The season three premiere is tomorrow everyone! I can't wait for some more Limlendez! *internal screaming*
"Dr. Lim-Melendez," Lim answered her ringing cell phone. She listened to the person on the other end and her eyes widened, "What do you mean both you and Everly have the flu? Yes, I know, the flu comes on very abruptly. No, I know you can't help it. I'll think of something. Feel better Laura. Bye," Lim slammed her cell phone down on the cafeteria table and muttered to herself, "Great. Just great."
Shaun, Claire, Morgan, and Park were all eating lunch at the next table over so Claire asked, "Is everything alright, Dr. Lim-Melendez?"
"It's fine, Dr. Browne. My kids aren't your responsibility," said Lim.
"Is something wrong with them?" asked Park.
"Not exactly other than the fact that Dr. Melendez and I have a symposium to attend tomorrow night that all Chiefs of Surgery and presidents of San Jose area hospitals are required to appear at and my friend who was supposed to babysit Mei-Li and Carlos tomorrow night has the flu and can't make it. My parents-in-law are in Mexico visiting family so I'm out of my usual options."
"I'd volunteer to watch them for you, but I have to work tomorrow," Claire admitted.
"Mia and Kellan are flying in from Phoenix tomorrow, so I'm unavailable too," said Park.
"I'm not good at watching children unsupervised plus babies are very noisy," said Shaun.
Morgan glanced between her fellow surgeons and Lim and said, "I can watch them for you."
"You?" asked Claire shockingly.
"Why are you so surprised?" asked Morgan curiously.
"You're rude and self-absorbed. You don't seem like the type of person who enjoys being around children," said Shaun bluntly.
"Dr. Murphy," scolded Lim lightly. Shaun quieted down and went back to his turkey sandwich.
"I did some babysitting in high school. I have to be certified in infant and child CPR for work. I can watch them for a few hours," said Morgan.
Lim motioned for Morgan to follow her, "Come with me to my office, Dr. Reznick," Morgan followed Lim to her office and Lim shut the door behind them. Lim leaned against her desk and asked, "Are you positive about this, Morgan? Because the only times you've been around my kids are right after they were born, my wedding, and our Christmas party last year. Mei-Li is a handful sometimes and Carlos is colicky."
"Of course I can handle them. Mei-Li knows who I am right?" asked Morgan.
"Yes," Lim nodded, "Fine you can watch them," Lim wrote down her address on a Post-It note and handed it to Morgan, "Be at my house at quarter of seven and I'll give you instructions."
"Alright," said Morgan, "By the way, what things does Mei-Li like?"
"The Disney princesses," answered Lim.
"Okay. And?" ventured Morgan.
"Dressing up as the Disney princesses," responded Lim, "She also likes playing tea party and coloring pictures of the Disney princesses," Lim exited the room.
Morgan smiled and followed her, "Are you sure this is your kid?" she asked in amusement.
"Twenty hours of hard labor and I'm still not 100% sure," Lim joked, "I'll see you tomorrow, Dr. Reznick."
Friday evening, Morgan arrived at the Lim-Melendez house and knocked on the front door. Melendez answered a few moments later, "Dr. Reznick," he greeted.
"Dr. Melendez," Morgan nodded back. Melendez let Morgan into the house and Mei-Li was coloring at the dining room table.
"Mija, you remember Dr. Morgan right?" asked Melendez.
Mei-Li glanced up at Morgan, nodded slightly, and asked, "Do you work for Mommy and Daddy?"
"Yes, I work for your Mommy and Daddy," answered Morgan.
Lim came down the stairs with Carlos in her arms. She smiled when she saw Morgan, "Dr. Reznick, thank you so much for helping us out."
"It's not a problem Dr. Lim-Melendez," said Morgan.
"Alright, you have both of our cell phone numbers if there's an emergency. Their pediatrician's number is on the refrigerator door. I fed Carlos but you'll need to feed Mei-Li; bottles are pumped and in the fridge for Carlos because he eats every 2-3 hours. He'll probably start screaming for no reason in another half-hour. Mei-Li's bedtime is 8:30 on Fridays and Carlos will hopefully fall asleep around 8:00," instructed Lim. She handed Carlos to Morgan and Carlos squirmed a little as he settled into Morgan's arms.
"Hey there, little guy," Morgan cooed at him, "We'll be fine tonight. Right Mei-Li?" Morgan asked her.
"I guess," answered Mei-Li.
Lim crouched down in front of Mei-Li and said, "Behave for Dr. Morgan tonight, sweetheart. Wǒ ài nǐ," Lim hugged and kissed her.
"Wǒ ài nǐ, Mommy," Mei-Li answered back.
Melendez hugged her and kissed her as well, "Have a good evening, mija. Te amo."
They kissed Carlos's cheek and gathered their things, "Call us if anything happens. I mean it!" Lim called as Melendez practically dragged her out the door.
"Say 'bye bye Mommy and Daddy'," Morgan made Carlos wave, though it wasn't long before he started crying.
"Here we go," said Mei-Li sarcastically.
"It's okay. Your Mommy said he usually cries for a little while," said Morgan attempting to soothe Carlos.
"Every. Single. Night," huffed Mei-Li.
Morgan couldn't help but laugh to herself. Mei-Li might like everything pink and girly, but she had her mother's personality through and through, "Um, what does your Mommy and Daddy do to try to calm him down?"
"Mommy sings songs to him," answered Mei-Li.
"Alright, well what one is his favorite?" inquired Morgan.
"Liǎng Zhī Lǎohǔ," responded Mei-Li.
"I'm sorry?" questioned Morgan.
"It means 'Two Tigers' in Mandarin and it's to the same tune as 'Are You Sleeping?'," said Mei-Li.
"How about Hush Little Baby?" asked Morgan to Carlos and she began to softly sing to him. Once Morgan finally got Carlos to calm down and to accept his pacifier, she placed him in the bassinet in the living room and turned to Mei-Li, "So I heard you still need to eat dinner?"
Mei-Li nodded, "We always have pineapple and pepperoni pizza on Friday night."
"Interesting combination," Morgan admitted, "Let me order it and we can have a little girl talk."
"What's girl talk?" asked Mei-Li.
"Like I'll ask you about preschool and you'll answer me," said Morgan. The pizza arrived and Morgan gave some to Mei-Li before getting some for herself. She sat down next to Mei-Li and asked, "So how has preschool been?"
Mei-Li shrugged, "Okay," she answered.
"Just okay? Because Mommy told me you guys are performing Goldilocks and the Three Bears and that you're Goldilocks," said Morgan.
"We do the play next week for our mommies and daddies. If Mommy and Daddy can make it," Mei-Li pouted a little.
Morgan scowled a little, "What do you mean? Mommy and Daddy have been talking about how excited they are to see you."
"I know," said Mei-Li, "But because they save people, they have to work a lot and miss things sometimes. Mommy missed our holiday concert because she had to go to work to help save people in a car accident."
"Oh," said Morgan.
"And we had to miss the Lunar New Year parade because Mommy and Daddy had some doctor meeting to go to on the same day," continued Mei-Li.
"I see," said Morgan.
"Even when Mommy and Daddy don't work, we can't do things because of Carlos. We were supposed to go to the zoo last week and Carlos got a cold, so Mommy said we couldn't," Mei-Li had a few tears running down her cheeks.
Morgan knew very well how chaotic the life of a surgeon could be, but she couldn't imagine being Chief of Surgery AND having two kids on top of her current life. No wonder Lim and Melendez were often so stressed. Nor could Morgan imagine having parents who had a hectic work schedule and had to miss important life events. Morgan wrapped her arms around Mei-Li as Mei-Li cried into her shoulder, "It's okay Mei-Li," she said, "Tell you what? How about after dinner, I feed Carlos and then we can watch a movie together. How does that sound?"
Mei-Li nodded, "Okay, let me go get Jasmine! I feed her and change her when Mommy feeds and changes Carlos!" Morgan was a tad confused as to whom Mei-Li meant until Mei-Li returned with a Bitty Baby doll that looked almost identical to Carlos, though the doll was obviously supposed to be a girl given the fact that the sleeper was pink, "Auntie Laura and Everly gave me Jasmine for my birthday. She's just like Carlos except she doesn't cry and her diapers don't smell. And Mommy won't let me feed her actual milk."
Morgan smiled and cradled Carlos in her arms, "Well, it looks like we have to get the babies ready for bed and then we can have our movie time. Does that sound like a plan, Ms. Lim-Melendez?" Mei-Li nodded eagerly, "Alright then."
Melendez and Lim arrived home around 9:30 and found Morgan reading on the couch, Mei-Li fast asleep next to her. Morgan glanced up when she heard noise and stood, "Hi Dr. Melendez, Dr. Lim-Melendez."
"Dr. Reznick," acknowledged Lim and then glanced over towards the couch to find her daughter fast asleep. She raised her eyebrows at Morgan.
Morgan sighed and said, "I know you told me her bedtime is 8:30 but she really wanted some one on one time with someone and she really wanted to watch Mulan. She was trying to wait for you both to come home and tuck her into bed, but she fell asleep on the couch and I didn't want to move her."
"That's okay. She knows Mulan inside out and backwards," said Lim.
"She drives a really hard bargain," chuckled Morgan.
"Blame Audrey for that," joked Melendez and Lim glanced over at him with a 'look who's talking' expression.
"Carlos is in his crib. I fed him about an hour ago," said Morgan.
"Good," said Lim.
Melendez laid a hand on Lim's shoulder and said, "I'm going to tuck her into bed."
"Okay," nodded Lim. Melendez gently picked up Mei-Li and carried her upstairs. Lim turned to Morgan and said, "Thank you for watching Mei-Li and Carlos tonight, Dr. Reznick. I'll admit you weren't my first choice but you seem to be very good with them."
"It wasn't any trouble at all, Dr. Lim-Melendez. They're good kids. Stubborn, but well behaved."
Lim chuckled and said, "Well, I'll let you go. I'll see you on Monday."
Morgan turned to leave, but then stopped, "Dr. Lim-Melendez?" Lim turned to face Morgan, "Mei-Li was talking to me about how she feels a little…left out since Carlos was born."
Lim sighed, but nodded, "Yes, balancing a career and two kids is challenging."
"I was wondering in a few weeks if Mei-Li and I could do something together just the two of us? Like go to the mall for a few hours or something?" asked Morgan.
Lim smiled and nodded, "I'm sure she'd like that. Anything to get me out of the horror that is going through the princess and dress-up aisle with her. Seriously, if it glitters, sparkles, is pink, or is related to a princess, she wants it. All of it just confuses me."
Morgan laughed and asked, "Are you 100% sure she's your kid?"
Lim answered, "The personality is all me. All of that girly stuff, that was the universe's cosmic joke on me. Have a good night. I'll call you about arranging an outing with Mei-Li."
"Thank you. You too," said Morgan as she left to head home.
