Two days later, I had signed Emma's discharge papers and we were ready to go home. Dr. Hunt had given both James and I the day off to get her settled in. Tonight, Derek, Meredith, Arizona, Callie, Mark, Lexie, and hopefully Christina and Owen were coming over to celebrate. Raegan and Adam were stuck working, unfortunately, but we knew they'd be over soon enough. Derek and Meredith were bringing Zola, and Mark, Callie and Arizona would be bringing their two children, Sophia and Jamie.
I hadn't actually known much about my coworkers' children before deciding to foster/adopt Emma. It turns out the Derek and Meredith had adopted Zola from Africa after Karev had flown her here for neurosurgery. It was a difficult ride, but in the end, they obtained custody.
The Torres-Robbins children, on the other hand, were quite a different story altogether. I had known Callie had been in a car accident that caused her to deliver Sophia prematurely. But what I didn't know was that Callie was terrified of getting pregnant again after Sophia's birth. Callie wanted a big family, Arizona knew this, even though she personally didn't want to. Four months after Sophia was born, Arizona was carrying a baby, with Sloan again as the father- but as a sperm donor. My respect for Arizona, already high, had gone through the roof at her selfless act. Seven months later, as a premature baby, Jamie Sloan Torres-Robbins completed their family. Now, Sophia and Zola were almost five, and Jamie was four. There was more than just a celebratory pizza party going on tonight; all the doctors were hoping that Emma might make some friends. She had never had a friend before.
"Ready, kiddo?" James asked Emma as I finished signing paperwork. Emma had been so excited these past two days that she had hardly stopped talking. At first, she had asked them the most random questions- if their home had a basement and a closet. Guessing that it was related to her dark past, James told her that they had a basement, but it was only for watching Seahawks football and Scooby-Doo marathons and closets were only for clothes. This seemed to satisfy her, and then she asked about the backyard, if there was a playroom, and what her room was like. We told her everything but what her room was like, saying we wanted to surprise her. To our amusement, she tried pouting. James almost gave in, and I knew that she would be a daddy's girl.
James bent down and Emma climbed onto his back. This was now her favorite way to be transported after Owen had done it around the peds ward. It was interesting how what Lexie had said was true; the surgeons were a huge, extended family. Now, it was Uncle Owen, Aunt Meredith, and so on. James and I were still interns, still ran around doing mundane tasks, still got yelled at by all the attendings, but when the job was done (for about twenty minutes, it always seemed like) they were family.
For me, who had never even had a loving family, it was hectic, but great.
We pulled up to our home a short while later. James helped Emma get unbuckled out of the black Jeep Wrangler while I just stared at it.
It was almost like something off of a calendar. It wasn't located too far away from the Shepherd's home, but there weren't any other houses around, and lush forest surrounded the house. The house was two stories, gray bricks, and although snow was covering the ground right now, in the spring the grass would be green and James promised we could grow a garden. The backyard held a deck with a state-of-the-art grill and a hot tub. When it was warmer, we would add a swing set and, money permitting, an in ground pool.
James carried Emma again on his back to the front door. I unlocked our home and we stepped in.
The first floor was pretty basic. An entryway, kitchen that conjoined with a living room that had a huge sectional couch and a huge flat screen with a Wii U (for 'Emma' James had insisted), a study, a bathroom, and a playroom. The living room had huge windows that looked out onto the backyard and made the room seem open and bright. The upstairs had three bedrooms (Theirs, Emma's, and a guest) two bathrooms, and the laundry room. There was also the basement, embellished with another sectional sofa, stereo, huge TV, a case filled with movies (Disney and Scooby-Doo being the latest additions) an Xbox, and a Nintendo 64 from James' childhood; a separate room that had free weights, a treadmill, and a punching bag; and conjoined to the area that had the couch was a space with a well-stocked bar, pool table, and air hockey table. Thank God that most of the furniture (except Emma's things) had already been paid for before Mrs. Eckerton had cut James off. When showing Emma the basement, she was hesitant to even look somewhere other than my collarbone until James showed her his Nintendo 64 and Princess Peach's Slide in Super Mario 64.
After she finally made it down the beginner level slide without falling out, I asked her "Emma, don't you want to see your room?"
I carried her to her room because her leg was still hurting her. James was got there before us and turned on the lights in her room and put her hospital bag down before coming back out and firmly shutting the door. His face was shining with his enthusiasm.
I set Emma down. "Go on, open the door," I encouraged as she clung to my hand. Pulling me behind her, she reached up and opened the door. She gasped, and the biggest smile I had ever seen before lit up her face.
The room was Scooby-Doo themed. Her bed resembled the Mystery Machine and her sheets had the characters on it. The walls were painted with the colors and pattern of the show's trademark vehicle. Posters decorated the walls. James had placed her stuffed animal Scooby on her bed already. Besides the usual dresser, desk, chair, lamp, and toybox, there was also a bookshelf stuffed full of my and James' favorite childhood books, along with some newer ones and some that the other surgeon parents had recommended. Almost immediately, she dropped my hand, ran over to the bookshelf, and pulled out a book. Coming back to James and I, she hugged James legs and then mine. "This is the best!" She shouted. She then opened the book (upside down) and sat on the floor, 'reading'. James chuckled. "Want me to read it to you, pretty girl?"
"No! I am reading!"
Suddenly, a terrible thought crossed through my mind. She was five. She couldn't read?
I could tell by James' expression he had thought the exact same thing. I had been reading by the time I was three. However, I was uncommonly accelerated for my age. "We'll talk to the Shepherds and Torres-Robbins later," I murmured, which brought me to another issue.
"Hey, Emma?" I asked, gently taking the book from her. "Uncle Mark, Aunt Lexie, Aunt Arizona, Aunt Callie, Uncle Derek, Aunt Meredith, and maybe Uncle Owen and Aunt Christina are coming over later. Is that okay?"
"Yay! I miss them!" She smiled, closing the book. "When?"
I checked my watch, "In about an hour. But they're also going to bring their kids."
She stared at me with her big blue eyes. "Why, Ally?" she demanded. "Do you not like me anymore?"
I had told her that since James and I are her parents now, she could call us James or Dad and Ally or Mom, it was up to her. She was old enough to remember her parents, so I didn't want to force her. It was completely up to her. My heart broke at her fearful expression, and I picked my pretty little girl up. and sat on the bed with her. James sat on the other side. "Of course we like you! Everyone likes you. But you know how James and I are your parents now?" I waited for her nod to continue, "Well, Uncle Derek and Aunt Meredith have a little girl too, named Zola. They're her parents. Do you understand?"
"So you're my parents, and.. Zola.. calls Uncle Derek Dad and Aunt Meredith Mom?"
"Exactly, Emma, you're so smart," James smiled. "Uncle Mark, Aunt Arizona and Aunt Callie, they have two little girls, Sophia and Jamie. And all three of them are going to come over tonight and play with you."
She smiled broadly. "I can show them my toys and books and we can play games?" She asked, like it was the strangest thing that had happened.
"Of course! If you're nice to them, and they're nice to you, you could even be friends," I told her.
"Only good little girls have friends," she said with a sad expression.
I tickled her. "Good thing you are a good little girl, then!"
She looked unsure, but then smiled at me. "Yeah! I am!" She shrieked, before hugging me around the neck.
After a while, Emma began to color at her desk, and James went to go get the pizza. Surprisingly, through text Owen let me know everyone was able to get out of work to come over. Emma was very excited to meet the kids that could potentially be her friends. A little after the time we told people to show up, the doorbell rang. Emma jumped, not used to the sound, but then smiled. "My friends are here!"
She tried running out of the room, but her brace made her clumsy, and she almost fell. I scooped her up and helped her down the stairs. She reached for the door, but I held her back. "Even if you think you know who's at the door, only let James or I answer, okay?" I asked. I waited for her nod before opening the door, and Emma laughed with glee when she saw that the Torres-Robbins were here. I ushered them inside, out of the cold, and shut the door.
"Emma! How do you like your new home?" Arizona asked, putting Jamie down. Jamie really was the spitting image of her mother, from the blonde hair to the dimples. She smiled at Emma, and I realized that she even had Arizona's 'super-magic smile'. Whether it was the smile or that I had told Emma that these girls could be her friends, Emma stuck out her hand to Jamie. "Hi, I'm Emma Tate-Ecton," she said proudly.
Arizona and Callie smiled widely. I was grinning like an idiot. I hadn't told her my last name or James' last name since the day she was admitted, but someone, she had remembered and connected the fact that Jamie had the surname Torres-Robbins, so she would be Tate-Eckerton. Even if she had botched James' last name. Hell, this combined with the fact that she would normally hide her head in my hair when confronted with someone she didn't know, this was enough to make my week.
Jamie completely ignored Emma's hand and went in for a hug. "Madre and Momma said that you say hi to friends with a hug," she announced before wrapping her arms around Emma. I froze, expecting Emma to freak out. She hated physical contact by anyone other than Dr. Robbins, James and myself, and for some reason, Owen. To everyone's surprise and relief, Emma only hesitated for a second before hugging Jamie back.
Sophia tapped her sister on the back. "Hey! I want to hug my friend, too!" she demanded, making the adults laugh.
Something of the similar sort happened when Zola arrived, except seeing Meredith and Derek's expressions at the shy girl turned wild child was priceless. Emma ran from the living room to the door as fast as her injured leg could carry her, but stopped herself from reaching for the doorknob and impatiently waited for me to get there.
Callie had laughed. "Wow, I can't even get these two mijas to wait for us to open the door! Nice work, Tate," she complimented.
When I opened the door, Emma shouted out in one breath 'Hi-I'm-Emma-you're-my-friend-so-can-I-hug-you?" before almost tackling Zola in a hug.
Derek and Meredith both looked stupefied, but then Meredith surprisingly pulled me into a hug. "You changed her life, Tate. You're a mom. Congratulations."
By the time James had returned with the pizzas, Emma, Jamie, Sophia, and Zola were thick as thieves, becoming fast friends as only young children can seemingly obtain. They were building a 'surprise' for us out of LEGOs in the playroom, and much to the doctors amusement, the kids had all but kicked the adults out. With a stern warning of "no wrestling " from Arizona to Jamie, they had left them to it. Knowing that it would be impossible to tear the kids away from the 'surprise' to eat dinner, we gave them ten minutes to finish it and started eating pizza.
The other adults started talking amongst themselves about the Seahawks, and I decided everyone was sufficiently distracted to ask Meredith about schooling.
"Meredith, what age did Zola start reading?"
"A little after her fourth birthday. Why, what's up?"
"I don't think Emma can read. She's older than five. I think we're going to have to get her tested, to see what level she's at before just throwing her back in to school," I muttered, disappointed I didn't think about this sooner.
Meredith laughed. "You're worrying you're a bad mom already, aren't you?"
Arizona and Callie were listening in. "Remember, kids are resilient. Kids are smart. She can catch up," Arizona assured me. "She obviously has never had someone care about her education before, and she's only been in school, total, a couple weeks. Get her a tutor, she'll catch up, or just enroll her in regular kindergarten, and she'll catch up. She's a smart girl."
"Why don't you enroll her in the same school Zola and Sophia are in?" Callie suggested. "It's close to the hospital, there's a bus that goes directly to the daycare at the hospital, and Emma will know kids in her class, making the transition easier."
"That's a great idea, I'll give you the contact information later," Meredith smiled.
"I'm just saying, the Patriots are gonna crush Seahawk-ass this year!" Christina smiled. I laughed. I didn't know much about football, but I was certain that if I didn't root for the Seahawks, James would be appalled.
"ALLY!" Came a scream. Within ten seconds, the ten surgeons were at the door to the playroom, pizza and beer forgotten.
It took me another few seconds to realize there was no danger, just four little girls with huge grins on their faces. "We built the hospital!" Zola announced. "I'm gonna be a bone doctor like Aunt Callie."
Derek and Meredith mock pouted before Sophia announced she was going to be a 'neuro', causing Christina to shake her head. "Nope, nuh uh, you're my godchild, you're going to be a cardio God one day!"
"No, I'm going to be a cardio God one day and fix hearts like you!" Emma said, giving a smile.
The three girls looked at Jamie. "What about you?" Zola asked.
Sophia scoffed. "She's only four, she don't know."
"That's okay, Jamie, even Uncle James and Aunt Ally don't know what type of surgery they want to specialize in," Callie explained. "You don't have to be a surgeon, or a doctor, at all if you don't want to be."
Jamie gave Callie a smirk. "I'm going to be like Uncle Owen and be in charge of everyone!" she announced adamantly, causing the adults to crack up and the other three kids to pout.
Suddenly, the pagers attached to the hips of every doctor in the room went off. "Pile-up car crash," Owen announced. "All hands on deck, interns, take the kids to the daycare before coming to the pit. Let's go, people!"