CHAPTER 20

(EVA)

Everyone is unusually quiet as the GEH plane heads back to Seattle. After Ana's revelations yesterday as to just how foul this Kate person is, I am itching to give her a piece of my mind if she tries to manipulate my little sister again.

Last night when we had been alone, Gideon had warned me not to go in there all guns blazing as it could potentially make things worse. However, whilst I'd agreed that I wouldn't start anything, I had made it very clear to him that should she say or do anything whilst in my presence that I interpreted as her being a self-centred manipulative bitch I would not hesitate to stand up for my sister. Gideon had smiled at me and sighed. He knew that I wouldn't start anything or maliciously cause any trouble but I sure as hell would end it if she did anything.

Everyone is on edge today though; Arnie is going to be meeting Christian's adoptive parents and we will also be meeting them for the first time. If that wasn't enough, Ana told me that after much soul-searching Christian had called Elliot the previous night and told him everything that Kate had disclosed to her. I was surprised at that, but also in a way not surprised as although I haven't known him long it is evident that Christian has a protective streak a mile wide when it comes to his family and in particular Ana. Gideon had said that Christian knew that Elliot wasn't happy, so I am suspecting he was thinking that it was better for him to know the truth and treat it like a band aid coming off; get it done, get the hurt over with and start to heal. I just can't help but wonder what we are going to be walking into though as a result of those revelations. From what Ana has said about Kate, she isn't about to go quietly and without a fuss. Ana had said that she had spent a long time on the phone talking to Elliot after Christian had spoken to him and that he had spent most of it apologising to her for Kate's behaviour. Ana seems to have a soft spot for Christian's elder brother and she is incredibly fond of him.

I glance around the plane, Ray and Arnie are quietly chatting with Taylor and Angus who is also with us on the return flight. As far as I am aware Raul has gone back to New York to await our return - whenever that will be, as I think we will be hanging around Seattle for a while yet. Christian is sitting brooding, like me he is probably wondering what we will be meeting when we land. I glance at Gideon who is sitting quietly at my side and then I look at Ana who is curled up in the corner, reading. I make my way over to her and sit beside her and as I do so Gideon takes the opportunity to go to Christian. He walks over to him and Christian looks up and smiles at him. Gideon sits down beside him and I see him say something.

I return my attention to my sister, "What are you reading?" I ask.

Ana looks up and smiles, "This?" she says and holds it up, I see now it's a manuscript and realise she has been working and I nod.

"Is it good, a potential best seller?" I say with a grin and to my surprise she shakes her head as she seemed to be engrossed in it when I saw her, but then she explains what it is and it all becomes clear.

"This is Frank's manuscript – his story which he sent me to be published. Now we know the whole truth and what really happened I can almost figure out who all the characters are and while there are obvious changes you can see the real story behind the fiction".

"Why did you bring that with you?" I ask in surprise; I had assumed that as soon as she knew the truth and shelved the plans to publish this story that this would be filed and that would be the last she thought about it.

She shakes her head, "I'm not entirely sure, I think I just wanted to see if I could understand him. Reading this has told me one thing though, he may be delusional and he lives in a complete fantasy world but he is not stupid. He is a very smart and astute man, but I suppose that he had to be to essentially live in plain sight but still under the radar for all these years".

I nod but I don't totally agree with what she is saying. "Yeah, but people weren't looking for him were they, they assumed he was dead so they weren't actively searching so he just got overlooked. As soon as people did start looking, he was found very quickly… so he's not that clever" I argue.

Ana cocks her head to one side as she acknowledges that, "True" she agrees.

"And besides" I add, "He is going to be locked up soon and although he has only recently come into our lives, I'll be happy never to lay eyes on him again" I say.

Ana smiles at me, "I know, I want nothing to do with him either. I just… I don't know… I just felt I wanted to read this to try and see if he ever did care and, well… it's obvious he didn't".

I gently take the manuscript from Ana's hands, "When we land, we are ceremoniously burning this, and by doing that we are going to be symbolically removing Frank Lambert from our lives" I say firmly.

Ana grins, "Definitely" she says.

We soon feel the plane descending as it comes in to land. I watch as Ana grips Christian's hand tightly as the plane touches down. She had done the same thing when we took off and I realise she isn't overly keen on flying.

"Are we ready then?" I ask as I feel the plane taxi to a halt and at that everyone starts to move.

"Remember what I said" Gideon whispers in my ear as we make our way out of the plane.

I look and see a couple waiting anxiously on the tarmac accompanied by men who are obviously members of Christians security. Taylor joins the men and they start briefing him and I watch as he introduces Angus to them.

As we all leave the plane, the woman immediately moves forward and reaches for Christian as he steps on to the tarmac.

"Hello darling" she says kindly and I watch as Christian hugs her and presses a kiss to her cheek. She greets Ana equally warmly and then turns her attention to me and Gideon and she smiles kindly at us.

"Grace, Carrick this is my sister Eva and her husband Gideon" Ana says as she introduces us. "Eva, Gideon this is Grace Trevelyan Grey, Christian's mom and this is Carrick Grey Christian's dad". Gideon holds out his hand and shakes Carrick's hand while Grace envelopes me in a warm hug. I am immediately struck by her warm loving maternal demeanour.

Ana quickly defers to Christian as he introduces Arnie who is quietly waiting with Ray. I see Carrick greet Ray warmly but he totally ignores Arnie.

"Mom, Dad… this is Colonel Arnold Hawkins… he is… was… is my birth moms' brother. Arnie, this is Grace and Carrick, my mom and dad". Christian steps aside as Arnie moves forward and offers his hand to Carrick who accepts it and just nods politely before Grace greets him warmly.

"I am assuming you can prove your claims?" Carrick says suddenly, and I am a little taken aback by his abrupt rather hostile remark.

Thankfully Arnie doesn't take offence to it and simply nods, "I have made it clear to Christian I am prepared to undertake a DNA test to prove I am who I say I am and provide concrete proof as to our connection. This has been a shock to all of us, and while my father and brother are anxious to meet Christian, as are his paternal family they are all also willing to participate in DNA confirmation" he says.

I wait and this seems to pacify Carrick but he still seems cold and a little stand offish. Grace notices me looking at Carrick and she quickly tries to smooth things over.

"I think we are all a little surprised by the events as they have unfolded. First, Ana getting approached by Finding Family and discovering she has a sister and now Christian finding members of his birth family. It's all a lot to take in… and sometimes Carrick seems to forget to leave his lawyer hat at home" she says and she shoots Carrick a look as she says that.

As I observe everything going on around me, I can't help but notice Christian's demeanour towards his father. While he hugged Grace and gave her a kiss and there was a look of love and affection in his eyes as he did so. When he greeted his father, he almost looked like he was meeting a business associate. There was no affectionate smile, it was cold and clinical and there was no paternal love displayed by Carrick either. I make a mental note to ask Ana about it later.

"I suggest we get off the tarmac and make our way back to the Sound" Christian says briskly as he takes charge of the situation. He quickly ushers everyone into the waiting cars and then I see him speak to Grace, he grasps her arm to prevent her from walking away.

"Mom, have you heard from El?" he asks carefully and Grace smiles sadly at him and nods.

"Yes, he called me and told me about your conversation. He is seeing a lawyer today, to start divorce proceedings" she whispers.

"Does Kate know?" Ana asks and Grace shakes her head.

"As far as I know he hasn't made her aware that he knows what she has said. I am so sorry that Kate put you in such an awful situation. You should know that she has been quite unbearable since she found out about your relationship with Eva. She is of the opinion that you should've told her what was going on and shared everything with her and the fact you have not been taking her calls has made her even worse. She cannot seem to comprehend the fact that it really is none of her business despite the fact Carrick, Elliot and I have all told her that and she seems to be under the impression that she is entitled to be kept in the loop… but after what Elliot told us, I can totally understand why you would be reluctant to share anything with her".

oooOOOooo

(ANA)

We pull up and I smile as I see our home looming up in front of us. I let out a small sigh as I am glad to be home, in so far as I am back in familiar surroundings. But I also know that now I am home I will have to deal with Kate at some point. I am surprised she wasn't waiting at the gate for us to arrive as I wouldn't put it past her doing something like that. Thankfully it seems she doesn't know we are back in Seattle yet and hopefully she will stay in that ignorance as long as possible.

My mind wanders back to last night when Christian decided to tell Elliot about what his wife really thought of him…

I have just woken up and discovered my side of the bed empty and cold and so I went out to look for Christian and found him sitting in the dark with a glass of bourbon in his hand. I glance at the clock and see it is nearly 2am.

"Christian are you coming to bed?" I ask and he looks up at me.

"I can't sleep, I keep going over what you said about Kate and no matter how I look at it I believe Elliot should know what is happening" he says sadly.

I sigh and walk towards him; he smiles and shifts slightly in the seat before placing the glass down and holding his arms open gesturing for me to climb into his lap.

I move closer and he grasps my arm and pulls me close, he buries his nose in my hair and inhales deeply. Now that I know the origins of this habit it makes my heart ache for him just a little bit more.

"What do you think baby?" he asks after a moment.

I sigh, "I can see where you are coming from, I really can but despite her faults I really think Elliot loves Kate and it will destroy him to hear what she thinks of him".

Christian nods, "I know but he deserves to know… I also know he isn't happy, so if he were to know it could encourage him to put an end to it and start again".

"What about Ava?" I ask and Christian snorts.

"I think it's obvious she would stay with Elliot. I know he works long hours but I'm certain everyone would rally around and help him out. He already has a nanny; Mom would definitely help him out and we could as well from time to time" he says.

I nod in agreement and the more I think about it I realise that nothing really would change that much as Kate barely bothers with Ava as it is.

"I think I'm going to call him" Christian says after a few moments and I feel him reach for his phone which is sitting at the side of him.

I lay my hand on his, "Text him first, and see if he is awake. After all it is late, if he responds tell him you are going to call him and to get himself somewhere private" I say. Christian nods and his thumb dances across his phone screen as he composes the text and then sends it.

A few moments later his phone buzzes and he smiles. "He's awake" he says unnecessarily and he quickly replies with a text telling Elliot to go somewhere private. He waits a moment and then his phone buzzes again and I realise this is Elliot telling Christian he is somewhere suitable to talk.

At this, Christian hits a speed dial button and waits.

"Put it on speaker" I say and Christian does so immediately.

I hear Elliot's good-natured voice and I swallow hard knowing that this call is going to destroy him.

"Bro" he says in an easy-going manner.

"Hello El, how are you?" Christian says nervously.

There is a silence for a moment and I can picture Elliot wondering why Christian is calling him in the middle of the night.

"I'm fine, is everything ok?" he asks.

It's Christian's turn to hesitate now. "El… I have something I need to talk to you about" he says nervously.

"Alright?" Elliot says and then waits for Christian to elaborate.

"Erm… do you remember the conversation we had where you told me how unhappy you are with Kate?"

"Yes" Elliot says carefully.

"I… today I… shit…" Christian stammers.

"Look bro, whatever you want to say, just say it". Elliot says.

"Kate admitted to Ana that she didn't love you… that she never loved you" Christian blurts out and then closes his eyes and waits.

The silence spreads out and I feel as though I am holding my breath waiting for Elliot's response. But what Christian says next surprises me.

"Do you remember what you told me how you had begun to have your suspicions that Kate only agreed to marry you because Ana was with me… well Ana confirmed that when she told me what Kate had said to her".

Another silence spreads out and finally Elliot speaks. "So, it's true then… what made Ana tell you?" he asks and I can hear the heartbroken yet oddly resigned tone of his voice as if he knew deep down and he'd just had his worst suspicions confirmed.

Christian sighs, "After you contacted me and gave me the heads up that Kate was aware of what had happened and how Ana had found a sister… Ana switched her phone off, so Kate couldn't contact her and she made a few remarks which I questioned and eventually she told me what had been said. It appears she'd had a massive argument with Kate shortly before you went to Hawaii. Kate had called Ana wanting to go out clubbing and Ana didn't want to go. Kate had made her usual raft of comments regarding me and making assumptions that I was preventing Ana from going out. It had escalated and Kate pretty much admitted that she didn't love you and never had".

"Fuck!" Elliot breathes, "I thought… shit… if that's the case why did she agree to have a family? I know I wanted to be a dad but why? You don't have a kid with someone you don't fucking love, I above anyone knows that fundamental fact?" the pain in Elliot's voice is heart-breaking and I feel a tear slide down my cheek. Before Christian can respond I butt in.

"I'm so sorry Elliot" I say with a sob.

"Is that you Ana? Are you crying? Don't cry Ana, this isn't your fault. Shit! She really has put you in an unenviable position saying that shit to you, I'm so sorry she did that" he says.

"Don't apologise Elliot, she used you and she had some severely warped views" I say.

"Did she mention Ava? Did she say why she had a kid with me if she didn't love me?" he asks.

I glance at Christian and he clears his throat, "She did El" he says sadly.

"This isn't going to be good is it?" Elliot says after a moment.

"No, it's not" I mutter.

Before I can tell him Christian steps in and starts to speak. "It appears that Kate had a number of warped views. It seems from what Ana has said she was jealous of Ana's relationship with me. As you know, since day one she has been trying to undermine it with her catty comments insinuating that I am controlling Ana. Well, she seemed to get it into her head that Ana wanted children and that I had vetoed it. So, she told Ana that she only agreed to have a child with you to help her get the child she thought she wanted. Her reasoning was if I saw you being a father it would make me change my mind or it would split us up completely and Ana would leave me" he says bleakly.

"Shit, I think I might be responsible for her thinking that" Elliot says.

"Why?" Christian asks as his eyebrows rise in surprise.

"When I was asking her if she would consider having a family, I made a flippant comment. I'd said I wanted to be a dad. Kate had argued saying she wanted a career, I told her it was doable to have both and I said mom would be all over it and we could get a nanny. That seemed to win her around, and she agreed that mom would love to be a granny, that was when I said she'll be waiting a long time for Christian to make her one… but I didn't mean it that way. It was a joke, and I knew you two weren't ready to be parents yet… but it seems she took it that you were refusing to consider it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" he says.

I quickly step in, "Don't apologise Elliot, she knew you were joking but she decided to twist it in her head and use it as a way to try and split us up. She has been trying to undermine our relationship from the start and she's pissed that she hasn't managed to do so" I say bitterly.

"Well, that settles it for me. I had been toying with the thought of divorcing her as I can't live like this anymore and it's not fair on Ava as the atmosphere here is bad when we are together. Hawaii was a complete disaster; we barely spent any time together despite the fact we were alone. I was missing Ava like crazy and yet she didn't give her a thought. I called mom every night to speak to Ava but Kate never spoke to her once. She doesn't deserve that. You telling me this, has given me the push I needed to start the ball rolling… thank you for telling me"…

I am brought from my thoughts by Christian kissing my temple.

"Everything ok baby?" he asks looking at me questioningly and I smile and nod at him.

"Yes, just glad to be home" I say.

Christian wanders off to check Arnie has settled into his room and I see Gideon pacing around outside on the phone. A twinge of guilt fills me as I realise that they are essentially putting their lives on hold at the moment, but the bigger issue for me is that inevitably I will be saying goodbye to my sister shortly as her life is in New York.

"Ana?"

I turn and see Eva watching me closely. She walks up to me and hugs me tightly.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

I shrug, "I was just watching Gideon, he's outside on the phone and it made me realise that being here is keeping him from his company and you from your work. Your lives are in New York and I was just realising that I will have to say goodbye to you soon when you go back to it" I say.

Eva squeezes me tighter and shakes her head, "No way, you are not getting rid of me that easily. I have only just found you so I am not disappearing back to New York never to see you again. We are going to set something up that we talk regularly. We can call and Skype. Set up some kind of routine where I call you and you call me in the evening or something. Also, as soon as Christian has sorted out all this business with his birth family you two should come to New York and stay with us. I can introduce you to Cary and my mom and show you the sights".

I laugh, "That would be nice, although I have been to New York before. Christian has an apartment there, so we do tend to go from time to time. I was going to suggest we go to Aspen as well as we have a home there and we tend to spend Christmas there… so?" I pause and Eva nods enthusiastically.

"I was going to suggest we spend Christmas together, and we need to make sure we all have each others birthdays and wedding anniversaries and other notable dates so we don't forget and can celebrate with each other. Gideon and I have a home on the Outer Banks, so you must come and stay there with us".

"I'd like that" I say with a smile.

Eva looks around as if she is checking to see if she is going to be heard and then she pulls me to the sofa and we both sit down.

"Can I talk to you about something?" she asks slightly nervously.

"Of course you can" I say.

She takes a deep breath and lowering her voice slightly she begins to speak. "Now tell me to mind my own business, but I noticed something when we arrived".

I smile and I think I know what she is going to say, "Are you referring to Carrick's behaviour?" I ask.

Eva nods, "Yes, partly but mainly his response to Christian. I mean, when Grace laid eyes on him she hugged him and there was an obvious warmth. The relationship between him and Carrick was positively arctic".

I nod, "Yes, Christian's relationship with Carrick has always been difficult. When he was first adopted he was afraid of Carrick as his experiences of men were not positive. Then there was his haphephobia issues".

Eva's eyes widen, "He suffers from haphephobia? I had no idea?" she says.

I smile, "He still struggles when people outside his immediate family try and touch him but he is a lot better than he was. I was surprised when he hugged you, but also very proud that he did so" I say.

"I had no idea, the very first time I hugged him when we came to Seattle to meet Frank it felt awkward and he was a little stiff, I just put it down to the fact that he wasn't a tactile person. Had I known…" she says and I immediately try and reassure her.

"You did nothing wrong, it's good that he gets his limits pushed as it helps him see that being touched isn't a bad thing. Between you and me he suffered for far too long as Grace and Carrick 'respected his boundaries'". I lift my hands and put air quotes around that term. "Although I prefer to call it not doing enough to help him overcome his issues" I say.

"So, he doesn't get along with his dad?" Eva asks.

I shake my head, "No, I wouldn't go that far, but they do clash. As Grace said Carrick often forgets to take off his lawyer hat and while he only says and does things with Christians best interests at heart, he does tend to rub Christian the wrong way by the way he goes about things". My mind immediately flies to Carrick's insistence that I sign a prenup when we married and Christian's equal insistence that I didn't.

"I see, I just wondered" she says simply.

"I know, that's fine. I think most of it stems back to Christian's youth. He went off the rails a bit and got expelled from a couple of schools and as far as I can determine Carrick made his disappointment in him clear. That was compounded when he dropped out of Harvard and started his own company. From what Christian told me, it appears Carrick wasn't happy because he had lost his bragging rights of having a Harvard graduate in the family. At that point he basically washed his hands of Christian and told him that his company would fold within a year, which made Christian determined to prove him wrong… which he did and quite spectacularly so. Carrick never apologised or admitted he was wrong and I think that burns with Christian that he never did so and so as a result Christian just kept getting more and more successful. It was as if he was trying to prove his point".

Eva shakes her head, "That's quite sad when you think about it" she says.

I nod in agreement, as I often wonder why Carrick won't just admit he was wrong. "He is incredibly close to Grace though, although that wasn't always the case, after he went off the rails, he got his act together and for a period of time he became estranged from his family. It was only when we started seeing each other he began to let them in more and since then he hasn't looked back. He has always been incredibly close to Elliot, and he adores Grace, he says she saved him and that he owes her everything".

"He has a sister as well, doesn't he?" Eva asks and I nod.

"Yes, Mia. She is the same age as me but she is so immature it is annoying. She is oblivious to everything if it doesn't concern her personally" I say.

I stop talking as Christian, Gideon, Arnie and Ray stride into the room.

"Ray is heading home" Christian announces and I immediately stand and walk up to my dad accompanied by Eva.

"Thank you for coming to California with us dad" I say affectionately.

"No problem" Ray replies gruffly and he turns to Eva, "It was nice meeting you Eva and I hope to see you and Gideon again soon".

Before Eva can respond, Gideon steps forward with his hand outstretched. "You can count on it, after all you are Eva's favourite kind of uncle now" he says with a grin.

Ray throws his head back and laughs loudly at that, "Good to know" he says.