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"Doctors?" The nurse held her hand against the speaker of the phone. Amelia and Link both glanced up. "It's daycare calling; your son threw up and is now running a fever."
"Really, Scout?" Amelia groaned softly, looking down at the spine below her and the orthopedic surgeon across from her. "The one day we have a big surgery, he gets sick?"
"Neither of us can leave right now."
"Okay, Meredith's in Minnesota, Maggie's in surgery. Is Jo available?" Amelia made eye contact with Link and raised her eyebrows.
"She's already out sick today," he mumbled, meeting her eyes.
"Winston?"
"In the O.R. with Maggie."
"Crap," Amelia sighed, "Nico?" Link looked up to the gallery.
"He's on vacation with Schmitt." The O.R. was silent for a moment before Link sighed. "Can Bartley take him?" Amelia's jaw dropped below her mask, and she looked up at her partner in the gallery, who had stood up at the sound of their name.
"Kai?"
"I'm fine if you're both comfortable with it," they spoke as they turned on the speaker, waiting for confirmation.
"It's fine, Amelia," Link busied his hands again. "They know him, and I don't want to make one of our random coworkers care for him for a few hours while he's sick." He quickly glanced up at Kai. "Thank you."
"It's no problem. I've always wanted to get puked on by a toddler."
"You can grab my keys from my bag in the lounge and take him home." They gave a thumbs up. "Thank you, Kai." Amelia pursed her lips as her partner left the gallery, and she rolled her shoulders before turning back to the patient below her. Her gaze flickered between the patient and Link across from her. "Thank you." He raised his eyebrows. "For letting Kai take him." He shrugged.
"Someone needed to."
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"Hey," Amelia muttered, pushing the door to her apartment open and rushing forward to Kai. They were holding Scout, whose face was puffy and red as he gripped tightly to the collar of their sweater. "I'm really sorry, I-"
"Don't worry," Kai smiled, rocking back and forth slowly. "There's been a lot of crying, some screaming, a bit of puking, and zero sleep so far. Don't come too close to me because I definitely smell like puke." Scout tightened his grip on their sweater, balling up the fabric in his hand and sniffling softly. They ran a hand through his hair. "Fever's coming down, and he drank some water and ate a few cheerios. He hasn't puked in the past," they glanced at the clock above the stove, "two hours and thirteen minutes."
"You're really on top of this, huh?" Kai grinned.
"Just taking care of the little guy." They looked down at him.
"You want me to take him? You can go shower, and then we'll switch again so that I can shower."
"That is the most beautiful idea I have ever heard," they muttered, eagerly pulling their sweater off. "Let me throw this in the wash first." She followed them down the hallway, bouncing Scout up and down gently as he laid his head on her shoulder. "How'd surgery turn out?"
"Perfectly," Amelia smiled, leaning her head against her son's. "I mean, granted that I was distracted by being super worried about this guy, and so was Link, but the patient should make a full recovery."
"I told you it'd go well," Kai smiled back at her as they threw their sweater into the washing machine. "I'm surprised Link was okay with me taking Scout." Amelia shrugged.
"I think he's gotten over his initial anger," she muttered, brushing Scout's hair away from his face. "He's realized you're not a terrible person and that I wouldn't bring someone into Scout's life this way on a limb." The neurosurgeon pursed her lips. "Go shower," she waved her hand towards the bathroom, "I wanna crawl into bed with you when you don't smell like-"
"Sweat and baby puke? Yeah," Kai laughed and quickly leaned over to press a kiss to Scout's head before waving as they walked into the bathroom.
She strolled over to the counter to pick up the thermometer, taking off the cap and coaxing Scout into opening his mouth. His nose scrunched as they waited, and she removed the thermometer. "100.7," Amelia whispered, "you're getting there." She carefully strolled through the kitchen and filled a sippy cup with water along with a small bowl of cheerios, balancing her son and food as they headed into Scout's bedroom.
She lowered herself into the rocking chair, turning on the lamp to brighten up the space slightly, and she gently rocked back and forth, occasionally offering her son some water.
The door pushed open slowly to reveal Kai, scrunching their damp hair with a towel as they smiled warmly at Amelia.
"How's he doing?"
"I think we're finally almost asleep," Amelia exhaled. "He's been drinking water and keeping cheerios down, and our eyes keep closing. I wanna put him down, but I'm worried he'll just wake right up." They approached the rocking chair and kneeled, setting a hand on their girlfriend's knee.
"You look exhausted."
"I am," she sighed. "I just want to know that he's okay." They squeezed her knee gently.
"Let me take him for a little longer? I'll do my best to get him settled in bed, and you can go take a hot shower before coming in to say goodnight." Her mouth tightened.
"It might be irrational, but I'm a little scared that he's going to throw up in his sleep and-" Her voice halted, and she glanced up at the ceiling.
"How about we put him in the crib so he can sleep, but we can stay in here for a while. We can make a pillow fort and get comfortable while still being close enough in case he needs you."
"Okay," she agreed softly, handing Scout to Kai as they stood. "Just shout if you need me, okay?"
"Gotcha."
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"So," Amelia whispered, handing Kai the bowl of chips as she lowered herself onto the blanket folded up to make a cushion, leaning her back against Scout's dresser. "I thought you didn't want kids." Kai shrugged and took a chip, making sure to eat quietly to not disturb the toddler.
"Things can change."
"I don't want to force you into something you don't want. This is my life, sitting here and spending most of my time with him. It's not exactly the sexiest thing ever."
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want this. He's not something I had planned or thought would be in my life, but now he is." She bit the inside of her cheek and turned her head to meet their eyes. "He's a pretty cute kid."
"Mhm," she sighed, leaning her head onto their shoulder.
"And he's got a pretty cute mom." Amelia rolled her eyes and laughed softly, reaching to their hands folded in their lap to intertwine their fingers. "You can get some sleep, and I'll keep an eye on him."
"You need to sleep, too. We can take turns watching him. Wake me up in an hour or two."
"Got it." They leaned their head against hers, rubbing gentle patterns on her skin as her breathing settled until the room was only filled with the sounds of quiet breaths.
Kai carefully adjusted the blanket around their bodies and picked up their phone, scrolling through and occasionally glancing up at Scout sleeping pleasantly without any intention of waking Amelia up.