Author's Note: Thank you to those of you who wished me well after my last author's note. I've just returned home after losing a close family member, and even though it was expected, it was still not easy.

We're getting closer to the end of this story, and you'll get two chapters this week. Since it's Christmas in the story, it seems fitting to read it leading up to Christmas. I haven't finished the later chapters yet, so no promises on when I'll update again after this week.

Chapter 25: Christmas Surprises (Ana's POV)

December 23, 2016

"I finally heard from Ethan last night," Kate told me sadly as we were packing my wedding dress in her apartment.

Her mom had been staying with Kate since moving out of their old home, which the bank had foreclosed on, and I'd had a couple of fittings. I was so thankful Diane had agreed to do the alterations on the dress I'd purchased off the rack. Without her, there's no way it would have been finished on time. At the moment, Diane was in the guest bedroom taking a nap. She hadn't been sleeping well, after all that had happened to her recently. She claimed that working on my dress had given her a needed distraction, and I only hoped that was true. I felt very sad for her.

I knew that Diane had been able to locate Ethan about a week ago, but Kate still hadn't talked to him… until last night, apparently. She had refused to keep calling him just to leave more unreturned messages, especially after Diane had told her that Ethan was blaming both of them for Eamon's demise. It made no sense whatsoever to blame his mother and sister for his father's bad decisions, but that was Ethan… never a very sensible person. I'd taken a dislike to him almost from the beginning and had spent the past several years just trying to avoid him whenever I was around Kate's family.

"Did he call you?" I asked hesitantly. I felt sure she was about to describe a horrible fight between them.

"Yeah, and get this. He actually apologized and admitted that he needs help," she revealed.

"What kind of help?" I asked curiously.

"He's an addict," Kate answered bluntly.

"Yeah, well, we knew that," I responded. We had known about Ethan's drug habits for years. It was a common worry that Kate often lamented over. She'd always felt so helpless, wanting to fix his problems but not being able.

"Yes, but this was Ethan finally admitting it. He sounded… almost sober. He also admitted that Dad's death wasn't my fault or Mom's fault. He believes it was all his fault. And it probably was. Dad was about to give him the money to open his night club. But the weird thing was that it was all cash. Dad went into that burning building because he had a suitcase full of cash that he'd filled to give Ethan the next day. $500,000 in cash. Ethan claims it was supposed to have been a down payment for the night club, but that doesn't make sense."

"No," I agreed, trying to mask my shock at the revelation that Eamon Kavanagh had died trying to get a suitcase full of cash for his son. Christian had predicted that Eamon had been after something valuable. He'd been right. "Why would Ethan need half a million dollars in cash for a down payment. These things are usually handled through bank transfers. Wouldn't that have been a lot easier and safer?"

"Sure, if it was really a legal transaction for the purchase of a night club," Kate responded in a tone that made it clear that she didn't believe it for one minute.

"You think he was doing something illegal," I noted.

"Clearly," she admitted. "I suspect that he wasn't just using but also dealing, and he owed that money to his handlers. And they were probably threatening to kill him if he didn't pay them."

My eyes widened as I realized… "Well, he didn't pay them if that money burned in the fire. They're still going to kill him."

She nodded worriedly. "Yeah. I believe so. And there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it. I've tried to convince him to leave town, but he won't even admit that his life is in danger. He didn't mean to admit as much to me as he did. I don't think he even realizes he did. You know I've always been good at getting information out of people."

Well, that was true.

Our conversation was interrupted by Christian, who had promised to call me immediately after this physical therapy session. Today was his last session, as his shoulder was almost back to normal, and he knew the exercises he needed to keep doing on his own to keep regaining his strength. We'd taken the day off and were headed to Aspen as soon as we all got to the airport. Kate, Diane, Mia, Jason, Gail, Sophie, and I were going to go with our security to the airport while Christian went directly there from his physical therapy center. Since he'd given Jason and Gail the holiday off, and they were coming to Aspen as our guests, along with Jason's ten-year-old daughter Sophie, Christian's other CPO Reynolds was being joined by Sawyer in protecting him. I still had Pam and Belinda protecting me. They didn't get Christmas off, but they'd both get some time off shortly after Christmas while we were traveling abroad.

Mia was currently upstairs in our penthouse, where she'd spent the night, but she was ready to leave when we were. She would come downstairs with Jason, Sophie, and Gail as soon as we called her, and we'd meet them at the cars. All of our baggage was already packed and loaded into the SUVs in Christian's garage. All except my wedding dress, their bridesmaids dresses, and Sophie's flower girl dress, which we would carry down with us. Our security would be taking one of the Audis while we all rode in my brandnew car that Christian had given me just last night, an early Christmas present.

(Flashback)

"Christian, there's only one reason why you'd make me wear a blindfold and take me to the basement garage. You better not have bought me a car," I warned him. "I won that bet about Kate, and you lost. That means no car."

I could hear the smirk in his voice when he spoke, even if I couldn't see him because of the blindfold. "Ana, there could be many reasons I'm making you wear a blindfold. Maybe I'm taking you somewhere that I want to keep a surprise."

Yeah, he didn't comment about the car, which meant that's what it was. And if he'd wanted to take me somewhere and keep it a surprise, he would have waited until we were in the car to put the blindfold on me.

I didn't have long to wait because we arrived in the parking garage, and Christian led me a few feet. When he removed the blindfold, there it was, a shiny silver Mercedes SUV with a big red bow on top. It was beautiful!

Shocked, I exclaimed, "Christian! I wasn't serious! You probably paid at least $60,000, and I don't even need a car!"

He was still smirking as he responded, "It has a few extra features that I special ordered. It's bullet-proof, for one. And it doesn't matter how much I paid for it, Ana. It doesn't even begin to compare to what you're worth to me."

"You weren't supposed to buy me a car," I complained. Yeah, I was tearing up because this was just so damn sweet. Christian Grey was a special kind of special. And he'd gone overboard this time. "You don't need to buy me expensive presents, Christian. There's no telling what else you've bought me."

He smiled a secret smile, but he responded, "No, this is the biggest purchase right here. I wanted to buy you a vacation home in Hawaii, but when we decided to put off going there until later, I decided to wait until we go so we can look at a few houses together and decide together which one to buy. Now, be honest, Ana. Forget about the expense or the silly notion that I wasn't supposed to buy it. Do you like it?"

Did I like it? Silly man, how could I not love it! "Oh, Christian, are you really asking? Of course, I love it. You bought me a luxury SUV. When are we going for a drive in it?"

We got in the car and looked over all the bells and whistles that Christian had gotten added to it, besides all the standard stuff, which was a lot. Yes, I could safely say that I loved this car. And then, I drove it! That was when I really fell in love with it. It handled like a dream! I might have scared the shit out of Christian once or twice, but I really was a good driver. It had just been a while since I was behind the wheel, and Wanda had been a lot smaller and older. Holy shit, Christian bought me a Mercedes SUV for Christmas!

(End of Flashback)

"I'm so glad that's over," Christian told me as we FaceTimed. "Remind me never to get shot in the shoulder again. The physical therapy was more painful than getting shot."

"Well, I'm glad it's over, too, and that you didn't get hurt worse than you did. If Hyde had been a better shot, we'd both be dead instead of on our way to Aspen."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I think we should celebrate by getting married." His tone was completely serious, as if we hadn't already planned it all.

I laughed. "I think that's an excellent idea, Mr. Grey. Let's get married! Lucky for you, I happen to have a beautiful white dress here that fits me perfectly. Not to mention my maid of honor, who has her own fancy emerald green dress as well as some fancy photography equipment, which we need for her to play double duty as our photographer. She's pretty multi-talented that way.

Kate smirked at me while Christian bit back the retort I knew he was wanting to say, that he didn't give a fuck… yada, yada. Yeah, but Kate had grown on him, as I knew she would. She was worthy of the role of my best friend and maid of honor, and even Christian realized it now. It had taken me a few days to convince Kate that I knew what I was doing. She was convinced that it was way too soon for me to even consider a long-term relationship with Christian, much less marriage. But being the best friend that she is, she'd decided to give it a rest and support me even if she still didn't agree with me.

I didn't mention to Christian that we also had several layers of frozen wedding cake that Mia had baked the day before and was going to finish decorating while we were gone to the registry office to get our marriage license this afternoon. Apparently, according to Mia, wedding cakes were easier to work with when the layers were frozen. It would defrost well before our wedding, as she decorated it. When I wasn't thrilled with the idea of hiring a bakery I knew nothing about in Aspen, I decided to go out on a limb and entrust Mia with our secret… and to also let it be a surprise to Christian. So Mia was not only going to finish our wedding cake, but she was also going to be a bridesmaid, with a dress that matched Kate's. Christian was so sure that Mia couldn't keep a secret, but she'd managed to keep the secret from him for over a week, so I was confident it was going to be a happy surprise for him to have Mia's cake for our wedding.

Christian also didn't know that Sophie Taylor was going to be our flower girl. He knew she was coming with us, as Jason had made sure we both agreed to bring her along, since he had custody of her for two weeks over the holidays. I'd gotten Gail to help me with Sophie's dress size, and Diane had helped me buy a dress that went perfectly with Kate and Mia's dresses. All of this would be a surprise to Christian.

As soon as Christian and I ended our call, Kate woke up Diane, and I called Mia. We all headed down to the garage, and piled into my beautiful new Mercedes SUV. I didn't drive this time, but that was OK. Half an hour later, we met Christian at his private plane. I'd flown with him before for business, but this was so different. We were going to Aspen to get married! Holy shit!

"You look nervous," Christian whispered in my ear as we sat down in the plush leather seats.

I whispered back, because I didn't want the others to hear us, "Yeah, the magnitude of what we're about to do is just now dawning on me. But I'm ready. If you're worried I'm going to change my mind, don't be. Are you nervous?"

He nodded. "I'm nervous that you're going to change your mind."

I smiled at him sweetly and promised, "I'll never change my mind about you."

Later that afternoon, I put actions behind my words as Christian and I went to the registry office, which we were required to do in person, and applied for our marriage license. I was incredibly thankful that nobody knew our plans, and I don't think there were any paps around to catch us on camera. We both wanted to keep our wedding… and our marriage… a secret for at least a few weeks.

Christian had chartered another plane to bring everyone else later that evening. Everyone except Christian's grandparents, Grace, and my dad had worked today. Grace and her parents had preferred to wait and travel with Carrick and Elliot, and Dad had preferred to wait until Patrice finished her shift so they could travel together. Yes, my dad was smitten. And Patrice was a sweetheart, so I was happy for them. None of them knew about our surprise wedding plans except for Ros and Sebastian, and they were both keeping the secret from everyone.

Christian and I had been back from the registry office for a couple of hours by the time everyone else arrived, which gave us plenty of time to make sure we approved of all the decorations that our wedding planner had overseen. She had been responsible for hiring the florist and making sure they got my specifications correct, and thankfully, they had. Everything looked even more beautiful than I'd envisioned.

I fell completely in love with Christian's cabin on first sight. As expected, it wasn't a cabin at all. It was a mansion. A log mansion with the largest stone fireplace and chimney I'd ever seen, which currently had the largest evergreen wreath that I'd ever seen on it, lit up with Christmas lights. The mantle also held matching red velvet Christmas stockings with everyone's name who would be present this weekend stitched in emerald green thread that matched Kate and Mia's bridesmaids' dresses, completely by coincidence. He didn't know it yet, but Elliot was also going to be wearing a matching emerald green tie when the time came.

The mantle was so large that it didn't seem overcrowded, even with eighteen matching red velvet stockings. Christian and I had gotten stockings for ourselves, too, even though we would be hiding our wedding favors in these stockings for our family and friends to find later. There were boxes of Belgian chocolate that I'd special ordered from that shop in Sweden… replacing the chocolate that Leila had eaten. Each stocking would also hold a framed photo of me and Christian that had been taken at the Coping Together Ball, and a pearly white china Christmas tree ornament with our names and the date of our wedding engraved in gold. Well, Sophie's stocking would have different items, an LOL doll, gummy bears, and a box of Legos, which I thought she'd appreciate more. Christian didn't know it yet, but I also had gifts for him that I would put in his own stocking when he wasn't looking. Not expensive gifts, but from my heart, so I was sure he'd like them.

The great room was truly a great room, and it was open to the two floors above, which had balconies that overlooked it. The railings were adorned with evergreen garland, and there were holly berries and Christmas lights everywhere. There were also bouquets of red roses and lilies of the valley throughout the house. I loved that combination, and I thought it perfect for a Christmas wedding. My wedding bouquet would match, while Kate and Mia would each carry a single red rose, at least in the photographs. I'd ordered a small wicker basket with red rose petals for Sophie. The floral arch, also comprised mostly of red roses and lilies of the valley, was hidden away until we were ready to bring it out the next day.

Christian's house manager in Aspen was also a good cook. I was happy to see that Gail was truly taking the time off that she deserved, and dinner was good. Mrs. Edwards had prepared shepherds pie and an authentic English Christmas pudding for dessert, complete with warm brandy sauce. It reminded me of stories I'd read when I was a child. After sampling the warm brandy sauce, and how the flavors blended with the rich and spicy Christmas pudding, I wondered why it wasn't more popular in American cuisine. It was really delicious.

The great room was open concept, so the dining area was open to that magnificent fireplace. There was even a grand piano on the other side of the room. And as I sat there after dinner, waiting for Christian to do what we'd planned, I marveled at the warmth of this room. And I don't mean physical warmth, although it was nice and toasty from the very real looking gas logs in the fireplace. But no, I mean from the love of all the people in this room. I was incredibly happy that these people, and only these people, would be sharing our special day with us. Well, special weekend really. Tonight was pretty damn special, and tomorrow would be even more so.

And then, Christian stood up. Finally! But instead of getting down on one knee beside my chair like we'd planned, he walked away from the table. What was he doing? I only worried for a moment though, because the next thing I knew, Christian was seated at the piano. And he began to play. And I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, because he was playing the song we'd jokingly decided to use as our wedding song for our first dance, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You." Holy shit, I'd only ever heard him play classical music, so I didn't know he could play a pop song so well. It was flawless, and so was his voice as he began to sing. I only let him get through the first part of it before I walked over to the piano and started singing along with him. Not that I could carry a tune like he could, but it was sweet and sappy. And even though I wasn't watching the others, I had no doubt that they were enjoying the show we were giving them. But Christian and I only had eyes for each other, so that was just a guess.

Before Christian had finished the song, I decided that since he'd surprised me with this song, I would also surprise him. As soon as the song ended, I got down on one knee beside him and took his hand. Yes, that surprised him, all right. He knew exactly what I was doing, and he was shocked, but he was also loving it. And I managed to get through the entire thing without giggling! I was able to keep a serious expression because I really meant the words I spoke. Even though it was mostly song lyrics, and it was corny as hell for me to propose to him this way.

"Christian, I really do just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. So… will you make my wish come true? All I want for Christmas is you, this Christmas, and every Christmas to come. Will you marry me?"

Christian was the one to burst out giggling first, and I believe it was the first time I'd ever heard him actually giggle like that. "Ana! I can't believe you did that! Yes! Yes, a hundred time yes, I'll marry you! Will you marry me? Holy shit, I had a whole speech prepared, and you went and beat me to it, you crazy, perfect angel!"

"Surprise!" I told him happily. "Let's get married!"

He took the ring out of his pocket. I'd only seen it once before, when we picked it up and made sure it fit me. He hadn't let me keep it on my finger very long, but now… I would get to wear it for the rest of my life. And it was so pretty. I probably would have never chosen it myself because of the size of the stone, but I loved everything about it. He had designed this ring especially for me even before I'd agreed to date him. And as he slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me, I knew marrying Christian was the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the world.

"I love you, Christian," I told him.

He had tears in his eyes as he responded, "I love you, too, my Ana. So, so much."

As we kissed again, the entire room was clapping and cheering for us. I glanced at Kate, who was holding a video camera. "Did you get all that?" I asked her.

She stopped filming as she replied, "From almost the beginning of Christian's song, before you joined him. That was… amazing. Did you guys plan that?"

I laughed. "Not like that, we didn't."

"So… you're OK that she was filming you?" Elliot asked carefully.

I smiled as I replied, "She's our photographer this weekend, so we're perfectly OK with her filming or taking photographs."

"Yeah, she's OK, El," Christian agreed. "Don't worry about it."

Elliot nodded, glanced at Kate skeptically, but then turned back to Christian and me with a big smile. He hugged me and fist bumped Christian. "Congratulations! I knew Christian was going to propose, but I didn't expect you to beat him to it."

Dad was the next to give me a big hug and tell me how happy he was, and how much he hoped he'd be able to walk me down the aisle on our wedding day. Little did he know that our wedding day was only a few hours away, so I felt very confident that he was going to get his wish.

Grace was hugging Christian at the same time that Dad was hugging me, and then we traded, so Dad was talking to Christian while Grace was hugging and welcoming me into the family. She seemed completely happy. There was still a part of me that couldn't trust Grace completely, but I recognized it as my own mommy issues, because of my own history, more than because of the mistakes Grace had made. I felt in my heart that I could forgive her, but trusting her would take more time.

Everyone in the room shared our joy, and it felt like some of them hugged me four or five times. We celebrated with champagne. Christian had made sure we had plenty of Cristal for the entire weekend's festivities.

"So when are you planning to get married?" Mia asked conversationally. She was playing her part so well. Christian didn't have a clue that she knew our secret, and she wasn't letting anything slip to the others.

Christian and I looked at each other, smiled, and answered together, "Soon."

"How soon?" Kate asked, also pretending not to know.

I shrugged. "How long does it take to plan a wedding?"

Kate answered, "I think most people take at least a year." Yeah, that was a dig, but I just smirked at her.

Christian almost growled his disagreement with that. "A year's too long. Even a month is too long."

"Well, it's totally impossible to plan a wedding in only a month," Mia told Christian. She couldn't hold back her giggle at the end, but I don't think he realized why she was laughing. He probably thought she was making fun of his suggestion.

Grace jumped in. "Why don't you get married at Grey Manor, in our back yard? That would save you the hassle of finding another venue."

"Ooh, and I can make your wedding cake, of course," Mia added.

Yes, she certainly could, and already had. I could hardly wait for Christian to see that surprise tomorrow.

Diane played her part by suggesting, "You'll need plenty of time to find the perfect dress. And make sure you like the caterers. Go for a few tastings, just to be certain."

"This is already sounding pretty overwhelming," I told Christian. "Maybe we should just elope."

Christian smirked at me. "I'm ready when you are."

"Well, whether you elope or not, make sure you plan it for when you're able to take off work for at least a couple of weeks," Elliot told Christian. "You've got to take her on a really great honeymoon."

Well, he had us there. We were postponing our official honeymoon and opting to spend a few quiet days here in Aspen after everyone else went back home on Monday. Then, we'd spend New Years Eve in New York City on our way to Dubai, which was technically a work trip. We were going to spend a few days in Paris on our way back, and I knew Christian would make it romantic. But our main purpose for going there was to liaise with the two professors from Mia's culinary school and fly them to Seattle. Christian also wanted to speak with the dean of her program in person. We wouldn't actually have a honeymoon until later. We hadn't even scheduled it yet. All I knew was that we were going to Hawaii sometime, and Christian wanted to buy us a vacation house there.

I wasn't complaining at all about the delayed honeymoon. When you decide to get married in only three weeks, you can't expect it all. I was getting everything I really wanted, so I was happy.

I simply listened to the next part of the conversation, which was about suggested Honeymoon locations and venues for destination weddings. Christian never let go of my hand, and we glanced at each other every so often with secret smiles. Only a few people here knew that they were already at our destination wedding. We were waiting until tomorrow to surprise everyone else.

A couple of hours later, most of our guests had gone to bed. Only Christian and I were still up, along with Kate, Sebastian, Mia, and Elliot. Of this group, Elliot was the only one who didn't know our surprise, but everyone else remembered and kept the secret.

I'd noticed the strange looks Elliot had been giving Kate throughout the past couple of hours, like he was trying to solve a puzzle. I don't think she noticed, as her focus shifted from me to Sebastian, and very briefly to her mother, who she was worried about. Kate didn't pay Elliot the least bit of attention, but the same couldn't be said for him. Not that he seemed interested in her the way he obviously was in Holly, who had finally gone out with him… and hadn't slept with him yet. I liked her even more when I found that out. I knew she liked him, but she wasn't giving it up easy. He was going to have to work for her. Smart woman.

Kate had given it up easy, so Elliot thought he had her figured out… months ago. Now, he was realizing that she wasn't exactly everything he'd thought her to be. He'd gotten his first glimpse of that fact at our office Christmas party, when Kate had known more trivia about famous architects than Elliot himself did, even though he'd studied Architecture at UCLA and could have made a successful career as an architect before he chose to start his own construction company.

In fact, when Elliot finally seemed to work up the nerve to talk to Kate, that was the very thing he brought up.

"I'm curious about something, Kate," Elliot said. We were all seated in the living area sipping hot apple cider, and nothing about Elliot's voice or demeanor seemed flirtatious. Kate was literally sitting in Sebastian's arms, so that would have been fruitless, even it had been intended, which it wasn't.

Kate had been ignoring Elliot all evening, but now she turned her attention to him. "What's that, Elliot?" she asked him hesitantly. I'm sure she was afraid he was going to bring up something embarrassing about their one-night-stand months ago.

Elliot asked her curiously, "How do you know so much about famous architects? I mean… you're a journalist, right? When did you have time to learn all that shit?"

Kate shrugged. "I like to read," she answered simply, which made Sebastian snort.

"You're too modest, babe," Sebastian told Kate. "You're brilliant; that's how you know more about architects than the architect." Was that a diss to Elliot? Sebastian didn't like him? Well, if he knew their history, that made sense.

Kate smiled modestly as she told Sebastian, "Slow down there, you make it sound like I could go build a skyscraper or something. I only know what I've read about people. Elliot knows how to build shit. Knowing how to do it is more important than reading about people who did it in the past."

"Not more important," Sebastian disagreed. "Equally important. People matter to you. That matters to me."

Now Kate and Sebastian smiled at each other the same way I know Christian and I had been smiling at each other all evening. Yeah, it was love. No doubt about it.

"So… you became a journalist because people matter to you?" Elliot pressed.

Kate turned her attention back to Elliot as she answered him truthfully. "I became a journalist because my father insisted on it. When I was in high school, I wanted to be either a fashion designer or an architect. I love the idea of creating beauty, so yeah, there's that. My dad was more interested in building his empire, and there was nothing beautiful about it, but I didn't really have a choice. But now I do."

Elliot told her, "Yeah, I read that you quit Kavanagh Media because your dad wanted you to write about Ana and betray your friendship with her. I found that more believable than the story your dad told about you being off your meds."

"Did you?" Kate asked simply. She clearly didn't believe him.

I willed Elliot to shut up before he really put his foot in his mouth.

Apparently, Mia felt the same way I did. "Elliot, shut the fuck up," she whispered. "You're being an asshole."

"I don't mean to be," Elliot told Mia sincerely. "In fact… I feel like I've been an asshole in the past, and I'm trying to correct that right now. And to answer your question, Kate, yes, I did."

"What are you doing, Elliot?" Mia persisted. She was just as worried as I was that Elliot was about to say something even more embarrassing, and I'm not sure she even knew his history with Kate.

But Elliot's words surprised me. Instead of embarrassing me, they impressed me. Oh, they would have embarrassed me had Sebastian not known their history, but it became clear very quickly that he already knew.

Elliot told Kate, "I've realized something here tonight. I've been watching you."

"God, Elliot, you sound like a creepy stalker," Mia complained, which made Christian snigger. But I just wanted to crawl in a hole and hide from the disaster that was unfolding before my eyes.

Elliot insisted, "No, I don't mean like that. I'm not… No, just… I realize that I was wrong. I think I treated you badly before, and I'm sorry. Umm… shit, I'm sorry for bringing it up in front of your boyfriend. I didn't mean…"

Mia hid her face in her hands and just shook her head in embarrassment.

"He knows, Elliot," Kate interrupted. "There's very little Sam doesn't know about me."

Elliot asked confusedly, "Who's Sam?"

"I am," Sebastian answered. "That's what my friends call me, but I know most of you professionally, so it's fine if you prefer to keep calling me Sebastian, which is what I normally go by professionally. Either name is fine. Sam is actually my initials. Sebastian Amadeus Ming Song. My mother is a music professor."

"Does Sebastian come from The Little Mermaid?" Mia asked jokingly.

"Actually, yes," Sebastian answered humorously. "It was Mom's favorite musical score when I was born. She listened mostly to it and Mozart when she was expecting me. Ming means 'brilliant,' in Chinese, and it was one of the Chinese dynasties. It's also my grandfather's name. And yes, Elliot, I know about you and Kate."

Whoa, way to tag that on at the end there.

Elliot looked skeptical. "So, you know that we…?" He trailed off, not wanting to finish the question.

"Hooked up once?" Kate supplied. "Yeah, Sam knows. He also knows that we were supposed to have dinner with Ana and Christian the night they were shot. After you blew me off, I went home and had a long conversation with Sam. That was before we even knew he was going to move to Seattle. He didn't even know at the time that I lived in Seattle. We only knew that we understood each other like nobody ever had."

Once again, Kate and Sebastian smiled lovingly at each other.

I glanced at Christian, who was smirking. "What's that look for?" I whispered to Christian.

"Sugar overload," he replied, making me giggle. Yeah, it was good to see Kate just as happy as Christian and I were.

Mia continued to admonish Elliot. "I can't believe you brought up a past hook-up in front of the girl's current boyfriend! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hey, no harm, no foul," Sebastian told Mia. "I'm not offended. In fact, I think that apology is long overdue. I'm curious though," he said to Elliot, "what exactly is it that you are apologizing for? When was it that you think you treated her badly?" There was a bit of a challenge in his words, but I'm not sure whether Elliot caught it.

Elliot shrugged and answered, "I misjudged her. When we… when I met her in that bar that night, all I saw was a… one-night-stand. I knew who she was, and I assumed a lot of things that turned out to be… well, not true. And I'm the kind of guy who likes to admit it when I'm wrong. That's all."

Sebastian nodded and told Elliot, "Well, I can respect that. It's a good damn thing, too, because my assistant seems to have a thing for you."

Elliot's eyebrows shot up. "Did she tell you that?" he asked excitedly.

Sebastian smiled mysteriously. "Not in so many words, no. But I'm an observant kind of guy."

Kate laughed at that. "A truer statement was never said. You're probably the most observant person I've ever known."

"You love it," Sebastian teased her.

"I do love it," she admitted with a blush. God, they were so adorable!

Elliot commented to Christian, "Next thing you know, these two are going to be getting engaged, too."

He might have been teasing, but Sebastian didn't take it as teasing. He was totally serious when he responded without taking his heated gaze off Kate, "Soon."

Kate's blush deepened. After a moment, she said, "We'll see. First you have to introduce me to your mom."

Sebastian told us, "We already know that my mom isn't going to approve of Kate, but it doesn't matter. I've already gone down the road of settling for a girl that Mother Dearest approved of, and it ended it heartbreak. No, thank you."

"What makes you so sure that your mom won't approve of Kate?" I asked curiously.

Sebastian answered, "Simple. Kate's a blonde Caucasian."

My eyes popped. "What? Your mom is…?"

"Racist?" Sebastian supplied. "Yeah. And sexist. She'll never admit it in as many words, but any white blonde female music majors at Berkeley know it, and have no doubt experienced her wrath."

"What does she have against blondes?" Elliot asked defensively. Yeah, he was a blonde, and he seemed most attracted to blondes. At least, Kate and Holly were both blondes.

Sebastian answered, "Well, I've wondered that over the years, and the only thing that really makes sense is that she got her heart broken by a blonde chick at some point in the past. She'd never admit as much to me, so I'm just speculating, but it's the most likely scenario."

"A blonde… chick?" Elliot repeated. "So… your mom's…?"

"A lesbian? Yep. Very open about it. Always has been." Sebastian looked like he wanted to laugh at the surprise on our faces, but he simply smiled politely.

Mia asked, "But if your mom's a lesbian, then how did she have you?"

"Sperm bank," Sebastian answered. "She wanted a kid, not a husband. Not a wife, either, for that matter. No, just a kid who she could control. She's not going to be happy at all when I tell her I'm going to marry Kate whether she likes it or not."

"Sam… maybe we should wait and see…" Kate said hesitantly.

"Wait for what, Kate?" Sebastian asked. "I've known since the moment we met face to face the night your father announced all those lies about you that you are the woman of my dreams, the one for me. You are my soul mate, Katherine. I AM going to marry you. Mom's just going to have to deal with it."

"Wow," I commented. Did I say that out loud? I was just so amazed at the certainty in Sebastian's voice. I knew that Kate felt the same way about him, but she had been going on about how it was too soon for me to marry Christian. But all that time, Sebastian had already been talking about marriage with her, and they'd known each other much less time than Christian and I had known each other.

"Wow," Mia repeated after me. Yeah, she was just as impressed by Sebastian's words.

"See, here's the thing, you guys," Sebastian told us. "I was engaged before."

"Sam, you don't have to tell them," Kate told him.

"Of course, I don't," he responded. "But the way I see it, Kate, Ana's your best friend, so she and Christian are going to be close to us. I'm building friendships here, with them and their family. And I want them to know me. At least this part of me. I want them to understand why being with you is so important to me."

Kate nodded at him in understanding.

Sebastian continued his story. "My ex-fiancee's name is Jasmine. She's a lawyer in Chicago. She went to Law School at Northwestern and never returned to California, where we grew up. My mom knows her parents, and they planned our marriage when we were kids. So yeah, arranged marriages do still exist. And we went along with it. I even moved to Chicago, where Jasmine was finishing Law School, once I finished my degrees, and we rented an apartment together. It took me a few years to realize that not only did Jasmine not love me, but I didn't love her either. Mom insisted that love would come later, that it wasn't the important thing. Well, what the hell is, then?

"But I've always been a mama's boy, so I went along with it. I proposed to Jasmine. She said yes. We were engaged. For two years, we were engaged, and neither of us was in a hurry to set a wedding date. Finally, because of pressure from our parents, we did. And the night before our wedding, I walked into my home to find my fiancee fucking one of her clients. Turns out, she'd been unfaithful to me for our entire relationship. Is that what Mother Dearest wanted for me, really? A loveless marriage, where we cheat behind each other's backs and just keep on going? Turns out, yes. My mother was more concerned that I marry a girl with a 'good name,' whatever that means, and she didn't think it mattered if we were faithful. Well, no thank you. I want love. And I've found it. If Mother doesn't like that, she can just figure out how to deal with it."

After a brief moment, during which we were all processing Sebastian's story, Christian announced. "I can relate to that. I want love. And I've found it. And on that note, I'm going to take the love of my life, my fiancee, to bed. Good night, everyone!"

I barely had time to say my own goodnights and to thank Sebastian for telling us his story before Christian was dragging me towards our room. The owner's suite was away from everyone else, so we had plenty of privacy. Which was a good thing, because I wasn't exactly quiet. I think Christian was trying to set a record for how many orgasms he could give me in one night. I counted five before I passed out from exhaustion, including the two he'd given me in the shower before we went to bed.

We woke to freshly fallen snow outside and homemade apple cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The yummy smell filled the house as I awakened to my fiancé's smiling face. He looked like he'd been awake for a while.

"Good morning, fiancé," I told him lovingly. "This is the only morning I'll ever be able to greet you that way. Tomorrow, it's going to be 'good morning, husband.'"

His eyes filled with tears.

"Christian, what's wrong?" I asked concernedly. "Why are you crying?"

"Don't worry, my love," he said. "I'm just… overwhelmed. I can't believe you're going to be my wife. Today. I've just be lying here trying to decide whether I wanted to wake you up by showing Matilda some love, but I just couldn't stop watching you sleep long enough. You're so beautiful, Ana. And you're mine."

"I am yours," I agreed. "And as for Matilda… she's still tired from that marathon last night. I think we'd better give her some rest… until our wedding night."

Christian smiled as he agreed, "Tonight, then."

A little later, we joined everyone else for breakfast, where we enjoyed the apple cinnamon rolls, along with bacon and scrambled eggs. This was what breakfast on Christmas Eve… and on your wedding day… was supposed to be like. Delicious.

"Is everybody coming skiing?" Mia asked excitedly.

Christian answered, "This is Ana's first time on the slopes, so we're going to take it easy on the bunny slopes to start off."

I nodded in agreement. Sure, I needed to figure out how to ski before I went to the big slopes.

"You've been skiing before, Annie," Dad reminded me. "Have you forgotten?"

"Dad, I was twelve, and I didn't get past the bunny slopes. I would have, but we had to leave, remember?"

Yeah, because the man my mother was screwing at the time had gotten into a car accident, so she'd insisted that I return home from my ski trip and go with her to take care of him. She couldn't stand it when I had quality time with Dad, so she did whatever she could think of to sabotage it.

"Does everybody else know how to ski?" Carrick asked.

"No, I've never been skiing before either," Patrice answered.

"You'll be fine," Ray told her. "I've got you. We'll go with Ana and Christian to the bunny slopes first, but you'll catch on in no time.

So that's what we did, and it was nice to see Ray interacting with Patrice while I also got to spend quality time with Christian learning how not to fall down. Dad was in love! I hadn't spent time around Patrice, and he hadn't told me a lot about her, just that they spent a lot of time together. She was a tall, slim, dark African beauty with large, naturally red lips. And I noticed that Dad looked at her lips a lot. Yeah, he wanted to kiss her. He was smitten. It was really good to see.

The weather was perfect for skiing. There had been a big snow overnight, but the sun had come out while we'd been eating breakfast, and the blue sky contrasted perfectly with the white snow. And I didn't expect to like skiing, but I did with Christian. It was fun! And after an hour, I was ready for more.

"Do you think we can go wherever everyone else is now?" I asked Christian. "I mean… if it's not too challenging. I mean, I'm ready for more of a challenge, but nothing too much."

"Yeah, you're ready for the blue slopes," he agreed. "And I'm with you, so I won't let you get hurt. You'll be fine."

"Well, you need to be careful, too," I reminded him. "We don't want you to re-injure your shoulder on your wedding day."

The reminder of our wedding in a few hours put a big smile on his face, and we walked hand-in-hand, both smiling like idiots.

Dad and Patrice were ready for more, too. A few minutes later, the four of us found Carrick and Grace. They hadn't been far from us at all. No doubt, everyone else was higher up, at more challenging slopes. Christian said that knowing Elliot, he was at a black slope. I wasn't sure what that even meant, but I knew it was too difficult for me.

"If you do OK on the blue slopes, then we can try a red slope next time we're in Aspen, if you want to," Christian told me. "But I'd rather you wait until you've been skiing for a few years before you try a black slope. The idea of you on a black slope scares the shit out of me, actually."

Like I said, I had no idea what the different colors meant. "I think I'll stick to a blue slope for now, if that's the easiest one," I told him, which made him happy.

I had to agree after my first trip down the blue slope that it was so much more fun that the little bunny slope, now that I knew how to do it. Christian had been a good teacher, and I loved how attentive he was still being towards me. I was OK with staying on the blue slope today. It was fun enough, and we could get more advanced later.

At the bottom of the slope, we stopped to chat with Grace and Carrick, who were both smiling happily. "Hello, love birds. Are you enjoying yourselves?" Grace asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I love this," I told her as I looked back up the slope, where I saw my dad and Patrice headed our way quickly.

But at that moment, a teenage boy who had been trying to do tricks on his snowboard fell in front of them, directly in their path. Oh, my God!

We all watched in horror as Dad grabbed Patrice's hand and steered them away from the fallen boy and directly towards a large rock.

"Dad!" I screamed the moment I saw them hit the rock. Oh, no!