Christian's POV:
I sat there staring at Ana as she sat with her head in her arms. My Ana looked so tired, as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Oh how I wish I can hold her hand and help her, I hate seeing her like this.
I don't for how long we sat there just staring at each other in silence, until Elliot broke it "So? What did you decide?"
All heads turned to Ana once his words were out. "I...I don't know." She said. "I can't leave them here alone." She muttered. What the actual fuck. How can she say this. They are not going to be alone. "Ana what are you talking about. They are not going to be alone. We will take care of them, you don't have to worry about that." I said as softly as I could. There was no point in pissing her off now. "No, I know. That's not what I meant. It's just that I never left them alone." She replied making me sigh..
"I know that this is hard. But be sure that I will take care of them like they are mine. You don't have to worry about that." Kate said before I could say anything. Her words seemed to calm Ana for I could see her expression change. "Kate I can't. Teddy has already missed 3 appointments, he can't miss more." She said softly. Kate sighed and looked away as she said "actually he only missed 2." She whispered the words out that I barely heard them. "What?how? When?" Ana asked surprised. "The second day he was here. I took him to the doctor." Kate said looking at the floor. "And I am only hearing about this now because??.." Ana yelled out. What doctor are they talking about, I have never seen Ana this mad before.
"He made me promise not to say. I am sorry Ana. " kate said looking at Ana now. "What did he say?" She asked after some time. "There is a 60% progress" kate said as her eyes glazed over. "60% that's great. But why do you look like this?" She asked as Kate looked away. "Damn kate what did he say. Is my baby alright. Please you are scaring me." Ana said panicking. I wanted to punch kate right now for scaring my baby like this. Ana was panicking next to me while Kate looked away as a couple of tears ran down her cheeks. "He can't go back to the game. His progress is great but he won't be able to handle the pressure." Kate finally said.
I felt Ana stiffen next to me as tears stained her cheeks. "Oh my god. But they said it was possible." She said looking at kate again. "He said maybe in a couple of years but not now." Kate replied as she held Ana's hand. "But it would be too late." Ana replied solemnly. "I know." Was kate's reply. We sat there in silence as Ana's tears kept flowing down. "How did he take it?" Ana asked suddenly. Kate shrugged and said "At first he was shocked and devastated, that's all I know. But a couple of hours laters he was back to normal. Like nothing happened."
Was this the day he went away with kate and came back shattered. But it seems that the girls are speaking in code, I looked at my parents but they looked as lost as I was. "Fine, he looked just fine. How could he be fine. Oh my god I can't believe this. Everything he worked for is gone. How can he fine about it. He is probably bottling it up, he has a great control on his emotions. This can't be good. Did he tell you anything or talk to someone." Ana asked frantically. "No, I tried to make him talk but he shut himself in the room. Later that night he just blew up and started yelling." Kate suddenly went silent as she looked at me.
She is probably thinking about the time when he blew up in my face, screaming and shaking. I hate that I don't understand anything that they are talking about, but now isn't the time to ask. "And?? What happened Kate?" Ana said pulling me out of my thoughts. "He kind of had an episode, but I gave him his shot and he got better." Kate rapidly added she saw Ana's face darken. "What the hell Kate. I trusted you to take care of him. All this happens and you don't tell me. I trusted you." She gritted out.
Not good. Definitely not good. Now there is no way she would trust us with them. "Ana I am sorry but that's not something I could control. I didn't think that something like this would happen. And when he got better he begged me not to tell you, he said you would get worried for no reason while you were states away." Kate said. "Not worry? Kate are you even hearing yourself?" Ana said exasperated. "I am sorry Ana, but he made me promise and I didn't want to break his trust. The last thing he needs is more stress." Kate said as Ana looked at her. "Yeah I get it, sorry I over reacted but I can't imagine not being there for him, I can't fail him." She said shaking her head.
"It's okay. It if was Ava or Kevin I would feel the same. But the important thing is that he is better now." Kate said smiling through her tears. "Yeah. I will call Dr. Gomez and tell him." Ana said nodding. "Ana I think all he needs is this, he needs a break. He needs to get away from everything around him, he needs a change of scenery after everything." Kate said as Ana stared at her. "This could positively affect him, staying here away from the memories. Please you have to give this a shot." Kate says. "But what if this backfires. What if he goes back to isolating himself. I barely got him back, I can't lose him, not again." Ana says shaking.
I seriously need to know what they are talking about. But I am sure that if I ask they would tell me that that's not their story to tell. I need to hear the story from Teddy, I need to gain his trust, then he would tell me. "Ana don't. He is a fighter, he won't break easily. And here he has us, and if I feel that he isn't improving I will send him back. I promise." Kate says as Ana sighs. After a couple of minutes of silence as Ana thinks, she finally says the words that I have been waiting for "Okay fine, I am leaving them here but I have some conditions." She says after a couple seconds of silence.
"What ever you want." I said finally as relief washed over me. There is a chance for me to get my family back. "First, it is up to them if they want to stay or not. I am not going to force them." I nodded my head at that, it was actually logical. I wouldn't want to force them either. "Second, don't overwhelm them, they are not used to big families specially the girls so please just don't. Give them time to familiarize themselves with you." She said looking at us all. We all nodded again because as usual my Ana was right. "That's it for now." She said as her eyes glazed over.
Oh my god, seeing her like this broke my heart. But why is she crying, it's not like I am taking them away from her. She simply wiped the tears away once they fell down her cheeks. She looked at all of us as her voice raised "if at any second any single one of them becomes uncomfortable I want them to be on the first plane back. " once again we all nodded, I don't plan on making them uncomfortable. "Is there anything we should be aware of. Any house rules you have, or needs for the kids." I asked. After all, I don't want to mess everything for them and ruin their routine.
"Yeah." She said " keep an eye on Teddy. If you ever see him getting tired just give him his medication." "What medication?" I asked as kate nodded ."he has it with him, and if things get out of control contact Danny." Who the hell is Danny? I wanted to scream out but once again Kate beat me to it.
"Danny??" She asked confused. "Sorry I mean Doctor Danniel Gilbert" she said smiling. Why the hell is she calling the doctor danny. Who the hell is he. Are they dating? Is she with him? Did she move on? "So now you are on first name bases with the good doctor." Kate asked her winking. I looked at Ana to see her reaction, and she had the fucking audacity to blush. What the hell. That Danny boy is trying to steal my girl. Hell no. She is mine, no one else's. Only mine. "No thank you we won't be calling him." I snapped and regretted it when she flinched. "This is not a choice. If he gets tired call his damn doctor. I will give you his number and he is on speed dial on all the kids phones." She gritted out while glaring at me. "My child's health isn't a game and if you can't comply with what I am saying then I can't leave them." She said. Shit no.
"I am sorry, I over reacted. Don't worry we will call shit head Danny if anything happens." I said. As she smiled in triumph. "Okay good. I am going to call Danny and tell him to transfer his file to the doctor here so he can continue his therapy. He can't miss his sessions." She said to Kate as she nodded. "Yeah, of-course. I won't let him miss any appointment and make sure that he is taking his medication. Don't worry abou that." Kate said as Ana sighed. "Please do that, he might actually benefit from being here after all." She said smiling for the first time.
"Okay, now that we have this covered is there anything else?" At this Ana looked at me and smiled sadly "yes there is one more thing, if Teddy is ever having a nightmare don't get near him. Try to wake him up from far unless you want to be used as a punching bag. Trust me, I learnt that the hard way." She said rubbing her cheek. What the hell, he hit her. Why would he do that? I saw him once having a nightmare but I thought that it was because he was here, away from his home. But the way she is talking it seems that nightmares is something normal for him, what happened to my boy. Why is he that scared?
I nodded my head at her and said "okay got that" trying to keep things smooth. "That's about it." She said. "Umm what about the girls anything to look out for?." I asked noticing that all she talked about was Teddy. "Shit, yes sure " she said as she pulled her bag from the couch and dug into it. She pulled 3 inhalers and handed me, Kate and mom one each. "These are for katy, if you ever see her breathing get labored just give it to her." She said sitting down again. "She won't tell you that she needs it, she hates it actually. So just keep an eye on her and give it to her if you see her struggling. Keep these around at all times cause with her energy you never know when she might need it."
Holding the inhaler in my hand, it reminded me of Theodore's words, my baby has asthma because of me. The darkness start creeping around my soul slowly as Ana's words sunk in. Here I am holding in my hand the physical proof of the damage that I have done, the pain that I caused. This is not the time for mourning, I need to focus on Ana so I don't miss a thing.
"Please don't let her run too much or exhaust herself, she gets tired fast even if she doesn't say. And no chocolate or candy after 5 pm unless you want her to jump around all night." I heard Ana say and chuckled. Okay so no chocolate at night and no running.
"Okay, got this. Anything else?" I asked. She shook her head. "Theodore and Phoebe can pretty much take care of her. As for Phoebe she won't be any trouble as long as you don't piss her off. In case you do, then all I can say is good luck." She said smiling at a distant memory it seems. "Okay great." I said smiling.
"Can ask you one more thing?" I said. I needed to ask her this, I need to make her accept it, but how."Yes." She said and looked at me expectantly as I tried to find my words. Well here goes nothing. "Can the kids stay at our house? Instead of here??" I asked emphasizing the word OUR. I want her to know that she still belongs in that house no matter what. She froze in her spot and started looking at me like I have grown a second head.
A.N:
I hope you liked the long chapter and don't worry about the next update it will be posted soon. I am already half you done with it. Thanks again for you patience and love you😍😍 comment your opinion, I am waiting.