Fifty Shades of Living

Turning Over a New Leaf

Sorry it took me a bit longer than I planned to get this chapter out to you. Hope you all enjoy it!

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(Ana's POV)

We just arrived back at the hotel. Carrick stayed behind for a little while to address the outcome of the trial to the press. Martin stayed behind as well to hitch a ride home with his wife. Grandpa rode back with us, which gave me a chance to ask him about Judge​ Allen's nickname story. He laughed it off at first. But with a little prodding, he gave in.

"Well, you kids don't know this, and it better not ever leave this car. But I grew up down the street from Merideth. Obviously she was quite a bit younger than me. When she was little, she used to sneak off and play down in this lil ol creek. She was about 5 years old at the time. I was 15 years old. Anyway, she used to go down there with a mason jar that she had swiped from her mom. She loved to find strands of frog eggs, and collect them. She'd fill that jar full of them and creek water, then bring em back home. Every few days she would go back down in that creek and collect fresh water. Basically she was raising these frog eggs until they hatched and turned into tadpoles, and then into frogs. Her daddy had thrown out this old metal basin, which is what she used to keep them in. She was dedicated, I'll give her that. I would watch her after the eggs had hatched and turned into these tadpoles. She'd sit there on the edge of that basin and stick her bare feet in the water letting them swim around her feet tickling them. She just giggled the whole time. Every day that summer I would stop by after my chores we're done, and hang out with her. I watched those tadpoles sprout their front and back legs, as their tails slowly disappeared. Once they became frogs, she would set them free in her momma's flower garden. I noticed one day that she was crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she didn't have anymore tadpoles, and how they had turned into frogs. I told her there would always be more. That's when she said that her favorite time was when they were just tadpoles. After that, I started calling her Tadpole Merry... short for Merideth of course. That was all fine and dandy until she got older. Addy and I had been married for a few of years. Your mom, Christian, was just a little thing....maybe 2-3 years old. We went out to this diner one night, and low and behold we saw Merry out on a date. We walked past her table and I nodded at her and said 'hey there Tadpole'. To say the least she was horrified and embarrassed. She glared so hard at me that night. In fact she didn't talk to me for nearly three months or so. After a while she got over it and we stayed friends. So now you know the back story on ol Tadpole Merry," Grandpa smiles.

"That is hilarious but cute Grandpa. So what did she say to her date to explain all that?" I ask him.

"Beats me. You'll have to ask Martin that one."

"Wait! You mean she was on a date with Martin? As in her husband Martin?"

"Yep! But I don't think she really ever told him the whole story. I think he believes that I call her that cause she's so tiny...like a little Tadpole," Grandpa laughs.

We're still laughing when we walk into the suite. First things first, I gotta hold my baby. He sees us and starts to squeal in delight. I rush to him, pick him up and hold him tight. Kissing him over and over. Knowing how close we came to losing him will haunt me for a long time. Christian is already in the process of having a CPO hired on just for him. We didn't think we would need one so early. We actually thought we'd have until Pre-K or kindergarten to do that. Christian is also updating our security system. He said it was too easy for those girls to get through the front gate. I can't blame him for wanting to protect our family.