Christian's POV

What a week it's been. It is Thursday so the week is almost over. Natalie has had double ear infection. Ana and I took turns staying home with her so that we wouldn't have to take her out of the house. My mother came over on Sunday to check her out and it's a good thing she did. We've been giving her amoxicillin which has been working, but it is so heartbreaking to see her sick and in pain. Her little nose has been running and her cheeks have been a bright shade of pink. But despite that she is still so adorable. Once the medicine kicks in she would be so happy and smiley, sitting on the floor and playing with her toys. But then she would do a complete one eighty and not want anything to do with her toys. She would become whiny and clingy to me and Ana. I don't mind that part so much since that means she would cuddle with us.

Right now I have her on my lap in the TV room. We are watching Tangled. She had just taken a nap and I brought her down from her bedroom after changing her, washing her face and giving her more medicine. She didn't want to eat anything, which never goes over well with me. But since she hasn't been feeling well I have allowed her to eat her fruit in the TV room, as long as she sits on my lap and I can prevent her from making a mess. So far that deal I've made with my two year old is working. She is almost finished the fruit and the movie is nearly finished. Today is the first sign of her getting back to her old self, which means my plans for this weekend might just work out after all.

I pick up my blackberry and send text messages to my Mom and Kate to see if they are still willing to take the girls this weekend. They both respond within minutes and I can feel a big grin spread on my face. Teddy plops down on the couch right next to me and immediately grabs my attention.

"Son" I greet him with a smile.

"Hi Dad" he smiles back. "Hi Munchkin" he says to Natalie in a high pitched voice he only has for her. She reaches her arms out and leans in his direction for him to take her. He pulls her over into his lap and embraces her tightly while twisting his body back and forth and kissing the side of her face, making her giggle. The sound of my baby girl's giggle brings a tear to my eye. I love seeing her happy. Teddy kisses the top of her head and looks to me again. "How's she doing?"

"Much better" I say as I place her fruit bowel on the coffee table. "She ate all of her breakfast and lunch, and just now she ate most of her fruit. Seems her appetite is coming back." Natalie settles on Teddy's lap and continues to watch her movie as we continue our conversation. "How's Rebecca?"

"She's doing much better now that she's home. She can start therapy as early as next week." Teddy can't stop beaming at the topic of his girlfriend. She's been in a wheelchair for over two years now and they are finally getting to the point where she can start walking again.

I smile back at him. It is obvious how much he loves this girl, and I couldn't be happier for him. "That's great son. I'm very proud of you for everything you've done for her." Teddy just snorts and tries to brush it off as nothing, but I won't allow it. "No, I mean it. You really came through for her. You were young when the car accident happened. You had found out that her back injury would affect her ability to walk and that it could have been permanent. You could have walked away from her, but you didn't. You stuck by her."

"I didn't see any other way. I loved her. I still love her."

"I know you do" I say with the smile still spread on my face. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"No, actually I just came by to grab some more clothes. I'm going to stay with Rebecca this weekend while her Dad tends to business in Portland."

I miss my son, but his plans just happen to coincide with mine since my plans involve having Ana to myself all weekend. "Okay, Son. But we should plan to catch up soon. How 'bout you come home for dinner on Sunday night?"

"Sure, Dad." He lifts Natalie and puts her back on my lap after kissing her head again." Bye Munchkin." Her eyes never leave the TV since she is completely lost in what is happening in the movie. Teddy and I both laugh as we say our goodbyes.

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Ana arrives home around five thirty and finds Natalie and me in my study. Since Natalie was playing nicely with her toys, I had decided to move her and her toys into my study so that I could get some work done. Ana walks in and is immediately welcomed by little arms wrapping around her legs.

"Mommy!"

"Hi Baby" she says while bending down and lifting her into her arms. She attacks her with kisses which makes our baby girl giggle. I walk around my desk and over to my girls.

"Hi Baby" I say softly to my wife and kiss her lips. She is still holding Natalie so of course that makes our baby girl giggle again. "How was your day?"

"Hectic" she sighs and pumps her body to push Natalie higher up onto her hip. "I had back to back meetings since I had to make up for the ones that I postponed this week. And I didn't want to take any meetings tomorrow."

I smile down at my beautiful wife and I know it is a greedy smile. "We still have our appointment with Dr Greene tomorrow?" Ana manages to smile back at me, but I can tell that the stress from the day hasn't escaped her body. I plan to do something about that later. She nods at me. "Good. I have something else in mind for tomorrow which will require you to take some PTO."

"Christian…." she tries to argue, but I stop her by bringing my index finger to her lips.

"No arguments. We've put off celebrating our anniversary, and this weekend I plan to collect."

She looks at Natalie and brushes her hair out of her face. "Christian, I don't know. Natalie's been sick…."

"And she'll be with the best doctor on the Pacific coast, hell the best doctor on the planet. Mom has agreed to take her this weekend. She'll get to spend time with Mia and Ethan and their kids. And Kate is ecstatic about having Phoebe for the weekend." I look at Ana hoping she warms to the idea, but she still looks unsure. I bring my hand to her cheek and she closes her eyes and leans her face into it. I start to caress her face with my thumb and she lets out a light moan. I'm not taking no for an answer, but it will be a lot easier if my wife is on board with this. I think I have her when she opens her eyes and looks into mine. Blue eyes stare passionately into gray as my fingers find her jaw. We are lost in each other until our baby girl reminds us that she is in the room with us.

"Mommy, diapy" she says, and the moment is over. Ana chuckles and pushes Natalie higher onto her hip again.

"I'm going to go change her. We'll pick this up later, Mr Grey."

"Looking forward to it" I call after her as she leaves my study. Yes, I think I've got her.

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After we finish dinner we bathe Natalie together and put her to bed. She went to sleep without a fuss, which is enough to convince Ana that she will be okay with my mother this weekend while we celebrate our anniversary. We relax in the TV room, Ana with her tea and me with my wine, and discuss plans for this weekend. I won't tell her what I have in mind, but discussing the children and security is top priority.

"I've given Taylor and Gail the day off tomorrow and Monday. They will be spending the weekend in Florida and they'll get to visit with Sophie" I tell her. That earns me some points as Ana puts her hand on my leg and starts to kiss and nibble on my ear.

"You're such a good boss" she whispers to me, and I can feel myself harden. I do my best to control myself since we need to wait up for Phoebe to come home before we turn in for the evening. We don't need to wait long as she has just arrived. She is still in her dance clothes and I notice she looks a bit troubled.

"Something on your mind?" I ask her. She sits in front of us on the coffee table and hands over a sheet of paper. I take it from her and lean up to rest my elbows on my knees.

"Can you sign this?" she asks me softly. I look at her puzzled and then at the contents on the sheet. You would think she is handing me a poor report card by the way she is acting. But this is nothing like that. This is a permission slip for her to volunteer at the hospital part time in the fall. I notice that Ana isn't even remotely interested in what I am reading. She is not leaning toward me to read it and she is not asking me about it. She must already know about this. I can feel my anger build at the thought that my daughter tried to go behind my back and ask her mother about this first. I look over at my wife and hold up the sheet.

"Did you know about this?"

Ana doesn't deny it. But that doesn't mean she is entirely off the hook. I will need to relieve my twitchy palm once we turn in for the evening. I look back at my daughter. "You knew I would say no about this so you thought you'd ask your mother behind my back?" I accuse her, and she doesn't deny it.

"Christian, take it easy. It wasn't like that" Ana cuts in, and that doesn't help my anger.

"It wasn't like that?" I repeat her. "What was it like then? I was home every night this week."

"Dad, I did ask Mom first" Phoebe says sheepishly. Why is she so afraid to talk to me? "She said it was a decision that you need to make together."

I look at Ana and she nods. I look back at the paper and read more of its contents. She would be volunteering three days a week for two hours after school. I don't like this and I'm inclined to say no. I look over at Ana again and shake my head. And then I look at Phoebe. "No. I don't think this is a good idea."

"Mom?" Phoebe asks in a whiny voice. I hate it when she whines.

"Your father and I will discuss it, but it will be a decision that we both make." Ana looks at me and gives me a warning look. I can feel my mouth turn into a hard line.

"That's so unfair" Phoebe snaps and starts to pace around the room. "Dad has already made up his mind. Why won't you let me do this?"

I stand so that I'm not sitting below my daughter's eye level. "Phoebe, this is your senior year. You'll have a ton of school work and you'll have dance classes. This will just add to the already hectic schedule that you'll have."

"Then I'll give up dance" she offers quickly.

What? "No you won't" I growl, but I don't mean to sound so cold. I don't like when people question my decisions, but I can tell that Phoebe is not ready to let this go.

"I'll have more than enough credits this year where I can take a study hall" she argues. "I can do my school work then and have plenty of time for volunteering and dance classes."

"The answer is no, end of discussion!" I growl again, and I can feel my anger start to grow into rage. This is dangerous territory and I know I need to control this. I reach up and run both of my hands through my hair.

"You just need to control everything" she argues, and I know that she is angry enough now where she will just start to say things just to hurt me. "You don't want me to do this but to hell with what I want."

"Watch your language!" I yell, and Ana moves to stand between us. "Phoebe, you are trying my patience. If you continue to argue with me you can say goodbye to your date with Trevor tomorrow night."

"You can't do that" she argues. When did she become so brave? Just a few minutes ago she was so small and sheepish while trying to talk to me. She must really want this. But I'm sure it's for the wrong reasons. I'm not backing down, but she needs to unless she wants punishment.

"Yes I can. Now….." I stop and rub my face roughly with my hands. "I need you to stop arguing with me and I need you to go pack for the weekend. You are having a sleep over with Ava."

I can see the confusion in my daughter's face. We go from fighting to me allowing her to stay with Ava for the weekend. If it weren't for my plans for Ana this weekend I wouldn't allow it. She would be staying home. But Ana and I need this. I know a further explanation is in order. "Trevor can drop you off at Escala tomorrow after your date. You'll still have a ten thirty curfew. And Dovis will pick you up on Sunday afternoon and bring you home."

Phoebe still looks confused and looks her at her mother for confirmation. Ana offers a nod. "Go ahead, Baby. I'll be up shortly and help you pack."

Phoebe leaves the room but the tension remains. I know Ana is angry with me for the way I handled things with Phoebe. But I am also angry with Ana for keeping this from me. "What am I going to do with you, Mrs Grey?"

Ana slowly walks over to me and positions herself right in front of me, but she doesn't touch me. She shakes her head. "Oh Mr Grey. That was really bad. Really really bad. When are you ever going to learn to control your temper where Phoebe is concerned?"

I start to pout. I did lose my temper. I look down in the paper that's in my hand and frown. "I don't want her to do this."

Ana takes the paper from me, folds it and tucks it behind her in her skirt. "We can discuss that later. And we will discuss it. Calmly. You'll get your say and I'll get mine."

I manage to grin at my wife's level headedness and I wrap my arms around her waist, slowly to make sure that she is okay with it. She doesn't pull away from me. "I'm sorry for losing my temper" I say softly. "I don't know why I can't seem to get it right with her."

Ana leans up and rubs her nose against mine. "I know she's a challenge." I'm surprised when she kisses my lips softly. I close my eyes and start to feel my body relax a bit. She stops kissing me and we look into each other's eyes again. "I'm going to go help her pack. And then you and I can settle our differences in bed."

I start to get hard again. My god, what this woman does to me.

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I'm lying in bed a few hours later with my arms wrapped around Ana. I'm tired and sated but I can't seem to find sleep. We've spent two good hours 'settling our differences' as she calls it. First she let me spank her. I almost couldn't believe it when she asked me because she knew how angry I was. I was immediately turned on when she said those words to me. "Spank me Christian, please". I wasn't about to deny her that, but I did torture her by undressing her very slowly before placing her over my knee, and then I continued the torture by planting soft kisses down her back, caressing her fine ass and asking her questions before delivering the punishment. The slow torture was well worth it because she came instantly just after a few hard slaps. She returned the favor by massaging me and taking me in her mouth. I don't know why it still surprises me when she doesn't pull away before I come in her mouth. I then had her restrained while I pleasured her. I wouldn't allow her to move as I slowly went down on her, kissing and sucking. I still love what I can do to her body even after all these years. I will never get my fill of her.

Afterward I made good on my promise from earlier and massaged her shoulders, her back, her legs and her feet, working to push the tension from the work day out of her body. It seemed to have worked because she was relaxed enough to find sleep. Before she was out she mumbled something to me about apologizing to Phoebe in the morning since we won't see her again until Sunday evening. Perhaps that is why I am having trouble sleeping. I don't enjoy fighting with my daughter. In fact I hate it. I want her to be safe and happy, and I want to get along with her. But sometimes my fifty shades gets in the way of that. I sigh and kiss my wife's hair. I then bring my hand down to her pregnancy belly. What if this baby is another girl? Am I going to have the same battles with Natalie and this child that I have with Phoebe? I kiss my wife's hair again and slowly climb out of bed. I check on Phoebe and Natalie to make sure they are sleeping before I make my way down the stairs and into the library. I sit at the piano bench, close my eyes and just start to play what comes to mind.