CH 4
Kai knew David's daughter and her family were flying to Seattle in a couple of days to spend the holidays with him, so they didn't feel too guilty about leaving. After saying goodbye to him, Kai reached the top of the stairs when noticing Amelia on the floor below. She was quite hard to miss, crossing the lobby with her purse and a big diaper bag on one shoulder while holding a toddler in an unzipped puffy jacket on her opposite hip. They stopped at the elevators, the boy babbling and pointing at various things in his sight and Amelia listening to him, then explaining something with a great deal of patience. The elevator doors opened and the two disappeared behind it.
During the time spent in Seattle, Kai got friendly with couple of the Grey-Sloan nurses and they let them leave their suitcase in the nurses lounge this morning so they wouldn't have to drag it across the hospital. They stopped there to pick it up and by the time Amelia got out of the elevator again, Kai was already waiting for her.
Leaning against the information desk, Kai took in the sight of Amelia walking towards them with some kind of glow about her. Her blue eyes bright, the curls of her hair bouncing with every step and a smile across her face. She looked beautiful.
"Hi. You look happy." Kai couldn't help but comment on Amelia's cheerful demeanor.
"Hi." She said, taken slightly aback by that but smiling just a little wider.
"Mhm, on top of a particularly pleasant morning there's a certain neuroscientist I might have been thinking about that I get to see again." She added.
"Well, lucky them." Kai smirked, hoping their cheeks didn't turn visibly pink. So, Amelia's thinking about them?
"I see you have your things with you already, great." Amelia looked at the suitcase waiting by their side.
"Yeah, I've checked out of the hotel in the morning, planning on catching a cab to the airport straight from here." They explained and grabbed it by the handle as Amelia started heading towards the exit to the employee parking lot.
"I have a very serious question for you." Amelia said pressing the trunk button on her car keys.
"Yeah?" Kai looked at her before putting their suitcase in.
"Do you like sea food?" She asked looking very serious indeed.
Kai laughed closing the trunk and looked Amelia dead in the eyes.
"I love it."
"Well, that settles the lunch choice then. You must try Seattle best lobster rolls. C'mon." she nodded her head towards the front of the car and the pair got in.
Driving out into the streets of the city, Amelia looked at Kai, remembering something from their earlier conversations.
"So, tell me, a swim team?"
"Yeah," Kai nodded with a chuckle. "I've started competing in the first year of high school. They had a great sports program. I've always loved the water, I find it… soothing. The competing on the other hand, not so much."
"You mean you are not a competitive person?"
"Not in the pushing the physical abilities of a body sense, no."
"Ah. So just the theoretical, outthinking your colleagues, pushing the boundaries of science sense?"
"Exactly." They nod with laugh. Amelia's description was funny but quite fitting.
…
Amelia parked the car in an underground lot close to the waterfront area and the two of them walked about 5 minutes to a nearby complex with some local stores.
"Here's where they have the best lobster rolls?" they asked doubtfully.
"Are you questioning my judgement?" Amelia raised an eyebrow.
"That I'd never dare." Kai raised their hands in a theatrical gesture of peace and Amelia laughed.
They turned a corner and reached the kind of restaurant where you order at the counter and take your tray to one of the tables in front. Kai thought the vibe of the place was quite cute.
"Do you have a preference or want me to pick for you?"
"I fully surrender the lunch choices into your hands." Kai bowed their head a little with pretend seriousness.
Amelia made the order, asking to have it wrapped up for takeout.
"We are not eating here?" Kai asked as they waited for the food to be done.
"It's better upstairs." She explained. The absolute best option would be to take it out on the pier, but it was way too cold for that.
When the food was ready, Amelia led the way up two escalators to the highest floor which turned out to be a food hall. Three of the four walls Kai could see were made of glass windows lined with a long countertop with bar stools. Tables and chairs scattered all over the hall. It was quite busy with people since it was lunchtime and this looked like a pretty awesome place to eat. But it seemed like Amelia was expecting it because she was heading all the way to the right and past the last of the food stands. To Kai's delight, it was way quieter back here.
They picked to sit on the barstools by the window and Amelia started unpacking the food.
"The view is amazing." Kai commented.
The sky was mostly blue with just a couple of greyish clouds and the water seemed like it was stretching out to infinity. They were quite impressed. This would be an unexpectantly great choice for a date. But was that what this was? A date? They were not sure and suddenly became a little nervous. It wasn't the first time they were out of the hospital or lab together, Kai thought to the evening at the bar two days ago, but that doesn't really count because they just met there, instead of going together. This seemed different. Were they seeing too much into it or was it really what Amelia meant by asking them out?
"Are you okay?" Amelia noticed Kai being lost in their head as she pushed one of the food servings towards them. She poured the melted butter over the lobster in the roll in front of her.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking." They said with a genuine smile, following Amelia with the butter and taking their first bite.
"Oh my gosh." They moaned in delight with some of the food still in their mouth before finishing it and adding, "It's delicious!"
Amelia was pleased with that.
"I told you. The best in Seattle definitely. High chances of being the best in the country."
They were halfway done with their food when Amelia realized something.
"At last, we eat together," She exclaimed theatrically, "compared to just you watching me eat."
"Well, it's not my fault you are always making me wait all alone and hungry, is it?" Kai laughed, biting their lower lip.
"No, I guess it's not. I can take the blame." She responds lightheartedly. "Hopefully this makes up for it."
"Considering how good both this food and this view are, I give you a pass."
"Phew." Amelia acted relieved and both of them got back to their food.
…
"Is it just me or are the clouds getting greyer by the minute?" Kai wondered out loud.
"Yeah, I guess they are. The forecast said it's meant to snow tomorrow. Hopefully, it doesn't start too early and make your flight get canceled."
A small part of Kai considered that maybe it wouldn't be so terrible getting stuck in Seattle for couple more days. But the bigger, more reasonable part remembered they had plans back in Minnesota. Apart of some work responsibilities there was one more show with their band and holidays at their sister's they promised not to miss.
"I didn't think it snows by the Pacific." Kai said.
"It does sometimes. Seems like this year's cold spell will be here right in time for Christmas."
"Magical." They laughed.
"How's Minnesota?" Amelia asked, "The snow was looking pretty serious already the last time I was there."
"Yeah, we got couple more inches since then." Kai nodded. "My mom texted me, it's been snowing consistently since last night but it doesn't look stormy so the planes should be fine. At least until I get there."
"Sounds cold." Amelia said making Kai snicker.
"Yeah, I would happily give up those crazy amounts of snow. I preferred the winters growing up in Kansas way more."
"Wait, you've grown up in Kansas? I thought your family was in Minnesota." Amelia was confused.
"Well, yeah. My mom is from Minnesota. My dad is from Kansas, and we used to live there until my parents divorced and my sister and I moved with mom back to Minnesota." Kai explained.
"Oh, that makes sense." Amelia nodded, letting Kai continue.
"At first we were spending a good chunk of school holidays with dad there but as we got older it got… complicated. I actually haven't seen him for years." The smile on Kai's face turned a bit sad so Amelia reached her hand to theirs in a gesture of support, waiting them out in case there was something more they wanted to share.
But Kai didn't say anything else, so Amelia took the turn to talk next.
"Families can get complicated. Mine sure is too, but over the years I've learned that we don't have to get along with everyone in the family and that's okay."
It wasn't quite that for Kai, but they were having too nice of a time with Amelia to get into their family drama, so they just nodded and moved on.
"Do you want to place a bet on how much snow will be in Minnesota when I arrive?"
Amelia couldn't say no to that, she was always up for a fun little challenge and a bet. The way the two went about determining their guesses were quite different. Amelia kept bringing up random numbers in an inconsistent pattern while Kai tried to use various scientific methods to get to the most probable number. It was a fun little game the two invented, spending quite some time on it before settling on their respective final guesses.
Amelia started picking up the wrappers from their takeout food.
"There's still some time before we need to head out for the airport, do you want to risk getting cold and take a walk?" She suggested.
"I think my Minnesotan side can brave out the cold." They answered with a smirk.
...
The pair headed out of the store complex towards the piers. They walked and talked in that light way they always did, comfortably dancing back and forth between discovering nice little facts about each other, science and work discussions, occasionally dipping into the waters of deeper personal revelations.
They stopped at the end of the pier, standing so close to each other they could feel the warmth of the other person's body. A pleasant moment of silence between them, as they both looked at the ferryboat in the distance.
Amelia turned her gaze to them, admiring the peaceful expression on their face. Oh, how are they so damn gorgeous? She thought and then their eyes met hers followed by a smile blooming on their lips.
Amelia could not help herself but reached up, kissing the corner of Kai's mouth the same way she did yesterday in the lab, but this time Kai was not caught off guard. Their arm wrapped around her before she could get away from their personal space.
"Not so quickly Dr. Shepherd." They said as they adjusted their stance to pull her even closer.
Air got caught in her lungs. She thought it was ridiculous, the way Kai made her feel like a teenager all over again.
"If you want to steal kisses," they leaned in and whispered in her ear, "you better do it properly." Their lips on her earlobe. On her jaw. On the corner of her mouth. By the time they got to properly kissing her lips, Amelia's eyes were already closed. She liked this. She liked Kai. A lot. She will miss them when they get on that damn plane.
The kiss was slow and long, both taking their time exploring the other, savoring the taste, memorizing the softness, ignoring the need for air just so they could get another second of this closeness, just one more and then one more again.
Eventually, the kiss had to be broken which left space for their eyes to meet. Were Kai's eyes always this green? Amelia wondered, feeling mesmerized.
"We should…" somehow, she found her voice to speak, "get going if you don't want to miss your flight."
"We should." Kai nodded, turning around in a way that allowed them both to start walking with their arms still around each other's waist, neither wanting to let go just yet, trying to enjoy the last minutes before they reached the car and had to.
Somehow the conversation circled back to their past after-school activities and weird hobbies each of them had over the years. For the first time ever, Amelia felt the drive to the airport went by too fast and she was already pulling over in the drop off lane.
Her stomach did a nervous flip, she wasn't sure how to say goodbye, not after the kiss they just shared. Wasn't sure what all of this meant or where exactly they stood. But one look at Kai, and her nerves were settled again. They made it easy. There must have been something about their energy that made being in their presence and talking to them this easy.
"See you soon, Shepherd." They said knowing using her last name will get a chuckle out of Amelia and it sure did.
"Text me when you land. I want updates on the snow."
"Oh, I definitely will. Can't wait to prove my scientific predictions were spot on accurate."
"A little too full of yourselves, aren't you Dr. Bartley?" She arched an eyebrow at them.
"No way." They said getting out of the car, closing the door and going to retrieve their suitcase out of the trunk. Amelia rolled down the passenger's window, so after they closed the trunk, they walked back to it.
"Happy Holidays." She wished them.
"Happy Holidays, Amelia." Kai smiled one last time and walked away to the airport hall.
Amelia got to the hospital with a bit of time to spare before the start of her shift but she decided to change into the scrubs anyway and went to find out how the MaM that took place earlier that day went.
She found Richard alone in the lecturing hall and he looked… miserable. So she went to talk to him. Because not only was he family though Maggie and Meredith, he was also a dear friend. Both of them being in the AA strengthened their bond over the years immensely. They could share the ugliest moments and the unhealthiest thoughts and help each other circle out of the spiral. Sometimes it only takes two and right now it was Amelia's turn to be the meeting for Richard. But it didn't take too long until Meredith and Maggie joined them.
Maggie and Amelia just met Nick and suddenly Amelia understood where all of Meredith's time in Minnesota when she "had something else" went.
"I like Minnesota." Maggie seemed delighted about this new revelation.
"It is full of surprises." Amelia said in an oddly awkward but joyful way. "I have a thing too." She put down the tablet and started walking away quickly.
"Wait wait wait." Maggie yelled running after her.
"You were trying to tell me about a new crush the other day, weren't you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do you wanna elaborate on that now? Does that have something to do with Minnesota too?" She was dying to know more.
"Possibly." Amelia said.
"Oh c'mon." Maggie nudged her shoulder a bit.
"Okay fine. It's the lead neuroscientist on our project. They are very smart and their research is groundbreaking."
"And?"
"And they are also just overall good person. And funny, they make me smile a lot in the lab. They are tall and handsome and have the softest hair. And oh my god their jaw and cheek bones are made of dreams. And we can talk about science for hours. And I didn't ask for this.I wasn't expecting any of this, but for some reason they make me feel something. And it's weird. And great. And I'm confused. But it somehow feels okay? " Once Amelia started, it just all bubbled out of her.
"So a smart, tall, handsome person that makes you smile and feel something? Maggie summed up. "I guess I'm a fan of them already." She looked very smug when suddenly something occurred to her. "But wait. Did you just say they have the softest hair? Not that you think their hair is the softest or that it's the softest-looking hair… How do you know?" Maggie's head leant quizzically to the side.
"Um… we kissed." Amelia said, grinning.
"Go get it girl!" Magie exclaimes and both of them laugh before their paths split - Maggie heading home for the night while Amelia staying for her shift.
There were couple of ER patients with minor injuries during the past couple of hours but it was quite calm and she found herself sitting in the lounge with a bag of pretzels when a text came.
Kai: 16 inches.
Amelia: No way. That's the exact middle of our guesses!
Kai: I guess no one won then.
Amelia: Or we both did.
Kai: What an optimistic perspective.
Amelia: I know. Gross. Doesn't sound like me at all.
Kai: How's the night shift going?
Amelia: Can't say or I jinx it.
Kai: We don't want that.
Amelia: No, we don't.
Amelia: Are you home already or stuck in the snow?
Kai: Stuck in an Uber.
Amelia: Do you know how to build an igloo? You might need one for the night.
Kai: Of course I do. Do I look like an amateur to you?
Amelia: Not in the slightest.
Just then there is an announcement from the loudspeaker about an incoming ambulance with patients from a car accident. That means a high possibility of head injuries so she will be needed.
Amelia: Seems like we jinxed it after all.
Kai: Oh no. Incoming?
Amelia: Yep. Ambulance, 2 min ETA.
Amelia: Keep warm in your igloo. Good night.
She locked the phone, dropping it in her pocket and headed to the ER immediately. It was more than two hours later when she finally got to look at it again. A single notification blinking at her.
Kai: Thank you. Hope your shift is calm. ish.
Amelia smiled but decided it's already too late in Minnesota to reply now.
The following couple of days were a blur for Amelia. Between work at the hospital, creating the holiday atmosphere in the house and looking for some last minute christmas presents for Scout and Mer's kids, the time flew fast.
It felt weird inviting Link to spend Christmas at the house so they settled on Scout's Christmas Eve with Link, then he brought him over in the evening and they did his bedtime together at the sister house which allowed for Christmas morning with mommy, the big cousins and aunties while Link picked up a shift at the hospital.
Amelia gathered the last bits of wrapping paper from around the living room and took it into the kitchen trash, passing by Meredith who was carrying a bowl of blueberries leftover from the Christmas-morning-breakfast pancakes to the sofa. Maggie was helping Zola to set up the new Kindle that her and Wiinston got her. While he was trying to figure out the rules to a new board game with Bailey and Ellis. Scout was sitting on the floor fascinated with his new rainbow colored building blocks.
Everyone was in true post-Christmas joyful haze and Amelia took advantage of the quiet moment and picked up her phone, finding a message notification.
Kai: Merry Christmas Shepherd.
The text accompanied with a gif of a christmas stocking full of neurons that were jumping out of it and dancing. That was oddly specific, Amelia thought.
"Merry Christmas to you too! So what's the verdict, were you naughty or nice Dr. Bartley?" she quickly typed. Looking back towards the people she calls family, she had this odd feeling, like she would want Kai to be there too. Just sitting in the living room, sippin on the annual non-alcoholic eggnog, teaching Zola how to play chess or something…
She quickly shook that thought away, her rational side labeling the image in her head as ridiculous. She barely knew anything about Kai, she shouldn't be imagining things like these. Another message came through.
Kai: I guess the latter. But considering getting naughty this year. Just to spice things up a bit. Kai: You?
She almost choked at that. Was it just her or did it really sound dirty? She decided she would let it slide, typing another kind of response.
Amelia: Striving for nice.
She walked back to the living room, taking the phone with her and joining her son on the floor.
Kai: Ah. That's kinda boring.
Amelia: Am I allowed to ask a random question?
Kai: Always.
Amelia: Do you play chess?
Kai: I know how. But don't play often. Why?
Amelia: No reason. That's why it's called a "random" question.
Kai: Okay. *laughing face emoji.*
Amelia was taking longer to respond so there was a bit of silence before the next text from Kai.
Kai: Can I ask one?
Amelia: Go for it.
Kai: Which one is your go to holiday pie?
Amelia: Definitely Pecan.
Kai: Great choice. But I like pumpkin more.
Amelia: Yeah but that one is for Thanksgiving only.
Kai: You want to take away my Christmas pumpkin pie from me?!
Amelia: Well, I guess you could keep it, depending on how naughty'll you get.
Kai: Ha! As long as I know the rules.
Kai: Taking my sister's kids skating on the lake. I'll get back to you later.
Amelia: Have fun!