Enjoy
Sins of the Father
Chapter 16
Homeward Bound
Ana's POV
"You made it back," I say, after Giles opens the door letting them in. I'm curious as to how it went, but I'm guessing better than expected since the time was extended. I look down at Christian holding a new teddy bear and a grin. "And who is this little guy?"
"Teddy," he answers me before running past. I'm sure he's off looking for Nora to ask her for his nightly snake. I shake my head at how he can be hungry. Christian text saying he ate his weight in pizza.
"I hope all that running means you'll be letting Nora get you ready for bed," I yell behind him.
"Kay," is all he says.
I wait until he disappears through the hotel before turning back to the door.
"I cannot believe you," I ground out the words to Christian. "Why would you go behind my back and get me transferred to Seattle? You know damn well that's not what I want. I would have never agreed to that."
"Yes, you have made that quite clear," he says, brushing past me and going into the living room. "Which answers the question of why I went behind your back to make it happen."
He takes a moment to look around the room and out the large windows.
"I thought you hated being so high up," he says to me.
"I never said that. And don't change the subject," I yell at him.
"I won't entertain discussing any subject if you can't keep your voice down," he says to me, looking at the door Christian just ran through.
"Fine," I spit out, moving closer to him so his son won't hear. "What is the point of me being in Seattle? You two are getting along well. He would have been fine without me interceding on his behalf."
"Like hell he would have been fine. He's fine now because he knows that at the end of the day, he'll come back here to you. The moment he stepped foot on that plane knowing he was leaving you here would have hurt him."
"Maybe so, but he would have adjusted to it, Christian."
"He has to adjust to enough. He has a whole new family he has to get to know. A whole new city and a whole new home. His mother is gone. He needs someone to turn to when it becomes overwhelming."
"He has you."
"But, he also needs you and I will always make sure he gets what he needs."
"At the expense of my life?"
"I'm not doing anything to permanently damage your life. I'm asking for a week or two at the most."
"You didn't 'ask me' a damn thing."
"Because you wouldn't have agreed."
"Because I don't want to go."
"Anastasia, we are going around in circles. What's done is done. I went over your head and Mrs. Kinkaid's head, for that matter because I was left with very few options and as far as my son is concerned, having very few options is unacceptable."
"You can't just bulldoze over everyone else in the name of your son."
"Watch me. He has had one hell of a shitty life thus far. I will do everything in my power to prevent life's shit from reaching him again. You beat to the task when you decided to help him that night in the hospital. Unfortunately for you, it means you're stuck. Hate me for it all you want if that helps you to not regret it. Add this to the list of things you already hate me for, but I won't apologize for this. We both know that I'm a selfish man. Well, that now extends to my son."
"I don't regret helping him that night. I never will. And I don't hate you, but you can bet your sweet ass I'm adding it to the very long list of things you do that piss me off. One week," I tell him, holding up my index finger to drive the point home. "One week and then I'm transferring this case."
"Agreed."
"I'm not asking you to agree."
"Fine have it your way."
"What did you say? 'have it MY way'? You have got to be kidding me."
"So, you think my ass is sweet? What else besides my ass that's on your list?"
"What? Oh my God. Just...Get out."
"May I at least say goodnight to my son?"
"You are ASKING me now?"
He smirks at me and I want to hit him.
"See yourself out when you're done."
…
Christian's POV
I knock on Christian's bedroom door.
Nora lets me in before excusing herself. I make my way over to where Christian is sitting on the bed that is much too big for him.
"What happened to your fort," I ask him, looking around. The blankets are all folded up in a chair.
"No more fork," he says. "Can I have one in Seattle?"
"Sure you can," I tell him, sitting down next to him, but far enough away to keep it from being awkward for him. "Are you sad about leaving?"
He shakes his head no, then shrugs as if he's no longer sure all of a sudden.
"Is there anything you want to ask me?"
"Will I sleep ina room like this room?"
"You will. I have it all ready for you and you can bring anything you want with you to put in it."
"You live with your mommy and daddy?"
"No," I smile at him. "But they live nearby. Taylor will be living with us along with a lady named Gail who takes care of the house."
"Is she nice?"
"The nicest," I tell him. "Do you think Taylor is nice?"
He nods.
"But he don't drive super-duper fast," he tells me of him and I laugh.
"He better not," I say, standing up. "Let's get you to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow. Do you want to know what we're going to be doing?"
He nods his head, moving to get in under the covers that I've pulled back for him.
"We are going to go pay our respects to your mom. Do you know what that means?"
"That I get to say goodbye?"
"Yes, in a way. You get to visit her and say whatever you didn't get to say to her before. But you don't have to say goodbye because she is coming with us."
"She is," he says, so excited his face lights up.
"She is," I tell him. "I'll pick you up in the morning and we can go pick out some flowers for her."
"Kay," he says, smiling into the bear he's snuggling up with.
It takes him no time at all to fall asleep. I find myself lingering at his bedside just watching him. I get so much peace from it. I get so much peace knowing he is well fed and not starving from where his crack whore mother didn't think enough of him to buy him food before giving all her money to her pimp for a fix. It gives me peace knowing that he is safe and warm instead of hiding under the kitchen sink or under his mom's bed hoping that she stops the pimp from burning him with cigarettes. Hoping against hope that when the pimp does find him, that his mom comes when he cries out for her because she didn't the last time.
I banish those thoughts back into the corners of my mind as I brush away the hair out of his face and make sure he's tucked in.
Its only when I receive a text from Miss Johnson that I leave him.
Ana is nowhere to be found so I do as she asked and see myself out. But not without the aid of Lurch Addams, or whatever the fuck his name is. That asshole is still obsessed with that Barrington fucker's door even at this late hour.
Sliding into Taylor's back seat, I give Miss Johnson a call.
"Master," she answers on the first ring.
"Miss Johnson."
"Am I to still expect you home at the time previously specified," she asks.
"You will expect me when I arrive and not a minute sooner," I tell her. "And you know how I despise being called Master."
"Punish me so I'll learn, Sir."
"And now you are topping from the bottom," I pretend to scold her. "What are you hoping to accomplish besides orgasm denial?"
"I can answer that, but I'll just end up in more trouble," she giggles making me smile at the phone
"How are you, Kitten," I ask, softening to her.
"Missing you," she groans. "I had so many appointments today. I didn't have a moment to sit down. To top it off, Esclava was packed. I couldn't wait around for Franco to squeeze me in, so my hair and nails aren't done. I'm going to look so unpolished when I see you."
"I didn't realize beauty makeovers were so in demand," I tease her.
"We have a lot of ugly women in Seattle," she says and I shake my head.
"Behave yourself. I'll send Franco over to you in the morning."
"Did I mention Freddy, the pot belly pig came in sick?"
"No, Kitten. You failed to mention that. I hope the little guy is alright."
"Big guy," she clarifies. "250lbs."
"Fuck that's a lot of bacon"
"You sound like my assistant," she laughs. "Well, it turns out he ate his owner's pantyhose. I was in surgery with him for four hours. I really need de-stressing."
"Is the new playroom complete?"
"Yes, Sir and everything is exactly where you ordered it to be," she assures me.
"Good girl. Go there and wait for my call. I just may allow you to come tonight."
"Thank you, Sir," she whispers. The need in her voice has aroused me. I hang up without another word to her.
"Taylor, is everything as it should be back home," I ask him, putting away my phone and switching gears back to the business at hand.
"It is, Mr. Grey. I spoke with Gail, and the designer will be there first thing in the morning to put in the finishing touches you requested for your son's new room."
"And Gail did the groceries," I ask him.
"Yes, Sir."
"She bought all that...kid stuff," I say, with a wave of my hand. "Juice boxes and whatever else kids like? All that sugary shit with the cute characters to manipulate kids into wanting it?"
"She has the place stocked to the brim with it, Sir," he assures me.
I can hear the amusement in his voice at my fretting about this. It goes against everything I love about eating.
"But it's the healthier sugary shit, right? I don't want him eating the bad sugar. And I don't want him eating the fruit cups in the heavy syrup. She made sure not to get any of that disgusting shit, right. Only the fruit cups in water?"
"Of course, Sir. You know Gail. She will make sure its all of quality."
"Right," I say, settling down and trusting her judgement, only to start right up again. "As a matter of fact, I only want fresh organic fruit. She can cut it up for him herself."
"Mr. Grey, Gail only bought the fresh organic fruit," he tells me in an effort to ease my mind.
I settle back down before calling the coroner to make sure everything is okay with Christian seeing Leila tomorrow. I didn't mention the fact that Ana might be joining us on the trip home. As pissed as she is at me, I didn't want to get his hopes up only to be disappointed if she decides not to accept the transfer in the end.
Arriving at the apartment, I say goodnight to Taylor and pour myself a brandy.
Shit is still so up in the air with this Seattle move right now. I won't relax until I get Christian home and settled in.
A routine is the best way to go. That's what Grace and Carrick did for me. It made it so much easier knowing what to expect every day. I think that will work for my son as well. He's very iffy about new situations. I can't say that I blame him. So far, nothing about his situation has been worth looking forward to.
I shake off my mood and pour myself another drink, clearing my mind for my upcoming phone session with my kitten.
Clearly, I'm just as stressed as she seems to be. The sooner I get everything squared away here, the sooner I can get to Seattle and seek out my own de-stressing balls deep in her. After I shade that ass of hers pink, of course.
…..
Two days later
Sitting in the back of the SUV, my son is at my side with his teddy bear in his arms. He is wearing his superman shirt and blue hoodie. The only thing he wanted from Barrington's was the green eggs and ham book.
The coroner released Leila's' belongings along with her body. She didn't have very much on her when she died. Just a watch and a necklace I gifted her once on her birthday. I was surprised she hadn't sold it.
I packed up what little she had in her apartment and put it in storage. I took all the pictures. I know out of everything, those will be the most important to Christian as he grows up. Thank fuck she took a few of him when he was a baby, including a very telling one of the two of them.
A nurse must have taken it the moment he was born.
He was in Leila's arms wrapped in a hospital blanket. His umbilical cord was still attached and she looked exhausted. No one else was in the picture, verifying that she gave birth to him all alone.
The way she smiles down at him is the thing I couldn't stop staring at when I first saw it. You would have to be blind not to see the love for him in that smile.
God only knows what happened the years between that picture and the day she died.
I look over at Christian as he sits with a blue plastic car rolling it over his jeans.
"What's that," I ask about it.
"Ana's car," he tells me, lifting it up so I can see it. "She found it in the box with my chicken nuggets and she let me have it."
I smile with nod, being dramatically impressed with it. Out of all the toys he could have brought with him, that is the only one he wanted. I'm sure it has more to do with Ana then the actual car.
He informed me that Nora gave him a special mac and cheese sendoff dinner when I picked him up last night to spend his last night in New York with me. He also informed me of that Barrington fucker calling to talk to him. I waited until he was asleep before I called Ana to question her about it.
"What the fuck did he have to say to him," I asked her.
"He just reminded him of the promise he made," she told me.
"What the hell could he have possibly promised my son that I can't provide for him?"
"He promised to be available if he needed him," she told me. I damn near saw red and if it wasn't for Christian being across the hall, I sure as hell would have. Christian was terrified of the thought of having a daddy and Hunter helped him see that it wasn't so bad to have a real one."
"I hope he's not expecting a thank you card that he got to be involved with my son before I was able to," I told her, staring at the picture of his birth.
"Can we not rehash this, please. I did the best I could at the time."
"I'm not blaming you. I should have been involved since the day he was born, but he was kept from me."
"Christian, I think for Leila, you were a different person to her back then. I hated her for not telling you at first but, honestly, I don't know if I would have been so quick to tell you if you had gotten me pregnant back when we first started out."
"What the fuck does that supposed to me, Anastasia?"
"Sir," Taylor gets my attention as we pull up on the tarmac of LaGuardia airport.
I watch Christian's eyes grow wide as he gets out of his seat and looks at the jet.
He's just about to run back into the SUV until I take his hand.
"Do you remember what I told you yesterday when we left from seeing your mom," I ask him and he nods.
"You won't let nothing bad happen to me again," he says.
"That's right. There is nothing bad waiting for you up there," I assure him. "Let's go see."
I beacon him forward and he follows me, holding my hand as he takes one careful step after the other until he finally gets to the door and peeks inside.
"Well, there you are," Ana says to him from her seat in the back corner of the jet. He gives her a face splitting grin, rushing over to her like he hasn't seen her in years when its only been one night. I look at the scene of the two of them and allow my mind go to a place I have successfully kept at bay since I found out Ana wants nothing to do with me.
I imagine the three of us boarding this jet and taking off on a family vacation to Paris, or perhaps Aspen would be better. I remember how excited she was to find I had a home there.
I inwardly tell myself to keep dreaming before taking a moment to talk to my pilot and to make sure breakfast is underway with my flight attendant before sitting down.
"Go sit with your dad so I can finish my work," I hear Ana whisper to Christian.
"Kay," he says, doing as she asks.
I smirk at her as she pretends to be busy on her laptop, knowing damn well she's not doing anything work related.
Her goal is to get my son to bond with me and she is very good at it.
No way in hell would it have worked out this way with another case worker who doesn't know us from the shitload of cases she's already bogged down with. I hate that I had to force the issue, but Ana cares for my son and she wants the best for him.
No one else, besides myself is more invested in this working.
And for now, no one else will do.
Author's Note:
I tried to edit, but my eyes started to cross over. So I just decided I would go ahead and post it.
For those of you who were waiting to read it, The visit with Leila was left out intentionally for now.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.