Hey you guys! Thank you so much for all the amazing support : )
Someone asked in the comments that I write about the time Owen and Amelia went to Hawaii and she got pregnant with the twins. I've been getting this prompt quite a lot, so I will write about that as soon as I've finished with this multi chapter :) I hope you guys are enjoying this, feedback is always much appreciated!
My Boys: Bright Future – Chapter 3
"What do you mean?" Amelia tried not to sound too judgmental, even though her initial reaction would be to yell at him, anxious to hear her son's explanation. "Why would they kick you off the soccer team?!"
Amelia knew Lucas was the star player of the school. Even though he wasn't a striker, usually the most talented players, he still had the most notoriety and recognition on the team. As a left defender, Lucas had great leadership skills, being team captain since his sophomore year; was the league record holder of converting free kicks into goals and had scored more header shots than most strikers combined. But not only was Lucas great technically, he was also a very dedicated and reliable player, not missing any matches the previous season and having nearly perfect practice attendance. So, to Amelia, it didn't make sense they were considering to not let him play anymore.
"I was called to the Guidence Counselor's office before my classes started," Lucas explained. "She wanted to discuss my plans for my senior year." He went on, giving his mother time to digest every piece of information. The fall semester had started a couple of weeks before and the team was in a local friendly tournament against other private schools to warm up for the season. "She said that in order to graduate, it's mandatory I take at least these four classes," It was obvious on his face how that information was preoccupying him. "Including a foreign language."
Those were subjects Lucas had specifically been trying to avoid for the past three years in hope that they wouldn't be needed for him to reach all the credits required by the school, but he was wrong. And now they had accumulated to his senior year, which meant he would have not one, but four tough challenges ahead of him.
Amelia knew Lucas never enrolled in challenging classes and she had never forced him to take on anything other than the minimal required to graduate because Lucas had always struggled in school, so most of his available time had been dedicated to sports. Ever since he was a young boy, Lucas had always dreamed of being a professional athlete and even though that was something Amelia and Owen had found hard to get use to, considering none of them had ever had imagined pursuing that path themselves, they were now completely on board with their son's choice.
Lucas had been playing soccer ever since he was very young but it wasn't until elementary school that his parents had really noticed just how good he was. Over the years, his excellence had only improved and now both Amelia and Owen were the biggest supporters of his laid out plan of playing college soccer and then hopefully making it into a major league team someday.
But Amelia knew that athletes were susceptible to injuries, sometimes even having career-ending ones, so she was adamant that Lucas got a solid education in order to guarantee his future, if for some reason he couldn't play soccer anymore or didn't make it in life through the sport. But deep down, she had always believed her son would become a professional athlete. Lucas was incredibly talented and driven when it came to soccer and she only wished he could also channel some of that motivation to fight his way through dyslexia.
"Why is that a problem, Luke?" She tried to understand. "You've cleared out most of the mandatory subjects, last year you had six, now you only have four left. It should give you more free time to study on your last year. That wouldn't take you off the team."
"But failing will," Lucas said and in his eyes Amelia could see the mix of pain, desperation and anxiety. "I need a minimal GPA to play soccer, you know that, mom." Amelia nodded with her head. The school was very strict and wouldn't allow Lucas to play unless he dedicated some of his time to his grades. "I've spent my entire junior year hanging by a thread," That also wasn't news to Amelia. Lucas was below his class average but he had always kept his GPA on the bottom line to be eligible to play. "But mom… Now they want me to learn Spanish." He added with a somber voice.
"So you're going to study harder, try harder and you're going to make it." Amelia firmly said, having trouble figuring out why that was causing her son so much stress. Lucas had had harder classes in the past before and she was sure he could succeed now.
"You don't get it!" He involuntarily raised his voice and paced back and forth, on the verge of a breakdown. "How do you expect me to learn another language?" He pleaded, desperately. His eyes made their way from the floor to his mother's eyes and she noticed for the first time his own had fear. It was painful to watch how hard it was for him to admit his impending failure. "When I can barely read in English?" Lucas's eyes were red and his voice was hoarse. "I can't do it, mom. I can't do it…"
Amelia looked at her usually happy and cheerful son, suffering right in front of her eyes. She closed the distance between them and with one quick movement, embraced him tightly.
The minute his mother's arms involved him, Lucas broke down, unable to control himself. He could foresee his entire future and his dreams going to the drain because of the school rules. And he knew his parents wouldn't ask for special treatment just because he was an athlete or because he had a neurological condition. They had never done it before and they had taught Lucas well that no one deserved special privileges, regardless of who they were.
"You can do it," Amelia held him, absolutely sure of what she was saying. "It doesn't matter how, but you'll learn it. You won't give up, you hear me? I won't let you. You'll stay in school afterhours, we'll hire a private tutor," She started to do what she did best: planning. "Hell, I'll even learn Spanish myself if I have to. Whatever it takes. But you will do this, Lucas. Not because you have to. But because you can."
Lucas heard her words in silence, wondering how in the world he would confess he was in over his head. He didn't want to be an even bigger disappointment to his parents. He already wasn't a good student. And if he couldn't play soccer, he wasn't sure of whom he could be anymore.
"It's not just that, mom." Lucas pulled apart and wiped an unshed tear from his eye, visibly embarrassed to be almost crying. "I have English literature too. And algebra. It's too much and I can't…" He sobbed, remembering how insanely difficult the classes had been in the previous two weeks. When his teacher had started mixing letters with numbers in equations and plotting graphics, Lucas had lost all interest because in his brain, that made absolute no sense. "We had a test today to see how much baggage we had from previous years and I got an F. A freaking F." He looked painfully disappointed at himself. "They don't let you go to college with an F."
Lucas distanced himself from her and looked away. Amelia knew he was ashamed. She also knew his condition wasn't his fault, but Lucas had grown up thinking he was incapable of learning or succeeding. Soccer had been his outlet, the only thing he could do that he was really good at. And now, with the chance of having it taken away from him, it was understandable that he would be freaking out.
And after hearing her son, it finally made sense to Amelia why he had been acting so weird. Ever since school had started, he had been facing his most challenging problem on a daily basis, probably in every class he attended. And that day, after getting proof that his biggest fear was actually coming true, he'd had a nervous breakdown, seeing his entire future in jeopardy.
"You're going to college, Lucas, don't ever doubt that," Amelia said with security, making him look at her again. "We'll think of something, we'll try a different approach. But you'll catch up. You're fully capable of doing it."
Lucas looked at his mom, smiling tenderly. During his entire life, she had never given up on him. His parents had taken him to the best pediatric neurologists in the country, they've read about his condition, studied it themselves and hired every single education counselor there was available in order to help him. Lucas had made a lot of progress over the years and he had always noticed how his parents had tried everything and done their very best to make sure he was getting all the support he needed.
"I'm not Thomas, mom." Lucas said with simplicity. That was something he had long accepted. He would never succeed in school like his brother and he feared sometimes that their parents forgot about that. It wasn't just about trying harder. Sometimes, it came to a point where he actually couldn't be more productive. And that was particularly hard, considering both his parents were acknowledged doctors and his sister and three brothers were just as successful, all being ranked at the top of their classes. "I'm not going to Harvard, hell, at this pace, I might not even go to community college."
Amelia knew dyslexic patients often dropped out of school and didn't succeed in their careers but she would never let Lucas give up on himself.
"I never expected you to be like Thomas." Amelia assured him, glad he had said it. She knew Lucas felt even worse about his condition because his brother was the brightest student in school. "I always expected you to be exactly what you are. And you are awesome. You make me proud every day." She went to him again and held his face between her hands, seeing his beautiful boyish face assaulted by anguish. "You are not a disappointment to me, Luke."
Amelia noticed his lower lip started trembling again. There it was. She had finally reached the root of the problem and she was glad she had said it, because it was exactly what Lucas needed to hear. Hugging him again, she rubbed his back and said with absolute certainty.
"You'll play your game tomorrow and you'll do great," She smiled, knowing very well he needed that encouragement. "And on Monday, we'll be in school first thing in the morning to discuss with your counselor what's the best plan for us this semester."
"Okay." Lucas sniffed, visibly touched and more at ease. He felt like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders and was relieved he had gathered the courage to come clean to his mother about what was happening.
"And we will get through this, together." She looked deeply into his eyes, so he knew she meant it. "As a team."
And Lucas didn't even need to say another word. Because in his eyes, she instantly saw the light shinning again. He wasn't alone, he had never been.
"Team Hunt," Lucas sheepishly lifted his open palm, offering it to his mom, in a gesture he'd done hundreds of times before and was now far too familiar.
"Team Hunt," She replied, giving him a kiss on the head before taking his hand in hers.
.
The following day, when Lucas was warming up for his game, he took a look to the bleachers and saw his family sitting in the front rows. His mother was sitting between his twin brothers, happily chatting with one of them while the other kept busy eating popcorn with their little sister. His dad was sitting right behind them, paying attention to the players on the field while he talked to Jackson Avery, whose son Joey was also on the team. Only Thomas wasn't there, because he had gone to a yacht sail with his girlfriend's family, despite their mother's rant earlier that morning about how Tom was becoming a total stranger, missing out on the family events.
Lucas knew his dad was an avid sports fan and was proud to have gotten that passion from him. He noticed the families of the other players were around as well and couldn't help grinning when one of the cheerleaders on the field smiled at him and blew a kiss in his direction.
Lucas pretended to catch it with his hand and put it on his heart, making the girl laugh. He was halfway in her direction when the coach pulled him by the collar, telling him to go prepare for the initial whistle.
Five minutes into the game, Amelia saw something within the corner of her eyes that caught her attention. On the opposite side to where they were sitting, she saw Thomas walking in, hand in hand with a blonde girl whose face was painfully familiar. He was wearing a navy shawl collar sweater and elegant slacks. Amelia could tell he wasn't dressed for a soccer game and had probably come from his girlfriend's family yacht event sooner than planned. She wondered what had made him change his mind about it.
"Look, there's Barbie and Ken," Megan pointed to where her older brother was standing, holding hands with his girlfriend.
"Meg," Amelia reprimanded her out of obligation, but couldn't help smiling.
"Are they coming here?" Megan asked, visibly annoyed. "If she talks to me like I'm a baby again I'm going to throw popcorn at her face."
"Megan!" Amelia reprimanded again, but deep inside she felt proud that her daughter was unknowingly so loyal.
Amelia watched as Thomas embarrassingly sat next to his family, as if he had reservations about being around them while with his girlfriend. Amelia saw him say something in her ear and then pointed to the field, but just as she focused her eyes on the field again, she couldn't help scanning through the crowd and noticing something interesting.
Katherine Karev, Alex and Jo's oldest child, had her eyes focused on Thomas and Missy instead of the game. Amelia noticed the girl kept a heavy frown on her face and wondered if Kate also wasn't a big fan of Thomas' girlfriend. She knew Kate and her son had always been close friends since first grade and she had noticed how they'd grown apart over the last few months but she hadn't yet had a chance to talk to Thomas about it.
Amelia was so caught up in her own thoughts that she was startled when a loud sound brought her back to reality. Among cheers and boos, she turned to her right, in search of an answer and Robbie explained that Joey Avery had just suffered a foul close to the opposite team's area. Amelia looked up and saw Owen behind her, seeing the smile on the corner of his lips and the pride stamped on his eyes as their son took the ball, putting it on the mark made by the referee, a few yards to the left of the goal. Lucas took three strides back and at the sound of the whistle he converted the free kick into a goal, making the bleachers bounce with the roar from the crowd.
"Lucas is out of this world… He is too damn good," Jackson Avery commented in Amelia's ear to be heard among the loud cheers, making her smile from ear to ear with pride. Jackson and April's son Joey was the team's number one striker, but everyone knew Lucas' talent and skill was unbeatable.
Minutes later, the referee blew the final whistle and Amelia watched with delight as Megan ran from the bleachers to her brother's arms, being firmly placed high on his shoulders, where she loved to be. Amelia felt Owen's arm wrapping around her shoulder when he gave her a kiss on the temple, as they watched their son being once again acclaimed by the crowd together. They noticed how much Megan enjoyed the attention, being at the center of the field among the entire team. Once again thanks to Lucas, the soccer team had made it to the final match and that was reason enough to celebrate.
.
Once the game was over, Amelia went out with Maggie for a coffee, to catch up on their lives and see each other outside of work. Both brought their daughters and talked for hours at a bookshop café while the girls happily chatted over books on some colorful cushions nearby. On their way back home, Claire joined them for a sleepover at Megan's house.
When Amelia got home with the two ten year olds, she wasn't surprised to find out her four sons had company. Matt Robbins and Joey Avery were playing videogames with Thomas and Lucas on the living room TV, while Robbie and Danny were crouched down by one corner playing a board game with Jack Karev, Kate's thirteen year old brother.
As usual, the living room was a mess. There were joysticks and shoes everywhere and overnight bags were on the couch. It wasn't the first Saturday night that Amelia saw her house turned upside down and it probably wouldn't be the last. But she didn't mind one bit. She loved that her children brought over their friends and she knew Owen felt the same.
Thomas had once told her that his and Lucas' friends thought their parents were the coolest because they actually talked to the kids and participated in their games and jokes. Amelia knew she and Owen didn't do it to look 'cool' or anything like that, but because they genuinely enjoyed being around their kids and meeting their friends, especially the ones they've seen growing up and had come to adore over the years. They had always had a very close relationship with their five children and she knew they all felt comfortable and confident enough to share anything with their parents.
"Where's Kate?" Amelia noticed the girl wasn't present, picking up one very stinky sock from the coffee table and waving to see who'd claim it.
"Mine," Robbie took it as Megan and Claire kneeled down on the floor to join them on the game.
"She didn't want to come," Joey turned his head to face their friends' mom. "Something about a paperwork?" He wondered, pressing the buttons on the joystick. "I'm not sure."
Amelia immediately looked for Thomas' eyes, paying attention to see if he would offer any more explanations considering he was historically the closest one to Kate but he simply looked away, apparently unaffected, but Amelia could distinguish how uncomfortable with the topic he really was.
"Ok, who is hungry?" She excitedly asked, seeing everyone was probably staying over for their night, as usual.
"Dad already ordered pizza," Lucas grinned, visibly satisfied. He was always hungry and that wasn't news to anyone.
Owen had just come from the kitchen when the doorbell rang and the boys rushed to the front porch. Amelia laughed with them, watching as Owen was summoned to play videogames with the boys and got schooled by Thomas, who won by a great advantage.
"Geez, dad, even mom is better at this than you," Danny pointed out, referring to the virtual soccer game.
"I am better at doing it than playing pretend," Owen raised an eyebrow, making the boys laugh at Amelia's expression of incredulity.
"Alright guys, I'm going to take the girls upstairs because they're already half asleep," Amelia noticed Megan and Claire were dozing off on the couches. "Jack, Rob and Dan, come on, let's go get ready for bed," She noticed it was past midnight already. "You guys don't stay up too late, if it's not raining tomorrow maybe we could have a barbecue outside?" She raised her eyebrows in question to Owen, who nodded in approval.
Amelia helped Megan and Claire settle in the girl's room and then got an extra mattress for Jack and put it in the twins' room, telling the boys not to stay up chatting until late hours. When she made it back to her own suite, she found Owen already under the covers, comfortably lying back while watching the news.
"Did you tell the boys not to stay up late?" He distractedly asked, focusing on the TV while Amelia changed into her typical sleepwear: one of his pajama shirts that was too large for her size. "If we let them, they'll stay up until dawn playing that thing."
"Yeah, I told them," Amelia said, turning off the lights to get on her side of the bed.
She noticed Owen's serene expression and couldn't help wrapping her arms around him, leaning over by his side on the bed.
"Do we have to be up early tomorrow?" He asked, giving her a kiss on the forehead before turning his eyes back to the TV.
"I don't think so… I only have one patient admitted but Edwards is going to round on him tomorrow." She clarified, gently running her hands on the back of his head.
"Maybe then you could actually sleep in?" He raised his eyebrows playfully, teasing her because Amelia was often up very early. "And by that I mean later than 7 am?"
She chuckled and bent over for a quick kiss, enjoying it when he held her closer, making her rest her head between his shoulder and chest. Owen's other hand rubbed the skin of her naked thigh delicately, while he watched the reporter talking about a cyclist that had been hit by a driver on one of the city's busiest streets.
Amelia glanced over at the side of his face, noticing the hard curve of his jaw. She loved how rough his face was and how masculine he looked.
"Babe, today Maggie and I had a funny conversation."
"Yeah?" Owen inquired, still with his eyes on the TV. He knew his wife and her best friend were always exhaustively discussing their lives and often seeing too much into things.
"She confessed she hasn't had sex in a while," Amelia shared. "Good sex, at least. And then she asked me how many times we have sex, you know, in average… She said she feels like she and Andrew have fallen into a boring routine." Amelia thought about that, thinking how awful it must have been to feel that way. "You know, as if there's no excitement anymore. Just the plain boring, same old thing." Owen knew Maggie had been married to Andrew Deluca for a decade now and he honestly wasn't interested in their sex life. He was about to ask why Amelia was telling him that when he heard her ask, in her usual fire mouth manner, "Babe, have you ever felt like you wanted to have sex with someone else during the time we've been married?"
Owen immediately took his eyes from the TV and gave her his full attention. She noticed when his eyes widened and his forehead became heavily frowned.
"I mean, have you ever looked at an attractive woman and thought, 'I'd tap that'?"
"Amelia!"
"I am just asking," She replied with a livid face.
"No, I have never thought that" He replied, torn between shock and amusement, unsure of why she was asking him that. "Have you? What kind of question is that?"
Amelia laughed and pulled him closer.
"No, I haven't!" Amelia confessed with a smile. "Think about it, isn't that super weird?" She chuckled, seeing his confused expression. "I know it's politically correct that I shouldn't feel attracted to anyone else because I am married but we both know that's not usually how it goes, I mean… People often don't act on it, but most people I know who've been in a long relationship say they would have sex with someone else if they could. That they wanted to."
"They would?" Owen raised one eyebrow at her, curious as to where that conversation was going. It was typical for Amelia to lure him into an absurd conversation without him realizing it until it was too late. She spoke so fast and so randomly that he was always surprised when, by the end of the conversation, she came up with a sense or elaborated point.
"Yes!" She laughed at his exasperation. "They would. Maggie told me today she has this list of people she could have sex with without Andrew ever complaining about it… They came up with it together. Sort of like a free pass list. He has one too. But the names on it are so absurd they're unlikely to ever happen, I mean," She smiled contagiously, clearly having fun. "When was it that he would ever meet Nicole Kidman and she'd want to have sex with Deluca?"
Owen laughed along, seeing how much she was enjoying herself.
"Do we have a list?" He asked, unsure of where she was going with that.
"We don't," She smiled at him, touching her nose to his and keeping her eyes open. "Wait, would you want a list?" She asked with a heavy expression.
"No," He said with honesty. "Why? Would you have sex with someone else if you could?" He possessively asked, holding her tighter in his arms. "I mean, technically you could, but…"
Amelia leaned in and kissed his face repeatedly, holding his face between her hands.
"That's my point!" She grinned widely, as if he had just made a huge discovery. Owen starred at her in plain confusion while she rubbed her thumbs on his cheeks, "It's what I've been trying to say, babe, I wouldn't" He heard the sound of her wonderful musical laughter. "I actually wouldn't and it feels kind of creepy to think that," She confessed and stopped talking, taking a deep breath to figure out she was surprising even herself. "I actually don't want to have sex with anyone else."
"So, let me see if I've got this straight," Owen shifted her in his arms, so he could look directly into her eyes. "You're saying you don't want a free pass list because opposite to what most married people feel, you don't want to have sex with someone else?"
Amelia nodded in agreement.
"Why couldn't you just have led with that?" He shook his head.
"But you understood it perfectly," She kissed his face. "I don't know why you even say I'm confusing."
Amelia looked at the TV and Owen couldn't help laughing while nodding his head in disapproval. It wasn't possible she thought it was somewhat easy to understand her complicated logic. But somehow he did.
Owen kept her in his arms while they watched the news, both already relaxing again. But his curiosity wouldn't go away. When the TV reporter went on a break, he looked into her eyes once more.
"And when Maggie asked you how often we had sex, what did you tell her?" Owen raised one eyebrow, curious about her answer. "Did you tell her the truth?"
"I didn't want to make her feel worse, so I told her more than two, less than five. But I have a feeling she thought I meant in a month."
"Oh, really?" Owen smugly leaned over her.
"I couldn't say that was our weekly ratio," Amelia smiled broadly, showing off her adorable dimples that always drove him crazy with passion for her. "It would feel too much like I was bragging."
"You are a great friend," He let her know, looking proudly at his wife.
"Yeah, screw it… Maggie can suck it up, because we're the best at this marriage thing," Amelia playfully offered him her hand for a high 5.
"It's not a competition, babe," He laughed at her excitement.
"But she wishes she was sucking it up, if you know what I mean." Amelia laughed at her own joke.
"You can't be serious…" Owen gave up talking halfway through his speech, thinking he should have known better by now. Laughing along her, he watched with amusement as Amelia rested her head on his chest again, slowly dozing off.
Owen ran his hand on the length of her arm, pulling her closer. Soon after, he felt her yawning and before she moved to her own side of the bed, Owen held her jaw with his hand and brought her face closer to a long, insistent kiss that washed Amelia's mind of every last thought, making her finally fall into a peaceful sleep.