That's What I Like

Ben Warren had just gotten off of the plane from sunny California and landed in rainy Seattle. After running some errands, he was finally about to find his fiancée, Miranda Bailey. A few months ago, they'd both been doctors at Seattle Grace-Mercy West hospital. He'd been an anesthesiologist and she was an attending physician. Since meeting at the hospital, t7he two of them met, fell in love, had broken up, gotten back together, moved into together and eventually gotten engaged. She was the love of his life. He had no doubts about it when he had decided to propose. The only thing he was worried about was if Miranda was going to accept or not. Ben truly wanted her to say yes, but the woman did whatever she wanted. She was so headstrong and that was one of the reasons that he'd fallen in love with her. That was why he had to do it—Ben Warren had to spend the rest of his life with Miranda Bailey. Immediately after their engagement, he had taken an offer to become a surgical resident at UCLA. Ben had applied not thinking that he would get in, but by the grace of God, he had gotten that letter. Of course, he wanted to go, but he didn't want to leave his future wife and his future stepson, Tuck, to continue their lives without him being there. Miranda had told him to go. At first, it hurt. He'd thought: Maybe she doesn't really want me or to be married to me. But the thought was ridiculous. She did want him very much. She also wanted him to be happy. So he'd left, packed up as much as he could fit into his car and took the 14-hour drive to California. There, he had found new friends, a new apartment. And there were days when it didn't hurt to think about everything that he was missing out on back home. Those were the good days. Then there were those that made him want to take the first flight that he could find to Seattle. Yesterday was one of those days. He missed her heavily. When he awoke that morning, he honestly expected to be able to roll over and hug her body the way that he always did, but she wasn't there. So he took a day off and hopped on a plane. As he walked through the hallways of Seattle Grace-Mercy West, he spoke to a few of his former colleagues and asked around about Miranda. Someone pointed Ben in the right direction. He walked slowly up to the room. The door was open and he could hear her voice. That's what he had wanted to hear the previous morning. "How often should her calcium levels be monitored?" He grinned widely and peeked into the room trying not to be seen. One of the interns that she was teaching answered correctly. "And what's the primary cause of hypocalcemia after parathyroid surgery?" His brain responded silently. He waited for one of the interns to answer the question. They were quiet. "Really?" Miranda asked. He could hear her interns' silence. He could feel his fiancée's frustration through the walls. "Are you telling me not one of you knows the—"

Ben couldn't hold back any longer. "Hungry bone syndrome," he said appearing in the doorway. Hearing his voice, Miranda picked her head up and stared at him. He matched her gaze. "Where calcium and phosphorous are rapidly deposited into the bone."

"You're not supposed to be here," Miranda said with a sly smile on her face.

"Got a last-minute flight," he answered without breaking eye contact with her. He'd missed her so much. "Couldn't pass it up."

"You aren't on call tonight?" She asked, pretending to care.

He shrugged, "Not anymore. I switched shifts." He smiled at her, his mind already twenty minutes in the future where they'd be making love and she'd be trying not to scream too loudly. Her smile equaled his. She was there, too.

"Thank you for that, uh, answer, Dr. Warren," she said speaking to the room full of interns without taking her eyes off of Ben. "You all make sure you write that one down." She finished with them and met him outside of the door. She took his hand and pulled him down the hallway. "What's your turnaround this time?"

"Twelve hours," he told her while squeezing her hand. They stopped at the first on-call room they could find. "And I plan to make use of every single one." Ben pushed her against the wall and kissed her quickly and sloppily. Someone shouted that the room was occupied.

As they searched for another one, she said: "I'm so happy you're here."

"I am, too," he responded while gripping her hip. He felt the vibration of her beeper in her pocket. "You're being paged." They stopped walking and she made a face before checking it.

"I have to…"

He nodded. "I know."

"I'm off in like two hours. Can you take my car and pick up Tuck?" Ben nodded. "And take him to Tucker's? Then come back to get me?" She turned to him and put her arms on his shoulders.

"Okay."

She stood on her toes and kissed him deeply. "Okay."

They were few things that Ben liked more than hanging out with Tuck, Miranda's son from her previous marriage. If anyone asked him, he'd tell them that he was so ready to become the boy's stepfather. Despite the fact that Ben was considerably older, they had a lot in common. He drove to the second grader's school. The boy was escorted to the office. When he saw Ben, he ran to him, hugging him. "Ben! Hi, Ben!"

"Hi, buddy," Ben said holding the boy and lifting him up a little. When he put him down, Ben noticed that he seemed to have gotten taller in the last three weeks.

Getting to the car, the seven-year-old buckled himself in. "I missed you," Tuck said and Ben smiled. "Where is mommy?"

"At work. I'm taking you to your dad's house."

"I'm going to daddy's house?" Tuck asked, his voice high-pitched and soothing. Ben nodded. "And… you're not staying?" The question struck Ben unexpectedly. He didn't want to go, but he had to. He thought of words to explain this. The boy beat him to it: "I know you have to leave."

"Yeah?" It was Tuck's turn to nod. "I leave tomorrow. But I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay." Tuck fell asleep as Ben drove to Tucker's place. He pulled Tuck out of the car. He was probably faking, but Ben missed carrying him. He rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" Tucker called out.

"Ben and Tuck," Ben answered, shifting the boy from one side to the other.

"It's open." Ben turned the door handle and walked inside. "Ben. Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Just got little man here."

"Ahh, he's sleep?"

"Yeah, man. Knocked out a couple of blocks from the school." The two men laughed. Tucker reached for his son and ran him up the stairs while Ben waited.

"Thanks, man." Ben said that it wasn't a problem. And it wasn't. There had been times… before… when Ben dropping Tuck off bothered Tucker. Or if Ben was at the house when he came to pick up his son, Tucker would have a fit. But now, he knew it was real. Miranda had allowed him to be in Tuck's life and he wasn't going anywhere; he was permanent. "So are you in for a few days or…?"

"Naw, just for like twelve hours," he answered checking his watch.

"Okay, well, don't waste them all on me," Tucker laughed.

"We wouldn't want that."

"No, sir." They shook hands and Ben left. He headed back to the hospital. Instead of asking around for Miranda again, he went straight to her office. He knocked on the door.

"A closed door means a busy surgeon," she said.

"Miranda." Saying her name was like a magical spell. She'd admitted to him one time after coming down from a sexual high that she loved the way he said it, pronouncing it carefully with each syllable softening her just a little.

She opened the door and he slid inside. "Where is my child?" She asked as she sat at her desk and clicked something on the computer.

"At Tucker's, safe and sound." She nodded. "Ready to go?"

"Not hardly." The attending stood up and walked toward him. He squinted. Ben touched the band of her scrubs and slipped his hand into them. She moaned as he touched her warm skin. She pulled away. "No. No. No. No. No."

"What? What? What, baby? What?" Ben groaned. He dropped his head onto her shoulder. She laughed. "I want you. I need you."

"Then take me home," she said.