Ch. 14 – Surprise

"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path."

― Joseph Campbell

I opened the door and saw Keith walking towards me carrying Maggie in his arms. Beyond them, I could see Keith's car against our tree and a bike next to it, on the floor.

"Put me down! Who the fuck do you think you are? I said 'put me down,'" Maggie said while Keith was carrying her.

"She's bleeding," Keith said as soon as he saw me.

Although it wasn't anything serious, I left the door wide opened and went for my medical bag.

When I came back, Maggie was sitting on my table. The girls were kneeling on the chairs for a better view.

"What happened to Aunt Maggie?" Harriet asked Keith. Ruby was being a little shy; Maggie was not a familiar face for her.

"April, I'm sorry. I didn't want to bother but could you please tell this stranger that he should leave your house. He's not listening to me," she told me.

"He's not a stranger silly. He's Uncle Keith," Harriet told her.

Maggie's face was a picture. I assume she was trying to picture where in the family tree was he to be placed.

"Long story," I said.

"Catherine?" she kind of said to herself without understanding a bit of it.

While she was perplexed, Keith took the chance to clean her wound.

"Auch… Why don't you…" and Maggie stopped looking at the girls.

Keith couldn't help smiling and he was hit by Maggie.

"Hey! I'm helping here," Keith said.

"Leave me alone. I didn't ask you to help. I can take care of myself. I'm a freaking surgeon," Maggie said.

Keith rolled his eyes and while he was closing her wound, he said, "I should have known, the worst patients ever. Of course, you're a surgeon," Keith said.

"You're infuriating!" Maggie said.

"You should take care of your wound," he said looking at Maggie's angry face.

"What were you playing?" he asked the girls, completely ignoring Maggie.

Maggie was looking at her wound as if she could not believe Keith's technique.

Ruby opened her arms towards him, asking him to pick her up and he did. He made her fly in his arms, like a plane and then left her near the LEGO's to play.

Now that Keith wasn't stopping her, Maggie got her feet on the floor and Harriet asked her to go play with them. Maggie looked at me, like asking if it was ok.

"Of course, go!" I said.

I fed Eli while they were playing. In no time, Ruby was no longer shy because of Maggie. Maggie and Keith weren't fighting so much around the kids, yet it was like watching a comedy duo.

An hour later, the girls were falling asleep. Keith took them to their bed and said goodbye to Maggie. To be more accurate it sounded more like "I hope I never see you again."

He asked me to accompany him to the door because he was leaving. It was odd that he had asked, so when we were at the door, I said, "So this wasn't just a visit?"

"I know why you came to the hospital but didn't stay to work. I didn't want to say this in front of anyone, just in case. Congratulations!" he said.

"Thank you for not saying it earlier. The kids don't know yet. I can't tell them without Jackson."

"I want to be here for that moment, not only to meet the new member of the family, but to take care of your E.R. while you take the time you need off. And I promise I'll be but, I had wanted to take a second tour for a while now and I thought I had lost my chance and the thing is, I made some calls and I'm doing it, right now, tonight to be exact."

I lost my voice for a while. It took me by surprise. I didn't expect it at all. He was the other half of my trauma team. He was like a brother to me. I was gonna miss him a lot.

"My hormones had control over me, so you need to leave before I start crying," I said with watery eyes.

"The girls already know. I told them before I put them to sleep. It was harsh. I promise I'll be fine, don't cry. I'm gonna miss you all," he said while hugging me.

"Be safe and call us whenever you can, ok?"

"Roger that."

And just like that we said goodbye. He left in a hurry, in his dented car.

I came back, to my other unexpected guest, who was sitting in my couch. Now that I knew the reason Keith came to visit, I was starting to wonder what Maggie was doing here.

"I'm sorry to be bothering. I wanted to talk to Jackson and you when he... Who is he? Why do the girls call him uncle? Actually, don't tell me. I don't care. Just tell me he isn't my step-brother and I'll be fine. Did Catherine hide a son? He's a pain in the ass, by the way," Maggie said when I sat with her on the couch.

I couldn't help but laughing.

"He's not your step-brother. You can date him although I don't think you like him and neither that he likes you," I said.

"Let's please don't talk about dating a step-brother or better yet, forget about my love life. I've already resigned having one. I suppose you already know, as everyone else," Maggie said.

"I know. Why did you leave him?" I asked. Maggie had left DeLuca the day of their wedding. It wasn't that she run away in the middle of the wedding like I did, but more like Amelia in her wedding with Owen, except Maggie never came back.

"I heard from Zola that he and Meredith had kissed. And that's not something you want to hear on your wedding day, and even less from an outsider. Andrew is still at what was supposed to be our honeymoon. I stayed at the house I bought for us and maybe I broke one or two things while I was mad about it. It was a kind of torture to be there. Instead of keeping breaking things, I decided to donate and sell everything I bought, thinking in us. Thus, the house is now empty and it's too big for me. That's why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you and Jackson. I thought that maybe you two could be interested. You don't have to decide right now. You can visit it today. The house it's a lot like the one we made with the LEGO blocks. I'm leaving you the keys with the address. Everything is arranged with my lawyer. In case you're interested, you'd only need to contact her. Here is her contact info," Maggie said while handing me the keys and a personal card.

I heard every word she said, but it didn't make sense.

"I don't get it. Are you moving back with Meredith?" I asked.

Maggie laughed.

"No way. I love her. She's my sister. I don't have a grudge. Their only mistake was not telling me. But just as you and Jackson went for all after you left Matthew at the altar, I need that too. I can't go back to the same path I was taking. I need this to be a turning point in my life. So, going back to your question, I'm not going to need a house for the next six months. I'm doing my first tour. I'm going to serve I in the army, just like Owen, Teddy, Nathan, Meghan and you. I don't know if I have it me, but this feels like the right time to try it. I feel it in my guts. This is what I need to do."

What were the odds? Keith and Maggie leaving Seattle to serve in the army the day they have met.

"Wow! I don't know what to say. We'll definitively visit your house. I wish you the best, in the warzone and in your love life too. Do you believe in coincidences?" I asked.

Maggie didn't understand what the fuck I was talking about.

"It's just that I have confidence that we'll love the place."

"I hope you do. I hope you start a new life there, full of love and happiness. I need to go or I'll be late. My Uber driver it's at the door," she said.

I accompanied her to the door and she told me I could keep the bike. I was watching the car drive away, when I saw Jackson's car arriving. Just by a second, they had missed each other.

I waited for him at the door.

"Welcome sweetheart!" I said and he kissed me. He put his arm on my shoulder and walked with me inside.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"You won't believe it," I said.

"It's that Maggie's bike?"