CHAPTER 85
(ALEXANDER)
"It's a very lavish party isn't it?" Edwin whispers to me and I smile.
"Our boy is a billionaire Ed, what did you expect?" I reply.
"Don't you think it's all a bit over the top… for a birthday party?" Edwin whispers.
I shrug, "From what I've heard and from what Christian said, I don't think he or Ana had much input. Ana started out arranging a party for him but then something happened with Gideon and Eva and so they flew to New York to help them out and it all got passed over to Christian's sister – Mia. She runs an events company so it was bound to be extravagant. It's all very tasteful though" I say.
I look around, Christian has been very attentive to us and made sure we are all alright and he is mindful of the fact we are totally out of our element here. But quite frankly there is nowhere else I would rather be. This is the first time in over 30 years that we have been able to celebrate my grandson's birthday with him. As I am thinking this Christian comes over once again.
"Is everyone ok?" he asks looking around.
"We are all good son, just like the last time you asked. Come and sit and talk to us" I say as I pat the empty seat next to me".
He grins at me and a pain shoots through my chest as I see his dazzling smile. It really is like looking at Liam.
"I was just remembering the last birthday party we celebrated with you" I say carefully.
I watch as his eyes widen and he leans closer clearly interested in what I have to say.
"How old was I?" he asks.
"You were two" I say. "As usual you spent pretty much the whole day in the orchard, and we couldn't get you out of there so in the end we set up the picnic table amongst the trees and we ate out there. That was a mistake because as soon as our backs were turned you were using the chairs to help you gain easier access to the trees. Ella nearly had a fit when she saw you climbing up there".
Christian smiles and is eating up every word. I see in my minds eye the memory of that day, and how we had all stood laughing as we watched the determined little boy disappearing into the branches of a tree and Ella rushing to try and stop him.
"The only way we got you back down was to light the candles on your birthday cake, you soon came back down when you saw that".
"Well, I do like cake!" Christian replies with a grin.
"And it's still chocolate cake that you gravitate towards" Edwin says with a laugh.
"I like chocolate cake" Christian replies but I can't help but notice a sadness in his eyes as he says this.
"Ella was always baking chocolate cakes for you" Edwin says and immediately I see Christian swallow hard at that comment and he puts his head down.
"Christian?" I ask carefully.
He looks up and smiles once more, "It's nothing, it just reminds me of something. I… I don't have many good memories of my time before I was adopted, but one which always seems to surface is one of Ella baking a chocolate cake, now you have said that I realise it was probably an amalgam of previous memories rather than one single one".
I pat his arm unable to say anything to that.
"Did everything get sorted out in New York?" Edwin asks politely and Christian nods.
"As far as it can be, yes. Gideon and Ryan are slowly trying to build a relationship. Gideon visits him in the prison where he is serving his sentence and it is hoped that because he pled guilty and the fact circumstances are so different now and he is clearly making amends with Gideon, that as soon as he becomes eligible for parole it will be granted. Gideon's mother on the other hand is looking at some substantial prison time, with everything that came out and the victims who have come out and all the evidence we managed to accumulate, I don't think there is any way she can avoid it. Gideon and his attorneys are working hard to make sure she pays for all of her crimes".
"That's good, it's shocking that a mother could behave the way she did, and she needs to pay for the damage she has caused, not only to Gideon but also to Ryan. I'm glad Gideon and Ryan are managing to salvage some sort of relationship, and that something positive can come out of everything, I like Gideon he is very down to earth. We were shocked when you told us about everything that was happening there. How about here? Is everything alright here?" I ask carefully as I have been observing things and it appeared Christian's adopted mother didn't look all that happy today and there was quite a bit of whispering and what looked like a few heated words and dark expressions earlier.
Christian sighs, "I suppose you are referring to events earlier" he says and I nod.
He shrugs, "Mom is struggling I think. She seems to think that now Elliot and I have our birth family in our lives she is going to be pushed out. More so with Elliot than me as he has his birth mom in his life now". He nods towards the lady sitting a few feet away chatting and laughing with Elliot's wife.
"Also, she appears to be harbouring a little resentment over the fact Elliot eloped. She wasn't happy about that at all, to be fair I wasn't overly thrilled when he called us while we were in New York and told us he had married without us, but I accepted it was his decision and besides I didn't have room to judge as I'd considered just taking Ana to Vegas when I first decided I wanted to marry her".
I nod but am unable to offer any comment on this.
Christian sighs again and lowers his voice a little, "She has also made some unfortunate comments regarding Elliot's wife, Megumi. Even more unfortunate was the fact Megumi overheard them and obviously got upset which angered Elliot who is very protective of her. Elliot got badly burned with his ex-wife, Kate and so mom worries but things are a bit strained at the moment. The entire dynamic within the family has changed so drastically recently and she is struggling with it. Something has to be done though and I am planning on calling my therapist and getting everyone together to hammer out all our issues. Also, Elliot's ex-wife is causing trouble, she is digging into the fact Ana, Eva and Elliot share a biological father. As far as we know she doesn't know that for a fact yet, but she is a journalist and so it won't be long before she manages to find out. As such we are planning to usurp her and go public with the information to shut her down, pretty much like Ana and Eva did when they discovered they were sisters and usurped Frank's intention to publicly capitalise on the link between them. So, it's all a bit of a mess at the moment but I'm confident it will all get sorted out".
I nod again, "How are you dealing with the changes of the dynamic within the family?" I ask, "It can't be easy for you now knowing that your own brother who you grew up with is actually the blood brother of your wife?" I add.
"I'm dealing with it" he says simply and with a sense of finality which tells me not to push it.
"Christian darling".
We both look round and see Grace standing there. She gives us all a beaming smile and greets us warmly before returning her attention back to Christian who immediately stands up.
"Your father and I are going to head off" she says as she embraces him. I watch as she makes the moves deliberate and slow and I remember how Christian has issues with touch due to the abuse he suffered at the hands of the man who Ella got involved with after Liam had died.
"Ok mom, I'll give you a call later as there is something I need to discuss with you" Christian says.
"Alright" she says before once again turning her attention to us and bidding us all a polite goodbye.
oooOOOooo
(EVA)
"Well that's that!" Ana says with a contented sigh as she throws herself on to the sofa.
"Has everyone gone now?" I ask.
Ana nods, "Yeah, Christian's birth family are all staying at the Fairmont. Christian had asked them to stay with us but they said they would prefer to stay at the hotel".
I shrug, "Whatever floats their boat. To be fair and I don't mean this nastily but they are simple people with simple lives so all this has to be intimidating for them. I suppose it's easier for them to deal with it if they are staying in the hotel".
Ana nods, "I guess so, I get it though as I was really intimidated by everything when I first met Christian".
Before I can reply the door opens and Gideon and Christian come walking in both clutching bottles of wine and some glasses and they are both laughing at something. We watch as the bottles and glasses are set down on the table.
"Has El and Meg gone home?" I ask and Christian nods.
"Yes, Ava was getting tired so they bailed but he said to organise what we are going to do regarding the announcement and he will go along with it, he said and this is his exact words 'I have full confidence in my sisters' decisions'". Christian grins and rolls his eyes at that and we all laugh.
"Before we get on to that though, I feel the need to apologise" I say carefully.
"What for?" Christian asks as he takes a bottle and swiftly unfastens it before pouring the wine into the waiting glasses.
"I had no idea, we… that is El, Ana and myself were being so… insular, we didn't mean to shut everyone out… we just…" I stop unable to offer any reasonable explanation without it sounding like an excuse. I wait and Christian smiles.
"Forget it, honestly it's a non-issue!" he says magnanimously.
We sit and talk and hash out what we are going to say and how we are going to do this and after much discussion it is decided that an interview would probably be the best option rather than a press statement. We have been getting requests for interviews since we announced the fact we were sisters and while we have been declining them now seems to be a good time to do one and to make it public our link to Elliot.
"Let's call El and see what he thinks" Ana says and I nod pulling out my phone.
I press the speed dial and he quickly answers.
"Yo" he says brightly, which makes me roll my eyes.
"El, Ana and I have discussed this announcement thing and we think the way forward is an interview. We have had a number of outlets pestering for one ever since we announced the fact we were sisters, so if we do it that way it would have more impact and also if you wanted to you and Meg could announce the fact you are married as that isn't common knowledge either. Our theory being it totally cuts Kate off as if she does anything afterwards it looks like sour grapes and retaliation. We keep it respectful towards her if she gets mentioned in the interview, but make it clear she is irelevent… What do you think?" I pause and wait while he thinks about it.
"That sounds like a plan to me" he replies after a moment, "Meg is here with me and you are on speaker and she was nodding all the while you were talking so she's happy with it".
"Excellent, now what are we thinking, TV or publication?" I ask.
"I think TV as that would have more visual impact and be immediate, plus whatever gets said will be seen to be accurate, there is always the concern that with a publication things get twisted when the article is written" Ana says.
I nod, "Good point" I say, "El?" I ask.
"Sounds good to me" he replies with his usual easy-going manner.
"If I may interrupt here" Christian says leaning forward.
We are all immediately silent waiting for him to speak.
"After the events of today, I would like to organise a family conference – for want of a better word. I would like to call my therapist and get mom and dad, you and Meg, myself and Ana, Mia and maybe even include you and Gideon so we can all hash out our issues with the tremendous changes that have occurred within the family over the past few months. You three have naturally been involved in building the sibling bond between you and that's great, but personally speaking I have been struggling with it a little. Gideon has also expressed his feelings of being overlooked a little when you three get together. We both realise that it is our issue that we need to address as much as the way you are behaving and I think obviously mom has a number of issues going on which really need to be addressed. Mia seems ok now after we talked with her previously. I think that is down to Megumi's influence on her as since she has been out of the orbit of her other friends, she has become a much nicer and less self-centred person. Megumi… I think you need to address how you feel after what you heard mom say today and give mom the chance to explain herself and hopefully apologise for what she said. What do you think?" he stops and waits looking at each of us in turn.
I glance at Gideon who is nodding, "I'm up for it" Gideon replies immediately. "Although we are essentially outsiders in the sense that the problems are mainly with the family dynamic within the Grey family, the fact Eva is Ana's sister means she should be there not only to hear how her actions with Ana and Elliot have affected others but also to offer support to her siblings".
I nod, "I'm in" I say simply and Ana reaches for my hand and squeezes it.
"Yeah, I think it's what we all need, mom has been totally off with me ever since I told her Meg and I got married and I don't like it. I've always felt a bit dismissed and mom's attitude now just reaffirms that feeling" Elliot says. "Plus, I want an apology for what she said about Meg as that was bang out of order. There is no way on earth Meg is anything like Kate and mom shouldn't have voiced those opinions even if she thought them".
We all stare at the phone, the hurt and bitterness has taken us aback a little.
"What do you mean by dismissed Elliot?" Christian asks warily.
We all hear a sigh, "I'm an easy-going guy… I have been all my life and I've felt overlooked at times, going right back from when we were kids… and before you start it's not your fucking fault Christian so don't think that. But I felt mom and dad were like oh Elliot is ok, he's a happy little soul and they just overlooked me. Mia was the baby and she was their little princess and you had so many issues but as I say it's not your fault Christian, if anything it's mom and dad's fault as they… oh fuck I don't know". He stops and we look at Christian who is staring wide eyed at the phone.
"This confirms for me that we really need this" Christian says grimly.
"Yeah, I think we do" Elliot replies.
We talk a few minutes more and then we say our goodbyes.
"Well, I didn't expect that" Ana says as she leans back, I watch as Christian reaches for her and pulls her close. He buries his nose in her hair and inhales deeply.
Ana immediately turns towards him, "Hey, stop it. You heard Elliot, he doesn't blame you" she says firmly.
Christian nods, "I think I'm going to go and call mom and see if she is up for this" he says and with that he stands and leaves the room. Gideon watches him go and a moment later he stands and follows him out, leaving Ana and I alone.
"I didn't expect that" I say.
"No, neither did I. I thought that when Christian hashed everything out with Carrick and Grace after we went to see them, that would be it. I had no idea Elliot felt that way" Ana replies. She lets out a small mirthless laugh, "It just goes to show even the most exemplary parents get it wrong. They let down Christian badly when he was a child, and Elliot has some resentment about his childhood and yet to the casual observer Grace and Carrick looked like the model parents everyone should aspire to be. Just goes to show nobody is perfect, my mom was a disaster. Your mom lied to you your entire life and then we have Gideon's mom… well less said about her the better. This just goes to show that parenthood is fucking hard and nobody gets it right".
I nod, "But some people just put more effort into getting it totally wrong than others" I say with a grin.
Ana laughs at that, "Yeah they do" she says.