Annie led Allison though the Neuro wing looking for Teddy.
"Nee where's mama," Allison asked.
"She's here somewhere she was supposed to be talking to my mom and dad about Jessica but I haven't seen her," Annie answered.
"Can you carry me," Allison asked.
"Not today bean," Annie said, "I'm tired and my back is sore I don't want to drop you."
"Annie," Allison began.
"Yes," Annie replied.
"Why don't you call daddy dad," Allison asked.
"Because when I first met mama and your daddy I was 19 just a couple years older than Faroke," Annie replied, "even at first I called mama Teddy or if I was feeling really comfortable with her that day auntie Teddy."
"Like Chris does," Allison asked.
"Sort of," Annie said, "your daddy started calling himself uncle Owen as a bit of a joke to tease me and mama. At this point I was still living in Canada and going to college at UBC."
"You lived in Canada," Allison asked wide eyed.
"I did," Annie replied, "I was born in Texas but moved when I was a tiny newborn to cloverdale where I grew up. I moved to Boston when I was 21 to go to medical school and learn to be a doctor. Then I wanted to come to Seattle and have uncle Owen teach me to be a surgeon so I asked to do 5 years here to learn."
"Some of your friends are leave will you leave," Allison asked.
"No," Annie promised, "Josh and I are staying here with the baby. The three of us aren't going anywhere."
"Is my daddy your daddy two," Allison asked.
Annie took a seat on the waiting room couch, motioning for Allison to sit with her, "Allison do you remember that mama and uncle Owen adopted Leo?"
"Yes," Allison nodded.
"When I was a tiny baby just minutes old another mom and dad adopted me," Annie said.
"But mama loves you she wouldn't give you away," Allison said.
Teddy had found them and heard that comment.
"It was never about if mama loved me or not," Annie said, "she loves us and always always will."
"I was very young when Annie was born," Teddy said sitting on the other side of Allison, "I wasn't ready to be a mama yet. So I worked with a social worker and we found a mom and dad who would love Annie and take care of her. She would be their own little girl."
Annie added, "mama chose Mr and Mrs Mckellar out of hundreds of moms and dads because she thought it would be the right place for me."
Teddy continued, "I chose them because they made me feel safe. They wanted to let me know how Annie was doing. Every month for 19 years they sent me a letter and pictures telling me how Annie was doing and all the amazing things she could do. Then when Annie turned 19 they kept their promise to me, they gave her my name and email so Annie could choose to write to me herself."
"Did Annie write to you," Allison asked.
"I did," Annie said, "about a week later. I needed time to think of what to say and courage to send it. I wasn't very brave back then. Mama taught me to be brave."
"Annie," Leslie called, approaching the three seated on the couch.
"Hi mom," Annie replied, "just catching my breath for a moment then I need to go back to the NICU."
"What time are you off," Leslie asked.
"After evening rounds," Annie replied, "Dr. Karev wants to round at 5 so hopefully by 6:30."
"What are you doing after," Leslie asked.
"Going home, making dinner, packing tomorrow's lunch and snacks so I can be back here for 5am," Annie replied.
"Can dad and I take the two of you for dinner tonight," Leslie asked.
"I'm free but Josh is working until about midnight, he just went into surgery and told me not to wait up for him," Annie replied.
"Do you want to do dinner," Leslie offered.
Annie thought for a moment, this wasn't what she had expected but she knew the way she had unloaded on her mom a couple days before she would need to talk to her again, she would prefer Josh to be there but realized that probably wasn't an option if her parents wanted to talk tonight.
"Could we do tomorrow night," Annie asked, "we're both off at 5 unless something major comes up. Josh is the on call trauma resident today, I'm technically on call for peds but Karev and Robbins are being soft on me."
"They should be giving you time to rest," Teddy said.
"Not a china doll," Annie said.
"The day before Allison I did my first pacemaker with you," Annie said.
"And I shouldn't have been in that OR," Teddy argued, "I was too tired, unfocused and had done 36 straight with only a 3 hour nap."
"I woke you up for the emergency pacemaker," Annie said, "the other interns were all scared to wake you up."
"Running into the on call rooming yelling mama we need to do a pacemaker now," Teddy said.
"That was my third try to get your attention," Annie said, "if that didn't work I was going to start poking you."
"You would never," Teddy teased.
"It works," Annie laughed, "Ali Bean do you agree?"
"Yes," Allison giggled.
"The two of you aren't supposed to gang up on me," Teddy laughed, "I might have to tickle one or both of you."
"Don't make me laugh, I'll have an accident," Annie said, "Ali is fair game."
Laughing Annie moved her baby sister to be a human shield between her and Teddy.
"Nee not fair," Allison giggled.
"Maybe we both need to tickle her," Teddy laughed.
"No mama no," Allison giggled.
Leslie watched the easy interaction between the three, she had seen Annie leading Allison down the hall and chatting away with the little girl.
"Dad would like to talk to you," Leslie said, "we both want to talk to you about what happened the other day."
"I know I said a few things we should talk about," Annie agreed.
"We don't want to drag this out," Leslie said, "please have dinner with us and we can talk."
"We could have a quick dinner," Annie agreed.
"Where do you want to go," Leslie asked.
"What do you like," Annie asked, "I can think of a few things between here and home Josh and I like."
"What do you feel like," Leslie asked, "I know you've always been a picky eater and you've said your stomach is touchy."
"What about italian," Annie offered, "there's a good place a couple blocks away that makes everything, even the pasta from scratch right there."
"Dad loves pasta," Leslie said, "do you want me to call and make a reservation?"
"I have the number in my phone, it's a go to take out place for us," Annie smiled, "for three?"
"Will Josh be done surgery," Leslie asked.
"I can say for four and let him know," Annie replied, "but don't count on him. When we're working nothing is guaranteed."
""How do you live like that," Leslie asked.
"We do," Teddy replied, "we have to be flexible, nothing is ever the same twice, there's no such thing as a routine trauma or open heart surgery. Yes we have schedules for days in the OR or consulting with patients but things come up and we get bumped out of our OR or pulled to the emergency room. Sickest, worst off patient first. We adapt, our kids adapt to it. That's why we have a 24/7 daycare that only closes for three days over Christmas. Our kids know what we do and why what we do matters, that it's important to help people and to make a difference in the world."
"We agree on that," Leslie smiled, "do some good in the world."
"I know it's not the path you envisioned when Annie was Allison's age for her but Leslie she does a lot of good for a lot of children and families," Teddy said, "when we can send a child back to their parents, let a mother hold her child or a man play with his family we did something good. Every time we repair their hearts we don't just improve their lives we change their whole family's."
"Mom," Annie said, "when I did a transplant a few days ago it allowed a man to have a chance to go for a bike ride with his son. I saw him for a check up today and he had ridden around the block with his son this morning. I'm waiting to hear on a heart for a ten year old boy, it won't just give him a new life it will change his whole family."
"We know that Bear," Leslie said, "we're waiting for grandpa to get a couple stents and a new pacemaker."
"Pacemaker is routine," Annie said, "I could do it in under an hour. Stents will depend on the damage."
"Grandma doesn't understand it all," Leslie said, "can we give her your number and have you on speaker with the surgeon?"
"They can try but if I'm in the OR you know I don't answer," Annie replied, "I would talk to them. But they have to remember to use Grace Altman."
"Annie," Teddy said, "you should pre round."
Annie checked her watch, "I have to go. I'm going to call on my way up to peds and make a reservation for 7:30 gives me time for rounds and to get cleaned up a bit."
"Okay send us the address," Leslie said, "see you later."
At seven thirty Annie met Leslie and Dan in front of the restaurant, she had time to go home and change before dinner choosing a fitted blue dress with black tights, ankle boots and a grey sweater.
"You look adorable," Leslie said, "very different from your scrubs."
"Thank you. I like to be girly when I'm not at work," Annie smiled.
"It's cute," Leslie smiled, "how are you?"
"Good," Annie smiled, "getting hungry."
"Mom said you come here all the time," Dan said.
"Every couple weeks," Annie replied, "they know me."
"Do they," Leslie laughed.
"We've come here for a few years. They opened when we were interns and we just stumbled on it. It's the best pasta i've ever had and that includes when mama and I went to Rome and Florence," Annie replied.
"You and Teddy traveled in Europe," Dan asked.
"We did," Annie replied, "I'd get two weeks off three times a year when I was in med school so she would fly me to Germany and we would spend a couple days at her apartment and then travel somewhere new for five or six days, then she would have to go back to work so I would study in her office, observe where I could and scrub in on anything she could get me into."
"Where did you travel," Leslie asked.
"Rome, Nice, Florence, Paris, London, Edinburg, Zurich, Munich, Berlin," Annie listed, "we never did the same city twice."
"Did you have a favorite," Dan asked.
"London or Zurich," Annie replied.
"Why those two," Leslie asked, she was starting to get some insight into who Annie was now they hadn't realized she had traveled as much as she did with Teddy. They also realized Teddy probably paid for flights and trips. When Annie left she was determined to pay for as much of medical school as she could with her scholarships, working and if needed student loans. Annie had mentioned the loans in passing and they knew the scholarship she had started with from the hospital that ended up training her. Their hospital had supported her training from the beginning.
"London was a lot of fun," Annie said, "music was one of the first things mama and I bonded with. We saw Elton John in London and did the Beatles and Harry Potter tours, the Royal Ballet's coppelia. Lined up for last minute tickets to see Wicked in the west end. It was a really girly trip and one of our longer ones. Zurich was more of a working trip."
"Weren't you still in school," Dan asked.
"Reading week my last semester," Annie said, "it was totally unplanned. We usually planned our trips but not Zurich. We woke up one morning and threw a couple days worth of clothes in backpacks and got on the train. We got to Zurich mid afternoon and found a hostel. Went for dinner and explored the city then the next morning turned up at the Klausman institute. Mama demanded to see Dr Yang. She wasn't going anywhere until she spoke to Christina Yang. So we scrubbed in with Christina, and she showed us her research and spent a few hours teaching me how to sew in grafts."
"Christina Yang, why is that name familiar," Leslie asked.
"She was married to uncle Owen," Annie said, "you met her when I was in the hospital and at mamas a few times. You stayed with her and uncle Owen when they lived in the old fire house."
"I remember her," Dan said, "called you and Chris thing one and thing two."
"We never understood those relationships," Leslie said, "Teddy, Owen and Christina seemed like a love triangle."
"Nothing like that. Mama was married to Henry and really happy with him," Annie said.
"He had a nickname for you," Leslie said.
"Kiddo," Annie laughed, "he was a good stepfather. Who do you think taught me to swing a baseball bat? Picked me up from the airport for thanksgiving and Christmas because mama was in surgery?"
"You all accept some being in surgery as if it's nothing," Dan said.
"We're all surgeons," Annie said, "it's how it is. If you have a patent open on the table or some one coding in front of you it has to be treated. The patient comes first when you're in the hospital. When we leave it's family time."
They spent a few minutes looking at the menus before the server came.
"Can I get you any drinks," asked the server.
"Sprite please," Annie replied.
Dan and Leslie paused.
"Mom, dad have a drink if you want just because I can't doesn't mean you can't," Annie smiled.
"Any recommendations," Leslie asked.
"I like their house rose," Annie said.
"Can I have a house rose," Leslie asked the server.
Dan ordered a beer.
They made small talk for a while longer before ordering their meals, Annie sticking to her usual favourite penne with chicken in a pesto sauce, she loved the homemade fresh pesto that the restaurant made every day. They continued with small talk and talked about the baby as they ate.
"Bear we wanted to talk to you about what you said the other day," Dan said.
"Dad can you please stop calling me bear," Annie asked, "it was cute as a little kid but it's not funny now at 29. Plus it's what Uncle Owen calls mama when he's flirting with her. It's weird."
"I'll try Annie," Dan said, "We've used it for so long that it's hard to switch it. And how do you know about Owen calling Teddy bear?"
"Do you know how much time we all spend together," Annie said, "and I've heard it a few times when I've walked into her office."
"How often do you just go into her office," Leslie asked.
"More recently but I've had access to her office from the time I was an intern," Annie explained, "it's always been a place for me to go when I just need a moment to think or somewhere quiet to study. I've been using it a lot lately, I get tired of the stares and gossip in the residents lounge."
"Do you get an office," Dan asked.
"Not yet," Annie replied, "as a fellow I'll share with two other cardio fellows, so we can meet patients in there but it's not our own that's only for attendings."
"When are you an attending," Dan asked.
"Three years of fellowships first," Annie said, "you would know this if you two ever listened to me. You knew what the plan was when I left. 4 years of med school, 5 years of residency, 2-3 years of fellowships. You always knew that was the plan. I laid it out for you, mama explained it, uncle Owen explained it."
"We thought they were exaggerating," Leslie admitted.
"No," Annie replied, "15 years of education after highschool to be an attending surgeon. What I do is a calling the same way teaching or being a pastor is. I know you would have preferred that I settled and became a nurse but this is my calling. I did a double lung transplant with mama last week and you were invited to watch and you said no. I wanted you to see what I do, that was a spectacular surgery. A heart transplant was one of the first surgeries I watched at 19. Seeing that is what convinced me that I wanted to be a surgeon. What I've done, the life I've built for myself isn't nothing. I don't understand why you can't at least pretend to be proud of me."
"Annie you have no idea how proud we are," Dan said, "we missed you."
"You never showed it," Annie said, "you didn't come down until Jessica needed you in Seattle. I don't want to hear your excuses I need the real reason why you didn't want to be there for me."
Leslie nodded, "we know we hurt you. Annie it's on all of us. We all have a role to play. What did we tell you when you fought with your siblings or friends as a kid?"
"There's two sides to every story and the truth is somewhere in the middle," Annie recited, "I use it with Ali and Leo."
"We need you to hear our side ," Dan said, "we know you're hurt but so are we. the last eight years have been hard on all of us."
"What did I do wrong," Annie asked.
"You did nothing wrong Annie," Leslie said, "we want to understand your choices and you to try to understand ours."
"Where do you want to start," Annie asked, she wished Josh could have joined them but he was still operating and he would let her know when he was done. Right now she had had enough for the day and wanted to be home, in front of the fireplace with Josh's arms around her cuddling and kissing.
"Your name change, you never talked about it with us," Dan said, "why. We know where Altman came from but why."
"Altman wasn't the only name I considered when I changed my name, I debated between it and Neufeld," Annie replied.
"My maiden name," Leslie looked shocked.
"I was going to keep a family name," Annie said, "but no one was talking to me. I felt like mama was the only person in my corner. I thought grandma and grandpa would be mad if I used Neufeld. I know grandma and grandpa really didn't think good girls should go to medical school. Do you know how many times they suggested I be a nurse or a teacher instead of a doctor."
"They didn't understand it," Leslie said, "my dad is a dairy farmer with a grade nine education, my mom has her grade twelve. What you wanted was so out of their point of reference."
"Good girl was always grandma's way of saying Christian girls," Annie pointed out, "I can be as much of a Christian as a surgeon as I could as a teacher or a house wife and I'm a lot happier. Why would god give me the skills and the gift to heal if he didn't want me to use it?"
"Why did you change your name," Dan asked, "why did you choose Grace?"
"I kept both names," Annie said, "I originally was just going to change my last name but didn't like the initials AA so I flipped Annabeth and Grace to give a set of initials that wouldn't draw funny looks."
"Teddy supported this," Dan asked.
"Not at first," Annie admitted, "it's probably the biggest fight we've ever had. She gave me a lot to think about before I did it. I made the change socially for a few months before I made it legally. She convinced me to try it to see how I felt about it once I used it. After the three month trial I made it permanent."
"I can't see Teddy getting mad at you," Leslie said.
"We've had our disagreements," Annie said, "you'll know she's pissed at me if you hear I may not agree with you but I'm always on your side."
"I've heard that once," Leslie admitted.
"I purposely went against what she wanted me to do," Annie replied, "I put in an LVAD when she wanted me to delegate it. But you don't do that often and I felt like I needed to do one more. We talked about it and it's fine. She was thinking like my mother, not my chief of surgery."
"Annie can we stay on the name change please," Dan said.
"I don't know what more you want me to say," Annie said, "I did it so I felt safe. I changed my email and phone number at the same time and Steph and I moved to the little apartment."
"Why did it make you feel safe," Dan asked.
"I was getting daily death threats from Jessica," Annie stated, "I needed them to stop. She would never look for Grace Altman. I didn't think she knew the last name. She hated me and by extension mama."
"Why didn't you tell us then," Leslie asked.
"Because your track record with it all was terrible," Annie replied, "when I was 19 I showed you death threats starting in April and you ignored them for months. I told you about them in July and showed you ones where she had a plan to hurt me and you brushed them off that she was jealous of my week in Seattle. I was going to study and observe, it wasn't a vacation. I got home and two nights later she nearly beat me to death with a pool cue. Half the patients we get with the injuries I had don't make it. Half. I was damn lucky that the trauma surgeon on that night was good, he had done his fellowship with Uncle Owen, they trained together. They replaced my entire blood volume in the OR, do you know how hard it is to give me that much blood? I'm O negative, great as a donor, terrible as a recipient because I can only take O negative."
"How do you have O negative," Dan asked.
"Mama is and my birth father has to be," Annie replied, "mama and I have been pulled to donate or done person to person transfusions in the OR in mass casualty events. I did a person to person one in Haiti, I also used C as a human blood bank because he matched my patient."
"How does your brother know you so well," Dan asked.
"C and I talk most days," Annie said, "we always have."
"Why did you two start saying half siblings," Leslie asked, "that hurt."
"It was his idea in a panic," Annie said, "he was deployed somewhere in the middle east and was hanging out with a couple american medical techs that reported to mama. His phone was on the table and it kept popping up with messages from Annie Altman and they knew the last name so asked him. This was after the Christmas he joined us in Germany. Mama says it's her favourite of the three in Germany. Chris didn't know how to explain the whole story so said I'm his half sister but I use my mom's name instead of McKellar. Then he told them I was in med school and that C and I are really close."
"How is he so comfortable with the Hunt family," Leslie asked.
"Hunt really," Annie asked.
"Owen, Meghan and their mom, I assume the little two are Hunts as well," Leslie said.
"Allison and Leo are hyphenated as Altman-Hunt," Annie replied, "Faroke who I don't think you've met yet is Hunt - Riggs. Josh and I are going to use Altman-Riggs."
"Back to your brother," Leslie scolded.
"Chris is here a lot," Annie replied, "he texts with uncle Owen. Chris taught Faroke to hop turn and drop cornices on skis this winter."
"Why didn't you teach your step cousin," Dan asked.
"Two things," Annie said, "one, we don't use the term step unless we have to for legal reasons, Uncle Owen hates it. He refuses to let people make a distinction between me and my younger pair of siblings that way. We don't use step cousin either. Faroke is my cousin as much as Shannon or Catherine. Two I wasn't allowed to ski this weekend. I would have taught Faroke if I could have skied but by the time the ski trip came I was starting to show."
"It's very cute though," Leslie said.
"Getting big," Annie said, "she could be a big baby with how tall Josh is. It's growing quickly."
"It's grown since we came down," Leslie agreed, "but it's good to see. You've always been so tiny."
"I was until now," Annie said, "my old kilt jacket still fit perfectly in August."
"Why did you wait so long to tell us," Leslie asked, "you told grandmere before us and Chris."
"Chris knew 24 hours before you did because he was here," Annie said, "I didn't think you cared. When you didn't come to my wedding that hurt. That was a huge blow. You should have been there both of you. I wanted mom and mama in the front row crying, I should have had dad and uncle Owen walk me down the aisle."
"I didn't want to share that," Dan said.
"You would have had to," Annie replied, "I want to have both families. It will never be one or the other again. My family here is important to me. I'm the one that chose mama and nana. So there wasn't confusion with my other family, so that everyone had their own name. You will have to share things with them. The jealousy has to stop. It's only coming from you two. Who's reached out to try to get you back in my life?"
"Owen," Dan replied, "why does he do it?"
"He's calmer about it," Annie replied, "it makes mama angry."
"She's told us that," Leslie replied, "I have a feeling she's not a woman you want to piss off."
"She gets angry and says what she thinks, she might give the cold shoulder for a while but once you talk it out she always forgives and moves on," Annie said, "I would like to forgive and move on. We can start again from here, this is our first step."
"What do you need from us to do that," Dan asked.
Annie was caught off guard. They had never asked her what she needed or wanted done, "I need the truth about why you never came or called. I know that will take time to come out. I need you to accept that my life is here in Seattle, that my husband is American and Kiwi and we will not be able to move to anywhere in Canada or New Zealand without major career setbacks we are not willing to take. My daughter will have dual citizenship, Canadian and American. We want her to have that option when she's ready to choose just like you made sure I had dual to choose when I was ready. I need you to come see me, to call me regularly, answer my texts and emails."
"Why can't you come see us," Leslie asked.
"I don't feel safe in your house," Annie said, "I will not expose my husband and daughter to that. I still don't trust you enough to take the risk of visiting."
"We need you to trust us," Leslie said.
"I need you to show me," Annie said, "this has to be on my terms. I need you to show me my family is safe with you. It's not just about me anymore. I could handle your games and the years of lies and broken promises. My daughter needs me to protect her. I will protect her from ever being hurt the way I was hurt."
"We see that now Annie," Dan said, "we miss you. You have no idea how many times mom had cried herself to sleep because of how much she missed you. How much firewood I've split in anger because of what's happened. We know what Jessica did. We know we didn't protect you. You were a child, you needed to be protected. You always had a way of hiding your true feelings about it. You could bury it deep down and act like you were fine."
"I had to learn to fake it," Annie said, "it was faked. Did you know my last year at UBC I was starving myself because of the pain and the pressure to be perfect. I got down to under 90 pounds. It was the only thing I could control in your house, how much I ate. I got to be such a skeleton that Alice and Cassie called mama to come help me. She didn't question, she got in the car and drove to UBC, she spent all night sitting up with me talking it through."
"Is that why at both graduation things she watched what you were eating," Leslie asked.
"It was," Annie replied.
"The one Teddy hosted you were drinking," Dan said, "she let you drink under age here?"
"No," Annie laughed, " that would have been Christina and Mereidth. They forgot I was still 20. If I put my cup with theirs when they were pouring drinks they added alcohol to it. That was a good night dancing in the grass with them. Josh and I rent that house from mama, we've hosted a lot of those nights where everyone has a few, we turn the music on and dance in the grass."
"Annie," Leslie started, " I want you to come to me and ask me questions. I've seen you grab Teddy and ask her a quick question and her smiling with you over things, you run and show her things first when you get a scan done. How do you have so many scans?"
"Not all of them are actual ones with my OB," Annie admitted, " Cassidy is trying different techniques out for scanning for maternal fetal surgery. She wants a healthy baby to compare to and I'm happy to let her look. She emails me all the videos, I love having them and seeing her little face."
"Can we see," Dan asked.
"That's the first time you've asked," Annie said.
"Please Annie," Leslie asked.
"Josh hasn't even seen the ones Cassidy did today," Annie said, "I'll show him when he gets home."
"He doesn't go to every appointment," Dan asked.
"He does," Annie replied, "today was just me and a friend. It wasn't my OB."
"Do you have a good doctor," Dan asked.
"Carina is the best," Annie replied, "here's the video of my baby. She's smiling."
"She's very cute," Leslie said.
"I want to know who she's going to look like," Annie said.
"Annie how do we stay in your life," Dan asked.
"Be here in Seattle," Annie said, "you have to come. I know Jessica will take a lot of time when she first goes home. She's going to be in the hospital and rehab for a while. This could be months."
"We know," Leslie said, "how do we balance it?"
"I get that she is really sick. I understand that," Annie replied, "but when my daughter comes I want you to come see us. I know you're not going to be able to get in the car the moment we call and tell you but I want you to come see her as a newborn. I expect you to be at the christening. We're planning to stay close to home the first month or so. Josh gets a month off to get to know the baby so the three of us can bond. He wants to be there and be a good dad."
"Don't you have a big exam," Leslie said.
"We do, July 2 in Portland," Annie replied, "the oral boards. Three hours, three scenarios that I have to describe how I would treat the patient. Mama is an examiner, auntie Meghan is going to come to portland with us to babysit."
"Why Meghan if Josh's parents are in Portland," Dan asked.
"We're not close to them," Annie said, "we see and talk to his dad but Josh's mom struggles with substance use. It's not something we want around our daughter."
"We get that," Leslie agreed.
Annie leaned back in her seat and let her hands rest on her stomach, it had become a habit for her recently as her bump had grown she found her hands were frequently on it subconsciously letting her baby know she was there. She glanced at her watch and it was nearly 10:30.
"I've really enjoyed this," Annie said, "how ever I need to get home and go to bed. I pre round at 5 which means I'm up at 4:15."
"What time is it," Dan asked.
"10:30, it's past my bedtime," Annie said, "and I haven't slept great the last few nights."
"Always up," Leslie said.
"A few times a night or she's kicking hard," Annie said, "it's better if Josh is home. He can settle her somehow."
"I'll grab the bill and you can get home to bed," Dan suggested.
"Dad, I'm working full time, I can get dinner," Annie said.
"It's our treat Annie," Dan insisted, "don't fight us on this please."
"Thank you," Annie replied.
They all walked out together.
"We can walk with you to your car," Dan said, looking for the little Honda Fit she had driven when she left Cloverdale.
"I'm right here," Annie said pausing beside her car.
"That's not yours," Leslie said.
"The fit died and it wasn't worth fixing," Annie said, "we got this used about a year ago. 2014 Hybrid, it works well. We use the truck if we go anywhere out of town. This is just for commuting and running errands."
"Josh has the truck," Dan stated.
"He does," Annie replied, "I prefer the civic it's easier for me to park and run errands in than trying to park the truck and it's easier to get in and out of right now."
"I get that," Leslie smiled.
"It was good to actually talk," Annie smiled.
"It was," Dan replied, "to get to know you again."
"We'll come visit soon," Leslie promised, "for sure when you baby comes."
Annie didn't know Leslie had already committed to coming to the baby shower in three weeks. Leslie had offered to help Meghan who was hosting in any way she could. Leslie thought Annie would love the ballerina theme Meghan had chosen. Leslie liked Meghan; she felt more comfortable with Meghan than she did with Teddy.
"You're coming to Sunday dinner before you go home on Monday," Annie asked.
"We are. what can we bring," Dan asked.
"Your selves unless mama said otherwise," Annie replied, "I'm doing a spinach and berry salad."
Seeing how tired Annie looked Leslie said, "we won't keep you any longer see you Sunday if we don't bump into you at the hospital."
"Good night," Annie said, "can I have a hug before I go?"
"Of course," Dan said, giving her a quick gentle hug. It was the first time in eight years Annie had hugged them, "good night Annie."
"Night dad," Annie replied.
Quickly giving Annie a hug Leslie whispered, "thank you for trusting us."
"Good night mom, thanks for listening," Annie replied. She unlocked her car and got in her parent's watching her drive away.