Hello, this was supposed to be up at Christmas as a gift to all who love my stories but I ran out of time. It's still a gift to you, a belated one.

Before I started writing Within His Arms, I had different ideas for how Christian and Ana as well as Ana and Frankie would meet. I loved the way I went with though, as it was perfect for the story I wrote. This short story is a little look into how things could have been if circumstances for meeting, especially Ana and Frankie were different. Some times, ages and details are different than in my original story but they were what fit into this story best. I hope you like it. Xx

As always, EL James owns the fifty characters. I just own the story and the other characters that live in my head.

FRANKIE POV

I can still hear her laughter, still, remember the smile on her face when I brought her here for the first time. Here was supposed to be our home, the place where we grew old and raised a family together but there is nothing here but a shell, not even that. Besides the foundations, the space was empty, just like how I felt inside.

"I will never stop looking for you Carlotta," I said, my words disappearing on the breeze that blew over the hilltops. "I will bring you home, no matter what."

My quiet time was interrupted by the ringing of my phone that I had left in the car. I didn't want to answer it, I wanted this peace to continue for a little while longer. Life doesn't wait though, especially in this life and especially not when you have the cops sniffing around.

"Mac," I said, upon answering the phone.

"You there."

"Where else would I be," I said, sadness filling my voice. Today of all days I would be here as six years ago today, is the day I proposed.

"I know. The cops are at the house."

"Shit, have they found anything," I asked.

"You could answer that question for yourself. Mum might be up for assault if they touch one more of her photos though. They were asking questions about Carlotta."

"They always ask about her. She was so popular around here, knew everyone and now.."

"She's gone," he said, the words none of us liked to say. Just those two words brought an ache to my chest.

"We'll find her Mac. We'll find her if it's the last thing we do."

….

SIX MONTHS LATER

The warehouse was dark as we brought the latest shipment in, drugs from Seattle. The Grey's were our closest friends in this world, an American extension to our family here. Their family had grown over the years with three boys now, all who one day will run the family business. Our family here though, had remained the same.

"FRANKIE" Mac shouted across the quiet warehouse, piercing the silence.

I turned around to him, knowing something had to be wrong as everyone was informed that we had to be quiet.

"What is it," I asked, making my way over to him.

"I don't know. Dad just called, he wants us at the house, he sounded… distraught."

We left the warehouse, leaving one of my capo's in charge. For Antonio to pull us out, I knew it had to be something serious and with the sick feeling that hit my stomach, I was terrified it had something to do with my girl.

As soon as the front door was opened, we could hear the anguished cries of Beatrice. Rushing into the living room, I was shocked to see Antonio on his knees as he held his sobbing wife.

"Mum, dad, what is it," Mac asked, approaching his parents.

"Carlotta" Beatrice wailed.

"What about her. Mum dad, what about my sister."

While he held Beatrice, Antonio looked to his son. Seeing me there also, his tears continued to fall.

I had seen this man in action, seen the tough exterior that he projects outside of these walls. All that was gone now, leaving a man in agony, in pain.

"We received a call from a doctor in the States. He said he knew Carlotta, knew where she was. He described her perfectly..."

"What, is she ok. Where is she," I asked, pleading for news of my girl.

"He said there was an accident" he continued choking on a sob. "He said, they tried to revive her but she was gone. She's gone Frankie, he said my beautiful girl is gone."

That was all I heard before my knees hit the floor. My own cries matching theirs.

"Dad, please, she can't be. There must be some mistake" Mac cried. "Where is she."

"Washington State, a small town over there. They found our number scribbled down on a piece of paper in the car."

"If she could call, why didn't she call before. We would've been on the first flight out. Hell, Washington, we could've got Carrick or Theodore there quicker."

"I don't know son," Antonio said. "I don't know where she was kept, or why she didn't reach out to someone there. She could've finally escaped and this happened."

"We have to go," I said, finally finding my voice once more.

"Yes we do son," Beatrice said to me. "We have to bring our girl home."

…

I didn't speak to anyone on the flight over, I was just numb. Mac had spoken to Carrick who was at the hospital with Grace. He said he was startled at the lack of police that had been there, considering in such a small town a fatality had occurred. Maybe they didn't care, did anyone there pay attention to the young Italian woman who would've been out of place. The doctor said he knew her, I'm told his wife did too but how well, I didn't know.

"Frankie" Mac said, taking a seat by my side.

I turned my head to him, using the only bit of energy I had at that moment. All the fight had gone from me, every bit of energy I'd put into finding Carlotta had seeped away with just that one call. I couldn't accept she was gone, I couldn't accept it was her and I don't think I will, not until I see for myself.

"We're taking her home, where she belongs," he said, resting his hand on my shoulder.

All I could do was nod, as my tears fell again.

In this life you don't show emotion, you definitely don't shed tears. At this moment I didn't give a shit about this life as it had taken the one thing I loved away from me.

Carrick was waiting for us at the airfield when we landed, a line of cars waiting too. We were all exhausted but no one complained, we just wanted to be close to Carlotta. Was she really here all this time, so close to the Grey's. If so, why didn't she reach out? I have so many questions that I fear will never be answered.

The hospital was small, tiny even compared to our own near Caccamo. It was evening here now but no one really cared about time any more. It was meaningless, it meant nothing.

Walking inside, Grace was waiting for us. With not being family they wouldn't give her any information on Carlotta, despite being close as sisters growing up. She stood, hugging Beatrice before standing by Carrick's side.

"I was told to have Dr Kavanagh paged when you arrived," she told us.

Mac made his way over to the desk, letting them know that we were here. Why a doctor, he couldn't do anything for her now, why not just be taken straight to her. I just needed to see Carlotta, I needed to tell her how sorry I was for not finding her sooner and more importantly, tell her that I love her.

"Dr Kavanagh," Carrick said, as a man emerged from a door on the other side of the room. "Dr Kavanagh, these are Carlotta's family."

He nodded, walking towards us, shaking Antonio's hand. He looked weary, like the rest of us, like she had meant something to him.

"I wish we were meeting under different circumstances," he said.

"How well did you know her," I asked.

"Carla and my wife had become good friends."

"Carla, her name is Carlotta," Beatrice told him.

"My apologies, Ma'am. She told us her name was Carla. If you would like to follow me, I will take you to her."

We followed him through the corridors, towards what we were told was a chapel of rest. She had been moved here only moments ago when they were informed her family were here.

"Dr Kavanagh, I have to ask you as a friend of my daughters. Are you a friend of his too."

I could see anger on his face then, not aimed at Antonio but aimed at the man who did this to her.

"No Sir, I'm not. Have you spoken to the police yet."

"No, why do you say police like that" Beatrice asked him as he had practically spat that word.

"The man who Carla came here to live with was our chief of police. One who's currently missing and I have no doubt, one who ran her off the road."

"This man," Mac asked, pulling a photo from his wallet and showing the Doctor.

"Yes, that man. I asked if you have spoken to the police because I have no doubt, they're all as corrupt as him."

"I will make sure that we pay them a visit then. I need to visit with my daughter now though" Antonio told him.

The door was opened before us, as we slowly stepped inside. The closer we got to Carlotta, the more her face was revealed.

A sob broke free from me as Beatrice's scream of NO echoed around the small room. I don't think any of us had truly believed it until this moment but there was no doubt that the woman who looked like she was sleeping before us was my Carlotta and there was also no doubt that she was gone.

I moved closer as Antonio wrapped his arms around Beatrice, both holding the other one up. Gently, I brushed a strand of hair from her face, before kissing her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I looked for so long but I couldn't find you. I promised to love and protect you forever but I failed" I sobbed. "Oh Carlotta please, come back, please. Open your eyes, giggle, laugh, please give us something, anything. We need you, I can't lose you like this."

No one had said a word as I spoke. Tears were shed though as the pain ate at us, never giving us a moment to breathe.

I needed to touch her, as I traced my finger over her features before stepping back and watched Beatrice do the same. I longed to feel her warmth, hear her giggles as my fingers tickled her face but there was no warmth there, not any more. She was cold and no matter how much I wanted to wrap her up and keep her warm like after we had been out in the snow. No amount of my body heat would work now.

I don't know how long we stayed in that room as no one wanted to leave for fear of her going missing again.

Grace sat with her now though, her best friend for so long while we spoke about taking her home.

"She needs to be with our parents, on the hill where she loved to sit and speak to them," Beatrice said.

"She will be Bea. She will be happy up there. Carrick, Moretti."

"I have everyone in this town, looking for him. We will find him, I won't let that bastard get away."

Talk of Moretti's demise ended when Dr Kavanagh walked into the waiting room. He had changed since the last time we had seen him, looking now like he had finished his shift and was ready to go home. If only life was that easy, to leave a building and leave everything behind. With what he discussed next, I soon realised that was not the case.

"I have to ask. When Carlotta was taken, was she taken on her own."

Antonio had spoken to him earlier, letting him know with how the doctor regards the police, how my fiancée had been taken.

"Yes," Beatrice replied.

"When was she taken, what month," he asked.

"March, please why these questions," she asked him.

"I'm sorry. Carlotta has left something behind and I'm hoping that this something now belongs to you and not him."

"What did she leave," I asked, stepping closer to him.

"Anastasia, her daughter."

I felt the air leave my lungs as I struggled to breathe.

"Where is she," I asked, hoping to god her body wasn't here also.

"She's in the paediatric intensive care unit. She took a blow to her head during the accident and was barely conscious when she was found. She also has a broken leg. At this stage, we don't know how long she was in the car exposed to the elements, alone with her mothers..."

"Please don't," Beatrice said, sobbing into Mac's arms now.

"My apologies," he said. "I asked you when she was taken as Anastasia is five years old, born in the September of the year she first came to town."

I looked over to Beatrice as fresh tears fell down her face. Now, things started to fall into place. Why Carlotta couldn't just get away. She was protecting our daughter from him.

"Can we see her?" I asked.

"Of course," he said.

We followed him, towards the elevator and up to the next floor. It was quieter up here, most sleeping as it was still dark out.

"I have held off on calling social services, only because I knew Carlotta," the doctor said to us.

"You would've called them if she no longer had any family," Mac asked him.

"No, I would've called them because of the marks, the bruises that I know didn't come from the accident and I know they certainly didn't come from her mother. I would've rather she went into care, even come and live with us than go back with an animal like him. There is also the fact that there was no Anastasia registered for the date she was born. According to records, that little girl doesn't exist."

His words rang through my mind, making me angrier with every step that I took. Not only had he hurt Carlotta but he had hurt our baby too.

The doctor quietly opened a door, putting his head inside for just a moment before he opened it further for us.

We were silent as we stepped inside, the only noise in the room was the beeps from the machines. A woman stood when we entered but I couldn't focus on her, my eyes were on the tiny girl who lay in the bed.

I felt a pull towards her instantly, just like I had always felt with her mother. It was like Carlotta was in this room, and she was. The best part of her and me was fighting to stay with us.

"This is why she never left," Beatrice said to her husband. "She was protecting her baby."

"I wish she had asked us for help," the woman said.

"This is my wife Claire," the doctor said, introducing us to the woman as he looked at the doctor's notes at the bottom of her bed.

Me, I couldn't take my eyes off my daughter. I knew she was mine, not just with the dates but she looked like Carlotta and I could also see me.

Reaching my hand tentatively forward, I brushed a little curl back that had fallen onto her forehead. Touching her for the first time, I was unable to stop the tears that fell. I could see Beatrice had taken Claire's place on the other side of Anastasia and as I placed a kiss onto her forehead, she reached for her hand.

"Oh, beautiful girl" Beatrice said, kissing her granddaughter's hand. "Antonio look at her."

"I see her Bea, she's as beautiful as her mother," he told her, barely keeping hold of his emotions.

"Is she sedated or unconscious?" Mac asked, standing at the bottom of the bed next to the doctor.

"Sedated at the moment. We needed to keep her still until we found out how serious her head injury was. She had swelling on the side of her head, which thankfully has gone down. She will have further tests done in the morning, well in a few hours. Depending on what the results are will depend on how long we keep her sedated for."

"What does she have in her hand," Antonio asked, although seeing it now, we all knew what it was.

"She had it around her neck when she arrived at the hospital," Clare said of Carlotta's locket. "It was safer until she wakes to remove it so I placed it in her hand. That and her doll, those are the things that were always with Carla, Carlotta and Ana."

"Ana," I said.

"Yes, her mother always called her Ana. I think he would use Anastasia because whenever her full name was said, Ana would sometimes flinch."

"She's scared of the name her mother gave her. I know he didn't have anything to do with her name as that was a name we chose on one of our many conversations about the future. Anastasia was a name Carlotta loved and he made her fear it. I want to.."

"There will be time for that" Antonio said, barely controlling his own anger at that moment.

….

Ana had her scan late that morning, her results positive so the sedation was reduced. Once Clare had left us to see to her own children, there was only family in the room now.

I sat talking to Ana, wanting her to know my voice so that when she awoke, she wouldn't be scared of us. It was later that evening when she first started to stir.

"Mommmm" she mumbled before crying out in pain when she tried to move her leg. Her eyes were not open yet but she was reaching for the one person she knows should be here. That thought alone broke my heart.

"Ana, sweetheart," I said, quietly.

The room was full at the moment, even Claire was back wanting to give Ana that one face that she knows in a room she would deem strangers.

"Mommmm" Ana moaned again before finally opening her eyes. "Mommm."

She looked around the room as best she could, looking for her mother before her eyes settled on me. The one thing I never expected her to do at that moment was smile, but she did.

"Daddddy."

I couldn't breathe, choked up on the sob that was trying to escape. She knew me, knew who I was.

"Ana," I said quietly, reaching for her outstretched hand.

"Daddy, you came."

"I did, I'm here."

"Mommy said you would come. Where is she, she will be soooo happy that you came. Mommy, where are you, daddy's here" she called out into the room.

It was a call that would never be answered, not by her mother anyway.

"Anastasia," I said, moving even closer to her before I realised too late what a mistake I had made.

Saying her name had caused her to freeze, her little body to shake before she pulled the doll up to her face, hiding behind it. I silently cursed at myself for using her full name.

Sitting beside her on the bed, I reached for her tiny hand, stroking it gently when she placed it into mine. Claire raised the bed a little so Ana was sat up more. From here she could see everyone in the room.

No one else had said a word. They were just watching, not wanting to crowd us for fear of startling my little girl.

Tentatively, I held my arms out to her, hoping that she would let me hold her. Ana looked at my arms and then to me before she started to raise her own.

Carefully, I lifted her from the bed, placing her onto my lap. As she lay her head against my chest, I was powerless to stop the tears that fell.

"Mommy said you would come" she repeated again tiredly, cuddling further into me as I held her as tight as I could. "She said I had to look after this for her," She said of the locket.

Ana asked me to open it and inside, beside a picture of us, was a picture of my girls together.

"Mommy and daddy," Ana said, her tiny finger pointing to the photo that had been taken on our engagement.

Now I knew how she knew who I was. She must have looked at this photo often.

While we were speaking, I felt someone move closer, before Beatrice stood before us.

Beatrice smiled at her granddaughter, offering her hand to Ana which after a brief moment she took. Carlotta had made sure that if ever this moment happened, Anastasia would know just who everyone was.

"I'm your grandmother, your Mommy's Mommy," she told her, seeing my little girl smile.

That quickly faulted though when she realised that the most important person in her life still wasn't here.

"Mommy, where's Mommy, is she still in the car."

"Ana" Claire said, trying to get her attention but Anastasia shook her head.

"Claire where Mommy. She said we go to a new home now but we can't go without her."

"Ana sweetie, Mommy's sleeping at the moment," Claire said trying to keep her own tears at bay.

"We go wake her up then," she said, trying to get out of my arms.

With her leg in a cast, Ana wasn't going anywhere and once she realised that, she dissolved into floods of tears.

The only person Ana had is gone now. How do I explain that to a little girl, how do I even explain it to me? I can't even think of Carlotta not being here now, of all the things she will miss out on as Ana grows. I can't think of the horrors they have both lived through. What I can think of though is that if it's the last thing I ever do, I will make Moretti pay for every second they were away from me.

….

I felt torn the further away from the hospital Mac drove us but this journey needed to be done. We had an address for where he lived and just as importantly, we had an address for the police precinct where he worked.

Arriving on the street, we hid the car before we made our way around towards the back of the house, kicking the door in. If the cops did turn up and try to arrest us for breaking and entering, it would just save us a trip of going to them. I wanted answers and I was going to get them, no matter how many doors we had to knock down.

Antonio, Carrick and Mac followed me into the house, guns drawn. This was no home, no place for a child to be raised, never mind having Carlotta here. The evidence that a child had lived here were few and far between, that was until we entered a bedroom that looked out onto the rear of the house, bars filling the windows. Here, is where they must have slept. A small mattress on the floor, a few clothes piled up in the corner. These clothes, just like the ones I had been shown that Ana had been wearing when she was brought into the hospital, were threadbare and worn. I reached down, picking a scarf up off the floor and brought it to my face. I could still smell Carlotta like she was really here. This is what she was wearing when she was taken and to see it here surrounded by pain and filth made me angrier than I have ever felt before.

"Hey guys, a car is just pulling down the road," Mac said, as all torches were turned off, plunging us into darkness.

"Son, go down and close the back door. Make it look like no one is here. Whoever is in that car, they're coming here."

I watched Mac disappear from the room as I moved to the side of the window, making sure no one could see us outside. It was his voice that I heard first, as Antonio's hand locked down on my shoulder, keeping me in place.

"I hope you have somewhere close that we can dispose of a few bodies Carrick because we're going to need it," Antonio told him, as I willed myself not to run down the stairs and take Stephan Moretti out.

We waited until they were inside, and we could hear every word that was said.

"Have they asked questions?" another man asked Moretti.

"No, I just had a call that they were in an accident and my daughter was in intensive care. I was hoping with the amount of time she was out there she'd be gone too but I suppose you can't have everything"

I could hear the sneer in his voice when he spoke of my little girl.

"She's yours," Antonio said, trying to calm me down. "She's ours, she will never be his."

"I know," I said, as we continued to listen to what they were saying.

"What are you going to do."

"Discharge her from the hospital and get her out of here before she opens her mouth. Brat or not, she can still ruin everything for me. Apparently, I have a few items to pick up from the station as well, her purse and the stupid wooden box that she picked up from a flea market. That I do need as I think it contains the papers she hid from me. I couldn't find them here, so that box is the only place I can think of. I've checked it before so when I get it back, I will be checking it again, with a hammer this time."

"Are you just going to walk into the station?" his friend asked.

"Yes, can't you tell I'm grieving. I want everything that was important of hers to remember her by" he said, laughing now as if what he had done was all a joke.

"Why don't you leave the kid behind," the other man said.

"Because I haven't finished with her yet."

Hearing someone approach the stairs, I made my way out of the room. His heavy footsteps continued to climb, that was until he saw me at the top.

I was looking straight into the eyes of the man who had stolen everything from me. He had taken Carlotta but I will never let him take Ana away from me.

"You," he said, turning to look behind him, knowing his time was coming to an end. At the bottom of the stairs, Mac stood with his gun aimed at the other man's head.

"Yes, me," I said, kicking out as he flew from the steps, landing in a heap at the bottom. I rushed down after him, punching him repeatedly in the face.

I don't know how many times I hit him before Carrick pulled me away. I know Antonio was just as bad as he hit him quite a few times too.

"Not here," Carrick said, stopping us all from killing this man. "You can have your revenge but not where evidence can be taken."

We waited until another car appeared, carrying some of Carrick's crew. Moretti and his friend were soon in the trunk, mouths taped before they were quickly driven away. I could still feel the anger radiating off me despite them no longer being here but at Antonio's words, I focused on him.

"We need to have a look around. There is not a lot here but maybe there are something's that were important to the girls."

I nodded, the only bit of communication I could give at that moment as I headed back upstairs. I looked in the other room which looked like someone really lived here, not like the squalor of the room next door.

I picked the scarf back up again and the few toys that were here. Opening the small closet, I looked inside. There were a few clothes in here, mostly for Ana. Carlotta had made the most of what she had, no doubt going without at times so that Ana could have what she needed.

I took what I wanted, leaving the room and once we were all back in the car, we left the house far behind us.

"Moretti said he had to pick some items up from the station, how are we going to get them," Mac asked.

"I will get them," I said. "Once we have dealt with him."

…

I had no idea where we were heading apart from it was yet further away from my girls. I had a pain in my chest, an ache to be back near them again. When Moretti is dealt with, I will take my fiancée home. She will be happy there, surrounded by her family again and one of those that will be close to her will be our daughter.

"Is she ok?" I asked Beatrice upon her answering my call.

"She's quiet, talks to her doll. She asked me..."

"What Beatrice, what did she ask."

"She asked with you not being here if you were now gone too."

"Shit, I should be there with her."

"You have your whole life with her Frankie, we will all make sure of that. Deal with that piece of shit and when Ana is well enough to leave the hospital, we're taking them both home."

…

As we arrived at the docks, I had Beatrice's words ringing in my ears. Deal with that piece of shit. I will more than deal with him. I know Antonio and Mac need to have their time with him too.

We ignored Carrick's men that had gathered around, making our way into the warehouse.

The man who had hurt my girls was tied to a chair, not looking so tough now. He was naked, the sight of him making me cringe for a moment at the thought of him ever forcing himself on Carlotta.

I know she would've fought him off with everything she had but I also know she would've sacrificed herself for our child.

I stood back for a moment, watching Antonio walk over to him and dump a bucket of water on his head. Moretti who looked like he had been out of it before was soon awake and aware of those around him.

"I take it from you being here that you found out about Carlotta's little accident" he laughed. "Is the brat still alive or can I celebrate getting rid of her too."

His words were silenced as Antonio's fist connected with his stomach. Unfortunately for him, he didn't stay silent for long.

"If you wanted to be rid of them, why not let them go," Mac asked.

"What fun would that have been. I wanted them to suffer, as I suffered working under you."

"WHEN THE FUCK DID YOU EVER SUFFER" Antonio bellowed, hitting him again.

"I should've moved up, I was better than all the others that you put before me. If I couldn't have the job, I'd steal the girl instead. Fortunately, although I didn't realise it at the time, I had a bargaining chip so that she would stay, she was pregnant. It's amazing what you can get someone to do when you're bending a child's arm back enough so that she's screaming out in pain or you hold a gun to the brats head and play Russian roulette. I didn't expect that she would go running when I told her I had planned to sell the brat. I thought she would be happy to be rid of her too. She never stopped screaming when I was around, although a smack to the face would give me some peace."

I had heard enough, and my mission was set. To make him scream as much as he made my Ana do. I bent one arm back, making sure I broke it before breaking the other one too. My gun, I didn't care about no Russian roulette, I made sure my bullets to his legs hit their marks so he would never chase after my girls again.

Stepping back, I watched Mac break every finger that had touched our girls, before adding more damage to his arms. Antonio delivered his punishment, carving him up with his knife before a bullet from each of our guns pierced his head.

The man who had been with him was sat shaking with fear as he watched everything that was done to his friend. I don't know who he was, we could find out at a later date but his end was swift by Carrick's hand this time.

…..

Entering Ana's room, I was freshly showered from our earlier activities. I had spent some time with Carlotta again, letting her know that we had made him go away. Leaving Antonio to spend some time with his daughter, I needed to be with our girl.

He had been right when he said that she was mine, ours. Anastasia belongs to all of us and she will be loved and protected for the rest of her life.

"She sleeps like her mother," Beatrice said, smiling as she held her granddaughter's hand.

Ana slept with one leg out of the covers and one within. Carlotta always said that the one leg out on a hot night would keep the rest of her cool.

I nodded, smiling as I watched my little Princess sleep. Ana was perfect, a tiny miniature of my fiancée although I could see myself in her too. I reached for her hand, taking it into mine before I placed a kiss on to it.

"I'm here sweetheart. I promise no one will ever hurt you again."

"No one" Mac added, wrapping his arm around his mother.

Our talking had stirred my little girl as I brushed the curls from her forehead. Little eyes soon opened to me, before her smile once again appeared.

"Daddy, you're back."

"I am, Ana."

"Mommy not here yet," she asked, looking around the room.

"Not yet Ana. When you're better, daddy's going to take you home."

A look of fear appeared on her face for a moment before my words chased it away.

"I'm going to take you home, our home. The place your Mommy was trying to get you safely too."

"Will Mommy be there then," she asked, a yawn escaping as she struggled to stay awake.

"Yes, she will be there. Your mother will always be there Ana" Antonio told his granddaughter as she gave in to her tiredness once more, a tiny smile appearing on her lips.

We have a rocky road ahead of us, one no doubt that will be filled with tears. One day Ana will understand that her mother will not be coming back, in the physical sense that is, but that day is not today. I want her to dream happy dreams of us all being together once more.

As one day turned to another, Ana got stronger and stronger. Her leg would heal eventually, her cast would be taken off when we're back at home. It was her heart that broke when she continued to ask for her mother, breaking my heart too.

I stayed by her side throughout her stay, only leaving once when I made a trip to the police station to pick up my girl's things. They tried to deny me, threatening to have me arrested when I refused to leave. Giving them a few details of what type of boss they had, a boss who had not only abused who he had told everyone was his wife but my daughter too. Those details, most I think they knew about, could have them all out of a job for sure. Carrick, knowing a few higher-ups in the police himself only had to mention a few names to have a wooden box in my hands and Carlotta's personal effects too.

"How will we get home," Ana asked, as I carried her from the hospital, towards the waiting cars.

"We're going into the city, to an airfield there and then we're going to have a long journey on an aeroplane."

"Up in the sky."

"Yes, sweetheart. We're flying a long way away from here."

"From badmen."

"Yes."

The badmen here anyway. The rest I would protect her from.

Our trip to the airfield was quiet as Ana fell asleep in my arms, her doll tightly held to her chest. Now that she was away from the hospital, her mother's locket was where it would always stay, around her neck. I didn't want to strap Ana into a seat despite knowing I should. I didn't want to let go of her for fear she would disappear too and she was but a dream. Silly I know, but I had lost too much to take any chances with her now.

Ana woke as the cars stopped, lifting her head from my chest as she peered out of the window. She was startled at first as the jet loomed before her, obviously never seeing one before. Clinging to me tightly, I carefully got us out of a car.

"Big" was all she said.

"It is big sweetheart. It needs to be big, to take us all home," Beatrice told her. "Do you want to take her in?" she asked me.

"What about you take her and I will make sure we have everything we need."

I watched as Beatrice held her arms out to her granddaughter and Ana hold her arms out to her. None of us wanted Ana around when Carlotta was put inside the aircraft, not wanting to answer the questions of what the box held.

I stood side by side with Antonio and Mac as we all watched Carlotta loaded into the hold. She should be up in the cabin with us, with our daughter but she's not and that thought brought the tears again.

I wish life could've been different, I don't understand why it had to be so cruel. She had everything, a beautiful life, pregnant with our beautiful daughter and all it took was one so evil to steal that all away.

Entering the cabin, I scooped Ana up and sat down with her in my arms. No one said a word when the jet started moving and I snapped my seatbelt into place around us both.

"Daddy cry" Ana whispered, brushing away the tears that fell from my eyes. "Daddy sad."

Seeing my tears, Ana's lip trembled, her own tears starting to fall. As the jet left the ground, I don't think there was a dry eye around.

….

Landing back at home, I don't think I had seen so many people around. Allies, friends they had all come to welcome my princess home, some brushing away a tear too. Ana, she buried her face into my neck, uncomfortable at all those present that she didn't know.

She would know them all over time, she would be protected by them too.

I placed Ana into the car, putting the wheelchair we had brought with us into the trunk. Ana was speaking quietly to her grandmother who was keeping her occupied while Carlotta was taken off.

Now we were back, plans would need to be made, arrangements of where Ana would live too as at the moment, all I had was the shell. It's time to have our home built, one just like Carlotta wanted that would be filled with our family, our daughter. I remember our conversation, her excitement of what it would be like. I remember every word she said, especially all the times she said she loved me and couldn't wait to be my wife.

What I could not give her mother, I would give our daughter instead.

…

The funeral had been emotional for us all, even the priest wept. He had been the one to christen Carlotta as a child and now it was his job to lay her to rest. We had warred with ourselves of having Ana there with us but where else would she be and who else would we leave her with who wasn't her family. She had sat there on my knee before holding onto her grandfather tight when I stood up to speak.

I spoke of the pain of no longer having Carlotta with me, of the pain of her never seeing our daughter grow up. What we didn't speak about was how she came to be here, cold, in this box.

Taking my seat again, Ana reached for me. I carefully lifted her, mindful of her broken leg and held her tightly while Mac got up to speak. I was glad when she fell asleep in my arms, happy that she could have a reprieve from all this.

The service had finished when I carried my sleeping Princess to the car. The final part of our day would be family only as we finally lay Carlotta to rest. This would be a part that Ana would miss as I don't think it would do her any good to see her mother lowered into the ground. I don't know how much she had taken in of what was going on this day. How much she understood but when she speaks to her mother again, I want her to remember the person she was, not the box under the ground.

….

Ana giggled as the breeze blew a strand of hair across her face, tickling her nose. I pushed it back, looking into my daughter's eyes.

"We're going to live here, your Mommy always wanted that."

"Mommy live here too," she asked, looking around for her.

"She's close. She will always be with you, Ana. In here" I said, touching her locket. "But especially in here."

I placed my hand over her heart, a gesture she returned with a smile on her face.

"Mommy here too."

"She is, she has my heart, just like you do too."

I walked us around the site, making plans with Ana for the space there. A swing set was mentioned, a slide too. She will need to get her leg right before any of that is needed.

Looking back at the site as I put Ana into the car, ready to take her back to Beatrice and Antonio's, our home, for now, I looked forward for the first time. My life has been on hold for so long, looking, waiting, for some news so we could bring Carlotta home. She is now, not far from here, close enough so that if I want to speak to her I can.

I know I won't get a reply from her but that's ok. Just knowing that no one can hurt her any more, means I can live with that.

As I drove us away from what will be our home, I watched Ana chatting away to her doll. She was telling her about her new home and that her Mommy was near. As I watched her, as the father I now was, I vowed to love her, guide her and encourage her in anything she wished to do. I didn't know what the future held but I knew this, she was my little girl and whenever she needed me, I would always be by her side.

Thank you for reading, we still have two chapters to go. Both are written but still need editing so I will have them up as soon as I can, hopefully during the week.

There will be time jumps between them, ten years between this and the second and then two years between the second and third.

We will hear from Ana next, Frankie too with a little of Christian also.

Until then, take care.

Caroline.