Christian

“How was your trip?” Grace leaned in and turned her cheek so I could kiss her.

I placed a quick kiss on her cheek then stepped back. “Good. Italy is a beautiful place.”

“I haven’t been in years. I’ve pestered your father to take me, but he’s too caught up at work.”

“You’ll wear him down, Mom.”

She smiled before she embraced Ana. “Dear, did you have a lovely time?”

“It was everything I imagined it to be.” Ana loved my family from the moment she stepped into my world. And sometimes I wondered if my family preferred her over me.

“Did you see Vatican City?” Grace asked. “The Coliseum?”

“No,” Ana said. “We stayed in Tuscany. Christian had business there.”

Grace turned her furious eyes on me. “You didn’t even take your wife on a tour?”

“There will be time.” I embraced my father and shared a few words with him before I stepped into the living room. Teddy was on the floor playing with his cars. He wore a t-shirt with a shark on it, and his hair was messy from playing all day. He didn’t notice me right away so I took a moment to watch him.

He pulled the green car along the carpet before it flew through the air and landed on the castle made of Legos. He entertained himself with his own imagination, something I used to do as a child. The similarities between us were striking. But there was one major difference.

I knew he was happy.

“Hey, Ted.” I kneeled down beside him and extended my arms.

           

“Dad!” His eyes lit up in excitement when he saw me, the genuine delight unbridled. He catapulted into my arms and wrapped his small body around mine.

I caught him and stood up, feeling how light he was. One day he would be a man like me, and I wouldn’t be able to hold him anymore. But today wasn’t that day. He had a long way to go, and I intended to treasure it. I knew these years were memories in the making, memories of my ghost when he was older and I was gone. The thought was depressing so I forced myself to think of something else. “Did you have a good time with Grandma and Grandpa?”

“Yeah. They took us to the zoo.”

“Ooh. Sounds like fun.”

“I saw a polar bear.”

“Was he scary?”

“No.” He rolled his eyes dramatically, and I knew he learned that from his mother. “He was in a cage. And he was asleep the whole time.”

“Must be exhausted from being scary all the time.”

“Yeah right, Dad. You aren’t scared of anything.”

Those words made me smile. “Stay like this forever, alright?”

“Stop growing?”

“Yeah. I want you to stay like this.”

“But I always eat my dinner, and Mommy said I’ll get big and strong like you.”

“Well, we’re going to have to stop feeding you then.”

Teddy giggled. “But I’ll disappear.”

“True. We wouldn’t want that.”

Ana came over with Phoebe in her arms. She was nearly eight months old, but she was still small. She took after her mother with her lithe body and deep brown hair. But she had my eyes.

Both of my children had my eyes.

“There’s my sweetheart.” I took Phoebe from Ana and held her with a single arm. She rested perfectly against my shoulder and looked at me with her large eyes. Even though she didn’t talk yet, I missed her. I missed her more than I could understand. “Miss Mommy?”

           

She reached for my nose and grabbed it with her small fingers.

“Aww,” Ana whispered. “She missed you.”

I let her feel my nose and watched her curious eyes. Her mouth was open and her tiny teeth could be seen peeking through her gums. She had the fairest skin, just like Ana. Her hair was long and thick. “I missed you too, Beautiful.”

***

I read to Teddy before bed. He always liked a story before he went to sleep. His preference was Power Rangers or Ninja Turtles. He had more books in his room than any kid should have.

Because his mother was obsessed with books.

I went into the bedroom I shared with Ana and shut the door behind me. The baby monitor was on her nightstand. The red light glowed in the dark but there was silence on the other end.

“I missed them so much.” Ana sat up against the headboard with a book in her lap.

“I did too.” I took off my shirt and got into bed beside her.

“Our kids really are perfect. Aren’t they?”

“Absolutely. But I’m a little biased.”

She chuckled and ran her hand across my bare chest.

I tried not to flinch. She trusted me from the beginning, but it took me a long time to trust her. I didn’t want to step back from that, but the moment she touched me, I thought of the pain that haunted me—the pain my birth father had reminded me of.

Ana rested her hand in the center of my chest and watched my reaction. She waited for me to ask her to stop touching me. When I didn’t say anything, she pulled her hand away anyway. “He’s not going to hurt you, Christian. If he did, he would have done it already.”

People did crazy things when it came to money. “I just wish my past would stay in the past.” If he was really genuine, he would leave me alone. Thirty years of my life had passed without ever knowing him. I was a grown man and no longer needed a father. His motives were entirely selfish.

“Don’t let this bump in the road change you. Now that he’s seen you, I’m sure he’ll disappear.”

“Maybe.” Maybe not.

           

Ana continued to watch me with concern in her eyes.

           

“Let’s go to sleep.”

She recoiled like I insulted her. “Excuse me?”

“Excuse you what?”

           

“No sex?”

           

Despite my sour mood, I grinned. “If you want it, make it happen.” I propped myself up on my arm and looked down at her. She was wearing my t-shirt with her panties underneath. After the long plane ride and spending time with our kids, I just assumed she would be too tired for a sexual adventure.

That sexy smile came on her lips. “I like it when you do it. Sir.”

Sir. 

She knew that was the magic word. She liked it when I dominated her, told her exactly what was going to happen so she wouldn’t have to think at all. She fell into me, trusting me in the most intimate way possible.

I hooked my arm around her waist and dragged her into the center of the bed. With lightning speed, I flipped her onto her stomach and yanked her panties down to the back of her knees. My pajama bottoms were off, and I was on top of her, sliding into her without warning.

And it felt like heaven.

I pinned her arms behind her back and held them together with a single hand. Then I thrust into her hard, not fearing the children would hear us. We had a silent headboard and sound proof walls. Even if Ana screamed, they wouldn’t know about it.

I gave it to her hard...just the way she wanted. My chest accumulated a puddle of sweat as I used my entire body to thrust into her with force. Every time I crashed into her, her clit rubbed against the sheets.

Within minutes, she tensed underneath me. The small muscles of her back were etched and defined. She arched her back harder and moaned quietly. She got so tight around me I felt bruised. Then she burst into a climax underneath me, her screams coming out as small whimpers.

I listened to her and ground my pelvis into her ass. She was so wet—just for me. After a few more pumps, I hit my trigger. Ana’s name escaped my lips, and I filled her. “Mrs. Grey.” I leaned over and kissed the back of her neck, claiming her and adoring her at the same time.

“Mr. Grey.”

***

Phoebe’s quiet cries sounded over the baby monitor. Being the light sleeper that I was, it immediately woke me up. Without Ana beside me, I wouldn’t sleep at all. Ever since my birth father returned to my life, I’d been more tense than ever before.

I was practically looking for an excuse to be awake.

Ana woke up with a moan and sat up, her hair in her face.

“I got it.”

“No, Christian…” Her eyes hadn’t even opened yet. She needed her sleep more than I did. Without it, she was a walking zombie.

“Ana, I’m already awake.” I grabbed the monitor from her nightstand and walked out so she wouldn’t have to listen to the crying. I entered Phoebe’s room and saw her lying in her crib. She kicked her arms and her feet.

I set the monitor on the dresser before I picked her up. “What is it, Beautiful?” I held her in my arms and gently rocked her back and forth, using the technique my mother had taught me.