Hello again everyone! Here's the new fic I promised I'd write :) I'm writing this with sillybillyxo, actually. (You should all read her stuff, it's great).
This is going to be Maddison centred, but everyone will be involved a bit later in the story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: We don't own Grey's Anatomy. We're just obsessed.
"Larissa, if you don't hurry up, we're going to be late," I called upstairs to my six year old daughter. She was quite possibly the slowest dresser in the world.
"Coming, Mum," she said as she came down the stairs. The buttons on her shirt were done up crookedly. I sighed, trying to hide my smile beneath a veneer of annoyance. I quickly fixed her daughter's buttons, and then used a misplaced barrette to pull a stray red curl back from her face. I often wondered why her hair was so curly. Mark didn't have curly hair, and I most certainly didn't.
Mark placed a coffee cup in my hand, like he did most mornings. I didn't thank him – we'd gone beyond that in our seven year relationship. Derek had left seven years ago without looking back. We hadn't spoken in seven years. I really didn't plan on it either. I didn't even know where he was. I only knew that he left, and I was still in New York with Mark.
I set down my bag and fixed my skirt with one hand while Larissa slowly tied her shoes. Mark kissed my cheek before he walked out the door, "Bye, hon."
"Bye," I said, leaning into him slightly. Larissa finally stood up. "Ready?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said, pulling her Care Bears backpack on and sighing. She slowly walked out the door.
"Baby, are you ok?" I asked, putting a hand to my daughter's forehead.
Larissa looked up at me with huge eyes that I noted were missing their usual mischievous sparkle. "I'm fine mummy," she sighed, trying to shrug off my hand. She felt a little warm, but that could be just me.
"I think you should stay home today, sweetie," my eyebrows came together.
"I can't! It's my turn at show' n' tell!" she exclaimed, "Dad promised he'd come."
I'd forgotten about that. She'd been talking about it for weeks, I should have remembered, especially because she'd asked to bring in my surgical tools approximately one hundred and twenty seven times. I couldn't let her bring in scalpels, so I'd offered Mark instead. I sighed, "Fine, you can go to school, but the moment you start feeling icky, you call me at the hospital, ok?"
"Yes," she nodded happily, and I shooed her out the door, grabbing my keys out of the hand crafted bowl on the entrance table.
The car ride was quiet. I bit my lip as I glanced again and again at Larissa in my rear-view mirror. She looked fine right now. A little sleepy, but it was early in the morning still. I focused on the road. I had twins conjoined at the head that I had to deliver this morning, and I the surgery was so complex. As much as I hated to think it, I couldn't afford to worry about Larissa, who was usually the first to complain when she wasn't feeling well.
"Bye, Mum," she said as she slid out of the car. I waited for the slam that usually accompanied her exit, but it wasn't there.
"Bye, sweetie," I said quietly as I watched her walk away to join her friends. I really hoped Mark would show up for the appropriate time. I decided to call him just in case.
"Hi, Addie," Mark's voice answered after the umpteenth ring. I loved his voice, and thus was able to push past the annoyance that was present behind the husky rhythm I'd become so accustomed to. "What do you want?"
"Hi Mark, I was just making sure that you remembered you have to go to Larissa's class today. She's really excited about it. No one mentioned anything this morning, so I thought I'd just check in. You won't be able to find me once I get to work," I said, once again remembering the conjoined twins.
There was a long pause on the other end, and I heard a woman's voice in the background. I shrugged it off. It was, after all, a hospital where lots of people walk around and talk. She could be a nurse handing a chart to an intern, for all I knew.
"You forgot," I sighed.
"No, no, I didn't," he protested. He tried so hard to be a great dad, but it just didn't come easily to him at all.
"Ok then," I said, letting it slide. As long as he showed up, it didn't matter if he forgot… right? "You'll be there at ten o'clock. Oh, and I don't think she's feeling very well. Keep an eye on her, but don't embarrass her in front of the class."
"Alright," Mark said, and the phone line clicked dead.
I sighed. There were some days when I felt like Mark and I fit so well together, like everything was perfect. Then there were the days when I felt like I was grasping desperately to hold onto whatever was stable in our relationship. This was going to be a day like the latter.
I stomped on the breaks and leaned on the horn as a flashy little sports car abruptly pulled in front of me. "Moron!" I said quietly to myself. Hitting my turn signal, I habitually moved into the lane that would allow me to turn off to the hospital.
Maybelline&SillyBilly
