6 months pregnant.
A month had past since Owen's surprise arrival on Amelia's doorstep and the pair had kept in almost daily contact. Sending each other questions about any interesting cases or scans, how the other was doing and other snippets of information.
A man to his word, Owen wanted to support Amelia as best as he could. He knew she was shutting her friends in LA out of her life and he couldn't bare to think of her being alone. So, on his weekend off, exactly four weeks later Owen had arranged to come and stay at Amelia's for the weekend. Amelia had told Owen of a hidden walking track she loved and Owen had shared where he could get them the best take away Italian in LA.
As Owen's cab drove him to Amelia's house on the Friday evening, he couldn't help but reflect on the past month and all that he had learned about his charming new friend. The more they shared, the more in awe he was of her. There was just something about Amelia Shepherd that made Owen not care about being vulnerable and open. For the first time in years he felt the safety to let down his walls.
When Owen knocked on the front door, he could see the outline of Amelia making her way to answer the door. Her bump had grown since he last saw her, now 6 months along. She opened the door and he was pleased to see her trademark grin was almost back.
"Owen, hi! How was your flight!?" Amelia closed the gap between them, giving him a warm hug, her arms around his neck.
Hugging her back, Owen smiled to himself "It was all smooth sailing, I managed to get caught up on some paperwork so now I feel like I can really relax."
Pulling back from their hug, Owen held Amelia at arm's length. "You look much brighter than the last time I saw you and look at that growing boy!"
Amelia grinned happily "I know, right." Owen released her arms as she gently cradled her stomach "he's perfect size and so strong. Wait until you feel him kick."
Owen followed Amelia into the guest room, where he left his bag. Then gave him a quick tour of the house.
"feel free to have a shower if you like, I was just going to make a start on dinner. You don't have any allergies, right?" she asked as she leaned against the kitchen counter.
"Nope, no allergies. I'm happy to cook for you? It's not so fun cooking for one person, so I'd love to do it."
"Definitely not, you're my guest! Go have a shower and I'll whip us up something quickly."
Owen smiled, holding up his hands in resignation before turning to walk towards the bathroom, grabbing a change of clothes on the way.
As the shower turned on, Amelia bustled around the kitchen. Music softly playing through her speakers, she hummed along. While her chicken cooked she set the table for the two of them and just as she was about to plate up their meal Owen reappeared.
Not noticing him at first, Amelia gently swayed to the music, singing softly as she presented their meal.
"I like this song too" Owen joked as Amelia turned her head to face him, smiling. She lifted his plate and extended it to him "here you go, dinner is served!"
Owen took the plate offered and reached around behind her, carrying both of their meals to the table.
The pair chatted easily over dinner and dessert before eventually making their way to their separate bedrooms.
Never one to allow himself a deep sleep, Owen was awoken by the sound of whimpering and Amelia's soft voice saying "no… no, please don't…. Please..."
Quickly rushing out of bed, dressed in his boxer briefs Owen quickly moved to stand at Amelia's door knocking softly "are you okay?" he called out. When there was no answer he slowly opened the door to find Amelia talking to herself in her sleep again. A sheen of sweat across her forehead. He walked to the side of her bed and gently placed his hand on her arm, softly trying to rouse her from her sleep. Now that he was close noticing the tears on her cheeks.
"Amelia, its Owen. You're having a dream. You're okay… just wake up… everything's okay."
Amelia gasped as she woke up, startled at first by Owen's presence but then bursting into tears at the trick her mind had just played on her.
"Oh, Amelia." Owen wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed against his neck. Shushing her as he rubbed her back. "Hey, you're okay… do you want to talk about what you were dreaming about?"
"I… cant…" Amelia cried out between sobs, her delicate fingers digging into his back as she clung to him. "it's too much…."
They stayed that way until Amelia's sobs started to subside. Owen leant back, looking into her eyes "are you okay now?"
Amelia's big blue eyes looked up at him as she nodded slowly.
Owen moved to stand up, but Amelia placed her hand on his forearm. "Can you just stay here? Please?"
Owen brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded "of course I can."
He moved to the spare side of the bed and lay there on top of the duvet. Amelia took his hand in hers and slowly drifted off to sleep, her breaths evening out as she relaxed.
Eventually, Owen too fell asleep, the sound of waves crashing in the distance lulling him back to sleep.
The next morning Owen woke up uncharacteristically late to Amelia speaking softly to her bump. Not wanting to interrupt, but also feeling like he was encroaching on a private moment, Owen cleared his throat "Morning… what time is it?"
Amelia turned her head to the side to face him "Um, it's about 10am."
"Seriously? Have you been awake long? You could've woken me."
"Oh it's okay, I only woke at about 9:30. You looked so peaceful and I could hardly wake you after keeping you up half the night."
Owen pulled himself up to sit on the bed "Don't worry about that, honestly it's fine."
Crossing her arms across her chest Amelia sighed "It's not fine. But I suppose it is what it is I'm going to do some yoga, take your time getting ready."
With that, Amelia crawled out of bed, grabbing her yoga pants and a crop top and made her way out to the living room.
Owen watched as she left, knowing there was something more that was bothering the young brunette, but not wanting to pry to forcefully. He wriggled back down to lie in the bed and watched as the waves crashed onto the shore. Hearing the faint sound of a yoga class streaming through the TV in the living room.
Decidedly giving Amelia her space, Owen took his time getting out of bed and into the shower. When he eventually made his way out to the living room, Amelia was sitting in her final pose. Her pregnant swell on full display as she sat there breathing calmly with her eyes closed. Unable to stop himself from staring, the sight before him undeniably beautiful, Owen tried to mask it by making his way around the kitchen, Amelia in his line of sight the entire time.
As she slowly started to open her eyes, Owen busied himself in chopping the ingredients to make them both omelettes, although from the corner of his eye Owen could make out Amelia adorably struggling to get herself up off the floor in a graceful manner.
Smelling the aromas wafting from the pan Amelia made her way to the kitchen unashamedly saying "What's cooking, good looking?"
Owen laughed, turning his head over his shoulder "I hope you like omelettes?"
Amelia hummed happily. "Love them!" before moving closer towards him and reaching up to grab a glass from the cabinet beside his head. Filling it with water, she then sat on the counter and watched as he expertly prepared her breakfast.
"So… yoga, huh?"
"It helps me to stay calm."
"Fair enough."
"I've practiced on and off since my first stint in rehab 10 years ago."
"I didn't think you looked like a newcomer."
Amelia smiled as she leaned back on her hands and gestured to her stomach "this one here certainly makes me look like a newcomer."
Owen smiled and opened a few cabinets trying to locate plates.
As he dished the meal up, Amelia made coffee for the pair, placing it on the breakfast bar. the two worked happily in silence, not needing to fill any empty voids. They were so comfortable being around each other that they didn't need to.
"So, Owen…" Amelia started as they sat down to eat "Will you tell me what happened? Between you and Christina?"
Owen sighed as he lowered his cutlery "Amelia…"
"Did she cheat on you?" Amelia interrupted.
"No…"
"Well she obviously did something unforgivable, that made you angry or upset with her."
Owen looked at her questioningly, wondering what she had heard.
"I can just tell, I feel like I can read you pretty well" Amelia shrugged.
"It's uhh… I'm worried telling you would be a little insensitive."
"Well she's not here to get offended…" Amelia pushed.
"I don't mean Christina…" Owen sighed.
"Oh… Me?" Amelia swept a strand of hair back behind her ear.
Owen nodded before looking down to his plate.
"I'm not really following…" Amelia looked towards him, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Amelia…" Owen rested his head in his hands, and gently rubbed his face.
Placing her hand on his arm, she whispered. "it's okay if you feel like you don't feel like you can tell me."
"It's not that I don't trust you, Amelia. I just feel it would be insensitive…"
"it's about a baby isn't it?"
Owen nodded slowly.
Amelia looked at her plate, before pushing her chair back and standing up. "excuse me" she muttered before walking to her bedroom.
Owen watched as she walked away, his heart dropping. This is exactly why he didn't want to tell her. His baby's life had ended due to a choice of the mother of his child. Amelia's baby's life was going to be ripped away from her in the cruellest way.
Giving Amelia some time to herself, Owen begun tidying up the kitchen. Watching the waves through the window as he washed the dishes. After around half an hour he heard Amelia coming out of her room, a blanket around her shoulders. Walking straight past him in the kitchen she opened the back door and curled up on one of the beach lounges.
Owen made them each a cup of coffee and walked outside, sitting on the lounge beside her.
"I made you some coffee…" he placed it on the table between them, cradling his own cup in his hands.
"I'm sorry for walking off, Owen. I understand you not wanting to upset me… but you see, the thing is is that you're supporting me through this awful yet beautiful time in my life. I want you to feel like you can tell me anything too."
Owen sighed, staring out at the water. "I've always wanted a family, for as long as I can remember. A big family. When Christina and I married, knowing she didn't want children, I sacrificed what I wanted. I loved her, even though she didn't want a family. I tried so hard to push that desire down. To bury it I suppose. We found out she was pregnant and I couldn't hide my excitement."
Amelia watched with baited breath as he struggled to find the words.
"when she found out, she was furious. At me. At herself. At how she had apparently destroyed her life. I understand her, I know she is incredibly career driven. Hell, I went with her to the appointment. But I just couldn't get past it, you know? I'm not blaming her, it was the two of us. We had such conflicting desires of our future. But I just couldn't get past her decision to terminate our babies life." Owen confessed, wiping a tear from his cheek.
Amelia reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently.
"That's why I couldn't tell you…"
"Oh, Owen… Our situations are completely different. You don't need to worry about upsetting me. My story is what it is. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, please don't ever share with me things that upset you, because you don't feel they're as upsetting as something I've told you. Okay?"
Shaking his head, Owen looked at Amelia, a wonderous look on his face. "Amelia Shepherd, you are truly one of a kind."
