The Girl Next Door

By Tvdfanpam

Ch. 5

Who's your daddy?

Everyone decided to meet at the restaurant in downtown Seattle since they had all driven separately. Christian tried to get Ana and Phoebe to ride with him but Ana insisted on driving her own car since she had a car seat for her daughter. Christian texted Andrea to buy a toddler sized car seat for his vehicle.

They arrived at the restaurant and were seated very quickly because Taylor called ahead and gave them a time of arrival. Appetizers of spinach artichoke dip with pita chips, shrimp cocktail and mini crab cakes were ready to nibble on while drink orders were given to the attentive wait staff. While almost everyone was crowded around the ballerina, Elliott grabbed Kate's arm and almost dragged her to the corner of the room for a whispered conversation.

"That's a beautiful little boy you have Kate. I did the math and wonder if he is my son?" He was breathing hard with a pounding heart and tears in his eyes.

"You told me at least five times a week when we were dating those six months that you were not ready to be a father. I was on birth control the whole time and I never missed a day. When we broke up and my period was late, I thought it was stress. I was in shock and didn't think I was pregnant for almost three months! When I finally confirmed the pregnancy, I saw on Facebook you were already dating someone else! What was I going to do? What would you have done?"

"Auntie Kate, would you like to sit by me?" A little ballerina grabbed her hand. "Tegan wants to sit by my mommy." They left their corner and gathered around the big round table set for thirteen. The security team was sitting at a smaller table by the door to the private dining room. Someone had thoughtfully asked for two booster seats for the preschoolers so they climbed up on the booster seats so they could see everyone in the room.

Drinks were served and Christian stood up with his glass of wine. "A toast to the best ballerina in Seattle!" Phoebe thought that was great! Tegan loved drinking out of a big glass and clinked glasses with Ana. "To Phoebe!" The guest of honor wasn't sure if it was her birthday or not but was happy that she got presents and a party! Phoebe and Tegan ate the chicken fingers with Ranch dressing as a dip and were persuaded by their mothers to eat some fancy green beans with bacon! They were promised cake and ice cream if they ate almost all their food! Phoebe was convinced it was her birthday now!

No one could ignore the looks that Elliott kept giving Kate throughout dinner. She was a nervous wreck and couldn't hardly eat. She did have three glasses of wine for liquid courage though. She caught Ana's eye and asked her if Tegan could spend the night. Ana nodded yes solemnly. Ana knew that Kate was going to have a hard conversation later.

Christian was texting his head of security for his company since Taylor was off this week. "Please do a background check on Katherine Kavanagh and arrange for a paternity test for her son Tegan." He also texted Andrea to research venues for a quickie wedding. That got some raised eyebrows when Andrea saw that.

Mia was so excited! It looked like Elliott had a mini me and Christian was in love! She was on her third glass of wine as well. Mrs. Grace Grey and Mr. Carrick Grey were not sure what to say or do so they also drank wine! The only people who didn't have a clue what was going on were the two children and Ana's parents. Her parents were focused on Phoebe and Tegan so they missed the tense vibes coming off Kate and Elliott.

Christian leaned over to Ana. "Phoebe is having a blast. I heard her ask Tegan if it was her birthday. He said that it must be since there were presents and cake!" They laughed at the carefree children. "I hope the ballerina cake wasn't too over the top?" Ana just smiled. "If you are still around when her real birthday comes, you can try and top this." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I will be!" He vowed. "When is her birthday? Does she like pony rides?" He grinned back at her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Her birthday is in May and she is scared of ponies. That is so cliché anyway." She grinned at him. "The theme is already decided: Peppa pig!"

"Well, a petting zoo would be appropriate then." He countered. "Do you like the big house at the end of the block on the left that has a privacy fence around it?" He tried to act nonchalant.

"It looks like it could hold my whole family with room to spare." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? I thought you liked your bachelor pad in the sky."

"I might need a family home." He looked meaningfully at Ana. She rolled her eyes again but smiled to let him down gently.

"We haven't known each other very long and I won't live with anyone until I get married again. The last man I dated, wanted to move into my house and I told him no. He wasn't too happy about that and I caught him staring into the living room window one night shortly after we broke up."

"Oh really? Who was that? Does he still live in the area? Do you still see him?" Christian wasn't smiling now. This was probably the man that Sawyer saw driving up and down Ana's block. Ana shook her head no with a frown.

"You know something." She said in her mom voice. "You're not spying on me, are you?"

"I'm not spying on you!" He squirmed under her gaze. "My security has been patrolling your neighborhood and has seen the same man in the same car drive by your house rather slowly more than once." He knew he would never be able to lie to Ana.

"No, I don't see him anymore. I try really hard to avoid him if possible. He always seems to be jogging in the park when I go there with Phoebe."

"What's his name Ana? Do you need to get a restraining order? He wouldn't hurt Phoebe would he?"

"No! I don't think so. He didn't seem to like children and always wanted me to get a babysitter for her when we went out or if he came over to my house. Looking back, I don't know what I ever saw in him."

"No more looking, except at me." Christian smiled at Ana showing his perfect teeth and a dimple. She forgot what they were talking about! He was so good-looking!

"You are not hard to look at!" Ana said smiling back at him. "I can get used to looking at you." She teased. He gave her a goofy smile back.

"Mommy, I need to use the bathroom please." Phoebe squirmed beside Ana; she had got out of her booster seat by herself! Ana excused herself and Phoebe to find the powder room. Christian stood up when Ana did. He had perfect manners! His mother beamed at him!

"Ana, Phoebe, we are going to head out." Suddenly Kate was beside Ana. "Christian thank you for dinner." He nodded at Kate. "I will pick Tegan up from school tomorrow Ana. I will set his car seat out beside your car."

Elliott shook his brother's hand and thanked him for dinner. "I'll talk to you later bro." He left with Kate. Tegan came over to stand beside Christian. "Is that my dad?" He asked with the innocence of children.

Christian squatted down to his level. "You need to ask your mom that question buddy."

Phoebe ran back into the room.

"You get to spend the night Tegan. It must be my birthday!" Phoebe gushed.

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I am having fun with this story.