For those of you that don’t remember, Ana is pregnant, and when she tells Christian the news, he’s a total turd muffin about it. Also, last chapter ended with Ana finding out (via text message) that Christian was out drinking with Evil Cougar instead of figuring things out with Ana.
Chapter 21
This chapter opens with a very distraught Ana telling us where she draws the line when it comes to Christian.
His wrath and fear, his need to lash out at me I can understand, and forgive—just. But this . . . this treachery is too much.
He can beat her damn it, but he can’t drink with a woman he used to bang! See? She’s Ana’s got principles.
Ana examines the nature of their relationship, and how each time Christian/their relationship move forward, they then move back. She recognizes that having a child affects how patient she can be with him, though. But, you know, she brings her unique Ana-flavor to this buffet of feelings.
But it’s not just me now. I place my hand on my belly. No, I will not let him do this to me and our Blip. Dr. Flynn said I should give him the benefit of the doubt—well, not this time.
Jesus, girl, just call it a baby! NOT A FUCKING BLIP!
Ana quickly “hatches a plan”, which begins with her forwarding Elena’s text to her own phone. It’s unclear why Ana feels so proud of herself for doing this, and she immediately gets sidetracked looking through the rest of Christian’s texts and e-mails. His e-mails are mostly boring, but she does see one with the subject “Jack Hyde,” so she reads that. Hilariously enough, the e-mail even has a recap of previous information! How convenient.
We’re basically just told where Hyde might be based and that when they searched his computer they couldn’t find anything about his former employees who may have (okay, definitely were) harassed like Ana was. Then there’s this,
As a reminder, here is a list of what was retrieved from Hyde’s SIP computer.
Greys’ Home Addresses:
Five properties in Seattle
Two properties in DetroitDetailed Resumés for:
Carrick Grey
Elliot Grey
Christian Grey
Dr. Grace Trevelyan
Anastasia Steele
Mia GreyNewspaper and online articles relating to:
Dr. Grace Trevelyan
Carrick Grey
Christian Grey
Elliot Grey
Photographs:
Carrick Grey
Dr. Grace Trevelyan
Christian Grey
Elliot Grey
Mia GreyI’ll continue my investigation, see what else I can find.
Wow! It’s like a boring puzzle I can’t and won’t try to find the answer to! Even knowing how Hyde is linked to Christian’s past and why he might have had this information, it still doesn’t really give you enough to put anything together yourself, so I’m not entirely sure why James felt she needed to include this reminder in the e-mail.
So Ana goes to sleep in the playroom, and she locks the door so Christian won’t think to look there. Then she forwards him the text that she forwarded to her own phone and adds, “WOULD YOU LIKE MRS. LINCOLN TO JOIN US WHEN WE EVENTUALLY DISCUSS THIS TEXT SHE SENT TO YOU? IT WILL SAVE YOU RUNNING TO HER AFTERWARD. YOUR WIFE” ALL CAPS!!!!
Ana feels sorry for herself a little longer:
Briefly, I relive telling Christian that I’m pregnant and fantasize that he falls to his
knees with joy in front of me, pulling me into his arms and telling me how much he loves me and our Little Blip.Yet here I am, alone and cold in a BDSM fantasy playroom.
Wait, there was BDSM in this series?! Also I love how the fact that she’s sleeping in a BDSM fantasy playroom is supposed to further enhance the sadness of her situation. Yeah she’s so cold and alone wrapped in her fancy duvet in another pretty fancy room in a fancy house. Shut up, Ana.
Ana goes downstairs and tells Sawyer she’ll be ready to go to work soon. Then, while Christian is trying to talk to her (well, not so much talk as demand to know where she was), Ana gets in the shower and continues to ignore him. To continue to punish Christian Ana…drops her towel and starts putting on sexy clothes. Bravo?
So right now Ana tells Christian off in what is my favorite part of this crappy series. So while that’s not saying very much, it is nice to have someone tell Christian off. Anyway, this bit of the conversations is prompted by Ana asking Christian if he slept with Elena.
“You think I’d cheat on you?” His tone is one of moral outrage.
“You did,” I snarl. “By taking our very private life and spilling your spineless guts to that woman.”
His mouth drops open. “Spineless. That’s what you think?” His eyes blaze.
“Christian, I saw the text. That’s what I know.”
“That text was not meant for you,” he growls.
“Well, fact is I saw it when your BlackBerry fell out of your jacket while I was undressing you because you were too drunk to undress yourself. Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt me by going to see that woman?”
He pales momentarily, but I’m on a roll, my inner bitch unleashed.
Where was Ana’s inner bitch this whole time?! Was she hanging out with the inner goddess and subconscious and Ana failed to mention her this whole time? Fuck, that would have made this series way more fun. Her inner bitch and my inner bitch could have had conversations in my posts!
“Do you remember last night when you came home? Remember what you said?”
He stares at me blankly, his face frozen.
“Well, you were right. I do choose this defenseless baby over you. That’s what any loving parent does. That’s what your mother should have done for you. And I am sorry that she didn’t—because we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now if she had. But you’re an adult now—you need to grow up and smell the fucking coffee and stop behaving like petulant
adolescent.
Word.
And then this happens:
He swallows and takes a step forward. I step back and hold my hands up.
“Don’t even think about it, Grey,” I whisper menacingly.
“You’re my wife,” he says softly, threateningly.
“I’m the pregnant woman you abandoned yesterday, and if you touch me I will scream the place down.”
His eyebrows rise in disbelief. “You’d scream?”
“Bloody murder.” I narrow my eyes.
“No one would hear you,” he murmurs,
To be slightly fair, a moment later he says he’s not trying to scare her, but seriously, you guys, that’s a real exchange in the book! What is wrong with this guy? I know that this is erotica, but there are just some moments where sex isn’t the answer. And rape never is.
They have a circular argument. Christian makes vague statements about how he’s really finished with Elena, and she finally understands how he feels. He says he needs Ana, and Ana keeps saying she needed him. They argue about how he acted yesterday, and nothing is resolved except Ana says she’s moving out of the bedroom. Christian is mad she won’t let him touch her (boo fucking hoo).
Ana has some words of wisdom for her unborn child:
“Round Two was a stalemate, Little Blip,” I whisper, patting my belly. “Daddy may be a lost cause, but I hope not. Why, oh why, did you come so early, Little Blip? Things were just getting good.”
It doesn’t matter if your marriage isn’t good from the start! Things can finally start getting good…that is until a baby chooses to come along and ruin it since babies are responsible for that sort of thing and all.
Then she tells the unborn baby that Christian doesn’t even know his or her name. Wait. Does she mean the stupid Little Blip nickname? Oh my god, better he doesn’t know.
At work, Kate calls to check up on Ana, and Ana tells her they’ll talk later, because this book can’t allow Ana to actually partake in a real friendship outside her marriage. Then she goes to visit her father in the hospital, and they have a really bizarre exchange where Ray just seems like some sort of psychic. Saying shit like how he’d like to bounce a grandchild on his knee one day and then randomly asking if Ana and Christian are getting along. I guess everyone except Ana and Christian must realize how horrible they are together.
Basically there’s more of Ana and Christian being too stubborn to sit down and talk about their problems. He just avoids her by working late and leaving early for work. You know, I would have actually been really interested in reading about how they resolved this issue without the introduction of A New Big Issue.
Take Our PollThis New Big Issue is that Hyde calls Ana while she’s at work, and you know whatever craziness he’s about to unleash is going to bring those two crazy kids back together! 