A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Have you talked to your parents today?", Christian asks as he sits in the floor with Oliver.
"I talked to them this morning. They're having the best time. My mom even said they might not come back."
"You and I both know that's not going to happen. They've got this little man and his brother or sister to spoil." I catch Christian's eyes go briefly to my still flat stomach. He looks up and grins when he sees my arched brow. "I can't wait for you to start showing."
"You can't wait for me to lose the ability to see my feet?", I tease.
"Can't wait.", he smirks as Taylor and Gail walk hand in hand into the room. "Are you guys calling it a night?"
"We're calling it a work day, but our night is only just beginning.", Taylor answers. "We've got dinner reservations at Altura. Afterwards, well..." He rubs his chin. "We don't have any concrete plans, but we'll find something wonderful to do."
"It doesn't matter what we do as long as we're together.", Gail blushes. Sawyer slowly makes his way into the room. "What have you and Olivia got planned for tonight?"
"Nothing.", Sawyer sighs, sitting down in one of the arm chairs. "Olivia and I are spending the night apart." Christian, Taylor, Gail, and I exchange glances. "We're not fighting if that's what you're wondering. Olivia made the comment the other day that she'd like to spend more time with my mom. Up until now, they've rarely had time with just the two of them. I thought it was a great idea."
"It's nice that they're going to have an evening with just them.", I say. "Do you have anything planned while they're having their night?"
"I'm going to order a pizza and watch some tv until I fall asleep."
"You're welcome to join us for dinner.", Christian suggests. "Gail prepared a meatloaf that smells and looks delicious."
"I walked past the oven when the meatloaf was cooking, and while it did smell good, I'm going to pass. Thank you for the offer though."
"We should go.", Taylor tells Gail. "Sawyer, you can have dinner with us."
"I appreciate your offer but no. I'm going to be fine on my own. Get going or you're going to miss your reservation." Sawyer stands and playfully pushes Taylor towards the door. "Have a wonderful evening."
"We're going.", Gail laughs.
"What are you reading?", Christian asks. He pulls his tee shirt off but remains planted by the bed where I'm settled.
"I was reading the latest issue of Seattle Magazine, but reading isn't even possible with you flaunting yourself in front of me."
"Flaunting myself?", he scoffs. "How is me getting ready for bed flaunting myself?"
"It...it...", I stammer. "It just is." He laughs and climbs on to the bed, tossing my magazine to the floor. His fingers travel along my arms.
"You're the one who's teasing me." Gripping the nape of his neck, I pull him to me and crash my lips on to his. We're about to take things further when his phone rings. At first he ignores it, but when it rings a second time, I pull away and motion for him to answer it. "Hello." I sit up in the bed and wait for him to finish the call. "I don't understand. We agreed on every single detail, and now they're rethinking things? I'll get back to you." He presses end on the call and shakes his head. "Ros and I have been working on a deal with the Patton Company. The initial talks were stressful, but we managed to get through and agree or so I thought. Garrett Patton, the CEO, is now wanting to postpone signing the contract. He believes my team isn't being as fair as we can be. All we've done is be fair."
"Maybe since the contract hasn't been signed you can walk away."
"I could.", he murmurs. "There are several other companies who would jump at the chance to work with Patton. Those same companies might think I'm making a big mistake if I walk away."
"The Christian Grey I know has never cared what others think."
"I don't, and that's why I'm not willing to budge anymore. If Patton truly wants to work with GEH, he's going to have to give some leeway. There's a chance he might not like it and decide to go elsewhere, but it's a chance I'm willing to take."
"I'm anxious to hear about your dinner at Altura.", I tell Gail and Taylor who are standing by the counter with their coffee in hand. "Was it as nice as you thought it would be?"
"The night didn't go as expected.", Gail sighs, looking at Taylor who takes a big gulp of his coffee. "When we got there, the front hostess said she didn't see our name. She asked over and over if we were sure the date and time were correct, and we said yes. She proceeded to look through her book until finally saying she didn't have our reservation. I couldn't believe how calm Jason was being."
"It was difficult.", Taylor mutters. "I asked to speak with the manager but was told he was busy. By that time Gail had said she was fine with going somewhere else, but it was the principle. We made a reservation which they somehow lost." Christian pads into the kitchen with Oliver in his arms. "Hey boss. I was in the middle of recalling our night."
"Ah, how was Altura?", Christian asks.
"Well, they couldn't find our reservation, and when the manager finally got around to speaking with us, he said there must of been a mix up. He apologized and said he'd make things right...by putting us down for tonight. What good was that going to do for us last night? I calmly held Gail's hand and led her out of the restaurant."
"We ended up having dinner at Taco Bell.", Gail giggles.
"Taco Bell is a big departure from Altura.", I say while sitting down next to Christian.
"Yes, but when Jason asked where else I wanted to go, I instantly said Taco Bell. Both of us love their food, but Jason wasn't sure about going there."
"I wanted Gail to have the perfect dinner, but she helped remind me every night with her is perfect." He kisses the top of Gail's head as Sawyer and Olivia arrive.
"Ana, Christian, I hope you don't mind me dropping by on my way to work.", Olivia says.
"Not at all.", Christian answers while he starts feeding Oliver. "We've just been told about Gail and Taylor's evening going bad and then going good."
"We already know.", Sawyer replies. "Olivia and my mom ran into them at Taco Bell."
"I was craving tacos.", Olivia says. "My night with Luke's mom was wonderful. We did some baby shopping before dinner at Taco Bell. The highlight of my night was when I got home and found Luke asleep in the recliner. He had a little drool in the corner of his mouth." Sawyer claps his hand over his face. "Don't be embarrassed. There's nothing wrong with drooling."
"Not a thing wrong with it. Oliver does it all the time.", Taylor laughs.
"Why do I even talk to you?", Sawyer asks Taylor.
"Because I'm your best friend, and Awesome is my middle name."
"Oh, your middle name starts with an A, but it's not Awesome.", Sawyer smirks as Christian's phone rings. I take over feeding Oliver so he can answer it.
"I'm at the point where if they don't like our terms they can go.", Christian snarls into the phone. "I'm sorry for my tone. I shouldn't take my frustration out on you. Ok. I'm going to be leaving in a few minutes, and we can talk more at the office. Bye." He hangs up and takes one last sip of his coffee. "Garrett Patton insists he wants to work with us, but he still says he doesn't think we're being fair. I'm going to meet with Ros so we can make our next move."
"Remember what we talked about last night.", I say.
"Ana, I was hoping business would be good when I opened, but I didn't know it would be this great. I've had a ton of sessions and a lot more planned. A woman was in here the other day and noticed one of the photos I did for your parents' wedding. She said she loved how I captured the glances between your mom and dad. She loved it so much she told her newly engaged daughter who brought her fiance here. They hired me to photograph their wedding which isn't until the spring.", Ethan says without taking a breath.
"Easy there.", I grin while picking up the shoe that's fallen off Oliver's foot. "I don't think I've had a chance to tell you how great my parents' photos turned out. They're amazing."
"Thank you. It's always nice to capture the love between two people."
"You mean the same kind of love you and Max have?"
"Kind of.", he murmurs. "I even took some photos of my parents the other day. I can still see the smile my dad had when he looked at my mom. It was pure happiness, something that I didn't see with them for a long time. The revelation of my dad's affair made me doubt if I'd ever see them happy together again, yet they seem to have fallen in love all over again."
"As difficult as it might be, sometimes it takes a rough phase for things to come to light and get better. The phase might be a short amount of time or it could be long."
"Your mom and dad are proof of the long amount time example." He goes to the counter and grabs his camera, snapping a few photos of Oliver and me. "I couldn't resist."
"I'm not sure when, but Christian and I are definitely going to want you to do another maternity shoot for us. We'll naturally have Oliver in them with us."
"I'd be happy to do them.", he replies.
"You're in a better mood than you were when you left this morning.", I tell Christian. He sits down next to me and smiles. "Progress with the Patton deal?"
"You could say that. After discussing the matter with Ros, she and I both came to the conclusion that we're not going to bend to Patton. I got on the phone with Patton and told him the contract needed to be signed as is or not at all. He went on a rant about things not being fair, and that's when I told him we're done."
"How did he react?"
"He called me a snake in the grass.", Christian sighs. "I don't think he liked it when I laughed at his choice of words towards me. He said I was making a big fucking mistake, and then he hung up. The only mistake I made was ever wanting to do business with him in the first place."
"You seem content with ending the deal."
"Baby, I'm very content, but it's mainly because of you, Oliver, and our sweet little peanut.", he says, rubbing my stomach.