Another hella long hiatus, I know... I'm sorry. The muse comes to me when she decides, and even then, I don't always have time. I am working for a school district, doing three different jobs. Middle School Spanish Teacher, Native American Coordinator, and Drama Department Chair. I never thought I'd have a job where I got to use both my degrees in Spanish Linguistics and Musical Theatre, and stay in touch with my Native heritage... but here I am, with a job that uses all three. Go me! But that leaves me with precious little free time to work on these fics, let alone my own original work.

That said, here's an update. I can make no promises on when you'll get another one. The pestering does help a bit... it at the very least reminds me that I have fanbase and loyal readers that encourage me to continue. So please, keep doing just that.

Chapter 38

Christian PoV

Audra had rejoined us after Ana finished her story, and soon thereafter we were alerted that Pierre's parents had arrived. Susanne had warned us that they were very proud of being French and would not speak English under any circumstance, despite the fact that they both speak it fluently. That information alone gave us some insight as to who they were.

"Pierre, mon cher," an elderly woman greeted, kissing his cheeks. His mother. He embraced her and then simply shook his father's hand. His parents then moved right past Susanne, barely giving her a nod, and then greeted the children. They had yet to acknowledge me or Ana.

"Mère, Père, permettez-moi de vous présenter ma fille, Anastasia Steele."

"Ta fille. Quelle fille?" His father asked. Neither of them had yet to spare a glance at Ana.

Pierre reminded them of Rebecca and their relationship during the Bhutan's trip to the states. Ana was the result of that, and he hadn't known about her until recently. Pierre's mother scoffed and said there was no way Ana was his and why would he believe the words of some gold digging slut. I couldn't tell if she was referring to Rebecca or to Ana. Either way, she was being incredibly rude and didn't seem to care.

Susanne and Pierre were both quick to shut down her tirade before anyone's tempers got heated. Ana seemed to be playing it cool, but I could see the fire behind her eyes. Plus, it didn't appear that Pierre's parents knew that we spoke French. His mother went to say a particularly harsh insult, but he silenced her by saying that we both do indeed understand, "Mère, ils parlent tous les deux français."

Her face went a bit pale and she did glance at Ana finally. I think she noticed the resemblance to herself and swallowed down her words, thus sticking her foot in her mouth. "Et elle est entièrement capable de parler pour elle-même," Ana said, telling the woman that she could speak for herself.

"Madame, vous ne me connaissez pas, et peut-être que vous ne le souhaitez pas. Si c'est le cas, je vais vivre avec ça. Mais à tout le moins, vous devriez parler respectueusement à tout le monde dans la pièce." Ana found the best and most diplomatic way to put the woman in her place without simply telling her to shut up. She went on to inform them that it was in fact Pierre that reached out, not her, and if the gold-digging slut they were referring to was Rebecca, that she was dead and had been for quite some time.

Ana continued by telling them that she had her own money and no need for his or theirs. That once again, it was Pierre that got a hold of her, not the other way around. She had been adopted by a wonderful couple and had a fantastic father already. Additionally, she had a paternity test done. Upon hearing this, Pierre went to a nearby table and pulled a document out of the small drawer. Evidently, he'd been preparing for such a conversation and had the proof at hand.

His father took the paper and looked it over before handing it to his wife. "Donc, il semblerait que vos allégations sont vraies," Madame Bhutan said, still not believing that it was Pierre that reached out and not Ana.

"N'as-tu pas entendu un mot que je viens de dire?" Ana said, voice raised. I could tell Ana was getting angry, and I knew enough about her to know that if not contained soon, she'd blow a gasket. Not that I worried she'd harm anyone, but I knew she'd want a hell of a workout later. Whether that be in bed or in the gym, I hadn't figured out yet. Ana began talking more firmly and her stance was what I would call casual aggressive. Still seemingly calm, but her feet were planted and hands ready to strike at a moment's notice. I knew she would never physically harm the woman, but this was her defensive pose, nonetheless.

She reiterated what she had said about Pierre being the one that reached out and added that at first she was very skeptical, not having had positive relationships with any of her biological connections at that point. Her French was absolutely perfect and I'd bet any Native speaker would assume she was from France herself. When she was done with her speech, she stood there strong and firm, not breaking eye contact with the woman.

"It would seem you are indeed my granddaughter," the woman said in English. "Only a woman with Laurent blood could have a mouth like zat." Pierre was staring at her as if she'd sprouted a third eye. I recalled him and Susanne saying that his parents rarely if ever spoke English. His father began laughing and then came forward to greet Ana.

"Ma petite fille," he said, taking her hands in his. "Anastasia. You are beautiful. Please, come, you must tell us about yourself."

I let her go off with her new grandparents to what seemed to be a secondary sitting room near the one we were in. Pierre let them go as well, though partially because he was still frozen in shock over what just happened. "Ana has that effect on people," I explained. And she really did. But I wondered how deep of a relationship she would develop with them. Once one crossed Ana, it was difficult to get back on her good side. And they'd said more than one unkind thing about her. She'd likely keep them at arm's length at least for the time being.

While they chatted, I got better acquainted with Ana's new siblings. Andres seemed interested in my business and wanted to go into a similar line of work rather than what his father did, though there really wasn't a huge difference in our jobs. He focused on purchasing and selling properties, while I purchased businesses, fixed them and then released them. Audra hung on my every word, though I couldn't imagine she actually found any of it interesting.

Eventually, they emerged, just as dinner was announced. We moved to the dining room and sat where directed. Ana was at my side, Pierre on her other side, with his parents sitting across from us. Audra managed to snag the seat to my right, while Andres and Antoinette took up the ends.

Dinner was served, and it was delicious. Each course was announced and described as it was placed in front of us. "So Ana, tell us more about your charitable endeavors that I've been reading about," Pierre requested.

"Well, we had a giving-giving day on what would normally be called Thanksgiving in the US. Are you familiar with the tradition?" Collective nods were seen around the table. "I had an idea to offer a free meal to the homeless on the day, with all the traditional dishes. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, pies, and so forth. With his and my family's help, we reached out to other businesses to see who would like to sponsor a dish or donate to the cause.

"So many came on board; it was amazing. I think we fed over 3 thousand people one way or another, and from this project a new one was born. I've bought up some abandoned warehouse properties and will be converting them to housing. Also, knowing that many of these people may resist to be given a place to live for free, we're creating a job fair. Those that can help in the construction projects will be given jobs, and we'll hire as many as we can for various jobs throughout the city.

"Christian had a wonderful idea of helping out those that are homeless or jobless convicted felons. It's nearly impossible for many convicts to get jobs after they get out of prison, so they relapse into lives of crime and end up back in the system. It's a vicious cycle. He wants to do what he can to help these individuals." She reaches over and squeezes my hand, pride in her eyes.

"We're also going to re-vamp a line of salons that I own," I add. "With Ana's inspiration, we're renaming them Blue Rose. Blue for her lovely eyes, and Rose for her middle name. For those that we're helping, we're going to offer haircuts and salon services for free to get them on their feet again." Smiles and nods of approval were seen around the table.

"That all sounds lovely," Susanne complimented. "However we can help, please do let me know. Have you come up with a name for the project as a whole yet?"

"Not yet," Ana answers. "Usually we'd play on our surnames. His company is Grey Enterprises and mine is Steele Designs, but both names sound so cold and industrial. But we have a brilliant team of people. I'm sure we'll come up with something soon."

"The inspiration for your diner was your grandmother, yes?" Pierre asked.

Ana nodded. "Yes, I called her Mammaw, so that's what we named the diner. Many of the dishes served are her recipes, too. And for the coffee shop that we're working on, Christian's housekeeper, Mrs Jones, is the inspiration there. She'll be the manager of it, Jonzin' for Java. Planned to open after the new year."

Antoinette laughed. "Brilliant. Lov ze name."

Conversation continued as the courses came and went. The dessert was a exquisite Creme Brulee. Not a dish I've been a huge fan of, but being a good guest, I ate my small ramekin of it, and it was rather remarkable. "This is divine," Ana said. "I need this recipe. Christian, wouldn't this be great at the diner? Or if we do that higher end dining establishment we talked about?"

"It is excellent," I agreed. "Best Creme brulee I've ever had. Honestly."

Ana laughed. "I've never even seen you eat it before. I haven't made it in ages. But mine pales in comparison to this. It's like heaven in a ramekin."

"'Heaven in a Ramekin," Antoinette echoed. "Zat would be a lovely name for a dessert boutique, no?"

I could see about a million ideas run through Ana's head, and I realized her true passion. She was a restaurateur. She may not have the Chef credentials, although her dishes were incredible but she definitely had a taste for wonderful foods, and a mind to develop eateries that would win awards and have never ending clientele.

"Creme Brulee, Souffles, cakes, brownies, cheesecake, even savories like chicken pot pie or shepherd's pie. Oh Antoinette, you are a genius!" And thus I knew our foray into restaurants had only just begun. Mammaw's Diner was the inaugural project, and now that her charitable works are well under way, she'll be able to devote even more time to this plan.

Once dessert was complete, we retreated to the sitting room for after dinner brandy and more conversation. As usual, Ana declined the brandy and had to offer a brief reiteration of her reason for not drinking to the grandparents. This version was vastly edited for content and length compared to her earlier telling. "So, tell me about your other siblings," her grandmother requested. "Ethan and Kate, was it?"

Ana nodded. "Yes, Ethan is the middle child and Kate is the baby. They both work at Steele Designs. Ethan as an architect and Kate as an interior designer. In fact, there are even more connections between Christian's family and mine. Ethan is dating his sister Mia and Kate is dating his brother Elliot."

Pierre laughed. "Well, if all three of you pairs get married, it will be quite the unstoppable Grey-Steele clan."

"And why not Steele-Grey?" Ana asked, lifting one eyebrow. I knew that meant she was joking, but Pierre wasn't as tuned into her quirks yet. She realized he thought she was serious. "I'm joking. Grey-Steele sounds better anyway. Plus it's alphabetical."

Pierre laughed finally. "Now about this charitable project. You said it all began with a thanksgiving meal for the homeless?"

Ana nodded. "Yes, I want to give back. I have more money than I'll ever need, and I think it only fair that I give back. I want to help people. We had such a wonderful turnout for the giving-giving day, but then I knew they had to go back to the streets after that, wondering when their next meal would be. It's easy to help out once and say you've done your part, but really, all you did was help for a day. And it may have given some of them the right amount of support they needed to get back on their feet, but still so many are unable to work for various reasons or are in need of continued support.

"To me, it all starts with a roof over their heads. And for those that do not want to live in a stable place, and I know there are some, I want to offer places where they can have a nice hot shower, or wash their laundry. These facilities can be run by the ones that use them. Giving them an opportunity to make some money and get what they need. Free clinics for those that need medical care but can't afford the bills or insurance costs.

"And I know the funding for these ideas is out there. Not just in my own pocket, but plenty of others like me that have seen great success. And some of them just need the right motivation to give back." She punched her fist into her open hand.

"Well, count us in," Pierre agreed. "In any capacity you need us. We could make this an international endeavor."

Ana smiled. "That would be incredible, Pierre. Oh, I was thinking… perhaps I could use a different name for you? I have a 'Dad' already, but perhaps I could call you Papa or something?"

Pierre smiled so wide I thought he'd break his face. "Oui, mon tresor. Call me Papa. I would like that very much." His eldest daughter smiled in return, and then looked around the room to ensure everyone else approved. She had already created wonderful relationships with her half-siblings, but she didn't want to overstep. They all seemed overjoyed at the idea.

"Ana, tomorrow, I would like to take you to my favorite shops," Antoinette offered. "First to my coffee shop, then we'll hit all the hidden gems that the tourists never learn about."

"Sounds great to me," Ana agreed.

Conversation continued for a few more hours. Audra was sent to bed earlier than she'd have liked, followed by Andres. He seemed more or less willing to go to bed, given the drooping nature of his eyes. "You know, if we combined Audra, Andres, Antoinette, Me, Kate and Ethan, we'd be one shy of the Von Trapp children," Ana joked.

"I don't understand," I replied. "Who are the Von Trapps?"

Ana gawked at me. "You're not serious."

I shrugged. "If it's a reference to a movie or a tv show, you know I rarely watch those."

"Sound of Music," she said. "It's from the Sound of Music. You're seriously telling me you've never seen it?"

"Neither have I," whispered Antoinette. Her mother also indicated she hadn't seen it.

Ana was simply discombobulated. She kept opening and closing her mouth, unable to find the words. "This must be rectified," she iterated. "Antoinette, when we shop tomorrow, we should procure a copy of the film, then we'll have the first Steele-Bhutan movie night."

"We don't have a theatre suite like yours," Pierre commented. "But I own a cinema here in Paris. We could use one of the screens to view it, if you like. We may even have a copy of it in the archive. I'll call in the morning and find out."

"Would it be on 35mm film?" Ana asked, excitedly.

Pierre shrugged. "If we have it, then most likely, yes. A lot of our films have been converted to digital and we sell or discard the originals." Ana balked. "Not everyone is such a film aficionado as you are, mon tresor. The ones that are worth anything are sold, and the rest, discarded, as I said. I imagine such a film as Sound of Music would be worth a large sum, so we may not have sold it at all, if we had it."

I could see the gears turning in Ana's head. And knew she also wanted to open a theatre, showcasing classic films. Such a venue already existed in Seattle, but I knew she'd find a way to put a unique twist on it.

After a few more minutes, everyone decided to retire for the evening, with well wishes for the night and that we'd see each other at breakfast. "You want to open a theatre dont you?" I asked as we undressed and found our pajamas.

"I was thinking of a dine-in theatre, yes," she answered. "And I would like to show the classics. As many on original film as possible. I know they exist and there's a market for them. Plus, who doesn't love dinner and a show?"

"You're a restaurateur," I commented, making my thought from earlier known.

"A what?"

"A restaurateur. A person that owns and manages restaurants," I answered. I thought for sure she'd know that word.

She shook her head. "I know what the word means. Why do you call me that?"

"Because I believe that's what you are. What your calling is. Mammaw's diner was your idea. Jonzin' for Java your idea. You've had many others that are food related, and just today alone, Heaven in a Ramekin, and now this dine-in theatre. You have so many wonderful ideas in that brilliant mind of yours, and I intend to see to it that they all come to fruition. However I can help, I'm there. Steele Designs may be your job, but I believe your career is in restaurants."

"You think a dine-in theatre would go over well in Seattle?" she asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, absolutely. I saw the gears turning in your head about that, and remembered there's already a classic film theater in Seattle, but knew you'd find a way to put a twist on it. And lo, I was right." She smiled again. "Anything you put your mind to will be a resounding success. That much I've seen for certain."

With that, we climbed into bed, scooted towards each other, she wriggled into my arms, and we promptly fell asleep. Still a bit jet-lagged and burnt out on social interaction, we were both lulled into sleep listening to each other breathing.

In the morning, we were awakened by the sun filtering through the curtains. "Suddenly I miss the total darkness of my canopy bed," Ana mused, her voice muffled by the blanket she pulled over her head.

"Yes, it is nice. But this way we're up with the sun and can go and get 'em today."

She snorted. "You are way too much of a morning person, Grey." There was a soft knock at the door. "Come in," Ana called out. We were still in bed, but clothed in pajamas. We'd been too tired for any hanky panky. We both had been known to wake up in the night, and mess around, as Ana would say. But last night was not one of those nights.

The door opened slowly, and Antoinette peeked her head inside. "Êtes-vous tous décents?" she asked, wondering if we were decent.

"Oui," Ana replied, sitting up and revealing her favorite pajamas with the dragonflies. Ana hadn't yet donned her wig, of course, so who ever was coming in was going to get an eyeful of her very short hair.

"Bon," Antoinette answered, stepping further into the room. "I wanted to get an early start, si ça va-" Her words cut off when she saw Ana's nearly bald head. I thought she pulled off the shaved head look very well, and could keep it that way if she wanted.

"Oh yeah… with my brain surgery, they had to shave my head. It hasn't grown much yet." It had only been a few weeks, so she had about half an inch of hair. I'd had several wigs made for her that looked just like her natural hair and even I forgot on a few occasions that it wasn't real.

"Oh, no," Antoinette relied, shaking her head. "I think it looks wonderful. You have a great head for baldness." I didn't think that was quite what she was trying to say, but Ana seemed to understand. "But if you're going to wear wigs, you could get a little crazy with it, you know. Like a teal wig or silver, or multiple colors. I'll add that to our list of things to do today.

"With adding the visit to Papa's cinema to our plans, and now this, it's going to be tight, but we'll make it work. Especially if ze two of us go out for breakfast instead of eating with ze famille." Antoinette had a unique way of blending English and French rather seamlessly.

"Sure, just give me fifteen minutes to get ready?" Ana requested. Antoinette nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door. "Well, so much for a morning quickie," she teased as she slid out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.

I heard the shower cut on and then off within 5 minutes. She was the master of quick showers. Especially with not having the long mane of hair to wash, it was a breeze for her. I think she secretly liked that part. Brushing was a non-issue these days as well.

Having nowhere to go urgently, I decided to lounge in the bedroom a bit before making my way to breakfast with the rest of Ana's family. Plus, I wanted to talk with Pierre about certain ideas and having Ana not around would be ideal. Turned out Antoinette's tight schedule for the day was working out in my favor.

Ana emerged from bathroom, naked in all her glory, completely ignoring my salivating self and found an outfit suitable for a day roaming about Paris in December. She chose a light but dressy enough blouse with a sweater, and pants that I could only describe as breezy, the way the billowed around her as she moved. A simple pair of black boots and one of the wigs finished the ensemble. She'd applied a small bit of make up while in the bathroom, but she never wore much. She didn't need any.

She padded over to the bed to put on the shoes. I took the moment to yank her back and give her a searing kiss. She giggled. "You know I'm in a bit of a rush this morning. Don't start something we can't finish."

"Just something to remember me by," I replied. She laughed again. As she left, I saw her grab a hat and gloves from the travel case. Her coat was down the hall by the front door, I remembered. "I love you."

"I know," she replied. At my confused expression she sighed. "Ugh, you haven't seen that movie, either, have you?"

"Another movie reference?"

She snorted. "Of course. Have you met me? Star Wars. I love you, too. I'll see you later today. I have no idea when." Another kiss and she was out the door.

A few minutes later, I wandered into the bathroom and took a shower. Dressing in casual clothes, I made my way towards the kitchen and found Pierre there with a French Press pot of coffee, cream, sugar, and an array of pastries. "Bonjour," he greeted.

I replied in kind and mentioned that Ana and Antoinette had already left for the day. He nodded. "Oui, 'Nette, said she was going to attempt to get Ana out of the house right away. Lots of stuff planned, I suppose. Audra and Andres are off to their lessons for the day and my wife is god knows where with my parents. I guess they finally decided to warm up to her after Ana's little speech last night. she really does have an affect on people, no?"

"That she does," I agreed. "She had my family wrapped around her little finger within moments of meeting her, I think. And frequently has them changing their ways of thinking of certain things."

"You two are going to get married, yes? I see rings."

I smiled. "Promise rings, yes." I had absently been spinning the ring around my finger. A habit I'd taken up soon after it was placed there. "We know we're it for each other. Honestly, no one understands her the way I do, and it goes the other way, too. I know they say that your partner in life should complement you, not complete you, but in this case, we really do complete each other. I thought I was just fine before her. Successful, happy. But then she quite literally stumbled into my life and turned it on its head. I realized that I was merely existing but not living. That's all different now."

"And Ana has changed, too?"

I nodded. "I fell for her the moment my eyes met hers, but she was afraid of me. Well, not just me, but men in general. It's her story, and some of it you know, but after what she dealt with as a child, she had a strong wariness to just about anyone, but especially men.

"It was after she and I found each other that she was finally able to fully embrace anyone in her family. Before then, she was terrified of touch, of any kind of affection whatsoever. I had a lot of problems with physical touch, too. But not anymore. We healed each other."

"That's wonderful to hear. So you say you have promised each other… have you made any plans to make that permanent?" he asked.

Nodding again, I replied, "Yes. In fact, I'd like to propose while we're here on this trip." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small satin sachet that held an engagement ring that I'd had designed for her. Pierre held out his hand and I dropped it into his palm.

"A beautiful piece. One of a kind, no doubt." He looked it over a bit and then handed it back to me. I placed it carefully back in the sachet and back into my pocket. I had a hard case for it, but that would look bulky in my pocket and I didn't want Ana to get wise to the situation. "You're not going to propose under the Eiffel Tower, are you?"

"Well, I admit, I thought about it. But it would be awfully cliche." Truth be told, I had some to learn about being more romantic. Ana never complained, of course, but I did tend to move towards the cliche more often than not.

"From the way I see it. There's no planning the perfect moment, Christian. It helps that you carry the ring around with you. You never know when a magical moment will create itself. Could be during breakfast, lunch, while watching a movie, or simply walking the grounds. Or it may not be while you are in France after all. It could be any time."

"So, what you're saying is, don't rush it, or stress about it. I'll know when it's the right time." He simply nodded and smiled. I patted the ring in my pocket, hoping that the perfect moment would reveal itself to me very soon.

Ana checked in via text a few times throughout the day and sent some funny pictures of her and Antoinette trying on high fashion dresses at Antoinette's friend's studio. "I think I'll go as Lady Gaga for Halloween next year," was the caption of one of the images where she was wearing a wig shaped like a telephone and a dress that was basically a giant checkerboard, complete with pieces.

Ana needed this time with her sister. Time to just have fun and more or less be a kid again. She never got that chance as a child, having it ripped away from her rather violently. Even now she feels more like a mother to Ethan and Kate than an older sister. Sure she has a deep bond with the both of them, but rarely feels like she can be silly and joke around. It's good for her to have this time to just be sisters with someone.

Later in the evening, Ana and Antoinette finally returned home. Dinner was served not long after they returned, and they seemed ravenous as we all tucked into the meal. "Did you not stop for lunch?" I asked.

"Oh we did, at like eleven," Ana answered. "And nothing since then, and we've been running around like crazy. Plus spending an hour and a half searching through cans of film to find the 35mm Sound of Music."

"You had to search? My staff didn't do it for you?" Pierre asked, a bit upset at his employees. I would have been, too.

"Oh they were already searching when we arrived," Antoinette answered. "Turns out some idiot decided to use magnetic labels on the cans of film."

"Yes, and then the pile avalanched, so the labels went flying all over. We had to open each can, hold up a few frames to the light, and then find the corresponding label."

Pierre looked a bit sheepish. "It was my idea for the magnetic labels. They were supposed to be nice strong magnets. I thought if we ever get rid of some of the films, we could re use the cans for other films."

I could tell that it was taking everything Ana had to keep from chewing him out for his idea. "I can tell you were trying to be proactive, but instead it ended up costing your staff quite a few hours of work when they could or should have been doing other things. 'Nette and I having to help wasn't really a big deal. In fact they were grateful we showed up and offered two more pairs of eyes. It just put a bit of a damper in the rest of our plans for the evening. So we'll have to go out another day."

"Perish ze thought," Antoinette joked. Ana laughed with her. I wondered briefly if she'd have had such a great time if she'd been out with Mia. They got along really well, sure enough. Hell, they were business partners. But did Ana see Mia as a sister or friend? We had never really talked about it, or at least never put labels on it.

"The staff said they'd have one of the screens free tomorrow evening if we wanted to use it to view the film," Ana mentioned. "Anyone else have any prior engagements that they can't reschedule?"

"That sounds lovely," Susanne agreed. "May we invite friends as well? I know a few that would love a classic film like that."

Ana nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, of course. The more the merrier, provided they adhere to the rules."

"Rules?" Susanne asked.

"Oh here we go," I sighed. Ana laughed. "Basically all the proper etiquette rules of going to a cinema. It's nothing ridiculous."

"I agree, it's what I hold everyone to when I go to a movie theatre, and most places have a short video before the performance asking people not to use their devices or be obnoxious. I am very strict with my rules though. Any violations cost $5, which goes towards a tip for the pizza delivery person. Granted I doubt we'll be ordering pizza tomorrow, but still."

"Didn't your brother say he was banned from the theater for like six months or something?"

"He was. Not only did he forget to turn off his phone, it went off several times in a row. Right during the good part of Green Mile. I revoked his access to the theater for six months. This may sound drastic, but he even says it was a fair punishment. To us Steeles, the theater room is sacred ground."

"I recall a cinema I visited in the states once," Pierre piped in. "It was called the Alamo Drafthouse, I think. They had a full-service menu in the theatre, which was nice. I recall they had a disclaimer at the beginning of the film that you were not allowed to speak or access any devices throughout the film. They enforced it rather strictly. You were allotted one warning and then evicted from the theater without a refund. Seemed a bit much, but it certainly helped keep people present in the moment with the film."

Ana clapped and nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. It's not impossible to put the rest of the world on hold for a couple hours to watch a movie. If you can't, then you need to get your priorities in place or hire people that you can entrust your world to for two hours. I get those that have kids need to be accessible, but still… it's two hours. Any babysitter worth their salt should be able to handle your kids for that short period of time."

Clearly, my girlfriend felt very strongly about this, and I wasn't surprised. It then dawned on me that the cinema might be the perfect place to pop the question. I made a mental note to ask Pierre about the layout and began the planning stages of the grand gesture. Then again, Ana might want a private proposal, not to be put on the spot in front of family that she barely knows.

An idea pops into my head and I ask for a private moment with Pierre to work out the details. Ana doesn't seem wise to my plans, and doesn't even ask me about it later. She has another full day planned with Antoinette, giving me ample time to make my preparations with Pierre's help.

A/N: *I apologize if my French translations are incorrect. I'm using google translate, and I know it's not always on the mark.

How do you think Christian is planning to propose? Leave it in a review. Thanks so much for sticking with me on this journey!