I was going to wait to post it, but since the chapter is written, I figured I'd just post it and complete it. It's finally done.

Epilogue

It has been seven years since we've set foot in the vacation house...about six years too long. My mother came up with this great idea to get everyone together to spend a week in the vacation house before the kids go back to school. Although the house has six bedrooms, it's a tight fit for everyone now that our family is growing. Seven years ago, I would have complained about the tight quarters. Now, I enjoy the house full of noise, full of children running around playing tag while the parents have to remind them for the fourth time that there isn't any running inside.

Anastasia and I have four children now, with our last one on the way. We've decided that this will be Ana's last pregnancy, making it a bittersweet one, but I'm savoring each moment of it. Once our children are a little older, we plan to adopt and expand our family even more. Life just gets better and better every year.

"Daddy! Come get me!" Gracie's voice breaks me out of my own thoughts. My four year old is standing beside the pool in her little one piece suit and swimmers, but doesn't have the courage to jump in herself. Gracie is one of our twins. Her sister, Carlie, is our daredevil. Carlie jumped in, unafraid, as soon as we got to the pool. Gracie, on the other hand, likes to assess every situation before throwing herself into it.

"Why don't you jump in, doodlebug? I'll catch you." I try to encourage her to be brave.

Her bottom lip comes out in a pout. "Daaadddddddyyy..." She whines.

"Alright, I'll come get you if you promise that you'll at least try to jump later."

She gives me a sweet smile. "Yes, I promise!" She holds her arms out to me and I make my way over to the side to lift her into the pool.

"It's warm like ours!"

On vacation, the kids found out the hard way that all pools aren't heated like ours is. Now, they're overly cautious about the water temperature. It makes me laugh.

"Yes, it's warm." I push her light brown hair out of her face and wish that I would have thought about putting her hair in a ponytail before jumping in.

"Gracie...don't be a baby. Come play with me and Ava!" Carlie pokes fun at her sister and I cock an eyebrow at her.

"Carlie!" Anastasia's voice raises above the others around the pool and she gives Carlie 'the look' from her spot beside the pool. Even I've come to cower under that look a time or two. Without even having to say another word, Carlie apologizes.

"Sorry, sissy. I just want you to come play. Will you play with us?" Carlie looks at Gracie, hopeful. "We'll stay where our feet touch. I promise."

Gracie looks up at me with large, crystal blue eyes. The eyes of her mother. "What do you think, Daddy?"

I laugh. "I think you can trust her. You know Daddy won't let anything happen to you. Just yell."

"Okay..."

Carlie holds out her hand and Gracie takes it so they can swim over together.

I watch my girls make their way over to the shallow end, where Kate and Ava are playing. Kate gives me a smile and a nod, letting me know she'll watch them, so I swim over the side of the pool to check on my wife, who's laying in one of the loungers.

"Mommy, I brought you some water." Camden appears at Ana's side with a glass of ice water and she takes it from our oldest son.

"Thank you, Camden. That was very sweet."

"Are you going to drink it?"

I have to hold back a snort. He knows his mother too well. Our Camden is such a caretaker. He takes it upon himself to make sure Ana has everything she needs while pregnant and tries to keep the other kids in line. When one of them get hurt or do something naughty on his watch, he takes it so hard. Ana and I try to explain to him that it isn't his fault or his responsibility, but there is only so much we can do. He is our most serious child, but also still our most affectionate. He's going to be six at the end of October, but we still find him cuddling into us on the couch our having a seat on our lap while we sit at the table.

"Of course, I am, baby boy." She takes a sip from her straw and places it on the table beside her.

The girls squeal as they play and Camden looks over his shoulder at them.

"Why don't you come sit next to Mommy and relax?" Anastasia is trying to get him to forget about watching his younger siblings. She's worried he's going to turn gray by the time he hits high school.

Anastasia scoots over and he settles next to her in the crook of her arm and turns to snuggle into her side.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, baby boy." She smooths his hair and kisses the top of his head.

"Can we read a little?"

"Of course we can." She reaches over and grabs the book off the table. "Will you read to me?"

He gives her a toothy grin and nods. "Yes."

Our Camden learned to read at age four. He begged Ana to teach him, and ever since, he's shared a love of books with her. Right now, they're reading the Harry Potter series and Camden absolutely loves it. I'm honestly relieved that Cam is a quiet, shy soul. We've had many comments from others about just how striking Camden is and I'm hoping that his shyness keeps him from getting in trouble with girls when he starts high school. Unfortunately, I think his quietness is part of what makes him so striking to others. He's far more than just a pretty face.

Anastasia looks over at me as Camden starts to read and I give her a wink. I love watching her with my children. I love watching her carry my children.

My eyes wander over to the patio table, where our two year old, Reigner Carrick, named after Ray and my dad, sits with his pawpaw and his three year old cousin Evelyn, Evie for short, playing blocks. Reigner is crazy about not only construction, but destruction of everything he can get his hands on. He is also crazy about anything remote controlled, so my father has nicknamed him RC, which works out perfectly with his initials. I've always wondered if any of my children would take over my business when I retired, and I know that RC is not going to be the one. He is far more interested in everything his Uncle Elliot does than what I do. Hell, he might end up taking over Grey Construction at some point.

My girls are actually rowdier than both of my boys combined. They've got energy to last them for days and it always takes all of our energy to get them to wind down each night. In ways, they remind me a lot of Mia, but whenever I mention that to Anastasia, she winces. I've learned my lesson with Mia and I'm doing my best not to spoil my children rotten like I did with my little sister.

Since I've cut Mia off financially, she's doing so well on her own. Mia owns a line of bakeries all throughout Seattle and she's quickly become the go-to person for wedding and special occasion cakes. I've never been so proud of her than I am now. I was worried that she would float through life, never striving to be anything more than a spoiled brat, but I realize now that it was mostly my fault. There's a difference between helping and enabling, and I was one of the worst enablers around. Instead of trying to win Mia's affection with money, I can now show her affection in other ways. Not only have we bonded in ways I never thought possible, my haphephobia is completely gone, so I can accept and give physical affection without worry. I can thank Ana and our children for that.

Not only is Mia the owner of her own business, but an almost married woman. She ended up dumping Ethan Kavanagh when she realized he'd never commit and is now engaged to a man by the name of Raj Kapoor, who just happens to be the accountant she hired years ago when she started her business. It took me a while to warm up to the guy, but I've come to realize that we have a lot of the same hobbies. He is now a regular at our weekly guy's night at Elliot's house, which also has come to include my two boys at least once a month. None of us mind.

XxXxXx

Anastasia and I are staying in the room I occupied on the third floor seven years ago. Our twin girls and Elliot's two girls are staying in the room that shares a bathroom with ours and our boys are staying in our room with us.

We all change for bed and Ana helps RC with his pajamas.

"Mommy, I'm tired." He yawns.

"I know, you are, baby. We'll go to bed soon."

"The girls are loud." He states matter-of-factly as she slips his pajama top onto his head.

I laugh. "I'll go tell them to tone it down. Get into bed with Mommy and I'll be right back."

I head through the bathroom to the girl's room and as soon as I step into the room, my foot comes in contact with something sharp.

"Shit!" I hiss holding onto the door jam while I check the bottom of my foot. Damn Barbie hairbrush.

The girls giggle at my dirty mouth.

"Uncle Christian, you cursed! Daddy says people only curse when they can't come up with real words." Ava tells me, her hands on her hips.

I laugh. "I'm sorry, lovebug. And he's right. Cursing is bad. I apologize to all you little ladies."

I have a seat on the bed and they all gather around me. "Did you come to play?" Evie asks, confused.

"No, I've come to say it's bed time."

They all groan.

"I know bedtime is no fun, but we have a full day tomorrow. It's important that you all get a good night's sleep."

"Yea. Especially Evie. She gets cranky." Ava states, wrinkling her nose.

"I do not!" Evie retorts indignantly.

"Well, I know I get cranky if I don't get enough sleep, so I need you to be quiet so I can get my rest. You don't want me to be a bear tomorrow, do you?" I ask, giving them a growl as I pick Evie up and pretend to bite at her neck, making her giggle.

"I wouldn't mind if you were a teddy bear tomorrow." Carlie climbs onto the bed and up behind me to throw her arms around my neck and cling to me.

"What about a Grizzly bear?" I ask her, craning my neck to see her.

"No, not so much."

"That's what I thought. Now..." I place Evie on the bed, "If you four climb into bed now and cuddle up, I'll let you watch a movie."

This does the trick and the four girls all scurry into the queen bed and settle in next to each other.

"Now, you all promise to be quiet and fall asleep?"

They nod.

"Alright then." I make quick work with turning on Trolls and turn out the light.

"Daddy, you're forgetting something."

I turn back towards the girls. "What's that, princess?"

Gracie puckers her lips and I smile. "Oh, goodness. Goodnight kisses. How could I forget?" I smack my palm against my forehead and head back to the bed to kiss the four girls goodnight.

"Alright, you're tucked in, you've had your kisses, and you've got your movie. Now, it's time for bed. Goodnight ladies."

I shut the door behind me and when I make my way back to our room, I see that the boys and Ana are fast asleep in bed. Ana is laying on her side with RC pushed up against her round stomach, his head resting right under her chin. Camden is curled up in the middle next to his brother, giving me just enough space to squeeze in. I laugh a little to myself. This is my life. But I wouldn't change it for anything.

I slide in next to Camden and he rolls towards me and uses my arm as a pillow.

"Night, Daddy."

My heart melts at his words. "Good night, little man." I press a kiss to the top of his head and reach over my boys so I can rest a hand on the side of Ana's swollen belly. She's currently carrying our third daughter, who we've named Abigail Taylor Grey. I'll let you guess which two people she's named after.

As I rub Ana's stomach, her eyes open and she smiles over at me in the dim light from the bathroom night light. I give her a wink and she bites that plump bottom lip of hers. Oh, fuck me.

As much as I'd love to sink myself into her in the bed where I first sunk myself into her, I know it probably won't be happening unless my parents take pity on their children and take the grandchildren out for some fun. I'm sure that we'll all be going to bed early that night. Even if they don't take pity, I'm perfectly content in the position I am now. We've got our handsome boys between us, or beautiful girls just across the way, and a little one safe and snug in her mommy's tummy. I can't ask for anything more than this. Life is more than I ever dreamed it could be.

There's a clunk that comes from the opposite bedroom, followed by giggling.

I sigh.

I'm not going to be getting much sleep this week.

A/N: I want to thank all of you who have followed this series until the end. It's been a long journey, but it's finally over. A little bittersweet, but it's time. I will continue on with 'Rising From The Ashes' and 'Sparks'. I also have another one I'm working on that I'm thinking of posting later about Christian being Ana's sperm donor. We'll see what happens.

In case I didn't explain well enough:

Christian and Ana end up having five biological children before they decide to adopt. Camden Theodore is the oldest and named after Christian's Grandpa. He is 5 1/2 in this chapter. Carlie and Gracie are four year old twin girls and named after Carla and Grace. Reigner Carrick is two and he is named after Ray and Carrick. She is pregnant with a girl named Abigail Taylor, who they've named after Gail and Taylor.

Elliot and Kate have two girls, Ava who is six and Evelyn (Evie) who is three.

Mia has no children, but is engaged to her accountant, Raj.