TITLE: Family (Chapter 3)
AUTHOR: rcruz
Disclaimer: If I owned them, things would look a lot different. The characters, settings, established histories, and general Grey's Anatomy universe referenced in this work are properties of their respective owners. This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.
The rain started shortly after they began. Allie had gone inside immediately whispering something to Lucas about not getting their clothes dirty. Lucas had considered it for a minute. Diego had seen his little face tilt slightly as he watched his sister make her way back into the house. She sprinted the last few steps when the gentle drizzle changed to a light patter. His gaze then went to Diego, a question in his brown eyes. Diego returned the look with a challenging one of his own. He hadn't meant to. Diego had played in rain, sleet, and freezing cold temperatures plenty of times, so a little rain didn't bother him, but Lucas was only eight for Christ's sake. Diego was the responsible adult here. It was raining and the responsible thing to do was to take his nephew inside. And yet he stood there smiling at him, football in hand almost daring Lucas to stay. Lucas smiled back and called for the ball.
They were soaked and muddy in a matter of minutes, but the dirtier they got, the looser they got. Diego threw longer and harder making little Lucas pump his legs into the next door neighbor's yard before leaping into the air to make the latest catch. Lucas was good and Diego was intent on making him better, but today was not about training, today was just fun. The smaller, softer ball they were using allowed him to throw hard and fast without fear of hurting Lucas and it was a good thing too, because Lucas threw himself in front of that ball often and had gotten whacked in the face a few times as a result. Diego watched him making his way back; cradling the ball close to his body just like Diego had taught him. He increased his speed as he approached and Diego knew the game had changed. Lucas was going to try and get past him. Diego let him come, setting himself up, waiting for Lucas to commit to the left or right. Lucas faked right, spun and then went left. Diego had already committed to the right not expecting the fake, so he had to skid to a stop before shifting the weight on his feet from the right to the left and pushing off toward Lucas. He caught Lucas in a few seconds wrapping his arms around Lucas's waist and hauling him up off the ground before bringing them both down on the muddy grass. Having a nephew was fun.
Lucas was out of breath and laughing.
"I faked you. It worked. Did you see how I faked you?"
"That was pretty cool. Where'd you learn that move, huh kid?"
"Watching basketball last night. But there's no tackling in basketball, so the guy last night didn't get picked up like I did."
Diego laughed. "No, there is no tackling in basketball." He looked at Lucas's rained soaked muddy face and cringed. "We better get you inside and in the bath or your Mommy's gonna kill me when she gets home."
"Aww, just one more, please? One more throw. Please, please, please," he begged.
Diego got up, grabbing Lucas by the shirt and lifting him completely off the ground. "Okay, but you throw, I catch," he said handing Lucas the ball.
Lucas's throws were still pretty wild, but he was getting the hang of it and once Diego had explained the importance of spiraling the ball, all his attention was focused on getting the ball to spiral which made his aim bad. But that just made the catches more fun and challenging for Diego, so he enjoyed Lucas's experimentation. He trotted the equivalent of 15 yards and turned to wait for the catch taking a moment to note the obstacles around him. One never knew what tree or flowerbed Lucas might send him into.
The throw was decent and for once did not go wild. He caught it easily and watched Lucas jump in the air congratulating himself on the accuracy of the throw. He cradled the ball and starting jogging towards Lucas but stopped short when he noticed a strange car pulling into the driveway. He scanned the area quickly, his senses now on full alert. Lucas was watching him, probably waiting for Diego to start making his way back so he could try and tackle him. He went through a mental checklist in his head. Allie was inside with the sitter. Erica and Callie were still at the hospital. Lucas was pretty exposed where he stood and Diego's gun was locked in a safe box in the house across the street. He motioned for Lucas to come back to him, his eyes now focused on the car and the stranger getting out. Diego did not like surprises.
Diego's heart beat picked up its already accelerated beating as he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline course through him, a feeling he had come to identify as his body's response to danger. He expected a man. He expected a well dressed, handsome, all-American, boy-next door looking guy. Instead the person getting out of the car was a woman, a tall gorgeous red head who moved with such grace and self-assurdness that Diego forgot it was raining. Cold, dampness, and rain usually causes people to cringe and turn inward, squint their eyes and look decidedly put out. But this woman could have been stepping out on a nice sunny day. She seemed to glide out of the car, the long trench coat she wore settling around her perfectly as she stood. The rain didn't seem to bother her even as it stained the light colored coat she wore, splotches of rain turning into dark spots on impact. Her hair was perfect, even in rain, falling around her shoulders in a cascade of dark heavy curls that he thought must shine brilliantly in the right light. She bent down, peering into the car and saying something. Apparently she had a passenger with her. Diego blinked knowing he should stop staring and focus on the passenger. Who was it? Who was this stranger? Was she somehow connected to David?
But he couldn't turn away, not yet, because she had closed the car door and was now looking directly at him and that smile froze him in place. It lit up her features and it was so weird to be literally seeing light on a day as dreary and rainy as today that being frozen in place was the only explanation for what happened next. He didn't hear the pounding of little footsteps coming fast. He didn't register the hard breathing, nor did the wild yell Lucas let out before launching himself serve as warning.
He felt the impact to his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and could do nothing as both he and Lucas tumbled toward the ground. He was still trying to get his breath back as Lucas pushed off of him, hands in the air.
"I got him! I got him! Mommy did you see? Did you see? I just jumped and whoosh I got him," he shouted as he jumped.
Crap! The passenger was Callie?
Diego groaned internally. He was afraid to get up. He considered staying where he was, rain splattering his dirty face, the cold mud seeping into his clothes as he lay there. This had to be better than having to face his sister and the beautiful stranger she had brought home.
"What the hell did you do to my kid?" said Callie.
The only problem with his plan to stay put was that his sister was not going to let him. He finally got his bearings and sat up letting the football he had been holding tumble out of his hands. Legs bent, arms resting casually on his knees, he turned squinty eyes and his most innocent charming smile on her.
"Hey sis, nice day, huh?"
"Addy! Addy! Did you see?"
"I sure did and it was spectacular, but can we get inside? I don't know if either of you has noticed, but it's rainy out here," she said moving her eyes from Lucas to Diego. They stayed on him as she pulled her coat closer, a laughing smile on her face. He was immobilized again before his sister's voice broke through the trance.
"I'm sorry Addison. Go inside. You two, go around back. Those muddy clothes are not coming in the house. Allie inside?"
Diego stood. "Yeah, she said something about not wanting to dirty her clothes."
"Smart girl," said Callie.
Addison made her way to the house and Diego's gaze wandered over to her again, as he watched her disappear through the doorway. Lucas was still happily jumping around. He had picked up the football and was tossing it carelessly in the air.
"Hey, wake up!" said Callie snapping her fingers at Diego and pulling him back to the real world.
"Friend of yours?", he asked after clearing his throat.
Callie eyed him suspiciously. "Yes." She turned to Lucas. "Lucas honey, go around back and strip those muddy clothes off and then straight to the bathtub."
"Mom! Addy's here. I can't walk around naked." He sounded horrified. The football slipped from his grasp.
"Ask Allie to get you my jacket. You can use that to get upstairs," said Diego.
Lucas seemed content with that, picking up the football again and tossing it in the air as he made his way to the back of the house.
Callie had the hood of her jacket up, so it was hard to see her face, but Diego was glad of that as he was pretty sure she was smirking and laughing at him.
"Man, haven't seen you that out of it in awhile."
"Whatever," he said, but the response was lacking conviction as his eyes returned to the doorway again.
"Are you staying for dinner?' asked Callie. "Cause Addison will be there," she added and he could hear the teasing tone.
He felt heat make a path up his face and looked at his feet, then shook his head. "I'm heading back to my place for a shower," he answered and then turned to go.
Callie laughed again, but did not stop herself from calling after him. "Erica should be home in a few minutes, so dinner will be about an hour. And by the way, you're washing Lucas's clothes. You got him dirty, you get to clean him up. It'll impress her. Addison likes kids. "
He waved at her in acknowledgement and tried to ignore the laughter that was carrying clear across the street.
This had never happened to him before or rather it hadn't happened since he was 16 years old and finally done with the whole awkward puberty thing. Once his voice changed and he shot up 6 inches, he didn't get thrown for loops like this. He didn't lose himself so completely that he had to struggle to remain in the here and now, to stay in the world, register the scenes in front of him and not get lost in the giddiness rolling around in his stomach.
But there he was struggling for words at the dinner table while Addison and Callie shared amused looks that were sometimes directed at him. He had not been able to complete a full sentence in her presence. It was like she possessed some weird form of magic that would tie his tongue and clear his brain of the little vocabulary he managed to maintain in there on most days. At least Erica hadn't joined in the torture. She just patted him on the hand and asked him if he could help clean up. He had planned on leaving right after dinner, disgusted with his complete and utter dorkiness, because he was not a dork, hadn't been a dork in 15 years. Nevertheless an abrupt departure would be lame, so he silently thanked his sister-in-law for the out she had given him and started gathering dishes, hoping against any hope, given his behavior tonight, that they wouldn't slip out of his hands and come crashing down around him.
He heard his sister tell the kids to get the drawings they had made for Addison and thought he saw a glimpse of her making her way to the kitchen. He set the dishes in his hands down and then reached for Erica's who turned around and met Callie at the entrance to the kitchen taking more dishes out of her hands and putting them on the counter behind her quickly. He reached for those as well and smiled.
They were interesting, the two of them. He had never seen a couple that could so effortlessly create their own little bubble no matter what was going on around them or who was in the room. Erica would reach for Callie's face and Callie would settle her hands on Erica's waist and they would lose themselves in that for awhile. Just like now.
He watched them do their little private dance, speaking to each other with glances and smiles until Erica kissed her lightly. "Be nice to your brother," she said pulling away slowly and pushing Callie out the door. "Go, enjoy Addison and the kids. We'll take care of this."
"Alright, sexy, but we are so finishing this conversation later."
"I'm right here," said Diego loudly. He had no problems with their public displays of affection, but anything beyond that made him squirm.
"Yeah, well good. You might learn something," said his sister on her way out.
"Forget it," said Erica as he opened his mouth to respond. "You'll never win."
"I know," he sulked and turned back to the dishes. In a few seconds it dawned on him that he was back in high school. His older sister was teasing him about girls and he was too skittish to do or say anything around them. He shook his head. No way was he going back to that. He had to get a hold of this.
Minutes later he was at the sink rinsing out dishes and handing them to Erica, still trying to work out how to talk to tall, dark and lovely. Erica interrupted his thought process.
"She's pretty," said Erica.
"Beautiful," he responded absently. He heard her chuckle and let out a frustrated breath. "What the hell? She's just a girl."
"She's a woman, but I understand what you're going through. Completely," said Erica taking the last of the dishes. "Happens to the best of us."
"What happens?" he asked.
"That feeling that something is burrowing itself inside you and making you act and feel...differently."
He dried his hands. "That's not what's happening. It's just… I can't seem to concentrate and act normal. I feel 15 years old again and what the hell, Erica? She's just a girl…I mean woman."
Erica stood arms crossed. "You like her?"
"She's hot! What's not to like and she's smart and so very pretty and she seems sweet. Ugh!" he grunted in frustration noticing how soft his voice had gotten.
"So why don't you do something about it?" asked Erica.
"Like what?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten what you're supposed to do when you meet a nice, pretty girl? Has it been that long?"
"No, but she…Were you not at the same dinner I was at? I'm not sure I could do anything at this point. I'm a complete freaking mess around her. I'm like a drooling idiot who can't talk or walk or anything. Besides…she lives in L.A., so no I'm not going to do anything about it."
"Okay," said Erica in that way that made Diego feel like everything was so not okay.
"On that note, I'm outta here. Thanks for dinner as usual."
"Thanks for helping with the clean-up," said Erica as she watched him walk away, his arms ridiculously raised, fingers intertwined on the back of his head, a stance she could now recognize as worry and frustration. He did if his team was losing during football games and when his father called.
He walked into the combined living and dining room, surprised to find only the kids lounging on the carpet. Allie's nose was buried in a book, her eyes so intent on her reading he wondered if he had missed something about children's books. He had never been that into reading as a kid, finding everything he picked up more boring than what was going on outside his front door.
"Where'd everyone go?' he asked the kids as he went for his jacket.
"Upstairs," said Lucas taking apart Legos and organizing them into color-coordinated piles. Diego slipped his jacket on and heard a phone ringing that sounded like Callie's. He looked around eyeing a phone on the couch and picked it up looking at the face intending to let Erica know the phone was ringing. It felt wrong in his hands and he suddenly realized why. It wasn't Callie's phone, it was Addison's. He was about to set it down exactly where he found it, afraid that it would burst into flames and he would need to explain to Addison how he had broken her phone in the short stuttering phrases he usually used around her since he was incapable of actually producing any real sentences. But he hesitated and in a moment of confidence, rushed and fleeting, he thought about flipping it open and entering his own phone number into her contacts. That was the type of bold action he was used to. But this was not a woman who would take kindly to an invasion of privacy. If he wanted to continue enjoying her smiles, he needed to put the phone down. He set it down carefully. He would just ask his sister for her phone number…maybe.
He made his way to the kids planting quick goodbye kisses on their heads and foregoing his usual ritual of tossing them in the air before making his way out the door.
The next night Diego was sitting in a car waiting. Stake-outs were boring, but he was decidedly not bored and not as relaxed as his partner who was quietly singing out of tune next to him, tapping her hands on the steering wheel all out of beat. He was watching the clock, waiting with his guts turning inside out for it to reach 12:00. By that time Addison should be asleep and it would be safe to send her a message. The change from 11:59 seemed anti-climatic considering all the churning his insides were doing. He took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. He had gotten her phone number from his sister, but he had no desire to talk to her. He'd had enough of stupid stuttering speeches.
Instead he sent her a message. He had already composed the message in his head, so there was only the process of actually typing it.
I can speak in complete sentences.
It wasn't Shakespeare, but it was something and a hell of a lot more than he had managed at dinner last night. He hoped he wasn't waking her and then said a silent prayer that by the time Allie's party rolled around, he could prove to her that he could actually speak in complete sentences. He had one more day to get himself together.
The party was loud and the din of the crowded back yard was making its way onto the street. It worried Erica. She wandered to the front of the house where things were decidedly quieter. This was a quiet neighborhood and while some of their neighbors were here, some of them were not. Allie's party had turned into a much bigger affair than she had anticipated. Her idea of a small gathering fell to pieces the minute they invited anyone from the hospital. Up until that moment, she hadn't realized how intertwined everyone's lives had become. Inviting Mark meant inviting Lexi, which Callie felt meant they had to invite the other Grey and the rag tag bunch around her. How did my life become so full of…people? She was contemplating that thought when she felt a distinctly warm body she recognized at her back. She relaxed into Callie's embrace.
"Stop worrying. Everyone's having a great time," said Callie settling her chin on Erica's shoulder.
"You're right," said Erica rubbing the arms encircling her. "Was that your Dad on the phone?"
Callie let go of Erica and shifted positions until she was in Erica's arm, taking a deep breath and tangling hands in luscious curls.
"Yeah. Him and Mom wanted to wish Allie a happy birthday."
"That's nice."
"I have to tell him."
"Tell him what?" asked Erica, although she already knew.
"Lucas was with her. He didn't say anything, but I could see his little brain working. He and Allie have an Uncle in common, but Allie's grandparents are not his. I think he wonders about it."
"He's a smart kid. He understands that our family is different."
"I don't want our family to be different," sighed Callie pushing her body closer.
"Different is not bad, Callie. It's just…different," said Erica kissing the top of her head.
"Still, it's time. You're going to be Allie's legal guardian. I think it's time he knows about us."
Erica hugged her. "Okay, but not today. We still have presents and cake to get through."
She put an arm around Callie and started walking to the back of the house, the noise level rising with every step they took.
She stopped at the edge of the yard and surveyed the area. Grey's minions were around her having staked out a table near the center of the space in the backyard. Every once in awhile Grey looked around and caught Shepherd's eye as if reassuring herself he was still there. Lexi was attached to Mark or was Mark attached to her? She couldn't tell, but the both of them wandered around together all smiles and laughs. Webber was spending entirely too much time by the cooler that held adult drinks, which had her frowning.
"See I told you everyone was having a good time," said Callie. "I'm getting the cake. Why don't you round up Diego and gather all the presents. Don't let him carry too much though. He's been a klutz all day," she finished kissing Erica full on the lips before stepping away.
Erica chuckled to herself. She looked around for the cause of Diego's newfound clumsiness and found Addison having a good time with Bailey entertaining the kids. She looked around for Diego. He had been spilling drinks and tripping over his words all afternoon. It was a phenomena worthy of study. He was a perfectly normal, good-looking confident guy, but the minute Addison came within 10 feet of him he was a mess. It had even happened once when he had his back to Addison. She had approached him from behind, but like clockwork, he tripped on something and sent a sloshing beer in Mark's direction.
He was getting better though. He was currently just staring at her from a few tables down. He had even managed to talk to her once or at least she hoped there had been words and not stuttering nonsensical phrases coming out of his mouth.
"Hey," she said sitting down next to him.
He had a dreamy look in his eyes and she wondered briefly if she had ever looked like that. She hoped not. He finally picked his head up from its prone position on his hand.
"What's up?"
"I need your manly muscles to help me bring out presents."
"Sure," he said getting up on slightly unsteady feet.
"Whoa there, are you okay?"
"Perfect," he said.
She looked again. His eyes were glassy, but he was standing on his own feet without swaying now. His gaze returned to Addison who was making her way toward them. Erica watched for his reaction, but for the first time, he seemed to be his normal self, even as Addison got closer.
"Hey, are you getting presents?" she asked coming to stand directly in front of Diego.
Erica wanted to answer, but she waited, more interested in how this would play out.
"Yes, we are," said Diego clearly. "You're a very beautiful woman," he added.
Erica almost burst out laughing.
Addison blushed. "Thank you."
"No thanks required. It's just a fact. A very nice fact," he finished and then smiled. He shook his head a little and then turned to Erica. "Presents?"
"I'll help," said Addison.
"They're mostly in the living room. Can you guys handle that while I go help Callie with the cake?"
"I think so," said Diego.
He seemed slightly confused and a little drunk, but still steady on his feet. Apparently what he needed was a little liquid courage. Erica patted him on the back.
"Don't drop anything," she said and went in search of Callie.
However Diego had gotten his courage, Erica was happy he had. He and Addison spent the rest of the night not too far from each other, content to talk only occasionally and trying hard not to make their interest too obvious. Or at least they thought it wasn't obvious. Erica doubted anyone else was fooled, but for the most part that was not what held her attention that night.
There were other more important things that had her attention, like birthday presents you could strum and the look on Allie's face when she touched her guitar for the first time. And then there was Callie's delicious birthday cake and how Lucas sang Happy Birthday in the loudest voice he could. Those were the things she would remember about this very perfect day.
Continued in Chapter 4
