Her plane had barely touched the ground when Teddy hailed a taxi, racing to Grey-Sloan. The "babymoon," as Tom had called it, had been a disaster. He complained about the things that Owen said and did over and over. And just when Teddy thought he was done, he started up again. No matter what she said attempting to reassure him, To kept stewing, making him almost unbearable to deal with. He had been so possessive, barely giving her any room to breathe after what had happened at Avery's party. He had planned every minute of every day, and while Teddy enjoyed spa treatments and facials as much as the next girl, the pregnant trauma surgeon just wanted to relax and spend a few days reading on the beach.
"Teddy! I didn't think you were coming back for three more days?" Meredith exclaimed, as Teddy walked into the almost empty ER, pulling her from her thoughts.
A grimace passed over Teddy's face as she answered, "That was the plan, but I booked an earlier flight. I couldn't stand to be away anymore."
Meredith raised as eyebrow before responding, "The look on your face right now says differently, my friend. Your emotions show all over your face."
"You sound just like Owen. Since the day I met the man in the middle of a war zone, he has always said I wear my heart on my sleeve," the older woman chuckled as she leaned against the main nurses' station. "The truth is Tom was driving me crazy, suffocating me after his brawl with Owen at Jackson's, so I booked a flight home. When I told him I was leaving, it turned into a HUGE argument that ended with him accusing me of still being in love with Owen."
"Wow. Well I have to admit that it did catch me off guard to see you there with Koracick. The man is a surgical genius, but he's also a creep sometimes." Meredith said, looking down at the tablet in her hand. "So did you tell Owen that you're back early? With everything that has been going on with him, I'm sure he has a lot of things to tell you."
Teddy looked back at her friend, a puzzled look on her face. "No. I didn't get a chance before my flight boarded, and I was more interested about getting here than turning my phone back on once we landed in Seattle. I guess I should probably do that."
Meredith nodded in agreement. "Yeah that would be a good idea. Labs are back on my consult, but I will catch up with you later."
As Meredith walked away, Teddy waddled around the desk and sat down, pulling her phone from her bag. Turning the device on, she braced herself for the texts and voicemails she knew were waiting from Tom. Their argument had been fairly heated, and she didn't wait to calm down before she grabbed her luggage and headed for the airport. Now she wasn't sure if she wanted to face the aftermath of her choice to leave just yet.
When the phone vibrated in her hand, she looked down to see multiple missed texts and calls from not only Tom but Owen as well. She took a deep breath and read Owen's first message from four days ago. All it said was "You were right."
Quickly unlocking her phone, Teddy read words that brought tears to her eyes.
"They brought Leo back. Betty's parents said that she deserved to be a kid, and they knew that Leo already had a family that loved him. Amelia moved out. She said that she would be in Leo's life, but she knew that even though my brain kept telling me that I was choosing her, my heart chose you seven months ago when I went to Germany just to tell you how much I love you."
"Dr. Altman? Are you alright?" Schmidt asked, scaring her. She had been so absorbed in Owen's text that she hadn't heard him walk up.
Wiping the tears that had escaped, she replied, "I'm okay, Schmidt. Watching a sappy animal video and these damn pregnancy hormones got me." She lied, but she wasn't about to explain her complicated life to the intern standing in front of her.
"Okay.'" he answered with a shrug as he grabbed a tablet and walked towards the patient beds.
The blonde looked around before she went back to her phone. Opening the text again, she continued reading.
"Hearing her say those words out loud after my fight with Koracick and our argument that followed, made me stop and finally admit to myself that she was right and has been all along. I didn't stop loving you when you kicked me out in Germany. I didn't stop wanting to be with you when I decided to foster Leo. And no matter how made your stubborn ass made me when you waited so long to tell me about our daughter, I still prayed that I would get to have my cake and eat it too. That I could become Leo's father and get to be with you and raise both kids together as a family."
"Maybe I screwed it all up, and blamed it on everything and everyone else instead of admitting my true feelings. I know I probably won't get the chance to be with you after everything I've done and said, but I hope you can forgive me, Teddy, because I love you. I'm in love with you. I haven't stopped loving you since the first time I laid eyes on you in the middle of the desert, in a war zone. You are it for me, Theodora Altman. You and our little girl."
Teddy felt the breath catch in her chest as she came to the end of the thread. Her mind was racing from the words that Owen had written. So much had happened in the last seven months. She had made so many decisions and said so many things trying to do what was best for everyone. Now everything that she thought was settled had been up-ended all over again.
As if sensing her mother's stress, the baby started kicking, pulling Teddy from her emotional spiral. She pressed her hand into the side of her bump, feeling her daughters tiny foot push back against her. That pressure again her hand brought a smile to her face, reminding her that the life growing beneath her fingers was one that she had prayed for for so long. Reminded her that her daughter deserved to be happy and have two parents that are happy too.
Looking back at her phone, the woman realized that she had twelve unopened texts from Tom. While she had no desire to deal with that situation at the moment, she also knew sooner would be better than later.
She immediately regretted opening the messages. For most of the messages, Tom was apologizing for their argument and the harsh words he had said. The final message had been sent not long after Teddy's flight had lenaded. He told her that he had booked the red eye and would be back in town in the morning. He added how much he thought they needed to talk and that he hoped she would forgive him.
Teddy rolled her eyes as she locked her phone. After everything the self-absorbed neurosurgeon had yelled at her during their fight, it was going to take a lot more than a couple of texts and a few smooth words to convince her to talk to him when he came calling. Instead, she pulled herself from her chair and walked toward the elevators. She decided that she would see if Leo was in daycare before she tried to find Owen.
Just as she was about to push the call button, the elevator doors opened, and Owen was standing right in front of her. A smile that could light up the sun spread across Teddy's face as tears of joy started to fall at the same time. She could tell from the look of utter surprise on her face, he had not run into Meredith.
"Hi." she said softly.
"Hey." Own stuttered back. "What are you doing here? You aren't scheduled to be back for another few days."
"Honestly?" Teddy said, as Owen began walking towards the ER locker room and she followed behind him. "You were right about Tom. The second we landed, he wanted to control everything I did, planning all these spa treatments. So much so that I didn't even have a free moment to think. After your fight with him at Katherine's party, he was fixated on how he could one up you at every turn, complaining about our relationship. It was more than I could stand so I booked a flight hom. When I told him, it turned into a huge argument which ended with him saying that I had lied to him and lead him on because I'm still in love with you."
Just as Teddy had finished speaking, Owen was pushing open the locker room door. Instead of going through, Owen stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the blonde woman behind him. She felt the intensity of his stare and looked down for a split second before walking past him through the open door to sit on a bench. Owen shook himself from his surprise and followed behind, sitting on the bench next to her.
"I got…" Tedy began to say.
"Is it…?" Owen began to ask.
Both doctors laughed at their attempt to speak at the same time. The tension in the room almost visibly lowered.
"You first." Owen continued.
"I read your messages." Teddy began. "Wait no, let me backup. After everything with Koracick blew up in my face, I knew I had to come home and apologize for not listening to you. For not trusting you enough to have our child's best interest in mind. I also knew that I needed to apologize to Amelia for once again up-ending her life with all of my drama. A part of me couldn't accept that you had chosen her, despite my actions being the cause, so I said things that I knew would get a reaction out of you that night."
Owen went to speak, but Teddy held up her hand. "Let me finish. When I got back this afternoon, I hadn't ready your messages. I had even turned my phone back on. I ran into Mere and she told me that you had a lot going on that you would probably want to tell me. That's when I turned my phone back on and read your messages."
"I wish I had enough words to tell you how sorry I am for screwing up your life but some of that would be a lie, because I get our daughter from all this craziness. I want to tell you that I hate that things didn't work out with Amelia, but I can't do that either because that would mean that I don't get to you how much I love you. I know that I have made so many mistakes but there are two things that I will never regret: loving you and making this little girl with you." Teddy said, placing a hand on her belling as she teared up. "We have been through so much crap together. We survived a war zone and a hospital shooting and everything in between. We have had some knock down, drag out fights where we said some horrible things to each other, but not once through any of it did I ever stop loving you. When I first came back and saw you with Amelia, Leo, and Betty, I just knew that I had thrown away my last shot at being with you. I knew that our child would bond us together, but that would be it. You had the family that you had always dreamt of having. But when I read those texts, you gave me hope, Owen. Hope that we can do this. That we can be a family. That you and I can raise Leo and this little girl," she took one of Owen's hands and placed it on her belly, "together."
Owen looked down at the slender fingers intertwined with his. He felt his daughter stir underneath their connected hands. Slowly, he pulled his fingers from Teddy's grasp and reached up to softly brush a stray tear from the blonde's face. Then without a second's hesitation, Owen held Teddy's face in his hands and gently kissed her lips.
Teddy felt her heart's rhythm quickly increase as Owen's lips sent a jolt of electricity down her spine. Just the simple touch of their lips instantly drove her crazy.
Before she knew it, Owen had pulled back to look her in the eye. She felt her face redden under his gaze, but she didn't want to break their eye contact. Instead, Teddy decided to lean back in, grazing her mouth against the red-headed trauma surgeon's in front of her, twisting her fingers in the auburn curls at the base of his neck. The growl that escaped from Owen's throat sent goose bumps down her spine for the second time as they both slid closer to each other, bridging the gap between their bodies.
With their bodies flush against each other, as much as Teddy's bump would allow, Owen slid one hand down her side, pressing into the dip at the small of her back; the other cradling the side of her face as they intensified their kiss. Using the hand at her back as leverage, Teddy pushed herself farther into Owen's arms, as if she was attempting to fuse their bodies together.
A soft "I love you," slipped from Teddy's lips before she could stop the words. She rested her forehead against Owen's rather reluctantly, as she attempted to catch her breath. "I love you, and I am sorry that I wasted so much time being angry at you for a reason that seems so trivial now. I promise that I will make it up to you and our daughter everyday for the rest of our lives."
Tears filled Owen's eyes as he brushed Teddy's tears away once again. "I have waited for too long to hear you say those words. And I am sorry for ever making you feel as though you were my second choice. You, Theodora Altman, are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am so excited to raise our children with you."