"Morning sleepyhead." Caitlyn said, when her mother shuffled through into the living room. Emma brushed the stray strands of hair out of her face,
"Ohhh." She moaned, "It's Christmas again."
"Yeah, it's hard to miss. What with all the Christmas cheer everywhere you look." Emma shrugged,
"You can say that again. Where is the Grinch anyway?" Caitlyn nodded to the doorway, which lead to the hall.
"Taking a shower. Probably sprucing himself up to impress darling Lizzie." Emma rolled her eyes. "You just don't like her because you couldn't be here for your brother and she was." Emma sunk into an armchair,
"When the hell did you become so insightful?"
"Bout the same time you started getting those wrinkles round your eyes." Emma threw a cushion at her daughter. Caitlyn caught it and threw it back, hitting Emma on the nose.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, but she was grinning.
"What is it with this family and throwing things?" Robert said from the doorway. Emma and Caitlyn turned on him,
"Aw, Robert you look so cute!" Emma teased,
"And you smell so nice!" Caitlyn agreed, " 'Oh Robert! How can I resist your manly aftershave?' " She imitated Elizabeth's British accent superbly. Robert was glaring at the both of them.
"You know I can't think how I ever managed without you two." He said sarcastically, "Honestly, I let you stay in my home, fill my fridge with girly food, and this is what thanks I get?" He grabbed the right crutch and left them,
"Oh don't be like that you moody bastard!" Emma yelled after him. Caitlyn grinned,
"We're only like this because WE LOVE YOOOOU!" They both called, and lost themselves in fits of giggles. Caitlyn was the first to try and stop.
"We're bad." She said, between giggles.
"I know." Emma agreed. They looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing again.
By the time one o' clock came, Elizabeth was busy in the kitchen, and Ella was watching a Christmas movie. The doorbell rang twice before she could get to it, and she opened the door with oven glove clad hands. She was pulling them off in the doorway,
"Come in, come in," She said, opening the door fully, "Ella's just watching a movie in the living room. Make yourselves at home," Caitlyn stepped inside first, dressed in her pinstripe trousers and a red sweater. She handed Elizabeth a bottle of wine,
"I raided Robert's cupboards," She told her, "I knew there'd be nothing worth drinking in a twenty four hour store." Elizabeth took the bottle,
"Thank you," She said, looking at the label, "Goodness, this looks lovely." Emma pushed Caitlyn ahead of her so she could get into the warmth of the house. Robert was the last to come in, and Emma and Caitlyn had already gone and sat in the living room.
"Those two have been driving me insane all morning." He complained, "I thought being stuck in hospital was bad." Elizabeth smiled,
"Ella has spent the morning opening, setting up and taking apart every present she received." She said, shaking her head and shutting the door, "Then leaving it on the floor."
"Sounds like fun."
"Well, we can save each other from our relatives at least." Elizabeth suggested, "How's your eye?"
"Good." Robert replied, "How's dinner?" Elizabeth rolled her eyes,
"Hopefully it's fine. But if it's not I'd say the fire department should be arriving any moment." They glanced at each other awkwardly, until Elizabeth broke the silence. "I'll bring some drinks through," Robert nodded,
"Have you got anything non alcoholic?" He asked, Elizabeth frowned,
"Yes, why?"
"Emma doesn't drink." He explained, "Long story. I'll tell it to you some time." Elizabeth agreed and went into the kitchen to fetch some glasses and another bottle.
She went into the living room, where Ella was chatting happily to Emma, explaining the film that she had been watching. Ella seemed to like Emma, who was obviously good with Children. When Elizabeth had offered the drinks around, she took a seat in an armchair opposite the couch where Ella and Emma were sitting. Caitlyn was knelt near Ella, listening to her in-depth opinion of the elves in the Christmas movie. Robert was sat in another armchair next to Elizabeth.
"You gave Dorsett a shift today, right?" He asked her, taking his eyes of his family.
"Only a small one." She admitted, "I'm not that cruel. After all, he is a family man." Robert shrugged,
"Yeah. He's obviously very dedicated to his family." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow,
"Well, if you're complaining…" She started, "Honestly, you'd think he lied to you the way you keep carrying on." Robert shook his head,
"Personally, I never liked the guy."
"Now there's a surprise." Elizabeth said, a smile on her face,
"I just think he needs to suffer a little. Or a lot."
"I'd rather just forget about it." Elizabeth said, taking a sip of her drink. "So how was your evening after I left yesterday?" Robert rolled his eyes,
"I think I can safely say my phone bill is going to be considerably higher than usual." Caitlyn looked around innocently,
"Who, me? I hope you aren't insinuating that I'm an expense." She teased. Elizabeth laughed at the look on Robert's face. He turned back to her,
"Three and a half hours on the internet." He explained, "Three and a half hours of irritating bleeps every time she got a message."
"I do have to make the most of having a life you know," She said, "Before I go off to become a professional and get all boring like you." She tipped the glass up and drained what was left in it. Emma gave her a warning look,
"Don't drink too much of that," She said. Caitlyn rolled her eyes,
"Geez mom…"
"Your mother is quite right," Elizabeth agreed, grinning at Caitlyn's protests, "Alcohol kills brain cells you know."
"And I've seen you drunk," Emma added, "You don't react to wine well."
"I'm seventeen years old!" Caitlyn protested, "I'm eighteen soon."
"And this is what I had to put up with last night." Robert said to Elizabeth. "And this morning, only this morning they turned on me."
"Oh stop being so grumpy." Caitlyn told him, and Elizabeth couldn't help laughing at the situation, receiving questioning looks from both Emma and her daughter.
"I'm sorry," She said apologetically, trying to suppress her laughter. "It's just there are a lot of people I know who would pay good money to see someone tell Robert to stop being grumpy and not get their head bitten off."
"Like who?"
"Like the entire staff at County," Elizabeth said, looking at Robert who shrugged,
"Are you a total bastard at work?" Caitlyn asked him, grinning,
"He spends most of his time yelling at people, throwing things and firing people." Elizabeth informed them. Emma nodded,
"Throwing things sounds familiar. I can just picture you in that hospital actually, making every one's life hell." Robert shrugged again,
"What is this, Christmas? Or gang up on me day?" They sat in the living room for about another ten minutes talking, until Elizabeth announced that she was going to go into the kitchen because dinner should be about ready. She directed them to the dining room, and Ella felt immensely grown up as she showed Robert and Caitlyn through. Emma said that she would help Elizabeth in the kitchen. Elizabeth was surprised by the gesture, but grateful anyway because from what she remembered, Christmas dinner was difficult to get right in the last few moments on your own. When they were on their own in the kitchen, Elizabeth decided to get straight to the point.
"Listen, Emma," She started, "I really do apologise for what I said yesterday. It was out of line." Emma stood looking around the kitchen.
"S'alright." She said, dismissively. "You did kind of piss me off. But then again, a lot of what you said made sense. Like I didn't really notice about his arm, the one he's still got. I thought yesterday that I was helping, and I couldn't work out why you weren't. Then a few hours later, I see these massive scars and burn marks, and thought 'oops'." Elizabeth didn't say anything, but was reminded of Robert's words the day before. He'd said that she would just forget about it, and it seemed he was right. She just had to take some time to calm down. "And I guess I was still pissed at Robert for not telling me about his arm. I should have thanked you for helping him out though, when I should have been there." Elizabeth handed Emma a dish of vegetables, which she took after pulling on a pair of ovenmits.
"You can't be there for him if he neglects to tell you things like that." Elizabeth reasoned, "You have your own life to lead, and your daughter." Emma shrugged,
"You're probably right." She agreed, "Doesn't stop me worrying though."
"I expect it doesn't." Elizabeth said,
"I've never seen a Christmas dinner like this," Emma said, "This a British thing?" Elizabeth smiled,
"When I was in England, I never really spent much time worrying about Christmas dinner. My mother used to cook it every year, and I used to help out a little."
"And you like it?" Emma asked, in disbelief, "I hate cooking. Thank god for microwave ovens." After a couple of trips back and forth from the kitchen, everything was on the table, and Elizabeth was sure that she hadn't forgotten anything, so she joined them.
The meal went seamlessly, and the food was obviously well received. Caitlyn was extremely talkative, witty, and managed to keep a constant conversation flowing. Elizabeth noticed that Robert didn't talk very much, but every time she looked at him she didn't think that he wasn't enjoying himself. For one thing, Caitlyn and Emma's banter was quite entertaining. But Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was always going to be like. In public situations, Robert was always either uncomfortable or arrogant. Then she caught up with herself. Dear God, she thought, I'm thinking about the future. What, one kiss and I'm thinking of a life together? Then another voice in her mind interrupted, But it's not just because of one kiss, is it? Elizabeth had to admit that the other voice was right. And kind of creepy. But, she had always felt a connection with Robert, and recently she had felt the connection changing, and growing. After their meal, they went back into the living room for more drinks, and stayed in there most of the afternoon. Instead of sitting in separate chairs though, Elizabeth and Robert were sat together on the couch. Elizabeth found herself lost in conversation at times, but every once in a while she drifted out of it, and her thoughts took over. She couldn't help thinking, when she and Robert were talking about work, how much she had missed having a man there to talk to. It had been different when she had been with Dorsett. They never had actual conversations, about work, or life in general. It was mostly sarcastic, and flirtatious. Even though Robert was perhaps the most sarcastic person she had ever met, and they certainly flirted enough, but they could sense when serious conversation was needed. By six o' clock, after the box of chocolates that Elizabeth had received as a Christmas gift from a grateful patient had been passed around a few times, and they had moved from alcohol to Coffee, Elizabeth said that if she didn't start clearing the plates that they had left in the dining room she would never do it.
"I'll give you a hand," Robert said, standing up, "Well, so to speak." Emma and Elizabeth smiled, but due to maybe a little more wine than her mother had said she could have, Caitlyn collapsed in a fit of giggles. Emma rolled her eyes, and picked up the lid from the box of chocolates, using it to hit her daughter on the head,
"Shut up, you're an embarrassment," She said, causing Caitlyn to laugh even more, and they soon discovered that her laugh was infectious. Elizabeth tried to keep a straight face leaving the room, because she felt sure that if she laughed out loud, it would make Caitlyn worse. Besides, Ella was laughing enough for everyone else. Emma looked genuinely disturbed about being left in the room with them.
"I swear, she is actually quite mature." Robert said, after Elizabeth had closed the door. "She's going to be a lawyer. Some how."
"She seemed perfectly fine before she had any of that wine," Elizabeth commented, "Honestly, with relatives so easy to get on with, I do wonder how you turned out so…"
"Devilishly handsome?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of disagreeable." Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes,
"I'm sure I can do both."
"So how was it? Being home last night I mean." Elizabeth asked him, in the kitchen. Robert handed her the pile of plates he was holding, so that she could load them into the dishwasher.
"Good to be back in a comfortable bed," He said, "Food's better too."
"I bet it was good too get away from the constant irritation of us annoying doctors." Said Elizabeth, leaning back against the side board,
"Well the constant irritation wasn't all that bad." Robert reasoned, a smile appearing on his face. Elizabeth was horrified when she felt her cheeks getting hot, and realised she was going red.
"I'm sure is wasn't." She said. Robert pretended to look concerned,
"You okay there Lizzie? You look a little… flushed." Elizabeth glared,
"You really do delight in torturing me, don't you?" She asked, "You always have." She hadn't even really noticed how close he was standing to her, but when she did, she didn't really care.
"Torture? Me? Never." Robert said innocently, taking another step closer to her. "Great dinner by the way. Very British." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and his hand brush past hers, coming to rest on her hip,
"Is that a good thing?" Robert nodded,
"I'm beginning to get a taste for British things."
"Oh really?" He didn't answer her question, but kissed her instead. After a few moments, Elizabeth pulled back, "You know they're only two doors down the hall don't you?" Robert shrugged,
"Cait's drunk and Emma ate so much it'll take her a while to be bothered to get up." He kissed her again, and she didn't resist at all. Robert's prosthetic arm was resting on her hip, while his real arm was on her waist just under the reddish pink sweater she was wearing. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her.
"What do you think they're doing in there?" Caitlyn asked Emma, after five minutes. Emma looked at her dumbly,
"Clearing the table maybe?" Caitlyn grinned,
"Yeah. It takes this long to clear away some plates." She said meaningfully. A few seconds passed, and Emma turned her head to the door,
"You don't think… God Cait, now you've got me all curious."
"Curious or nosy?" Emma was silent for a moment, then let out an exasperated groan,
"Urgh! I would never have gotten this mental picture if you'd just kept your thoughts to yourself." She scolded, shaking her head to rid herself of it, "Give it five minutes, then I'll go crazy." Caitlyn nudged Ella, and pointed to her mother,
"I think my mom's a little crazy already, don't you?" Ella looked between the two, and giggled, climbing up onto the couch.
"We really should go back to the living room," Elizabeth said, breaking their contact for just a moment.
"Why?"
"Because they'll wonder what's taking so long." Robert shrugged,
"Then we'll say, sorry we took so long, but we took a break from clearing up the mess of Christmas festivities to make out like teenagers." Elizabeth laughed,
"You can say that if you really want to." She teased, "And live with the consequences when you go home."
"Hmm. You may have a point there." Robert said thoughtfully, "So what do you want to do?" Elizabeth grinned and shook her head,
"I believe that and what we should do are two different things."
"So what 'should' we do?" Robert asked, amused. Elizabeth brought her hands from his back, and onto his shoulders.
"We 'should' go back into the living room and rescue Emma and Caitlyn from Ella."
"Or rescue Ella from Emma and Cait." Robert suggested.
"Either way…"
"So what did you want to do?" He asked her suggestively. Elizabeth kissed him again,
"I believe you crazy Americans call it, 'making out like teenagers'." She reminded him, "Come on, it's not fair to leave them there." Robert eventually gave in,
"Fine." He said, although he did sound a little disappointed, "We'll definitely have to do that again some time." Elizabeth grinned,
"Ooh, definitely."
When they went innocently back into the living room, Elizabeth felt like she was a school girl, sneaking back home after doing something she didn't want her parents to know about. When they went in, Cait and Emma were talking, and seemed none the wiser, however, unbeknown to Elizabeth, Cait gave her uncle a wink and a grin when no one else could see. Robert looked away, not answering her silent question, and with no intention of answering it, no matter what kind of interrogation he received later that night.
"So how long have you got off work for Christmas Elizabeth?" Emma asked her, handing her daughter a glass of the non alcoholic drink she herself had been living on all afternoon.
"Tomorrow." Elizabeth said, not looking too happy about it. "I would have liked longer, but I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that states I have to give the rest of my staff at least some time off over the holiday season." Robert gave a sort of half laugh, which gave Emma the distinct impression that when he had been chief surgeon, he would never have bothered about such rules. "How long are you and Caitlyn planning on staying in Chicago?" Elizabeth asked, realising that she hadn't asked this and had been meaning to.
"I got no plans," Emma said, "But Cait has a lot of work to get on with," Caitlyn groaned, "No rest for the wicked kid." She shrugged, "I dunno, maybe it'd be best to avoid the traffic and head back tomorrow, or the day after."
"Oh, without seeing the sights of Chicago?" Elizabeth said, with a smile.
"We've seen the hospital." Emma said, "I've never heard anything about Chicago outside County General." She looked pointedly at her brother.
"What? The rest of the city's dull." He defended himself readily, "I've never heard anything about San Francisco."
"You've never asked!" Emma retorted.
"Ah." He paused, "I'm sure there's a reason for that."
"You're self obsessed." Caitlyn said, grinning evilly.
"Oh really?"
"I think 'County – Obsessed' would be a more accurate phrase." Emma corrected, "You just wait Cait, you'll be a career woman one day."
"I am going to be a kick ass lawyer." She answered her mother, "I'll have so much money I won't need friends." She said this in such a mock confidence way that she nearly fell of her chair. They couldn't help laughing at her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the future of the United States."
"What better reason could we have to stay on the right side of the law?" Robert said receiving a deadly glance from his niece. Their playful conversation about nothing on particular went on into the night, when Elizabeth excused herself to drag her daughter away from the television and upstairs to bed. After many protests and finally a goodnight to every one, which Ella dragged out for as long as she could, latching herself onto Robert for at least five minutes, Elizabeth told them she would be back soon and took Ella upstairs.
"Sooo." Caitlyn said, suggestively. Robert looked innocent,
"What?"
"Robert, you got a little lipstick on your face." Emma said, with a hint of a smile. She was trying not to enjoy this too much, "I think you missed when you were putting it on this morning." Robert hastily rubbed at his face, and glared at his sister.
"You're hilarious. You know that?"
"I do try."
"You guys really heading back soon?" Emma nodded,
"Like I said, Cait's got a tonne of work to do. We only really planned to stay until tomorrow anyway. I could switch our flight, but we've got some good seats, and there doesn't seem much point delaying going back by what? A couple of days?"
"But we've had a great time though." Cait said, "Despite the nice little shock at the beginning."