The Craziest Thing

Pulling up to the park, Miranda noticed that it was packed again. She and Tuck got out of the car. Miranda pulled her shorts up a little and stretched before closing the door as Tuck jogged to the courts. "Miranda?" Miranda closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. Ben. She turned around and looked into the face of her ex-husband. She exhaled and smiled.

"Hello, Tucker Jones," she said smiling. She hadn't smiled at her ex in a long while. It wasn't that she wanted him back, but their divorce had been so exhausting that it'd taken a complete toll on her life. And he reached out and gave her his obligatory hug; she actually hugged him back and didn't pat him on the back like a stranger. She did a sweep of the park and didn't see Jazmin or Ben. She relaxed. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Still a surgeon," she said shouldering him. "How's Jaida?"

"She's good. She keeps telling me to invite you over to dinner, but I told her that you're always busy."

"Not always." Miranda leaned against the car.

"How's… Eli?" Tucker asked crossing his arms.

"Eli's good. I guess. We, you know, it's a funny story, we actually broke up last night," she replied laughing. Tucker looked at her like she was crazy. "Well, it wasn't funny last night and it's not hardly funny now, but whatever."

"Wow. That was, um, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm great. Thank you."

"So, I'll change the subject. Are you playing today?"

"Your son practically begged me to play on the way here. We came here a couple of days ago and we had so much fun."

"I heard you met Jazmin and Ben." Miranda cracked her knuckles as he started to stretch by pulling his knees up to his chest. Miranda admired his six and a half foot frame. She'd always loved when he lifted her up, loved that when she was standing up and he was on his knees, he could satisfy her.

"Yeah, I did. But, I knew Ben—,"

"I know. I know. I told him that you did."

"No, he, uh, he said that you told him your wife worked in the hospital."

"Oh, shit," he said laughing and clapping his hands together. "My bad. Can you believe that even though it's been years, I still forget that you're not my wife? That we're not together?" Miranda's mouth dropped open. "And, no offense, it's not that I want you back, but you were my best friend and if I have really great news, sometimes you're the first one I want to call. I miss you and it sucks that our divorce was disgusting and I'm sorry for that. That's my fault, but I do miss you."

Miranda felt warm and it wasn't just because the sun was shining. "I miss you, too, Tucker. And I feel the same way. Exactly the same way. It really was your fault… the divorce. You said some really crappy stuff," She giggled.

"Miranda, I'm sorry that I hurt you. I'm so sorry. It won't happen again.

"It most certainly will not," she said shaking her head and chuckling.

"I should not have made you choose. You know, between General and Pediatrics Surgery. That wasn't my place."

"You're damn right it wasn't," Miranda said thinking back to the seemingly thousands of arguments that they had about why she shouldn't (Tucker) and why she should change. Change. She really wanted a change, a different direction. She wanted to learn new things and meet new people and help new patients and Peds would help her with that. They argued about potential changes in schedule and who would care for their son while she would go in another medical direction and who would keep up the house and make sure everything ran smoothly. Tucker really wanted to know was: How was she going to still be a General surgeon studying Pediatrics while being a good mother and managing the household? She had stormed away after realizing what he'd actually meant. She'd stormed right out of their house and through the doors of the Seattle Grace. She'd spoke to Arizona and had taken her up on the idea to become a Peds surgeon. Tucker was furious. He became a stay-at-home father, something that he regretted and resented her for. For a year, he worked from home, taking care of their one-year old.

Then something happened. Something that pushed Miranda's career to the backburner. Tucker had called her on her hospital phone, a number that she'd told him never to use unless… it was an emergency. There was a lot of noise in the background and she couldn't hear what he was saying and couldn't understand why she was being paged to the ER. Getting to the large room, she saw her son being rolled through the automatic doors on a gurney with her husband right behind him. The look of horror on her face caused her heart to stop. As Tucker told her what happened, Little Tuck went into Miranda's study room and a bookshelf had collapsed onto him severely injuring him. That was the worst day in her seven years of being a mother. After an immediate surgery and several hours, Little Tuck wasn't doing well; he was using a tube to help him breathe. It wasn't until a "healer" who also needed surgery helped Tucker and Miranda connect with each other and their child and soon he was breathing on his own.

Thinking about that difficult time made her want to cry. But she looked over to where her son was standing, at the edge of the basketball court. He was healthy and exceptional. Then she looked to the guy in front of her; a man she used to love so much, it used to hurt. And she was happy that he was with someone who made him happy. Miranda stretched out her arms and they hugged again. She held him tight.

"So," Tucker started after Miranda broke the hug, "where are you taking our son after this?"

"He wants to g to the zoo." Tuck ran over to where his parents were standing,

"Hey, Little Tuck!" Tucker yelled, rubbing his son's head.

"Hey, dad. Mom, you're ready? Ben is waiting." Miranda closed her eyes. "Dad, are you playing with us? We can find an extra player."

"Um, not during the first game," he answered as Tuck ran away telling everyone that his mother was coming. "I can't believe he's picking you over me."

"Well, you know I can ball. Don't even go there."

"Yeah, I remember." He lowered his voice. "I remember many games of strip basketball in the dorms."

"I'm walking away now," Miranda said blushing, but not moving.

"I thought you were walking away," Tucker said putting an arm around her shoulders. She cut her eyes at him and he moved it. Looking towards the court, he commented that Ben was waving to either him or her.

"What's up, Tuck?" Ben said to her ex-husband, giving him a nod. "Hey! Miranda, are you coming?" Ben called to her and he grinned widely.

"Why aren't you at the hospital?" She asked without a greeting.

"I just came off of an overnight shift," Ben said. "You know, if that's okay with you?" He smiled at her and she started to blush. Tucker looked at her suspiciously. She hoped that the joy she felt inside wasn't showing on her face. He knew her, so he would be able to tell.

"Y-yeah, that's fine. I mean, of course. Are we ready to play?" She stammered the words out. Ben only nodded. "Well, let's go." Miranda took a quick look at Tucker who followed them. Ben ran ahead.

"You like him," Tucker said accusingly.

"Tucker Jones. I do not."

"Oh, the lies. You do. I know that look. You used to give it to me." They arrived at the courts.

"Double entendre," they said together. Both of them laughed as Tucker ran to his game, waving so long.

"So, what are the teams?" Miranda asked looking around. "And where's Jazmin?" Ben shook his head and walked to her.

"She's on punishment for the incident."

"Oh, right. Right."

"And it's me, you and LT versus those guys," he said pointing to a group of young men sitting on the bleachers. They threw their hands up to signal that they ready. Miranda knew one of them. Damon from the other day at the park. She shook her head and smiled. "Okay, let's go. My son wants to go to the zoo later on."

"Sounds nice. I might join you guys." Miranda didn't say anything, but joined her son on the court. He passed her ball, saying that it was about time that the game got started. She took a shot that went through the net. "Your team can take the ball first because we kept you guys so long." Ben said talking to the other team. The other team slowly walked on the court.

"No offense to y'all, but we're only playing until we can get back on Court 1," one of the guys said.

"Not me," Damon replied softly so that only Miranda could hear.

"Damon. I'll defend that guy," she answered pointing to the guy with the ball.

"I'm Sam."

"I'm Miranda."

"You're a doctor."

"Now how would you know that?"

"Damon said so. He found you on Facebook."

"Stalker," Miranda said to Damon over her shoulder. The game started. Sam towered over Miranda. He held the ball high. She figured that the first time that he brought the ball down, she'd have to go for it. He passed the ball over her head and she followed him to the basket. Tuck was playing the last guy and Ben was matched up with Damon. Damon tossed the ball up to Sam who turned around easily for a basket.

"Dr. Bailey, you have to play him tougher than that," Ben said. "Use some muscle." Miranda nodded. She touched the ball up with Sam and jumped towards him, she leaned her body up against his. In streetball, there were no calls that weren't blatantly obvious. She had her hands on his chest, he wasn't muscular, but his chest was firm.

"You're fouling me," Sam said.

Miranda challenged: "Call it." She knew that he wouldn't. Slightly frustrated, he brought the ball down in front of her. She took her chance and swiped at the ball and sent it spiraling into the hands of Tuck. Her son faked the ball at the basket, making his defender jump. And he easily went around him to the basket. The score was tied. Ben touched the ball up with Damon and passed to Miranda who was alone on the three-point line. Sam was sagging off of her, daring her to shoot. She shot and her team went ahead by two points.

The game was over. Damon sat down next to Miranda on the bleachers. "Good game, ma," he said sticking out his hand out for her to slap.

"Thank you. You didn't play bad at all."

"The better team won, I suppose. I should have been defending you," Damon whispered.

"Maybe," she said. Tuck ran over to her with a bottle of water in his hand. He handed it to her and ran back to the court.. "Thank you, baby."

"He's your son?" Miranda nodded. "Isn't he Tucker's son?"

"Yes, Are you really a stalker?" She asked only a little serious.

"No, just interested in you," Damon said turning to her.

"Okay, I'm going to stop you there. I'm divorced and I just got out of a relationship. Just yesterday. I'm not looking for anything right now. I told you to try again later."

"It is later."

"You knew what I meant."

"Yeah, I did. So, I'll let it rest. I can't believe y'all beat us."

"Bigger's not always better."

"You know what? I'm not even going to touch that," Damon said licking his lips. Miranda tried hard not to stare. They looked up to see him being waved over by Sam and the other guy, they were about to go up against Tucker's team, who'd apparently won. Damon walked over. Seeing that her son was on that court, too, Miranda followed Damon to Court 1. When she got there, Tuck was arguing that since they'd beaten Damon's team, they should be the ones moving on to Court 1. Miranda smiled. Tucker was smiling as well.

"Fine, son, fine. Where's your team? You need five and we're running," Tucker said reluctantly. Miranda rolled her eyes to the sky. It was okay playing a half-court game, but a full-court game was like a real workout.

Tuck glided over to her. "Maybe I should sit this one out," she said to him.

"Mommy, no! You're the best player!" He exclaimed. That made her smile.

"We need two more players," she told him.

"We can use him and him," Tuck said pointing from Sam to Damon. "Do you want to play?"

Damon and Sam nodded and walked onto the court. Ben was still on the other court and Miranda waved him over. "What's up, Dr. Bailey?"

"We, uh, Tuck has us playing a full-court game. Um, do you want to play? We can find a fifth if you don't."

"Are you playing?" He asked moving his finger up and down the length of the court.

"Yeah. Apparently, I'm the best player on the team."

"You are. You are," Ben said and he gave her a high-five. When their hands connected, she felt a shock. "My bad."

"No, it's okay." Tucker was walking over to them. It was too much. Her ex-husband, the guy she might like and a guy who liked her all playing in the same, physical basketball game. All she needed, well, not really, but that's how the saying went. All she needed was for Eli to come running to the court. Quickly she turned her head over to the parking lot and was relieved that Eli wasn't pulling up or walking over. She laughed to herself. "Alright, let's play."

Tucker's team took the ball out. Height-wise, his team was stacked. But they didn't have a real ball-handler, just a guy who could really shoot the ball. Little Tuck defended him well, even though he was two feet shorter than his opponent. The guy Miranda was defending had about a foot on her. Trying to get open and trying to get to the ball, he pushed off Miranda, she lost her balance and started to stumble, Ben, who was next to her in front of his opponent, caught her. "You're okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Miranda grunted. She was late getting back in front of The Pusher and he knocked down a jumper. Shoot, she thought.

Little Tuck brought the ball up the court and passed to Sam on the three-point line, he cut through the middle beating his man to the block. Sam passed him the ball in the post and cut through, Miranda cut right after him and Tuck handed the ball off for a not so easy layup. While making the basket, Miranda was hit in the lip. Tucker jumped into the face of his offending teammate. Miranda held up her hand and told him to relax. Damn, this game was aggressive and it had just started.

"My bad, ma'am. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. It's a contact sport, right?"

"Right on," he said and he ran up the court.

The score was all tied up. 14 to 14. The winner had to win by two points. Tuck, Damon, Sam, Ben and Miranda were playing their asses off. It was a tough game and when Miranda looked up and around the park while on offense, she saw a crowd gathering. Running down the court next to her, Ben said: "I'm going corner to corner to end this game. Just get me the ball." Miranda smiled as Tuck brought the ball up again. The Pusher kept one hand on her at all times. Damon set a screen for Tuck and Miranda ran to the wing. Ben started from the opposite corner of the three-point line to the one of her side. Miranda gestured for Tuck to give her the ball. Tuck swung the ball to Miranda who passed it to Ben just outside of the three-point line. He rose in the air and knocked down the shot.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! We beat them," Tuck said running up to her. Miranda held on to him as he squeezed. His heart was pounding and he was out of breath, just like she was.

"Good game, baby," she replied and she watched as he ran off to gloat in his father's face. Miranda smiled.

"Great game, Miranda," Ben said coming up behind her. It felt like he was whispering in her ear. She turned around and saw that he had a hand out, his palm facing the sky. She slid her own palm along his. Miranda smiled at him.

"You were, uh, ahem, right when you said what you said." She knew that Ben was confused and his face showed it.

"I'm not surprised that I was right. But, what… exactly was I right about?" He asked. Miranda walked away.

She walked up to her son popped the ball out of his hand. He giggled hysterically. During the game, he was a sniper, a scorer with a high basketball IQ; off the court, he was still Little Tuck. "You're ready to go to the zoo?"

"I am, but daddy said he would take me."

"What?" Miranda asked putting his hand on his hip.

"I talked to him after the game while you were talking to Ben and he said that he'd take me to the zoo."

Miranda stormed away, her hands were on her hips. "Tucker Jones. I tell you that I'm taking him to the zoo and you decide that you should be the one to take him?"

His face looked uncomfortable and he took a step towards her. "Look, remember that talk we had earlier. I meant to add that I still care for you. And I care about you and I want you to be happy. So, I'm letting you get some rest. Do something for you today. I'll take care of our son. And I'll drop him off in the morning?"

Miranda bit her lip and thought about it. She did like going to the zoo, but she did like quiet time. She decided that Tucker taking Tuck to the zoo would be great and she expressed that to him. "Thanks. That sounds really, really good. So, I think I'm going to go. I'm a little hung over," she said whispering.

"Cool," he said nodding. He hugged her. "And Ben is a good guy. I know that you're feeling him and he might be feeling you, too. Go for it."

She gasped. "I can get… men on my own. Thank you very much." Tucker held up his hands and backed away laughing. "Tuck, come here!" Tuck ran over to her. "I'm going to go. Have fun at the zoo and get me one of those pretzels that I like." Tuck smiled. She hugged him and walked towards her car.

"Miranda?" Ben said catching up with her.

"Yes?" She answered.

"You're leaving already?" He asked.

"Yeah. I, um, I'm a little hung over." Miranda chuckled.

He looked concerned. "Are you okay to drive? Is Eli coming to get you?"

Miranda stopped laughing. She stopped smiling. For the last couple of hours, she'd forgotten that she no longer had a boyfriend. She no longer had a man in her life. When she got home later on, there would be no one waiting, no one to hold her tight, no one to massage her shoulders, no one to caress her hips and definitely no one to kiss every inch of her. "Actually… not that it's any of your business or anyone else's, Eli and I broke up last night. Ben, please don't tell anyone." Ben made the motion to zip his lips and he handed her the key. She put the imaginary key down her shirt. That made him smile and she smiled. "But, I'm okay. I'm fine to drive. I just have an impending headache and I feel like my lip might be bleeding."

They had reached her car. She really needed to go to the carwash. And she really needed a shower. Sweat was dripping from her face. She pushed the sweat off of her face and into her hair."It's not bleeding, but it is a little red. And don't worry, Miranda, I won't tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me."

"You promise?" She said staring into his eyes.

"I promise," he replied seriously.

Miranda smiled weakly and got into the car. She pulled her door close only to have something resist. "What the-!"

Miranda heard Ben inhale sharply. "Do you want to go to dinner with me? Do you want to have dinner sometime? Or go out." Ben said. His face was sweating. "I know you're probably busy tonight, but it is Thursday and I'm off on Saturday night, so if you're free then. I'd l-like to go out… with you." Miranda was speechless. "Don't say anything now. Just, uh, call me when you decide."

Her mouth dropped open. She closed it quickly. She opened it again to speak. No words came out. "I… I… I… Ben…" Her voice trailed off. She couldn't make the words make sense.

"I got it," he said sounding a little perturbed and he walked away. He didn't say goodbye, he just walked away. Miranda closed her door and sent a text message to Callie that told her that she wouldn't be at the zoo, but Tucker was taking Tuck. Then she went home. She hopped in the shower quickly and changed her clothes. She headed over to the bookstore, the one place outside of her home and the hospital (and now the park) that she loved most. She spent one full hour walking around and reading the covers of a hundred books, she touched the spines of a hundred more. This was a sanctuary. Sanctuary. It was so quiet and peaceful. Of course, people could talk, but people usually didn't. It was basically a more expensive library. There were so many books to read and this store only had a fraction of them. She came upon the romance section. She'd done that on purpose. She didn't want that section to be her first stop. While browsing slowly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Miranda!" Arizona. They hugged. "You got my wife drunk last night. Thank you. I keep telling her to relax."

"What are you doing in the romance section?" Miranda asked changing the subject, she hoped that Arizona wouldn't ask about Eli or Ben, hoped that she wouldn't ask why Miranda had needed Callie last night. Luckily, she didn't.

"I love a good story, too. But mostly it's because I saw you and wanted to say I. So, hi! I'll leave you alone now. See you later," Arizona said rushing the words out and rushing away. Arizona was also in the plane crash that claimed the lives of Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey. She'd lost a leg and that had caused major friction between her and Callie. Inside, Miranda was friend with both women, but Callie was her best friend. Miranda thought that Callie could do better than Arizona, but she never said that to anyone, so never put down their relationship. She actually envied it. No matter how much they fought, they loved each other.

Miranda waved to her friend and continued searching the books. She picked up a book called, "Love on the Line" and started to read. She loved the narrative and ended up buying the book. She left after getting a cup of coffee and a doughnut from the café side of the store. She heard her phone ringing and realized that she'd left her phone in the car while she went shopping. She had a call from Tucker's house number and a text message from Ben. Her mother had also called. She read the text message first: "I know I said I was free on Saturday, but it turns out that's the day that Ange wants to invite you to dinner, so if you're free, let me know. –Warren" She texted him back immediately: "I will definitely let you know. I should know by tomorrow" "Okay –Warren"

She called Tucker back. "Hello?"

"Mommy?" Her son's voice hit her ear.

"Yes, honey? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I was wondering if you could bring my DS to daddy's house." Miranda sighed deeply. She was glad that it wasn't something more serious.

"Sure, Tuck. Are you guys there now?"

"Yes."

"I'll be right over," she said. "See you soon." Miranda drove to Tucker's house. She hadn't been there in a while. Before she could ring the doorbell, Tuck had the door open.

"Mommy! Thank you. Did you also bring a book?" Tuck asked as Miranda pulled a book from behind her back. "Yes! You're the best." Jaida appeared from behind the door.

"Miranda, come in, please," she said widening the door.

"Well, literally, only for a second, I have to go."

"Little Tuck told me that you'd broken up with your boyfriend." Miranda looked flabbergasted. "If you want to stay for dinner, you're more than welcome." Was that a smirk or did Jaida's face always looked like she was up to something?

"Actually, I have dinner plans already. But, thanks for the invite."

"Oh okay. Well, next time."

"Yeah… sure. Tell Tucker I said thanks."

"For what?" Tucker's wife asked nosily.

"He'll know," Miranda retorted keeping Jaida in suspense. "William, I'm leaving. Come and give me a hug." Tuck hugged her and she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. "See you tomorrow." He nodded and she waved to Jaida and got in the car. While in the car, she texted her mother and told her that she'd call later. She decided to woman up and call Ben. He picked up on the third ring.