unexpected

the brace

scout: 13
addie: 10
anders: 5
lol this is based off of my experience, i know i was an absolute brat of a child lol

"Addie sit up straight." Amelia reprimanded as she maneuvered herself around the kitchen preparing the sides for their dinner.

"My back hurts." The girl whined from her chair on the kitchens island.

"What kind of hurt?" Link chimed in as he walked in the kitchen from the backyard holding a plate of cooked hamburger.

"I dunno, like achey?"

"Stand up and touch your toes." Link requested as he set the plate onto the counter. He then ran his fingers down the distinct curvature, his face dropping. "Alrighty."

"What's wrong?" Addie asked turning around.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow." Link smiled wearily, making eye contact with his wife who immediately came to the same realization.
________________________________________

"I'm not wearing that." Addie informed her parents as she crossed her arms while she sat on the exam table. They had taken the measurements for the brace and now the three sat in three quiet exam room.

"Your gonna wear it." Amelia sighed, crossing her arms mirroring her daughter. "It's only at night."

"No I'm not." The girl said defiantly, Amelia then abruptly left the exam room before she bit her daughters head off. Since the diagnosis, the girl had made it very clear that she was going to refuse to cooperate and her mother was at her wits end.

"How's Addie doing?" Maggie asked as Amelia walked into the attendings lounge.

"She's being defiant and stupid." The mother sighed sinking into the couch.

"She's just processing, give her time." Meredith encouraged as she stirred the cream into her coffee.

"I don't know how Link is being so calm."

"He's Link." Maggie smirked me thinking about all the times Link had been her sisters calm mountain.

"I should be easier on her, shouldn't I?" The neurosurgeon nervously played with the skin around her nail.

"Yeah you should. She's just a kid she doesn't know how to process this, you've seen so many cases of scoliosis in your career you know what to expect." Meredith reminded before she left, keeping the door open as Link and Addie were walking in.

"I see you choose the blue." Maggie smiled as she sat up. "Can't say I'm surprised, you always choose anything blue."

"It may be a nice color, but I'm still not wearing it."

"Well how about we go get some ice cream?" Link stepped in trying to remediate the situation.

"Fine, only if it's mint chocolate chip."

"Your only getting getting ice cream if you wear that brace tonight." Amelia added, receiving a glare from her daughter, but she reluctantly agreed.

_______________________________________

"That's stupid looking." Anders laughed as he walked into the shared bathroom to see his sister brushing her teeth with her new brace on.

"Shut up!"

"Your not allowed to say that." The youngest taunted.

"And your not allowed to say stupid." Addie threw her toothbrush against the wall causing it to crack down the middle.

"Oooooooo you just broke your toothbrush."

"Get out!"

"What's going on?" Scout asked as he stepped into the crowded bathroom.

"Anders is being annoying."

"Addies being mean." The siblings said in unison.

"Mom doesn't need this right now, she's really upset." Scout sighed, since becoming a big brother he perfectly fell into the role.

"Well, moms not the one with a fucked up back."

"Whoa where did you learn that word?" Link interrupted, he had heard the commotion and went to remediate the situation.

"I'm not wearing this!" Addie yelled, ripping at the velcro to release it from her person. Link motioned his two boys to leave the room.

"You've got to wear this, I know it sucks but it's going to help in the long run."

"I don't care." Tears started to spring in the young girls eyes, before Link could comfort the girl a voice interrupted them.

"This is getting out of hand." The girls mother said sternly. "Your going to wear this brace, and that's the end of this conversation. This could be a lot worse, and I'm going to be honest at some point you may need surgery, and if you don't wear this brace it's gonna make everything a lot more painful then it needs to be."

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Addie asked avoiding eye contact with her mother, and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief knowing her daughter wasn't mad.

"Of course."

"I'm gonna go check in the boys." Link excused himself to go tend to them.

"I'm sorry." The girl whispered as her mother secured the brace back onto her.

"Its okay. I know this is painful and scary. I'm your mom and I absolutely hate seeing you in pain, so I wouldn't make you do this if it wasn't absolutely necessary."

"Will I really need surgery? Or is that just one of those things moms say?" Addie asked as Amelia guided her to the master bed room and situated her daughter in the middle of the bed.

"We'll see how it progresses, you just need to wear the brace. It's nothing to worry about until we need to okay?" The girl shifted trying to find a comfortable position. "I'm sorry if I've been too harsh on you. I just love you so much and want you to be okay."

"I'm gonna wear the brace." Addie whispered as she let sleep succumb to her.

"Thank you." The mother worriedly watched her daughter sleep, noting the discomfort on the girls face because of the brace.

"She asleep?" Links tired voice came from the doorway, his wife nodded in confirmation. "I'll carry her to her room."

"No, no let her stay. I don't want her waking and taking it off in the middle of the night. And I like watching her sleep, reminds me of when she was a baby." Her husband nodded in agreement and crawled into bed with the two.

"Sometimes I hate that we're surgeons with kids sometimes." The ortho surgeon thought aloud. "I just keep replaying the steps of a spinal fusion over and over again in my head. I wish I didn't know, I wish I was oblivious to how they slice open her back and realign it to correct it. And the worse part, is the pain she's going to endure after the fact." Amelia grabbed her husbands hand to try and ground him.

"Maybe she won't even need surgery."

"It always scares me when we reverse roles." Link laughed once realizing the situation.

"She's going go be okay?"

"She's gonna be okay." Link echoed back.