Ana

"I hope you have a good day at work," I say to Christian as I kiss him goodbye.

"Thanks," he says grimly as he pecks me on the lips.

I give him a small smile while he gets his things together from the kitchen table.

It has been a few days since the benefit. Work for Christian has become incredibly awkward. Grayson has been trying to talk to Christian, but he always tells me that he blows him off. I wish he would speak to him.

Christian is not ready to talk about what happened. He told me he just wants to forget about it and move on without them.

I hate to see him like this. He's not talking to me, and he's hardly sleeping. He wakes up in the middle of the night numerous times, with sweat covering his body. Every time I try to comfort him, he shrugs it off my endless questions and tells me that he is fine.

I wish he would communicate with me.

I look over at him from the couch and see him counting some cash that he took out from his wallet. He got paid last night, so I need to start paying some bills and head to the grocery store today.

We applied for government assistance and received $350 a month in food stamps. We are also eligible for cash assistance while I am pregnant. The only requirement is that we can only receive the temporary cash assistance a month before my due date in June.

I also applied for a program called, WIC and the program helps with milk, eggs, bread, vegetables, and fruit. I am planning on breastfeeding, and the program also offers breastfeeding classes and a new breast pump.

Christian sighs and I look up at him. He runs a hand through his hair and picks up his jacket. He is wearing his work jeans, a plain black V-neck shirt, and his work boots. He refuses to wear the company shirt, so he puts on either a black shirt or a plaid one. I don't think Grayson either cares or doesn't want to make a scene over it.

I don't know the real reason why he won't put on the shirt. Although, I think I can guess why he refused to put that shirt on again, all because of the Grey name. The shirt isn't required to wear, so I decided not to dwell on it. It's not important.

I hate to see him feel so uncomfortable every morning before he goes off to work. I can tell that he doesn't want to work for Grayson anymore, but he doesn't feel like he has a choice. The baby is coming, and we need the income.

He's at a rock and a hard place, and it makes me feel guilty that he feels like he has to stay there. I told him that he could always go out and find another job. He says the benefits are too good and the pay is higher than any other construction job out there right now. He said he is just going to suck it up and continue to work where he is at. Maybe later there will be another opportunity, but for right now, he will make the most out of it.

He walks over to me and quickly pecks me on the lips once more. "I'll see you after work. I love you," I say as I run my hand over his arm.

"Love you too," he says as he walks away to the front door.

I close my eyes and sigh when I hear the close of the door. I rub my bump and get up off the kitchen chair. I walk to the bedroom and stand in the doorway. I look over at the bed at the ruffled sheets, and it brings me back to this morning.

I woke up to Christian between my legs. After I had found my release, he fucked me harder than he ever has before. He still was gentle because he didn't want to hurt the baby, but he was still rougher than he usually is.

It bugs me that he is so affected by what happened last weekend. I don't know what to do for him. All I can do right now is support him and his decision to distance ourselves from the Grey's.

I haven't heard from Mia. Elliot called a few times over the past week, and he didn't say anything about Mia or the Grey's. He was calling to see how we were doing, and after Christian had told him that we were fine, Elliot let us know that he was there for us when we needed him. Christian said thanks and then they both hung up. That was three days ago.

Priscilla called yesterday to see how things were going. I told her that Christian was focusing on work, and didn't want to talk about what happened. I was surprised when she said that her and Grayson were not speaking at the moment. Apparently, Grayson and Priscilla didn't hold any secrets from one other, but she thought it was best not to get involved and give him time to work it out with his family.

I don't blame her. If I were her, I wouldn't want to get involved in the clusterfuck that is our life either. I still can't believe that Carrick and Christian are father and son. I know I suspected it, and I knew deep down that they were related. I guess knowing the truth is still a lot to take in.

I walk over to the bed and gather the rumpled sheets. I bring them over to the laundry room and place them in the washer. I walked back to the room and decided to go to the store. I walk into the closet and pick out a long-sleeved black sweater, black leggings, and black knee-length boots.

I get dressed and put my hair in a messy bun. I walk into the living room and get my coat from the couch. I put it on and suddenly hear a noise coming from outside of the apartment. I freeze and then frown as I adjust my black scarf that is around my neck and listen carefully.

I don't hear anything now, which is weird. There are people always walking in front of the apartment all day, but this noise was different. It sounded like a thud and a scratch coming from the window.

I adjust my purse and quietly walk to the front window trying not to make any noise. I slowly lift part of the blinds and peek out. I don't see anything except the road in front of the building and a few cars part on the side street. There is snow covering the roads and ground, and I look down and see a few footstep tracks in the snow by my front door. I frown and move my eyes to the left and right, trying to find anybody lurking by the door. The footsteps seem to go in all directions but come to a stop in front of my door.

After a few more moments, I don't hear or see anything. I sigh and shake my head. Probably just our neighbors.

I let go of the blind, and step back from the window. I put my hand in my pocket to search for my phone, and I immediately feel the plastic. I contemplate calling Christian, but I dismiss the idea. Probably just his footsteps from this morning.

I need to stop being paranoid. It's nothing, Ana. I shake my head again and decide to let it go. I walk to the front door and unlock it. I slowly walk out and look to my left and right. I still don't see anything, or anybody so I turn around and shut and lock the apartment door.

I adjust my purse once more and cross my arms over my chest and carefully walk forward towards the stairs. The snow crunches under my feet as I walk down the stairs. The bus arrives before I can get to the bus stop. My teeth chatter as I carefully power walk to the open bus doors. I climb up and immediately hit with warm heat as I walk towards the back of the bus.

I sigh when I sit down. I groan when I remember that I forgot my winter hat. If Christian were here, he would reprimand me for not remembering to grab it on my way out. It's freezing out here, and I hope I don't get sick. That is the last thing I need right now.

I lean back on the seat and stare out of the window at the passing scenery.

I arrive at the local grocery store ten minutes later. I get off the bus and walk to the front doors. I grab a shopping cart and start going down each aisle. I pick up the bare essentials including milk, eggs, cereal, fruit, and vegetables. I also find a good deal on ground beef and fresh chicken breasts.

I decide to make a simple spaghetti for dinner tonight, so I grab noodles, spaghetti sauce, garlic bread and parmesan cheese and set them all in the cart. I count my items in the cart to make sure I didn't forget anything. I go down the aisles once more to ensure, and I spot coffee and tea bags. Christian now drinks coffee at work, so I decide to pick some up for him, along with green and peppermint tea and some plain white sugar for me.

I walk to the checkout line and wait for my turn. I spot a Cosmopolitan magazine and decide to check it out. I flip through the pages, and I immediately blush when I come across an article about different sex positions, and there are numerous pictures about different positions. My eyes widen when I see Hands on knees. Oh! I bite my lip and see that it's also safe for pregnancy.

I look around and see an old couple standing behind me. They are standing there staring at me with curiosity. I blush harder and quickly shut the magazine and throw it in my shopping cart. I'm embarrassed to be seen reading that magazine, but I'm curious to see what other sex positions there are.

Finally, after standing in line for five minutes, it's now my turn. I start putting my purchases on the moving belt so the cashier can ring them up. I take out my WIC checks and give them to the cashier so she can get those out of the way first.

She smiles and starts ringing the WIC foods up first. When I have signed all of my checks, the cashier then starts with my other food items. I place the shopping bags full of food back in my shopping cart and wait until she is finished.

I take out my SNAP card and pay for the groceries. The total comes to $75.43, so we have enough to return a few more times for the month. I thank her and wish her a good day before I push the shopping cart out of the store. I pick up the grocery bags from the cart and walk towards the bus stop. There are a few bags, and they are somewhat heavy, so it takes me a while to get to the benches. It sucks not having a car.

The bus comes five minutes later, and I tiredly pick up the bags and get on the bus. I sigh and adjust my purse on my shoulder when I sit down and place the bags on the seat beside me.

I get to my apartment building and drag myself up the stairs, trying to hold the grocery bags. It's still freezing outside, so my hands are beginning to become numb from the cold, and carry the bags.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I get to my apartment door. I put the bags down on the snow covered ground, and take the keys out of my purse. I jump when I see two men suddenly appear in my peripheral vision. I look towards them, and they are leaning on the rail and smoking a cigarette. One of the men looks at me out of the corner of his eye before he quickly looks forward.

I hurry and unlock my door and pick up the bags and nearly jump inside. I practically slam the door a little harder than absolutely necessary when I get all the bags inside. I'm probably being dramatic. Those guys gave the creeps, though.

I shake my head at myself. I sigh contently and take off my jacket and scarf. I place them both on the sofa and pick up the grocery bags off of the floor.

I start putting the food in their correct place in the pantry. I move on to the cold food, and it's then I notice that I didn't buy any butter. Great.

I groan and realize that I need to go back to the store. I look towards the door and remember the two guys who are still probably standing outside. I don't want to go out there again, plus it's freezing outside. I guess I will go when Christian gets home from work.

I sigh and finish putting away the groceries. I walk to the sofa and open my purse and retrieve my phone. I see that it is 12:30 pm. Christian gets home from work around 5-5:30 pm.

I decide to go and take a nap before he gets back. I am about to head to the bedroom, but remember that I left our bedsheets in the washer. I walk towards the laundry room and transfer them to the dryer and set it to thirty minutes.

I can't sleep on the bed without sheets, and I don't want to sleep on the sofa, so I decide to take a long hot shower to pass the time.

When I am done taking my shower, I dry off and go to the sink and open the medicine cabinet. I apply my cocoa butter onto my swollen stomach. I don't have any noticeable stretch marks yet, but I still like to implement it, just in case.

I walk to the closet and look through my pajamas. I don't want to sleep in some day clothes, so I decide to put on a matching pair of black silk pajama shorts and a spaghetti strap shirt. I bend down and gather my hair and stand up to put my hair up in a bun.

The dryer should be done now, so I walk to the laundry room and see it has stopped. I get the sheets out of the dryer and walk back to the room.

After fixing the bed sheets, I fluff my pillow and get into bed. I turn over and pick up my cell phone and see it is almost 2 in the afternoon. I have some time before he gets off of work. I set the phone down and turn on my side and get comfortable. I close my heavy eyes and fall into a dreamless sleep.

My eyes flutter open when I feel someone lightly kiss the inside of my thigh. I move my legs to the left and lightly giggle when several strands of hair tickle my leg. A deep chuckle comes from between my legs causing me to look down and see a mess of copper hair and dark gray eyes staring back at me.

Christian is biting his lip while he stares seductively at me from under his long thick eyelashes. I notice my shorts and underwear are off, and thrown onto the floor. He must have taken them off while I was still sleeping.

I moan and close my eyes when he blows up and down my sex. He puts his hands on both of my thighs while he slowly drags his touch through my slit. My mouth drops open when he opens my sex with both of his thumbs, and circles his tongue around my clit.

I moan loudly when he enters a single finger into my sex, hitting my g-spot. I throw my hands above my head and open my legs wider and place my feet flat on the bed. My hips move in a circle while Christian continues to pleasure me with his skilled tongue.

He moans against my sex causing me to grind harder into his face. He inserts a second finger and moves them with a come-hither motion. The burning starts as he massages my clit with his tongue, and then when he applies just enough pressure to my g-spot I explode and yell out his name.

He continues to stimulate my clit and g-spot as I ride out my intense orgasm. I heavily pant as I come down from my orgasm. Christian sits up on his knees and sticks his fingers in his mouth and sucks on them. He closes his eyes and moans causing me to reciprocate, causing me to get turned on all over again.

My eyes widen and my mouth waters when I see his massive erection standing to attention. He smirks as he sees me staring at him. He slowly fists himself and he nod towards my sex. I bite my lip and put my hand on my puffy lips and start to circle my clit with my index finger.

Christian doesn't take his eyes off of my finger as he fists his cock faster and harder. I close my eyes and apply more pressure onto my clit.

"Fuck, baby. Yes," he moans as he watches me pleasure myself.

I moan and throw my head back as I get closer and closer to my orgasm. I open my eyes, and I see his mouth open in ecstasy and his eyes closed tightly.

"Christian, I want you to fuck me," I beg when I hear him start to grunt.

His eyes fly open, and he stops fisting himself. He holds his cock in his hands as he tries to hold off his orgasm. A light sheen of sweat covers his naked body, and his hair is a mess. The tip of his cock is already an angry purple color, and the base is still pulsating around his hand. He needs a release, and it's then I remember about the sex position in the Cosmo magazine.

I quickly sit up, and he gasps as I push him on the bed, so he is laying on his back. His cock falls heavily onto his stomach. He is panting wildly as I turn around and straddle his stomach. I take his cock into my hand and slowly side down onto his erection causing him to moan loudly. I lean back and put my hands on his knees as he puts his on my hips.

"Don't move. Baby, I'm going to cum. Just give me a minute," he grunts as his hands tighten on my hips.

My breathing escalates the more I stay still. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He lets go of my hips and I lean back more on my hands. I close my eyes at how deep he is. He is practically hitting my cervix at this angle.

He nods his head frantically to let me know that I can start to move. I gasp out a breath as I start to move up and down slowly. He puts his hands behind his head and closes his eyes.

I throw my head back as I increase my pace. He moans loudly as I thrust harder and harder onto his cock. I open my eyes and see him staring at me with wide eyes. His mouth is open as he stares down at our connection.

"Fuck. Fuck, yes. Harder, baby. Yes, oh, right there. Yes, baby," he yells out.

My orgasm is rapidly approaching as I move up and down, over and over again. My thighs are burning with each upward thrust.

"I'm going to cum. Say my name, baby!" he moans.

"Christian!" I yell out as my orgasm rips through me causing him to throw his head back and yell out my name as he cums full force.

"I forgot to get butter at the store," I whine while I run my hand through Christian's chest hair.

I am laying on his chest. One leg is thrown over his, and my head is resting by his steady heartbeat. His hand is lightly running up and down my arm while his other hand is resting comfortably on my bump.

Christian chuckles and kisses my forehead. "We can go get some or we can wait until this weekend. Whatever you want to do baby."

"No, we need some. I want to make you breakfast in the morning, and I need butter," I sigh and pout. I'm so comfortable; I don't want to move, though. I want to lay with him forever.

"Okay, baby. Let's get up and get dressed."

I nod and kiss his chest before I get up off the bed. We both get dressed in some comfy clothes and put on our coats, scarfs, gloves, and hats. I put on some of my furry boots, while he slips back into his work boots.

Christian grabs his wallet from the kitchen table, while I pick up my purse from the couch where I left it last. I check the time on my cell phone and see that it is nearing seven. We need to hurry so we can come back and make dinner.

Christian locks the door, and I stand there looking around the apartment building. It's lightly snowing outside, and it's still freezing like it was this afternoon. I cross my arms over my chest as I wait for him to lock the door. He grabs my hand and leads me down the stairs towards the bus stop.

The bus pulls up two minutes later, and we both hop on. We sit in the back, and I cuddle into his side and wait for our stop.

We get to the grocery store and head inside. We pick up the butter and go wait in line. There are quite a few people here, so it takes us a while to check out.

Once we are done, we head back towards the bus stop with Christian holding the bag with one hand and my hand in his other. We sit down on the bench and Christian holds me while we wait for the bus.

"I didn't ask you how was work?" I ask as I play with his hand.

"Fine. Same shit, different day," he shrugs.

"Did you see Grayson?" I frown.

"No, he wasn't there today," he snorts.

I nod and bite my lip. I want to ask him if he is ever going to talk with Grayson, and I decide to go ahead and ask even if I know he is going to try to change the subject. "Are you ever going to talk to him?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "No. There is nothing to talk about. I already told you this."

I sigh and look down. He needs to talk to him and get his side of the story. I know that Carrick and Grace lied to him, but we don't know why Grayson didn't say anything. He's his brother, and I want him to at least hear him out, but I can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do.

I decide to let it go. "I love you," I nuzzle my nose into his neck.

"I love you too," he says breathlessly as I continue to nuzzle his neck.

The bus takes longer to get to the stop. Finally, after thirty minutes of sitting here freezing our asses off, the bus arrives.

We practically run to the bus, and sigh as we are finally hit with warm heat.

"Careful baby," he scolds me as I almost trip when walking up the stairs to our apartment.

"Sorry. The stairs are too icy," I growl as I climb the stairs trying not to fall on my ass.

I'm walking slowly, but with being my clumsy self, I still end up slipping. Christian holds a hand to my lower back as he helps me up the last of the steps to our apartment.

I sigh in relief when we get to our door. I look up and frown when I see the door cracked open. I stop walking, and Christian almost bumps into me.

"What are you doing? Let's go in, babe," he says trying to push me forward.

I shake my head as my eyes widen, and he steps forward to see why I stopped. He freezes when he sees the open door. He quickly pulls me in back of him and looks frantically around us. I start to shake as I look around us as well. What the hell is going on?

"Stay here," he barks as he walks inside of the apartment.

I cross my arms and try to see inside. It's pitch black in there, and I can't see anything.

Suddenly the lights turn on, and I gasp out in shock. I run into the apartment and see the living room completely trashed. I look around the room and my eyes water at the mess I see in front of me.

Christian is looking around the room in disbelief with his hand frozen on top of the lamp shade. I gasp in horror when I see the words that are spray painted on the wall.

It says Rich that is marked out with a big red X. I frown. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

I shake my head in disbelief as I look around the clutter that is now our living room.

The sofa is thrown upside down. The lamp that is closer to the door is broken and smashed on the ground. The accent pillows are shredded with the stuffing all around the carpet. Our newly bought food is all over the kitchen. Broken glass from the dishes are smashed all over the tile, and the kitchen table is upside down.

I cup my mouth with both of my hands as I walk to our bedroom. Christian tries to grab me, but I walk into the room anyway. "Ana, don't go in there," he urges.

I throw open the door and gasp. The room is completely destroyed. Our bed sheets are all ripped. The dresser is spray painted with graffiti, and our clothes are thrown all over the floor. The mirror that was attached to our dresser is broken and glass litters the room.

Tears stream down my face as I see my new jewelry box opened and placed upside down on the dresser. I walk over to it and cry harder when I find it completely empty.

Grace gave me that jewelry box with a few pieces of new jewelry to wear. Who would do this?

Christian comes into the room, and hugs me to his chest. I cry into his shirt as he coos in my ear. He runs his hand through my hair and tells me to sit on the bed so he can call the police. I nod against his chest, and he kisses my hair. He leads me to the bed, and he runs out of the room while I cradle my bump with both of my hands.

I whimper and think back to earlier when I saw those two guys who were smoking outside of our apartment. Did they do this? But why? What did we do to them?

Christian walks back into the room and tells me that the police will be here soon. I nod, and he comes to sit next to me on the bed. He holds me until the police get there. He walks out of the room once more, and I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket.

I walk out of the room and meet four police officers who are assessing the damage to the apartment. I sigh miserably and walk towards Christian who is talking to one of the officers.

Over two hours later, the police leave after Christian and I give our statements and lead them through every room that was destroyed. The police tell us that someone picked the door lock and entered around the time we left to go to the grocery store. A team came in to take some fingerprints from the door and kitchen cabinets. They bagged some things up that were thrown across the floor as evidence.

We gave them our contact information and said they will keep in touch when they find any information on the intruders. The police told us that we needed to get a hold of the apartment manager in the morning about the break-in. Christian wanted to go down there now, but I told him I wanted to wait until morning because I was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep.

When he saw how tired and weak I was, he agreed to wait until morning. He plans on staying home with me tomorrow to help me clean up the apartment. I smiled gratefully and breathed a sigh of relief because I don't feel safe staying here by myself.

We turn off the lights, and he locks the front door, and double checks to make sure it is secure before we walk into the bedroom. The police recommended we stay somewhere else for the night, but we don't have any extra cash to get a hotel room right now since we used all of our paycheck for bills and the electricity.

The police agreed to keep a cop outside of the apartment for the night to make sure no one else breaks in, or the intruders come back.

Christian helps me take off the torn sheets, and thankfully we have an extra set that was not ripped. We make the bed, and I remove my clothes, not bothering to put on any pajamas, and climb into bed. Christian undresses and climbs into bed a few moments later. I immediately curl into his side, and he holds me tight. He kisses my hair and sighs deeply.

We are silent for a while before I break the silence. "What are we going to do?" I whimper.

"Well worry about it in the morning. Please, try to get some sleep, baby," he whispers in my ear as I nod against his chest.

I cuddle closer to Christian, and suddenly the reality of what happened hits me full force. The next thing I know, I burst into tears. Heartbreaking sobs leave my body as I shake in his arms. Christian coos in my ear and kisses my hair repeatedly as I weep into his chest.

Are we ever going to catch a break?

AN: Thank you for reviewing and following. I am off of school for two weeks, so I will try to update sometime after Christmas.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope everyone stays warm out there!

Also, I wanted to take a minute and tell the guest reviewer who said that this story inspired them to donate clothes to a local homeless shelter. THANK YOU. Your comment truly made my day. Many people out there do not have clothes or food, especially in the winter, so again, thank you for donating. I am sure those items will help out families and individuals that desperately needs them.

Happy Holidays.