A/N: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Enjoy this next chapter.
"Ana, you're needed in the conference room.", Audrey says after stepping inside my office. I close out the program on my computer and roll my chair back, slowly getting to my feet. Today's my last day of work before my maternity leave starts next week so I was hoping to get as much work done as possible.
"Why am I needed in the conference room?" Audrey only grins at my question while I follow her. The first thing I notice once I'm out of my office is the rest of the staff is no where to be found. "Audrey, where is everyone?" She stops, turns, and grins even more. "Something fishy is going on here."
"Just be patient.", she replies over her shoulder. How can I be patient when the entire office has disappeared? We get to the conference room, and I hear voices inside. Audrey places her hand on the door and gradually opens it. She then moves to the side so I can see inside. What I see is not only the missing staff but also several blue balloons and an It's A Boy banner over the far wall.
"Surprise!", everyone shouts together. I stagger inside amid the overwelming feelings rushing through my body.
"What's all this?", I ask. Kate moves to the front.
"It's your baby shower. We wanted you to have one before you started your leave. It's also a small token of our appreciation of you.", Kate answers. "We even have a cake." She points to a two layer round cake with blue fondant. A small teddy bear tops the cake.
"This is so sweet. Thank you all. I'm touched."
I begin going around the room, thanking each person individually as they wish me well. I've always known the people working around me were great, and this is yet another example of how so.
"Ana, how about I get you some cake?", Daniel asks. He grabs a knife and is about to cut into the cake but stops when he sees Kate and Audrey glaring at him. "Don't worry. I'm ok when it comes to cutting a cake."
"Hold on. Let me get a photo of Ana and the cake.", Olivia says from behind me. I turn and find her standing in the doorway with a large blue gift bag. "Hi."
"Hey.", I reply. "Thank you for coming."
"I wouldn't have missed this for the world." She looks to her left where Sawyer and Lewis are observing the activity around us. Just one smile from Olivia to Sawyer flushes his face. I have to admit I wasn't sure at first how things would work with him serving as my CPO and Olivia as my boss, but it's worked. "Why don't you go and stand beside the cake so I can snap a photo?" I do as asked and make my way to the front where the cake is placed. My happiness is seeping through as I stare at Olivia's camera. I see that several others have grabbed their own cameras or photos and are ready to capture the moment as well. One person in particular unleashes butterflies in my stomach. Christian. In his three piece dark gray suit, he's standing next to Olivia with his phone out. I feel like giddy schoolgirl with a crush on a boy.
"Say cheese.", Audrey giggles.
"Cheese." I stand in place until the last photo is taken. Afterwards, I'm greeted by Christian's warm and welcoming arms. "You knew about this?"
"Kate called the other day and told me they were planning a shower for you. She said I should stop by if I wanted to, but whether or not I wanted to wasn't ever a question. I knew I wanted to be here." He helps me sit down in one of the chairs so I can start opening the gifts. In addition to this shower, I was given one a few weeks ago by Mia. It was a little more over the top, but this one is just as special.
"Isn't this cute?", I sigh, holding up a light blue onesie with the writing I'm Loved.
"And Oliver is loved, very much.", Christian says. He sticks a fork in the slice of cake which Daniel cut. "Here." I open my mouth to the deliciousness of the cake which is chocolate on both layers.
"I wasn't sure what flavor of cake to get, but I knew you've been on a chocolate kick lately so I went with that.", Kate shrugs. "From the way it looks, I chose well."
"Very well.", I assure her. A pattern of opening gifts and being fed by Christian starts.
"Are you having a nice time?", he asks.
"I'm having a great time."
"Oliver certainly got a lot of things today." Christian places the last of the gifts in the floor of Oliver's nusery. The room is decorated with blue walls and teddy bears. "We can go through everything tomorrow." His eyes roam the room. "I can't believe we're going to be parents in a matter of a few weeks."
"It's kind of unreal." My right hand and his left go to my stomach. "Our love created this little life."
"I never thought I'd be standing here, married and getting ready to be a dad. Here I am, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"Have you heard anything from the London group?", I ask. Some of Christian's clients in London asked him to travel to London for a meeting, but he refused. He leads me to and helps me settle into the rocking chair next to Oliver's crib.
"The CEO called this morning and said he'd like for me to reconsider my decision. I explained the situation, but he tried to get me to change my mind. He said a lot of time first pregnancies go past their due dates. That is not a chance I'm willing to take. I'm going to be at your side the entire time."
"Even when I'm yelling at you through the contractions?"
"Yes even when you're yelling at me through the contractions.", he laughs. "Like I said, we created Oliver together. I want us to share all the moments...together."
"Audrey asked me yesterday if I was scared of going through the pain. When I was younger and thought about kids, I admit that I was afraid of what childbirth would feel like. Now though, those fears are nothing but a distant memory. I've cried enough today so why don't we go and have dinner? Gail's making grilled cheese sandwiches."
"Grilled cheese?"
"I had a craving, and she said she'd make them for dinner if I wanted. I'm sure she'd prepare you something else if you'd like."
"Grilled cheese sounds good. It used to be one of my favorites when I was younger." He gives me his hand. "Come. Let's get you and Oliver some dinner."
"How was your last day?", my mom asks. We're sitting in her living room with the cups of hot of chocolate she made. She called last night and asked if I'd like to come over for a while. Since Christian and I had no plans for the early part of the day, I said yes.
"Great. It started out like an ordinary day with everyone turning in assignments and me doing some last minute work, and then they surprised me with a shower. It was lovely. I cried, of course. Oliver got a lot of wonderful things. His closet is already full of clothes."
"I'm going shopping tomorrow, and you know I'm going to have to pick him up something.", she says. My mom has been spoiling Oliver with clothes and baby accessories.
"Mom, you've already bought him so many things. You don't have to buy him anything else."
"I know I don't have to, but I want to. Spoiling is almost a rule of grandparenting." I glance at the end table by one of the arm chairs. Placed on top of the table is a crystal vase with a single yellow rose.
"That's a pretty rose.", I tell her.
"Someone sent it to me yesterday.", is all she says in response. I set my cup down on one of the coasters and wait to see if she says more. Sensing what I'm doing, she finally continues. "I'm not sure who sent it. The delivery guy only said it was paid for over the phone via credit card. The sender asked for From You Secret Admirer to be written on the card."
"Secret admirer, hmmm. Have any of the guys at work given you any hints they might be interested?"
"Well, there was one guy, Dave, who asked me out several weeks ago, but I turned him down. He's a nice guy with a great personality and sense of humor, yet I can't see anything coming out of it."
"You could go on a date and find out for sure.", I suggest, picking my cup back up.
"That's what your dad said when I told him." Now I definitely need to know more.
"You talked to Dad about Dave?"
"Ana, we're friends, and your dad is a wonderful listener. It came up during a call. Yes, we call one another. It's what friends do." Friends. The tiny part of me wishes there was more than friendship between the two of them. "Ray said I shouldn't close the door on what could be a postitive thing. Yesterday at work, Dave sort of acted odd when the flowers were delivered. I wanted to ask if he sent them, but I thought I'd wait to see if he might fess up." She goes to take a drink of her hot chocolate but is interrupted by a knock at the door. "I'll be right back." She sets her cup down and goes to the door. I swirl my spoon around in my cup as she opens the door. "What are you doing her?" I scoot so I can see who's at the door, but I can't see until she opens the door a little more. My dad is standing at the door with a pink and a red rose is my dad. He sees me and smiles.
"Hi Ana."
"Hey.", I murmur. He then looks at the yellow rose and my mom.
"I see you got the rose I sent.", he says.
"You're my secret admirer.", my mom sighs at the news.
"Yellow roses signify friendship. Carla, your friendship means a lot to me. I wanted to show you how much by sending the yellow rose. This pink rose is a symbol for appreciation and admiration. I appreciate and admire everything you bring into my life. Finally, there's the red rose. It's the one I wasn't sure you'd like. It's the lover's rose and represents passion. I know we're not lovers, but I would like to be more with you. We've both grown so much over the years, and I think maybe it was that time and growth that was needed to get us ready for a second chance. I might sound like a crazy person who wasted his time by driving here, but I needed to tell you." My mom briefly turns to me and smiles slightly before taking taking a long, deep breath.
"Ray, I..."
"You don't have to say anything. I understand." I have to turn away from seeing my dad's heart being broken. "I'm going to go."
"Don't. What I was about to say was I want you to kiss me." I quickly turn my attention back to them.
"Really?" Kiss her. Kiss her.
"Kiss me Ray Steele.", she giggles as my dad takes her in his arms and kisses her with passion.