CHAPTER 105

Two Weeks Later…

(MEGUMI)

I glance at Rachel who is across the other side of the room, pretending to be insignificant but she meets my gaze and gives me a sympathetic smile and I sigh somewhat dramatically.

"Elliot, I'm asking you nicely… please, please go back to work" I say in a calm even tone.

"But…" he argues as he continues to fuss around me, fussing which got old very quickly.

I feel somewhat ungrateful for thinking this way as Elliot has been wonderful since the accident, but the doctors said after about a week I could start doing little things again, but to just take my time and not overdo it. Obviously as I have a number of broken bones, I am heeding their advice to the letter but also because I don't want anything to happen to our remaining baby but I'm finding it difficult to do anything at all as Elliot has been very overprotective and he still seems to think I should not move a muscle or lift a finger to do anything. Now two weeks later I think it is time for El to go back to work. I have Rachel here with me helping out with Ava. I felt bad to begin with but she quickly assured me that when Kate was here, she did far more than what I am asking her to do.

I place my hand on his arm, "Please El" I say. "You know that you need to get back to work, I promise you I won't do anything strenuous and I have Rachel here to help out".

He looks at me and I can see he is wavering at my logic, "But" he begins again but his tone isn't as sure as previously.

"Please" I repeat.

He sighs, "Ok, but if you need me, you call me immediately" he says adamantly. I nod and promise him I will as I inwardly sag with relief.

He turns to Rachel, "You're ok with me going, Rachel?" he asks her and she looks up again and smiles.

"I'm fine with it Elliot. Honestly, when you called me and asked me to step up to how it used to be I wasn't fazed by it. But to be honest with you, even now with Meg incapacitated I'm still doing less than what I did before when K…" she stops abruptly as Elliot holds up his hand and interrupts her.

"Don't even say her fucking name" he snaps. I am surprised by the vehemence in his tone so I reach for him and he immediately grabs me and pulls me to him. I know this whole thing has really upset him and I try and offer him some comfort as best as I can.

He turns towards me, "Ana is going to drop by at some point today and Mia also said she'd come and see you" he tells me and I roll my eyes, knowing he had probably called them and asked them to drop by as I have been hinting that he goes back to work for a few days now.

"Alright" I say and he kisses me soundly.

"Ok, I'll go" he says as he reluctantly pulls away from me.

I smile and watch as he gathers together all of his things.

After a bit more cajoling and a few more reassurances that I will call him if I need him, he finally leaves and as I close the door, I let out a long breath of relief.

"He loves you" an amused voice says from behind me, I turn and nod.

"I know, but he wouldn't let me do anything. I am not about to overdo it, I physically can't and I don't want to risk the baby" I say.

"He was just worried" Rachel says with a shrug.

"I know" I reply.

oooOOOooo

(RACHEL)

I am just finishing up in the kitchen when I hear the front door bell chime, I throw down the cloth and dry my hands. I know that as nanny this isn't really in my remit but I don't mind helping out while Meg is struggling. Also, when Kate was here, I was far more than just a nanny as she didn't do a damn thing.

I make my way out into the hallway and I see Meg walking steadily to the front door, so I hang back. She looks through the spyhole and she takes a step back in surprise which immediately puts me on alert.

"Who is it?" I ask, as I make my way towards her.

"Eamon" Meg replies and goes to open the door.

I pull out my phone and quickly text Elliot. He had asked me to notify him if any unexpected visitors came, I think that was mainly because he was concerned wondering if Kate would approach Meg. She had surprisingly been released on bail, how she had managed to pay that we don't know, but we are hopeful it won't be an issue as there is the security of the restraining order Mr Grey had put in place, but Elliot is worried that she might try and show up here at some point, although we are all confident that she won't get past the gate.

Meg opens the door to reveal Eamon Kavanagh and he is holding a large bouquet of flowers.

"Megumi, how are you my dear?" he asks as he steps inside and holds out the bouquet.

"Thank you, they are beautiful" Meg replies as she accepts the flowers, "…and I am doing well thank you, I'm feeling much better" she adds.

I smile at that, physically she is doing remarkably well, but she is in bits emotionally about the baby. She doesn't realise it but I've seen her clutching the scan picture and sobbing over the lost baby. She tries to maintain a sort of persona when I am around but that inevitably slips at times, but I'm not about to invade her private grieving, so I haven't said anything about what I've seen. I think that is part of the reason why Elliot was so reluctant to go back to work as he knows just how badly she is hurting about the baby. He should know as he is hurting just as badly, but he is trying to focus on the positive that one baby survived.

I feel my phone vibrate and I pull it out and move back into the kitchen.

"Hello Elliot" I say as I answer.

"Is Meg ok?" he asks anxiously.

I smile, "She's fine, calm down Elliot you know that Eamon isn't going to hurt her. He has shown up with some flowers and they are talking in the other room right now".

"Ok" he says, reassured by my words.

We end the call and I make my way upstairs to Ava who is playing in her nursery.

I push the door open and see her happily entertaining herself. She looks up and smiles at me as I enter the room.

"Your granddad is here" I say and she beams at me and stands up.

"Granddad Carrick?" she asks and I shake my head.

"No, granddad Eamon" I reply.

She drops her toys but then reaches for Oliver and runs past me.

I follow her down the stairs and I pause as she goes into the living room where I hear her exclamations of delight as she sees her grandfather.

"Hello Ava" I hear Eamon say.

I poke my head around the door and see Eamon lifting Ava into his lap. I look at Meg questioningly, she knows that I have to keep Elliot updated and she smiles at me and gives me a little nod. With that I leave them alone. As I go past the front door I idly look out and freeze as I see a car parked at the end of the driveway. Unlike Christian's home where you can't see the end of the driveway you can here and while there is more than adequate security with visitors having to enter a code to open the gates, which is regularly changed you can see from the house to the road beyond and vice versa. I look at the car carefully and I reach for my phone and zooming in on it I snap a photograph of it, before sending it to Elliot and also to Jason Taylor with a quick covering text.

Hey, probably nothing but this car is just sitting at the end of the driveway – please advise?

I wait and Jason replies first.

That is Kate Kavanagh's car, I'll inform Mr Grey immediately.

Elliot's reply follows a moment later.

Shit that's Kate's car! He replies.

I bite my lip and decide I need to tell Meg about this.

I open the door of the living room and discreetly cough, Meg looks at me and I hold up my phone. She excuses herself and comes to me.

"What is it?" she whispers.

"Kate is outside" I whisper and show her the photograph and also the texts from Jason and Elliot.

"Oh god, no" she mutters and I see tears appearing in her eyes.

I wrap my arm around her, "Come on, hold it together she can't get in here so she can't hurt you and I've raised the alarm - Jason Taylor is aware and so I assume he is going to do something to get rid of her" I say. Eamon notices our interaction and looks at me questioningly.

"Is there a problem?" he asks.

I nod and glancing at Ava, I simply hand him my phone. His face goes stony as he reads the messages and realisation dawns on him that his crazy ass daughter is sitting outside and I think that probably in all likelihood she has followed him here. I watch as he shakes his head and what he says next confirms that theory.

"She has been hanging around outside our home, I'm sorry she must have followed me here… I didn't think" he says apologetically.

Meg shakes her head, "No, it's not your fault" she says.

I hear another car arrive and I move to the window in time to see a hive of activity going on. Unwilling to bring this to Ava's attention I don't say anything but just watch as Jason Taylor and a number of Christian's security team surround the car Kate is in. I am surprised Elliot hasn't shown up and I continue to watch.

Kate doesn't appear to be in any hurry to leave despite being surrounded by security and a few moments later a police car arrives and two officers get out. They pull Kate from her car and unceremoniously bundle her into the back of the squad car. A member of the security team drives away in Kates car and Jason stands texting before climbing into the Audi and driving off.

My phone pings and it is a simple one-word text from Jason.

'Sorted'. I smile at the brief but succinct response.

I walk back over to Meg and show her the text and a look of relief fills her face as she sees it.

"It's sorted" I say evasively to Eamon and he also looks relieved as he nods in acknowledgement.

I head back out into the kitchen and my phone starts to ring again, "Hello Elliot" I say again as I answer.

"Hi, Jason said it's sorted, did you see anything?" he asks.

"Yeah, I saw Jason and a couple of the other guys who work for Christian come and then the cops came and yanked her out of her car and took her away. One of the security guys drove Kate's car away, it was all done and dusted in a matter of moments".

"Good" Elliot replies, clearly relieved by that.

"I'm surprised you didn't show up" I say.

I hear him sigh, "I wanted to, but Jason advised against it. He said that was what Kate would want, and probably why she was doing what she is doing. She is doing all this because she wants my attention, so by me not showing up and only Jason and law enforcement making themselves known to her we are sending her a message that she isn't worth our attention. Jason did say that where she had parked, she had violated the restraining order, you see dad was smart and the distance he set encompassed the driveway and that pull in within it as he said he had a feeling she might come to the house and park up there. She obviously can't get in now as I changed the code on the gate so he figured that she might camp out there to try and unsettle Meg and he was right she did and that decision has now cost her, her freedom as we can argue it shows her intent on harassing us".

"She's clearly not very bright to keep trying" I say.

I hear a snort, "She is just so self-absorbed that she thinks she has the right to do what she is doing. Jason said that she argued with him that she only wanted to talk to us and try and sort things out – which is clearly total crap, as she didn't offer to call the house - she just sat there" Elliot replies.

"Well, she has gone now" I say and with that Elliot brings the call to an end.

I am busying myself in the kitchen when I hear the front door bell ring again, Meg is still talking with Eamon and so I go and answer it. As the door opens, I see Mia and Ana standing there smiling kindly and they both greet me warmly. I respond with an equally warm greeting and stepping aside I hold the door open to let them in.

"Thank you, how's Meg?" Mia asks.

"She's good, we had a bit of a moment a short while ago – in fact if you had been here about 15 minutes or so ago you would've seen the police and Jason moving Kate along as she appeared to think it was ok to use the pull in at the top of the driveway as a carpark" I explain.

Both Mia and Ana are concerned about this development but I quickly reassure them that Kate can't get anywhere near the house.

"Eamon is here at the moment and he said she has been hanging around outside his home so he assumed that she had just followed him here today, but little did she realise that Mr Grey had set the restraining order to include that pull in at the top of the driveway so as she parked up there, she was violating the specified distance in the restraining order. I have to say it was quite entertaining to watch her ass being hauled away by the cops".

Ana lets out a small snort at that and shakes her head, "When is she going to learn?" she says in a slightly exasperated manner.

We all move into the living room and Meg stands delighted to see Mia and Ana. Eamon greets them warmly and makes his move to leave.

"Don't leave on our account, Eamon" Ana says immediately, but Eamon shakes his head.

"No, it was only a fleeting visit, just to check on Megumi. Besides, I need to get on" he says amiably and with that he says his goodbyes and Meg shows him out.

(MIA)

We watch Eamon leave and a couple of minutes later Meg returns and sits down with us. Ana and I take a good look at her, she looks well enough physically – as well as can be expected with the broken bones she has which are still healing. But she has an almost haunted look in her eyes which underlines the trauma she has experienced at losing a baby. Elliot was in bits about the baby, but we all made him see that he needed to focus on the one that survived and is still growing inside Meg. While it was a tragedy that one of the babies had died, one was still alive. It could be construed as a bit heartless to think that way, but in all fairness, I think that is the only way they will manage to get past this – if they focus on the positives of the situation.

"Did Elliot ask you to drop by?" Meg asks us with a small knowing smile.

I glance at Ana. Elliot had called us both and asked us to make a point of coming to see Meg as she had been hinting for him to go back to work and while he didn't want to go, he knew that it was the right thing to do.

"Maybe" I say with a grin and Ana lets out a small snort.

"But we wanted to come and visit you anyway" Ana adds.

Meg sighs, "Elliot has been wonderful, and I feel so ungrateful for thinking like this but he needed to get back to work".

Ana nods, "I get that, Christian is the same. They are both very protective of the people they love and it can be a bit stifling at times, can't it?"

Meg nods, "It can, I've tried to cut him some slack as I know he is hurting as much as I am about the baby but he wouldn't let me do anything, and I mean anything".

"But the doctors told you to be on bed rest for a while until they were certain that the danger had passed and the other baby was safe, didn't they?" I say, and Meg nods.

"Yes, I was – a week they said which I did willingly, but they told me I could start getting up and doing little bits after a week but not to do anything too strenuous. However, Elliot thinks I should still be confined to my bed!" she looks at Ana, "Anyway, in other news Elliot said you and Christian are going away for your wedding anniversary shortly?"

Ana nods, "We are, Gideon has offered us a stay in one of his hotels as an anniversary present, we are still deciding where to go" she says.

"Ooh that sounds nice, what are the options?" Meg asks.

Ana grins, "The world" she says with a wave of her hand. "Gideon has a chain of hotels and they are dotted all over the world and he said we can go wherever we want to. I think Christian is leaning towards Japan and the far east but I quite like the look of the one in the Caribbean. Eva said that was where Gideon took her to get married and it really is beautiful".

"I'd love to go to Japan" I say as I think about what Ana has just said.

Meg shakes her head, "It's so busy and so many people, hardly a relaxing type of place".

We look at her as she says this, "How long is it since you left Japan and came to the States?" I ask. I knew she came to live with an aunt after her parents died but El has always been vague when discussing Meg's past.

Meg's face clouds slightly as she remembers, "If you don't want to talk about it – it's fine" I quickly add as I see her reaction.

She shakes her head, "No, it's fine, I don't mind talking about it now. When I was nine my parents died and I was sent here to live with my aunt. I was afraid and grieving. I'd lost my mom and dad who I loved with all my heart and my life had basically imploded. It didn't help matters that it became apparent very quickly that my aunt really didn't want me here. She only agreed to take me to get her hands on the money my parents set aside in the event of anything happening to them".

"That's terrible" Ana says.

Meg shrugs, "I wasn't neglected as such but she made it clear I was a complete burden on her and that she only agreed to take me to get the money… that's why it upset me so much when Grace assumed I was a gold digger as I saw first-hand what a real gold digger was like and I knew I wasn't anything like my aunt".

"How are things with Grace now?" Ana asks carefully.

I watch as Meg smiles a genuinely bright smile and I feel relieved to see it. Elliot had told me that things are improving with mom, and the therapy sessions they are all participating in are working well and he is letting go of all his issues.

"Really good, she has accepted she was wrong about me and with the joint therapy we are having where El is laying to rest all the issues he had with her growing up things have improved massively. Just before the accident, I went out to meet her for a coffee. She actually called me, and invited me out. It was nice we just chatted and it was just like how it was when I first arrived in Seattle. She is making an effort and so am I. Neither of us is holding any grudges over what happened but the only thing is she is still holding a degree of guilt over how she behaved and keeps apologising for it to which I tell her to forget it".

I sigh at that, "I think mom is holding on to a degree of guilt for everything. She had it forcibly pointed out to her that she failed us all in one way or another and while we have all worked through it and have let it go she hasn't reached that point yet. Caroline is still working with her though, and I'm glad mom is making an effort with you now".

Ana nods, "I had real difficulty in letting go what I saw as her failings with Christian, but in the end, Christian didn't see it as an issue so I could hardly continue to make it one on his behalf".

I smile at that, "I think Christian is just too grateful to mom for adopting him" I say.

There is a long silence at that and I quickly change the subject on to something lighter.

"When are Eva and Gideon coming to visit again?" I ask turning towards Ana.

She shrugs, "I don't know to be honest. Their wedding anniversary is shortly after ours and I think Gideon wants to take Eva away, just the two of them. It will probably be sometime in September, my birthday is at the beginning, Gideon's is at the end and El's is in the middle and we did briefly talk about getting together at some point to celebrate all three".

"Oh, that would be nice, a big joint celebration" Meg says.

I nod, "I'll help organise it" I offer and Ana nods.

"I'll talk to Eva and see what she wants to do" she says.

Before I can say anything else I hear Ana's phone and she fumbles for it and as I see the brilliant spontaneous smile as she glances at the screen I know it is Christian who is calling her.

"Hi" she says as she answers and almost immediately the smile fades. We watch as she stands, "Do you need me to come over?" she asks. She glances at us, "I'm with Mia at the moment we are visiting Meg… ok… yes I'll meet you for lunch then, are you sure you don't want me to come now? Alright… yes that would be a good idea, as this has clearly upset you… no I'm not suggesting that… but it has unsettled you or you wouldn't have called me… alright yes I'll get there for 1pm…" she glances at her watch. "I love you too, bye". With a sigh she ends the call and pushes her phone into her purse.

"What's happened?" Meg asks carefully.

"That was Christian, he's received some news which has unsettled him a bit" she says and she glances at me.

"What's happened?" I ask echoing Meg's question.

"Elena has died" she says shortly and I suck in a sharp breath at that.

"Oh" I say somewhat lamely. I don't feel anything other than revulsion towards that woman and part of me is glad she is dead, but I can also see why this has upset Christian as he believed for years that she was his friend and that she helped him.

"Do you want to go?" I ask and Ana thinks about that and nods, "Do you mind?" she asks.

"Not at all" Meg says immediately, "Please pass on my condolences to Christian" she adds.

Ana smiles but it is a brittle forced smile, "I'll mention it but to be fair the passing of that woman is a blessing".

I let out a snort at that and nod in agreement.

Ana quickly offers her apologies once more and we watch her leave and climb into the waiting car outside.

"How are you going to get back now?" Meg asks me as we watch the Audi drive away.

I smile, "I'll call Jason and he will send someone to fetch me when I'm ready to go".

Meg looks at me carefully, "I don't mean to pry, but wasn't that the person who was discussed at the family meeting… the one who abused Christian when he was a child?"

I nod, "It was a mess, and as it was said at that meeting Christian was a mess back then and she took advantage of him. However, the way she did it made him believe for years that she had helped him and he wouldn't have a word said against her, she turned him away from us and made him completely isolated. It was Ana who made him see that what she did was wrong but it wasn't until she – Elena that is, was arrested for abusing another underage boy that he really believed it then. It all came out then and he helped put her away…" I pause a moment, "I wonder what she died of?" I add.

"I'm sure Ana will let us know" Meg says.