Love Me Tender (A Kaimelia - Kai Bartley/Amelia Shepherd - fanfiction)

Part 25

"Hi, baby boy!" I greet Scout first, who's already reaching for me. Grabbing him from Link's arms, I notice him gaze down at my bare legs and remember what I'm wearing. Oh lord, this isn't good. "Um, hi.. What are you doing here? How did you get here?" I try to guide his attention elsewhere, while hugging Scout in my arms.

"By a plane," Link's answer is short and anything but sweet. He still manages to form a smile on his face when he turns to look at Kai and I realize that I should probably say something. "Um, Link this is.. Dr. Kai Bartley," I say and feel myself blushing already. "Kai, this is dr. Atticus Lincoln and.. well Scout obviously."

Link and Kai shake hands and I swear I can see both of them attempting to squeeze the life out of the other one. Or maybe I'm imagining things. Fiddle interrupts my thoughts by jumping up on me and trying to sniff and lick Scout's dangling feet, causing him to laugh adorably.

"Come on in," Kai invites and I shoot a grateful look in their direction. I can't imagine how awkward this must be for them, but none of that shows.

"I was actually hoping that Amelia would join us for breakfast," Link says, not moving an inch. "If you don't mind," he adds with that same smile that is obviously forced.

"Oh, um.. We were actually-" I glance over my shoulder towards the kitchen, but Kai interrupts.

"Not at all. In fact, I could use an early start at the lab," they say and send a reassuring smile in my direction. "Really, you guys catch up," Kai adds while looking at me.

I feel terrible for leaving, but Link did fly himself and my son all the way over here so I guess I should. "Yeah, okay. Um, just give me a minute to change," I nod finally and place Scout down on the ground, kneeling beside him.

"This here is Fiddle, why don't you keep him company while mommy gets dressed?" I offer and he happily agrees, patting Fiddle on the head. Link eventually enters the loft, closing the door behind him, but making sure to stay close to it.

I escape the awkwardness by heading to the bedroom and hear Kai say something else to him before following me. I turn around just in time for them to reach me and hug them tight. "I'm so sorry for this, I had no idea.." I say, feeling extremely guilty.

"It's okay. It's a nice surprise, isn't it? You've been missing Scout a lot," Kai comforts me, holding me close for a few more seconds before pulling away. "I'm gonna head out, okay? You can call me anytime."

I nod, trying to calm my nerves down and get a handle on the situation. "Yes, okay. See you later then," I manage to say with a smile and Kai gives me a quick kiss before grabbing a few things and heading back out into the main living area. I'm too nervous about this situation to fathom what they must be feeling or thinking.

I hear them exchange a few more phrases before the door opens and closes, leaving me to deal with this alone now. I would gladly take a few hours to 'change clothes' but I did actually miss Scout a lot and that is incentive enough to hurry up and put some decent clothes on.

I walk back out to the living area and smile, seeing Fiddle laying down and pawing gently at Scout, who's giggling at the dogs behavior.

"So," Link speaks out and I already dread what's to come. "How are you doing?" he asks, much to my surprise. I have kept him and my sisters updated via text messages and a few video calls to say hi to Scout as well, so he's not completely out of the loop.

"Pretty good actually, um.. I had the appointment with Tom yesterday and the MRI. He was pleased with the results. And with his own handiwork, naturally." This is an easy topic to talk about and so I ramble on to avoid us moving on to different questions.

"Did he clear you for flying too?" he asks, catching me off guard. I feel guilty immediately, knowing what Link is thinking. I was just going to wait a few more days.. But that's not going to be enough for him.

"Well technically, yes. But he did say that he was going to Seattle for some work related stuff and we could catch the same flight so he'd be there just in case anything happens," I say a little white lie. Okay, it's a big lie, but I can't just tell Link that I don't want to step back into reality. I'm tired of fighting with him.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Well, you could fly back with us," he offers with a smile and a part of me wonders if this is why he came here. To take me back home? Is Seattle even home at this point..

"Yeah, I guess I could," I say a vague answer, but Link seems to switch to a better mood at that and I instantly regret my words. "Anyway, how about breakfast then?" I change the topic and grab Scout in my lap, him protesting a bit because Fiddle is left behind.

"Yeah, I saw a cafe on the way here that we could grab a bite at," Link nods and opens the door for us, looking over the apartment once more. "Nice place you have here," he comments and I sigh to myself. Just had to say something, didn't he.

--

It takes him two bites of the breakfast taco and one sip of coffee to bring it up. "So you're with a woman now? Isn't that a bit.. much?" Link tries to sound neutral, but I can sense other emotions coming off of him.

I look at Scout who is happily stuffing his little face with tiny pancake bites. I don't want to argue in front of him, so I have to be very mindful of my words. "They're actually nonbinary so.." I start explaining, but Link already furrows his eyebrows so I decide to let that one go for now.

"I'm free to date who I want and so are you and I really don't want to make this huge thing out of it," I say then, grabbing my coffee and taking a sip. Kai's is better and my mind drifts to them, wondering what they really think about all this. I definitely wouldn't be super happy if their ex showed up at our doorstep. Their.. doorstep. It's not my home even if it feels like one.

"I just figured that maybe you'd have changed your mind," Link shrugs, taking a sip of his drink as well. Looks like we've both lost our appetite. "You did say that the last time you made decisions based on your tumor, so I-"

I can't listen to this any longer so I cut him off quite harshly. "My answer is still no. Nothing has changed for me." I lean back in my seat, hoping that he'll understand and let it go. But his face shows determination and I'm already exhausted of this conversation.

"So what you're saying is that you came here, found someone new and.. what? This is your life now?" he keeps pushing on. "I thought this whole time that you were staying at a hotel or something so imagine my surprise when Meredith gave me that address."

Like it's my fault that he decided to show up here and barge in. I look at Scout, trying to feel happy about them being here. I did miss him, a lot. I grab him from his high chair and set him down in my lap instead, finding comfort in being close to him.

"I don't have answers for you, Link. I'm just going day by day right now. I will be continuing with the research anyway so I'll be coming here weekly. But I'm not moving here." Yet, I add in my head and then shake my head. Maybe not ever. I honestly don't know anything at this point. And Link is making me question the little I do know.

I mean, I'm living together with Kai but what are we? What do they want out of this? It's not like we've talked about this. And the more I think, the more nervous I get. Luckily Link finally decides to move onto a different topic, probably not wanting to get into an argument either. And so we chat about Seattle, my mind still wandering back to the questions in my head. A lot to figure out there.