It's 2:30 in the morning when Christian's phone begins to ring, he groans as he blindly searches the nightstand for his phone. He had only been sleeping for an hour or so due to a work issue that had him working into the early hours of the morning, when he finds his phone, he flips it over and winces at the bright light. Once his eyes adjust to the light, he looks at the screen, but he doesn't know the number, annoyed he answers "Hello" his voice thick and rough with the remnants of his sleep.
"Hello, is this Christian Grey?"
"Who's this?
"This is Detective Beckett of the 85th precinct, I have your daughter in custody. She was at an underage party, she appears to be sober, her cousin on the other hand is passed out and..." The officer doesn't have time to finish her sentence before Christian cuts her off, "I'll be there shortly" and he hangs up.
Christian's blood is boiling with anger. He gets dressed quickly throwing on; sweatpants, a shirt, a hoodie and some sneakers. Christian makes his way to the garage, he gets the keys to one of the SUVs and gets in, making his way to the precinct.
Fifteen minutes later he arrives to see his brother about to walking into the building. Elliott pauses at the door when he sees the familiar SUV pull into the parking lot.
"What the hell are you doing here?" They ask at the same time, Elliott speaks first.
"I'm here to get Ava, I thought she was at your place" Christian's already tense jaw ticks, "I'm here to get Phoebe, she was supposed to be at a friends' house"
They walk in and speak to the guy at the front desk.
"Hello I'm here... we're here to pick up our daughters." Christian says, ever the cool, put together CEO that he is.
"I.D please, you'll need a visitor pass." They both fish in their wallets for the license and hand it over. The guy writes down their information then gives them visitors passes. "Take the elevator to the second floor". After collecting the passes then make their way to the elevator. It comes as soon as it's called, they step in and press the button for the second floor. The air is thick with tension as they watch the elevator go from the lobby to the second floor, the doors open and the first thing they see is Phoebe.
Phoebe hears the elevator ding and see looks up to see both her dad and uncle exiting the elevator. The color drains from her face when she sees how mad they both are. A slender dark-haired woman appears out of the doorway to the right of where Phoebe is sitting with a cup of hot coffee in hand just as Christian and Elliott get to where Phoebe is sitting.
"You two must be Mr. Grey, I'm detective Kate Beckett." She reaches to shake each of their hands in turn.
"I'm Christian and this is Elliott." Christian introduces them both. "May I have a word with you in my office?" Phoebe watches as the adults walk away and into the office. The door closes but she can still see them through the blinds. The detective does all the talking while Christian and Elliott either nods or give a short-worded answer. A few seconds later they all shake hands again and Christian and Elliott exits.
Elliott is the first out the door and he heads to were Ava is laying down, Christian is right on his heels and say to Phoebe,"Let's go" His tone was more than threatening, it was murderous.
Phoebe gets up and heads to the elevator with her father, Elliott comes back with a still passed out Ava in his arms bridal style. The elevator opens and everyone gets on. The ride down is painfully quiet, Phoebe is about to say something but is cut off by the ding of the elevator as they reach the main floor. While walking outside to their cars, "I'll call you later today" Christian says to his brother before they get into their vehicles.
Phoebe is about to get into the front passenger seat but changes her mind and gets in the back seat. As soon as Christian is in the car, Phoebe tries to talk to her dad.
"Dad, I can explain…"
"I don't want to hear it; you're grounded until I say otherwise. No phone, no computer unless it's school related, and no extracurricular activities do I make myself clear?" She knew it would be bad, but an indefinite punishment was far past what she expected. "But…" Phoebe squeaks, Christian is about to put the car in gear when he adds, "And you can forget about the license"
"Dad that's not fair! I was…"
"Fair?! Do you think it was fair that I was woken up at 2:30 in the morning by a call from a detective telling me that my daughter is in custody? Was it fair that I had to leave your siblings at home alone to come and get you?" Christian's knuckles are white as he grips the wheel tighter, trying and failing to control his temper and he mutters "You give them an inch and they take a mile" Christian mutter and the discussion subsides for the moment. They ride in the quiet thick tension and when they finally make it back to Grey Manor Phoebe tries again to plea her case.
"Dad what happened to innocent until proven guilty? I went to that party only to help Ava. I really was at Josie's house; you can call her and ask. That's when Ava called me saying that I had to come and get her because she thought a guy put something in her drink and she was starting to feel funny."
"If that was the case, why didn't you call an adult?" Christian's blood that was at a simmer begins to boil.
"Because I knew this is how you would react and big surprise, I was right"
"Watch your tone" Christian snarls.
Phoebe knows she's skating on thin ice, but she doesn't care anymore she's already being punished. "Or what, you'll ground me some more? What difference does it make when I'm already being punished for something that wasn't my fault" Phoebe shouts, her anger getting the best of her.
Christian snaps, he roars at Phoebe, "GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW!" Phoebe's ire melts into upset. She had never heard her father talk to her like that before, her eyes begin to turn into glass as they fill with unshed tears. Phoebe tosses her phone on the side table, "I hate you" she yells, her voice hoarse with the urge to cry. She makes a hasty getaway running upstairs to her room and slamming the door. Christian runs his hands through his hair and pulls at the roots, now that his anger has subsided Christian is dog tired. He heads upstairs and goes to bed himself.
Later that morning is just like any other Saturday for everyone but Christian and Phoebe, after having a long night Christian decides to work from home. Down in the kitchen the children are all having breakfast when Phoebe is the last to enter.
"Good morning dear" Gail says in her normal chipper voice, when she fully takes in Phoebe's she pauses. "Honey are you feeling okay?" Phoebe had thought she covered up the fact that she'd been crying most of the night with makeup but nothing could get past Gail.
"I'm fine GG" Phoebe says with a weak smile, she then goes to make herself some breakfast and heads to the family room. Teddy notices that something is off but can't put his finger on it.
"Did anyone hear anything last night?" Teddy asks everyone. "Like what?" Gail asks now curious, "Last night I heard someone talking and then yelling. It sounded like Dad but I'm not sure, I just remember hearing voices"
"And that is our sign to take our eldest brother to the looney bin" Chloe quips as she circles her finger around her temple.
"Do you think mom and dad were fighting?" Lindsay asks concern etched on her face. "No, Mom is in Portland. She'll be back this afternoon" Teddy replies, "I'm gonna ask Pheebs if she heard anything"
Teddy leaves the table and heads to the family room. Where he finds Phoebe curled on the couch, her breakfast untouched.
"Hey, did you hear anything last night? Wait I thought you were going to spend the night at Josie's last night, what happened?" Phoebe is trying to hold back her tears but one escape and trickles down her cheek.
Teddy rushes over to her and gets eye level with her, "Did she do something to you?" Teddy asks ever the big brother but Phoebe shakes her head. "Dad and I got in a fight late last night, that's the yelling I guess you heard" Phoebe takes her sleeve of her hoodie and dabs at her eyes.
"Tell me what happened" Teddy says, Phoebe takes a calming breath, "Yesterday I did go over to Josie's house but around 1 in the morning I get a 911 text from Ava saying that I need to come get her because she thinks someone at the party she went to was trying to drug her, so I told her to send me the address and I went to go get her.
Long story short the party got busted and I got caught trying to get Ava's impaired self out of there being that we were minors we had to have an adult come and get us. They called Uncle E and Dad and they both came to get us, I've never seen dad like that before Teddy and when I tried to explain myself he wouldn't hear it. He grounded me indefinitely and took my phone."
Just then Gail knocks on the door "Phoebe, your friend Josie is here. Should I show her in?"
"No, she's just probably bringing my stuff back, I'll go" Phoebe gets up and heads to the front door. Josie is in the foyer holding all of Phoebe's things.
"Hey, what happened last night?"
"The party ended up getting busted and we got caught by the cops."
"What! Did they bring you home?"
"Nope, they called my Dad and Uncle to come and pick us up, and my dad won't believe me so I'm grounded until the end of time" Josie winces, "If you want, I can vouch for you?"
"Thanks, but it won't make a difference, my only hope is my mom at this point"
"That really sucks, I hope everything works out. I'll see you at school Monday"
"Yea, later"
After taking her belongings from Josie, Josie leaves and Phoebe closes the door and heads back to the family room.
"Do you know when mom will be back?" Phoebe asks Teddy from the doorway. "This afternoon"
"Okay, I'll be in my room until then" Phoebe is about to walk away but Teddy speaks again. "Do you want me to talk to dad for you?"
"Thanks but no, but can you text Ava and tell her she needs to come clean now or I will" Teddy wears a perplexed look on his face, Phoebe explains
"She'll know what I'm talking about." Phoebe heads upstairs to her bedroom.
It's around 3 in the afternoon when Ana finally gets home, "I'm home!" she calls out as she walks further into the house. Cary and Liam both pop their heads out of the doorway, "Hi mom!" The boys say in unison followed by jinx, and then double jinx and triple jinx, Ana can see where this is going, so she interrupts. "Where is everyone?"
"Dads in his office, he's not in a great mood."
Ana interrupts Liam, "Sorry to interrupt but why is dad not in a great mood?"
"I'm not sure, we didn't do anything too crazy to get him in a bad mood, must be work or something" Cary says. This has Ana's interest peaked, she thanked the boys then heads to Christian's office, once at the door she knocks softly and opens the door as Christian says open. She finds him at his desk, his hair is a wind-blown mess, and he looks like he didn't sleep last night.
"What is it? I'm trying to work" he says reflexively, not even bothering to look up from his paperwork he's reading, there's a tension in his tone that takes Ana aback. "Christian?" She breathes his name hoping it will help his mood, Christian eyes fly up to see Ana in the doorway, she sees that he is in turmoil and rushes over to him. She then crawls into his lap and hugs him close to her, Christian inhales Ana's scent and lets out a long slow sigh and relaxes a little.
"Hi" Ana says softly, her head resting on Christian's shoulder. "Hi" he whispers back. "What's going on?" Ana asks as she runs her fingers through his hair lightly scratching his scalp, Christian relaxes more, his shoulder losing their tension. Christian goes to speak but the words get stuck, he begins to rethink his decisions and actions from earlier that morning. 'Had I been too quick to judge the situation? Why did I act so badly in that moment?' he thought to himself, "Phoebe was caught at an underage party with Ava early this morning." Ana jerks upright and meets Christian's gaze, "You mean our daughter Phoebe, the one who still has to wear her retainer at night?"
"The one in the same" Ana blinks a few times processing the information, "When you say got caught by whom exactly?" Ana inquires more trying to get the full story.
"The police, I got a call for a detective at 2 in the morning informing me that they have my daughter and niece in custody. I was livid because not only did she lie about where she was, now the police are involved, and you know how the press like to blow things out of proportion. When I get to the police station, I see Elliot, I'm guessing they called him first, we go inside and upstairs and there sits our daughter. All I saw was red, we spoke to the detective, and she said that my name rang a bell and when she looked me up, she thought it be best if dismissed the whole incident chalking it up to being a 'teenager'. I thanked her for her discretion, and we got the girls and left, Ava was still passed out Elliot had to carry her. When we get in the car I snap, I ground her and take away all her privileges including her phone. She told me she was only there to get Ava, when I asked why she didn't call an adult she had some smart comment and I yelled at her. She told me she hated me." Christian says the last bit deflated and hurt, over the years he and the children had gotten into their fair share of squabbles but none ever ending in such harsh words. Ana sighs "Christian, she doesn't hate you. She was upset just like you and she lashed out just like you did, how about I talk to her first and then we can all talk about what happened." With a silent nod Christian nods. With one last caress Ana leaves and heads to find Phoebe.
Ana's mom instinct is activated, and the first place Ana looks is Phoebe's room. When she gets the door, she knocks then opens the door. "Hey peanut, you here?" Ana finds Phoebe in her bay window reading a book, "Mom" The word is comes out as if it was a prayer, Phoebe puts her book down and runs to her mother. Ana can see the tears in her eyes, opening her arms Phoebe enters her embrace. They stay like this for a moment before Ana pulls back to caress her daughter's cheek, "What's wrong baby?" Ana asks, Phoebe sniffles "Please promise that you won't get mad and you'll hear me out"
"Of course baby" Ana replies and tucks a loose lock of hair behind Phoebe's ear. Phoebe takes a deep breath to calm herself "It's kind-of-a long story"
"Okay, I've got time" Ana then walks to where Phoebe had just been moments before and pats the side next to her, an invitation to join her.
Phoebe goes back to her seat and beings, "So I was at Josie's, and we were watching a movie when I get a text from Ava saying she was at a party and she needed my help, that she thought a guy slipped something into her drink and she wanted me to come pick her up. Mom I swear I was only there to save Ava, when I got there, she was stumbling all around. Once I got her, I was about to leave when the cops burst in, I tried to run but Ava couldn't, and we got caught. The cops asked for identification and once they saw my age, he put us in the car.
Mom I don't think I've ever been that scared and Ava had passed out on our way to the police station. The detective asked for our parents' name and number, so I gave her the information and then I waited what seemed like forever.
When Dad and Uncle E got there, I knew they would be mad, but I've never seen dad that mad before. The detective greets them and then they go in her office to talk for a minute or so, when they finish Uncle E gets Ava and we leave. As soon as we get in the car, I try to explain what happened, but dad said he didn't want to hear it and that I was grounded, and I could forget about my license." Phoebe starts to get misty eyed, and Ana pulls her into her side comforting her.
"I think we should all talk and clear the air, and I'll be the arbitrator." Phoebe nods, "Ok, go wait for me in the library while I go and get your father" Phoebe heads out and Ana follows behind her, downstairs Phoebe walks into the library while Ana continues to Christian's office. Opening the door Ana finds Christian pacing, he looks up and his eyes finds Ana's. With just a simple nod Ana let's Christian know its time; Christian takes a deep breath then blows it out and heads towards the door.
Before heading to the library Ana pops her head into the family room, "Boys your…" She stops mid-sentence as she finds both of her sons with pillows taped to their bodies and helmets on, "I'm not even going to ask, your father and I will be talking in the library. Please don't break anything, that includes body parts" The boys give her a thumbs up and she walks away, 30 seconds later she hears a muffled thud. She stops mid-step and wait for second, once she hears laughter, she continues back up the hallway.
Christian waits for Ana and when she a few feet away he opens the door and she walks in, Christian follows then closes the door. Phoebe is seated in one of the chairs in the far corner of the room flipping through a magazine, Christian pulls up two more chairs to make a triangle. Ana sits at the top of the pyramid and Christian fills in the remaining seat, they all sit in silence for a minute not knowing how to start the conversation.
Christian breathes deeply then begins "I first would like to say I'm sorry I was projecting my doubts and fears onto you and that wasn't fair, you have given me no reason to doubt your honesty or actions when it comes to something like this, who ate the last brownie on the other hand is a different story." They all snicker and the mood lifts a little. "On a more serious note, I'm also sorry that you didn't feel safe enough to confine in me" Christian takes Phoebe's hands in both of his and squeezes softly, "Your punishment has been expunged and as restitution I will buy you a car" Phoebe's jaw drops and she lunges herself at her father squealing with joy, "You are totally forgiven, a puppy would have worked too but this way better."
Ana shakes her head and giggles, "Next time Christian you should low ball and work your way up" He chuckles and taps his temple gesturing that he has locked the knowledge away. Phoebe sits back in her seat, "I would also like to say I'm sorry as well, I reacted out of anger and said things that I didn't mean."
"Apology accepted" Christian says and stands up, from his back pocket he pulls out Phoebe phone and give it to her.
"Hello, my sweet, have you missed me?" Phoebe says to her phone while Christian and Ana stare at her as she leaves the room. "Well, that worked out nicely, my job here is done" Ana says, standing herself and starts to head out. "Oh, you still have some work left, I've missed you" Christian's words has Ana stopping at the doorway and looking over her shoulder, back to where Christian is standing. Ana bats her lashes and puts on a shy grin, "Come show me how much you've missed me in the shower" Ana giggles and saunters away with Christian right on her heels.