A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
The last two weeks have been pure bliss for Christian and I. Seeing our baby on the ultrasound in Dr. Moore's office brought us even closer. One of the first thing we did was choose a new doctor from the list Dr. Moore gave us. Ironically, one of the top names on the list was Dr. Greene, the same doctor who was previously employed by Christian to treat his submissives. I went over her credentials and found that she is indeed one of the best OB/GYNs in Seattle, but her past with Christian is still too much for me. We decided to go with another doctor on the list, Dr. Judith Barrett who's highly recommended by Grace. With the doctor chosen, the next thing on the to-do list is plan a wedding.
"I want a small wedding, very intimate with only our loved ones surrounding us." I close my book and wait for Christian's reaction. He saunters to the bed, rolls on to the covers, and wraps his arm around my shoulder. "Thoughts?"
"I want you to have the wedding of your dreams whether it's small or large."
"It's our wedding.", I tell him. "So we should make the decision together."
"In that case, I think a small wedding will be perfect. I realize I can be a little over the top.", he shrugs, getting a raised a brow in return. "But I think our wedding day should be more about celebrating our love than putting on a show."
"That's how I feel. Do you think your parents might let us have the wedding at their house?"
"I'll ask them although it won't be an issue. It's a given that they'll be more than thrilled to have the wedding at their house. Now we need a date and a planner." I place my hand on his chest and shake my head. "You're not on board?"
"Not with the planner. Since it's going to be small, we really don't need one. We can handle all the details on our own." Christian's left arm stays put while his right hand goes to my stomach, his new favorite thing to do.
"Although the wedding might be small, planning it can still be a huge undertaking. I don't want you to stress yourself out over it. A planner would make it easier."
"I'm not going to overexert myself. I'll have you helping in addition to some of our family and friends. Mia ironically called this morning to see if anything had been done. She's dying to help out."
"No planner it is then.", he grins. "The date. We need a date so we can start planning the day."
"I was kind of thinking three weeks from tomorrow.", I reply with a tinge of shyness.
"Three weeks? You want to get married in three weeks? Not that three weeks isn't ok with me because it definitely is. I'd marry tomorrow if I could, but is three weeks going to be enough time to get everything together?"
"It'll be more than enough time to plan a small ceremony. I realize I got a little apprehensive when you suggested getting married soon, but I understand why you want that. Like me, you're eager to start the next leg of our journey together."
"I'm so eager. In three weeks we'll be Mr. and Mrs. Grey.", he smiles fondly. "In the meantime future Mrs. Grey, we need rest. Are you comfortable enough? I can get some pillows if you need them." Christian's being even more protective of me now that the baby's on the way, but he's so adorable.
"I'm comfortable, so much in fact that I'll probably be asleep as soon as I close my eyes." I bring my lips up to his, kissing him tenderly before rolling on my pillow. "I'm tired but glad tomorrow is Saturday. I might sleep in.", I murmur with my eyes closed.
"You should sleep as late as your body needs. I, unfortunately, have to do some prep work on the Collins deal. It shouldn't take too long if I get started early. Afterwards, we can spend the rest of the day together doing whatever you want."
"Whatever we want."
"Given that you're getting married in three weeks, you should start looking for a gown and bridesmaid dresses...now. What colors are you using? I've got some ideas in my book.", Mia says while we're having lunch at Delish. The first thing Christian and I did this morning was call our loved ones to give them our wedding date. Some were suprised it's going to be sooner than they had thought, but we told asserted our enthusiasm of wanting to be husband and wife. With him working, I called Mia to join me for lunch. Of course she wanted to dine at Delish where Will is working.
"I'm not shocked you have a book. The thing is, I don't really want a gown."
"If you're about to tell me you and Christian are opting for some sort of weird nudist wedding, stop right there. I refuse to take part in it." She takes a long sip of her water, downing nearly half the glass.
"You don't have to worry about that. I simply mean I'm not wearing a fancy gown. I'm leaning more towards something casual like a sundress." I expect Mia to say, "Hell no. You need to have a designer gown."
"A sundress, I think that's a good choice. It'll fit in with how you and Christian want things. Oh, you can have loose curls cascading down your shoulders and flowers in your hair. Whatever you decide will be beautiful." I try to mentally visualize Mia's idea, and what I see is perfect.
"I like it so much I'm going to go for it.", I say as I see Bryant and his dad Tad walk through the door. I haven't heard from him since he called me following his mother's funeral. Bryant waves slightly after seeing me. Tad, noticing it, turns his eyes on me and also waves. One of the servers starts leading them to their table, but they stop by our table on the way.
"Ana, hi.", Bryant says.
"Hi Bryant. Tad, hello." I nod at Mia who looks curious. "This is Mia Grey, Christian's sister. Mia, this is Bryant Holt and his father Tad." Mia smiles until she realizes who Bryant is.
"Bryant.", she murmurs. "And Tad." She tries to cover the awkwardness but fails. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you as well.", Tad replies. "Bryant, I'm going on to the table. Ana, it was good seeing you again."
"You too Tad." He heads to the back of the restaurant where his and Bryant's table is located.
"I heard about your engagement. Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"I should join my dad. He's been pretty lonely since Mom passed away. I was glad he agreed to have lunch with me."
"I can't imagine what he's going through. He and your mom used to go everywhere together. How have you been doing?", I ask.
"I have good and bad days. The other day I was going to make her chicken salad and couldn't remember all the ingredients. I picked up the phone and started to dial her number but stopped before I pressed the last one. It dawned on me that I couldn't call her. She's gone. I miss her every single day."
"You have memories that'll keep her alive."
"I'm sorry for your loss.", Mia chimes in.
"Thanks.", Bryant says. "Well, I'm going to go this time. Bye."
"Bye.", I tell him. He smiles and walks away. "Go on and ask your questions."
"I don't have any except he doesn't seem like you and Christian described him."
"After his mom died, he came to the conclusion that he and I are never going to happen again. He saw that Christian is the one who I love and wished us well. I used to have so much anger and hostility towards him. That's passed." I crunch into my chicken taco while seeing Will striding towards our table. Mia has her back to him so she can't see. He places his finger to his mouth and slowly eases up to her, covering her eyes with his hands.
"Guess who.", he laughs.
"Ugh Brad Pitt? Wait no. I saw him last night. Who could it be? I have no idea. I've got it. It might be my handsome and extremely talented boyfriend Will." He moves his hands and steps to her side. "I'm more excited that it's you instead of Brad Pitt."
"How's your meal?" He glances down at both empty plates. "Or should I say how was your meal?"
"It was delicious. Ana and I devoured the chicken tacos. I particularly like the rice. It had a zest to it."
"I added some lemon zest to it. Would you like some dessert? We've got triple layer chocolate cake which was made using my grandmother's recipe."
"As tempting as that sounds, I'm going to pass. I'm too full to eat another bite.", Mia sighs. "Ana, do you want dessert?" I'm so full now I can barely move, but my taste buds are screaming for me to take some with me.
"I can't eat another bite at the moment, but I'll take a slice of the cake with me. Make it two slices. I'll get one for Christian too." Will kisses Mia deeply and then heads to the kitchen for the cake.
"Isn't he adorable? He sent me a dozen pink roses yesterday just because. I've never had a guy do such a thing. He opens my door and pulls out my chair for me. The other day we went to his friend Brad's house. It started pouring down as we were getting out of the car. It wasn't supposed to rain, and I didn't have an umbrella. He took off his jacket and held it over our heads while we ran inside. Of course Brad was standing on the porch laughing that it was only a little rain. That was beside the point. Yes some might view it as nothing, but that small gesture made me swoon."
"Mia, it wasn't nothing. What he did was sweet. I can see how much he really likes you."
"You and Christian aren't married yet, but I'm going to go ahead and call you my sister-in-law." I feel myself tearing up over the bond Mia and I share. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
"I'm crying happy tears."
I was anticipating Christian to be finished with his work by the time I returned to Escala, but he called and said he got delayed and would be home as soon as he could. I change out of my white blouse and black skirt and into a gray tee and black yoga pants. I grab my laptop and check my emails to pass the time which is going by excruciatingly slow. With that done, I head to the kitchen to eat my cake slice. The chocolate goodness tastes like it was crafted by angels in heaven. That's how damn good this cake is. The only bad thing is it's gone before I know it. Damn Will for giving me a small slice! My eyes wonder to the fridge where Christian's cake is stored...and safe. I failed to mention it to him so eating it wouldn't be wrong. Would it?
"I'm sorry Christian, but that cake is too good to not eat.", I tell myself as I take it out of the fridge, diving into it immediately. The guilt over eating his cake is taking away from the yumminess although it's still pretty damn good.
"You seem to enjoying that.", Christian chuckles as I look at him red handed with a mouth full of his cake. He saunters to me, swipes his index finger across my lips, and licks the chocolate he took off. "Mmm. I can only imagine how could the cake is if the icing is this good." I start to offer him the rest of the cake but stop when I see only crumbs remain.
"I'm sorry. I should have saved some for you."
"Baby, you don't have to apologize for eating all of your cake."
"It was your cake.", I murmur. "I brought two slices of cake home from Delish. I ate mine and then had a moment of weakness and ate yours as well. I shouldn't have done it."
"It's ok." His hands caress my stomach. "I missed both of you today." His hands link into mine as he starts leading me to the living room. "I stopped by Babies R Us and picked up a few things." Entering the living room, I see at least twenty bags lined up on the floor. He reaches into one of them and pulls out a pair of baby jeans. "These were too cute to pass up. I figure if we have a son he can wear these." He then brings a light pink dress with a darker pink bow around the waist. "This is in case we have a daughter. There's several more outfits in the other bags. I also bought some pacifiers, bottles, blankets, and burp cloths."
"You bought all of that today? Christian, you didn't have to do that.", I tell him.
"I wanted to. I should have just told them I wanted one of everything in the place, but that would have been a little extreme."
"So you chose to buy twenty bags of merchandise instead?"
"You might as well get used to it. I plan on spoiling our baby and his or her mom as much as I want."