The house came alive once Mia returned from France.
On her first evening home, we had a family meal to welcome her back, and I
insisted that everyone had to attend, no excuses from the boys, family first
for once. We had a wonderful evening, with lots of merriment as Mia regaled us
with stories about her time in Paris.
However, I did have to warn
Elliot not to be so crude as he teased Christian about his new girlfriend,
having spent the day helping the girls move from Portland to Seattle. I swear I
almost saw Christian blush when Elliot told him,
“By the way, Ana said to
say ’Hi’ to you.”
“Did she now,” Christian
muttered, as he toyed with his glass of wine, a frown marring his face.
“Aw, you’re all lovesick,
aren’t you little bro.”
“Shut up, Elliot.”
“Looked like a very
comfortable mattress I helped carry in for Ana’s bed, you’ll be pleased to
hear. Nice and bouncy, if you catch my drift. I bet you can’t wait to try it out with her in their new place. You’ve really got some catching up to do in
that department, haven’t you?”
Elliot had a huge grin on
his face as he said this, play punching his brother’s arm.
“I told you to shut
up,” Christian growled, as he grabbed Elliot’s fist to force it back.
“Enough, boys!” I stepped
in. Elliot can be a touch insensitive at times. It’s always a fine line with
Christian, knowing how far you can push him. Clearly he was very sensitive
about his new girlfriend, and I didn't want anything to spoil the evening.
Still, I knew that
underneath all that banter, Elliot really was a very caring big brother,
especially after confiding his recent worries to me that Christian was becoming
withdrawn and depressed. Thank goodness that after my unannounced visit the
other weekend, I was able to reassure him that his fears were unfounded. Maybe
he knew Christian better than the rest of us however, as he hadn’t seemed all
that surprised when I told him about Anastasia. Maybe he already had his
suspicions, as his new girlfriend Kate is her best friend.
After dinner, Mia begged
Christian to play a piece for her on the piano.
“Please Christian, I got
the sheet music especially so you could play it, because it is sooo beautiful,”
she pleaded, as she handed it to him. “And there’s a cello accompaniment, so I
thought maybe we could play it together eventually, once you’ve mastered it.”
Christian frowned as he
studied it.
“Oh God, not more of that
rubbish Twilight shit you like so much,” he groaned. I frowned back at him for
swearing, and he shrugged his apology at me. “And anyway, when did you last
play your cello?”
“Pleease, Christian.
Just try playing it for me, then maybe I’ll be inspired to get back into
playing. Or maybe I’ll just sing the vocals with you instead, because the words
are really cool when Christina Perri sings them. I bet Anastasia would love it,
it’s really romantic,” Mia implored him. And of course he was
unable refuse his little sister, so he just sighed and took the music sheet
over to the piano.
Christian is such a
naturally gifted musician that after he’d sat and played around with the score
for just a short while, he’d pretty much mastered it.
We all sat spellbound as we
listened to him play. It was wonderful. Even Carrick, who is not really a
musical person, was entranced.
“Oh darling, that was
simply beautiful,” I told him when he’d finished playing. “What is that piece
called? I’m not familiar with it at all.”
“Er… says here it’s called
‘A Thousand Years’. Like I said, it’s part of all that Twilight sh… rubbish
Mia’s addicted to,” he pronounced grouchily. I suppose I could understand that
unlike my daughter, Teen Vampire romance stories were hardly likely to appeal
to Christian. But nevertheless, I noticed that he took the music score home
with him when he left later that night.
***
It isn’t often that I have
all three of my children at home, so having them visit two days running made it
a very special weekend. Mia managed to persuade the boys to bring their
respective new girlfriends round for dinner again the next evening, so that she
could give them her personal stamp of approval. This was no problem with
Elliot, as he happily agreed to bring Kate along, but needless to say Mia had
her work cut out with Christian.
But she is pretty much an
unstoppable force once she sets her mind to something, and in any case she can
twist her big brother Christian round her little finger in a way that no one
else can. She wheeled me in to add weight to her argument, so Christian finally
agreed that he would bring Anastasia to our family dinner on Sunday.
“But be gentle with her,
Mia,” he warned. “She’s not used to a big family like ours, she’s actually
pretty shy and you…well you’re you,” he teased, as he ruffled her hair.
“Hey, don’t mess with the
hair, you big bully,” she teased him back, as she reached up to ruffle his hair
in return.
Of course Christian’s
hair didn’t look any different, as it always looks tousled anyway. He’s one of
those fortunate people who don’t have to spend hours on grooming, because he is
just naturally a very good looking, very handsome young man. Almost too good
looking I sometimes think; which is maybe why we all accepted so readily that
he was gay. A lot of very ‘pretty’ young men do turn out to be gay after all,
but now it seemed that we’d all been mistaken on that score with Christian.
Mind you, I’m not sure that Carrick was totally convinced about this initially.
“Are you sure it’s not just
wishful thinking on your part, Grace? This girl you saw him with, maybe she’s
just a new PA or something? You know how he carries on working right through
the weekend, so maybe he had her there to complete some paperwork,” he
suggested, when I excitedly told him all about meeting Christian’s girlfriend when
I returned from dropping in on him at his apartment.
“Carrick, I know it seems
hard to believe after all this time with not so much as a hint of any kind of a
girlfriend, but when I arrived at his apartment, they were in his bedroom together,
for crying out loud. I nearly walked right in on them; it was only Taylor
practically barring the way that stopped me from making a complete idiot of
myself. And I’m telling you, there is no doubt at all in my mind that they
were… well you know…”
“Put it this way – they
weren't in there playing scrabble together, were they?” Elliot, who had dropped by for a quick visit at the time, called out from the other side of
the room with a big smirk on his face.
“Yes, thank you Elliot, I think
I get the picture,” Carrick huffed. “Well, even if that is the case, who
is this girl anyway? What do we know about her? Christian is an extremely
wealthy young man, so inevitably he’s going to present a very lucrative prize
to a certain type of female. Especially as he’s so inexperienced with women; I
think he’d easily fall prey to their seductive feminine wiles. And you know how
impulsive and unreasonable he can be at times, stubborn too, just like when he
dropped out of Harvard…”
I quickly interrupted him
then, not wanting him to start up about all that again.
 |
| Carrick Grey |
But Carrick finds it so
hard to switch off his protective father/lawyer mode, so of course he couldn’t
help himself, he still had to quiz Elliot about the girls after he’d spent the
day with them helping with their move. I think Carrick was reassured to discover
that he knew Katherine Kavanagh’s father, as he’d dealt with him in a
professional capacity and considered him to be a respectable kind of man.
“Hmm, so at least Kate
comes from a decent family,” he pondered. “But this Anastasia, we really don’t
know anything about her at all do we?”
“Dad, you worry too much.
Just chill, Ana’s a real nice girl, very honest and down to earth. You’ll see
for yourself when you meet her. You’re just gonna love her, I know you are,”
Elliot assured his father, who didn’t look at all convinced.
The thought of Christian
bringing home his first girlfriend was indeed a very novel one, and of course
Mia was just dying to meet her. She made me tell her every little detail that I
could possibly recall about Anastasia several times over that day, as we planned
out and made preparations for the meal.
“So, is she stunningly
beautiful, like in a top model kind of way? I mean Christian is so ridiculously
hot that he could have practically any girl he wanted, couldn’t he? Or guy,
come that. Do you think maybe he’s bi rather than gay, Mom?”
“Really, Mia! No, I don’t
think your brother is bi-sexual, I believe it’s simply a case of him being a
late bloomer as far as girls are concerned, but now he’s met the right girl,
she’s awakened his interest romantically. He’s been spending all of his time up
to now totally immersed and focused on work, which of course goes a long way to
explaining why he’s as successful as he is. Speaking of which, you ought to
talk to him to get his advice about this plan of yours to set up a high end
catering business, now that you’ve completed your Parisian haute cuisine
course.”
“Yeah, Mom, I was planning
to. I mean, he’s like the ace man, the top dude when it comes to all that
business stuff isn’t he?” she said proudly. She’s always looked up to Christian
in such a touching way.
“And as for Anastasia, I
would describe her as being beautiful in a very natural way, unlike those fake
model types you see, plastered in makeup and so forth. I think that’s probably
why she appeals to Christian – she must seem like a breath of fresh air to him
in his high powered, executive world.”
“Oh I can’t wait to meet
her. I just know we’re going to be best friends,” Mia sighed.
“That would be lovely,
darling. So tonight, let’s make a real effort so that both she and Kate are made
to feel very welcome. I really want them to feel part of this family, so that
the boys are happy to bring them home any time they want. That way, we’ll
really get to know them, won't we?”
“Of course, Mom, you know
you can count on me,” Mia beamed happily.
***
Elliot arrived first with
his new girlfriend Kate. She seemed a lovely girl, very attractive, as well as confident
and outgoing. She was clearly besotted with Elliot, as she hung on his every
word and couldn’t take her eyes off him. But she was also a very bright and
talented young woman, and Carrick seemed quite taken with her, as he chatted
with her about her father. I hoped she'd be a good influence on Elliot, help
him to settle down, instead of having a new girlfriend just about every week.
He was very different from his brother in that respect, that was for sure.
Then we heard Christian’s
car arrive, so Carrick and I went and waited for them by the front door.
“Don’t you dare spoil this
evening with any of your nasty, suspicious probing about Anastasia’s motives
with regard to Christian. I’ll never forgive you if you upset our son in any
way that would prevent him from bringing her home again,” I hissed at Carrick,
who looked rather wounded by my words.
“Of course not, I’d never
do that,” he protested.
As I saw them get out of
the car and make their way over to us, I was thrilled to see them holding hands.
They looked so natural together, and I had to pinch myself to be convinced this
was actually happening. Yes, it’s really true, Christian has a
girlfriend. I didn't just dream it.
“Anastasia, you’ve met my
mother, Grace. This is my Dad, Carrick.” Christian politely made the formal
introductions – I brought my children up to show good manners at all times.
“Mr. Grey, what a pleasure
to meet you,” Anastasia smiled, as she took his outstretched hand.
“The pleasure is all mine,
Anastasia,” Carrick responded. I saw his eyes shrewdly examining her and then
softening as he failed to detect the slightest hint of ‘gold-digger’ about this
young woman. I relaxed a little then, relieved. See, I told you she was
a lovely young girl, didn't I?
“Please, call me Ana,” she
insisted.
“Ana, how lovely to see you
again,” I told her, as I wrapped her in a big welcoming hug. “Come in, my
dear.”
Then Mia, who had been
chatting amiably to Kate and Elliot in the living room, suddenly realized that
her other brother had arrived.
“Is she here?” she
screeched, as she came running down the hall, and I saw Anastasia looking over
at Christian rather nervously.
“That would be Mia, my little
sister,” he quietly informed her.
“Anastasia! I’ve heard so
much about you,” exclaimed my daughter, as she gave her a big hug.
“Ana, please,” she replied,
seeming rather bemused as Mia dragged her inside.
“He’s never brought a girl
home before,” Mia told her excitedly.
“Mia, calm down,” I told
her, as I saw Christian rolling his eyes, very aware that this was new
territory for all of us.
“Hello, darling,” I said,
as I kissed my dear boy on both cheeks, and was relieved to see that he was
still smiling as he shook his father’s hand.
As we made our way into the
living room, there were more greetings, which I noticed seemed rather cool
between Kate and Christian, but then Elliot played his part to make Ana feel
welcome by giving her a big hug. I think maybe the poor girl felt rather
overwhelmed by all this attention. Just as well I resisted the temptation to
invite the grandparents over as well, even though I knew they would have loved
to have been included.
But then it was just the
sweetest thing to see Christian standing there by Ana’s side, with his arm
around her protectively, pulling her even closer to him. They made such a
lovely couple, and I suddenly realized that we were all just gawping and
staring at them, I suppose because it seemed such an unbelievable sight – one
that we never expected to see. Christian with a girlfriend. Even Carrick just
stood there gawping at them with a soppy little grin on his face, before he
quickly pulled himself together.
“Drinks? Prosecco?” he
offered.
“Please,” Christian and Ana
answered in unison, which was again so very sweet, and showed how they already
seemed be thinking as one.
Mia clapped her hands in
delight. “You’re even saying the same things. I’ll get them.”
“Dinner’s almost ready,” I
told everyone, as I followed my daughter out of the room.
Once we were in the kitchen
and out of ear shot, Mia turned to me and trilled in her usual over the top
manner,
“Mom, they are just sooo
cute together aren’t they? I mean Anastasia is just the sweetest thing,
and you could see Christian doing his alpha male overprotective thing by
putting his arm possessively round her like that, you know, after Elliot hugged
her. He is obviously crazy about her. And now I totally get
what you were saying about her being a natural beauty, she’s lovely. I really
like her,” Mia pronounced with a contented sigh.
“I’m pleased to hear it,
Mia darling. I like her very much too. Now, are you going to take that Prosecco
in to them while I get this dinner on the table?”
***
I couldn’t help noticing
Christian holding Anastasia back to whisper urgently in her ear as everyone
made their way into the dining room, and I just hoped it wasn’t some kind of a
lovers tiff, although it didn’t look too promising, judging by the expressions
on their faces.
As we all sat together
around the table, I could see Mia getting on like a house on fire with Kate,
which I was pleased about. But I could see Christian and Ana continuing to
whisper to each other, and I wasn't the only one who noticed either.
“What are you two
whispering about?” Kate boldly asked, making it clear that she was not a shy
young woman, especially as she didn't even quail when Christian gave her one of
his infamous black looks.
“Just about my trip to
Georgia,” Anastasia answered. I didn't know anything about this, but I guessed
that was possibly what she and Christian had been whispering about. He didn't
like the idea of her going away, maybe?
“How was José when you went
to the bar with him on Friday?” Kate asked Ana, with what seemed like a
challenging glance at Christian.
I looked over at Christian,
and was shocked to see a look of fury in his eyes. Who on earth was this José?
An ex-boyfriend of Ana’s maybe? But why was Kate bringing this up now?
“He was fine,” Ana
murmured. Christian leaned over and whispered to her again, and I saw her
literally squirming in her seat. This did not look promising, and I worried
that things were already going wrong for this young couple. I hoped that it was
just some kind of a misunderstanding.
Then, as Gretchen was
bringing the food in, the phone rang, and it turned out to be the hospital for
me. Worryingly, we had another measles case. If only people would have gotten
their kids vaccinated! It made me reminisce about when our children were small,
although the worst thing they ever had was chicken pox, with poor Elliot
getting far more spots than the other two.
Much to my relief,
Christian seemed to have gotten over his snit with Ana, as he relaxed and
joined in the conversation with everyone, so I took the opportunity to chat to
Ana to get to know her a bit better. She told me how their move to
Seattle had gone very well, and from what she said it sounded like a very nice
apartment that Kate’s father has settled them in. I hoped they’d be very happy
there, and I was just so happy they’d moved up closer to the boys here in
Seattle.
Then the conversation
turned to Paris, as Mia and Kate chatted about their favorite things to do with the city. Ana confessed she’d never been there, and I suspected she’d
probably never even left mainland USA. Christian said he thought Anastasia
would prefer London in any case, and I couldn't help thinking that he could
easily take her to Paris and London; in fact he could show her the world,
they could share so many wonderful experiences together. Grace, stop
it. You’re getting way ahead of yourself. They’ve only just got together
haven’t they?
The talk of Paris brought
back so many happy memories because Carrick and I honeymooned there, more years
ago than I cared to recall. I looked over at Carrick, and he smiled back at me
happily, as he recalled it too. We have certainly been blessed in our very
happy marriage. He was a tower of strength for me when I discovered that I
couldn’t have biological children of my own, and thought that my world had
collapsed. But as is often the way in life, what seemed the closing of one
door, was in fact the opening of another.
Adopting our three
wonderful children has brought the most indescribable joy into our lives, even
if it has also provided many challenges over the years – especially with
Christian. But he was the one who needed us the most; he was the one who had
existed in the type of hell that no child should ever have to endure for four
long years, before we finally got to him, and I thanked my lucky stars every
day that we were given the chance to rescue our darling boy. Thank God that
some sort of guardian angel was watching over him to ensure that I was the one
on duty at the hospital on the day that he was brought in, only just alive.
Because that angel would have known that once I’d seen him, I would have moved
heaven and earth to be allowed to take care of him.
So as I looked over at him,
sitting there with his sweet new girlfriend that he had obviously fallen
head over heels in love with, I found myself hoping and praying that same
guardian angel was going to make sure he got the final key to happiness in life
that he deserved. Materially, he had everything and more that any man could
ever wish for, but as his mother, I knew that he needed love in
his life to finally make him the complete man he should be. The happy, kind,
loving man that we sometimes caught a glimpse of – I think Mia probably saw
more of that side of him than anyone else. But watching him, seeing how
solicitous he was when Ana choked on her wine, I could see that’s how he was
with her too.
I was thrilled to see how
Kate and Elliot couldn’t take their eyes off each other either. It seemed that
love was in the air for both my boys, and I was delighted.
After dinner, as Mia and I
were clearing away, Christian came into the kitchen, towing Ana behind him.
“I’m going to show
Anastasia the backyard,’ he pronounced, as I happily waved them out. No doubt
he wanted to be alone with her, I smiled to myself. Who would ever have
believed this would be happening, even just a short while ago? Christian taking
his girlfriend out for a romantic walk, holding her hand, stealing kisses. I
hugged myself with glee at this wonderful turn of events.
They were gone quite a
while, and it was only when Elliot and Kate were making moves to leave that I
finally allowed Mia to go and find them, having ordered her to leave them alone
previously.
“Let them be, Mia darling.
Give them some space, some time alone together,” I insisted.
Mia sighed irritably as she
looked over at Kate and Elliot sitting together on the couch again, barely able
to keep their hands off each other - it was plain to see that there was a very
strong attraction indeed between them.
“I think those two need to
get a room,” Mia whispered loudly to me, and as she pulled a face, I had to
hide a smile at my daughter’s reaction. Carrick and I used to be just like
that, many moons ago. Never did us any harm.
***
Mia turned up with
Christian and Anastasia just as Kate and Elliot were making their farewells.
“We should go, too – you
have interviews tomorrow,” Christian reminded Ana.
“We never thought he’d find
anyone!” Mia exclaimed, as she hugged Ana, and I could see Christian rolling
his eyes again.
“Take care of yourself, Ana
dear,” I told her warmly. But before I could embrace her, Christian grabbed her
hand and pulled her over to his side.
“Let’s not frighten her
away or spoil her with too much affection,” he grumbled.
“Christian, stop teasing,”
I scolded him, understanding that my son was just being protective of his girl,
worried that she’d find us all rather overpowering, recalling that he’d told
Mia yesterday that Ana was shy and unused to large families. As he bent down to
kiss me good bye, I thought it was very thoughtful of him to be so caring for
her feelings.
“Mr. Grey – goodbye and
thank you,” Ana held out her hand to Carrick, but seemed taken by surprise when
he hugged her instead. Of course I was delighted that he seemed to have
forgotten his misgivings about this young woman.
“Please, call me Carrick. I
do hope we see you again, very soon, Ana,” he smiled at her.
With that, they headed out
to the car where Taylor was holding the door open ready for them. I’d made sure
he’d had something to eat while he was waiting to drive them back, as I usually
did whenever he brought Christian over. I always felt happy when Taylor was
around my son, reassured that someone was looking out for him, so the least I
could do was make sure the man was kept well fed and watered. He was always very
polite and appreciative anyway.
“I just hope Christian
wasn’t boring Ana this evening when they went outside, because do you know
where I found them? In the boathouse, where he was showing her his rowing
trophies from Harvard. I mean, you’d think he’d find something more romantic to
do with her, wouldn't you?” Mia commented, as we made our way back indoors.
“Oh I imagine he found
other things to show her too,” I smiled, imagining that Christian had no doubt
managed to steal a kiss or two with his lovely young lady during the course of
the evening.
If
you would like to listen to the music that Mia wanted Christian to play, click on
these youtube links.
I
don’t own any of the Fifty Shades Trilogy or the characters therein. They
belong to E L James. I’m just borrowing them for fun and not for profit.
Please refer to the Legal’s page for further details. This work is not to
be copied or reproduced in any way without permission.
