A/N: For those of you wanting to know, I promise you drama is coming, but I have to build up to it. Also, I have Andrews say what I'm pretty sure all of us are thinking about Shaun's story line right now (seriously, WHERE is Jessica Preston when you actually need her?! Lol). Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
A few weeks had passed and Lim was now ten weeks along in her pregnancy. The ultrasounds looked good, everything was stable, and the fetal heartbeat was strong (a sound neither one of them got tired of hearing), so Lim and Melendez both decided it was time to tell Andrews about the baby. That is, if Lim could ever get out of the bathroom since her morning sickness was reaching its peak in intensity. Lim finally came out of the bathroom looking miserable and Melendez couldn't help but chuckle a little, "Are you alright?"
"No," she moaned, "I'm about ready to kill the bastard who decided to call pregnancy nausea 'morning' sickness because I deal with this crap all damn day. Do I at least look presentable for Andrews?"
"You look fine," Melendez stated stoically.
Lim shook her head at him and said, "You really would be a horrible poker player. Let's go get this talk with Andrews over with before this kid of yours decides to make me sick again."
The couple made their way to Andrews's office and Lim knocked on the door, "Come in," Andrews called. The pair entered the room and Andrews smiled, "Dr. Lim, Dr. Melendez, what brings you by today?"
"Sir, we need to talk," Lim said, doing her best to hide the nervousness in her voice.
Andrews sat up straighter and motioned for his employees to take a seat. He folded his hands on his desk and gave them his full attention, "Is there a cause for concern amongst one of the residents or a patient or anything else in the running of the hospital?"
"No, sir, I assure you, it has nothing to do with our residents or anything like that," Lim held up her hand, "Dr. Melendez and I needed to inquire about personal leave; namely, maternity and paternity leave," Andrews raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything, "I'm pregnant, sir."
Andrews was silent before he smiled politely, "Congratulations Dr. Lim, Dr. Melendez, I'm very happy for you both. How far along are you?"
"I'll be ten weeks along as of this Saturday," Lim pulled the sonogram out of her jacket pocket for confirmation, "My due date is March 7, 2020. I promise you sir, I will continue to work as long as I am able to do so and I will keep you up to date about anything important my OB/GYN tells me."
"Same with me, sir," confirmed Melendez.
Andrews nodded, "Well, I appreciate you both coming to tell me. Dr. Lim, we can talk sometime next week about any restrictions you need and your maternity leave. Dr. Melendez, I will do the same with you not long after. Good luck to you both."
"Thank you, sir," Melendez said gratefully.
They both stood to leave when Lim turned back to face Andrews, "Sir, is Dr. Han in his office?"
Andrews face gained a look of concern, "He is currently in a board meeting right now. I will let him know you both would like to talk to him about something personal," Andrews seemed worried about having them tell Han their news and Andrews rarely gave a crap about anybody other than himself.
Melendez scowled a little, "Will telling Dr. Han be a problem, sir? He will eventually find out," Melendez stated the obvious.
"Well, he does come to me often about you both," Andrews admitted.
"Does it have to do with Audrey's PTSD?" asked Melendez as he gained a look of protectiveness on his face. Andrews raised his eyebrows, "Sir."
"No, once I scolded him about the fact that Dr. Lim or Dr. Murphy could easily file a discrimination law suit, he let that go. It has more to do with the fact about you both having a personal relationship," admitted Andrews.
Lim and Melendez looked at each other, "Sir, we're not breaking hospital protocol," Lim stated.
"I know that, Dr. Lim. I am just going to caution you both to tread carefully given the fact that you will both be telling Dr. Han about…visual proof of your relationship," Andrews did his best not to make things any more awkward than it already had become.
The two surgeons really didn't know how to respond, "Well, we appreciate your help and understanding. Have a good night, Dr. Andrews," said Melendez.
"Yes, have a good night, sir," said Lim.
Melendez and Lim weren't really sure about what to think about their conversation with Andrews. Quite frankly, they were now more nervous about talking to Han than they had been about talking to Andrews. Lim wasn't quite sure whether it was the morning sickness or her nerves, but she couldn't eat much for dinner that night, and even then, she promptly expelled everything she ate. Melendez was just getting ready for bed when Lim came out of the bathroom, "This is one part of pregnancy I could definitely live without," she groaned in frustration.
Melendez sighed, hating to watch what Lim had to endure in order to bring new life into the world, "I know, but hopefully it'll pass soon, " Lim crawled into bed and opened her laptop, not really bothering to converse with Melendez, "What are you doing, Aud?"
"Checking off the fact that we talked to Andrews off of my pre-baby checklist of things that need to be done," she explained.
Melendez chuckled and asked, "You made a list of things that need to be done?"
"Baby's coming in thirty weeks," Lim reminded him.
"Audrey," Melendez closed her laptop, "Didn't I tell you to enjoy the experience?"
"Yes. And being organized is me enjoying the experience. We have a lot to do, Neil. We have to clear all of the junk out of the spare room to create the nursery, we have to buy supplies, we have to do childbirth classes, we have to work out the details of our maternity and paternity leave, not to mention our schedules after the baby gets here, there's all of the doctor's appointments…" listed Lim assertively.
"I know, Audrey. And we'll get it done," assured Melendez, "But you heard what both Dr. Bradley and Dr. Garcia said about not stressing too much. It's not good for our Little Champion."
Lim looked at him skeptically, "You've already given it a nickname?"
Melendez shrugged, "It was better than my other option."
"Which was?" Lim raised her eyebrows.
"Little Tadpole because it has no visible arms and legs yet."
"Good thing we both get a say in the baby's final name."