Omelia

Unexpected Visitor

Amelia collapsed on the white sofa of the unfamiliar living room.  It had been hell to get the kids to bed.  It was like pulling teeth!  Amelia didn't remember it being this hard last time.  Bailey went to his room, played with his trains, then fell asleep.  Zola would ask for a bedtime story, then pass out next to her stuffed giraffe.  Only this time, Bailey couldn't find his favorite train and no story would satisfy Zola; not to mention the siblings were sharing a room so they had plenty of time to pick on one another.  It took every bone in Amelia's body not to say "What the hell?" and let them stay up for hours on end.  Meredith already had her doubts about Amelia babysitting, so why not just throw it all out the window? It wasn't like she was getting paid for this anyway.  Amelia eventually got the two of them to settle down by reading a Dr. Seuss book.  She remembered it being something about a cat?  Looking down to her left, Amelia watched the green dots on the baby monitor fluctuate with every breath Ellis took.  Ellis was the only one that complied.  Amelia had laid her in the crib next to Meredith's bed, and she cried for a few moments before peacefully drifting off to sleep. Now, with all three kids finally asleep, Amelia had the night to herself.  

The kids had really worn her out.  Zola had forced her to wear a way too small plastic tiara and a pink feathered boa while drinking room temperature water out of plastic teacups.  Derek had always been better at playing "tea party" with Zola; he had so much more patience.  Amelia put up with it, for Zola's sake.  She needed someone to play her dress up games with.  Bailey, on the other hand, just wanted to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  Amelia made him settle down and draw some pictures instead. Bailey scribbled the figure of a man wearing a blue outfit.  When Amelia asked him who it was he simply replied "It's Daddy, for when he comes back."  It hit Amelia like a chest of bricks.  She couldn't breathe for a few moments.  It was like the four year old had just punched her  knocked the wind out of her.  She swallowed her emotions and replied with "It's beautiful, I'm sure he'll love it." 

Relaxing on the couch, Amelia found the TV remote and tuned it to the latest soap opera.  This one was supposed to be a medical drama.  She laughed at the fake looking organs and the interns with the ketchup blood on their gloves.  She snorted when they diagnosed the patient under the wrong terms and again when they screwed up the surgery.  Of course, the hero swooped in and saved the day.  The patient was fine, suffered no deficits, and didn't sue the hospital.  Amelia shook her head, knowing nothing that happened in those dramas was even close to what went on in an actual hospital.   She tried to watch the news, but quickly became angry with the way the anchor was directing the conversation.  She tried to watch cartoons, but they just made her think of Saturday mornings when she was a kid, watching TV beside Derek on the couch. Eventually, Amelia settled on a late night crappy comedy.  The jokes were as overused as the actors, but it made Amelia laugh and that's what she needed right now. She glanced at the clock, it read 11:57.  It had been a rough night.  

Just as Amelia was drifting off to sleep, a knock at the back door snapped her back into the waking world.  She rubbed her eyes and stumbled her way towards the kitchen.  How could Meredith have forgotten her key?  Or maybe, she was too drunk to remember that she lived there.  Either way, she opened the door, and not really paying attention, turned to walk back to the couch.  

"Amelia?" An all to familiar voice said from behind her.  She turned and stood face to face with Owen Hunt.  "What are you doing here?"

"I'm babysitting the kids.  Sorry, I thought you were Meredith," Amelia felt her face start to blush red and she twisted a piece of stray hair behind her ear.  She felt for her lab coat pockets but her hands turned up empty. 

"I just came to drop this off, I found it at the hospital.  It's some of Derek's research, I thought Meredith would want it," Owen paused, "unless you want it."