Christian & Ana Grey Family Home
Seattle, Washington
"Come and sit down, Christian. You're going to wear a hole in the floor with your pacing back and forth." Ana says to her husband. She is worried about her beloved husband since they met Edna Reynolds earlier in the day at WSU. Her revelations could give some light on the past of Christian's mother Ella. Ana hoped it would be able to give Christian some disclosure and he would be able to shed many of his shades of grey.
"Your parents and Dr. Flynn should soon be here. Calm down and come sit beside me." Ana. "We'll play later. I know you'll feel a lot better afterwards."
Christian sits down and pulls Ana onto his lap. "Oh, Baby. You are so good to me. You always know just what I want. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you." His mouth captures Ana's and his tongue explores her mouth. Their hands start fondling each other. Christian pushes Ana down onto the cushions and follows her down so that he is laying on top of her. Ana starts to wrap her legs around Christian's waist when they both hear someone coughing. They pull apart and look up to see Grace and Carrick Grey standing at the entrance to the living room with big smiles on their faces.
"Mom. Dad. How long have you been standing there?" Christian says with a sheepish look as stands to walk over to his parents. He leans down to kiss his mother on the cheek and hugs his father. Ana is blushing as she stands up and walks over to hug and kiss both Grace and Carrick.
Carrick responds "Oh I don't know. Several minutes I think. I thought it best to finally make our presence known before your Mother saw more than she needs to see. God. You two still act likely newlyweds." Ana blushes an ever deeper shade of red.
"As Mom's a doctor, I'm sure she's seen a lot. And with all of the bimbos Elliott used to bring home when he was still living at home, I would think she's seen it all." Christian says with a laugh, not in the least embarrassed at the thought of what his parents may have seen if they had arrived a few minutes later.
"What have I missed?" John Flynn asks as he walks into the room. "Hello Ana." He says as he kisses her on the cheek. "Thank you for calling me."
"My Father is trying to claim that they had to interrupt Ana and I before we got too pornographic." Christian responds. "Like they've never made out before. Maybe some of my shades of grey is recessed memories of what I saw them doing when they didn't know that little eyes were watching." Christian continued with a twinkle in his eye. "John, maybe you can pay for your next vacation by investigating that concept with me."
Ana rolls her eyes at her husband's teasing comments. Christian sees that and pulls her to his side and whispers in her ear "I'm always counting." She shivers at the thought of the joys that later will bring. "I count on that Sir." She whispers back as her hand reaches behind Christian to squeeze his ass.
Ana takes a deep breath and turns her attention to her guests. "Please, everyone take a seat. Christian, would you get drinks for everyone. I think we are all going to need at least one drink."
John Flynn takes a seat in a single chair and sits back to watch whatever it is that is about to unfold. Grace and Carrick take seats together on one of the couches. Ana takes a seat on another couch facing her in-laws. Christian joins her after delivering drinks to everyone. Ana takes Christian's hand in hers to off support.
Ana looks at Christian and he nods, giving his assent to start. She tells them about James Conner interviewing her a few weeks ago and his comment about her reminding him of his mother. She ignores Christian's laugh when Grace says "Oww. That was bound to happen sometime, but it is always difficult the first time. Sorry Ana, please continue."
Ana continues recounting the revelations from earlier today. At the reception following the graduation ceremony today, James introduced me to his parents Richard Conner and Edna Reynolds from Chicago. "And yes, Edna does look a lot like me, albeit older." She ignores Christian's smirk.
"But that wasn't the shock. The big shock was when Christian joined us. Edna said 'Bobby' and fainted. Apparently Christian is the spitting image of Bobby White, the boyfriend of her twin sister, Ella, when they were teenagers. Ella became pregnant when she was 16, running away with Bobby when her father disowned her."
Ana squeezes Christian's hand. "I am sure Edna's sister is Christian's mother. Edna and Ella grew up in an affluent suburb of Detroit. Their father was a very controlling man. Bobby was the son of their housekeeper. She was fired when the lovers ran away. The father became even more controlling over Edna and she was unable to have any communication with her sister. By the time she gained freedom by going to college in Chicago, she was unable to locate her sister. She did eventually locate the housekeeper, Margaret White. Bobby and Ella had started a life for themselves in Detroit looking forward to the birth of their child. The baby boy was born June 18 1983." Ana hears gasps from her guests, but proceeds with her story. "The day after the baby was born, Margaret had had to leave town with her new employers on an extended vacation in Europe. When she returned, other people were living in Bobby and Ella's apartment and were unable to tell Edna where they had moved. Ella went to the police and discovered that Bobby had been killed in a hit and run accident only a few days after she had left for Europe. The police had no record on what became of Ella or the baby. Edna has spent a lot of time and money over the years, but has never been able to locate Ella or the baby.
Ana addresses Carrick and says "Grace admitted to me today that you do have additional information about Christian's background which you never shared with anyone - including Grace." Carrick nods. "Please let us know what other information you have. I think the time has come."
Carrick reveals information he had kept secret for over thirty years. At the time he was given the information, the important thing was that he and Grace were allowed to adopt Christian. Given the emotional condition that Christian was in at that point in time, and then the hostility he had towards everyone as he grew older, Carrick chose to keep the information to himself. He did not even share it with Grace. She accepted and trusted Carrick that she knew the pertinent details and was better off not knowing the rest.
Before the Greys were able to legally adopt Christian, authorities had to ensure that there were no living biological family members who would raise objections. Grace, anxious to be able to adopt the poor little waif that had been brought into ER, gladly accepted the word that there was no one claiming Christian and did not ask any questions. However, Carrick, being a lawyer, wanted any information available. When he read the files he received, he gladly kept it secret from Grace and Christian.
Carrick informed the group that the information in his files corresponds to the information Edna Reynolds revealed to Ana and Christian earlier in the day. Authorities had tracked down Ella's biological parents, Frederick and Elizabeth Reynolds, in Auburn Hills Michigan. When Frederick Reynolds was informed of the death of his daughter Ella and there was an orphaned son, he showed no morose for the death of his daughter and he refused to have anything to do with the bastard son of his slut of a daughter. With such a negative response from the infant's grandfather, the authorities made no attempt to contact his wife as it would not have been a good environment for the orphaned infant. The authorities had been unable to locate any relatives on the father's side. Carrick speculated to his listeners that as Margaret White was a live-in housekeeper it would have been difficult to track her down, especially with a fairly common name.
During Carrick's telling of the information that he had kept secret, Ana kept her arm tightly around Christian. The more information Carrick revealed, the more tense Christian became. By the end of Carrick's story, Christian was gripping one of Ana's hands. Both Grace and Ana had tears flowing down their faces.
Christian quietly asked Carrick "Did you ever try to make contact with the Reynolds yourself?"
Carrick responded "Contact? No. I did have research done on them. Elizabeth Reynolds died in 1990 and Frederick Reynolds remarried that same year to a much younger woman. As far as I know, he is still alive. His son Fred Junior took over the business when Senior retired."
"What business?" Christian asked. Ana looked at him and saw the wheels turning in his head.
"A car dealership. Ford I believe. In Auburn Hills Michigan."
A very quiet Christian stands, and, while running both hands through his longish copper locks, walks over to Carrick and stands in front of him. Carrick looks questionally at him. Christian says "Please stand up Dad." Carrick hesitantly stands up, bracing himself for a violent outburst from Christian.
Once Carrick is standing, Christian puts both arms around his father and hugs him tightly. After a few seconds, Carrick puts his arms around Christian. It is the first time ever that either one hugged the other. With his head still buried again Carrick's chest, Christian is crying. Through his tears, he manages to say "Thank you Dad for keeping this information secret. I don't think I could have handled the knowledge that my biological grandfather could not only turn his back on his own daughter in a time of need, but also a defenseless grandson."
Carrick's arms tighten even more around Christian and he is no longer holding back his tears. "I know you couldn't, son, which is why I kept the information to myself. I've never even told Grace all of the information." Grace and Ana, both sobbing, jump up and join their husband in a family group hug. The two couples stand like that for several minutes before breaking apart.
Grace pulls her son into her arms and he does not resist. "I'm so glad you are not angry or upset with us for keeping this information from you. You do know it was because we love you, don't you?" Christian nods.
While Grace and Christian are still hugging, Carrick hugs Ana and says "Thank you Ana for coming into Christian's life. It may have been in baby steps, and taken years to get to this point, but you have made our son whole. Your love these past ten years has done more for Christian than our love was able to do for twice as long. You have given us a loving son."
A teary-eyed Ana says "Carrick and Grace, please rest assured, Christian has always loved you both, as well as Elliott and Mia. I know he has had trouble over the years being able to admit it and therefore show it, but I've always known that deep down he did love you all. He just was always too afraid to show it. It took him awhile to admit his actions with me were love."
Grace says "While I would love to stay and continue this lovefest, Carrick, I think we should leave Christian and Ana to discuss this new information together."
Carrick pulls some files from the briefcase he had brought with him. "Christian, here are the files I received at the time of your adoption, as well as the information I have gathered over the years. It is yours to do with as you wish." Carrick leaves them on the coffee table. Grace and Carrick shake hands with John Flynn and then kiss Christian and Ana good night before leaving.
Christian sits down on a nearby sofa, pulling Ana down to sit on his lap. "John, are you up for a session now, or should we book a time in your office for tomorrow?"
John Flynn looks at the tear stained faces of Christian and Ana. He had found himself getting teary-eyed during the past hour when Carrick Grey revealed long kept secret information about Christian's biological mother and her parents, following by Christian's reactions.
"I think we have momentum going, so if you are comfortable discussing things now, I have no objection to staying." Flynn tells Christian. "Do you want it in private, or a couple session?"
Christian keeps his arms around Ana, who is sitting in his lap. She snuggles closer to his chest. "Ana and I are in this together. I want her here. No I NEED her here." Christian answers.
"Okay then." Flynn says. "Christian, I'm sure you know that Ana called me earlier today asking me to be here this evening when your parents dropped their bombshell. She was concerned how you would react to whatever it was that your adoptive father had kept secret, even from his own wife, all these years." Christian nods. "I must say that you have surprised me with your immediate reactions. What are your thoughts and feelings to this new information?"
Christian runs a hand over Ana's hip and raises the other hand to run through his hair. Always a sign of his agitation. "I'm not sure. Both the information from Edna Reynolds this morning and now Dad's information are mind boggling and will take a while to fully absorb. My initial thought is that Ella wasn't totally responsible for not being to protect her young son. And maybe I've been wrong to blame all of my fifty shades of fuckedupness on the crack whore." Ana caresses her husband's chest as she can feel the tension in him.
"Christian. For a number of years, you had a certain lifestyle and used the crack whore as justification for your need to control everything in your life and inflicting punishment on those who defied you." Flynn says. Flynn puts up his hand when he sees Christian about to speak. "Yes, I know Ana, and your children, have had a very calming effect on you these past ten years. But you have to admit that you blame anything bad in your life on your biological mother. You're now saying that maybe she wasn't the one at fault. Who are you now going to blame whenever anything goes wrong?"
Christian draws a deep breath. "I have to admit, I don't know. I haven't really had time to digest all this new information. From what I've learned today, Ella's father was very demanding and controlling. Even with my fuckedupness and need to control everything around me, I can't envision disowning any of my daughters if they became pregnant in their teens. Nor can I see myself turning my back on the child from that pregnancy a few years later if the child became orphaned." As he's talking, he draws Ana closer to him. She caresses his cheek. He closes his eyes and draws in a breath. When he opens his eyes, he kisses the top of Ana's head.
"Ana, is there anything you want to say at this point?" Flynn asks Ana.
"Today has been very earth shattering. As Christian has said, we have just learned that maybe there were extenuating circumstances that forced Ella into becoming a drug addicted prostitute, unable to care for her young son. I guess it remains to be seen how Christian and I deal with these new revelations." She turns to look at Christian and says "Baby, you know that I'm here for you, as always." Christian nods yes and gives her a quick kiss on the lips.
Flynn says "Well. I think we've discussed as much as we can this evening. I know it's been a lot to absorb and not everything has sunk in yet. As you know, I'm just a phone call away." He stands up and prepares to leave.
Christian and Ana stand. Christian shakes hands with Flynn. Ana hugs Flynn and with a quick smile at Christian, kissed Flynn on the cheek. "Thank you for everything John. I'm glad you were able to be with us this evening." Ana escorts Flynn to the door.
When Ana returns to the great room and finds Christian sitting back on the couch with his eyes closed. She snuggles up to him on the couch. He opens his eyes and pulls her close. "Oh Ana, I'm so glad you're here with me. I don't know if I would have been able to get through all of these revelations without you. Thank you for taking control this afternoon and contacting Mom and Flynn."
Ana draws Christian's mouth to hers for a deep kiss. "I'm glad you haven't had to go through all of this on your own. I'm here for you too. You can talk to me about anything. Don't hold anything back like you used to, thinking that you were protecting me from evil things. As your wife, anything that happens to you happens to me."
"Yes Wife." Christian says with a smirk. "So when are you and Mom going to Michigan?"
Ana laughs. "Oh Husband, you know me so well." She gives Christian a quick kiss. "We haven't had a chance to discuss our schedules. And Jason hasn't given me a report yet. I thought we would start with your grandmother, Margaret White. From the sounds of it, your grandfather Frederick Reynolds Senior won't be too welcoming." Ana leans back from Christian and looks him in the eye. "You're going to busy tomorrow investigating a certain car dealership, aren't you?"
Christian laughs and draws Ana to him for a quick kiss. "You know me so well, don't you?"