't." Christian states with authority.
I start to pace. "What if he tries?"
"Then we will stop him."
"But he can be devious. He was able to contact me from prison." I remember the letters and phone calls he sent me for months, proclaiming he was sorry and he loved me. I moved and changed my phone number. I had to change my phone number a few times and block my address until he finally stopped. It felt like he was stalking me from prison.
"I will protect you."
"You can't Christian. You can't. No one can."
He growls, frustrated at my objection. He runs his hands through his hair, practically pulling it out. He eventually looks at me, determined.
"I didn't want to do this here, but I need to convince you I will protect you for the rest of my life." He walks in front of me and bends down on one knee. He grabs my left hand. "I want to marry you. I want you to officially be mine, and I'm yours. I want to grow old with you. I want to share the successes as well as the struggles with you because you are my best friend, my lover, and hopefully, my wife. I love you with all my body, heart, and soul." I believe him, every word he said. He takes out a ring that was in his jacket pocket. A beautiful ring that looks like an antique. "If you think that isn't enough, I asked Kate for her blessing. She told me you would be crazy not to accept." He chuckles. He then genuinely declares, "I love you, Ana. Will you marry me?"
I want to be his. YES! I am afraid my problems will burden him. NO! But I want him to be there with me through it all. YES! "Yes," I tell him, and we embrace, kissing him till my worries disappear.
~oOo~
My family circle around Christian and I, as they congratulate us on our marriage proposal. The moment we got inside, I announced our engagement. Elliot joked how smart it was to do it on Christmas, never forget our anniversary that way. I celebrate with everyone with champagne brought out by Carrick and am hugging Grace, who has tears of joy.
That is when I see her. My mother, sitting at the table, looking agitated. I finish my hug with Grace, pleased to see her so happy, and I tell my family I will be right back. They crowd Christian, who has a full teeth grin, as everyone congratulates him for finally settling down with a good woman. I take my mother's arm and drag her to the foyer.
"What is your problem?" I furiously ask, angry at how she has been this whole day.
"He did not ask for my permission." She shrieks, sounding perturbed.
"He didn't need to, he asked Kate."
"Kate?! What?! Why would he ask…her?" She mutters in disgust.
"Because Kate is my sister, and the closest family I have."
"I am your mother!"
"Don't you get it, no, you're not!"
"How dare you! He should have asked me! How disrespectful of him not to include me?!"
"It is always about you, isn't?" I wait for a response, but she looks confused. "You never really cared about me. Admit it? I was a nuisance, a mistake. That is why you never believed me about being raped! You never loved me! Grace has been more of a mother than you ever-!" And she slaps me. She slaps my cheek, hard. I…I don't even know what to say. She…. she slapped you. That really hurt. Leave Ana. She is hurting us too much. I hold my cheek, shocked by what she did, looking at her like I don't know the woman standing in front of me.
She looks furious like I caused her to slap me. "Don't you ever speak to me like that!"
"Get away from my wife." Christian growls, stepping in between us.
"She is not your wife. And I would be careful with her. I taught my daughter how to survive. If I know anything about her, she is only marrying you for your money." Carla rants.
"It is obvious you know nothing about your daughter. She's a multimillionaire." Christian states. "She doesn't need or wants my money."
Carla looks absolutely dumbfounded. I guess she didn't know how successful I really am. She goes to grab her coat and purse out of the closet in the foyer. She is about to leave, but then stops, and turns back to me.
"You're right Anastasia, you were a mistake," and leaves, slamming the door. Christian goes after her, for whatever reason. I start to cry, upset with how she treated me. Grace rushes to hug me, comforting me during my time of weakness.
"Oh, my sweet child." Grace rubs my back. I look up at her and see the sincerity of her words. I hug her tighter and cry even more on her shoulder. I might of lost my mother, but I gained another one this Christmas Day.
