Chapter 24 - A Grey Family Revelation

Christian's POV

"You look absolutely ravishing tonight, baby," I say, complementing my hot wife. She's putting on a pair of diamond earrings at her vanity, and I sneak up behind her to cup her breasts and kiss her neck.

She squirms in her seat and smiles, "If you ruin my makeup, I'm not giving you any sex tonight."

"Come on," I pout.

"That's not going to work on me," she giggles, "This dinner is important for your brother. I need you to behave yourself."

"Fine, fine."

She stands up to spray some perfume. It's the smell I've come to associate with Ana. When she gets up, I can truly appreciate how sexy she looks, but apparently I need to be on my best behavior tonight. There's no way I'm jeopardizing not having sex. Knowing Ana, she's fucking serious about that shit.

She's wearing a gold silk Oscar de la Renta dress, surely a queen in anyone's eyes. Adorning her neck is one of the new diamond necklaces I bought her along with her new Harry Winston diamond drop earrings. And with her sky-high Louboutins, she looks completely fuckable. Although I do have to say, she went way too overboard with her outfit for a mere dinner at my parents' house. I'm sure my mother and sister will be dressed to the nines as well, though. They take every event, no matter how small, as an excuse to buy a new couture dress.

Anyways, my outfit is almost laughable next to hers. I'm wearing black jeans, a button-down, a leather jacket, and sneakers.

"I see you really dressed up," Ana snarks, laughing at my expense.

"You should see what Elliot's wearing before making fun of me," I rebuke. Knowing Elliot, he put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. My outfit is infinitely better compared to his.

"Whatever, Grey. We should get going before we're late. You know how Grace gets."

Ana's POV

Ever since high school, Sunday dinner at the Grey estate has become a sort of ritual. Grace Grey would never miss a chance to get her family together for a meal. And now that two of her children are all grown up (or so they think) she rarely gets the chance to have the family all together like this unless it's a holiday or someone's birthday. And I can't wait for Grace to know that there's going to be a new addition to the Grey family. But she'll no doubt be surprised that it's not an addition via Christian and me.

With the freshly baked apple pies in tow, Christian opens up the door of the Rolls-Royce he drove here. Taylor and Sawyer get out of the dark grey Audi behind us and watch us walk up the cobblestone driveway to the entrance. I'm not sure why Christian feels the need to bring security with us to his parents' house… In a gated community. He is nuts. Taylor and Sawyer are going to be so bored standing outside the Grey's home. Maybe I'll invite them in for dinner. They must get hungry too.

Mia greets Christian and me at the doorway, dressed to perfection. She's decked out head to toe in pink starting off with her pink Dolce and Gabbana brocade mini dress, matching heels, and pink jewelry.

"You do realize it's not Wednesday, right Mia?" Christian snarks at his sister.

She smiles sweetly at him. "I didn't realize you were a fan of Mean Girls."

I laugh. Guilty as charged. I'm the one who makes Christian watch those kinds of movies with me. And that's why he knows that reference.

"I'm not," Christian tries to deflect.

"Sure," she laughs, winking at me.

"Is Elliot here yet?" I ask, looking at the clock on the wall. Christian and I are already ten minutes late, and Grace hates when people aren't punctual.

"Not yet," Mia replies, "Mom is getting annoyed."

"Of course she is," Christian comments, "I'll text him."

Christian's POV

Christian: Where are you dickhead?

Elliot: Chill, I'm leaving the house now, dude.

Christian: 6 o'clock means 6 o'clock. NOT 6:30 asshole.

Elliot: Cut me some slack. It's the jet lag.

Christian: Jet lag my ass.

Elliot: I'm getting in the car as we speak. I'll be there in ten.

Christian: Have fun explaining why you're late to mom.

Elliot: I will!

Elliot said he'd be here in ten minutes. And that was half an hour ago. Mom is fuming. We're all sitting at the dinner table staring at food because Grace refuses to start dinner without Elliot.

"Mom, can we eat? I think we're all hungry," Mia whines.

"We have to wait for your brother, Mia. Where is that boy?" she grumbles to no one in particular.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," I smile. Fucking hell, Elliot!

And right on cue, my dearest older brother strolls into the dining room carrying a bouquet of roses, and he hands them to our mother. Kiss ass.

Her mood immediately shifts, and she gives Elliot a bright smile and a big hug.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," Elliot apologizes.

And just when I think mom is going to chew him out, she replies, "Don't worry about it, baby. We just all missed you so much! Have a seat, darling."

Grace quickly finds a vase for the flowers and sets them on the kitchen counter.

Elliot takes a seat right next to Mia while Grace and Carrick are sitting at the two ends of the table. Ana and I are sitting directly across from Elliot and Mia.

Mom really went all out with the food today. Hopefully, it's not cold because of Elliot's late ass. Sitting on the table are a variety of dishes: a crown roast of lamb, my favorite mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and an arugula salad.

When Elliot gets in his seat, we all take that as a cue to dig into Mom's delicious food.

"So how was your spring semester, Elliot?" Carrick asks while forking a large serving of mashed potatoes and gravy on his plate.

Elliot clamors up at the question at first, but recovers. "It went well."

"And you're all set to graduate next year?" Carrick follows up.

"Yep," Elliot answers simply, not wanting to talk about the subject of college any longer. All it was reminding him of was the bomb he was about to drop on his parents – that he was finishing his degree online and that he accidentally knocked up some girl who happened to be best friends with Ana.

"Shouldn't you be grilling Mia about college, dad?" I ask. Elliot gives me a grateful look for shifting the topic of conversation. Mia, on the other hand, gives me a death glare.

"I'm not even in college!" Mia exclaims.

"But shouldn't you be thinking about applications now?" Elliot chimes in.

"Oh, for goodness sake, guys," Ana huffs, "Leave your poor sister alone. She still has plenty of time to think about where she wants to go to college. And that's only if she even wants to go in the first place."

"She's going to college," me, Elliot, and my dad all say in unison.

The girls at the table all just laugh at us.

"College isn't for everyone," Mia comments. She raises her eyebrow at me and continues, "And if I'm remembering correctly, a certain someone just dropped out of Harvard."

I'm about to start bickering with my little sister until Grace interrupts us.

"Kids, let's not fight about this," Grace says diplomatically, "Mia's got a mind of her own, and she's a big girl now. She can make her own decisions."

"Thank you, Mom!" Mia cries.

"She is going to help me create my first runway line this summer, so maybe she'll find her calling there," Ana smiles.

Mia sticks her tongue out and Elliot and me. How childish!

"Amelia Grey!" Grace chastises her, "That's not how we behave at the dinner table!"

Elliot and I just laugh at her and we continue on with our family dinner. It was like we were all kids again, living under our parents' roof. Oh, how the time has passed by.

By the end of our meal, we are all terribly stuffed, but then Grace brings out the homemade chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, and no one can resist.

I glance at Elliot wondering when he's going to tell our parents that he's going to have a child. I half expected him to just blurt it out in the middle of dinner, and I'm surprised he waited this long to tell them. I guess he figured dessert would make the news easier to swallow.

Ana, Mia, and my mother are busy chatting about fashion, as usual, and the rest of us guys are enjoying our second serving of ice cream and cookies, which the ladies insisted they couldn't have because they need to "keep their figures intact."

Ana's already thin enough as it is, another cookie wouldn't kill her. But I know better than to argue with her about her eating habits… I'll just have to fatten her up with more creative ideas. Whipped cream and sex perhaps?

Anyways, I keep glancing at Elliot, but he looks as calm as a cucumber. He doesn't look like he's about to fess up about the baby any time soon.

I give Ana a glance, and she immediately knows what I'm thinking.

"This might be looking too far into the future, but I was considering developing a children's clothing line."

"Oh!" Mia gasps, "That would be so adorable! Just imagine little mini Ana and Christian's running around!"

"Ana, dear, are you trying to tell us something?" Grace smartly asks.

Ana lets out a soft sigh and smiles, "No, I'm not pregnant yet."

"But soon?" Grace prompts quickly.

"Soon," Ana assures her while giving me a beaming smile.

Then, Ana and I both focus our attention on Elliot, hoping that he caught the hint that it's time to spill the beans to our family.

But because Elliot is well… Elliot, he is blissfully unaware of what is going on around him, and he continues to scarf down another chocolate chip cookie.

"I think Elliot has something he wants to say," I announce, wanting to get this whole ordeal over with sooner rather than later.

Elliot's head pops up with a look of shock on his face.

"Elliot…" I say, getting his attention again, "Don't you have some news for us?"

He gives me a scowl then nervously turns back his gaze to the center of the table.

"What is it, Elliot?" Grace asks curiously.

"It's uh…" Elliot stutters, "I'm pregnant. Well, I'm not pregnant. I mean, I got a girl pregnant because I can't obviously get pregnant for uh, obvious reasons. So, yeah…" He flashes a nervous grin to the whole family waiting for their reactions.

Carrick looks like he's about to lose it while Grace looks like a concerned mother.

"Who's the girl?" Carrick demands an answer.

"Uh, her name's Kate Kavanagh. You might know her dad… He uh… owns Kavanagh Media."

"You knocked up Eamon Kavanagh's daughter?" Carrick raises his voice.

"And she's decided to keep it?" Grace asks with the utmost concern.

"Yeah, that's what she's planning," Elliot answers.

"And what about college? What are you going to do about that?" Carrick further interrogates.

"I'm still graduating as planned. I'm finishing up my semester online, and I'll still graduate with a shiny Yale degree. Don't worry about that, dad."

Carrick seems to blow up even more. His face looks red and if this was a cartoon, there would be steam coming out of his ears. "What do you mean, don't worry. You come home from college and tell me you got some girl pregnant! Of course, I'm going to worry. Do you plan on being a part of this child's life? How do you expect to be a father when you don't have a steady income? Babies aren't cheap, you know. And you can't expect your mother and me to finance your whole life forever."

Everyone at the table is now shifting in their seats, uncomfortable at the scene that's unfolding in front of them.

"Christian's already set me up with an apartment, so I won't have to worry about that. And as for a job, I can always work…" Elliot tries to reason.

Carrick interrupts him, "Don't you dare say you can just work for Christian! I raised you better than this Elliot. You need to take responsibility for your own life."

"I am dad," Elliot continues to argue, "I'm already taking responsibility for this child. Kate doesn't want anything to do with it. After she gives birth to the kid, it'll be my responsibility, and mine alone."

"And you think you're ready for that?" Carrick replies, "The sleepless nights… The diapers…"

Grace decides that now is the time to intervene before this family dinner gets more out of hand than it already has.

"Carrick, please calm down," she says, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm not happy about this situation either, but at least he's taking responsibility. He's not running from his problems."

Elliot gives me a pleading look of help, so I decide to speak up as well.

"Dad, from what I've seen from Elliot, I think he's really matured ever since he found out about the baby. I know it's a big responsibility, but Ana and I will help as much as possible, and I'm sure Mia would love to play with a smushy baby."

I look to Mia for confirmation and she grins. "If it's a girl, I will be beyond excited. Think about all the cute baby clothes, oh my god!"

Her comment sure lightened the mood considerably, and now both Grace and Ana are smiling at the prospect of being able to buy all the baby clothes they want.

"Dad, come on," Elliot begs, "I know this isn't ideal. But I fucking made a mistake, and now I have to own up to it."

Carrick sighs, "I'm still not happy about this, Elliot. But what I can say is that I'm proud of you for not turning your back on your problems."

"So on that note," Mia chimes in, "When are you guys planning on having a baby." Mia glares and me and Ana.

Ana and I both look at each other and burst into laughter. Baby fever is coming in full force.

"We're waiting until after the wedding," I point out.

"Oh, please," Ana scoffs, "Don't act like you're the patient one. You would've knocked me up months ago if I would've let you."

"Oh!" Grace exclaims, "I'm going to be a grandma. This is so exciting. I mean, I was expecting my first grandchild to be from Ana and Christian, but this is still a blessing nonetheless. Isn't it Cary?"

"Yes, it is," he manages to stifle out.

"Thanks for your support guys," Elliot gushes, "I really needed it."

ANA

Christian and I are back home now, so I finally get to take these heels that are killing my feet.

"I think that went well," Christian says, throwing his leather jacket across the room.

Ugh! If only he knew how to hang things back up properly. Which reminds me, we're in desperate need of a housekeeper.

I choose to ignore his offending action and reply, "Yeah, I think it did too. I mean, Carrick didn't seem to take it well at first, but I think he eventually warmed up to the idea of being a grandfather."

"Grace is probably over the moon," Christian smiles, "And I'm only a little jealous that Elliot beat us to the punch."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "You're not suggesting we have a baby right now, are you?"

Christian laughs, "Of course not, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have baby fever."

"Me too," I smile, "There's nothing more I want than to carry our child, but we're not ready now."

"I know," he states.

"Soon," I promise him.

"Soon," he echos.

A/N: Normally, this fic has much longer chapters, but I've decided to make them shorter, so I'll be able to update more frequently. Hope you don't mind!

Until next time!

xoxo