For the next twenty minutes I pace the room trying to calm myself down and then finally Christian walks in.

"Hey, I thought you were tired." He says.

"I bet you fifty bucks that your mom will be here within the next two minutes." I say and with that I walk up to him wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, leaving no doubt what I want.

"I thought you were tired." He murmurs while kissing down my neck.

"I was trying to politely get rid of your mom." I mutter, grip the hem of his t-shirt and take it off.

"Oh... I'm so sorry..." We both hear Grace and I roll my eyes.

"Do you need something, Mom?"

"I was looking for my phone, did I leave it here?"

"No, you didn't, Grace, but I have another little gadget of yours you can take with you." I tell her as calmly as possible, walk up to the picture frame take the camera and hand it to her.

"What's that?"

"That's a hidden camera your mom has placed in here so she knows when to come in here to ruin the mood... deal with her." I tell Christian and lean against the kitchen counter.

"Mom?" Christian says and looks at her.

"Darling, I have cameras in all of my children's rooms to make sure they are fine. And yes, Ana is right, I came in here to interrupt what was happening but I mean no harm... I just didn't find a bill of health when I went through Ana's belongings and you will not touch her or anyone for that matter without having seen a clean bill of health." Grace says and I'm so appalled and frankly horrified by what is coming out of her mouth that I just hope Christian will put her in her place.

And he does put something in his place but it's not his mom, but the darn camera.

"You are right, mom... we will get it done tomorrow." He says and hugs her before she leaves.

"I'll make an appointment for us tomorrow, no big deal." He says and he is smiling at me... smiling!

"Christian... I'm going to put this as nicely as I can... have you lost your fucking mind? What the hell is wrong with you... you are a grown up... fucking act like it for once! First of all, your mom had cameras in here, CAMERAS! And she went through my belongings!... that's a gross invasion of OUR privacy. And if you think that I will get an STD test done and show it to your mom to get HER permission for us to fuck then you are even crazier than she is. Deal with her or so help me I will take my son and get the hell out of here."

"Please, calm down, Ana... she is just looking out for me... but I'll talk to her. We can just use a condom to calm her down... now where were we." He smirks and I scream.

"If you think that there is anything happening tonight, you are dead wrong... besides, it wouldn't work anyway since your balls are so firmly tucked into your mom's purse... goodnight." I hiss at him, storm into the bedroom and lock the door.

I'm so upset I don't know what to do. My instincts are telling me to just give up, take CJ and leave but I know I will regret it if I do. So, instead I decide to call Elliot to have a distraction.

"Hey Ana, I thought you were going to bed."

"I wish... Elliot, I'm going insane here."

"What's wrong?"

"Remember your joke about his mom having cameras here... well, I was paranoid enough to look around to see if she really does and guess what I found?"

"No way... are you fucking kidding me, she has cameras in there?"

"Yes, but that's not even the best part of it."

"Let me guess, Christian exploded."

"No, he put it back in it's place and agreed with everything his mom said including that I should get an STD test done tomorrow so we can have sex." I get out and for almost a minute there is utter silence on the other end of the line.

"Ana, I know you love my brother, but you need to get the hell out of there. His mom has more than just one screw loose and you obviously can't rely on Christian to protect you from her craziness."

"I know... but I just can't... it's like she brainwashed him, El. I can't leave him here."

"And you think you can get him out of there?"

"No... I don't know what to do." I admit and as pathetic as I am I start to cry.

"Don't cry, Ana. It's alright. You know he is going to choose you if he has to make a choice." Elliot says and that only makes me cry harder.

"Do you want me to come to Vancouver and talk to him."

"He wouldn't even listen to you, Elliot... he is just so... I don't even know. I tried to talk to him about what happened with Elena but he is blocking me on every turn... he said I'm the one who is not letting him in... but really it's him."

"Look, I wish I had something else to tell you, but if things are really like you say, you need to get out before she sucks you and CJ in too. Christian is a grown up, he has to make his own mistakes. If he doesn't want to leave that's his choice but you don't have to stay in a situation that clearly makes you unhappy and frankly is toxic for everyone involved"

"I don't know... I need to sleep... I'm just so exhausted."

"Sleep then and call me whenever you need to talk... I'm just a phone call away, Ana banana."

"Thank you, Elliot. Bye." I hang up and curl up in bed where I eventually fall into deep dreamless sleep.

In the morning I have just started to make breakfast when Christian steps into the kitchen and ruffles CJ's hair.

"Hey buddy, why don't you play on the patio for a moment, I need to talk to mommy."

"OK." CJ says and runs outside.

"Still mad at me?" He asks with a smile and just like that I am mad.

"This is not funny, Christian. Don't you see how weird it is that your mother has a camera to spy on you? You are a grown up for heaven's sake can't you act like one?"

"Ana, my mom gets anxious easily, if this gives her peace of mind I'm fine with it."

"Ok... look, I'm going to be very honest now. I cannot live like this. So, if I decide to permanently live in Canada it won't be here. I have tried to get along with your mother but I can't live under the same roof as her. So, if we want to make things work the first step is to look for an apartment."

"Ana... I can't move out... my mom would be so upset, I can't do that to her. You'll get used to her, please, just give it some more time. My parents own a cabin an hour from here, we could go there today and stay overnight. My parents would be happy to watch CJ."

"Christian, if you think for just one second that I'm going to leave my son with your crazy ass mother then you are even more delusional than she is. She has already managed to turn you into her puppet but she is not going to do that to our son." I let him know because frankly at this point I'm ready to give up.

"Fine." He snaps and storms out of the apartment while I lean against the kitchen counter and shake my head sadly. This is just too much. I know deep down he knows I'm right, but he just cannot admit it. I can see it in his eyes, feel that he is not ok but he just doesn't want to let me in and that is what is so hard for me to handle. We could talk about everything but now I feel like I have to constantly think about what I'm saying just so I won't push him away from me and right now I know that I have failed miserably. But there is no way I will leave CJ with her. I don't think she would ever hurt him but I just don't trust her. She is such a good manipulator that I cannot take any chances with CJ.

"Mommy?"

"Hey CJ, breakfast will be ready in five minutes."

"Mommy, I want to go home." He says and I kneel in front of him so we are on eye level.

"Why?"

"I like Daddy but Grammy says Caleb and me cannot play in the trees and we can't run and she says we'll never leave... but I don't like it here." He says and I pull him into my arms.

"I know darling... I don't want to stay here either... can you give it just a little more time so I can convince your Daddy to leave with us?"

"Ok."

"Good, now can I have a kiss?" I ask grinning and point to my cheek, then to my other cheek and then I grab him and start to blow raspberries on his neck and then his belly until he is laughing his little head off.

I have just put his breakfast in front of him when Grace comes in.

"Ana, I just saw Christian, he is upset, he didn't even want to talk to me, what happened?"

"We had a disagreement." I say clipped.

"What about?"

"Look Grace, I'm so very sorry for everything you have been through but I cannot live here, so I told Christian that if he wants to be with me we need to look for our own place."

"You want to take him away from me?"

"No... he is your son and he always will be your son but children aren't meant to live with their parents for all of their life, Grace. Children need to create a life for themselves."

"Christian has a life..."

"Oh please, he started a company and has someone else run it for him... he is barely involved and is home basically 24/7. He has stopped living his life to be there for you. He has no friends, no hobbies, and a company he doesn't do anything for... all he does is be here because he feels that you need him to be here."

"That is not true... you just want to take him away from me, but he is my son and no one is ever going to take him away from me." Grace hisses at me and storms off.

I look after her and see Jason in the hallway through the door Grace has left open.

"I know you love her but you need to do something. What she does is not healthy, Jason. And it's not just Christian, she is holding back the girls and Caleb too. Caleb wants to play hockey but she won't let him... the girls have never been to a sleepover... if you let her continue this they'll either grow up to resent her or turn into grown-ups who are not capable of living on their own." I say desperate to somehow convince him that he, as her husband, has to take charge here and change things.

"Grace is upset, I should check on her." He says and in this moment I realize something. No one here is ever going to take charge and change things. They are all wrapped around Grace's finger so tightly they are no longer able to see reason and still, I can't go because I'm not willing to give up on Christian just yet.