APOV
I'm standing right in front of them as Andy quite faintly but still audibly says: "Daddy!"
Wait a moment, WHAT? I turn around and see the one and only Christian Grey standing at the entrance while talking to the lady at the counter who is obviously not able to resist his charm. My jaw drops open when he shakes her hand and walks in our direction carrying a sports bag. He has crossed half of the distance when my boys start running in his direction and as soon as he sees them he kneels down and spreads his arms. They hug him and it is easy to see how much they are still missing him. But it seems like Christian missed them too as he looks like someone freed him of a heavy weight lying on his shoulders. Desperately I look over to Ray but he smiles supportively at me and that doesn't calm me at all. Christian, Tommy and Andy walk over to us with Tommy taking the lead.
"Mom! Mom! He came! He's here! He told me he'd come for sure and now he arrived! I totally knew he'd come!" he shouts to me and he's beaming. I'm overwhelmed since the entire situation is simply too much for me and as Christian greets Ray I give a short excuse and rush to the bathroom.
I sit down in one of the stalls and try to collect myself from my bad conscience which is killing me. I didn't believe I'd see him face to face ever again but there he is, looking incredible, smelling so awesome that I want to lick every inch of his body, messing around with my hormones. I definitely wouldn't push him out of my bed if he wanted in. 'He won't want that for sure! He went back to his fiancee! And you also better go back as you cannot hide forever in this bathroom stall!' I think to myself. Crap. I get up, go to the sink and splash some cold water onto my face. Then I look into the mirror and tell myself in a commanding voice: „Pull yourself together, Annie. And now go out there and act like an adult!"
The competition has already started when I come back and Tommy is cheering Christian on, since it's his turn. Ray is standing in the background filming them and Andy roots for them. Christian is just about to throw the bowling ball when I walk over to the small table to get myself a drink. He watches the ball as it rolls across the floor towards the pins when he takes two steps backwards and walks right into me. Even though it wasn't a hard crash I lose my footing and fall down on my backside, spreading my drink all about my top. Christian tells me how sorry he is but I dismiss it with a wave of the hand.
"It's alright. You know me, such things happen to me all the time!" I placate him and I am glad to have another reason to get away from him. So I go to my car as I've always got a spare sets of clothes for both me and the children in it and change my clothes right there. It's just as I've said...it happens to me quite often.
Of course it was Christian - He promised it in chapter 6, do you remember? ;D And how about we bring somebody else back in the next chapter?
It's so interesting, which details you point out in your reviews! That boy gave some of you a hard time, so here's the backstory: I went with my kids to the playground and after some time a boy (he was 6-ish, with earrings!) came to me and said: "Give me 5 Euros!" I was really dumbfounded and retorted, that I didn't have money, so HE should give ME 5 Euros. He said, that he didn't have them either, so I said, that he should go to his mother and get the money. He said, that he had no mother and no father, so I said, that he should go to his legal guardian, because he sure has one. Then he laughed and said, that he had parents, said goodbye and went away. So this encounter was the inspiration for this scene, which is in the story just to make it less monotonous - and to make you laugh a bit ;)
And yeah, calling the legs Christmas and New Years Eve is a quote from the movie 'Deadpool', WHICH I DIDN'T KNEW back then when I wrote it, because it was released Feb 8th! Ugh, they stole that line from me! ;D lol
For those who review every chapter - I try to answer all your reviews in one go ;)
joan . goldman . 9 - I don't think that Grace doesn't like Elena, she just thinks it's not their (C&E) best decision to get married. So when there's another girl he has interest in, she obviously has no problem to speak her mind. But yeah, he should act on it and listen to her ;) Thanks, I had a wonderful good nights sleep :) Christian is not going to stop the trip. And yeah, as you now see, they're looking at Christian ;)
Guest - Thank you for your review! ;)
jayhawk78 - I know, I know, I'm really sorry, but for me shorter chapters are easier to edit.
Christian618 - I'm sorry for the addiction ;D. I know that I could take a day off, but I don't want to break the chain and I hope I won't have to ;)
emi17 - Yes, Elena is a bit older than Christian ;) And yesss, Christian remembered. The kid should be around 6 and yeah, it is from the movie Deadpool. And thanks, my night was good ;D.
Pielietje - Maybe they told him what they think about their relationship, but he is old enough to make his decisions on his own ;). And yesss, now they saw each other again ... FINALLY ;D. In New York, there will be a bit of a drama, but in the end there will be a HEA.
ralieghbug10 - Hey, you're the second reader proposing a movie to me (and yes, of course I saw that movie) ;) I don't say no, but I don't say yes too - we will see what the future will bring ;) No, Elena didn't do something with GEH and yes, she left him in the hospital and yes, she had something to do with the accident, but you have to wait ;)
malugargula - He will obey her ;)
Doc-sama - Thanks for your offer, I will keep that in mind. Generally, I try to avoid details about cities and countries, but you never know, right? But what I do know is, that Detroit is the home of TIM THE TOOLMAN TAYLOR! ;D I just love Home Improvement!
hateme101 - Thank you for your review!
mya4snape - Yeah, Christian is here, so don't tell Elena about it! We don't want her to interrupt our favorite couple, right?
ashley . mercer . 16 - Yeah, we needed some suspense, right? ;D And of course it was Christian, he promised it! Oh, didn't I tell? Ray's gonna have a HEA too ;D