FINAL CHAPTER

SEPTEMBER 2017

"Daddy, are you staying?" Ray looks up from his Ipad.

"Yes, I have a few meetings to attend here and a charity gala to attend in France in a few weeks so I might just as well. I can't drone on about the environment while adding to the problem with unnecessary flights." I really need to look into purchasing a home here, there is only so much of any hotel room I can take. I spent a lot of time here and buying a house is the sensible thing to do.

"Oh come on," Phoebe shouts angrily tossing her Ipad on the seat next to her.

"Lost again did you." Ray teases.

"Damn thing…"

"Pheebs, I don't need the grief or the lecture." Last week she swore on the phone much to my dismay. I spent half an hour on the phone placating Ana.

"But dad it's impossible to win. That's my… I've lost count."

"Counting was never your strong suit." Ray mumbles. Within the last year, their level of intelligence has come on leaps and bounds. Though they still tease each other over the other's lesser ability in a particular subject. They are quite even in the sciences. Phoebe has developed a real love for history, while Ray seems to like geography, although they are not as adept in those subjects as they are in Mathematics and English. They've chosen to stay with their current classmates and friends by going to the second grade in a few days, though they were offered an opportunity to start in the fourth grade. I was at first perturbed to hear they had turned it down especially when their reason for the decision was simply to stay with their friends. Something I didn't understand, I quickly was made aware of my folly when Phoebe asked me if I expected them to thrive without friends. I did, but Flynn pointed out that I didn't thrive in my personal life just business and if that was all I wanted for my kids then by all means I should go ahead and force the issue. Safe to say they are staying with their friends. Yes, Flynn is still an integral part of my life. I've cut back on work, my time in Seattle over the past year has mostly been spent with him.

Ana and I have a friendship, not the best of friends, but we get along and not just for the sake of the kids. I have to admit a few weeks after the accident I didn't see us ever getting there after we sat down and talked. She and Edward I heard were having a few problems chief being he wanting to go home immediately, and Ana wanted to stay a little while longer to make sure Phoebe didn't suffer from any complications, and if she did, her doctors that performed the transplant were just a stone throw away. I have to admit that gave me hope especially when Ana came to see me soon after.

JULY 22ND 2016

"Sir," Taylor calls again as I seem to be struck silent.

"Yes… of course." My voice sounds shakier than I would like, in fact, I prefer it not to shake at all.

"Ana."

"Christian, I came to say thank you. Truth be told I'm still a little surprised by it… but all the same thank you very much. I can't tell you... anyway, thank you." With that, she turns to leave. That can't be it.

"Is that it?" She pauses but doesn't turn to face me.

"What else do you want me to say?" Good question.

"I was hoping we could talk." I need to rid myself of Elena Lincoln and to do that I need to tell Ana the truth, right now it's the only thing Elena has against me.

"As long as I'm back by six for dinner with the kids." I like that, despite Grace and Carrick's busy professional life's they always made it home for dinner.

"I know there is no amount of begging, groveling and pleading on my part that can somehow render what I did and said to you any less painful, but I will do it anyway. There are no words to adequately convey just how sorry I am for what I said to you in your apartment and what I said in the lobby, for even drafting that paperwork washing my hands of the kids." I take a deep breath knowing I'm about to drop the first bomb. "That contract is not legally binding… the truth is I tried to get a judge to sign off on it, but none would do so without you being present. I tried a few judges even the ones that owed me favors wouldn't do it." She looks as impassive as ever and usually I find the lack of emotion on other people pisses me off because I can't tell what their thinking. In this case, it scares me.

"Judge Pearson and Ray are friends, he was in the Judge Advocate General's Corps before he became a civilian lawyer. He called my dad after you left his office as he recognized my name on the document. He didn't tell me till after he had you beaten and I got angry at him… he revealed his list of reasons and that was included." I didn't exactly request his services in an official capacity so I left the door open for him to call Ray.

"Oh…" Again I am struck silent. A list… what else was on that list?

Anything else." She sounds bored.

"If you recall I told you about my mother's friend the one that…"

"Elena Lincoln… what about her?" I had no expectation as to how I wanted this conversation to go, but this would not have been one if I did have any.

"The two weeks before you disappeared. I wanted to talk to you, I did want to apologize for my behavior, and I also wanted to make sure you were financially secure."

"I was in Savannah, you knew that." A little bit of anger starts to break through her impassive façade.

"I expected you to come back, never once did it occur to me that you wouldn't."

"And if I had stayed… how long do you think it would have taken Kate and Elliot to figure out that I was pregnant and that it was yours considering you were the only man I'd slept with. How was I supposed to hide the pregnancy? After your threat, I couldn't possibly reveal I was pregnant then stick around."

"After speaking to Flynn and deciding I still didn't want the children. I was going to convince you to relocate." I intend on letting it all out today if it kills me… and it just might.

"Of course, you were." She mumbles.

"I told Ray the NDA no longer…"

"Forgive me if I didn't believe you." She cuts me off. "You never once asked about the pregnancy or how it was progressing, clearly you still didn't want the kids. Which didn't come as much of a surprise… when I called a month earlier, the pedophile told me you had made that clear to her. Naturally, I'm not going buy anything she says, but then you didn't call, and my father's visit confirmed it. So I had to ask myself why you were so desperate to find me." She argues.

"The NDA no longer mattered, your parents already knew at that point of that I was under no illusion. I kept having these nightmares of you living in the same conditions as my birth mother lived in. I needed to know it wasn't the case." She wants to say something but refrains.

"Please say what you want to say."

"Is there anything else you want to get off your chest?" That's not what she wants to say or ask.

"The week you were in Savannah… I contracted a sub, things got out of hand…"

"Dr. Carter." For fuck sake… I don't know whether to be relieved or dismayed.

"Okay, Elena came here angry… you should know she never told me about the phone call. I had no idea you called"

"Christian I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, or you have and just want to voice it. I am acutely aware that while I sat in Savannah waiting for you to come to your senses or some semblance of it, you were getting your jollies off with Elena 'the pedophile' Lincoln." The shame that seems to be wrapped around me like a bubble feels suffocating all of a sudden. Just like she thought me I put my head between my legs and try to breathe.

"I'm aware you knew nothing of the phone call though it would not have made any difference. I also take it you have forgotten about Luke." Yes, Sawyer, he was privy to everything and reported it all to Ray. I guess she told Elliot about Elena and me, then again it could also have been my parents.

After what feels like an eternity, I'm able to breathe with ease. "Elena is back in Seattle and using that last encounter against me. Renders all the dirt my father has on her useless. I had someone watching her in New York, but with the accident and everything that followed we all got sidetracked and missed the communication from our guy." I explain.

"Do what you have to do, but I will ask you to wait till the kids and I are out of town."

"Yes, that's fine, I wouldn't want them exposed in this way… tied to Elena. Ana considering who I am and the threats that come with being me I will implore you to get security."

"The kids and I have security, Charlie is very good at his job." Yes, he would be. I also suspect he's the man that kicked the shit out of me.

"That big hulking man that Phoebe has wrapped around her finger."

"That would be Charlie." She giggles for the first time, and I feel as if the room has been flooded with oxygen, pure, uncontaminated oxygen. "While they are here with you, you do what you have to do. In London, I doubt anyone knows you outside of business."

"Thank you, Ana."

"If that is all, I have to get back. Elliot wants lasagna, and frankly there is only so much of his begging I can take." She stands to leave and…

"Do you think you will ever look past what I did and give me another chance?" I blurt out and fuck the look on her face is all the answer I need.

"After waking up from a coma, finding out your baby girl needed major surgery or the fact that we could have all easily died… I have realized something. Despite you learning I lived in London at my own behest there was a part of me that was worried about you having that information, and it didn't hit me till after the accident. I have spent the last five years living my life with you like a specter hanging over me. Worried about what you would come up with or decide if you ever found us. I have lived my life away from my friends and family. I missed my best friend's engagement, wedding and so much more. I had such dreams and hope and for a moment, I thought my life was truly over.

Hell, for a while I hated Kate for talking me into taking her place for that interview, I hated her ambition, because that ambition was the reason she wanted that interview with you. I had a moment where I prayed my son would look nothing like you. There were times I would look into Phoebe's eyes and see that day in the lobby. As far away as I was from you, I could never really get away from you. The accident woke me up, made me realize the power you had over me was what I was giving you. On the other hand, had I not met you..." she pauses and takes a deep breath. "I will not change falling pregnant because of the two beautiful children I have, they have been the highlight of my life, and I am missing out on the little things worrying about a ghost that is not there. I will look at my children and be proud of them and be thankful they are in my life and never again have a negative thought. I am not giving you power over me, not today, not tomorrow, life is too short, and I know it all too well. Get to know your children Christian, but know this I don't come with them."

With that, she walked out. The disappointment and pain I felt from that visit were quickly directed towards Elena. I knew my father wanted the opportunity to destroy her, but I was the one she manipulated, I was the one she fucked up so badly I couldn't function as a human being without a need for control, she was partly to blame for me missing out on four years of my children's life. It was time to pay the piper.

NOVEMBER 12TH 2016

The more I read the notes from the security briefings, the more I want to rip her to shreds. First, she attempts to rent the apartment just below me, which my security thwarted, then she tried a house two doors down from my parents that was also stopped. She now resides in an apartment overlooking Elliot's Bay. I stood in front of the door and try to calm the fuck down. I knock and wait; she takes her sweet time opening and is surprised to see me. She looks over my shoulder expecting to see Taylor. "All alone, Christian." She purrs and I flinch in disgust. If she sees it, she ignores it. "Well, do come in." I walk in and look around. This is certainly not her apartment, no black painted walls.

"All this light not bothering you?" Sarcasm was never my strong suit, but when it comes to her, it sips out of my pores.

"Can I help you or did you come here to just level insults at me?" She barks.

"I came to tell you to leave Seattle… go back to New York and don't ever make the mistake of returning." I say as calmly as I can. "Your attempts to get close to my family and me have so far proved futile, and that will continue to be the case," I warn.

"I recall you saying something similar about any attempts I might make to leave New York… and yet here I am." She cackles like the witch she is.

"You have no regard for your own well-being." I chuckle walking over to the couch. "Sit." I bark. With a laugh and a head shake, she does as she's told. "Something occurred to me a few weeks ago. When people kill themselves, they leave a suicide note least someone gets accused of murder. Richard Ferguson had a family one that loved him dearly, but couldn't help him, and when he killed himself, they were distraught. They were kind enough to give me his suicide note… well, it's more of a journal, a journal that gives a very detailed account of your time together…" she still looks smug as fuck. "Your name appears more times than I cared to count." I open my suitcase throwing a few pages at her. She doesn't pick it up and stares blankly at me.

"Of course, the statute of limitation means the journal as it stands on its own will not have any effect on your life." I take a pause and set up my iPad. "But add this and well it's an entirely different story." I hit the play button; she apparently doesn't recognize the man on the screen till he says his name, Matthew Williams, her second victim currently on parole for manslaughter. He gives a detailed account of his time with Elena, his video is followed by what I consider my trump card, her third victim, Anderson Summers. Summers like me survived her and made something of himself, he is now a respected and prominent lawyer in Los Angeles. His account does not faze her one bit, but when he follows it up with a statement saying he believes Elena is still abusing young boys and can no longer stand by and let it happen, well I find myself feeling smug with a serene satisfaction.

"This is bullshit, and you know it. You are having me followed." She rants.

"If I were having you followed you wouldn't be in Seattle," I reply nonchalantly.

"Can you imagine if Summers goes to the authorities… coupled with the testimonies of two of your previous victims?" I tut shaking my head. "I believe this is what is called a pattern of behavior. You may or may not be still abusing young boys, but by the time the police are through with you that reputation you've built in New York will be in the gutter."

"You cannot expose me without exposing yourself." She sneers. "I doubt Ana will allow you near the kids with that following you."

"First, Ana and I have already talked, she encouraged me to do this, turns out she knew everything and I mean everything. Secondly, what prove do you have that I was one of your victims. I can easily have the authorities believe you are still hurt because I cut you out of my life for stealing from me. You know me well enough to know I would have had something prepared for such an eventuality. I will present papers from years ago that you signed agreeing to leave my family and me alone or else I will prosecute you for embezzlement. You will just look like the bitter and old bitch you are looking to hit me where it hurts with your absurd story about me and BDSM. Not looking so smug now." I sneer in contempt.

"I took nothing from you, not one cent." She rages.

"Again, can you prove it?"

After everything I've done…" not this shit again.

"If you are still in Seattle in three hours, this will become public knowledge, and you will be arrested for child abuse and pornography. I'm sure you do not want to die in prison." With that, I shut my suitcase feeling a sense of relief.

"Oh yes." Dad cheered while we enjoyed dinner. "Elena landed in New York around midnight last night and was met at the gate by the authorities." He added with a chuckle.

"That is something to cheer about." Mom raised her wine glass in salute, before draining it earning a laugh from Elliot and myself.

"She was arrested for child abuse, endangerment, and child pornography," Dad confirmed. While in Seattle trying to disrupt my life I had my men planting evidence in her New York apartment. The pictures and videos I stole from her house years ago before she left Seattle were put back for the cops to find. Naturally, I cannot be identified in any of them.

"You really are going to London?" Mom asked as she emptied the dishwasher.

"Yes, I need to actually apologize. A real apology, not the half-assed ones I've given her so far. I will get on my knees if I have to."

"It's the least she deserves, but don't expect her to accept it just like that after all this time." she warned. "Especially after the fiasco at the Mile High." She mumbled.

I arrived in London a few days ago, but I have yet to speak to Ana. I finally find the courage to visit her when I see her in the park across from her house reading a book. "Isn't it a little cold to out reading in this weather?" I rub my palms together wishing I had on gloves.

"I seem to be fairing better than you are." She looks up from her book. "I'd appreciate it if you will call next time before turning up."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't think about that. I'm feeling a bit… I need to apologize properly. A sincere apology for the way I treated you."

"You already did."

"It wasn't good enough." I snarl. "Despite who I was, the way I was. What my history with abuse... you didn't deserve what I said, how I acted. I will forever regret those few weeks. Ana… I am so sorry, and I hope you will one day find it in your heart to forgive me." I must have rattled on for half an hour. She watched me with a mildly disinterested look before standing up and leaving me on the bench.

"We are almost home." Ray cheers jolting me back to the present. I did not intrude on Ana again; I did speak to the kids a fair bit, especially Ray. Though no new victims were found Elena was sentenced to thirteen years in prison and will forever be on the sex offenders registry. The judge said there was sufficient evidence in the form of the pictures and videos found in her New York apartment to deem Elena a danger to the public. It was a relief to not have to worry about her turning up at the most inopportune of times.

Ana and the twins came back to Seattle for Christmas, and we talked, where she told me she accepted my apology, I felt what Atlas must have felt when Heracles briefly took the world of his shoulders.

"We are here?" Ray bounces on his seat, as we get closer to Anas'. I find myself running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to tame it. "Dad, come on." Ray pushes me or attempts to do so.

"I'm getting out, I'm getting out." I hear her giggle and look up with a smile. "Hey, Ana." I beam at her all attempts at acting casual floats away.

"Could you be any more obvious." Phoebe teases impersonating Chandler from Friends. I have spent my summer watching Friends marathon. It's certainly better than some of the things they wanted to watch.

"Mama." Ray throws himself at his mother; Phoebe is a little more reserved as usual.

"How was your summer?" Ana asks as she ushers them into the house. She heard of a few of their antics but thankfully we managed to keep the worst from her. The attempt to access my recordings of Game of Thrones being one. I blame Elliot for that one, he kept droning on about how brilliant it was, the best thing on TV since cable was invented. I had a lot of free time recovering from surgery to become addicted to a few things. When I picked up the kids, she wished me luck. Fuck did I need it. The first incident took place on the plane when Ray while in the cockpit asked what the autopilot switch did then promptly disengaged it. He knew exactly what he was doing; he had a satisfied look on his face. Yet it took me a while to realize that if you tell my son not to touch something rest assured it's the first thing he would touch.

I drop off their suitcases full of gadgets and books by the front door. Ana is nowhere to be found. "ANA!"I stand by the front door and shout for her. Do I make an excuse and leave... but then I'm reminded of my last visit to Flynn just before our flight here.

"How was your summer? You must be ready to return to GEH on a full-time basis." Flynn inquires.

"I'm taking the kids to London. School starts in a few days. I will be staying a while, I don't know how long." I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Clearly you have something on your mind."

"Ana and I have been talking almost daily. She calls to speak to the kids and then asks to speak to me. We rarely talk about the kids… you know general stuff." I have never felt such trepidation in my life.

"And now you are going to see her, and you wonder if seeing you will change this happy medium you two have developed."

"Well… yeah." I run my fingers through my hair. "It's different when you come face to face with the man that damn near ruined your life.

"Christian, you are going backward. You and Ana have come a long way, give her some credit. I think since you two cleared the air and you finally gave her a sincere apology I believe you two are now in a good place. Don't jump to conclusions, you will only end up sabotaging your friendship."

"Kitchen." She answers. I haven't seen much of her house except the foyer. I make my way to the back of the house with a great deal of uncertainty and find more of a family area. The kitchen is relatively large with an island there is a dining area to the left and a couch to the right with a large flatscreen on the opposite wall. Ray hovers around his mother while Phoebe is just happy to be seated at the kitchen island. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" Ana looks up at me.

"Yes… thank you." Phoebe eyes me up as I try to contain my smile.

"Okay, guys, dinner, shower, then bed. We have to shop for school supplies…"

"Done and dusted." Phoebe sings looking up from her iPad.

"Just your uniforms then." They both nod. "Thanks." She throws a nod my way.

"No problem." I take a sit next to Phoebe.

"Well, Ray wants burgers and chips. Pheebs is having dumplings and chicken stew, which would you like." I want to say both, but that is just being greedy.

"Would like a bit of both... that is what I'm having." I nod.

"Kate says you are still not back at work." Ana enquires.

"I do go to work, but the days of me spending eighteen hours a day working are over." I pop a piece of chicken into my mouth. I chew slowly savoring the flavor. "I have a life outside of GEH, I may not have known it then, but I do now, and I want to live it. I have kids..." I beam looking at Little Ray, who somehow manages to tackle a burger far larger than his mouth can accommodate. "I can't spend all my time working, there has to be a balance between work and family. I pay my staff very well, some earn millions of dollars in bonuses at the end of the year. They do not need me to micromanage every merger and acquisition."

"How is Edward?" I ask as the kids haven't mentioned him all summer. I know things with him and Ana weren't great after the accident.

"He's stuck in Vienna at the moment. A few acquisitions are proving tricky and worse he found a mole in his office. I didn't realize your world was so…"

"Cutthroat," I conclude.

"Yeah." She chuckles taking a sip of her wine. The kids have long retired to bed.

"Hence, all the legal hoopla that comes with hiring people especially upper management that have access to confidential files."

"Yeah… so he's busy, but I saw him over the summer. Mia tells me you are dating." For fuck sake, my family needs to learn to shut up on occasion.

"Elliot set me up on a few dates, a few were downright disastrous, some were interesting, but one, in particular, is promising, her name is Angela. I haven't had much time to explore it. I have been busy this summer putting out fires." I shake my head.

"It was cruel of me to not have warned you, but I get it as well not as much these days, and I have gotten better at putting it out before it starts." She giggles.

"They don't do that with my parents." I moan.

"They don't do it with mine neither, but Kate and Elliot have been on the receiving end a few times. Phoebe turned up the heat on Kate's vegetable lasagna. Let's just say in the end there was no difference between the food and the charcoal briquettes Elliot has in his shed. She is not a fan of vegetables in any form." Ana shakes her head in disbelief. "In all fairness, she did us all a favor, Kate's lasagna is an acquired taste, one you do not want to acquire." She informs me with a giggle.

"She and Ray sent an email to every member of staff at GEH giving them the week off to spend enjoying the glorious weather. If Roz hadn't called asking if I had taken leave of my senses, come Monday GEH would have been empty except for me. They sent the email then erased all evidence of it."

"That's taking things too far." Too far, wait till she hears about the autopilot incident.

We spend a couple of hours talking; it's a first for us… talking this much face-to-face. "Ana… I know I asked this a year ago… though your answer was clear, I'm going to ask again. Do you think you can…"

"Christian, don't ask… part of living my life is moving on from what happened, and I have. I forgive you, Christian. I am happy with my life and what we have and have no desire to change it. Yes, we share two amazing kids, and I believe that is our connection. We had a cordial relationship at the beginning of the year; we started emailing and then talking. Here you are sitting in my kitchen talking and not about the twins. Who knows how our lives would have turn out had I not…"

"No, had I not being a complete and utter scumbag of the highest order." I correct.

"But it happened, and here we are being friends and co-parenting; this is us at our best. Don't ask; don't get stuck in a quagmire…" she stops and stares at me. "This is our ending, this how we end. We have both come so far, but I believe this is as far as we go." I can't describe how I feel, a part of me knew this was as good as it was going to get. I know my kids and love them unconditionally, they love me, call me dad… well, Ray does, but Phoebe will get there soon enough. This is our Happily Ever After.

AN: Thank you all for reading, I'm sure I could have written twice the number of chapters, but I will just be dragging it out. I know this ending isn't going to please everyone, Jasmin, my sister included. I don't think we have argued so much, but I had to write what I set out to write. Again, thank you for reading. C.J.