Go Baby Grow

Chapter 41 – Dinner and Some Drama

Monday, June 8th

The Shepherd Hunt dinner table on Monday night was full. Ryder, fresh out of the shower, came down in an ironed button-down shirt and ironed shorts. Amelia and Owen met each other's eyes with curiosity. Apparently, Ryder had plans after dinner.

Nolan, Lissa, and their brood squeezed in with the other 7½ members of the family. For Lissa, leaving the house was both a welcome respite and an exhausting journey. Even though Becca dressed the kids and packed the diaper bag, focusing on caring for herself zapped Lissa's energy.

"Before we consider any games, Mom and I want to share some news," Owen announced after everyone had settled into a seat.

"You're pregnant, aren't you, Mom?!" Ryder balked.

"How'd you guess, Ryder? Here he is, Ladies and Gentlemen, Valedictorian of St. Frances' graduating class," Amelia teased. Making a playfully sour face, Ryder folded his arms.

"I want to review some scheduling details," Owen shared. "In a few weeks, Mom and I are heading to Annapolis with Ryder. We leave June 28th and return July 2nd. Grandma Evelyn is going to stay here and I'm sure she won't need to call Nolan with any problems, right, Olivia and younger?" The four groaned agreement.

"Then, instead of the 4th of July party, we're taking the Littles to the waterpark from July 3rd to the 5th to celebrate Luke's birthday. Livs, you're welcome to come or stay behind with Grandma," Owen detailed.

"Decisions, decisions," Olivia groaned.

Lissa piped up, "You can stay with us, Livie." Nolan glanced over, surprised by but fine with Lissa's offer.

"Then I'm staying," Olivia smiled with relief.

"We have even more to share. This morning, we found out Ria will have surgery on July 8th," Owen continued.

Collectively, everyone offered their sighs, disappointments, and sympathy to Ria.

"Mom and I are hoping, Nolan and Ryder, that you'll be willing to take Ree with you to the gym so she can do her pre-op workouts," Owen requested.

"Sure, when I'm not working out at 5am," Nolan agreed.

"I can do that, at least for a few weeks. Julie might be able to help, too," Ryder volunteered.

"I want to work out with Julie!" Ria celebrated. "Well… and you guys."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`'

After dinner, Ryder leaned over to Owen and shared, "Livie and I need to sit down with you and Mom."

"How convenient…I need to talk to you," Owen responded flatly. "My office, 5 minutes? Let Livie know."

Ryder pounced up the stairs and knocked on Olivia's door, announcing, "Time to face the music, Red."

Olivia opened her door and sneered at Ryder, heckling, "That's what you think."

"Whatever," Ryder huffed. "Let's go. Dad's office."

The two entered the office, both feeling as if they had the upper hand.

Owen sat in his rolling chair behind the desk. When he leaned on the desk, the kids knew that signaled trouble. When he sat across the desk, he was even angrier. Nothing good would come of the discussion.

"Where shall we begin?" Owen huffed.

"Where's Mom?" Ryder questioned.

Owen inhaled slowly and snapped, "She's 20 weeks into a high risk pregnancy, Ryder. She doesn't need to be involved in the drama. Now what's the issue at hand?"

"Olivia has something to tell you, Dad," Ryder mentioned.

With shock, Olivia gasped, "You're really going through with your little plan, Ryder? Wow… I can't believe you. You've always hassled me, but now you're reaching for a whole new level of horrible."

"What are you talking about, Olivia?" Ryder spouted with heavy, lowered eyebrows.

"What's this about?" Owen raised his voice. "Ryder?"

"I caught Olivia and Gwen rolling around on Livie's bed. They were topless and making out," Ryder disclosed.

"Hmmm…" Owen hummed without expression. "Olivia?"

"Daddy, he is completely lying," Olivia asserted.

Ryder interjected, "Why would I make this up, Olivia?"

"Dad, he's trying to twist everything around to cover up his lies. Gwen and I don't do anything worth discovering," Olivia pleaded.

Ryder threw his hands in the air and slapped them on the arm rests of his chair.

"Ryder…" Owen grumbled.

"I'm going to have to tell him, Ryder," Olivia sighed. "I can't let you bully me."

"Dad, I have no idea what she's about to say, but she is completely snowing you. I came home, she was supposed to be watching Lucas. Instead, Luke was watching Spongebob while she and Gwen were upstairs in her bedroom giggling and well… rounding 2nd base," Ryder summarized.

"That's a pretty significant accusation, Ryder. Are you sure you have all the facts straight?" Owen pressed.

"Yes, Sir, I am," Ryder nodded confidently.

"Daddy…" Olivia added, crying fake tears. "I can't believe I'm going to tell you. I wanted to just forget about it, but Ryder's lies give me no choice."

Impatiently, but with interest, Owen prodded her, "Tell me what?"

"Ryder told me that he hates gays and that he thinks I'm disgusting. Then he told me he was going to make up something about Gwen and me because he thinks I'm just pretending to be gay to get attention," Olivia sniffled. "Remember that day he got in trouble for slamming his door? That's when he said all that."

"Ryder Blake," Owen inquired with furrowed brows, "any response?"

"Dad, Olivia is making up this entire story. I have never had a problem with her or anyone else being gay. I have nothing to gain by making up lies about her and her girlfriend. I'm telling you the truth. As far as the Spongebob part of my story, Lucas could confirm that," Ryder stated calmly.

"Olivia, step out please. Wait for me in your bedroom," Owen stated flatly as he maintained an angry stare toward Ryder.

Once the door was closed, Owen stood up and paced with folding arms. Ryder was irate about Olivia's lies and not at all worried about being in trouble. Reaching into his back pocket, Owen roared, "And what about this, Ryder? I had my car detailed today and this was under the floor mat."

"It's mine. I won't lie. I don't lie," Ryder claimed.

"And there certainly isn't Kool Aid in it," Owen pointed out as he twisted off the top and waved the flask under his nose.

"It's from my prom. I drank at my prom," Ryder admitted.

"Your prom. You mean Julie's? You drove the Boxster to Julie's prom last weekend," Owen clarified.

"It is mine. I drank at my prom when we had the limo. Julie threw the flask in her purse when I dropped it that night. She forgot about it. It was still in her purse when we went to her prom. When she saw someone ahead of us in line get busted, she remembered picking up my flask the previous week. She checked her purse and we stepped out of line. Then we hid it under the floor mat, and I completely forgot about it," Ryder reported step by step.

"Is this another fabricated story so you can slip out of the consequences?" Owen pressed.

"Another? Dad, I have not lied to you at all," Ryder insisted. He was hurt that Owen was doubting him.

"Scenario One is that you caught Olivia and Gwen messing around and that you drank at your prom and the whole convoluted story about how the flask ended up in my car. Scenario Two is that you fabricated the story about Olivia and Gwen to cover your own ass for judging her and bullying her. In that version, I can easily come to the conclusion that a flask in my Boxster equals drunk driving on your part," Owen summarized.

After running his hand through his hair, Owen exhaled. With his hand held in the air, he yelled at increasing volume, "Did you realize you were jeopardizing your Academy scholarship when you drank? Or that you compromised your life, Julie's life, and the lives of every person on the road by driving drunk? Who the hell do you think you are, Ryder? Are you beyond every rule? Invincible? Life for you is all about Ryder, isn't it?"

"How dare you!" Ryder hollered. Ryder pulled his phone out of his back pocket and slammed it on the desk. "I don't remember every single text conversation, but the code on my phone is 260123. Take a look. I'm guessing there are texts in there substantiating what I've said. At least give me that much."

"Sit down, Ryder," Owen stated without emotion. He sat down at his desk and picked up the phone. He breezed through the texts and announced, "Here's a conversation with Darren from the night of your prom: Got the goods, bring a flask. Then you wrote: On it." Owen continued to scroll, "And another between you and Julie: Just caught Red w GF getting nasty. Nice way to put it, Ry. Then Julie asks: Wha? And you wrote: Topless teens, giggling girls. I'm not sure I'll ever forget your candid word selection, but I see your point, Ryder. These still don't prove you didn't drink when you had the Boxster."

"I suppose you're right," Ryder responded. "You could ask Julie. She'll tell the truth."

"Stay here," Owen instructed as he stepped out of the room. A few minutes later, Owen and Lucas came in. Lucas' eyes were wide and he appeared to be terrified.

Owen sat down on the floor and patted the carpet next to him, "Have a seat, Lucas."

"Am I in trouble?" Lucas asked with a shaking voice.

"Are you going to tell me the truth?" Owen pressured.

"Yes," Lucas replied.

Owen purposely looked at Ryder for an extended second then back at Lucas. "Even if you think it might get you in trouble?"

With a giant swallow, Lucas eeked out a weak, "I think so."

"I need the truth, Buddy, no matter what," Owen stated seriously. "Ryder was telling me that he came home the other day and you were watching TV after school."

Looking down and mumbling, Lucas pursed his lips and let out a soft, "Mmm Hmm."

"Thank you for being honest, Luke. You're not in trouble. Why were you watching TV on a school day?" Owen quizzed.

"I can't tell you," Lucas said. "I'm supposed to say because I was being sneaky and that Livie didn't know."

"What's the truth, Lucas?" Owen inquired.

"Livie told me that if I left the room, she'd beat me up," Lucas disclosed.

Ryder scoffed as he heard the threat. "Olivia? Dude, you were scared of her? You could totally take her."

Ignoring Ryder's comment, Owen continued with a light curiosity, "Why did Livie want you to stay in there?"

Lucas shrugged. Then he leaned toward Owen and whispered, "She went upstairs with her girlfriend. I snuck out of the TV room and saw them on the stairs."

"Thanks, Lucas. I'm very proud of you for being honest," Owen emphasized. "Next time Livie is in charge, follow the rules even if Olivia says you can break them."

"Is that it?" Lucas asked with hesitation.

"Yes," Owen smirked. Lucas popped up off the floor with a giant grin and ran out of the room. He was thrilled that his office experience was pain- and punishment-free.

"I apologize for doubting you, Ryder. Everything is checking out. I am very sorry for being so quick to judge," Owen offered from the heart.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," Ryder replied respectfully.

"There's still the matter of you drinking on your prom night. I want to think about that before deciding how to handle it," Owen stated. "For now, stay home tonight. Stay home tomorrow, too, with the exception of your work out."

"But I have a date tonight," Ryder groaned.

Owen handed Ryder his phone and suggested, "You might want to contact her and postpone."

"What's going to happen with Olivia?" Ryder attempted to learn.

Owen smirked and pointed across the room, "The door is that way, Son."

After gathering his thoughts and pondering Olivia's many problems, Owen headed up to her room and knocked on her door. She invited him in, sympathizing, "Are you finished with Ryder? I bet that was really hard."

"Not as hard as you might think," Owen stated flatly as he sat in her desk chair. Olivia smiled softly and waited for Owen to continue. She was certain that she'd been convincing. After all, she heard the yelling after she left the room. Boring his eyes into hers, Owen outlined, "Olivia, I don't want to hear any response until I'm finished speaking. Understand?"

"Of course," Olivia replied with kindness. She couldn't wait to hear Owen empathize with her struggles of being gay and bullied.

"I'm going to share a fairly long list. Situation One includes Lucas not being watched, Lucas being popped in front of the TV on a school day, and Lucas being threatened to not leave the room. Situation Two: the tale about Ryder bullying and judging you concerns me. Situation Three: You and Gwen were crossing the line. Not only did you disregard the rules, you lied to me about it, "Owen outlined. "In summary, you failed to fulfill your responsibility as a babysitter, you lied to me at least twice, and you disregarded at least two house rules."

"Daddy, I can explain," Olivia attempted.

"No need, Olivia. I'm not willing to discuss the details right now," Owen stated clearly. "I think you're too young to be entering into a sexual relationship, and I'm completely opposed to the choice you made. But I also know I cannot stop you from exploring. However, I want to make something crystal clear: none of these consequences are because you and Gwen… umm… shared some sexual experiences. My primary concern is that you lied to me and lied in an attempt to cause problems for Ryder."

"First off, I need your phone, tablet, laptop, anything electronic. If you can't be responsible when you're asked to babysit your brother, you don't deserve the privilege of electronics for a couple weeks," Owen meted out. Olivia handed over her phone and gathered her other electronics on her desk. "Next, you're grounded for two weeks – one week for each lie and broken rule. Also, the door to your room is coming off for two weeks. If I can't trust you to tell me the truth, I certainly can't trust you alone in your bedroom. Speaking of trust, you'll have to earn it back, Olivia. You've really let me down. I can't believe what you tell me anymore, so you'll have to rebuild trust over time. Until trust is rebuilt, there will be no driving practice."

"How much time?" Olivia questioned with tears ready to pour down her cheeks.

"I don't know," Owen shook his head. "I wish I could be more specific. It will take time."

Olivia gazed at the ceiling. With heavy sarcasm, she grumbled, "Geesh, can't you just spank me and we can be done with this."

Shaking his head, Owen took in a deep breath and responded just as sarcastically, "If I thought it'd do any good, I'd consider it."

Olivia said nothing. She knew if she responded, she'd begin to cry. Owen waited a minute before leaving, providing an opportunity for Olivia to ask questions.

"It's late and time for bed," Owen said softly when he broke the silence. "We'll talk more tomorrow. I love you, Olivia."

His words hung in the air. Predictably, Olivia did not return the sentiment. When Owen came back five minutes later to remove her door, she pretended to be asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```'

As Owen entered the Master Bedroom, he declared, "I am officially not a parent for the next 10 hours."

Laughing, Amelia challenged, "This is something we can simply decide? I had no idea."

Owen sat at the edge of the bed and slipped his shoes off. Stretching backward, he made his way next to his wife and placed his hand on her baby bump. "This one is fine right now. I'll agree to parent this one."

"You, Owen Hunt, are a funny man," Amelia grinned. "What brought on this declaration?"

"I'm not going to burden you with all the crap," he insisted. "Long story short, parenting Ryder and Olivia can be an exhausting task."

"And to think we'll be missing him and yearning for him in less than a month," Amelia mused.

With a guilty grin, Owen confessed, "It may take me longer than that."

"Come here and forget your troubles," Amelia proposed as she pulled him close. Whispering, she imagined, "Pretend it's just the two of us. We just purchased this enormous house and can't stop laughing at ourselves because there are one hundred bedrooms and two of us. The thought that we'll need to have a large family in order to keep up with the yard hasn't even crossed our minds yet."

Owen laughed and agreed to play along. "By some twist of fate, we've both managed to minimize our hours to one or two shifts a week. That arrangement allows us to have ridiculous amounts of sex on a regular basis."

"Ohhh… I like this," Amelia raised her eyebrows and flirted. "And we won the new Harvard lotto when means our outstanding student loans have been forgiven."

"Our whole lives are falling into place. What are you driving?" Owen continued.

"Hmmm… some fun little two seater," she replied. "A convertible one. Red."

"And when we finally roll out of bed each morning, we make our way down to a little café with outdoor seating that serves the best brunch in Seattle," he imagined. "Hell, since it's our dream world, let's say it doesn't rain here."

"We could hop planes to Italy or France," Amelia dreamed. "Maybe even Greece or Spain. The world awaits us and all our spare time and disposable income."

"…And we'd end up feeling so empty and incomplete…" Owen sighed. "Because family is at the core of who we are."

Tracing his cheek bone then running her fingers through his hair, Amelia whispered, "Let's settle on a ten-hour break. A whole lifetime without these monkeys, bears, and ladybugs would be more than we could handle."

"We're crazy, aren't we? The chaos, the drama, the love and laughter…Kind of suits us," he smirked.

"And I'd rather stumble my way through it all with you than with anybody else," she promised.

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Note to readers: I probably won't be posting 1-2 chapters a day in the coming weeks. It's been fun having more time to write than I usually have, but even such great times come to an end.

As long as I'm writing a note, I'll pose a question: Ryder and Julie are soon off to the Academy. I'll be focusing on their experiences and throwing in a little family and/or Omelia here and there. I feel like I'm cheating by posting on . Should I set up a blog instead and post there? Will you continue to read if the book is focused as described above? If not, please be kind in your comments. This silly AU is like a baby to me.

I know many of you would prefer more GA focused material, but I'm going to follow where the Writing Muse leads.

Nolan and Lissa, 22

Molly 15 months

Emily and Elizabeth (born 3/15) 12 weeks

Ryder 18, Julie 18 (High School graduates)

Olivia 15 (Sophomore in high school in September)

Ria and Anna 10 (starting 5th grade in September)

Lucas 8 ½ (starting 3rd grade in September)

Baby Hunt – due October 25. 20 weeks gestation.