Beta: paleseptember10
Major thanks to Nadia for the baby language.
Finale
2026
Raindrops splashed across the plaque devoiding it of dirt, purifying it as if it was Holy Water. An umbrella's presence allowed the water to be cleared from the surface, and the print to display.
Madeline Trevelyan-Grey
2020
It seemed like so long ago, yet standing before this token of remembrance, she felt like she was being brought right back to exactly six years ago. Only difference was, they were now in the house that she had always looked forward to living in. It was the symbol of freedom, freeing her from the confinement of the Escala penthouse that she affectionately named the Ivory Tower.
"You haven't been here since Teddy was born," Christian observed gently, easing her out of her memory. Their boy was almost three now, and one would think that after the disastrous year of 2020, they would be heading down an entirely different path.
She twisted her body so that she was now facing him, and he lifted his gaze from the plaque they made for their baby girl that never made it into the world. Their eyes met, and he knew instantly that there was something that she wanted to share but was too nervous to do so.
"Communication, remember? We've been doing so well with it," he encouraged, his free arm snaked around her hip to pull her against his body as he pecked her temple and then the corner of her lips.
"I'm pregnant; again," she blurted out her confession before she lost all courage. "I swear I'm on the shot and I know that this isn't planned. We said that we're going to wait until Teddy's actually three before we start trying."
"Breathe, Ana."
"I'm sorry, this is like… this is just like six years ago. Even around the same month of the year."
"Hey, hey, hey," he pushed her head into his chest as he stroked her hair. "None of that, okay. This is not the same. I'm not the same, and you're not the same; we're not the same. We're getting so much better at communicating, and I hope by now that I've proven to you that there's nothing you can do to drive me away from you. You can tell me anything, and I mean everything."
"Are you happy about it?"
"Baby, I'm ecstatic! The only thing stopping me from jumping up and down right now is because I don't want you to get soaked in the cold so I refrained from throwing the umbrella away."
"You want another child?"
"I want to fill this house with you," he leaned down, touching his lips against the crown of her head as his thumb caressed her shoulder.
She smiled shyly into his chest and nuzzled her face deeper into his coat. He instinctively wrapped her into it with the lapel, and squeezed her shoulder affectionately. She was enjoying this version of her husband so much more, and as controlling as he still was, he at least would open his mouth to talk to her. She knew better than to tell him off about his control issues, because being a control freak was in his nature.
"Come on, let's get you inside before you freeze."
"When are we announcing it to Teddy? Then to our families?" She asked what was on her mind as he steered her back indoors.
"After the second trimester scan when we can know the sex?" He suggested, pushing the door open for her and they were instantly engulfed in the warmth of their very own home. Both of their eyes darted to their son in the center of the living room playing with Gail, Taylor, and Sawyer automatically as they dusted off the raindrops from their jackets.
Christian chuckled out loud as he recalled the scare the whole family had when they found out that Ana was pregnant. It was a planned surprise but the family had no idea, and they thought they should do something special for the announcement in light of recent events.
"What are you laughing about?" Anastasia shuffled over, snuggling into the space in between her husband and the back of the couch as they watched their son together. His arm snuck around her torso pulling her away from the furniture, and tucked further into his body.
"Just how everyone thought you had the coronavirus when we said that you've been puking and had a change in taste."
"And I had a runny nose that night, and felt super tired," she giggled along, remembering the same misunderstanding that had everyone freaked out until Christian also refused an alcoholic beverage claiming that it was banned in his house for the next nine months.
"You did taste differently, though," he wiggled his eyebrows at her salaciously. "I can attest to that. You were sweeter, the complete opposite of your changing attitude," he jested, reminding her of her first full pregnancy with Teddy, letting out his jokester side every once in a while in the safe haven of his own home.
"You and your never ending sex jokes, Christian. I swear Teddy's going to pick it up from you and repeat them in your ear, and when that happens, I'll just sit back and watch you dig yourself out."
He chortled, one arm tightened around her as his other tickled her sides. She gasped for air in between her hysterical giggles as her hands futilely slapped around trying to shove him away, her failure only fueled his booming laughter.
Suddenly, she stopped protesting and threw her arms around his neck, momentarily catching him off guard, and she took the chance to plant her lips firmly on his; attacking him viciously with her tongue. He stopped with his mischief and submitted to her.
For a second, she thought she had successfully distracted him so she pulled on his sweater in an attempt to push him against the sofa, but he came to his senses quicker and grabbed her, turning them back so she was now sandwiched.
"Nice try, baby," he chuckled evilly, and backed her against the very spot that she thought she could back him up against. "I'm the control freak in the family, honey," he reminded her sweetly as he bent her backward and over the couch.
She parted her legs involuntarily to seek balance as she felt her back easing down the backrest to the seats with Christian's aid. She giggled and laughed as he tipped her head over so that it was hanging upside down at the edge of the seat. Once she realized that position she ended up in, she pulled him closer with her legs and licked her lips.
"Don't give me that look, Ana," he chuckled deeply.
"What look?" She taunted, drawing her bottom lip in between his teeth right under his watch.
"Surely you don't want a live baby-making demonstration for your son now, do you?" His eyes darkened, and she knew that it would only be a matter of time before his resolve was destroyed completely and snatched her upstairs.
"There are a lot of possibilities," she pointed out, emphasizing the current position that she was in.
He sauntered to her head, and hovered above her midsection with his hands on either side. It was much lower than their bed, and the swing, and the chair they had in their playroom in Escala, but it still got him hard nonetheless.
"You in this position is definitely giving me ideas."
"Well then, consider this an open invitation," she giggled.
He growled, and lowered his face a little bit more.
"Fuck me," she giggled coquettishly, goading him and tempting him as her fingers tickled up and down his forearm.
He lowered his face completely so their lips met, and she parted them willingly, her tongue reaching up to meet his.
"Mama!" Teddy screamed excitedly, followed by Gail's laugh right behind him telling him to slow down to see where his parents actually were.
"My little cock blocker," Christian muttered with mirth before scooping up his wife from the sofa to the upright position. "I love you so much, Ana," he kissed her hair before releasing her and letting her feet touch the ground.
"Ditto, baby," she grinned contently at him and brushed her palm across his chest so casually that no one would suspect that he had only recently got over the fear of touch with his wife, making her the second person to have free rein and full access over his no-go zone; his three year-old son being the first.
"Mama, come," Teddy popped out of nowhere, grabbed his mother by the hand and dragged her away without a glance spared in his father's direction.
"Well, hello there, son," Christian said to the empty corridor that the rest of his family had disappeared to.
He had heard from his colleagues that kids tend to prefer their mother over their dad, and he thought that was because they weren't home long enough to spend time with their children. However, he swore that he spent way more time playing with Teddy than Ana did, but somehow their son always went to her whenever she was there.
Teddy wasn't picky about which parent he wanted with him… generally… but if he had something exciting to share, it was always Ana that knew about it first. But for some reason, when they were going out or when he was going to bed it would always be his Dad that carried him around, it was as if he knew that Daddy was probably stronger than Mommy.
…
"I'll pick you up from the office," he pecked her lips before walking out of her office and closing the door behind him.
The both of them could technically go on maternity leave anytime they pleased as they owned the companies they worked for, all they had to do was to be on standby and be reachable which they intended to be anyway. So, after a few rounds of back and forth, Anastasia finally relented and announced that she was going to be working from home after her mid-pregnancy scan, and today would be her last day in the office.
He wouldn't be officially on leave until her third trimester, at least that was the plan but she could tell that he had been spending way more time working from home than he had intended. She didn't make a comment about it because she secretly liked the fact that she could feel his presence constantly even if he was taking a call in another room or stuck in a meeting during lunch.
She had long conceded to the reality that her husband was just a popular man that would always be in high demand, and as much as he'd love to focus all of his attention on her he had other obligations that he couldn't get out of.
Their appointment was at six as always, an after hour just to avoid wandering eyes and ears. They had paid a hefty amount to secure that time slot with Dr Greene, as well as demanding extra office hours from her. It would be worth the hassle though because the last thing they wanted was to have some stranger butting into their relationship.
"Ana, your hus-" Hannah's announcement through the intercom was cut short by the abrupt opening of her door as it nearly swung off of its hinges. "Your husband's here…" she finished the unnecessary statement in a small voice with a small chuckle as she turned off her receiver knowing what would be happening in that soundproof room.
Christian locked the door letting the dramatic click of the bolt resonate in the air as he grinned at her, a brown paper bag in his hand as he licked the corner of his lips as if to wipe away some drool falling out of the corner.
Her eyes darted from the bag of food to his tongue, just in time to see it swipe over his bottom lip, and the moment her eyes locked with his she knew that not only her panties were ruined but he wasn't at all interested in the takeout in his hand.
For a split second, she even doubted whether it really was edible food inside that bag he was holding.
"Missed me?" He circled around, dropping the brown bag on the empty spot on her desk before spinning her chair around to face him.
"You didn't make an appointment. I might have a lunch meeting."
"But you don't, so that's a moot point. Besides, I do own half of this company," he lifted a brow at her cockily, the arrogance seeped out of him and it couldn't even be stopped.
"That doesn't give you the right to just barge in," she scowled but found it very hard to maintain a stern expression when her handsome husband was trying to seduce her.
"If I remember correctly, you were never announced when you visit me."
"I never barge in," she challenged but she already knew that it was a meaningless argument. Rolling her eyes, she reclined back into her chair and relaxed. "What did you bring?" Her arm reached out for the bag but he pushed it further.
"We're celebrating."
"What, now?"
"Yes, now," he smirked. His tie dangled from around his neck and so were the lapels of his suit jacket as he bent forward to put his hands on either side of her chair.
"What are we celebrating?" She furrowed her brows slightly but her eyes couldn't help but wandered away from his face as she took in the fine specimen on proud display right in front of her. As if to bring the point home, she closed her eyes momentarily just to breathe in the masculine scent mixed with his signature cologne.
Damn, he still smelled so good.
"Today's our last day," he stared back at her waiting for her to open her eyes. She wasn't even a tad bit embarrassed about getting caught checking him out, and he liked the confidence. He knew she was turned on; he could literally smell her.
"Our?"
"Mm hmm." He nodded his head, his eyes closed briefly to bask in the utter shock turned elation that she was in. She didn't do much to show her feelings but her face said it all, and he was so proud to be the one that made her this happy.
"Wasn't your plan to leave when I'm like huge and can barely move?"
"You're never huge, and you move just fine. Surely you recall how you rode my dick from sunset to sunrise when you were pregnant with Teddy," he taunted, sticking out his tongue to let the tip of it flick over the tip of her nose.
She blushed as expected, and his grin stretched wider at her reaction. She reached out, shoving at his chest playfully as she hid her face in her other hand.
"Tell me you're not horny. Tell me you're not turned on. Tell me you don't want me, and I'll let you eat your lunch."
He leaned in closer so their faces were inches apart but he made no attempt to touch her physically, not even to peck her pouty lips that were too inviting at the moment that was making him unfocused.
"Don't clench your thighs."
His eye darted to her core and watched her flex her quadriceps as she tried to cross her legs subtly, but he knew her, and that low whisper was sending shivers down her spine only contributing to the pool of wetness inside her panties.
"Don't even think about it."
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly when she bit down on her bottom lip, the telltale sign that she desperately wanted him to attack her.
"Touch me, Christian," she conceded to her hormones and requested.
"Where?"
She growled frustratedly when she realized that he wasn't done playing with her and her over-the-top sex drive. She could finally match up to his libido, and she didn't know if it could get worse than her last pregnancy, even though it was starting to look that way.
"Anywhere!" She snatched his tie and yanked his head over so their lips could finally fuse together, and her teeth smashed against his as she devoured him with abandon and determination. "Just do something."
He laughed against her mouth but she wouldn't allow him to pull away, not even for air. Her other hand shot straight to his belt buckle and her slender fingers instantly went to work. She deftly unbuckled the leather and in the next moment, she had her fingers tightly wrapped around his length making his eyes widen in surprise.
This wasn't the first time that she took charge in sex but it certainly was the most aggressive she had been.
"What has gotten into you, baby?" He pulled the tie off and switched places with her. The minute his ass made contact with the swiveling chair, he ripped her panties and rubbed her clit providing a much needed relief to her.
"What hasn't gotten into me? You can't just waltz in here looking like that and expect me to just sit here and eat my lunch without fucking you first."
"What do I look like?" He flirted, his fingers played with her sex as his thumb rubbed her clit furiously and his middle finger teased the entrance to her vagina.
"Sinfully hot, and ready to be fucked."
She all but moaned before she could finish her sentence, and her body fell forward. Her mouth opened as she let the sensation take over her senses. Her teeth clenched around the skin on his shoulder as she felt herself getting closer and closer to her climax, and all she could focus on was how to not let the entire building know that she was getting fingered by her husband during lunch hours.
"Give it to me, Ana," he commanded in her ear, and she screamed into his shirt, leaving a wet spot on his perfectly ironed and tailored shirt. "It shouldn't be this intense," she panted, her cheek now resting on his shoulder as her breath tickled the crook of his neck.
"Perks of being knocked up, I guess," he chortled teasingly. His hand grabbed the nape of her neck gently, guiding his lips to hers as he lifted her ass up with her help so her lips between her thighs could swallow his shaft in whole.
The deep penetration was just what she had been waiting for, and she knew that if she wanted him to take his time with her and eat her out, they would have to go home but the mere thought of that had her bouncing up and down on his cock faster than ever. She wanted his mouth and his tongue, and all she could do at the moment was imagine that his dick was that piece of muscle inside his mouth currently duelling with hers.
"Fuck, Ana!" He grunted, his hands gripped the back of her ass in an attempt to slow her down but she wasn't having it.
"Let me fuck you," she ordered. Her hands pushed against his chest as she ground her hips into him deeper with each thrust. "Oh god, yes!" She hissed, her eyes staring into his as her hair draped down the side of her face shielding them from the light source, immersing them in complete darkness.
"Use me, baby," he met her thrust for thrust, feeling how close she was all the while trying to hold back his own orgasm. "Use me to make yourself cum," he told her as he slammed her hips down onto his more forcefully.
"Yes! Yes! Fuck, Christian!" She panted, her fingers curling against his chest and bunching the material in her claws as she dug her nails into his cloth-covered flesh. His pectorals didn't feel so hard anymore with the way she was gripping at it. "I'm cuming… Christian, kiss me," she ordered frantically.
Her eyes sprang open as she stared at him, imploring him to act and act quick, because the second his mouth covered hers, she screamed as her orgasm hit her in waves. He followed close behind her but that did nothing to stop her quivering pussy from milking his dick. So much so, she could already feel them leaking out of her and dripping onto the ground.
It only reminded her of the time he bent her over his desk in his office at Grey House with his head stuffed in her pussy from behind, and the pool of arousal that formed on the floor as he feasted on her juice.
"Take me home," she instructed confidently. Her eyes still clouded with lust but at this moment, all she could think about was getting home to strip him naked just so he could quench her thirst. "Christian, I need you to take me home… and fuck me, hard."
He captured her lips once more in accordance. He was basking in her hormonal horniness. Who said pregnant women weren't attractive? Who said they weren't sexy? Lies. All lies.
"Are you sure?" His mind was just as lust filled, and he knew that there would be no way for him to go back to work and expect his mind to focus on anything other than his wife's pussy.
"Yes, and do it now."
He jumped up from the seat and hastily buckled up his pants. He shrugged on his suit jacket in a vain attempt to hide the crinkles on his shirt from their rampage. He reached over to smooth her outfit and tidy her hair.
"We're celebrating this our way," he promised as he leaned over to grab his phone so he could call Taylor.
"Well, what are you waiting for!"
…
"Do you want to know the sex of your baby?" Dr Greene asked, distinctly recollecting the memories of them six years ago at this very same spot, with Ana lying on this very same bed but going through something completely different.
Despite the circumstances, and their unpopular lifestyle choices, they were actually the patients that were the closest to her heart. It wasn't because they paid her generously but it was because the unique bond that she had detected and seen from them. She would admit that she may have passed on a few personal judgements here and there during their very first pregnancy, but those preconceived notions were soon washed away when they came over to her three years ago.
"Can we already?"
"This is your mid pregnancy scan," she reminded the parents. "Besides, you told me that everything is fine, and you've never felt better."
"Well, I'm only using my last pregnancy as a yardstick. There really isn't much to draw from," Ana said, rather nervously. The shadow from her very first experience still looming over her head like a ghost hovering in this clinic whenever she visited.
"Everything looks good to me, and other than some tenderness and some soreness, you said that you didn't experience any morning sickness this time either. When did you feel your first quickening?"
"Last couple of weeks, I think. Christian said he hasn't felt anything yet, and he's been trying since I told him that I felt flutters," she giggled recalling her husband ridiculously hovering above her stomach every morning and night when he thought she was asleep, trying to convince their baby to kick.
Dr Greene smiled, even she could feel the lightness in their relationship now that she had experienced the heavy part over half a decade ago. She didn't have to see their mask covered faces to know that they were both grinning from ear to ear as they anxiously waited for the gender reveal.
"Well, let's see if your baby cooperates with me today then," she adjusted the probe and placed them back on her round stomach.
…
On the car ride back to their house, Christian stewed in silence. His face was turned toward the window and his expression was impassive like always, the only form of consolation he offered to Ana proving that he was still present and with her was the rhythmic stroking of the back of her hand. His thumb would sometimes hover over her rings but the death grip he had on her left hand was enough for her to know that something was bothering him and he didn't know what to do.
"What's wrong?" She prodded carefully, asking it in the gentlest tone she could muster given the worry that was now building up from the pit of her stomach.
"I was thinking about the genetic test that we did after we got back together, officially."
She nodded, recalling her reluctancy at getting tested because she wasn't so confident that she'd be able to go through a pregnancy again, mentally. Christian initially proposed to map out their genes just for future references but she told him that she wasn't ready to have any more children. He said he understood but that didn't mean that he didn't hold out hope that she might change her mind one day.
"What about it?" She swallowed. Her hand balling up the hem of her shirt just for it to absorb some sweat that was forming combined with the residual of the hand sanitizer that they had just used.
"Madeline had Edwards, and statistically speaking girls have a higher chance of getting it."
"Yes, but anyone can have a baby with Edwards syndrome. It doesn't have to run in the family, besides we got the result and all the hereditary diseases from both of our biological families are chronic ones that practically the entire population develops as they aged. We've especially focused on heart defects, and there are very little."
"Yes, but your father's family has a history of respiratory disease, and one of mine has a history with gastrointestinal cancer."
"That doesn't mean our baby girl can't be born healthy, Christian. I mean if we get Teddy's genes for a test, we can probably find out about so many recessive genes to diseases that he could potentially develop or show symptoms just like ours. They're just so common that it's probably in everyone's genes. Those genetic results didn't exactly raise any red flags for us given that if we trace our ancestry we are bound to find out about some horrible illnesses that our ancestors died from."
"I'm still worried though."
"I know," she shifted in her seat as far as her seatbelt allowed, and pulled his hand over so that it was now resting on her knee as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Dr Greene said everything looks normal, and she has been looking at it really closely for us once we found out that it's a girl this time."
He nodded, the uneasiness in his stomach still couldn't settle even as he recalled the extra hour they spent in the room with Dr Greene hovering over the screen scrutinizing at every grainy detail on the ultrasound. She even called in her colleagues just to make sure that she didn't miss anything.
"We can talk about it tonight once Teddy goes to sleep."
…
"It won't be like that this time."
"This is our chance to truly right our wrong, and it's time for us to redeem our past."
"It is, so how are we going to break it to our baby boy tomorrow before we tell the family over lunch?"
The words from last night rang in his head the moment he woke up from his sleep, and he was immediately reminded of the woman cocooned in his arms. He glanced at the alarm clock next to the bed and sighed mentally. He didn't want to leave the bed when she felt so warm and comfortable.
His hands trailed down to her protruding stomach, and he smiled. She was bigger than the first time around but slightly smaller than the second time, but he wasn't being technical, he just happened to know her body physically much better than she did. He caressed her skin hoping he could get a rise out of his daughter by rubbing Ana's stomach, but that didn't get him anywhere.
"Phoebe, love… please," Christian cooed at Ana's stomach as he knelt by the bed, his head snuck under the quilt.
Anastasia had always been a heavy sleeper whenever he was around, and he took pride in that knowing that her light sleeper tendency only disappeared because she felt safe in his arms. He would be on maternity leave starting next week, and he hadn't been in the office much either as he wanted to make up for loss time.
This particular pregnancy wouldn't be so special to him had it not been the incident from six years ago. Call him paranoid, but he not only learned from that and made sure that history didn't repeat itself, he also didn't want the shadow to loom over them as the timeline was exactly the same and he wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be haunted by their memories.
"Come on, baby girl. Give Daddy a kick, please?" He whispered, lowering his palm so that it was flat on the side of her stomach as he tried to feel any kind of movement.
He had been doing that since Ana told her that she could feel flutters inside of her, she would always laugh at his attempts but what she didn't know was that he had been secretly calling her Phoebe, and he would talk to their daughter every morning before he left for work or every time Ana took a nap. He was rarely in the office, and when he had to go in, he would make sure that he left extremely early and came back as soon as possible.
"Tell me you're doing okay, Pheebs, but don't wake Mommy up, okay?" He bargained, but there was no answer for him.
He pouted as if his daughter could see him, and just when he was about to reach out again, Ana stirred and flipped to her back. He quickly ducked out from under the cover and straightened his shirt pretending that he was just getting ready for his morning workout.
"Good morning, baby," he dipped down on the edge of the bed and leaned down to peck her lips, then her closed eyelids, the tip of her nose, then back to her lips.
"Hmm, morning," she yawned and stretched her arms out to the ceiling. He leaned down thinking her early morning arm stretches were an invitation for an embrace as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck.
"Do you still want to sleep?"
"I should probably get up before Teddy's up."
"I can keep him occupied."
"You're just trying to convince him that Daddy's better than Mommy."
"Well, is that not the truth?" He teased back, his head still laid on her chest with his face tucked under her chin. Her arms fell back around him and landed on his shoulder blades.
She patted him on the back a few times as if to console him before making an attempt to shove him off of her.
"I need to pee."
He laughed, and shot up the bed pulling her with him, helping her stand.
Soon they were all sat around the dining table, and Teddy sat next to Christian in his high chair as he waved his little spoon around evidently splashed syrup all over Christian's side as he attempted to pick up a small piece of pancake that his father cut out for him.
They made it a habit to let him do everything on his own as much as possible to nurture him with a sense of independence, which was why they would willingly let him make a mess at the table as he ate everything on his own. The only time he would get spoon fed was when they were eating with a group of people, or when their family wanted to feed him.
"Mama!" Teddy screamed to get Ana's attention even though she was sat right across from him.
"Yes, honey?" Ana looked up, hiding her laugh behind a grin as she watched her son struggling to get a pancake on his spoon all the while refusing to pick up the fork, and only ending up showering his father with more jam and all kinds of food crumbs. She could see them sticking in his hair already.
"Fat." He pointed towards his mother with an accusing finger.
"What?" She choked out, her laughter slowly getting the better part of her just as Christian narrowed his eyes at his son playfully. Both of them wondering what he was going on about.
"Say it again, son?" Christian prompted, watching with an equally amused expression as Teddy dropped the spoon and picked up the pancake by hand to stuff it in his mouth along with his fist. When he pulled his hand out, half of the food came out along with him, dropping back onto his plate but he didn't seem to care.
"Mama fat."
Ana gasped with mock offense.
"Mama is not fat," Christian scowled at his replica playfully. "Mama is beautiful," he corrected half hoping his stubborn son would repeat after him, but he should know better by now.
"Mama fat!" Teddy repeated indignantly.
"Why is Mama fat?" Ana asked, already catching on and knowing that he was referring to the baby bump that he had been staring at lately.
He patted his own stomach with his sticky hand, leaving a distinct hand print on the spot just below his bib.
"Real smooth, kiddo," Christian muttered as he watched the hand print grow bigger at the very spot the bib didn't reach. He sighed, Teddy was probably the only kid he had witnessed so far that had the ability to get every inch of his outfit dirty with food other than his bib, the very item that was supposed to get dirty.
Ana giggled as she watched her husband's expression turn from mirth to horror. It wasn't that they particularly cared about the prices of Teddy's clothes or the fact that he was making a mess, but it was not always a pleasant chore having to clean up after their son.
"Do you want to know why Mama got fat?" Ana asked, resuming the conversation that Teddy started with such a mean statement.
Teddy nodded, eagerly and enthusiastically as if it was the new trend that he couldn't wait to catch up with.
Ana and Christian shared a glance, and she just knew that some time in the near future one of them would be asked the ultimate question about how babies were made.
"Because baby sissy is in there," Ana placed a hand on her stomach gesturing to it.
Teddy's eyes widened as his parents held their breath, awaiting for his final verdict.
"Baby?" He asked, his innocent little eyes blinked trying to make sense of the word.
That reaction was much more cuter and comical than Christian's despite being exactly the same physically, talk about carbon-copy.
"Do you want a sister?" Christian asked when Teddy turned to look at him.
"Sister?" Teddy cried, and for a moment they thought that it was his excitement but they knew that they celebrated too soon the moment they got to the Grey Manor.
…
"Do you know the sex?" Grace asked, excitedly, her hands clasped around Ana's tightly as she implored Ana with her eyes.
"Yes," Ana giggled at Grace's rare dramatics, and her eyes darted to Ava who was currently seated in between Kate and Elliot as Kate fought her with a spoon full of mashed potatoes.
Grace's eyes followed as did the rest of the table, and she gasped having connected the dots.
"Ava, do you know that you're getting a sister?"
"A sister?"
"Your new cousin is a girl," Grace explained, watching Ava's face gradually morph into realization and understanding.
"Yes!" Ava threw her arms up in the air, punching the spoon out of Kate's hold in the process as she bounced up and down in her seat. Her laugh only got louder when she noticed that the boy sitting right across from her was sulking at the idea of having a sister.
"Teddy," Grace prompted. "Do you not want a sister?"
"No!" Teddy shook his head as he drew out his pout.
"He wants a little brother," Ava stuck out her tongue at him tauntingly. Kate sighed and picked up her own utensil deciding that her daughter wouldn't starve to death just because she missed a few bites. She kicked Elliot under the table silently asking him to keep an eye on their daughter, and maybe trick her into eating a few more bites before she completely abandoned her food.
"No!" Teddy yelled again, earning a chastising glare from his parents for shouting.
"Do you not want any brothers or sisters?" Grace asked gently, and her eyes darted to Christian and Ana briefly but the both of them shrugged in response.
"No," Teddy shook his head vigorously as if his three consecutive "No's" weren't enough to bring the point home.
"Why?"
Carrick chuckled on the other end of the table as he watched the exchange unfold in front of him, Teddy's behavior reminded him so much of Christian when he was younger. Teddy had undoubtedly inherited his father's possessive trait, and he knew that Teddy was only behaving this way because he wanted all of his parents' attention.
"My Dada, and my Mama." He declared, letting his greasy paw slide down both of his parents' cheeks as he patted, or more like slapped them across the face just to make his point.
"This is new," Ana giggled. "Did you know about this?" She asked her husband.
"He may have given me a speech already," Christian admitted sheepishly, wiping down his face with a napkin fruitlessly. Anastasia simply didn't bother as she knew exactly what was on Teddy's little paw, and it could only be cleaned with soap later on.
"Did you ask him if he wanted a sibling already?"
"Before you came out this morning."
Ana laughed, it was no wonder that Teddy didn't seem too surprised when she told him that there was a bun in the oven.
"Son, we need to talk," Christian turned to his son with a serious expression but he was met with Teddy and half of his fist stuffed in his mouth when he looked over expecting some sort of acknowledgement of his request.
The entire table lost it watching Christian interact with his son, especially watching Teddy eat, and Ray watched his son-in-law with mirth and ultimate smugness as Christian struggled to keep up with his child.
…
"Phoebe…" he sang but was again met with complete silence on the other front.
He sighed, he was not making progress with his daughter just like he wasn't going anywhere with his son.
It still baffled him just how much he wanted this second child, and how much he wanted it to be a girl. He was delighted when he found out about the gender because that was when he felt like all the stars had aligned. Life was finally going in the direction that he wanted.
Until his son threw a fit at him.
And now his daughter refused to cooperate with him.
"Mommy said you're kicking, so come on, can you give Daddy a small kick without waking Mommy up?"
He laid his ear down on her naked stomach, and he swore he could hear her stomach growling but he couldn't hear a single sound from her womb.
"Please, Phoebe?" He pleaded. "Just a tiny one."
And one more time, he felt nothing but defeat.
…
"I need to go talk to him before he goes to bed," he announced standing up from the couch and approached the little boy playing on the carpet in the middle.
He wanted another baby with Ana so bad since they had Teddy but Ana had been putting off the idea of having another child so soon when they had barely gotten used to being parents to their newborn son. Now that he beat birth control the second time, and it was a girl, he felt like he couldn't be happier. He had been on cloud nine since Ana told him, and he had been so excited about her impending arrival that he wouldn't allow anyone to rain on his parade.
Not even his own son.
He knew better than to force Teddy into accepting a new baby, but he really didn't want his son to resent them for wanting another child. He had been longing for this baby girl for so long now.
"He's supposed to take his nap really soon."
"He will," he promised. "I'll see you in the bedroom because you also need to take a nap."
She pecked him on the lips as a form of wishing him good luck before heading to their bedroom, and the first thing she did was pick up the baby monitor. She felt so giddy eavesdropping on a conversation between father and son, and she knew that Christian was about to get steamrolled just like the shit he gave her for their very first pregnancy.
"Teddy," he began slowly and gently once he sat the kid down onto his bed and tucked him in. "Can you tell me why you don't want baby sissy?"
The small child pulled his favorite stuffed animal of the week which just happened to be a teddy bear closer to his chest.
"No," he shook his head refusing to elaborate on the answer.
"Why not?"
"Teddy Mama and Dada baby."
"Don't you want to have someone to play with?"
"No. I play with Mama and Dada!"
"What if Mama and I aren't here?"
"I play with Gay and Tay." Since he couldn't pronounce Gail's name properly, she ended up allowing her to say only half of her name.
"Do you miss Ava?" Christian asked, deciding to cut in from another angle. He just couldn't believe that he negotiated with a table full of adults about money and won, yet here he was arguing with a three year-old for days without getting anywhere.
"Yes," Teddy nodded, and Christian silently did a fist bump as his son took the bait.
"Do you want her here all the time?"
Teddy nodded again, drawing his bottom lip into his teeth, a habit he picked up from his mother obviously but it wasn't a habit that Christian encouraged. Not because of the connotation behind it when Ana did it but because it would make his dental visits more frequent in the future if he had to wear braces.
"Yeah…"
"Well, when Ava's not here, baby sissy will be here, and you can play with her."
"No! Ava no stay here."
"Ava has slept over before hasn't she?"
Teddy shook his head furiously and pouted. He wasn't all that enthused with the direction of this conversation at the moment.
"Ooh," Christian smirked at his son's overprotective streak, he was already such a jealous little man at such a young age that Christian honestly didn't know what to say anymore. "You're jealous."
"Huh?" Teddy blinked in confusion at the new word.
"You don't want to share Mama and Daddy with baby sissy?" He clarified with a simpler word. They were constantly encouraging him to share.
"No sharing," he shook his head again.
"Why?"
"No sharing. No baby." He spat out the words in quick succession. "Teddy baby." He pointed to himself illuminating the significance of his simple words.
Christian chuckled, deciding that he had made enough progress for the day that he was going to call it a day for now. They would come back to this discussion later but at least he knew where he was coming from.
…
"My god I am failing at his parenting thing spectacularly," he groaned, flopping face down onto the mattress careful not to make Ana bounce.
His face was instantly buried in her shoulder as his arm draped across her chest.
"Nah, you're doing fine," she giggled. "Welcome to parenthood, though."
"Were you not listening to my conversation with Teddy? That kid just won't change his mind."
"And I wonder how it feels like to be steamrolled."
"Hey, that's not fair! You're also an expert at doing that, especially over me."
"Remind me again who's the control freak in the family?"
He groused again, eliciting another set of giggles from her.
"What kid doesn't want a sibling? I mean quite frankly, he needs to have a sibling or else we're not going to get any alone time."
She laughed, patting his hair as if that could smooth his ego.
"I am so enjoying this," she giggled with a snort.
"I can't believe he's going against me on this," he groaned and then whined. "Why isn't he happy?"
"Why weren't you happy?"
"I am! I'm very very happy about Phoebe."
"I was talking about Madeline."
"Oh," his face fell. "Yeah, well, I guess that's karma for me. Having to convince my son that having a sister is going to be the most wonderful thing in the world."
"You better be prepared for your son's tantrum."
"He's taking it so much better than I did…"
"Wait… back up a little," her mind only caught up with his slip up just now. "Who's Phoebe?"
"Who?" He repeated innocently.
"Christian?" Her voice deepened and her tone sounded like a warning.
"Yes…" he dragged out the syllable as if that could avoid her confrontation.
"Did you name our baby girl already?"
He lifted his head up from her chest and smiled down at her nervously.
"Kind of…?" He squeaked.
She only had to look at him through slitted eyes and it would make him feel so insignificant, and that was evidence as to how much power she held over him.
"Didn't we just talk about communication and how important that is?"
"We did."
"So, you named our baby girl and I had to find out from your slip up?"
"Well… I was just testing out the names."
"You and I both know that you're bluffing. So, why didn't you discuss it with me?"
"I don't know… I…" he grimaced as he tried to come up with legitimate excuses. "Ana, I'm sorry," he begged when her face darkened as he stuttered on. "I'm really sorry, I didn't think…"
"What have you been calling our baby girl these past few months? Phoebe?"
He nodded sheepishly.
"So, it's been months and you didn't even think that you should probably mention it to me in some conversation? And we've had plenty of talks."
"Well… not exactly months, I've only been trying to coax her into moving so I can feel her lately."
"Oh, so you've been calling her that now that she can actually hear you potentially."
"I'm so sorry," he beseeched, rather lamely as this seemed to be all he was doing lately. "Are you mad at me? Please don't be mad at me, Ana. That really was unintentional. I promise I'll run everything by you," he pleaded. He could see the beginning of their miscommunication from six years ago rearing its ugly end, and he needed to nip it in the bud. "Ana, please?"
"Do you know what you're sorry about?"
"Yes," he nodded his head this time, low key proud of himself for the knowledge. "I should've discussed names with you before picking out one and just start using it."
"Good, you better remember that."
"Okay, so do you have any names in mind?"
"No, I liked Phoebe."
Christian nodded, but that was a loaded response. He stopped abruptly in mid-shake of his head as he sat up and stared at her.
"Wait, what did you say?"
"The name you gave her was perfect," she repeated, a slow smile slowly creeping up her face. "I was just pulling your leg, Christian."
He stared at her incredulously as he watched her laugh. He exhaled deeply, letting out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding for so long. He truly believed that he was going to lose her again because he fucked up.
…
"Where's Teddy?" Ana asked with a giggle when she saw him come out empty handed. Christian went to get their son from his afternoon nap, and that usually would take some time because once their son got comfortable and fell asleep there was no prying him away from his bed. "Did you lose the fight again?"
"Can you go talk to him, please?" He all but pleaded, and Ana only laughed harder at that. "He seriously hates my gut right now because I told him that I really wanted him to have a baby sister."
"He's afraid that if we have another child, he's not going to be the center of our attention. Doesn't that sound like someone I know?"
"Ana, please?" Christian groaned as he rounded the kitchen to pull her into a hug. "I'm sorry that our son already has a jealous streak. He all but threw a fucking tantrum at me when I went to wake him up."
"Did he, now?" She giggled, imagining her son struggling against her husband, yelling in his face as he refused to listen. "How did I miss that show?"
He implored with his eyes but she barely glanced at him even though she didn't have to look to imagine the look on his face at the moment.
"I didn't expect you to turn around overnight, what makes you think that your son will?" She pondered, and it was a valid question but Christian had never been known for his patience.
"He's been like this for a week now."
"Oh yeah, and how long did it take you?"
"I… uh… three months?" He squeaked, realizing that he had been doing that constantly lately around his wife. It shouldn't be a good sign, right?
"In your defense it's three months, but to me it's six."
"Okay, let's not go there, but you're right. I wasn't being considerate."
"Good, so let's just give him a bit more time to adjust."
"Baby, please," he pleaded, turning her around so that their foreheads could touch. "What if he hates the newborn? I would get so mad at him if he doesn't like his sister."
She chuckled knowing just how much Christian wanted this baby with her. Her arms went around his neck and pulled his head down. He kissed her fervently trying to convey his love and his plea through the action. The corner of her lips tugged upward, and it was making it hard for her to focus on the kiss.
She was enjoying this way too much. Watching Christian squirm and helplessly begged his son to support her pregnancy. It was certainly refreshing to see him coming face to face with a devilish behavior that rivaled his. She had already witnessed a few small tantrums here and there, where Teddy refused to cooperate or listen to them because he thought they had already moved on from him.
"Ahh! Mama!"
The couple pulled apart just in time for them to see a bear chucked at them, and an angry looking son of theirs. He charged at Ana when Christian made a move to kiss her, and threw himself at her legs, clinging onto them as he waited to be lifted up.
"Easy there, baby boy," Christian pried him from Ana's leg and brought him up so that he could settle on her stomach.
Teddy twisted his body around to find Christian still hovering close to them so he reached out to shove his face away as if to mark his territory.
"I can't believe I have to fight my son for your attention," he laughed as he moved his face pretending to duck out of his hand just so he could peck Ana on the cheek.
Teddy's giggles turned into frustrated cries when he deemed that play time was over and that Christian should stop with his antics. Ana laughed harder at the scene but ultimately reached out to grab Teddy's wailing arms and pulled him closer to her shoulder.
"You can kiss me, then," she offered her son to distract him from his assaults on his father. Teddy complied, giving her the sloppiest kiss on the cheek. "Now, give Daddy a kiss," she encouraged feeling Christian's head pop up next to hers from behind.
Teddy leaned forward and gave him an equally wet kiss on the cheek, and was now happy as if all problems had been resolved.
"It's my turn now," Christian added before stealing a quick kiss from Ana and let his lips lingered on her hair as he eyed his son warily. When their eyes met, he looked up and grinned smugly at his son. "I love you, too, son," he leaned over and kissed him soundly on the cheek and bopped his nose. "And, I love you," he gave Ana one last searing kiss on the lips, ducking out just in time before Teddy could protest. "I'll be in my office."
"You sure know how to make your father feel helpless," Ana turned to her little boy once they were alone in the kitchen. She put him down on the counter and went to retrieve his container to make him a fruit bowl.
"No baby sissy," he bargained with a pout as if he knew that his mother would be talking to him about the baby in her stomach.
"Well, then you are going to be all by yourself when Mama and Dada can't be there with you," she reasoned even though she had half a mind that it wouldn't convince her son to change his mind, and she wasn't exactly trying too hard.
"Okay," Teddy agreed readily, obviously unable to fathom the depth of this comment and what the reality would look like.
"Do you want to hear a story?"
As expected, Teddy's eyes lit up. Ana laughed internally, she just knew that this old trick would work on his son. He could be just as predictable as Christian.
"Do you know why I don't have any siblings?"
"Sibings?" He repeated, cocking his head to the side in confusion.
"Brothers or sisters," she explained.
Teddy shook his head as he tried to stuff another fruit into his mouth only for it to fall out again.
"I was like you. I didn't want a baby brother or baby sissy. I wanted my mommy and daddy to be mine."
Teddy nodded, because so far it was echoing his exact thought.
"My Daddy also tried to talk to me like your Daddy did to you but I said no."
Teddy's eyes grew big as excitement shone through them, it was as if he had finally found his saving star. So Ana quickly resumed before Teddy could solidify his stance in his anti-sibling petition.
"But now I really wish I had a baby brother or baby sister."
"Why?"
"Because when my Mama and Dada fought, I was all alone. I wanted someone to talk to or to play with because I didn't feel happy when my Mama and Dada didn't feel happy."
Teddy went silent as he stared at his mother trying to make sense of her point. He couldn't grasp the meaning behind her words too well, but her tone had made him reconsider his choices. She sounded really sad when she said that she had no brothers or sisters when she wanted one.
"Listen, Teddy." Ana said, reclaiming his attention. "Mama and Dada will always be yours and baby sissy's. Baby sissy will be your friend. She will love you. You will be her big brother." Ana smiled and ruffled his curls a little. "It will be Mama, Dada, Teddy and baby sissy and we'll all play together, okay?"
…
"You do know that Teddy isn't going to understand what you meant, right? Your story really isn't going to inspire him, or make him accept Phoebe."
"I know, and I'm not trying to make him like his sister immediately, I'm just saying that it's okay for him to feel like that because I once gone through the exact same phase as he did. He doesn't have to make up his mind about his siblings. Of course I hope that he likes them and gets along with them one day but he doesn't have to rush it."
"I can take him to work," he suggested as if his sterile office building would do anything to change his son's mind. As determined as he was, Anastasia knew that he was just talking to a brick wall, but she wasn't going to tell him that until he came to that conclusion on his own. "He can hangout with some of the kids there to get a sense himself."
"He's not going to understand that, you know."
"He gets along with Ros and Gwen's kids pretty well, and they're here on some days."
"You can try but don't hold your breath, Grey. I wouldn't have high hopes," she snorted. Her concern laid with the fact that despite having effective vaccinations and medical treatments for Covid, she still didn't want to risk any member of her family from contracting it only because the sequela was unavoidable no matter how mild or asymptomatic it had been. "Make sure he doesn't touch anything, and have him wash his hands constantly."
"I know the drill, Ana," he assured her. He wasn't a huge fan of bringing his vulnerable son to his workplace either, despite it being sterilized and all, people still came in and out and strangers moved about every single day.
She nodded, it wasn't the first time for him to bring Teddy in anyway, so she wasn't too worried and the residual of the virus was slowly dying down despite taking way longer than anticipated, especially compared to other respiratory diseases.
He pulled his t-shirt over his head and lifted the covers, climbing into bed with her. He studied her demeanor, and examined her facial expression as he debated if he should peel off more layers of clothing but he gathered that she probably wasn't in the mood for sex yet because she had something on her mind.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked carefully.
Ana sighed and closed her eyes. "Just… things…" she breathed, opening her eyes to see him hovering over her, examining her expression. "It's so surreal. We've been through so much but we made it out on the other side without going through a divorce." Her voice grew heavy. "There are still moments when I wake up and imagine what might've happened had I not written the book. The penthouse is suffocating no matter how spacious it physically is, I'd never get over the claustrophobic feeling I felt in that confined space."
Christian examined her words and watched the emotions play out on her face. She was staring at the ceiling and she could feel his eyes fixed on hers. Communication was important, she knew this. They had been told over and over again to not hold back on their thoughts albeit some of them harsher than the other.
"It's been six years, and I shouldn't be dwelling on this, but it just catches up on me sometimes. I don't think I'll ever forget the experience I had in the Ivory Tower."
"The Ivory Tower," he mused at the name that he would once accept with pride. "That's where the book title came from."
"Yeah." Her voice was so inaudible that he would've missed it if not for the nod of her head. "Kate came up with it. The moment I met you she felt like you were trying to isolate me and lock me up in there. I guess in some ways, you did or rather I fed into your insecurities." She chuckled wryly, and despite his best efforts to let go, he still felt embarrassed by his earlier actions.
"Kate was never one to sugarcoat shit," Christian grimaced at the mention of his sister-in-law. Sure, they were now related in addition to being Ana's best friend but sometimes he hated how she was so anti… him. Though, it wasn't lost on him that over the years things seemed to have calmed down to an acceptable tolerance of each other, but it certainly wasn't by choice.
"You know, had Kate know everything that you've done, she would've tried so hard to convince me to leave you and find my happily ever after elsewhere."
Christian took a shuddering breath but kept quiet as she continued after a brief moment of silence.
"And I was really tempted to just up and leave. So tempted that I don't even need anyone to persuade me."
"Why didn't you?" He whispered. "I don't deserve the happily ever after after what I've done."
"I was going to do it because I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me, I want to feel that cathartic purifying feeling when I watch you suffer; but, I'm exhausted and I don't have it in me to physically move away."
Christian didn't know what to say or how to react to that, he knew that there was a bigger chance that she'd never get over his betrayal and he wasn't going to make any excuses for himself, he just wished that maybe he could win her back given some time. He wanted to get in her mind, and learn how she thinks, and that was also why he sought out Brie, but he just couldn't understand. It was all too foreign to him and it didn't make sense.
"What made you stay? What made you suggest therapy and giving us the potential to have another go?"
"People don't seem to realize that my happily ever after is with you. You make me happy, you are my happily ever after; I won't be happy with anyone else, and there's no one that can possibly replace you. I could never love anyone else like I love you, and I couldn't look at another man and promise him the same thing I promised you because I wouldn't mean it. It's always been you.
"That's why I didn't leave."
Fin.
Dedications-
HUGE shoutout to my beta and sounding board, Nadia (paleseptember10)! It's a pleasure to work with you on what I would proudly call my best piece of writing to date! The story would be very different without our insightful discussions. So, thank you if I haven't said it enough!
Also, shoutout to the members of Nadia's Playroom.
To Krooela, thank you for your messages! Your eagerness for the next chapter really boosted my confidence, and I know you want to slap me but I've warned you about the ending.
To mrsnewbigging, again, thank you for your recommendation and also your lovely reviews! Enjoy your anxious-less Fridays from now on!
To T Traveller, thank you for the discussions, they were really insightful and your feedback is invaluable!
Shoutout to the members of the Cheatward's Spot FB group & FSOG Fanfic Followers: thank you for the insightful discussions, and for hyping up the story. And nikkistew2 for dropping all those truth bombs!
To all my guests: I hope you have enjoyed the show! I did enjoy your reviews immensely. Whether you've said something nice or nasty, thank you for investing your time in my story, I loved all of your reviews regardless. And, thank you for feeding into my "greediness" and "hunger" for reviews, your contributions cannot be overlooked!
To all of my readers: thank you for sticking by me through this grueling journey. Not all of you will agree to the HEA, and I respect that, I just hoped that you've enjoyed reading the story and the emotional angsty ride that I've brought you on. Maybe it doesn't truly reflect the reality but I do hope that you can see a few elements in here that actually do.
For those of you that left me half way through, I appreciate you telling me about your departure and like I said, I sincerely hope that one day you'll come back and skim through the chapters just because curiosity got the best of you and you want to know how it ended.
As for my followers, I understand that I may have lost your readership or lost your trust at some point over this story, and all I can hope is that I might still see you around because this is the first and most likely will be the last time that I write such an OOC (for me as a writer) story. If not, then I hope you have enjoyed the writing as much as possible, and thank you again for giving this story (and me) a chance.
I normally would never have explored this spectrum of life and go down the rabbit hole of cheating and betrayal. However, sometimes drastic changes in your personal life can lead your mind to places that you never think they'd go to. I'm sorry that this is the result of my own mindfuck, and I'm sorry about the plot and how things went down, but I'm not sorry about the way I wrote it because this is by far my best piece of writing. I understand all the negativity projected upon me because it is unforeseen by me to produce a story as such. I didn't write this for the reviews but just like some of you read FF as an escape from the reality, I wrote it as my part of my coping mechanism.
Many are asking about Brie, so here's the official answer—no, she's not in the story anymore. She's in Australia or wherever her airline has taken her. When I said she's gone, I mean she's completely out of the picture; she knows her self-worth and knows what would happen if she comes back. If I bring her back it'll be too predictable just like if I had used her as one of Elena's pawns. Brie's existence is for the sole purpose to prove that Christian's able to cultivate a normal relationship with a regular female, contrary to his own beliefs.
As for Ray. Perhaps I glazed over it with a single paragraph but they cleared the air on the boat that day, and is slowly working toward reconciliation but all is good now.
About the HEA (one that I've warned you about). The story doesn't reflect my own personal beliefs but it is the concept of interpersonal relationship that I'm exploring. As a writer, I wrote this based on my impressions of the canon characters, and made the assumption that Ana knew that Christian's emotional immaturity can lead him to making irrational decisions down the road with the correct stimulation. I also assumed that they're so in love with each other that they can't see straight, which is what I presume that EL James had focused on in her work. I was also told that love can be blinding, hence her ability to oversee Christian's immaturity when she agreed to spend the rest of her life with him. I guess I'm also trying to say that they both think that they had all the time in the world to adjust as newly weds and prepare themselves for the next step in their relationship (starting a family and more), but life happens, so seize everyday.
You can yell at me (but please don't attack my beta personally) about anything because everyone's entitled to their own opinions. I don't mean to offend anyone with the ending and it's perfectly fine if you don't agree, voice your opinion! I asked for it even if it was nothing nice, so no pressure and don't hold back.
There are times when Nadia and I debated whether I should offer an explanation for the characters and why I wrote them the way I did at the very end of the story, but in the end we decided to incorporate it in the epilogue as part of the story. So, I hope the 3-part epilogue gave you a clearer sense of the characters that I'm trying to portray, and even if you don't and still want to cuss at me or the characters—be my GUEST!
Thank you for all the reviews!
On a side note (completely irrelevant), if anyone's still here and a fan of 24 (a story with a very OOC Ana & Christian and many people think she's too much), I apologize for taking so long to write the sequel and leaving you all hanging, just know that I haven't abandon the story. Come find me on Facebook (Sapphire Trafficker) and join my group (Saph's Ivory Tower), and I'll keep you posted about the progress.
If you don't have Facebook, follow my WP site because I might be cross-posting there.
I'm always one message away.
.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Laters, baby x
Saph T