Chapter thirty-five

After Kate fainted, she was immediately taken to one of the guest rooms upstairs, tucked in bed and given something to eat and drink. Ana and Carla stayed by her side while Grace examined her. She was lucky Christian had jumped in to catch her and prevented her from getting seriously injured.

"How far along are you? Grace asked kindly while taking her blood pressure.

"Sixteen weeks."

"Well, Everything seems to be fine. But I recommend we get you in tomorrow and get a sonogram." Even though Grace had switched fields from medicine to psychology, she was still had basic medical training. If she' d felt that Kate' s condition was critical, she would immediately step aside and let a licensed physician take over.

Kate nodded, sinking her head into the pillows.

Grace turned to Carla and Ana and told them it would be best if Kate stayed in bed for the rest of the evening.

"I'm sorry to ruin your party." Kate said to Grace.

Grace patted Kate's hand. "Oh, no. Don't say that... you haven't ruined anything. The party is still on. It's too late to cancel. Anyway, dear. You take it easy and rest." Her gaze shifted between Carla and Ana. "Maybe we all can take turns checking on Kate? Both women nodded and Grace brought the TV remote control and put beside Kate. "Please let us know if you need anything."

Shortly after Grace left the room, Ana convinced her mother that it was okay to go downstairs and join the party. She wanted to talk to Kate alone without Carla there.

As soon as they were finally alone, Ana took a deep breath and let out a huff. "Kate! Please tell me that your Michael Landon is NOT Christian's brother!"

Flashback

The day after Thanksgiving

At last, Kate gave her the piece of information she'd been withholding. After making their purchases, they exited Macys and sat down to have lunch at the food court. Even though it was Black Friday and the mall turned out to be less crowded than they expected as they were able to find a table right away. Sawyer had sat down at table nearby and did his best to become as inconspicuous as possible.

"Okay, fine. The bastard gave me a fake name. He said his name was Michael Landon."

"Like the actor?"

"Kate...you know nothing about him? where he works? Met any of his friends?"

"Somehow I feel I'm under the Steele inquisition here."

Ana sighed. She knew the man had walked out of her life but she had no idea Kate knew absolutely nothing about this man. A chill went down her spine. Her first thought was, this man could be anybody. This man could be a felon...or a psychopath.

"How long have you known this...Michael Landon?" Ana said unable to hide her disdain for the prick.

This was the hardest part for Kate to admit. "Three days." She knew it had been foolish on her part and terribly irresponsible. "We went to a bar...we got wasted. Well, maybe it was mostly me who was drunk."

Ana shook her head in disapproval."No phone number?" she asked although she could already guess the answer.

"He did give me a number..." Kate said looking away. "It was probably a tracphone or something." Oh, how she wished now she could go back and change the past.

Flashback

Sixteen weeks ago

Kate turned sideways on the bed of their hotel room and watched Michael/Elliot stroll into the bathroom She licked her lips, sweat beading on her forehead from their amazing romp between the sheets. While the water started in the shower, she started feeling the side effects of her hang-over.

"Hey, are you on birth-control?"

"Huh?" Kate lifted her head toward the sound of his voice. It surprised her to see that he was out of the bathroom already. The room was dark and the bright light from behind his silhouette was blinding her. At once, she felt the effects of a massive headache and held her head and winced.

"Kate" he snapped. He was now standing by the bed clad in a towel around his waist.

"What?" Her gaze snapped to meet his.

"Are you on birth-control?"

The words 'birth-control' rang a bell in Kate's head. She shook her head slowly. She didn't need it, she wasn't in a relationship with anybody. Why would he ask her that anyway, he'd used a damn condom. She'd seen him put it on.

"The condom tore," Elliot said in a sudden hurry to get dressed. In record time, he pulled on his pants and buttoned his shirt.

Even in her drunken state, shock squeezed in Kate's chest, digging claws of dread deep into her lungs. Of course the condom tore! She didn't deserve a moment of pleasure without costing her much misery. The one time she'd let loose and just enjoyed herself, the world decided to crash around her. She wasn't just thinking of a possible pregnancy here but also a host of other medical issues she'd rather not think about right now.

Present time

"Kate, we got to do something. This...everyone has to know what Elliot did to you."

"I'm feeling very tired." Kate put an arm over her head and closed her eyes. The Greys had sent for Kate's things so that she could change into comfortable clothing. And now she was getting too comfortable. "Can I just sleep for a little while?"

Ana bit her lip furiously. She imagined that the party guests had already arrived. She wished that they could postpone the party, but of course it was too late for that now.

"Kate...did you hear what I said? I'm going to tell Christian everything."

Kate opened her eyes and perked up. "NO! No...Ana. Don't tell Christian right now... Maybe we can just..."

"You and Elliot meeting was no accident. He purposely went to Michigan to find you."

Kate blinked. "Wh-what?" There were too many surprises in one day and she was starting to feel sick.

"What I want to know is why. Why did he go find you, Kate?" She paused and waited to see if Kate had a comment. When she didn't, Ana went on to express how she felt in no uncertain terms. "Elliot is not leaving tonight without some kind of explanation."

"Oh, Ana." I don't want this to ruin your special day."

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"I don't want...I don't know what I want. I guess I don't want to deal with any of this right now. I just want to rest." She turned her head to the side.

"Okay. Listen. Why don't you sleep some. I will come and check on you later? You can also text me. Okay?"

The engagement party

Christian met Ana at the bottom of the stairway and told her he was relieved to hear that Kate was okay and that she was resting. Come, there are so people I want you to meet," Christian said guiding her to the ballroom. There were about ten large tables handsomely dressed in bright white linen and an open area designated as the dance floor. The majority of the men were dressed semi informally in jacket and tie and the women conspicuously more fashionable, were all clad in expensive party dresses.

Ana and Christian walked alongside each other across the room with his hand on the small of her back. Carla was seated at the main table with the Greys and with an older gentleman she seemed enchanted with on the other side of her. Ana greeted everyone with a small smile except Elliot. He deserved a glare and more. In her mind's eye, she saw herself picking up a flute and throwing the champagne from her glass into his face. The image was so vivid, she could almost feel the splash.

"Mr. And Mrs Moore here have been friends of our family since I can remember," she heard Christian say, bringing her out of her musings.

Ana shook hands with the couple as well as the other people seated at the table she didn't know. After all the introductions were made, Christian gallantly pulled out a chair for her to sit.

"Ana, are you okay?" Christian asked, scooting his chair closer, thinking that Ana was probably still worried about Kate. Or was she thinking of Teddy? "I checked on Teddy in the nursery a little bit ago," he murmured.

"It's...I'm okay," she mumbled even as someone at their table was trying to make conversation with her and Christian. A million thoughts were going through her brain, trying to figure out a plan of action. If she told Christian right away he would kick Elliot' s ass. Should she wait until the party was over? No, no, she could' t wait. She glared at the bastard as he sipped his champagne and wondered what the hell he was thinking. He had to know Kate had identified him as Michael Landon. Ana took a sip of her drink ( she' d order an alcoholic fruit cocktail) and promised herself the fucking bastard would be facing the music before the night was over.

"You look distracted," Christian said holding her gaze.

Ana took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Christian, I need to talk you about something really important."

"Can it wait?"

A/N:

Thanks so much to everyone for your continued support for this story. Thanks to guests: Dseiladmnd, JB and DoloresDeeHowe for your lovely reviews, I very much look forward to reading them. You guys keep me writing.

Stay tuned for next chapter. I' m off from work and have extra time to write for the next few days. Up next: a big surprise! The greater the response, the faster I type ;)