Chapter 28: Ice
I Only Own The Plot
CPOV
Ana has effectively shut Luke out of her life. Luke comes to me every day about what he can do to get back in Ana's good graces and I tell him the same answer every time. There's nothing I can do to help him. My Beauty is hurting and I am livid. At the end of the day, Ana and my boys are my top priority and nothing will be as important as them. Luke and Isabelle put that in danger by pulling this stunt. I have no advice for them. Ana will talk to them when she is ready and I will only give advice when she asks for my guidance.
***FLASHBACK***
"Baby, I am going into the office. I know, but I promise it will only be for an hour tops. They need my guidance on a huge client we just landed. I am going to need to borrow Jason if that's okay with the both of you," Ana says walking into the kitchen. Jason, Gail, and Luke are sitting here as well. They are moving into their respective houses today. Ana and I decided to stay in the penthouse for a little while longer.
"Ana, I can take you to the office. Let me go get my coat and I'll be ready to go," Luke says and stands up. Ana just stares at me, ignoring Luke.
"I wasn't planning on going anywhere today. If it's okay with Jason, it's okay with me. No longer than an hour though," I give her a stern look and she smiles at me and holds up the boy scouts honor symbol. I laugh out loud.
"You weren't even a boy scout. I'll hunt you down, Mrs. Grey. An hour or you will see me at the office." I say. We look to Jason to see if it's alright with him and he nods while sipping his coffee.
"Okay. I'll be ready in 15 minutes Jason," she says. She leans down and kisses me. I bring her closer to me and place my hands on her stomach. After we break apart, I lean down and kiss her stomach twice. My boys are so active. They kick as I have my lips against them. Ana and I laugh. I can't wait to have my boys in my arms. Ana turns to leave after I give her a pat on the butt. I go back to eating my breakfast when I feel eyes on me. I look up and Luke is looking at me.
"What?" I ask around my forkful of eggs.
"What?! You let her ignore me! You're supposed to be helping me get back into her good graces! Instead, you let her take Jason so she can ignore me. I think you like her being mad at me. You don't have to share her." Luke says huffing at me. I am in disbelief right now.
"Unlike Isabelle, I never had an issue with how close you guys are. You see how I said are and not were? Because I believe that she will forgive you and things will go back to normal between you two. Don't ever think that I am happy when my wife is hurting. This is your fault for leaving her out of one of the biggest days of your life. You are my brother Luke and I will always have your back, but I am going to stand by my wife every time. Right or wrong and she is not in the wrong in this situation. Like I keep saying, just give her time." I start to eat my food once again. I am completely over this situation and this conversation.
"I don't want to keep repeating myself. I am over this entire situation. I am staying out of it until she tells me otherwise. If you want to talk to me about any other topic, I will listen but I am done with this. Also, don't ever fucking yell at me again when I have done nothing wrong." I get up and go into my office and close the door behind me. I have done nothing wrong and I am not going to be treated as such.
"I hear you yell at him again and you will wish I wasn't talking to you after you hear what I would have to say." I hear Ana yell.
***END FLASHBACK***
That was a week ago. I think it is time that I step in and offer some advice. Ana has been down because of this whole situation. Sometimes, I catch her looking off into space with the saddest look on her face. I can't take it anymore.
"Beauty? We need to talk." I say after I find her soaking in our bathtub.
"I know. I am going to talk to Luke later today. I miss my brother so much. We are about to have our boys any day now and they have to know their uncle. I won't have it any other way. I am still hurt though. Do you think I am making the right decision?" she questions, looking up at me.
"I think that if this was a wrong decision, you would not have even considered it. Don't make this all about our boys though. This needs to come from your heart. He will know if you are not sincere and that will hurt him even more. I think it is great that you are ready to talk to him. Let's get you dressed and we can head over there. I will give him a call as you're getting ready." I say. I bend down and kiss the top of her head and walk away as she is stepping out of the bathtub.
"Hello," Luke says once he answers the phone.
"Hey. We are coming over. She is ready to talk." I say and I hear him whoop so loud that I have to pull the phone away from my ear. I just chuckle.
APOV
As we drive toward our new home, my heart is beating so quickly that I am afraid that it will leap out of my chest. What if it is too late and he doesn't want to forgive me for how I was acting? I can't lose my brother. Even if he and I make up, I don't think I would be able to forgive Isabelle. She planned it this way and talked him into going through it. Without me.
Christian grabs my hand and I look up and notice that the car has stopped and Luke is standing on the front porch. We get out of the car and walk over to Luke. We stand there for a few minutes, looking at each other. Christian clears his throat.
"I am going to go check on our house and make sure the boys' room is ready. Just yell if you need me." Christian says and leans down to kiss me before walking away. I love that man so much. I didn't notice that I was still looking in the direction Christian went until Luke waved his hand in front of my face. I blush and Luke chuckles.
"Still have it bad," he says still laughing. I just shrug my shoulders. I take a deep breath.
"Luke, you hurt me. The only one with more power to hurt me worse than you is Christian, but I know I never have to worry about that. I made sure that Christian knew that you would always be in my life. Every step of the way. For every event, you would be there. He didn't even blink twice before he accepted that you would be there for everything. He knew we were a package deal." I say and he already has tears rolling down his face.
"Once Isabelle came back into your life, I stepped back. I didn't bother you when you were with her. Even though sometimes when I wanted alone time with Christian, you would ask me to hang out with you and I would agree. I left you alone with your wife," I spit the word at him. "She had no reason to want to exclude me from your wedding. For that, I will NEVER forgive her. I will be polite and even give a slight smile when she is around, but we will never be friends again. She is no longer a welcomed member for Christian and me. I already talked to Christian about this and he agreed with me 100%. She is officially blacklisted from our lives." I say and I hope I am drilling this point through to him. I want him to know that I will never forgive his wife.
"I am not going to hold grudges any longer because it is killing me to stay away from you. I miss going to work with you and seeing your goofy face whenever I need a break from reading all day. I miss our dinners and our talks about nonsense. I want my brother back. Can we go back?" I ask and he scoops me up into a tight hug.
"Never again Banana! I am so sorry. I would have been devastated if you left me out of your wedding. I am so stupid. Never again," he says gripping me tighter. We both turn when we hear a collective sigh ring out. I look at Luke with a raised eyebrow.
"Christian, Gail, and Jason, come on out. We know you are there. You guys are terrible at hiding," I laugh and Luke joins in. We laugh even harder when they all poke their heads around the corner and they are all blushing.
"I am hungry. Let's go grab dinner. Everyone cool with pizza?" I question and agreement goes around. We all turn our heads once we hear Luke's front door open and we see Isabelle walk out. Luke looked at me and I shrugged. I waddle my way down the steps and hurry into the car. Christian, Jason, and Gail hopped in after me and we waited for Luke to pull out of his garage to follow us.
"I am proud of you, Beauty," Christian says grabbing my hand. We make it to the restaurant and I see Luke with the biggest smile on his face and I know I made the right decision to forgive my big brother. Now, I just have to get my hands on that pizza and I will be happy.
