The reviews have been very kind. Thank you very much
The next few months passed in a blur. Their schedules were mismatched but they snatched time together where they could whether it was breakfast in the cafeteria or a late dinner at home. They found it hard but it was certainly easier now that they lived together. Audrey had moved things in quite gradually and was sub-letting her place to a hospital employee.
Over breakfast in small diner nearby one morning, the conversation turned to the amount of time they were spending apart. Melendez was on his way home and Lim was on her way in to they took the hour in between to see each other. "Let's put in for some leave" Audrey suggested. "I can't remember the last time I took a vacation, do you?"
He looked at her with a smile. "Where were you thinking?"
"Anywhere!" She replied. "Somewhere warm and far enough that they can't call us in would be great."
"How should we do this? You get your leave authorised by Andrews right? Maybe I should do the same so that there isn't any comeback."
She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Best to do this the way of least resistance and avoid speculation.
"Let's arrange a meeting with him to go through this. It's a good idea and should stop any future issues."
It was another week before they could both get in to meet with Andrews. They had discussed what they were going to say and had pretty high hopes.
"Dr. Lim, Dr Melendez. Good to see you both. What are we're discussing today?"
Andrews seemed in a remarkably good mood. He had been on his best behaviour since the scandal with Han. He had overruled the board and fired him after seeing how much more of an asset Shaun was to the hospital in the long term. His relationship with the board was fragile but his actions had led to greater respect from lower level staff. They felt that there was actually someone back in charge who would fight for the 'little people' just like Glassman used too.
"Well, we were discussing taking a vacation" began Audrey.
"And we thought that it might be best if you were to review and authorise my leave going forward to avoid any issues with favouritism." Neil continued.
"Very good idea." agreed Andrews. "Where were you thinking of heading?"
"South for some sunshine we think" said Audrey smiling.
"Great, sort yourselves some dates and I'll authorise them and you can get planning."
"Thanks Dr Andrews" said Audrey. She visibly relaxed at his response.
"Yes, thanks very much" asked Neil. "Thanks for your understanding."
Andrews smiled as he let out a sigh of relief. "I must admit, when I heard that you both needed to see me, I thought we were going to be having a more serious discussion today along the lines of maternity leave!" he laughed. He didn't notice the shocked looks that passed over his doctor's faces as he dismissed them. "Have a good day both" giving them signal to leave.
They looked at each other, stood up and left with a mumbled "thank you" from both of them. They walked back to their offices in silence. There was a tension between them which would have been obvious to anyone within a five mile radius.
"I've got another meeting" Audrey stammered.
"I've got a consult" Neil replied. "See you later?"
"Sure, have a good day" she said as she felt herself cringing inwardly. She sounded like an idiot. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and made his way off to his patient.
Audrey slouched into her chair and started taking her frustration out on some of the reports in front of her. What had Andrews gone and said that for? They hadn't even discussed it a little bit and now there it was, the topic that had ended Neil's last relationship. It had never been something she'd thought about during her marriage but this relationship with Neil was so very different.
She text him a quick message 'I'm heading home, see you later' which he could pick up once he'd finished his consult. She just wanted to get out of there to try and figure out what she was going to say in the conversation that was obviously coming later.
An hour later, Neil caught up with his messages. 'She'd be long gone by now' he thought. Dammit. He didn't think this conversation would come up so soon, he knew it would eventually but he was happy in blissful ignorance. He had another few hours before his shift ended and at least one surgery so he needed to focus. Hopefully Audrey wasn't stressing too much.
Around 8pm, Neil finally finished his shift. The surgery had been successful which put him on a temporary high. They would have to talk soon? Maybe even tonight? He dropped her a text 'Have you had dinner? Shall I bring takeout?' And went about packing his papers to take home.
His phone pinged with a reply 'I haven't, dinner would be great.'
He smiled to himself as he finished packing up and made his way to his car. He would stop in at her favourite food truck on the way to get some of those nasty burritos she'd loved.
He elbowed his way in through the front door, his arms full of bags. "Hi, I'm home!" He called.
"Hi" she called from the kitchen. He followed the sound of her voice and found her at the kitchen table surrounded by paperwork.
"You look busy" he said inwardly rolling his eyes. 'You sound like an idiot Melendez, shut up' he thought.
"Yeah" she replied simply.
"Ready for dinner now?" He asked.
"Sure, I'll clear space."
She smiled at him when she realised where he'd been for takeout. He noticed that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes as it normally did.
"What are we going to do about this." She asked.
"Same as we've done with every problem so far. Eat our dinner and talk about it like grown ups" he replied.
She smiled more openly at that.
Sitting down more comfortably after dinner, glasses full, they passed the time with idle chit chat.
Eventually, Neil started the conversation they were dreading "Are we going to talk about this?"
"I suppose we should" she replied. "How do you feel about what Andrews said?"
"For starters, it's none of his business. I think we're doing a great job of keeping our private life private. The vacation issue is the only thing that's come up."
"True" she agreed. "But we should talk it out, just to make sure we're on the same page." She took a deep breath and asked "do you want to have children?"
"I do...I mean, I did." Here shook his head, this wasn't coming out as he thought it would. "I want you Audrey, and whatever comes with that. Whether it's kids or whether we are the crazy old people in the neighbourhood with ten cats. What about you? Do you want kids?"
"I think so. I've never really thought about it before, I've never been settled enough to even think about it. It feels very early in the relationship to be thinking about this but I am very aware I'm not getting any younger and I'm past my prime fertility wise. But I also know that any children of ours would be beautiful." She said with a smile.
"And smart, and a handful!" he added.
They sat for a bit, lost in their own thoughts.
Audrey spoke first. "What if we gave it a try but didn't really try?" She asked.
"Sorry?"
"I mean, how about we just stop being so careful. We have a great sex life so let's just see what happens? If it happens then great, if not then we'll get some cats. "
"No stress then?"
"Nope. No charts, moon cycles or running home to do it because I'm ovulating. Just see what happens."
"I think that would be great" he replied. He felt nervous and excited at the same time.
"Settled then" she smiled.
He put his arm out along the back of the sofa and she moved to settle in under it. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head sweetly and simply said "love you".