It's been a while so I made it a long one!
Enjoy x
Ana and Christian came back together from their days at work, Taylor and Ryan sloping off as they came up with them. Christian kissed her lightly and they went into the main room, where they stopped for a second, watching the scene in front of them.
Jess was sitting on the white rug beside the sofa, Harry sitting between her legs as they were slowly reading from a child's book together, Harry reading as Jess pointed at the words.
After a few seconds she glanced up, seeing Christian and Ana watching her and her son with smiles on their faces. Harry saw them too and stood up, running over to Ana 'Gamma! Gamma!', hugging her legs tightly. They weren't entirely sure what Harry was trying to call her, but that was all he could quite manage to call Ana, and they had got used to it.
Jess pulled herself up, smoothing off her dress 'Thank god you two are back, I've fed Harry but I'm starving. Can we have dinner?'. They both agreed and Ana picked Harry up 'have you been for a run?'.
She nodded 'yes, done my homework, yes I've taken my medication, yes I've fed and bathed Harry, can we eat now?'. Ana rolled her eyes but agreed, Christian going off to tell Gail they were ready to eat as Ana and Jess went to put Harry to sleep.
It was midway through their spaghetti dinner that Taylor appeared in the room, looking wary 'Uh, Miss Grey?'. Jess glanced up, somewhat surprised still at being called a Grey.
'Yes?' He looked incredibly awkward 'there is a woman on the phone…she's asking for you, Jess'. She visibly paled 'New York accent, Hailey Cole?'. Taylor nodded awkwardly 'I'm assuming you don't want to talk to her?'.
Jess shook her head and he nodded, looking slightly pleased and left the room. Jess glanced up, voice frosty 'how the hell has my mother got a number for this apartment?'.
Christian looked incredibly wary, speaking carefully 'She had it when you were being fostered, we haven't changed it yet'. She nodded, looking intently at her fork, clearly thinking of something else
'well, I'd appreciate it if you'd change it sooner rather than later… Can one of you look over my English paper tonight before I hand it in?'. They both nodded, looking relieved as the conversation moved on.
Three days later after Jess got back from school, Christian agreed to take her out to buy her a dress for the charity ball. They were by the Escala car lot, talking about Jess's shoes for the event when she suddenly stopped talking.
Jess and Christian glanced up and he saw her eyes go dark and cold, hands balled into tight fists; he followed her line of sight and saw who she was looking at.
The woman was in her mid thirties, average height, with long straggly brown hair, large green eyes, pale sickly skin and wearing old looking jeans and a brown zipped up jumper, a cigarette in her hand.
Jess stopped for only half a second before swiftly getting into the waiting car, Christian glanced over at the woman, eyes narrowing slightly 'don't come near my daughter again'.
As he got into the car beside Jess he couldn't help but be slightly amused at the fact that he was already more of a parent to Jess than Hailey Cole had ever been.
As they drove off Jess glanced at him, muttering quietly 'thanks, she must want something, must have got the address off the fostering documents…' he waved a hand, admonishing her comment 'anytime. Now, have you ever been to an event like this before?'.
She gave him a withering look and he realised 'oh, stupid question. Well, we'll have a look for a dress. Mia's meeting us at the shops, apparently she doesn't trust me to let you pick out your own bloody dress'.
She smirked and took out her phone as it beeped, idly texting as they drove towards the City.
To say Mia was excited to help pick out a dress was something of an enormous understatement, as she was clearly brimming with excitement, pulling Jess into a bone crushing hug. She instructed Christian to simply sit down on a set of seats as they eventually chose a dress after over an hour trawling through the racks of dresses.
Mia smirked at Jess as they paid for the dress on Christian's card as he sat on his BlackBerry in the corner of the store, typing away quickly on an email
'right, so your Dad is going to be pretty annoyed when he sees this dress. I'm in my twenties and he still wants me to cover every single inch of myself. Thankfully though, it's elegant, not slutty, and he'll be angry at me, not you'. Jess laughed and accepted the dress from the cashier, zipped up in a protective bag.
Christian knew better than to push Jess on seeing the dress before the event, though he had been assured by both Mia and Ana- who had been allowed to see it- that it was a pretty dress.
On the Friday after her classes finished at about midday to prepare for some event in the lower school that Jess wasn't part of, Ana took her out to have her hair and nails done. Christian had decided to simply leave them to it. He would simply come home from work, shower, towel dry his hair and throw on one of his tux's.
The girls however were making a good few hours out of it.
He hadn't had to ask to know that they were staying well clear of Elena's salon, Ana had no intention of going anywhere near there, ever.
Christian was in the shower when they returned, and didn't see Jess until she was ready. Ana had her hair, makeup and nails already done and slipped quickly into the black dress, and they were ready after only about twenty minutes.
As they left to go into the main room they passed Sawyer, who had a wry smile on his face and winked at Ana 'good job Steele, she looks a million dollars'. At that his phone rang and he disappeared into a side room and Christian glanced at Ana before they went into the main room, where he stopped suddenly.
Christian wasn't someone who was easily shocked, but he did a double take at the figure standing in front of him.
Jess had dyed her hair a dark brown, and it was very lightly curled down her back, with a sweeping side fringe cut into it. Her dark hair accentuated her bright eyes and her simple makeup, which made her look much older and sophisticated. She was dressed in a long vibrant red dress with on off the shoulder top half, and it showed off just how slim and tiny Jess actually was. She looked incredible, and more like 25 than 17.
(The Dress: . )
Christian blinked and Jess blushed deeply, touching the dress awkwardly 'is it a bit much?'. Christian glanced over her again before shaking his head 'no…you look beautiful…it's just a bit of a shock, you look like a grown woman now'. She blushed and Christian glanced between the dress and the black and gold ring on her finger 'can I ask how much this all cost? Or would I rather not know?'.
Jess laughed lightly 'I think you'd rather not know'. Christian rolled his eyes, looking amused 'well, shall we get moving, I believe I am taking two very beautiful women to a ball tonight'. Ana and Jess smiled, linking arms and walking towards the lift, chatting as Christian followed, shaking his head.
Jess had been to the Grey house a lot of times, but she had never seen it all decked out for an event like it was that night, a huge gazebo connected to the main ballroom, gold and white decorations filling both rooms, huge amounts of white flowers everywhere. The place looked stunning and Jess was looking around in amazement as the three of them arrived, Ana excusing herself quickly to go and see Kate, who was all over Elliot a little way off.
As Ana dragged Kate and Elliot back over towards them, Christian glanced down at her 'have you taken your medication?'. She rolled her eyes and nodded 'yes' He smirked slightly 'Good, just checking. Now, the McManus family have just arrived, you'll be wanting to go and see Caleb, I'll see you at the dinner'.
She smiled and briefly hugged him, making Christian blink in surprise as she stepped back with a wide smile 'thank you'. He looked confused 'for what?' Jess shrugged 'for everything'.
With that she turned and walked away as Christian got side tracked by his brother and his girlfriend.
Jess was walking down the impressive stone steps to the main area, spotting Tilly McManus talking to a young man and her eyes widening slightly before she smiled and did a thumbs up gesture to Jess before going back to her conversation.
Jess couldn't see George but spotted a familiar pair of broad shoulders and mess of dark blonde hair that she knew was Caleb even before he turned around. He was dressed in an impeccably sharp black suit and tie with a dark blue shirt, eyes roaming the crowd.
Their eyes met and she saw the recognition slowly pass over his eyes as she came down the steps towards him. Caleb blinked, looking both amazed and in awe as he moved through the crowd toward her, eyes roaming over her quickly as he held her face gently 'you are the most beautiful woman in the room right now'. She smiled, leaning into his hand slightly 'how do you know? You've only just arrived'.
Caleb shook his head 'I don't need to'. Jess blushed and Caleb tipped her face up to him, their breath mingling between them as he muttered 'I love you, Jess Grey. Don't ever forget that'. They kissed, completely uncaring of anyone around them.
Jess and Caleb were unaware that George McManus had been standing with Christian, Ana, Kate and Elliot, watching the two teenagers at the other side of the room.
Christian shook his head, looking slightly amused as Elliot raised an eyebrow 'you're not going to go and beat the shit out of Caleb? Well, you really have changed bro'.
Christian laughed, an arm snaking around Ana 'better Caleb than the person you or I were at that age'. The brothers laughed and George, Ana and Kate glanced at each other, not really wanting to ask any further questions.
Jess was on her way to the bathroom a little while later and was waiting in line with a tall bleach blonde woman who she vaguely recognized. 'Oh, hello dear. You're Jessica, right?'. She nodded, politely shaking her hand 'Jessica Grey'.
The woman's eyebrows briefly rose but no other expression was given 'Elena Lincoln. I didn't know you were officially a Grey now?'.
Jess nodded, trying to work out where she had seen the woman before 'Yes, for a while now. You know the Grey's well?'. Elena nodded with a smile 'family friend. I've seen you in passing before, where did you have your hair done dear? I own a Salon in the City'.
Jess was about to answer when Grace appeared, talking to Elena as it clicked with Jess where she knew the blonde woman from.
'She was a family friend…My mum's friend...we're still friends, I part own her salon business in the City'.
The words of Christian's explanation to her about his dominant-sub relationships with women came flooding back to Jess as she felt her stomach turn slightly. This was the woman that had been responsible for Christian being both so messed up and so successful at the same time.
She also knew that Grace had no idea of the relationship, and remembered the file she had seen in Christian's apartment months ago 'E. Lincoln'.
Jess coughed 'I, er, I need to get my bag, left it on a table'. Both women nodded sweetly and Jess sloped off quickly, heading for Christian who was in a group of people, talking with a glass of wine in hand as she nudged him slightly.
'Dad, can I have a word with you?'.
Christian looked surprised but nodded, excusing himself and following his daughter out into the enormous gardens.
'Everything okay? You look like you want to hit something- or someone'.
Jess looked around to check they were alone before she spoke, looking annoyed 'Elena Lincoln, skinny blonde bitch with the big tits. That's her isn't it? The one that you were with when you were a kid?'.
Christian closed his eyes briefly, looking exasperated 'ah, fuck. Didn't even think you'd meet her'.
'Hmm, well, she seemed to know enough about me. Sorry, are you still talking to her?'. He nodded 'Look, honestly, yes. But Ana is everything to me, and Elena was just 'there' back then, it wasn't anything like it is with Ana. Okay? We are just friends, business partners. Ana knows and my mother doesn't, please Jess, don't read anything into this'.
She was silent for a second before nodding, looking appeased 'fine, I over reacted. I just didn't expect to see her here'.
He waved a hand vaguely 'it's fine. I wanted to speak to you actually…about Ana…I was thinking of um…proposing'. Jess did a double take 'really, when?'. He half shrugged 'I don't know…I've got this though'.
Christian took out a small ring box from his pocket, opening it and showing her an enormous diamond on a gold band. 'You think she'll like it?'. Jess looked up with a huge smile 'she'll love it, and don't start worrying about what she'll say, I can vouch for that'.
He laughed and put the ring away 'Thank you. Are we okay then?'. She nodded and they heard a cough from the doorway, turning to see Caleb standing there, a grin on his face 'Christian, can I steal my girlfriend back for a little bit?'.
Christian clapped Caleb on the back as he went back in to the charity event, leaving the pair of them alone on the ivy covered stone patio, fairy lights making it look incredible.
Jess smiled and straightened his tie 'you're dating a Grey, McManus, can't go around looking a mess'. He smirked 'no, can't have that can we? I think you've got something a little wrong with your dress babe'.
She glanced down and he fiddled with the front area just above her chest 'see the problem is Jess, it's covering a lot of you, but I know what's underneath it, and I can't get that out of my head unfortunately. Even without the sex though, you have no idea what you do to me Jess, no idea'.
He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling back slightly to whisper 'I think I love you, I really do'.
Let me know what you think, next chapter will include that romance for Sawyer I promised a long time ago!
Please review, it's always helpful x