All's Fair in Love

Morning came and Miranda was back at Grey Sloan Memorial. Everyone commented on how much they missed her. Meredith said that the hospital had almost gone to the dogs. Miranda laughed. Even though she was now an attending, Grey was still a suck-up for Dr. Bailey. Miranda got caught up with new cases and worked diligently. She hadn't heard from or seen Ben all day except for a text message he'd sent in the morning that read: "Good morning, Miranda." She didn't respond immediately. She waited until she was at work to text him back. "Good morning, Dr. Warren." She hadn't seen Eli either. She'd taken all of the long ways so she wouldn't bump into him. It was too soon. She wondered how he was. And she also wondered if he'd heard about her father. She still cared about him and she hoped that he knew that.

A woman, Jaime Roz, came in and was rushed to the OR, her heart had dropped into her stomach. Miranda and Dr. Pierce worked to fix the woman and after several hours, they were finished. Throughout the surgery, Miranda glanced occasionally to where the anesthesiologist was and hoped to see Ben, but Ben wasn't there. "Dr. Bailey, are you looking for someone?" Maggie Pierce asked her.

"No, just a habit," she said and asked the nurse for a clamp.

"Oh, okay. So, I hear your father's doing well."

"He's doing fine," Miranda asked and they worked and made small talk.

"Great job, Dr. Bailey. It's always a pleasure working with you," Maggie said as they scrubbed out and left the room.

"Thank you, Dr. Pierce. You do amazing work," Miranda said. Then, she thanked God that everything had gone well and that Jaime would be okay. Walking down the hall, Maggie told Miranda that she'd like to get to know the city that she worked in and the people with whom she worked. Miranda absentmindedly suggested that she accompany their clique to Joe's one night.

"Who's in the clique?" Maggie asked scratching her head. Maggie was taller than Miranda, not surprisingly and she was thin and brown-skinned with brown eyes and full lips. She had a full head of curly hair, it looked like a twist out, a style that Miranda wasn't able to pull off.

"Oh, me, obviously, Callie, her wife, Arizona, her best friend, April and you. Sometimes, Grey joins us."

"Are you going out tonight?"

"Um, probably not. Callie's on-call and Arizona will probably be home with their daughter. But, I'll let you know," Miranda said and they parted ways. Miranda's day was finished. It was a good day. She walked to the Attending locker room, moving as fast as she could because she had to pick up Tuck from aftercare at his school. She pulled down the stool that she now knew was given to her by a colleague who had a crush on her. She looked down and saw that there an envelope with her name written on it taped to the stool. Her heart started to beat quickly. She opened the envelope and took the letter out; then, she put the envelope in her second locker. She looked at the short letter written in Ben's neat script: Dear Miranda, I know you like the seclusion, so I bought you this stool so that you would have somewhere to sit on those long nights where you've been on your feet for several hours. I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you around. Maybe we could go out sometime. I'm Ben Warren, Anesthesiologist, Locker #42. Let me know. My number is on the back. –Ben

Miranda read the letter three times over. When she finally flipped it on the back it was written in a different color ink, but in the same handwriting. So, I found the original note. It was under your locker. I'm just glad everything worked out in my favor, you know with us going out and all. But, I still think we need to have a real date. I talked to The Chief. He said that you had Saturday off. I figure that you'll spend the day with LT and spend the night with me (I've talked to Tucker already). I have something in mind and all you have to do is say yes. Call me when you get this letter. I'm serious, Miranda. –Ben

Miranda shook her head and smiled. She pulled off her scrub shirt, took out her cell phone and dialed Ben's number. Every ring sent a flutter to her heart. "I've been waiting for you to call," he said.

"Yeah, well, I just received the letter. It's… great. Thanks. And I'd love to go out with you."

"Good. I knew you would," he said and Miranda heard a loud crash. "Are you okay?" Ben asked her, concern in his voice.

"I thought that was from your end," she said. Ben stammered. "Ben Warren, are you here!?" She demanded.

"Yeah, I'm at my locker," he responded with laughter.

"Ugh, Ben. Goodbye." Miranda ended the call before he could get in another word. Seconds later, he came around the corner. She was in the process of taking off her undershirt and putting on the shirt that she'd worn to work. She hoped that he hadn't caught a glimpse of her bra.

"Nice," he said. "Can't wait until I see the whole thing." He walked towards Miranda and she hit him playfully.

"Shush. And turn around, I need to change my pants."

"Fine," he said turning slowly. "So, you'd love to date me?"

"I never said that," Miranda said and she sat down on the stool and pulled off her pants and slid into her blue jeans.

"Oh, but you did," Ben said leaning against a locker. He lowered his voice: "When you kissed me after I asked you about it."

"I didn't say yes," Miranda argued.

"But you didn't say no. And you kissed me… twice."

"That doesn't mean… ugh, you're frustrating." Miranda groaned and Ben laughed. "And you can turn back around."

"Finished already?" Ben asked and he picked up Miranda's scrub pants. She grabbed them from his hands.

"I'll take those."

"What are you up to tonight?"

"I'm going to get my son from school and we're going to go home, have some dinner, watch a movie or-or read and off to bed we go."

"That sounds so relaxing," Ben said and he put an arm around her.

Miranda heard footsteps. Her pager was going off and someone was shouting something: "Is Dr. Bailey in here? Dr. Bailey! Dr. Pierce is asking for you. It's—," The speaker stopped speaking. It was Eli. He cleared his voice and Ben dropped his arm from around her. Miranda raised her eyebrows. Her eyes widened as she her eyes dotted from Ben to Eli. "It's Jaime Roz, Pierce said come; same room."

"Sure. I'll be right there," Miranda said and he walked away. She heard a locker slam and jumped.

"I guess your plans have changed. Anything I can do?" Ben asked as Miranda started changing. She didn't even ask him to turn around. He turned around anyway.

"Yeah, I guess. Um, shit! I'm sorry. Excuse me. Think Bailey," Miranda murmured to herself. "Okay. Call Tucker and ask him to pick up Tuck. Wait, he's working late tonight. Maybe Jaida could? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that could work." Miranda ran past Ben and out of the door. She sent a quick text to Jaida who responded immediately. Jaida couldn't pick Tuck up. "Damn it!" She said walking into the room as Dr. Pierce shouting things to her.

"Dr. Bailey we need to take her back to the OR. I know you were on your way home, but—"

"It's, uh, no problem. I will meet you up there. I need to make a call. I'll be quick."

"Okay. Hurry. Jaime doesn't have much time."

"I know," Miranda said and ran to the stairwell to think. Who else could she call? Her babysitters needed to notified hours in advance. Arizona. Arizona was at home and could pick up Tuck. Miranda called and Arizona didn't answer. Damn! Miranda cursed loudly.

"Dr. Bailey?" Someone said coming down the stairs.

"Yeah?" She said exasperatedly and looked up to see Ben. Was he following her? She needed someone. That was a perk of dating Eli. He was there. "What do you need?" She asked in a very harsh tone. When she realized that, she apologized.

"I know you didn't mean it. I just wanted to tell you that I'm on my way home," he said. "So, I could, uh, pick Tuck up for you."

Her pager was going off again. "Okay, um, if you really don't mind. Please. He has his own key. He goes to Brookden Middle School. The password is Remember the Titans. Thank you… so much. I owe you."

"It's not a problem. Now go," he said and she moved past him up the stairs. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a kiss.

She backed up the stairs. "I gotta go, Dr. Warren. Thanks again." She ran off.

"Good. You're here. We can begin," Maggie said. And they began their work. They were nearly finished. "Okay, take her off bypass," Maggie instructed.

"Samantha, would you like to close?" Miranda asked one of the interns.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Scrub in," Miranda told her. After Samantha finished, with little help from Miranda, Miranda was the first one to scrub out and quickly went back to the locker room. As she changed, she called Ben.

"Hello, Dr. Bailey," Ben said cheerfully.

"Hi?" Miranda asked and she stopped changing, sitting on her stool with only her bra and her scrub pants on. "Why do you sound so happy?"

"Do I?"

"Yeah, you do. How's Tuck? What's he doing?"

"He's great. He's in his room. He's supposed to be asleep, but I don't think he is."

"It's 11 o'clock. He'll be asleep soon," Miranda assured him. "So, I'll be home soon. Maybe about 25 minutes."

"Don't rush. And I made some dinner."

"Shit! I forgot about dinner. Um, thanks, Ben. Was Tuck upset that I wasn't there?"

"No, he wasn't. He wasn't even shocked to see me," Ben said.

"That's either a good thing or a bad thing," Miranda said as she continued to get dressed. She put on her black Converses and put on her shirt. Miranda took a look around before she pulled down her scrub pants.

"Ahem," Eli said. He leaned against a locker. "Hello, stranger." Miranda pulled her pants back up.

"Eli, I didn't hear you come up," she said. She debated within herself whether or not to continue putting on her other clothes. She really needed to get home. She went with it. She continued.

"Yeah, I know. How are you?" He asked giving her a small smile. God, she'd miss that smile.

"I'm good."

"I meant to text you; I heard about your dad. I'm glad he's okay," Eli told her.

"Yeah. Yeah, he is." Miranda put on her coat and Eli came over to help. He fixed her collar.

"Look, I'm sorry for the way I left things. I apologize for leaving at all. I should have trusted you." Miranda only nodded. "Seeing you today with Dr. Warren tore at me. Are you two… a thing?"

"Um, look Eli. I gotta go. I was supposed to be gone hours ago."

"Who picked up Tuck?" Eli asked. "Let me guess. Dr. Warren?" Eli put his hands on his hips and smiled. Seeing his dimples again, Miranda smiled.

"Well, not that it's any of your business. But, yes, he did. I was in a bind. And he… he helped me out."

"I still love you, Miranda. You could have called me. I would have picked up Tuck." He was standing really close to her.

"But you were here."

"I would have left to get him and brought him to the night care," Eli responded taking her hands in his. He kissed them.

She pulled away. "I'm not doing this. We're done. You walked out. You left… me," Miranda told him and she picked up her phone. It was then that she noticed that the call with Ben was still connected. He was listening. Miranda closed and locked her lockers. "I've gotta go. I'll see you around." She walked past Eli. "Hey, Ben. Sorry I kept you on hold. I'm leaving the locker room right now."

"Alright," he said nonchalantly. She nodded and disconnected the call. She drove home, nervously. When Eli had asked her if she and Ben were a thing, she didn't know what to say; she had no idea. She knew that Ben wanted to date her and wanted to be something, a couple. But did she want that? Did she want Ben as her boyfriend? She left the question unanswered as she parked in her driveway next to Ben's black Mercedes. She let herself into her house and saw Ben sitting on the sofa. He was using his phone which was charging. He stood up when she walked in. "Hi, Miranda."

"Ben." Miranda put down her bag and keys and walked to the bottom of the stairs. "I'm going to go check on Tuck. I'll be back." He nodded. She took her time walking up the stairs. She was really, really tired and she didn't want to fall up the stairs. It had happened before. She'd come home after a very, long shift and tried to run up the stairs and she fell on her face. The pain was nearly excruciating. She stayed on the stairs for a while before pulling herself up and going to her room and climbing into her bed. So, this time, she walked and took her time. She looked in on Tuck who was supposed to be asleep. Obviously, he wasn't. "Son, you're supposed to be asleep."

"I was waiting for you," Tuck was widening his eyes at her. She sat down on his bed and gave him a hug.

"You know you didn't have to and shouldn't." Tuck nodded. "How was Ben picking you up?"

"He was good. He knew the password so I knew it was okay. Even though I know Ben, so I would have gone with him anyway," Tuck said and he shrugged and sunk deeper into the bed.

"It's late, so I'm not even going to tell you why that is so wrong." She rubbed his head. "Go to bed." Tuck nodded again. She kissed his head and left the room. Miranda walked to her room. Ben was waiting already and a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. She changed her shoes and went back downstairs. "Sorry for keeping you, Ben." He was lying on the sofa and stood up when she'd walked towards him.

"No problem. It was time I caught up with my social media outlets," he told her. "Well, I work tomorrow, so I have to be going."

"We were supposed to talk," Miranda told him and she sat on the sofa.

"You want to talk?" Ben asked. His tone threw her off. He sounded annoyed.

"Yeah, I do. Are you mad at me or something?"

"No, just perturbed," he responded while crossing his arms. "The conversation you had with Eli really gave me something to think about." She didn't speak. She waited. "You don't want to be with me."

"What gave you that idea?" She asked. She was frowning now and his eyebrows were furrowed. This talk was headed down the wrong path.

"He asked about us and you didn't affirm what we are."

She made a noise. "I don't even know what our situation is. That's what I want to find out!"

"Okay, so, let's figure it out," he said sitting on the other sofa, opposite her. "Where are we?"

She fought the urge to say "my living room" and instead she said: "I like you, Ben. But, I just got out of a relationship that I thought was it." She'd never said that to anyone, not even herself. Had she thought that? Did she used to think that Eli was The One? Woah. She continued. "You were the one who said that we could go at the pace that I want. I think I know what you want, but I'm still thinking."

Ben nodded and apologized. "I did say that. And I'm sorry." He switched sofas and sat right next to Miranda. Her heart sped up. They were quiet. He brought her into his arms and kissed her cheek. Then, he let her put her head on his thigh. "Is Eli going to be a problem?" Her eyes were closed. He thought she was asleep so he didn't repeat the question.

"It's funny. That's what he asked me about you. And I did my best to reassure him, obviously terribly, that you weren't going to be a problem." Miranda smiled and continued to talk: "No. I'm over him. I didn't know it when he first came into locker room to get me, but I knew it the second time." She sighed and it turned into a yawn. "Excuse me. I guess I'm waiting for the pain of actual heartbreak. I don't think it's coming. It didn't think it could be so easy to get over someone, although it's only been a few days or whatever. But, Ben, I want what you want." She looked into his eyes. His mouth wasn't smiling, but his eyes were. He leaned down and kissed her.

"So, you want to date me?" He asked smiling for real. She shrugged and grumbled. "Say it. Say: 'I want to date you, Ben Warren.'" Ben started to laugh, causing her to grin.

"I want to date you, Ben Warren," she mumbled.

"Say it with more conviction. Make me believe you."

Miranda sat up and looked him in the eyes. She held his face in her hands. "Ben Warren, I want to date you." Miranda pulled him for a kiss. Her tongue explored his. Ben moaned when her hands fell into his lap and grazed the front of his pants. "What do you want?" She whispered on his neck.

"What I want… is to marry you, Miranda Bailey," he said. She gasped. "But, I will start by dating you and making you very, very happy." He kissed her again. He took his lips off of hers.

"Now, I'm hungry," Miranda said stroking his leg. "Did you eat? Well, of course you did. You cooked."

"Actually, I didn't. I was waiting for you." He touched her chin lightly. She blushed.

"That was really nice of you. What time is it?" She looked at his cell phone. It was about two o'clock in the morning. "It's either really early or really late."

They moved from the sofa to the kitchen. Miranda began fixing two plates. One for herself and one for Ben. He'd offered to do it, but Miranda declined; he'd done enough. She told him that and he grinned, but he moved about the kitchen with her, touching her occasionally, making goose bumps appear. When they sat down to eat, Miranda said a quick prayer before she started to eat. "You can pray out loud," Ben told her. So, she prayed again, out loud and softly. He winked at her before he dug into his plate of spaghetti. "Ben, this smells really good." She took a bite. "And it's really good!"

"Thanks. It's my signature dish. And why do you sound so surprised?"

"You've forgotten the sandwiches I created in Baltimore?"

"No. I didn't. That sandwich was really good. I might have to keep you around." Ben laughed and took a sip of his wine. "So, uh, what did Tuck eat? I know he didn't have any of this. It has onions in it." Ben was quiet. "He ate this!?" Ben nodded. "So, I've been making spaghetti sauce without onions for six years. That little jerk." Miranda and Ben laughed together. They finished eating. "So is there… any desert?" She looked at him suggestively and casually licked her lips. His lips formed an "O".

"I didn't make any, but I, too, can use something sweet." He reached out his hand and she accepted. She pulled her short frame into his lap. She leaned down and kissed him. She could also feel him getting aroused. So was she. He had to go. He had to go right now. In between kisses, Miranda managed to tell him that. He agreed, but they continued to kiss. His hands found the small of her back. They traveled downward.

"Okay, seriously, it's time for you to go," she said standing up. He smirked.

"Fine. Fine. I'll go. Unless…"

"Unless what?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

"Unless I can spend the night. You know, like we did in Baltimore." Ben walked to her and put his arms around her waist and pulled her in close.

"Another time?" She asked. She hoped that it wouldn't be weird and that he wouldn't mind.

"Anything you want, Miranda," he told her nodding. He went into the living room and she followed him. She grabbed his phone and handed it Ben. Ben took it and kissed her cheek. "Ehh, one more for the road," he said placing his lips on hers and giving her such a soft and sweet kiss. He waved and was gone. Miranda stood at the door and she locked up. She went up the stairs and checked on her son. Then she finally sunk into her bed.

When her alarm went off, she wanted to cry. She struggled to help her son get ready for school and was relieved when his bus came on time. She fell back into her bed for the next four hours before she wandered into the hospital. She got on the elevator and strolled to The Chief's office. She knocked on the glass door and he looked up and waved her in. "Good morning, sir." Miranda sat down.

"Dr. Bailey, how are you today?" He said looking up from his notes.

"I'm fine, sir. How are you?"

He looked around making sure that no one was outside his glass office listening. "I spoke to Adele."

"Oh, yeah? And?"

"We, uh, talked for a long time. I think she's thinking about coming back to me."

"That's great. I know you're happy."

"Yeah, I'm feeling kinda good today," he said smiling widely. "So… you and Ben, hunh?" Miranda made a face. "Hey, I'm not judging or anything. I'm just happy to know that you're on the path to happiness."

"Thanks, sir," Miranda said. It was her turn to look around. "I do like him. Can I share something with you?"

"You can tell me anything."

"I hope that I'm not moving on from Eli too soon."

He thought about her statement for a second. He loved her like a daughter, which is why his response had to reflect his love and wisdom. "If Ben makes you feel good, if he makes you happy, then, he's the right guy for you… right now."

"Thank you for that, Chief. I know it can't be easy saying those things when, at the moment, you can't be with the person who makes you feel the same way." He agreed and nodded. "Well, I'm off to do the work you hired me for. See you around." Richard smiled at her and watched her leave before going back to his work.

Walking into the Attending locker room, Miranda was pounced on by Callie. Miranda smiled widely. Callie grabbed onto Miranda's arm and said: "Where have you been? Have you forgotten how to answer emails?" Miranda nodded as Callie steered them to the back of the room to where Miranda's locker was located. They gossiped in low voices before they started their rounds. The last patient that Miranda rounded on was a patient who'd first come in when Miranda was out of town. The patient's name was Troy Williamson. He needed a simultaneous kidney and a liver transplant. He'd been on the Transplant List for a year and a match had finally been found. The organs were on their way from another in-state hospital.

"Troy, your new organs are on their way. Are you excited?"

"Well, I've had this same conversation, with other doctors obviously, so pardon me if I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst." Miranda grabbed his hands.

"I know it's scary, but I'll do everything in my power to make they get here and they're healthy."

"Good, Dr. Bailey. Because if I leave Grey Sloan, I might not come back." Troy picked up a comb and started to part his hair. It was so strange that Miranda smirked.

"Don't say that, Troy. You—"

He cut her off and began braiding his afro. He was very skilled. "I've spent a year wondering and praying and crying and hoping about a new kidney and liver that I haven't done anything at all. I'm 30. 30, Dr. Bailey. What were you doing at 30? Probably studying or raising a family or something. I don't have the energy to leave the house or do anything extra. I have pain. I'm just sick. So, if the liver and the kidney don't come through, I'll take my chances and just live… as best as I can." He finished the first braid. Miranda started to speak again. "Look around. My parents are dead, no siblings. I'm alone. I didn't have to be, but I pushed my friends away and I never let anyone else close enough to consider them friends. I'm really feeling the consequences nowadays. So if it works, it works. If it doesn't, meh, maybe I'll see you in a few years." Troy smiled and raised his eyebrows at the same time. His goofy face initiated a laugh session in his hospital room.

"Fine, Troy. But let me do my best to help you this time, okay? You can just live later," Miranda said patting his hands once again. She left the room followed by her residents and interns. She turned to them. "Murphy, watch Mr. Williamson, just keep an eye on him and his stats. Wilson, get UNOS on the phone and find out about those organs. Page me when you have something. Ross, check on Jaime Roz. Edwards and Brooks, to the pit." The residents took their interns and did as they were told. Before going to the cafeteria, Miranda stopped in the locker room to change her sneakers. She liked to change her shoes halfway through the day and certainly on days in which she had to perform surgery. She stood up and did a few jumping jacks and then some pushups to get her blood pumping. As she was getting up from the floor, she was startled by appearance of Ben who was watching her. "Wow. I'm kind of embarrassed."

"Don't be, I'm turned on," he said and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. "Hello."

"Hi," she said hugging him back. "You didn't text or call me this morning." She hit him playfully.

"Well, I didn't leave until late, late, late," he said. She gave him a look. "But, of course, that's not an excuse. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Hey, don't 'yeah, whatever' me, sweetheart."

"Sweetheart, hunh? That's new." She said smiling and walking past him. She stopped and doubled back and kissed his cheek. "No more… baby?" Her heart jumped just thinking about it.

"Well, I saw how much it freaked you and frankly, it freaked me out too," Ben responded, he grabbed her hand and locked them. That position was one that she saved for her lovers. Miranda Bailey looked down at the hands of the anesthesiologist and grinned. How did she get here? Ben was a great guy. They walked hand in hand to the locker room door. "Can I come over after or…?"

"Yeah, sure. I have to go now. I'll call you when I get off?" She asked him.

They kissed and heard someone saying: "Awww." They stopped kissing and saw Arizona and April looking at them. Shit, Miranda thought. She didn't mind if they knew, but she didn't want to get caught in action. Public displays of affection in the hospital did not sit well with her. The doctors were there to do a job, not to fraternize. They could do that elsewhere. She backed away from him as her pager went off.

"Damn," Ben whispered. Miranda wondered why he was upset. Arizona and April were her friends.

"What's up?" She whispered back.

"Nothing," he said quickly. Miranda dropped his hand and left. He came after her. Miranda found the intern who'd been paging her. It was Wilson and she had news from UNOS about Troy Williamson. The organs were on their way. She sent two of Wilson's interns to wait for the organs and she sent Wilson to get the patient to surgery. Miranda would meet in the operating room. She stopped in the lounge and got a small snack from the lounge, she wasn't going to be able to get to the cafeteria.

Dr. Miranda Bailey hurried to the lounge and opened a drawer that was labeled "General". It was a drawer that was only for general surgeons and it was full of snacks, healthy and otherwise, that were supplied by the general surgeons. Inside were a bunch of granola bars. She went into the fridge and pulled out a Gatorade. She set a five minute alarm and she ate. In her head she imagined exactly what she needed to do for Troy. In her own world, she moved her head and hands in the motions of replacing two major organs. She didn't notice anyone watching her. "I used to do that, too," Richard's voice said knocking her out of her surgery. Her alarm was also going off.

"Really? Well, of course you did. You're the best."

"Well, I don't know about the best," he said smirking. "Going into surgery?"

"Yes, sir. Would you like to join me?"

"I haven't done surgery all week. I'd love to," Richard said and he gestured for her to finish her snack and they walked up to OR.

The patient was in the recovery wing with normal vitals and stats. It had been another successful surgery. Miranda washed her hands, singing softly to herself.

"You've become a helluva surgeon, Mandy… excuse me, Dr. Bailey," Richard said as he finished up and left the scrub room. She smiled. The Chief had always told her she'd be great and he expected that one day she'd take over the surgical department. She wasn't sure about that, but it was a high honor to be in the thoughts of the current chief.

After checking on her patients one last time, Miranda went into the locker room. She sat on her stool and yawned. It was the kind of yawn that made her look like a small lioness. "Someone's tired. Did someone have a long night?" Arizona said popping from behind the row of lockers.

"You know I did," Miranda said taking off her sneakers and sliding into her flip-flops. That was such a great feeling.

"Sorry, I didn't answer my phone last night. I took Sofia to a movie, my phone was on silent."

"That's okay. Someone offered to pick Tuck up for me."

"Eliiiiiii?" She asked softly.

"Now I know that you know that Eli and I are no longer seeing each other," Miranda told her. Miranda scratched her head.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that."

"Well, I'm not," Miranda said taking off her shirt and putting on a dry one.

"Okay," she said smiling. "I heard about Troy Williamson. I'm glad that the transplant went well."

"I know. Me too. It was kind of close," Miranda told Robbins and they talked while Miranda changed. The subject of Ben never came up and Miranda was relieved, but she was also curious as to why. Arizona loved to gossip and not asking Miranda about her love life must have been eating away at her. But if it was, she never revealed it. Arizona was paged to the Nurse's station and said goodnight to Miranda.

Miranda grabbed her bag and walked to her car. It was just starting to get dark and she drove to Tuck's school. They were playing outside. She hoped that he'd finished his homework. She smiled as she watched him on the jungle gym. She got out of the car and walked over to his afterschool teachers. She signed him and called him over. Seeing his face light up when he saw her made the exhaustion of the long day disappear. He ran to her and hugged her tight.