EPILOGUE: THREE YEARS LATER.

10th September 2018

"Good birthday?" Christian whispers sultrily into my ear.

"The best," I sigh.

I'm currently laying in a king-sized bed, wrapped in Christian as I am parallel to a sparkling azure ocean that is swaying softly in the breezy evening air. If asked five years ago, I would never have dreamed I would be spending my 26th birthday like this. Married to the most gorgeous man, with two beautiful children and vacationing in the Maldives. He bites my ear and dips his very wet fingers back between my thighs, moving them in time with my little breaths. Sex with Christian has not decreased over the years; in fact, it has got better and better. We've tried more and more things and much to my surprise, I'm a lot kinkier than expected. I don't think that I will ever tire of having him touch my body. It just feels too good. His fingers speed up and I feel my first orgasm of the night wash over me powerfully.

"That one didn't take long," he smirks, teasing my skin with little bites that make me arch my back. His lips linger on my neck and then down further to my breasts. He teases them with his tongue before kissing my little bump softly.

"Hi buddy, I can't wait to meet you," he whispers and as always, I melt at his never-ending tenderness.

I'm just over four months pregnant with my third baby. I'm finally having a little boy, we couldn't stand the suspense of waiting. Christian is over the moon at having a mini him, Ivie not so much. She cried when we told her she was having a brother; she'd been banking on a 'girly.'

Finding out I was pregnant for the third time was such a welcome surprise. I'm elated I get to share this again with my husband and I relish the day I get to meet my baby boy. Things are going to undoubtedly be busy but most definitely worth it. I'll have to bring him to work when he's a few months older. I can do that now I have my own business. The Anastasia Grey art studio sits prettily in central Seattle and is a thriving art business, selling art masterpieces (including my own) and specialising in young aspiring artist tuition from ages eleven to eighteen. I employ a decent amount of staff and I am finally successful in my own right. When Christian paid for me to go to art college three years ago, I never dreamed it would spawn my own business. I've never been happier.

"What are you thinking about?" Christian asks me, looking up through his lashes.

My sparkling rings gleam in the moonlight and I smile brightly.

"My life, my children, you. I'm so glad you walked into the coffee shop."

He chuckles and kisses my bump again. "Me too."

I pull him up toward me and kiss him with everything I have. I wind my fingers through his hair and attack him with ferocity. Sometimes I feel as though I can't get close enough to him. I just wish I could crawl inside him.

"I love you," I say.

"I love you," he replies and he pushes into me at the same time, leaving me to cry out his name.

I wake up to daylight streaming through the windows. It's brighter than any daylight I'm used to and I wake with a smile as I stretch and sit up. Christian is already up of course and he comes strolling out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair.

"Sleeping beauty awakes," he smirks.

I stretch and yawn. "Well, her prince kept her up pretty much all night," I counter.

"Well, he's gotta show his love," he insists, dropping the towel and crawling toward me on the bed, kissing my lips.

"We're having breakfast on the terrace," he says. "You've got ten minutes."

Breakfast is lovely and so is the rest of the day. We take a boat across the translucent blue seas and have dinner underneath the bright orange sunset. In the evening, Grace facetimes us.

"Let me see my girlies," I grin, leaning forwards on the edge of the bed. My hair is damp from the sea salt and I smell like the sand.

Lily bounds into the screen closely followed by Ivie and I beam at them. Lily is growing into herself more and more each day. She's grown so much and she's still exactly a replica of me. Her hair falls a wavy dark brown and her blue eyes shine brightly. Ivie is a gorgeous little Christian. Her hair is blonde with copper strands and her smile and nose are exactly his. She has mine and Lily's eyes though. They're the most beautiful girls in the world.

"Mommy come back," Ivie pouts.

My baby.

"You're having an amazing time with grandma and grandpa though, aren't you Lily?!"

"Yes," Lily replies sweetly. "For dinner we had pizza."

"Wow," I say. "Pizza is great. You love pizza don't you Ivie?"

She nods and pushes Lily out of the way, getting closer to the screen. "Mommy Poppy had the sparklier and wouldn't let me use it," she sulks.

I have no idea what the sparklier is but I sympathise with her anyway. When Christian comes into the screen, Ivie starts to clap. "Daddy," she grins. She's the biggest daddy's girl ever. It's adorable.

"Hi princess," he greets her. "What's this I hear about a sparklier?"

Lily rolls her eyes and I giggle. She's so sassy now that she's six. "It's not a sparklier," she groans. "It's a magic pen that is full of glitter and it writes glittery but mommy it's not Ivie's, it's Poppy's."

Poppy suddenly bounds into the sreen, holding said Sparklier and Ivie tries to snatch it off her.

"Ivie be nice to Poppy baby," I frown. "You can share can't you Poppy?"

Leighton is now also in the screen and she lifts Poppy onto her lap. She hands the pen to Ivie and Poppy starts to cry.

"No Poppy, we have to share baby." She kisses her on the head but it doesn't appease her.

I smile at Leighton. "Must be chaos," I laugh.

"You have no idea," she says, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "It's fine though, we're all having a great time," she smiles.

"Ivie, make sure you let Poppy have a turn too," Christian says.

She ignores him, pouring glitter over herself. I do not envy Grace tonight.

We chat a little while longer and then we bid our angels goodbye and I turn to Christian. "I miss them," I confess.

"I know," he smiles. "Me too, but this is our time and I'm going to make it worthwhile. I'm going to make love to my beautiful wife, over and over again and we're going to soak up this incredible sun."

He lifts me by my hips and I lock around him as he carries us into the bedroom. I squeal as he drops me and crawls on top.

As our vacation nears to an end, I ponder the paths that have led me here today. I stand on the beach, the salty sea blowing through my hair and the sand soft underneath my toes. I'm thankful for everything I've been given but I'm also grateful for everything I've worked hard for. It seems as everything truly is falling into place for me and I'm so relieved. True to Christian's word, I haven't heard from Harry Quinn again but his parents have been a blessing to Lily. She adores them and vice versa. I'm glad she has them and she's the luckiest girl in the world to have three sets of loving grandparents. Yes, three sets. Ray married his long-term girlfriend Susanna last year and they are absolutely perfect for one another. It brought tears to my eyes as I held a speech for him at the wedding. After so long, he's finally found his own snippet of happiness in this crazy world and he isn't the only one. Kate is currently engaged to Elliot and six months pregnant with her first child. I'm so excited for her, she has been by my side since day one and she deserves everything. Mia is forever the hopeless romantic however she's currently dating Kate's older brother, Ethan and everything is going good so far. Hopefully he's the one for her. Last but not least is Leighton. She's still with her high-school sweetheart and little Poppy is adorable. Her and Ivie get on like a house on fire when they're not arguing over sparkliers.

I smell Christian's aftershave even before I feel him wrap his arms around my waist.

"It's beautiful isn't it," he whispers.

It is. The stars are coming out to play and are preparing to blanket the ocean in its silky velvety depths for the night.

"So I've been thinking about names," Christian says, resting his chin on the top of my head and rubbing my bump.

"Yeah?" I ask intrigued.

"Yeah. I kind of like Prince Christian The Second."

I burst out laughing and turn in his arms. "Has a nice ring," I smirk. "It's definitely one to consider."

He chuckles with me and kisses my forehead.

"On a serious note, how do you feel about Theo? Short for Theodore," he says quietly.

I roll it over on my tongue a few times before I fall in love instantly. "It's perfect Christian," I breathe.

"Really?" He smiles, clearly in surprise.

I nod. "It is lovely."

I place my hand over his on my bump and stare down at it.

"Hi baby Theo," I whisper. "We love you very much."

"We do," Christian agrees.

"We can't wait to welcome you to the world," I whisper as a tear forms in my eye.

The moment is so beautiful, I just want to bottle it in my pocket forever.

"The world can be cruel and crazy," I whisper to him gently. "But we hope that we can make your little world, as wonderful as possible. You're already so loved and cherished."

Christian kisses me, holding my face between his hands.

"Anastasia Grey," he murmurs. "You were my second chance at life. My do over. My next chapter, my reason to stay alive."

I'm crying fully now, happy tears, and I throw my arms around his neck.

"As you are Christian Grey," I whisper, kissing him back. "Always, and forever."

THE END.