CHAPTER 81

(EVA)

"Do you think he is ok?" Christian asks me after Gideon has left the room and I nod confidently, but inside I am in turmoil as I can imagine how gutted my husband must be feeling. I can only hope that Caroline will help him process it all.

"He has got what he wanted and that is the acknowledgement and acceptance from his mother that he was raped. She has finally admitted it, that is all he ever wanted, because she has denied it actually happened for all these years" I say.

Christian nods, "I understand that, however… there is the question of all the other revelations. None of which were pleasant ones and to be totally frank, they were downright shocking".

I shrug, "I know, I still have difficulty getting my head around some of the stuff that came out of Elizabeth's mouth. I wanted to be physically sick at one point," I say.

I feel Ana touch my hand and give it a gentle squeeze, "Yeah me too" she whispers, "but how we feel is irrelevant we just need to support Gideon".

Before I can reply I hear Ana's phone buzzing and she withdraws her hand and pulls it from her pocket.

"It's El and he wants to video call" she exclaims brightly and an unconscious spontaneous smile spreads over my lips at the thought of my brother in Seattle.

I shuffle closer so I can also see him as she quickly accepts the call. "Hi El!" Ana says brightly as Elliot's face appears on the screen.

"Hi Ana… oh hi Eva! Is Christian there? I have been trying to call him but I'm having trouble getting through to him and he isn't picking up?" he asks and Ana and I immediately look towards Christian who is fumbling for his phone and muttering a curse under his breath.

"My battery is dead" he says after examining his phone. Christopher immediately grabs and throws a phone charger towards Christian and with a word of thanks he catches it deftly and plugs in his phone to charge.

Ana and I shuffle closer and Christian joins us and he quickly apologises to Elliot, explaining about the drained battery. Elliot grins and waves his hand saying that its fine, in his usual laid-back manner.

"What's up?" I ask wondering why he has called and also why he has video called as he only does that when we have scheduled Skype catch ups.

Elliot grins again and looks to the side, a moment later Megumi appears and smiles at us.

"Meg!" I exclaim, I am delighted to see my friend again. We talk and text quite regularly and when I Skype with El she does join us sometimes. She looks really well and happy, almost glowing. There is no hint of the anxious nervous woman who left New York for a new life in Seattle.

"We have news" Elliot says grinning widely.

"Which is?" Christian prompts.

"We're having a baby!" Meg blurts out with a giggle.

"What?! Oh my god that is so wonderful!" Ana exclaims.

"Congratulations Elliot, Megumi" Christian says quite formally.

"Way to go bro!" I quickly put in, and then look at Megumi, "I'm so pleased for you" I add and Megumi gives me a knowing look. She gets the subtext of that comment and acknowledges it.

"Thanks guys, we have only just found out so if you could keep it to yourselves for the time being as we are not announcing it yet. Also, all the paperwork has been put in for Meg to formally adopt Ava. Everything is done and dad said it should be pretty straightforward" Elliot says brightly.

"That is so great! I am so pleased for you" Ana says again. As she says this Christopher and Ireland come and stand behind us and offer Elliot and Meg their own congratulations before moving away again.

"We also have one final bit of news" Meg says shyly and holds up her hand, we all gape at the wedding ring on her finger.

"Is that a wedding ring?" Christian asks in obvious shock at what he is seeing.

Elliot nods and holds up his own hand and shows that he is also wearing a wedding ring, "It is, we didn't want to wait. We didn't want any fuss or anything so we went to city hall and did the deed!"

There is a brief stunned silence as we take in this news, the last we knew Elliot was just thinking about popping the question but now it appears he has not only done that but whisked Megumi away and married her… without us there to witness it! Both Elliot and Megumi are looking at us - a little anxiously now.

"You got married without us?" Ana asks eventually, saying what we are all thinking and breaking the stunned silence and I can clearly hear the hurt in her voice.

Elliot smiles kindly at her, "I know we should've waited till you guys came back from New York, but we decided to just do it. If it's any consolation mom wasn't happy about it either, when we told her what we had done but it's what we both wanted. We didn't want any fuss and we both knew that if we had gone for the big wedding then it would've turned into a media circus". We all nod as we know he is right, but the fact he went ahead and did this without us hurts, and it makes me realise just how left out my family must have felt when Gideon and I eloped.

I look at Meg, "You were ok with that, City Hall I mean?" I ask, as this maybe Elliot's second marriage but Megumi is doing this for the first time. Megumi smiles and nods adamantly.

"It was actually my idea, I suggested it. I said I didn't care about all the trappings and fuss as the wedding itself is insignificant in the big scheme of things as all it does is just make everything legal. It's our relationship and our marriage which is the main thing. I did say we should perhaps wait till you guys got back though" she says and glances at Elliot as she says this.

Elliot nods and smiles sheepishly, "Yeah, she did but I couldn't wait! However, it was the simple service we both wanted and well… we couldn't be happier! But we both acknowledge that you guys would feel left out because you weren't there and mom has made it really clear that she feels cheated. Mia says she was happy for us but I think she was just pissed that she didn't get chance to take over and try and organise everything, although I think she has enough on her plate at the moment with Christian's birthday party which Ana turned over to her to organise. But as a kind of apology for doing it without everyone we thought when you get back, as I say Christian's birthday shindig is coming up soon – and well… we thought we could sort of highjack it a bit and turn it into a double celebration, for our wedding as well and then we could officially announce the baby as well at the same time?" he looks at us questioningly and I glance at Christian who is nodding.

"That's a brilliant idea, it will take some of the attention away from me" he says wryly.

Ana elbows him, but agrees that it sounds like a good idea.

"Did you regret not having your family and friends there?" I ask Megumi and once again she gives me a serene and contented smile.

"No, I know that sounds awful but the only people there who mattered were myself and Elliot and Ava was there of course and it was just perfect. It was simple, quiet and it made us legally husband and wife without all the ostentatious trappings and silliness".

I smile and nod in agreement, I can't argue with any of that as that is exactly how I felt when Gideon whisked me away and we got married without any fuss.

"What about Sadie and Lucy?" Ana asks and Elliot just waves his hand almost dismissively.

"They weren't upset we did it without them, they were just happy for us and Sadie said that as long as I'm happy they're happy" he says with a shrug. He pauses a moment and then looks questioningly at me.

"And you and Gideon will fly in when we do celebrate it with you all?" he asks and I grin at him.

"Try keeping us away!" I say.

I look up to see Gideon returning with Caroline, my dad and Angus.

"Elliot is here" I say pointing at Ana's phone.

Gideon smiles and walks over to say a quiet hello to Elliot and Megumi. I see the surprise on his face as Elliot quickly brings him up to speed with everything, he has just told us and Gideon agrees that we will certainly be there and that he has every intention of flying out to Seattle for Christian's birthday, and now we have even more reason to be there.

"How are things in New York?" Elliot asks Gideon carefully and Gideon lets out a small snort at his rather hesitant question. Elliot knows what has been going on as we all have been keeping him informed of developments as they have been happening.

"It could be better, but then again it could be a damn sight worse and so as far as I am concerned, I have discovered the truth about Elizabeth and it has given me the closure I needed for a whole part of my life. But I am not going to discuss that right now as this is a moment for your news and it is good news!" he says.

Elliot nods in acceptance and doesn't question him further, "When are you guys returning to Seattle?" he asks returning his attention back to Christian.

Christian shrugs, before glancing at Gideon.

Gideon looks at Christian meaningfully as he responds, "As I said, as far as I am concerned the situation with Elizabeth is closed. I already said this to Caroline, we have played our part in bringing to light her involvement in the investment fraud and all that information has been passed on to the relevant authorities. I have what I wanted from her which was her acknowledgement of the abuse I suffered… and as for the other revelations which have come to light as a result of that, well… I'm not surprised and as there is nothing I can do about it and I don't wish to be involved any further I am now drawing a line and closing that chapter of my life. As far as I am concerned, I have no mother as Elizabeth is dead to me and there is nothing more to say on that" he says with an emphatic sweep of his hand.

I watch him carefully as he says this and there really is a level of acceptance to everything. He isn't just saying that to push things away he really does believe and accept that it is closed. I just hope that he does try and lay it all to rest. I won't say get over it, as I know from personal experience that you can never get over being raped, but I hope that he can come to terms with it. I think he got a level of closure when he previously managed to get Lucas stripped of his medical licence and now as he said he got what he wanted as far as his mother is concerned.

Elliot nods, "Ok, it sounds like some heavy shit went down, but as you don't want to talk about it now you can fill me in another time" he says.

Gideon nods, "Yes that's fine I will" he says.

"Have you heard anything from Kate, after her attempts to contact me?" Ana asks and I see El and Megumi exchange a small but significant look.

Elliot nods, "Yeah, that's something we both need to talk to you about and the other reason we called. We told Eamon as a matter of courtesy about the developments and progress with Meg adopting Ava and he was happy for us. He made it clear that he had no objections as long as they could still have visits with Ava. Which I agreed to after all they are still her grandparents – just like Ethan still sees her from time to time. Anyway, I was under the impression that Kate had been disowned… which she has for the most part. She heard about the adoption though. She didn't need to be informed officially as she had previously signed over all her parental rights when she signed the divorce papers but she found out somehow and she went to Grey House and bawled out Meg as she was leaving work".

Christian immediately frowns at this, "Nobody told me about this" he says.

Elliot shakes his head, "No, Meg asked Ros not to mention it to you. We wanted to be the ones to tell you," he explains.

"Are you ok, Megumi?" Christian asks her and she nods.

"I'm fine, honestly but thank you for asking Christian. To be fair, from what she said I think she was more upset by the fact security refused to allow her into the building, than the fact I am adopting her daughter. She was waiting outside frustrated that she couldn't get in and so when she saw me leaving she vented that frustration on me. That was what she mainly screamed at me about. The fact she wasn't allowed inside Grey House anymore, her views about me adopting Ava seemed secondary".

Elliot nods, "Meg called me and I told her to get back inside and I would come and fetch her. I called Jason and asked him if I could borrow one of your security guys and that guy… Paul Ryan? He showed up and stayed with Meg until I could get there. When I got there Kate had gone, but don't have a go at Jason either as I asked him not to say anything to you. I told him I wanted to tell you about it myself".

"What did she say?" Ana asks.

Megumi sighs, "She didn't really make a lot of sense to be honest. She ranted about not being allowed in, that is what upset her most and she asked me who the hell did I think I was, as she seemed to think I had something to do with the fact she was stopped at the door and not allowed access to the building. She said that just because I worked for the great Christian Grey didn't make me anyone special, but then she seemed to remember why she had come to see me and she said that she should've been told about me adopting Ava. She didn't seem that concerned about the adoption itself, more the fact she hadn't been told by us personally. I told her that as she was divorced and had signed over her parental rights to Elliot, effectively cutting all ties with Ava she was irrelevant and as such we didn't need to tell her our business. That seemed to stop her in her tracks for a moment until she didn't like the idea of being irelevent and so she went back to calling me names and telling me I was nobody special… I guess she did have a point though, as we could've told her as a matter of courtesy, even though we didn't need to but we were both afraid she would try and block the adoption out of spite - even though there wasn't anything she legally could have done she could've tried to cause trouble and we wanted to avoid that mainly for Ava's sake".

Christian shakes his head, "I'll arrange with Taylor for you to have a permanent CPO" he says with a firm finality.

Meg shakes her head, "Thank you Christian, but that really isn't necessary" she argues but Christian holds up his hand to stop her and he refuses to budge on this.

"You are now married to my brother, which now makes you my sister-in-law. That fact puts you at risk, not only from Kate Kavanagh but also any other weirdo out there who is looking for a payday. Plus, it's not only you now but also my niece or nephew that you are carrying" he says with a grim finality.

Elliot nods in agreement and turns towards Meg, reaching for her hand as he does so, "Don't argue with him Meg. Just let him do it, it will make him feel better and really he does have a point about the weirdos who wouldn't think twice about snatching you" he says and at that Megumi reluctantly agrees.

Gideon nods, "I agree with Christian, and not only that, it is known that you are a personal friend of Eva's and now you are also her sister-in-law… and therefore also mine, so with that extended family it is wise to have some close security with you".

"I think in light of everything we have just heard we should consider planning our return to Seattle" Christian says warily and Ana looks at me and then Gideon.

I nod my head, "I agree, you guys need to be on the ground in case Kate tries to do something else".

"She may try approaching you at Grey Publishing, baby - as you have been ignoring her" Christian says, looking at Ana who just shrugs at that dismissively.

"What if she does? I won't see her, and I have Luke with me all the time when I'm at work" she says.

We all talk for a few moments more, before we end the video call with Seattle.

"Well, that was a surprise" Ana says, "I didn't expect that" she adds.

"No, but it was the next natural step and El was thinking about popping the question, it just appears that he accelerated the timeline by a lot" I say with an amused snort.

"Do you think they are rushing into this, moving too fast?" Christian asks and Ana snorts at that.

"Kettle, Pot and black!" she says sarcastically which makes Christian's eyes widen and I let out a loud laugh.

"I beg your pardon?" Gideon asks, looking totally confused by that comment.

Ana smiles at him, "It's a proverbial idiom" she explains, "A metaphor – it goes, 'that's like the pot calling the kettle black'. Meaning that's a bit rich of Christian to say that when he married me after only about a month of knowing me".

Gideon smiles and glances at me, "Oh I see" he says in understanding.

"May I interrupt?"

We all look up in surprise at Caroline, I had forgotten she was still here.

"I'll be going now, but I couldn't help but hear that you are returning to Seattle. Would that mean that my work here on the ground is also complete?" she asks.

Gideon nods and rises to his feet.

"Forgive me, it was rude to ignore you as soon as I walked in here. In answer to your question, I believe so. It would make sense for you to return to Seattle with Christian and I can always contact you via videocall and we will return to our scheduled sessions once you are back in Seattle. Thank you for all your help here and for coming out to New York" he says.

Caroline smiles at him, "It was my pleasure, and I would like to say it may not seem like it to you but the real progress you have made has been incredibly gratifying and I am honoured that I have been a part of it".

With that Gideon escorts her to the door and shakes her hand as she goes to pack her things ready for her return to Seattle.