I know it's been a while since I've updated this, I've had a few different ideas for new stories and where to take this one.

I've been reading a lot of stories on here and have found myself even more inspired to write again. Please don't hesitate to leave comments with ideas, I take everything on board.

Also if you have any recommendations on stories to read please leave a comment or send me a message.

Chapter 16

Tuesday 9th May

Ana

Wow. Last night was hands down the most amazing experience of my life.

I was always told that the first time would probably be painful and that most people don't really enjoy it. That was so wrong, last night Christian made me feel like the only person in the world, he took his time and made sure I was okay every single step of the way. The people who told me I wouldn't enjoy it were obviously doing it with the wrong person.

I stretch and feel the ache between my legs, I smile to myself and slowly get out of bed. I throw on one of Christians shirts and make my way to the kitchen and grab a cup of coffee and then make my way up to my office.

I spend some time setting up my computer and work through a few e-mails that require my attention, soon enough I hear a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Good morning Ms Steele, Mr Grey is asking for you to join him downstairs for breakfast."

"Please call me Ana, tell him I will be down shortly I need to finish up a few things first." I give him a gentle smile as he nods and heads back out the door. I send my last e-mail and then head down to find some food.

I walk into the kitchen and find Gail and Christian both standing cooking together and I smile, I stand in silence just watching, I really am lucky to have someone as great as him in my life.

"So you just mix it all in then pour it into that tin? That seems a little too easy Gail." His laugh makes me stomach do somersaults. I watch as he tried to follow her instruction and manages to drop the bowl and the contents spill everywhere. His face drops and I swear he looks like he is going to burst into tears. A laugh escapes me and he turns round.

"Ana, how long have you been standing there? Please tell me you didn't witness me try and fail miserably to make a cake." He sounds serious but the grin slowly creeping on his face tells me he otherwise.

"I did indeed, why are you trying to bake a cake anyway?" I make my way over and help clean up the mess.

"Well Elliot called and told me Mia was coming home later today, it was supposed to be a surprise for all of us but Elliot cannot keep anything to himself. I decided we could give her a surprise, she loves the red velvet cake my mom makes, but since my parents are still travelling I thought I would give it a go. I called my mom and got the recipe from her and asked if Gail could help, as you know I am a terrible chef." He laughs and then takes a seat beside me taking my hand in his. I can't help but laugh at his sad expressions as he looks down at the cake mix.

"Okay, well I happen to know a thing or two about baking and all things cake decorating. Why don't we have breakfast then we can go shopping for some supplies for tonight. Gail can have the evening off and I can help you bake a cake for your sister." Gail smiles at me and continues clearing away the mess, I can see she appreciates being given time to herself.

"Okay that sounds like a good idea. I have to warn you though, I really am a terrible cook. I mean I can't even pour a simple cake mix into a tin without messing it up"

"Don't worry, by the time were done you'll be an expert." I smile turn my attention to the food in front of me, my stomach growling in appreciation.

Christian

After we spend a few hours shopping we eventually head home to get started on the cake. I watch as Ana lays out all of the ingredients, god she really is perfect.

"So how did you get to be so good at baking?"

"Well when my mom got better and met Ray she decided to stop putting her dreams on hold. She had always wanted to open her own bakery but never had the courage to do it, she was always afraid people wouldn't like her baking. I guess after the cancer she decided to go for it, you only get one life after all and she didn't want to think back on it one day and regret not doing what she loved." A small smile comes to her face, she really loves her mom and I for one cannot wait to meet her.

"Anyway, she had been saving up all her money but the hospital bills ate away a lot of it, while she was receiving treatment the first time round she had told me how much she regretted not opening her own store. I decided that I was going to save up my own money and open a store one day for her. Then she got sick the second time and my heart shattered but I kept saving. It wasn't much but I used to do odd jobs for our neighbours for money and then I would hide it from Patrick."

Her face sours at the mention of his name but she continues with her story and I just stand and listen to every word.

"Eventually I was doing jobs almost every day for the neighbours, mostly to stay away from Patrick but I was getting near 100 dollars every week so it started to build up. Then Patrick went to prison, my mom got better and we left. Then she met Ray, he was the nicest man she had ever been with and he genuinely cared for us both. She told Ray all about her hopes to be able to open her own store one day and they started saving together. Eventually I told my mom I had been saving for her too and gave her the money. There was almost five thousand dollars, she tried to give it back to me but I told her I wanted her to have it. After a lot of persuading Ray convinced her to use it to start her business."

"I told her I would work for her and that way she could pay me back when she could. She taught me everything there was to know about baking and cake decoration, and to be honest just cooking in general. Her business really took off and everyone in our town would come to her for cakes. It was so good to see her truly happy again. It eventually started to take a toll on her relationship with Ray though. She was baking cakes from home and although he was so happy for her it was a lot to handle. The kitchen was constantly covered with cakes and icing and mixing bowls. They started fighting a lot but it was never violent. One day Ray come home and my mom told him she didn't want to be with him anymore if he couldn't support her dream. It broke his heart."

A few tears slip from her eyes as she talks about Ray, I wrap my arms around her and hold her as she sobs a little. She is a true hero, she has had such a tough life.

"Then my mom got a phone call from one of the woman she regularly baked for. Everything changed, the woman was a realtor and knew my mom was looking for a store. After talking about it Ray decided to help her purchase it, everything worked out between them and they were back to being happy. I kept working with her until I applied for college."

"Wow, so how is everything going with the store now." I'm now desperate to know everything about her and her family.

"It's doing really well, she ended up moving to a bigger store and even opened another few in different towns. Her and Ray are still together, for so long I was convinced they were going to split up but then one night we were all out for dinner, my mom went to the bathroom and ray turned to me, he looked so nervous and I was sure he was going to say he was leaving. It was the complete opposite. He asked me if it would be okay to marry my mom. I said yes then excused myself as my mom came back. I stood and watched it happen. They really are perfect together."

I wrap my arms around her and bring my lips down to meet hers. It's a slow kiss, and every part of my body lights up as she moans into me. I pull away and smile at her, we need to get a move on with the baking.

….

Three hours later the cake is done and decorated, it took four attempts for the cake mix to turn out right after Ana trusted me to do it myself. Eventually she gave up and allowed me to assist while she done most of the work. I watched in awe as she made butterflies and flowers out of the fondant, she made it look so easy.

"Ana that looks amazing, honestly I think you may have outdone my mother's cake. Mia will absolutely love it."

Taylor came into the kitchen to let us know Mia has just got into the elevator, so we all walked over to greet her. I couldn't wait to see her face.

"SURPRISE!"

"ELLIOT I AM GOING TO KILL YOU"

She gives us all a hug but just glares right at Elliot, I knew she would be pissed that he dropped the secret but I know how to fix her mood and have him back in the good books.

"Mia try not to be too mad at him. I decided to do something for you since mom and dad can't be here but that wouldn't have been possible if Elliot hadn't told me you were coming." I lead her over to the kitchen with my hands covering her eyes.

"Christian you know I hate surprises, I swear if this isn't a puppy I'll kill you too." I chuckle and take my hands from her eyes.

A smile spreads across her face and she spins round and gives me a hug.

"Christian, thank you, thank you, thanks you. I know there's no way you did this though so tell me where did you buy it."

"Fine you got me, I didn't do it alone but it wasn't bought from the store. Taste it."

She looks at me and then picks up the knife to cut a piece of the cake for herself. I can tell she doesn't believe me but a soon as she takes a bite her eyes go wide.

"How did you do this? Is mom here, is that another surprise?"

"No actually, Ana made it. I did try to help but I was causing more problems."

Mia runs over and wraps her arms around Ana almost knocking her down in the process, we all laugh and then help ourselves to a piece of the cake. Mia was right, it tasted exactly like the one my mom makes.

Ana

We all have a seat and listen as Mia tells us all of her stories, she certainly has an exciting life. Soon Kate comes in with prosecco and wine which everyone happily drinks. We spend hours chatting happily, it feels good to be able to do this now without the worry of anything bad happening.

Kate is the first to fall asleep, we only notice when we hear her soft snoring. We all laugh and Elliot taker her upstairs to bed leaving Ethan, Christian, Mia and myself.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." I excuse myself and run to the bathroom in Christian's room. I quickly grab my bag and shut myself in and lock the door. I take the lingerie out of the bag and quickly put it on, admiring myself in the mirror.

Christian was right, this really does look good on me, especially with a tan. I use the bathroom and quickly freshen up before throwing on my robe to head back to the living room. As I open the door I'm almost knocked flat as Christian pounces on me, smashing his lips against mine.

I stumble back but before I fall Christian catches his footing and lifts me from the ground. I wrap my legs around him and I hear his moan of appreciation.

"I've wanted to do that all night Ana." We both breathe quickly to catch out breathe and I just smile, I give him another quick kiss and drop from his waist playfully swatting him on the backside before walking out of the bathroom. I adjust my robe and head back into the living room.

I notice Ethan and Mia have moved outside onto the balcony, they are standing wrapped in the blanket from the sofa chatting as they watch the world pass by beneath them. I smile and quickly grab a pen and some paper to leave them a note to let them know we are going to bed. I leave the note on the sofa and head back to Christian.

"Ethan and Mia are outside talking so I figured we could just go to bed, I'm exhausted after today." I watch as his face falls and have to use every ounce of concentration not to let my smile cross my face.

"Okay, I'm just going to have a quick shower" He heads in to the bathroom and I know I'm going to have at least twenty minutes before he's done so I quickly climb back from the bed and get set up.

I quickly grab the bag I had Gail hide in the closet earlier and place the candles around the room and scatter the rose petals over the bed. I make a path using the petals and candles from the door to the bed, I turn down the lights and put on some soft music.

I open up the bottle of chilled champagne and fill two glasses and pop a strawberry into each one and set them on the table beside the bed. I hear the water shut off and quickly take my robe off and lie in the middle of the bed patiently waiting for Christian.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'm really enjoying writing again and already have plans for the next few chapters.

I'm really loving having everyone have a moment of happiness in this story, but not to worry a storm is definitely coming

Please remember to leave me some reviews to let me know that people are actually still reading.