Be A Soldier

"I need to know if you're all in or not, Cordelia. If yes, then great, we'll make the best of what we have. If not ... well, I'm not entirely sure if our friendship can survive after such a big heartbreak."

Losing Isaac was like losing half of her heart. It was a type of bond she'd never expected to share with Teddy, yet somehow, in some way, it had brought mother and daughter closer together. Another particularly large piece of Delia's support system had been one of her longest and best friends, Tuck. In time, the two had eventually allowed old feelings to rise to the surface again and were now building a life together.

Unfortunately, one seemed a lot more confident than the other.

"I'm in. I'm all in." The confirmation was quick, resisting the urge to playfully smack Tuck on the arm for the use of her full first name.

The paperwork was in his hand, and he handed the folder over to her. He could have had a processing agent serve her, but part of him had to admit he wanted to see the look on her face when he handed her the papers. He knew he shouldn't be angry that she'd moved on - she'd believed him to be dead after all. But now that he was here, alive and well? Well, he wasn't going to just pretend to know that he didn't have a child out there. He wanted to get to know their daughter and have her know him as his father.

"I'm sorry I did this at the hospital, but you left me no choice."

Maybe you shouldn't be doing it at all.

The sentiment was on the tip of Delia's tongue, yet she swallowed it down in an effort to avoid causing a scene. Reluctantly accepting the paperwork, there was a small part of her that felt as if Isaac was the furthest thing from apologetic right then. Truthfully, the entire situation was incredibly sad. Once upon a time, the two of them had been absolutely inseparable. She'd been so in love she could barely see straight, but now the love of her life was barely recognizable. His supposed death had seemingly changed them both in ways neither one of them could've ever imagined.

"i always told you that you can call me but did it have to be at 3am?" luke groaned as he rubbed his eyes from the drivers seat, as he pulled back into the driveway. he had been at the hospital finishing up charts until midnight, got home around 1am and had finally fallen asleep when his phone started ringing. he always made it known that he'd be there for his sister, whenever she needed but sometimes he wished it wouldn't impede on his sleep schedule.

The apology came quickly, as it always did. Delia hated bothering people and putting them out, but this was something she couldn't just let go until the bright light of day the next morning. Luke was the first person that popped into her mind to ask for help, given she'd known from the time she was a little girl that she could always count on her brother, no matter the time or situation. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, but I need your help finding Isaac. He hasn't returned any of my calls or texts all day, and now I'm too worried to sleep."

OCs always need more love in the RPC!

“I can’t believe we made this.” 

Tears were filling Isaac’s eyes as he looked down at the baby in a pink blanket that he was currently holding. He couldn’t get over just how perfect she was; how perfect their little family was. For a long time, he hadn’t thought they would get this. Delia had been the reason he’d turned his life around; the reason he’d gotten help and made the amends he’d needed to upon his return to civilian life. And now – now they were starting their family and it was everything he had ever dreamed it would be.

Walking over to the bed his wife was laying in, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before taking a seat next to her and continuing to cuddle their little girl. 

The sight in front of her was one Delia already knew with absolute certainty she would never tire of, no matter how many times she saw it. Their daughter had quite literally just made her entrance into the world, yet she already seemed to have her father wrapped fairly tightly around her little finger. Isaac was going to make the perfect girl dad, no doubt about it. Speaking of perfection, she herself was still currently in awe over how they'd been blessed with such a perfect miracle given everything they'd been through in recent years. Getting to this point certainly hadn't been easy, but she wouldn't trade their journey for anything with the way it'd ultimately turned out.

Offering up a lazy smile as Isaac pressed the kiss against her forehead, a small hum of contentment passed through her lips as Delia contemplated the question she'd just been asked. Between baby books and her own ideas, she'd come up with a semi lengthy list, only having narrowed it down in the last couple of months. None of the combinations jumped out as any she absolutely loved, though. It was probably because there was one name in particular she kept going back to but wasn't sure it was worth a mention due to her husband's potential reaction.

Now that they'd officially met their daughter in person, though? The name felt even more fitting than ever before, and Delia could no longer keep the idea to herself.

“You’ll be happy to know that Tara and I split up.” Not that it was news to anyone, though. Everyone – even Tuck himself – had known that the only reason he’d started seeing her in the first place was because she was a consolation prize. He’d really wanted Delia, but that hadn’t worked out for him, had it? So he’d chosen the first person to look his way, and she’d turned out to be a real winner. Everyone had been telling him for months that she was no good for him; that she was just using him and when he stopped being useful she would leave him. He’d found out the hard way that that was true.

“Apparently she found somebody who makes more money than I do and can properly lavish her with everything she deserves, to put it in her own words. Guess you were right; she was nothing but a user. Do you think a week is long enough grieving period before I put my hat back in the rink and look for someone else? Maybe this time I’ll find me a sugar momma.”

It's about damn time. Despite the fact that the words were right there on the tip of her tongue, Delia refrained from voicing any of them out loud. Tuck had surely already heard more than enough I told you so type remarks, and as one of his closest and most trusted friends, she didn't feel it necessary to continue to pile on, even if her instincts had indeed been correct almost the entire time.

"I'm sorry the two of you weren't able to find a way to make things work." It was only a half truth, but that was still better than a complete lie, wasn't it? When it came right down to it at the end of the day, true happiness was all Delia had ever wanted for Tuck. He deserved it, and there was a small part of her that was incredibly grateful he'd realized Tara wasn't the one before it was too late and the two were tied together for life in one way or another.

Given the fact that they'd both lost their fathers all too soon, Delia Burton and Tyler Robbins had bonded at an early age. Once the latter had been officially adopted by his paternal aunt and her wife, the two had spent more time than either could count around Grey Sloan Memorial, whether it be up in the daycare or at times roaming the halls and various other places they weren't exactly meant to be. Things had changed as they got older, though, and it'd only gotten worse once they returned back home from their tour overseas. While Delia certainly had her own set of issues to work through and try to make sense of, it seemed as if Tyler had taken everything that much harder and wasn't coping nearly as well. As much as she tried to help an old friend, there wasn't a whole lot that was in her control. The growing rift between them only seem to crack further until it suddenly broke wide open beyond repair.

Upon learning about Tyler's second tour, Delia had done what she could to stay informed without his knowledge, but there was only so much information she could handle before it became too much. Trying to care enough for the both of them became exhausting, and she found herself unable to bear the emotional burden any longer. Months had passed without a word, and the cardiothoracic surgeon had done her best to shift focus and move on, even if that basically just consisted of throwing herself into work and helping the ones she actually could.

Having stayed overnight at the hospital to keep watch over a touch and go post surgery patient, Delia woke up the next morning in one of the on call rooms missing the comfort of her own bed. With the nearest cup of coffee practically screaming her name, tired limbs were stretched out for a minute before a knock coupled with an all too familiar voice caught her attention.

It couldn't be. Could it?

"It's really you. You're really here." Maybe emotions were running a little high, but given how they'd last left things and how long it'd been since she'd known whether or not she'd ever see him in person again, much less one piece, who could blame her? Crossing the floor to the doorway, Delia practically pulled his body against hers for a hug that would hopefully say what words couldn't in that moment. Allowing their embrace to linger for a minute, she somewhat reluctantly pulled back to check him over and make sure everything was okay at least physically anyway.

Send a 👫and I’ll write four headcanons I have about our muse’s relationship // @soldierheartcd

1. Isaac was always nervous to ask Delia out, and the only reason he finally did so was because a friend of his told him that he would do it if Isaac didn't.

2. Even though Delia's mom and Isaac's uncle were best friends, the pair really didn't know each other until they were older because Isaac spent quite a few years in New Zealand with Nathan.

3. The couple had a pregnancy scare when Delia was a high school senior, and this led them to be much more careful where that was concerned.

While Delia hadn't been around to witness what had originally set Bailey off, she unfortunately knew the signs of a full on panic attack all too well. Green eyes rolling at the small handful of gawkers just standing around doing nothing, she made her way over to try and take control of the situation before anything had a chance to escalate any further.

like

if u wanna talk to me & are shy because u think ur bothering me

pls do it

i’m not cool or popular

and now … now he was back from basic training and only had a week with his loved ones before he would be shipped off overseas on his first assignment. he could hardly find the words to speak, wanting to just take in all of delia and commit every nook and cranny of her body to memory. still - he couldn’t just sit here and stare at her forever. while he may have enjoyed that, he was sure it would eventually creep the blonde out and ruin what little time they had together.

“what do you want to do?” he finally asked, moving his arm to wrap around her shoulder, pulling her close to him. “do you wanna go out somewhere or just stay in here and watch a movie?” whatever they did would be fine with him, of course; he just wanted the time spent with her to be special. // @soldierheartcd​

When it came to true love, Delia was pretty positive she'd found the real thing with Isaac. Maybe they were still young with their entire lives ahead of them, but no words of wisdom or advice from the adults in her life could change the young girl's mind. The two were going to be together for the rest of their lives, and that was that.

Being apart during Isaac's weeks at basic training had been about as much as Delia could take, and she was beginning to wonder how they would make it through his first tour. Video chatting was always an option, but not even all the advances in technology could promise a clear, crisp connection every single time. Old fashioned letters and care packages sounded like a nice plan B, but they took a lot longer to receive, and there was also the tiny fear that one might get lose in the mail due to having to travel such a lengthy distance with so many others.

"I wanna get married." The words were out of the blonde's mouth before she could stop them, much less realize how truly unrealistic it sounded. Seven days wasn't long enough to plan a wedding, much less actually have a ceremony, reception, etc. No, she needed to stop and take a breath before clarifying the proposal now hanging in the air between them.

"I mean, I don't want you to get on that plane without some sort of promise that when you come home to me, I'll be Mrs. Isaac Riggs." Deep down, she wanted to be listed as his next of kin, in the event anything should happen, but those weren't words Delia particularly wanted to speak into the universe, either.

“ what can i do to help? ” 

"Here, let me see one of them." Taking one of the completed applications, Delia took a few minutes to look it over and read through everything. Truth be told, she was pretty proud of her younger sister. Medical school might not have been her first choice, but Allison had proven that she could excel all on her own and not just because both of her parents were also well respected surgeons. "Whichever hospital you get matched with, they're going to be incredibly lucky to have you on their team, but if Mass Gen is at the top of your wishlist, we're gonna do everything possible to get you there."