I loop my arm through Graces as we stroll around the beautiful flower beds.
"I can't thank you enough Ana" Grace begins "Christian has changed so much in the last few months and it's all down to you and those babies. I knew he would take a time to come around but thank goodness you were patient and forgiving of him. I am so pleased Christian is going to be a Dad, I think it will lie to rest quite a few insecurities he has and I am sure he will do his best"
"Thank you Grace but he wouldn't be half the person he is today if you and Carrick hadn't been there for him, he would be a completely different person and not the success he is today" I tell her.
"That's lovely of you to say dear" Grace returns "I just wish I could have protected him from that evil bitch"
"He is dealing with that ok Grace, coming to terms albeit slowly with what happened but I have learned quite quickly that there is no point in pushing him for information or how he is feeling, he will tell us when he is ready" I squeeze her arm.
"Now dear, let's talk about those darling babies, how are you feeling generally?" she asks.
"Tired, but I need to be busy otherwise I find myself panicking about things and then I get nauseous, other than that I am good" she pats my hand.
"That's understandable Ana, as long as you have rest periods during the day and you continue to sleep well at night then I don't see any reason for you to stop working at the moment" Grace advises.
"That's good because I think I would drive myself nuts not doing anything all day" I say chuckling.
"All of you blood tests are fine, blood pressure is slightly raised but that's ok as it is being monitored frequently and your urine tests show a little protein but again it's being monitored so that's fine" she continues "but I think you are more worried about the birth than anything else" I nod in agreement.
"With everything I see here, I see no reason for anything other than a normal delivery, however quite a few multiple births don't go to full term so experience tells us that we must prepare for the unexpected as none of us like to be taken unawares" she smiles at me.
"I agree" I smile back.
"I am sure your OB/GYN has explained the use of steroids for babies lung development if you go into early labour, I would strongly recommend this should it be necessary, I believe any measures to stop or slow labour are vital as even an extra 24 hours in utero is a plus. Most multiple birth babies will need to be observed in the NICU, the amount of time depends on how premature, weight and respiratory effort made. The type of delivery will have an impact too" Grace explains things so well.
"Ok that's more or less what the doctor said but you have made it sound less scary" I say.
"You will have two teams of people, one for each baby regardless of what type of delivery including paediatrician's, respiratory and NICU on standby and another team will be with you all the time, anaesthetist, surgeon and nurses to take care of your needs" That's good to know.
"Grace, can I ask you a huge favour?" I start.
"Of course my dear"
"Will you be there? I mean in an official capacity as a doctor?" I add.
"Ana dear, if you want me there I will be there for all of you, as I am not your consultant I can't 'interfere' as such and your consultant is excellent, I have every confidence in her but I can be there to answer any questions or help if necessary" she looks happy that I asked.
"Thank you Grace that really means a lot to me" I acknowledge "and I know Christian will be happy knowing you are there too"
"Call me night or day dear, I will do all I can" she smiles, I lean and kiss her on the cheek "if you need to ask anything else, you can talk to me anytime"
"Thank you, I will" I reply.
We walk a little further but Grace senses I have enough for now and we take a path back toward the conservatory. Christian is pacing outside on the patio; he is on his phone and seems agitated by the way he runs his hand through his hair. This can only mean business or Elena and I really hope it is the former.
As we get nearer I begin to hear what he is saying, Grace looks at me with concern.
"Elliot, calm down, I can't understand everything you are saying" Christian explains.
"What's happened Elliot?" he is almost shouting.
Shit shit shit, I hope they are both ok.
"Fucking phones, fucking useless, Mom, can I use your land line?" he asks
"Of course darling, what's wrong with Elliot?" Grace quietly asks as if dreading the answer.
"He said something about the car but I couldn't understand much" he tells us as he is dialling the phone in the conservatory.
"Elliot? Ah that's better, now start again, what's wrong?" he sounds calm but the look on his face is pure fear and I have never seen that look before.
"Where did it happen?" Oh I wish I could hear what Elliot is saying.
"Fuck! But you are ok?" Please tell us Christian!
"Ok I am sending Rogers over to help, he should be with you in 10 minutes" he says "We are home this afternoon, I will come straight over, ok, Bye Elliot"
He redials immediately and I hear Rogers being order to go to Elliot and be of assistance, he is to call Taylor with any news and he hangs up, all pleasantries have gone out of the window.
"Oh Christian please tell us what is going on" Grace almost shouts at him.
"Someone has vandalised both Kate and Elliot's cars in the apartment garage overnight, they are ok" he informs us.
"Oh poor Kate and Elliot, let me guess, Elena?" I say.
"Well that has to be the assumption but Rogers will get the security tapes and find out who was there" Christian is dialling the phone again and I hear him telling Rogers what to do including calling SPD.
"We must get things documented now, if we are to catch her we must have everything on record" he mumbles distractedly.
"I agree" Grace Comments
"Me too" I say in support.
"I am going to have to put around the clock security on them" he states "nobody fucks with my family!"
"Language darling" Grace gently says as she soothes him.
"Sorry Mom but this is beginning to get to me, it's bad enough she comes after me but to fuc...err mess with my family, put my children and my brothers child at risk is totally pissi….err irritating me"
I can't help but chuckle at his efforts not to swear but it's heart-warming to hear him speak so affectionately about us all but particularly the babies and I walk over to him, take his face in my hands and kiss him, hopefully communicating how much I care about him and appreciate him looking after us. He smiles at me and squeezes my hand.
Carrick comes through and begins to talk to Christian, Grace signals to me and we move through to the kitchen.
"Let's allow them to talk, Carrick sometimes has some good ideas, Christian will listen to his Dad especially for legal advice as knowing Christian as I do, he will want to do things that probably are not strictly legal" she tells me.
I nod in agreement and am happy not to know those things and I think Grace feels the same too.
"How are Gramps and Nana?" I ask to change the conversation.
"Oh they are ok, I have just got them to agree to more help in the house, Nana is forgetful and doesn't remember what she has and hasn't done and Gramps does as much as he can but at least this way the kitchen and bathrooms will be clean leaving Gramps to dust and hoover" she smiles in a sad way.
"It takes a while for them to get comfortable with 'strange' people in the house, my grandma was left on her own and Mom tried to persuade her to have help but it was a battle" I explain.
"You have never mentioned your grandparents before, I assume they have both passed?" she gently asks.
"Yes they have, my Mom was an 'accident', her parents were both in their forties when she was born, I don't think they intended to have children and I believe they are partly responsible for the way my Mom behaves. I don't think she was unloved but at the same time I don't think she felt wanted so she turned to her Aunts and Uncles for care and advice, in turn got spoilt by them. I wasn't a mistake but Mom has no parenting skills as you have seen, Ray was always there for me, taught me how to cuddle and be affectionate. I don't know about my real father, Mom doesn't say much about him" I open my heart to Grace.
"That must have been difficult for your Mom; Christian has said those same things to me about not feeling wanted by his Mom, totally different circumstances of course but results in the same feelings of not being wanted and feeling very alone" Grace continues "not that it excuses all behaviour but it explains a lot"
"That's very true, I think Mom would have been a very different person if her parents had just given a hug and said 'I love you' but I have the impression they were materialistic and gave gifts and money instead" I tell her.
"It is a pity that parents think giving gifts is an adequate substitute for affection and spending time reading a book or going to park" she continues "I see it quite a lot even now, times have changed and parents have to work, that can't always be helped though"
"I am very very fortunate that Christian's wealth allows me to stay at home for the foreseeable future and I am so grateful I have the choice" I really mean that.
"Yes, I was lucky too, Carrick's wealth afforded me that luxury too but I also didn't go through a pregnancy, Mia was the youngest at six months of age, Christian was three and Elliot was five when we adopted them. Our time with Mia was lovely, she was given up by a single mother and that was straight forward. Elliot was a little more complicated and Christian as you know was a challenge but he improved a little when Mia arrived, he was her big brother and he took responsibility for looking after her" Grace is opening up too "Elliot kind of helped Christian too and he was the only one who could get Christian to talk initially, Lelliot was the only way he could say his name"
"Is there a reason you didn't have children of your own? Oh my I don't want to intrude, please don't answer that Grace, how rude of me" I lower my eyes.
"Ana dear, don't be silly, you are family and besides it's no secret that we agreed to adopt rather than having our own. My charity is for children like Christian, Elliot and Mia, I saw so many coming through the hospital I knew I wanted to adopt and Carrick was in agreement almost straight away so we had all the relevant checks done, evaluations, the process was exhaustive but we were approved and Elliot was the first to appear, he was left outside a hospital and his parents were never traced, he was in foster care and then adopted by us. Christian came into the hospital when I was on duty, he had been found in his mother's home, she had been dead for two days from what was determined to be a drug overdose, he was alone and fending for himself. It wasn't until a neighbour knocked on the door as she hadn't seen anyone in a few days; she made the discovery and called an ambulance. Christian was malnourished, covered in cigarette burns, bruises; he had head lice and skin infections. He was very withdrawn and slept for almost two days in hospital except when we woke him for food and treatment. I started adoption proceedings that day; Carrick saw him and agreed straight away too. Elliot was left at a hospital, and then fostered for a while. Investigations were extensive to find a parent but nothing substantial found and I don't really know why he wasn't adopted sooner, he was a lovely thoughtful child, a normal teenager and a fantastic adult" Grace wipes a tear from her cheek.
"They have all been fortunate to have been found by Carrick and you and have become fantastic people despite poor beginnings" I wipe a tear away too.
A/N - Really sorry for missing a chapter on Tue. RL is hell. Will post another chapter tomorrow. Thank you for you patience and continued support. :) Thank you to my wonderful beta, aka Hubby who is going to get a well earned BJ tonight.