Sorry it's been such a long time since my last update, I've had insane amounts of work for university before Christmas. All done now though (well...ish)

Enjoy

x

John was clearly relieved when he got the call from Christian, pulling the car up in front of the airport for them to get in. Jess put Harry in the middle seat, and John passed the little boy a toy he found in the glove box, explaining to Jess quickly.

'It's my daughter's, she doesn't like it, should keep him interested for the drive'.

Jess nodded, her voice quiet and genuinely grateful 'thanks'.

John smiled at her and turned back to start driving. Christian glanced into the back seats of the car as they joined the highway, seeing that Harry was sleeping gently on Jess's arm as she slowly stroked his hair, looking content to have him back.

John pulled up in the Escala car park and Jess quietly unbuckled Harry and lifted him out of the car, the little boy barely stirring in her arms as she held him on her hip.

John smiled and nodded at them 'Look, I really have to get back home, if you need anything then give me a call, if not I'll see you at your next appointment?'

Jess nodded her head and looked grateful 'thank you, thanks for everything'.

John waved a hand 'no, no, don't worry about it, you needed to look after your child, I understand that'.

Christian put a hand on Jess's back 'come on, lets get you both back upstairs, you both need a sleep'. They said goodbye to John and walked to the lift, getting in and standing in silence for a few seconds until Jess turned to Christian

'why are you so willing to help me? You've got everything in the world you could ever want…why help me?'

Christian blinked in surprise, somewhat taken aback 'I've told you, I had a bad childhood, I don't want you to be forced to become my mother, and I don't want Harry to become…well to become me at that age'.

They met each other's eyes for a second and Jess frowned slightly 'but most people just give me money if they try and help, you're offering me a home…'.

'I'm offering you a life, Jess, if the fostering documents go through then you can stay with me as long as you want, and Harry too'.

'But- but you still want to foster me? I ran away, I can't even offer you anything back-'. Christian cut her off

'Jess I wouldn't want anything from you, I just want to be able to give you a second chance, that's enough, and anyway, it's like I can't afford it is it?'.

Jess got the joke in his tone and smiled, hitching Harry up further on her hip, the little boy not waking even slightly.

Gail was waiting just inside the entrance hall, looking incredibly excited. Christian looked surprised

'Gail…I didn't expect you to be up…I thought you were going home for the weekend?'.

She waved off his comment 'oh no, of course not. John told me what was going on and I've set everything up in Jess's old bedroom, it should be enough for now'.

At that moment her phone began to ring and she excused herself before they could say anything.

Christian followed Jess into her bedroom, seeing a set of small clothes, supplies and a crib set up beside the double bed. Jess gaped at Christian 'Gail set this all up for me?'

He nodded, looking grateful 'Yes. I need to give that woman a raise. Alex will be back tomorrow, we can buy things for Harry tomorrow and we can talk tomorrow night, okay? Get some sleep'.

Christian left her, leaving her to put Harry to sleep and crawl into her own bed beside him, falling asleep almost immediately.

Alex was over the next day, Christian making it clear that there wouldn't be much respite from getting her back on track. Secretly she was very glad, it showed he cared and she liked Alex, he actually listened.

Jess was in the main room crouched down talking to Harry quietly when Alex arrived, wearing dark jeans and a casual white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow and his hair a mess.

He lent against the door frame and smiled slightly 'he looks like you'.

Jess looked up quickly, shocked by his voice 'Alex, oh, I-about the last time I saw you-'. Alex waved a hand vaguely to stop her speaking 'no, it's fine, I understand why, you had this little guy to look after'.

Alex glanced at Harry who had a huge smile on his face as the elder man crouched down not far in front of him and took out a small grey and white toy rabbit from his jacket pocket and held it out for the little boy who tottered towards him.

Alex laughed and Harry took the rabbit, looking thrilled and turning to Jess 'Mummy Babbitt?'.

She smiled and nodded, looking at Alex 'thank you, you didn't have to do that'.

Without thinking Alex replied 'yeah, well I care about you so I care about the little guy too'. Jess blinked but didn't say anything.

Alex stood up, coughing slightly 'right, well, I need to talk to Christian in his study, he said you were okay with him looking after Harry for a few hours today?'.

She nodded 'I have to go and change though, where are we going?'.

Alex stood up, clapping his hands together with a grin on his face 'it's called broadening your horizons and education Jess, and also it's a surprise- so you'll have to wait and see'.

About an hour later Jess had handed Harry to Gail, Taylor and Christian.

She would only be gone for a few hours and she trusted them all with her son, but was very much aware that Gail and Taylor were very comfortable with children, whilst Christian had no idea what to do with the energetic young boy.

Jess was wearing grey skinny jeans, a long sleeved black top, gilet, red high top converse, a red scarf and her hair was down and straightened. Alex looked up and almost did a double take, surprised at how grown up she suddenly seemed to look.

He gulped slightly, trying to block out the random thought of just how attractive she looked. Regardless of how stunning she might be, he couldn't go there. Unless he wanted Christian Grey to destroy his life and all his major limbs.

'Uh, right, well, I thought we'd get you out of the apartment for a bit, taking you to an art gallery in the City, it's a brilliant place, I think you'll like it'.

Jess narrowed her eyes and didn't look impressed but followed Alex down to the parking lot, getting into the passenger side of his black jeep.

They were wandering the gallery when Alex glanced over, seeing that Jess had stopped in front of a large canvas and he wandered back towards her, seeing how deeply in thought she was.

'Are you alright?' she looked up, nodding 'yeah, I just got distracted'. Alex glanced at the painting, it was of Mary holding the baby Jesus by some renaissance era painter.

Alex couldn't really see why she was so distracted, it wasn't an especially stunning painting compared to the others.

Then it clicked 'is this about Harry?'.

She nodded slightly, biting her lip 'just imagine losing your child...god, I don't know what I'd do...'.

'Are you religious?' she shook her head 'not especially...I'd like Harry to Christened though- I don't know why'.

Alex nodded and without thinking he kissed her hair gently 'I'll sort it out for you, okay? I know you don't really know the City well'. Jess glanced up 'you'd do that for me?'.

Alex nodded, looking a little awkward 'Yes, well...he's a cute kid'.

There was an awkward pause when Jess and Alex simply looked at each other, neither saying what they clearly wanted to say, turning around and walking awkwardly around the rest of the gallery.

Let me know what you think/what you want to see happen.

Please review and let me know :)

x