Royal Blood ▪︎ Grey's Anatomy

episode one hundred and four

Knox pauses in the garage doorway, watching for a moment; Corey stays frozen, sat on the bed of his truck, eyes far away as he stares at the grocery bags beside him. He whistles, Corey jumping in response and looking over. "Now, for a man with a fancy medal, a baby due soon and a fucking awesome step kid, you look awfully torn and... distant."

Corey chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm alright, dude, just got lost in-"

"Lost in your thoughts, yeah that's happened a lot lately." Knox jumps up and sits beside him. "Damn I miss the Jeep." He tuts.

Corey laughs. "You totalled it, asshat."

"Yeah, ugh." Knox tuts. Corey gifted him the jeep at the start of his internship almost a year ago, he got a new truck; Knox may have totalled it a few months after in a mysterious, secret way. "Seriously, man, what's bothering you?"

Corey takes a deep breath and sighs, deciding its easier to just share it now rather than avoid it as he has been. "I'm terrified of becoming a father... even though I've been one for like 5 years." He admits, shrugging small as he looks at his swinging feet.

"It's a little different when you've been there from the start though, right? You didn't see those guys as babies." Knox reasons.

"I don't know what to do with a baby." He shakes his head. "And... what if its a boy? It sounds so fucking stupid, but Grey is my son. My boy. He's so incredibly special and what if I can't love two sons the same way? The girls, they're easier." He hesitates. "And no offence to you and James, but you're not my kids. Not like Grey and the girls, anyways."

Knox lays a hand on his heart. "I am wounded."

Corey shoves him as they both laugh a little. "I thought you were here to be helpful. Or finally remove your last boxes.

"I am I am." Knox smiles. "To both." He adds. "Regardless of what this baby turns out to be, I am confident you will find a way to love him or her just as you've learned to love all of us. Don't deny it, man, you love James and I."

Corey chuckles. "Love and hate are a very thin line." He jokes. He sighs. "I guess so. I'm just..."

"Transitioning." Knox reasons. "In a lot of ways. You've got your new job, all the shit with your mom, the new baby. Past traumas on top of it all... dude, I think you were made for this family with the shit you've got going on." Knox laughs as he jumps down.

"Yeah?" Corey raises a brow.

"In this family, we thrive off things happening. For me, I've gone from a druggy kid, failed adoption, almost losing mom, med school. James had an abusive dad, everything with Jax and Enora, his mom turning up, Mary, mom... Lowie, she came to us having lost every single family member, her dad on the day he got her, being taken from Enora, losing Jax. The point is, we go through it. We get through it. We leave it behind. You, you're doing the same. Just as we do. It's how we're built."

Corey smiles gently, then, due to not liking how emotional it got, he makes a joke. "Alright you wet wipe, piss off. Get your boxes out of my house, I got a nursery to make."

Knox salutes and smirks, heading inside. Corey takes a moment, takes a breath, before he grabs the groceries and heads inside. "Hi beautiful." He says as he finds Enora at the kitchen island, hips swaying as she focuses on her laptop.

"Hi." Her eyes stay on the screen, her glasses perched on her nose. She doesn't often wear them but contacts are bugging her eyes in these last weeks of pregnancy. "Did you get- oh my god, I love you." She finally looks away as he holds up the packet of honeycomb cookies. She rips it open and bites into one as he gently touches her tummy as he always does when they've been apart, even for an hour.