*Chapter contains sensitive subjects*

Three years later

Ana

"What time did you want us to be there tomorrow?" my mother asks through the phone.

"Dinner time is at three. You don't need to bring anything," I say while putting the phone on my shoulder so that I can take off my running shoes.

"Okay. Are Ella and Thomas going to make it as well?"

"Yes, they are. It's only going to be the six of us," I sigh and head towards the bathroom.

"Elliot didn't want to come?" she says curiously.

"Aleida's parents are in town, and he is staying there for dinner," I shake my head as I open the door and walk into the bathroom.

"Alright. Well, I love you sweetie, and we will see you tomorrow," she murmurs before hanging up after I confirm the time.

I sigh and place my cell phone on the sink and take off my running gear and head towards the shower.

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow and Christian, and I are making dinner at our house this year.

These last three years have been an emotional roller-coaster, to say the least.

After the colossal fight Christian and I had over Leila and her delivery, we both went inside and spent the remainder of the night talking about what happened. He apologized again and told me about what happened with Mia's friend. Of course, I was pissed, and Christian had to physically hold me back since I was seconds away from marching over to that bitch's house and ripping her face off. She basically violated him!

After calming me down, we both decided to just go over to Grace and Carrick's house and tell them what happened. They were absolutely appalled when we told them that morning, and so was Mia.

Christian asked Mia if she told her friend about our trouble conceiving and her look of confusion reassured us that she didn't know what we were talking about. I knew Grace wouldn't say anything to her, but we wanted to know how her friend found out about our personal life. Mia was devastated and embarrassed about what her friend did, and apologized profusely for what happened, which wasn't necessary since it wasn't her fault. Let's just say that Mia dropped her as a friend immediately and hasn't spoken to her since.

Christian ended up calling the girls parents and demanded to know how she found out about our personal business and her parents were upset about their daughters' actions. Of course, Christian agreed not to press charges, and all we wanted to know is how she found out. Lillian said that she overheard some blonde chick talking about it with an older lady in a boutique a few weeks earlier. She didn't know the women's name just what she looked like, and it was confirmed that that person was Kate.

It turns out that Kate was in the store with her mother discussing our business with her mother and said my name louder than she meant to, and that's how Lillian overheard the conversation. Of course, I was mad at first, but Kate reassured me that she wasn't saying anything wrong or hurtful, and she was sorry that she even discussed our personal business with her mother in the first place.

After a few months of not talking as much as we used to, we reconnected and now we are closer than we were at the beginning of our friendship. Kate ended up getting pregnant a year ago and is living with her boyfriend of two years, Jason, who is the new mechanic that replaced Christian during the Saturday shifts. Jason is an ex-marine and has a daughter named Sophie from a previous marriage.

I really like Jason, and he has been good to Kate, and I am glad that she is happy. Their daughter, Ava is such a cute, smart little girl, who just started walking a few weeks ago. Since Christian is good friends with Jason, we often babysit Ava for them once a month.

Elliot and Aleida ended up having twin boys, Dylan and Daniel who are rambunctious three-year old's who keep them on their toes most of the time. Elliot and Aleida got married six months after they had the boys and are currently expecting their third child, which as of last week, they found out they are having a little girl.

As for Christian and I?

Well, we are still baby less and stopped trying about six months ago. A few months after the whole Leila thing, we found out we were finally pregnant, but sadly it didn't last long. We ended up having a chemical pregnancy shortly after confirming the pregnancy with a blood test.

To say we were heartbroken would be a vast understatement. We were both devastated to have finally gotten pregnant, and then having lost our baby a few days later. It was hard on the both of us, and when Elliot and Aleida had their boys, it was even more devastating because they were celebrating the birth of their children, where we were grieving the loss of our own.

Sadly, Christian and I had two more miscarriages after that, and after a long conversation, we decided not to try anymore. We were just too emotionally drained and heartbroken that we didn't want to get pregnant and go through any more pain of losing another baby.

Six months later, we are still trying to make peace on how having a baby might not be in the cards for us. We have briefly talked about adoption, and I would love to be able to adopt a child who needs a safe and loving home. Christian and I are going to look further into adoption after the holidays and hopefully talk with an adoption agency after the new year.

After checking the water temperature in the shower, I step in and let the hot water run down my body as I take a deep breath and begin to wash my hair. Stuck in my own little world, I don't notice the shower curtain being pulled back as I lather up my body. I jump slightly when two strong arms wrap around my waist from behind.

"I was calling for you," Christian whispers into my ear causing goosebumps to appear on my arms.

"Sorry," I smile as he rains kisses down my neck.

Christian has been very affectionate towards me here lately. Not that he wasn't before, but ever since our separation last year, he has been very loving and opened about his feelings.

Christian and I had separated for about two months last year. We just weren't communicating as we should have, and after our miscarriage, we both just shut down emotionally. We both stopped talking to each other, and when we did talk, we would argue and say hurtful things to each other. I didn't want to continue living that way, and after another heated fight, I said that I wanted to take a break and he agreed.

Christian packed some of his stuff and moved to his parent's house. We didn't talk much during our separation, and after a while of little to no contact, I contemplated getting a divorce. I didn't want to end our marriage, but it hurt that we didn't talk to each other and I didn't know if he even cared to stay in the marriage.

After my tearful confession with my mother about possibly ending my marriage, my father stormed out of the house and drove over to Ella and Thomas's house and demanded to see Christian. Ray practically punched Christian in the face and said that if he didn't get his head out of his ass and talk to me, then I was going to draw up divorce papers.

I was furious with my dad for doing that because it wasn't all Christian's fault that we weren't talking. I wasn't communicating my feelings to him, and we were both being ridiculous about the situation. We still loved each other very much, and deep down, I didn't want to end my marriage, and either did Christian.

After that, Christian drove over to the house, and practically got down on his knees on the front porch and pleaded with me not to give up on him. He said that he was acting like an asshole and that he didn't want to give up on us. I ran into his arms, both crying and apologizing repeatedly, and we both spend the remainder of the weekend in bed reconnecting and communicating like she should have done from the start.

We saw a marriage counselor a few weeks later, and as of this day, we still see our therapist once a month. It has helped our marriage tremendously, and we are proud to say that our relationship is stronger than it was before.

Christian spins me around to face him and smashes his lips to mine. I moan into his mouth as he picks me up and shoves me up against the wall. I suddenly giggle when he nuzzles his face against my neck. He chuckles before grabbing his cock and pumps it a few times before thrusting inside of me.

Today is Thanksgiving, and my parents arrived ten minutes ago. Mom and I are finishing up the sides when the doorbell rings.

"I'll get that," My dad jumps up from the couch where he is sitting with Christian, watching Sports Center.

"Well, hello there. Happy Thanksgiving," Ella screeches as she walks through the door, carrying a few grocery bags.

Thomas and my dad shake hands as Christian gets up from the sofa to greet his father.

"Happy Thanksgiving," my mom beams at Ella before hugging her.

"You didn't need to bring anything," I lightly scold Ella as I hug her.

"I know, but I wanted to bring some wine at least," she shrugs before setting the bags on the kitchen island.

"How lovely. Thank you," Mom smiles as she takes out the bottles of wine and inspects them.

"No problem. What can I help with?" Ella looks around the kitchen.

"Were done actually. Here," I hand her the green beans. She smiles as she grabs them and starts helping us set the table.

After all the food is placed on the table, the men sit down, and we all take turns going around the table and saying why we are thankful. Christian gets up and starts carving the turkey while we cheer him on. He smiles shyly at me when he gives me the first piece of turkey. I kiss him lightly on the lips after he is done serving everyone else, and we start to eat while we make polite conversation.

Ten minutes later, there is a lull in the conversation when Thomas's phone starts to ring. He apologizes before getting up and answering the phone. Everyone stops eating when they hear Thomas loudly groan as he pulls the phone away from his ear.

"Elliot, what was that?" he frowns as he listens.

Ella perks up when she hears Elliot's name and smiles when she hears her grandchildren's laughter coming from the other end of the phone. I finish my mash potatoes and start to work on my cranberry sauce when Thomas suddenly laughs. I look up at him and see that he is smiling and nodding.

"Thanks for that Elliot. You all have a good time, and well see you soon. Love you too, bye," he chuckles before he hangs up.

"Sorry, that was Elliot. He said Happy Thanksgiving, and he's sorry that he couldn't be here," Thomas says before putting his phone in his pocket and sits down.

"Was that Daniel I heard in the background?" Ella chuckles as she takes a sip of wine.

"Yes. He wanted to talk to me, but Dylan decided he wanted to talk to me first, so they got into a little brotherly fight," Thomas laughs as Ella giggles and rolls her eyes.

"They sure have their hands full, don't they?" Ella shakes her head while she smiles.

"Yes, they do," Thomas smirks before taking his wife's hand and kissing the back of it.

Christian smiles weakly at his parents as I do the same. Mom and dad look at us in concern before they continue eating. It's suddenly quiet as we all finish eating. I put my napkin on the plate and take a sip of wine as mom does the same.

I don't know what it is, but the atmosphere is suddenly awkward and uncomfortable while we all sit there in silence, sipping our drinks. Christian picks up his beer and takes a long sip before going back to his turkey.

"It's very quiet," mom suddenly says as she looks around the house.

"So, ah, how is your friend, Leila doing, Ana?" Dad scratches his head gawkily trying to start up a conversation to break the awkward silence.

"She's good. She's thinking about moving back to Seattle to be closer to her mother. It's hard on her since she doesn't get to see Annabelle that often," I sigh as I internally thank my dad for breaking the silence.

Leila and I are still friends, but after the whole thing about her delivery, we are not as close as we were before. After our fight, Leila tried to call me when she hasn't heard from me in a while. She was on maternity leave and wanted to see if I was able to go out to lunch and catch up. I ended up avoiding her for a while since I was still hurt by the situation.

After a few weeks, she showed up at the house and wanted to see why I was avoiding her. I explained to her about how hurt I was that Christian was in the room with her, and she immediately understood and apologized for upsetting me. She felt awful that she was the reason that Christian and I were even fighting in the first place. I told her that I just needed some time to work out my feelings and that I will call her sometime soon.

A month later, she came back to work, and we started to talk again slowly, and now, we talk daily at school and every now and then out of school.

Ray nods in understanding causing mom to roll her eyes. "Well good for her," she says sarcastically.

"Carla," dad says in warning.

"I don't like that girl, Ray. Jenna is still heartbroken about her divorce," mom scowls.

"That's not her fault. It's that scumbag's fault. He is the one who couldn't move on from her. He is the one who left her, not the other way around," Ray hisses.

I sigh and think about my cousin Jenna. Her marriage didn't last for more than six months. John confessed on their honeymoon about Leila and the baby, and he was shocked when he learned that she knew all along. He even got pissed at her that she didn't say anything to him. He had the nerve to get even more pissed that she went through with the ceremony. I remember being murderous at that because he told her that if she had said something to him, he wouldn't have married her.

After that, I felt guilty that I didn't do more to convince her that she shouldn't have married him. My mom got mad at me for a bit because I never said anything to her, and that she could have tried to convince her niece to not go through with the wedding.

Since Jenna really did love him and wanted to work it out, she suggested marriage counseling and John reluctantly agreed. After a few months, he said he wanted a divorce because he couldn't get over Leila and that he felt guilty about leading Jenna on the whole time.

Leila, of course, felt sympathy over the situation and was willing to talk to Jenna. She wanted to make it clear that she didn't want anything to do with John and that she hated that she was going through that because of her. Leila didn't do anything wrong; it was all John and his selfish actions that caused the drama between them. Jenna appreciated the thought but didn't want to talk with Leila, so she just ended up getting a divorce lawyer.

Jenna is still broken, and we all are trying to help her move on, and one would say that they would be over it by now, but for Jenna, that is not the case. She really did love him, and it will probably take a while to get over what she went through.

Mom mumbles under her breath before grabbing her wine and taking a large gulp. Christian takes my hand under the table and squeezes it to let me know that he is here.

I give him a weak smile and squeeze his hand back. Thomas breaks the tense silence with a lame joke causing us all to laugh. From then on, the conversation flows smoothly, and everyone ends up having a good time.

Christmas Day

"Babe are you ready?" Christian yells from the living room.

"One second!" I roll my eyes as I apply the last of my lip balm.

It's Christmas day, and we are getting ready to go over to Christian's parent's house to open presents. Elliot and Aleida are bringing the boys over so they can open their gifts that they had bought them. Christian and I decided not to open ours and that we will wait until we go over there to open them.

I had got Christian some new cologne, an expensive bottle of whiskey, and a brand-new watch since his old one broke a few months ago.

I put down my lip balm and check myself one last time in the mirror. I am wearing a pair of skinny jeans, a long-sleeved white sweater, a red scarf and black flats. I smooth out my wavy hair and pick up Christian's presents before heading out of the room.

When I walk into the living room, Christian is picking up his wallet and keys before turning towards me.

"You look beautiful, babe," he smiles as he walks towards me.

"You look handsome as ever," I smirk as he gives me a peck on the lips.

Christian is wearing a simple pair of blue jeans, white converse, and a black long-sleeved shirt. He looks and smells fantastic as usual.

"Let's go," he smiles before picking up my presents.

"What did you get me?" I smile as I jump up and down in excitement.

"You just have to wait, women," he smirks causing me to pout. I hate waiting!

"Merry Christmas!" Ella cheers as she answers the door.

I laugh, and Christian rolls his eyes as he walks through the door. I greet Ella before giving her a big hug.

"Merry Christmas. How is everyone?" I ask as I walk into the house with some of the presents.

"Were great! So glad you two are here," she smiles as she takes the presents from my hands and leads me into the living room where Elliot and his family are here already.

"Buttercup!" he beams at me when he spots me near the sofa.

I wave at him while he gets up from the floor and picks up one of the boys. Since they are identical twins, I can never tell them apart, and they usually dress the boys differently, but today they are matching.

I almost melt when I see their outfits they are wearing which are a pair of blue jeans, white shirt, and a red reindeer sweater with matching reindeer hats. They look adorable.

Elliot picks up both boys causing them to giggle and wave at me. "Hi, there," I smile as they walk over to me.

"Hi, aunt, Ana!" they both say causing me to giggle. Christian mumbles, I guess I'm chopped liver when they completely ignore their uncle when he tries to get their attention.

I shrug innocently at Christian before tickling their tummies causing them to laugh and squirm in their fathers' arms. He smirks at them before putting them down, and they both run off towards the huge Christmas tree.

"How are you, buttercup?" Elliot smiles down at me before giving me a bear hug.

"I'm fine," I hug him back and punch him in the arm when he playfully messes up my hair. Ugh, I spent forever trying to get my hair the way I wanted.

"Good to see you. It feels like forever since we all hung out together," he pouts.

"I know, but you're a father now, Elliot. I understand," I smile and pat his arm.

He sighs dramatically, and I smirk before he puts his arm around my shoulder and kisses my hair. Aleida smiles at us while trying to stand up from the couch. Christian see's her struggling and gets to her before Elliot can. She smiles up at him when he offers her his hands.

Christian greets Aleida and asks how she is doing before kissing her cheek. We stand there and get caught up with each other before Ella announces that it's time to eat breakfast.

We all head into the dining room where Ella has a spread of pancakes, eggs, waffles, hash browns, toast, bacon, sausage, juice, milk and a side of fruit salad for Aleida.

Christian pulls out my chair before sitting down beside me. He kisses my hair before making my plate of pancakes, eggs and a side of toast. I fill my glass with some orange juice and moan in delight when it hits my tongue. Christian smirks and squeezes my thigh before making his own plate.

I'm so hungry this morning, I practically scarf down my breakfast and fill my plate once more with eggs and bacon. Christian watches me with a weird expression on his face before going back to his food. I shrug my shoulders and continue to eat my eggs. I vaguely see Ella watching me with hope in her eyes which for a minute confuses me. I don't have time to think more about it, because one of the boys distracts all of us when they start throwing food at each other.

"This one is for you Ana," Thomas hands me a present.

We had eaten breakfast, and we are now sat in the living room where the kids finished ripping open their presents. Christian and I had bought them both two sets of clothing for spring, some trucks, Legos, and each a drum playset. Aleida and Elliot groaned in misery when they both saw the drums, which was Christian's idea, not mine.

"Really bro?" Elliot groaned as Christian opened the drum set for the boys.

"What?" Christian said with a goofy smile on his face while he banged the drumstick on the drum causing me and his parents to burst out laughing.

"Thank you," I beamed at Christian since this present is from him.

He smiled while I ripped open the wrapping paper, which by the way was horribly wrapped. God bless him.

I gasp when I open the little box to find a beautiful diamond bracelet. "Thank you, honey," I beam at him before he takes the bracelet from me and fastens it onto my wrist.

"Your most welcome," he whispers as he kisses my cheek.

I want more from him, so I shake my head before grabbing his cheeks and smashing my lips to his causing him to still in shock for a second before kissing me back. He opens his mouth, and I take the opportunity to practically shove my tongue down his throat and run my hand through his hair. He moans loudly when I pull his hair and kiss him widely. I don't know what possessed me, but in two seconds I have him on the floor, almost dry humping him in the living room.

I'm so embarrassed when one of the boys starts giggling and saying, "Kiss, kiss, Aunt, Ana!"

I jump up, and we are both panting on the floor. I hide my face in my hair since my face is bright red in embarrassment. Christian is staring at me like I have lost my mind as I look at him apologetically.

"Ah, do ya'll need a minute?" Thomas says awkwardly as he scratches the back of his head.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," I murmur as I hide my face into my hands for a second. What the hell is wrong with me? Christian smelled and tasted so good; I couldn't control myself. That's been happening a lot here lately. I don't know what it is, but I have wanted to jump Christian's bones twenty-four seven it seems. I literally can't get enough of him.

Everyone tries not to laugh at my embarrassment, and Christian gets up from the floor trying not to smirk at me.

"You have four more, baby, but let's try to keep the kissing to a minimum," he smirks and hands me another present.

I look at him shyly before opening the other presents. He got me a new makeup set, a pair of fluffy slippers, and a gift card to the spa that I have wanted to go for ages, but don't really have time to since work is hectic.

The last present was a weekend trip to Seattle. I smile when I remember our honeymoon and how much fun we had. I peck him on the cheek this time, and he tells me that we are going to go for new year's, which I can't wait.

After everyone has opened their presents, we sit there and go through our gifts and conversate for a while. The boys are building random things with their Legos, while Aleida is leaning against Elliot's chest as they watch their boys play with their new toys. Thomas and Ella are laughing and joking with each other in the corner of the room while Christian and I sit side by side on the couch watching the kids play.

Watching the kids play suddenly make me sad and once more brings back the fact that we still don't have our own baby. I sigh miserably and look down and try not to cry. Christian notices my change in mood, causing him to squeeze my hand before putting his arm around my shoulders.

"I love you," he whispers into my ear.

I crack a small smile and look up at him before kissing his lips softly. "I love you too."

"Do you still want to look into the adoption agency?" he asks quietly while softly rubbing my upper arm with his thumb.

I bite my lip and think for a second before sighing and staring up at Christian.

I really don't think we have another option. I don't want to do IVF again, and I especially do not want to go through another loss, so this would be the best option for us at the moment.

He smiles at me and runs his nose down mine. I smile and nod my head causing him to beam down at me before kissing my lips tenderly. We both smile against each other's mouths as we imagine that maybe this time next year, we will finally have our own little family.

AN: Happy Wednesday!

Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate all your input.

Next chapter will be the one we all have been waiting for. ;)

Thank you for following and reviewing. See you all soon. Pinterest has been updated.