It's been 14 years since the night that will be imbedded in my mind as the worst night of my life. I lost him over something that never happened. After 5 years of marriage, he still believed her word over mine. I'm glad that we didn't have kids yet because that would've just made it all messier. I would never want my children to have to go through something like that. Well, we didn't have any children then, anyways.
He thinks that I betrayed him and our marriage. He thinks I had an affair. I can't believe this shit. I would never cheat on him. Why would I even consider that when he treated me like a queen. He kept me well beyond sexually satisfied. Why would I ruin that for anyone else?
Flashback:
"I can't believe you would do this to me, Ana. Was I just not enough for you? Was this whole relationship a lie and you were just after my money so you thought you'd keep me around? What the fuck were you thinking when you brought him into that room with you?!" he shouts at me.
"I didn't fucking do anything, Christian. I invited him into the room so he could help me with something…" he cuts me off before I could tell him that he was helping me to set up the suite at the hotel for the anniversary surprise I'd arranged for him.
"Yeah! Help you to have an orgasm!" He shouts with a venom that I'd never heard from him before. "I want you out of my home and out of my fucking life. Go fuck whomever you like but you better stay the fuck away from my family and don't even think about trying to contact any of us ever again or I'll just put a restraining order on you and sue you for everything that you have." I gasp. This is it. It's fucking over.
Elena had somehow been spying on me and she took the first opportunity that looked even remotely bad to smear my name and reputation in the mud and run to Christian so she could 'save him' from a wretch like me. The villain got her wish. She ruined my otherwise deliriously happy marriage over something that never even happened.
"I never cheated on you, Christian. I know you won't believe anything I say, but I just had to tell you one last time before leaving here. I'm not lying. She's lying."
"She's never lied to me. Regardless of how you felt about her, she's done nothing but help me since the day I met her." I scoff and roll my eyes. "Now get out!" I turn and run into my closet and shove a week's worth of outfits into a bag. Surely, he will realize the truth and let me come home within a week.
I took the R8 that he'd bought me for the first birthday I had after we were together and I left the property. I couldn't go to Kate because she was married to Elliot and they had 3 kids together so their house was packed. Besides, Elliot will believe Christian and Kate will stand by his side. I drove straight to Daddy's house.
End Flashback.
Christian quickly revoked my access to all of our bank accounts. He even somehow managed to block me out of my own personal account. I was livid. Elena had succeeded at ruining my life and our relationship. I was fired from Grey Publishing. The excuse I was given was that I wasn't needed anymore, but I know it was more like the fact that Christian didn't want me anywhere near him.
All I had left was the clothes that I'd packed, the wedding and engagement rings and my car. I sold the wedding and engagement rings so that I could move away. There's no way I could stay near Seattle and I sure as hell no longer had a reason to stay.
The divorce was rushed and finalized within a month after shit hit the fan. That's when daddy took the tracker off of my car that Christian had put on it and I drove across the country and settled in Miami, Florida. Upon arriving in Florida, 6 weeks after that dreadful night, I discovered that I was 12 weeks pregnant with twins. I knew they were Christian's, but he thought I was a whore that cheated on him so I knew he'd never believe me. Even if he knew, he made it clear for years that he didn't want children. I was on birth control and I was very good at taking it the way I was supposed to. He reminded me as soon as I woke up every morning. I didn't have time to forget.
I have no idea what happened to everyone else in the Grey family or whether they believed the outrageous allegations, but I do know that he also immediately fired Sawyer. He wanted to move away and protect me but, at the time, I thought it would just look like we were actually dating as we were being accused of. Sawyer was always a good friend to me, but that's all. I never saw him as anything more than a brother.
My daddy moved down here to Florida and he lives in the house next door. Zayn Raymond Steele and Talula Grace Steele are fraternal twins. Zayn has his father's copper hair and my blue eyes, while Talula is the opposite. She's got my brunette hair and his grey eyes. There's no denying that they're Christian's children, but no one else will ever know. We call Talula just Lula. They are 13 now.
I have had no interest in a relationship, but I've had 2 different lovers over the past 14 years. They are nothing more than friends with benefits. My benefits with Jeff ended 6 years ago and a year later I met Matthew. He and I have been friends with benefits for 5 years now. We don't spend nights together and we only go out together as friends. The only time we even kiss is behind closed doors.
Being the single mother of twin 13-year-olds is a challenge. My daddy has been a great help, though. He did something right with me so I knew that he'd do great with them. They love their Papa. Ray ended up marrying a woman named Teresa 8 years ago. Zayn and Lula love their Nana as well. I've adopted Teresa as my mom.
Christian had me black-balled in publishing. The fact that him and his money wield enough power to ruin my life like that, is rather disturbing. It also angers me beyond all recognition. I still love the beautiful asshole, but I also harbor a lot of hate for him after the hell me made my life. After settling in Miami, my daddy helped me to start building a new life for myself. He had a savings account ever since he married my mother and he'd never touched it. He said it was for a rainy day and us fleeing Washington turned out to be a stormy day. He purchased us modest homes next door to one another and he took care of the bills and kids while I pursued a career as a college professor. I've got a doctorate in English Literature and I currently teach at the University of Miami. My children are enrolled at Miami Edison High School.
They both excelled in school and were bumped up 2 grades. By the time they are 17, they will have graduated high school. They truly are geniuses. I'd like to take the credit for that, but I think that they got that from their father.
Today, Lula and Zayn's class is touring the campus. They both want to attend college nearby. They have the opportunity to go to pretty much any university in the world if they want to, but they want to stay near me. I am trying to encourage them to do whatever is best for their education because I just want them to have their choice of careers in whatever field they are interested in.
CPOV
19 years ago, I met and married the love of my life. We married within months of meeting and everything about our relationship was perfect… until it wasn't… Elena came to me one day with a video that showed Ana bringing Luke into a suite at the Fairmont whenever she was supposed to be at work. Elena said that they were spotted making out in the SUV he was hired to drive her around in on more than one occasion. Throughout the 5 years of our marriage, she'd told me that they had been carrying on a secret relationship. With the indisputable evidence that she had given me with them going into that suite together. I knew that my whole marriage was a fucking sham.
I made her leave and I blocked her from every account that we had as well as her own personal account. I had her fired from Grey Publishing and had her black-balled in the publishing community. I know it was a dick move to practically put her out on the street without a penny to her name, but if I let her get away with this level of deceit, I'd be a target for even more gold diggers to come out of the wood work. I made sure that she'd suffer for her transgressions just as much as I suffered because of them. I fired Sawyer as well, without severance. I don't know where the 'happy couple' ran off to, but I could give a fuck less.
Elena started bringing me subs again. It isn't quite as pleasurable as it once was, but it gives me an outlet for the rage that I feel towards Ana after her betrayal and, instead of imagining I'm punishing my birth mother, I'm now imagining that I'm punishing Ana.
My family tried to reason with me that maybe it was a misunderstanding. They love Ana and they don't think she'd do something like this. That's the point where I cut myself off from my family as well. They had clearly chosen Ana over me. I don't fucking need them.
From what I hear from Ros and Andrea, I'm an even bigger dick at work than I was before Ana came into my life. My focus on work as a result has paid off significantly. My fortune only grows and that's what makes me feel like I'm on top of the world.
Ana was the love of my life and she broke me. I'll never even attempt to find someone else. There IS no one else for me. I will just live my life as I intended to before she came along. Sure, I now find it lonely, but I think it's better than living a lie with a wife who just couldn't keep her legs closed for her CPO.
Today, I'm headed to Miami to give a lecture on solar technology at the University of Miami. I try to avoid doing these damn things as much as possible and I usually send Ros to take care of it. For some reason, Ros refused to come here and said that I needed to do it so that I could possibly recruit some graduates to join in my cause after their graduation. She makes a valid point. I could expand GEH even further if I could recruit more likeminded college grads.
I've just arrived and the dean is leading me to the lecture hall. "There's some high school students here today for a tour of the campus. There's even a young man who is only 13 but a sophomore in high school who has expressed an interest in learning more about solar technology. I met him when they arrived and he's a very bright boy. He's expected to graduate when he's 16. Him and his sister are geniuses. I'd like to introduce you to the boy."
I roll my eyes but pretend to be interested. I'll do this for the greater good. "Okay. I can make time for that." I don't want to, but if the kid is a genius and he wants to use his intelligence in the same way that I have, it would be wrong of me to not at least try to give him some tips.
He stops outside a door. "This is the room. Good luck, Mr. Grey." I nod and walk past him onto the stage of the lecture hall. Throughout my speech, there's a lot of students who ask questions, which I gladly help.
"Mr. Grey, can you tell me how you became interested in solar energy?" a young lady's voice echoes through the room. She has brunette hair and looks very young. She's beautiful, though.
"Solar energy is just a smart investment. My focus is to make electricity more affordable and available to even those in remote areas of the world."
"Thank you, Mr. Grey." I don't know why, but her voice strikes me as familiar.
"Any more questions?" I ask and I answer just a few more questions and everyone gets up to leave. I'm collecting my paperwork to put in briefcase when I hear the dean again.
"Mr. Grey…" I look up at him. "This is the young man I told you about. This is Zayn." I look to the boy and feel like I'm looking in the mirror.
I finally remember what I'm doing and put out my hand to him. "Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Grey. Can you give me some pointers on how to build my own company? It's always been a dream of mine. My mom once told me that my biological father was a successful business man and I've been interested in pursuing the same career path." The boys asks.
"I'll leave you to it." The dean says and I nod at him before he leaves me alone with the boy.
"Have a seat." I tell him. I sit in a chair 2 seats away from him. I begin telling him about my dream as a teenager and how my father encouraged me to attend Yale, but I dropped out after a year. I tell him about how I was given the seed money for GEH by a friend and how I worked together with Ros and we bought and sold our first company, getting us started. I told him how my dad was upset that I dropped out of school at first but that he became very supportive of my goals. He looks away thoughtful. "Are you okay?"
He nods lightly as he looks down at his fingers as he pulls at them quietly. "I'm just thinking about my own dad. I never got to meet him, but mom always said that he'd love us if he ever met us." He shakes his head and looks back up at me. "I'm sorry. I'm being silly. Forget I said anything."
Suddenly I hear the door open and I look up to see the young brunette that asked the question earlier. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Zayn, the bus is getting ready to head back to school. Are you almost done here?"
"Yes." He looks back to me and offers his hand. I take it to shake it. This is when I realize that he's got the most striking blue eyes that remind me of HER. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Grey." He says, sounding way too mature for being 13.
"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Grey." I hear from the girl before she giggles. She giggles just like HER.
"It was nice to meet you both as well." I stand up and Zayn turns and walks towards the door. "Wait. What was your last name? I can have some information sent to you that you may find useful in pursuing the career of your choice."
"Right. My name is Zayn Steele." He says just before grabbing the girl's hand and leaving the room and I'm pretty sure all of the air in my lungs just left the room with them. Is it possible… NO way! This has to be a coincidence. I have to get Taylor on this.
"Taylor."
"Get me an updated background report on Anastasia Steele, STAT!"
"Yes, sir." I hang up. That has to be some fucked up coincidence, right? Surely if I had children, I'd know about them before they were 13 years old, right? I shake it off before getting my briefcase and making my way out to the hallway. I get a notification that I got an email and I look down at my phone and stop in the middle of the hall and someone runs into me from behind, startling me.
"I'm sorry…" I hear in HER voice. I turn around and there she stands looking just as beautiful ever and as soon as she looks up at me, her eyes widen and all of the color drains from her face. She quickly bends down and starts picking up the books that she dropped.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, probably harsher than I should've.
She stands back up and glares at me. "I work here. It's me that should be asking you what you're doing here?"
"I had to give a lecture. I need to talk to you about something. Can we have lunch together." She narrows her eyes at me.
"Sorry… Too busy being a disrespectful slut these days to consider lunch with the likes of you." She says before darting past me. Still a little smart ass. I watch as she walks away and her figure is more defined. She's even more stunning than I remember. Wait. The kids. I look back at my phone to discover that Anastasia has 2 children by the name of Zayn Raymond Steele and Talula Grace Steele. Again, all of the air leaves my lungs. I reach up and loosen my tie. I don't have a fucking clue what to do in this situation.
I have 2 teenage children that I had no clue existed and then there's Ana. Every bit of the magnetism I used to feel for her is still there… I shake my head to snap out of it. She cheated on me throughout our marriage with her CPO. But, maybe it is time that I forgive her. Surely, she's matured in the last 14 years? I pinch the bridge of my nose. This is a cluster fuck.
APOV
He's here. He's fucking here. Of all of the people I'd imagine running into in the hall at school, he's definitely not one of them. If I hadn't ran into him in the hall, I could've avoided ever seeing him again. At first, I was lost in his hypnotic eyes, but I quickly remembered how he effectively ruined my life within days of believing that I'd cheated on him and I felt nothing but rage. I gave him some answer about being a slut like he seems to believe I am as an excuse for not wanting to have lunch with him. Wait. If he's here he probably gave a lecture. And the twins were here today. What if he saw them? They were supposed to attend a lecture today. Oh, fuck!
I quickly duck into my classroom, hoping like hell that he doesn't follow me and I sit behind my desk and eat an apple and sandwich that I brought from home. "Ana…" I hear as I'm reading Tess for the 10 millionth time after finishing my sandwich.
"Go away, Grey." I say without looking up.
"We need to talk."
"Why? You won't believe anything I tell you anyways so what's the point of wasting my breath. You go on and live your life as you have been." I say, trying to avoid having any kind of conversation with this stupidly handsome son of a bitch.
"I need to talk to you about our children." I close my eyes. Fuck.
"They're my children. Their father wanted nothing to do with them because he chose to believe some pedophile over his wife. There's nothing more to discuss."
"Anastasia." I look up as he approaches my desk. "Zayn has a natural inclination for business and I'd like to help him. Also, I'd like to get to know both him and Talula. He told me that he'd wished he could meet his dad when we were discussing business earlier before I ran into you." Well fuck. How am I supposed to deny my son the chance to know his birth father who he's already talked to apparently.
"Fine. Sit." I tell him. "What do you want to know?"
"I don't know where to start."
"I do. First you need to apologize for ruining my life."
"Ana, I may have hurt you financially, but you ruined me emotionally. All of that time… 5 fucking years and you were running around fucking Sawyer behind my back the whole time."
I scoff. "I did NOT fuck Luke Sawyer. I never kissed him. I never even held his fucking hand. You probably ruined his career as well, but he was an exceptional CPO and he was very professional. Yes, I considered him a friend, the same as the rest of the staff. But that's it. The day you saw me bring him into that suite, that was our 5th anniversary. Luke was helping me to decorate it so that I could surprise you with a night that I was hoping you'd appreciate. Instead, you believed the fucking pedophile over me." I say with finality.
He actually looks shocked. "I…"
"Mom…" I hear and look up to see Talula come into the room. I glare at Christian and stand and approach her. I give her a hug. She's already as tall as me.
"Lula, I thought your bus would've left by now."
She nods. "It did. Zayn and I missed it. Can you give us a ride back to school?" I nod.
"Yes. Let me get my keys." I turn to find Christian standing in front of me.
"We can give them a ride." He says like I'd consider that shit.
"No, thank you, Mr. Grey." I push past him and grab my purse and keys off of my desk. I approach Lula who is apparently having a stare down with Christian. I grab her hand. "Where's Zayn?"
"He's in the hall. He came in before me but he stormed back out. I don't know what happened." I gasp. He must've heard me talking to Christian. When we get out to the hallway, he's sitting against the wall with his knees pulled up to his chest with his face in his hands.
"Why didn't you tell me, Mom?" he says with the same angry voice that Christian used to get.
"Tell you what, Zayn?" he looks up at me with a pained expression.
"That Christian Grey was my father." I feel like I've just been punched in the gut.
I carefully get down on the floor and sit right next to him and Lula is right behind me. "What did you hear, Zayn?"
"I heard him say something about you being together for 5 years. You told me before that you were married to our father for 5 years, but that he'd thought you betrayed him and that's why we had to leave."
"You're right. I was married to Christian for 5 years." I sigh. I hate that I'm about to admit this. "Yes, he is your biological father." I barely whisper and he puts his face back in his hands and starts crying. I turn back to Lula and she's crying as well. I wrap my arms around them both. Great. Christian came back into my life and succeeded at ruining my life again. "Let's go home and have some ice cream and discuss this." I suggest and Lula looks up at me and nods. Zayn is another story. He stands up straight. "I want to go live with Dad." I gasp.
"He's not your…"
"Don't lie to me, Mom!" I sigh and stand up in front of him.
"Yes. He's your biological father, but you can't go live with him. You can't uproot your life like that. If you want, we can arrange for you to spend time with him, but that's the best I can do. You don't know him and I won't lose anything else to him." He rolls his eyes.
"Fine. Can he come along?" I see him looking towards the doorway where Christian is standing. I take a deep breath. Nice work, you fucking asshole.
"Would you like to come over for ice cream?" I ask him and he smirks and nods. I shake my head and turn back to Zayn. "Yes. But he can only stay for a little bit."
"Okay, Mom." I smile and I stand on my tip toes and kiss his cheek. Zayn is already about 6 foot tall. A good 4 inches taller than me. I turn back to Lula, who is engaging Christian in a stare down.
"Lula…" I try to get her attention. "Let's go." I take her hand in one of mine and we walk down the hallway towards the parking lot and I can hear Christian following right behind us. Whenever we get to the parking lot, I turn to Christian. "I'm sure you have my address. I'll see you there, but you should know that daddy lives next door and he's not exactly your fan and hasn't been anytime in the last 14 years." I watch as he swallows hard. He should be scared of daddy. If I hadn't stopped daddy, Christian would've been beaten to a pulp years ago and all of the security in the world wouldn't have been able to save him.
I take the kids to my Mustang and this time Zayn decides to sit in the back and Lula gets in the front with me. "Is he a bad person, Mom?" I shake my head.
"No. You kids are old enough to hear this. He thought I cheated on him with my CPO."
"What?! What's a CPO for starters?" Lula asks.
"A close protection officer… A security officer who stays close to you to protect you."
"Wow. Why would you need one of those?"
"Christian is a very wealthy man and he's always in the news in Seattle."
"Okay, so did you cheat on him?" I shake my head.
"No. He was the love of my life and I never would've done anything to hurt him or sabotage our relationship. That's why I haven't really dated since."
"Well, you should marry him again." She suggests and I giggle.
"No. He hates me because he thinks I cheated and then he kicked me out, kept me from my money, ruined my career and my name… I can't just move on from that, Lula."
"I understand, Mom. So was dad a bad man?" I shake my head.
"No. He's a great man. He's just misunderstood and he has a tendency to jump to conclusions."
"Like Zayn?" I giggle and nod.
"Shut up, Lula." Zayn says.
"Calm down, Z. You know you love me." She says with a giggle.
When we pull up outside our home, I see that Christian's SUV is already here. I also note that my dad is standing on his porch holding his shotgun. He's not pointing it at anyone, but he's definitely trying to make a point. "Is Papa going to shoot dad?" Zayn asks.
"No. He's very protective of me and of you guys and he's very mad at Christian for what happened 14 years ago. He just wants to remind Christian that he's got his eye on him. Everything will be fine." I say.
I get out at the same time as Lula and Zayn climbs out as well. We walk through the yard, up to the front porch. "Hi, Daddy!" I call out.
"Hi, Annie. Hi, Zayn and Lula. Do you guys need some help?" he says nodding towards Christian, who is getting out of the SUV. I giggle.
"No, Daddy. I've got this under control."
"Okay. Holler if you need anything."
"Always, Daddy."
We go inside and Lula goes straight to the kitchen. Christian knocks on the screen door. "Come in." I tell him. He steps inside and looks around at my ordinary home. "I'm sorry that my home isn't a mansion or penthouse like you're used to, but not everyone needs to have a silver spoon up their ass to be happy." I comment.
"Ana, please…" I shake my head.
"Have a seat." I tell him pointing to the couches.
I join Lula in the kitchen and I'm guessing Zayn stays in the living room with Christian. We scoop ice cream into the 4 bowls and I carry 2 while she carries 2 back into the living room. She hands a bowl to Christian and sits down on the couch next to him, while I give one to Zayn, who is sitting on the love seat and I sit next to him. I don't miss the fact that Zayn is glaring at Christian. "So, you think my mom would cheat on you?" he asks accusingly and Christian looks taken aback.
Christian clears his throat. "I… I thought that she did."
"Do you still believe that she did?"
"I don't know. My friend had told me that she'd been kissing her CPO for the whole 5 years that we were married."
"You are aware that Mom isn't a slut, right?" I elbow Zayn in his side.
"Language."
"I'm sorry, Mom. He thinks you would cheat on him. I don't know what you were like before we were born, but I do know that if you were that kind of woman, you would've been in some kind of relationship while we were growing up. A woman who cheats on her husband isn't going to move on to a solitary life just raising her kids all alone." He says. I sometimes forget how he's wise beyond his years. He looks back to Christian, who is clearly shocked. "So, do you know that my mom isn't a slut, Mr. Grey?"
"Yes. I know she's not a slut."
"Did you not trust her when you were married to her then?"
"Yes. I trusted her."
"Then why didn't you give her a chance to explain when she denied what you were accusing her of?"
My son and my daddy are my biggest protectors. Zayn shouldn't have to feel the need to protect me, but he got that trait from daddy. His anger and ability to jump to conclusions comes from Christian, though.
"My friend told me that she saw it." Christian answers simply.
"Why don't you explain to Zayn how you met your 'friend' Elena, Christian?"
"Ana, he's too young to hear that."
"He's 13, Christian. You'd be surprised what most 13 years olds are doing these days. He has a right to know because he's only got 2 years before he's 15 as well and shouldn't he be warned what kind of people are out there?"
That's when Christian's expression changes. The realization that he has a son that is old enough to where Elena might abuse him is hitting him full force and he's finally seeing her for what she really is. "I…" he puts his ice cream bowl down on the table and runs his fingers through his hair tugging on it. "She taught me about sex."
"How old were you?" Zayn asks.
"15."
"How old was she?"
"She was the same age your mother is now." Zayn looks at me.
"While Mom is the most radiant 40-year-old woman that I've ever seen, that's just fucking gross, dad. Why would you let a grown woman do that to you?"
I elbow him again. "Language, Zayn."
"Mom, he let a pedophile have sex with him! Why does he act like that's okay?" I shrug my shoulders and we all look to Christian.
"I have to go." Christian says and gets up from the couch and darts out the door.
"Well, that was educational…" Lula murmurs and I shake my head.
"So, why would he have still been friends with a pedophile, Mom? If we lived with him, she could come over and try that with me and I'd have to make Lula kick her ass since she's a woman."
"He has always had a hard time admitting that what happened to him with her was abuse. He believes that she helped him gain control. It's not like that, though."
He nods and we finish eating ice cream in silence until Lula speaks again. "Ben is coming to pick me up so we can have dinner with his parents. Is that still okay?" I nod.
Ben is a good boy and he focuses on his school work just like both of these kids do. "Yes. Just be home by 9. You know the rules."
"I know, Mom." She takes her bowl and Christian's to the kitchen and then runs upstairs.
"What about you, Zayn? What do you want to do tonight?"
"I think I want to go hang out with Marcus and a couple other friends at the beach. We're having a bonfire."
"Okay. Same rules for you. 9 pm. Okay?" he nods.
"Yes, Mom." I smile and take our bowls to the kitchen and I wash them.
I decide to just order takeout since the kids aren't going to be here for dinner. Zayn's friend Marcus comes and picks him up and Lula comes downstairs in a blue cocktail dress. "Mom, do I look okay?" I approach her and straighten up her necklace.
"You're beautiful as always baby girl. Remember to call if you need to." She nods and hugs me.
"Thank you, Mom." I see Ben's car pull up and I walk her to the porch and I see Christian's SUV approaching as Ben walks up the sidewalk.
"Hi, Miss Steele." Ben says.
"Hi, Ben. Make sure you bring her back by 9."
"Of course." He says and Lula kisses my cheek before walking off the porch and kissing Ben's cheek. I notice Christian running through the yard.
"What's going on here?" he asks as he stops Lula and Ben from going back to his car.
"Lula's going to have dinner with her friend, Christian. What do you think you're doing?" I say, hoping to get him to back off.
"I want to have a talk with this kid first." Christian says without taking his eyes off Ben. I step off the porch and stand between Christian and the kids.
"NO, Christian. You have no place coming in here and acting like a father. Leave them alone." I turn to Ben and Lula. "Go. I'll handle this." They practically run off towards the car and Christian gives the poor boy a death glare. I grab Christian's shirt. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" I ask.
"I think I'm the father of the little girl that you just let run off with that boy."
"I think that you have no place to storm in here acting like you're in charge. You're not, Christian." I release his shirt and turn and storm into the house, but I can hear him right behind me.
CPOV
After going back to my hotel with Taylor to process my thoughts, I realized that I'd kill someone if an adult tried to have sex with my 13 year old son, much less beat him into submission. Ana was right all along. I was just too fucking stupid to see it.
I pick up the phone to call the old bag.
"Christian, darling." She purrs. The woman is 70 years old now and is still acting like she thinks she has a chance in hell of getting back with me.
"Elena, it's time we had a talk."
"What is it?"
"What did you really see with Ana 14 years ago?"
"She took that CPO of hers into a hotel suite 14 years ago. Why do you ask?"
"So, she didn't really kiss him?"
"I don't know."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SWORE YOU SAW HER CHEATING ON ME?!"
"Right. Sorry. Yes, I forgot." I know she's lying now and I'm livid. My family was right. I was horribly wrong to doubt Ana's fidelity.
"I'm cutting all ties to you. You're no longer a friend or business partner, I'm gifting you my shares in Esclava and I never want to see you or hear from you again."
"You don't mean that, Darling."
"OH, I know exactly what I mean." I hang up and I stand and start pacing. I've got to figure out how to make this right. Ana and I have children together. 13-year-old twins with the love of my life and apparently, they're geniuses. I need to go back and talk to her and them.
"TAYLOR! Let's go back to Ana's. I need to figure out how to win my family back."
He looks at me and I can see he's fighting the urge to smile. "Yes, sir." When we pull up outside her home, Ana and Talula are standing on the porch and there's some teenage boy walking up the sidewalk and as soon as I see my daughter kiss his cheek, I'm overflowing with rage. Oh, hell NO! I jump out and run up in front of them to stop them. He's old enough to drive a car and she's only 13. "What's going on here?" I snap.
"Lula's going to have dinner with her friend, Christian." Ana answers.
"I need to have a talk with this kid first." I say and Ana comes darting down the steps and stands between me and the kids.
"NO, Christian. You have no place coming in here and acting like a father. Leave them alone." She turns to Ben and Lula. "Go. I'll handle this." They practically run off towards the car and I glare at the boy. Ana grabs my shirt to get my attention. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" She asks.
"I think I'm the father of the little girl that you just let run off with that boy."
"I think that you have no place to storm in here acting like you're in charge. You're not, Christian." She releases my shirt and storms off into the house and I follow right behind her.
"How old is that boy, Ana?" I ask and she shakes her head.
"It's none of your business, Christian. You can't storm in here and try to change our lives. What's the fucking point? You can walk away now and continue your life but just leave us to live ours."
I scoff. "I met my children, Ana. My TEENAGE children! I want to be in their lives and yours."
Now she scoffs as she turns to me. "So now that you know I birthed and raised your children, you're willing to stoop so low as to want to be with the slut who supposedly broke your tiny little quivering heart?! How fucking honored am I?! Get the fuck out of here!!" she says as she is less than a foot from me. I can't help myself and I take her face in my hands and bring my lips down on her lips and kiss her hard.
She resists at first, but then, as usual, she melts into it and parts her lips, allowing my tongue entrance. I pick up her tiny body and she wraps her arms around my neck and her thighs around my waist. I push her body up against the wall and hold her in place with my hips as I start laying kisses on her neck. She's not resisting. She wants this as much as I do. I reach down and rip her panties free from her body and then I fumble with my belt, button and zipper and pull my pants down enough to free my raging hard on from my pants. I thrust my full length into her at once and fuck if she doesn't feel even better than before. I crash my lips back into hers and I thrust hard and fast and she cries out as her orgasm crashes over her and her insides squeeze my cock like a vice grip. Immediately, I lose control of myself and I groan as I join her in an orgasm of my own. "Fuck! I've missed you, Ana." I whisper against her lips.
"I missed you too, Christian." She whispers back before kissing me sweetly. "But we will never work." She says.
"Why not?"
"For starters, you ruined my life. Also, it just so happens that we have a life here in Miami. That's not changing."
"I'll make up for my grievous error, Ana. I know you didn't really cheat on me now and I also know that you were right all along about Elena and I just cut all ties with her. I am so fucking sorry for being a dumbass. Please give me a chance to make it up to you, Ana. I want to be with my family. I can make a new GEH office here and stay here with you until we retire. I don't give a fuck about my job, Ana. I just want to be with my family."
She softens at my words and her lips come back down on mine. "I think you need to fuck me more before I can fully believe you." Well, I'm not about to argue with that.
"Where's your room?" she giggles.
"I think we should get takeout first. I haven't eaten yet."
"Shit. Where's Zayn?" she starts full on laughing now. I don't see what is funny.
"You just fucked me in the kitchen and didn't bother to consider that our son was in the house?"
"Well, no. But I'm sure if he was here, that wouldn't have happened. Where is he?"
"He's at the beach with some friends." Shit. If he's like me, he could be getting into trouble. "I know what you're thinking and no. These kids are good. They got caught drinking together last year, but after losing his technology for 3 months, he's not about to repeat his grievous error." She kisses me sweetly again. "So are you going to let me down so I an call for take out?" she asks and I nod and let her down.
She calls and orders take out and we eat together and she tells me about the kids. The only thing she doesn't know yet is about the fact that I've been beating and fucking subs for 6 of the last 14 years. I was so mad at her, but now, all I feel is content and happy. I just found my family and I don't want to lose them again.
She stands and offers me her hand. "Come. We've only got 2 hours before the kids are supposed to be home." I nod and eagerly take her hand and follow her to her bedroom and we fuck for the next hour and a half. As we're laying in a post-coital embrace in her bed, I think of something.
"You should come with me to Seattle for the weekend. My family will be so excited to meet the twins."
I can feel her smile against the skin of my chest. "Okay. When is the last time you talked to your family?" she asks.
"Honestly, I haven't talked to them since I kicked you out and they told me that I could've been wrong. I wasn't having it. I was a fucking idiot, Ana. I am so fucking sorry."
"It will be okay." She lifts her head to look at the clock. "We should get ready. They should be home at any time." She leans up and kisses me sweetly. We're innocently sitting on the couch when Zayn comes in looking confused 10 minutes before curfew. Lula comes in just 5 minutes before 9. They're punctual. I'll give them that. "Have a seat, kids." They sit down on the love seat while Ana and I sit on the couch.
"What's going on, Mom?" Zayn asks.
"How would you guys feel about spending the weekend in Seattle to meet Christian's family?"
They both look cautiously optimistic. "Okay." Is the simple answer that they both say. That was easy enough.
"One more thing, how would you feel about Christian moving here?" They look at each other and smile.
"We'd like that." I can't help but to smile.
"The jet is ready so go grab yourselves some clothes. Pack enough for 3 days." I tell them and they look excited.
"YOU have a JET!?!" Lula asks and I nod. She squeals and jumps up and approaches me and wraps her arms around me, catching me off guard. She stands and runs off and Zayn follows.
"I think she might have a coronary, Christian." Ana replies.
"No. She's a Grey. That's all there is to it." I look to Ana. "I love you, Ana. It's always been you."
"I feel the same about you. I love you, Christian."
After the kids are packed and Ana grabs a few things, we head to the jet and the ride to Seattle was very interesting, to say the least. The kids are amazing. There was conversation and laughter. My life is complete. My son will probably end up taking over for me at GEH as soon as he's old enough and trained and Lula… She's bound for great things. She expressed interest in being a doctor. I believe she will accomplish that goal. These kids grew up without having money at their disposal like I did, yet they're happy and safe. Ana and Ray did great with them, but I plan to be a part of their lives from here on out.
When we pull up outside of my parents' Bellevue home for brunch, I'm a bundle of nerves. None of them have seen either Ana or I in 14 years, yet here we stand with our 13-year-old children at their front door. Ana takes my hand and the kids stand on either side of us. "Knock, Christian." Ana encourages me.
I take a deep breath and knock. When the door opens, I see my smiling mother. Her smile turns into a look of shock. "Mom…" I say.
"Christian?" she answers.
"This is Zayn and Talula, but she goes by Lula. They are 13 years old." Mom gasps and moves out of the way to invite us in.
"Everyone else is here but we weren't expecting you. We haven't seen you in so long." She approaches Lula first and puts her hands on her cheeks. Lula is smiling and mom has tears on her cheeks. "You look just like your mother with your daddy's eyes." She tells her and immediately wraps her arms around her. "I'm your Nana Grace." She tells her. She moves over to Zayn and does the same. "You look just like your father with your mother's eyes. Oh, my heart." She wraps her arms around him as well. Afterwards she hugs both me and Ana. She wipes away her tears. "Follow me." She leads us to the family room and the whole room goes silent as soon and Ana, Zayn, Lula, and I are in their view. "Christian brought his family home." Mom announces and everyone looks shocked.
When everyone regains their ability to talk, they welcome us back and they admire our teenage children. They are insanely proud of Ana for doing such a great job with them and they are proud of all that the kids have accomplished thus far. We learned a lot.
Mia and Ethan Kavanagh married 13 years ago and they have 2 sets of twins ages 10 and 6.
Kate and Elliot Grey now have 6 kids ranging in age from 16 to 5.
Mom and Dad adopted a girl named Emily 6 years ago and she graduated 3 years ago and she's a student at WSU now. Mom and dad are both retired now and they spend a lot of time traveling the world.
15 years later –
I'm now 60 and Ana is 55. Zany and Talula are now 28 years old.
Ana and I remarried and moved into a beach house in Miami shortly after we returned from introducing the twins to our family. I built a new GEH office in Miami and I trained Zayn to take over for me after he graduated college 8 years ago. I am now retired as well. Ana retired 2 years ago. Lula graduated med school and she is a pediatrician now.
Ana's dad passed away 2 years ago so we decided to move back to Seattle to be near Zayn so that's where Lula's private practice is. Zayn married a young brunette by the name of Stacy 6 years ago and they have 2 children together. Lula is dating a great man, Caleb Hennessy. He proposed to her last year and they just got married today.
Mom and Dad both passed away together in their sleep 5 years ago.
"Mrs. Grey, I'd say we've lived a pretty great life." I say to my wife as she is doting over our beautiful 4-year-old granddaughter, Hailey. She looks up to me.
"I'd have to agree." I lean over and kiss her sweetly.
"It's time for pictures, Mom and Dad. We have to get the whole family." Lula announces. We get up and they sit a couple of chairs side by side for me and Ana and Our grandchildren, Hailey and Teddy, sit on our laps as Stacy and Zayn stand on one side of us and Lula and her new husband stand on the opposite side. The photographer tells us to smile and we do. I lean over and kiss my wife for the camera after the first picture.
"Welcome to happily ever after, Mrs. Grey." I whisper.
THE END.