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Sitting in the busy waiting room of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center was not how you had intended on spending your Saturday afternoon, but with the cold weather and the influx of germs and illnesses doing the rounds, it was bound to spread into your household at some point.
Your youngest was only a few months old, and with your eldest having been sent home from pre-k a few days earlier due to bug going around her class, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when your son started to show a fever just after your fiancé left for work that morning.
If it weren’t for the large pileup that had occurred a couple hours earlier, you would have already called ahead to see if you could get in sooner, but at the moment your son’s fever wasn’t cause for immediate concern and you wanted Dennis to focus on the patients who needed him. Which left you stuck out in the noisy waiting room with one child resting on your chest and the other struggling to contain her energy, but thankfully for you a kind old lady was entertaining her whilst you kept your son content.
A nurse called out your son's name, and you stood, the lady helping you put your bag on your shoulder and guiding your daughter's hand to yours as you made your way through to the department.
The young nurse by the name of Emma introduced herself to you and guided you through the bustling chaos of the emergency room towards the pediatric room decorated with bright colors and animals, addressing you by your full name to which you told her to just call you by your first name and introducing your daughter and son to her as well.
“You did the right thing coming in. It’s all too common for simple bugs to turn much worse in young infants,” Emma reassured, taking his temperature as your daughter started telling her new friend all about something that happened at school the other day.
“I know. She was a menace for it when she was a baby, and her dad always encouraged to bring her in when it got to a certain point.”
Emma said that she was going to keep you in for a little while and ask a doctor to be assigned to your son's case, and that she would bring in some toys when she had the chance.
✦✧✦✧✦
“Hey, Dana?” Emma asked, walking up to the charge nurse who was reviewing some charts at the hub.
“Yeah, kid?”
“Have they moved the toy box somewhere, I can’t seem to find it and there’s this sister of an infant patient who is probably going to be here for a few hours,” Emma explained, waiting as Dana finished what she was doing before thinking about the issue posed to her.
“Go look in the storage closet near the reception desk,” Dana responded, tucking her glasses back into her scrub pocket.
Emma wondered off, but not before asking for a doctor to be assigned to the case and making an offhand comment about the patient having the same last name as Whitaker, causing Dana and Robby to turn to said doctor, watching as his head perked up from where he had been sat at a desk after a heavy trauma.
He stood up to get a better view of the patient board, scanning it until he found the name he was looking for.
“Huckleberry?” Trinity asked, giving her friend a look as he turned to look into the pediatric bay, but everyone’s question that was beginning to form was answered when the little girl appeared from the bay upon spotting the man.
“Daddy!”
She came barreling into him, and with the ease of someone who had done it a thousand times before, Whitaker picked up the girl before she could run into his legs and settled her on his hip, her little arms coming around his neck to hug him. The doctors and nurses gathered around the hub looked at the situation before them in confusion.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Dennis asked, giving his daughter a kiss on her head.
She began babbling on about how her baby brother wasn’t feeling very well and because Nana and Grandpa were on vacation it meant she had to come with you and how bored she was, sprinkling in random facts that had nothing to do with the situation that could only come to fruition within a toddler’s head, and he listened to every word with such intent as she carried on, spotting you and giving you a smile when you saw your daughter in Dennis’ arms.
“Wow, that’s a lot, ladybug. Thank you for telling me,” He spoke, placing her to sit on the desk, his hands keeping her steady whilst she swung her legs back and forth.
“What do you need, Whitaker?” Robby asked, being one of the few who was aware of Dennis’ family.
“Uh, if I can’t do it myself then I don’t care, just someone competent,” Dennis said, his eyes still focused on where you were rocking your son.
“Okay. Take a break-”
Dennis didn’t hang around to hear anything else, picking his daughter back up and walking towards the room you were in and shutting the door behind him to quiet the noise of the department, leaving his colleagues to stare after him with wide eyes.
“Whitaker has kids?” McKay asked incredulously, saying what everyone was thinking.
“And a wife?” Javadi added.
“And he didn’t tell us?” Santos looked horrified that her friend had kept it a secret for so long when they’d been working together for over a year.
“Not a wife, not yet at least, he proposed to her a few months ago,” Dana said, looking at the amusing array of confused faces, “He doesn’t keep it a secret, you just don’t ask. If you want to know something about someone, then you ask them a question.”
With that, Dana went off to go find a doctor to go and look at your son whilst the rest of them mulled over their thoughts about the newfound information.
✦✧✦✧✦
“Momma, I found Daddy,” your daughter giggled as Dennis set her down on a chair in the room, whilst you gently laid your son back in the medical cot.
“I see that, bug,” you smiled gently, letting Dennis envelope you in a tight hug, rubbing his hands up and down your back.
“Hey, baby,” he muttered against your temple, “Why didn’t you call?”
“I was going to, his temp started climbing just after you left, and if it was really bad I would’ve, but then that pile up happened and I knew you’d be slammed and I didn’t want to bother anyone and they reassured me that if he got worse then we’d be brought through but it’s fine because we’re here now and-”
“I get it, it’s okay,” Dennis shushed you, holding you tighter, “But please tell me next time, it doesn’t matter what else is going on, I’m always going to put you first.”
You pulled away when the door opened to reveal a blonde woman with glasses, who introduced herself as Dr. King, and approached your son, cooing at him and smiling whilst Dennis and you filled her in on what was going on. Between their knowledge, Mel and Dennis formed a plan for some tests and treatment if needed, before she slipped out of the room to go check on another patient.
Dennis stroked your son's cheek, smiling when he reached for him and gladly obliging, holding him close, mumbling to him, and it was at that moment that Emma came back with a small toy box for your daughter to witness the ridiculously domestic scene of the normally private doctor.
“Dr. Whitaker?” Emma asked, holding the box whilst your daughter started buzzing with excitement and trying to see what toys were in it.
Dennis turned, “Hi, Emma, thank you for looking after them.”
“They’re your...?”
Dennis nodded.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! If I’d have known they were your family, I would’ve let you know and got them back quicker–“ Emma started rambling, placing the box down and putting her hands together in apology.
“Emma, we’re good,” Dennis reassured her, “There’s another case coming in, why don’t you go help them, I’ve got it for now.”
Emma left once again, leaving the two of you to your little family, Dennis sitting down on the floor to play with your daughter in whatever game she had started with the toys and her imagination and you disappeared to go get coffee after your long morning, your fiancé instructing you to get some from the staff room which wasn’t much better than the cafeteria coffee, but at least it was fresher.
From across the department, eyes followed you, tracking your movements as you disappeared into the quiet sanctuary.
“Can you believe he never told us?” Javadi gaped, eyes flicking between where you’d gone and the room that Dennis could be seen making grand gestures and stupid faces whilst his daughter laughed in glee as she ran in circles around him until he intercepted her path, pulling her into his lap and tickling her, keeping an eye out for any changes in your sons' vitals as he did so.
“I mean, did you ever really ask about it, or did you just assume you knew everything about him?” Joy asked, not really having much interest, “Maybe he just views you as colleagues not friends or wants to keep whatever joy he has separate from this draining place.”
“But I am his friend,” Trinity muttered.
Not long later, Dennis stuck his head out of the room, catching the attention of everyone still stood at the hub, “Can someone just keep an eye on these two, please? I just want to talk to her quickly.”
Perlah was the first one in action, handing her tablet over to Princess before she could move, more than happy to spend some time with your kids instead of dealing with another drunk from chairs, immediately saying something to make your daughter laugh whilst Dennis walked over to Trinity and pulled her to the lockers, clearly not the ‘her’ everyone was expecting him to talk to.
“You’re mad.”
“I’m not mad, why would I be mad?”
“Because I have a fiancé and kids that you’ve never met before.”
Trinity scoffed, “More like never heard of before.”
Dennis recoiled slightly in confusion, his brows furrowing and his mouth slightly open in shock.
“You’ve never told any of us, I thought we were friends but clearly not.”
“Wait, Trinity, I have literally shown you photos of my kids.”
It was Trinity’s turn to be confused, wracking her brain as to when he’s done that before, only recalling times when she thought he was speaking about his brothers nieces and nephews, especially with how much he talked about visiting ‘Nana and Grandpa’.
“Like the ones from Easter? That I showed you because I don’t like posting them on social media, when we were having dinner at my fiancés grandparents?”
“Oh my god, Huckleberry, you couldn’t have been more explicit that they were yours? I thought they were your brothers kids and they were bringing them to visit your grandparents.”
“What?” By this point, both Dennis and Trinity were thoroughly confused.
“I mean you’re only an intern, I didn’t think you would have two kids by this point, how did you even afford that? You know what, I don’t… explain it to me, from the top.”
“Are you serious?”
“Does it look like I’m joking?”
Dennis chuckled, and did as he was told.
He explained how you and him were childhood friends from Broken Bow, but had much bigger plans for yourself than staying in that small town in Nebraska, both wanting to move to a big city and pave your own paths. Eventually those two lovesick fools realized they were more than friends, and your families were happy for the both of you.
That was until you got pregnant towards the end of college, they didn’t necessarily approve of it at the time – although in recent years had become less frosty about it once you’d proved that you were both more than capable of being good parents. But by the point that your families were beginning to argue about the future baby, you and Dennis were already planning to move states to be nearer your grandparents, who both adored their only granddaughter and didn’t frown when they heard you were going to become young parents, because it wasn’t like you’d done it on purpose and didn’t believe you had to give up your dreams when you had a good support system in them.
From there you both worked hard to be good partners, good parents, and good at your studies to get your dream jobs. The two of you didn’t pretend that it wasn’t hard, but with a strong relationship with Nana and Grandpa, it definitely meant that the two of you could chase your dreams and support having your little ladybug, at which point in the story, Dennis pulled the chain he wore out from under his scrubs and showed Trinity the ladybug and bear charms he wore on it.
“She was obsessed with ladybugs when she was little, and he has a little stuffed teddy bear that he loves.”
“Sweet. Carry on with the story, we don’t have all day.”
He told her all about the days he struggled to carry on with med school, wondering if it was worth it and if he should just quit and get a job to support you more instead of relying on your grandparents, but you (and them) refused to let him give up.
The evenings when he would get home on time and have his little girl come running to him in glee, and the way his son would settle on his chest when he would wake up in the night, the way you would cuddle up to him on the couch watching your favorite films together, the family dinners with his honorary grandparents made him work even harder so that one day he could pay you all back and give you the lives you deserved.
The support and love he got from you and your grandparents and the support he gave in return made it all worth it, and the proudness his daughter would tell anyone who would listen that her dad was a doctor made his heart swell with joy that he’d made something of himself that his little one could be proud of.
“They’re my sanctuary, they keep me sane when this place drives me crazy, and I didn’t want you guys to not know my family it’s just… Everyone created a version of me in their heads and it felt kind of awkward to shatter that perception, especially since I don’t have many friends here.”
Trinity rolled her eyes at the sickly sweetness of it all, even when deep down she wished to have that support for herself instead of the shitty hand she was dealt with, “You have plenty of friends here, you just never come out with us. Now we know why.”
Dennis smiled sheepishly, crossing his arms in front of him, “Would you like to meet her? It would be helpful if you were acquainted with each other before the wedding, although that’s not going to be for a while.”
“Fine.”
Dennis led the way to the staff room, finding you stood there with Dana, sharing stories about work over a cup of coffee and a glass of water from the headache you had developed from the stress of the day.
“Hey, Den,” you said, placing your mug down and letting him wrap you in a hug again, “Who’s looking after the kids?”
“Perlah,” he told you, placing a kiss on your head, “They’re okay. Mel said she was going to check in on little man in a bit.”
Dana gave you two a pat on the arm and left the three of you to it, closing the door quietly behind her.
“You must be Trinity,” You broke the silence first, holding out your hand, “So nice to finally meet you.”
She shook it with slight suspicion, “Yeah, and you. Not that I knew you existed.”
“Trinity,” Dennis gave her a look, having retreated from you and crossed his arms in front of him once again.
“Sorry about that, we’re both such private people, all things considered,” you explained, “Coming from a place where everyone and their grandmother knows your business makes you hold thing closer to your chest, I suppose, or else the whole town knew your secrets.”
“Makes sense, I guess.”
You spoke a while longer until it ended up being disturbed by Robby giving his sternest attending look, telling Santos to get back to work and you two to get back to your kids so Perlah could continue helping get through the backlog in the waiting room.
✦✧✦✧✦
Eventually the tests were done, your daughters energy spent – leading to her being fully crashed out asleep on her dads chest, said dad being on call with his future grandparents-in-law – and Mel was briefing you on the antibiotics your son would need after his temperature started coming down and he was diagnosed.
“Yes, Nana, we’ll be okay, enjoy the rest of your vacation,” Dennis spoke softly into the phone, trying not to wake up his little ladybug who was snuggled up to him under his jacket that he’d pulled from his locker.
“Yeah, love you too, bye.”
You had your son back in your arms, and putting the meds into your bag as Emma was finishing off the discharge papers, whilst Dennis slowly maneuvered himself up out of the chair in the corner and readjusting his grip on your daughter.
“You’re all set,” Emma smiled, “You’re free to head home, Robby said he’ll deal with any of your handovers.”
You left the room, making sure you had everything, and made your way towards some of Dennis’ coworkers to say goodbye, Dana giving you a hug and technically formally introducing yourself to some of the others, putting a whole load of faces to the names you’d heard many times.
“Look, if you ever need some help, let me know,” Trinity offered, changed out of her scrubs now as the five of you exit the building.
“Uh, Trin, you don’t really like kids,” Dennis said, pointing out the obvious.
“Oh yeah, no, I mean if you need help letting loose. Park those kids with their great grandma and grandpa and we’re going out,” Trinity smirked.
“I am absolutely taking you up on that offer,” you smiled, pausing as you reached your car.
“I’ll get your number from Huckleberry later,” Trinity called over her shoulder, “Get home safe.”
Dennis had been busying himself by putting your daughter in her car seat, moving extra slow to ensure she remained asleep, although there were some tired protests from her when she lost contact with her dad and some cooing from Dennis to ease her back into whatever fantastical dream she was having, while you made a move to put your son into his car seat.
The two of you then got into the front of your car, Dennis reaching across the console to place a hand on your thigh, both of your heads leaning to look at each other from your slumped positions in your respective seats.
“What about your car?” You asked him, not expecting him to get into the passenger seat.
He shrugged, “I’ll get a ride with Trinity next shift, take it home afterwards. I’ve already asked Robby to move my day off so I can help tomorrow until your grandparents get back.”
You smiled, thankful for his initiative and the fact that you could just spend the rest of the weekend together as a family, even if your youngest wasn’t feeling the best, it meant he could get better with both of his parents at his side.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”