I just want all of you AMAZING readers (who have given me the most AMAZING feedback! THANK YOU!) to know that I do not own anything, that the ages are a little jacked up because of the timeline I have started things at, and that I love you all for clicking the link that lead you to this crazy story. Thank all of you that reviewed and/or favorite-ed and/or followed my story.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
To answer a few questions, Mike Johnson (the man who has raised Nicolette) and his WIFE Cathryn Johnson adopted Nicolette right after she was born, if you remember from the first chapter where Agent Deelers says that Nicolette was put up for adoption after she was born. Cathryn and Mike adopted her and then Cathryn died (I will elaborate on that in future chapters) and Mike had never told Nicolette that she was adopted. Camilla Torres is Nicolette's biological mom, and when Christian had sex (sub/dom- only once) it made Christian feel control over sex and figure out he liked control. Elena introduced him into BDSM with him as a sub, but Camilla is what made him like the dominate role more than the submissive. And no Christian and Ana do not have any kids of their own. When Christian said 'our daughter' I was trying to make it seem like Christian wanted Ana to be her mother instead of some other lady.
Make sense? I only hinted at the answers, so I understand that you (the readers) were a little confused.
Chapter 3: Save Me, I'm Falling
So far, only Elliot and Kate had arrived. Though, Carrick had to return to Bellevue, to pick up Grace and Mia from the house and then promptly return to Escala for our dinner. Kate and Ana were happily chatting away to Gail about cooking methods, while Taylor was holed up in his office, Elliot and Christian were sitting in Great Room, lounged out with a beer for Elliot and white wine for Christian.
"So, bro, if I pinky swear not to tell anyone would you tell me what this 'big news' Ana was talking about earlier is?" Elliot asked with his brows raised. Christian mulled the thought over.
If anyone were to find out too early and take the news badly, then the entire night would be ruined before it started. Though, Elliot's reaction could give me some insight on how mom, Mia and Kate will take the news. Dad already knows that Nicolette exists, but believes that we are going to Florida tomorrow to meet her, not bring her here. Christian shrugged.
"I have a daughter." Christian spoke, after a pregnant pause had drifted into the room and made itself comfortable between the two. "I am moving her in with me. That is what this is about."
Elliot's mouth dropped open, over a million thoughts ran through his head- did double backflips before spinning around like ballerinas and repeating the process.
"Daughter? Like, a miniature female version of you?" Elliot managed to say through his shock.
"Her eyes are a different color. Green, like her mother's, but I guess you could put it that way." Christian answered after another pause, he reached back and onto the side table- where he and Ana were looking at her picture and thinking about which room she would like most- and picked the picture of her up. It was one of the other pictures of her in her file. Her and her 'father' in what looked like to Christian was their usual attire, Nicolette was in dark capris with a white tank top and a blue and white chevron cardigan that went passed her knees, with blue sandals. Her copper colored hair was tied back in a braid that fell over her shoulder and ended right before her stomach area. Her 'father' was dressed in dark jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved blue and gray flannel shirt.
Christian handed the picture to Elliot. Elliot whistled.
"She's a beauty, you'll probably have five security guys on her Mr. Control Freak." Elliot laughed, Christian groaned.
"That is not funny. It was hard enough getting Ana to listen to Sawyer." That caused Elliot to laugh harder, before he suddenly stopped and his face sobered.
"Do you think you could handle it? Running a multi-billion dollar company and making sure that this little beauty doesn't run off with some guy in the middle of the night." Elliot asked.
Christian shrugged again.
"I can't be like the crack whore or my father. I want- no need- to be there for Nicolette." Christian spoke, slushing his wine glass around so that wine nearly spilled from the sides of the glass. Elliot looked at the picture of the girl again.
"Nicolette? That's her name." Christian nodded.
"Nicolette Anne Johnson- though the last part may change within the next few months." Elliot raised a brow at the end of his brother's sentence.
"To Grey?" Elliot asked.
"To Grey." Christian nodded, Elliot glanced at the picture once more. The pretty copper haired girl was smiling as her 'father' pretended (or what Elliot hoped was pretending) to shoot something, the man had his shot gun raised and looked dangerous; even on the laminated paper in his hand.
"Be careful. I highly doubt that this man is going to let her go without a fight." Elliot warned. Christian smirked.
"Dad said that if I have to fight for her, all I have to do is prove that I can provide a safer and healthier environment for her than Mike Johnson can." Elliot was about to respond when Carrick entered the Great Room.
"Now boys, the women have been calling you two for the last five minutes. Its time for dinner." Carrick spoke. The two brothers shot each other grins before following their father out of the Great Room.
_ Time Skip _ Two Hours_
Christian watched as Ana bantered with Elliot with ease, their subject of the night was whether or not strawberry syrup was good on pancakes or not.
"It is amazing!" Ana shouted playfully.
"It is not! It's like putting chocolate syrup on sardines!" Elliot shot back.
"Take that back!" Ana demanded.
"No! It's true!"
"Is not!" Ana pouted.
"Is too!" Elliot glared.
"Christian!"
"Kate!" The two shouted at the same time, causing the already laughing occupants at the table to laugh harder.
"Yes, Ana?"
"Whatta you want Elliot? You know you won't win this argument." Kate laughed. Elliot glared at his laughing girlfriend and turned back to Ana. But before anything could be said, Grace cut in.
"Look, both of you are entitled to your own opinion about strawberry syrup on pancakes, but I request that you never have this conversation again." Grace said with a semi straight face.
"Yeah! I want to know what this dinner was about!" Mia shouts.
"What is this big news?" Kate adds. Christian sighed and was silent for a few moments before he slid a the school-ID photo of Nicolette to his mother.
The only noise in the room was the sound of Grace's gasp.
"That is my daughter... Nicolette."
"Oh Christian she doesn't look a day over fifteen." Grace said softly, Mia and Kate moved from their chairs to behind Grace to see the photo.
"She is sixteen, seventeen in a few months. Mom, I swear I had no clue that she even existed until an hour before I left work today. An agent with the FBI came over, the Nightgown Nightmare has apparently made her his next target. The FBI agent thought that I at least knew she existed, I guess. The other details do not matter, but what does matter is that Ana and I are moving her to Seattle, to be our daughter." Christian spoke softly.
"Oh Christian, a daughter, all this time I thought it would be Elliot with the long lost child." Grace shook her head as Elliot sat up straighter in his chair.
"Hey!"
"That's why Ana, dad and I are heading out to Florida tomorrow, to pick her up."
"You are going to Florida?" Mia asked.
"With Ana, dad and security, yes. Why?" Christian asked.
"Who is going to take care of her room?" Mia asked- it seemed that none of his family paid attention to the detail of the serial killer and rapist that was after his daughter.
"Christian and I were going to put her in one of the guest rooms and have her find things that fits her likes and not her dislikes. The files we got on her said nothing about them." Ana responded.
"Oh, don't even worry about that. Just send us and email or three about what she likes and wants in a room and Mia and I will make it happen by the time she gets here." Grace paused, but started again before Christian opened his mouth, "Now don't you fuss about that. I owe that girl sixteen years worth of birthday, Christmas and Easter presents." Christian closed his mouth and shot his mom one of his boyish smiles.
_ Time Skip _ The Next Day_ The Greys Are In Florida_
Carrick, Ana and Christian arrived in Haven, Florida- a small farming town just below the South Carolina line, but still along the coast- around 2 in the afternoon.
"Mike Johnson gave us permission to pick Nicolette up from school if she would let us." Carrick reminded Taylor as Carrick climbed into a SUV-type vehicle. Ana and Christian climbed into another SUV-type vehicle that was just like the other one, instead it had Taylor driving with Sawyer in the passenger seat, instead of Ryan in the driver seat of the vehicle Carrick was in with another security guard in the passenger seat.
Soon the two black vehicles were flying down the dirt road towards Haven High School. The SUVs arrived just as the dismissal bell rang.
Students flooded the lot and Taylor parked the SUV beside a beat up Chevy truck that had dried mud on the sides and hunting gun rack drilled onto the truck with guns on it.
And as if the guns on the truck next to them were not scary enough, after most of the students had cleared out for the weekend the owner of that truck decided to come claim his truck, with two of his buddies.
"What in the sam hill are City people doin' in little Haven?" One of the guys asked, he had dirty blonde hair that was streaked with brown, and pale blue eyes, that one teenager was about the size of Taylor.
"I am looking for my daughter." Christian answered. That seemed to be the wrong answer.
"Daughter? Ain't no city boys daughter gonna be in Haven." One of the other boys speaks up, he has dark brown hair with matching eyes, and is about just as big as the first guy.
"Probably some of them Child Traffickers, wantin' to steal some of Haven's girls." The third boy spoke up, this one looked like the last one only he had eyes that were a tad softer and was somewhat shorter.
"Ain't no Traffickers gonna get some of Haven's girls!" The second boy shouted, in one swift movement the boys turn around and grab a gun each off the gun rack; Taylor, Sawyer, Ryan and the other security guy quickly pull their own guns.
"None of us are Child Traffickers, put the guns down." Taylor warned softly.
"Because y'all would admit it if you were." The first boy scoffed. Ana had to admit it, the kid had a point. Suddenly three girls wedged themselves between the showdown.
One with reddish-purple hair and yellow-green eyes, one of the others had pale blonde waves for hair and bright silver eyes, but the one in the middle had long copper hair and bright green eyes that spoke a thousand different emotions at once.
"Now, Billy, what's your ma gonna say when she finds out you've been swinging that gun of yours around again?" The reddish-purple headed girl asks.
"Move it Lee Anne!" Billy shouted.
"None of you are going to get anything done, swinging those guns of yours around." The pale blonde speaks.
"Tara get outta the god-damned way!" the second boy shouts.
"All seven of you lower the guns! Try using your words for once! Billy, Reggie, and Marcus, those are not Child Traffickers! That is Carrick Grey! The one from the law firm commercials! I know you do not watch much TV, but you have got to have watched at least one of those commercials!" The copper headed girl shouts. The three boys lower their guns, making Taylor and the rest of the guards lower their weapons.
"Nicolette, why did you run into the middle of a gun fight, you could have gotten shot?" the third boy asks.
"Well, Marcus, I was saving you from murder charges. Now go on home. I have got to get home soon to." Nicolette spoke. The three boys looked unconvinced, but got into the truck and drove off.
"Christian, I can not believe that this school allows guns on it's campus." Carrick spoke, the three Greys were leaning against the side of the SUV facing the opposite direction from where the truck with guns was once parked.
"They can't really do much about it, sir." one of the female voices spoke up, the three turn to find three girls standing in front of the four security guards.
"Excuse me?" Carrick asked.
"The school. They can't do much about the gun rules. That space takes up most of the town, therefore, the school doesn't in force the rule. Though, the town is so small, most of the teenagers get along well, so no one is worried about getting shot up." the pale blonde speaks this time.
"Who are you?" Ana asked.
"The girls that saved you from replacing you-" the girl with reddish-purple hair was cut off.
"What Lee Anne means to say is that she is Lee Anne, she is Tara and I am Nicolette." The copper haired girl said as she pointed at the two girls in turn after elbowing the reddish-purple haired girl- Lee Anne.
"Nicolette?" Christian asked, the girl smiled.
"That's my name. Now I have got to get home before my father sends a search party out for me. Nice meeting you, but the girls need to be dropped off as well, good luck doing what you are doing in little Haven." Nicolette said as she and the girls walked off, Nicolette climbed into a black, beat up, jeep with the top and doors off. Put the key in the ignition- making Christian wince at the sad cry the jeep made- and drove off.
"Was that?" Ana asked.
"My granddaughter." Carrick nodded with slight approval.