Author's note: I decided to continue this story, because I re-watched some Season 1 episodes recently and fell for ConVict and their troubled relationship all over again. So enjoy and please review. :)
"Victoria are you ready? It's already 6 o'clock!" Her husband impatiently shouted from downstairs.
"Conrad stop stressing me out! I need some time!" Victoria hissed a devious smile accentuating her red lips. She accurately applied her lip liner eyeing her make up in the mirror of the vanity. She then slipped on her brand new Louboutin heels and stood up walking over to the bedroom to check her outfit.
Yes, this would definitely be sufficient to keep everyone's attention on her the whole evening. The loose fabric of the red dress she was wearing managed to hide her small baby bump and at the same time it was a few inches too short so that it would probably provoke her mother in-law just like Victoria had planned over the course of the last two weeks.
If it was so important to her husband to invite his parents for dinner to reveal the pregnancy to them when he knew that Victoria couldn't stand his mother, at least she would make sure it would be an evening to remember.
At times Victoria even had the impression that telling Eleanor and Edward Grayson that they were going to be grandparents meant more to her husband than the actual experience of going through pregnancy with her together. From the day she had told him they were going to have a child, Conrad had started talking about continuing the Grayson family lineage and all the great things he would teach his son. That was why Victoria was already afraid of failing, of not giving birth to a son but rather to a daughter. She almost felt like being part of a royal family, always under pressure of delivering an heir to the throne. She assumed that involving another Grayson man and his wife, who was a 1000 times worse when it came to family matters, into this would only add to her strange feeling of not fulfilling her purpose within the family.
Therefore she chose to dress up for the occasion in order to make sure that she wouldn't be reduced to only producing children to secure the Grayson family heritage.
"Victoria, come on, what takes you so long?" Conrad rushed into the bedroom, annoyed with his wife's diva allures. The moment he fully took in her sight, his jaw literally dropped open. "Oh, I see this is."
Victoria shot him a mischievous look adjusting the dress around her cleavage since she could now also use her fuller breasts for her advantage.
"My parents just arrived. It's time to go downstairs." He stepped closer to her, obviously aroused by his wife's appearance.
"Well, that's great, I'm ready now."
"Don't get me wrong, but don't you think this is a bit… too much?" Conrad stood behind her placing his hand on her waist and pushing her dark curls to the side to place a kiss in her neck.
"Oh, Conrad, I think this is just right. Trust me." Victoria escaped from his grip moving towards the door. "What is it now? I thought you said we were already late?"
She happily accepted her husband's arm mentally preparing for the torture this evening would bring.
The moment Victoria started descending the staircase, she tried not to look down keeping her head up high. However she could immediately feel everyone's eyes peering at her from downstairs and it didn't take long until Conrad's father voiced his delight.
"Ah, there she finally is, our ravishing hostess!" He opened his arms to hug Victoria and for a second she felt his hand resting just a little bit too low on her bottom. He released her from the embrace kissing her cheeks while she put on the brightest smile, which was especially easy as she saw her mother-in-law glaring at her from the side.
"Victoria, may I say, you look flawless tonight." Edward Grayson took her hand and spun her around like some schoolgirl showing off her newest dress. "How is it possible that you become more beautiful every time I see you?"
Before Victoria could open her mouth to thank him for the compliment, his wife interrupted them.
"Hello, Victoria." She smiled at her daughter-in-law fleshing her teeth also placing two kisses to her cheeks. "Wasn't this dress available in your size or do you only shop in the children's department?" A wicked expression shot over her face.
"Mother!" Conrad stepped next to Victoria sliding his arm around her waist. "We want to enjoy a nice evening tonight, so can you please stop offending everyone only because you had a bad day?"
"Conrad my dear son, you should know that I always say what is on my mind and I don't care if the truth offends anyone. And by the way I had a wonderful day." She patted her son's shoulder as she walked past him taking her husband's arm. "Enrique, make yourself useful and guide us to the living room." She hissed at the Grayson's new employee who was obviously irritated by Eleanor's rude appearance.
"See, Conrad? I told you it would be like that! You have to accept that she hates me!" Victoria whispered outraged.
"She doesn't hate you. She's just complicated. Believe me, she will be so happy once we reveal the news."
"Uh-hu, you said the exact same thing the day we told them we were going to get married. But she hated me even more afterwards!"
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Just please try to get along with her. This family is so important to her and becoming a grandmother has always been a dream of hers." Conrad took his wife's hands kissing her knuckles before he led her to the living room.
"I do try Conrad. Your mother is the one not willing to make an effort." Victoria quietly hissed before they joined her in-laws.
Eleanor and Edward already had a drink in their hands when Conrad guided his wife through the door.
Victoria put on her fake smile again pretending not to be bothered with her mother-in-law's attitude towards her.
"It's time to drink to a great evening!" Edward announced picking up two glasses of champagne in order to hand them to Victoria and Conrad.
Victoria shot her husband an insecure look for they hadn't spoken about how and when exactly they were going to break the news. Therefore Conrad decided to use the moment and put his wife's glass back on the table. He slid his arm around her waist again softly pressing her to his side to give her reassurance.
"Mom, Dad, Victoria and I have an announcement to make." He smiled at her meeting her frightened gaze, which made him caress her hip. "Our wish has finally been granted. We're expecting a baby!"
Victoria instantly leaned closer into her husband's arms fearing the reaction of the soon-to-be grandparents. Just for a second Eleanor's and her eyes locked and she was sending her an evil glare.
"That is wonderful news! Congratulations you two." Edward managed to distract from his wife's lack of emotions and gave both, Victoria and Conrad a hug.
"Thank you Dad. We are so excited we just couldn't wait to tell you, right Victoria?" Conrad expectantly looked at his wife.
"Yes, I feel so incredibly blessed." Victoria leaned forward to give her husband a loving kiss. In addition she wrapped her arms around his neck to demonstrate how happy they were together.
"Well, I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother. I'm getting old." Eleanor decided to say something and hug the newly wed couple in order to interrupt the intimate gesture they shared right before her eyes. She knew all too well that Victoria only did this to show the power she had over Conrad. If she was so determined to play that game with her, she could be sure that Eleanor would play along. "Victoria, I'm sorry to bring that up, but we all know that not so long ago you lost a child. And now you're pregnant again, aren't you afraid this might be a bit too fast?"
This woman was out for blood, Victoria thought to herself stifling a snort. "I'm in the 4th -month now and my doctor assured that everything is fine with me and the baby, so why should I be afraid?" She turned to Conrad again placing her hands on his chest. "I'm actually happy that this happened so soon, because Conrad and I are so looking forward to having a family of our own." She kissed her husband another time, because she knew that this was most effective to outrage her mother-in-law. Much to Victoria's satisfaction Eleanor couldn't hold back an annoyed grunt before she swallowed her glass of champagne and had to grant her daughter-in-law the win of the first round tonight.
During dinner Conrad and his father mostly talked about business so that Victoria was glad she didn't have to get involved into the conversation.
"Come on Victoria, you're eating for two. This can't possibly be all you have for dinner."
Oh how she already loved those predictable comments on her pregnancy. How would she survive the next 5 months without telling people to keep their senseless advices to themselves. In the case of her father-in-law however she tried to be polite finding a good excuse.
"It's just that I feel a bit sick. But don't worry about me." She flashed Edward a charming smile while she searched for her husband's hand on the table.
After they had finally finished dessert, Victoria was more than relieved when Edward announced they would call it a night since he didn't want to keep her up any longer.
Eleanor had silently agreed but before she had left she had insisted on speaking to her son alone. In the meantime Victoria had already excused herself to the bedroom where she had changed into a short silky nightgown and waited for Conrad to come to bed.
The third chapter is almost ready and I'll probably publish it after I updated my Summer 1993 fic. Btw: Thanks little-borgia for the lovely name for Grandma Grayson! xo