Chapter Text
When Dennis told her she could stay in their guest room she was kind of shocked. First, she was shocked they even had a guest room. Dennis and Robby had three kids, and Dennis was currently 5 months pregnant with their fourth. So, you would understand her surprise when she walked into the Robinavitch-Whitaker household, and they did in-fact had a guestroom.
Secondly, she was hesitant of her stay. She loved her nephews and niece, however; she imagined staying in the same roof as three children did make her anxious. She had a quick change of heart when small hands tugged at her pants excitedly.
"Auntie!" The kids smile at her, all begging to be held.
"Stop, don't crowd our guest you animals." Robby says as he grabs Samuel and puts him on his shoulders with a groan. "Good morning, Dr. Santos. Dennis is in the bathroom, make yourself at home. I can take you to the room you'll stay in." Before she can register the information Robby grabs her bags and starts walking.
"Daddy, can we watch TV?" She smiles as Abby tugs at Robby's pants.
"Have you and Beau brushed your teeth yet?" he responds and it's not a question, more of a statement. He knows they haven't and is reminding them to do so.
The twins give a small "aw" in response yet start walking towards the bathroom. Abigail and Beau are five, she remembers the day Dennis ran back home with a test in his hand. Freaking out and ignoring Robby's calls. It took a couple days for them to go back to normal, and whatever Robby had told Dennis had convinced him to move in with him and start a family. It didn't stop there, because of course it didn't.
They immediately got engaged, then married, when the twins turned two, they announced their third child. Samuel, and once he had turned three they announced Dennis third pregnancy. A little boy who currently grew peacefully in his dad's stomach. Unaware of his too close in age siblings waiting for his arrival.
Sometimes, she wonders if this is really what Dennis wanted. While he was able to continue his career with almost no obstacles a part of her wonders how much he really wanted this.
"Oh hi, sorry, I was taking a shower." Dennis says appearing in the hall, wrapping his arms around her with a smile. "We are all so excited to have you here." He speaks.
“Dada,” Samuel’s arm start moving towards Dennis with agitation. Begging to be carried, Dennis smile at the boy and shakes his head.
“Sorry baby, but aunt Trin and I need to talk.” He says pressing a soft hand on the boy’s cheek. “Don’t you want to help dad make breakfast?”
They watch as Sammy takes in the information and tugs quickly at Robby’s hair. Rushing him to the kitchen, much like Remi did to Linguini in the movie. “Daddy, go!” He shouts making the man groan at the pain but quickly drop the bags in the bed and head to the kitchen.
”That’s just cruel Dennis!” They hear the man shout from the hallway.
She stares at Dennis with amusement as the man shrugs his shoulders unbothered. “He’ll be fine. Sam has gotten better at cracking eggs.” A pause, “Hopefully.”
“So, how’s the hucklebaby?” She gestures to his stomach. She reaches to touch his stomach and laughs at the sight. His stomach is a little big, it’s starting to look like the first. When the twins were there, but Dennis has reassured her a million times there is only one kid in there.
(And if he slaps Robby while he complains about Robby’s genes making big babies, that’s nobody business but their own.)
”He’s doing good, using my organs as his personal soccer ball. But he’s good.” He says moving her hand a little to the left of his belly. “There he is. Bright and awake.”
She giggles. It always feels weird, no matter how many times she has touched Dennis belly and felt kicks. It is always odd, such a strange feeling.
“So, how mad was your girlfriend when you told her you were staying with us?”
She rolls her eyes.
”I haven’t told her yet.” Dennis laughs in that stupid tone of his that is meant to mock her, “Shut up. I am telling her today, I am telling her you begged for a free babysitter.”
“Well, that does have its benefits.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t go and have a 5th one. We have enough of you two in the world.”
”Ouch? Don’t worry. This is the last.”
Oh and she had heard that before.
“You said that about the twins, now you have a three year old and a kid on the way. Don’t know how much of your word I can trust.” She teases and watches him roll his eyes.
“No, trust me, this is our last. Four is enough, Robby is running out of stick figures to put in the window of the car.”
“Ever thought of just, you know, giving the old man a vasectomy?” Dennis rolls his eyes. “He’s getting pretty up there, I am surprised he was able to conceive four kids.”
”Well, I was there and trust me he’s pretty capable-“ She stops him quickly by putting a hand on his mouth.
”TMI dude.”
“You started it.”
“Whatever, help me unpack.” She says opening her bags, she’s not meant to stay long. Her apartment was going through some construction and she needed somewhere to stay for a couple weeks.
Now she’s at her best friend’s house hearing about her bosses sex drive. Maybe not what she imagined, but deep down she wouldn’t trade this for the world.
After a couple minutes of folding some clothes they take a break and lay on the bed. Both sighing at the feeling, long shifts and for one of them, pregnancy, have gotten more draining.
“Robby and I are taking the kids to the mall tomorrow and taking some photos for the family album. If you would like to tag along, you can.”
”Do I have to ride with you guys?” She teases thinking about their SUV.
”I mean if you want to be in the car with 3 kids, sure. Anyway, I was thinking later we can do something together. Like the old times.”
She smiles. The old times, when Dennis lived with her and they would have movie nights. Stay up all night watching stupid romcoms or sitcoms, whatever to distract themselves from a bad shift.
She kind of misses the old times.
It’s not like Dennis has changed, he hasn’t, not that much. But with 3 kids he hasn’t had the time to spend a night at Trinity’s and watch shitty romcoms.
He had to give Robby some credit. His first sabbatical he spent taking care of the twins, letting Dennis start his career freshly without worrying about them. He’d always been one of those traditional alphas that took pride in taking care of their families.
But no matter how many times Robby bends over backwards to give Dennis time, things come up and they don’t get much time together outside of work.
So, when he offered their guest room, a part of her was excited to be able to have him back. But, he doesn’t need to know that.
“Trinity?” He speaks again.
“Yeah, sorry I am listening.”
“Okay, well I was thinking we watch Gray’s anatomy or something. Or, a hallmark movie.”
”Oh god, yes! We have to.” She says excited. She remembers all the shitty Christmas hallmark movies they would watch and how predictable they all were.
”For sure. Robby is taking the kids to the park after dinner, and they get pretty riled up so we have all night.”
”You don’t have to shower them? I remember when I called you giving a bath to Beau and Sam.” She shudders at the thought.
”Nah, Robby has that. He hasn’t let me do anything since we found out about Will.” He points at his belly. “He can be a real pain, but at least I get out of bath duty.”
She hums and closes her eyes. The shift from last night has her dead on her feet, before she realizes it she is dozing off in the bed and didn’t even feel when Dennis put a blanket in top of her and left the room. When she wakes up a couple hours later, it’s dinner time and all her bags seemed to be unpacked and the room ready for her.
She gets up and heads to the living room where she finds one of the cutest sight ever.
The Robinavitch-Whitaker family sat in the dinner table all eating. She hears the twins fight over something and Samuel seated in Robby’s lap, the latter looking pretty defeated by his son not eating. Dennis is eating, trying to defuse a fight between Abigail and Beau. It is all chaotic and a pain if you are the parents dealing with it.
But from an outside perspective you see one rather big family enjoying the peace of being together.
“Okay, okay, I hear you baby, but if you all eat your dinner I will buy everyone ice cream when we get to the park. How’s that?” Robby speaks and there is a desperation in his voice that is funnier than anything Trinity has witnessed.
Michael Robinavitch, chief attending at their ER, full of authority and knowledge, begging three small children to eat their dinner and being easily wrapped around small fingers.
The twins, smart enough to recognize a good deal eat a big portion of their meal and run to put their shoes on. Samuel on the other hand, is too young to understand how the pros outweighs the cons this time so he gives Robby a big fight that ends in both of them covered in food.
But Sam ate. Which is a win in Robby and Dennis parenting book.
“Hey, there is food in the stove. We made spaghetti, I am going to help Michael get the kids ready for the park and then we watch our movie.” Dennis says as he hands her a soda.
He watches him waddle away with Sammy’s tiny hand on his larger one and she can’t help her smile.
This life, it’s chaotic and messy and something she would never want. But Dennis seems to thrive in it, and if he thinks she doesn’t catch Robby pulling him aside and kissing him sweetly he’s really stupid.
She hears giggles and some small cries from the kids complaining about getting dressed, and some excited shouts about ice cream. It’s all out of a movie.
And when Abigail comes out on Robby’s arms with her curly hair in two braids in a cute dress, Beau and Sam on blue overalls, dinosaur and turtle sneakers she can’t help but feel so proud.
Robby is out the door with Sam on his shoulders, Abby on his arms and Beau holding his hand. Trinity is kind of shocked and disturbed at the sight:
“He’s not worried about his back?” She asks.
Dennis shrugs. “Makes him feel young. He never puts them down, every time I turn I see one of them on him. I don’t know what he’s going to do when Will is born, he’s made Velcro babies and he can’t possibly carry all four.”
She nods at the thought and recalls all the times she has been around the family and how Robby in fact never puts his kids down.
Sam and his usual spot on his shoulders, Abigail always on his arms, and Beau who has hit the stage of wanting independence can never fully stop himself from asking to be carried. She wouldn’t be surprised if their first words were: ‘Uppies.’
“Wow, yeah, that’s going to be a sight.” She laughs. “You made an army of Michael Robinavitch’s, he’s going to pass his difficultly of sharing to them.”
”Hey, he’s not so bad.” Dennis responds back.
“If you say so. But don’t be surprised when none of your kids are good at sharing.” She says and walks over the couch sitting beside Dennis. Who hands her the remote, like the old days letting him pick the movie and being okay with commenting.
“Shit.” He hears Dennis groan and she turns to face him. “I am fine, Will won’t stop kicking me.” He complains and wraps a blanket around him. “I hate being pregnant.” He complains and she looks at him for a long time.
She lets her mind wonder: Dennis never got pregnant, he never got married, he never left. He never got committed to Robby so quickly, never carried the big responsibility of four kids. In another life, would he be happier?
”So, why are you pregnant?” She asks.
Dennis looks at her and he can tell she’s being serious. “What do you mean?” He asks for clarification.
”I mean, you were only staring off your career when you had the twins. Then you got married, right off med school, and had another kid. I don’t know, have you ever thought of a different universe? One where you aren’t, you know.”
Trapped. Is the word that is left unsaid, but not unheard.
She refuses to look at Dennis. Because a part of her is scared he’ll be angry, and offended at her question. She wishes she wasn’t here right now, and they were back home, both in their 20s trying to figure what movie to watch.
The silence only grows louder.
”Trapped. You are asking me if I ever wish I wasn’t stuck here, that’s what it is.” Dennis speaks, but it isn’t mean, it’s the tone he uses when speaking to patients and asking questions.
She doesn’t like being on the other end.
“Sometimes, when things get hard, I think of a different life. One where I didn’t get pregnant right off the bat, and maybe never had any.” He says softly.
She stares at him sadly. “No, but it’s not like that. Not in a: I wish I wasn’t a parent, way. Just in a I wonder how things would have played out.” He explains and watches her face.
”When we found out I was pregnant with the twins I was kind of disappointed, not about them, but on myself. I didn’t think I was ready. But I mean who is? Two babies growing in my belly, two lives to be responsible for, and this time there is no discharging, no: ‘don’t attach yourself to the lives you save.’ It was just like a rock being thrown blindly.” He pauses and moves the blanket of his stomach, showing off his baby bump.
”But, this life, four kids and Robby. It’s insane but this is what I want. So yeah, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we didn’t end up here, but it’s just curiosity. I don’t have anything to mourn for, as am I am exactly where I belong.” He says rubbing his stomach.
There is a moment of silence until Dennis speaks again:
”And to be fair, after the twins I kind of baby trapped Michael.” He shrugs.
”You what?” She exclaims confused.
”Stop with the judgmental tone, look how greats things worked out.” He gestures at the house, and his stomach. “Listen, the twins were great. And I wanted one more, I didn’t know if he did, so I stopped taking birth control. Told him I was on it, you know the rest.” He explains calmly.
“Dennis, what the fuck, that’s illegal.”
“Later, he found out I was lying, and told me he was poking holes on the condoms. It’s fine.”
She can’t believe it. Robby and Dennis has such a sweet relationship, everybody thought they were like soulmates and all the stuff you see on your mom’s crappy novelas.
Little did they know they were freaks.
“Wow.” She says and he nods unbothered. She looks at his stomach. “Is he a trapping baby?” She asks.
He smiles and puts his hands on the sides of his stomach, as if he was covering the baby’s ears.
“I hid all the condoms during my heat, but it didn’t matter because Michael wasn’t going to use any anyway.” He laughs.
She‘s mortified.
“It was a miracle we didn’t get another set of twins.”
“You’re insufferable. Let’s watch something before I regret staying here.” She says as she presses a movie to watch. A couple moments pass as they wait for the movie to start she speaks again:
“You and Robby are fucking perverts.”
”Eh, that pervert bought this big house the minute we got engaged, so.” He shrugs.
“So he was planning to baby trap you long before you even considered it?” She asks mortified.
Dennis, however; just smiles.
“That’s kind of sweet.” A pause, “And hot.”
Trinity throws a pillow at him.