A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Hi Andrea. Is Christian in his office?" Andrea moves her eyes from her computer screen and on to me.
"He's still at a lunch meeting but should be back soon. You're more than welcome to wait for him.", she replies. "Would you like something to drink or eat? They just refilled the vending machines in the break room."
"I'm good for now but might make a trip down there later.", I giggle as I sit down on the off white leather sofa that's directly across from Andrea's desk. "It's been a while since I've seen you. How have you been?"
"I've been great. I broke up with Chad, my boyfriend of almost six months." For someone who broke up with her boyfriend, Andrea sounds cheerful.
"Is that good or bad?"
"Good. He's a nice guy who I thought at first might be the one, but I came to realize that we weren't a good fit. We're now both free to find the right one. Where's little Oliver today?"
"He's with my dad. They're having a guys day.", I say as I see Christian padding down the hallway with Taylor following behind. Christian glances up from the paper in his hand and locks his eyes on me.
"Mrs. Grey, what a pleasant surprise.", Christian says while I stand. "Have you been here long?"
"No. I figured since Oliver's with my dad I'd go and do a little shopping for our little man. I also found a few things for our little peanut. We might not know whether we're having a boy or a girl, but we can still buy neutral tones."
"You're correct. I had a lunch meeting that ran longer than I thought, however, I'm free now." His hands find mine as he leads me into his office and over to the sofa. Before he sits down, he removes his coat and sits down next to me. "My lunch meeting was with Eric Stanfield. He operates a steel company in San Diego and has enlisted GEH to work on a project with him. Today's meeting was basically to get things started, a trip to San Diego is in order to get the rest of the deal ironed out. Ros said she'd go, and I know she'll do great. However, I was thinking I might go instead."
"Oh. Ok.", I murmur, thinking back to the time Christian's Connecticut trip. Although the trip was shorter than planned, Christian was missed like crazy. I knot my hands together and stare down at the beige carpet. "How long will you be gone?"
"A day if I decide to go." He shifts his body around and touches my shoulder delicately. "I'll go if you and Oliver go with me."
"Me? What good will we be during your business trip?"
"You won't be there for business. We can do some sightseeing once my meeting is over. What do you say?"
"I've never been to San Diego, but I also don't want to be a hinderance to your work.", I sigh as he shakes his head.
"You won't be. It'll be a nice little vacation." I ponder the pros and cons before reaching my decision.
"When should I start packing?", I giggle.
"Ana, I'm glad you agreed to go with Christian.", Grace says while sitting in the living room with me the following day. "I went to a medical conference in San Dieg a few years ago, and I really enjoyed the city."
"I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to go, but I realized it'll be fun. I'm especially looking forward to all the different foods the city has to offer." I grab my my plate of chips and cheese dip from the end table and crunch into one of the chips.
"I had some very delicious nachos from Mia's food truck yesterday. She had four different cheeses and grilled chicken on them." I glance down at my chips and dip which suddenly don't seem appetizing enough.
"I might need to text Christian and ask him to bring me some of those."
"Although the nachos were yummy, they weren't the best part of my stop at the food truck. The best part happened when I witnessed a young guy in his early twenties tell Mia he wanted to pay for the food of the the woman behind him. The woman was so touched that she wanted to pay for the food of the couple behind her. Thus began a chain of complete strangers paying it forward."
"What a nice and thoughtful thing. It's certainly a sign there's some good people in the world."
"My thoughts exactly. You hear and see terrible things going on, making you wonder if there's any good left, and something happens to renew your faith in humanity."
"Ana, did you know Oliver's diaper was dirty when you handed him to me?", Christian asks with a raised brow.
"You told me you wanted to him, and I placed him in your arms.", I shrug. "His diaper may or may not have already been dirty. If it'll make you feel any better, I'll go and change him." I open my arms, but Christian shakes his head and starts towards the stairs.
"I'm just messing with you. We'll be back in a bit.", he says on his way up the stairs. I start to sit down on the sofa but am interrupted by the doorbell. Peering out the curtain, I see my mom and dad.
"Hi.", I tell them after opening the door and ushering them inside.
"Hi.", my mom says. "I was in the middle of cleaning the living room when I found this." She reaches into her purse and brings out a pacifer. "I guess Oliver left it behind when he was over yesterday."
"I really hope you didn't drive all the way over here just to return a pacifier. Oliver has several more."
"No. We were on our way to dinner and thought we'd bring it by.", my dad replies while scanning the room. "Where is Oliver anyway?"
"He's getting a clean diaper. Do you want to sit down?" My dad answers my question by holding my mom's hand on their way on to the sofa. "Where are you planning to have dinner?"
"We don't know.", my mom sighs. "We only knew we wanted to go out so we came to the conclusion that we'd drive around until we saw a place that appealed to us." She smiles as Christian comes down the stairs. "There's Oliver."
"Aww. Christian, we didn't forget about you.", my dad laughs. Christian sets Oliver in my mom's arms and then sits on the love seat where I'm now sitting. "We stopped by to return Oliver's pacifier that was left at the house."
"Admit it. You only wanted to see Oliver's cute little face.", Christian teases. "Little Oliver's going on a trip next week." Both my mom and dad look at Oliver and then at me.
"Christian's going to San Diego for work and asked Oliver and I to go with him. It's going to be a great trip."
"San Diego, huh?", my mom smiles. "I've heard it's a great place to visit."
"It's a lovely city that I can't wait to show Ana and Oliver.", Christian says.
"Good because Oliver and I can't wait to see it.", I tell him.