My dear little broccolis💚💚💚

💚 Give Me The Daddy, I'll Give You The Sugar 💚

Twenty-three years old Ana has had a hard life and is, now, struggling between two jobs to pay for her studies. She's through with people, having been left down one too many times. But what happens when a certain man finds interest in her?

‼️Rated M - {Out Of Characters/All Human/Alternate Universe}‼️

‼️Romance/Angst/Drama/Lemons‼️

‼️AS/CG/The Greys/The Steeles/José Rodriguez/Elena Lincoln‼️

💚 This is the story you requested the most, so enjoy your double daily updates ^^

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Chapter 13: Gingerbread Houses & Wassail (8,2K)

Ana looked at the pop tart once again, her stomach grumbling with hunger. She glanced up, looking at the exit and she tried to estimate her chances to get out of the store without being caught. But the thing was that there was this security guard who seemed to know what she had in mind, and who kept on shadowing her since she came in.

She highly doubted that she would be sent to jail for stealing a pop tart, especially at her age, but she didn't want to be put back in the system, or worst, sent back to the Millers. She'd rather starve than go back to that family. In fact, she had promised to herself that no one would ever raise their hands at her ever again, no one would ever have that sort of power over her again.

She pretended to look at other products and waited for the guard to disappear before taking the pop tart and walking to another aisle, so she could find the perfect opportunity to put the pop tart under her coat. She found this occasion between the rice and the pasta, but as she made her way towards the exit, the security guard appeared in her line of vision.

She felt her face heat up as she started sweating, but she did her best to keep her face straight. If she looked innocent, maybe the security guard would let her go. Or if she was caught and explained to the man why she was stealing, maybe he would take pity and let her disappear back into the shadows where she came from. She would never come to that store again.

As she was going through all the different scenarios of what could happen, someone bumped into her with their cart, startling her out of her thoughts. It was a young girl, who was probably the same age as her, with beautiful brown eyes, dark long locks and a birthmark on her cheek in the shape of a star. She smiled at Ana, and pointed at her cart, saying,

"Here you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. Did you find the pop tarts?"

Ana stared at the girl, aware that the security guard was now close enough to grab her and accuse her of stealing. still, all she could focus on was this girl she had never seen before and who was smiling to her as if they were long time friends.

"Mom and Dad just called. They want us to buy oranges as well."

The guard walked away as Ana put the pop tart in the cart, and the girl whispered so only the two of them could hear, "Just trust me on this."

Ana didn't say anything and followed the girl to the cash register, where she paid with a credit card for Ana's pop tarts as well as oranges, pasta and ice-cream. Ana was feeling so bad because if the girl asked for the money back, she would not be able to give it to her.

They left the store, and the girl directed them to a McDonald's where she ordered two menus for them. Then, she sat and started eating, telling Ana, "I'm Mia by the way. What's your name?"

"Ana."

Mia nodded, munching on her fries as she explained, pointing at someone eating next to them,

"If you want to steal, you should always have one of those cards. And those cards, you can always find them in Mc Donalds and cinemas. Don't take the whole wallet. Just the cash or the card, leave the rest, and never be greedy. Sometimes, especially when they have many cards, it takes them weeks to realise they no longer have the card. If you make small purchases under $10, you can get away with it."

Ana nodded, looking at the man in his suit. He was getting up, and just as Mia had predicted, his wallet was left on the chair. She waited a couple of minutes, and under Mia's encouragements, she grabbed the wallet. They looked together inside it and decided to take the cash, given the fact that there was more than three hundred dollars in it.

Then, Mia took the wallet and went to the counter to give it, with her most innocent face. Which earned her a sundae that she shared with Ana as they walked out of the Mc Donalds.

"So, what's your story? Are you a runaway?" Ana asked as they walked without true purpose.

"Sort of. Does it count if they're not your real family, to begin with?"

Ana smiled, "It counts just as much. Same for me."

"Isn't it unfair that no one really cares about us because we should be grateful that someone is willing to put up with us. I tried to tell the social worker several times that things were not right in that house. But she never listened."

"What happened?"

"The Dad is a creep. Let's just say, I'm lucky to be a girl, but a few weeks ago, I heard him talking to one of his friends about taking money so I could sleep at that friend's place, and I bolted. Who wants an old creeper for their first time? ... What about you?"

Ana looked down her shoes, feeling that her situation wasn't so bad after all. "Well, I became Mr Miller's personal punching bag. And when I went to the police, they laughed at me. He's one of them, you see."

"That sucks. You can stay with me. I'm squatting a summer house at the moment, and no one caught me, so far. We could stay together."

Though Mia didn't say it, Ana heard it, because she was feeling the same. She was lonely and wanted company, a friend even. So she smiled at the brunette and followed her to the place she was staying at, at the moment. She whistled when she saw that it was a nice house, and her eyes grew wide when Mia opened her bags.

There was the bag with what they bought at the store and another one in which there were biscuits, chocolate, juices, sweets and a couple of frozen pizzas.

"How …"

"When you buy something with a nice smile, no one really pays attention. So when I go, I always have two bags, and look innocent, as if I'm going to buy everything, but I only pay what's in bag one, the other one is always closed, and no one ever caught me."

"That's clever."

Mia grinned and after they put everything in the fridge and freezer, they slouched on the sofa and watched Pirates of the Caribbeans together.

In fact, over the next couple of weeks, they did everything together. Ana showed Mia how to pick a lock, or how to steal from someone's pocket, just like Mia had shown her her tricks. Despite the fact that they did not look alike, they felt like twins, because of the number of similarities there were in their lives.

And even when they had differences, they still praised the other and learnt from it. Mia had a crush from one of the boys in her school that she hadn't seen in weeks due to the fact that she was a runaway, and though Ana knew that she personally was not ready, she was excited for Mia who was more than willing to embrace her sexuality already.

Ana blinked back to the present moment, her eyes still glued on Mia. She had morphed into a beautiful woman, and if it hadn't been for the birthmark on her cheek, she doubted she would have recognised her friend. Not with all the glitter and the wig she was wearing.

Christian came out of the room, closing the door behind him and finally, she snapped out of her state of shock. Her eyes settled on him as he pressed her and Jose to leave with him.

"Christian, Mia is in this room." She was so excited about her discovery, so excited that, after all those years, she finally found her friend when she least expected it. And yet, Christian didn't seem to share her excitement.

"Ana. I think we should just go."

She stared at him, not understanding why he was trying to make her leave when he knew for a fact that she still missed Mia. She had never even told Jose about her, only Christian knew about her childhood friend, about how they met, and about the tattoo they shared. And suddenly, it hit her.

"You knew Mia was here, and you didn't even tell me."

Of course he knew, he had been in this room all evening, and she had told him about Mia's birthmark on her cheek. And still, it made no sense to her why Christian did not tell her about finding out that it was her friend on the pole. She looked at him straight in his grey eyes, but his face was unreadable. All he did was take her hand in his, and insist once again,

"Please, Ana. Let's just go. I don't think she is the same person you remember and cherish in your memories. I don't want you to get heartbroken by the loss of a friendship."

She snapped her hand out of his grip, shaking her hand in disbelief as she took a step backwards, getting closer to Jose. She couldn't believe that Christian could be so judgemental because of Mia's place of work, especially given the fact that he literally just signed a business deal in a strip club.

"I don't care what you think or feel. I am staying to talk to her."

"Ana .."

"You can't ask me to come with you. I came here on my own, and I will leave on my own. You gave me my night, remember? This is my personal time, and I will do what I see fit with it. I will see you back at your place."

For a moment, they kept staring at one another, but Christian finally gave in and walked away, leaving her alone with Jose who was looking at her, expecting explanations as to what just happened. With a heavy sigh, the two of them went back to the bar, and Ana told Jose about Mia and about that short but intense period the two of them lived together in a squatted house.

"I hate to be the pessimistic one, but Christian is right. She might not be the person you remember. I'm pretty sure you're not the person she remembers either. Just don't put too much hope in that reunion," Josecautiously warned her, but Ana waved him off.

She didn't really care how much Mia had changed. All she cared was to talk to her and know how her life had been. Jose seemed to understand that she would not listen to a word he said, and so he changed the topic,

"By the way, I noticed that the hotel is no longer home?"

"What do you mean?"

"You always referred to Christian's hotel as home ever since you've started going there when he's in New York. Tonight, you said 'your place', and given his face, I'm pretty sure he noticed the change as well."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being ridiculous. Christian doesn't care what I call his hotel room. It's not even a home to him. His home is the office."

In fact, she had visited both of his offices, and they had been as void of life as his apartment, which was why she had taken upon herself shortly before Halloween to decorate the one he had in New York with pictures of his family on his desk, a couple of plants and paintings to bring some colours and fill the space, and of course, the infamous zen garden, to make it look like Christian was a calm person, in touch with other cultures.

He didn't oppose to her input, and even gave her carte blanche to do the same in Seattle when she would come back, and as soon as he told her that, she had called Andrea for her to ask her to make Christian's office more lively for when he would come back. She even sent the blonde woman a picture of the New York office, so she would know what to do.

But the fact remained, if it hadn't been for Ana, Christian would not have cared of how his office looked, even if he had told her more than once that the office was his home and where he spent most of his time.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Shortly after midnight, someone tapped on Ana's shoulder, and when she turned, she was facing Mia with her bright blue wig. The two girls stared at one another for what seemed to be forever when Mia finally broke the silence,

"Can we … talk? I'm on my break for twenty minutes."

Ana got off her stool, ready to follow Mia just like she had done all those years ago, but she still took the time to look at Jose who had loyally stayed with her. He smiled at her, letting her know that he would wait for her, and so she went through the backdoor with Mia. Once they were alone, an awkward silence grew between them, until she finally broke it.

"How have you been, Mia?"

"No one has called me Mia in years."

"I wish I could have found you sooner. I missed you."

Mia longly looked at her, daring her to take her word back, before snatching her wig off, revealing her dark locks tightly braided beneath it. She hung her head low, and asked,

"Aren't you … disappointed to find me here?"

"What? No! Why would you even think that?!"

"Because my life is anything but like yours. I don't have a billionaire boyfriend. I am not studying to become some fancy person. I ... I don't wear classy dresses and expensive jewellery to charity galas. I am the charity case."

"How do … You knew all this time where to find me, and you … never reached out?" She did her best not to cry or even to show that she wanted to cry, because there hadn't been a day she didn't wish she could have her friend back, and it seemed that Mia did not want to be part of her life anymore.

"What was I supposed to do? We're not kids anymore, Ana. I mean, how was I supposed to know that you even remembered me? You're leaving this glamorous life, and I'm this girl who has to take her clothes off to feed her kids. We are worlds apart. I didn't want to risk you throwing the stain of your past away, or worse, not recognising me."

"That's stupid." It was all she could retort before she took a step forward and hugged the friend that she lost all those years ago.

Mia gave her back her embrace, and for a moment, the two women just hugged, putting in that hug all of the emotions that had accumulated over the missing years. Ana sniffled in Mia's neck, and reminded her with a crooked voice,

"I promised that we would always be friends and that I would never judge. I don't intend on failing that promise."

"I've done many things that would make you judge me now." Ana shook her head, refusing to believe that, and Mia planted her brown eyes in Ana's blue ones, and told her,

"I am more than a stripper here. I have seen the likes of Christian Grey come and go in this club with enough money to feed my kids for a month if I returned … special favours."

"I don't care, Mia. Actually I do. You have kids and I didn't even get to be their godmother. How old are they?"

Finally, Mia's face illuminated with a smile, and she showed a picture from her phone to Ana where two boys were brightly smiling at the camera, showing their missing teeth. They were of mixed race, looking nothing like Mia if it wasn't for her beautiful and kind brown eyes.

"After we got separated, I was placed in another family, and I ran away again. I started stripping when I was sixteen, and I am not going to lie and pretend otherwise, I did it because I liked it. I like this sensation of having all eyes on me, of being the untouchable fantasy of men, of having that sort of subtle put intense power of them.

And I met Dwayne. He was a bouncer where I used to work. He was so nice and sweet, no matter how much he liked to pretend otherwise. He didn't mind my stripping, because he knew I liked it, and he knew it was all there was. We had Tyler, and Danny came just a year after. But Dwayne never got to enjoy his kids. He was killed in a crossfire when he came home one night.

And … it was easy to live with two kids on both our salaries, but it's not possible without him. So I started doing favours for those who asked for it, and I realised that, if I wanted my kids to have the life I didn't have, I would need to go to a club with high-end clientele. And that's how I have been working for this club for almost six years now."

Ana looked at her friend, at a loss of words for a moment. She felt so bad that Mia had to live such a hard life when she had it so easy. sure, she had had her rough moments, but it never got as rough as it did for Mia. She didn't have to raise two kids on her own and mourn the death of the love of her life.

"I'm sorry for Dwayne. It seems like you loved him."

Mia sadly smiled, quickly wiping her tears away, "We were saving to move to Canada and start our lives all over with our kids. Obviously, things turned out differently. But anyway, how did you meet with Christian fucking Grey? Did you try to pickpocket him?"

Ana chuckled at this reminiscence of their childhood, and she looked up, briefly looking around before she confessed in a whisper, "I'm not with Christian. I just pretend so he's left alone."

"Oh … you two looked in love in the pictures."

"That's the point. I'm just a girl he picked up in the street and that he pays so she would pose to be his girlfriend."

"So … you're not together?"

"No. we're just business partners."

"Well, he's a good actor. There was another girl with me who was all over him, and he kept talking about you waiting for him back home."

Ana shrugged because she didn't know what to respond. She knew that Christian used her as a shield against people, and she wasn't really surprised that he did the same when she wasn't here. But she didn't care at that moment. All she could think of was staying in touch with Mia,

"Still friends?"

"Still friends," Mia promised, putting her wig back on her hair with the bright smile that Ana had missed so much. She looked down and returned the smile when she saw that Mia still had the tattoo on her ankle.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Ana stayed a couple of more hours at the club with Jose who got as much information as he could on Mia from his freshly new hired bartender. He proposed to Ana to hire her as a hostess at the restaurant, but she dint want to speak on behalf of her friend. But she knew she would still ask Elena if she could hire her friend with a steady schedule that would allow her to see her kids more often.

Just before she went back to work, Mia had admitted to Ana that she was still working there because it was the only way for her to pay the bills and see her kids during the day, and Ana was pretty sure that Mia would trade jobs if it meant she would see her children.

Jose dropped her back to Christian's hotel, but she didn't expect to find him awake, given the late hour in the night. So she removed her shoes before getting in the room, but as soon as she got in, she found the light switched on, and Christian working at the table that gave him an overview of New York. As soon as he felt her presence, he closed his laptop and looked at her, his face showing obvious worry.

"I was starting to wonder if you would come back."

"I told you I would. I just wanted to talk to my friend that I haven't seen in years."

Christian nodded, still sitting on his chair before he got up and walked to her. Once he was at her level, he reached for her hair, and undid her do, leaving his hand on her cheek once he was done, his grey eyes ravaging her face,

"I'm sorry, Ana."

"It's okay. I'm guessing you were just not comfortable in—"

"No. It's not about us being in a strip club. You are just a much better person than I gave you credit for. I've known about your friend and her profession for a while. That's why I didn't want you to come. I knew we were going where she worked, and I didn't want you to see her like that. I just thought … given how you reacted when I first brought the contract and you thought I was hiring you for sex, I thought you would be disappointed in your friends."

"Why would you even look for her?" Ana asked, a cold demeanour suddenly came from her.

"Because you obviously missed your friend."

"Then, why didn't you tell me when you found her? It makes no sense."

Christian dropped his hand, finally getting the hint that his caress was no longer welcomed, but he did not move to put a more reasonable distance between them. And for the first time since they had started all this masquerade, Ana felt her private space invaded by Christian. She never minded Christian being touchy, but at this right moment, she would love nothing more but for him to give him some space.

"I just didn't want to bring the bearer of bad news Ana. No one likes to be that person."

"What bad news? She's my friend. All I would have cared about was that I got her back!"

Christian looked at her, as if she was missing the point, and spelt out for her, "She's a prostitute."

"It doesn't change anything. She's my friend."

"As I said, I'm sorry. I assumed that you would mind," He said, reaching to hug her, but she stepped back, reclaiming her private space.

She looked at him with new eyes, not because of what he had just said because his tone didn't indicate that he was judging Mia, but more that he thought that she would have judged her friend. But now, Christian's first words were finally making sense to her, and she was scared of what she was reading between the lines.

"You said that you looked for her …"

"Yes?"

"Does that mean that you have a file on her?"

"Well yeah. I personally didn't look for her, I don't have the time or the skills to do so."

Ana squinted her eyes at him, hoping against all hopes that his next answer would not be a positive one, "Did you get your goons to make a file on me?"

"Your trust issues made it clear enough that you didn't want me snooping in your personal life without your say so. After all, you still haven't told me where you live."

She held his gaze, trying to decipher the truth from the lie because though he didn't affirm it, it wasn't a simple no either. But then, she realised that she was so suspicious because this was what Henry used to do. Lie by manipulating simple words. She shook her head, knowing that it wasn't fair or healthy to Christian to transfer on him the way Henry had treated her.

So she deeply breathed through her nose, and wisely said, "It is late. We should go to bed."

As fast as lightning, he grabbed her by the arm, preventing her from going into her bedroom.

"If I'm ever going to apply something my father taught me, it's now. I don't want you to go to bed angry with me."

"First of all, we are not in a relationship, so you have no business applying your father's wisdom in this situation. Second, I am not angry with you. I'm just disappointed that you thought so little of me and that you thought I'd abandon a friend because of her life choices. I'm loyal to my friends. If tomorrow you went broke, you would still be my friend, no matter what. I just thought you knew me enough to know that."

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Over the next few weeks, Ana did her best to spend as much time as she could with Mia and her children, reconnecting with her long lost friend. They each learned about the other's life, though Ana kept to a minimum her talking about Christian, which Mia seemed to understand since she didn't ask about him.

Elena offered her a position for the beginning of the new year since she knew she was about to lose one of her employees due to a move. She would make less money than her other job, but Esclava had a daycare system, so Mia would be able to still spend time with her children.

Ana proposed for them to move in together, so they would split the rent and charges, but Mia refused, saying that it was hard for her to rely on someone else now. Of course, Ana understood that concept very well, sure that she would have said the same thing if she had been in the same situation.

When Christmas came, Mia went to Orlando with her boys, because they had already planned on spending the holidays with Mickey, and Ana went to Seattle to spend Christmas Eve with Mary and Ann's family.

She had expected to feel like a stranger, but they all made her feel welcome. Elaine fussed over her during the whole meal, complaining that she didn't eat much whilst Mary tried to organise her next few outings with Ana. They had decided to keep the tradition going and keep going to broadway, even if they were short of one Musketeer, though Ana told the older woman about Mia and how she wanted to introduce her to Mary.

She also spent a bit of time with Elaine in the kitchen, helping the woman with the last-minute cooking and loving how Elaine did her best to not make her feel out of place.

"Mom always said that good people have a good aura and that they should be kept around. I hope you'll never be a stranger to us, and know that it's not because Mom is dead that you can't be part of us."

"You are being too kind. I … you don't know me."

"That's true. But I've always trusted my mother and aunt Mary's judgement. As you know, they're not ones to not say how they feel, and if Mary is still doing her best to spend time with you, it must be because you're a good person. I just want you to give me a chance to see that."

Ana smiled, not sure of what to say. She didn't think she was a bad person, but she was no saint either. Elaine seemed to read on her face because she assured her,

"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you're human, like the rest of us. You're just the good kind of human. Oh, by the way, Mom has left a letter for you. I'll give it to you later. She said it's a letter to open only when times get rough. She gave all of us a letter as such. You were family to her."

So it was with the letter safely. Kept in her purse that Ana went back to Christian's apartment because Christian would have never accepted for her to sleep at a hotel once again. She wasn't surprised to find him on the phone, working with someone who was living on the other side of the globe.

He smiled when he saw her coming, and raised his hand, asking for five minutes. So she went to her room, and looked at the letter from Ann, trying to figure out what she would qualify as a rough time, but she quickly dismissed the thought and instead looked in her suitcase for what she was going to wear the next day.

She had managed to convince Christian to spend the day with his family, and not work as long as the kid were awake, but he had negotiated that she should come with him. She didn't mind per se, because she would get to spend time with Jason and Julian, but she still felt that her spending Christmas Day with the Greys would mean more to Grace than it should.

After making sure her outfit was ready for the next day, she went to the kitchen and found Christian there, pouring himself a glass of whiskey, his shoulders obviously tensed. She walked to him, took the glass off his hand and put it down the counter, admonishing him,

"This isn't how you should relax."

"I know what else could relax me, and take my mind off of things."

She froze, not sure how to react to that. Since Vegas, their sexual banter had died out, and neither of them seemed eager to go back to that game that now seemed dangerous, after everything that happened in the City of Sins. And now that Christian was back at playing cat and mouse, Ana wasn't sure if she wanted to play. After all, she knew that this time, she was going to get burnt.

"I meant a hug, Ana. Get your dirty mind out of the gutter."

"Oh." She opened her arms, and he picked her up so she would be sitting on the counter before he lost himself in her arms, deeply inhaling in her hair as he held her tight against him.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

"Anayyyy!" Jason screamed as he jumped into her arms. She caught him and hoisted him up so she could kiss his cheek. Julian shortly followed, hugging her waist and brightly smiling to her

"How are my two favourite Seattle boys?" She asked them, but before they could answer Elliott ran toward Ana, mimicking his youngest son and ignoring Christian's deathly glare.

"Anayyyy!"

She laughed at his silliness, but still took the time to gently squeeze Christian's arm to calm him down. She didn't need to look in his direction to know that he did not appreciate his brother's antics, but she didn't want him to make a scene either. So she followed the two boys who were dragging her to the kitchen as Jason seemed unable to stop talking,

"Santa came last night, and he brought you a present here. I think he must have read our letter because we asked him to make it so you would spend Christmas with us. And Julian and I, we made cookies just like you taught us. And we also told Nan that we wanted to make a gingerbread house, but now that you're here, you can help us."

It seemed that Jason was impossible to interrupt, so Ana let him ramble, winking at Julian when he looked at her and rolled his eyes. The kitchen was empty, but Julian knew where were the ingredients that they needed, so the three of them started baking trays after trays of gingerbread, all the while singing Christmas carols and making the icing that would make the house stand up.

As they were baking, Julian told Ana of his newfound passion for Harry Potter and how he couldn't wait to finish the books. They had this whole discussion trying to nominate the best house, with Jason intervening every now and then, trying to sound as grown-up as his brother.

In the middle of them signing Jingle Bells and assembling the house up, Grace walked in the kitchen, shaking her fingers at her grandsons, "And there I thought you were well behaved and you were watching cartoons with Ana instead of tiring her as soon as she got here. She's not your personal chef."

"She's better than that. She's our friend," Jason proudly said, though his strong statement was discredited by the icing on his chin. Ana gently wiped it off, and smiled to the older woman, assuring her,

"I don't mind. I haven't gotten to do much baking for this Christmas."

Grace smiled, and walked to Ana, embracing her and kissing her so she could whisper in her ear, "Thank you for bringing Christian here today. I know he never would have come if it wasn't for you."

She was about to protest and defend Christian's honour through a white lie, but Grace knowingly smiled, gently squeezing her arm before sitting next to Julian and bargaining her way into trying some of the icing.

Bit by bit, they assembled the house, soon joined by the rest of the family who happily sang the carols with them, though Christian stayed recluse in a corner, observing them, but not joining them. More than once, Ana glanced at him, and he would smirk at her, showing his free hands. They had made this pact after all that he would not work whilst the kids were awake. Ana wanted to give the boys as much magic as possible.

After she finished singing with Ella Fitzgerald how Santa Got Stuck In My Chimney, Elliott took over and butchered Holy Night. The whole family laughed at his terrible interpretation, even Christian from his corner shook his head at his brother's tone-deaf. Carrick served them all several wassails, though the kids complained that it wasn't fair that they weren't allowed to have special drinks when it was Christmas.

Baby, It's Cold Outside started playing, and Ana naturally started singing, soon joined by Carrick, who went as far as waltz with her to the lyrics. She happily joined his shenanigans, encouraged by the happy clapping and laughing around them. still, she noticed that Christian did not join, his face rather sullen, though she doubted that his jealousy would go as far as to expand toward his father.

When Carrick proposed her yet another cocktail, she refused, not wanted to get too drunk at Christian's parents, but Carrick was having none of that, "Sorry dear. But Christmas in this house means getting smashed on wassail by the end of the day. Or something went wrong. I will not accept a refusal. This is a Grey tradition!"

She shook her head at his solemn tone, and took the glass, though she took note that she would need to take her sweet sweet time to drink those deadly cocktails because Carrick did not go lightly with the alcohol. To be fair, all the Greys were already on their fourth one, and it was still bright outside.

Grace smiled at her, and she asked, "What about you, Ana? What are the Christmas traditions your family has brought you up with? Maybe we can recreate one. I'm sure your parents must be disappointed to miss you this year."

"How about we go open the rest of the presents?" Christian abruptly said, and the boys squealed of joy, rushing out of the room to go in the living room where the tree and presents were.

Carrick and Elliott quickly followed, as well as Ana who saw this as the perfect opportunity to dodge Grace's question without being rude, but she still heard Christian telling his mother behind them,

"Just drop it, Mom. I don't want you to make her feel uncomfortable about her family."

"I didn't mean to —"

"I know, Mom. Just drop it."

Ana heard Grace say that 'oh' that she didn't like coming from the mouth of a shrink. She felt that, without Christian saying anything, Grace has read into her just like in an open book. Or maybe she was started to be paranoid because she knew that Grace was a psychiatrist, to begin with.

Just before joining everyone in the living room, she used the bathroom. When she came out, Christian was waiting for her, his brows knotted, and his worry did not disappear with her measuring smile.

"You okay?"

"Of course I am. I am baking, singing and drinking. What can go wrong?"

"About what my mo—"

"Christian, she's not the first person to ask about my family, and she won't be the last. But I do appreciate you coming to the rescue. I don't want to ruin the mood with my sad story."

Finally, he seemed to relax, and they walked together to the living room. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Jason cried out, pointing at them with an outraged finger,

"You have to kiss. Nan and Pops always do it. They say it's the law!"

Ana looked up and saw mistletoe hanging by the door, and her first thought was to curse all the people who perpetuated that stupid tradition. Christian was grinning at her, and she repressed her urges to smack the back of his head to erase that stupid smirk off his face. still, she closed her eyes and tiptoed to give him a chaste peck on the lips.

What she did not expect was for Christian to wrap his arms around her and properly French kiss her in front of his family. And though she didn't want to put on a show like that in front of the Greys, she still found herself melting to his kiss and responding to it in a way much more intimate than she had initially intended.

They only broke apart when she heard the sound of someone taking a picture of them. She cleared her throat and quickly hurried to Jason's side who had forgotten all about the kiss he had just forced on the adults and was busy opening his presents.

She barely looked up as Grace refused to listen to Christian's complaints about her taking pictures of him and Ana.

"You know, Christian, I have a whole decade of pictures missing. So I will get pictures where I can get them. Even if that means snacking a picture on Christmas or, cutting them out of a magazine. By the way, I was expecting some pictures last week. Didn't you say that you are going to that Water For Africa gala? Didn't you take Ana?"

"I did. But I made a deal with the leeches for them to get off her back."

She snapped her head up, surprised by this revelation, and found not Christian, but Elliott looking at her with intensity as Christian explained,

"I got a deal with a specific magazine to give them any sort of exclusive if they managed to keep the others on a leash. I was getting tired of my PR having to deal with them every week. Plus, the idea that they follow my girlfriend like that all the time is creeping me out."

Ana looked down, not so much because of Christian's words, though she had had no idea that paparazzi were so much on her back; but because of Elliott's gaze on her. So she focused on a car that Jason had received for Christmas, playing with him, though her mind was on the conversation, especially when Elliott whistled,

"And there I thought you had forgotten how to make a woman's heart melt."

Though the words were innocent and completely normal in Elliott's mouth, something in the way he said them made Ana frown. She couldn't tell for sure, but she had a feeling that Elliott was not as fooled as his parents when it came to the true nature of Christian's and her relationship.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

The rest of the day was spent drinking, eating the gingerbread house and singing karaoke with the specific instructions to throw popcorn to the bed singers (which meant mostly Elliott).

Ana had explained to the boys that Santa had also come to their uncle's house and left something for them, though the adults all looked at her, perfectly aware that Christian had no impact on that present. Especially when it became obvious that the presents were personalised to each boy. She had bought them cosplays of their favourite superheroes, as well as audiobooks of Chinese fairytales, because 'who cared about princesses when they could have dragons?'

What she hadn't expected, was for 'Santa' to leave something for her as well. It was a camera, with a note in the box from Elliott.

Since you like capturing the beauty of moments so much,

I thought you should do it with the proper tools.

Though Christian did not say a word, Ana felt him stiffen by her side after she read the note, and for once, she couldn't understand his jealousy. It wasn't much a question of Christian being a stupid caveman as usual, but more the fact that Elliott had managed to get her a personal present, whereas he still hadn't.

They had talked about it a couple of days ago when Ana killed the elephant in the room.

"Christian. I wanted to set something clear with you?"

He barely hummed, still looking at his papers, though she knew she had his attention. Christian never pretended to listen to her, even if it might look like he was. They were in his private plane, on their way to Seattle so she could spend Christmas Eve with Mary and Ann's family. And this was what she wanted to talk about.

"I don't want any present from you for Christmas."

Finally, he looked up, scanning her from head to toe before looking back at his papers.

"Aren't you getting something from Jose?"

"Joseis different."

"He's your friend. Didn't we agree that we were friends?"

"Yes but —"

"Then, it's settled. Now, you can make it easy for me and tell me what would make you smile. Because I am still dry on this one."

She smiled at Elliott to silently thank him, and slipped her hand in Christian's, kissing his cheek to ease his annoyance. Of course, Christian being sneaky, and obviously tipsy on his father's drink, used to opportunity to morph that into a real kiss, even making a mistletoe appear out of nowhere when she opened her mouth to protest.

In fact, all throughout the afternoon and the evening, he had managed to catch her off guard under so many mistletoes that Ana found herself wondering what kind of person would put so many mistletoes in their house. But in all honesty, she didn't mind kissing Christian, though she liked to blame her leniency on the alcohol, and not simply on the fact that she liked Christian a bit more than a friend liked another friend.

After the boys had been tucked in, Grace showed Ana the photo albums that witnessed Christian's childhood, revealing the stories hidden behind certain pictures, and though she deeply appreciated the moment, a part of her was jealous of Christian. This was something she would never have, not that she particularly had a childhood worth remembering. But still, she did not have a single pictured that showed how she morphed from toddler to the person that she was now.

Jason, on the other hand, had hundreds of pictures. Grace stopped at one where she was holding a chubby baby Christian in her arms whilst Elliott who was barely two was leaning in to kiss his brother's head. Ana couldn't help but smile, and she caught Grace looking at her,

"I'm sure the two of you are going to make adorable babies, one day."

This ought to make Ana loses her smile as all her blood drained from her face. It wasn't much the idea of her having children, because this was the one thing she was sure of. It was more than this simple sentence had brought her back to the harsh reality that her relationship with Christian was just a lie, and that she was wrongfully giving false hopes to w his family.

It had been a bad idea to accompany him to his familial home for Christmas. Of course, they would assume that the two of them were getting serious after a year of 'being together', especially if she was coming to such intimate and personal moments.

"I think you've had enough wassail for today Grace. You're starting to forget whom you're talking about. If Christian ever settles down to build a family, I am ready to move to whichever city you want to," Carrick intervened with a benevolent smile.

Ana politely smiled back to hide her discomfort, glad that Christian and Elliott were not in the room. Christian already thought she was pushing him enough about his wife issue, she didn't want him to think that she was trying to push him even more via his mother.

When the two brothers came back in, they decided to play a board game, though they all had to argue for a while. No one wanted to play Scrabble against Elliott, though Ana wouldn't have minded; but she was adamant that it was a bad idea to play Monopoly against Christian. Christian warned his family about Ana's skills on poker and how he did not want to yet again lose face against her. And when Ana proposed risk when she saw the cardboard for it, Elliott, Christian and Carrick all opposed at the idea if Grace was playing.

So in the end, they decided to play Trivial Pursuit. It lasted a few hours, and though Ana won the first round when they played the original version, she lost every other round. Elliott won the Disney version, which loudly mocked by Christian and highly encouraged by Ana and Grace for it proved he was a father in touch with his kids. Grace won the sports version, which apparently only came as a surprise to her, and Carrick won the Star Wars one, revealing the super-fan that he was. Christian, on the other hand, revealed to Ana a part of him she had no idea about when he smashed every question concerning the Beatles.

They all went to bed around midnight, Christian and Ana had already planned to stay the night since Christian knew they would drink a lot during the day. When they got to Christian's childhood bedroom, Ana noticed a few changes that Grace had made for her discretion. Mostly feminine toiletries at her disposition.

After washing her face and slipped in the bed, she did her best to not overthink of this whole day as it came. She knew she always had this tendency to overthink everything, and she didn't want to do it all over again this time. She had enjoyed the day and its simplicity. Even with Christian's kisses.

Especially with Christian's kisses …

It was in moments like these that she could see herself falling deep for the man, no matter his flaws and her flaws.

Christian slid next to her, but instead of leaving some distance between them as he always did when they shared a bed, he scooped next to her and took her in his arms without so much of a warning, putting his nose in her braided hair.

"Christian …" She softly said with a warning tone, but Christian ignored her, reaching out to switch off the light and holding even closer to him. And no matter what her reason said, deep down, she had to admit that she liked this position.

"I want to take you away for the New Year. How about Paris?"

"Do you have some business to attend to, there?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point. I'm asking you to come as my friend. Don't mind the contract for this once."

She thought about it. She didn't have any plans for the New Year because she had assumed that Christian would have asked her to work. But this was different, he didn't want her to come because of the contract. And sure, she would love to travel abroad, especially if that meant going to Paris. But she wasn't fooled either. Christian had been clear enough, it was for this once.

So she hummed in agreement, closing her eyes and getting more comfortable in his arms, ignoring all the red flags that lit up inside of her, warning her that this position was too intimate for them.

Christian gently squeezed against him and kissed her neck, confessing with a sleepy voice, "I love falling asleep with you in my arms. I missed that."

❌PLEASE DO NOT COPY, DOWNLOAD OR SHARE THIS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE❌

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

💚If you're reading this for the first time, what did you think? And if it's the second time around, what do you think?

💚 So, what do you think of Mia? And Christian concerning her and what he did and did not do?

💚 What did you think of the Christmas?

💚 What about those last moments?

💚And what do you think of Christian in general with everything that happened lately?

💚 I'm always curious about your favourite part, and what you think will happen next, so let me know.

💚 E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, Everything else is mine (including the mistakes and grammar errors).

Love, Mina 💚💚💚