Back at the hospital, Elena was talking to Andy as they enjoyed two cups of coffee. Jack, mixed with emotions over what happened, told Andy he was going on a walk alone while she talked to her mother and Amelia slept.
"Thank you so much for coming here, really. I didn't think you would after Christmas" Andy smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about them sooner. I didn't know how you would react. And I really didn't want the judgement. Neither of us did"
"You thought I would judge you guys?" Elena asked
Andy remembered her engagement and how a little over a year ago, Jack had to practically scream at Elena to get her to realize that the wedding was a good idea. Elena was a good mom but didn't really react well towards surprises and Andy considered going from being childless to a mother of three, soon to be five kids before their first anniversary a pretty big surprise. "Kind of, Mom. I mean, you didn't exactly react well to my engagement. What was going to make me think that you would react well to my surprise kids", she said
"I thought you were rushing into it, well, before I listened to your husband that day" Elena smiled as she reached out and put her hand on Andy's cheek. "I find this amazing. You and Jack had no experience as parents and took on three former foster kids. Did Jenna even tell you about her will?"
"No, it was a surprise. When I say we literally became parents overnight, we literally did. Then I found out that I was pregnant after passing out in the kitchen the week after we adopted them" Andy answered
Elena's eyes went wide with worry as she sipped her coffee. "You passed out in the kitchen? In front of them?"
"Yeah, but Maya stepped up and watched the kids that night. While I was here, I found out that I was expecting twins. They're growing so much every day", Andy smiled as Elena put her hand on Andy's stomach.
"How is being a mom?" Elena asked
"Hard. They defiantly don't give you an instruction manual and I'm starting to think fighting fires is easier. Jack and I take everything one day at a time. It gets hard sometimes, but we wouldn't trade it for the world" Andy answered as Amelia woke up and opened her eyes to see Andy.
"Mommy?" Amelia asked as Andy went over to her and kissed her forehead.
"Hi big girl", Andy smiled as she bent down to hug Amelia "Mommy's right here. I'm not going anywhere. I missed my little Miss Lia"
"I missed you too Mommy. I met Aubela", Amelia answered as Andy ran her hand over Amelia's hair and held her little hand. If Andy could describe her in that moment, it would be nothing short of confused and scared.
"I'm glad you did sweetheart. How are you feeling?", Andy asked
"No good. Where's Daddy?" Amelia asked poking her head around the room as Andy thought. Where was Jack? He had been on a walk for twenty minutes now. Andy thought hard while Elena talked with Amelia. "I think I know where he is. Where do we go when someone's in here?" Andy thought as Dr. Shepard walked in.
Dr. Shepard was smiling when she stood in the doorway. She knew where Jack was. Andy walked over to Elena. "Will you be okay with her for a few minutes? Dr. Shepard needs me", Andy asked as Elena nodded.
"Go. It'll give me a little time to bond with my granddaughter", Elena smiled. Amelia noticed Dr. Shepard standing in the doorway and studied her for a few minutes before looking up at Andy.
"Who's that Mommy?" she asked as Dr. Shepard walked towards them.
"Amelia Shepard. And who are you?" Dr. Shepard asked as Amelia's face lit up.
"My name's Amelia too. But I like Lia", Amelia smiled
"My dad used to call me Lia when I was your age too", Dr. Shepard smiled. "Can I talk to your Mommy for a few minutes now?" she asked as Andy followed Dr. Shepard out of the room.
"Is everything okay?" Andy asked once they were in the hallway. Dr. Shepard shook her head. Something was wrong. Andy felt like kicking herself for leaving and going to the conference. "I should have stayed home. I should have never gone", she thought to herself as Dr. Shepard started to talk.
"Nothing's wrong with Lia. I'm more concerned about you husband. He looked like he was on the verge of spinning out, so I brought him to the plant room" Dr. Shepard smiled. Andy gave her a knowing look. She remembered the plant room vividly and the conversation she had with Meredith in there about her mom. She remembered Dr. Shepard talking about how the plants were supposed to calm nerves. She closed her eyes and pinched the tips of her fingers, slowly counting to ten. How could Jack spin out and not talk to her? They were supposed to talk about everything and anything. Those were their vows.
"Spinning out? What do you mean spinning out?" Andy asked. "Did I do anything? Was it me leaving?" she added as Dr. Shepard put a hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe it's best if you join him up there to talk to him", Dr. Shepard smiled as she led Andy to the plant room. "Go in. Go be with him"
Andy slowly opened the door to the plant room where she saw her husband staring out the window with his hand on the glass. Dr. Shepard shut the door as Andy went up and put her hands around his waist. She leaned over slowly and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm sorry I went to that conference", Andy started as Jack shrugged her off and went to sit down in one of the chairs in the plants. He was silent, showing no emotion at all. He looked empty. Andy went and sat down next to him. "I wish you would just talk to me. Where's your head at?" she asked only to be met with silence. The last time he was this silent, she had rescued him from a walk-in freezer. "Please, Jack honey, talk to me. I'm calling our vows".
"I hate it when you call those. It means that I actually have to talk" Jack answered as he exhaled slowly, "I failed, okay?"
Andy sat on the arm rest of the recliner rubbing his arm. She kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him. "How did you fail?"
"Simple Andy, Amelia was showing signs of appendicitis all day and I knew nothing about it. When I was on the phone with you, the boys broke a pitcher, killed the fish, and got into an almost physical fight in the hallway over who killed said fish. Rowan was tattling on DJ. DJ wasn't listening…." Jack trailed as Andy shushed him.
"Welcome to our world now. Honey, kids aren't going to be perfect all the time. We're going to have things that don't go right and they're going to get sick and hurt and as much as that sucks we just have to move forward, give them cuddles, put band aids on their knees and deal with the fact that seeing them hurt really sucks" Andy smiled as Jack leaned over and kissed her.
"I hate it when you're right", he smiled as he kissed her again. "I love you so much. I'm sorry I had to call you home for this", Jack answered as Andy locked eyes with him.
"Don't be sorry for that. Please, never be sorry for that. I would come home from across the country for you and the kids if I had to." Andy smiled.
"You actually did", Jack answered
"Um, no, excuse you, I moved home for everyone and because George Nolan was driving me crazy" Andy teased. "But mostly for you, you're right" she laughed as she kissed him.
"You always have a way of making me feel better", Jack smiled as he got up. Andy squeezed his hand as they walked out the door.
"Let's go see Lia. She was asking where you were earlier", Andy smiled as they walked back to Amelia's room together.
"Hey Lia", Jack smiled as Amelia smiled back at him. "How are we feeling? Still crummy?" he asked as she nodded. She looked like she was in so much pain. Both Andy and Jack wanted nothing more than for her to be okay. This was the first time they've ever had to deal with something like this and to say it was terrifying was an understatement. Both parents tried their best not to show their own fear in front of Amelia who they knew was petrified of anything to do with hospitals. They mutually agreed that they could show their emotions once she left the room. Now was the time to be there for her.
"The crummiest", Amelia answered seriously as she played with the bracelet on her wrist.
"Oh really? Lucky for you, I think I know a perfectly good cure for feeling crummy", Andy smiled as she climbed into the bed next to Amelia.
"Cuddles from both Mommy and Daddy?", Jack questioned as he climbed in on the other side while Elena excused herself to go home and get a few things. She told them that she would be back later as she left. She preferred to let both Andy and Jack handle this on their own, knowing better than to stick her nose into her daughter's business now.
"That helps", Amelia smiled as she attempted to burrow herself in between Jack and Andy while Andy made sure she didn't mess up any wires or the IV.
"Don't move too much Amelia Joy. I don't want you to get hurt", Andy reminded her as Miranda walked in with Helm and an intern.
"Where's Abweyla?" Amelia asked as she searched the room with her eyes, for Elena.
"She went to go get a few things at her house, but she'll be back super soon. After you wake up", Andy smiled as they focused their attention on Miranda and Helm.
"Good Morning Lia", Miranda smiled as Andy and Jack moved so they were sitting beside Amelia.
"Hi Aunt Bailey", Amelia answered
"Hi sweetheart. Would you like to know what they'll be doing today?" Miranda asked
"Yes please", Amelia smiled
"Of course. You see Amelia, everything inside your body is supposed to do a specific job. One part isn't doing its job anymore so we're going to go in there and take it out", Miranda explained
"Will it hurt?" Amelia asked, her little eyes wide with fear as Andy stroked her hair.
"No baby, you'll be asleep for it", Andy assured her as Amelia scrunched her forehead and tapped her chin.
"No thanks", Amelia smiled as Andy squeezed her hand.
"No thanks? Amelia, it's not really a question honey", Jack answered as Amelia shook her head.
"Too scared. I won't see you and Mommy after" Amelia cried as Jack and Andy hugged her.
"No Amelia, you'll see us after surgery baby girl. I promise we'll be right here" Andy answered gently as Amelia looked up at her with fear in her eyes.
"You be here?" she asked
"Of course, we will sweetheart. And Ro, and DJ, and Aunt Maya, and Gigi, and Abuela Elena will be here", Jack smiled. "You need to let your Aunt Bailey help you feel better" he added as he kissed her forehead. "She's not the only one freaking out about this", Jack thought to himself as he looked over at Andy, who was hanging on to her calm composure by a thread. He reached over Amelia and squeezed Andy's other hand. "She'll do fine", he assured, even though he wasn't sure himself.
"Can Mommy come?" Amelia asked as Miranda shook her head. "Can Daddy come?"
"I'm afraid not Lia, but you know me. You'll have your Aunt Bailey there the whole time making sure the interns don't mess up", Miranda assured as she looked at Helm's team of interns.
"Then when Aunt Bailey says I can, I'll go down to the cafeteria and bring up any flavor of ice cream you want", Andy expressed as she kissed the top of Amelia's head. Andy heard her phone chime as she cuddled Amelia close to her. "Hey, Jack honey, can you answer that?", she asked as he reached over and read a text from Carina, furrowing his brow in confusion.
"She wants to meet with us when Amelia goes into surgery. She wants to do a 12-week scan" Jack assured as Andy nodded.
"Sounds good. It'll be better than waiting around. I heard my phone chime twice. Who else texted me?" Andy asked
"A woman named Evelyn from the youth services department. She approved our meeting for 3 o'clock on Friday? Why are we meeting with Evelyn?" Jack questioned as Andy's face fell.
"It was supposed to be a surprise. They found your file and made an appointment with us to go through it. I wanted you to have your shot at finding your birth parents", Andy smiled as Jack's face lit up.
He chuckled, "If there wasn't a three-year-old in between us, I'd kiss you"
"Hmmm, I can take a rain check on that kiss for the walk to our appointment with Carina", Andy answered playfully before turning back to Miranda.
"When are you taking her down?" Andy asked
"Right now, is that alright with you?", Miranda smiled as Amelia turned around and clung onto Jack for dear life. She looked terrified. He smiled to himself, thankful that he had planned ahead for this kind of reaction. He knew his Lia and he knew she was all but fond of hospitals and doctors of any kind. He could feel her little body shaking in fear next to him and could feel her little nails digging into his arm. He looked over at Andy who got up and grabbed a brand-new teddy bear from one of the chairs beside the bed. She tucked it under Amelia's arm and ran her fingers though Amelia's hair as Jack talked to her. "Hey, Lia. Who's my brave little girl?" he asked as she let go of his arm and looked up at him.
"I am", she smiled weakly. However, the smile quickly turned into a frown as she thought out loud "But I'm scareded"
"And you think that doesn't make you brave? Amelia honey, you can be brave and scared at the same time. You can feel any way you want and still be my brave little Lia. You know, Mommy gets scared at work sometimes but that doesn't make her any less brave", he smirked as he looked over at Andy who looked back at him, unamused.
"Daddy does too. But we help each other", Andy added as she thought of the perfect example to give Amelia. "You know, there was this one time that Daddy was closing a bunch of doors in a fire, because he was trying to save more lives as he always does" Andy started
" 'cause he's a superhero like you", Amelia chimed in as Andy nodded
"That's right baby girl. Now, Daddy was up five floors above me, and he opened the elevator to talk to me", Andy recalled as Amelia asked what he said. "He told me the same thing he told me when we got married. Anyways the door shut, and I told Daddy to keep talking to me, and then somewhere he stopped" Andy answered as she held back her own tears. She felt her hand being squeezed even harder by Jack, who remembered that day painfully well. Andy silently assured him that she was going to spare Lia the details of that night.
"Were you scareded?" Amelia asked wondering what came next in the story as Miranda stayed on the sidelines remembering how she saved Pruitt that night with Ryan.
"Yes. Mommy was very scared honey. But I did it. I was brave and I went upstairs with Aunt Maya and found Daddy. And he was okay. He was brave too doing what he did, even though he was scared as well" Andy explained as she hugged Amelia closer.
"It's all a part of the job sweetie. Remember, you're a Gibson. You're tough" Jack smiled as he missed up her hair and kissed her on the head. Amelia looked between her parents and then finally at Miranda with the same look of determination Andy and Jack wore at work every day.
"Ok. I'll be brave", Amelia decided with all the three-year-old seriousness in her voice.
"I knew you would Lia", Andy smiled
"Great choice sweetheart. Did you take a second to say hi this little guy over here? I know your old teddy bear is at home, so I thought I'd get you a new one. He's going to keep you company in surgery. Ok?", Jack asked as she cuddled the bear close.
"Thanks Daddy. I can be brave now", Amelia smiled as Jack and Andy stood up from the bed. Helm put the sides up as both parents kissed Amelia.
"I'll have someone update you every chance I get. Remember just focus on the facts. Amelia's in surgery with me. I am very good at what I do. That is what you know right now. Focus on that until you get an update", Miranda advised with a knowing look as she held onto Amelia's hand and wheeled her out of the room. "She's in good hands" she called as she watched both parents stare at the door with tears in their eyes.
The silence between both parents lingered in the room long after Amelia left. Jack stared catatonically at the doorway as Andy cried into his shirt. He rhythmically rubbed her arm as he tried to keep himself from freaking out. Andy pulled away from him and wiped her tears away.
"Your turn", Andy stated simply as she did the same for Jack, standing with him while he broke down. They felt comfort in knowing that they could fall apart in front of each other without fear of what the other would say. They had seen each other in far worse shape than that. Andy rubbed his arm and held him close as he let go of everything that had happened, all the fear, and the stress that had plagued his body for the past 24 hours out in the open. Andy felt for him. He had to handle the boys and this situation all alone, even if it was only for a few hours. She was honestly surprised with how well he managed to handle everything and keep a level head through the night. Her heart ached for her boys and what was probably going through their little minds right now, Rowan's especially. As the oldest of three in a family that had been through the system quite a few times, Andy knew him to blame himself for things that had nothing to do with him. She was constantly reminding him that he was a kid and treating him as such. She smiled at Jack and reached up to dry his tears, sharing a kiss with him in the middle of the room, only pulling apart to breathe. "Are you good?", she asked pulling away and resting her forehead on his.
"What?" he asked having been lost in his own thoughts about Amelia, and the boys, and how Andy was processing this. He was lost in thought about Elena and how scared Andy must have been to finally call her mother and tell her about the kids. He let out a small chuckle about how Elena was so calm and collected when they told her about the kids versus her reaction when they told her they were engaged a little over a year ago. Andy arched an eyebrow at him as she heard the chuckle.
"Are you good Jack? Are you okay?" she asked, eyes full of concern.
"I am. I will be. I'm just so worried about Lia and the boys. What if she doesn't make it out? I heard that a small percentage of patients don't wake up after surgery. Andy, she's our little girl. What would we do if that happened? Rowan would lose it, and DJ…, Oh my God, Rowan and DJ. Shit. I haven't even called Marsha to ask about them" he asked, taking a long a shaky breath
Andy smiled as she wiped away a stray tear on his face with her thumb. "I already did it while you were on your walk. She said they were asleep. As for Lia, that is a .3, a .3 chance and she has the best surgeon in Seattle with her. She's going to be fine. God, I hate to see the day when she starts dating", Andy laughed as Jack chuckled
"Oh, so you mean when she's 40? She'll be allowed to date then, not a day before. And if her boyfriend breaks her heart, all I can say is God help him", Jack chuckled
"You're tough, my dad at let me start dating Ryan at 20", Andy chuckled as she stood up. "Alright, sitting here thinking about all the ways her surgery could go wrong is making me nauseous, so how about we go down to Carina and make sure our other two little Baby Gibson's are healthy"
"Are you sure that's nervousness and not morning sickness?" Jack asked
"It's a little of both. Hey, the good news in all of this is that I'm starting to show. Look at this", Andy grinned widely as she placed his hand on the bump.
"You are. That's amazing news", he smiled as he gripped her hand and stood up from the chair. "Let's go see how we're doing. Shall we Mrs. Herrera Gibson?" he asked as she kissed him.
"We shall Mr. Gibson", she answered as he kissed her back until they were interrupted by Carina walking into the room.
"Oh, Carina, um we'll be down in a minute", Jack stated as she stood in front of them and smiled.
"I really need to stop walking in on you two", she chuckled to herself as she cleared her throat. "Are you guys ready for the ultrasound? Before Amelia wakes up?" she asked as Andy nodded.
"Yes, of course. Thanks for fitting us in Carina" Andy smiled as her and Jack followed her out of the room and to an OB exam room where Andy got herself into a gown and laid on the bed. "I already know the drill with the gel. It's freezing", Andy laughed as Carina applied the gel and ran the ultrasound machine over Andy's stomach.
"Are those the twins?" Jack asked as he pointed to two figures on the screen.
"Yes, those are your babies", Carina answered as Andy smiled brightly upon hearing the sound of the twins' heartbeats. "And that sound you hear is their heartbeats" she added
"They sound and look absolutely perfect", Andy smiled as Jack rested a hand on her stomach.
"That they do. I love them to the moon and back already", he smiled as Carina chuckled.
Andy pulled out her phone and had Jack snap a picture of the monitor. She wanted to be able to frame it when they did their photo shoot. Carina laughed and mentioned that she could just print a photo directly from the monitor to which Andy readily agreed. She was excited to finally have a first picture of the two newest Gibson kids.
"Now, is air travel okay this far into the pregnancy? It won't hurt them, right?" Andy asked thinking ahead to the family vacation her and Jack were planning to Coney Island. He wanted to take an RV there, but Andy decided against it when she thought of all three kids cooped up together in a small RV for a cross-country trip. "The kids would kill each other by the end of it", she thought when she was looking up flight rates to New York on the plane. She had been systematically planning the trip out on her iPad the whole plane ride here, needing something to take her mind off what she didn't know about Amelia.
"Air travel should be fine in July. That's when you guys were planning on going after the wedding reception/Fourth of July party next week?" Carina asked
"I'm bumping it up to the middle of July to give Lia time to recover", Andy smiled. Her smile quickly turned to a frown, however, as she thought about Amelia. "Speaking of Lia, is there an update on how she's doing?" Andy asked as Carina walked over to her phone.
"I can call the OR and ask. I know you guys must be so worried about her. I would be too", Carina assured as she called down to Bailey. Andy tried to make out what Bailey was saying over the phone, as was Jack to no avail. They could only hear Carina saying, "Andy and Jack want an update on Amelia. How is she? Ok, I'll tell them"
"So?" Andy asked with arched eyebrows as she waited impatiently for an answer.
"Dr. Helm will be down in a minute to update you. In the meantime, I'll go grab the picture for you.", Carina smiled as she left the room.
"Hellmouth?" Andy asked much to Jack's shock. He never heard that nickname before.
"There's a doctor called Hellmouth in there with our little girl?" he asked
"Relax, it's just her nickname. Don't worry", Andy smirked as she hopped off the bed and went into the bathroom to change back into her clothes. When she came out, Helm was already standing there updating Jack. Andy looked over at him and he looked like he was about to break down completely. "Honey?" she asked as she went over and squeezed his hand.
"She's okay. There was a slight complication, but she'll be okay", he answered, forcing a smile while Andy ran her hand up and down the length of his arm. He looked over at her face which was unreadable. The color drained from Andy's face and her eyes went wide in fear or what she didn't know. Jack could feel her pulse racing and quietly reminded her to take a deep breath before asking Helm to clarify what had happened with Amelia.