Chapter 18
AN: Thanks again for all the lovely reviews. I still own nothing, but since we're starting to turn the corner towards holidays, my Christmas wish list has the rights to ER on it. If that's too much, then I'd like to know who Alex Kingston's hairstylist is—asking for me and my hair.
This one is for Rocketlover, who yet again distracted me from the final edit of this chapter and, at the same time, made me put on paper an idea for another story. Also, without spoiling it, there is a pouty Robert moment that was suggested by Rocketlover.
Elizabeth sat in Carol's room in the maternity ward, checking in on her friend and cooing over the twins. Carol was exhausted but was happy for the company. For some reason, hearing about the drama of a Romano Family Thanksgiving was the funniest thing to her, and Elizabeth privately wondered if they were still medicating her. Or perhaps this was a new stage of pregnancy brain.
One delivery in the ER and one traumatic c section later, Carol had two beautiful, healthy girls. Elizabeth brought with her the two blankets she had knit for her friend. It had been ages since she had the time or desire to knit, but for some reason, baby knits were always irresistible. Carol thought the cream-colored wool blankets were the perfect thing for the cold Chicago winter coming up and was touched that Elizabeth had taken the time to make a gift after a period of falling out.
Elizabeth had fallen asleep on the couch at Robert's the night before and woke the next morning to the sound of the alarm. At some point, Robert had carried her up to bed, and she hadn't even known it. With an early morning procedure, Elizabeth had hoped to sneak out of the house before Robert's family was us, but the jet lag was just enough for David to be awake. That or the ten years living on a military schedule.
He was sitting at the island drinking a black coffee, reading the newspaper at a time when even Robert had slept through the alarm.
"You know, if you're worried about what we all think of you practically living here, don't be. If any of us had doubts before, we certainly don't anymore. You handled yesterday well when Rob and Gwen fell apart. Former military by any chance?" David had gotten up as he spoke and made her a cup of coffee. It was black, and she usually liked a hint of cream, but the gesture was appreciated none the less.
"No military for me, although plenty of my family have been. Just a lifetime of medical knowledge from being raised in a family of surgeons."
It had been a strange conversation, with neither wanting to pick the wrong topic over coffee. Eventually, Elizabeth had gone into work and heard through the grapevine that Carol ended up having a C Section, which was how she spent the morning checking on her friend. Work called her away, though, and she got to deal with Edson in surgery, something she hated intensely.
Robert made it to noon before finding his sister maddening. Gwen had awoken to feel slightly hungover from the emotional rollercoaster and Ativan combination of the day before. David had sequestered himself away in the study, and Anna was propped up on the couch, claiming there was nothing to watch.
Sneaking out had been too easy. A ready-made excuse of picking up movies for Anna and Robert somehow found himself at work for a short while. He couldn't find Elizabeth, and when he asked the nursing staff, they suggested she might be visiting Carol again. They also gave a short briefing on how Carol's labor had gone.
A bouquet of flowers in hand, Robert made his way to the maternity ward, hoping to find Lizzy and, at the very least, see how her friend was doing. Perhaps he'd get to meet her twins as well.
When he stuck his head in the door, there was no Lizzy in sight; just a harassed looking Carol Hathaway. Twins with no help, and they were both fussy.
'Would you like a hand?" Hathaway had a deer in the headlights look about her. Robert knew she wasn't his biggest fan but hopped he came off sincere enough. "I spent two weeks with my sister after my niece was born; I'm not new at this." that convinced her quickly enough, and Carol signaled for him to take the twin that was in the bedside cot.
"That's Tess. She's been fed and changed, and I've got no idea what she wants yet." Carol was busy dealing with the girl in her arms, and Robert moved away to face the window, giving her privacy if Twin Two needed to feed.
"She just needs a little soothing."
He loved children. They were so beautiful and innocent. The world hadn't had a chance to latch its claws into them yet and contort them into something ugly. Very softly, he started to sing whilst rocking Tess back and forth.
It worked. A gentle, soothing voice was all Tess had needed, and Robert so caught up in singing missed that another person had entered the room. When he finally turned around, he found not just Carol staring at him in awe, but Mark Greene, and an older gentleman as well.
"Kate's fussy as well. Can you do two at once?" Carol gently held out twin two, and Robert shifted Tess in his arms to make room for her sister, thankful there was a chair close to the bed that rocked. Feeling slightly exposed, he continued to sing, ignoring the looks he was getting from Mark Greene. Both girls were asleep shorty, and the older gentleman took pity on him and moved the cots within reach.
"I need you to teach me how you did that. What song was that? Certainly not a lullaby, I know."
"It's not."
"And?"
Robert glared at her for a moment before remembering this was a sleep-deprived new mother. "It's called "Is It Okay If I Call You Mine." I wrote it for Lizzy. But Hathaway, if you tell her that, I'll fire you. We weren't together when I wrote that. "
"Well." Carol took a long pause to study him intently. "I think I definitely get it now. I'm going to have to ask Elizabeth if I can borrow you for babysitting and getting the girls to sleep. Cause that was magical." Carol continued to stare at him as if he had grown two extra heads and become a hydra.
"Must be some woman." Robert looked up to see the older man speaking and looked at him properly for the first time. Looking between Greene and the unknown gentleman, Robert put two and two together and guessed he was probably Greene's father, in town for the holiday. Robert studied him intently before decided as much as a pain in the ass Greene was; he liked what he saw in the man's father.
"She is. I had to search the whole wide world for her."
"Well, Dr. Romano, you certainly are full of. . . surprises." There was a nasty tone the way Mark Greene said surprises, and Robert knew he still held a grudge for losing out to Robert when it came to Elizabeth. "Forgive me, Dr. Romano, this is my father David Greene, Dad, this is Dr. Robert Romano."
"Are you an ER doc like Mark?"
"No. I'm Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery."
"Oh, so you're Mark's boss." Robert had to fight the smirk off his face as he saw Mark roll his eyes. "I thought the red-headed woman downstairs was."
"Dr. Weaver is the Chief of the ER. And don't knock the redheads; we run the hospital. We have monthly meetings over scotch and decide who to torment next."
Seeing the look of horror on Mr. Greene's face, Carol decided to throw him a lifeline. "He's just being protective; Elizabeth is Associate Chief of Surgery and has red hair as well. Although much nicer than Kerry's. And I don't think Kerry drinks scotch."
"If it's a work thing and it was put in front of her, Kerry would absolutely drink the scotch. It's a power move."
Mr. Greene just shook his head. "My mother warned me off of red-headed women, said they had too much of a temper. How do you manage to work with your wife?"
Robert wanted to laugh. He really liked David Greene. "Well, luckily for me, I was raised by one. And Lizzy is my girlfriend, not wife. I appreciate the compliment nonetheless. Speaking of Lizzy, Carol, have you seen here lately? I came down here looking for her; I've got to head out and hit up blockbusters and wanted to see her before I left."
"She was in here about an hour ago dropping off the blankets for the girls. Movie night with all the family?" Hathaway was trying not to laugh and failing at it.
"I'm guessing she told you about our eventful Thanksgiving." Seeing the look on Mr. Greene's face, Robert filled him in on his niece, landing in the ER. Still a little too doped up, Robert had decided to go and rent Top Gun for Anna, mainly because Elizabeth hadn't seen it. Something Mr. Greene took offense to being a career Navy man himself. Robert spent a few more minutes talking with him about his niece's desire to fly for the Navy and her Air Force father's general grump about it before deciding it was time to head out.
By the time Robert made it home, Anna was awake, David was off on a run with Gretel, his mother was there, and Gwen had gotten bored. A round or three of questioning on where he had been and what took him so long occurred before his mother stepped in, suggesting that Gwen needed a hobby other than harassing her brother. Being mature adults, the siblings waited till Cara's back was turned to make faces at each other. The moment Cara was out of the room, Gwen was at it again. This time Gwen was having a go at him about Elizabeth sneaking out of the house that morning. "Poor Robby, he has to sneak his girlfriend in and out when no one is looking. Don't tell me she doesn't want people to know she sleeps with you."
Robert was about to respond in kind when their mother beat him to it. "Gwendolyn! Don't you ever stop, or are you incapable of holding your tongue? She treated your daughter yesterday, for Christ's sake! Elizabeth had to work this morning, and even if she didn't, I'm sure she would have snuck out just to avoid you." Robert tried and failed not to look smug. He knew that Gwen was still shaken up over Anna and was taking it out on him, but Lizzy was not fair game. "Don't be an arse to Elizabeth if she shows up today, or you'll risk alienating your future sister in law."
It was Robert's turn to not be thrilled. He had been purposely vague with Gwen about how things were with Elizabeth, not wanting to give her ammunition to use during her visit. Gwen looked between her mother and brother, slightly hurt that she had been left out of the loop. "It's that serious, then?" A short nod was the only response she got. "Have you bought a ring?"
Robert looked over at his mother, not sure how to answer. Gwen had never been big on jewelry, but their mother's engagement ring could be different. He had no idea if it had ever been offered to Gwen or how Gwen would feel knowing he had it.
"I gave him mine. When he's going to propose with it, I don't know." Cara had a smirk on her face and a tone of voice Robert didn't like. An identical smirk lit up Gene's face as she picked up on what their mother was really saying. When are you going to propose and how are you going to do it. A retreat was in order, and Robert had very few exits available to him. Robert had always enjoyed teasing Elizabeth about how she had a saint to pray to for every occasion and regretted that now that he needed an escape from his family. A lifeline was thrown to him in the form of Anna, who had managed to get off the couch to get a soda. She walked into the room and looked at the three adults, and shook her head.
"What the hell is going on in here?"
"Heeyy, look what I brought you." Robert slid the copy of Top Gun across the counter to her, knowing she would take the bait and inadvertently save him.
"Excellent! Dad's going to be so pissed."
Hours later, David was still grumbling about the movie choice with Robert and Anna occasionally shushing him. The Allens were curled up on the couch, and Robert and Elizabeth and tucked themselves into the loveseat. Cara had gone home after dinner, dramatically rolling her eyes and warning Elizabeth about the pettiness the movie would bring out in her son in law. Towards the end of the movie, when Anna announced that this was her favorite part, David's grumbling got loud enough that Gwen threatened to make him sleep on the couch if he couldn't keep quiet. Something that resulted in a round of sniggering from the room. Upon the movie ending, Anna popped her head up from her mom's lap and, in her most serious tone possible, asked Elizabeth what she thought and was Maverick or Goose her favorite.
"I liked it, and I see why you like the planes. Err actually, Goose kind of reminded me of someone."
"Goose is great; who'd he remind you of?"
"Ahh, a man we work with," Robert gave her a look, not sure where she was going with that. "I imagine it's what Mark Greene would look like, a little younger and with a full head of hair, of course." Robert's nostrils flared, disliking the comparison between Goose and Greene.
"Lizzy. While I don't mind you comparing Greene to the man who dies, I'm clearly Maverick in this equation."
"Who's this Greene guy, and what's your deal with him, Uncle Rob?"
"He made the mistake of asking me out in a uh, rather inappropriate manner." Elizabeth was having far too much fun with Robert's reaction over the Greene comparison.
"Ahhh, so Uncle Rob was jealous of the competition."
Pulling Elizabeth a little closer to him, Robert got snippy with his niece. "I wasn't jealous because there was no competition. Or did you forget Lizzy compared him to the guy who dies? Now, Lizzy, this is where you say that you liked Maverick best and that I'm Maverick in this comparison." Elizabeth cracked a grin and started laughing. "Lizzy, I'm Maverick. Right?" Elizabeth let him pout for a moment before leaning in and kissing him.
"Yes, love, you're Maverick."
The rest of the Allen Family visit had flown by with no further trips to the ER, much to everyone's delight. Saturday had been spent wandering around the city and playing tourist. Sunday had been reserved for Mass and then a final lunch before a later afternoon flight back to New York. Robert had almost considered asking the priest to perform an exorcism on whatever his sister would inevitably leave behind; however, a look from Lizzy suggested she knew what he was thinking.
Later in the following week, Robert was finally able to catch up with Max and the rest of the 'Boy's Club' as Elizabeth liked to call it. They had planned to get together and swap Thanksgiving war stories. Max had made it as well as Matt Williams, the pediatrician, and Charles Cameron. Max had a relatively uneventful Thanksgiving with Jo's parents, who were rather low maintenance. Make a good meal, have a drink, and don't cause drama, and they were happy. Matt had given up Thanksgiving, angling to have Christmas off instead; his sister, who lived out of state, had her first child recently, and he wanted to go and visit. Cameron, however, had drama. Newly dating someone, the woman had made the mistake of inviting him to her Thanksgiving dinner. He showed up in a kilt. When his date's brother called him a fag for wearing a skirt, Cameron hit him. The father tried to break up the fight while the mother poured a tall drink. Now newly single, Cameron was keeping an eye open on the bar for any attractive women. Feeling slightly better about his own holiday drama, Robert shared his stories.
"Well, you've gotten the introduction to your family out of the way; now you get to look forward to Christmas." Cameron was purposefully goading Robert, knowing full well that Christmas could be a nightmare. "We should probably plan a get together of some sort since part of my family is coming to see you and Elizabeth."
A confused Matt needed clarification on just why Cameron's family was visiting Robert. Upon hearing the convoluted way they all knew each other started laughing and felt so bad for them, he bought the next round. Feeling the need to be slightly irritating, Cameron ordered a gin martini, telling Robert that he remembered Isabelle Corday drinking five over dinner while leading the table in intelligent conversation about astrophysics.
"Fuck." Head in hands, Robert let out a sigh. "Lizzy hasn't said if her mother is coming. Great. I've got your cousins to look forward to, who from all the stories I've heard may or may not side with me just to irritate Mr. Corday. Then I've got Mr. Corday, a man who hates me and wants to see me on his operating table for something experimental. There's maybe Andrew, who will act somewhat neutrally. My mother, who will probably get on with everyone. Now I've got to think about if Mrs. Corday is coming and how to keep her and Mr. Corday from killing each other. And to top it all off, I've got no idea where anyone is staying."
Robert did not get the support from his friends he was looking for. Instead, they were laughing at him. Traitorous bastards the lot. "Laugh it up, Cameron; they're probably going to visit you when they're done with me." That wiped the smug look off Cameron's face. The evening was winding down, Robert and Charles made plans to grab Elizabeth for lunch one day soon and plan how much of their Christmas festivities would overlap. Alliances would need to be formed, and a plan of attack strategized. When Cameron and Matt had gotten cabs, Robert and Max decided to go for a walk to talk properly.
"You're getting serious about Elizabeth."
"Max, I've always been serious about Elizabeth."
The look Max gave him suggested otherwise. "Fine, at one point, I found her attractive without actually knowing her. She was never in the trophy category, though; it could have never been just sex for me. I've always loved and admired her mind, her intellect."
"I know, Rob. You haven't shut up about her since you met her. At least now, you can talk about something other than her surgical skill."
They roamed along the streets of Chicago for a while longer in silence before Robert broke it with a soft, "I've got my mother's engagement ring. I asked for it in front of Andrew." Max let out a long whistle in response.
"So things are going that well, even with you being her boss now."
Robert came to a stop, contemplating what to say on that note, if anything. Elizabeth had never said anything about hiding the couples counseling from their friends, but she had also never said anything about telling them either. Still feeling uncomfortable with the idea of attending counseling, Robert wanted someone to talk to about that that wasn't Elizabeth, though.
"We found someone to talk to. About work issues when they come up, I mean. Elizabeth's parents are divorced and. . . well, it's not really my place to say much, but she's worried about being in a similar relationship. Two equally stubborn and intelligent people who butt heads and can't make it work. So yeah, we've got someone to help deal with the work shit."
"I'm surprised you agreed, but I'm glad to hear it." Robert turned sharply to look at his friend. "Frankly, I wasn't sure how the two of you would manage that. You're my best friend, Rob, but very often it's your way or the highway. I'm glad you're being proactive about it."
"Hmpf. It's not really proactive. It's. . . " Trailing off, Robert thought long and hard about what he wanted to say next. Eventually, he pulled out his wallet and produced a crisp twenty-dollar bill. "Here, I've just bought ten minutes of your time as my lawyer and thus am protected by attorney-client privilege."
"Fine. Just don't ask me to write your prenup."
"Lizzy went in the field for a multi-car pile-up. One of the victims turned out to be a suspected car jacket, and he had ditched the woman driving in rather. . . unfortunate circumstances. They couldn't find her." Robert continued to fill his new lawyer in on the situation and how it was now coming back to bite them in the ass.
"So we've got fruit of the poisonous tree. I'm not sure what to tell you on this one, Rob. A third party reported this, so it's not like you can claim the patient was so out of it he couldn't know what he was hearing. I don't think they will do anything against Elizabeth considering the circumstances; she could claim ignorance of that particular US law and cite the detective's harassment as the cause. But I don't see how his confession about the carjacking victim doesn't get thrown out, even when you add on the rape. We can probably get a slap on the wrist for the detective who should have known better if that helps."
Robert shook his head, not wanting to stir up more trouble around this particular case.
Elizabeth had been thinking about her mother and Christmas. Unfortunately, getting a hold of her mother was far more problematic than it should have been. Isabelle Corday was still very much peeved with her daughter about learning of her promotion second had. Helena and Malcolm had gotten the call from Charles. Helena promptly called Isabelle to talk about how wonderful it was; only Isabelle had not the foggiest about what they were speaking of. Now, several months later, Isabelle was still cross with her daughter and refusing to speak to her. Elizabeth knew that if a Christmas invitation wasn't extended, even via the answering machine, it would create an even greater chasm between her and her mother. So far, Elizabeth had sent an email, a letter, and left a message on the machine at Isabelle's work and home, asking to please call her.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, where Madam Corday was concerned. On Saturday, Elizabeth found herself in a rare situation, she had the day off, and Robert didn't. After a lazy lie-in with Gretel, Elizabeth had gone back to her flat to check messages and attempt another call to her mother. A light lunch later, she poured a glass of Chardonnay for courage and called her mother.
One, two, three, four, and then five rings. A moment later, the machine picked up, and her mother's voice came on.
"Leave a message, if you must."
"Mother, it's your daughter Elizabeth, just in case you'd forgotten who I was. Look, I've been trying to reach you for ages now. Somehow everyone is coming here for Christmas, and I wanted to invite you. I'd have preferred to actually speak to you to issue the invitation, but here we are. So call me. My number hasn't changed."
Elizabeth hung the phone up and looked around. Her flat felt different somehow like it wasn't hers anymore. It had never been much of hers, to begin with. When Elizabeth had first moved to the states, she found a company to pick out the flat and then decorate it for her. It had made more sense than shipping everything over or starting from scratch, only planning to be there a year. Now well into her third year in the States, Elizabeth sensed the difference between who she was then versus who she was now.
The phone rang.
"Hello, Mother."
"What made you think it was me?"
"You always screen your calls on a Saturday evening. You say it's to weed out the stupid people. Which, by the way, I'm thrilled to have made the cut."
"Honestly, Elizabeth, you're not stupid. You've just made some questionable life choices. Like becoming a surgeon."
"Mother I-"
"Look. You called about Christmas. I've already heard about it. The last to as always."
"No. I didn't have anything to do with the Cameron's or Daddy coming for the holidays. I haven't actually invited them, just you."
"Oh." The snide tone left Isabelle's voice immediately as she realized the only plan Elizabeth was choosing to make for the holidays was to try and see her mother. "I don't know, Elizabeth. I-"
"No! No! You don't get to pull that with me. It's been years since I've seen you and if you're going to be cross that Daddy will be here, then just get over it! Being a petulant child can only go so far when your only child lives in another country."
"Yes, I know you do. It's why I had booked a lecture series at the University of Chicago for February, which is why I don't know if I can leave London for Christmas. It's end of term, and I've got to prep everything for my absence."
"Oh. Well. When did you plan all of this?"
"July."
"MOTHER!"
"I thought it'd make a lovely surprise Elizabeth. Apparently not. Tell me, if I came for Christmas, where would I stay? With you, or would Charles be staying with you?"
"Frankly, Mother, no one has asked to stay with me. And if everyone is actually descending upon us, I'll probably just stay at Robert's and lend my flat to whoever needs it."
A long and overly dramatic paused later, and Isabelle finally responded. "I'll think about it. And Elizabeth?"
"Yes, Mother?"
"I'm very proud of you. I may not like your profession, but I do understand what it means to have your job title at your age. And you didn't get that from your father."
"No, I didn't."
"I love you, darling, and I'm going back to my martini now. I'll call you in a week or so."
Isabelle hung up on her, not waiting for a response. A bazaar call with her mother if there ever was one, Elizabeth was left unsure of what to do. Inevitably her family would be calling her now, asking where she had room to put them up at, and she wasn't very keen on asking Robert outright to borrow as guest rooms. She had been spending plenty of time there, but there had never been an invitation to move in properly. The guest rooms would be better off being offered by him first before she counted on their availability. Gwen and her family could still make a last-minute Christmas appearance. Taking a last look around, Elizabeth grabbed her things and left. She was headed home.
