Work Text:
Negotiating with a two-year-old to leave the house felt to Heather like negotiating with a drunk in the ER—except the drunk at least understood English. Amelia, meanwhile, squealed happily, twirling in her lilac tutu and wand. Heather snapped a few pictures before mentally cursing her younger sister, Danielle, for buying her niece so many dress-up clothes.
Bending to pick up toys scattered near a beautiful antique dollhouse (a gift from Robby's mother), she noticed something glinting in the light. Tucked under the miniature staircase was a ring—vintage, three diamonds set in silver—placed as if it belonged to the dollhouse itself.
Pulling it out, Heather asked, "Mimi? Where did you find this?" Her relief that Amelia hadn't eaten it superseded all other concerns.
For the moment.
Amelia, fluffing her wand against her nose, simply replied, "Mama, pretty!" Heather chuckled, letting her daughter continue her imaginary spell-casting; the child was still developing object permanence and wouldn't understand a question about the significance of a ring.
Next to a toy car sat a small red velvet Cartier box—a familiar sight from her Wall Street days, when male colleagues would seek her opinion on similar, gorgeous, timeless rings that had never interested her before.
This was different. This was an engagement ring. Robby had bought an engagement ring, meaning he planned to propose, though he hadn't yet. He might never. But Heather refused to spiral. Panicking as she heard the front door open, she quickly replaced the ring in its box and hid it under the couch cushions. She sat on the sofa, taking a deep breath.
Robby returned from the store, greeting her with a "Hey honey," and heading to the kitchen with his bags. He placed the bags down on the kitchen island, noticing her strange mood.
Still deep in thought, Heather offered a brisk, "I'm fine! Fine!"
“Something bothering you?” Robby asked, checking.
Heather shook her head, “I'm just a little tired. Long day.” She excused herself, offering a small smile. But it didn’t do much to
“Okay.” Robby nodded, picking up Amelia, perching her on his hip, "Want to help me?" He asked and she nodded. He figured she needed a moment away from their energetic daughter.
"Oh, that's not a ring, that's a paperweight!" Dana remarked, adjusting her glasses to examine the picture. "Our boy has good taste."
The next day, Heather and Robby were both on day shift. Pulling Dana aside in the ladies' room, Heather ensured they were alone before revealing her secret, the words spilling out of her mouth before she could stop herself, "I found something, and it's still hidden under the couch. But I haven't told Robby yet. Amelia got her hands on it, so I put it away."
"You didn't tell him?" Dana asked, incredulous.
Heather sighed, "I didn't know what to do! How do I say, 'Hey, here's the engagement ring I wasn't supposed to know about'?"
"That would be a good start," Dana replied, handing back Heather's phone.
Heather sighed again. She and Robby had grown so much together, both as a family and as a couple. Keeping this from him was the last thing she wanted, but she didn't know how to broach the subject. He wanted to marry her, after all.
"You two have a baby, live together, and marriage is your line?" Dana scoffed.
Heather huffed. She knew she wasn't the traditional "white wedding" type. While she loved getting dressed up and found wedding dresses beautiful, weddings were fussy, loud, and often resulted in ER visits for several guests. Her memory of weddings growing up, with her extended family, usually were fun affairs, ending with the electric slide - even after one wedding where her uncle's mistress turned up.
"It's not a 'line'," Heather retorted, "it's just... why hasn't he asked yet? When did he get the ring?" She had questions, as she always did.
"Probably after your fourth date," Dana quipped, prompting a glare from Heather. Dana softened her tone slightly, adding, "Just talk to him."
Leaning against the sink, Heather folded her arms, nodding slowly. Dana was right, as she always was.
"What if he's changed his mind?" She asked, quiet, anxious.
Dana shook her head, "Have you changed your mind about him?" She asked.
Heather shook her head. She knew that Robby was someone she would love for the rest of her life.
Robby was with Amelia in the daycare for a brief visit. She was grouchy and not sleeping well at night. The beginning of the terrible twos as it were, so calming her down as she wept was a welcome distraction from a meeting with Gloria.
“Dr Abbott, you do not have a child.” The director of the older woman remarked, a disapproving expression on her face.
She preferred parents only to come up, fearing the children would be too distracted.
Jack simply raised an eyebrow, leaning on the doorframe. He mockingly placed a hand over his heart, “Miss Betty, I keep asking you to have a baby with me so I can see you more.” He stated, straighfaced.
Robby kissed Amelia, “Daddy has to go now, okay?” He checked, kissing her cheek, and looked at the director, “Just page me, or Dr Collins.”
"Take him away." Betty ordered and held out her hand for Amelia to take and led her to the play area. Robby stood from the bean bag with a groan and followed Jack out.
"Can you not antagonise a sixty year old woman?" Robby asked as they walked to the elevators.
"She started it." Abbott quipped and he noticed Robby's weak smile, “What's the matter?"
Robby ran a hand over his face, "Amelia is tired. Not sleeping. Neither am I.”
Abbott pressed the elevator button. "You want to talk about it?" he asked.
Stepping into the elevator, Robby leaned against the wall, folding his arms. Abbott pressed the emergency stop.
"I think something's up with Heather. She's been acting weird." Robby admitted.
Abbott nodded and wondered, "Cheating on you, weird, or something else?"
Robby frowned. "Really?"
Abbott smirked, enjoying ribbing him most of the time, "You and Collins are a series of bad decisions, but you make it work. She's been doing good work downstairs. Maybe it's just your crying toddler." He suggested.
Robby nodded; getting Amelia settled in a new bed was more tiring than when she was a newborn.
"I want to propose," he announced.
Jack looked surprised, then smiled approvingly. "Congrats," he said. "Wait, you still have the ring you got the first time?" Abbott remembered Robby telling him about it in a bar, back when he and Collins were less stable but deeply in love.
Robby nodded. "Took it out of the safe for courage. I'm just wondering when's the right time."
"You mean after knocking her up?" Abbott asked sarcastically.
"How'd you ask Lizzy?" Robby wondered.
Jack smiled slightly, his lips twitching. "I asked Lizzy while patching up her producer after he took shrapnel to the neck. Kinda just blurted it out." He remembered the confusion in her eyes, turning to a smile and a nod, before being interrupted by Tim's request for pain relief.
Robby chuckled. "Well, I hope I do something more romantic than that."
"It was plenty romantic," Abbott said defensively, "Spontaneous."
They returned to the ER. When Heather approached Robby, Jack looked at him pointedly. "Hey, is she okay?" Heather asked. Since she was with a patient, Robby went to her.
"Some tears, but all she needed was a hug," he assured her. "You okay?"
Heather nodded. "Just discharged our skateboarding idiot. I didn't think LSD and skateboards went together," she mused, "Always something new."
Robby chuckled, and they shared a moment despite the ER's busyness. Heather always made Robby feel like the only person in the room, sometimes the world.
"Uh, Robby—" Heather began, but Samira ran up to the two attendings, a frantic look on her face.
Robby looked at her, "Yeah?"
"We just got a call. Incoming GSW to the stomach." Mohan told him.
He nodded seriously, "Get set up, gown up - grab Princess and Langdon." He ordered and Samira nodded, running off. Heather expected him to go after them, but he turned back to her, concerned.
"You okay? What's up?" He asked.
"It can wait. Let's get going."
That evening, getting him at six pm was a blessing and they had dinner, read to Amelia and coaxed her into her new bed successfully. Heather went to shower, trying to get rid of her anxiety. But not even Sade and eucalyptus scented soap could help.
After changing into her night dress and silk robe, she went downstairs. In the living room, the TV was on low and Heather looked at the couch, deciding to lift the cushions and was glad to see the ring box where she put it.
Robby came back downstairs, changed into dark sweatpants and t-shirt, his hair damp from the shower. Seeing Heather knelt in front of the couch was not unusual but when she shot up and hid her hands behind her back.
"Okay, Heather, what the hell is going on?" Robby asked, "You've been a little off."
Heather sighed, sitting down on the couch, "Can we talk?" She asked.
"Always." Robby said. So there was something else going on. He sat down next to her, "Can you talk to me, honey? Please?"
Heather hesitated, then pulled the ring box from behind her back. She watched as Robby's eyes darted from hers to the box and back and forth, trying to figure out when, where and how she found this.
"Where did you-"
“I found it." Heather told him, "Well, actually, Amelia found it. Made it part of her dollhouse."
Robby clicked his tongue, nodding. He had put it in his coat pocket and Amelia must have found it when they were out and about as he often kept candy in his pockets for her. He hadn't noticed because he wore his hoodies most days to work.
“Well, she has good taste.” Robby quipped, “It’s a replica of my bubbe’s ring. She lost it years ago, but Rachel and Daniella thought it would a replica would be a good idea."
“When did you buy it?” Heather asked.
“Years ago. After that weekend in Bar Harbour.” She remembered. They went with some old friends from her old life, med school buddies. A weekend of good food, drinks, walks on the beach. It was maybe six months before things went to shit with them the first time around.
Sisters in both sides, Heather realised. He had spoken to her closest sister for help. Years ago. He had this ring for years. Heather exhaled, feeling her heart thumping.
“You didn’t propose then.” Heather observed.
“No.” Robby stated.
“And you never got rid of it.”
Robby rubbed the back of his neck, “ If I threw it out, I would be admitting that I would lose you for good. So I put it in the safe, blocked it out of my mind." He explained.
“Not save it for anyone else?”
Robby shook his head, “That ring was made for you. Your size. I couldn’t..” He sighed, looking at her, “You have always been it for me, since the day I met you.”
Heather nodded, "I kind of freaked out when I found it. I mean, we haven't talked about marriage."
"Well, we tend to do everything out of order." Robby joked, "I didn't want to scare you. You hate weddings and I kinda thought that meant all of it."
"I didn't hate it." Heather corrected, "I just saw so many friends, people in my family have those big meaningless weddings - remember my cousin Lucy's wedding?"
Robby nodded with a grimace, recalling that wedding very well. It was nice to meet most of her family until the groomsmen got into a fight because the bride was caught with one of groomsmen and they became virtual paramedics. The food was great though. And even with his family, with his first sister's wedding, it was a grand affair that was just too much.
"Let's never do this." Heather had said at the time and he hummed in agreement.
Robby took her hands, his eyes boring into hers, “Hey, we don’t need to be married to be committed.” He promised, “I love you and I love our daughter, our family, more than life itself. I’m always here. How could I not? At this point, I don’t know how not to love you.”
Heather could only stare and listen to him, feeling the tension leave her shoulders. He sometimes pissed her off with how poetic he could get, declaring his love for her at a moment's noticed.
"So, the ring is just there. It can be just here in the house." Robby said, "Just so long as you're here too."
Heather cupped his face in her hands, even as they trembled at his declaration. Robby turned, his beard tickling her wrist when he kissed her palm.
“Ask me.” She whispered. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “Ask me.” She repeated purposefully.
“Heather, I’m not-”
“Stop,” Heather smiled tearfully, “Michael Robinavitch, you better ask me because you are so wonderful. And stupid. And I love you. So ask me."
Robby exhaled, a smile growing on his face, “Heather Collins, will you marry me?”
She nodded “Yes. Yes. With all my heart.” Heather replied, and Robby smiled, almost in awe, before kissing her soundly. He ended up pushing her back into the couch and Heather laughed as he pressed enthusiastic kisses to her neck.
“Just so you know, I come with a kid.” She playfully warned, and he chuckled into her neck.
“Well, I will love her like she is my own.” Robby replied, pressing his forehead against hers, “I am the luckiest son of a bitch alive right now.”
“Damn straight.” Heather agreed, “Wait, can we-”
“Hold off on telling our mothers?” He guessed, “Yep.”
“Oh, you do love me.”