To Tell the Truth
Miranda Bailey was exhausted. She had just been on her feet for 10 straight hours. It was a grueling procedure. The patient, Shel Smalls, had come in two days ago. He was complaining of abdominal pains. Nothing had showed up on scans and everyone was confused. A couple of hours before his exploratory surgery, his heart started to fail. Miranda called on her newest colleague, Maggie Pierce, the Attending cardiothoracic surgeon, to help. Pierce had taken over after one of Miranda's former interns, Cristina Yang had moved to Switzerland to head her own cardio hospital program. They moved him to the Operating Room (OR) and by the beauty of science and the grace of God, Shel Smalls had started to breathe again. With the combined efforts of Miranda and Maggie, he was also pain free and the tumors were removed from his stomach and other affected areas. It had been a long day.
Miranda was alone. She sauntered into the scrub room and the automatic lights flickered on. She scrubbed her brown hands three times singing softly the words to Aretha Franklin's 1968 hit, "Think" before saying a quick prayer and walking out. Miranda looked into the pocket of her dark blue Attending scrubs and pulled out her To-Do List. There were three items on the list. Number one on her list: Mr. Smalls' surgery. She reached into her other pocket and pulled out her favorite pen. Number two on her list: Call Eli. Eli was her boyfriend and a nurse at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. They'd been dating for about 7 months. She was calling him to ask him if he could pickup dinner because she and Little Tuck wouldn't be getting home until late and she knew that she wouldn't be in the mood to cook. As it turns out, she was rushed into surgery. She'd had an intern call Eli to ask him to not only pick up dinner, but to pick up her son from the hospital daycare as well. Of course, there was no problem. She loved that about him, he was easygoing and very on top of things.
Number three: invite Richard to dinner. Richard, the Chief of Surgery, was a general surgeon like herself, her boss and her mentor at the hospital. He was like a father to her, taking her under his wing after she'd moved from Boston to Seattle when she was just a newlywed. Her ex-husband, Tucker had gotten a great accounting job and like a good, young wife, she'd applied for jobs in the area where they would be living. Thankful for another person who'd dropped out of the program to become a musician; she'd slipped in and taken the last intern spot. And never looked back. And a lot of that was because of Richard. He'd introduced her to the city, his family and the hospital. She was "young, gifted and black" and everyone knew it. So, Richard began teaching her everything he knew. He groomed her into the force that she was. Actually, they spent so much time together that his wife was convinced that they were having an affair! Miranda chuckled to herself thinking about that encounter. That was a couple of years ago and boy was her red face as sight to see as Adele, Richard's wife, strolled into the hospital, dressed glamorously from head to toe, marched right up to Miranda who was talking with two other colleagues and accused her of sleeping with her boss. Her fears were warranted. It wouldn't have been the first time her husband had cheated on her. It was common knowledge that he'd cheated on the notorious Dr. Ellis Grey. A woman who'd started at Seattle Grace the same time that he did. Both doctors were married, but they were in love. The woman was actually the mother on one of Miranda's interns. The intern, Meredith Grey, was also the sister (same father, different mother) of Lexie Grey. Lexie is half of the hospital's namesake. There was a terrible plane crash and she was killed instantly. Dr. Mark Sloan, the Head of the Plastics department, a wonderful and very sexy, (Miranda knew he'd want her to say that) was also injured terribly and he'd made it back to Seattle Grace only to die because of his injuries. That was around the time that she became friends with Eli. It was very sad, the board of the hospital voted to have the hospital's name changed from Seattle Grace to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Grey Sloan where Richard spent so much of his time. No wonder Adele was looking for his mistress. But Miranda was not the person Adele was looking for. She and Tuck had a long laugh when she told him about that. They'd also had a long night in the sheets. They used to say that was the night they conceived Little Tuck, their beautiful son, the perfect combination of his parents, strong and intelligent. Her thoughts were off-track. Miranda shook her head and remembered Richard. She was inviting him to dinner tomorrow night, a night that she knew that they were both free, she'd checked with his assistant, Patricia. Her mentor had been tested recently, he was off the wagon, a recovering alcoholic and his wife had enough of his behavior and left him. It turned out that he wasn't having an affair with a person, but he was spending all of his nights at the hospital, scouring for surgeries and sleeping in his office.
Miranda often worried about him like she was his mentor or better yet, like he was her second child. Was he getting enough to eat? Did he get enough sleep? Was he drinking when he was out of the eyes of the hospital staff? She knew he was at home and called on his house phone. She walked in the direction of the Attending lounge and she counted the number of times the phone rang so she could reprimand later him if he didn't pick up. But he did, on the 6th ring.
"Hello?" His gruff voice said coming through the phone and hitting her ear.
"Chief? Are you sleeping?" Miranda asked.
"Well, Bailey, it's 11 o'clock at night on my day off and I'm nearly 50 years old. What do you think?" He responded. Most people would have been taken aback by his statement. It seemed malicious, but it wasn't. He was just an ornery, old man whose life seemed to be falling apart. Miranda knew his ways and knew how to counter his attitude with some sass of her own.
"Shoot, sir, I thought you'd be partying at Joe's. You know the Darts Championship was tonight."
"Now you know I don't play darts. These hands are for surgery, holding babies and caressing women," he answered making himself chuckle. The fact that he was chuckling, made her laugh loudly. She was glad that he still had a sense of humor. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of you calling? Don't tell me you just wanted to relay to me the details of another procedure like last time?" Miranda blushed. So, she had used that excuse before!
"No, sir, actually, I wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner with me, Little Tuck and Eli?"
"Eli Lloyd, the nurse? You're still dating him?"
Inside her heart dropped a little. The Chief didn't think Eli was good enough for Miranda, didn't think he was the right guy for her. It didn't matter how polite Eli was or that he treated her well. The Chief sensed that someone else would be better suited for her and he'd expressed this to her when she and Eli first started dating. And if it were anyone else, she would usually give them a long speech about keeping their comments to themselves especially when they involved her, but Richard was different. She wouldn't and couldn't lecture him about this. She spoke softly, but definitely: "Yes, I am."
"What are we having?" He asked yawning.
"Whatever you want," Miranda said quickly before he had a chance to make an excuse and cancel.
"I know you know that chicken parm is my favorite."
"Consider it done. And Eli is a great cook, s—
"He's cooking? On the other hand, I think I'll be busy," he said and she imagined him smiling into his hands at his own craziness.
"You're lying. I talked to Patricia. You'll love it. Be at my house tomorrow night at 6:30, Richard," Miranda said firmly. Another call was coming in. She glanced at her phone. It was Eli. She smiled.
"Fine, but you owe me," he told her yawning again.
"I owe you a lot, sir," she responded. "See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there. And I want salad, too." The call was disconnected and Miranda looked at Richard's flashing until she looked up to see that she was at the door of the Attending lounge. She hadn't even been paying attention, but somehow her feet managed to get her to her destination. That's how well she knew this hospital. It had been her second home for so long. There were nights that like Richard, she didn't go home, she slept here, ate here and her friends surrounded her on every side.
As Miranda grabbed the flip-flops she'd left in a nook in the lounge, Miranda remembered that Eli had called and called him back. As the phone rang, she changed shoes.
"Hey, you called?" Miranda said walking into huge, adjoining attending locker room.
"Yes, I did. How are you, honey?" He asked. His voice was so soothing and she found herself speeding up her motions so that she could get home to him. She found her locker and took off her watch and put it on the top shelf. That watch had called more than enough time of deaths. It was a gift from her parents to her, their only child, when she'd graduated from medical school. She made sure that she kept it working properly. Richard had also gotten her a watch when she first became an Attending. She kept that one at home. When she'd first become an Attending and was finally able to leave the Resident locker room, she'd made sure that she was assigned the locker in the back, in the corner. Because she was The Chief's favorite, her request had been granted and coincidentally, or not, the locker right next to hers was never occupied by another member of the Grey Sloan surgical staff.
"I'm good. Mr. Smalls went into cardiac arrest, but he's okay," Miranda responded smiling at the thought of her victory, their victory. She pulled down the three-legged stool that she'd received five months back, anonymously. Miranda had showed up to work one day and there it was, inside of the empty locker with a blue and purple ribbon around it. She'd asked around, but no one seemed to know anything. She wasn't one for passing up on a gift and left a thank you Post-It note on the door for that person and went to a meeting. When she came back, the note was gone. The thought of who it could be stayed on her mind for a while. Eventually, she figured it must have been Eli, The Chief or her best girl friend, Dr. Callie Torres. They all wished they'd thought of it, but took no credit.
"That's wonderful, Miranda. Great job, but if you don't come home, I'll go into cardiac arrest as well. I miss you, baby," he said softly. "I've seen you for about an hour in the last day."
"I know. I know, Eli. I should be there in 20 minutes," she said. "What is Little Tuck doing?"
"Well, he tried waiting for you. We played a couple of rounds of Uno, ate dinner and he just went down about an hour ago. I carried him to his room."
"Oh. Okay. And what are you doing?" Miranda said looking around after hearing a noise and voices on the other side of the room.
"I'm just here. In bed. Waiting. For you," he responded in his deepest and sexiest voice.
"I am on my way," she said closing my eyes and biting her lip softly. Miranda imagined him lying in her bed on his back with no t-shirt on and a pair of boxers.
"Miranda, you're still there?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said quickly. "Let me go. I'm coming." He snickered. She shook her head, rolled her eyes and ended the call.
Miranda finished packing her bag. She pulled on her coat and headed towards the door. Coming out of the bathroom to her left was a man, obviously a doctor. She was usually great at remembering names, but she was so tired that his name was escaping her. Actually, she wanted to duck out of the door without speaking, but that would be rude and one thing that Miranda Bailey wasn't was rude. According to her interns, she was mean or stern, but never rude. The man coming out of the bathroom was about her complexion, brown-skinned, his hair was cut close to his head, he had thick lips that were surrounded by a moustache, beard and goatee. And he was shirtless. Shirtless. He had on his dark blue Attending scrub pants and no shoes. The words were getting jumbled in her head. He was gorgeous.
"Hi, Miranda," he said flashing her a great smile. There was a short pause.
"I'm sorry. Hello," she responded politely.
"You don't remember my name, do you?" He asked with a laugh.
"I apologize. I'm so exhausted. You see I didn't recognize my own name." He laughed again. That laugh paused her heart and she felt a pull in her heart, the familiar twinge that she felt when she'd first fell in love with Tucker.
"I'm Ben. Warren. Anesthesiologist. I sat in the corner while you and Maggie worked on Mr. Smalls. You did a great job. I thought he was a goner. Truth be told, we've worked together on several occasions."
"Oh okay, okay, okay, right," she said and the image of him looking up at her occasionally or at the patient was coming back. "Ben. Warren. I got it. I won't forget." She glanced at his shirtless chest again. Where to look beside his body? She looked at his biceps, round and muscular.
"You promise?" He asked startling her visual daze and walking past her to his locker.
"I promise," Miranda answered walking to the door. With her hand on the knob she said, "Goodnight, Dr. Warren."
"Goodnight, Dr. Bailey." He said her name so coolly, like he'd said it every day.
Miranda drove home. She didn't live far from the hospital. She couldn't. What if she needed to come in for an emergency? What if she had an emergency? She pulled into the driveway and parked her white Audi next to Eli's forest green Ford pickup truck. Grabbing her bag, she walked into the house. Although she'd gotten their house in the divorce, she found herself unable to sleep in the bed that she'd once shared with her husband. She sold that house and bought a house that would accommodate her and Little Tuck, as he lived with her most of the times. Little Tuck visited his father on major holidays and on occasions when Tucker decided to scoop him up for some quality father-son time.
The new house was perfect. There were three bedrooms, one for Little Tuck, one that she wanted to use as a study and one for herself, decorated just the way she'd always wanted, yellow, gray and white. Everything was her way. And that's exactly how she liked it. There was carpet on the bedroom, living room and dining room floors. Her father had come to Seattle to help her move. He was the one convinced to pull up the carpets. Underneath were gorgeous hardwood floors that Miranda fell in love with. They were the best features of the house. The same house that she'd only recently let Eli start staying long weekends in and allowing him to actually be there for her and even sleep in her bed… with her. Miranda put her bag down on her black, leather couch and walked to her son's room. She heard music through the door and figured that her 6-year old son was up playing his video game. He'd probably fallen asleep and woke up when Eli picked him up. He didn't like being carried. Aside from the fact that he looked just like her, Little Tuck, nicknamed after his father, was very independent just like his mother. She walked into his room and saw that he was up reading a book. The little nerd. She smiled.
"Hey, William George," Miranda said calling him by his first and middle names. He was called William after her father and George after one of her interns. He was gone now. He'd died a couple of years ago, he pushed a woman out of the way of an incoming bus and he instead was hit by the bus and was killed. He was her favorite, everyone knew it. He was the one who'd convinced her to push while she was in labor. That was a very trying time. Miranda was at the hospital waiting for her husband and he'd never showed up. While she waited, the contractions pained her and her doctor and friend, Dr. Addison Montgomery, couldn't even threaten her into having her son. And it is turned out, her husband had been in a terrible car accident and was having brain surgery. Also, the surgeon who was operating on Tucker, Dr. Derek Shepherd, was the husband of the woman who was helping her give birth. Oh, so much was happening. On top of all of that, there was bomb in the cavity of a patient, one that could explode at any moment, and it was being held in place by one of her interns, guess who? Meredith Grey, who was the ex-lover of Derek Shepherd. Jeez, she shook her head when she thought about it. That was the second worst day of her life. So, she smiled to see him reading in bed, knowing that they could all not have been there 6 years later.
"Hey, mommy," Little Tuck said looking at her. "How was work?"
Miranda went and sat on his bed. "Work was great. We fixed a man's heart and stomach."
"Wow. I wish I could have been there," he said putting his book down.
"One day," she answered taking his book, looking at it and putting it on his dresser. Miranda remembered the music and glanced around the room. It was decorated with Spider-Man and Hancock bedding and posters. "What's that music?"
"That's the CD that daddy made for me. It only has three songs."
"Oh, really. When did he give that to you?" Miranda asked curiously. This was the first time she was hearing about this.
"Today. He came over right after Eli and I came back from the hospital. By the way, I'm too old for those little kids."
"Well, you're on Spring Break, so the hospital daycare will have to do," she responded laughing. "Did he stay long?"
"Who?"
"Your father?"
"No, when he saw that it was just Eli and me. He took me outside and we talked a little bit and then he gave me the CD and left."
"Oh. Okay. Well, get some rest. I'm off tomorrow and we'll have some fun."
His face lit up. It wasn't often that they got to spend the day together, but she made the most of it when she could. She knew that by being so passionate about medicine sometimes cost her time with her son, but he was understanding, even for a seven year old. One thing she never wanted him to think was that she wasn't more passionate about him. "Goodnight, mommy," he mumbled while getting under the covers. She tucked him in, kissed his cheek, turned the music down just a little and left his room. She said a little prayer for her child as she walked to her own room, where no doubt there would be a man sleeping there.
Miranda walked into the room and heard him snoring lightly. And she imagined, he didn't have a shirt on his light-skinned body and he had boxers on. He was well-built and his muscles rose slightly as he slept. Rushing into the bathroom, she took a quick shower, threw on some pajamas and climbed into bed next to him. She watched him for a short while. Pretty. That was how she would describe, how she had described him. He had short, dark brown, boyish curly hair. He had small, pink lips and when he smiled, his eyes sparkled. And his dimples! God, his dimples. Although his prettiness first attracted her, his dimples actually made her look a second time and drew her in. His eyelashes, although not long, were full and that made him pretty. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, the hairs from his moustache and beard combo gave her a tickle. He roused a little, but didn't wake up. Her eyes closed and soon she was fast asleep beside him.
On days when she didn't have to work, Miranda woke up and made breakfast for Little Tuck. When she woke up, Eli was already in the kitchen cooking. It smelled really good. She checked on Little Tuck who was still asleep. Going back to her room and grabbing her robe, she went into the kitchen to see Eli standing at the stove. He now had on a shirt with a spatula in his hand. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Good morning," she said kissing his back.
He turned a little to look at her. "Good morning, baby." He flipped the last of the pancakes and turned around, nearly a 10 inches taller than she was, he dipped down to kiss her full on the lips. She was reminded of when Eli first asked her out. They were working together on a patient, one who Miranda was studying. They had a major breakthrough, a lot of that came from Eli's knowledge about what his patients needed. So when he asked her to dinner, she felt inclined to say yes, because he'd given her "Day Three". And day three was crucial to the care of her patients. They'd gone out and starting dating more and more and eventually, he became her boyfriend. Something she hadn't had in nearly 20 years. Tucker was her first boyfriend. And just two years into her undergraduate studies (he was a senior), they'd gotten married. They were so young. Tucker had been her first love. And one thing that Miranda knew about love is that it could fade, although it never really went away. She knew she loved Eli, but questioned whether she was in love with him. She'd talked with Callie and figured out that she wasn't yet in love, but there were things that she definitely loved about him. She was still holding onto Eli and he was looking at her and saying something. She snapped back into the moment and heard him say: "You're ready to eat?"
"Yes, please," she answered letting him go and sitting at the table.
"Should I wake up Tuck?" He asked while making two plates.
"No, let him sleep," she getting out of her chair and going to the sink to wash her hands. She also poured two glasses of orange juice. When she sat back down, she surveyed the spread. There were pancakes, eggs, bacon and grits. It looked really good and she silently thanked God for giving her a man who could cook. "Oh, by the way, are you free tonight?"
Eli scrunched his face. "Actually, I'm not sure. I go in at one o'clock." He proceeded to eat his food. "Why?"
"Well, you know about Richard and his drama and whatnot. I invited him over for dinner."
"Miranda," Eli said, his dark brown eyes staring directly into her equally dark brown eyes. She smiled because she knew exactly what he was going to say. "Miranda, that man—"
"That man. That man is going through a tough time and yeah, he's said that he doesn't like you, but get over it. I owe him everything." Miranda picked up a pancake, rolled it and ate it.
"I swear it's because I'm a nurse," Eli said stabbing his eggs and stuffing a forkful into his mouth.
She started laughing, "Probably. But if he doesn't like nurses as significant others than he doesn't have to date one."
"Fine. Fine. Fine. If I can get back here, I'll come. What are we having?"
"Chicken parm and salad." She shook her head remembering the conversation she'd had with The Chief.
"Well, take the chicken out of the freezer and put it in the fridge."
"Consider it done."
"I'm serious, Miranda. When it's time to cook, frozen chicken is such a hassle. And an unnecessary one."
"Eli Lloyd. I've got it."
"Okay," he replied and he rose out of his chair. I have to get going. I have to go home and go the post office before I go in." Miranda just nodded. Then he sat back down and took her hand, a gesture that caught Miranda off-guard. "I love you."
"I-I love you, too," she said sincerely.
"And I really tried to wait up for you last night. I wanted to talk to you, on top of and under the covers," he said with a sly smile and he winked at her. Miranda blushed. He picked up her hand and kissed it softly. He started to get up. "Also, I don't know if he called and told you, but Tucker stopped by last night. He's a big dude, babe." Miranda chuckled.
"Yeah, he is. Little Tuck told me... last night that his father had stopped by."
"Oh okay. I figured it was okay for him to see him."
"Of course. Of course. Tuck's his son as well. He can see him whenever he wants." Miranda finished the last of her juice. "Was it awkward?"
"Uhh… hmm… hell yeah," he said laughing. He had a hearty laugh that shook the table slightly. "We made a little small talk while Little Tuck meandered out of his room."
"That's good. I'm just glad that no punches were thrown," Miranda said nodding.
Eli took her had again and scooted his chair closer to hers, "I will fight for you, but never over you."
"That's romantic," she said and started to pull her hand away. Eli held her hand tightly, but gently.
"You want romance?" He asked and leaned over to kiss her without allowing her to answer. She pressed her lips against his and slipped her tongue into his mouth. With his hand on hers, he drew her into his lap, still kissing her. He wrapped his arms around her. Miranda placed her arms around his neck and over the back of the mahogany-colored wooden chair. Eli took his lips off of hers and started to nibble on her neck, whispering after each small, soft bite. "I'll be here tonight. Make sure you take the chicken out. And afterwards. I will get to see you. And be with you. And hold you. Kiss you. Caress you. And taste you."
"Mmmmmm," Miranda moaned quietly or as quietly as she could and pushed her lips against Eli's one last time before standing up. She turned her back on Eli and walked out of the kitchen. She could feel his eyes on her ass as she turned down the hallway and went up the stairs to her son's room.
She thought she would find him still sleeping. Instead, she saw the faucet water running in the bathroom opposite his bedroom. Miranda waiting for the familiar sound of his toothbrush hitting the sink, no doubt splattering everywhere, and watched him exit the bathroom. Not expecting his mother or anyone else, Little Tuck jumped. Miranda giggled. "Are you ready for breakfast?"
Little Tuck nodded and walked down to the kitchen with Miranda following him. "Hey, buddy," Eli said and they high-fived. Miranda was lucky that Tuck liked Eli. They had good chemistry. They didn't have much in common, but Eli tried to find things that he and Tuck could do together.
"Hey, Eli," Tuck said hopping into a chair and sitting with his legs under himself. Eli had already made a plate for her son and heated it up. Always one step ahead that one. That probably came from years of being a nurse and knowing exactly what patients needed before they could ask for it.
"Okay, Mr. Lloyd, you have to get going," Miranda said to her boyfriend, walking to him and pulling him by his arm through the house until they got into her bedroom. He slipped his hand out of her grasp and slid it around her waist. She looked up at him. He held her short, thick and curvy body in his arm. His free hand untied her robe and he helped her drop it to the floor. He pushed some fallen hair out of her eyes.
"Hi," he whispered.
"Hi," she whispered back. He quickly locked his lips with hers again. She doubted that she would get weary of being kissed by this handsome Adonis. Eli guided them to the bed where he fell on the bed first and pulled her on top of him. She squealed, grabbed his head and kissed him. His hands found her ass. The same one he'd once said she'd trapped him with. Although she was certain that her fireball personality, intelligence and winning smile had done it. They kissed passionately. His hands glided over her body. She furiously tried to touch every inch of him. When his hands (finally!) found the band of pajama pants, she stopped him. Instantly, she could feel his frustration. It was going on nearly a week and a half without great sex. Lately, their schedules weren't meshing and they kept missing each other. Dirty text messages and phone calls could only do so much. They did have a quickie in an on-call room, but just as she was climaxing, her pager went off. She didn't hesitate and quickly released herself from his grasp and ran to the ER where she was needed. So, yeah, she wanted him. She needed that skin to skin contact. And Eli may be sweet and delicate with the many men, women and children who he looked after, but in the sheets, he was aggressive and tender just like she liked it. Thinking about his sex gave her a small pang in her stomach and she rolled off of him. The longer she stayed on top, the more the temptation would swell.
"Baby, I'm not saying I need it, but I need sex," he said in a whisper-shout. Eli knew how she was about keeping the details of their love life out of the mind and ears of her child. Miranda never felt it was appropriate to engage in adult activities while her child was awake. That was absolutely out of the question.
Miranda turned on her side to look at Eli. His face had reddened a little. She remembered a patient, Kelly, at the hospital when it was called Seattle Grace. She couldn't control the blushing in her face whenever she felt any kind of emotion. Miranda had felt pretty bad for the girl and thanked the Lord that when brown-skinned people felt an emotion, that it wasn't as evident. Eli was light-skinned and so most of his emotions were shown his face. She raised an eyebrow. Even when he was a little upset, he still looked good and she was even more turned on than she'd been a minute ago. She smiled to herself. "Okay, okay, I will see if Callie can babysit Tuck tonight and, you know, if you manage to get off, we'll… ahem, get off," she replied licking her lips a little. She knew that that gesture drove him crazy. He kissed her again and got out of the bed.
"You think you're slick. You know exactly what you're doing. Call Callie."
"And take the chicken out of the fridge," Miranda and Eli said together. They laughed as he put on his clothes, grabbed his bag, blew her kiss and headed out of the door. Miranda heard him say goodbye to her son and when she heard the door close, she picked up her cell phone and called her best friend.
"Calliope Torres," Miranda said into the phone.
"Yes, Mandy," Callie answered sweetly calling Miranda by her family nickname. At the hospital, The Chief and Callie were the only ones who were allowed to call her that. It wasn't that she hated the name, she felt that the reputation that proceeded her was more of a Bailey or Miranda than a Mandy. She'd previously been called "The Nazi," but a medical technician with a swastika on his stomach made her mad enough to vomit. Angered her enough to demand that she never be called "The Nazi" again.
"What are you up to tonight?"
"Well, Arizona, Sofia and I were going to order take-out and watch some movies."
"That sounds like so much fun. Clearly you want to invite your godson over to bask in such an awesome night." Miranda crossed her fingers even though she was sure that Callie would oblige. Usually godparents are named at the time of a child's birth and Tuck had been given godparents. But they weren't friends when Tuck was born, just colleagues. Then, overtime, they started talking and hanging out more and Callie had been such a great friend and confidant over the last few years that Miranda bestowed upon her the honor.
"I knew you wanted something. You never call unless you're hitting me up for my services," Callie said ribbing her best friend. She laughed.
"Girl, is that a yes or a no? And this will have to be an, uh, overnight ordeal. And before you start… don't."
"What do you mean, don't? Don't talk about the fact that my wife and I have to watch your son because you wanna get some."
"You know what? Never mind." She hoped that the mild reverse psychology would work on her best friend.
"Alright. Alright, don't get your panties in a twist. Of course I'll watch my godson. While you exercise in the sheets with Eli." She cackled and Miranda could hear her clap her hands with glee.
"Really, I'm just glad that you found somebody who makes you happy."
"Yeah," Miranda said slowly.
"Hold on, Mandy," Callie said. Before Miranda could answer, she heard a click. When Callie came back on the phone, said: "You know who talked to me last night?
"Samantha?" Miranda said naming one of the newest interns who, no doubt, had a crush on Callie. Callie had men and women fawning over her. She was gorgeous. Tall and olive-skinned and Spanish with long, flowing black hair and beautiful brown eyes. But she was married. Something that Miranda wanted again, even if she told herself and others that it was not the case. Even though her marriage to Tucker had been imperfect, she loved coming home and knowing that he was there and Little Tuck was there. It was comforting. But she wanted something that would last.
"I don't even know who Samantha is," Callie said sucking her teeth.
"Sure you don't. You don't recognize the name of the intern who does 70% of your charts? You don't recognize the name of the intern who runs all of your labs? You don't recognize the name of the interns who brings you mocha lattes every other morning?" Miranda finished her short speech.
"Ohhhh, Samantha, is that her name?" Callie said loudly with a laugh.
"Yeah, she's cute. But, uh, no, not her… the anesthesiologist. I think his name is Warren?" Miranda's mind flashed back to the shirtless attending in the locker room. "He's been on more than a few of my surgeries. We worked on a lady two nights ago. Nice guy. He randomly and I mean the most random of random bought me a coffee when our surgery was finished." Miranda's heart sank. Everyone fell under Callie's spell.
Miranda was a little envious at times, but it was all good. Yeah, she was a little jealous. But why? She had a boyfriend; a good one. Miranda made a noise. "That was nice of him."
"Yeah. I thought so. Then, I thought that maybe he liked me and obviously didn't know that I'm married and a lesbian."
"I thought you were bisexual," I interrupted her.
"Well, right now, I'm only getting love from the va-jay-jay, so…" Her voice trailed off.
"Not that this conversation isn't one for the books, but why did you bring up Dr. Warren?" Miranda asked looking at the time and looking at Little Tuck who'd seemingly appeared in her doorway.
"He asked me about you. He didn't make a big deal about it. It was casual. I thought you'd wanna know. But bring my baby by. We should be home by 4 o'clock."
"Thanks, Callie. I owe you," Miranda said ending the call. "Hey, Tuck. You wanna go and get dressed? And then we'll go out." Tuck nodded and then scurried to his room.
Miranda took a deep breath. Dr. Warren had asked about her. Humph. That was odd. Especially since she'd just "met" him yesterday. While her son was getting ready, Miranda decided to do the same thing. She put on a gray t-shirt. It was one of her favorite tees. It simply had a large logo of her favorite NBA team, the Boston Celtics, on it. Tucker had gotten it for her when they'd first started dating. He was surprised and happily shocked to find a woman who loved basketball as much as he did. He played for Boston College, 8 miles away, and was a big star. They had been dating for two years when Miranda had gotten accepted to Wellesley College first, receiving a science scholarship. Not wanting to be without her, Tucker had also applied to colleges in Maryland and had gotten an athletic scholarship to BC.
She put on her most comfortable pair of dark grey leggings. The ones she didn't get to wear that often anymore because her wardrobe mostly consisted of her blue scrubs and her white lab coat. As she slipped on her black, low-top sneakers, her son emerged in her doorway. She was used to his silent appearances. He had on a blue dri-fit shirt and grey shorts that fell an inch above his knees. He had on his new Kobe 8s, the ones his father bought him for making the Honor Roll last year. "Ready to go?" She asked him. He nodded with a wide smile. That smile was the reason that no matter how tired she got, she would always play one more game or read one more book. The reason that although she had been on her feet for 10 hours, she could pull herself out of bed and off of her gorgeous boyfriend to go wherever he wanted. And if she knew her son, he'd want to go to the park to play basketball or to the zoo to see the animals.
"Where are we going, mommy?" He asked pulling her out of her thoughts.
"You know these days are all about you. Where do you want to go?" She asked as she grabbed a jacket and pointed to his room for him to grab his own.
While in his room, he yelled: "To the park, please."
