Welcome back! Thank you all for humoring me through Chapter 1 of this story and clicking on. I really hope y'all like it!
Disclaimer: I am but a humble servant to the genius of Shonda and ABC.
Chapter 2
"Dr. Shepherd," she heard a familiar voice call from behind her. She slowed down to allow Owen to catch up with her.
"Make it quick, Hunt, I'm on my way to surgery," she said, more snippily than she intended. She wasn't interested in social calls today.
He cleared his throat awkwardly before beginning, "Well, I was talking to a couple members of the board and we discussed that you haven't taken any personal time since, ah, since…"
"Since my brother died?" She finished for him testily.
"Well yes. Since Derek died. And we just thought that maybe you should take this next week off, for your own sake."
Amelia stopped dead in her tracks, turning to face Hunt.
"Let me get this straight. The board thinks I need to take a week off for my health?"
Owen nodded, refusing to make proper eye contact.
"Have I done something wrong? Did someone complain about my work?" She pressed, her voice rising slowly, angrily.
"No!" Owen exclaimed, bringing his hands up as if in defense, "Absolutely not. You have been doing outstanding work, as usual. We just thought –"
"I have patients, Dr. Hunt, who are depending on my being present next week. I have surgeries, and follow ups, and –"
"And all of those things can be rescheduled or picked up by another surgeon," He finished, looking at her pointedly.
"They are expecting me to be there, Owen," she snapped.
"Amelia, this is not up for discussion," he sighed, "you need to look at this as a gift, not a punishment. We're trying to look out for you, here."
Amelia scoffed, turning and storming away. "Fine, whatever the board wants," she called over her shoulder.
Owen sighed, watching her until she disappeared around a corner. That hadn't gone as he had hoped.
There was a reason that Amy didn't like to take time off; she didn't like to be bored. And by the second day of her forced vacation, she was unspeakably bored. Day One had involved deep cleaning her apartment and detailing her car, and then watching one mind-numbing episode of The Real Housewives before surrendering herself to online case studies and reading everything there was to know (for the public) about Derek's brain mapping project.
So, without anything to clean or read, Amelia found herself in Meredith's driveway at 10 A.M. deciding whether or not to knock.
After a moment, she just turned the doorknob and, surprisingly, it opened. She stepped in, immediately hearing the familiar sounds of Dora the Explorer playing from somewhere in the house.
"Zola-a-a!" She called in a sing-songy voice. She didn't know if she'd expected Meredith to be home or not, but hopefully she could convince her to hand over her children for the day. She walked towards the kitchen, acting playfully sneaky when she heard the sound of plates clacking together and chairs scooting.
"Gooooood morning Shep- oh!" Amelia nearly jumped at the sight of Arizona setting plates down in front of her daughter, Zola, and Bailey. "Hey, sorry, I thought maybe it was Mer home today." Amy grinned sheepishly.
"Not a problem!" Arizona chirped, "You're just in time for breakfast." She went to the cabinet and pulled out another plate and silverware for Amy, setting a place for her right beside Zola.
Amelia beamed at the woman, happy to be welcome somewhere with homemade food.
After inhaling two blueberry pancakes, Zola exclaimed, "We're going to the zoo today, auntie!"
Amy gasped exaggeratedly, "You are? No way!"
Arizona smiled at her, "You're welcome to join us if you aren't busy."
All three of the children cheered, looking at the brunette expectantly. She laughed and nodded, "I'd love to actually."
"Perfect!" Arizona chirped, "You can push Ell's stroller." She winked at the other woman, who made a show of rolling her eyes.
"I should have known you were using me."
Arizona laughed as she stood up, clearing plates off of the table and stacking them in the sink. She excused herself to go wake Ellis from her midmorning nap, and Amy finished getting the children ready for their day at the zoo.
"Please tell me this mom-monstrosity is not yours?" Amy pleaded as they loaded the kids into a gray boat of a minivan. Arizona laughed again, drawing a smile to Amy's lips.
"It's not, I promise. This is actually Meredith's. She bought it last month."
"Thank God," Amy said with a wink, hopping into the passenger's seat.
Arizona checked to make sure everyone was buckled and pulled out of the driveway, setting course for the Woodland Park Zoo. Amy shuffled through the CD's in the car, settling on a Disney Classics mix. She saw a smirk cross Arizona's lips.
"Wh-what's that for?" She demanded defensively.
"Oh nothing," Arizona sing-songed. Then she giggled, "They've got you whipped."
Amelia huffed, indignant. But glancing in the rear view mirror, she watched as Sofia and Zola bounced around, singing their favorite Jungle Book tune, she smiled. They did have her whipped.
Both of the women made a show of dramatically singing every song that played for the entirety of the drive. The kids laughed and sang along, bouncing in their car seats. Amy glanced over at Arizona occasionally, smiling. She looked so happy today, nothing like the drunken Dr. Robbin's she'd peeled off the supply closet floor.
She couldn't say she hadn't enjoyed that night, though. Something about talking to Arizona made Amelia's head feel lighter.
Amy watched as Arizona read the placard in front of the jaguar enclosure to Bailey, Zola, and Sofia. The former Peds specialist gasped at all of the right times when telling them how fast jaguars could run, and how they hunted, smiling adoringly at all three children when they each pressed their faces against the glass to get a better look at the majestic beasts. Amelia caught herself smiling and looked away, resting her eyes on the wonder filled orbs of baby Ellis.
"Hey cutie," Amelia cooed, holding her finger out so her niece could latch on. The baby girl did, closing her tiny, cool fingers around her aunt's pinky. She started to pull the appendage towards her slobbery lips but Amy pulled away. "Hey now, we're not starting that yet." She fished out a pacifier and pushed it in the child's mouth, feigning a scowl.
"You being mean to the baby?"
Amelia laughed lightly, shaking her head, "I'm just trying to not be a chew toy."
Arizona smiled, taking hold of the stroller and beginning to push, with the other three in tow.
Looking down at Bailey, whose eyes were drooping as he occasionally stumbled, Amelia reached to pick him up. But she was a second too late – the little boy's foot caught a rock and he went careening towards the ground.
"Bailey!" Amelia cried, swooping him off the ground just as he started screaming. She held him against her shoulder, rocking and bouncing and patting his back. "You're okay, baby. Can you show me what hurts?"
He pointed at his knee, tears and snot flowing freely down his face. Arizona pulled the group over at a bench and rummaged in the storage pocket of the stroller until she came up with a first aid kit. Amy brought him over, setting him in her lap to allow Arizona to clean it.
"Don't worry buddy, you're auntie and I are really good at this kind of stuff," she winked at him. He giggled lightly beneath his tears, bringing his thumb up to his mouth to suck on it.
In a couple of minutes, Bailey was cleaned, bandaged, and ready for action. Amelia secured him in the toddler compartment of the stroller, right below Ellis, and walked around to take the reins from Arizona.
"Let me give you a break," she said, smiling sweetly. Arizona started to protest, but thought better of it and stepped away. She took Zola and Sofia by the hand and nodded to her counterpart, who began pushing the stroller towards the next adventure.
By 3 o'clock, the kids were all ready for a nap, and so were their two chaperones. The entourage made their way back to Meredith's humongous mini-van. By the time they were all buckled in, all four children were asleep, and Amy was drifting.
Arizona eyed the other woman as she turned off the radio and put the car into gear. She smiled; Amelia was something else. Arizona never would have thought that Amelia Shepherd – the badass, hard-ass neuro surgeon – was so good with kids. From what Meredith had told her, Zola and Bailey had destroyed their aunt the first couple of times that she babysat them.
I guess we all learn, Arizona thought, we're all still learning.
"Hey," Amelia called, voice soft and low.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for inviting me today. It really was a great time," the brunette smiled, opening her eyes to look at the other woman. She saw Arizona beam and nod quickly.
"It was my pleasure, Dr. Shepherd," she winked.