A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and support! Hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Parental Bonding

Christian wished he could have said that being Lucia's foster parent got easier over the course of the week, but the fact of the matter was that he just wasn't comfortable in this whole parenting role. He tried, he really did, but it just wasn't clicking for him like it was for Ana. Affection wasn't something he usually gave freely to other people (Ana being the only exception), and Lucia's obvious shyness around him wasn't exactly encouraging. He knew he was still a novice at this whole "parenting" thing, but he had hoped things would have gotten easier by now.

Ana was amazing with Lucia, as Christian already knew - she doted on her, fed her at mealtimes, dressed her in the mornings, played with her, and even helped her use the bathroom. Ana was so good to her since she was so naturally sweet to everyone and everything around her, therefore it made sense she fit so well into this mothering role with Lucia. It was like she was made to be a mom.

Ana kept reassuring Christian that parenting Lucia would get easier with time and practice, but he was having a hard time believing it. He kept trying, though, despite his discomfort - he would help out whenever he could, help feed her at mealtimes, and even sit down and play toys with her and Ana once in awhile. He had never exactly envisioned ever himself doing things like that, but for Ana and Lucia, he was willing to try.

And that was enough for now.

Monday finally rolled around, and Ana and Christian were finally meant to go back to work today. Gail was more than happy to stay home and watch Lucia while they were gone - this was the first time Christian and Ana were leaving Lucia alone under her care, but they both knew it would be alright. Gail was very sweet and loving toward Lucia, and Lucia was quiet as a churchmouse most of the time anyway. Everything would be fine, surely.

Christian arrived at Grey House early that morning, happy to be back in the world of mergers and acquisitions. He had managed to get a little work done last week in his office back home, but it just wasn't the same as being at his corporate office among his employees and business colleagues.

"Welcome back, sir," Andrea greeted him kindly as he walked toward her at the front desk. "How was your week off?"

"Thank you, Andrea. It was fine," Christian said, picking up his messages from the inbox and glancing over them. "Anything I got to handle today?"

"Nothing that I know of. Ros is still heading up that Traeger Industries deal, so that's covered for now. Crandall still wants to talk to you about in-house budget cuts, though."

"I can do that," Christian checked his watch. "Could you grab me a coffee? No milk."

"Yes sir."

Christian turned to walk into his office, feeling a little frustrated. He sometimes ran into this problem at Grey House after taking a leave of absence - nothing major would have happened while he was gone, meaning the rest of his staff had pretty much everything covered. At least there were no fires he had to put out, and his first day back wouldn't be as stressful.

He got settled at his desk, and Andrea came in with his coffee a few minutes later. He fired up his computer and, for the next hour or so, started going through his emails, answering the ones he felt were the most urgent. He then shot a quick email to Ralph Crandall from HR, letting him know he could meet with him about budget cuts at eleven o'clock today.

Just as Christian was going to take a sip of his coffee, his BlackBerry suddenly began to ring with an incoming call. The caller ID said Anastasia Grey.

Smiling, Christian answered after the first ring. "Why, hello beautiful."

"Christian," Ana said, sounding flustered. "Has Gail called you?"

"No, why?" Christian's smile immediately turned into a worried frown. "Is everything alright?"

"It's Lucia," Ana explained, clearly sounding distressed. "I got off the phone with Gail earlier, and she said that Lucia started throwing a huge tantrum the moment we left for work. She's tried to calm her down, but Lucia is inconsolable - she won't eat or go down for a nap or anything. I'm seriously worried, Christian - I don't know what's wrong with her," her voice shook slightly.

"It's alright, baby," Christian said soothingly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, I wanted to go back to Escala to check up on her," Ana said anxiously. "But I have a lot of work to do here - I actually have to meet with an author in about ten minutes. I know you probably have a lot of work to do today too, but do you think you could you go home and check up on Lucia for me? If you're too busy, though, I understand. I could just reschedule my meeting…"

"It's fine, baby," Christian interrupted her quickly, eager to help. "I don't have a ton to do today. I can go home and check on Lucia - don't worry about it."

"Really?" Ana sounded immensely relieved. "Oh, thank you Christian! I'm so sorry to be doing this to you, but I just worry about Lucia a lot. She's so hard to read sometimes…"

"I'm sure it'll be okay," Christian said soothingly. "Call Gail and let her know I'll be home in about fifteen minutes. I need to wrap up a couple things here at work before I head over."

"Thank you, baby," Ana said with such sincere gratitude Christian couldn't help but smile. "I'll come by when my meeting's out to check in on you guys, okay?"

"Okay, baby - I'll talk to you later," Christian said. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Christian could hear her smile through the phone before she hung up a moment later. Christian smiled slightly too before hanging up and quickly dialing Taylor.

"Taylor, get the car ready in five minutes - we have to run back to Escala."

"Yes sir."

Christian hung up without saying goodbye and grabbed his BlackBerry and wallet before striding purposefully toward his office doors.

To be honest, Christian had no idea what he was going to do when he got home. He knew he wanted to be there for Lucia when Ana wasn't able, but he couldn't say he was prepared for dealing with a tantrum. Although that's what parents often had to do, right? They needed to deal with their kids when they were being fussy once in awhile.

What am I supposed to do though?

Christian decided to worry about that when he got back to Escala - he would be better able to assess the situation and figure out how to deal with Lucia once he was there.

It'll be okay.

He made it down to the parking garage, noticing that Taylor had already pulled the car up and was ready to go. Christian opened the back door and slipped inside before Taylor drove them away.

The moment the elevator doors opened to the penthouse in Escala, Christian could hear Lucia's screams. Ana wasn't kidding - she really did sound inconsolable. Christian walked into the great room to see Gail standing by the white couch, gazing worriedly down at a distraught Lucia who was lying horizontally on the couch cushions, kicking her feet and crying loudly.

"Mr. Grey," Gail looked up when she saw Christian approach, her expression strained. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. She was completely fine this morning, and then all of a sudden she just started crying and screaming…"

"It's alright Gail - it's not your fault," Christian said, trying to be heard over Lucia's screams. "I'll take care of it."

Gail nodded, and Christian brushed past her and walked over to Lucia on the couch, at a complete loss as to what he was supposed to do. Lucia's tiny red face was screwed up in distress as she continued to wail, tears and snot covering her nose and cheeks. The ponytail Ana had put her hair in earlier today now lay in a tangled knot on the back of her head, and Christian felt a strong sense of pity as he stared at her. He didn't know what had gotten her so worked up, but he was willing to do anything he could to try to calm her down.

"Lucia?" Christian knelt down in front of the couch, gazing at her in concern. "Lucia, what's wrong?"

Lucia didn't respond as she continued to bawl, rolling over and pressing her snotty, tear-stained face into the couch cushion.

"She ate breakfast this morning, so I know she's not hungry," Gail said worriedly from behind Christian. "And I tried giving her her elephant, but that didn't seem to help at all."

Christian reached forward and gently rubbed Lucia's back, hoping that would help calm her down. Her muffled screams and cries didn't seem to lessen, however, and Christian was feeling more helpless by the second. More than likely, she wanted Ana, who was so sweet and loving to her. Someone like Lucia needed that sort of constant affection.

Like I did with Grace.

In an instant, Christian was brought back to when he was Lucia's age - back when he was first brought into the Grey's home. Even then he knew he was in a better place than before, but the new people and new environment he was thrust into was still terrifying for him. He remembered giving Grace and Carrick a hard time for awhile after he was first taken in by them, constantly screaming and crying because of how overwhelmed he felt…

Lucia probably feels the same.

Christian gazed down at the little girl currently lying on the couch, still wailing in distress, and he felt his heart break for her. He understood exactly the kind of confusion and anxiety a child would experience in her situation. He wanted to show her that there was nothing for her to be afraid of anymore.

That she was no longer alone.

Christian reached down and picked Lucia up from the couch, ignoring her continued screaming and kicking. He brought her up against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, holding her small wriggling frame firmly to his own in a tight embrace. He gently pressed her face into his shoulder as she continued to cry and tried fruitlessly to push away from him. After a few seconds, however, she gave up the struggle, and just let her hands rest limply against his chest as she continued to sob against his shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay," Christian whispered into Lucia's ear, moving up to sit on the couch while keeping her in place against his chest. He still felt uncomfortable having a person other than Ana touch his chest, but he was willing to ignore the pain for Lucia's sake. She needed someone to comfort her right now, and he was going to do it no matter what.

"It's alright… everything's going to be okay…" Christian whispered soothingly into her ear, gently rubbing her back. Lucia continued to cry, though she did it lying passively in Christian's arms rather than kicking up a storm. That was an improvement, at least.

Christian continued to hold Lucia, gently rubbing her back, rocking her gently and kissing her over her hair. Lucia kept crying, though with less and less intensity as the minutes ticked by. Finally, her sobs turned into sniffles, and her sniffles turned into the occasional hiccup.

"...I called Mrs. Grey, sir," Gail said quietly from his left, and Christian looked over to see her walking toward him from the kitchen. "I told her everything's under control."

"Thank you," Christian whispered back before she nodded and walked away. He sincerely hoped she was right about that.

Lucia hadn't made a sound for several minutes now, and Christian looked down to see she had fallen asleep against his shoulder, tears still clinging to her little eyelashes and the tip of her nose. Feeling relieved, Christian rested his cheek against the top of her head and closed his eyes before letting out a small sigh. He was glad Lucia had managed to find at least a little peace, even if it was just in her sleep.

She deserves to be happy.

After a few moments, Christian lifted his head up and gazed down at Lucia's sleeping form, a small smile on his lips. This was the first time he had held Lucia in his arms like this, and it felt… nice. Lucia was still a tiny little slip of a girl, but her body clung to his like a little barnacle. Christian tightened his hold on her, feeling a strong desire to protect her from her past, from the fear of her future, and from whatever demons were still chasing her…

Christian was going to protect her no matter what.

Lucia whimpered in her sleep, and Christian kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay, sweetie," he whispered gently, not wanting to wake her. "There's nothing to be afraid of anymore - you're safe now."

We both are.

A couple hours later, the elevator doors to the penthouse opened, and Ana stepped out, gazing around for any sign of Christian or Lucia. The whole place was quiet, however, except for Gail moving around the kitchen as she made lunch.

"Gail," Ana walked over to her. "Is Christian around?"

"Oh, hi Ana," Gail smiled when she noticed her. "Mr. Grey is in his study right now."

"Okay," she nodded, and after a moment, she asked almost warily: "Where's Lucia? Was Christian able to handle the situation with her and everything?"

"Yes, he was," Gail said assuredly. "He handled everything perfectly."

Ana was a little surprised to hear that, though she chose not to say anything. She knew Christian had some doubts about his parenting skills when it came to fostering Lucia, therefore she had been a little worried as to whether or not he could handle her when she was throwing a tantrum. She decided to just go over to the staircase and head to Christian's study so she could talk to him herself.

She knocked on his closed office door, and when she didn't hear an answer, tentatively turned the handle and opened the door to see what he was doing.

The scene before her immediately made Ana's heart melt, and she smiled: Christian was sitting behind his large mahogany desk, working at his computer while also cradling Lucia against his chest and shoulder with one arm. She looked like she had just woken up from a nap, since her hands were tucked up against Christian's chest and her head rested gently upon his broad shoulder. Christian looked surprisingly relaxed, having taken off his suit jacket, loosened his tie a bit and rolled his shirt sleeves up. He was talking to someone on the phone through a hands-free Bluetooth earpiece - when he noticed Ana standing in the door, however, and he smiled before telling the person he was talking to on the phone he had to go. Ana approached them just as he hung up.

"Hi baby," he said quietly to Ana, smiling at her. "How'd your meeting go?"

"It was good," Ana smiled, gazing down at Lucia. "Everything okay here?"

"Yeah, everything's great," Christian smiled at Lucia as well just as she let out a sleepy yawn, blinking blearily. "She's just been having a bit of a rough morning, but she's been feeling better."

Lucia responded by nuzzling her face deeper into Christian's shoulder, letting out an incoherent whine. Ana couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she was being, and how much more at ease Christian seemed to be around her now. It was almost as if he needed this little push to help him become the loving parent Ana knew he always had the potential to be.

"Gail's making lunch right now," Ana said after a moment, a smile still on her face. "Are you guys hungry at all?"

"Lucia should probably eat something," Christian said, glancing down at her. "Are you hungry at all, sweetie?"

Lucia didn't respond, apparently still too sleepy to say or do anything, and Ana chuckled. Christian stood up from his seat, lifting Lucia up along with him, and Ana moved over to take her from him.

"Come here, honey," Ana now took Lucia in her own arms - she barely moved, and holding her was like holding a limp rag doll. "Time for lunch."

Christian followed Ana and Lucia out into the kitchen area, where Gail had just finished making their food and was plating it up for them. As Christian sat down at the breakfast bar, and as Ana placed Lucia into her booster seat, Ana turned to look at him.

"Thank you for coming over here this morning," she said sincerely. "I know you didn't have to do that for me…"

"Baby, it's fine," Christian said firmly. "You're my wife, so of course I'm going to be there for you when you need me - I want us to be able to rely on and trust each other no matter what. And besides -" he looked over at Lucia and smiled slightly. "It wasn't so bad."

Ana couldn't help but beam back at him, feeling prouder of him than she had probably ever felt before. "I told you parenting would get easier."

Christian gave her a humorous smile, and Ana couldn't help but grin back. She moved around the breakfast bar so she was standing in front of Christian, and leaned in to kiss him deeply on the lips. Christian kissed her back, smiling against her.

After a few moments, Ana pulled away, smiling slightly. "Would you like me to stay at home with Lucia for the rest of the day?"

Christian smiled back before glancing back over at Lucia. "No, I think I can probably stay with her today. You can go back to the office if you want."

Ana had a feeling he was going to say that, but it made her smile nonetheless. "Have I told you lately that you're amazing, Mr. Grey?"

Christian looked at Ana before giving her his signature shy smile. Ana doubted she had ever been more in love with her husband than right at this moment as she leaned in for another kiss, and Christian eagerly kissed her back. After a moment, however, he reluctantly pulled away.

"Mrs. Grey, as much as I would love to ravish you right now, there's a small child in the room, and we are about to eat lunch," he whispered against her lips.

Right on cue, it seemed, Gail came walking around the corner with a couple plates of sandwiches in her hands. Ana slipped out from Christian's grasp and sat down beside him, looking at him with a smile on her face as Gail set their plates down.

"It's always about food with you, Grey," she joked, and Christian laughed as the three of them started digging into their lunch.

A/N: I told you this chapter would be better:) I hope you all liked that bit of cuteness, and if you did, please review!

For all my friends in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of my lovely readers who have continued to support me and my little writing hobby throughout my stint here on FF :)

Make sure you follow my pinterest board for this story at www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/this-life-of-ours/