DINNER & DIATRIBES. . . JACKSON AVERY!

chapter twenty-six: golden hour

"Hey! Sorry I'm late." Briar rushes out, squeezing into the booth next to Mark. They're sitting across from Callie and Arizona, who both have glasses of water in front of them.

"You're fine. I got you a strawberry iced tea." Mark tells her, getting a kiss on the cheek in thanks. She laughs when it leaves a lipstick stain since she'd done her makeup properly for once. Mark grins at her while she rubs it away with her thumb, grabbing her wrist to see her new bracelet when she's done.

"So, you said yes? I wish I was there when you were asked." He says the last part pointedly, and Briar catches Arizona rolling her eyes out of the corner of her own. Yikes.

"Of course I said yes. I can't wait to meet this baby." Briar exclaims, beaming at all three of them. "Speaking of, I have questions about what you want from me as godmom."

"What do you mean?" Callie asks.

"I mean, like, how involved do you want me to be? Have you guys started the process to get your will's changed? I'm assuming the three of you are co-parenting, but how involved do you want me to be? I'll do whatever you want."

"Um." Callie says, turning to Arizona, only for Mark to take the lead.

"I haven't changed my will, but I will get that started tomorrow. I'd like you to be as involved as you can be, I know that you're good with kids. And yes, we are co-parenting."

Arizona sighs at that, and Briar holds back a grimace. Arizona's opinion of Mark certainly wasn't improved by Callie sleeping with him after their breakup.

"Yeah, we'll change our will's too." Arizona says, smiling at Briar. "And . . . we'll sit down soon, have an uncomfortable conversation about what to do if we're not in the picture anymore."

"Can't wait." Briar says sarcastically, smiling at the waitress when she joins their table. She hasn't even looked at the menu, and she's grateful when Mark steps in and orders the shrimp scampi for her, having seen the panic in her expression.

"What if she doesn't like shrimp?" Arizona asks the moment the waitress has stepped away, glaring at Mark.

"Uh, I do." Briar jumps in, confused about Arizona being upset.

"Well, what if she didn't want it right now? You can't just make decisions for people and expect them to be happy about them. People have the right to their own–"

"Feelings?" Mark asks, frowning now. "I'm fully aware. Briar's favorite meal is shrimp scampi, actually, and I knew she hadn't had a chance to–"

"Okay, stop!" Briar cries out, making Arizona and Mark both shut their mouths. "This tension isn't about me, or whether or not I like shrimp scampi, of all things. This is about your feelings about each other, and they need to get resolved. You're all having this baby together."

"My baby." Mark says petulantly, and Briar shares a frustrated look with Callie.

"Okay. Let's change the subject. This is supposed to be a happy dinner." She says, searching desperately for something to talk about. "Is it too early to place bets on the baby's first word? How hard of a name is Briar for a baby, do you think?" She teases, knowing that her name won't be his or her first word.

"I'm hoping for dada." Mark says, firing Arizona right back up.

Briar just lets it happen, completely done with all of them.

✦

The pit is too slow for Briar's liking.

Jackson is doing the intake for a young girl who drank hand sanitizer at school, and Briar just finished up with her own patient, who had an ear infection. Overall, it hasn't been a busy day in the pit, and Briar feels like she's losing her mind. It's not that she wants anyone to get hurt, but she desperately needs something to do.