𝐈 𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐎 𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 ▸ With Elena out of their lives forever, and a baby on the way, things have never been better for Christian and Anastasia Grey. Now is the time for their happy ever after. But if something seems to be too good, it prob...
"Christian, that's huge! Does Kate know, yet?" Anastasia gasped.
"No, and Elliot's asked us not to tell her. He's going to have dinner with Callie to work out how he's feeling. He doesn't plan to jump from one relationship into another. If he has strong feelings for another woman, he needs to resolve things one way or the other with Kate, and he knows that. I don't want to ask you to lie to her, but I think it's best we stay out of this and let them work it out."
"You don't need to worry about that. I don't think I'll be talking with Kate for a while."
I'd never understood the friendship between Ana and Kate. From my perspective, Kate had used Ana and taken advantage of her kindness for years. Treating her like a mix between the domestic help, and an emotional cheer squad, even Kate's 'help' to Ana - lending her clothes and her car when she didn't need them - all underscored Ana's 'lesser' place.
I'd ranted to Flynn about it on more than one occasion, and he had counseled me to keep the peace. He'd explained how just like it took time for me to see my relationship with Elena for what it was, Ana needed to learn for herself how things were with her and Kate.
I'd held it together, most of the time, except that time in Aspen. I thought it would give me joy when Anastasia finally saw the underlying dynamic in her friendship with Kate, but looking at my wife's downcast expression, now, it gave me no satisfaction.
"Why's that?" I asked leadingly.
"Because I don't like the way I feel when Kate speaks to me, and I don't like the person I become when she's around. She says things to make me doubt myself, so I withdraw and dwell on things. Today when she was talking about hiring a nanny rather than 'sitting around' after having a baby, it hurt me. So I retaliated by saying she'd better hurry up and marry Elliot before Mia got married, as Mia's wedding would be bigger than Ben Hur."
I couldn't stop myself snorting. Ana had a point – Mia's wedding when it happened, would no doubt be gargantuan!
Anastasia smirked before she continued. "I don't want to be that sort of person or have that type of friendship, Christian. I don't need someone to tell me I'm wonderful all the time, but I don't deserve snide comments about how I chose to live my life. I'm not going to have a fight with Kate about it, but I will choose to distance myself from her."
"If that's what you want," I said wrapping my arms around my wife. "Maybe you could talk to Flynn about healthy ways to manage the relationship going forward?"
"That's not such a bad idea," Ana mused. "She might still end up playing a big part in Elliot's life, so for everyone's sake, I need to keep things cordial. But my eyes are open now."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Breakfast at yours? I need to talk. E
It was early Saturday morning, so Anastasia and Teddy were not yet up.
