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He knew in a way it was a tall ask.

Much like everyone else in the hospital, Brendon was well aware the two of them had spent the last few months commentating on Emma’s pregnancy and personal choices.

He knew what he was asking.

And Emma knew that he wasn’t asking for much.

He was asking a very normal thing for boyfriends to ask their girlfriends to do. Meet his friends.

He knew hers already, if only at a professional capacity.

And Joy had claimed recently that Brendon was actually pretty chill when you were in his department. Which was half true and half an extension of the favoritism she had no clue he was showing her.

The situation proved difficult though.

Going out to meet on neutral ground would be tricky. The three surgeons together would be normal. Even, dare Brendon say, the three girls. But the four of them?

Damning.

Completly damning if anyone saw.

So, it would be at Brendon’s.

Brunch. Saturday. Brendon’s house.

And Emma was nervous.

Quite nervous.

All of Brendon’s insistence that they would be nice didn’t do much to help her nerves when Emma had spent the last nearly 4 months being joked about by everyone in the fucking hospital.

Brendon’s friends included.

Emma was fucking sweating with nerves in the kitchen.

Brendon hasn’t let her do a damn thing ahead of brunch.

She assumed she would cook.

Brendon looked at her like she had 6 fucking heads.

“Are you kidding me?” He gawked. “If I let my pregnant girlfriend cook for my friends I’ll never hear the end of it. My mother would skin me alive. The girls will skin me alive.”

So Brendon did most of the cooking.

All of the cooking.

Pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon and sausage.

And he let Emma make lemonade because she insisted.

“stop freaking out.” Brendon ordered, wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her temple from behind as the clock hit 11 exactly. “You look like you’re gonna shit yourself.”

Emma barked out a laugh in surprise at his wording.

It was quite unusual.

It was intentional for that reaction.

“Relax. They’re gonna play nice.” He swore.

She almost relaxed against him when the door knocked.

Here goes nothing.

Whatever Emma expected when she opened the door to the first knock that morning, it wasn’t for Emery Walsh, the sassy night shift usual trauma surgeon who likes to snap at Jack Abbot like a cane corso whose ‘just playing’, to hug her gently but snuggly under the shoulders, kiss her cheek, and whisper in her ear.

“I haven’t gotten the chance to properly congratulate you.”

Her voice was warm and sweet like hot maple syrup.

Emma’s chest warmed at the gesture, the contact, the kindness.

“Thank you”

Emery pulled away, smiling. “It’s nice to formally meet you, Emma. Can’t say that morons told us much about you but you’ve definitely been good for him the last few months.” Emery insisted.

Emma stepped back and let her in the house.

And then she walked over to Brendon and punched him in the arm.

“What the fuck?”

“You deserved that.”

And she hit him again.

“Jesus-!”

“You made me think you had a fucking recurrence when you had a pregnant girlfriend half your fucking age, dumbass. Fuck you.”

“Yeah, I got that okay, can we be done with this now?” Brendon begged.

“No.”

He sighed.

“Just get the whippings out of your system now, please.”

“Yo texted she left a few after me. She was on Yo-yo time.”

“Yoyo time?” Emma questioned.

“Yo-yo time. Yolanda has no fucking concept of time. She’s late everywhere.” Brendon explained.

Huh.

Not something Emma expected out of the scary trauma surgeon.

“How’d Lindsey take the news?” Emery asked, helping herself to a cup of coffee and one of Brendon’s mugs. Making herself very at home. She must do this regularly.

“I always liked your sister.” She added.

“Yeah no shit you do you both bust by fucking balls for a living.” Brendon bemoaned, very comfortably.

Brendon around Emery was a kind of comfortable Emma hasn’t seen yet.

Not quite the peace of being home with his parents. Maybe he’d been tense that day with the intensity of the visits purpose.

This was Brendon, totally loose around his friend.

It was very nice to see.

“She was pissed I didn’t tell her myself.”

“You made your parents tell her? She’s your sister.” Emery gawked.

Brendon winced.

She hit him again.

“Yeah I know I know I’m sorry it’s just a lot. I- it was hard to tell people. It’s hard to talk about that time with my family, it was hard on them it was hard on me. I don’t- every time I tell someone and I have to talk about the cancer I- id prefer to keep living my life like it never happened and bringing it up to Lindsey of all people is hard.”

Emma understood quickly that there was something she wasn’t privy to being discussed right now.

“You’d have done the same thing for her. She knows that.” Emery reminded him softly.

“But I didn’t. She did. And I can’t- I’ll never be able to repay that favor. God forbid she ever needs something from me one day because of the cancer I can’t give her Jack shit-“

Oh.

Oh.

Emma understood now.

She hasn’t known that.

Weather it had been stem cells or marrow, clearly Lindsey had donated something of hers to Brendon during his cancer treatment.

Oh.

“I just- it was hard. And I was scared. So I made my mom do it for me.” Brendon said softly and quiet.

And Emery dropped it.

It struck Emma, then, a sudden guilt and grief she hadn’t expected.

A shame she wasn’t there for Brendon when he was sick.

The details around Brendon’s cancer were still kind of fuzzy.

She didn’t ask, how could she? And he didn’t give much. But she got the feeling he gave her more than many others.

Brendon was… in his early thirties when he got sick? She wasn’t too sure. He’d just become an attending, right?

She would have been probably in middle school around the time Brendon was fighting for his life down here.

She knew the guilt was irrational. Obviously it was. But she couldn’t help but wish. Wish she’d been able to support him, love him through that hard time.

But it was all in the past now.

Nothing to change there.

There were a handful of things she could do. Like show him he had nothing to be ashamed about with his port scar. Like listen to his stories with kindness and empathy and love. Love him through the dark parts.

“I’m sorry to ask but- what’s the heredity factor?” Emery asked.

Suddenly making Emma’s stomach drop.

Brendon looked very prepared and calm though, squeezing Emma’s shoulders in a calming gesture.

“Risk is very low. It was environmental not genetic. No one in my family has, so it’s less likely than the baby getting my eyes for anything Sinhala to happen to them.” Brendon eased.

Emma breathed out.

“Thanks for scaring Emma by the way.”

“Oh fuck off-“

Before the two could bicker again, the door knocked.

Yolanda.

As Brendon rolled his eyes and flipped Emery off as he walked towards the door, and Emma wondered if whenever she met Lindsey if they’d act like Brendon and Emery.

Probably, right?

Yeah.

“Thank you for gracing us with your presence your highness.” Brendon snarked at the door.

“Jackass.”

So there’s two of them.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“Couldn’t pull yourself away from your resident?” Emery teased.

“She’s not my-“

“I’m not doing this again Brendon shut up.” Emery groaned. “Why did you antagonize her?” Emery bemoaned.

“Because I’ve had to listen to her snark about Emma for the last 3 months so I want a little payback.” Brendon bit back.

And let it go.

“Bren-“

“It’s fine.”

From the tension in his shoulders it wasn’t fine.

“Foods still hot let’s sit down.” Brendon begged.

So they did.

Brendon sat besides Emma at his table, his left arm coming around her shoulder casually. Emma leaned into it with a fast learned familiarity.

She could see the analytical look in the women’s eyes.

“So, 5 months?” Asked Emery breaking the silence.

Emma confirmed with a nod. “Almost, yeah. 18 weeks.”

“Know the sex yet?”

Emma looked at Brendon.

“Not yet. Maybe next weeks appointment? We’re not really in a rush.” Brendon answered for them.

“Doesn’t really matter either way.” He insisted. “So we’ll know when we know. And if we don’t until they’re born that’s okay too.” He answered easily.

Emma relaxed.

The last appointment they had they were, admittedly, both a bit out of it. After the Robby issue and the Robby fight the next doctor’s appointment was a bit heavy. They were a bit heavy for a few too many days. And when Dr Song asked if they wanted to know, they both agreed they didn’t.

Not yet.

Not with that cloud of unease over them.

They’d wait. Wait till they were better. Wait till they could enjoy it.

Brendon hated it when he stepped out of the room and heard Dr Song ask Emma if things were alright between them, if she felt safe.

And Emma swore Brendon didn’t do anything wrong, just work stuff, they were in their heads about it, work drama, but Brendon’s perfect, really.

But it still hurt.

Brendon came back in the room feeling shitty about what he overheard. What he gave cause for.

“Wanna do Italian?” He asked stiffly as he sat down next to Emma agin. Who nodded awkwardly.

They’d taken longer to come back from fucking Robby than Brendon would have liked.

Maybe they were still coming back from it. Working hard to come back from it.

One day they’d be out with this, and Brendon would get to make the fucker feel as bad as he should for what he’d said. But for now, well…

Now they were in the trenches.

“You uh. You having an okay pregnancy?” Yolanda asked stiffly.

Emma nodded and hummed.

“So far so good right?” Emma asked Brendon.

Who agreed.

Like he was the authority.

“So far so good. She’s a fuckin’ champ.” Brendon confirmed.

“So when did this start?” Emery asked, gesturing between the two.

“Yeah that’s my question too. When did you two become a thing?” Yolanda agreed.

“I mean it makes sense. I can’t see Brendon not falling over his ass over a pretty young thing carrying his baby but-“

“Can you not?” Brendon groaned, his face a bit… pink?

Was Brendon embarrassed?

Was Yolanda right?

Emma was a bit amused, and giggled.

“Oh?”

“Emma” Brendon begged.

“Emma what?” Emery pried, deeply curious.

“You just hit the nail on the head, that’s all.” Emma agreed. “But I’d like to think he likes me as a person too.”

“Obviously I like you as a person too.” Brendon frowned. Scoffing.

“You know that.” He worried. “Right?” He squeezed Emma’s shoulder. “You’re a fucking angel. You know how I feel about you.”

Emma swallowed hard.

“Yeah. I do.”

Brendon nodded nervously.

“We’ve been together like… not long, a month? But I think- I don’t know atleast for me I was feeling some feelings a while ago.” Emma admitted.

“Atleast for you?”

Brendon raised his eyebrows.

“You know how I felt.” Brendon dismissed with a tsk.

“Well we don’t. Share with the class, Brendon.” Emery insisted.

Brendon groaned.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Payback.” Yolanda confirmed.

“I- I was pretty sweet on-“

“Sweet on? Holy fuck you fresh off the boat mother fucker.”

“-Emma since the first time I saw her, I guess. Even before we got the news I saw her in that idiots office looking all scared and I just felt for her. She was telling me about weird bloodwork and a fucked up Pap smear and I feared for the worst for her and I was just-“

Oh.

A new realization hit Emma just before the words came out of his mouth.

She had never realized how the scene looked to Brendon. With his own past. His own trauma.

Emma couldn’t control the wave of emotion that came over her face, reaching out to touch Brendon’s leg.

“I was very afraid for her. She was so much younger than I was when I got sick and I just- I kinda decided if she was leaving that office crushed I was going to force my way into her life. There was something about Emma from that first second. And then- you know. Shit went sideways.”

Brendon forced a smile.

“And I guess I was gone since that first dinner. If we’re being generous and pretending I wasn’t already gone in the office. Jersey sealed the deal. Signed sealed delivered, Jersey was the nail in the coffin.”

Emma smiled faintly.

“I was like. Way too scared to admit I was into you for a while you know? Like I didn’t think you could possibly-“

Brendon made a dismissive sound.

“But Michigan really changed things I guess and you know. We ended up here.” Emma agreed.

“We did.” Brendon smiled, kissing her head.

“Disgusting. Good for you two. Really.” Emery… complimented in her own way.

“You said your from Michigan?”

Emma confirmed. “Long way from home.” Yolanda noted.

Emma confirmed.

“Gotta be hard going though this without family.” She empathized surprisingly.

Emma readily agreed.

“Brendon’s been so supportive and the people in my department are really just- so amazing to me. But yeah.” Shelly agreed. “Sometimes I wish maybe I was home, and could talk to my grandma about it more.”

News to Brendon.

Fuck did that hit hard.

“We talk on the phone and stuff! But you know. Sometimes it just- yeah.”

Things fell a little quiet after that.

“You two seem pretty evenly settled into things.” Yolanda noted. “Taking this really well.”

“Emma’s just taken it in stride the whole time” Brendon praised again. “Lot of grace.”

Emma shrugged. “I mean. What else was I gonna do? You uh. Made it easy to not panic. If you weren’t- you. I would have probably had a hard time. But I’ve had you in my corner so things were just always not easy but easier. I knew you were gonna be there with me, for me, and I wasn’t so scared anymore.”

Brendon learned in, kissing Emma’s temple. “Couldn’t ask for a better mom for my baby.” He insisted. “No one I’d wanna do with with but you.”

Emery gagged.

“Okay. You two are gross I get it. Love at first insemination whatever. I’m trying to eat, though, so keep it in your pants.”

Brendon tilried not to flinch at the sexual implications of her words.

Then everyone flinched in regret.

And Emma felt a shame crawl up her throat bitter and burning like morning sickness.

“So you’re trauma surgeons, right?” Emma settled on asking to fill the void. The two confirmed. “That’s cool.”

She swallowed. “How’d you end up in that?” She asked Yolanda, the scarier of the two.

“I was going for general surgery until last year, actually. But then the opportunity presented itself and I kinda just fell into it.” She admitted. Emma nodded. “That’s cool. You like, land where you’re meant to, right?”

She cracked a smile. “Something like that.”

“I don’t know how the hell you do that shit.” Brendon admitted. “I wasn’t cut out for the speed of that shit.” Brendon confirmed.

“How did you pick ortho?” Emma wondered.

Brendon nodded. “I enjoyed the physicality of orthopedics.”

Emma could see that with him.

“I enjoy working with my hands, really working with them. It’s satisfying.”

“Why emergency nursing?“ Yolanda asked Emma.

She didn’t need to hear Brendon’s shit, she was used to it.

Brendon knew why nursing. But not emergency.

So he was curious too now.

“Well. Practically, there’s always jobs- and I see why now.”

Brendon chuckled.

“But besides that, I like helping the people who need it most. There was a while, actually, where I’d considered mom and baby, l&d” Emma noted, laughing at the clear irony of it.

“Why didn’t you?” Brendon couldn’t resist to ask.

“I just wanted to make a bigger difference I guess? Help people who really need it. Take care of people on the worst day of their life.” Emma admitted.

“You would have been great.”

Emma preened shyly.

“Really. I’ve seen how mothers trust you. You’d have been fantastic at it. Made a difference there too.”

Emma’s embarrassment at the praise was clear.

“And it’s never too late to change.” Brendon noted, a careful reminder.

One which Emma carefully avoided.

Cleaning dishes and sorting leftovers, Emery noticed the sonogram on the fridge.

Truthfully Emma hadn’t even noticed it yet.

Not that anyone needed to know, but Brendon had all the rest of them still. Sitting in a neat little box in his nightstand. His baby.

She picked it up gently.

“Woah. This is them, huh?”

Brendon confirmed. “Last week’s.”

“Holy shit. Obviously I knew it was real but like. This is real-real Bren.”

Brendon understood, humming.

“My baby.”

The way he said it was so soft and blissful.

“Jesus Christ.”

Shelly breathed. “You know this shits crazy, right?”

He nodded, slinging his arm around Emma snuggly. “It’s batshit wild.” He admitted. “No one in their right mind would do this.”

He kissed Emma’s head. “Recipe for disaster”

His arms slung around Emma’s belly. Her soft, tiny little belly. “I know. But we’re in this. I have faith in us.” He swore.

“Me too.” Emery smiled. “You two are crazy but I believe in you.”

Emma softened, melting against Brendon’s chest. “Thank you, Emery.”

“Thanks.” Brendon added to be polite.

“Don’t mention it.”

Emery noticed how Brendon’s hand subconsciously floated down to Emma’s belly, rubbing softly.

He was so, so gone over them.

“You’re gonna be a great dad.” Emery added softer. “You know that, right? You’re gonna be fucking great.”

“Emma’s-“

“Emma’s gonna be a great mom. But Emma knows that.”

Emma’s right here, you know

“But you’re Brendon, mr hard as nails tough guy. And you need to hear it. You’re gonna be a great dad. No one’s gonna love that kid more than you. You’ve got this.” Emery insisted.

“Thanks.”

Brendon’s voice was tight.

“You’re gonna be the best dad.” Emma agreed.

Of corse she would.

Yolanda came out of the bathroom to the scene, Emery with the sonogram, Brendon with Emma.

Picture of domesticity.

“Really settled into the dad thing aren’t you?”

Brendon bit his tongue at any snarky comments he wanted to make.

“I’m in it for the long haul” he confirmed instead.

“Never thought I’d see the day?” She admitted.

Fuck, Brendon didn’t think he’d see the day himself.

“Come a long way from the intern snorting coke off the men’s room sink at a nightclub.”

Emma went rigid.

“Really? infront of Emma?” Came Emery, before Brendon could hiss it.

“Shit, sorry, didn’t think-“

“No, you really didn’t. Thanks for that, really.”

Brendon breathed in, trying to calm himself down.

Absolute failure.

“Just because you like sabotaging your relationship doesn’t mean I have any intention of fucking up mine.”

“You guys should go-“

“Brendon-“

“You should go. Because now I have to try to convince my girlfriend I’m not a degenerate junkie.”

Emma didn’t say anything.

No fast denials.

But she didn’t move either.