*** ENGLISH ISN'T MY LANGUAGE ***

Never go to architecture school guys, it's a trap!

Joking, but I should be finishing my project to go back home as soon as possible, to my USB with all my other fics and be able to update them, but here I am, updating this fic while listening to "She's The One" by Robbie Williams and planning more stories in my head, why am I like this?

Anyway, hope you like this little fic that I'll be updating as much as my homework allows me while I return home which won't be in a week but until Easter break :( sorry! I hope that by then you are still interested.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!


OWEN

The next morning when I wake up Teddy is not by my side. Her part of the bed is done and the pajamas I lent her are neatly folded over the pillow.

To be honest I saw it coming, or at least I knew that Teddy wasn't going to accept to stay in my house longer than necessary but I expected her to stay all day, I expected to take care of her all day.

I look at the clock. 8:00 a.m. I slept almost four hours. I get out of bed and take a shower and then go to Meredith's to pick up Leo. I've nothing else to do the rest of the day, I had asked Alex the day off to be with Teddy but she left, I guess to her hotel room, she wants to be alone, it's what she always does when she's hurt, isolate herself. I know I should give her space and I would give it to her if the circumstances were different; I know she isn't ok and I'm afraid for her health and our daughter's. I fear that all this stress can lead to premature delivery.

I leave my house to pick up Leo, on the way I try to get in touch with Teddy, I call her a couple of times, but she doesn't answer the phone. Once I have Leo with me I take him to the playground. I put him on a swing. Next to me is a man swinging his little girl while watching her son play in the slides. That will be me in a couple of years, I'll come here with Leo and my little girl... maybe Teddy too, we'll come to bring the children, together.

I'm lost in my daydream when my phone interrupts me. It's Teddy. Thank God.

"Teddy! Where are you? How are you? Do you feel better?" I bomb her with questions.

"I'm fine, Owen. I'm working, I saw your missed calls, sorry I couldn't answer I was in surgery... I just called to thank you for what you did for me last night".

"Are you what?! Teddy, you have the day off, you should go to rest, after the last days your body needs a rest! Please, Teddy, don't make me go for you and—"

"Owen, Owen stop! I'm fine, I need this, I need to keep my mind occu—"

Teddy stops talking and I can hear a loud moan, almost a scream.

"TEDDY! ARE YOU OK?! TEDDY, ANSWER ME!"

I can hear a bustle of people, someone asking to page OB, someone asking for a stretcher, but I can't hear Teddy. I'm sweating and my heart is pounding in my ears.

"Major Hunt, it's Dr. Parker! Major Altman was taken by OB, she fainted, but she's already being checked".

"Parker, stay with her I'm on my way!"

"Yes, Major!"

I take Leo and I run to my car. I put him safe in his baby seat and drive as a fireball to the hospital, arriving I give Leo to one of the interns to take him to the daycare and I run to the OB floor.

I see Parker at the nurses' station and immediately I go to him.

"Parker, update me!"

"I still don't know much Major Hunt; Dr. Deluca is still working on Major Altman. We were leaving the OR, I was updating the file and she was talking to you when I heard her scream and then she passed out".

"Ok, ok Parker. Thank you very much for staying with her".

"You are welcome, Major".

I go to the room where Parker told me Teddy is. Carina is making some notes in her clinical record. She is asleep, connected to a cardiac monitor, a pair of IV bags and around her bump there are two belts of the fetal monitor.

"Deluca, how's she? How's the baby? What happened?!" I ask Carina.

"She's not entirely ok, Dr. Hunt". She tells me and my blood runs cold. "She fainted, her blood pressure is alarmingly high and the baby is in some distress, she's having contractions and although they are not regular technically she's in labor. I'm doing everything possible to stop the contractions but if I don't succeed we will most likely have to deliver the baby".

"What? No, she... she's only 33 weeks old!"

"I'd give her tocolytics to stop the contractions for a couple of days and that would give us time to administer corticosteroids to help the baby's lungs develop as much as possible. They will be fine".

"I know, it's just that..." We're not ready, I wanted to say. It's the truth, but in one way or another it makes me feel ashamed. Our daughter will be born soon, maybe in two days and she doesn't even have a crib! We were so caught up in other affairs that we forgot her... we forgot our daughter.

"I know it's scary". Carina says putting her hand on my shoulder and giving me a light squeeze. "Bringing in and taking care of a human being is scary, even more so if you have to deal with a premature baby, but I assure you Dr. Hunt that I'll do everything possible so that both your daughter and Dr. Altman are ok".

I can only nod solemnly. "How is Teddy? Is she asleep, sedated?"

"She's sedated, when she woke up from unconsciousness she was very anxious and that was affecting her blood pressure, she'll be awake in a couple of hours. And as I said, she has alarmingly high blood pressure, not to mention that she is dehydrated and underweight for this stage of her pregnancy. If we manage to stop the contractions with proper rest and feeding she'll be able to carry her pregnancy to term as normal as possible, although she'll have to stop working, that is not optional".

I chuckle humorlessly, that will be difficult, but I hope that this makes her reflect and finally stop being so stubborn and step on the brakes, for her and our daughter.

"Ok, ok. I'll make sure she rests".

"I know. I'll be giving rounds every hour to see how they're doing. Anything, don't hesitate to call me".

"Sure!".

Carina leaves me alone with Teddy. Her face, although it looks serene, I can see the expression lines on her forehead, the black circles around her eyes, I don't know how I didn't notice it before. I give a check to her cardiac monitor and the baby's, the numbers are not what I would like but I trust that everything will be fine. I pull up an armchair and sit next to her, taking her dainty hand in mine. I kiss the top. She is cold.

I don't leave her side for a second. Carina comes a couple of times and apparently the efforts to stop the labor are working, she only had one contraction in two hours and was considerably shorter than the previous ones, her blood pressure is starting regularize, as well as the baby's.

I breathe with relief.

It isn't until about three hours later that I notice her eyelids flutter, she opens her eyes and scans the room, her hands immediately go to her belly.

"Hey, hey, hey, everything is fine. She is fine". I say reassuring her and joining my hands to hers in her bump. She seems to want to tell me something, but she can't. I bring some water and she drinks the whole glass in one long gulp. "How do you feel?" I ask softly as I stroke her hair.

"Weak. What happened?"

"You fainted and apparently this little lady threatened to come out earlier, but Carina managed to stop her". I answer smiling and as carefree as possible so as not to worry her. Although inside I'm also terrified that the contractions will return and Carina has to deliver our daughter before time.

"Was I in labor?"

I nod slowly. She bursts into tears. "But Carina managed to stop it, you're fine, she's fine".

"It's my fault, I caused this... I was stubborn and I put our daughter in danger".

I take her face in my hands forcing her to look me in the eyes. "Hey calm down. Precisely this is what doesn't do you good. What happened, happened and we can't do anything to change it now. Now you and she are fine and that's what matters, okay?"

"But—"

"But nothing. Now the most important thing is that you rest and for us to get ready for when this little nugget decides to come out, okay?"

She nods biting her lip.

"Come here". I lay on the bed and pull her towards me with one arm and bringing my free hand with hers to her belly where our daughter stirs gently. "Everything will be fine, you'll get out of here and we'll spend the next months getting ready. We'll go to buy the most ridiculously beautiful and expensive crib, we'll buy new toys exclusively for her and we'll set up the most beautiful nursery ever been seen".

She chuckles. "Sure, in the hotel room?"

"Oh, about that... I don't want you to continue living in a hotel, it's not safe and less now that someone has to take care of you... I want you to move in with me".

"What?! No, no, no. I agreed to sleep there one night and it was quite uncomfortable. I couldn't live in that house. I'll find my own place as soon as I leaving here".

"Teddy, you're not in a position to look for a place much less to make a move. It's a lot of work and it's the last thing you need now!"

"The last thing I need now is the permanent reminder of your love nest with your ex-wife slash girlfriend slash mother of your foster child and his teenage mother". She says getting free of my arm.

I huff. "How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't and never was Amelia's house?"

"But she lived there!"

"Are we really going to do this now, Teddy? Now what should matter the most to us is our daughter and her well-being, not Amelia. Besides, what you say doesn't make sense, it's as if you wouldn't want to work here because she works here". She remains silent for a few seconds.

"Let's clarify that this isn't permanent. It'll only be until our daughter is born, as soon as I'm fit again I'll look for my own place".

"As you wish". I say, in agreement with her.

In the end Carina orders Teddy to stay in the hospital first for 24 hours; the contractions came back a couple of hours after Teddy woke up, luckily she stopped them again, even so, what started as 24 hours became 48 hours and although the contractions didn't return, Carina and I thought it was better to have Teddy and the baby under observation.

During those two days I spend my free time cleaning the house and removing all traces of Amelia and Betty, I don't want Teddy to feel uncomfortable in my house. I adapted the one that used to be Betty's room with everything needed to make it Teddy's new room, I changed all the bedding, I put an oil diffuser, I supplied the bathroom with personal hygiene products, I put flowers and went to the hotel for all her belongings and put them in the closet. Everything was ready by the time she was released from the hospital.

When was time to pick up Teddy, I went to buy a huge bouquet of pink, lilac and white tulips for her and a teddy bear for my daughter. I dressed Leo in his best clothes the same as me, and together we went to pick up Teddy at the hospital.

I wasn't ready for what received me when I entered the room.

My mother is there and she doesn't look happy when she sees me. Teddy looks distressed and sad and looks like she had cried.

"Hey, mom! What a surprise!" I say, nervously.

"I say the same, Owen, what a surprise".

"Look mom, we have an explanation—"

"Oh really? How are you going to explain to me that all this time Teddy has been here in Seattle carrying my granddaughter and any of you told me anything?"

I look at Teddy hopeless, she's just as lost and embarrassed as me. Leo stirs in my arm and the bouquet of tulips and the teddy bear are about to fall out of my other arm. I leave the things on the table and Teddy opens her arms for me to give her to Leo who immediately huddles next to her when I sit him in bed.

"Evelyn". Teddy interferes. "This is all my fault, I took too long to tell Owen about my pregnancy and once I did everything was a whirlwind. I'm so sorry, but the last thing I thought was to tell you or Megan... it was hard enough to tell Owen".

"I can imagine the whirlwind." My mother says sounding really upset. "Owen living with his ex-wife and raising two children after going to you to Germany to say he loved you and to get you pregnant... I didn't raise you to do that, Owen!"

"Things were not like that, Evelyn". Teddy says in an attempt to calm my mother. "I kicked Owen out of my house, we fought... it was only fair for him to go on with his life".

"And why did you fight? If I can know, what could be so big? Your fights are never this big, they're the most stupid fights I've ever seen!"

Teddy and I can't look each other in the eye... she's still hurt and I'm still embarrassed.

"He had slept with Amelia only the night before... and she... she sent him to Germany". Teddy says in a soft and trembling voice.

"What?!" Exclaims my mother impressed.

"No, no, no! Things were not like that either!" I intervene.

"Oh no? So it was a lie that Amelia sent you to me after having slept with you?" Teddy says, raising her voice.

"She didn't send me, nobody forced me. I went because I wanted, because I want you, because I love you".

Teddy looks at me with wide eyes likewise my mother. We are all silent looking at each other, the only thing that can be heard are Leo's babbling, suddenly Teddy starts to laugh.

"What?! What's so funny?!" I ask in an annoyed tone.

"You don't expect me to believe you, right?" She says, unable to contain her laughter.

"Why wouldn't you believe him, dear?" My mother asks confused.

"Do you tell her or do I tell her?" Teddy asks me, but this time she isn't laughing, her face is stoic and her voice shows no emotion.

"Tell her what?!"

"Oh God, Owen, stop playing stupid! After I told you about the baby you and Amelia broke up, but still you ran after her, again!"

"She's lying, right Owen? How—"

"Again, things weren't like that! You told me that there couldn't be anything between us, that we were off the table!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?! Is it my fault that you don't know how to be alone?!"

We were both screaming and soon Leo started whimpering. "Ok, both of you stop! You are scaring the child and this doesn't do Teddy good". My mother interferes in an attempt to make us stop, but this is far from stopping. She takes Leo and asks an intern to show her the way to the garden to give him a walk. "I want this solved when I return". My mother warns us before leaving Teddy and me alone.

"You told me, Teddy! Don't deny it, you told me you didn't want anything with me. What did you want me to do? I went on with my life!"

"If you love me as much as you say, why didn't you go for me?!"

"BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT! Okay? Because I didn't want to hurt you anymore, because I already made you suffer enough, you have given up enough for me... all I want is to make you happy... you didn't want to be with me and I thought that would make you happy... then when I saw you with Tom..." With each word I say I get closer to her until I'm sitting on the bed facing her. "I wanted to break his neck and tear his hands off you... I couldn't stand the idea of seeing you with him... it was at that moment that I realized the stupid choice I had made when I went back to Amelia... I didn't know you wanted me to go after you".

"You idiot... every day I dreamed that you would go after me". She tells me, almost crying.

"And I was an idiot... and I didn't go for you... I wanted to make you happy without knowing that I was hurting you more".

"Did you meant it... Germany... Everything you said in Germany was true?"

"Each and every one of my words".

"Then Amelia—"

"Let's not talk about her please, I don't want to talk about her".

"We have to do it Owen, I want to know what place she has now in your life! I don't want you to wake up in 3 years and realize that you made a mistake again".

"She was right... we fell in love over children we no longer have... our attempt of relationship was founded on Leo and Betty, they were the ones supporting and carrying our relationship... Amelia and I were never compatible on our own... and we never will be, she deserves something better".

"I… Owen... I don't know if—"

I don't let her keep talking when I catch her lips between mine, at first she resists, but she ends up yielding to my kiss, I can feel her entire body trembling under my fingers, she cuts the kiss with a soft whimper.

"Don't cry". I tell her sweetly. "I hate to see you cry, it breaks my heart, please don't cry".

"I don't want us to rush this... please, Owen. I don't want us to rush and crash". She tells me, sobbing.

"We'll do whatever you want... we will take this slowly, I will show you every day that you were always my choice... I just wanted to make you happy... and if you give me the chance I will make you immensely happy, you, our daughter, Leo and I will be immensely happy".

She smiles and kisses me again, this time with more urgency. "I missed you". She tells me with that soft voice that always makes my knees shake. "We missed you". She takes my hands and places them on her rounded belly. I kiss it again and again making her laugh.

"I love you". I say looking her in the eyes. "We will take things slowly, this time it will be your choice, it will be all about you".

We kiss again, as if we were two teenagers who have just given their first kiss and can't get enough of that new feeling. That feeling that makes the insides turn upside down and thousands of fireworks explode while leaving you dizzy with love.

"Ok, I expected things fixed, but not so fixed". My mom interrupts us in the midst of a passionate kiss with Leo in a stroller that I don't know where she got it from, making us jump back and blushing like teenagers. "I see that things are clear between you two".

"Something like that... we'll take this slowly". I tell my mother, taking Teddy's hand in mine and rubbing her baby bump with the other.

"Slowly?" She asks us raising an eyebrow and looking at us questioningly.

Teddy laughs and covers her face with her free hand. "I mean we won't get married tomorrow... I want this to really work". She tells my mother, but looking at me all the time. "For us, for our daughter... for Leo".

"I'm glad for you two". Says my mom, smiling widely.

Hours later, after a final check-up in which Carina forbade Teddy to return to work and take things slowly the rest of the pregnancy; She, my mother, Leo and I went home together, we ordered takeout, we all sat down together to eat, talk and laugh.

We planned how to tell Megan that she will be auntie really soon. We thought about starting to plan Leo's first birthday party. In setting up the baby's room. In names for her... it didn't' take much thinking, Teddy and I agreed in less than a minute... Allison.

"Are you sure you agree that we name her that?"

"I'm sure... I know how important she was and is to you... without her you and I wouldn't be here, she's the reason I met you. Without her I would never have crossed your path and you mine, we wouldn't be here... waiting for her". I say placing my hand on her bump. She tries to hold back the tears, but she can't, I pull her into my arms and she cries and laughs softly likewise my mother who sheds a few tears to see us like this, together. Leo for his part doesn't understand what is happening, he is sitting in his high chair babbling and massacring his plate of mashed potatoes and his sippy cup with apple juice.


I know this seems rushed considering how my other fics are, but it's because this will be short :)