AUTHORS NOTE: For those of you not familiar with the Crossfire stories, I have taken the canon plotline between Corrine, Gideon and Jean Francois where Corrine asked Gideon to marry her when they finished college, but as soon as he said yes, he realised it was a huge mistake due to his issues as he had never spent the entire night with her and so he started pulling away and looking for a way out. She subsequently broke off the engagement and went off with Giroux and married him but she always loved Gideon, and when her marriage inevitably broke down, she returned to the States and tried to pick up with Gideon once more and as a result tried to split him and Eva up. That is the jist of it and I've just expanded on it and twisted it a bit more.

CHAPTER 120

(CHRISTIAN)

"LOOK JUST DO IT!"

I slam the phone down and rub my eyes, irritation pouring through every part of me. If there is one thing I cannot stand it is fucking excuses. Taking a deep breath, I go to pick up my desk phone once more to speak to Andrea when my cell starts to buzz and vibrate on the desk in front of me.

As I glance at it, I see it is Gideon calling, and I smile they must be back in New York after their time at the Outer Banks. I have missed our chats this past week or so and it seems so has he as I'm fairly sure they were flying back today. I pick up my cell and answer the call immediately.

"Gideon my friend how are you?" I say brightly, the irritation of a moment ago slipping away.

"Christian… are you busy? Can you talk? I need your advice" comes the almost anguished response. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the sound of his voice and I freeze, sitting up straight I am on full alert now.

"What's happened? Tell me" I say and wait.

The wait seems to last a lifetime and then I hear a sigh. "Miranda called me, you remember Miranda from Finding Family?" he begins.

"I do" I say simply and wait for him to explain.

"They have had an enquiry from a boy… a thirteen-year-old boy. He was born in Connecticut and he believes his birth mothers name is Corrine Hamilton. Corrine's parents live in Connecticut and more specifically in the city where this boy was born".

I immediately join the dots but as I do so confusion also fills me, as this sort of situation would've been the perfect excuse for Corrine to keep hold of Gideon back in the day.

"But? I don't understand, if you are suggesting this boy might be yours then surely Corrine would've told you at the time?" I say.

"Yes I know, but Eva has a theory about that, she seems to think that Corrine was probably carrying on with Giroux behind my back and she wasn't sure who the baby's father was. So, when she saw me pulling away from her she turned to Giroux, but not wanting to mess things up with him she decided to ditch the kid in the process".

"Fuck" I say, "Have you spoken to Giroux?" I ask.

"Not yet" he replies, "I intend to as Eva thinks he should be made aware of the fact and also for the boy in case he turns out to be his father instead of me".

"How is Eva taking this news?" I ask.

I hear a small snort, "She is behaving as Eva always behaves. She is standing beside me and supporting me as she always does, ready to lash out at anyone who is going to try and hurt me. She assured me that if the boy turned out to be mine, she would continue to support me in whatever decision I made".

"Well, that's good to hear" I say. It sounds to me like Gideon has it all pretty much sorted out what he needs to do, so I am wondering why he has called me for advice.

Almost as if he is answering my unsaid thoughts he speaks, "I wanted your perspective… from the angle of being that adopted boy… to perhaps give me some pointers on how I should deal with this and him". There is a silence as he waits for my response and I smile realising he really is feeling lost.

"Gideon, do you know why the boy is looking for his biological family? I would assume that if he is a minor then someone has approached Miranda on his behalf? I would also assume that he is probably dealing with the loss of his adopted parents or something negative has happened for him to seek out his birth family… look at what happened with Eva, she discovered that Victor wasn't her dad so she reached out to find out who was. No matter what the situation the boy is dealing with you need to handle him sensitively, that goes without saying… but you also need to be honest with him. You have no idea what he has been told, or what assumptions he has made regarding his adoption. So, you need to be clear that you knew nothing about him, tell him what happened between you and Corrine and it will be hard but try and do so without bad mouthing her as it will make you appear to just be the bad guy making excuses if you do. You also need to be honest with him about how you see any relationship developing should he turn out to be yours… I'm assuming you will claim him, and acknowledge him as yours if it turns out to be the case?"

"Of course, I will" Gideon says immediately. There is another brief pause before he continues, "I have no idea of the ins and outs of the situation. I just got an email from Miranda, more of a heads up really. She put two and two together with the information she had received and asked me to provide a DNA test just to either rule me out or confirm things".

"Can you remember what happened back then? Does it seem plausible that he could be yours… I mean do you remember Corrine being pregnant? As it's not something a woman can really hide after a certain point" I say.

I hear a little humourless laugh. "Oh, I know exactly when it would've been. I've been thinking hard as to when it could've been and as soon as I knew the boys age, I did the maths and I knew exactly when the time in question was. Corrine had asked me to marry her, I had agreed and immediately realised that I'd made the biggest mistake of my life. I had no idea how to get out of it, so I avoided her. When she realised that I was pulling away from her she called me to say she was going to stay with her parents for a while, I said fine have a good trip and I basically cut contact with her. I never called her to see how she was doing or what she was doing. She called me, while she was in Connecticut a few times to check in with me but I never called her. She stayed there about 4/5 months. I'm not exactly sure how long it was but it was quite a long time. Then she called me to say it was clear we had drifted apart and that she'd met someone else. I was so relieved I just agreed. She told me that she was seeing Giroux, I said fine she asked me if I was angry with her and I told her if he was what she wanted then I wouldn't stand in her way. She broke off the engagement and shortly afterwards I heard she'd married him and gone to live in France. I called her to congratulate her on her marriage, but as far I was concerned, she was happy and I was off the hook. The next time I heard from her was when she called me to tell me her marriage was in difficulty, and that she was leaving Giroux and returning home to the States. I was with Eva by then, but I was happy to be Corrine's friend however she wanted to pick up where we left off. She wanted to rekindle our relationship and she set out to try and drive a wedge between myself and Eva. She played mind games with Eva trying to make her believe she'd slept with me, and when that didn't work, she started acting irrational and needy calling me constantly so I called Giroux and told him to come and take care of his wife. To his credit he did so, but the marriage fell apart completely when he told her that Eva and I were engaged – we were actually married at that point as it was during the week after we had eloped but not made the news public at that point. When he told her, she swallowed a bottle of pills in response. She survived, but it turned out she was pregnant with his child and she lost it in the suicide attempt. That finished them completely and he returned to France".

"She asked you to marry her and you agreed, so was she pregnant at that point?" I ask as I try and hide the revulsion at the news of Corrine's blatant emotional blackmail.

"Possibly, Eva seems to think she might've been" Gideon says.

"Did she know Giroux at that point?" I ask as I try and establish who is in the frame to be this boy's father.

"He was in our social circle. We had all met at Columbia and became friends. That is also where I met Miranda and she was also in our group. As time progressed, we all paired off, and while Corrine was with me, Giroux made it obvious he liked her. She always assured me it was purely platonic between them. Corrine was a very beautiful woman and most of the men in our circle were attracted to her. But he and Corrine were incredibly close, so it didn't surprise me that she ended up with him," Gideon explains.

"Jesus Christ" I mutter, "So it is quite possible she has deprived Giroux of two children" I say.

"I never looked at it like that but yes I suppose you are right… should the boy turn out to be his" Gideon replies.

I sigh, "Well after hearing all that it seems plausible, so my suggestion would be to contact Giroux and ask him what he knows and remembers of that time and tell him why. Find out what he knows, and take it from there. If you do offer your DNA, and this boy turns out to be yours, well you will need to take things at his pace. Until you discover the full story, just take your time with him but be honest… that's really all I can suggest" I say.

"Thank you Christian, that is incredibly helpful and I'll keep you informed of what happens next" Gideon says gratefully.

"No problem, and it goes without saying this goes no further" I assure him.

"Thank you, I appreciate that although I wouldn't hold it against you if you told Ana, as I'm sure Eva will be discussing it with her at some point" he replies.

"Well, it goes without saying that you have our support whatever the outcome" I say with total sincerity.

"Thank you, that means a lot" he says and I can hear the obvious emotion in his voice, I hear him clear his throat and in a more matter of fact tone he speaks again and brings the conversation to a close, "Look I'll let you get on and I'll speak to you soon" he says.

"Alright, but you know where I am if you need me" I say.

"I do, thank you for your advice Christian, it was much appreciated" Gideon reiterates.

We say our goodbyes and I place my cellphone down on my desk and let out a long breath. That was pretty unbelievable, but I wonder who the boy is and why he has suddenly appeared. I am tempted to get Welch to look into it but even I realise that would be totally inappropriate, and I know that this is Gideon's situation to handle. All I need to do is be here for support when he needs it.

Without thinking too much about it, I leave my office and head down to Grey Publishing to find Ana. As I approach everyone looks up at me, but doesn't say anything other than greet me politely. I go to Ana's office and I can see her bent over a manuscript, reading and scribbling notes. I smile, she is so old school. I don't hesitate and walk into her office.

She looks up and smiles at me, "Hi" she says simply.

I close the door behind me, "Hi" I respond, "Gideon just called me" I say.

"Oh, are they back in New York?" she asks.

I shrug, "I'm not sure, I would assume so. Listen, Eva will probably be calling you at some point, Gideon has had some interesting and unbelievable news" I begin.

(GIDEON)

I hang up from Christian feeling much more centred. Eva looks at me and smiles.

"Feel better now?" she asks and I nod.

"Yes, I do, he said I should call Giroux and find out what he knows" I say.

"That sounds like a good idea" she replies nodding in agreement.

"I might do it now" I say.

Eva comes and sits next to me, "Well I'm right here with you" she says simply.

I take a deep breath and place the call. I don't know if he has changed his number as the number I have is one which could be out of date after all this time.

"Giroux" comes the French accented voice and I stiffen as I hear it. I never really liked that man, even though he was part of our circle at college there was always something about him which set me on edge.

"Giroux it's Cross here… it's been a long time" I begin.

There is a long silence before he answers somewhat incredulously, "Cross? What have I done to deserve this?" he answers eventually.

I let out a snort, "Believe me I wouldn't be calling unless it was absolutely necessary. I have received information from Miranda Bennett, do you remember her from Columbia?" I ask.

"I do" he replies simply.

"You may also know she now runs a company called Finding Family, she was instrumental in helping my wife recently" I explain.

"I heard" he says, still not giving anything away.

"Well, she has contacted me again. This time she has received an enquiry from a boy who has named Corrine as his biological mother. He was born in Connecticut and he is thirteen years old. So, I am calling you out of courtesy to inform you that you may be this boy's father as it was around that time you and Corrine got together. I am going to give Miranda a DNA sample, to find out if I am responsible for this boy and if I am I naturally want to know why I was never told".

There is a long silence, so long I wonder if the call has dropped then Giroux speaks again and he sounds incredulous.

"I fail to see the reason why you are calling me? You know this boy is yours" he says.

I freeze at his nonchalant response. "I'm telling you that I knew nothing about this boy until I received the email from Miranda, and I do not appreciate you calling me a liar" I say. "Are you telling me you were aware of the child?" I add. I see Eva's eyes widen at my response and she shuffles closer to me.

There is another long silence but when he eventually responds it is a slightly conciliatory tone, "Yes, I was, Corrine told me she had told you she was pregnant and that you had wanted nothing to do with it or her any longer. That is why she had returned home to her parents. She was preparing to give birth and put the child up for adoption and then move on with her life".

"And that was when you stepped in" I growl. "I knew nothing about that pregnancy, she lied to you" I say my free hand balling into a fist. Eva sees what is happening and she places her small hand over mine. That calms me slightly and I take a deep breath before I speak again.

"She lied to you Giroux, the question is why? I had a theory that she had been sleeping with both of us and was unsure of who her baby's father was. She knew we had drifted apart so she took the decision to ditch the child and move on with you… but this obviously puts a different perspective on things if you knew about it".

There is another long silence, "When she was with you… there were a number of occasions, we may have…" he stops, and I can hear he is now questioning things.

"So, it appears my theory is sound. She had no idea who the father of her child was, she knew we were drifting apart, and so she decided to pin her hopes to you. However, she also knew you wouldn't want to raise another man's child, but here's the kicker… she told you the child was definitely mine but you have just admitted he could also have been yours, so considering her later actions it is quite possible she deprived you of two children by her selfish decisions. I have no idea what the story is with this boy, but he has the right to know where he comes from. I suggest we both offer a DNA sample and find out for sure who this boy belongs to" I say.

"I will make arrangements to fly to the States" Giroux says stiffly and with that he hangs up.

I stare at the phone.

"What did he say?" Eva asks.

"It appears that he's coming to New York" I reply simply.