A/N: Okay, I'm going to need some suspension of belief to take this where I want it so stick with me! It might be awful but it will get better lol.

Kaleigh

I shook Dr. Silver's hand, which was warm and soft. I could have burst into tears right there because she was just being so damn nice to me. I had been stressing about this all night and hardly slept, so I'm sure that helped, but the kindness of a stranger was enough to make my eyes at least sting.

I think she saw that, because she smiled at put her hand on my upper arm. "We're going to exam room number 4. Just follow me."

Things were starting to get a little blurry and I longed for the chance to sit down again. I was just so damn tired.

The room was less industrial than I had expected. There was a blood draw chair in the corner and cabinets with medical supplies, but I was sitting on a couch and Dr. Silver was lowering herself slowly into a desk chair. I tried not to stare as she maneuvered with her prosthetics.

"So, Kaleigh," Dr. Silver started. She somehow knew the correct way to pronounce my name, or maybe I had corrected her and didn't even remember. Maybe the receptionist told her how I had said it. "What's going on today?"

I took a deep breath. I knew I was about to cry if I explained the situation but I wasn't about to sob in front of this person who I barely knew, so I just let the tears slowly burn my cheeks as I told her all about my predicament. I was safe, I assured her. I did everything right.

"Well, condoms are only about 98% effective, when used perfectly correctly. But nobody is expecting you to be perfect. So Kaleigh, please, don't feel guilty about this. What matters now is how you choose to move forward. We'll do a blood test to confirm it, but we're here to support whatever decision you make if it comes back positive. What about at home? Do you have a good support system there?"

"My sister… she's 20. I don't… my parents are… Well, I don't live with my parents. I live with my sister's biological mother and her husband. It's weird, I know, but we were both adopted, and…"

Dr. Silver put her hand up. "I don't mean to interrupt, but you don't have to explain weird families to me. My family had its own unconventionality."

"Had?" I asked. Stupid. Not everybody wanted to share every detail of their life with you, even if they were being nice to you.

"It's… well, it's complicated. But I just mean that I understand. But you have your sister so that's good. Have you told her, or anyone? The father?"

I nodded. "I told Nick. And Alexa. My sister. And I told Owen, Amelia's fiancé, but not Amelia. They are both doctors, so I just wanted to get some information from somewhere else before I talked to them about it… I only told Owen because I needed to tell someone who wasn't Nick or Alexa, if that makes sense." I realized I was rambling but it was because Dr. Silver had grown silent and looked stunned.

"Owen and Amelia you say? Doctors?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, they took me in even though Amelia is Alexa's bio mom. Her bio dad died in an accident of some sort. A plane crash, maybe? I forget."

Dr. Silver was paling by the minute. "A plane crash?"

"Umm… yeah, I think so."

"It's not… Amelia Shepherd and Owen Hunt by chance?"

Weird. How did she know that? I felt uncomfortable now. "Yeah… how…"

Dr. Silver cleared her throat. "Oh, uh, I follow a lot of doctors from the area that do research that I'm interested in. And the plane crash story was published in the paper."

"But how does that have to do with-"

"So if you'll just take a seat in the chair over there, I can take some blood and put a rush on the test…" Dr. Silver stood abruptly, cutting me off. "It will take about a few hours for the test to come back from the lab with the rush, so you are welcome to leave and we'll contact you when it's ready."

My head was spinning. Why was Dr. Silver so frazzled? She had seemed so sweet and helpful at first but now she seemed like she couldn't get me out of there fast enough.

I didn't fail to notice that she didn't let this affect her blood draw and efficiently inserted the needle into my elbow. I had to look away when the blood started filling the vial. I was a little squeamish. My biological parents were tax attorneys.

Dr. Silver gave me some literature and I was on my way. As soon as I was outside the clinic, I ripped off the gauze and threw it in a trashcan near the bus stop. No need to warrant any more questions than I wanted to answer.

The bus splashed a ton of runoff on me before coming to a stop.

Amelia

Owen and I had been up "discussing" things all night.

It's not that I didn't want a kid. It's that I was appalled by the fact that he had chosen to bring it up now. Now, when Kaleigh was having a pregnancy scare at best. Now, when both of the girls had just gotten into a routine and were maybe beginning to feel like this was their home. Now, when we ourselves had just gotten our footing back.

He thought this would be the best time. He knew it was going to affect Kaleigh and Alexa but he figured we should get it over with now while they were still adjusting so they didn't have to readjust later. As if that were some big profound psychological statement. He didn't dare say anything about Kaleigh, but I could tell he knew by the way he talked about them.

We agreed to table the discussion for a time when we both had work off and could talk about it in a more appropriate medium. Obviously that meant I was going to take on as many extra shifts as possible, in a sad attempt to delay the inevitable. I was too afraid that what had happened to us before would happen again.

I just needed time. Time to talk to Meredith and see what she thought, because so often she seemed to know exactly the right thing to do for Alexa, and Kaleigh for that matter. Time to square away this thing with Kaleigh before it became a problem that involved the whole family. Time to get over the taste of metal in my mouth every time I thought about being pregnant again.

Time to mourn while being sober.

I was so used to having things on my mind while at work that I had turned into an avoidance machine. Excuses left and right. Emotions checked at the door. Concealer under the eyes. Lies to those close to me.

My surgery with Derek was the first thing I had going on that morning, so I had to deal with his worried glances and condescendence while we were in the scrub room.

"If you're not feeling up to it, Amy, I can have…"

I rolled my eyes. "You're ridiculous. Anything to be the hero, Derek. Anything at all. I'm fine. I'm just tired, what doctor isn't?"

"That's it, huh?"

I was scrubbing my arms harder than needed, until the blood rose to my skin and stung. "Owen kind of dropped a bombshell last night so I had to have a somewhat unpleasant conversation but that doesn't mean I can't do this. I know how to compartmentalize, you know."

"If you're sure."

"I'm freaking sure, alright! Jesus, Derek." We finished our mandated four minutes of scrubbing together and headed into the OR for what was going to be a long, challenging surgery. Just what I needed.

Alexa

I didn't wake up until later than I would like to admit on Saturday. I didn't smell breakfast so either I missed it or both Amelia and Owen were at work and didn't make any. Slightly disappointing, but I was a college student, so I was used to lowering my standards as far as food went.

My phone had blown up last night because of a group chat with my friends at school. They were trying to make plans and I obviously wasn't there so I muted the conversation, but looking back this morning made me feel a little left out. Maybe it was just that I was still at odds about Kaleigh's news and would rather be at school. But I was very tempted to call my friend Grace and see if she would pick me up.

Before I had the chance, Kaleigh came bounding down the stairs. She was already fully dressed and awake, so I wondered if she was waiting for me to wake up. "Hey," I said, pouring some Count Chocula cereal for myself. "Are they both at work?"

Kaleigh was visible shaken. "Yeah… Let me run something by you. But I need you to shut up and listen to the whole thing before you comment."

"Alright," I agreed.

"I went to a clinic. This morning, while you were asleep. I figured I would get some information for myself before… well before I had to tell Amelia and start dealing with it. I wanted to be educated, you know? Anyways… they took my blood and ran a test to make sure it wasn't a false positive. Dr. Silver put a rush on it so she said it would take a few hours…"

I swallowed my cereal. "And?"

"And it's been a few hours. I have a voicemail from the clinic but I'm too afraid to check it."

I rolled my eyes. "Give me your phone. I'll do it. You can't just avoid it, you know."

"Oh, shut up, and stop acting like you know better than me about everything because you're two years older." Kaleigh wrenched her phone off the counter before I could grab it. "I just wanted to know if you thought I should wait or not. Your opinion is clear."

"Wait for what? The news isn't going to change if you wait to hear it. I mean, what are the chances that you had a false positive anyway? 0.001%?" I argued.

Kaleigh sighed. "I know that, alright? I just… I don't want to ruin everything just yet. Right now there's still hope."

I sighed. "You're not ruining anything, except maybe your own sanity. I'm telling you, Kay, these people are going to support you. They love you, even if you don't exactly love them yet. They aren't just going to throw you out on the street if you are pregnant. Plus, you've already told Owen, and he was fine wasn't he?"

"It wasn't him I was worried about," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Amelia… we barely talk, Alexa. I just don't know how to connect with her. I'm afraid of what she'll think of me when I tell her. Some kid she took in out of obligation to you and who she barely knows."

I was getting irrationally mad at Kaleigh now. "So talk to her! She's not some monster, she will want to help you. And she didn't just take you in because of me. Sure, I asked her. Sure, she wouldn't have even thought about it without everything that happened but I don't know what it's going to take to get you to see that this isn't the worst place in the world to be living." I hopped off the counter stool, still yelling. "In fact, we were living somewhere worse. Somewhere where every word you said had to be perfectly planned, and you could never be yourself, and you had to always walk on eggshells, and you got baseball bats thrown at you for no reason, and… and…"

"It wasn't for no reason, Alexa! God. You say "you" like that applies to me too, but it doesn't. I liked living there."

"How can you be so naïve? She came after you too!" I dumped my cereal down the garbage disposal and "placed" the bowl in the sink. And by that, I mean slammed it so hard that it shattered. My hands were trembling and I swear I could have slapped Kaleigh. "And are you seriously trying to imply that it was my fault, what happened? I can be accountable for how my actions have affected you, but I am done blaming myself for that toxic woman's behavior."

"What are you doing!" Kaleigh yelled as I began to pick up the glass shards.

"Just go away, Kaleigh. You're pissing me off right now."

"Fine. But I'm waiting to tell Amelia before I open the stupid voicemail."

"Shit," I said a minute later, because I had cut myself on a piece of the bowl. But when I turned around Kaleigh was already upstairs. Still, I wasn't alone, because Amelia, who must have come in while we were yelling at each other, was standing in the archway of the kitchen.

"Tell me what?" she asked, but her unsurprised and unconcerned face told me that she somehow already knew.

Amelia

Alexa shrugged nervously and held up her bleeding hand. I grabbed a paper towel and applied pressure for her.

"Tell me what?" I repeated, waiting for the truth to finally come out. It had only been a day and I thought I could already feel a rift.

Alexa smiled sadly. "I think you already know."

I sighed, looking at Alexa's hand. "Well, are you alright? It looks fine. How did the bowl break?"

"I dropped it," she said. "I was angry. I'm sorry. I can get a new one."

I laughed out loud. "Please. That was from Nancy, I couldn't care less. Just be careful. And kind to your sister." The irony wasn't lost on me.

"She's so just so fricking aggravating sometimes. Now here I am in this position where I either have to sell her out to you or keep secrets from you, because she was too much of a wimp to deal with any of this…" I was surprised to see Alexa start crying. But I understood. I was always like that too. First came the rage, and then I would cry even if I wasn't sad. Fighting with people like that just made me upset.

"Hey," I rubbed her arm. "You don't have to tell me. I'm going to go talk to her now."

"Okay, but then she said it was my fault my mother was hurting me."

I was a little shocked by that, but I guess I wouldn't have put it past Kaleigh to be a verbal scrapper when she felt like she was in a corner. "She's just mad. Look, the reality is this is a lot harder on her than it is on you. I don't just mean the… situation. I mean everything. You know the truth, and I'm sure she does too, but she's going through a lot right now and she's going to need you on her side. I don't know what it's like to be an older sister but I know it would drive me nuts when mine tried to tell me what to do instead of supporting what I wanted to do, so keep that in mind, alright?" Frankly, I was impressed with myself for saying what I thought might actually be the right thing for once. Alexa gave me a teary nod and continued to clean up the sink. "Be careful. I'll be upstairs."

Amelia Shepherd, M.D. and parent of the day (had to start small), I thought to myself as I climbed the stairs. But it was easier with Alexa. We were so similar.

I knocked on Kaleigh's door and waited in the hall for her to let me in. I tried to remember the last time I was in here with her, and not by myself cleaning. It might have been when we showed her the room.

"I heard there's some news," I said levelly when she let me, sitting down at her desk chair.

She paused. "Who told you?"

She was so ready to believe that someone she had trusted had sold her out. I felt awful. "No one. I saw the box in the recycling bin."

Kaleigh put her hands to her eyes. "I'm so fricking stupid."

"What, um… what was the result."

Kaleigh looked at me. "Positive." She began to cry.

My heart sunk. Selfish thoughts swam around my head. I had to snap out of it.

"So now everybody knows?"

She nodded.

"Alright well, we should talk you in to see Arizona, then, so we can-"

"I went to a clinic this morning."

"Oh… you didn't… I mean you didn't, uh…"

"No, I didn't get an abortion, if that's what you're saying. They gave me some pamphlets and drew some blood to double check. The results are in. They're on a voicemail that I haven't checked yet." Kaleigh handed me her phone. "I can't do it myself."

I let out a breath. "Okay, well, we can do it together then, can't we?"

I hit the little play button and put the phone on speaker. Kaleigh couldn't even look at me.

A vaguely familiar voice rang out. "This message is for Kaleigh Lane, from Dr. Silver at the Family Health and Wellness Clinic. Your test results are in. If you could call back and make an appointment with me, we can discuss them. I have a lot of openings for today. Just call the reception desk and you can book from there. See you soon."

Did I know a Dr. Silver?

Kaleigh

So they weren't even going to tell me whether I was really pregnant or not over that stupid voice mail. Really? Now I just had to put it off again.

"Let's make an appointment. I'll come with you… we all can if you want," Amelia offered.

"You don't have to do that," I said, but I couldn't lie. Some moral support would be nice, especially if Dr. Silver was going to act all squirrely again. I was hoping she would offer again.

"Are you sure?"

Relief flooded me. "Actually, maybe you could come with me. But just you. I don't want too many people. If that makes sense."

Amelia smiled at me. "Of course."

The appointment was later that afternoon. Alexa was a little bitter that I didn't invite her to come with me but I did want to make an effort with Amelia. I didn't want to admit it but Alexa was at least partially right. Amelia was better with the situation than I had anticipated.

"Kaleigh Lane?" the receptionist called out. I walked up to the desk with Amelia. "You can go to room 4 now. Dr. Silver is waiting for you in there… she's a little tired." The receptionist motioned to her legs.

"She has two prosthetics," I whispered to Amelia in the hall as we were about to go in.

Amelia froze in the doorway. "Lexie?"