Author's Note: This last few chapters are packed full of stuff. We are almost done, folks. Just a couple more to go after this one, then an epilogue. And no, there's not going to be a Part 2, unless somebody else wants to write one. I've enjoyed writing this one, but I'm happy to leave it where I'm going to be leaving it.

Chapter 62: Isaac's High School Graduation (Christian's POV)

"Are you glad you postponed your wedding?" I asked my sister.

It was June 3, the original date that Mia and Leo had chosen for their wedding. But over the past month, ever since she'd spent the weekend with us in Napa Valley and changed her wedding venue to Ana's winery, Mia had been busy cancelling and rescheduling everything for their wedding, which would now take place on September 30.

"Not at all," Mia replied. "I was scared to death that Ana would go into labor during my wedding. Plus, I didn't want to detract from Isaac's high school graduation, which is only a couple of weeks away, and we would have had to cut our honeymoon short to be back in time. Besides, the caterers were absolutely horrible to work with. And the entertainment I'd wanted fell through. I mean… it wasn't Ed Sheeran, but still…"

"It wasn't John Legend either, was it?" I asked humorously.

She snorted. "I wish. No, it wasn't anybody you've ever heard of, and you never will at the rate they're going. But I've already got a DJ lined up for Napa Valley. It's all working out just like it was meant to. I wasn't thrilled with our original venue anyway."

"I thought you'd always wanted to get married at Grey Manor," I told her surprisedly.

She responded, "I thought I did too, until I started planning it and everything seemed too much like a Coping Together event. Anyway… speaking of Ana's due date… How's she doing?"

I smiled, knowing Ana was fine. "She's going out of her mind because she's supposed to be on bedrest and would rather be up running around like usual. But she just has one more month to go, and all three of them are healthy, so it's fine. Even if she does go into labor today, they're far enough along, they'll be OK. But we want them to wait at least a couple more weeks."

Mia smiled knowingly. "You want them to be born on your birthday," she stated. It wasn't a question. She knew me well.

I smirked. "Well, the thought had crossed my mind." I'd been secretly hoping for it for months now.

"Speaking of which, you never did tell me which cupcake you like better. The winner is going to be our special… on your birthday."

The truth was that I liked both of the samples she'd given me after our lunch together at Cafe Violette. The lemon blueberry was just the right balance of tartness and sweetness. The chocolate chiffon was rich and decadent. But if it was supposed to be in honor of my birthday, I'd go with rich and decadent. Neither tart nor sweet could be used to describe me. Rich and decadent? Well, at least half right.

"You can never go wrong with chocolate," I told Mia.

"Oh, trust me, you CAN go wrong with chocolate," Mia said amusedly. "Remember my seventh birthday? The chocolate Cinderella cake? But we won't go wrong with your birthday cupcakes."

Actually, I hadn't minded the chocolate Cinderella cake. It had looked ridiculous, but it had tasted pretty damn delicious.

Later that evening, I got to enjoy more chocolate, as Ana had asked Mrs. Alifo to make brownies, which she served with caramel pecan ice cream. Yeah, Ana'd been craving brownies with that particular flavor of ice cream for the past couple of months, along with eggplant parmesan. She didn't seem to be able to get enough eggplant parmesan, even if we ate it every fucking day. Lucky for us, Mrs. Alifo had perfected the recipe, so I enjoyed it, just not every single day of the week.

Derrick and Kelly had arrived a week ago, and they joined us for dinner again, along with Isaac and Grandma Liz. Ana insisted on getting out of bed and eating at the dinner table with the rest of us. I'd argued with her about it, but she'd won. I had to concede because I knew how much being confined to bed was driving her crazy, and I didn't think walking to the dining room and back to bed would harm her. She was being very careful with her health, so I couldn't complain.

Derrick and Kelly had been joining us for dinner all week, and it had been great catching up with them. I liked spending time with my cousins, surprisingly. Although they had never known Grandma Liz, they knew a lot of the stories that Gran Emma had told them about her, and they had a lot of stories in common from Rachel and Emma's past. Grandma Liz was able to talk about the family she'd lost without getting too emotional, so we had some great conversations over the table. I was able to learn more about my birth mom, and the more I knew, the more at peace I felt about my past. I didn't hate myself anymore for punishing Ella for abandoning me. She couldn't help it, but also… I had been just a child. Therapy sessions were more useful to me now than they'd ever been in the past. I was ready to move on because I had a family of my own now. I wanted to be a good husband and father, and I was beginning to believe that I could be. Not that I wouldn't fuck up sometimes, but I'd be able to fix the fuckups, with Ana's help. I felt healthier than I'd ever been.

Schools in Flint had already finished for the summer, and Kelly had graduated two weeks ago. We hadn't been able to go because Ana couldn't travel this close to her delivery date, and I didn't want to leave her. Kelly didn't mind at all, she said, because she was going to be here for the arrival of her baby cousins. She'd also be here for Isaac's high school graduation, and the party we were going to have afterwards would honor both of them.

Ana and I had agreed to give Kelly a job for the summer at Ismintis-Grey. It was just an entry level temp job, just a gopher for one of the VPs, but it gave her a chance to make some money while spending the summer with us before going off to college at Boston University. It wasn't like the temp job we'd given Derrick as Ros's executive assistant. During the chaos related to the merger, she needed an extra hand, and Derrick was the perfect person to fill that role. He was well qualified, and I could see that he and Ros already got along very well.

"Well, how were your first two days at Ismintis-Grey?" Isaac asked Derrick over dinner. Derrick's official first day had been June 1, although he'd gone in with me the previous day just to get a tour and meet people he'd be working with.

"Not bad," Derrick replied. "Ros is a good boss. She doesn't overlook anything."

"That's true. Her attention to detail was one of the reasons I hired her," I admitted. "She's saved my ass more than once by catching something I'd overlooked."

"How do you like Ramona Sotomayor?" Ana asked Derrick. Ana had been worried about Ramona ever since we'd made her the CFO of Ismintis-Grey. She'd been Ana's CFO before we'd merged, and we'd kept her and fired my old CFO, who was a misogynistic douchebag. Ana was only worried because Ramona had hired the weasels who I caught embezzling from Ana shortly after I took over for her. But I was certain that Ramona hadn't had anything to do with it and had been just as shocked as we were. Now that we had more safeguards in place, with additional internal and external audits, and a new VP for Compliance, I wasn't worried. But Ana still was, clearly.

"I haven't spent as much time with her, but she seems to know what she's doing," Derrick replied.

"My boss likes her," Kelly announced. "And she's my boss's boss's boss, so I think that says a lot. He sings her praises."

"She does a good job," I agreed. Then I turned to Ana and added, "Stop worrying, babe. Ramona is the right person for our CFO."

Ana nodded at me and dropped the subject.

After dinner, Isaac and Kelly went for a drive. She hadn't had a chance yet to ride in his BMW with the top down, so they took advantage of the nice weather we were having. The days were really long now, so they'd still have another hour of daylight.

Derrick wanted to go see a new movie that had just been released. I'd loaned him an Audi for the summer, so he could come and go as he pleased. I was surprised, though, when Grandma Liz expressed interest in tagging along.

"Wonder Woman, huh?" she commented wistfully when Derrick told us his plans. "I have a feeling it's come a long way since Lindsay Wagner was on TV. And it's been… nearly forty years since I went to a movie theater. I'm sure the whole experience has changed a lot. I've heard they've started putting recliners in the movie theaters. I'd love to see that."

"Why don't you go with me, Liz?" Derrick invited.

"Nah, you don't want an old lady tagging along with you," she responded. "What will people say?"

"Nonsense," he told her. "People will think I took my grandma to the movies. Nobody cares, anyway."

"I'll have to bring Nick," she told him. "I never go anywhere without him."

Well, I'll be damned if my cousin didn't blush. He had a thing for the boy scout? I'd have to keep my eye on that. It didn't phase me that either of them was gay, but I wanted to make sure Perez was doing his job guarding my grandma, not getting distracted. As for Derrick, his love life wasn't any of my business, unless he was keeping my security from doing his job.

That night must have started a tradition of some kind, because Grandma Liz and Derrick started going out not only to see movies but also to see plays in Seattle. Over the next two weeks, they probably went to four or five different shows. I was glad to see my grandmother getting out and living her life, and I trusted Derrick, but I did wonder what they were up to. I suspected it had something to do with the boy scout, and I worried that he was slacking on guarding my grandmother if he had something going on with Derrick. I determined to find out. I asked Taylor to put a covert officer on them and let me know what they were doing. It turned out that they were just going to the shows, watching them, and coming home. Sometimes they'd have dinner beforehand. Nothing out of the ordinary. And the boy scout appeared to be doing a good job. Once or twice, paparazzi who had done enough homework to recognize her tried to approach her, but they didn't get very far because he scared them away. We had done our best to keep her away from the cameras to guard her privacy, but her record was public knowledge, as was her full pardon. But the boy scout made sure she wasn't hounded by reporters. Plus, Grandma Liz seemed to really LIKE Perez. They got along well. And I needed her to have protection. Well, OK, then. I let it go but still kept my eye on them.

On June 16, all of the Grey family, and my cousins and grandmother, as well as Granddad and Grandma Trevelyan, all gathered at Isaac's high school to support him for his graduation. Even Ana attended. Dr. Greene had cleared her from bedrest since she was far enough along now that the twins could come whenever they decided to. Walking and being active was good for her, and she wanted to be there to support Isaac. I doubled our security just to be on the safe side, knowing that she could go into labor anytime.

We were all amazed to find out that Isaac had been chosen as valedictorian, not because he wasn't smart enough, but because he'd been through so much this year. It was just mind-boggling that his grades hadn't suffered in spite of all his trauma. The looks of pride on both my parents' faces when Isaac gave his valedictorian speech was something to behold. I had seen that same look on their faces when Elliot had cut the ribbon on his first building project after opening his business in Seattle after graduating from UCLA. I'd seen it just a few months ago when Mia and Leo broke the wine bottle on the door of Cafe Violette on their opening day. And… come to think of it, I'd seen it on both of their faces on my wedding day. It had probably been there in the past, but I hadn't been able to see it. Carrick and Grace Grey were exceptional parents, very proud of all four of their children.

Isaac's speech was very inspirational. No doubt he would become a great litigator someday if he chose that career path; he had a gift for public speaking. After giving the necessary appreciative remarks for the teachers and administrators of his high school, he focused on his classmates.

"None of us knows what tomorrow will bring. We know what we hope for. We know what we're working towards. Most of us will be headed for college after the summer. A few of us will be headed to the other side of the country, some to Harvard, others to MIT, others to Princeton. We aren't all going to Ivy League, but that's OK. We all are destined for greatness. But we're going to face obstacles, too. More challenges lie ahead, more mountains we're going to need to climb.

"Many of us have already faced great obstacles this year. I know I wasn't the only one. One of my classmates who's going to be joining me at Harvard… Amanda Wheeler… overcame tremendous obstacles this year. She was in a car accident back in December that took the lives of her mother and brother, and it almost took her life, too. She was on life support for a couple of weeks, and when she did recover, she was left partially paralyzed. She was in a wheelchair for most of the semester, and she had to endure very painful physical therapy sessions several days per week. She didn't give up, though, and she's going to walk across this stage today. And she's my hero."

Isaac paused for applause, and a girl in the front row with red hair and a red, tear-stained face stood up and waved. Then, Isaac continued, "Actually, she's not the only one here who I'd consider my hero. Amanda herself will tell you that she's where she is because of supportive people who surrounded her. Every one of us can say the same thing. I'm here today because of my family. First, my mother, may God rest her soul, who always sacrificed for my education and wellbeing. And then, my adoptive parents, Carrick and Grace Gray. They supported me when I was at rock bottom, and always believed in me. My best friend, Kelly Kramer, who's here today, has been my biggest champion since the day we met. My brothers and sister, Christian, Elliot, and Mia… I love you guys, and you're all my heroes. And Christian, I'm still not like you. I'm going to graduate from Harvard."

I laughed out loud and gave him a big thumbs up. Smart ass. I wasn't the only person in the crowd laughing at my expense.

Isaac continued, "My challenge to all of you, my classmates, is not to leave here today without thanking the people who have been the support in your life that you needed, who helped you get to today in spite of the obstacles you faced. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we know this… We are ready to face its many challenges, and we will succeed, because we are brilliant."

Damn if he wasn't quoting Ana's marriage vows in that last line. I glanced over at her and could see from her smirk that she realized it. "Did he just plagiarize you?" I whispered amusedly.

"With permission," she whispered back. "He practiced with me, remember?"

I had forgotten, but yes, Isaac had practiced his speech with Ana while I was at work.

After the graduation ceremony, Ana and I skipped the reception with cheap hors d'oeuvres while the rest of the family stayed behind with Isaac to honor him. It was important for Isaac to rub elbows with his classmates, and Kelly was by his side, with our parents not far away. This party would go on for a couple of hours, and then the graduates would have a party of their own, without all the parents. Our own family party to honor Isaac, the one that would also honor Kelly, would be tomorrow at our house.

Elliot, Kate, Mia, and Leo all stuck around the high school and drank awful punch while Ana and I headed home to our daughter, who had stayed with Gail. We made the excuses that we needed to get everything ready for the party tomorrow. Actually, there wasn't much to get ready. Mia, Kate, Elliot, and Derrick had already decorated the game room downstairs. Isaac and Kelly weren't allowed to help since the party was for them. Mrs. Alifo was preparing the food, with help from our parents' cook, Gretchen, as well as Mia and Leo. Ana was wiped out after the day out, and she was having more Braxton Hicks contractions, which she'd been experiencing occasionally over the past week, so after having dinner with Christina, we had an early evening.

The next day, everyone was at our house for lunch, and the party continued from lunch through the rest of the day. Ana and I hadn't needed to prepare anything, and we could simply enjoy the time with our family. And I did. I still felt shocked that I enjoyed spending time with these people. No, that wasn't the part that shocked me. I couldn't understand why I hadn't enjoyed spending time with them before. What the hell had been wrong with me?

Christina was the entertainment. She wasn't just talking everyone's ear off now, and actually making sense a lot of the time, but she was also singing now. I doubted there was a Disney song that she didn't know all the words to, or at least she could wing it even if she didn't. She was so uninhibited. I hoped she would always be as confident as she was at age two.

But, of course, my adorable daughter wasn't the only entertainment. We also had paid entertainment. I'd hired one of the bands who had played at our wedding, Death Cab for Cutie, to play for a couple of hours that afternoon. I hadn't known until our wedding that it was Isaac's favorite band. He'd been thrilled to meet the members of the band and talk with them at our wedding. Today, on his special day, he'd get to talk with them again. I was impressed when he explained the meaning of the name of their last album.

"Kintsugi means 'beauty in brokenness,'" Isaac had told me. It was a few days after Ana and I had returned from our honeymoon, and I was hanging out with Isaac during my lunch break, which we did fairly often. "It's one of the things I love about Death Cab for Cutie. They get it. Kintsugi is this Japanese art where they break pottery and glue it back together with gold glue. It's more beautiful afterwards, after it's been broken. That concept gives me hope. And their music resonates with me."

I googled it while we were sitting there over lunch so I could see what he was talking about. Beauty in brokenness. Well, I'll be damned. It made sense. My life made sense. Everything that had happened to Ana made sense. Well, no, none of it made sense, but I could see how we were better than before, in spite of all we'd suffered. Ana really was more beautiful today than she'd been when I first met her. Well, she was about to pop with my twins, and her tits were like watermelons, but it was more than that. She had overcome the worst atrocity that most people could even imagine, and she was simply stunning.

That same day, I'd booked Death Cab for Cutie to sing at Isaac's graduation party at my house. For what I was paying them, they wouldn't say no. It helped that they weren't currently on tour.

Later that day, long after the band had finished, we'd enjoyed grilled pork chops, and were now having Mia's chocolate cake and caramel pecan ice cream on our deck, enjoying the nice summer weather, Elliot got everybody's attention by tapping a spoon against his beer bottle.

"Hey, everybody, Kate has an announcement!" Elliot proclaimed. From the look on his face, it was good news.

Kate was smiling broadly, too. "I'm pregnant!" she announced.

"Me, too," Ana called out. She had literally been wobbling everywhere today, so that much was obvious.

"No, seriously, Steele," Kate told her. "I'm not joking. I'm pregnant!"

Ana's eyes got wide as she comprehended Kate's words. "Oh my God! Really?"

"Really!" Kate confirmed.

"Are you having twins, too?" Kelly asked jokingly. Well, I think she was joking.

Kate replied, "So far, we've only detected one heart beat in there. Which is fine with me. One's enough… at one time, anyway."

"Hey, twins are awesome," Ana retorted.

"Our twins are going to be awesome," I agreed.

Ana had just gotten up to give Kate a hug. When I said those words, Ana grimaced, clearly in pain. A moment later, she looked down at her maternity jean shorts with a shocked look on her face. I followed her line of sight and saw that she appeared to have pissed herself. And I had no idea what to do or say.

"Our twins are definitely going to be awesome," Ana stated calmly as she finished hugging Kate. "And… our awesome twins are on their way. Right now."

Then, she turned and headed into the house, leaving the rest of us staring at each other in a mixture of surprise and panic. I found her in our bedroom once my brain had started functioning enough for me to follow her. She was calmly changing her pants.

"What do we need? What should I do?" I asked her frantically.

She replied calmly, as if I were a child, "Christian, we've practiced all of this. It's going to be fine. We're going to the hospital, just like we planned. Taylor's getting our ride ready. I need to call Dr. Greene as soon as I'm finished changing. We can do that from the car. My contractions only just started. I haven't had another one yet, but it's only been a few minutes. Oh… there it is." She grimaced again, so I knew she was feeling another contraction.

She looked at her watch and calculated. "They're about twelve minutes apart right now. Can you grab my bag from my closet. Everything we need is in there."

When we took the elevator down one floor and walked out, everyone was there, watching and waiting in expectation.

Ana was still cool as a cucumber while I was still about to lose my shit. Ana calmly said, "Gail… you know what to do with Christina. Grace, you're coming with us, right?"

"Yes, I'm ready, Ana," Mom said.

"Christina will be just fine," Gail assured Ana. "Don't worry about her at all. Just let us know if you need us to send you anything."

"Thank you, Gail," Ana told her.

Taylor walked in. "The car is in front of the house, and the rest of your security is in the car behind it, all ready to go."

"Well, everyone, the good news is that these babies are ready to meet you all, so we'll see you very soon," Ana told them. "The bad news is that Christian's surprise birthday party tomorrow is cancelled. We'll have a welcome home party for these boys to make up for it."

Surprise birthday party? I'd had no idea that was coming. And I didn't care that it wasn't going to happen because my sons were on their way.

As we walked to the car, Ana told me, "I know you wanted them to be born on your birthday…"

"Ana, it doesn't matter, as long as they're healthy," I assured her.

She smirked and told me, "They're letting you know before they're even born… you can't control them."