Chapter 24 - A Grey Family Revelation

Christian's POV

"You look ravishing tonight, baby," I said, complementing my hot wife. She was putting on a pair of diamond earrings at her vanity, and I snuck up behind her to cup her breasts and kiss her neck.

She squirmed in her seat and smiled, "If you ruin my makeup, I'm not giving you any sex tonight."

"Come on," I pouted.

"That's not going to work on me," she giggled, "This dinner is important for your brother. I need you to behave yourself."

"Fine, fine."

She stood up to spray some perfume. It was the smell I'd come to associate with Ana. When she got up, I could truly appreciate how sexy she looked, but apparently, I needed to be on my best behavior tonight. There was no way I was jeopardizing not having sex. Knowing Ana, she was fucking serious about that shit.

She was wearing a gold silk Oscar de la Renta dress, surely a queen in anyone's eyes. Adorning her neck was one of the new diamond necklaces I bought her along with her new Harry Winston diamond drop earrings. And with her sky-high Louboutins, she looked completely fuckable. Although I did have to say, she went way too overboard with her outfit for a mere dinner at my parents' house. I was sure my mother and sister would be dressed to the nines as well, though. They took every event, no matter how small, as an excuse to buy a new couture dress.

Anyways, my outfit was almost laughable next to hers. I was wearing black jeans, a button-down, a leather jacket, and sneakers.

"I see you really dressed up," Ana snarked, laughing at my expense.

"You should see what Elliot's wearing before making fun of me," I rebuked. Knowing Elliot, he put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. My outfit was infinitely better compared to his.

"Whatever, Grey. We should get going before we're late. You know how Grace gets."

Ana's POV

Ever since high school, Sunday dinner at the Grey estate had become a sort of ritual. Grace Grey would never miss a chance to get her family together for a meal. And now that two of her children were all grown up (or so they thought) she rarely got the chance to have the family all together like this unless it was a holiday or someone's birthday. And I couldn't wait for Grace to know that there was going to be a new addition to the Grey family. But she'd no doubt be surprised that it wasn't an addition via Christian and me.

With the freshly baked apple pies in tow, Christian opened up the door of the Rolls-Royce he drove here. Taylor and Sawyer got out of the dark grey Audi behind us and watched us walk up the cobblestone driveway to the entrance. I wasn't sure why Christian feels the need to bring security with us to his parents' house… In a gated community. He was nuts. Taylor and Sawyer were going to be so bored standing outside the Grey's home. Maybe I'd invite them in for dinner. They must get hungry too.

Mia greeted Christian and me at the doorway, dressed to perfection. She was decked out head to toe in pink starting off with her pink Dolce and Gabbana brocade mini dress, matching heels, and pink jewelry.

"You do realize it's not Wednesday, right Mia?" Christian snarked at his sister.

She smiled sweetly at him. "I didn't realize you were a fan of Mean Girls."

I laughed. Guilty as charged. I was the one who made Christian watch those kinds of movies with me. And that's totally why he knew that reference.

"I'm not," Christian tried to deflect.

"Sure," she laughed, winking at me.

"Is Elliot here yet?" I asked, looking at the clock on the wall. Christian and I were already ten minutes late, and Grace hated when people weren't punctual.

"Not yet," Mia replied, "Mom is getting annoyed."

"Of course she is," Christian commented, "I'll text him."

Christian's POV

Christian: Where are you dickhead?

Elliot: Chill, I'm leaving the house now, dude.

Christian: 6 o'clock means 6 o'clock. NOT 6:30 asshole.

Elliot: Cut me some slack. It's the jet lag.

Christian: Jet lag my ass.

Elliot: I'm getting in the car as we speak. I'll be there in ten.

Christian: Have fun explaining why you're late to mom.

Elliot: I will!

Elliot said he'd be here in ten minutes. And that was half an hour ago. Mom was fuming. We were all sitting at the dinner table staring at food because Grace refused to start dinner without Elliot.

"Mom, can we eat? I think we're all hungry," Mia whined.

"We have to wait for your brother, Mia. Where is that boy?" she grumbled to no one in particular.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," I smiled. Fucking hell, Elliot!

And right on cue, my dearest older brother strolled into the dining room carrying a bouquet of roses, and he handed them to our mother. Kiss ass.

Her mood immediately shifted, and she gave Elliot a bright smile and a big hug.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," Elliot apologized.

And just when I thought mom was going to chew him out, she replied, "Don't worry about it, baby. We just all missed you so much! Have a seat, darling."

Grace quickly found a vase for the flowers and set them on the kitchen counter.

Elliot took a seat right next to Mia while Grace and Carrick were sitting at the two ends of the table. Ana and I were sitting directly across from Elliot and Mia.

Mom went all out with the food today. Hopefully, it wasn't cold because of Elliot's late ass. Sitting on the table were a variety of dishes – a crown roast of lamb, my favorite mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and an arugula salad.

When Elliot got in his seat, we all took that as a cue to dig into Mom's delicious food.

"So how was your spring semester, Elliot?" Carrick asked while forking a large serving of mashed potatoes and gravy on his plate.

Elliot clamored up at the question at first but recovered. "It went well."

"And you're all set to graduate next year?" Carrick followed up.

"Yep," Elliot answered simply, not wanting to talk about the subject of college any longer. All it was reminding him of was the bomb he was about to drop on his parents – that he was finishing his degree online and that he accidentally knocked up some girl who happened to be best friends with Ana.

"Shouldn't you be grilling Mia about college, dad?" I asked.

Elliot gave me a grateful look for shifting the topic of conversation. Mia, on the other hand, gave me a death glare.

"I'm not even in college!" Mia exclaimed.

"But shouldn't you be thinking about applications now?" Elliot chimed in.

"Oh, for goodness sake, guys," Ana huffed, "Leave your poor sister alone. She still has plenty of time to think about where she wants to go to college. And that's only if she even wants to go in the first place."

"She's going to college," Elliot, my dad, and I all said in unison.

The girls at the table all just laughed at us.

"College isn't for everyone," Mia commented. She raised her eyebrow at me and continued, "And if I'm remembering correctly, a certain someone just dropped out of Harvard."

I was about to start bickering with my little sister until Grace interrupted us.

"Kids, let's not fight about this," Grace said diplomatically, "Mia's got a mind of her own, and she's a big girl now. She can make her own decisions."

"Thank you, Mom!" Mia cried.

"She is going to help me create my first runway line this summer, so maybe she'll find her calling there," Ana smiled.

Mia stuck her tongue out and Elliot and me. How childish!

"Amelia Grey!" Grace chastised her, "That's not how we behave at the dinner table!"

Elliot and I just laughed at her, and we continued with our family dinner. It was like we were all kids again, living under our parents' roof. Oh, how the time had passed by.

By the end of our meal, we were all stuffed, but then Grace brought out the homemade chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, and no one could resist.

I glanced at Elliot wondering when he was going to tell our parents that he was going to have a child. I half expected him to just blurt it out in the middle of dinner, and I was surprised he waited this long to tell them. I guess he figured dessert would make the news easier to swallow.

Ana, Mia, and my mother were busy chatting about fashion, as usual, and the rest of us guys were enjoying our second serving of ice cream and cookies, which the ladies insisted they couldn't have because they need to "keep their figures intact."

Ana was already thin enough, another cookie wouldn't kill her. But I knew better than to argue with her about her eating habits… I'd just have to fatten her up in more creative ways. Whipped cream and sex perhaps?

Anyways, I kept glancing at Elliot, but he looked as calm as a cucumber. He didn't look like he was about to fess up about the baby any time soon.

I glanced at Ana, and she immediately knew what I was thinking.

"This might be looking too far into the future, but I was considering developing a children's clothing line."

"Oh!" Mia gasped, "That would be so adorable! Just imagine little mini Ana and Christian's running around!"

"Ana, dear, are you trying to tell us something?" Grace smartly asked.

Ana let out a soft sigh and smiled, "No, I'm not pregnant yet."

"But soon?" Grace prompted quickly.

"Soon," Ana assured her while giving me a beaming smile.

Then, Ana and I both focused our attention on Elliot, hoping that he caught the hint that it was time to spill the beans to our family.

But because Elliot was well… Elliot, he was blissfully unaware of what was going on around him, continued to scarf down another chocolate chip cookie.

"I think Elliot has something he wants to say," I announced, wanting to get this whole ordeal over with sooner rather than later.

Elliot's head popped up with a look of shock on his face.

"Elliot…" I said, getting his attention again, "Don't you have some news for us?"

He gave me a scowl then nervously turned back his gaze to the center of the table.

"What is it Elliot," Grace asked curiously.

"It's uh…" Elliot stuttered, "I'm pregnant. Well, I'm not pregnant. I mean, I got a girl pregnant because I can't get pregnant for uh, obvious reasons. So, yeah…" He flashed a nervous grin to the whole family waiting for their reactions.

Carrick looked like he was about to lose it while Grace looked like a concerned mother.

"Who's the girl," Carrick demanded an answer.

"Uh, her name's Kate Kavanagh. You might know her dad… He uh… owns Kavanagh Media."

"You knocked up Eamon Kavanagh's daughter?" Carrick raised his voice.

"And she's decided to keep it?" Grace asked with the utmost concern.

"Yeah, that's what she's planning," Elliot answered.

"And what about college? What are you going to do about that?" Carrick further interrogated.

"I'm still graduating as planned. I'm finishing up my semester online, and I'll still graduate with a shiny Yale degree. Don't worry about that, dad."

Carrick seemed to blow up even more. His face looked red, and if this was a cartoon, there would have been steam coming out of his ears. "What do you mean, don't worry. You come home from college and tell me you got some girl pregnant! Of course, I'm going to worry. Do you plan on being a part of this child's life? How do you expect to be a father when you don't have a steady income? Babies aren't cheap, you know. And you can't expect your mother and me to finance your whole life forever."

Everyone at the table was now shifting in their seats, uncomfortable at the scene that was unfolding in front of them.

"Christian's already set me up with an apartment, so I won't have to worry about that. And as for a job, I can always work…" Elliot tried to reason.

Carrick interrupted him, "Don't you dare say you can just work for Christian! I raised you better than this Elliot. You need to take responsibility for your own life."

"I am, Dad," Elliot continued to argue, "I'm already taking responsibility over this child. Kate doesn't want anything to do with it. After she gives birth to the kid, it'll be my responsibility, and mine alone."

"And you think you're ready for that?" Carrick replied, "The sleepless nights… The diapers…"

Grace decided that now was the time to intervene before this family dinner got more out of hand than it already had.

"Carrick, please calm down," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm not happy about this situation either, but at least he's taking responsibility. He's not running from his problems."

Elliot gave me a pleading look of help, so I decided to speak up as well.

"Dad, from what I've seen from Elliot, I think he's really matured ever since he found out about the baby. I know it's a big responsibility, but Ana and I will help as much as possible, and I'm sure Mia would love to play with a smushy baby."

I looked to Mia for confirmation and she grinned. "If it's a girl, I will be beyond excited. Think about all the cute baby clothes, oh my God!"

Her comment sure lightened the mood considerably, and now both Grace and Ana were smiling at the prospect of being able to buy all the baby clothes they want.

"Dad, come on," Elliot begged, "I know this isn't ideal. But I fucking made a mistake, and now I have to own up to it."

Carrick sighed, "I'm still not happy about this, Elliot. But what I can say is that I'm proud of you for not turning your back on your problems."

"So on that note," Mia chimed in, "When are you guys planning on having a baby." Mia glared at me and Ana.

Ana and I both looked at each other and burst into laughter. Baby fever was coming in full force.

"We're waiting until after the wedding," I pointed out.

"Oh, please," Ana scoffed, "Don't act like you're the patient one. You would've knocked me up months ago if I would've let you."

"Oh!" Grace exclaimed, "I'm going to be a grandma. This is so exciting. I mean, I was expecting my first grandchild to be from Ana and Christian, but this is still a blessing nonetheless. Isn't it Cary?"

"Yes, it is," he managed to stifle out.

"Thanks for your support guys," Elliot gushes, "I really needed it."

Ana's POV

Christian and I were back home now, so I finally got to take off these heels that were killing my feet.

"I think that went well," Christian said, throwing his leather jacket across the room.

Ugh! If only he knew how to hang things back up properly. Which reminded me, we were in desperate need of a housekeeper.

I chose to ignore his offending action and replied, "Yeah, I think it did too. I mean, Carrick didn't seem to take it well at first, but I think he eventually warmed up to the idea of being a grandfather."

"Grace is probably over the moon," Christian smiled, "And I'm only a little jealous that Elliot beat us to the punch."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You're not suggesting we have a baby right now, are you?"

Christian laughed, "Of course not, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have baby fever."

"Me too," I smiled, "There's nothing more I want than to carry our child, but we're not ready now."

"I know," he stated.

"Soon," I promised him.

"Soon," he echoed.