Romancing Dr. Bailey

Anytime

After she'd locked up properly, Miranda grabbed a snack from the kitchen and walked up the stairs. She took her phone off of the charger and pushed a few buttons. She took a deep breath as the phone rang. "Hello," a voice said over the phone.

"Hey, mama. Are you sleeping?"

Miranda's mother cleared her throat. And if Miranda knew her mother at all, she had been asleep and she was now sitting up so that she could listen better. "No, I'm not asleep. I was just watching TV."

"Oh yeah? What are you watching?"

"Well, uh, it's a commercial right now, but I was watching 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'." Miranda nodded. "So, what are you doing? It's—what—11 o'clock there?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Her mother asked motherly. Miranda heard her father in the background ask her mother who she was talking to. "Your child called me."

"Hi, daddy," Miranda responded.

Her parents shuffled the phone. "Hey, baby. How are you? It's late; shouldn't you be getting your rest? I bet you have surgery in the morning."

"Uh, I don't actually. That's what I called to tell you guys."

"Don't tell me that you've quit surgery!?" He sounded upset. Miranda was a little pleased, he'd put so much blame on her that she didn't think he'd ever get it, get her career as a doctor. Honestly, a person could never really get it unless they worked in the hospital, but he'd forgiven her for the divorce, like it was all her fault in the first place. Never mentioning the part that Tucker played in their crumbling marriage. But his agitation about the possibility of her quitting, made her smile, he finally understood how important her job was to her.

"What?!" She heard her mother screech. "She quit surgery? Put her on speakerphone!"

"Elena, relax. Mandy, hold on." Miranda smiled. Her parents were such good people, great characters. "Miranda?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What did you want to tell us?" Her mother asked with authority. The kind of passive-authority that she'd used on Miranda in her younger years. It made her want to tell her parents the truth even if she knew they'd be mad at her. She needed to spill her soul and her parents gave her two outlets to do just that. Miranda took a deep breath and told her parents everything. Everything. She told them about Tuck's fight in school and how it was an isolated incident, but Tucker was making their son take boxing lessons and she wasn't 100% about that. "Oh, God." She told them about Tucker and his pregnant wife and how it kind of made her want to have a baby, too. "I do need another grandchild to spoil." That segued into her gushing about her relationship with Ben. Saying how happy she was out loud made it all real. "He's such a good boy. Didn't I tell you, Will? I told you he was perfect for Mandy, didn't I?"

Miranda smiled and took another breath. She was glad that she'd built them up before she told them about Damon. She didn't know where to begin so she started at the moment her son asked her to go to the park that morning. She told her parents about how Damon's attack on her had sent her into a mini-spiral of depression and hell that she wasn't totally out of yet. Her parents listened intently without interrupting. She heard her father clear his throat and her mother gasped a few times. She couldn't and didn't want to tell them all of the sexual and degrading details, but she wanted them to know about her pain and she knew their words would encourage her. When she was finished, there was silence. "Miranda Bailey," her father said sternly. As soon as he spoke a few tears dropped from her eyes onto her hands. She knew he was angry. Not at her, but at the situation.