Nuptials

Chapter 8

Thursday Night, 14th October 2016.

"So, where is the honeymoon?" Nancy asked as she took a bite of her steak.

Owen and Amelia looked at each other before he answered. "Actually, we're not going to honeymoon as yet." He offered a warm smile but frowned when he saw the rest of the Shepherd brood blankly staring back at him. Kathleen had finally flown in to join them, and she seemed to be the best of the three, considering the pitiful glance she gave him when Carolyn began to speak up, instead of dagger eyes.

"Why not?" Amelia's mother asked, the hostility clear in her voice.

"Well..." Owen muttered, looking at all of them, suddenly feeling very small. "A lot has been going on with work, for Amelia."

"The job you only got because Derek didn't want it anymore?" Nancy sought to confirm. Amelia was about to respond, but then she felt Owen's hand squeeze hers under the table, subtly reassuring her. She cleared her throat and chose to remain silent instead, as Owen continued.

"Ryan just officially started school, as well," he pushed on, "And he's started early, so we'd like to be around to offer as much support as we can, and if we go on vacation, it's likely we'd want to spend at least two weeks, which is a lot of time for the kids."

"Rosie is only three months, so she is still nursing-," Amelia began, but was cut off by Kate.

"I don't think pumping is considered nursing," she dryly announced. The entire table went silent for a moment as they watched Kate, then looked at Amelia. Okay, maybe Kate was not the best of the three. Quietly, Amelia got up, excusing herself from the table. "There's Houdini...Be careful she doesn't do that on your wedding day, too."

Meredith, who had mostly gone unnoticed until then, finally said, "Was that really necessary?" She looked at Owen, and he got the message.

"I'll go check on her," he said softly, putting his napkin on the table as he excused himself. Carolyn also looked at Kate and frowned, making it obvious that she was not happy about what her daughter had said.

"What?" Kate said, acting as if she wasn't being mean on purpose, "There are many psychological and literal differences between pumping and breastfeeding. It's not my fault she can't breastfeed her own baby." She looked around, trying to find the waiter. "Can we order wine now that she's gone?"

"You would've done so much better in dermatology," Lizzie whispered under her breath, receiving a snort from Nancy in response.

"You breastfed all of yours and they still hate you," Nancy countered, receiving a glare from Kate.

"Amelia?" Owen called as he knocked on the bathroom door, his heart aching when he heard her sniffles. He looked around behind him to make sure the coast was clear, before quickly slipping into the women's bathroom and locking the door behind him. There were three stalls, but he had a pretty good idea which one Amelia was in, based on her crying. "It's me," he said, knocking on the stall, "I locked the door outside." After a few moments, she unlocked the stall door, allowing him to come inside. Frowning, he knelt to her level, not sure what to do. Testing the waters, he murmured, "I don't think there's anything wrong with pumping." He placed one of his hands on her thigh, trying to offer some form of physical support.

"I never had to do that with Ryan," she replied, wiping her tears even though they were still falling.

"Rosie is different," he offered.

"She hates me," the Shepherd replied, "I'm a shitty mom, that's what's different."

"Amelia, you know that isn't true," Owen condescended her. He figured her negative outlook on herself had largely to do with post pregnancy hormones, but she hadn't exactly lashed out like this in some time. He wondered if it was hormones, or simply stress. First it was cancelling the wedding, now she was easily crying about little pokes her siblings made at her? Something had to be going on for her to be having these mood swings so often. Maybe it was the Derek thing too. "You are a great mom. The best, even."