Chapter 21:
" Spring is here, the sky is blue, whoa-oh-oh
Birds all sing as if they knew
Today's the day we'll say, "I do"
And we'll never be lonely anymore
Because we're
Goin' to the chapel and we're
Gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're
Gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're
Gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love"
Ana could hear someone singing outside her door and she was pretty sure it was her groom. The door opened to reveal Christian with a tray of food. He stepped into the room repeating the refrain. Ana had to laugh. Her fiancé was a goof, and he was all hers!
"Someone is happy today."
"Well today is going to be the best day of my life. You see, there's this girl…well, she is pretty special to me and today we are getting married."
"Lucky girl. Do I know her?" Those blue eyes sparkled in orneriness. She began to giggle which made Christian fall deeper in love with her. She sat up and tried to look at what he brought for breakfast. "Something smells good."
"I had Mom make us a bit of breakfast." He shut the door with a swipe of his foot. "Everyone is up, in the kitchen, but I thought we could use a few more moments of privacy before the crazy begins. Mia's already threatening to come up here and get you moving. I told her to take a chill pill."
"She's just excited for us." Ana leaned back onto her pillows. "I could get used to this…breakfast in bed, served by a gorgeous man…oh yes, this is the good life!" Her eyes lingered on his trim body and remembered the night before. Their lovemaking had been magical!
"Anything for you, baby."
They settled in the bed and shared the breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs with Ana's tea and a cup of coffee for Christian. The shared a few laughs, kisses, and fed each other enjoying this moment of solitude before the activities began. The wedding was that evening. They would be separated for the rest of the day as they prepared. There was an army of nail techs, make-up artists, and hairdressers waiting for her. Caterers, the wait staff, musicians, and florists were busy setting up the venue.
Christian had placed the tray on the floor then he kissed his bride. His hands swept over her body, touching, and caressing every inch of her delectable body. He was preparing to make love to her when there was a knock on the door. They moaned in frustration!
'The damn house better be on fire!" Christian growled. "Go away!"
"Get off her, Christian. It's time for her to shower and get ready. Time is wasting." Damn Mia!
"Ana, do you need a few more moments?" Another voice asked with a chuckle. Kate Kavanaugh.
"Yeah, just a few more moments." Ana answered as she hooked her hands around Christian's neck and pulled him down for a kiss.
"He only needs a few moments…poor Ana!" That was his smart mouthed brother. Damn them all!
"Don't pay attention to the voices behind the door. Concentrate on me." Ana whispered then she pulled him down to kiss her.
And he did.
The bride was upstairs with her entourage preparing for the ceremony. The Father of the Bride was getting ready with the Groom, Best Man, and Roz. Grace was ready hours ago and was now checking and rechecking every little detail. Taylor and the security team were walking about, keeping the family and residence safe. In a few hours, about fifty people will be seated in the garden to witness the King of Seattle take a Queen. Carrick sat in his office … alone. The last few weeks, the family had cooled toward him over the prenup debacle. Christian had confided in Elliot which led to Grace finding out. Carrick slept in his home office on the sofa for a few nights. Until he gained Christian's forgiveness, Carrick knew that the coolness would become a severe winter storm blowing through his home and family. He had opened a can of worms, and those little bastards were crawling all over him. He had no idea how to fix this. He was trying to be helpful. No good deed ever goes unpunished! He was about to reach for the bourbon when his father-in-law waltzed in unannounced. Theodore Trevelyan stood at the door and stared at him.
"Drink won't help." The elder gentleman declared. For being in his eighties, he moved about pretty quickly. He sat before his son-in-law with a frown. "Why haven't you apologized?"
"I don't think I did anything wrong. I was trying to protect my son." Carrick knew his argument was crap. No one in the family believed that Ana was a gold-digger.
"You know when you came to me to ask for my Gracie's hand in marriage, I didn't want to give you my blessings. Tell you the truth, I thought you were a snot-nose punk who thought he was better than anyone because you came from money." The elder man held up his hand to stop Carrick's rebuttal. "But, my Gracie, my precious baby-girl was in love with you, so I relented. I gave the blessing. You did manage to win my approval through the years. I know that you love Gracie with all your heart. You trust her." Theodore found his handkerchief and wiped his brow. "You raised three wonderful children with her and trusted her to teach them the difference between right and wrong." Carrick nodded agreement. "So, why don't you trust Christian to make good decisions regarding the woman that he loves?"
"I just want him to protect his assets in case something goes wrong."
"You mean in case he does something wrong."
Carrick was speechless. The old man had hit the nail on the head! He didn't trust Christian. His son, his wife's favorite child, had broken his heart and dashed his dreams when he dropped out of Harvard. This wasn't about Anastasia Steele; this was about Christian. Even though the boy somehow managed to make a name for himself, he didn't do it under Carrick's supervision and advice. Christian did not live up to his standards, and he had so much hope for the boy! Elliot went to Stanford and got his degree in Architecture Design and Mia was still looking for her niche in life. Carrick wanted a child that followed in his footsteps and Christian had been his great hope!
"You are basically slapping your wife in the face in regard to your attitude towards Christian." Theodore wasn't holding back. He had kept quiet for many years, but this was the time to confront his son-in-law. "I know you were upset that I gave him the loan to start his business. I knew if given a chance that boy would set the business world on fire! I took a chance, why don't you?"
"Christian let himself be seduced by a woman old enough to be his mother. How can I trust him?"
"He was a child, and it was your job to protect him. Why in the hell should he ever trust you?" Theodore came to his feet. "You handed him over to a pedophile and never questioned why he changed so drastically."
"I…I didn't know what she had done to him." Carrick would not take the blame for this matter. He never liked Elena Lincoln but when she offered to put his delinquent son to work, he thought maybe she was on to something. It did seem to work. He quit stealing his booze and he stopped fighting at school. His grades improved to the point that he graduated with honors.
"She bamboozled you … you a smart and accomplished lawyer. If she got one over you, a well-educated man, how easy was it for that bitch to dominate over a fifteen-year-old hormonal boy?" Once again, Theodore wiped his brow. His blood pressure was probably off the charts. It had been a while since he got this riled up. "Grace was taken in, you were taken in, and Christian was definitely taken in. The blame goes on Elena Lincoln, not on Christian, and certainly not on Grace." Theodore pointed his long bony finger at Carrick. "If you don't get your head out of your ass, you are going to lose your son. Is your pride worth it? Ask yourself that, Councilor."
With that little soliloquy, Theodore Trevelyan walked out of the room without getting an answer to his questions leaving Carrick speechless. The old man handed Carrick his ass on a silver platter. He sat in the quiet room and pondered on his thoughts. He did blame Grace. He blamed Christian. He, however, never blamed himself! He should have asked more questions. He knew something wasn't kosher. A child such as Christian wouldn't change completely overnight just because of doing some yardwork! Thinking about that summer, he could see the clues. It had been a hot summer, but Christian insisted on wearing long sleeved shirts and blue jeans. There were times the boy seemed to be in a great deal of pain. He did see bruises on the boys' arms once and just thought Christian may have had gotten into another fist fight. He let it go since there had been no pissed off phone calls from angry parents or the cops arriving on the front porch. Christian was behaving, so Carrick chose to let it be. He copped out! There was only one thing he could do. He had to man up, swallow his pride, and apologize.
"I look damn good." Elliot declared as he stood in front of the full-length mirror. He turned to the left, then to the right. "Yeah, I am the fucking bomb!"
"Conceited much?" Roz asked laughing at the oldest Grey sibling.
"He can't help it; he was born that way." Christian offered as he slid on his tux jacket. "Now, check me out, I AM the bomb." He smirked at his brother. "The bride did choose me."
"She just saw you first, that's all." Elliot joked.
"Okay, girls, keep the testosterone at an even level." Roz was wearing the same silver tux as the rest of the men, but instead of men's dress shoes, she had a pair of Kate Spade low heels on. She did look good! "You both wished you rocked this tux as well as I do."
"Oh, I do like a spicy little bitch like you." Elliot teased. He gave her wink. It was his way of giving her a compliment.
Before Christian could add to the conversation, a knock at the door interrupted him. Then, the door opened to reveal Carrick. The good humor was sucked out of the room. Carrick asked for admittance which Christian agreed to with a nod of his head.
"Umm, if you two don't mind" Carrick looked to Elliot and Roz, "I would like to speak to Christian in private."
"Dad, don't start…" Elliot began but let it go when Christian shook his head. "Okay, fine, I'll be right outside the door. If you start something, Dad, I will finish it. This is Ana and Christian's day."
"I understand." Carrick nodded his head and waited until Roz and Elliot left the room. Carrick looked over his very handsome son. The man was spectacular! "So, are you ready for this? Weddings can be stressful."
"Dad, what it is? Please, don't bring up the prenup. Not now."
"No, not that." Carrick shoved his hands into his pants pockets and searched his brain and heart for the correct words. "Christian, I am proud of you. No father could be prouder of their son. You are a success in your business, and you have a beautiful and delightful fiancé. I… I was wrong Christian to bring up the prenup. I apologize for hurting you and Ana." He swallowed hard waiting for any response from his son. "I hope you and Ana can forgive me someday."
"Ana has already forgiven you … I … haven't gotten there yet." He had to be truthful. Carrick had hurt him beyond belief.
"I know that I hurt you. I didn't trust you enough. I won't be able to apologize enough for that."
"Dad let's just shelf this for today. I love you … I do, but I am still smarting from what you did. I just need some more time."
Carrick offered his hand in hopes of a reconciliation, but Christian stood there staring at him. Slowly, he lowered his hand, all hopes dashed. Christian stepped forward and embraced his dad tightly. Carrick was shocked. "Son."
"I do love you, Dad. I will always love you, even if we don't agree. Just give me some time to deal with all this." He stepped back. "Now, let's go get me married before my bride wises up and runs off."
"If she was smart she would!" Elliot exclaimed from the other side of the door, then laughed his ass off. Christian only shook his head. Elliot … that smart ass … he never changes!