A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Working Day to Day

Ana

Ana couldn't help but feel a bit nervous going onto the construction site the first morning. She had no idea what to expect when she got there, and she honestly felt worried that no one would take her seriously since she was just some random girl who lived in town ordering them around. However, after she was able to solve their logistics issue by suggesting the freight train, they all seemed to accept her a bit more as part of the team, and she and the foreman Andy spent about an hour discussing the construction and what they were planning to do over the next few days. Though Ana had never worked at a construction site before, she found a lot of it could be applied to what she already knew having worked in carpentry, so that helped her out a bit.

Overall, the first day at the jobsite went pretty well, however Ana didn't really get a chance to work with Christian very much. Several times she saw him talking to some of the other construction workers, and she was able to see his management style firsthand. She had expected him to play up the stereotypical CEO role - ordering around everybody and demanding everything be done a certain way - but he actually wasn't like that at all. He was still authoritative, but not to the point of being overbearing or condescending, and he actually listened when others spoke or offered suggestions. She was pleasantly surprised by this, but supposed she had constantly been surprised by him since he had arrived in Easton. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to judge him.

The second morning, Friday, Ana arrived at the jobsite bright and early to see Christian standing with Taylor and a couple of the construction guys going over some blueprints. Several large backhoes were being driven up onto the excavated land, ready to start digging a hole for the building's foundation.

Christian glanced up as Ana approached, and he smiled at her before giving the blueprints over to one of the construction guys. "Thanks Garrett. Everything looks good - you guys can start breaking ground whenever you're ready."

"Thanks, Mr. Grey."

Garrett, Taylor, and the others all walked away, and Christian moved toward Ana. "Hey."

"Hi," she said, glancing around the construction site. "We're ready to start digging then?"

"Yup. All the equipment is coming in on the freight train tomorrow, so for now we can use the backhoes we already have to start breaking ground," Christian said, glancing around at the excavated land. He then chuckled to himself before shaking his head. "You know, I never thought I'd be in charge of a construction site before. It's definitely a new experience for me."

"For me too," Ana admitted. "I never thought I'd have to help oversee a construction site before, so I guess you and I are in the same boat."

"I guess so," Christian smiled down at her. "You know Ana, I have to say I'm kind of impressed at how well you're taking on this role. I was a bit surprised at how well you've been doing so far."

Ana raised her eyebrows at him, feeling a little taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Christian's smile faded, realizing what he had said. "Um… I just mean that you said you've never done anything like this before, and you've shown yourself to be very well-suited for this job, that's all. You're doing a great job and I wanted to acknowledge that."

"I see," Ana said skeptically, stepping past him to walk around the jobsite. Christian watched her walk away for a moment before hurrying to catch up.

"I'm not a misogynist, so you know," he said defensively as he fell in step beside her. "My second-in-command back at GEH is a woman, and she's one of the best business people I've ever had the privilege of working with."

"And yet she's still number two," Ana pointed out, glancing over at Christian while fighting a small smirk on her face. She was just teasing him now, and Christian finally seemed to catch on - he smiled and chuckled.

"You got me, Ms. Steele," he said amusedly, and Ana let out a giggle. "Apparently I can't even give you a compliment."

"Apparently," Ana quipped humorously. "Despite not having worked in construction before though, Mr. Grey, I'd say you're doing a pretty good job too."

Christian laughed. "Thank you."

They fell into comfortable silence for a few moments after that, walking together around the construction site and watching on as the backhoes began digging into the excavated land.

"…Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something," Christian said, and Ana looked over at him. He nodded over toward Lake Easton. "Your house is over by the lake there, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Ana said, wondering why he was asking.

"My rental house is on the lake too. We're neighbors actually - I just thought you should know," Christian said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Ana gave him a strange look.

"Have you been spying on me?" she asked dubiously.

"Not intentionally," Christian said quickly. "I just spotted you the other day in your backyard… you were with a little boy and an older man."

Ana realized what he was getting at, and she bit her lip. She hadn't mentioned to him yet that she had a son, but she supposed she had to bring him up at some point. She cleared her throat, glancing down at her feet. "Yeah, um... that was my son Ted and my father Ray. We all live together in the house, and my dad and I work in the carpentry shop that's on our property."

Christian nodded. "Yeah, I figured as much when I saw all you guys together. I was just a bit surprised, though… I guess I never pegged you as a mother."

"A lot of people don't - that's why I normally don't bring it up," Ana said truthfully. She reached into her back jeans pocket, where she kept a well-worn wallet-sized photo of her and Ted - it was her favorite picture, where she was carrying Ted in her arms and their foreheads touched sweetly, smiling widely at each other. Ray had taken that picture of them last Easter during the church picnic, and he loved it so much that he printed multiple copies of it and even kept a framed one on the wall in the house. She now handed the picture to Christian, and he smiled widely as he gazed down at it.

"He's adorable," he complimented her after a moment, smiling back up at Ana and handing the picture back. "You both look so happy. How old is he?"

"In the picture he was still three," Ana said, smiling down at the picture in her hand. "But Ted just turned four last month. They grow up so fast."

"I've heard that's true," Christian smiled.

Ana looked up at him. "You're not a parent then?"

"Nope," Christian shook his head. "Not married either."

"Oh," Ana said, and then smirked ruefully, shaking her head. "Well, I'm not married, but that didn't stop me from being a parent anyway."

"So no boyfriend, then?" Christian asked quizzically. Ana looked up at him, but before she could answer, Taylor approached them.

"Mr. Grey, the foreman needs to speak with you about the equipment that's coming tomorrow," he said.

"Alright," Christian nodded, and turned to Ana. "You coming?"

Ana blinked, feeling momentarily surprised at his offer. "Oh, um - yeah sure."

She quickly followed Christian and Taylor toward where Andy was standing and talking to some of the other workers. She watched as the backhoes began to dig into the excavated land, bringing up huge scoopfuls of dirt, and felt almost eager for this construction to commence. Ana wanted to prove herself to everybody here - to prove that she was more than just some random town girl ordering them around - and she was beginning to feel that Christian was starting to think of her as part of the team.

The thought of earning Christian Grey's respect was more appealing to her than what she wanted to admit to herself, and she couldn't help but smile at the thought.

Christian

Friday ended up being a pretty short day at the construction site - the backhoes had done their job, and the hole for the building's foundation had been completely dug out by mid-afternoon. There wasn't much else they could do until the rest of the construction equipment came in on the freight train tomorrow, so Christian, Ana, Taylor, and the rest of the crew packed up and left before dinner that night. Christian watched as Ana headed over to her house in her red pickup truck, which he knew was right next door to his own house.

He was surprised and happy when Ana openly talked to him about her son - Ted, his name was apparently - and she had even showed him a picture of the two of them together. While Christian had never considered himself to be much of a kid person, he couldn't help but think that Ana's son was absolutely adorable, and he clearly made Ana very happy. Christian was still kind of shocked to learn that Ana was a mother - he had pegged her to be only about 23 or 24 years old. She must have gotten pregnant with Ted at a very young age, but Christian didn't want to think about it too much since he didn't like the idea of Ana being with another guy.

Even though he shouldn't really care that Ana had been with someone else… just because she was an attractive woman didn't mean he wanted to have sex with her or anything. She had a son, and he had a submissive back in Seattle - obviously nothing was going to happen between the two of them, so he may as well just put it out of his mind.

Christian and Taylor arrived back at the rental home, and Christian immediately set down his things on a nearby chair as he walked into the kitchen. "Hey Taylor, is Gail still visiting her sister down in Tacoma?"

"Yeah, she'll be back in Seattle by Sunday," Taylor said, setting his own things down on the couch. "Why?"

"Do you think she'd be willing to come to Easton and stay with us for the next few weeks?" Christian opened up the refrigerator and gazed into it. "I'd be willing to pay her for it."

Taylor chuckled, understanding his boss's motives. "Oh, I don't know sir - I think she would prefer having the next couple weeks off where she won't have to cook and clean for us."

"Tell her I'll pay her double, and I'll even throw in some extra vacation days around Christmas time," Christian reached into the fridge and pulled out a saran-wrapped turkey sandwich which was slightly squashed, and he gazed down at it despondently. "I can't live like this for much longer."

"I can give her a call tonight," Taylor promised, a smirk still on his face, and Christian grinned.

"I appreciate it," he said wryly, walking over to pick up his briefcase, sandwich in hand. "If you need me I'll be in my office."

"Yes sir."

Christian went upstairs and into his office, closing the door behind him. He then sat down behind his desk and powered on his computer, unwrapping his sandwich from the plastic wrap. He sincerely hoped Gail would consider coming to Easton once she was done visiting her sister - he was already missing her delicious home-cooked meals and sweet, maternal presence in his life.

When his computer powered on, Christian clicked onto his Outlook email and found about twenty new emails waiting in his inbox. The first new email was from Welch, and it was Ana's background check - he hovered his mouse over it for a moment or two, silently debating with himself whether or not he should open it…

Background checks were standard in his line of work, but having one done on Anastasia almost felt like a violation of her privacy. His motivation for having one done on her was purely selfish, since he had just wanted to know more about her and her son, but earlier today at the jobsite she willingly talked to him about Ted, even showing him a picture of the two of them together. He got to learn more about Ana from simply talking to her.

Who'd have thought?

Christian hesitated for a few more seconds, staring at the email containing Ana's background check, before cursing under his breath and moving it over to the Drafts folder without reading it. He then clicked onto his other unread emails, deciding to focus on other business matters and put Ana's unread background check out of his mind.

~/~

Saturday rolled around, and while Christian would have normally let the crew have the day off today, all the equipment was coming in on the freight train this morning, and he needed all hands on deck to help transport it here to the jobsite. Christian would be overseeing everything, with Ana's help of course, and as he and Taylor pulled into the jobsite that morning, he wasn't surprised to see her red pickup truck already there.

However, as Christian and Taylor stepped out of the SUV, he was surprised to see that Ana wasn't alone. She was standing beside her truck with the man and the little boy Christian had spotted her with the other day - he realized immediately that that was her father Ray and her son Ted, and he began to walk toward them.

Ana saw Christian approach, and she smiled at him rather sheepishly, giving him a small wave. "Hi… sorry, these guys wanted to see the construction site for themselves today. I wasn't sure if it was alright since all the equipment is coming in, but if it's not I can take them home right now."

"Oh no, it's quite alright," Christian grinned brightly at the three of them, and he held his hand out for Ana's father to shake. "Hi - I'm Christian Grey, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Ray Steele, Ana's father," Ray smiled kindly, shaking Christian's hand with a firm grip much like his daughter's. "And this here is my grandson, Ted."

Ted was standing between Ana and Ray, holding tightly onto his grandfather's hand. He was staring guilelessly up at Christian with big green eyes, and Christian's heart warmed at the sight of his adorable little face. He squatted down on his haunches so he was eye-level with Ted.

"Hi Ted - I'm Christian. It's nice to meet you," he smiled, and Ted smiled back. Christian then held his palm out for him. "Can I get a high-five?"

Ted grinned brightly before lifting his small hand and high-fiving Christian's much larger one. Ana and Ray both laughed.

"Great job buddy!" Christian grinned at him. "So your mommy said you wanted to see the construction site today?"

"Yeah!" Ted said happily, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet.

"Well let's get you your own hard hat, and then we can see all the cool machines and stuff," Christian promised him. "How does that sound?"

"Good!" Ted grinned.

"Awesome - then let's go."

Christian directed Ray to the foreman's trailer nearby, where all the spare hard hats were located, and told him there was probably a small hat there that could fit on Ted's head. Ray began to lead his grandson over to the trailer, and Christian and Ana followed them.

"I'm really sorry if we're imposing," Ana said apologetically to Christian, and he looked over at her to see her expression was rather embarrassed. "Ted apparently told my dad he wanted to see all the big trucks here, and so Ray insisted on tagging along with me today to the construction site. I didn't really want them to come today, especially with all the equipment coming in, so I promise we'll be out of your hair soon."

"Oh please, don't worry about it," Christian insisted sincerely. "I'm actually glad I finally get to meet your family. We're going to be neighbors for the next few weeks, after all, so I think it's only fair we all should get to know each other a little better."

Ana smiled at him. "Okay… well then, thanks for understanding," she said gratefully. Christian grinned back at her.

"It's my pleasure, Ms. Steele."

Ray and Ted soon came back with Ted wearing a small (yet still overlarge) hard hat on his tiny head. The adults all wore yellow safety vests, and they began to make their way around the construction site, Christian and Ana pointing out the large machinery and excavated land for Ted to see. He seemed very excited by all of this, gazing around at the construction with innocent wonder and eagerness, and Christian found himself enjoying spending time with him and Ray as they walked around the jobsite.

Ana may have felt a bit embarrassed by her family coming with her to the construction site today, but Christian didn't miss the fact that every time he interacted with Ted, Ana would beam happily at him. While Christian knew it probably wasn't the best motivation in the world, a part of him felt that he would gladly spend every day in Easton with Ana's son if it meant that she would smile at him like that.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that! Next chapter, we'll learn a bit more about Ana and Ted's backstory.

Please review and tell me what you think! :)