TITLE: THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE 14/15?
CHAPTER 14
Addison, Calliope and I sit in Addison's office for the next hour as I begin to tell Addison about the little boy I helped raise for five years with my former girlfriend and then one day they both were gone. Out of my life for good at least that is what I thought until today.
I tell Addison the story that I told Callie when we first met and began dating about how Carly and I met in our first year at college. We both went to BostonCollege as she majored in law and I in medicine. From the first party we met each other at, we hit it off and about a month later we began dating.
But then an old boyfriend of Carly's shows up one day on campus and he found out about the two of us. One night, about six months later, Carly was leaving an evening class on her way to her car, her old boyfriend accosted her in the parking lot and before she even knew what was happening two of his friends showed up to help him put her into his car as the three of them drove off with her and took her to an abandoned warehouse where they held her captive for three days as they took turns raping her over and over. Then the night of the third day as her parents pleaded for her safe return, one of the friends of her boyfriend called police to tell them where she was and what had to happen to Carly and who was responsible.
The trial for these three men started thirteen months after the attack and Carly had given birth to Liam a few months earlier. When Carly found out she was pregnant three months after the attack, she could not bring herself to abort the baby. She convinced herself that it was not the baby's fault for being created the way that he was brought into this world so I supported her decision to have the baby.
For the next five years we raised Liam together with the help and support of both of our families. Then one day it all changed and they were gone. My father used every resource available to him as he tried to find out where Carly and Liam had gone. My father did find the security tape of Carly, Liam and Carly's parents leaving Boston's Logan Airport for a flight to Paris France. Then that is where the search disappears as there is evidence that shows that the four of them arrive in Paris but does not show any of them leaving Paris. Then and only then when we have exhausted all the searches into finding my girlfriend and her son, I move to Baltimore to begin my internship and residency at Johns Hopkins.
When I completed my internship and residency at Johns Hopkins I stayed on and began my fellowship there too. Then several years later I received the job offer from Chief Webber at SeattleGraceHospital as I move to Seattle. I never once gave up hope that one day I would see my sweet baby boy again…that I would see my Liam. Then my wife stands to say "Take me to meet him, Arizona. I want to meet your Liam". My wife pulls on my hands to raise me up as we leave Addison to go in search of Liam.
I walk first into Liam's room to ask "Would you like a couple of visitors" as he smiles at my wife and me and says "Yes please" in a joyous tone as he is wearing an eye patch over his right eye. I take a seat on the edge of his bed as Callie takes a seat in the chair next to Liam's bed. Liam turns to Callie and says "You must be mama's wife" as I watch Callie say "Yes I am and you must be Arizona's baby boy" as Liam smiles beck to her and says "Yes ma'am I am.
"My name is Liam and it is so nice to meet you, Callie". As the two of them shake hands and smile at each other the doctor in me begins to look over Liam's chart and begins to ask some questions. "Liam has Dr. Sheppard been into see you today"? Liam answers me "Yes ma'am and he says I can have solid foods until 6pm and clear liquids until midnight and then Dr. Hunt came in to tell me that my surgery will be tomorrow at 9am. Do you think we could have a pizza tonight for dinner"?
Liam shows me his pout and puppy dog eyes as my wife looks at me with the same expression and I cave in to the both of them and say "Yes". I text Alex to ask him to pick up a couple of pizzas at Tony's Pizzeria around the corner from the hospital and to make one of the pizzas Hawaiian for Liam and then meet us up in Liam's room to have dinner with us. Alex texts me back to say "Ok boss, give me about thirty minutes and I'll be there". Alex arrives exactly thirty minutes later with the pizzas and some IBC root beer as the four of us share a dinner and conversation.
For the next few hours Liam tells the three of us about his life with his mother and stepfather and fills us all on the details of what happened when he and Carly left me in Boston. My baby boy pulls me closer to him as he holds my hand in his and lays them on his chest. "Mama, I know that you would rather hear all the details of why mother and I left you from her but…but she can't tell you. She died this past January from pneumonia in Scotland…Edinburgh to be exact".
I take a deep breath in disbelief and say to my boy "What…what happened to you all those years ago"? Liam scoots himself up in his bed as he begins to tell his story. "A few weeks before we left you I remember hearing my mother and my grandparents talking about what happened to her and about me. Then they began talking about one of the men being granted early parole for his confession and for good behavior in prison for what he had done to my mother. There was some talk about this man…this man that raped my mother…he could possibly be my father.
My grandfather suggested that the four of us move out of the country to get away from this man. But my mother did not want to leave you behind…she loved you, mama. My grandparents convince her to leave with them and they would contact you and tell you where we were so you could come for us. But once we moved around for a few months, to throw off anyone trying to find out our true destination, we settled in Scotland…then nothing…no word from you or your parents…for months…years…nothing".
Liam and I hug each other as I whispered to him "I tried…your grandparents tried but we could not find either of you" as Liam pushes my body back off of his to say "I know you did…but it wasn't until my mother was dying that I finally knew the truth. You see mama, my mother received a letter about a year after we left the states supposedly from you saying that you did not want us to come back and that you did not love us anymore for not trusting you with the truth. Well you can read it for yourself. Dr. Karev could you hand me my backpack please"?
We all watch Liam root through his backpack to release a letter that shows the wear and tear and discoloration on the envelope as he hands me the letter. I open it and begin to read it to myself as I whisper "Judy" and then pass the letter onto my wife as I turn back to my boy and say "You know I did not write this letter don't you Liam"? As my son takes the letter and the envelope out of my wife's hands and says "Yes mama I know that now but I did not know that at the time. It was not until my mother showed me this letter a few months ago that I realized that it was a forgery because she told me her cousin Judy wrote the letter. Look at the date of the letter and look where the letter was mailed from" as Alex reads the date and the postal stamp out loud I whisper "I was never in Boston on that date. I was in California during that time of the year because we always celebrated Christmas in San Diego with my parents". Liam smiles and says "You see it too, that is when I knew this letter was not from you" as I kiss my boy and say "Yes I do".
Alex is leading Liam back to his bed as he has just gone to the bathroom on his own after the four of us ate the two pizzas and drank a dozen IBC root beers. Liam gets settled back into his bed as he says "Mama, there is so much more I need to tell you. Can you all stay a little longer"? Alex's pager goes off as he tell Liam "Gotta go dude, but you can tell me the rest of the story later alright" as Alex begins to leave the room and Liam say "You got it Dr. Karev" as Alex says "It's Alex or Karev now that we know each other on a personal level, dude".
Then I look over to my wife as I say "Do you want to stay a little longer or are you ready to call it a night"? My wife smiles that special smile that is only for me as she says "We can stay a little while longer, baby" as I place a pillow behind her back for support and kiss her and her belly.
Then Liam continues "My mother knew that she needed to plan something out to try to get the two of us out of Scotland and away from her parents so they could not take me away from her custody but she knew that she could not do it on her own. So the plan was when I was old enough to apply for college or university that I would apply for ones in the U.S. then when I was accepted that we would travel back to the U.S. So then when my mother's good friend David, who was also gay and wanted to leave Scotland, agreed to marry her and become my stepfather so that when the time was right the three of us could move back to the states and she would divorce David and the two of us would come and find you. But then my mother became ill and died before we could set our plan in motion. So David and I came up with our own plan practically overnight. We told my grandparents that we wanted my mother buried in Boston. So David and I made all the arrangements for the four of us to fly to Boston and bury my mother. The day after burying my mother in Boston, the only thing that David and I could think of doing so that my grandparents could not take me back to Scotland was for the both of us to fly to New York after I signed up for military service in Boston with the United States Navy. Once in New York, David and I parted ways as we said our tearful goodbyes and he stayed in New York and I flew to Chicago to attend the Great LakesNavalAcademy. Once I was established in the NavalAcademy, I called my grandparents to let them know of my decision as they told me they were staying in Boston and not going back to Scotland and if I ever needed anything to let them know. They wished me good luck and told me they loved me. So after three months of basic training I was shipped here to Seattle where I found out you moved to a couple of years ago. It took me another month to get a three day pass and that was what my friends and I were doing today as we rented bicycles to see the city and then I was going to come and find you tonight here at Seattle Grace. Then we all got hit by a car that ran a red light and now here I am finding you here tonight".
The evening nurse comes in to say "Mr. Chamberlain we now have to get you prepared for your surgery tomorrow so we will be giving you a sleeping aid to help you sleep tonight among other drugs that you need to take before your procedure with Dr. Sheppard and Dr. Hunt tomorrow". My baby boy politely says to the nurse "Hello, my name is Liam and my stepfather David is Mr. Chamberlain. Since we are going to spend some time together over the next few days, Nicole, we probably should be on a first name basis" as my wife watches my baby boy flirt with his nurse.
A nurse that I once knew very intimately, as my wife moves off her chair to stand behind me as she places her hands on my shoulders and whispers in my ear "Like mother, like son flirting with the nurses…hopefully he does not sleep with her too…that would just be too weird" as she laughs at the end. I bounce off the side of Liam's bed as I feel my wife's hot breath tingling the hairs on the back of my neck with her words as I face reality and say to my boy "Liam, you have a good night's sleep and stop flirting with the nurses and we will see you in the morning before your surgery. I love you son".
I nuzzle my face into the back my wife's neck as we have so much more room now in our bed after buying a new king-sized bed that the offending noise coming from the alarm does not even make me upset. I simply reach across my wife to turn off the annoying sound and then reposition myself back into nuzzling back into her neck. She pulls on my arm as she snuggles me closer. I whisper in her ear "Thank you for buying us a bigger bed. I love that we have so much room and now our twins and all of our other kids can sleep with us if we want them too". Callie slowly turns in my arms as she kisses my lips to say "And once our twins are born there will be more room in our bed for me to make love to you, baby" as she kisses me deeply and I am becoming so turned on right now but then the annoying buzzing sound of the alarm begins to sound as we both realize that we need to get up and go into the hospital to see Liam before his surgery and to get checked out with Addison this morning. So we give each other one last kiss and then begin our morning ritual of getting dressed and leaving.
Less than a week later my wife is driving Liam back to the Everett Naval Station after a successful craniotomy performed by Derek and I am sitting in Addison's office as she tells me that I am now dilated to eight centimeters and it is only a matter of time before I give birth to our children. Addison also informs me that she received a letter from Dr. Ian Fleming stating that the remaining frozen sperm that we used to get pregnant will be here within a week. A little more small talk between my friend and me as my pager begins to buzz and now Dr. Webber wants to see me for a consult.
Addison helps me up off her leather sofa in her office as I become lightheaded and fall into her arms. Then we both take a minute and a breath as she asks me "Are you alright, Callie? Do you want me to cancel your appointment with Dr. Webber"? I stand in Addison's arms for another minute and compose myself as I say "Don't be silly Addison…I am fine…I just rose off of your couch a little too quickly…but now I am fine". Addison walks me to her office door as I feel some wetness between my legs as I calmly say to her "Addy, I think the babies are coming".
Alex calls me to inform me what has happened to Callie and that her water broke. I travel as fast as humanly possible without breaking to many speeding laws as I arrive at Seattle Grace in less than thirty minutes. I enter the birthing suite as I see my wife sitting up and glowing.
I walk over to her as she says frantically to me "Where have you been, Arizona? You could have missed this…you could have missed the birth of our children" as I smile and kiss my wife's very pouty lips "I would not have missed this Calliope…nothing could keep me away from today". As I climb behind my wife and hold her close as she grips both of my hands in hers and we both hear Addison say "Just one more push Callie and you will be able to see your daughter". Callie and I look into the mirror that shows my wife's most private part of her body as we watch our daughter's coal black hair appear in her opening and with one push from my wife as she tightens her grip on my hands, our daughter comes out to greet her mommas.
Addison hands Alex our daughter as my wife's work is far from over as Addison says "Ok Callie, I know that you are tired as hell but I think this little guy wants to meet his mommas too. So whenever you are ready, I need you to push again". I kiss my wife deeply as I say "You can do this, baby. Are you ready to meet our son"? Callie pushes again and as she screams my name and squeezes my hands until they both almost break, but in the end our son makes his presence known as we both hear him cry.
With sweat and tears rolling down both of our faces and I hug my wife so tight from behind as I whisper "Thank you, baby" in Callie's ear and she cries in my arms. A nurse hands me a couple of towels to wipe our faces off with as I help my wife clean herself up a bit. Then Addison and Alex hands my wife and I our babies…our newborn son and daughter. Our baby girl is the spitting image of my wife with dark hair and brown eyes as our son is fair skinned like me with wisps of blond hair and blue eyes. My wife is exhausted after giving birth to the twins but as we hold our children in our arms we both feel a burst of energy run through our bodies and at this moment we are no longer tired.
With our son and my wife fast asleep in our hospital room, I am keeping our daughter entertained as she is wide awake and staring at me with those gorgeous brown eyes of hers as I walk around the room singing to her and making her smile like her mami, my wife. As I am singing to our daughter the words from the song by Sugarland called Baby Girl, my wife wakes up to hear me sing to our daughter.
As I finish by saying "I still love you more than anything in the world, Love your baby girl" as I hear my wife clearing her throat and I turn to face her as she says to me "Arizona, are you singing to our daughter"? I smile at my wife and I am about to say something to her but we are interrupted by our son exercising his lungs as he begins to cry.
I quickly hand my wife our daughter as I move across the room to hold our son and say "Hey there little man, I'll think of a song for you too very soon" as I kiss him and he begins to settle down. My wife says "They must be hungry" as she places our baby girl on one of her breast and I help her place our son on her other breast. They both take a hold of my wife's breasts as I slide into the hospital bed next to my wife and watch both of them nourish themselves as I kiss my wife and say "This is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen…I love you".
George and I are on our way to the airport to pick up Arizona and Callie's parents. George tries to take the sign out of my hand that says "Robbins" on it as he begs me to change signs with him because his says "Torres" on it and Callie's father has still not forgiven him for marrying his daughter in Vegas. I laugh at George and say "I want to watch Mr. Torres kick your ass again since I missed it the first time".
George says to me "Maybe I'll tell Mr. and Mrs. Torres that you slept with their daughter too" as I just laugh and say "but I did not marry her and then cheat on her with your best friend now did I" then I see the look on George's face as Callie's parents along with Arizona's parents are now standing beside us and I stretch my hand for both fathers to shake as I introduce myself.
With the six of us heading out to the parking garage in complete silence it isn't until Callie's father Carlos, Arizona's father Daniel along with George and me as we are placing the luggage in the van that Carlos Torres says "Well George, could you possibly tell me what you did to my daughter by sleeping with her and marrying her and cheating on her that she now sleeps with a woman and is having her babies"? George stands before the three of us gentleman after both Callie's mother and sister along with Arizona's mother are sitting in the van also waiting for an answer to Carlos' question that he begins to stutter and stammer for an answer.
Then all of a sudden Mrs. Torres, Aria Torres and Mrs. Robbins begin to laugh uncontrollably as Mrs. Torres says "Oh Carlos, let the poor boy alone. He is still afraid that you are going to kick his ass for that marriage fiasco with our Calliope". Then Mrs. Robbins says "Alright gentlemen your little joke is over now drive us to the hospital so we can all meet our grandbabies". I close the back door to the van as I say "Yes ma'am" and everyone else enters the van as Aria says out loud "Smooth move, papa" as we all laugh again.
I am looking around my hospital room as I see that everyone who is anyone in our lives are surrounding me and my wife along with our newborn twins as I say to all of them "Thank you all for coming here tonight and being a part of our lives. Now that our daughter and son have been fed, bathed and changed I would like to introduce to all of you our children. Mother and father could you come and stand by me please" as my parents walk to the side of my bed and I say "Mom and Dad, I want to introduce you to your granddaughter Evangeline Lucia Robbins Torres…Eva for short" as my mother takes my daughter from my arms and my father holds them both tight in his strong arms as my mother cries and says "She is so beautiful, mija…just like you and Arizona" and then my father says "And just like her namesake, mija".
I see that I have all the women in the room crying now as I nod to my wife and she begins to say jokingly "It's gonna be hard to follow my wife's introduction of our daughter but here goes anyways. Mama and Dad, I would like to introduce to you both and everyone else in the room our son Samuel Matthew Robbins Torres. Callie and I named him after both of your fathers. Mom…Dad after Timmy being named after you dad and Tim, Callie and I could not think of any other stronger men for our son to be named after other than my grandfathers.
Mom we chose Samuel after your father Samuel Kenneth O'Brien and Dad after your father Matthew Daniel Robbins who by the way just in case no one else in this room but my wife, my parents and my father-in-law know the story of my grandfather Matthew Daniel Robbins as he helped save the lives of nineteen men before he drowned on December 7th 1941 as he served his country on the battleship the U.S.S. Arizona that was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii". My mother takes our son out of my hands as there is total silence in my wife's hospital room except for the cooing of our mothers over the twins as they both enjoy their grandchildren. Then after a moment of silence from all of our family and friends for my grandfather Matthew, everyone takes turns in holding our daughter and son and making those insane baby noises with the children. I climb back into my wife's hospital bed holding her close in my arms as she and I watch the interaction of our family and friends with our children.
My wife and I and our children have been home now for a week as my in-laws and my parents have been here everyday helping us with the transition of not just being a married couple anymore but to now being a married couple with two children. The conversation at dinner this evening was about Carlos and Lucia along with Aria flying back to Miami tomorrow and how my wife and I were taking them to the airport in the afternoon. Then my mother suggests that my wife and I go out on a date that includes dinner and a movie. Callie is hesitant about leaving the babies so soon but my parents along with Timmy and Dani reassure her that everything will be fine with them watching the twins.
My wife and I are sitting in our bedroom as Calliope is expelling her milk from her breasts into small baby bottles to store in our freezer. I sit on the bed in front of her as I help with the extraction of our baby's milk from her breasts. Once we are finished with the breast pump my wife releases it from her breast but a tiny bit of milk lays on my wife's nipple. I ease my wife backwards a little to lie her down on the bed as I slide my body over hers and my mouth covers her breast filled nipple as I taste my wife's milk for the first time. I get so caught up in the taste of my wife's breast milk that as I move from one breast to the other I hum and say "Tastes like cantaloupe juice". My wife begins to moan as my Calliope pulls my head upwards to say "What did you just say, baby" and I smile at my wife and repeat "Tastes like cantaloupe juice…you milk tastes like cantaloupe juice".
My wife then kisses me deeply as she taste her milk on my tongue and then moans in agreement as she says "It does taste like cantaloupe juice". Then just as we begin to get frisky with each other we both hear the two sweetest voices in the world come across the baby monitor as my mother and Callie's mother begin to sing a song from my childhood that my mother used to sing to Tim and I come from the nursery where they were feeding the twins and putting them to bed. We both listen to our mothers sing Roberta Flack's First time Ever I Saw Your Face as I begin to cry from the memories.
I lay on my wife's chest as we listen to our mothers sing our children this song as my wife and I are crying. Then when the song is over and we hear our mothers place our children in their cribs, my wife and I make our way to the twin's bedroom as we each wrap our mothers in our arms. No words are spoken between the four of us during this time as my wife and I know through the silence that our mothers have passed the torch of motherhood from them and onto the two of us as we will keep the torch until it is our time to pass it on to our daughter and son.
Arizona and I are getting the children dressed and ready for their two week check up today as Addison calls me to ask "So are we still on for lunch, Callie" as I tell her "Yea Addison, Arizona, Barbara and I are taking the twins to the pediatrician this morning and then I am dropping Arizona back off at the hospital and Barbara back off at home to watch Eva and Sam while we have lunch. We still meeting at Tony's Diner at noon right"? Addison says "Yea, Tony's at noon. See you then and give the twins a kiss for me" as I say to her "Will do" before I hang up.
My wife says to me "Honey, has Addison said anything else about receiving the sample vials from that doctor in New York that we all talked about a while ago"? I sit on the side of our bed putting Sam's little shoes on him as I say "Hmm you know what babe, we have not talked about since I told you what the letter said a couple of months ago. I will have to talk to Addison about that today and let you know later".
Then as my wife and I walk out of the bedroom my mother-in-law asks "What sample vials…sample vials of what exactly" as I take Eva from her grasp and say "You should ask Arizona" as I politely smile and take our daughter and place her in her car seat attachment that is sitting on the kitchen table as I do the same to our son. My wife along with Barbara begin their discussion as my wife tells her about the extra sample vials of sperm that we used on me to get me pregnant and how Dr. Fleming was supposed to ship them to Addison months ago so we could keep them frozen just in case we decide to have more babies.
Arizona and I are placing our children in their car seats as Barbara is holding the diaper bags as she places them in the back seat of the Jeep and listening to my wife continue with her story of the sample vials of sperm as we all climb into my wife's Jeep. I suddenly notice that my mother-in-law's face has gone from her normal rosy shade to completely white as I hear my wife say Dr. Fleming's name several times to her mother and I begin to wonder why Barbara's face is turning so white.
I say to my mother-in-law "Barbara, are you feeling alright because you are looking very pale"? My mother-in-law assures me that she is fine as she says "I am just very interested in hearing more about this Dr. Fleming and these sperm vials that could possibly give Daniel and I more grandchildren someday" as she flashes me that fake smile that Arizona gives me every once in a while I am convinced she is not telling me the truth.
The five of us are sitting in the pediatrician's waiting room when my mother's phone begins to vibrate in her purse. She pulls the phone out of her purse and says "It's you father" as she then asks my father if he can hold on a moment as she turns to my wife and I and say "I am going to take this outside so I do not disturb anyone" as I tell my mother "If we are called into the exam room while you are talking to dad just tell the nurse you are with us and she will let you come back to the exam room" as my mother says "Alright sweetie" as Calliope and I watch my mother leave our sight and walk outside.
A minute or two after my mother leaves the waiting room our names are called by the nurse. I tell the nurse that my mother is here too and will be with us in a moment as we all walk back to the exam room. Once inside the exam room my wife asks me "Does your mother seem alright to you today, honey" as I then ask "What ever do you mean, babe" as Calliope and I are getting the twins ready for their exam then my mother bursts into the room before we could finish discussing what my wife meant.
My mother announces that my father is running late from his golf game this morning but should be home a little after noon to help watch Eva and Sam. Once the twin's exams are completed Callie drops me off at the hospital as I give everyone a kiss and tell them I love them. Callie's phone begins to buzz with a text message from Addison moving there lunch date up to one o'clock due to a consult. Callie says to me as she walks me to the hospital and away from my mother prying ears "If I did not know any better I would think you mother has something to do with your father's golf game running late and Addison's late consult. She is up to something Arizona but I just cannot put my finger on it…I just have a feeling because she fake smiled at me earlier".
I laugh as I kiss my wife goodbye and say "She faked smiled at you, baby. You really crack me up sometimes Callie but anyways have a good lunch with Addison and try to keep your paranoia in check and I will see you tonight…hopefully before the twin's go to sleep. I love you, baby". I kiss my wife again as she says to me "I know she is up to something but what".