The Girl Next Door

By Tvdfanpam

Ch. 3

Sunday BBQ and More

Christian walked with Ana back to Gail and Jason's new house and walked in the open front door. They could hear little girl laughter coming from the kitchen as they shut the door. Ana smiled at the scene: Phoebe was standing on a chair wrapped in an apron holding a wooden spoon in her right hand.

"Okay, you can stir now." Gail instructed to Phoebe. She expertly stirred something in a big bowl on the counter. Gail and Jason were on either side of her and Jason was gripping the bowl while Phoebe stirred.

"Mommy and Mr. Grey look!" Phoebe practically screamed at them. "I made a salad by myself!" Gail beamed at her. "Miss Gail said I am a good cook!"

"I think it is time to put the meat on the grill. Maybe the men can do that while we finish up in here?" Gail said meaningfully with a glance at her husband. "This little miss is getting hungry, I can hear her tummy growling."

The men went through the dining room and out the French doors to go out to the deck. Gail turned to Ana. "What's in the basket? Anything that needs to be reheated? I can turn on the oven or can it be popped into the microwave?" Gail asked quickly and Phoebe hopped down out of the chair and ran to the door to go outside.

"Mr. Jason, I am coming to help!" Phoebe yelled as she went outside.

"Whoo! She is quite the talker and has so much energy. How do you get anything accomplished with her? She unloaded the gift basket in less than five minutes and wanted to wash all the utensils and put everything on one shelf in the pantry!" Gail laughed at the look on Ana's face.

"That's just a typical day for a four year old dynamo!" Ana smiled at Gail's incredulous look. "Having children aren't for the faint of heart." Ana grinned again. "Does that mean you are not available to babysit?"

"I would love to babysit Phoebe." Gail said with a big grin. "We work a lot though, I would only be available on Friday nights and Saturdays and Sunday until five pm. We will go back to our Seattle apartment on Sunday evenings."

"Well, would you want to babysit next Friday night then? Mr. Grey asked me out on a date and I can't go without a babysitter if I want to go on a second date with him." Ana said laughing. Gail laughed with her.

"It's a date! For both of us!" Gail said and turned to pick up the bowl of salad that Phoebe made. "Let's join the men on the deck. I'll let Jason know our plans for next weekend!" She said happily.

The ladies walked out the door to the deck and joined the men and Phoebe. She was showing them how a ballerina dances. "I have a cital next week. Can you both please come and watch me? Granddad says that I am the best ballerina ever! Tegan is coming too! Please! Please! Please!" She flashed her puppy dog eyes at them.

"We will check our schedules and let you know Miss Phoebe. Mr. Grey is a very busy man and we might have to go out of town." Jason tried to explain to the little girl who had big eyes quickly filling with tears.

"Of course we will come." Christian said quickly before Phoebe could cry. "Would it be okay if I bring my sister Mia? She loves the ballet." Christian said, squatting down in front of the little girl. "Do you like red or white roses? Ballerinas get roses after a ballet you know."

"I know that silly. I like red roses and white roses but I love yellow roses best." She flung herself into Christian's arms. "Does Mia have red hair too?" She said into his neck. "I like red hair." He got goosebumps when she whispered into his neck and his eyes watered! Her arms tightened around Christian. "Hold me. I'm tired."

"Well, if you are too tired to stand on your own two feet, you must need a nap." Ana said brightly to defuse the scene. Phoebe wiggled out of Christian's arms.

"No mommy. I'm not tired." She ruined it with a yawn.

"Good news! Ana agreed to go on a date with Mr. Grey next weekend and we get to watch Miss Phoebe!" Gail said to her husband. His eyebrows went to his hairline in surprise. Phoebe ran over to Gail.

"Can I sleep over? Mommy lets me sleep over at Granddad and Nana's house. I know how to do sleep overs! I can bring my special blanket and pillow and Mr. Bear." She gave puppy dog eyes again.

"Does anybody say no to you Phoebe?" Jason asked laughing.

"She reminds me so much of Mia." Christian said as he laughed too. "Ana can I take a picture of Phoebe to send to Mia? She will love her!"

"Of course."

He took a picture of Phoebe by herself posing as a ballerina and one of Ana and Phoebe. He texted the photos to Mia and told her that Phoebe had a ballet recital next week that they were going to go to and that he had a date with Ana. Mia texted back a picture of someone screaming OMG!

They had BBQ and then Christian carried a sleepy Phoebe back home. Ana turned her bed down and laid her down in bed and slipped her shoes off and Phoebe was out like a light.

"Thank you for agreeing to go to Phoebe's recital. I understand if you can't make it, I am sure you are very busy." Ana said trying to give him an out if he needed it.

"No, I'm not too busy for the ballet." Christian teased. "She's quite the whirlwind. I am tired from just watching her."

"She is full of energy until she isn't." Ana said. "She goes nonstop then when I put her to bed she sleeps ten hours or more. Would you like a drink? I think I have some wine and beer. I keep the beer for my dad, he doesn't like wine." Ana looked in the refrigerator.

"What kind of wine do you have?" He asked curiously. He was kind of a wine snob.

Ana took a deep breath. No one knew she liked wine so she never served it to company. First time for everything!

"Well, I have a bottle of Saracco Moscato." She bent down and retrieved it from the wine fridge. "I took a wine appreciation class at the community center a few years ago and found this wine. It has a low alcohol content and I just like the taste." She added shyly with a shrug. "I make charcuterie cups for snacks for Phoebe and me. Would you like one to go with your wine?" She was not an experienced hostess and hated to even think that the billionaire she was hosting might find her lacking.

Christian was surprised! Saracco was a wine that was actually good! "Yes to the wine and the snacks. Thank you." He took the wine opener and opened the wine effortlessly. He went ahead and poured the wine into the glasses on the counter. "Here's to the start of something interesting." Was all he could think of as he handed Ana her wine and they clinked glasses.

"Cheers!" Ana said to hide her blush and surprise. It had been two years since she had male company and was a little rusty. "Would you like to sit out on my back deck? Sometimes you can see the Northern Lights."

"That sounds great." He said as he followed her out to the deck.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who stuck with this story and messaged me to continue it. I am more of a reader than a writer but Christian kept telling me he needed to meet Ana, lol.

**The GRAMMAR POLICE found this story. Please remember that I do not get paid to write this story. I write strictly for enjoyment. If you see a mistake, please overlook it.**