Chapter Fifty-Nine
It came down to a very heated, nearly physical argument between Blake and Ian before Ana found herself standing in the living room of what used to be her apartment. Her stuff had been loaded into a truck downstairs; a lot of it was being donated to a variety of different places. Some of it was headed to Blake's house.
And so was she.
Blake was conservative, very much so, even if he'd acted the opposite at times in the past. But it didn't change the fact that he'd said many times he wouldn't live with a girl until they were married. It was just one of his own personal promises, one that he'd discussed with his brother and parents a long time ago.
But this wasn't a normal situation, and the simple fact of the matter was that Ana had a multitude of places to live but none of them that made any sense. Why would she move back in with her parents when she was twenty-three years old and engaged to be married in six months' time? Why would she live with her best friend, who was a newlywed and enjoying his life with his husband, and cause a burden on them for half a year unnecessarily (even though Ian denied it was a burden). No way in hell was she going to move in with any of her siblings, all married and two with kids of their own.
And why in the world would she move into another place for a six-month lease when her fiancé had his own house and more than enough space?
Blake had talked to his parents about the situation and the circumstances. Ana knew that while he wasn't going to let them make this decision for him, he didn't want them to think he was casting away all of the conversations they'd had in the past about him living with someone. She had a feeling that even though he wouldn't admit it, he was searching for their blessing in a way. An, "It's okay sweetheart, we understand. Of course."
Ana looked up at Blake when he slid an arm around her waist. There was still blood on the carpet where Ana had shot Brian in the knee. The door to the half bath in the hallway was broken from where her attacker had kicked it open. A big scratch on the wall from the chair.
"You ready, baby girl?" He looked concerned, just like he had since she'd been back.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Since this whole thing is getting pretty official, are we going to buckle down with the wedding planning?"
He smiled, moving his arm to take her hand. The door closing behind the two of them once they stepped out into the hallways felt like a chapter closing on a chapter of her life. And now she had only Blake and more happiness to write for herself.
"Somehow, I feel like Ashley's been planning behind our backs. But I don't have a problem with that. We are kind of getting low on time. Don't people usually give themselves like a year to plan?"
"Something like that." Ana tossed her ponytail back over her shoulder, looking up at him. "Maybe we should write down all of the people we want to be there and give it to Ashley so she can get the invitations out by the end of the week."
"I think that'll be harder for me than you, given basketball and shit." Blake actually sounded a little annoyed that he was a professional athlete with lots of friends. Ana giggled, shaking her head. "What's so funny?"
"You," she said simply. They climbed into his Tesla, and Blake stared at her with a few blinks until she elaborated. "It's just, you sounded annoyed that you have friends. Your list is going to be a lot longer than mine. I've never had a huge number of friends. I've really only ever had family."
"I don't have to invite everyone," Blake said quickly. "I can cut it down so that our lists are equal."
Ana shook her head again, this time in disagreement. She took his hand as he started driving, reaching to turn the radio down slightly so it was in the background. "I wouldn't be able to let you do that, Blake. I want everyone who you feel is important to you to be there. It doesn't have to be equal in that way."
"But your maids and my groomsmen have to be equal," Blake pointed out.
"That's just for symmetry and to make my head not hurt. I'm weird like that. I don't like odd numbers unless it's on a volume reader." Blake laughed, because it was true. He'd picked up on how Ana liked the volume to be on numbers that ended in 5 or 0, and nowhere in between. "We've figured that out though, remember."
"Yeah, I think so. I've got Taylor, Chris, DJ, Jamal, Josh, Tucker, Justin, Ian, Jeremy, and Wesley. Well, Ian if he'll still do it. That's all right?"
Ana had been counting with her fingers with each name Blake rolled off his tongue. "That's ten. I have Katherine, Shelby, Ashley, Alec, Amber, Jada, Ayesha, Linda, Brynn, and Marieka. That was ten, right?"
"I didn't count," Blake admitted, pulling off the highway early. She must have looked confused, because he explained, "I'm getting Ford for the next couple of nights." Ana repeated the names of her bridesmaids, this time with him counting. "Yeah, that's ten."
"The next step is figuring out who walks with who. There are plenty of couples, but the maid of honor has to walk with the best man. So that leaves Marieka the odd girl out."
"Well, DJ and Amber can go together, same with Alec and Ian, Chris and Jada. I don't think it matters too much how we go from there to be honest. Do you think it matters?"
"Not really. I'm sure Ashley will have something in mind."
"When are you going to get your dress?" Blake asked.
"Ashley said she has a surprise for me. I'm not really sure way that means. She got my measurements and took some pictures of me. Then she asked me what I'd really like and what I wouldn't, and that's all we've really talked about. But I know we're going up to New York during the All-Star game to go shopping."
"You're going to come to the All-Star game with me?"
"If you make it," Ana teased. But Blake was a fan favorite, even with a ton of people not liking him for some stupid reason. He'd been an all-star since he entered the league. Somehow she doubted it would change this year. "But yeah. Have you ever seen 'Say Yes to the Dress?'"
"What do you think?" Blake asked bluntly.
"Right. Anyways, it's about this wedding dress place in New York City. They help girls choose their dress for the big day and ask them if they'll 'say yes to the dress.' Hence the name. But, I really want to go there. I'm hoping that's where Ashley's going to take me."
"You want to be on the show?"
"Not exactly. It's one of the top places, if not the top place, to get a wedding dress in the country. I want to get my dress there, because I feel like it's the best."
"How much am I going to be paying for this dress?" Blake asked. He sounded a little worried.
"You're not paying for anything," Ana told him. "My daddy promised me when I was a little girl that he'd buy me whatever wedding dress I wanted that made me feel like a princess. I don't think he's going to come with us, because the whole dress thing is way out of his element. He didn't last two minutes when we went for Kat's, but he'll give my mama his card and tell us to have fun."
"Am I paying for anything with this wedding?"
"Um, I don't think so. Are you supposed to?"
"I just feel weird not helping out."
"I guess you never saw yourself marrying 'up,'" Ana commented.
"No, and that sounds bad."
"It doesn't sound bad at all, Blake. Not at all. There aren't too many who make more money than you do, especially women. And since you said you actively avoid people in Hollywood and things like that, it's not surprising you assumed you'd marry someone with less money than you. And technically, I don't have as much money as you. My dad has more money than you."
"Your dad had my money and then some at like thirty."
Ana played with Blake's hand, messing with his long fingers and big knuckles. She squinted slightly at his fingerprints and seeing a couple scratches. He'd been biting his nails again, which meant his resolution wasn't going very well.
When they pulled up to Chad and Brynn's home, they walked up the way to the front door. Ana rang the doorbell.
"Why don't you two just barge on inside? We won't mind," Chad said in greeting. The man Ana had known for as long as she'd known Ashley pulled her over the threshold into a tight hug. He hadn't seen her since the incident. "How are you this hot day, squirt?"
"I'm pretty good. We just moved me out of my apartment." She gave him a little squeeze back before stepping towards Blake. "How are you?"
"Splendid. Working all the time, at the office and at home. These twins are becoming a reality faster and faster."
"Ana," Brynn said happily. She walked in from the kitchen in a pretty sundress and a toddler on her hip. It looked as if her belly had grown even more in the two days since they'd last talked (which had been the day after the incident).
Blake reached to relieve his ex of their son, who was sucking on his finger. "Daddy!"
"How're you feeling?" Ana asked Brynn after the two women hugged and kissed cheeks. "Still having sickness, or has it passed?"
"Oh no, she threw up this morning when she heard the skillet," Chad said with an exasperated shake of his head. "I don't understand biology. That's why I went to law school."
"A-freaking-men," Blake agreed.
Brynn rolled her eyes. She looped her arm through Ana's and started to draw her towards the stairs. Ana gave one last glance back at the men, but they were heading towards the living room to do Lord knew what. So Ana relented to being led up to look at the nursery for the twins.
Close to an hour later, Blake was letting them into his house. Ford walked ahead of them, searching out his Olaf and Chaney immediately. He was over the moon to have LeeLee and his kitty back with his daddy. And sooner or later, he'd catch on that Ana was there for good.
"I'm going back to work tomorrow," Ana told Blake. He plopped onto the couch next to her while Ford played in the floor with the pets. ESPN was turned on in the background. Blake gave her look, as if he didn't approve. "Look, I understand you're worried about me. But I'm okay. I'm really okay. I'll be at work with Ian and Linda. I'll have my employees there with me too. My black eye is gone, and so are the cuts and scrapes. You can't even tell it happened anymore."
"The physical stuff isn't what I'm worried about," Blake said seriously.
"I know," she said softly. He drew her up onto his lap like she weighed nothing. It brought here above his eye level, but she liked it. He wrapped his arms around her waist, linking his fingers together to rest on her hip. Ana rested her arm around his shoulders. "But I'm okay there too."
"Are you sure? I know you're strong, baby girl, but this isn't something small. Things could've gone so badly, had just one thing not happened right."
"We can't dwell on what could've happened, Blake." Ana ran her thumb over the crown of his cheek. "A lot of things could happen, but we can only deal with what does happen. And what did happen was my ex-boyfriend stalked me, knocked me around, and he nearly raped me. But he didn't, because I put up a fight he wasn't expecting. And I have a pistol. It's not for show. I'm a damn good shot."
She saw him wince slightly when she described her incident so nonchalantly, but she was done giving Brian power over her. Being scared, remorseful, any negative emotion just gives him control. I learned that a long time ago, and I'm done. You need to be done too."
"I don't know if I can, Ana. I'm just so damn mad. What I wouldn't do to just," Blake cut off, his eyes looking at his son on the floor. The little boy looked up at that moment, and he gave his dad a huge smile. Blake smiled too, his eyes warming. "But I know. I understand where you're coming from. Unfortunately, you got so much more time to get to this point. I'm going on three days, and it's not easy for me when I think it's my fault."
"Blake," Ana began.
"No, Ana, please. I understand, you don't think it's my fault. But I do. And until something is done about him, until he's in jail and rotting like he deserves, I don't think I'll have much closure on this."
"That's not going to be any time soon, so I really want you to work with me on that, okay? Let's focus on us. The three of us. Our wedding, and that little angel right there." Ana smiled down at Ford, who was laying with his head on Chaney's shoulder. "I really want another puppy. I miss Daisy."
"Are you ready for another dog?"
"Yes and no," Ana said truthfully. "But I think I know what I want next. You're not going to approve."
"I will not have a small yappy dog in my house. I'll drop kick it into next week when it doesn't shut up."
"So no maltee-poo," Ana giggled. The look Blake gave her answered that question. "Don't worry, I don't want a small yappy dog. I actually have a much bigger type in mind." Blake raised a brow at her. "I want a Great Dane."
"I'm not having a Great Dane in my house," Blake said immediately in exasperation.
"Aw, come on, they're so cute!"
"They're a mini horse, Ana. That's not cute. And I have a lot of valuable things here. It would make a mess and be way more trouble than it's worth. And what about Ford? Or when we start a family? You think a Great Dane would be a good idea around kids?"
"Well, if we got it as a puppy it would be fine. It's no different than any other type of dog. Please just think about it?"
"I don't have to think about it, because the answer is going to be no."
Ana jutted her bottom lip out in a cute little pout. She had hoped it would get him to consent to it, but it didn't. It just made him roll his eyes and turn his attention to the television. Ana glared half-heartedly at the side of his face, vowing to change his mind.
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Ana entered Staples Center for the first time in nearly three weeks for the last home game against the Brooklyn Nets before the team embarked on their Grammy road trip. She wore a pair of white jeans and a red blouse. On her hip, Ford was content in her arms like he always had been. Now that Brynn was getting bigger and still working her managing shifts at Ashley's boutique, she wasn't coming to games as often.
"LeeLee," Ford said once they'd sat in Blake's seats. Jeremy, Cody, and Maliah hopped into their own. Jeremy had brought a few of his baseball buddies from school to lay claim to Jonathan's remaining tickets for the game.
"Hey now, one second sweetie." She reached into her purse and pulled out a little baggie of sliced fruit Diana had fixed him. He picked a piece of kiwi out and stuffed it in his mouth. "There you go."
She looked down the row towards her brother when she heard her name amongst them. They kept glancing her way in awe. She made a face somewhat short of a frown, wondering what they were talking about. Then she heard "engaged" and "Griffin" filter over Cody, Maliah, and Ford's heads, and she understood the glances.
Apparently, it was a hot topic that your older sister was engaged to the biggest name in Los Angeles sports at the current moment.
"Lili," Cody said. "My head hurts."
Ana frowned slightly, reaching into her purse again this time for his kit. Ford looked up at her as she bent with him on her lap, munching away on his snack. She worked around him. "Ugh, Jerm, can I have some help?" It was hard to deal with a baby on her lap and another two next to her.
Jeremy plucked the kit out of her hand and went to plucking Cody's finger and waiting for the reading. He was low, a bit lower than his usual low. Jeremy stood (and his friends did too), and they went off to get some popcorn and soda. To tide him over, Ana offered her little brother a piece of Ford's fruit.
"Lili, Blake play?" Maliah was holding a little baby doll under her arms. She had her hair in cute pigtails with big red and blue bows.
"That's right sweetie, he's gonna play down there and he's gonna do well. Isn't he buddy?" She gave Ford's shirt a little tug over his tummy, but he just kept on munching. She smiled. "Did you have your daddy date today, sweetie?"
"Yeah," she said calmly. A smile split her face as she gazed her beautiful hazel eyes up at Ana. "We had pizza."
"Pizza? I bet it was yummy." Ana bounced her leg absentmindedly, brushing her fingers over Cody's head. "Don't worry baby. Jerm's gone to get you something. Your blood sugar is a little low. Has it been low all day at Auntie Kat's?"
Cody nodded. Usually, when your blood sugar went low, it kept fluctuating around that level all day. Cody was rarely high. He was nearly exclusively low if his levels were messing up. It's one reason why there was always some sort of fruit juice waiting.
The game was a blowout. It wasn't really interesting, but more of a roller coaster ride that seemed to be constantly going up. Blake didn't step foot on the court in the fourth quarter, and the team still won by nearly forty points over the visiting team from the east. When Ana was trying to make sure every kid was accounted for, Jeremy was hounding her.
"Can we go back and see Blake? Please, Lili?"
"Jerm, I don't know, okay? I'd have to ask." But he just gave her the most hopeful look, and the other two friends did too from over his shoulder. She sighed. "I'll ask. You all just sit." She lifted a fussy Ford onto her hip and opted to just call Blake instead of texting him. Because her new iPhone 6 was just a little too big for her to handle texting with one hand.
"Ana? Is something wrong?" Blake actually answered. He was probably about to get into the shower.
"Nothing's wrong, other than your son's fussy." To punctuate her statement, the little blonde gave a loud cry of frustration. He wanted something and she wasn't too sure what it was exactly. "But Jerm brought some friends to the game, and he was wondering if they could meet you and some of your teammates."
"How many are there?" Blake asked cautiously.
"Just two and Jerm," Ana promised.
"Okay, that's fine. Come on back. They'll let Cody and Ford into the locker room if you want too."
"All right. We'll see you shortly."
Ana led the excited teens and the fussy little kids into the back. Ford was caught between wanting attention from Ana and wanting into the locker room. But in the end, the possibility of having his daddy won out and he waddled his way around the corner with Cody into the bustling locker room. Now that her arms were free, Maliah was quick to request to be held.
"You know, I'm starting to second guess this whole wanting a big family thing," Ana mumbled to herself as she lifted her little sister into her arms. Maliah wrapped her arms around Ana's neck and looked towards Jeremy now that he was the only one left with his friends. "Jerm, where's your watch?"
Jeremy cut off mid-sentence to look over at her. "Oh, I don't wear it casually. It's so nice, and I don't want it to get messed up or anything."
"It's not fragile," she teased him. "But I understand."
Chris was the first to emerge from the locker room with his son in tow. He barely even glanced in their direction, instead heading towards the media room down the hall. Blake came next a few moments later, but Ford was nowhere in sight. Ana just assumed he was inside with DeAndre while Blake got his obligations with the media out of the way.
Ana leaned against the wall, pulling out her phone to scroll through her Twitter feed as she waited. She followed a number of sports writers that followed the Clippers who happened to be in the media room, so she got a few play-by-plays of questions asked of Chris and Blake and their responses on how well the game had gone. Maliah tried to scroll for her and play on her phone, which was a little annoying and she tried to hold the phone out of her way. But when kids wanted something, they found a way to get it.
"Hey, JD. What's up, man?" Blake's voice sounded from a little down the hall.
The NBA power forward shook his little brother's hand and slapped him on the back. His two friends by his side were quite star struck as they looked up at the superstar in front of them that had greeted their friend so naturally. Ana shook her head, not understanding it to a degree. Yes, when she'd met Blake for the first time she'd been a little flustered but it hadn't stemmed from who he was and more about what he looked like. How could you not get flustered by a jawline like that?
"Daddy," a little voice chirped.
DJ had Ford on his shoulder when he emerged from the locker room and a five year old on his left leg, and wasn't too keen on giving either up just yet. The big man entered the conversation with the three teens, cracking jokes and making friendly bets with no substance on what would happen the rest of the season.
After nearly fifteen minutes of conversation, Ana had sent Jerm with her keys to her car with Maliah and Cody. Blake handed his snoozing son over as he leaned down to steal a kiss.
"Was the game okay?" he asked her in a whisper.
She knew he didn't mean the actual play on the court, but just her being in the stands and all. Even though he had no reason to worry, Blake still did. "It was perfect, other than having to deal with three babies and three minors but I think I pulled it out."
"Are you going to take Ford home with you or back to Brynn's?"
"We're gonna go home for the night," Ana smiled slightly at the top of his head. "Brynn's probably asleep anyways."
"It's not even ten-thirty yet."
"You have two babies growing in your stomach while working a full time job and tell me how you hold up," Ana shot back without a thought.
"Touché," was all he said in response.
Blake shifted closer, his right hand coming up to cup her cheek. Ana let her eyes slip closed as he leaned in for another kiss. This one was a few sensual moves of his lips against hers with a few swipes of his tongue. Her heartbeat pattered in her chest, kicking up along with the sensations that accompanied each kiss Blake ever gave her. His free arm slipped around her, drawing her against his chest. The movement, although slow, jostled the baby in her arms when he felt his dad bump his back.
Ford gave an indignant whine, promptly breaking the moment.
"Oh, I'm sorry buddy." Blake urged his son to look at him. "Now, now, no whining. Shush. None of that."
Ana brushed his hair from his forehead, drawing the baby to rest his head on her collar once again. He went reluctantly as only a child could, but hid his face once again. "As I'm going to assume you didn't second check your suitcase before you came to the arena today, I'm going to tell you now that everything you need is in there. And you have extra underwear too."
Blake smiled. "Thank you, baby girl. I'll see you in two weeks."
She gave him a brave smile, but it was hard. Ana didn't want him leaving for such a long period of time when they'd only just made up from the blow up. Blake must have seen it, because he pressed three quick kisses to her lips.
"I'll skype you whenever you want, and I'll have my phone on me at all times except for practices and games, okay? You call me if you need me, but your family will be there. Ian is five minutes from the house if you ever need something."
"I know," she mumbled. "I love you."
"I love you too baby girl." He gave her one last peck and kissed the top of Ford's head before he headed towards his exit.
Ana watched him leaving, feeling a little sick to her stomach. Separation always hurt, but he was going to be back. And this time, they would be talking. No ignoring calls or texts. And she wouldn't be vulnerable in her apartment; she'd be safe in his house with Chaney and Olaf.
I wonder, she thought to herself as she carried Ford towards her car. If I buy a puppy while Blake is on the road, can he really do anything to me about it?
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This one is a bit longer, and it's getting back to Ana's point of view as the relationship progresses. I've got a number of different things in mind for this story, it's just actually getting a chance to write. I'm working again this summer, and it's currently six days and 44 hours. So I'm booked. But I'm going to write!
I hope you all enjoy this update!