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Sins of the Father

Chapter 20

Tip-Toeing Towards the Past

Christian's POV

I set Christian's door alarm then head to my office to call Elliot.

"I need you to come over," I tell him when he answers the phone half asleep.

"Bro, its 2 in the goddamn morning."

"When did that ever stop you?"

"I don't hear from you for days and weeks at a time and now you call me this damn early and expect me to rush over. If this another one of your drunken Ana rants-"

"It's not a fucking rant and I'm not drunk. I need to tell you something serious. Now bring your ass over here before I send Taylor over there to get you."

He gives a long sigh.

"Beer and pizza better be at my disposal when I get there or my ass is turning right back around."

"Done."

My phone rings as soon as I hang up with Elliot.

"It will please you to know that your Kitten is safe and sound," she tells me and damn if she's not purring.

"Are you already in bed?"

"Tucked in tight and circling the drain to a very relaxed and peaceful sleep thanks to my Sir, who I wish were here with me."

Images of her curled up in bed flash through my mind and beeline right to my dick.

My inner DOM is already out of this seat I'm glued to, heading toward the elevator doors before I rein his ass back down.

"Sweet dreams, Kitten."

"They're always sweet after being with you."

I hang up with her when I hear Elliot's mouth moving beyond the foyer and into the great room.

"Nice pajamas T Man," he teases Taylor. "Did Gail buy you those?"

"Who else," Taylor comes back at me.

"Good one," Elliot laughs. "Damn, what the hell happened to this place? Did Martha Stewart throw up in here? And where is that dickhead of a boss of yours? Hey Christian, get your ass out here. I don't have all damn night."

I come out to see Taylor looking half annoyed and half amused, which is what he usually is when having to deal with my older brother, and Elliot still in his damn pajama pants and a sweat shirt.

"Will you keep your fucking voice down," I tell him, looking up the stairs.

"Why," he says following my stare. "You have someone sleeping upstairs?"

"As a matter of fact," I tell him, wiping that smug look off his face.

I thank Taylor before going into the kitchen and throwing one of the readymade pizzas Gail recently prepared for Christian into the oven. I grab two Adnam beers and move into my office.

"Well, who is she?"

"It's not a she" I tell him, sitting down behind my desk. "It's a he. He's sleeping upstairs, so keep your damn voice down."

"A 'he'? Aw fuck, Dude. Seriously," he says, popping open his beer and downing it. "So, the rumors about you are true? What was Ana all about then? Your Goddamn beard?"

"I'm not fucking Gay, Elliot."

"So you just have some random ass guy sleeping upstairs. You're so lonely you need a damn roommate?"

"You are just going to keep on talking, aren't you?"

"Its two in the damn morning. What do you want from me? I can't perform well this early."

"And Kate still wants to marry you?"

"Fuck you."

"Not if you're not performing well, you won't."

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"Fine, I'll get right to it. El, you're an uncle."

"I'm an uncle what?"'

"What do you mean an uncle what?"

"Am I an uncle tom? An uncle fucker? An uncle cracker? There's like a zillion uncles-"

"No Elliot. You are a real uncle. As in I have a son."

The dumbstruck look on his face as he runs his hand through his hair is worth what I know is coming next.

"You have a son," he repeats and I nod my head.

I study him as he gets up, paces a few steps, stops to look at me, then paces again.

He leaves the office only to come back with the case of beer. He takes one and pops it open.

"As far as I know, you didn't get Ana pregnant."

"No, Ana's not his mother."

"Right, okay, well who is? Come on out with it. Am I going to have to drag this shit out of you?"

"Before Ana and I got together, I was involved with a woman named Leila Williams-"

"Ho-ly shit. So Ana wasn't your first fuck?"

"No, I'd been involved with multiple women before her."

"Multiple? Why the hell didn't you ever say?"

"I like privacy. You know that."

"Yeah, but fuck Dude. Its not like dating is some type of espionage or something. I've never even seen you look at a woman before Ana."

"It was all just about sex, El. None of them meant a damn thing to me. None of them were really the take home to mom type, if you catch my meaning."

"I get that," he laughs.

"But this was all before I met Ana. She was my missing piece. The rest were just bodies to fuck, but that didn't stop one from getting pregnant, clearly."

"Right, about the kid. This Leila Williams fuck and duck is claiming you're her baby daddy."

"Not quite-"

"Wait a damn minute. Leila Williams. Is this the same psycho chick that held a gun on you and Ana? You were involved with that crazy bitch? I thought she was just one of those celebrity stalkers who broke in."

"Enough. She is the mother of my son."

"Come on Little Brother. This Leila chick is desperate as hell and apparently, is still a screw shy of a nut set. Do you know how many times chicks have tried this on guys? This is a classic set up."

"Leila Williams never said a word to me," I tell him. "For five fucking years, she never said a goddamn word to me about him."

"So, she just pops up out of the blue? With a five-year-old behind her? What the actual fuck, man?"

"Leila Williams died a few weeks ago, El. She and Christian were living in New York-"

"Christian?"

"My son's name is Christian Williams. He and Leila were living in the city when she died. I was contacted by his social worker, Ana."

"Ana? Our Ana? Shit. Is that why she's in town? She called Kate earlier and all I saw was blonde hair running out the door, telling me she's staying over with Ana tonight."

"I convinced Ana to do a temporary transfer to help my son get settled in."

"Your son? Okay, first of all, Bro, I sympathize with the little person for losing his mom. I do. I want that on the record."

"Noted."

"Thank you. Now, that being said. How do we know for sure he's yours?"

"I didn't believe it at first. When Ana called and told me she needed to see me, I thought she was finally ready to talk about what went wrong between us. Imagine my surprise when I found out about him. I was pissed to say the least. Of course, I demanded a paternity test, but when I saw him, I knew he was mine. I just knew. I didn't need the fucking test to tell me a damn thing."

"You have got to be shitting me. A look. One damn look at him and its to hell with the paternity test. And now he's here? You've already assumed responsibility for him. You've brought him cross country and now you're stuck with him no matter if he's yours or not."

"He is mine."

"Bullshit. I don't believe it."

"See, this is why I dragged your ass over here. I knew there was a chance you'd react this way and I wasn't going to let you fuck up with your nephew who's already scared enough to meet you."

"So, I'm the bad guy for trying to look out for you?"

"No. I appreciate you looking out for me. But I wanted you to know its not needed. At least, not in this case."

"Because you 'looked' at him," he says, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're going to be labeled a sucker. You know that, right?"

"If its so hard for you to grasp it. You can see the truth for yourself," I tell him getting up.

He waits while I put the pizza on the counter to cool before following me upstairs.

"Damn," he says when he sees Christian's name on his door.

"Be quiet," I warn him as I open the door and look inside. Christian is sleeping just as I left him.

I open the door and allow Elliot to enter.

Dramatically, he tip-toes closer to Christian in an effort not to wake him up.

He sees him snuggled up with his teddy bear, his cooper colored hair in every direction and his mouth slightly opened from his little breathing sounds.

"Its you," Elliot whispers. The tone of his voice tells me all I need to know and I pull him out of the room.

I reset the alarm and make it downstairs just in time to see Elliot flop down hard on a stool at the breakfast bar.

"You see it too," I ask him.

"Shit man. Its you all over again. I swear to God, Bro. It's like the first time I saw you in the hospital. You were sleeping just like that. With that same fucking bear in your arms, clinging to it. Its like I've travelled back in time. I swear I'm right back there. I haven't thought about that day in years."

"You were with me in the hospital," I ask him. This is the first time I'm hearing that. I remember meeting Elliot at our home in Bellevue, the same time as dad.

"I was with Dad the night mom called him about you," he says, more reliving it than telling it. "We were in the kitchen putting a puzzle together. I just remember him saying to her that I had to be okay with it first. I think I was still struggling with being there with them. I don't remember anything before being adopted, but back then, I think I knew something was different. That I wasn't always there with them from the start and something bad happened to me. Anyway, Dad took me to the hospital with him. He sat me down outside your door and told me not to move while he and Mom talked. I remember Mom pleading with him to take you. She said she just couldn't turn away from you and live with herself. I remember being upset about it. I thought maybe she didn't love me anymore."

"Jesus, El."

"I know. I know. I was an idiot for even thinking that. Anyway, they were busy going back and forth. Even then, I knew it was a losing battle for Dad. He's never been able to deny her anything. They didn't hear you cry out, but I did. I snuck into your room. And you were in bed crying, but you were still asleep. I knew you were having a bad dream. You woke up and asked me for your mom, but I didn't know what to say. I looked down and saw your teddy bear. He was on the floor, so I picked him up and gave him to you. You clung to him. You stared at me for a minute and then went back to sleep. Those eyes of yours, man. Even as young as I was, I knew you needed our Mom much more than I did. I knew you needed me too. I watched you sleep, holding on to that bear and I promised you I was going to be the best damn big brother I could. You became mine that day. Just like Mia became yours when you first saw her."

"I don't remember any of that," I tell him, racking my brain to think. "I don't remember seeing you there."

"I'm not surprised. I think they had to dope you up. No one knew about the touching thing back then and from what I remember you gave the nurses hell. Mom figured it out later though."

"I treated you like shit when I first met you, El. I remember that much," I tell him guiltily.

"The look you gave me when Mom finally brought you home," he laughs. "You were an asshole even then. But at least you stopped talking, so you didn't tell me to go to hell. You just looked like that's what you were saying to me all the time."

"Thanks for putting up with me."

"You're my brother," he shrugs as if its all just natural. "Just like that little boy up there is my nephew."

"He's afraid you won't like him."

"You kidding? I already love him. Hell, I grew up with him."

I laugh.

"That's what I told him."

"Shit, man. I can't believe it. I'm a goddamn uncle. Wait until Kate hears about this. She'll have no choice but to marry me."

"What? Since when does she not want to marry you?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later when I've had sleep. Hot damn. I'm an uncle. I feel the need to hand out cigars or something. Maybe have a reveal party or some shit."

"Never mind the fact that I'm a father."

"Shit, that's right. I'm surprise you're still standing."

"Most guys have nine months to get used to the idea," I tell him. "Me. I had a damn day."

"I would have shit myself finding out that way. He's okay right? I mean he looked okay. Maybe a little thin."

"I'm working on that," I tell him. "He has his dad's appetite."

"Good. And once mom gets a look at him, she'll be all over him," he laughs. "And just try to keep him from Mia. When are you going to tell them? Shit, I can't wait to see Mom's face."

"Tomorrow after dinner if Ana is available."

"Ana?"

"She's still his social worker."

"Well this shit is about to get even more interesting."

"She's here for my son and to help Kate with your wedding. There is nothing interesting about that."

"Right. This is the same Ana you asked to marry you, am I right. The same Ana who hopped a plane to New York with not so much as a word to you about it. The same Ana you drunk rant about-"

"She's the same Ana who told Mom personal shit about me that I never had any intentions of telling her and she knew that, but did it anyway. The same Ana who said she loved me with one hand then pushed me away with the other, all the while looking down on everything that I did to prove my love for her. The same Ana who insisted she knew better about my life and refused to see anyone's point of view that was different than her own. Yes, that fucking Ana. And I haven't ranted about her in over damn year, so let it go. I'm over it."

"It sure doesn't sound like you're over it."

"Let it fucking go, El."

"Alright," he says putting his hands up in surrender.

"Besides, she wants nothing to do with me," I tell him, ignoring his grin at me for not letting it go. "She's made it very clear that she's done with me."

"Bullshit. Kate doesn't get that vibe from her. When they talk, Ana avoids your name like the plague. She's just in a deeper denial than you are."

"Maybe she just wants her privacy."

"From Kate, that's crap. If she was so over you, she'd be singing it like a goddamn canary to her BFF. That's what chicks like Ana do."

"What are getting at?"

"I'm just saying. Maybe she's just as 'over it' as you are. Why don't you be the control freak you are notorious for and find the fuck out before you let her get away again."

"I didn't let her get away. She ran."

"Bullshit. You had your head so far up your own ass you couldn't see straight."

"You don't even know all of what happened and you're taking her side."

"What are we twelve? I don't have to know all of what happened and I'm taking your side. All I'm saying is, find out the deal. At least have that talk you've been ranting about since she left."

"I tried. She won't hear me."

"Try harder."

"Fuck that shit. I'm done with trying. This isn't about Ana anymore. Its about my son."

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. And where's my damn pizza?"

"You can shove that pizza right up your ass, Elliot."

"You know, I really miss those days back when you didn't talk."

"Don't underestimate me. I can still look at you like I want you to go to hell. I've perfected the look. Its much more effective not coming from a four year old."

"Yeah, because you're not as cute as you were back then. Christian Grey is a straight up asshole now, compared to when you were Christian Barrington."

"What the fuck did you call me?"

"Christian Barrington. It was your name when I first met you."

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading and reviewing.