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The weeks flew by. Before they knew it, the Whitakers and the Robinavitches had been neighbors for a month.
Good neighbors? That was asking too much. Dennis felt like Robby stalked him like some kind of creep every chance he got.
Sure, if being a stalker meant simply saying hi every time they ran into each other taking out the trash, or in the hospital hallways when they had a pediatric case, or outside school waiting for their kids.
The point was that Dennis ran into Robby more than he'd like.
And it didn't help that Amelia and Oliver had become inseparable. Science projects had turned into the perfect excuse for the boy to cross the hallway almost every afternoon, always carrying some notebook full of drawings and an energy Dennis still hadn't figured out how to handle before five in the afternoon.
That day was no exception. He found them both sprawled on the living room floor, surrounded by poster boards and clay, and, to Dennis's silent horror, an open jar of glue just inches from the carpet.
"How's the solar system coming along?" he asked, picking up the glue before disaster could strike.
"Good, we're almost done with Saturn," Amelia answered without looking up, completely focused on rolling orange clay.
Oliver, on the other hand, did look up, with that smile Dennis was starting to recognize as the warning sign of something he probably wasn't going to like. The kid was adorable, no doubt about it, but he had those deer eyes so typical of his dad. It honestly gave Dennis chills.
"Dr. Whitaker." Oliver was the only Robinavitch who bothered to call him that, something that, to Dennis's surprise, he actually liked. "Can we have a sleepover this weekend? We've been talking about it for days and it never happens."
Amelia looked up too, with that hopeful sparkle she used when she wanted something but already knew, deep down, what the answer would be.
Dennis felt a familiar tug in his chest. That silly mix of wanting to say yes because his daughter rarely asked for anything, and the instant panic of imagining everything that could go wrong outside his radar. Especially with the neighbors right across the hall.
"We'll see," he said, in the tone Amelia knew perfectly well, which basically meant a no dressed up as hope. "Isn't it a little soon to plan something like that? Besides, you two have homework to do."
Amelia nodded, resigned, and went back to the clay without another word. She knew how to read her father better than anyone.
Oliver, on the other hand, didn't catch any of it. "Awesome! I'm gonna tell my dad!"
Dennis opened his mouth to correct him, but the boy had already gone back to sticking a crooked ring around Saturn, completely convinced the matter was settled.
God help me. Dennis thought, wondering how much time he had left before this inevitably reached Robby's ears.
It didn't even take three days. They ran into each other in the PTMC elevator. Dennis gave him nothing more than a polite smile, more of a grimace really, and focused on the floor panel.
"Hey, it's great the kids are having a sleepover, right?" Robby broke the ice. Dennis would have preferred silence.
"I haven't confirmed anything yet," he said, with the calmest voice he could manage.
"Oliver told me like it was already decided." Robby sounded genuinely amused, leaning against the elevator wall with his hands in his scrub pockets. "It could be at my place. I've got plenty of room. Florence is actually staying over at a friend's next Friday, so it'll be quieter than usual."
"Florence has friends?" slipped out, more out of habit than actual meanness.
Robby let out a short laugh. "Surprisingly, yes."
The doors opened on the third floor. Dennis stepped out quickly, vaguely hoping the conversation would stay behind, trapped in the elevator. It didn't.
"It doesn't have to be at your place," Robby went on, following right behind him without any rush, like it was perfectly normal to trail him down the pediatrics hallway.
"It can be at mine," Dennis insisted, not stopping.
"I doubt all four of them fit on your two seater couch."
Dennis stopped. "Four?"
"Amelia, Oliver, Leon, and Hazel," Robby listed, like it was obvious. "I'm not leaving my two kids out while everyone else has a sleepover. Plus, Leo already asked if Amelia's sleeping 'in the nest' too, so good luck talking him out of that."
"The nest?" Dennis spent a lot of time around kids, but he was pretty sure he'd never heard that one before.
"Long story. Involves pillows."
Dennis wisely decided not to follow that line of questioning. "And how do you know my couch is a two seater?"
"The whole Pickles thing, the other day."
Dennis frowned. "What Pickles thing?"
Robby stopped, genuinely thrown off. "Paula didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"He got away from Amelia. They were playing with him in the hallway when Paula came out to get her for dinner, and the little guy ran straight into your apartment before anyone could catch him." Robby said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, like he was just confirming something they should have already talked about. "I ended up going in to get him out. He was behind your couch."
Dennis went quiet for a second, picturing Robby in his living room, crouched behind his couch without him even knowing, while making a conscious effort not to think about what else he might have seen along the way.
"Nobody told me anything." He hesitated to admit it. He didn't want to sound like the guy people kept secrets from.
"Paula probably didn't want you to worry. It was quick, I promise."
Dennis didn't say anything. He couldn't be mad at Paula. He never would be. She'd spent three years taking care of Amelia with a kind of love Dennis was grateful for every single day. So instead, he channeled all that built up irritation toward the only place he actually felt comfortable letting it out.
"Still," he said, his voice a little tighter than he meant it to be, "I'd appreciate it if next time you knocked and waited for someone to answer, instead of just walking in."
"How was I supposed to knock if it was already open?" Robby frowned, clearly enjoying himself. "If it makes you feel better, Paula and Amelia tried to catch him first, but they were taking too long."
"Then you wait a little longer."
Robby raised his hands, still smiling. "Noted. Next time I'll just let the ferret move into your couch."
Connie watched them walk by from the nurses' station with one eyebrow raised, and Dennis could feel two residents lower their voices when they noticed the new head of the ER wandering around their floor for no medical reason at all.
"So." Robby stopped too, now in front of the break room door, like he'd just remembered the actual reason for the conversation. "Friday, then? For the sleepover?"
"Robby." Dennis finally put his hand on the door handle. "I appreciate the offer. I really do. But I have to work now, and you should be downstairs saving lives or whatever it is you do down there."
"Technically I'm on break."
"How convenient." Dennis opened the door. "Good afternoon, Dr. Robinavitch."
"So that's a yes?"
"I never said yes."
"You didn't say no either." Robby was already backing away down the hallway, hands in his pockets. "Friday, five o'clock. That way she gets there right before dinner."
Dennis looked at him for a second, searching for the catch, something that would prove this wasn't just a coincidence.
"You're the one who told me Amelia eats dinner early." Robby shrugged, like it was no big deal. "I'm just trying to make sure she has some free time before bed."
Dennis opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't find anything to say that wouldn't sound worse than it already did in his head. He ended up walking into the break room without another word.
And that's how they got to Friday afternoon. Mellie was already in her daisy print cotton pajamas while Dennis dried her hair and braided it with that same methodical patience he applied to everything. Amelia was talking a mile a minute next to Trinity, who had agreed to keep Dennis company while her goddaughter was right there in front of them.
"And Oliver said his dad's gonna make microwave popcorn, the extra buttery kind!" Amelia shifted just slightly, just enough that Dennis had to steady her head before he could keep braiding.
"Hold still, sweetheart, or it's going to come out crooked."
Trinity, sitting on the couch with a glass of wine Dennis hadn't officially poured for her yet, smiled behind her phone. "Let the kid live a little, Huckleberry."
"Nobody's talking to you, Trinity." Dennis finished the braid, tied it off with a hair band, and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head before grabbing the backpack. "Come on, sweetheart. It's almost time."
The three of them crossed the hallway together, which was ridiculous since it was barely three steps between one door and the other. Amelia hopped between the two adults, her stuffed animal tucked under her arm, and Dennis with the backpack over his shoulder, mentally checking for the third time whether he'd packed everything.
Robby opened the door before Dennis could even knock, like he'd been waiting right on the other side, and his welcoming smile turned into genuine surprise the second he saw who else had come along.
"Dr. Santos?"
"Dr. Robby." Trinity returned the greeting like it was nothing, fist bumping him like it was the most normal thing in the world. "We've got a sleepover too. Did you think this poor guy was gonna be all alone?"
"Kind of, yeah," Robby admitted, still processing the scene. "I didn't know you two were this close outside the hospital."
"We've been best friends for a while now." Trinity shrugged. "Someone's got to keep him company while he suffers in silence."
"I'm not suffering," Dennis said, though nobody seemed to hear him.
"Come in, come in." Robby stepped aside, waving them in. "That way you can see for yourself nothing weird's going on here."
Dennis hesitated for a second, but gave in, following behind Amelia, who had already taken off toward the living room the moment she heard Oliver's voice.
The apartment was, in fact, a disaster. Toys were scattered all over the floor, a tower of dishes had probably been sitting there since lunch, and on the kitchen table there was a whole assortment of chip bags, gummy candy, and a couple of pizza boxes, one of them half open. Dennis figured that was dinner.
Trinity stepped further in, looking around with an eyebrow raised and a smile Dennis couldn't quite read.
"Wow." She let out a low whistle. "Nice place. Kind of reminds me of when Dennis lived with me."
"It's not like that," Dennis said, almost automatically, not giving anyone time to process the comment.
"Yeah it was," Amelia said from the couch, not even looking up from the Joy-Con Oliver had already handed her. Dennis was starting to worry his daughter was going to fall in love with the Nintendo Switch and end up asking for one for her birthday.
Robby looked between them, genuinely curious. "Wait, you two lived together?"
"Yeah, when he got divorced." Trinity answered like she was talking about the weather. "Six months, I think. Mellie was about five."
Dennis didn't say anything. He stared at the half open pizza box on the table like it was the most fascinating thing in the apartment. Robby didn't push either. He just nodded slowly, that same curious look from before, without asking anything else.
Dennis felt the air in the room get heavier than usual. He wasn't sure what bothered him more: Trinity dropping that so casually, like it was just some random story, or Robby staring at him like that without saying a word, like he was filing the information away for later.
He wanted the floor to swallow him whole, right there in the middle of the living room full of toys and half open pizza boxes.
"Mellie." He called, his voice a little higher than he meant it to be. "Come here for a second, sweetheart."
Amelia walked over, still holding the Joy-Con, in no hurry at all. Dennis crouched down in front of her, mostly just to have an excuse not to look at anyone else in the room for a few seconds.
"Toothbrush in the front pocket. Inhaler too." He ran through it on autopilot, even though they both already knew it by heart. "If anything happens, you call me. Doesn't matter what time."
"I know, Dad." Amelia gave him a quick peck on the cheek, more to get him to stop than anything else, and ran back off toward Oliver.
Dennis stayed crouched there a second longer than he needed to, breathing, before standing back up.
Trinity, meanwhile, hadn't even noticed his little crisis. She was completely absorbed watching Hazel, who had appeared from some hallway with Pickles cradled in her arms, holding him with the same care other kids gave a stuffed animal.
"Is that a ferret?" Trinity asked, leaning in, genuinely fascinated.
"His name's Pickles." Hazel answered, dead serious, like she was introducing someone important. "Wanna hold him?"
"Trinity, no." Dennis said immediately, still standing by the couch.
"Trinity, yes." She answered, already reaching her arms out to the girl.
Pickles climbed right up onto Trinity's shoulder without any hesitation, sniffing at her neck curiously, and she laughed while petting him, completely charmed.
"I didn't know you had this many kids." She said to Robby, not taking her eyes off the ferret. "How many, three?"
"Four." Robby corrected. "You're missing the fifteen year old. She's at a friend's tonight."
"Ooh, a teenager. Cute."
"The teenager." Robby confirmed, with the tired tone of someone who'd already accepted that phase was just how it was.
Right then a shout came from down the hallway, followed by a wheels on floor sound that kept getting louder at an alarming speed. Before Dennis could even fully turn around, Leo came flying in face down on a giant skateboard, wearing Spiderman pajamas and a look of total determination, taking the hallway corner straight into the living room.
"Leo, slow down!"
Nobody made it in time. The boy crashed straight into the side of the couch with a dull thud, followed by a short, muffled groan.
Dennis took an instinctive step forward, the automatic pediatrician reflex kicking in before he could even think about it. Robby, on the other hand, didn't move an inch from where he stood. He just waited, arms crossed, counting silently, like this was a routine he already knew by heart.
One second. Two. "I'm okay!" Leon announced from the floor, one hand raised with a thumbs up, still not fully moved from where he'd landed.
"Good." Robby said, already going back to the conversation like nothing had happened. "Anyway, like I was saying, the fifteen year old is the only one who actually gives me gray hairs."
Dennis stood there, halfway between the couch and the door, his heart still pounding from the false alarm, looking at Robby with a mix of disbelief and something he couldn't quite name.
"That's it?" he finally asked. "You're not even going to check him?"
"He's been doing that for a month." Robby shrugged. "If something broke, we'd know. This kid doesn't shut up even when it actually hurts."
Hazel, after handing Pickles off to Trinity, used the moment while the adults were distracted by Leo's little show to sneak quietly toward the kitchen table.
She almost made it. She reached for the half open pizza box, but stepping back she bumped into a chair leg and completely lost her balance, hitting the floor with a thud, the slice landing face down right next to her.
"Oops." Hazel said, without a trace of embarrassment, already propping herself up on her elbows to inspect the fallen pizza with genuine professional interest. "Five second rule?"
"Yeah, sure." Robby confirmed, without hesitating for a second, already waving her over to hurry up.
Dennis opened his mouth, ready to say something, but closed it right away. It wasn't his place. It was Robby's house, his rules, his kid, and no matter how much every fiber of his being was screaming internally at the sight, butting into how another parent raised his kids just felt, plain and simple, tacky.
So he just watched, with an expression he hoped looked neutral and probably didn't, while Hazel picked the slice up off the floor with both hands and took a triumphant bite, chewing with the satisfaction of someone who'd just won a small war.
Trinity gave Dennis a gentle elbow to the ribs. "You're biting your tongue so hard I can practically hear it." She whispered, not even trying to be subtle.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Robby, still halfway between the kitchen and the living room, turned to Dennis with his hands still covered in melted cheese from the slice he'd just handed Hazel.
"You guys staying for dinner?" he asked, with the same easy tone he'd used to offer literally everything else that week. "There's plenty of pizza. And I think I've got some salad if you're the picky type."
Neither of them got the chance to answer. Maybe Dennis had taken too long deciding whether it was a good idea, but someone else decided for them.
"They can't!" Oliver's voice cut in from the couch, with the total certainty of someone who'd been through this before. "Parents don't stay for sleepovers. That's the rule."
Everyone turned to look at him. Oliver, without a hint of embarrassment, shrugged like he was just stating a well known law.
"Amelia stays with us and you guys go do your grown up stuff."
Amelia nodded slowly from her spot on the couch, a little shyer, like she was still deciding whether she was allowed to weigh in on the rules of a tradition she was just now learning about.
"Yeah." She said quietly, not looking up much from the Joy-Con. "That's the rule."
Dennis blinked, genuinely thrown off. "Since when is that a rule?"
"Since forever." Oliver answered, with total conviction, like the concept of sleepovers had existed since the dawn of time and this was simply one of its founding laws.
Trinity let out a laugh she didn't even try to hold back. "There you go, Huckleberry. They're kicking us out."
"I wasn't planning on staying."
"Good." Amelia said, a little more confident now, almost smiling. "Because you can't."
Robby, still holding the half served slice of pizza, looked at Dennis with a smile he could barely hold back a laugh behind. "Well. There you have it. Officially kicked out by your own daughter."
"Apparently." Dennis felt kind of... confused? He wasn't sure that was exactly the right word, but what was clear was that he wasn't welcome there.
"I'll walk you two out, then." Robby set the plate down on the table and wiped his hands on the towel he had over his shoulder, that same little habit Dennis already recognized as his.
Robby walked with Dennis and Trinity to the door, leaving the noise of the living room behind them. Leo already back on the skateboard, Hazel secretly slipping Pickles a bit of pizza crust, Amelia and Oliver arguing about which game to try next.
"She's going to be in good hands." Robby said, leaning against the doorframe, in that calm tone Dennis still didn't know whether to envy or distrust. "I promise."
Dennis nodded, but didn't move right away. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper folded in fourths, holding it out without much ceremony.
Robby unfolded it, read for a second, and raised his eyebrows. "Is this a list?"
"It's just a few things." Dennis said, though the paper, now fully unfolded, practically covered Robby's whole hand. "The inhaler's in the front pocket of the backpack, along with a backup dose just in case. She had a few asthma attacks when she was younger. It's under control now, but I like to keep it close just in case. She's not allergic to anything, but she avoids dairy after seven because it messes with her sleep. And if she wakes up in the middle of the night asking for water, it's because she had a nightmare, not because she's thirsty, so she probably just needs someone to sit with her for a minute. If that happens, call me right away."
Robby kept reading in silence, and for a second something in his expression shifted, something that no longer had any teasing in it. "Dennis, this is numbered. There's an item here that says, in case of emergency, call me first, then 911, in that order."
"That's the correct order."
Trinity, standing behind them, didn't say anything, but Dennis could feel exactly the look she was giving the back of his head.
Robby folded the paper back up carefully and tucked it into his pants pocket without a single complaint, without any teasing either, which somehow made it even more unsettling.
"I'll follow every word of this." He said, with a seriousness that caught Dennis off guard. "Amelia's going to be fine, Dennis. I promise."
Dennis didn't know what his own face looked like in that moment, but a second later Robby's big hand landed on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. He couldn't help but glance down at it, maybe caught off guard by a gesture that felt a little too close for comfort.
"Come on, Huckleberry." Trinity was already pulling him by the arm toward the hallway. "Before you have a heart attack."
They said a quick goodbye, and the door to 4AB closed behind them, taking with it the echo of laughter and Hazel shrieking as she fought Leo over the remote.
Back in 4C, Trinity ordered Chinese food without really asking him first and poured herself more of the wine she still had left from earlier while they waited for it to arrive. They ate straight out of the containers, sunk into the couch, flipping through true crime documentaries without much effort, laughing as they argued over who the culprit was each time.
The front door had been left slightly ajar since they'd gotten back, just a crack. Dennis hadn't done it entirely on purpose, though he wouldn't have admitted it either way. Every once in a while, muffled by the distance, a shout or a laugh would drift over from 4AB, and that background noise, chaotic, so different from his own silence, kept him at ease. As long as he could still hear the racket on the other side, everything was fine.
At eight, while they were already onto the second bottle, the phone buzzed on the table.
Michael (Ollie's dad)
official report. all good here.
The photo showed Amelia and the rest of them sitting in the middle of the nest, a soda in one hand and the other making a little heart at the camera. Dennis stared at it longer than he would have liked to admit, until Trinity, without looking up from her own screen, said he had the face of someone who didn't know what to do with that much secondhand happiness. Dennis told her to hush and eat her noodles.
At eleven, with Trinity already dozing against the arm of the couch, the phone buzzed again. Another photo: Amelia fast asleep among the blankets and pillows, her glasses still crooked on her nose, her little fingers stained an unmistakable orange.
Michael (Ollie's dad)
she's out. fell asleep halfway through the 2nd movie, didnt have the heart to take her glasses off
night Dennis
Dennis looked at the photo for a good while, a smile he didn't bother hiding, while the documentary kept playing in the background, completely unwatched.
Two years later, the sleepovers were still happening every Friday. Except now they'd be at the house they shared together. And instead of five kids, there would be six.