Sorry it's been FOREVER since I updated, I've had a ton of work to do and Christmas as well. But never fear- a new chapter is here- and it's a long one too. The next chapter is written as well I think, so that will be soon :)

Enjoy x

Carrick had made sure the paperwork had been pushed through as quickly as possible. As Jess had pointed out, having a father who was a lawyer and who had adopted three children himself meant that fostering documents were easy enough.

Any social worker looked at Christian Grey and was hardly going to say no to the tall, attractive businessman in his late twenties who could offer anything to both Jess and Harry.

The fostering papers had been swiftly signed and everyone was trying as hard as possible to make Jess and Harry a part of their family, her Grandmother putting up no resistance at all to her living with Christian.

She got on well with Ana, which Christian was glad about, knowing he could never chose between them.

Ana had given Jess three manuscripts of published books from her publishing house, and she watched happily from a distance as the younger girl slowly worked her way through them.

Ana was in no rush to have children, but found herself warming to Harry, the little boy was so constantly happy that it made everyone -even Taylor and Sawyer- happier when he was around.

Jess and Harry had been living at Escala for nearly four months, and were getting on well with everyone, though she and Alex were still feeling an awkward feeling between the two of them, choosing to pretend everything was fine rather than confront their issues.

Christian walked into the main room, stretching widely, dressed in jeans and a white top, his hair messy. Jess was cutting up some banana for Harry, who was in a booster seat at the breakfast bar, and raised an eyebrow at Christian.

'I don't even want to know what you two have been up to, aren't you meant to be in the office today?'.

He shook his head, ruffling Harry's hair idly 'yeah, I was but I've moved back some meetings till this afternoon because I wanted to talk to you about something'

Jess put the plastic plate in front of Harry and turned to Christian looking a little worried 'oh...is everything okay?'.

He nodded, looking a little amused 'I'm not about to throw you out Jess, calm down, it's nothing bad'.

She looked relieved and sat down as Christian poured himself a coffee

'well, my parents have got some charity fundraising ball at the end of the week, obviously they want you to come but we understand that you might not want to as you won't really know anyone there- but it's be good to get you out of these four walls a bit more'.

Jess blinked in surprise 'why would they want me there?'. Christian glanced up, eyebrows raised

'because your family now, Gail has already offered to look after Harry'.

'Oh...right...what's it fundraising for?'. Christian shrugged, sipping his coffee 'honestly? No idea, a homeless charity I think, but don't hold me to that'.

Jess was clearly deep in thought as she leant over and wiped mushed banana off Harry's hands.

'What do people wear to th-' Christian cut her off with a response

'Mia's already planned some shopping trip for you both, and before you say no- you're taking my card, it's fine'.

'Christian I can't just take your card!'. He laughed lightly

'Jess you have no idea how much money I make, firstly- someone needs to spend it, and secondly- I'd be shocked if you and my sister managed to make a significant dent in my bank balance, and frankly I'd be quite impressed if you did it over a few hours'.

Jess knew the conversation was over, Christian wasn't taking no for an answer- as per usual.

Harry interrupted them before a small argument over money broke out by asking Christian for his rabbit toy, which was on the side.

He glanced at the toy briefly before handing it over 'where did he get that from? He never lets it down does he?'

'Alex gave it to him'. If Christian was surprised, he didn't make it obvious, picking up his drink again and exiting the room.

To say Mia was excited about taking Jess clothes shopping was an understatement, arriving the next morning and practically jumping with excitement. 'Come on Jess, let's get moving, we've got some serious shopping to fit into the next few hours!'.

Christian stifled a laugh as Jess sighed and kissed Harry on the forehead 'now, please be good for Gail, try not to break anything?'. The little boy simply laughed and ran over to Christian, holding his leg and sucking his thumb.

Mia handed Jess a long black dress from the rail 'what size are you? A small?'. Her eyebrows rose up 'uh...how do you know that?'. Mia shrugged 'I do a lot of shopping, now try this on',

Jess appeared a few minutes later in the dress, looking sheepish and awkward as Mia looked up, jaw dropping slightly.

It was floor length, made of clingy black lace with long lace sleeves and a low, dipped back.

It was covering practically all of Jess, but it was tight against her slender frame and she looked incredible. It was fairly obvious judging by the grin on Mia's face that they'd found 'the' dress.

'Well, that was quicker than expected, I've already got mine so I guess we can go for lunch. Elliot's in the City already, I'll see if he wants to meet us?'. Jess nodded, smiling as Mia took out her phone.

Elliot could meet them at 1.30, which gave them some time to wander the shops. Mia however, took this as a few hours to buy half of Forever 21 for Jess and buying multiple outfits for Harry.

When they arrived at the restaurant Elliot was already waiting for them as they say down.

'Fucking hell you two, think you brought enough?'. Mia didn't catch the sarcasm and smiled 'yeah, just about, Jess needed to stock up'.

Elliot caught Jess's slight smirk 'Interesting use of 'needed' there Mia'. Elliot laughed and poured them both a water from the jug on the table 'so, how's Christian? Still being an overbearing obnoxious twat?'.

Jess smirked 'he speaks very highly of you too Elliot. He's been alright recently, Ana's practically living at Escala so that always puts him in a good mood. I swear, those two are like nymphomaniacs, I'm just glad Gail is such a good cook- otherwise the whole apartment would stink of sex constantly'.

Mia and Elliot were looking opposite Jess and were trying to contain their laughter as she heard a stifled cough from behind her. Jess felt herself go pale as she turned around and saw Christian standing behind her, dressed in a black suit with an eyebrow raised.

'Well thank you for that Jessica, very enlightening'. Mia giggled, trying to cover her mouth and obvious laughter 'I need to go to the bathroom'.

Whether she did or not, Mia was quick to leave the table, and Elliot muttered something about needing to make a call as he tried to contain a laugh, moving out to the restaurant balcony.

Christian sat down opposite Jess 'Mia called me about lunch but I couldn't make it originally, I managed to move a few things around though'.

Jess swallowed, not sure where she stood 'Look, Christian, about what I said...it's none of my business and I shouldn't have said anything and-'.

Christian held up a hand to cut her off, a faint smile on his lips 'I'm not mad at you, okay? You've probably got a point anyway. So, did you buy yourself a dress?'.

'Well, Mia found it, your sister is far too good at shopping for her own good'. Christian smiled and glanced over the menu 'it's good to see you out of the apartment more, and Jess?'.

She glanced up slightly and he continued 'you're doing a good job with Harry, you're a good mother, don't worry about that, alright?'.

Jess blinked in surprise but Christian wasn't really paying much attention, looking intently at the menu and speaking absent mindedly 'my parents are happy you're coming as well by the way'.

On Friday, Jess was fully prepared to get herself ready herself and was sitting at the breakfast bar in the Seattle Mariners top that Grace and Carrick had brought her, with a pair of black leggings as she sipped on her coffee. Ana and Christian appeared in the kitchen area, looking happy and flushed.

Jess raised an eyebrow but said nothing, shaking her head slightly as if they were teenagers. Christian glanced at Jess 'have you had a shower yet?'.

She blinked in surprise 'uh…just now, why?'. 'Because Marina is coming over in ten minutes'.

Jess looked between Ana and Christian with clear confusion 'who's Marina?'.

Ana smiled and poured two glasses of wine for her and Christian 'She's the woman Christian insists on paying to do my hair and makeup before we go to any events, she'll be doing yours too'.

'Oh….I can get myself ready…'. Christian rolled his eyes slightly 'no, it's fine, she's already been paid and she's on her way anyway, so there's no point in you arguing or complaining Jessica'.

She didn't really know what to say but nodded, eyebrows raised 'oh…well…thanks Christian'.

Marina was being paid a lot of money, but was clearly worth the steep fee prices.

Jess's hair was in a loosely curled up-do with a few loose perfectly curled strands, her makeup was simple, with deep red lipstick and lightly smoky eyes.

Matched with the black lace dress she looked like she belonged on the Cannes red carpet, rather than standing awkwardly in the main room of Escala.

Christian was wearing a crisp black suit with a white shirt and black tie, Ana was wearing a long emerald silk dress, and both looked amazed by how Jess looked, almost speechless.

Jess glanced around the room and realised with a jolt that Alex was sitting on the sofa next to them. He was wearing a black suit and tie with a dark blue shirt, mouth slightly open as he looked at Jess.

Christian broke the silence 'wow, you look beautiful Jess. Can't say I fully approve of the dress but still…Alex is coming with us by the way, too lazy to get his car fixed'.

Alex pretended to smile, distracted by Jess still.

Ana smiled, checking her watch 'well, we'd best get going or we'll be late'.

In the car Christian drove and Ana sat in the front beside him, Alex and Jess in the back seats. She pretended not to notice, but Jess was fully aware that her tutor couldn't keep his eyes off her.

At the event Jess excused herself from a bigger group of people and went off in search of finding anyone she knew.

A tall, greying man with close cropped hair, brown eyes, lightly tanned skin and wearing a black suit managed to waylay her and began speaking to Jess, though she wasn't really listening.

After a few minutes the man leant in a little too close 'can I have a dance?' before she could say anything she felt a hand on her waist and a deep voice from beside her

'sorry mate, she's promised me this one'.

Jess recognised Alex's voice and nodded, turning towards him, seeing the dark expression he was throwing at the leering man.

Alex pulled Jess close as they danced, both of them feeling the electricity between them as they slowly moved to the music in the middle of the huge crowd of other dancers.

At the end of the song Alex pulled back slight, looking deeply into Ivy's eyes, his voice slightly husky 'you need to stay away from men like that, he's a creep'.

Jess blinked 'I can spend time with who I want Alex'. He rolled his eyes, clenching his jaw

'I don't want to see someone take advantage of you...you have no idea how beautiful you look in that dress...I think every man in this room wants to be with you...'.

Alex swallowed and looked awkward 'I need to go and do...something- anything, just not this'.

The next chapter is a bit of a downer unless I change it a bit, but we'll see.

Let me know what you thought and what you want to see :)

Reviews are always helpful and appreciated.

x