CHAPTER 91
Two days later…
(GIDEON)
"So, everything is sorted and ready then?"
I look at Elliot who is messing with his cuff, clearly uncomfortable at being dressed up in a suit and a shirt.
I nod my head, "I believe so, Eamon has liaised with my contacts who I reached out to and also with Christians. I'm quite impressed that everything was pulled together so quickly, but then again, I believe that is down to the fact the media have been chomping at the bit to get an interview with Ana and Eva ever since it was made public about their relationship".
Elliot nods and looks at his cuff once more.
"Why don't you just roll them up and leave the jacket off?" I ask as I smile kindly at him. I see the relief on his face as I say it and he quickly complies.
"I don't like wearing shirts or suits, I don't know how you and Christian wear them all the time" he says.
I smile, and glance over to where the interview is being set up. We are in Grey House, quite fitting I think as Elliot built this building for his brother and has done all the renovations for the new Grey Publishing which now occupies two whole floors of this impressive building. Ana had commented that she would get lost now that she had so much space to spread out in compared to the cramped building they previously occupied.
My attention is taken by movement and I see Eva and Ana entering with Eamon and Eva is gesticulating and pointing. A moment later Christian also appears and he looks across at me and nods, before making his way over to myself and Elliot. I see he looks pensive and I think the enormity of today is weighing on him.
"Hi" he says as he reaches us and Elliot mumbles a quiet hello.
"Is everything set up and ready?" I ask and Christian nods.
"Just about, I think. The ladies have decided to make a point by being interviewed by Hazel Mathers" he says with a grin.
This means nothing to me and I shake my head and look at him questioningly.
"Hazel Mathers now occupies the position that Kate held at Kavanagh Media as senior journalist. Something which both Ana and Eva know Kate is aware of, and are hoping will also be picked up by Kate when this airs".
Elliot grins, "Yeah, Eamon told me they had specifically asked for Hazel. I have no problem with that, she is a nice lady, I've had dealings with her before. She did a piece on the renovation work I did on the Waterfront and she was really good".
"Are our contacts happy with that decision?" I ask and Christian nods.
"Yes, they are just ecstatic that they are being allowed in and able to share the moment" Christian replies wryly.
Today is going to be a complete full disclosure on a massive scale. Not only is the link between Eva, Ana and Elliot going to be announced, Elliot had said he wanted to announce his marriage to Megumi as well to 'hammer it home' to Kate that there was no hope for her. Also, it has been discussed that I should make my own announcement regarding the events in New York as it all ties in with the fact I have found my own brother. I was reluctant to do so at first thinking that it would remove the focus of the interview but Eva had assured me that if I did it right and made it clear that I wasn't expanding on the information I was giving it would work out. Christian has also been in touch with his birth family and given them a heads up and said that it may come out about his link with them but he has assured them that he will not name them. So, I'm fairly sure these assembled people of the media are unaware of the scale of the revelations that are going to be made today and what an exclusive they are getting.
As I think that our attention is drawn to Ana and Eva who are making their way over accompanied by Eamon. They look relaxed and happy and I am surprised when Ana comes to me rather than Christian.
She wraps her arms around me and gives me an affectionate squeeze. "Thank you so much for staying on here and doing this, I know that this must be causing all sorts of issues for you with your empire so it is very much appreciated" she says looking up at me.
"Nonsense, I have a highly competent team who I have full faith in to keep Cross Industries ticking over in my absence" I reply as I return the hug.
I feel Ana being pulled away from me and I look up at Christian and grin, "Besides, I'm not as much of a control freak as your husband" I add playfully.
Eva lets out a loud bark of a laugh and shakes her head, "If you say so!" she says sardonically as she pats my arm.
I look at Eva meaningfully and a thought comes to mind, "Have you called your mother?" I ask, as I remember the fallout from the last time.
Eva's smile slips slightly and she nods, "I have, she isn't happy about it but when I explained everything she understood why we had to do it and she thanked me for giving her a heads up this time" she says.
Ana looks sympathetically at Eva; things haven't been good between her and Monica since it all came out about Ana and Eva being sisters. Things were smoothed over a bit but there is a lingering underlying resentment on both sides, on Eva's part that she and Victor were lied to for years and on Monica's that Eva announced publicly that she had lied to them for years.
"What about Victor?" I ask and Eva grins.
"He knows and he gives me is full support as always" she says.
Ana smiles, "Dad said much the same thing, I called him to make him aware the interview was happening today and he told me I had his full support" she says.
A moment later I see Megumi arrive and the ladies immediately turn their heads following my gaze.
"Meg!" Eva calls brightly, as Elliot spots his wife and leaving us makes his way over to her and wrapping his arm around her kisses her passionately.
Elliot and Meg join us and Meg looks up at Christian gratefully, "Thank you for letting me be in here today" she says to him, to which he waves his hand dismissively.
"It would hardly be fair not to let El have his wife present for support when Gideon and I are here for Eva and Ana" he replies, "…and besides, you were in the building anyway, and I'm sure Andrea can cope for the time you are down here" he adds.
We watch all the equipment being efficiently set up and I look around the room. We are in the new Grey Publishing offices, and part of the interview is going to be publicising the fact the company has relocated to Grey House. Ana is aware that the main reason for the interview will overshadow that fact somewhat, not to mention the other personal things which will be discussed but while we have the media here, she said it made sense to do a separate piece for the Seattle media about the relocation of Grey Publishing. I look around the room the ladies had chosen and they could not have picked a better place. This is a bright and airy comfortable room with sofas almost like a homey living room, and Christian had said that it put all his other break rooms to shame as it was so nice and that once his staff found out about it, they would all be demanding their own break rooms be renovated to the same standard.
A few moments later a smartly dressed young woman approaches us. "Good morning, I'm Hazel Mathers" she says as she holds out her hand to me.
I accept it and greet her politely, and I watch as she also greets Christian, Meg and Elliot.
"So, the plan is we get the main interview done to announce the relationship between yourselves and then when that is done I'm going to do a separate piece for the Seattle media regarding the relocation of Grey Publishing to Grey House… is everyone clear on what is going to happen?"
We all nod and murmur our agreement and with that she turns and escorts Eva, Ana and Elliot to a sofa. As they all take a seat Ms Mathers speaks again.
"I think it would be prudent to also mention the relocation and renovations that Elliot did for Grey Publishing as a way into the main interview though, that way it doesn't look quite so blunt".
Ana nods, "That's fine, I'm fully aware that the relocation news will be overshadowed by the other topics but it would be nice to get that point out there nationally as well as for the North West audience".
Christian and I move closer but stand out of shot and Megumi comes to join us. I glance down at her and see she has her eyes fixed on Elliot and the love in them is obvious for everyone to see.
"Are you ok? You look a bit pale" I ask her and she nods.
"I'm fine, I've started feeling a bit queasy in a morning now but nothing major yet. I'm sure within the next few weeks things will escalate but I'm ok now" she says with a brave smile.
"Do you want to sit down?" Christian asks her as he points to a nearby chair, but she shakes her head.
"No thank you Christian, I'm fine" she says.
"Ok, if we could have quiet please!" a technician calls and there is a countdown and the interview begins.
We watch as Ms Mathers does a piece to camera explaining where she is and the reasons for being here and gushing about how honoured she is at being granted this interview. She explains that it is a joint enterprise with Kavanagh Media, Kingston Media of New York and North West Media and that due to Eva and I being located in New York, it will be shown nationwide. I'm impressed, she is good and I watch as she seamlessly moves towards Ana, Eva and Elliot and sits down with them.
"Hello, and thank you for inviting me here today" she begins.
"You are very welcome" Ana replies.
"This is a lovely room" she continues and Ana nods.
"I thought it would be the ideal place for this, I'm sure it won't look like this for long as it has been very newly renovated, when my husband decided to relocate Grey Publishing here to Grey House".
"Yes, and Elliot Grey's company Grey Construction was responsible for that work" Ms Mathers says turning towards Elliot who simply nods and smiles.
"Can I ask what brings you to Seattle, Mrs Cross?" Ms Mathers asks politely and Eva grins.
"You can, and please call me Eva. I'm always this side of the country and on hand to support my sister when anything is going on in her life. The relocation and official opening of the new Grey Publishing offices was such an occasion. Although, we were already here as we were helping to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday, which was very recently" she adds glancing across at Christian.
Eva takes a deep breath and glances at Elliot and Ana, who look at her and nod and I see them all hold hands. I shuffle slightly, this is it.
"We are also, in the process of publicly announcing a piece of news that we have known for a while now but feel today is a good day to make it public. We have had time to come to terms with this information and the wider family has had time to deal with and accept the ramifications of it".
"Oh, may I ask what that information is… am I getting an exclusive here?" Ms Mathers asks with a smile.
All three nod in agreement with that, "Yes you are… Eva and I had no choice but to announce our relationship before we were totally ready to do so after our…" she pauses, clearly unable to say the word father, and Eva squeezes her hand reassuringly and looks up.
"I'll say it – Sperm donor" she says wryly and Ana smiles gratefully at her.
She cocks her head in acknowledgement of Eva's words and continues, "Well, yes as that is all he was. When Frank Lambert went to the media about his link with us it caused somewhat of a stir and we had no choice but to come out publicly and confirm it. However, when we discovered that Frank had fathered another child, we were determined that we were going to do things differently and announce the news on our terms".
Ms Mathers sits up straighter at this piece of information, "Another child, so you have another sibling?" she asks incredulously.
Eva and Ana grin and nod, "Yes we do and he is sitting right there" Eva says pointing at Elliot who flushes slightly.
Ana leans forward to speak, still gripping Eva's and Elliot's hand tightly in her own. "As you can imagine, we were stunned when the news came out. Plus, the ramifications that this had for the entire Grey family. Christian's adopted brother who he had grown up with was biologically related to me… his wife. We knew immediately how this could be viewed, by certain parts of the media and how it could be made to seem sordid and dirty. Which it isn't, it is pure coincidence. Elliot's mother was abandoned by Frank Lambert as was mine and as was Eva's. The difference was she wasn't in a position to give Elliot the life she felt he deserved and so reluctantly she put him up for adoption and he was adopted by Grace and Carrick Grey who then went on to also adopt Christian and of course Mia".
"Wow, that is astounding" Ms Mathers says.
Elliot nods, "You can say that again, I have always wondered where I came from and when I became a dad myself those abstract thoughts grew… and then when it all came out about Ana and Eva being sisters and how that also led on to my brother discovering the truth about his origins, it focussed my mind on the subject and I spoke to Eva, who had used a company – Finding Family, in her search to find Ana and I asked her if she would put me in touch with them… to help me… and they did. I found my birth mom, and discovered I also had another sister who my birth mom had in a later relationship. She gave me my biological father's name and that led me to realise that I was related to my brother's wife, which sounds all kinds of weird but we are all dealing with it". Elliot pauses and looks up and he looks straight at Megumi who gives him a little nod.
"Also, now that I am married to that amazing, wonderful, beautiful woman over there I feel complete" he says as he looks directly at Megumi as he says this with the love and heat pouring off him in waves.
"Perhaps we could get Mr Grey, Mr Cross and Mrs Grey to come in at this point and give their views on this?" Ms Mathers asks as she turns and looks towards us questioningly.
I look at Christian who shrugs and we wordlessly make our way over. The interview is suspended as we take our seats and Ms Mathers explains it will be edited at this point. I sit down beside Eva and wrapping my arm around her press a kiss to her temple. Elliot stands to make way for Christian to sit down next to Ana and he holds out his hand to Meg who is hovering, encouraging her to join him. Once we are all settled, the interview resumes.
"Thank you for joining us, Mr Grey, Mr Cross, Mrs Grey" Ms Mathers says politely.
I nod my head, "Please call me Gideon" I say immediately and Christian grins.
"Thank you, and call me Christian" he adds.
Ms Mathers turns to Megumi first, "Mrs Grey, congratulations on your marriage" she says kindly.
Megumi flushes and leans into Elliot, who wraps his arm around her protectively. "Thank you and please call me Megumi. Elliot is a wonderful man with a beautiful heart and I was incredibly lucky when he chose me" she says as she looks up at Elliot.
Elliot smiles down at her, "I'm the lucky one" he says simply.
"It must have been a little intimidating marrying into such a high profile family?" Ms Mathers asks.
Megumi nods, "It was, I also relocated from New York to be with Elliot which was a huge step for me. But Christian and Ana have made me feel nothing but welcome and accepted" she says as she glances at Christian and Ana. "Also, Elliot's daughter has accepted me as her step-mom and we have taken and completed the legal steps for me to officially be her mother, and she calls me mom which is a great thrill for me, that she has accepted me so completely".
"That's really lovely to hear, are you looking to expand your family any time soon?" Ms Mathers asks pointedly and Megumi shifts slightly.
Elliot leans forward, "We are discussing expanding our family" he says evasively but effectively shutting down that line of questioning.
Ms Mathers takes the hint and moves her attention to Christian, "Mr Grey… Christian, how do you feel about the changes within your family? It appears that within a very short space of time it has grown and altered considerably?" she asks.
Christian nods, "It has, when Ana was first approached by Finding Family, my first thought was it was some kind of scam. When it became apparent it wasn't and events unfolded as they did… I just did what any good husband would do, I supported my wife. I didn't have a role as such other than offering my love and support, like Gideon we were peripheral and not really involved. It did occur to me that I was now related by marriage to Gideon Cross and we have capitalised on that link by sharing technology for our various business projects. Events evolved and through a series of remarkable coincidences which I am not prepared to go into, I became aware of how my early life before I was adopted really was and I went on to meet some of my surviving birth family for the first time, who I am not going to name to protect their anonymity. Things continued to grow and then we had the revelation that my own brother was indeed biologically related to my wife. I believe we have all dealt with the evolving events well and we support each other – we are a close family, which has recently expanded significantly but we now feel the time is right to publicly announce that evolution as we have had the time to privately process it".
"What about you, Mr Cross… Gideon?" Ms Mathers asks turning her attention towards me.
I smile, "Like Christian said, we were not directly involved. Me less so than Christian really as I wasn't involved in the changes to the dynamic to the Grey family when it became clear that Elliot was related to Ana and Eva. For me personally, in the space of a couple of months I have gained three brothers and a sister and I couldn't be happier". I pause as I think about Ryan, I now agree with Eva that this is the perfect opportunity to add this to the public announcement and I decide to go for it. I had spoken to him and given him a heads up that I was possibly going to do this and I'd talked it over with him and he had agreed and encouraged me by saying it would get everything out there publicly so there are no lurking skeletons waiting to come out at a later date.
Ms Mathers picks up on my comment and runs with it. "Three brothers?" she asks with obvious confusion as she glances at Christian and Elliot and I smile.
"Yes, three. Recent events in New York which I am sure you are aware of brought to light an interesting development. My… mother, had another child. As well as Christopher and Ireland who she had after me, there was another child – a boy who was born before me. My mother signed him over to his father and effectively disowned him… that child was Ryan Landon. After the recent events it all came to light about the link and we are coming to terms with the developments and trying to mend the years of mistrust and dislike between us caused by the lies of other people. Christian and Ana have been unwavering in their support to me during this time and I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for everything that they have done. But this isn't about me, and my siblings, this is about my wife and hers". I say hopefully shutting down this line and moving the conversation back to Elliot, Eva and Ana. I am fully aware though that I have opened myself up to the request for my own interview at some point by mentioning this.
"Oh wow" Ms Mathers says, I can see she is realising this interview is the scoop of the year and if she handles it correctly it could catapult her career into the stratosphere.
"So, there has been seismic changes not only within the Grey family but also the Cross family. I thank you for sharing that information today, and I accept your remarks that you don't want to go into it further at this time" she says politely but with the unsaid point hanging there that she hopes that I will contact her to give her the scoop when I do feel ready to talk about it.
Conversation moves back to Elliot, Eva and Ana and how they are building their bond and how close they are, the rest of the Grey family is touched upon and then Ms Mathers mentions Ray and Victor.
"All these events seem to have evolved from the fact that you are linked together by Frank Lambert. How do Mr Steele and Mr Reyes feel about these developments?" Ms Mathers asks.
Ana smiles as she thinks about Ray, "My dad has always been my rock. He was mom and dad for me growing up. He was always aware that he wasn't biologically related to me, and he took on the job anyway. I am always confident in the fact that Ray Steele is my dad and nobody else and as such he supports my decision to make everything public today" she says and she glances at Eva.
"My dad is Victor Reyes, end of story" she says simply and emphatically. "It was hard for him to begin with, as circumstances were different in my case and he always believed he was my dad. But he has come to terms with the fact there is no biological link but as far as we are both concerned that makes no difference to us, he is my dad and I am his daughter. He is aware of the interview today and he gave me his unwavering support and said that he was proud of me when I called him" she says.
"Mr Reyes is also now in New York?" Ms Mathers asks carefully.
Eva nods, "Yes, he relocated from California and now works for the NYPD – I am incredibly proud of him and the work he does" she says.
Victor moving to New York has done wonders not only for Eva's relationship with him as they continue to come to terms with everything but also mine. I have gained another father figure, someone who I feel I can turn to other than Angus. Since we cleared the air and worked on our relationship his support has been complete with all the revelations that came out with regard to my family and while I still have no relationship with Chris and don't expect to ever have one I now know that I have Victor firmly in my corner.
The interview moves back to Elliot and how he feels about the number of siblings he has recently gained and eventually the interview comes to an end.
"Well, that has certainly been an extraordinary interview" Ms Mathers says eventually. "I would like to thank you all for your honest and in some cases unexpected contribution today".
We all acknowledge her and she turns to the camera to do a final piece.
"Well, there we have it, a very enlightening interview. I am sure you will all agree this has been a revelation. Many thanks to everyone for participating today and thank you for watching".
She pauses and then as someone calls out we all relax.
"Thank you so much" Ms Mathers gushes as she holds out her hand to us all in turn.
"You are welcome and thank you for doing it" Eva replies.
Ms Mathers turns her attention towards me, "I am hoping that I can call on you for a more in-depth interview with yourself Mr Cross?" she asks politely and after a moments hesitation I simply nod once.
"Thank you, I'll be in touch" she replies.