The thing people forget is how good it can feel when you finally set secrets free. Whether good or bad, at least they're out in the open. Like it or not. And once your secrets are out in the open, you don't have to hide behind them.
-Meredith Grey
Water ran warmly on her hands as she scrubbed out of her surgery. Wiping away the excess liquid and turning off the sink, she pulled her scrub cap off and took out her phone. No immediate messages - good. Webber gave her a nod as he came out as well.
"Monitor her post-op. Good work, Moore."
"Thank you, sir." The elder surgeon headed down the hall with her as they headed for elevator.
"Where are you off to next?" he asked curiously and she opened her schedule on her phone. Leaning over, Webber made a noise of approval. "Catching up on hours in your other services. I see Hunt's announcement on outcomes hasn't affected you."
"I try not to let it get to me," she admitted. "I want to keep myself busy since boards are going to come faster than I think."
"How are you balancing surgeries and being Chief Resident?"
"Well enough." Plus all the personal crap. She stared up at the lights. "Where are you going?"
"Home." He crossed his arms with a deep sigh. "I need to take a nap."
"Same here." He chuckled and she pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaustion truly weighing her down. The elevator doors opened and he exited. "Goodnight, Dr. Webber." The doors closed again and she leaned against the back of the elevator. Glancing at her phone, she let out a breath. 2:37 AM. Still on call for eight more hours.
When the elevator opened, she raised her head and got off, heading for her office. Unlocking the door, her eyebrows arched at the sleeping man on her couch. Mark snored peacefully and she smiled slightly, turning off the small lamp that was the only source of light. The room plunged into darkness and she headed out, carefully letting the door click close.
Deciding to head for an on-call room, she nearly bumped into Derek. The neurosurgeon took her by the arms, inspecting her carefully.
"Hey, Em. Have you seen Mark?"
"Yeah. He's in my office, taking up my couch." Her sour attitude could have been attributed to her lack of sleep or the fact that he took her couch. "Why?"
"Nothing. Just wanted to check up on him. Callie and I are worried."
"His dad?"
"Yeah. How's he holding up?"
"Good. Better than I'd thought," she admitted and he allowed a small smile, "Have you talked to him at all?" Running a hand over his face, the doctor shook his head guiltily.
"Since this whole thing with Meredith, it's been a bit hectic."
"Yeah, I understand." Andrew's and Carina's faces flashed in her mind. "Fifth year's starting out messy." Derek hummed thoughtfully, giving her a look. "Hey, have you ever gotten to my mom's scans?"
"Yeah. It's in the difficult spot of the brain and I need to figure out the right angle of attack." She nodded and he gave her a slight smile. "Don't worry. I'll find a way."
"You always do, Derek. I'm not worried at all." She brushed past him. "I'm going to catch up on some sleep. Night, Derek."
"Morning," he joked and she rolled her eyes, finding the closest on-call room and crashing immediately.
.
Mark woke up and raised his head, not really knowing where he was for a moment. Then he recognized it was Emily's office. Right. Getting up, he wiped away dry saliva and grabbed his lab coat. Walking out of the room, he headed down to the lobby for the coffee cart just outside the hospital as he checked his phone.
:thanks for taking up my couch mark:
:i kinda miss you though im hanging out in an oncall room atm:
:marrrkkk:
He grinned at Emily's spam of texts that spanned until almost a quarter to four. She must still be asleep somewhere. The automatic doors slid open with a whoosh and he heads for the cart.
"Bone dry capp and a pound cake." He paid quickly before standing aside to wait for his order. Sending a reply to Emily, he then checked his emails. Nothing about any conferences. Good - that meant more time with his family.
"Hey, can I have a caramel latte? Thank you." A new presence stood beside him and Mark chanced a glimpse up. A young man stood beside him with dark hair and olive skin.
"Dr. Sloan, your cappuccino." He grabbed his drink and cake, pocketing his phone.
"Wait, Dr. Sloan?" The man sounded surprised and Mark turned, pleased at hearing such a reaction after a long time. "Oh, wow, you're - you're Dr. Moore's husband." That... was not expected. He'd never been referenced as such.
"Uh, yeah? And who are you?" The starstruck expression didn't quite leave his face as Mark took a sip of his drink.
"Wow, okay, see I'm Andrew DeLuca-" And suddenly everything made sense.
"You're the brother." It slipped out of his mouth before he could retract his sentence. DeLuca was visibly confused before nodding.
"Yeah, my sister isn't right here now and-"
"No, no." The wind is light, tugging at his face as he gave the younger man a slightly bewildered smile. Mark had a vague feeling that he should stop talking but it was like his mouth was on autopilot. "You're Emily's brother. Dr. Moore's brother." The array of emotions that flew across the young man's face gave Mark the sudden feeling that he had said something that wasn't public knowledge.
"I'm what?"
"I thought you knew-"
"No, what? I don't even understand."
"Andrew, ignore what I said-"
"It can't be." There was betrayal that wove in his words as Mark took a step forward. "No, it can't be right. It doesn't make sense."
"Yo, Mark, have you seen my sister? Oh, hey, Andrew." Noah jogged up to them, a slight smile on his face upon seeing him. DeLuca gave the surgeon a treacherous look. "Did I just walk into something?"
"No. I just learned that you're my brother. Do you want to deny this fact or..." Noah's stricken face turned to Mark.
"You told him?"
"I thought he knew." The pediatric surgeon pinched the bridge of his nose and he turned to his half-brother.
"Look, Andrew, we can talk about this."
"Good. I want to talk about this." The two men turned to head inside the hospital, leaving Mark alone. A cold feeling washed over him and all he could think was that he had made a huge mistake.
.
Paged to her mom's room by her brother was not the way she imagined waking up. Her shift just ended (luckily not disrupting her sleep) and Emily adjusted the lapels of her lab coat on her way to the room. "Hey, is it about the scans?" Mr. DeLuca was standing by her mom's bedside while Carina sat on one of the seats, pinching the bridge of her nose. Andrew was pacing, thumb pinched between his lips, Noah's arms crossed over his chest. The tension was so thick it was almost suffocating.
"No, it's not. Emi—" Noah turned to her, face dark and hazel eyes clouded with an unidentifiable emotion— "it's about our family. It's best if we come clean."
"Come clean?" Confusion rang true in her voice as Andrew raked a hand through his hair and then turned to his half-sister.
"You're my sister, and you never told me?"
"Who-"
"Mark Sloan." Carina's voice was soft, dark eyes meeting Emily's with a slight glow of sympathy. As if she knew. Emily internally scowled at Mark's idiocy. "He told Andrea."
"Why is this such a big deal?" Emily stood by her brother. "You're her family anyways. We're just doctors."
"You're family and you don't even care about what happens to Mom-"
"Watch your mouth, DeLuca." Noah uncrossed his arms, taking a step forward. "Who do you think arranged for her to even be in Seattle? She's not my mother, but she was."
"So why not tell me?"
"Why tell you? We don't know each other, Andrew," Emily said, "and what if we don't want to? Noah's right. We're here only to make sure what was our mom made through surgery and make sure you don't lose your mom."
"But how is it even possible?" At this, Andrew glanced desperately at Sofia DeLuca who had been silent. "I need to understand... how you could've hid me away."
"Andrea, you have to understand, you cannot make assumptions."
"You didn't even tell me I had a brother and sister."
"We didn't know either," Noah said. "Believe me, it wasn't even knowledge to us until your mom was admitted. We haven't seen her in fourteen years, Andrew. You've got to believe that. She disappeared off our radar, basically ran away to make a new family to replace her first, screwed-up one." He sent the woman on the bed an icy glare. "You can't blame us for not telling you when the woman who kept the secret had every opportunity to tell you."
"Or maybe she's ashamed," Emily murmured, "of who her family is. Or of what she did. Why don't we ask her?" At this, all looked at her. "Or how about the father? Mr. DeLuca, did you know who we were?"
"Dad?"
"I... was informed." Carina groaned quietly, head cradled by her palm as Andrew flung out his arms in frustration. "And your mother promised to tell you, when the time came." Emily's heart swelled in sympathy. Andrew wasn't the bad guy here - he was just the clueless one made by their mother.
"Well, the time is here," Andrew remarked bitterly. "I'm going to go get a drink." At this, Emily jumped at the chance.
"The bar across the street is a good place. She uncrossed her arms, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Come on, I'll show you."
.
"So you really didn't know I existed until you met me?" Andrew asked, nursing his bottle of beer. She smirked, swirling her brandy around in the light. She downed it all and then tapped the counter for a refill.
"A bit before that," she admitted, "through a phone call."
"I see."
"I don't get why you're so mad at your mom and dad, though." She kind of got it. Keeping secrets was an unhealthy way to maintain a relationship. "Yeah, she kept us a secret, but has your life been spectacular since you met us? Your mom's got a difficult aneurysm, you find out that your family's been keeping secrets from you, and you're now drinking with your half-sister." He chuckled a bit and she sent him a slight smile.
"I guess it just doesn't make sense. Dad and her got married after I was born and I was seven by then. I just want to understand-"
"My family was happy." The liquid poured into her glass gracefully and she nodded to the bartender in thanks. "At least, I thought it was. Then I found out my dad cheated on my mom and eloped with his dirty mistress."
"That doesn't explain anything."
"My mom wasn't the same after that. I just graduated high school so I had to go away to NYC. I came back from uni to surprise my mom and our house was sold. I... it was like she just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Now, I'm guessing she went to Italy to marry your father."
"I see." The glass clattered against the wood as he let his beer drop more forcefully that what was needed, like he didn't really care.
"When I found out you existed, it didn't make sense. You were much older than what was possible, unless you're secretly fourteen under that skin." She eyed him and he arched an eyebrow. He gave her an incredulous look. "Exactly. I put two-and-two together. Carina isn't your full sibling, my mom disappeared - it made sense she was in a separate country - and you guys only share a father. Plus, you're twenty, I'm thirty-four. She cheated first. Simple math."
"So, now what?"
"What do you mean?"
"Now, with my mom." He watched the bartender take away his bottle.
"Like what I said earlier. She's not my mom but I'm not going to let her die. She's your mom now." Sipping her drink, she felt his stare on her and turned towards him, still swallowing the brandy. "What?" Her voice was muffled by the glass and she set it down.
"Nothing."
Emily waited a bit to gauge his expression before turning back. "You know, I was angry at first." She dipped her head, staring into the amber liquid. "I still am, I think. I don't even know if my dad knew that my mom cheated on him. But...you know it feels like she replaced us with you guys."
"No-"
"Come on, you guys are a perfect family. Like how I thought mine was." Andrew's hand inched closer to hers, pinkie wrapping around hers. Smiling, she tightened the grip and their fists bumped. "You know, it would be harder to hate you if you were hateable."
"You hate me?"
"No. But you're not my brother either." Making a humming sound, she got up, fishing out a few bills from her purse. "I've got you covered with the tab. Bye, Andrew. I'm sure I'll see you around."
"Goodbye, Emily." He waved and she wiggled her fingers in farewell before heading back to the hospital to pick up Everett.
.
Everett was in the stage of crying as Emily shushed him and paced around the apartment. Her hand held her phone which was scrolling through listings for new houses. Anything to take her mind off whatever was happening in the hospital.
"Ev, why are you even crying?" She threw her phone onto the couch with an exasperated cry and held her child in her arms. Immediately, he stopped crying. Frowning, she hugged him close and sat down. He held onto her face, bumping his cheek against his and she smiled. He must've realized her state. "Do you wanna read a book? We can do that." Everett peered up at her curiously and she kissed the tip of his nose. His eyes closed and he cooed, delighted.
There was a knock on the door before it opened and she raised her head in greeting. Mark slipped in, kicking off his shoes and she stood, turning around.
"How could you tell him?" she asked quietly. He froze before tossing his keys onto the counter.
"Em-"
"You told Andrew we were related." He exhaled, looking to the floor and her eyebrows fell as they knit together. "That wasn't your truth to tell."
"I thought you told him."
"I would've told you if I did!" she exclaimed, and he came towards her, hands in a placating gesture. "Mark..."
"What's wrong?" At this, he realized her anger wasn't directed at him but at something else and his hands landed on her arms. Kissing her briefly, he took Everett from her arms and she collapsed on the couch. Her head tilted back and she ran her hands over her face.
"I hate this. I hate my mom coming back. I hate her."
"Hey," he whispered, sitting down. His voice whispering across her skin, he pressed his nose against her cheek.
Tucking like a puzzle piece into his consecutive one, she let Everett crawl across their laps. "I don't hate her," she admitted. "I just... it was better when I thought she was dead." He was silent, lips pressing against her jaw and she sighed. Everett sat up in Mark's lap, grabbing for her hand. "Does that make me a bad person?"
"No, it doesn't." She turned to him, eyes at half-mast. He pressed his lips against hers and their foreheads met gently. Breathing mingled, Emily swallowed his words with a pinch of salt. Pulling away, she picked up her son who latched onto her chest. Mark reached forward for the coffee table, taking his laptop. Reclining on the couch, the two placed their feet on the table as he cracked open the computer. Unlocking it with the password of a mixture of his phone number and hers, he immediately went to the browser.
"We should do some house-hunting with Everett," Mark suggested. "He can be the deciding factor for it. See if he likes it or not, you know?" He stared after her, a soft smile on his face as he went to the website. Everett sat up, head cocked at his dad and Emily smiled. The two boys always had a knack for that, making her smile.
She hugged Mark's neck with one arm, the other steadying Everett. Kissing his nose when he turned to her, she asked "Are we finally looking at houses again?" It seemed so long ago when she proposed the idea.
"Yep. We finally have some peace and quiet." She snuggled up against him, leaning on his shoulder as he clicked on one with three bedrooms. "I was scouting this one out."
"It's nice," she approved, using the touchpad and scrollingdown, "Is there a yard 'cause I kinda want our kids to have things to doout back..."