"So, I need to talk to you," Erin met Maggie, Meredith and Amelia at the coffee cart the next day.
"Sure," Maggie nodded. "Everything okay?" she asked.
"Did you fall on your hip?" Amelia said.
"No, I did not fall on my hip," Erin said.
"So, that bang last night was you..." Meredith smirked.
"That was me falling onto my ass when Arizona dropped the shampoo bottle and told me to get it," Erin said.
"No sex?" Maggie said.
"Not in the shower," Erin shook her head.
"Right. So, what do you need to talk to us about?" Meredith said.
"Arizona and I were talking last night, and we kind of got onto the topic of babies and why she wanted another, but I said no, 'cause there's loads of shit that says it isn't the right time and four kids is a lot of kids to have pushed out of my vagina. I can't have five kids, right? And, let's face it, the universe hates me and I'll probably get slammed with triplets, next, so that's seven babies I've brought into this world. Eight if you include my dead daughter," Erin rambled.
The three sisters stared at her for a few seconds.
"And we're involved in this how?" Meredith said slowly.
"There's barely any room in the house. We were thinking of getting an extension. Two of them. One above the garage to add another room onto our floor, and another extension at the back that gives us like, two more rooms upstairs and another in the attic. It'll be way better for the kids growing up," Erin said.
"I'm down. Call a contractor and tell me how much," Meredith said.
"I'm down, too," Maggie nodded. "If that's okay?" she said.
"You live there, you get votes. It's like the wall thing," Meredith waved her hand. "Amelia?" she said.
"I'm down," Amelia shrugged. "But I am not doing any of the work," she said.
"Wouldn't ask you to," Erin grinned. "I'll call tomorrow," she said.
"Sounds good," Meredith smiled. "But, if we get this extension, you know she's gonna keep asking for this baby, right?" she said.
"I know, but it's not happening. Not now, anyway. Four babies is so many babies already. And we have your three in the house. Eight kids isn't a good idea with four adults," Erin said.
"Well, two kids per adult. It works," Amelia said.
"You're not helping," Erin pointed at either of them. "Maggie, be on my side, 'cause these two aren't, and I need some support," she said.
"Well-" Maggie started.
"Nope. No more babies. All done," Erin shook her head. "My vagina is done," she said.
"You could do a c-section-" Meredith started.
"Goodbye!" Erin laughed, walking away from her sisters to get back to work.
"You didn't even get your coffee!" Amelia yelled after her.
"I'll get it somewhere without the baby talk!" Erin smirked, waving as she disappeared around a corner.
"Callie's moving to New York with Penny," Arizona greeted Erin, Meredith, Amelia and Maggie at dinner the next evening. "And taking Sofia, obviously," she said.
"Oh," they said.
"Why?" Erin asked.
"Penny got the Preminger Grant," Meredith said.
"Oh, shit, right," Erin nodded. "Good for her," she said.
"She said she'll come back and bring her to visit, the kids can facetime all the time and we can go and visit, too," Arizona said.
"Can't fly with a baby," Amelia said.
"The twins are old enough to fly," Erin said.
"I meant a newborn baby," Amelia said.
"Amelia," Meredith hissed, elbowing her in the stomach. "Not our business," she whispered.
"We're not having another baby," Erin said, glaring slightly at Amelia.
"It's-" Amelia started.
"Amelia, please don't," Arizona said. "We decided it's not the right time for another baby, and that's okay," she said.
She leaned over and kissed Erin's cheek, silently reassuring her she was with her on this.
"Okay," Amelia shrugged. "It's just... I kinda think the next one should be my godbaby," she said.
"You already have one," Meredith said.
"We both have one. That's the only way it's fair," Maggie said.
"I, technically, don't have any," Meredith said.
"They go to you before anyone, you idiot," Arizona laughed.
"Well, I know, but I don't have-" Meredith started.
"Guys, can we stop fighting over babies and focus on dinner?" Erin laughed.
"We're not fighting," Maggie said, grabbing a handful of chips out of a takeaway container.
"We should really start cooking instead of getting takeout, though. I'm starting to feel fat," Meredith said.
"Agreed," Amelia nodded. Erin rolled her eyes fondly.
"You two are ridiculous," she said.
"You love us," they sang.
"Oh my god," Erin groaned, resting her head against Arizona's shoulder. "I've created a monstrous sister team," she said.
"You know, I had one of the interns ask me today if we were in some like, weird lesbian sister incest ring," Amelia said.
"What did you tell them?" Arizona said.
"I told them that they should mind their own business, but yeah, we are," Amelia smirked.
"That's why I got that weird look today," Arizona said.
"I had people whispering about me," Maggie said. "All makes sense now," she said.
Erin and Meredith shared a look.
"This was your idea, to move them in," Meredith said.
"Well, I'm the baby. You're supposed to tell me no when I ask things like that," Erin said.
"You're the one who begged me!" Meredith said.
"They help with the kids and do our housework, and they're kind of our sisters. We couldn't have said no," Erin said.
"Rude," Amelia rolled her eyes. "I guess we love you anyway, guys," she said.
"We love you, too," Erin and Meredith smirked.
"But seriously, this takeaway thing? It has to stop," Amelia said.
"Agreed," the other four sighed.
"Did you brush all of them?" Erin asked Zola and Archie as she did Zola's hair for school in the bathroom, filled with Meredith, Ellis and Rueben, too. Maggie and Amelia were on Bailey and twin duties, while Arizona had been paged for an early surgery that morning.
"Yes," they chorused.
"Let me see," Erin said.
They turned to her and grinned, showing their clean teeth.
"Good kids. Keep brushing," Erin smiled.
"And left," Meredith said, helping Rueben put his shoes on while she held baby Ellis on her hip. "Maggie, where's-" Meredith started.
"We're here. Found them," Maggie hurried into the bathroom with Bailey on her hip, his shoes in her hand.
"Where?" Meredith asked, moving Rueben so Bailey could sit on the bench beside him.
"They were under my pillow. Someone crawled into bed with me last night," Maggie grinned at Bailey, who smiled innocently back.
"Who's crawling into whose bed? Is DeLuca here?" Amelia walked into the bathroom, Natalie and Jasmine on each hip in their clothes for daycare.
"Ha! Definitely not," Maggie laughed.
"It's the wrong foot," Bailey held up his foot with a pout.
"Ah!" Maggie teased, quickly fixing his shoe for him.
"You know we're becoming like cat ladies, and the children are our cats," Meredith said.
"I'm not a cat lady just because I stopped having se-" Maggie started.
"Read the room," Meredith and Erin chorused, Erin tying the bobble into the end of Zola's braid before grabbing the comb to start on Archie's hair.
"Yeah," Amelia smirked.
"S-E-X with DeLuca," Maggie finished.
"Hey, mama?" Archie looked at Erin as she did his hair.
"Yes, little man?" Erin smiled at him through the mirror.
"Why did Aunt Maggie stop having S-E-X with DeLuca?" he said.
Erin looked over her shoulder at Maggie with a smirk before turning back to her son.
"Because he couldn't handle that she was his B-O-S-S. Do not ever date anyone who can't handle your P-O-W-E-R. That goes for all of you kids, alright?" Erin looked between Archie and Zola, to Bailey and Rueben, then to Ellis, Natalie and Jasmine.
"Okay," Zola and Archie grinned.
"Time for school," Erin said, ushering the kids out of the door to go downstairs.
"They just pick up everything," Amelia mumbled as she passed.
"Tell me about it," Erin muttered back.
"Erin, someone is at the front desk for you," nurse Jenny spoke into the phone.
Erin looked up from the charts she was looking over with a frown. Arizona was beside her, looking over her own charts, while Alex was in emergency surgery with Owen after a little boy had shot his best friend.
"What?" Erin said.
"There's two women at the front desk wanting to speak to you," Jenny said.
"About what?" Erin asked. Jenny shrugged.
"They didn't say. Front desk just said they know you and asked for you by name," Jenny said.
"Do you think I'm gonna get shot if I go?" Erin whispered to Arizona.
"They wouldn't have gotten through the metal detectors," Arizona said. Her pager beeped and she winced. "I have a mom with abdominal pain. Will you be okay on your own? I can page Wilson to go with you," Arizona said.
"You called?" Jo appeared at their side within seconds.
"I thought you were in surgery with Alex," Erin said.
"It finished twenty minutes ago. I was bringing you a coffee so you'll let me stay with you for the rest of my shift instead of going to the pit," Jo said.
"Perfect! She can stay with you and deliver me an update when we know who it is," Arizona grinned.
She kissed Erin quickly and disappeared down the hallway. Erin looked at Jo.
"I guess we're going to find out who's trying to visit me," Erin said.
"Any ideas?" Jo said.
"I thought Jesse and his husband or soon to be ex husband, but Jenny said it was two women, so now I'm thinking maybe some of his sisters or his mom? Or maybe it's Rob's mom or sisters," Erin said, leading Jo down the hallway.
"Rob?" Jo asked.
"Remember when Chest Peckwell happened and you spent the night at our place, and I told you I understand more than you could ever know?" Erin said.
"I thought that was about your mom. Alex said you never had a good relationship with her and that's why he loves seeing you as a mom with the kids," Jo said.
"I didn't have a good relationship with her, but it's not about Ellis. It's about Rob," Erin said.
"Oh," Jo said. "Well, I'm not afraid to attack whoever it is," she said.
"Thank you, Wilson," Erin smiled.
"Hey, you called and said two women were here to see me?" Erin looked at nurse Katy at the front desk.
"Right. They're over there," Katy pointed over at some seats.
Erin looked over and squinted. One of the women had red hair and the other had black hair. They each had a kid on their laps, a little boy with black hair and a little girl with red hair.
"I have no idea who they are," she said.
"I'm serious. I'll fight them," Jo said.
"Hold your horses, Mike Tyson," Erin said. "We'll just go and ask who they are and why they want to see us and then decide whether or not to hit them."
"We need a signal, for if you want us to hit them. One they won't pick up on," Jo whispered.
"Wait, they have kids. We can't hit them around their moms," Erin whispered.
"Screw the kids. They're not yours, so who cares?" Jo said.
"I care. I'm a pediatric surgeon. I love kids," Erin said.
"Well, then, we won't hit them! God, can we just go and find out what they want?" Jo whined.
Erin laughed and tugged Jo towards the women, brushing her scrubs down and pulling her ponytail over one shoulder.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Erin Grey. I got a call you guys were here to visit me," Erin said.
The kids looked up at Erin and then at each other with a grin.
"Hi, Erin. I'm Kaitlyn Edwards and this is my wife, Brianna Edwards. These are our kids, Jack and Lydia," the black haired woman said.
Erin frowned. Kaitlyn and Brianna were familiar names, but why?
"I have a feeling I know you from somewhere, but I don't know where," Erin said.
"I used to be married to Jesse," Kaitlyn said.
Jo choked on her air and Erin turned to glare at her.
"Will you stop?" Erin whispered.
"I'm sorry. It's just... both of Jesse's exes have married and had kids with women, and Jesse had a kid with a man, and it's making me laugh that all of you did that," Jo laughed.
Brianna and Kaitlyn laughed, and Erin couldn't help but join in.
"This is Dr. Jo Wilson. She's basically like my kid, at this point," Erin said, Jo giving her a sweet smile.
"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Wilson," Brianna smiled.
"Is everything okay? Are you guys here because of Jesse?" Erin asked.
"No. Uh, is there any chance we could go somewhere more private?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Of course. We can go to my office on the pediatric floor. We can put the kids in the daycare, too, if you want to?" Erin said, motioning for them to follow her.
"That'd be great, thank you," Kaitlyn smiled.
"So, what can I help you guys with?" Erin asked, settling herself behind her desk. Kaitlyn and Brianna shared a look before producing a thick medical file from Brianna's bag.
"Lydia has a hernia condition. This is everything there is to know about it and her condition, but right now, they're saying this is a part of life we'll have to get used to and that Lydia will die before she's thirty because of the strain on her body. There's no treatment that'll stop it because we don't know why it's happening," Brianna explained.
Erin opened the file and quickly scanned over the information, flicking through the piles of notes and the scan photos and the surgical reports. She would read them properly later and annotate them, write everything she was thinking onto a page before she bounced ideas off her wife and Alex, but she needed a quick idea of what's going on right now.
"We know that you're very busy. You're double board certified in pediatrics and fetal medicine, and you're one of the best surgeons around. We know that we have no right to ask you this, considering the fact we share an ex," Kaitlyn broke off, looking at her lap as she started crying.
Brianna squeezed her hand.
"We need the best doctor on Lydia's case. You're curing cancer and raising four kids, you're one of the top surgeons in America and you pioneered an entire surgical method in fetal surgery in your intern year. You're the best chance we have of curing our little girl, and we have no right to ask this of you, but we have to. We have to give our little girl the best chance at a happy life," Brianna said.
"I understand completely. I would do the same if it was one of my kids, so don't feel ashamed about asking. And I'd love to help," Erin said immediately. "How long ago did she get scans?" Erin said.
"Two weeks ago. They're at the front of the file," Brianna said.
"When was her last surgery?" Erin asked.
"Two months ago. We usually make it six months between hernias, but she's complaining of chest pain again, so we think one might be forming," Kaitlyn said.
"I'm going to admit her temporarily as a patient and send her for a full body scan and full set of labs, just so we have all the updated information, but she should be fine to go home later if the hernia is in it's early stages," Erin said.
"Thank you, Erin," Kaitlyn whispered.
"I haven't done anything, yet," Erin smiled.
"You're helping. That's more than we can ask for," Brianna said.
Erin smiled and stood up, tucking the file under her arm.
"I'm going to have Dr. Wilson assist me with Lydia's case. I left her in the daycare to stay with them so they would feel a bit more comfortable. She'll have Lydia admitted while I look over everything and check up on a few other patients and then I'll be back to discuss the results later," Erin said.
She led them down the hallway of the pediatric floor to the daycare and opened the doors.
"Jo!" she said.
Jo looked over and smiled.
"Lydia, Jack, your moms are back," Jo said.
Jack and Lydia ran over to their moms and hugged them while Jo followed Erin into the hallway.
"We're admitting Lydia for tests. She needs a full body CT, and one in contrast, and then I want you to run a full panel of labs. She has a hernia condition with no way to treat it and she's getting around two surgeries a year. She's eight, so, it's not looking good. They don't think she'll live past thirty, either," Erin muttered quietly, showing Jo the file.
"And they want you to find a cure?" Jo asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," Erin said.
"Well, hernias are probably easier than cancer, and you're curing that," Jo smiled positively. "I'll get her admitted and down for tests now," she said.
"Thank you. Page me when you get either of the results and I'll meet you there," Erin said.
"Okay," Jo smiled, heading back into the daycare to get Lydia.
"What is it?" Erin ran into the CT booth an hour later after Jo paged her 911.
"Look at this," Jo pointed at the image on the screen. "She has a diaphragmatic hernia and her stomach is pushing up into her chest through the hole," she said.
Erin winced as she looked at the image on the screen.
"This is bad. Worse than I thought it would be. She's gone from six months between them to two months with one this bad?" Erin said.
"What do we do?" Jo asked.
"Get her out of the machine and back to her room, give her some medication for the pain if she wants it, then page Alex and Arizona and tell them to meet me in the pediatric CT lab," Erin said, pressing the print button for the scans.
"What do I tell Kaitlyn and Brianna?" Jo said.
"You tell them I'm looking over the results and will be up soon," Erin said.
She grabbed the scans and hurried out of the booth, heading to the elevator so she could go to examine the scans in the lab.
"Hey, what's up?" Arizona and Alex walked into the lab twenty minutes later.
"So, Jesse's ex wife Kaitlyn and her new wife Brianna came to visit. This is their eight year old daughter's chest. She has a hernia condition, has been getting surgery every six months, but it's only been two months since her last one and her stomach is breaking through the diaphragm," Erin said.
"We're going to have to operate. If it gets any further in, it'll push on her left lung send her entire cardiac system into failure within days because it'll be working overtime," Alex said.
"I know, but there's no treatment to this condition. There's no cure. We can operate, but it'll just keep happening. We're going to have to make a plan after this surgery," Erin said.
"We can't make an accurate plan until we've seen the state of her diaphragm. Have all the hernias been diaphragmatic?" Arizona said, picking up the file on the table.
"Every single one. Her diaphragm must be bad, but I don't think anyone has ever done a transplant for diaphragms, so we have no idea if that's even an option for her," Erin said.
"Well, we'll get in there and see what we're working with. As long as we fix this today and make her stable, we have some time to read everything and make concrete plans on where we can go from here," Alex said.
"I need both of you in there with me," Erin said, looking at them with panicked eyes. "It's Jesse's ex-wife's kid and I thought operating on Jesse's actual son was bad, but this is way worse! I can't let this kid die!" Erin hissed.
"We'll be there," Arizona said, wrapping Erin into a hug. "Alex is going to go and get you a coffee and we are going to explain that we need to take Lydia into surgery and that we'll make a plan for her diaphragm once we know what we're dealing with," Arizona said.
"Okay. Thank you," Erin whispered.
"Of course. I'll text Mer, Maggie and Amelia and see if they can take our brood home while we do this," Arizona said.
"Okay," Erin nodded.