Christian walks into the master bedroom and is surprised to already find Ana removing her jewelry. She turns and lightly smiles at him. "You're home sooner than I expected" he says warmly, hoping he will be able to take advantage of their early arrival home, but Ana's news derails his short lived plans of fucking and love making. She walks over to him and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him briefly.

"Phoebe got sick in the restroom after you left" she tells him.

Christian immediately grows worried. Ana's arms are still wrapped around his neck and his hands have found their way to her hips. "Is she okay?" Ana nods and is reluctant to share her theory of why their daughter got sick. Christian can tell that she is unsure about something. "Ana, what is it?"

Ana shrugs her shoulders, not sure he is even going to believe her, but she decides to tell him. "Well, your mother and I think she ate too much."

Christian lightly chuckles at the thought, but then he sees that Ana is serious. "Ana, this is Phoebe we're talking about."

"Christian, think about it. We had French Toast for breakfast, she had lunch with Trevor, then we had snacks in the backyard before we got ready for dinner, then it was appetizers, soup, salad, more appetizers and then the entrée. Phoebe's not used to eating all that."

Christian frowns at the thought that he could have caused this. "This is my fault." Ana reaches up and caresses his cheek, but it does nothing to soothe him. "This is my fault. I told her that she needed to eat more of her dinner."

Ana continues to caress his cheek but it still doesn't soothe him. He takes her hand away from his face and kisses it before lowering it. They are interrupted by Natalie's light cries in the baby monitor.

"Mommy" she whines a few times.

"I better go check on her" Ana says before kissing her husband and leaving the room. Christian remains still in his spot as he recalls being at the restaurant and telling his daughters to eat their dinner. He is snapped back to the present when he hears Ana and Natalie through the baby monitor.

"Mommy, sing song" he can hear his baby girl say in a tired voice. The next thing he hears is the heavenly sound of his wife's voice singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". He can't help but smile and start to feel soothed by it. That is the song she always sings to Natalie. Her song for Teddy was always "You Are My Sunshine", and they both would take turns singing "Daydream Believer" to Phoebe. He's not quite sure why that became the song they sang to Phoebe, but he manages to smile at the memory. He quickly changes into pajama bottoms and a t-shirt before leaving the bedroom.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Christian knocks on Phoebe's door and enters to find her sitting on her bed. She is lying sideways on a slant against her pillow. She had already managed to change into her pajamas and her arms are wrapped tightly around herself. "You're mother told me you weren't feeling well." He continues to look at her and notices that she is uncomfortable. She looks like she's about to be sick again. "Do you feel like you need to throw up?" he asks her softly.

She shakes her head quickly, but he knows she's not being truthful. He steps further into the room and places a glass of ginger ale on the night stand. He then holds his hand out to her. "Come. Come into the bathroom. I will come with you."

"No" she says softly it is almost a whisper. "I'll be fine."

Christian does his best to keep his temper in check. He knows this is his fault for making her eat more of her dinner. He lets out a sigh before trying again. "Phoebe, please, I promise you will feel much better after."

Phoebe is reluctant. She hates throwing up. She'd figured if she sat up in bed for a while and not lie down, she could prevent it from happening. But it is becoming much more difficult, especially because her father is here encouraging her to do it. After much hesitation, she quickly climbs out of bed and rushes into her bathroom. Christian follows and walks in just as she is vomiting into the toilet. Her hair is already pulled back into a ponytail, so he just squats and rubs her back until she is finished. He then retrieves a wet wash cloth for her to wash her face.

"Can I have a few minutes?" Phoebe asks him softly. Christian agrees to give her privacy and leaves her bathroom. A few minutes later Phoebe emerges from her bathroom and sees her father looking at pictures that she keeps on her dresser. She doesn't approach him. Instead, she climbs back into bed and pulls the covers over herself. Christian walks over to the bed and sits in a chair nearby so that he can look at her.

"Your mother thinks you ate too much" he starts and shakes his head. "I never thought that was possible. But….. after everything your mother said you ate today, I realize that maybe it was too much." He pauses and looks at his daughter. She is lying on her side curled up under the thick blanket. Her eyes are open but she is not looking at him. He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "I worry about you not eating enough. I don't want you to get sick or end up in the hospital again malnourished. That is why I push, and I am sorry for failing to realize that you had too much to eat today. I really wish you would have said something to me when I told you to eat more of your dinner." He pauses again. Phoebe still doesn't say anything. "I brought you some ginger ale. It should help settle your stomach" he says softly.

"Thank you" she says mirroring his soft tone.

"You're welcome. Why don't you take a few sips?"

Phoebe sits up slightly and reaches for the glass on the night stand. He grabs it first and hands it to her. After she takes a few sips through the straw she covers herself with the blanket again and lies down.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asks her.

Phoebe shrugs her shoulders. "A little"

"Do you want me to stay?" Phoebe shakes her head. "Are you mad at me?" he asks, feeling even more guilty for causing her to feel ill. He is slightly relieved when she shakes her head again. He leans closer and runs his hand through her hair, removing her hair tie that's been holding her hair loosely and messily in a ponytail. He has to use two hands when he realizes that some of her hair is knotted in the tie.

"Ow!" she hisses when some of the strands are pulled too hard.

"Shhh, I'm sorry, I almost got it….. how's that?" he asks once he's removed her hair tie. She only offers a nod for approval. His lips are pressed together into a line. He's not angry with her, but frustrated for not being able to comfort her. Not only is she not welcoming it, but it is not coming naturally to him like it used to. He decides to leave her to sleep. "Okay. I'll come and check on you in the morning." He walks over to the door and shuts off the light. "Sleep well" he tells her before shutting the door.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Christian sulks as he enters the master bedroom. He closes the door when he sees that Ana is already there and in bed. He grabs the baby monitor and sits on the bed facing away from her. He watches the video and sees that his baby girl is settled and sleeping.

"Is Phoebe asleep?" she asks sleepily, knowing that that is where her husband was while she was tending to Natalie.

Christian only offers a grunt and continues to watch Natalie through the monitor. Ana pushes the blanket aside and slowly crawls up behind him, places her arms around his shoulders and starts planting kisses on the side of his face. He doesn't respond to her. His guilt and his self-loathing are preventing him from welcoming the comfort of his wife's touch and sexual advances. Ana continues to kiss him and rubs her fingers up and down his arms, but when she realizes that he is too lost in himself to respond she stops and rests her chin on his shoulder. She knows that he is beating himself up inside and she will need to snap him out of it.

"Phoebe's going to be fine. And Natalie too."

Christian nods and keeps his eyes on the monitor.

Ana softly kisses his cheek again and whispers in his ear. "You are a terrific father. You are also human and make mistakes. The kids and I love you so much." She continues to plant soft kisses on his cheek and he finally moves and turns to face her. He takes her hand, brings it up to his lips and plants a few kisses. He keeps her hand in his while massaging her knuckles with his thumb. "Please, don't doubt that."

Christian stares into his wife's gorgeous blue eyes and is able to calm is breathing. Her eyes are home to him, his safest place. He brings her hand to his lips and kisses it again. "You and the kids are everything to me. I hate to see them hurt or sick, and what's worse is I'm usually the cause of it."

"Don't do this" she pleads. "Please don't, you are not the cause of their pain or when they're sick. You make mistakes sometimes, yes, but you more than make up for them. Christian, you have no idea how wonderful you are with the kids. It's as if you block out everything good whenever something goes wrong." Christian is pouting, so Ana grabs his chin and forces him to look at her. "Look at me" she snaps. "You are a wonderful father, and a wonderful husband. This thing with Phoebe is going to take some time, and you are putting the time in. And soon it will pay off."

"When, Ana?" he asks. She can hear the frustration and desperation in his voice and it breaks her heart. She reaches her hands up and places them on his face. "It will. You two have always had something special, and you will get it back. You need to be patient.

"I've never been a patient man" he shakes his head, forcing Ana's hands to drop to his shoulders.

"Believe me, I know."

Christian's facial expression changes and he smirks. "Are you sassing me, Mrs Grey?"

Ana has to work hard to prevent the smile that is threatening. "Are you smirking at me, Mr Grey?"

Christian doesn't answer. He slowly places his hands on the bed and starts toward his wife, giving her no choice but to crawl backwards as he crawls on top of her. "I say we do something about that smart mouth."

After Ana allows her mercurial husband have his way with her, they both fall asleep in each other's arms.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Christian wakes with a jolt around three in the morning to Natalie's cries through the monitor. Ana wakes too and they both sit up in bed. Christian shuts the monitor off and convinces his wife to go back to sleep while he takes care of their daughter.

He walks into Natalie's room and immediately notices that it is too dark. The nightlight bulb had burned out and she had awakened to darkness. She is sitting up in bed and crying so loud that he is convinced that she is in pain. He picks her up and holds her in his arms, bouncing and shushing as he tries to calm her. She still cries even while in his arms. He kisses the side of her head a few times and fires up the iPod deck to listen to her music. When that doesn't work he sits on the glider while the music is still playing and sits her on his lap. He notices that she is holding her ear, and has been since the moment he lifted her up. He immediately thinks it is an ear infection.

"Baby, does your ear hurt?"

Natalie nods and continues to cry, tears springing out of her eyes. He kisses her head and lifts her into his arms again. He is able to locate the baby Motrin from one of the compartments under the changing table and sits on the glider again. He struggles to get her to take the medicine with the dropper, but eventually she takes it. He sets the medicine and dropper on the side table and cradles Natalie in his arms, rocking and patting her bottom like he did when she was a little baby and wouldn't settle when her gums were sore from teething. He knows that she is in pain but he cannot give her anything stronger until he has his mother or another doctor check her out. He will sort that out in a few hours when his mother is awake.

He continues to shush her, rock her and pat her and eventually her cries turn into whimpers. Her eyes flutter a few times and she moans steadily until she is able to fall asleep. Christian holds her for a little while longer to make sure she stays asleep. When he is satisfied, he gently tucks her back into bed. After replacing the bulb in the nightlight he sits in the glider again and watches her for a few minutes. He cannot stop doubting himself, but feels a small victory for being able to calm his two year old.

As always, thanks for the reviews. I apologize for not updating more often. I work a lot of hours during the week and try to write a little bit each day. I have plans for this story already but they don't include Elena or Leila. As for Caleb, I've been playing with the idea but I'm not sure yet. If I do decide to bring him back, it will be much later in the story. Christian and Phoebe will be close again. I've already outlined that chapter but other things need to happen first. Happy Reading!