Ana's POV

Ch 21: Family Dinner

After I had come back from the library and into Christian's classroom, I saw Grace leaving. He had told me that she came to make amends and wanted to invite us to the Grey home for a family dinner. I was stunned to say the least. Christian told me that he thought we should go to make sure Grace was on the level. I agreed, but albeit, I was nervous.

We settled into a routine as I stayed mostly at Christian's place, giving Lily the dorm room for her privacy. The week went by pretty fast considering the fact that I dreaded what was coming up this weekend. Since midterms was coming up, Christian had a lot of papers to grade. Me being his TA helped him some. I just went through with a red pen to make any corrections that should be made, while Christin would check them for accuracy. We made a good team.

It was Saturday morning, and Christian and I had made love again that morning after a night of rough sex. Christian would use his ties and tie me to his bed so that he could have his wicked way with me. I'll admit, I loved this side of him. He was the perfect combination of what I wanted a man who was gentle and strong.

But good things come to an end as we had to get up and get ready for dinner. Though, I did feel at ease when Elliot text his brother asking him if he was ready for the family dinner. Christian wore his gray suit while opted for the traditional silver satin. Kate and I had gone shopping and I felt feminine and yet sophisticated.

"Honey, you look absolutely stunning," Christian said to me, kissing me on the temple. My hair was half up and down with a few strands of hair, showing off my neck.

"Thank you. You look rather handsome yourself," I told him, giving him a kiss.

"You ready?" he asked.

I blew out a small breathe while I smiled back at him. "Sure. Ready as I'll ever be."

"It'll be fine. I told you, if she starts in, we're out of there. Okay?"

I nodded back as I grabbed my clutch purse and we headed out. It took twenty minutes to get there, the closer we got, the more nervous I felt. My stomach was in knots. Soon we arrived at the Grey home and as we pulled up, I was flabbergasted. I had no idea his parents lived in such a huge house...no it was more of a mansion. As he parked, he looked over at me.

"Ready, baby?"

"I had no idea that your parents house was so large," I told him. He just smiled back at me as he got out. He came around to my side, opening my door, as he gave me his hand.

We walked up to the house, there were few steps to get up to the front door. Christian opened the door as we walked in right in holding hands. His father Carrick came up to greet us, then Elliot, plus Kate and Mia.

"Christian!" Grace yelled from afar as she came up to us. "I'm so glad you and Ana could make it. She leaned in to give Christian a brief peck on the cheek.

"Hello, mother, " he greeted.

Grace looked at me with a smile on her face, that was progress right? "Ana, I'm so delighted you could join us," she told me as she leaned in giving me a brief hug. I looked over at Christian stunned but he just shook his head.

"It's nice to see you, Mrs Grey," I told her softly, I still didn't know how to react to her kindness.

"Oh my dear, call me Grace," she replied friendly. "Please come in and make yourself welcome"

A lady in a maids uniform walked over to us handing us drinks, it looked like champagne. "It's nice to see you again, Mr Grey," she spoke softly.

"Thank you, Gretchen," he replied with a brief smile as she walked off.

So far so good. We all stood and got acquainted with each other. Grace lead us to the great room where we could all have a seat until dinner would be served. She sat next to Carrick, who held her hand.

"So, Christian, how was your week?" Grace asked her son.

"It was good, mother, thanks for asking. I had a lot of papers to grade, but I had my assistant to help me, so it wasn't too bad."

"That's great dear. Ana, what are you studying?"

I explained to her that I wished to go into to publishing as an editor. Grace was very impressed it seemed. Gretchen came out and told us dinner was served as we all walked into the dining room and dinner was being brought out to us. Just as we were about to eat, Grace stood up as she said she wanted to make a toast.

"I just wanted to say how happy I am that all my children could make it here this evening. I have an apology I needed to make to all of you. I'm sorry for the way I have acted. I was foolish and I allowed my stubborness get in the way. I'm so happy to see my sons in healthy relationships. My hope is that you all are as happy as Carrick and I am. So, here's to the Greys!"

We all clincked our glassess as we drank the champagne to the toast and began eating. We had casual conversation, the ladies talked about shopping while the man talked about sports and cars. After we all had dinner and dessert was served a chocolate mousse pie and it was delicious.

Pretty soon we all made it back into the great room while we were being served coffee. Grace was being a great hostess while she smiled at everyone and you could see that she was genuinely happy. It floored me the way she was being so nice.

Grace moved closer to me as she said, "Ana, may I have a word with you in private?"

For the first time this evening, her smile left her face as she looked more serious. I wasn't sure how to read her at that point.

"Certainly," I spoke softly. I got up from the couch and walked with her out of the room into another room that looked like a library. After I walked in further, Grace closed the door behind us.

She looked back at me as I stood still. I thought to myself, here it comes! She was putting on a an act all this time and now she's going to tell me how she really felt about me. I took a deep breath as she walked over to me. Her hazel eyes looked into mine.

"Ana, I brought you in here so we could talk woman to woman about my son Christian," she began saying, her voice taut. I tried to study her but her facial expressions were unreadable.

"Mrs Grey, I think I know what your going to say, and I wanted to let you know, you will not run me off," I told her firmly.

Grace's facial features were poised as she stood before me. I could see her eyes searching mine. "My dear, do you think I brought you in here to tell you to stay away from my son?"

"Grace, let's be honest. You've never liked me, so what would make me think your being nice to be now. I think you brought me here under false pretenses…" I rambled on.

"Ana,"Grace said, as she reached out to me, grabbing my hand. "Please, let me finish what I started out saying. I brought you in here to apologize. I'm sorry that I misjudged you," she said, sweetly.

"Really?" I asked her, my eyes meeting hers. I could see that she was being sincere.

"Absolutely. I already told this to Christian, and I wanted to tell you, that night at the party, when I saw how you and Christian reacted to each other, I knew then how much he truly loved you and you him. I allowed my insecurities to get the best of me and it clouded my judgement. I'm sorry," she apologized. I was stunned. I didn't know what to say so I stood quietly letting her to the talking. "Please, accept my apology, Ana, I truly want us to be friends."

"Grace," I replied softly. "I don't know what to say…"

"Just keep doing what you're doing with my son. I've never seen him this happy in years. His face lights up everytime he looks at you. Ana, you make him happy and that's all I could ever want for my son," she started to me as she reached out and smooth my face with her finger tips.

"Thank you. He makes me happy too. He treats me like I'm his princess," I told Grace.

"I'm glad," she smiled sweetly to me.

"Ana?" Christian asked, opening the door.

"We're over here, son," Grace called him. He walked over to where we were.

"Is everything okay?" he asked looking back in between me and his mother.

"It couldn't be better son. I was just welcoming Ana into our family. I'll let you two have a moment alone. Don't be too long now," she told him, giving him a hug.

We watched Grace leave the room as we both looked back at each other and smiled. "Was that the same woman?" I asked him.

"I know. It's like night and day. Actually I just got through with talking to my dad about my mother's change." he told me.

"Oh?" I asked. "What made her change her mind?"

"Come," he said to me. "Let's say our goodbyes, head home and I will tell you in the car."

So we left the library room and said goodbye to the family. Grace kissed me on the cheek and welcomed back back over anytime. She suggested us ladies get together for lunch. I told her that I'd give her a call. Christian led me to his car as we started our journey back to his place.

A/N: Wow! I know most of you were pretty surprised by Grace. You weren't sure of her motives. But it seemed as though she turned over a new leaf. But what was it exactly that made her change? Thoughts?