Racing Hearts

AU. When Sarah's father returns to her life years later claiming he wants to make amends she struggles a bit with the decision of letting the man who once betrayed her into her heart again? Will her family make her see there's forgiveness after all?

She only had a few days left before going back to work. Sarah Reese was dreading getting back into the routine of it all, leaving her boys whom she had enjoyed so much in the last week had been the highlight of this whole mess with Robert. She bathed the boys, three in one was easier now that they were older. Thank goodness she had Amy to help her today though, also as they got older they could sneak out of the bath and run around the apartment.

That was something she was not at all amused by. She remembered when she'd first found out she was pregnant, never in a million years would she have imagined she would give birth to 3 boys.

"Daddy!" Luke was the first one to hear as the lock turned in the front door, meaning Connor was home. Sarah sighed as he jumped down the bed, grabbing into the side of his stuffed Kion and broke into a run.

He loved to be daddy's first. She finished picking up the toys in the room as she heard Amy call the other two to the door to welcome their dad. "Outnumbered huh?" Amy smiled.

Connor smirked as he battled the three toddlers for a hug. "Time out guys, Amy has to go." The three boys instantly turned to their nanny.

"I'll see you tomorrow Dr. Rhodes." The girl smiled. "Bye boys, don't drive your mommy and daddy too crazy huh?" Connor spotted a messy curly head from the corner of his eyes.

"Hey babe." He smirked at the silliness of the image in front of her, which made her heart flutter, Connor leaned to kiss her the best he could, making her laugh.

"Hi." He carried the three boys somehow to the kitchen and put them down on their chairs, the ones they had started to hate more and more. "Daddy kiss!" Finn giggled, clearly wanting more attention.

God help her, those kisses on the nose were the best, she snapped a picture of the moment, perfect for her phone and suddenly it hit her. Had she not been adorable enough? How dare her father walk away like that on her? She could not picture Connor doing that on the boys, on her.

Of course Connor wasn't her father and her husband carried her own baggage when it came to crappy parents to want to break the cycle. "Mommy?" A small voice pulled her back to reality as she cleaned the tears she hadn't realized had began to fall. "Mommy's sad."

"No baby, mommy's just..." She wiped her face with her hand. "I'm fine, don't you worry." Sarah kissed her child's sweet face

"Here, sit." Connor offered pulling the chair for her and gave her a sweet kiss. "Daddy's going to make mommy feel much better."

Sarah laughed as he came back with a plate of Amy's famous mac & cheese, it indeed made her feel much better to prove her overthinking wrong, there were good fathers in this world and she was raising a family with one of them.

It was good to have Connor home.


"You finished it without me?" Connor mused as he got into bed, Sarah was browsing trough Netflix for something to watch.

"I didn't think you wouldn't care much babe, since when do you like Ryan Seacrest?" Sarah smiled.

"I don't." He replied, putting one of the boys's toys on the nightstand. "But you do and I like you."

"Sweet. We can watch the next one. It's only auditions right now." She kissed her cheek as she put on the show.

"Hey babe... what were you thinking? back there?" Connor asked after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Oh no. He was into one of those, it's not your fault talks, in the middle of American Idol. Seriously?

"Sarah... you're avoiding." He told her, turning to face her.

"Well, I learned from the best." She mused. He rolled his eyes at her, hurt, those beautiful blue eyes that could see into her soul. "Babe I'm sorry I just can we just not talk about this right now?"

"Sarah..." he mimicked her tone. " Look, if this is about going back to work, I'll talk to Goodwin." Sarah's heart sank. Granted, he was older than her, had more credentials and a higher word with Goodwin than most, but she didn't need him to fight her battles, she was a grown woman.

"No thanks, I don't need you to treat me like a child." She turned around to focus back on the TV. The baby monitor beeped just in time.

"We're not done talking about this." He told her, jumping out of bed. Sarah sighed, dreading the moment he would break her as he always managed to. She didn't want to fight, she didn't want to yell. She didn't want him to be right.

But when he came back, she pretended to be asleep, so she could be right just a little longer.


Sarah Reese had fallen in love with Connor Rhodes in a teenage whim. She'd certainly had began like that, everyone had a crush in the rambo like doc, or that's what Maggie and April had called him when he'd first arrived at Med, then Sarah found out he had been born and raised in Chicago but had gone abroad to study and do humanitarian work.

He seemed too good to be true, he worked on paper as his credentials had seemed to have taken him further in his career as the tender age of 30.

Yet, the Med gang was yet to discover who Connor was. His social status and troubled past as news had come out of her mother killing herself when Connor was only ten. It was the first time she'd heard of it anyway.

But yet it seemed Connor had wanted to fit in with his colleagues, he began a friendship with Natalie of all people who it seemed, Will had his eyes on. All and all, he had wanted to show them he was just one of them, he bought her lunch once and then brought her coffee one night as she went trough her notes.

The rest was history, she wasn't sure how her superiors would take it to her dating a Fellow, but it wasn't like she was underage and didn't understand just what kind of a mess she'd be getting herself into.

She knew Connor had trust issues, she'd learned it early in their relationship, he had a cloud of guilt over his mother's death and leaving her sister to his father's ways.

Sarah understood a lot of things the first time she met Cornelius Rhodes. He'd come looking for Connor and she just happened to see his car parked outside, she had not spoke to the man but had seen Connor come out and talk to his father for several minutes, it had certainly caused something inside Rhodes to stir as she had tried to talk to him and he avoided her for a complete week.

He then apologized, he told her she wasn't to blame.

No, his father was.

He hadn't even been to their wedding, Claire had been there, the family's housekeeper who'd taken care of them as children was there, but Cornelius was a no show.

That was the kind of parent Connor had, the only one he had left to look up and it was a scary concept. but Connor would never be like his father Sarah knew.


"Hey..." Natalie greeted Connor the next morning, he'd been so focused on his cystic fibrosis kid that he'd not heard her. "Connor?"

"Yeah?"

"Just wanted to check on you. How's Sarah?"

"Honestly? I don't know anymore." He admitted. Natalie gave him a puzzled look. Ever since Sarah had come to Med, he had seemed the one to read her better than anyone.

"What do you mean?"

"She won't talk to me. She'll break into tears and tell me she's fine and it's driving me crazy." He sighed.

"Well, maybe she doesn't want to make things harder." Natalie offered.

"For who?" Connor said. "It feels like she doesn't even trust me, and she's been talking about quitting."

"Sarah?" Natalie asked. "What does she want to do?"

"Be a mom."

"I'm guessing this too has to do with her dad." She put in.

"Everything does and she's barely seen the man. I mean, I get it, better than most... every decision I've made was bases on just how I felt about my father." Connor spotted Dr. Charles from the corner of his eye.

"Dr. Rhodes? You seem troubled. Tough one I take it?" the older man glanced over the tablet in his hand.

"Actually, I was wondering if we might have a word?" Connor asked. Daniel took a minute to ponder on his response.

"Sarah?" He inquired. Connor nodded.

"Come by my office later, we can have a chat?" Daniel offered.

Connor sighed. He was sure this would slap him in the face.


Sarah prayed she wouldn't run into her father. She was not ready to face the man but she did have to talk to Connor. He had left in such bad terms that it made her nervous.

"Sarah" Maggie greeted her. "Are you back?"

"No, actually... I'm looking for Connor, is he in surgery?"

"Think so. Everything okay?" Maggie inquired. "You needed to come all the way here... it must be bad."

"Why is it that you know everything?" Sarah asked.

"Oh honey, I just looked at him this morning, he didn't sleep a wink huh?" Sarah bit her lip. She wasn't ready to say Maggie has been a mother to her, god she'd kill her but she was a mother figure and a good friend, someone who would know what was going on with everyone. "You can talk to me."

"We had a fight, well almost a fight." Sarah said.

"Almost?"

"I pretended to be asleep." Maggie sighed. "I know, I'm pathetic. Why isn't that I'm always nagging him to open up to me and I can't do the same?"

"Well, doctors do make the worst patients." Maggie pointed out. "But Sarah honey, Connor is there for you. Above anyone else and I don't think he'll judge you. Do you want me to page him?"

Sarah froze. She might have been six when Robert left but she'd recognize himanywhere.

"Hello Sarah." Her father said softly. "I was hoping to catch you, can we talk?"


Soo... will Sarah finally face her father and what will Connor say to Daniel? Plus, more on Rheese's relationship and how he proposed.

Please review guys! Do you like where this is going?