My dear little broccolis💚💚💚

💚Sweetie, Let Me Give You The Daddy💚

"The best investment I ever made, was when I lost fifty million dollars and met the love of my life as a result of that."

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

‼️Romance/Angst/Drama/Lemons‼️

‼️AS/CG/The Greys/The Steeles/José Rodriguez/Grace Grey‼️

💚Now, in case it wasn't clear, this will be a Christian POV story. and I know you will want Ana's PoV, but it will just be Christian.

💚 READ & REVIEW, DON'T BE A SILENT READER 💚

Epilogue: Sweets Don't Make Daddies (1,7K)

Christian looked at the school where he was about to pick up his daughter, his conversation with his mother still echoing in his mind. He knew that his mother gave him a very easy solution, but he also knew that he couldn't make a choice without feeling like he was sacrificing a part of his life. He loved his family, but he loved his work just as much.

Maybe, after Ana had some time with herself to go back to who she used to be, he would be able to talk with her and find a balance. After all, he knew that no matter what, Ana wouldn't want him to sacrifice what he had worked so hard for.

With a sigh, he got out of the car and went to pick up his daughter, ignoring the few other parents who tried to talk to him about Grace or Ana. Though Ana still hadn't told him anything about it, he knew that the other mothers had been making her feel terrible about her parenting skills, and he was in no mood to pretend to be nice and polite with anyone.

Grace was overjoyed to see her father come to pick her up and when he proposed for them to go out for some waffles, she didn't question it, jumping on the occasion to spend some time with her father. For a whole hour, he let her talk about everything she wanted to talk about, indulging her in foods he knew Ana would be reluctant to give Grace after school in the middle of the week, and he even smiled to himself when Grace acknowledged that her mother would have certainly not let her order such a rich waffle with extra ice-cream on top of it.

It was only on the drive back that Christian finally explained to his daughter why he came to pick her up. "Grace, sweetie, I wanted to spend the afternoon with you because I won't be home for a while. I'm going to London."

"Oh, please Daddy, can I come? Please, please, please? Just like when I was sick, you can take me to your office. I won't bother you," she pleaded, and for a brief moment, Christian thought of taking Grace with him.

After all, she was his daughter, and she never made it a secret how much she loved London. But then again, he doubted that Ana would appreciate him taking Grace with him. Even if it was for a couple of days. In fact, given how lost Ana seemed at that moment, he even feared that taking Grace away might bring Ana back to that suicidal state she was in after she gave birth.

So he smiled at his daughter and reasonably reminded her, "What about your mom? We can't leave her all alone."

"But…she can come too. And we have a big home in London too. We can even bring Peanut and Gus, and —"

"Your mommy works too, Grace. She has to stay here in Seattle. But…I'll bring you whatever you want from London," he promised when her lips turned into a pout.

Christian took a deep breath before he told her something he had never made sure his daughter knew about him. "I love you, Grace. You know that, right?"

She gave him a bright smile and nodded as she said, "Yes. Mama told me so."

He swallowed his hurt, aware that Grace had no idea how much those words stung. She didn't know how much he loved her. She just knew that he loved her because Ana made sure to tell her for him. He gave her a small smile and took his daughter's hand in his as he insisted, "Yes. I love you to the moon and back. And even when I'm far away, I still love you."

"Like in the song from Coco?"

Christian smiled and Grace promised, "I will tell Mama to play the song every night until you come back. And you do too, okay?"

He raised his pinkie and smiled with relief when she hooked her own finger and sealed their promise; still, when she was about to let go of his finger, he held onto it and, as Taylor was parking in his usual spot, Christian asked, "I do have a big mission for you though?"

Grace immediately squared her shoulders, feeling important as her father was giving her a task, "Will you look after your mom for me whilst I'm away?"

"I always do," she beamed. "Mama even said that I was her little angel."

Christian nodded, not surprised, and he brought his daughter back home before leaving so he could catch his jet to New York first. He asked for Sawyer to come with him instead of Taylor, mostly because he trusted Taylor more to take care of his family given Ana's state of mind.

In New York, he left Roxanne in the jet, only doing a quick back and forth to their apartment in search of the first deck of cards Ana had given him, for Thanksgiving.

52 different ways I love you / You love me

For a moment he sat on the edge of their bed, looking through the cards, his heart breaking at each statement Ana made about them. Twice he looked through the fifty-two cards, and not even once did Ana mention how special and unique he made her feel. He never made her feel important, and no matter what other feelings he brought to her, this was something she had made peace with, to his horror.

Without being fully aware of what he was doing, he pulled his phone out and called her, only realising too late that it was well into the night even in Seattle.

"Christian? Is there something wrong?" She asked with a sleepy voice, and he erased the tear that slid down his cheek before clearing his throat and asking, "Why did you stay?"

"Are you drunk? Aren't you supposed to be flying? You said you were going to L—"

"I made a stop in New York," he dismissed, clearing his throat once more as he realised that he did sound drunk indeed. "I just…I wanted to know why you stayed with me. Was it just because of Grace? Or was there something more?"

There was a small silence during which Christian let himself fall against the mattress, anxiously waiting for Ana to say something, anything.

"I already told you, Christian."

"Not really. You told me that it was stupid to love me, though."

"No I just think…I…" She searched for her words, and so Christian closed his eyes and he opened up his heart, telling her what he should have told her a few nights ago.

"You're my number one, Ana. There is no podium. From the moment I fell in love with you, that fucking thing changed. There is no first, second, and third love. There is you and…I shouldn't have taken you for granted and assumed that you knew because you smiled."

He heard her sigh and move before she asked, "Do you really want to do this over the phone, Christian?"

"No. I want to do this in person. I will do this in person. When I come back. I just…I love you, Ana. And I wanted you to know that. In fact, if you want me to give up my company, I will take the first flight back to Seattle. I don't want to lose you."

"You're not making any sense, Christian. I would never ask that of you. You're just tired. When is the last time you actually slept?" She asked with a reasoning tone, and he had to give it to her, the last time he slept was on Valentine's night. Maybe the fear of losing her mixed with the lack of sleep was making him talk nonsense.

"Thank you for my decks of cards, by the way. They're lovely and I do want to start this tradition with you. What shall I get you?" He asked, aware that he had always been terrible at picking out presents for her.

"I don't want anything, Christian. Just go get some rest."

He swallowed, sure that she was crying even though she would never admit it. He heard her yawn and decided that he should let her get some sleep. But just as he was about to hang up, he realised that he didn't know when he would see her next, and so he admitted, "Ana…what I said this afternoon…I will miss you…"

"I'm just a phone call away, Christian. Even when you wake me up in the middle of the night to ramble," she assured him, and he wondered if she understood that he would not come back as long as she didn't ask him to. She asked for time and space, and it was the only thing he could give her as of now. But he didn't want their time apart to make her feel like she should put their relationship in the past.

"Babe?… Please don't give up on me. Don't give up on us."

He heard her hum, probably halfway back to sleep, but it was enough for him. He knew Ana well enough to know that, even though she was tired, she still heard what he said.

So he promised, "I will make it all better." And he hung up with this promise. As soon as she asked him to come back, they would work on their issues, and he would make her see that she was everything to him.

They would get their happily ever after.

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

💚 Aaaaaaaand we had the epilogue. Finally. hope you enjoyed it.

💚Now it seems obvious that of course, there will be a part three. I will post another update to explain all about it. ^^

💚Now question time,

1. What do you think will happen in the next part?

💚 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 💚💚💚