Nolan 18, Lissa 18, Ryder almost 14, Olivia almost 11
Annabelle 6, Victoria nearly 6, Lucas 4½
Owen hopped into the Boxster and hurried to the hospital. The call from the ER had been a life saver – he knew he needed to leave the house before the delivery arrived, and he couldn't figure out how to do so. Distracted by the challenge, Owen could barely recall what he and Amelia had discussed.
At the Lake House, Amelia headed upstairs leaving strict instructions to not be disturbed for the next hour. She was still on a high from the previous night, yet continued to be confused by Owen's distracted interactions when he dropped the kids off. A range of feelings filled her: hurt, wonder, disappointment, love, gratitude and many others. Some time alone, she hoped, would help her know how to proceed.
Ten minutes after Owen departed, Ryder answered the request at the gate and allowed a floral shop through. When he answered the door a minute later, the delivery person chuckled, "I'm not sure who Amelia is, but she's going to be surprised."
"That's my mom," Ryder grinned.
"Normally, I wouldn't ask, but the delivery is so large. Would you mind helping me out?" the delivery person requested.
"No problem," Ryder agreed. When the back of the van was opened, Ryder nearly fell over from the volume of flowers before him. "Which one is for Amelia?"
"All of them," the delivery person smiled.
"Seriously?!" Ryder exclaimed. "You weren't kidding – she will be surprised." The driver handed Ryder the first arrangement, which included a pot at least 12" tall. Large white lilies, decorative twigs and white orchids sprouted in every direction. When he reached the door, he knocked on it with his foot and Lucas answered.
"You aren't pus-posed to kick, Ryder," Lucas reminded his brother.
"My hands are kind of full, squirt," Ryder pointed out. "Go get Olivia and Lissa to come help."
As the delivery person and Ryder brought flowers upon flowers inside, the girls came downstairs to assist. Flowering plants, many hues of roses, and decorative containers were unloaded from the van. Large arrangements featuring everything from daisies to hydrangeas to magnolias, and Birds of Paradise entered and were set down one after the other. The entire first floor from the dining room table to the kitchen counters to the living room coffee table was overflowing with scents and sights. Even the space by the floor to ceiling windows facing the lake were lined with flowers.
"I think every color of rose ever grown is in here," Lissa purported with stunned awe.
"I think Daddy is super in love with Mommy," Olivia added with starry eyes.
When Amelia's hour alone had ended, she had not decided upon much but she did feel steadier. As she scooted down the stairs, she smelled the flowers before seeing them. "Who sprayed perfume in the stairway?" she inquired curiously, calling down to the living room where the older kids were gathered.
Nobody responded. When Amelia turned the corner, she gasped in shock, "What's this?"
Olivia beamed and raised her shoulders near her ears, "Daddy sent all of these to you."
"What?" Amelia stuttered.
"Here's the card – the delivery guy didn't want to leave it in one of the arrangements because there are so many," Lissa explained as she handed Amelia the card.
"What's it say? What's it say?" Livie hopped with anticipation.
Mia, There are not enough flowers in the world to express how deeply I love you. Thank you for last night – what an honor to be with you at the restaurant and the dance studio. I'm looking forward to returning home soon, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience as I recalibrate. O
"It basically says that he loves me," Amelia reported. "The actual words are special – just between Daddy and me." Standing in the middle of the living room, she turned 360 degrees slowly. Taking in the colors and feasting her eyes on the beauty, she asked the kids, "Which is your favorite?"
"I like the big tall one in the corner," Ryder pointed out.
"The roses… they are all so stunning, Amma," Lissa offered.
Olivia placed her finger on her cheek and surveyed the room with care. "I can't decide, Mama. All of them are my favorite."
Amelia smiled and announced, "I'm going to go back upstairs to call your dad."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
Owen was sitting at the nurses' station of the ER when his phone vibrated. He grinned when he spotted the caller ID. "Owen Hunt," he answered as if he didn't know Amelia was calling.
"Amelia Shepherd," she imitated.
"Hello, Amelia Shepherd. What can I do for you?" Owen asked playfully.
"Ohhh…the list is longer than the number of flowers in the living room," she giggled.
Sitting up proudly, Owen confirmed, "So they arrived."
"All six thousand of them," she teased.
"Damn, there were supposed to be six thousand and three," he chuckled.
Amelia paused and sighed, "Owen… The flowers are a wonderful surprise, but I need to tell you that I was put out when you left in such a hurry this afternoon. When you ran out the door, I felt like I didn't matter… like last night didn't matter," Amelia sighed.
Owen's jaw nearly hit the floor. With confused regret, he offered, "Mia, no! What? I'm so sorry. How did I communicate that?"
"The talk about me needing to call Patricia to rework your schedule," Amelia explained. "When we were discussing the other dates, you seemed distracted and disengaged."
Amelia heard Owen exhale. "I had no idea that's how it felt for you. Oh man. Mia, seriously, I am deeply, truly sorry. I apologize."
"Can you see how you might have appeared that way? I think it would help me to know," she inquired.
"Yeah, absolutely," Owen confirmed. "I was distracted because I wanted to get out of the house before the flowers arrived. I didn't want to be there for the delivery. I hurried the conversation so I could high tail it out of there. Again… I am truly sorry. The last thing I want to do is hurt you."
Softly, Amelia offered, "Thank you, Owen. I can appreciate where you were at now that I have a wider context. And the flowers - they're all so beautiful. I'm completely overwhelmed."
"I love you, Mia," Owen spoke softly into the phone.
Amelia bit her bottom lip and repeated the phrase, "I love you, Owen. When can we sit down and chat a little?"
"We have Wyatt tomorrow morning at 9, don't we?" he questioned.
"Yeah," Amelia agreed. "I was asking more about when you and I could spend some time together. Maybe lunch tomorrow? Or dinner some night this week?"
"I'd like that," Owen confirmed with gentleness. "I should be able to slide out of here within the next hour. Want to go grab a late night snack?"
"Yeah, it'd be nice to clear the air and put the misunderstanding to bed," Amelia declared with certainty.
Owen chuckled and responded only with, "Hmmm."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
Ninety minutes later, Owen knocked on the door. He was wearing scrubs and he'd obviously been running his hand through his wayward hair. Amelia had spent the last hour primping and getting ready for their spur-of-the-moment date.
When she answered the door, she laughed and observed, "I guess I'm overdressed."
"I'm sorry," Owen frowned. "When I first arrived, there was an all hands on deck situation. My clothes fell victim to the mess."
"It's not a problem," she assured him.
"I'm fine heading out as-is as long as you are," Owen offered.
"Or you could go upstairs and change. Most of your clothes are here, you know," Amelia prompted.
"Do you mind?" Owen confirmed. "A quick shower and change would make a world of difference."
"Go for it," she smirked as she waved her hand toward the stairs. With a wink, she added, "Make yourself at home."
While Owen cleaned up, Amelia sat on the couch and watched the water. Coming inside after feeding the dogs, Ryder walked by eating an apple, "Hey. What's up?"
With a slight laugh, Amelia explained the situation, concluding with, "So I'm waiting. He should be down any minutes."
"Want some company while you wait?" Ryder asked.
"Absolutely," she responded quickly, patting the empty spot next to her.
Ryder leaned his head on hers and put his arm around his mom. Ready to celebrate and scream with joy, Amelia contained herself and soaked in the rare opportunity to be so close to her boy.
"Mom… are you and Dad getting divorced?" Ryder wondered as they both peered at the blowing trees and rough water.
"No," Amelia responded. "Dad's trying to sort some things out for himself. You know how you and I talk when we need to make sense of something? Dad's like Nolan – he needs to hole up alone and quietly ponder. Dad is Nolan without the Nerf ball, basically."
Chuckling, Ryder nodded, "Good. I think it would be really sad if you guys broke up. You love each other too much to let something stupid get in the way."
"Kind of like you and Dad, huh?" Amelia pushed.
"Sorta," Ryder admitted. "Different kind of relationship, but, yeah, he's not bad to have around, I guess."
"Yeah, he's nice to have around," Amelia breathed with a glimmer in her eye.
"I really don't get something, Mom," Ryder confessed. "I don't get why I'm cool one minute and flipping out the next, then happy and all of the sudden sad. What the hell is wrong with my brain?"
Amelia grasped Ryder's head with her hand and described, "This puberty thing is a nightmare, Ry. Hormones are raging through your body and it's almost like they haven't figured out which pathways to travel yet. They crash into each other and wreak havoc sometimes."
"I don't like it," Ryder stated.
"Nobody does," she chuckled. "The people going through it and the people living with people going through it."
"Hey!" Ryder teased as he gently pushed her shoulder. She reached for toward the end of his ribs on his side – it had always been his most ticklish spot. "Lady! Don't even think about it!" he warned playfully.
She tickled him lightly and he tickled her back with fervor. "Ok, stop, I'm sorry," she sputtered through her uncontrollable laughter.
Owen strolled down the stairs and heard the laughter. He paused briefly, watching them interact and laugh. Then he ran to the couch and jumped on it from behind, wrestling Ryder away from Amelia.
"Hey, wait! Two on one?" Ryder pretended to whine as he struggled to get out of his dad's grasp.
"Pay attention. You're going to hit the table," Amelia warned flatly. Neither one of them heard her.
They rolled off the couch and onto the floor, narrowly missing the edge of the table. Amelia increased her volume, commanding, "Boys! Not by the windows, not by the table. Take it to the middle of the room." She kicked them lightly, prompting them.
"Make him stop, Mom!" Ryder whined in good humor.
"Oh just wait until you enlist, Son. This is nothing," Owen warned.
Since the boys wouldn't move and wouldn't mind, Amelia chose an alternative method. She let the dogs in. As soon as Barkley and Bogie heard the laughing and wrestling, they both jumped into the chaos and barked. Licking their faces and joining in the fun, the dogs were in heaven.
"Truce, truce!" Owen yelled as Barkley licked him all over the face.
"Agreed," Ryder joined in. Owen stood up and offered his hand to Ry. After Ryder grabbed it, he continued moving and ended up hugging his dad. "That was fun, Dad. We gotta do that more often."
"Sounds like a plan, Ry," Owen stated as he smiled until his eyes wrinkled. He patted Ryder's back and continued, "I need to steal your mom away for a little bit."
"Listen," Ryder joked in a parental sounding voice. "She didn't come home until after 4 a.m. this morning. Let's make it a little earlier tonight, kids." Both parents laughed as Owen grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it toward Ryder.
Owen wrapped his arm around Amelia as they walked to the garage to jump into the Boxster.
