A/N: First, just let me apologize wholeheartedly for the severe delay in updates. It boils down to real life becoming overwhelming and fan fiction not being the priority. I intended all along to finish this story, and I still want to, but I hope you'll all be patient while I get some personal things sorted. I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be posted, but I'll try and get it out as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has sent PMs and reviews asking for updates. I've read them all, even if I haven't replied. I don't know if this chapter will be worth the wait, but we can hope. Enjoy.

The last couple days have been hectic. Aside from still staying with Christian's parents in Bellevue so Grace can keep an eye on me and my head injury, we've been dealing with the aftermath of Linc being caught, Elena being shot and killed, and the search for Joe. He took off after leaving the hospital and hasn't been seen since. The police are looking for him everywhere, but Christian and his security team doesn't seem bothered to go through the trouble. As far as we're all concerned, Joe did everyone a favor and since he's never been considered a real dangerous threat to us, Taylor has decided to let him run. Apparently it would only take him a couple phone calls to locate him since he seems to have resources the local police department doesn't. Instead, Taylor and the team has been focusing on securing the new house for us and following up on a couple things that have the potential to become problems. Christian has been adamant about not wanting anything hanging over our heads on our wedding day.

Which leads me to the other reason I've hardly slept since arriving here... Between Grace, Kate, and Mia, I have a list of wedding suggestions about five miles long and every couple of minutes I'm receiving text messages with more. Christian thinks it's hilarious, telling me over and over that this wedding is for us and the only opinion that matters is mine. He'd happily kidnap me in the middle of the night and take me to Vegas if that was what I wanted. And there have been moments I've been tempted to go that route, but in the end, I return to Christian's vision of standing on the edge of the water at our new home and reciting vows as the sun sets. Vegas would be easy, but not what we want.

"You don't owe them anything, Anastasia," Christian admonishes me as I try to incorporate everyone's ideas into my existing ones, though I have no idea how to involve the pink confetti cannons shooting over the Sound during our first kiss as man and wife... "We can go complicated or we can go simple. I don't care which; the only thing I'm interested in is the part at the end where you and I are married. Don't think you have to use everyone's ideas to keep them happy." He glances down at the bed where I've got dozens of pieces of notebook paper spread out on the mattress. Caleb is stretched out beside me, occasionally kicking his legs over the paper. I think he enjoys the crinkling noise it makes.

"Mia thinks we need a chocolate fountain at the reception," I mutter distractedly.

Christian huffs a laugh, picking up another sheet. "Yes, and it seems she also wants us to come down the aisle on horseback," he adds dully. "Ana, what do you want? Forget all this other shit for a minute and answer that for me."

I sigh. "Just us," I whisper. "You, me, Caleb, our families... It's all I need."

He gives me his shy smile. "What a coincidence," he murmurs, leaning in closer to me. "That's exactly what I need, too." He tilts his head to the side, thinking. "Actually, I'd be perfectly happy without our families interference, though I suspect they wouldn't be particularly happy about what, would they?"

"No," I say, shaking my head as I laugh. "If our mothers didn't finish us off, Kate and Mia would and that's not something I want to face."

"Probably true," he responds. "Look, let's shelf all this for the night and revisit tomorrow after your doctor's appointment. I've already told my parents we're keeping to ourselves tonight, so they're not expecting us to join them, and I really just want to spend time with you. It feels like I haven't done that in far too long."

Tucking some hair behind my ear, I smile. "That sounds perfect."

Beaming, he helps me gather up all the notes and magazines people have been handing me since we announced the wedding would be moved up far ahead of schedule. Once the bed is clear, he crawls onto the mattress towards me and settles himself between Caleb and me, pulling our son onto his chest to rest against his bent knees. I curl up right next to him and I couldn't imagine a more perfect scenario than this if I tried.

Sitting beside Ana in the SUV on the way to her doctor's office, I'm feeling nervous. I haven't said a word since leaving my parents' house, instead staring out the window, tapping my fingertips against my lips. Today is our first opportunity to see our baby and despite the doctors at the hospital telling me repeatedly Ana and the baby are fine even after Linc's attack, I can't seem to shake the thoughts of the worst case scenario. Anything could have happened in the last couple of days that could cause her to lose the baby; the thought is terrifying. Ana doesn't seem worried as she holds my hand, gently running her fingers over my knuckles. Normally that would be enough to grab her and pull her into my lap to help pass the time on the drive, but right now I'm far too distracted.

"It's going to be fine," Ana whispers as Taylor pulls up to the doctor's office. "We'd know if there was a problem."

Furrowing my brow, I want to ask her how we'd know, but I'm not sure I want the answer. I silently slip out of the backseat, holding out my hand to help Ana, and nod to Taylor as he pulls off to find a parking space. With my arm around Ana's shoulder to hold her close, we follow the signs until we reach Dr. Greene's office and check in with the nurse at the front desk. We've barely sat down before another nurse calls for Ana. I follow dutifully as we're led into a small room and the nurse takes Ana's blood pressure, then hands her a hospital gown to change into. We're given a bit of privacy until the doctor joins us, Ana sitting on the edge of the exam table, me in a chair beside her as I look around the room for any sort of distraction.

"I was nervous before my first sonogram for Caleb," Ana says quietly. I turn back to her, finding a small smile on her lips. "Up until then, it didn't seem real and I was able to block it out. My mom came with me that day, held my hand through it all. At first, the doctor couldn't find him and I thought..." She trails off, shaking her head. "Finally, she found him and paused the screen to show me. That was both the best and worst moment of my life—the best because as fearful as I was facing parenthood alone, I knew I'd do whatever it took to protect him and make him happy. I had a new reason for living. It was amazing, Christian—seeing that tiny little dot on the screen and knowing it would turn into a baby, someone who would need looking after, who would need my protection and nurturing. I kept thinking that even if I didn't have you, at least I had this connection to you. That hurt, but I had to get through it."

I swallow hard at her words. "And the worst moment?" I ask.

She sighs. "I hated myself for cheating you out of the experience of seeing your child for the first time. You should have been there with me like you are now—the nervous father." She grins slightly at me and I smile weakly in return. "All my life, I'd been so independent to the point that I would push people away because I thought I had my life under control. I did the same to you; I made the decision to be independent and deal with my pregnancy alone. You missed out on so much, Christian, and I can't help but think that if I had involved you, it would have gone so much more smoothly than it did."

"Kate told me," I say quietly, staring down at our hands. "She told me how difficult your pregnancy was and how towards the end you'd stopped eating and sleeping, and how you nearly lost Caleb. I think she was trying to convince me to forgive you and move on, even though I'd already told myself I would." I pause, letting go of one of her hands to run it through my hair in frustration and regret. "God, Ana, if I'd known..." Shaking my head, I know this isn't the moment to relive the past.

"It was what it was," I finally say to her. "I don't want to rehash it again—we only end up upset at ourselves and each other whenever we do. Ana, this is our chance to fix our wrongs. I'm here now with you and I will be at your side every step of the way. I'm nervous about this, but I'm also excited; I just want my family to be safe and healthy, and I cannot wait until this baby is here and we can hold him in our arms."

A slow smile appears on her lips, her eyes filling with tears. "It could be a girl, you know," she announces, smiling wider at the panic on my face.

"A girl," I repeat, whispering. What the hell do I know about girls? Well, my limited knowledge has no bearing on raising a daughter. With a son, I can take him sailing and soaring, teach him everything I know about business, and eventually possibly hand down my company to him. But girls are different, aren't they? It's all tea parties and princesses. Then there is the added concern of boys when they get older. I can already see myself opening the door to some punk ass kid picking my daughter up for a date and threatening to snap his neck if he so much as touches her. Girls are vulnerable and need protection. Boys can be taught to fight back.

My gaze slides back to Ana and I realize how wrong I am in that assessment. The woman holding my hand is one of the strongest I've ever met. I underestimate her constantly and I'm always proven wrong. She can be naïve at times, but that's all part of growing up. Sometimes I forget how young Ana still is and that she hasn't spent her life knowing exactly how cold and cruel the world can be. Though I think after the last few weeks she's got a much better understanding of that aspect of things.

Tilting my head to the side, I meet Ana's thoughtful gaze. "Which do you want?" I ask softly, genuinely curious.

She smiles. "I don't know," she muses. "The obvious answer is 'healthy', but I think a girl would fit in. Caleb would be the overprotective big brother like you are with Mia. And she would have you wrapped around your little finger."

I chuckle. "Just like her mommy," I murmur, lifting her hand to my lips.

"What about you? Which do you want?"

I shrug. "Honestly, Ana, I'm still getting used to the idea of having a son and knowing there will be another baby with us soon. Healthy is good. The thought of having a daughter scares the shit out of me; if she's anything like you, I'll be gray-haired by the time I'm thirty-five." She giggles; I narrow my eyes at her mostly playfully. "Think that's funny, Miss Steele? You just wait until our son is old enough to start asking where babies come from. That ought to stop you giggling at me."

"Are you kidding?" she scoffs. "I'm sending him straight to Elliot with those questions."

I snort thinking about the knowledge my brother might instill in my son about sex. "He is the last person in the world you want having that conversation with any child. If Kate's smart, when they have kids of their own, she'll keep him miles away when it's time for that topic."

She starts to reply, but there's a brisk knock on the door a second before it opens and Dr. Greene enters. For just a second, I'm thrown back to the first time Ana and I met her—when she arrived at my penthouse on a Sunday afternoon to arrange birth control for Ana shortly before she and I did a scene in my playroom for the first time. I notice suddenly that Ana is stealing furtive glances at me and biting her lip; apparently I'm not the only one traveling down memory lane. I smirk at her, squeezing her fingers briefly, then turn our attention to the doctor.

"Well, Anastasia, it has been a while hasn't it?" Dr. Greene says, smiling as she sits on a stool. I notice she doesn't acknowledge me immediately; she's probably surprised I didn't bribe her into meeting us someplace... "And from what I'm seeing here," she gestures at the chart in her hands, "I'm going to guess it's not birth control you're after this time."

Ana flushes. "Not exactly, no," she agrees quietly.

Dr. Greene chuckles and asks Ana about her pregnancy with Caleb, taking particular interest in the delivery when Ana had no choice but to have a C-section or risk both her and Caleb's lives. Ice fills my veins as I note the concern in the doctor's eyes as she makes notes on Ana's charts—could something like that happen again? Once she's caught up on the past, Dr. Greene returns us to the present, taking Ana's vital signs again, then instructing her to lie back on the table. My eyes widen when I see the instrument that will be used to find our baby—Ana isn't far enough along for an exterior ultrasound—and see Ana blushing again.

I lift her fingers to my lips as Dr. Greene begins her examination, flipping the switch on a monitor beside her. I have no idea what it is we're looking for, but I watch with rapt attention nonetheless. Ana tenses suddenly and I look at her questioningly; she's looking between the doctor and the monitor uncertainly, looking nervous, and I think I've worked out where her thoughts have led her. Ana's breathing begins to increase and I sense impending panic; I open my mouth to ask the doctor what's going on, but finally, Dr. Greene smiles.

"There we are," she says quietly, nodding her head at the monitor.

Ana and I look, too, but I don't see any change on the screen.

"Right... here..." Dr. Greene reaches over and presses a button on a keyboard to pause the screen, then looks at my bewildered, clueless expression. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's amused that I have no clue what the hell I'm supposed to be seeing. "This, Mr. Grey, is your baby." She points a long finger at the screen and I see a little grayish blob surrounded by a mass of black, and I suddenly understand what Ana was saying a few minutes ago about how she suddenly felt an overwhelming need to protect that blob, to love it without question. She wanted to share the experience with me and now that she has, I can't imagine our lives being any different.

"Our baby," I whisper, staring at the screen in amazement. "Ana, it's our baby."

She nods and my eyes dart briefly to her. She's watching me instead of the screen with tears rolling down her face. "Yes, it is," she whispers, smiling at me.

We turn back to the doctor as she gives Ana a list of instructions, all of which I mentally file away for later. Fortunately, everything about this pregnancy is going well so far and I'll do anything it takes to keep it that way. After a few final notes from the doctor and setting up another appointment in a few weeks, Ana and I are leaving the office. I've got one arm wrapped protectively around her, holding her against me and in my free hand, I'm carrying an envelope containing the printed sonograms. I remember seeing a frame of photos in Ana's Savannah apartment of Caleb from his first sonogram through his birth and I want to do the same for this baby.

"You know, at some point you're going to have to look away from those pictures," Ana say teasingly as she slides into the back of the SUV. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Taylor holding the door open and smirking knowingly at me. Of course he's been through this and seems to be enjoying my reactions as they come.

"And I will," I reply, throwing Taylor a wink. "Once the baby is here and I can look at him—" Ana looks at me pointedly. "—or her instead."

"Where to, sir?" Taylor asks from the front seat.

"Bellevue," I answer distractedly, looking through the different images. I'm not sure what I think I'm going to see—even I know it's too early to make out eyes or fingers and toes or any of that. But just the little blob is fascinating to stare at. Ana and I created that.

Her head rests on my shoulder as she joins me in my gazing. "I stared at Caleb's first one for hours," she whispers. "From the second I saw him to the second he was born, I called him Little Blip—I still call him that occasionally, usually when I'm tired and can't be bothered to remember his name." I chuckle at her joking tone. "Maybe it's time that name was passed down."

I nod thoughtfully. "Little Blip," I murmur, testing the words. "I like it. Much better than Little Blob which is what I was coming up with..."

"Agreed," she says, giggling. We ride in silence for a few minutes until she sighs. "So as much as I enjoy living with your parents, I thought we'd be heading home soon..."

I sigh. "I know," I whisper. "Believe me, I want that, too. I just need a couple more days until Linc and Joe have been secured."

She hesitates. "I understand Linc," she says slowly, "and I understand Joe to a point, but I still don't think he's a real threat to us."

"Neither do I," I say carefully. "But I would feel more comfortable knowing those people who have tried to hurt us in any way are as far out of our lives as we can get them. With Hyde and Elena gone, they're the only two left. Maybe it's over the top and ridiculous, but I need this, Ana, for my peace of mind. When we go home to the house on the Sound, I want us to do it without a care about anything but each other. I don't want it tainted with all this shit going on right now—not when that's where we're getting married and where we'll be raising our family. Clean slate, Ana, for all of us."

I half-expect her to argue—it's what we do best most of the time—but she nods in understanding and I think she not only gets why I need this, but she agrees with me. "Okay," she says softly, her head back on my shoulder. "A couple more days."

"Thank you," I whisper, pressing my lips against her forehead.

"Mia, for the last time, we are not floating Caleb down the Puget Sound to the altar with the rings."

I stifle a laugh at the irritation in Christian's voice. Really, of all the suggestions Mia has come up with for the wedding, Caleb on a float is on the less ridiculous side of things. Yesterday, she came to breakfast with an entire plan of Christian and me parachuting down onto the lawn. She's suggested everything from horses to fireworks, though I think for the most part she's joking. At least I hope so; I'm not sure how much more of this Christian can take before he snaps.

"You know," Elliot says, dropping on the couch beside me, "I feel really bad for Ethan if he ever gets the balls to propose to her. He'll end up walking down the aisle in a gold tuxedo if she gets her way."

"Nah, she's got better taste than that," Kate says from across from us. "I wouldn't rule out her making it rain flowers as they read their vows, but she'd never go for a golden tux."

Elliot snorts a laugh. "You've never seen the pictures of her when she was about six and snuck into Grace's makeup drawer, have you?" he asks.

"If you're digging those out," Mia says from across the room, glaring at her brother, "make sure you tell them who taught me how to apply that makeup. It wasn't Mom."

Elliot's face turns bright red as the rest of us laugh. "Let's ask Christian about the time he shaved off his eyebrows."

My jaw drops open as I look around at Christian who is frowning at Elliot. "Again," he says calmly, "that was you. It took almost three months for them to grow back and they did so crookedly. Grace has his school pictures put away because he kept taking them off the wall and hiding them. He never did figure out that he needed to find more than one hiding spot."

When Carrick enters to tell us it's time for dinner, we almost don't hear him over our laughter.

"Are there any embarrassing Christian stories?" I ask as we crawl into bed. Today was the first day in a while that I've seen Christian relaxed and happy and acting his age again. I think it has a lot to do with the doctor's appointment this morning.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Baby, I've always been the picture of poise and sophistication that you see before you right now," he says, smirking.

I smirk back, shaking my head. "Bullshit, Grey. Everyone has at least one embarrassing story in their life."

Eyeing me appraisingly, he dims the lights in the room so we can see and Caleb can sleep, and climbs onto the mattress beside me. "Is that so, Miss Steele?" he murmurs. "So what's yours?"

Flushing deeply, I turn to fluff my pillows so I can avoid looking at him. "I asked you first," I respond defensively. His smirk widens. "Spill it, Christian. There is no way you were always perfect."

His smirk disappears and his eyes widen. "Perfect?" he repeats slowly. "You think I'm perfect?"

I shrug shyly. "Maybe not in every situation, but overall... yes, you're perfect—you are for me at least."

"That's all that matters," he says softly, leaning in to grasp my chin and kiss me deeply. "And for the record, I think you're pretty damn perfect, too."

I want to scowl and argue about how wrong he is, but I don't want today to end on a bad note. Snuggling into his side, I take his hand and lace our fingers together. "Before you go on thinking I'm perfect, you should know that when I about fourteen, I had a crush on this boy at school." I ignore the way Christian's entire body tenses at my words. "If you thought I was awkward at twenty-one, you should have seen me back then. If I didn't have a book in my hand, I didn't know what to do with myself." He chuckles fondly. "Anyway, he was on the school basketball team—junior varsity—and we took a couple classes together. Well, I got it into my head that maybe if I joined the girls' basketball team he might acknowledge my existence. I should have known better; I could barely walk and chew gum at the same time. Somehow I managed to hold my own during tryouts until the boys' team showed up for their practice. The second he walked into the gym, someone tried passing me the ball and I was too busy watching him to realize it—the next thing I knew I was waking up in the nurse's office with an icepack on my head. Someone told me later he didn't even look in my direction, but everyone else in the school knew about it. A few months later, I left to live with Ray in Montesano and I've been trying to convince myself ever since it wasn't because of that."

His eyes are dancing with laughter, though his lips remain in a sympathetic frown. "If he didn't notice you the first time he saw you, he's fucking blind," he informs me. "And that story has done nothing to diminish my belief in your perfection."

I raise an eyebrow at him, oddly delighted at his words. "Well," I begin slowly, "there was this other time that my best friend somehow convinced me to take her place interviewing this super rich, super successful businessman and the second I walked into his office, I tripped and fell right in front of him." Christian tenses again before I can feel his laughter rumble from his chest. "And if that wasn't enough, I asked him if he was gay."

"Hmm," he murmurs. I look up to see the huge grin on his face. "Well, I don't know about you, Miss Steele, but I'm really enjoying how that particular story has played out."

Resting my chin on his chest, I smile. "Me, too," I say simply, raising an eyebrow at him. "Your turn, Grey."

He rolls his eyes at me. "I wouldn't say I have any really embarrassing moments," he says. "I kept mostly to myself growing up and some would say that hasn't changed much in my adult life." He glances at me pointedly; I smile innocently.

"No blunders around pretty girls you liked in school?" I ask teasingly, though I'm not sure I'll like the answer.

"Oh, there were plenty of those," he says dismissively. "But I was the awkward loner that everyone tended to avoid." He shrugs indifferently, but I think I can sense some of his sadness from those days—I can relate. "The only time girls paid attention to me was when they dared each other to go talk to Elliot Grey's freaky little brother."

"Their loss is my gain," I say.

He gives me his shy smile. "I suppose it is," he whispers, suddenly rolling so I'm on my back and he's resting on top of me. "And I think you're about to gain a whole lot more, Miss Steele."

In the next second, I've magically lost my t-shirt and pajama pants, and conversation is irrelevant.