Friday night Josh and Annie pulled into Nathan and Meghan's driveway. Annie was relieved to see Owen's truck already there, she could stay close to Teddy if Josh's parents were too much for her. They followed Faroke into the backyard. Josh walked up to a tall, thin man with little hair.
"Dad," Josh said, "I want you to meet my girlfriend Annie Altman. Annie, this is my dad Ian."
"It's nice to meet you Annie," said Ian.
"It's good to finally meet you as well," Annie said.
"This is my wife Gloria," Ian said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Annie said.
The woman shrugged, "your Annie?"
"I am," Annie said.
"You're not what I pictured," Gloria said.
"Mom," Josh hissed, "you don't even know her."
Ian said, "it's not like you come home. You've always been closer to your uncle Nathan than to me."
Josh shrugged, "how long are you in Seattle for?"
"A couple weeks," Gloria said, "dad needs a new valve or something in his heart and there's a friend of Nathan's a Dr Altman that's willing to do it."
Annie nodded, "my mother. She's just inside with Meghan."
"The woman with the pretty baby," asked Gloria.
"Allison my little sister. I know it's weird we're 25 years apart," Annie said.
"How did that happen," asked Ian.
"One in med school the other 25 years later," Annie said, "get the first one through med school first."
"You're a doctor," Ian asked.
"Dad," Josh said rolling his eyes, "I told you we were both surgical residents. We've been together since Harvard."
"Then why hasn't she come visit with you," Gloria asked.
"My mother was working in Germany at the time and our breaks were limited so I would go see mama," Annie said.
"Annie," Teddy called, "can you come help Meghan so I can feed Allison?"
"Coming," Annie called, she was ready for the out. They didn't seem to be impressing Josh's parents.
Annie walked into the kitchen.
"Ian and Gloria are giving you the third degree," Meghan asked.
"They don't seem impressed with me," Annie said.
"They're hard," Meghan said, "they've never liked me. She likes to control and I'm not easy to control and your learning to stand up for your self. Not that you should be just learning that now."
"Something about her reminds me of Jessica," Annie said, "keep info about myself to a minimum. We're letting them make assumptions about me and mama rather than telling the whole story with the McKellars."
"I'll keep that part of your story to myself," Meghan said, "how is that going though?"
"I send an email once a month to let them know I'm alive and I hear from Chris once a week," Annie said, "he wants to come down over new years."
"To the cabin," asked Meghan.
"Hopefully if both of us are off," Annie said, "he came a couple times with me. He likes to ski and can keep up with me and uncle Owen."
"I liked your brother when he was here," Meghan said, "I can see why you two are close."
"We are," Annie said, "I'm glad he's okay with me and Josh."
Outside Josh was arguing with his dad.
"Dad I'm happy here working at Grey Sloan," Josh said, "there's no reason for me to try to change my residency to Portland. I want to be here with Annie. I'm doing well here, I was the top of my class on our intern exam and won the intern bowl. I'd have to restart in Portland. I want Owen and Meghan to train me in trauma and our head of ortho Dr. Torres is a great teacher."
"Why here though," Ian said, "you haven't even come for a visit."
"We haven't had time off," Josh said, "we had 4 days over New Years so we went to the Hunt's cabin."
"You went to Meghan's cabin," Gloria asked, "why would you do that?"
Nathan joined the conversation, "this is where it gets confusing, Meg's brother is engaged to Teddy who is Annie's mother."
Josh said, "we both wanted to go ski. Annie is really close to her mama. We needed the down time and the break. It was more relaxed than trying to drive to Portland and find somewhere for us to stay. We got time with Annie's mama and step father before her sister was born."
"When do you get time off to see us," Gloria asked.
"I'll spend time with you here when I'm off but we don't really get time off," Josh said.
"They get 7 vacation days this year," Nathan said, "but as second year residents it's hard to get them in a row. You're here for two weeks, you'll see enough of Josh."
"I want to use our vacation days to have a few days somewhere just Annie and I," Josh said.
"This girl, is it serious," asked Ian.
"We've lived together for the last year," Josh said, "we've basically been together since we got to Harvard."
Gloria said, "that's Annie who you've talked about for the last five years. She's not what I pictured."
"Do you ever think," Josh asked, "why would I move cities and suddenly meet a new Annie. Really use your head."
"It's not like we see you," Ian said, "when would we have met her?"
Nathan said, "med school graduation. They had me, Teddy and Annie's half brother. You should have been there. I offered to fly you out and you never replied. You didn't call me until you needed open heart surgery."
"I still don't know why you're not doing it," Ian said, " you're my brother."
"That's exactly why I cant," Nathan said, "so I asked the other two attendings in my department. Do you know how hard it is to get that done pro bono. Teddy volunteered her time and so far she doesn't have a second surgeon because Josh can't be in there and Annie is in another department."
"What about Annie," Ian said.
"We can't," Owen replied," we can't force residents to work on pro bono cases and Annie is assigned to orthopaedics right now, we can not move her to her mother's service. Teddy isn't able to sign off on Annie's hours."
Josh and Nathan both knew that Teddy could sign off on Annie's work and be her attending but it was quick thinking on Owens part to free up Annie to sit with Josh.
Gloria wandered into the kitchen. Annie and Meghan were still chatting.
"When did you get home Meghan," Gloria asked.
"About a year ago," Meghan said, "Annie do you know the date?"
"July 29," Annie replied, "I remember doing all your transfer and admitting papers."
"She could be your doctor but not Ian's," Gloria asked.
Meghan explained, "now she couldn't be. At the time her mother was not working at Grey Sloan or engaged to my brother. Now Annie is considered family and can not treat me unless it's an emergency. Ian's is a planned surgery where Teddy is the best surgeon for the job."
Teddy joined them in the kitchen.
"Hi Ali bean," Annie said, "mama can I hold her?"
Teddy passed Allison to Annie, " now that she's happy you want to see your sister. "
"She's cuter," Annie said, "and maybe I can get her to giggle for me now."
"Your girls look a lot like you," Gloria commented.
Teddy smiled, "thank you. Annie more than Allison. Allison will be a redhead like her father, the Hunt side is clear in Allison."
Gloria asked, "how did you meet Nathan?"
Meghan said, "Teddy served with Owen, Nathan and I in Iraq. She's had the most active duty military service of any of us."
"So your daughter lived with her father then," Gloria asked.
"You could say that," Annie replied, it was getting dangerously close to the whole story coming out.
"Annie lived with family until she went to medical school," Teddy said, "I was only 21 and in my first semester of medical school when she was born."
"Isn't 21 your for medical school," Gloria asked, "Nate was 25 or 26 and Josh was 22."
"Annie did it as well," Teddy said, "and we both have fall birthdays. I had just turned 21 a month before she was born," Teddy said.
"But you didn't raise her," Gloria pushed.
"I didn't," Teddy said, "she was in Vancouver BC with her family. It's what was best for Annie. It allowed her to have two stable parents and siblings."
"So you weren't involved in her life," Gloria pushed, she was trying to make Teddy look like a bad mother and create drama.
"Not nearly as much as I wanted to be," Teddy said, "but I always knew how she was doing."
Annie added, "we're happy with how our story worked out. It's not a problem."
Meghan seeing both Annie and Teddy getting tense changed the subject, "where are you working these days Gloria?"
"Walmart, I'm an assistant manager," Gloria said, "you wouldn't believe how stressful it is. Trying to manage all those schedules and time sheets."
"I found that hard when I used to run day camps ," Annie agreed.
"A few campers are different from half a store," Gloria said, "nobody understands how hard I work. Or how hard it is to work 25 hours a week and raise a kid."
Teddy tried to make conversation, "I understand that working full time and having Allison and home and Annie living on her own is a challenge."
"How do I know I can trust you to do Ian's surgery," Gloria asked.
"You'll meet with me in my office later this week and we will go through everything," Teddy explained, "I have the tests from your doctor but will order some new scans to get higher resolution images. Once I have the images I can make a surgical plan. I will have a resident with me, I've invited two students from Annie and Josh's class to scrub in but it can't force them. Dr Lee and Dr Liard are both excellent young surgeons. I've done hundreds of this type of procedures, most with less advanced equipment. I do this procedure about once a month."
"But what about your training," Gloria asked.
"I went to medical school at Texas South Western, did my residency at George Washington University, my Fellowship at Mayo and spent a few years as an attending at Columbia before enlisting. I was in Iraq for 6 years and then did three years here in Seattle as head of cardio at Grey Sloan before running the united states army medical command in Europe and the Middle East for 3 and a half years," Teddy explained, "I returned to Grey Sloan last August."
Gloria asked, "why did you return."
"For the girls and Owen," Teddy said, "Owen and I were moving forward with our relationship, I was pregnant with Allison. Annie had just come to Seattle for her intern year. It was time for me to come home."
"How long has your daughter been with my son," Gloria asked.
"They've been really close since their first year of med school but it wasn't until their final year that it became romantic," Teddy said, "they're a great pair and get each other. The connection they have is rare."
"Meghan is Annie good enough for Josh," Gloria asked.
Meghan rolled her eyes, "careful. Annie is family so is Josh. Their relationship is their business. Annie is kind, gentle and brilliant."
Annie had taken Allison outside to see Josh.
"We're babysitting tomorrow," Annie told josh.
"Your babysitting," Josh said, "I'm cleaning up after Allison."
Annie laughed, "probably. She's more fun now that she sits and rolls. I can't believe she's 6 months and we're no longer interns."
Josh sat on the steps and Annie joined him.
"We've had a busy year and now my parents are here," Josh said.
"Your dad needs surgery," Annie said, "mama is doing it. I'd help her if you didn't need me more in the waiting room."
"The gallery," Josh said, "if I can't be in the OR I want to watch. And I can't sit in the waiting room with my mom for that time."
"Your mom seems to be interested in mama and I," Annie said.
"She wants some way to make you both look weak," Josh said.
"She's tried," Annie said, "but mama and I know our story and it's okay."
"Nathan called Chris your half brother," Josh said.
"Works," Annie replied, "he's using that at work. He's on some joint mission with the Canadian and American armies. And has been flying a lot of American surgeons. He had to explain to an American major why Annie Altman kept coming up on his phone. The guy saw my picture and at first glance thought it was mama and asked Chris a bunch of questions. So half sister was the first thing he came up with. Made Dan look like the ass who walked away from mama. He thought he was protecting mama and my reputations."
"When did that happen," Josh asked.
"Sometime between the intern bowl and the exam," Annie said.
"You okay with your mama," Josh asked, "something seems different this week."
"She's not hovering," Annie said, "and we're actually talking like we used to."
"Good," Josh said.
"Are you okay with your parents being here," Annie asked.
"It's odd," Josh said, "but they're both sober which is rare. They haven't both been sober since I was in high school. Right after Meghan disappeared Uncle Nathan came home for a bit and tried to sober them up. I don't know why now other than my dad needs surgery. And Teddy is doing it."
"Are you okay," Annie asked.
"This worries me," Josh said, "my mom I can't handle. She's too much when she's sober and worse when she's drunk or high."
"I'm right here," Annie said, "I won't leave you alone with her."
"But the day of the surgery," Josh said, "don't you work Thursday."
"I'll get it off," Annie said, "Bailey will understand. I'll sit with you wherever you want to sit."
"The gallery so I can hide from my mom," Josh said, "I can't sit with her for that amount of time."
"We will sit somewhere," Annie said, "I have access to mama's office. We can always sit there."
"You can do that," Josh asked.
"Mama had her office put on my fob," Annie said, "I can come and go when I want."
"How do I get Nathans," Josh asked.
"I didn't ask," Annie said, "I didn't know I had access until the day before the exam. I was stressed and she sent me to her office. But that's the last time she gets to baby me at the hospital. You could ask Nathan for access."
"We'll just use Teddy's office," Josh said, "the day of dad's surgery."
"Okay," Annie said, "I'll let her know."
"Don't leave me with my mom," Josh said, "dad I can handle mom I can't."
"I won't," Annie said, "I promise. What do you want to do?"
"Eat then go home," Josh said, "not stay here long. I can't do this."
"Then we'll eat and go," Annie said, "I work at 5am anyway."
"Don't you have rounds at 7," Josh said.
"It's Karev," Annie said, "he expects you ready by 6:30 for the NICU.
"Which means arrive by 4:45 to be in scrubs and doing pre rounds by 5," Josh said.
"It could be your out," Annie said, "what time do you have to be ready?"
"I'm with Avery at 8 for rounds so start at 7," Josh said.
"I'll drive myself then," Annie said, "let you sleep in."
"6 is really sleeping in," Josh said.
"Better than 4," Annie said, "I'm going to braid my hair before bed tonight."
"Do you want me to bring you more coffee when I come," Josh asked.
"Please," Annie said.
"One day i'm going to come in and find you with a caffeine IV," Josh teased.
"Can we do that," Annie laughed.
"No," Josh said, "we don't need anyone at work to see you caffeine high. You're a squirrel when you have too much caffeine."
"It's fun," Annie said, "I get so much done."
"You do not need caffeine," Josh said, "ever."
"But I like it," Annie said, "it's better than you after a whole tub of gummy bears."
"It was gummy worms," Josh said, "and I only did that once."
"Twice," Annie said, "both were funny."
"Maybe twice," Josh laughed.
Teddy joined Annie and Josh on the steps. Allison reached for her mama. Annie passed her baby sister back.
"Are the two of you okay," Teddy asked.
"We will be," Annie said, "we're probably going to eat and run we have early rounds."
"NICU rounds at 6," Teddy said, "I know. But with all of this you want an escape."
"I'm worried about my dad," Josh said, "my mom is harder to deal with."
"I can see that," Teddy said, "Meghan is trying to call her off."
"Thank you Teddy," Josh said, "I'm worried she'll attack and belittle Annie the way she used to Meghan."
"Let Meg and I worry about that," Teddy said, " you worry about you. What's your plan for Thursday?"
"I'm hoping to sit in the gallery," Josh said.
"No," Teddy replied, "I can't allow that it's your father. You need to be in the waiting room or Annie has access to my office."
"I think your office or the residents lounge would be best," Annie said, "somewhere that's doctor access only."
"I think that would be better," Teddy said, "and you'll stick together. Meghan and Nathan will stay with Gloria. "
"Thank you mama," Annie said.