Hi everyone! I decided to make this chapter longer since fanfiction is the only place we'll get some Limlendez interaction for a while. :( But I have faith that their love story isn't over and that they'll find their way back to each other. #LimlendezPorVida
Lim heard someone knock on her office door, so she called, "Come in!"
She heard whomever it was enter the room, and then, she heard him call her name, "Dr. Lim-Melendez?"
Lim looked up when she heard Shaun's voice, "Dr. Murphy?"
"May I talk to you about something?" he asked hesitantly.
Lim looked at her schedule to make sure she didn't have any surgeries or meetings, but then gestured for Shaun to have a seat, "Sure. Have a seat, Dr. Murphy."
Shaun sat down across from Lim's desk as Lim closed her laptop and yawned, "Are you tired, Dr. Lim-Melendez?"
"Very tired. I help run a hospital all day, and then, I go home to a rambunctious preschooler and a teething baby," Lim clarified, "What do you need, Murphy?"
"How do you ask someone out on a date?" Shaun boldly asked.
Lim shot her head up and hesitated before she answered, "Dr. Murphy, I'm not sure if this is an appropriate conversation for us to have."
"I don't want to talk to Lea about it and when I tried to talk to Dr. Melendez about asking someone out, he told me that you asked him out, so I came to you," Shaun adamantly explained.
Lim sighed and stood, walking over to the door and quietly shutting it. She sat back down at her desk and asked, "With all due respect, Dr. Murphy, don't you normally talk to Dr. Browne about these types of things?"
"Dr. Browne is the person I want to ask out. To the gala at the end of this month," said Shaun, "It's easy for you. You have an automatic date since you're married to Dr. Melendez. I'm allowed to ask Dr. Browne to the gala since we're both equal in rank. I just don't know how."
"Well, didn't you ask Dr. Lever out on a couple of dates?" asked Lim.
"I did," confirmed Shaun, "I used flowers and chocolates. But that was how I asked Dr. Lever out. I need to know how to ask Dr. Browne to the gala."
"Well, it sounds like you want to make it personal?" Lim said.
Shaun nodded, "Yes."
"Well, do you know of things she likes?" asked Lim softly.
"Yes," Shaun answered, "She eats breakfast with me every morning. She eats an omelet with bacon while I eat three pancakes. Her favorite candy bar is Kit-Kat, her favorite movie is The Notebook, she can play guitar and she can sing," suddenly, Shaun had a light bulb moment, "Lea made me watch The Notebook. I can write down all of the good moments Claire and I have had together in a notebook and I can give her that and Kit-Kat bars when I ask her," Shaun stood and ran out of the room.
"You're welcome," Lim called after him and chuckled to herself. As the afternoon—and the mountain of paperwork in front of her—wore on, she couldn't help but think that Melendez and she were in a little bit of a romantic rut. For the past few years, neither one of them had really asked the other to the gala as much as they both mutually lamented about how awful it was. And if they had thought one child was a handful, two children was a lot of work. Oh sure, they loved every minute of it, but it did make it difficult to get alone time—not just for sex, but for other things too. They were either working different shifts or too tired to do much of anything if they worked the same shift. When they did try to get alone time, Mei-Li would need something or Carlos would start crying. The last time they had tried to have a date night where Laura had watched Mei-Li and Carlos for a few hours, it had turned into three hours of uninterrupted sleep. But this year, she decided it was going to be different. She wanted to put the romance—or their version of romance—back into their marriage.
Later that night, when she arrived home, Mei-Li was coloring at the dining room table, "Hi Mommy!" she waved.
"Hi honey," Lim kissed her, "How was school?"
"Okay," Mei-Li wrinkled her nose, "We had to say the months of the year in order and I mixed up a few."
"That's okay, I can quiz you later," Lim laid a hand on her shoulder, "Where's Daddy?"
"He's upstairs changing Carlos's smelly diaper," said Mei-Li. Lim eyed her daughter, "What? It is!"
"Okay, sweetheart," Lim crouched down in front of her daughter, "I need you to help me with something. You know that charity gala that Daddy and I have to go to at the end of the month?"
"The one where you and Daddy wear fancy clothes?" asked Mei-Li.
Lim answered, "Yes, that one. Well, I want to ask Daddy to go to the gala with me and I need your help."
"Daddy loves you. He'll go with you," said Mei-Li.
"I know, but sometimes married couples like do nice things for each other to show how much they love each other. Like when Daddy helps you make nice cards for me," explained Lim.
"Oh, okay," said Mei-Li.
"But one more thing, sweetheart," whispered Lim, "We have to keep it a secret from Daddy, but we'll surprise him on Saturday when he's working and I'm home with you and Carlos." Mei-Li nodded in agreement.
Melendez came down with Carlos in his arms and smiled when he saw Lim, "Hi Audrey," he kissed her.
"Hi," she smiled and kissed him back.
"How was work?" asked Melendez.
"It was fine," said Lim, "And how's my baby boy?" she cooed at Carlos. She took him from Melendez and kissed his cheek a few times, producing a fit of giggles from the infant.
"He's definitely ready for dinner," said Melendez.
"What are you making, Daddy?" asked Mei-Li.
"Tacos and black beans," answered Melendez.
"But you get to have some strained bananas, Little Man," Lim told Carlos.
Saturday arrived and Melendez woke up bright and early for work—he didn't have any surgeries, but he had lots of paperwork to complete, and it was sometimes easier to do it in his office compared to a house with two children, "Be good for Mommy, mija. Te amo," Melendez kissed Mei-Li goodbye.
"Te amo, Daddy," she hugged him back.
"Have a good day of napping and eating, Little Man," Melendez kissed Carlos's head, "I should be home in time for dinner. I love you," he kissed Lim.
"I love you too," she smiled. He squeezed her hand before he left.
Once her father was out of sight, Mei-Li looked up at her mother and asked, "Are going to surprise Daddy today, Mommy?"
Lim nodded, "Yes, we are, Tiánxīn. Now go get dressed while I get the baby ready and I'll help you if you need it."
Lim helped the kids get ready and prepared the diaper bag before heading to the grocery store—and if Lim thought going grocery shopping with one child was a challenge, two was sometimes chaos. When they arrived home, Lim made sure to feed Carlos and Mei-Li before putting Carlos down for his nap. Lim descended the stairs and smiled at her daughter, "Alright sweetheart, today you get to see a rarity: Mommy being domestic."
Mei-Li was quiet as she helped Lim prepare the lasagna, which was unusual for her—she had always been a chatter box since she had learned to talk. After a long while, Mei-Li asked, "Mommy?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"How did you and Daddy meet?"
Lim shot her head up and answered, "Well, Daddy and I met at work, sweetheart."
"But how did you really meet?" asked Mei-Li again.
Lim didn't quite know how to answer the question. Mei-Li was certainly too young to understand the concept of her physical and mental health issues, and she didn't want to mention Kashal or Jessica either. Lim put the dish in the oven before wiping her hands on a dish rag and walking over to the sofa. She patted the spot next to her and Mei-Li ran over to take the place where her mother indicated, "Well, you know Daddy and I met at work right?"
Mei-Li nodded, "And you both save people."
"That's right," smiled Lim, "Well, doctors have to go to school a long time so they can learn how to save people. All doctors have to go through something called a residency where we followed doctors who had been doctors a long time and they taught us how to be good doctors. Do you understand?"
Mei-Li nodded, "Yes, you went to school a long time."
"Well, Daddy and I both did our learning at St. Bonaventure. It was a long time ago. Well, your Daddy was walking around introducing himself to everyone and he had that special smile on his face that he always has. Now, I wasn't quite like I am now. I used to wear glasses and I had t-shirts with comic book characters on them."
"Like the ones you wear when we stay home?" asked Mei-Li.
"Yes, those ones," admitted Lim, "Well, you know how Daddy really likes to win when we play games together, and he wanted to win at being a better doctor than me. And sometimes, he would be a little mean to me because he wanted to be a good doctor."
"But it's wrong to be mean to someone," said Mei-Li.
"Not in this case. It helped me become a better doctor too," said Lim, "Well we became friends first, and we were friends for a long time. And then one day we realized, we loved each other the way a husband and wife love each other."
"Is that when you had a wedding?" asked Mei-Li.
"No," answered Lim amusingly.
"Why not? People who love each other have weddings," said Mei-Li.
"We had a wedding, sweetheart, but something made us have a wedding later than we expected to," said Lim.
"What?" asked Mei-Li curiously.
Lim tickled her a little and said, "You," Carlos began to cry, so Lim said, "Alright Kiddo, I have to get you and Carlos ready to go to Ms. Nancy's house next door."
Melendez came home to the smell of lasagna and garlic bread. Nobody was in the living room as he hung up his coat and set his briefcase down next to Lim's bag. He went into the dining room and found the table all set with the food along with a bottle of wine with two full glasses. Lim was standing next to the table, wearing black dress pants, the plum blouse he loved so much, and Melendez could tell she had done her hair and make-up, "Audrey, what's all this for?" he asked in amusement.
"I can't make the husband I love a home-cooked meal to show how much he means to me?" Lim asked in surprise.
"You can, but you normally don't," said Melendez slowly, "And where are Mei-Li and Carlos?"
"Next door with Nancy," answered Lim.
"Well everything looks delicious," said Melendez, sitting down across from her.
"Let's hope it tastes as good as it looks," admitted Lim. Thankfully, it was good.
"So, what gave you the idea to have an at-home date night?" asked Melendez, taking a sip of his wine.
"Dr. Murphy, of all people," Lim confessed, "It's just…ever since Carlos was born, things have been really hectic around here. Between work and kids and stress, it's been so long since we've had an evening just you and me," she took his hand in hers.
"I hear that," sighed Melendez, "I love all of that to death, but it does really kill the mood sometimes."
"Well…" said Lim, standing up and sauntering over to him, laying her hands on his shoulders and leaning over to whisper in his ear, "If you meet me upstairs in five minutes, I might have something to change it."
Melendez's eyes widened and he threw his napkin down, "To Hell with whatever you have planned."
After they were finished—to which Lim had still made him wait to tease him and the fact that she hadn't wanted to waste the lingerie—they were both lying in bed entangled in each other, thoroughly satisfied, "I think that's the most passionate sex we've had in a year," Melendez stated breathlessly.
"Yeah," Lim smiled, "Neil," she propped herself up on her arm and he did the same, "You know the charity gala is coming up and we've always just assumed we're going together every year, but we haven't really asked each other to the gala. So, Neil Alexander Melendez," she took his hand, "Will you go to the gala with me?"
Melendez smiled and kissed her, "Of course I will," their kissing became more passionate, "But now I want to finish enjoying tonight with you."
The day of the gala arrived and Laura had agreed to bring Everly over and watch Mei-Li and Carlos. Melendez and Lim descended the stairs, all dressed for the event, Melendez wearing a tuxedo and Lim wearing a floor-length red dress, "Wow, looking good guys," Laura commented.
"You look very pretty, Mommy," said Mei-Li.
"Thank you, sweetheart," said Lim.
"I hope when I grow up that I'm as pretty and as tough as you are," said Mei-Li.
"We have to get going," said Melendez, "We should be home by 11. Love you, mija. Have a good night, Little Man," he kissed Mei-Li and then Carlos.
When they arrived at the gala, they went around greeting everyone important as Associate Chiefs of Surgery before ordering drinks and finding an elevated table. A few of their residents were interested in seeing pictures of the kids, and they were enjoying themselves when a slow song came on. Melendez held out his hand and asked, "Would you like to dance, Dr. Lim-Melendez?"
Lim smiled and answered, "I would love to, Dr. Melendez."
Melendez led her out to the dance floor and they wrapped their arms around each other. They didn't say anything to each other at first until Lim noticed Shaun and Claire dancing together as well, "Looks like Murphy got Browne to come with him."
"Oh Neil, you know it isn't easy for him," said Lim.
"I know," said Melendez. He turned back to face her and said, "God, you're beautiful. I'm the luckiest man in the world."
Lim smiled and kissed him before she said, "I love you, Neil. I'm glad you're mine."
