And So I Ran - Complete

Chapter 69

The four months since our honeymoon had flown. With work, Boyce Fox' book launch and wildly successful sales campaign, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then New Years, everything had been just wonderful. There'd been nothing significant from the investigation into Elena's death or the arson at her home. Jack Hyde had disappeared off the face of the earth, and Leila had returned to live with her parents and by all accounts was doing well. All of Seattle knew I was expecting, and while the general sentiment was overwhelmingly supportive, I was getting over photographers leaping out in front of me at inopportune moments. I just wanted to hide!

At Escala, Christian helped me step into my high heels, gently massaging my very swollen belly. At thirty-seven weeks pregnant I was emotional, tired and needed to pee constantly. I was also well and truly ready to meet our boy!

Despite initially deciding to keep blip's sex a surprise, at our twenty-week scan with Dr. Greene we'd caved, and now Christian, and I knew that little Theodore Raymond Grey was onboard. Because of the intense media interest, and the fact that nothing we did these days was private, we'd decided to keep the gender and name to ourselves – despite Grace and Mia's very determined efforts to inveigle information from us once they appreciated we knew.

Tonight was my last public social outing before he arrived. I'd officially been on maternity leave for a week from SIP, and after this evening I was happy to sequester myself at home until Teddy, as we'd decided to call him, arrived. However, Grace being honored for twenty-five years of service at the annual Seattle Grace Hospital fundraiser was not an event I could miss, and so I'd allowed Caroline Acton to attempt the impossible; locating me an elegant maternity evening gown for my very heavily pregnant self.

"You look so beautiful," Christian assured me, understanding my self-confidence was capricious at best. "I wish you could see yourself the way I see you," he whispered, pulling me to him and then slow dancing at the end of our bed. "So beautiful. So desirable." Christian stopped to kiss me gently. "I think we should leave early tonight so I can make love to you before I have to go."

I nodded shyly, lowering my eyes so Christian couldn't see my distress. A situation had come up with a deal in Mexico, so tomorrow Christian was flying out to try and rectify it. He was only likely to be gone a few days but worried about me being alone while so heavily pregnant, he'd roped his mother into staying with me at Escala while he was away.

"I'm only three hours flight away, baby," Christian reassured me for at least the tenth time. "If anything happens, anything at all, I can be back here before you know it." I knew his assurances were for himself as much as me, so I nodded and smiled.

"If anything happens, I'll make sure you're called straight away," I promised. Dr. Greene had already told us she felt we were a few weeks away, yet, but the closer we came to the end of my pregnancy, the more I wanted Christian to be around.

My ever-handsome husband helped me down the stairs to the great room, careful to avoid rolling his eyes as I announced I needed to use the bathroom before we left. Again. In the elevator on the way downstairs, he cuddled me close, and then carefully helped me into the SUV.

"We don't have to stay long," Christian promised, caressing me as we neared the Arctic Club and the Northern Lights Ballroom. I hadn't been there since our first wedding dance in September. Now, mid-February, we were attending as Grace's guests as she was invested as a laureate of the Seattle Grace for twenty-five years of devoted work.

"We're here, baby," Christian said as we pulled up. Unsurprisingly, the paparazzi were out in full force. Great. Because every heavily pregnant woman wants her image splashed across the society page of a tabloid. Not!