Chapter 32

APOV

Holy shit. That was heavy. I feel so bad for Grace, I can't even imagine what she's going through. No mother should have to hear what she did; it's not right. Lucy and I meander around for I don't know how long.

"Ana?" I turn around to see Christian. The expression on his face is a mixture of trepidation and defeat.

"Christian, are you OK?" I walk up to him and with my free hand I caress his cheek. Lucy doesn't like this break and starts whining to keep going. I try to comfort her so she will be quiet.

"I don't know. How OK can I be after having to tell that to my mother? I put her through so much trouble and heartache and I only repay her with this."

"Christian, you were a victim. Your mother doesn't blame you. She is upset now but she won't stop loving you. You just need to give her time to get through this."

"Do you want to go home?"

"Only if you want to. But I am having fun with Lucy here." He looks at her and back at me with a smile.

"Let's stay then. I think you have a new friend and we wouldn't want to upset her."

We spend the rest of the day and evening at Bellevue enjoying the food and company. When it gets dark, Christian's dad has us go on his boat and we go into the sound. There are amazing fireworks - I have never experienced anything like this. Christian stands behind me and wraps his arms around me lovingly. This is going to be my family and I couldn't be happier.


CPOV

Seeing Ana with Lucy made me see what a good mother she will be. It's only a dog but she has so much love to give. I never wanted children before but now, I want Ana to have my children. I want to have a house full of children with her. I want to one day sit on our porch when we're old and reminisce about family vacations and holidays and spoil our grandchildren.

I want to marry her right now. I've only ever pictured just Ana and I but now, I don't know. I want to give her everything. But, I'm afraid I'll be a shitty father. I don't even know who my biological father is but if he's anything like my biological mother, I don't have a chance.

We're driving home from Bellevue. I look over at Ana, "Did you have a nice time today?"

She looks over at me and smiles. "I had an excellent time, with one obvious exception."

"Ana, can we get married soon? I don't want to wait any longer to make you my wife. I want to start our life together now. I feel like I wasted so many years and I need to make up for them."

"Christian, I'm not going anywhere. We are together forever, and we don't have to rush. What were you thinking, six months?"

"More like two weeks."

"Christian! There is no way we can put a wedding together in two weeks. We don't have anything picked out yet. We don't even have a place."

"What do you think about getting married at Bellevue?"

"I think that would be lovely. Would your mother be OK with that?"

"Ana, I think my mother would be in seventh heaven."

"I still don't think we can pull it off in two weeks. How about one month?"

"OK, that's a deal. One month. In one month you will be Mrs. Christian Grey." She smiles big at me, so big her eyes twinkle too.

"I like the sound of that."

"Me too."


APOV

Christian and I are just being lazy around the apartment, partly due to yesterday and partly due to the swarm of paparazzi outside Escala. Breaking up the quiet, my phone rings.

"Hi, Mia. What's up?"

"Ana, have you seen the gossip sites today?"

"No, why?

"They're reporting that you are pregnant and they are saying that you have a complicated prenup with Christian."

"Really? Ugh. How annoying. Christian is going to freak out when he hears about it."

"I figured. Hey! Can I help you plan the wedding?"

"Mia, I would love that. I have no clue what I'm doing. Do you want to come over for dinner? I'll have Christian invite your parents and Elliot too."

"OK! Can I bring anything?"

"Bring whatever you want. I just want this to be relaxed."

"See you later, Ana."

"See you, Mia."

A few hours later and I've managed to put together dinner fairly quickly. I made lasagna - thank god Gail keeps the pantry and freezer stocked. Hopefully, everyone likes it. I don't do fancy stuff so I hope they don't mind just lasagna and salad.

We all have a very nice dinner and the lasagna was a hit. After some coffee, we split up. The girls stay in the dining room to start planning the wedding and the guys go to the TV room to hang out.

I allow Mia to take the lead since she's so excited about this. "OK, first things first. Did you plan a date?"

"Well, Christian said he doesn't want to wait more than a month."

"That sounds like Christian" Mia tactfully replies and I smile at her in return. "OK, so now where? Mom said Christian asked if you can have the wedding at Bellevue."

I look at Grace and give her a genuine smile. "We would love that if Grace is OK with it."

"OK with it? Darling, I would be honored to have your wedding at our home." Mia gets excited at this news and claps while bouncing up and down.

We're discussing colors when we hear a loud shout coming from Christian. "Dad, I said no prenup. That's it!" After that, we hear raised muffled voices and we know Christian and Carrick are having an argument. Shortly after, Elliot comes out of the TV room and sits down at the table trying to act nonchalant.

Grace looks at Elliot, "Elliot, what's going on?"

He scrunches up his face obviously not wanting to answer her and feeling uncomfortable. "Well, Dad kept talking to Christian about having Ana sign a prenuptial agreement and Christian freaked out." Everyone's eyes dart over to me and I get this terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I don't mind signing one if that's what Carrick and Christian want."

Just as the words come out of my mouth I hear Christian behind me tersely say, "You will do no such thing, Anastasia. I don't want to discuss it anymore." Suddenly, the feeling of the room gets uncomfortably silent. Christian goes off to his office leaving me alone with the rest of the Greys and Kate. She looks at me and gives me her best "yikes!" face. At least she realizes how uncomfortable this is.

A moment later, Carrick walks into the dining room. "Grace, Mia, I think we should get going." He doesn't even give them a chance to respond as he heads towards the foyer.

Mia gives her patented pout, "But Daddy, we're not done…"

In an uncharacteristic move, Carrick yells at Mia, "Now, Mia!"

Poor Grace who is usually stuck in the middle trying to play peacekeeper looks to Mia, "Honey, we should listen to your father and go. We can finish this another time, right Ana?"

The question catches me off-guard. "Oh, yes. Another time." Grace and Mia follow after Carrick towards the foyer.

Kate now picks up her purse and motions to Elliot, she gives me a hug, "Call me if you need me, OK?"

"Yes. Thanks, Kate."

"Bye, Ana. I love you."

"I love you too, Kate."

Elliot comes up and gives me a big hug. "Laters, Ana."

"Laters, Elliot. I'm sorry." He looks back at me and from his expression I know he has dealt with this far too many times.

I know I have to go talk to Christian. I knock on his office door and he doesn't say anything. He has his head in his hands rubbing his temples. "Christian, are you OK?"

He sighs heavily. "My dad keeps insisting I get you to sign a prenuptial agreement, even though I told him that I refuse to do that."

I walk over to him and he pushes his chair back so I can sit on his lap. "Christian, you know, I will sign one. That's OK. I'm not bringing anything but my student loans into this."

I can tell he is now trying to quell his anger. "That's not the point, Anastasia. We are getting married and are staying married for the rest of our lives. A prenup is basically saying that I anticipate us getting a divorce. And, if you ever did leave me, I would lose everything anyway so the money wouldn't matter anyway. If you're not in my life, everything is meaningless."

I give him a kiss on the lips. Right now I have so much love for him. He is so passionate about everything and he loves so much. "Christian, my life would be meaningless too if you weren't in it."