Hey Everyone! So I had half of this little chapter written a year ago? (something like that, sorry), and when I came and read it back I nearly cried, its like a little time capsule I wrote! Arizona! And Oh boy Omelia, I feel this all so much. I wrote them and their love, how I always hoped (and hopefully still do hope) love could be.
Oh boy. I’ll get writing the next chapter. Please please send feedback, really just let me hear your thoughts, I’m awful emotional these days, and I cry real easy. Could use some moral support tbh.
Link to Chapter 1 for any new readers
Link to Chapter 18 for anyone wanting to recap
Masterpost
I sincerely hope this was worth the wait. Thank you for sticking with me.
Enjoy:
The house was quiet. Amelia stood at the window of the living room and pulled up the blind. The sun was rising. Orange light poured in, the feeling warmed Amelia’s chest. She had been waking up at this time for the past few weeks, someday’s the sky would be so densely overcast, with clouds hanging low. Not today, today the far sides of the cotton like clouds were orange and pink, and the sky that peaked through behind was indigo.
Amelia sat down on the chair she had placed by the window weeks ago. It was a routine, she’d awaken before sunrise, before everyone else, and amble about the house. She’d check on the kids, letting her eyes drift across their beds, their faces would always be so calm, lips in sleepy pouts.
She’d make herself a cup of tea and go to the window, to watch the sun come up, and then fall asleep, there in the tattered armchair. Someone would always wake her late morning, usually Owen, or one of the girls, in a sweet and gentle way, tickling fingertips across her brow line, tiny hands rubbing circles against her round stomach. She’d opened her eyes to little Ellis doing this first, and the girl smiled, eyes glowing with the kind of energy only she, too young to understand what was lost, could possess.
The sky slowly evolved in its colours, the light becoming yellower, the clouds lost their pink. Amelia rest her head back, and consciously relaxed her jaw, inhaling deeply through her nose. She had one hand wrapped around her mug of fruit tea, absorbing the heat, and her other moving in soothing circles against her taut stomach. She was about a month from her due date, and the babies had limited room now, so their movement was restricted, more like sharp nudges and shoves, as if they were sharing a tent that was much too small for the both of them.
Amelia took a sip of her tea and rest the mug atop her stomach, looking down at herself. In disbelief for a moment, she though, if someone had given her the ability to see into this moment a year ago, she wouldn’t have believed it.
Before her mind wandered too far, and anxiety gripped too hard, she paused, and breathed deep, uttering “five things I can see.” She glanced up at the sky. “The sky… the clouds, the sun… The tree tops… snow” she breathed deep, and closed her eyes. Listening now to the sounds of her friends breathing heavily in their sleep behind her.
One sound prompted her to snap her eyes open. She sat forward, eyes wide up to the sky. She put her tea down and stood slowly, pressing one hand against her lower back as it ached under her load. Her eyes were wide, filled with light. Among the clouds; A bird swayed across the sky mutely, Amelia’s eyes followed it. One of the babies nudged her and she held herself, ears twitching again at the sound of the bird wailing softly. She smiled up, at the first bird she’d seen since before this all began. He soured across the treetops, dancing in circles, as if he knew he had an audience.
Suddenly another appeared and Amelia gasped, watching them circle around each other. Amelia quickly eyed Owen, looking undecidedly between him and the window. She moved to him slowly, keeping her eyes out of the window. Nudging him with her foot, she called his name in a whisper. His eyes sprang open and he sat up in a panic. She smiled, shaking her head and he immediately calmed.
“Look…” is all she said, gesturing that he should follow her back to the window. She only knew he had followed by his presence behind her, his arms around her. He rest his chin on her shoulder, as if trying to see through her eyes. “Look up there” she whispered, pointing. His eyes captured the birds in their dance.
Amelia’s eyes glistened and she held Owen’s arms against her, smiling slightly, biting her bottom lip. The two birds swam in soft zig zags across the treeline and then soured upwards, up and up until they were up above the house, and out of sight.
Amelia turned within the circle of Owen’s arms and smiled wider, tears dropping fast from her eyes. Owen smiled too, and they didn’t need to say anything. More tears fell and they kissed, sinking down onto the armchair, curled against one another, with arms entangled and embracing. Amelia looked up at Owen, at the sky reflected then in his shining eyes.
He looked down, meeting her gaze, smiling contently. “I love you” he told her, and she nodded, uttering “I love you too…” whispering “so much” as she rest her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She moved both of her hands to his chest, so that he had access to her whole stomach. He pushed his hand up under her white shirt and moved it in firm, shushing, circles, enticing a sigh from his wife's lips.
`The birds could still be heard, the first sound of life that had poured from the sky. Owen remained awake, eyes cast down at Amelia, draped across his lap. Her features were illuminated by the yellow of the sun. Her breathing deepened as sleep took her and her whole body slackened. Owen brushed the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear, before pushing her shirt up over her bump. He rest his hand gently against it, running his eyes around her, taking in the sight.
It was an odd feeling; feeling so incredibly lucky and unlucky at the same time, it was like a hand was wrapped around his heart, intermittently clenching and then unclenching its grip. He had to remind himself to not think about all that was wrong and all that could go wrong all at once. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, pressing his lips to Amelia’s forehead, breathing in her smell. He remained in that position, lips against her, hand against large swell of her stomach. One of the babies shifted minutely, a twitch of movement under his hand, and Owen smiled, kissing Amelia again.
“Owen…” Owen looked around, Arizona was sat up on the couch. Her eyes were wide and immensely blue in the light. Owen smiled tearily. “Is… that birds? That sound?” Arizona asked, dragging her index finger across her cheek to move her hair from her face. Owen chuckled breathlessly and nodded, looking back to the sky. The birds were in sight again. Arizona moved to the window and peered up, mouth agape. They both watched. Arizona curled her arms around herself, feeling the chill of the winter creep through the glass. Her mind was up with the birds though. “They’re beautiful…” she said, “I thought we’d never see anything again…” She beamed suddenly, and chuckled, shaking her head. “This… they are a sign I think”
Owen nodded, smiling tightly, uttering “I think so too.”
Arizona looked down at Owen, and at Amelia. Her smile softened, “She’s beautiful…” she said, pressing her lips, letting her eyes drift across the pair. She held herself tighter and wandered across to the mattress that Owen and Amelia shared, scooping up the blanket. She brought it back and draped it across them, gently lowering it onto Amelia so not to wake her. “Thank you” Owen spoke quietly. Arizona just nodded and made her way over the the fire, she leant down beside it and nudged the embers, placing some paper and then some wood on it. The fire fluttered at the edges of the paper and then regained, engulfing the debris. Arizona swiftly dropped another log onto it and then watched, hands in her lap, as the flames wrapped around it. Warmth built against her skin and she relaxed into her seat, smiling slightly.
Owen closed his eyes. Though he could feel anxiety and worry at the very edges of his mind, he focused in on the feeling of utter contentedness and it swelled, one of the babies nudged against his hand.
TBC
Thank you for reading xxxx ALSO please reblog, I know I had many people reading this way back when, who didn’t/don’t follow me, more reblogs means it’ll find its way back to them.
ALSO also please tell me what you’d like to read here next?
“Another catastrophe when it comes to the first ultrasounds. What the hell am I supposed to do now? I'm carrying a baby that is not my boyfriend’s, but my ex-husband’s. this is a mess and once again I have no idea what to do. I have to tell Link... and Owen. He already has the family that he wanted and he's happy and I don't wanna ruin it... is this how teddy felt when she was pregnant with his baby? Omg, I forgot about teddy, she's probably gonna get hurt too, I didn't think about it. She's gonna feel like I was when she showed up pregnant. Am I supposed to tell her first or Owen or link or both or all of them? What do you think Leo?” I ask, stopping the pacing to looking at Leo, who is on my bed playing with his toys. I nod. “You're right. I should talk to teddy first because she would know what to do and she would probably not tell anyone, because she's good at keeping secrets.” I stop my pacing again and take my phone from the nightstand. I dial Teddy and she answers after 2 signals.
“Hello? Teddy Altman here” She answers and I get a little nervous.
“Heeey teddy, it's um... Amelia” I say.
“Amelia! Hi,” She says surprised that it is me on the other line of the phone.
“I need to talk to you... it's um... very important and I cant tell you thought the phone” I say and nodding unconsciously. “but um don't tell anyone thought”.
“Okey... Do you wanna come over or?”
“Yeah! sure! but only if Owens not there. but I mean why wouldn't he be there he lives there, also I don't even know where you live and-”
“How about me and Allison comes over huh? Does that sound better?” She asks, interrupts me before I start to ramble.
“...okay...”
“Great, see you in a bit,” She says and hangs up.
“Okey...” I say and slowly put my phone back and I sit next to Leo on the bed. “She so is gonna hate me even more,” I say and strokes Leo's hair who just looks up at me. “Arent you too cute?” I say and tickle him. He laughs and it somehow made me relax a little bit. I give him a big hug and shower him with kisses everywhere. “I love you,” I say and smile and give him another hug, this time a little tighter.
“Lob u,” He says and my heart is in awe.
“Okay how about we play for a little bit before teddy and your little sister comes huh?” I say and take one of his toys and play with him.
“sissa,” he says and I nod.
“Yeah exactly. Your sister is coming” I say and then I whisper “You are also getting another sibling”.
“siblin,” he says, again, mispronouncing the word. I smile at him and continues to play with him.
I hear knock on my bedroom door. “Come in!” I say thinking its Mer or Maggie.
“Hey,” Teddy says and I look up at her, surprised how she is inside the house. “Maggie opened the door,” She says after probably seeing my questioning face.
“Oh... Well just sit wherever you want” I say and she closes the door behind her and sits in front of me on the bed. “Wheres Allison?” I ask, seeing Allison is not with her.
“With Maggie downstairs. So what did you wanna talk about?”.
“I'm just gonna cut thought the chase, I'm pregnant”. She was about to say something before I interrupted her “with Owens baby” I spit out and I can see Leo looking at me with his big eyes just like Teddy.
“WHAT?!” She says looking at me with her big green eyes. “H-How? When?” She asks looking me right in the eyes.
“I'm 24 weeks pregnant... It happened before he confessed his love for you, before Allison. It was um.. after we lost betty and it was... it didn't mean anything. It was meaningless and we had protection but I didn't think that I would still get pregnant.” I say unsurely on what to say next.
“Are you sure its Owens? Like really?”
“It couldn't have been Link's because I first slept with him around 20 weeks ago and my pregnancy is further than that, and the only man I've been with before Link during that time was Owen,” She nods and stays quiet waiting for her to say something. I look at Leo and he's still playing with his toys and talking a little to himself.
“i- I don't know what to say...Why did you tell me? Did you tell Owen? And Link?” She says and I look back at her, she turns to the right and looks at the blue wall.
“You're the first one I'm telling this... I don't know what to do. Do I tell Link? Do I tell Owen? I don't know and if I would tell them, what am I supposed to say? ‘Surprise! I'm pregnant with another man's baby or your baby’?... Well, I wanted to tell you first because you've been in this situation before... kinda...and you just seem like the person that should know what to do and also so you don't end up on the other side, not knowing anything,” She doesn't say anything and stays quiet for what feels like hours and the only thing you hear is Leo talking to himself and his toys.
“I swear that man gets everyone pregnant,” She says quietly under her breath, thinking I wouldn't hear. “You should tell them,” She says after a while, looking back at me with her kinda sad eyes that could also look like she wanna kill me. “The longer you wait the more it will hurt” I nod at her words. I take everything she says and stands up. “I should go...” She says looking at the door.
“You can stay if you want to. Maggie and Meredith wouldn't mind” I say also standing.
“No. But you should probably tell Owen as fast as you can. I'm sure he will be very happy he's having another baby with you” She says and I feel bad for her somehow. I walk closer to her and I give her a hug and she hugs me back after a couple of seconds. I feel bad because this is what I felt when I found out. I was devastated and I knew he would choose her, no matter his words. I never wanted to put her in this situation but she really needed to know, because if it was me I would want to know first of all. “I'm sorry,” I tell her and she nods and breaks the hug.
“Thank you... for telling me, I appreciate it,” She says and gives me a small smile. She walks to the door and leaves and just like that I feel like a little weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Later
I pack all of Leo's things and puts it in the bag, that contains all of the things he needs, that I got from Owen. I put it near the doorway for when they're leaving. I look at Leo, who is now playing with Maggie in the living room. I hear a car parking outside and I assume its Owen coming to pick Leo up. I go to the door and opens it just before he is about to knock. He looks at me and smiles lovingly, something that I haven't seen in a long time, and its probably because Teddy makes him happier.
“hey,” He says and looks inside for Leo.
“Come inside.” I say moving from the door so he could come in and he does. “can we talk?” I ask and he looks back at me.
“Sure. About what?”
“Just follow me to my room and ill tell you,” I say, closing the door behind me and walk upstairs to my room, and as predicted, he fellows me. I let him come in before I close the door and I take a deep breath before turning around to tell him.
“What is t? Is everything okay?” He asks worried and sits on my bed looking at me. I put my back on the door.
“Yeah. No. Umm... I'm pregnant...”.
“I know”.
“No um... I'm pregnant. With your baby” I say looking at him. He looks down and I can't see his facial expression. He just sits there very quietly, not saying a word. “Owen?” and after no response again I start to worry. “I told Teddy. She knows” I say trying to make him look up or say something. He slowly turns his head back to look at me, or rather, right through me. “I told her, today, I asked her not to tell anyone so don't get mad at her”.
“I'm not mad,” he says with a raspy voice and tears in his eyes.
“Please don't cry. I can't stand to see you cry” I say knowing that my hormones are everywhere. I come closer to him and sits next to him.
“I'm sorry I just- I messed up my life. Its messed up” He says, starting to cry. I rub his back and I can feel tears starting to form in my eyes. Damn hormones.
“I'm sorry,” I say still rubbing his back, trying to comfort him. “What can I do?”
“Cuddle me.” He says and I wrap him in a big hug and we fall back on the bed and he puts his head on my chest after we move up a little on the bed so our legs aren't outside. “Let everything out" I tell him and he starts crying heavily. I drag my fingers in his hair and rub his back comfortingly with my other hand. He has his arms around my waist and he cries onto my chest. “Its gonna be okay,” I say trying to make him feel better. “Its all gonna be okay” I kiss his head and continue comforting him, wishing I could take away his pain. “It's okay” I whisper into his ear. I continue soothing him, but after a while, his sniffles stop and his breath evens out but I didn't notice it until a while later. I look at him and he's peacefully asleep on my chest with one of his hands thrown over my baby belly, where out baby is probably happy, and our legs tangled together. I hear someone open the door quietly and its maggie coming in with a sleeping Leo in her arms she looks at me questingly but doesn't say anything, which I'm very thankful for. She puts Leo next to us and walks over and takes the blanket from the wardrobe and puts it on us and Leo and walks away quietly and closes the door after her. I look down at Owen again, leaving a long kiss on his forehead and taking in the smell of him. He has been thought too much and it shows and I'm very thankful he's not alone. I realize that I'm not over him. I don't think ill ever be. I Look at Leo and he's also peacefully asleep next to us. I take a deep breath, wrapping my arms around Owen and close my eyes. I told him about the baby and now it's only to see what he's gonna do. I just hope and pray that whatever happens, he will be happy. Whether it's with me or her or somebody else, it doesn't matter as long as he's happy. I only want him to be happy and not to suffer. Needless to say. I love him enough to let him go if its what he wants.
Hey guys, like promised here goes part three. Owen is finally face to face to with ex again. Sorry about taking so long to post it!
Previous chapters are HERE.
My Boys Drabbles – Just a Feeling (Part Three)
“Beth. It’s really you.”
Owen took his time recovering from the shock of unexpectedly bumping into his ex-fiancé. Seeing her after all those years was already surprising enough, but to find out she now taught his youngest sons felt like his past had decided to suddenly play all kinds of tricky games with him.
Beth stood up with a dignified expression on her face that seemed much more neutral and contained than Owen could ever associate with her. And somewhere in between processing all those thoughts and impressions, his mind also registered that while he felt absolutely stunned to be facing her, the teacher on the other hand didn’t seem really that surprised to casually run into him after over a decade of not seeing each other.
When met by nothing other than a quick inspection, Owen felt compelled to break the uncomfortable silence. In the past, he’d usually had a hard time getting Beth to stop talking and not the other way around.
“I... I had no idea you were a teacher here,” he confessed looking into her eyes and trying to understand what her distant expression meant. From what he could remember, Beth had always been receptive and kind whenever they saw each other after months apart and even though everything was different now, her silence was still strange.
Owen couldn’t quite expect her to smile and excitedly greet him now, but her total lack of reaction confused him. He knew years had passed and people grew and changed, but the image he’d carried of Beth during all that time had been the one of an idealistic, excited, naive young woman who was perhaps too optimistic and too much of a dreamer for her own good. Nonetheless, despite her lack of maturity, Beth had always had a good, decent heart. So it felt odd for him to face her right now and be met with an indifferent expression rather than a smile.
“I worked in Medina Elementary. It wasn’t until very recently that I took a position here,” she explained with a more polite approach.
“That’s good,” Owen swallowed hard, unsure of what else to say. He’d never really imagined what it would be like seeing her after so many years but if he had, his mind probably would have come up with something a lot different from what he was experiencing. “I hope you like the new job.”
“I do,” Beth said matter-of-factly.
“This is a great school,” Owen added, hoping the awkwardness of their interaction wouldn’t last very long.
“Yes, it is.”
The surgeon nodded, suddenly met by the uncomfortable silence again.
“It might be just an impression, but...” his voice trailed off as he looked for the best way to phrase what was conflicting him. “I kind of have the feeling that I am completely surprised to see you but you don’t look at all that surprised to see me.”
Beth gently furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the twins standing next to them and then back at Owen.
“The first thing I got when I arrived at school was a list with all my students,” she looked at the man standing in front of her with a dumbstruck expression, as if what he was saying made no sense. “Hunt is not a rare name but it isn’t all that common either. And really, Owen? Just look at them,” Beth added, slightly shaking her head from side to side as if she couldn’t believe he was doubting that, “did you really think I wouldn’t recognize your sons the minute I first laid eyes on them?”
Owen opened up his mouth to refute her, but after realizing Beth was right, he decided not to say anything. Of all his children, Danny and Robbie were by far the ones who resembled him the most, not only in facial features but also in physical structure and maybe even in the way they spoke.
“Yeah, I guess you have a point.”
“Ms. Whitman, do you know my Dad?” Robbie interrupted their conversation, just as curious as his twin brother about the interaction between both adults.
“As a matter of fact, I do, Robbie,” Beth turned her head to face the child and her expression softened immediately, going from neutral to warm and receptive. “We met a long time ago, before you were even born.”
“Really?” Danny’s eyes widened with curiosity as he entered the conversation.
“Yes, but today your Dad is here for our meeting and he wants to hear about the two of you,” the teacher sneakily changed the focus of the conversation, knowing that as the normal six-year-olds Danny and Robbie were, they would definitely want to talk about themselves if offered a chance. “Is their mother joining us or can we start?” she asked with her best professional tone as she turned her head from the boys to their father.
“Uh, she can’t make it,” Owen replied, still disconcerted by the way Beth’s expressions would quickly change depending on whether she was talking to the kids or facing him. “She is stuck at work, so...”
“It’s alright,” Beth assured him with practicality. “I just want to update you on Danny’s and Robbie’s progress over the last trimester. We’ve had a remarkable...”
As his ex-fiancé and current sons’ teacher went on to give him a full report on how the twins were adapting to the transition from kindergarten to first grade, a much more impartial topic, Owen slowly made himself more at ease. Since he’d been caught so off guard, it had been hard at first to process anything out of that surprising encounter.
It was true that in the past he and Beth hadn’t had the easiest breakup. In fact, now he thought about it, the trauma surgeon became well aware that he’d probably been a real jerk to her at the time they had parted ways.
Not only had he taken too long to let Beth know he didn’t reciprocate her feelings and wishes, Owen had also failed to inform her he’d been back from a war zone once he made it to Seattle, even though deep down he knew she was deeply worried about him, to the point of praying for his well-being every night. Owen knew that the reason why he’d done it was because back then, he’d been caught up with a lot more than he could handle, including a serious mental condition. It had been easier to simply sweep his dirt under the rug and pretend he could start over with a clean slate rather than having to deal with what had actually happened to him.
Life had put Cristina Yang on his way and coincidence or not, she was exactly what he wanted but didn’t need in a woman at the time. Unlike Beth, Cristina was very comfortable with not knowing details and not asking any questions. And his unwillingness to face what happened to him in Iraq had been one of the reasons Owen had avoided Beth upon his return.
Even though he knew he wasn’t in love with her anymore, after their breakup Owen was pretty sure that she would have done everything within her power to try and help him if she so much as thought he was that damaged from the war. She would probably want to salvage their relationship too. The only problem at the time was that Owen wasn’t open to receiving that kind of help.
Or perhaps deep down he had a feeling that Beth was never meant to be the one with whom he could share his pain and trust his heart. Owen supposed that was true because now that he was older, had lived through things and knew better, he was sure that back then he couldn’t have connected to anyone else in the way he connected to his wife now, regardless of what he’d lived or been through at the time. It wasn’t so much about the experiences but rather how comfortable he felt to share with a particular person or not.
As Owen’s mind drifted back and forth in thoughts about the past and present, Beth’s voice broke the silence.
“So... we are done here, I guess,” she wrapped the conversation with a smile, playfully giving Danny an affectionate squeeze on his belly that made the boy chuckle and look at her with adoration in his eyes. “Can you boys please go pick up your backpacks and get the crayons you used back in the proper box? We want to keep the room tidy for tomorrow.”
“Yes, Ms. Whitman,” Robbie and Danny replied in unison.
Owen waited until the kids were out of their hearing range after noticing how Beth remained still, watching from a distance as his sons strictly followed her instructions.
“So...” Owen put both his hands in his pant pockets, drawing her attention with his voice. “You’re still excellent with kids, I see,” he commented awkwardly, unsure of how she would react at his attempt at small talk. Even though it had been years, Owen still felt awful about the way he had treated her, mostly because he had never really apologized for it. “Not that it surprises me, of course,” Owen added. “How many do you have now? Five, six?” he asked with a lighthearted tone, knowing that just like him, Beth had always wanted a big family.
Owen could swear he identified a trace of sadness in her gaze as she turned her head at him to reply.
“Eighteen,” she shrugged, apparently trying to look like she was okay with the joke but Owen knew her well enough to see that the question – and mostly the answer – bothered her.
The trauma surgeon quickly understood that eighteen was the number of children in his sons’ first grade class. And if Beth had given that as a reply, apparently regarding her beloved students as her children, it could only mean she didn’t have any kids of her own.
The realization took Owen by surprise but he didn’t have the courage to ask why she had changed her plans – or maybe why they had failed to happen? It was probably not his place to ask, anyway.
“Danny and Robbie talk about their siblings all the time,” Beth commented as she crouched down to pick up a pencil from the floor, making Owen wonder how she’d even spotted the object underneath a student’s desk in the first place. “Just yesterday they were talking about how you were flying kites with them over the weekend… They are obviously happy kids,” Beth gazed at the boys from a distance with a lingering smile. Owen saw the contrast between that and the shadow of sadness he could swear she was trying hard to conceal. “You got the whole package, didn’t you?” the teacher asked as she got up with the pencil in hand at the same time a gloomy shadow darkened her usually lively eyes. “Not that I am surprised, it is what you always wanted, I guess… What we both did.”
“Beth...”
“No, Owen, don’t,” Beth interrupted him before the surgeon could even start. She could precisely predict what he was about to do, and after taking years to recover from their unilateral decision to end their engagement, she wasn’t interested in hearing what he had to say anymore.
“I know we have both moved on and it probably doesn’t matter anymore… What’s in the past is in the past,” Owen repeated the sentence he seemed to be telling himself quite a lot lately. “But I’d just like to apologize for the way things ended between us,” he added the most considerately and kindly he could.
A daunting silence followed and Owen noticed as the face of the woman standing in front of him went through many transformations.
First she seemed surprised. Then confused. And finally, really angry.
“That’s it?” Beth scoffed, suddenly neglecting every progress she’d made in her journey to be resolved about her past. For a long time, she had tried every method possible for moving on: therapy, sports, yoga. Many years before she had finally convinced herself that she was over the heartbreak and if faced with Owen once again in her life, she would be able to simply ignore him because he couldn’t affect her anymore. Well, how wrong had she been, apparently. “You break up with me through an email, come back from the war and don’t say anything, then you get a job, start a relationship with someone else… And as if that’s not enough, you tell me to my face that my dad has cancer and walk away…” Beth summoned up the events from her perspective. “Years later that’s what I get?” for the first time that day, Owen could see a reaction on her face that seemed spontaneous instead of rehearsed whenever she looked at him. “A simple, generic apology? Are you actually serious?”
“Beth...” Owen took a long breath, suddenly regretting having gone there. He should have kept his mouth shut but something about his uncontrollable urge to come to terms with the people he’d let down had prompted him to say it.
“No,” she backed out raising her voice, for a moment forgetting they were inside a classroom and that she was at her workplace, in the company of two of her students. “Do you have any idea the pain you put me through that day?” the trauma surgeon didn’t have to ask her to know she was talking about the last time they’d seen each other. “You made me lose my ground, Owen,” her voice broke down a little as Beth struggled to contain her tears. “My ground!” she insisted, thinking back about how at the same time she had lost the man she had considered to be the love of her life and her father, the only parent she had. “I didn’t get a chance to take care of my dad because he didn’t tell me about it and I couldn’t take care of you either because you walked away. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to lose the two of you in the same month?”
“I...” Owen struggled with his words. It was the first time he was being confronted with that part of his past and when she put it like that, he couldn’t help feeling guiltier. “I was going through some stuff at the time and I didn’t realize what I was doing. I am sorry,” Owen replied in a lower tone, trying to keep their voices down not to draw attention from the boys who were already frowning as they collected crayons across the room and noticed how worked up their teacher seemed to be. “I get it if you can’t understand it and I respect it,” Owen said with honesty, feeling even worse for how he’d failed her. “I know it must be really painful for you to come here and have to teach my children after everything I put you through, so I also want you to know that I really appreciate how good you are with them...” the surgeon said, once again taking a peek at the boys. “And how much of a bigger person you are not to let our past interfere in the way you treat them.”
The teacher took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking her time to open them again. It became obvious she was struggling to keep herself together and Owen censored himself for bringing up the subject.
“Owen...” Beth’s voice sounded hoarse as she tilted her head and looked at him, looking almost offended. “Danny and Robbie are wonderful kids and they have nothing to do with what happened between us,” she enforced, looking at them as she swallowed hard. Those boys and their stunning resemblance with the man she had built her dreams with once were a daily reminder of her failed past and everything Beth had set to accomplish but never did. “As you said, what’s in the past is in the past. Let’s just leave it there.”
“I really didn’t mean to make your life such a nightmare...” Owen said with a guilty conscience. At the time, it hadn’t been so obvious because he had been too caught up with his own traumas. But now, it made him feel extremely remorseful to realize that not only he’d broken Beth’s heart by leaving her, but he’d also done it around the same time he’d given her the worst news of her life after bluntly letting her know her father had cancer. At the time, Owen had grown sick of everyone hiding everything from her and he’d thought that she would be better off with the truth, no matter how hard it was.
So he’d disclosed to his ex-fiancé in the hospital waiting area that unbeknownst to her, her father had been battling cancer for a while now. And then Owen had walked out to never see Beth again until today.
By the time the older man had died, Beth had lost not one, but the two most important people in her life: her father and her fiancé.
The teacher was just about to once again suggest they dropped the subject when the twins finally came from across the room carrying their backpacks, silencing the adults’ apologies and once for all putting an end to that unexpectedly raw conversation.
.
On the short drive home, even though they had stopped to pick up the other kids, Owen was worried he might have to deal with a series of questions from the twins as to how he knew their teacher, but to his luck, they were too distracted with their siblings to bring up the subject.
But hours later though, by the time his wife got home, Danny didn’t waste any time sharing with his mother the news he’d learned earlier that day.
“How was everything with the school meeting?” Amelia asked at the same time she dropped her handbag on the counter, took off her jacket and approached the kids, giving them each a kiss on the head. “Did you meet the popular Ms. Whitman?” she asked with good mood as she looked up to meet her husband’s eyes.
Before Owen could reply, Danny intervened.
“She and Dad already knew each other, Mom,” the boy repeated what he’d learned earlier that day with a proud smile to be breaking the news, succeeding in getting his mother’s attention. “Ms. Whitman said she knew my dad from before I was even born!” he added with widened eyes, as if his father having a life prior to his birth was already shocking enough.
Amelia took in the information and looked back at her husband, using a confused expression rather than words to ask him to elaborate Danny’s revelation.
“I was going to tell you but Dan obviously beat me to it,” Owen said with a playful eye roll, knowing he really meant it. “I was surprised to find out like this, but it turns out the twins’ substitute teacher is Beth,” he unconsciously raised his eyebrows, expecting her response apprehensively as he whispered in addition, “as in, Beth Whitman. The woman I was engaged to before moving back here for good.”
As anticipated, Amelia was also taken by surprise with the information.
“Your ex-fiancé is their teacher?” she asked, thinking about the woman she’d heard about only a few times but never really met. Amelia looked at her husband almost apologetically, thinking about the couple of occasions in which she’d joked about the teacher’s manners and she talked like one of her students. “Is it the one you were going to marry when you were serving in Iraq?” she asked whispering back, unwilling to be heard from the kids considering she had no idea how much they had indeed been told.
“That one,” Owen replied tensely as he watched the twins go back to the toys they had been playing with prior to their mother’s arrival.
Over the years, Owen had shared so many of the most intimate things about his life and his past with his wife that he liked to think there wasn’t anything they couldn’t talk about. Surely some things were more difficult to discuss than others, and some topics Owen would much rather avoid if it could be helped, for various reasons.
It so happened that he wasn’t the least bit proud of the way he’d treated Beth in the past and talking about her only made Owen feel exposed in the worst way possible to perhaps the only person whose good opinion of him really mattered. So it was probably for the best not to dwell on that subject.
“Are you okay?” Amelia asked, mistaking his reservation for discomfort. Owen had been acting a little quieter than usual lately and she was starting to wonder if something was indeed off with him. “Did something happen?”
“No, it was just weird, that’s all,” Owen shook his head in denial, unwilling to stay trapped in his thoughts. “It’s past eight thirty already, I’ll get the kids upstairs to start their bedtime,” he proposed, crossing the distance between himself and his wife and giving her a kiss on the forehead. He’d already had dinner with the kids but had been waiting with them so that they could see Amelia for a while before going to sleep since she was working late that day. “There is a plate for you in the oven if you’re hungry.”
“I am starved,” Amelia confessed, already making her way to the kitchen. “I will catch up with you guys soon.”
The neurosurgeon had dinner and a shower at the same time Owen got the kids ready to bed. She then tucked Megan in, which didn’t take five minutes, and later spent nearly half an hour with Thomas lying on his bed as they read together until he finally fell asleep.
After giving the boy a kiss goodnight, Amelia proceeded to Lucas’ room. She made him promise he would turn off the TV after the anime he was watching was over and also got a hug and a kiss before finally turning off the lights in that bedroom.
That only left the twins’ room to go check and Amelia expected to find both boys already asleep. Nonetheless, she would go in to give them the kiss goodnight she always gave all her children.
To her surprise, she found out the bedside lamp was on and Owen was sitting between the children’s beds on a tiny stool that made him look even bigger than he already was. Even though he had his back turned to her, Amelia could tell he was reading the boys a bedtime story and she couldn’t help but stand against the doorframe and watch the scene from a distance with a smile on her face.
“Dad,” Danny’s voice echoed in the room as he contained a yawn right when his father finished reading a chapter of the story. “Did you misbehave?” he asked very seriously, but at the same time Owen noticed his son was looking at him with an empathetic, forgiving glance.
“Did I what?” Owen tilted his head to the side as he gently spoke back, confused by what Danny really meant.
“He meant when Ms. Whitman was your teacher,” Robbie offered some explanation to what was going on in the twins’ minds. “Were you in timeout a lot?”
Amelia had to contain a chuckle from where she was standing.
“No, buddy, that’s not what happened,” Owen calmly explained, smiling at the boys’ logic. “She is not old enough to have been my teacher. I knew her from before because she used to be my friend.”
Since Danny had asked if he’d misbehaved, it didn’t go unnoticed to Owen that the boys had assumed their teacher for some reason disapproved of their father. The additional question about him being sent to timeout corroborated that. They had probably picked up the animosity in the air, despite the adults’ effort to tone it down as much as they could. It made sense that the six year olds had related Beth’s attitude with misbehavior, the likely most common cause for the kids in their class to get frowned upon by their teacher.
Well, they weren’t totally in the wrong, Owen had to admit. Except that his past with Beth was more complicated than talking during class or forgetting to hand in his homework. It was true that he was going through the worst moment of his life at the time everything had happened but it didn’t make Owen feel any less awful for realizing now the pain she’d had to endure, something that at the time he couldn’t see very clearly exactly because of his own traumas.
“She’s not your friend anymore?” Danny asked with confusion and a glimpse of disappointment.
“I haven’t seen her in a long time,” Owen replied evasively. The details were too difficult to try to explain to two kids. “But what makes you think Dad might have misbehaved?” he asked Danny with a patient smile, leaning over to pull the covers on his son.
Owen noticed how the twins looked at each other, as if communicating in their own secret language before Robbie opened his mouth to answer the question that had been directed at his brother.
“Ms. Whitman seemed upset,” Robbie confessed, confirming Owen’s theory. “It was like…” the six-year-old hesitated, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. “It was like Amanda when I told her that I can take care of Casper much better than she can,” the boy explained, referring to their class’s goldfish. “She can’t even reach the bottom of his tank, Dad,” he added, as if the argument absolutely proved his point.
“And Amanda was upset about what you said?” Owen raised his eyebrows with amusement, correctly supposing their sons were talking about a fellow first grader.
“She was! She didn’t want the strawberries mom put in my lunch box even though I said I would share them with her!” Robbie confided with outrage at what he apparently considered a big offense.
“I see,” Owen smiled at the dynamics of two six-year-olds innocently trying to socialize. “Maybe she just doesn’t like strawberries. How about you offer her some other kind of fruit next time?” he proposed with a playful smile. “Or even better, when grandma bakes a batch of chocolate brownies, maybe you can pack a big slice and take it to school for Amanda?”
“That’s a perfect idea, dad,” Robbie cheerfully agreed. “I bet she is going to love it!” he said with confidence. Everyone loved his grandma’s brownies.
“Maybe you can take some to Ms. Whitman too, Dad!” Danny promptly intervened, sharing his brother’s impression. “Maybe then she will like you again!”
Owen frowned, pensively. Apparently, he had reached the perfect conclusion by assuming the boys had picked up on some animosity in the air and figured that their teacher wasn’t all too pleased with their father.
“Ms. Whitman and I didn’t have a fight, Dan,” Owen said assuredly even though it wasn’t entirely true. “The only thing is that I hadn’t seen Ms. Whitman in many, many years,” he explained as he closed the book and placed it on the nightstand next to the lamp. “But it doesn’t change the fact she was a wonderful friend, and I know she is a wonderful teacher so I am glad you guys have her this year,” the surgeon added with a smile, knowing that his approval would mean a lot to the boys. Danny and Robbie liked the teacher very much and to have them so much as think their father might see her differently could conflict their heads. Owen was determined not to let that happen because his kids had nothing to do with his past and shouldn’t pay the price for his mistakes. “It’s late now, close your eyes, buddy,” he said, ruffling Robbie’s hair affectionately before pulling the covers to tighten them around his body.
Amelia chose that moment to make her presence noted and it was with smiles that she was welcomed in the room. After staying with the twins until they fell asleep, she was escorted by her husband back to the hallway.
“I am so tired I had to give my everything to resist calling it a night and just crashing on Danny’s bed with him,” Amelia confessed with a playful grin, putting both arms around herself and rubbing them to fight off the cold and exhaustion.
“Was your shift that bad? I thought you would come home after the surgery you paged me to,” Owen confessed with an understanding glance, pulling the covers on her side of the bed first so she could crawl in. After he got a positive nod in response and realized Amelia was too exhausted to elaborate an answer, he added, “I was kind of hoping we could start that show about the hostages trapped on an island on Netflix tonight,” he joined her in bed. Unlike his wife, Owen didn’t feel the least inclined to fall asleep. It had been happening quite often lately.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Amelia agreed with a yawn. “I actually should start drafting the paper for my new research but, nope, not gonna happen.”
“If I put on the show, you’re going to fall asleep five minutes into it,” Owen shook his head with playful disapproval as he turned on the TV with the remote anyway. After returning the object to his nightstand, he used his arm to capture his wife by the waist and pull her closer.
Amelia didn’t protest but rather sought the warmth of his embrace. She’d had a really long day with back-to-back surgeries and a lot of unexpected bureaucracy to deal within her department. The following days promised to be just as busy as she once again planned a new and complicated research within her department but at least for now she could enjoy the comfort of her husband’s familiar embrace and relax while he gently stroked her hair as she lay against him with her eyes closed hearing the sound of the TV on the background.
The neurosurgeon was nearly asleep when something her husband had said earlier that night came to her memory and she suddenly couldn’t put her mind at ease again.
“What was weird?”
Owen seemed very confused by her blunt question and Amelia instantly figured out that she hadn’t explained herself very well.
“When I arrived from work today… You said that running into your ex and finding out she is teaching Robbie and Danny was weird,” Amelia reminded him, slightly rolling her head to the side and opening her eyes to meet his gaze. “Why would you think that? It’s not a word you use very often.”
Owen seemed to think for a while before he opened his mouth to reply.
“I meant to say I didn’t see it coming, I guess,” he said with a low, patient tone of voice while looking straight into his wife’s eyes. Amelia still felt his fingers gently caressing her hair and that combined with the sincerity in his gaze as he maintained eye contact with her made her sure that Owen was being honest. “It just took me by surprise… I hadn’t seen her or heard from her in years.”
Amelia took her time processing his answer. It made absolute sense that Owen would be surprised with the news. But somehow, there seemed to be more to it. As if he wasn’t only surprised, but also shocked and intrigued.
“You don’t talk much about her,” Amelia mentioned the most casually she could. Robbie and Danny had obviously gotten the impression that their teacher was upset with their father, even though he’d denied it. Amelia could only wonder what that meant. “I mean, you never really told me what happened between the two of you.”
“There isn’t much to tell,” Owen said, hoping it wasn’t too obvious he was avoiding going deeper into that conversation or else it would only raise a flag for Amelia to ask further questions. He didn’t want to go into the subject because deep down, it ashamed him to admit to his wife how he’d treated his ex-fiancé in the past. Even though Owen supposed he had to cut himself some slack considering how unwell he’d been at the time, he still couldn’t come to terms with his realizations from that day. “We met when we really young and as we grew older, I got wiser and eventually I realized that she wasn’t the right woman for me, so we broke up,” he summed up, hoping Amelia’s tiredness would prevent her from asking further details.
Owen should suspect he wasn’t going to get away so easily, though.
“Why?” Amelia moved in his arms and gently turned her head up to maintain their eye contact. “I mean, how did you come to the conclusion she wasn’t the right one for you?”
Even though she was very serious about her question, Owen was determined to skip all those painful, unnecessary parts of his past that would probably only serve to disappoint Amelia nearly as much as he felt disappointed in himself for his past behavior.
“Because she wasn’t you,” Owen said with flattery as he possessively chucked her under the chin and stared into her eyes with a trace of playfulness before stealing a kiss from her lips.
Amelia saw right through him and his plot.
“Oh yeah?” she pretended to be on board with his game. “And are you so smart that you’ve reached that conclusion and broke up with her before you even met me?” she asked with a challenging smile.
“Exactly. I am glad you’re able to acknowledge how smart I am,” Owen brought his other hand to her face and caressed her, mesmerized by the way she looked at him and everything he saw in her eyes. “I was just killing time while waiting for you,” he added with a teasing voice.
Amelia laughed right through his exaggerated sentimentality and before she could grill him, her husband decided to share a little more.
“Okay, so… When I started dating Beth, I was this idealistic, fresh off college guy who saw the world much the same way she did,” he explained. Back then Owen hadn’t known many of the hard truths he later on had learned about life. “But then I went to war and it changed me. Beth stayed and she remained the same person. As you can see, it was only a matter of time before our perspectives collided,” he added, being as evasive as he could without being dishonest. “Especially when our relationship was already on the rocks because of the distance and everything... So that’s why it never had much of a future.”
When Owen took a deep breath and slowly let it out, Amelia wondered if she really should be pushing him to talk about that subject. She knew that even after all those years, talking about his deployments and what had happened during the time he’d been at war was still hard on her husband. If he had to relive all of those things to talk about his ex-fiancé, it was no wonder why he was avoiding the subject.
“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up some hard memories. I know you don’t like talking about the war,” she considerately said.
Owen gave her a doubtful sideways glance, suspicious about the intention of her last statement considering how much in the past Amelia had used her power of persuasion to get him to talk about his time in service.
“Alright, I know I grill you about it, but only when it is for your own good!” she justified her manners, getting a playful glance in response.
“It wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” Owen commented lightheartedly, although deep down he hoped the conversation about Beth was over.
Owen didn’t have to think about it for much longer because sooner after, Amelia finally gave in to exhaustion, quickly falling asleep next to him.
Knowing he wouldn’t be as lucky as his wife to successful rest and put his mind at ease, Owen was once again confronted by memories of his past and his misdoings.
From everything he’d learned that day, he had to admit that finding out Beth apparently hadn’t gotten married or had kids was by far what had blown his mind. Her vague answer about her life at present time and indirect admission that she didn’t have any kids was still conflicting Owen. He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger either and didn’t fully understand why that got to him.
He and Beth had spent apart the majority of the time they were a couple, mostly because Owen had been deployed. But that didn’t mean Owen hadn’t gotten to truly know Beth and what moved her.
During his life, he’d met all kinds of women. Some dreamed of being doctors, some wanted to be business owners, a few had no idea what they really wanted. And Owen knew that people’s dreams and goals changed overtime. But ever since he’d known Beth, the only thing she had ever truly wanted was to be a mom. So to find out she had made it this far in life without fulfilling that dream made Owen feel strangely sad, and to some degree, even accountable.
During the time they had been together, all Beth ever talked about was getting married, having kids and being a stay at home mom. And Owen knew that dream wasn’t just something she considered for herself but rather something she felt like defined her. Kind of like an ideal she based her entire life on, according to the teacher’s own admissions. And even though Owen knew it could very well have changed over the years, based on what he’d seen earlier that day, he had a bad feeling Beth’s life aspirations hadn’t really changed at all.
But soon enough, the surgeon wondered if that perhaps he was being too arrogant and giving himself too much importance.
What did he know, really? Maybe Beth had indeed tried. For all he knew, she could have met half a dozen guys after him and moved on with her life as he honestly wished she had. Beth could have even gotten married. Just because apparently it hadn’t worked out, it didn’t mean she hadn’t tried, he told himself.
But before Owen could control it, his gut feeling told him that it probably had not been like that. Beth was very selective. She wouldn’t be jumping from guy to guy looking for a Prince Charming. And she definitely wouldn’t marry the first guy that came along considering how much of a romantic, idealistic girl she had always been.
Up until now, Owen had never really given any thought about how much he’d affected Beth’s life by breaking up with her and leaving her alone to deal with her dying father. Maybe he was overestimating the importance of the role he had in her life but judging by how dependent Beth had been on him at the time and the spoiled, naïve and sheltered way with which she had been raised, it was only fair to assume that he’d put her through so much heartbreak that perhaps he’d played a bigger role into turning the woman into a cynical than he’d initially assumed.
You made me lose my ground, Beth had said. That wasn’t something a person who’d experienced a common heartbreak confessed. Her suffering had probably gone beyond that. And Owen knew he had a big load of responsibility for putting her through it.
It was absolutely true that he couldn’t have forced himself to love Beth in the way she wanted him to love her. Owen was in peace with that. But there were a lot of things he could have done differently.
He could have broken up with her earlier on when he’d first realized they didn’t want the same things instead of postponing it and unknowingly doing it in the worst possible moment… Just before her father got sick.
He could have called to check in on her after she’d learned the truth.
Hell, he could have at least asked about her father and offered help if she needed any kind of medical assistance…
It stung to realize this only now, but maybe for Beth, being engaged to him and getting married to him meant more than it did for the surgeon. Owen had failed to realize just how important their relationship was to her at the time. Perhaps he might have ruined her life more than he imagined, more than he’d ever considered himself capable to.
While drowning in his own guilt, Owen failed to realize that he hadn’t really been herself back then.
If he shared some of the thoughts that were torturing him with his wife, she would have rightfully pointed out that he had just been through something huge by the time everything unfolded. After going through perhaps his worst army deployment, Owen had not been in a condition to make any good decisions. In addition to that, he had already accepted that by the time he’d put an end to his relationship with Beth, he didn’t love her in the way she deserved. And frankly, even back then her presence in his life and constant badgering had already started to annoy him. He knew Beth did it with the best of intentions, but Owen just wouldn’t have put up with being questioned constantly and forced to confront his experiences in the Army, much less talking about them.
If Owen had stayed with Beth, he would never have given her the opportunity to help him, no matter how much she would have wanted to. Her attempts would increasingly irritate him, perhaps to the point where everything would backfire, causing more pain and heartbreak. Owen could be quite difficult when he was pushing people away and it was likely he could have hurt Beth even more if he’d forced himself to be around her.
Years later, it was easy to look at his past and judge himself after assuming he could have done better or tried harder. But truth was, Owen couldn’t have seen any of that at the time because he was struggling with his own demons and focusing too much on the outcome of his decisions to really see the bigger picture.
Exactly in the same way he was functioning right now.
Owen took another deep breath, trying to process everything. He couldn’t change his past and the way he’d hurt other people, no matter how much he wanted to. The burden weighing on his chest felt especially heavy after the truths he’d learned recently. Sometimes it was just too hard for him to forgive himself.
One look at the woman sleeping peacefully by his side made Owen want to try and see the silver lining. All his misdoings and mistakes, even the worst ones, had led him exactly to the life he was living right now. That was something he couldn’t take for granted. As he lay awake in bed, forcing himself to clear his mind of all those thoughts, Owen realized that he was sorry for many things. Some of his choices had been absolutely dreadful and if he could go back on them, he would.
But if there was something he wasn’t sorry about it was definitely the person lying next to him and everything they had built together. His family was by far the most important thing he had and it was his responsibility to take care of them and make sure they were okay.
Owen had hurt a lot of people on the course of his life but he would never forgive himself if he did the same to Amelia and the kids. Just the thought of it made him cringe, and the surgeon immediately closed his eyes rejecting the idea, more determined than ever to protect them from anyone and anything.
I’ve gotten several requests for a master post, so here you go. Please let me know if any of these links don’t work for you.
Stand Alones:
Empty - post 14x08 anon prompt from omeliafics
Black or Red - Amelia trying out the “friends who can talk to each other” thing with Owen
365 Days - anon prompt in which Amelia is injured and given opiates in the hospital
Mistletoe Moments - fluffy story about a Grey-Sloan Christmas party
Crazy - prompt from several anons about everyone worrying about Amelia at work after her tumor removal
All of Me - Amelia finds herself pregnant and struggles with the emotions from the unicorn baby
Shower Wars - anon prompt about Owen and Amelia being roommates after the divorce and Amelia taking the shower when Owen wanted to use it
Sliver of Light - anon prompt also in the roommates story line in which Amelia is scared by a horror movie
Heartbeat - anon prompt in which Amelia has a patient who has one of her unicorn baby’s organs
Crop Tops and Hooker Heels - anon prompt in which Charlotte and Addison come to town for a case and stay with Owen
Just Listen - request involving Amelia telling Owen about her experiences in LA
Dates and Skates - super fluffy piece involving an ice-skating date
Baby Steps - anon prompt in which Owen takes care of Amelia while she is recovering from her tumor removal
Favorite Patient - anon prompt in which Amelia needs a tonsillectomy but is hesitant to schedule it
Intern Wars - Owen’s interns are behaving oddly and he wants to know why
Peacocking - cowritten with @omeliathehurricane for an anon prompt about Tom Koracick coming back, Owen finding out that he slept with Amelia, and Owen getting jealous
Valentine’s Day - fluffy piece about an Omelia Valentine’s Day
I Love That Laugh - request involving the line: “Fuck, I love that laugh.”
Ginger Ninja - cowritten with @omeliathehurricane for an anon prompt about the episode in which Owen is injured by razor wire
Playing Grab-Ass - prompt in which Owen is not pleased when Amelia changes her pants in front of Alex, Maggie, and Meredith while not wearing underwear
Expert Hands - anon prompt in which Ellis Shepherd gets hurt and Amelia finds out and comes to help
Extreme Measures - fic cowritten with @omeliathehurricane about Amelia trying to help Owen understand how much effort she puts into maintaining her sobriety
Bosses, Brothers, and Boyfriends - anon prompt in which Owen talks to Derek about Amelia
Learning from the Best - anon prompt in which Amelia helps Derek with the kids when Meredith is visiting Cristina
Happy - Kimmie confides in Amelia
Puppy Eyes - Omelia’s daughter, Ella, gets herself into a bit of trouble trying to get a cookie
Bro Code - Amelia has been helping Owen out with Leo when she comes to a realization
Sugar and Spice - fic cowritten with @omeliathehurricane about Omelia’s daughter, Madison, attempting to use her charm on Owen
Tequila and Rubber Ducks - fic cowritten with @omeliathehurricane in which a dinner party in honor of Arizona ends in Amelia taking care of a drunk Maggie
Accidents Happen - anon prompt in which Omelia’s child wets the bed and Amelia comforts her
The Daily Grind - fic cowritten with @omeliathehurricane about a certain way Amelia likes to mess with Owen
Multi-Part:
In the Name of Research - Part 1, Part 2 - Increasingly smutty two-parter AU about Amelia participating in Carina’s research, but she doesn’t have a tumor
Bedtime - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 - fluffy three-parter about Owen and Amelia putting Meredith’s children to bed
Fashion Faux Pas and Meeting Mishaps, Meeting - Fashion Faux Pas and Meeting Mishaps is from an anon prompt in which Owen’s friends are in town and embarrass him, Meeting is from a request for a follow-up
Recertification - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4/One-Liners #10 - Amelia has to attend a class to get recertified in life support
Shepherd Children, Riding Horses - Amelia, Maggie, and Meredith have a girls’ night at Owen’s house while he watches Meredith’s kids
Biking Blunders - Part 1, Part 2 - anon prompt in which Owen has the idea to do a tandem bike tour, and Amelia gets hurt
Bastard - Part 1, Part 2 - based on the elevator scene from the 14x14 promo, gets rather smutty
Carsickness - Part 1, Part 2 - anon prompt from omeliafics in which Omelia’s child gets carsick
Being Female - Part 1, Part 2 - anon prompt in which Omelia are babysitting Meredith’s kids and Zola gets her first period
Home, To Build a Home - Owen discovers firsthand the heartbreak that can come with foster parenting
CT - Part 1, Part 2 - anon prompt in which Owen is injured and Amelia is his emergency contact
Intern Wars - Part 1, Part 2/One-Liners #6 - Owen’s interns are behaving oddly and he wants to know why
Mosaic - a multi-chapter fic dealing with the aftermath of the divorce (currently on hold):
Chapter 1 - Family Dinner
Chapter 2 - Morning Bustle
Chapter 3 - More Messes
Chapter 4 - Step Back
Enough - a multi-chapter fic that starts with Amelia visiting the NICU on her birthday:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
She Gets That From You - a series of one shots in which Omelia reminisce about each others’ traits that they see in their daughter, Ella:
Blowing Off Steam
The Pose
Chicken Scratch
Love is an Open Door
One-Liners - I reblogged a numbered list of single-line quotations and asked my followers for prompts. I received a ton. Instead of naming them all, I’ve just numbered them:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6/Intern Wars Part 2
#7
#8
#9
#10/Recertification Part 4
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
Amelia with really bad morning sickness and lots of Omelia fluff
I also think there’s a lot of those in the fandom. If any of you have written something similar, can you reblog with a link, please? :) If not, feel free to write it! Tag it as #omeliafanfics or mention me and I’ll reblog it
A/N: Hello everyone! I just finished my first semester of college, so I hope to be writing more now. I thought of this story a while ago, and now I’m writing it. This is what should’ve happened post 13x07 instead of what actually happened. I hope you all like it :)
12 hours. That’s how long Amelia Shepherd had been in surgery removing an astrocytoma from a middle-aged woman, and all she wanted was to crash in her favorite on-call room. As she made her way down to the room, she began to feel more and more exhausted with each step she took. Before she could realize what was happening, her vision went black.
The moment her eyes fluttered open, she was immediately confused. How had she managed to get here, let alone in bed? What time was it? Her suspicions were confirmed when she turned around, and her savior came into view. She wasn’t surprised; she was happy to see that he still cared for her well being. Even though they weren’t divorced, they didn’t interact much anymore even at work. When Owen pages her for a consult, she would arrive and leave in a very efficient manner. She didn’t want to make the opportunity for small talk to occur because she knew it would only end awkwardly.
Suddenly his low timbre voice broke the silence. “I bet you’re wondering how you got here and why I’m here.”
“Yeah, the last thing I remember is walking down the hall and the next thing I know I wake up and turn over and there you are. What time is it?” Amelia replied while maintaining eye contact.
“I was walking down the hall at the same time you were last night and noticed that you were about to pass out when I sprinted to your side to stop you from hitting the ground, and then I brought you in here and tucked you in. It’s 7:15 am by the way.” Owen elaborates while looking at Amelia.
“Well thank you for not letting me hit the ground and letting me sleep for a while,” Amelia jokes while smiling at Owen.
“My pleasure,” Owen replies with a soft smile. He’s a bit hesitant to say what’s on his mind but then he starts: “I’ve been worried about you lately.” Owen confesses while looking down at the floor, not wanting to meet her gaze.
“You’ve been worried about me? Why are you worried about me? You realize that we are separated right? ” Amelia emphasizes while looking at him.
“Just because we are separated doesn’t mean that I stopped caring about you, Amelia. I think that the separation has made me finally realize what’s most important, and what I want.” Owen replies while gazing softly at her.
“So you know what you want now that we’re separated? What do you want Owen, because I don’t even know what to do or say anymore.” Amelia states while getting off of the bed.
“I’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you what I want, but you haven’t given me the benefit of the doubt to listen to me. Will you stop running away from our problems and listen to me?” Owen pleads to Amelia as she makes her way toward the door.
“Okay, I’ll listen. What do you want to talk about?” Amelia questions as she sits down on the bed next to Owen.
“I want us to talk. We need to talk about why you yelled that you didn’t want to have a baby when we agreed two weeks ago to start trying.” Owen replied while taking her hands in his.
“I want to have a baby, but I’m terrified. I didn’t want you to be upset and disappointed in me.” Amelia admitted to Owen while looking away from him embarrassed while still holding his hands.
“Why would I be disappointed and upset at you? What’s going on Amelia? Just talk to me. I meant it when I said that you could tell me anything.” Owen promises her looking lovingly into her eyes.
Amelia then goes on to tell Owen all about her tragic past with her Unicorn Baby. “Oh Amelia, I had no idea that you went through what you did. I remember you telling me that you had a son and that he lived for 43 minutes but I never asked you why.” Owen states while maintaining his loving gaze and holding her hands.
“I should’ve told you a while ago, but I was scared how you would react. I was scared that you would leave me, but I did that all on my own without telling you.” Amelia remarks while looking away from Owen.
“You thought that if you told me the truth of why you didn’t want a baby, I’d leave you? You thought that I'd leave you? Amelia, you know me. I just wanted to know the truth, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.ve ever wanted.” Owen chides with Amelia looking back at her with a sweet smile.
“I’m happy that I finally told you everything. I feel free now.” Amelia confesses while looking at Owen.
“We still have 45 minutes before rounds start,” Owen says while looking suggestively into Amelia’s eyes.
“So what exactly are you asking me?” Amelia says while laughing at his facial expression.
“I’m asking you whether you want to sleep or not? I get if you want to bec-” Owen began offering before being cut off by Amelia kissing him.
“I’m guessing you don’t want to sleep?” Owen replied breathlessly after Amelia’s kiss.
“Less talking, more kissing,” Amelia contests before kissing Owen once again.
This is from a prompt someone sent to @omeliafics which it basically said that Amelia secretively wears Owen’s ring on a necklace but ends up losing it after a surgery and Owen finds out about it. Hope you guys like it! 💖💖💖
More stories can be found here!
Amelia couldn’t remember the exact moment she had started doing it.
Well, that’s not exactly true. She could.
She found a simple golden necklace in the middle of her things when she moved back into Meredith’s house, probably the one her parents had gotten for her when she was little. Without actually realizing it, she took Owen’s wedding ring from her back pocket, passed the golden string through it and just stared at it, dangling, for what felt like hours.
Her marriage was over.
She still hadn’t said it out loud. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. It hurt too much.
She had shaken her head and clasped the necklace around her neck, with his ring attached to it. And hadn’t taken it off every since.
Not even for surgeries.
She always made sure the necklace was hidden inside her shirts. She certainly didn’t need people asking her questions.
It was nice and weird at the same time. They weren’t together, but her feelings were still there and she still found herself missing him, so feeling his wedding ring near her heart made her feel closer to him somehow, as cheesy as it might sound.
That’s why she is currently panicking. Where the hell is it?!
Amelia had gotten out of a craniotomy, just 30 minutes ago, and the necklace is nowhere to be found. If it was any other object she wouldn’t care as much, but it’s his wedding ring. Besides her memories, and an old t-shirt she secretly stole from their- his, closet, it’s pretty much the only thing she has left from him.
Suddenly the sound of the attending’s lounge’s door opening pulls Amelia from her thoughts and she turns around in time to see April entering the room.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine.” Amelia waves her hand in a dismissive manner and continues looking around the room, before bending down and looking under the couch.
“Everything okay?”
“I lost something…” she sighs in frustration. “I really have to find it!”
“What is it? Maybe I can help.”
“A necklace.” April didn’t need to know the meaning behind it.
“Oh, okay, well maybe I can help-“ April is cut off my the sound of her pager, “And maybe not now, but I’ll let you know if I hear anything about it.”
“Thanks…” Amelia mutters more herself, as April had already left the room, and continues her search. Where the hell could it possibly be?!
Later that day, still necklace-less, Amelia was sitting in the cafeteria by herself, silently picking on her food. She was still upset about the necklace. Amelia isn’t one of those people who are constantly losing things, and the rare times she does it is usually something meaningless, but this necklace, and specially the ring attached to it, has a tremendous amount of meaning to her.
Suddenly, Amelia feels a shadow next to her and looks up to find the red haired man who constantly occupies her thoughts sitting next to her and setting his tray on the table.
They had been doing this thing lately, where they occasionally have lunch together. They never really planned it, it just sort of happens. They were both human beings, who need food, happen to work at the same place and have lunch at the same time, sometimes together, because that’s what friends do…
“Hey!”
“Hi.”
“What’s wrong?”
Amelia looks up at Owen, somewhat startled. How does he do that? He just sat down, not even 5 seconds ago. She simply said ‘hi’ and he immediately knows something is wrong with her.
It’s unsettling, and, at the same time, comforting, the way he’s just able to read her so effortlessly.
“It’s nothing…” she mumbles. Owen does the thing, that damn head-tilt that always makes her weak at the knees and her defenses coming down crumbling. She sighs, “I lost something…”
“Something important?”
“Yeah, very important.”
Owen was about to say something, when April’s voice cut through the chattering noise of the cafeteria.
“I have it!” she sits down on the chair next to Owen’s and takes a deep breath, as if she had been running. “Sorry, I’ve been looking for you, here you go!“ April says looking at Amelia, and extends her arm towards Amelia, making the necklace dangle directly in front of Owen’s face, more precisely, making Owen’s ring dangle directly in front of Owen’s face…
Amelia feels Owen’s eyes on her, and subsequently her cheeks getting hotter. This is so embarrassing.
April keeps talking, completely missing the atmosphere in the table. “One of the interns found it. It was under the sinks in the scrubbing room of OR2, and-“
Amelia suddenly breaks out of her trance and snatches the necklace from April’s hand. “Thank you, that’s um- Thanks, yeah…”
Owen still hasn’t moved his eyes away from her, a silly, but discreet, smile playing on his lips.
April suddenly notices the mood between the two surgeons and figures out the meaning behind the ring of the necklace and decides it’s better to leave them to talk. “Okay, well, um, you’re welcome, and uh I’m gonna go now…”
Silence settled around the table, neither Owen nor Amelia saying anything, when Owen’s laughter unexpectedly breaks the awkwardness.
Amelia’s cheeks feel even hotter, but she finds herself laughing along with him.
“So um, you walk around with my ring uh?” he says once his laughter dies down.
“Maybe…” Amelia smiles, embarrassed of having been caught. Especially by him. “Is it weird? I mean, isn’t this what people do when their spouses die, like unexpectedly?”
He laughs and shakes his head. Damn, he missed her weird sense of humor.
“No, it’s fine. I always have your ring with me too.” He shrugs, smiles and stands up. He starts to leave but looks behind him and winks at her, before completely leaving the room.
Amelia just sits there, unsure of what do to, and a smile makes its way to her lips.
