Chapter seven
Christian woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and optimistic of his future. Today was the day that Elsa would meet the rest of his family and he was excited and anxious to see how they were going to react to her. He had an idea that they would love her as much as he was beginning too—she was an easy person to like with her wit and sassiness.
Getting out of bed and getting ready for the day, Christian grabbed his keys and made his way to the elevators, meeting Taylor by the foyer doors.
"I'll be driving the R8, Taylor, but you may be needed at my parents tonight. Miss Lincoln might have the balls to show up and make a scene," Christian told Taylor as he pressed the down button.
Taylor nodded. "I'll have Reynolds and Ryan patrolling the perimeter looking for trouble, Mr. Grey. And Sawyer has been placed as PPO for Miss Steele and Miss Grey."
Christian smiled at him. "Thanks, Taylor."
They rode the elevator down to the garage and went to their separate cars. Christian left first with Taylor following close behind him. By the time they made it to his parents' house, only a few cars were parked in the designated area in front of the three car garage.
Locking his car behind him, he made his way to the front door of the house, but before he could even knock the door swung open and his mother stood before him in her short sleeved cornflower blue sundress.
"Christian!" she cheered with a bright smile on her face, waiting for him to stop at the first step to pull him into a tight hug. She kissed him on the cheek multiple times before she pulled back and held him by the shoulders. "It's been too long since I've last seen you, dear, you need to stop by more often. You know your father and I miss you."
Christian smiled down at his mother in amusement. "I was here last weekend, Mom."
Grace gave him a chiding look. "And that was too long ago. It would be nice if you would stop by more often; we could even do lunch once a week!" she suggested with a sparkle in her eye.
Christian rolled his eyes as he stepped inside the house and made his way toward the kitchen where he could hear a low murmur of voices emanating from.
"We'll see, Mother. Anyway, I have a surprise coming tonight that I'm sure will bring me around here more often," Christian announced just as he entered the threshold and noticed his father and little sister sitting at the breakfast bar, chatting, most likely about the new boy Mia started seeing.
"Really?" Grace asked from behind him, then coming forward to stand next to her husband, facing Mia. As one, Mia turned around to look at Christian just as Carrick looked up from his cocktail glass.
Mia didn't give him a chance to say anything more as she flung herself into his arms and hugged him tight. "Ohhh! I missed you so much, Chrissy!" Christian hugged his sister back as he looked down at her with adoration. He always felt nostalgic when she called him the nickname she'd called him since she began talking.
"I missed you, too, Mia Mouse. How was Italy?" Christian asked as Mia pulled away and took her seat back at the breakfast bar.
Mia clapped her hands together as her eyes widened and she relayed her experiences of her two-month trek in Italy. "And the food, oh my God, it was amazing! They even showed me some helpful tips on the correct way to make pasta and how to preserve it so that it still tastes fresh even after it's been stored away for a few days. And Matteo's family has this huge vineyard and I can't even tell you how wonderful the wine was! I just loved it there. It was the best experience of my life," Mia finished with a wistful look on her face.
Christian smiled down at her. "I'm glad you had a good time. But remind me to meet this Matteo guy. You may be an adult, but don't think I'm going to just let you date anyone, Mia."
She rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't contain her smirk. "I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from you."
Christian chuckled as he took the martini his father handed him and then shook his hand in greeting. "How's it going, old man?" Christian asked as he leaned against the breakfast bar and took a sip of his father's famous lemon martini.
"As well as legal work can get, son. Now what's this surprise your mother keeps whispering to me about? She said it won't be here until later." Christian looked over at his mother and saw the anxious look in her eyes. He shook his head at her, wondering when she became such a Nosy Nancy. "She has this idea you've finally gotten rid of that horrible woman and are bringing and honest woman here to meet us."
"I really wish you could find a girl that would make you settle down, Christian. Your father and I hate thinking that you may never get married. Elliot has settled down, Mia may not end up marrying Matteo but at least she's been dating. You don't even seem to be trying to find a respectable, young woman to marry, Christian," Grace finished in her usual worried tone.
Christian groaned and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "We've talked about this, Mother. I'll settle down when I find the right woman, and I'll look for her when I'm good and ready to do so."
Grace looked at him with a displeased frown and pursed lips. "Well far be it from me to want the best for my children. You know, we're not getting any younger, Christian. I would like to have the chance to say I'm a grandmother."
Christian raised a brow. "How about you learn to be a little more patient, Mother, and you'd be surprised how quickly wishes come true."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "And what's that exactly supposed to mean? Please don't tell me you got that awful woman pregnant, Christian."
Christian didn't get a chance to answer her as Elliot and his wife, Kate, strolled into the kitchen. "What's up, guys?" Elliot asked as he put down the bottle of wine he brought. He shook his father's hand and pulled Christian into a brief hug as Kate hugged Grace and Mia. Elliot leaned over to kiss Mia and his mother on the cheek.
"Just waiting for the guests to arrive, and listening to Mom nag Christian into settling down," Mia said in amusement.
"Ah, you're getting the 'When are you going to bring home an honest woman?' spiel," Elliot murmured with a smile. "I remember those days. Now it's 'When am I going to get my grandbabies?' Good times, good times."
Mia laughed as she nudged Kate with her shoulder and smiled up at her. "Are you ready to be a mother?" Mia asked her.
Kate's eyes widened as she looked over at Elliot. Christian laughed at her expression. "Uh, no. I mean, don't get me wrong, the idea of having kids is exhilarating, I just don't think I'm ready to share my time with Elliot yet."
Elliot winked at his wife and smirked at the disgusted face Mia made. Christian looked around at his family as they continued their conversation with Kate and was getting more anxious by the moment at how they would react to Ana's and Elsa's presence. With his mother practically begging for him to get married and have kids, he can only imagine how she's going to feel about having a fifteen year old granddaughter that she never knew about.
He couldn't imagine how his father was going to feel; he had a feeling the lawyer in him wouldn't approve and would probably have more than enough things to say about his unawareness of a child, but Christian could care less. The only thing he was worried about was that his family accepted his daughter and Elsa felt loved.
….
One by one, guests began to show up as the hours passed, and Christian was beginning to become impatient as each faced that passed him wasn't Ana's or Elsa's.
As the day began to drag on, Christian was beginning to worry that Ana may be too scared to show up. Walking to the front of the house through the sitting room, Christian pulled out his phone and dialed her number. He waited until the call went to voicemail and then hung up, running his hand through his hair in frustration.
He paced for a moment thinking of what to do before he dialed Sawyer's number with the intent to inquire where the girls were. Sawyer picked up on the second ring. "Mr. Grey?"
Christian put his hand on his hip as he paced in front of the threshold of the sitting room. "Sawyer, I would like to know where An—Ana!" Christian called out as he saw her walk past. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes moving to Elsa's. She smiled and waved at him, her eyes sparkling, her sleeveless dark blue dress making her cool blue eyes stand out more.
It took him a moment to remember that Sawyer was still on the other end of the phone. "Never mind, Sawyer." He hung up and took a step closer to them. "I'm so glad you guys came," he said, leaning down to kiss Ana on the cheek and then giving his daughter a hug.
"We would have been here sooner if Mom wasn't taking forever to pick out an outfit," Elsa commented with a sly glance in her mother's direction.
Christian noticed the way Ana narrowed her eyes at their daughter and couldn't help but smile at the exchange. "You chose well. You look great," Christian said to Ana.
Ana looked down at her yellow strapless dress and then back up at Christian with a shy smile. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you. You look great, too."
Christian smiled at her and found it hard to look away from her enchanting eyes. He could feel the emotions he felt fifteen years ago slowly resurface as they gazed at each other. A thousand thoughts were fighting for dominance in his mind but the thought of pulling her into his arms and making love to her for hours kept popping up every time he tried to force it away.
"Did you guys forget I was still standing here, or did you mean for me to be traumatized by the bedroom eyes you two had going on?" Elsa remarked as she looked between the both of them.
Ana turned and looked at her daughter with an exasperated expression. She was about to berate her for the inappropriate comment but Christian's laughter interrupted her.
"I guess we should get used to not having any privacy like we used to, huh?" Christian said, amused, and laughed again at Elsa's disgusted expression. "Come on, there's some people waiting to meet you, Elsa, and see you again, Ana."
Christian guided them to the back of the house and out to the deck. Grace was approaching them with a young woman with dark red hair on her arm when she came face to face with Christian.
"Christian, dear, this is Esmerelda and she just moved back to the area. She said that she remembers you from Seattle Prep. Maybe you could reacquaint her with the area?" Grace suggested with a mischievous smile.
Christian smiled politely at the girl and then turned and gave his mother a knowing look, letting her know he knew what she was doing. He pulled Ana and Elsa closer to him, sending a hint to both the girl and his mother that such an arrangement wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
"Sorry, but I'm already on tourist duty," he insincerely apologized, his eyes on the girl who looked suddenly depressed. He watched her walk away in a pout and thought that he was lucky he didn't have to spend any time with the woman if she acted like a child when she didn't get what she wanted.
Christian turned back to his mother and found her staring at Ana and their daughter, her eyes wide and confused as she looked back and forth between them before she settled her gaze on Christian.
"Christian Trevelyan Grey, is there something you need to tell me?"
Sorry this took so long to get out, I've had a busy week. Hope you guys liked it and thank you for the encouraging reviews, follows and favorites!
And to the guest reviewer Casey, I appreciate you pointing out to me that I made a mistake but I don't appreciate you doing it in a way that makes you come off as a smart ass. I read over every chapter I post but I do miss things and I will continue to miss things because I'm human and it's in my DNA to make mistakes. If you can't accept the fact that there will be misspelled words and grammatical errors then save yourself the time and energy and just refrain from leaving a review or reading my story.
This goes for everyone else who happens upon any of my stories. I'll always accept constructive criticism, but I absolutely WILL NOT tolerate smart ass bullies who condemn others for being human-especially when we all know they make mistakes themselves.