Christian's POV
It's been a few weeks since Ana's been home from the hospital. When she first came home she had to stay in bed because her legs were not strong enough for her to walk. Nurses were here twice a day for her rehab. It took several sessions for her to gain her strength back and walk with a walker. Eventually she started walking on her own, but she was reluctant to carry either of the babies, fearing she would fall. Just the other day she worked up the courage to start carrying Monte around our bedroom when he was fussing. I came in and stood in the doorway, watching my wife sway with our son. It was a joy to see. I stayed put and waited for her to notice me. When she did, she simply smiled and continued to sway with him in her arms. I don't know what I would have done if I lost her. I just can't go there.
Our babies are six weeks old now. They are still so tiny, but their doctor said they are both healthy and we shouldn't be concerned. Unlike our other children, they are both being bottle fed and we are able to keep track of how much formula they drink. We keep a chart in our bedroom and document the number of ounces for each baby each time they are fed. We are pleased that the numbers continue to increase.
It's been a rough couple of weeks. Ana had a really hard time with her rehab, but she was determined to push herself and work hard so that she could get back to being a mother to our children. I hated to see her exhausted and in pain, but she insisted that she wanted and needed my support. She had to keep telling me that what she was doing was fine and that she wasn't injuring herself. As long as she wasn't causing herself harm, I was fine with offering incentives for her rehab such as full body massages and hot bubble baths. I do those things for her anyway, but it didn't hurt to allow her to believe I wouldn't unless she did her exercises.
Today is her first day out of the house. We are taking the kids to Bounce House, which is a big warehouse with different kinds of moon bounces. Natalie has never been there, but Mia and Ethan have taken their kids a few times. They will be bringing their kids, and Kate and Elliot will be bringing Cameron. He is too little for the moon bounces, but Mia said there are things for the smaller toddlers. I think Natalie might even be too little, but Mia had asked me to keep an open mind. We had decided on a morning session because they allow fewer kids in the sessions during the morning hours.
When we arrive, Natalie is so excited. She is practically bouncing in her seat but her seatbelt is keeping her in place. Ana stays in the car with her while Barlow and I set up the babies' stroller. I have a hard time as one of the latches is stuck. Barlow and I each try a few times to get it to unlock. I hear Natalie getting impatient and asking to be let out. Ana has to tell her to settle down and be patient a few times, but she doesn't like that. Pretty soon I start to hear her tantrum. "Christ, already?" Natalie often has to wait for us to tend to the babies before her, and she gets impatient pretty fast. She's usually better about it in the morning, but as the day progresses she gets impatient and eventually throws a fit.
I give the damn thing one more try and it finally unlocks. "Fucking stroller" I say under my breath. I run my hand through my hair as Barlow opens the back door and lifts the baby seats. He carefully lowers them into place in the stroller and examines them to make sure they are locked in place. Ana gets out of the car and starts to pack the stroller with bags that we brought for Natalie and the babies. While she is doing that I go to get Natalie. She is sitting in her car seat crying her eyes out.
"Natalie, Baby what's the matter?" I ask her as I unbuckle her seatbelt.
"I wanna get out" she cries, tears rolling down her cheeks. I hate to see her cry. This has become a daily occurrence, but this usually happens later in the day. My mother told me that I need to be patient with her. She said that Natalie will want my attention more than ever now that the babies are here. Add that to the terrible threes and we've got ourselves a very unhappy child. I don't want her to be unhappy, but at the same time Ana and I don't believe she needs to have her way all of the time. There are limits to that.
"Sweet Pea" I say gently as I lift her out of the car and have her stand in front of me. "I'm sorry that it took me a long time to come and get you. You understand what I was doing, right? I had to set up the stroller so that Maddie and Monte have a place to sit while we watch you play." She nods her head as I wipe her tears with my handkerchief. "We want you to have a good time today. We don't want you to be sad."
"I don't wanna be sad" she says, but she still has a sad face.
"I know, Baby. So how about we calm down, we'll go inside and have some juice, and when everyone gets here we'll be able to play."
"Sophie be here?"
"Yeah, Sophie will be here. All of your cousins will be." Natalie sniffles a few times and starts to calm down. I look over at Ana and she's smiling lightly at me. "Shall we go inside?"
Natalie nods her head and allows me to lift her. I carry her and walk along side of Ana as she pushes the stroller. We have a few of our security detail here with us. They follow as we enter the building. It looks bigger on the inside. I guess it would have to be because there are ten different moon bounces, an arcade and then a little play area for the smaller toddlers. There are a few party rooms where kids can have birthday parties. The reception area is also big and very open. They lead us over to an area with a television, which will play a DVD for the children to explain the rules.
I sit with Natalie in my lap. After we remove our jackets Ana offers her a juice box. She takes it and drinks all of it. She often does that when she's nervous or upset about something. My poor baby girl. This is supposed to be a fun day for her. I hope she will feel better once her cousins arrive and they can start playing. I can't wait to see Natalie's face when we take her into the room with all of the moon bounces.
When Elliot and Mia finally arrive with their families, we sit and watch the DVD with the kids. A few other families are here as well. There are only fifteen kids in this session. I'm relived because it will be easier to keep an eye on Natalie and ensure she doesn't get hurt. I'm sitting on the bench with Ana and Kate is to her right. Elliot, Mia and Ethan are sitting on the floor with their kids. I know that they will be bouncing with the kids. The video explains that adults can bounce too as long as they don't exceed the weight limit for each moon bounce. Kate and Ana have their cameras ready, not just for the kids but for the adults too. Ana elbows me and I look over at her. I know what she is thinking, and the answer is no. "No Mrs Grey, I will not be bouncing in one of those things."
"So if Natalie comes up to you with that pouty lip and those big gray eyes and asks you to bounce with her, you're going to say no?"
"She's not going to ask" I say back. At least I hope she doesn't. I would look pretty stupid in one of those things. She has her cousins to keep her occupied. She'll also have her Uncles who have no problem making fools of themselves. She doesn't need me.
Once the video is finished, the person in charge instructs the children to remove their shoes and place them into the squares on their portable cart. Natalie runs over to Ana and me for some help. I pull her into my lap and pull her shoes off for her. She is in a hurry. She doesn't want her cousins to leave without her. I tell her she can go on and I'll take care of her shoes. Ana, Kate and I follow them into the room with all of the moon bounces. Ana rushes ahead and is able to take photos of our baby girl as she bounces up and down in her place and takes in her surroundings. I can tell from where I stand that she's excited, the tears from nearly ten minutes ago forgotten.
Ana and I stand in the middle of the vast room where we are able to watch Natalie go from one moon bounce to the next. Ana has the stroller and is pushing it back and forth to soothe our babies. They have both been fed and they are asleep. "Do you need to sit down, Mrs Grey?" This is the longest that Ana's been on her feet since before having the babies. I don't want her to overdo it.
"I'm okay. I'm glad we did this, Christian. Natalie really needed this. She's having such a good time."
"That she is." The smile hasn't left her face since we've entered the room. It is so wonderful to see her have a good time. I put my arm around Ana as we watch Natalie climb out of a moon bounce with Sophie and run over to the big inflatable slide. I feel myself tense. I don't know about this. She has to climb and it is so high.
"Calm down, Christian" Ana says as she places her hand on my back. "She can do this. And if she can't, that young women over there will help her." She's referring to one of the teenagers they have working here. What would she know about child safety? I start to move toward the slide but Ana stops me. "Christian, please. Give her a chance. Don't underestimate her."
I let out a hard sigh. I don't mean to underestimate our daughter. I just don't want her to get hurt. I watch her climb the inflatable steps, cringing the whole time, fearing she will fall. To my surprise and relief, she makes it to the top with ease. She and Sophie both sit with their legs hanging over the slide. All we can see is their feet. Sophie slides down first, but Natalie stays up there. Oh no, she must be scared. I walk closer to the bottom of the slide and Ana doesn't stop me this time. I look up and I can see her face. I know she is thinking about it. She likes the slides at the park and in our backyard, but this is very different. This one is much higher. I vaguely notice Ethan climbing the inflatable steps. Sophie must've asked him to slide down with her. I see him at the top as he sits next to Natalie. He says a few things to her and she nods her head. "Its okay, Sweet Pea. Come on down" I yell up for her so she can hear me. The next thing I know she comes sliding down and she slams into the cushion at the bottom of the slide. I help her up and immediately see that she is laughing. Oh, she liked it.
"Again! Again!" she says excitedly. I place her on the ground and pat her bottom as she runs off to climb again. I watch Ethan and Sophie slide down together holding hands. Ethan has a big goofy smile on his face, and Sophie is cracking up.
"Did you like that?" he asks her.
She nods her head and runs off to climb again. A few other kids crowd the inflatable steps and the teenage employee has to stop the lot of them from climbing at the same time. I take my place next to Ana again and we watch as the kids climb and slide down the slide. Ethan even goes up a few times at Sophie's insistence. Ana asks me again if I would go up, but I really don't want to. Thankfully Natalie has not been asking me to join her on the moon bounces, so I really don't need to.
I start to notice that a few kids have climbed and slid down, but Natalie is still up there. I can't see her from where I'm standing so I leave Ana's side again to see what is happening with my baby girl. The next thing I see is Ethan sliding down with Natalie in his arms, and she is crying again. He immediately climbs off of the slide and puts her in my arms.
"What happened?" I ask him immediately as I hold my daughter to my chest. She wraps her arms around my neck and cries into my shoulder.
"I think she was elbowed in the face by one of the other kids" he says to me. Sophie is next to him and hopping up and down to get his attention. She wants him to go with her to another moon bounce.
"Go, its okay. Thanks for bringing her down."
Ana is next to me now and she is rubbing Natalie's back. "What happened?" she asks me softly.
I have her follow me to one of the benches and we sit with Natalie in my lap. Barlow and Markson push the stroller over so that the babies are close to Ana in case they need her. I gently stroke Natalie's hair and ask her to tell me what happened. When she doesn't answer me I simply ask her where it hurts. She points to the side of her face just next to her eye. I examine it the best way I can since the lights are very dim. I don't see any marks or bruises. I plant a gentle kiss there and keep my lips there for a few seconds.
"Is that better?"
She nods and then cuddles to me. I am so disappointed. This was supposed to be a fun day for her. It's only ten in the morning and she's cried twice already. Ana senses my disappointment and starts to rub my back. I lean my head in her direction and she kisses my forehead. Once Natalie is calm I ask her if she wants to go and play again before we have to leave.
"Daddy?"
"Yes Baby?"
"Will you come bounce wif me?"
I look over at Ana and can't help but scowl. She is laughing at me. She knows I won't say no to our baby girl. I just can't.
"Alright" I say with a long sigh. Natalie slides off of my lap and starts to help me remove my shoes. She gathers them in her arms and runs over to the portable cart to place them in the square with her shoes. She runs back over to us and holds out her little hands for me.
"Come on, Daddy"
I reluctantly stand and allow Natalie to take my hand and pull me to over to one of the moon bounces. There are only a few kids inside so it should be fine for one adult. I crawl inside behind Natalie and watch her as she bounces and falls down a few times. Falling doesn't seem to bother her. She just gets up and starts bouncing again. I notice that this moon bounce has inflatable basketball nets and there are a few balls in here. I start to toss them up into the baskets and then I show Natalie how to do it. She can't throw the ball high enough, so I lift her a few times. Each time she makes a basket I pretend to fall down while I have her in my arms. She loves it and it puts her in a fit of giggles. When she decides she's done playing with the balls she continues to just jump around.
"Come and get me" she says excitedly and then bounces away from me. I start toward her and she squeals. I enjoy watching her like this so I only pretend to get close enough to catch her, only to fall down. I do this a few times and she laughs so hard that she falls down. I eventually get to her and start tickling her. "Daddy!" she manages a few times in between giggles. "Potty, potty, potty" she says after a while. I stop because I don't want her to wet herself. I help her out of the moon bounce and have Ana take her to the restroom.
I sit and take hold of the stroller, pushing it back and forth while I look around at the other kids. Elizabeth and her friend are running in and out of moon bounces and screaming. I catch on to the fact that Christopher is chasing them in and out of those moon bounces and I can't help but laugh. He's such a little monster. I'm reminded of how Teddy used to chase Phoebe and Ava like that.
When Ana returns she tells me that Natalie would like to try the slide again. I'm reluctant to let her go up there again. I squat down to be at her level as Sophie runs over to join us.
"Are you sure, Sweet Pea?"
"Yes, Daddy. I wanna slide."
"Come on" Sophie says as she grabs Natalie's hand and pulls her toward the steps.
I stand again and Ana wraps her arms around me. "You looked awfully cute in that moon bounce Mr CEO."
"Careful" I growl, but then I smile down at her and wrap my arm around her. We stand with the stroller in front of us and watch our baby girl slide down a few times before it is time to leave.
This chapter was going to be longer, but I didn't want to wait any longer to post it. I hope you've enjoyed it. I apologize again for taking so long to update. Work has been crazy busy, and I can't really complain about that. I appreciate all of the reviews and I'm grateful that you all are still reading. Thank you and Happy Reading!