As Helena sat in the couch, she saw Meredith sneak down the stairs. It was thanksgiving morning and all interns were supposed to help Izzie cook dinner, Helena's family joining them later in the day.
"You are sneaking out!" The short girl accused the blond.
"I... ok, yes, please don't tell Izzie." She pleaded.
Just then, the former model stopped her. "Hey. What do you think you're doing?"
"I am..." Once the doorbell rang, Meredith used it as an excuse. "Answering the door."
Looking at the woman's bag, Izzie realised. "You're going to the hospital?" Helena got up from the couch and put her book down, ready to go answer the door. "Meredith, everyone is supposed to be in the kitchen by 9 am to help me make dinner. It's thanksgiving!" She complained, Helena opening the door with a confused look, as she found three strange man staring at her.
"Is this where Georgie lives?" The older man asked.
"Georgie? O'Malley?" The short girl asked, at the man's nod she answered. "Yes, he must be upstairs."
Just then, the men barged past her, chanting out loud. "O'Malley! O-Ma-Lley!" The went up the stairs, as Helena looked at them in confusion.
"Should we call the police?" Izzie joked.
Taking to opportunity to leave, Meredith sneaks out and, at the sound of the door closing, the girls turn around. "Meredith! I'm serious, you need to be back here for dinner at six, I mean it!"
"Was that... his brothers and father?" The short girl tilted her head, bolting up the stairs to meet the boy.
"Hum, hi!" She entered the room, the men still chanting.
"Lena! This, well, my father and my brothers..." He mumbled.
"Lena? As in Helena?" The man turned around to greet her. "As in Georgie's Helena?"
"Yes, hi, that must be me." The short girl giggled as she extended her hand to the man. When he took her in for a hug, she backed away slightly but hugged him back.
"Oh, you're Lena!" One of his brother's pointed out.
"How did you get her, Georgie?" The other sibling teased as the small girl giggled and the male intern shot him an uncomfortable glare.
"So, you seems busy, I'll just leave you to...?" The girl asked, still confused.
"Shoot and kill a helpless slow moving turkey, isn't that great?" Her boyfriend answered with sarcasm as her eyes widened slightly.
"Ok... then I'll leave you to it. Just make sure to be back in time to meet my family, please, Georgie." She asked and left the room.
——
After everyone else had already left, Helena and Izzie walk around the kitchen, the shorter girl set on making some tradicional Portuguese sweets for the others to try.
"I'm so happy that we're all having dinner together, honestly, even if I've never really celebrated thanksgiving. " The shorter girl smiled at her friend. "Georgie is kind of freaking out about meeting my mom and brother though." She giggled, stirring the sweet that was on the stove.
"He'll be fine. I just hope everyone gets back in time for dinner..." The blond woman sighed.
"Ok, you're the baker so try this." The foreign girl handed her friend a spoon with a bit of the leite creme she had just poured into it's platter.
The taller woman took it to her lips and made a surprised face. "Oh, this is so good. You're gonna have to teach me the recipe."
"See, I told you, as good as your cakes are, nothing beats the traditional Portuguese sweets. Just wait until my mom brings the pudim abade de priscos she promised."
Just then, the bell rang and the girls moved to answer the door. "It's ten thirty! You're late." The blond complained.
As they noticed the man standing next to Cristina, Helena greets him. "Oh, hi, Dr. Burke."
"Hello." Izzie added, getting out of the way and allowing the couple to come in.
At the intern's questioning look, Cristina whispered between her teeth. "What was I supposed to do, blow off my boyfriend for thanksgiving? I tried to, he wouldn't blow." The younger girl giggled and the curly haired woman tuner to her. "I'm serious, Baby Genius, he's like something sticky that won't blow off..."
"Ok, he's gonna ruin thanksgiving." The blond complained.
"Oh, don't be unpleasant. He's Cristina's boyfriend, we'll make it work." The short girl whispered, bouncing slightly on her heels, with her apron still on.
"What am I supposed to talk to Dr. Burke about?" The tallest intern complained.
"People who are shocked when I show up uninvited to their homes call me Preston." They heard the man's voice behind them, Izzie giggling awkwardly and Lena's eyes widening."
"Nobody calls you Preston." Cristina crunched up her nose.
"You don't call me Preston." The man corrected. "Nice house."
As he walked away, Cristina looked around as Izzie picked up her phone. "Izzie, Baby Einstein, why is it so quiet in here?"
"Meredith sneaked out to the hospital and Georgie's family kidnapped him." She explained, rolling her eyes slightly.
"So it's just us and Preston?" The Asian woman mouthed, slightly panicked, as the blond's phone rang.
"Yeah, you don't call him Preston." The Portuguese woman shook her head, as Izzie started talking on the phone.
"Hey, Alex, it's me, where are you? Call me back." She sighed into the phone as Helena scrunched up her nose, sniffing the air around her.
"Iz, is your food burning?" She asked, running to the kitchen, Izzie following her shortly behind.
——
As they noticed the state of the food, Burke pointed out. "You've never made a thanksgiving dinner before."
"You can't cook? Izzie!" Cristina complained, furrowing her brows. "Baby Genius should have cooked, her soup's the best..."
"I only cook soup though! I've never done thanksgiving, there's a reason I didn't volunteer..."
"I'm a baker, I bake! But I've seen by grandmother cook a million times." The blond defended herself with a shrug.
"Ok, that's it. If there's no food I'm going home." Cristina complained and Helena pushed her back down.
"No, you aren't. Besides, there's Portuguese sweets and my family's coming!" The shorter girl perked up. "Oh, about that, I'm fine with your random mean comments but you talk about my little brother and I will hurt you." She looked at her friend with a harsh glare.
"Calm down, Baby Einstein, got it. Little Campos is off limits." The woman promised her and her smile came back.
"Cristina, I have this." The attending reassured. "What are you using as a reference text?"
"The Joy of cooking. I also printed some recipes from the internet but they all seem to contradict each other." The blond explained to the man. "And I can't figure out which side of the turkey is the top and which is the bottom..."
"Ok, ok..." The man washed his hands and started instructing Izzie, as if they were in the OR. The two other girls watched, Helena with a titled head and curious look and Cristina seemingly annoyed.
"I'm gonna need liquor. Lots and lots of liquor." The older woman complained as the younger one laughed at her exasperation.
——
As Helena's phone rang, she excused herself from the room. At the caller's ID, she smiled. "Georgie?"
"You have to save me, Lena. There's shotguns and liquor and... and car talk!" He complained and the girl smiled to herself. "I'm in hell and Cristina won't come get me."
"You'll be fine, Georgie, just try not to come home too late." She asked his boyfriend.
"No, Lena, I need you to come save me!" He wined.
"I can't, cause then your dad won't like me, and we need your dad to like me, am I right?" At the boys huff at the other end of the line, she giggled. "I know turkey hunting is not your thing but I can't just kidnap you!"
"Fine." He exhaled. "I love you..."
"Love you too, bye."
As she hung up, she got another call, this time from her mother.
"Mama?" She picked up.
"Hi, querida, we just heard our flight's been delayed, we'll still take a few hours to get there, ok?" She heard her mom's voice at the other end of the line.
"Oh, ok, don't worry about it, I'll let everyone know." She answered. "Have a safe flight, send kisses to Daniel." The girl hand up and walked out of the living room.
As she came back into the hallway, she found Cristina hiding in it too. "Hey, so, apparently, my family's flight has been delayed, they'll only get here later."
As the doorbell rings, the both rush to open the door, finding Joe and another man.
"Happy thanksgiving!" No wished as Helena smiled.
"Joe, thank God!" Cristina let out.
"This is my boyfriend, Walter." The man introduced.
"Hi, I'm Helena." The short girl extended her hand and Walter shook it. "It's nice to meet you."
"Whatever, tell me you brought liquor."
"I brought pie, pumpkin." The bartender extended the desert and the foreign woman thanked him.
"You're a bartender!" The woman said, exasperated.
"Did you bring scalpels?" The tall man sassed.
"Pardon her, she's just grumpy cause she can't get drunk." She said as Cristina left, leading the couple into the house. "I do have scalpels though..."
——
As Burke and Helena sit in the kitchen, the rest of the group setting the table, he asked. "So, Helena, I've just realised I don't know where you're from. I'm guessing I should, as I am about to meet your family."
"Portugal, Dr. Burke." The girl smiled at him.
"Preston." He corrected.
"Preston." She smiled. "Do you like thanksgiving?"
"I do, actually. I have a lot of memories of celebrating it in my mom's restaurant." The man answered, smiling slightly at her. "You?"
"It's not really a thing back home, so this is actually my first time celebrating. My family though they should come, as it's a good excuse to meet everyone." She answered, finishing off her last dessert.
"So, is O'Malley nervous to meet your parents?" He put down what he'd been cooking, leaning on the counter slightly.
"Mother and brother, actually, and he is, simply put, freaking out. Yesterday he kept asking me all questions about them." She giggled. "Truth be told, my mom can be a bit scary."
Just then, she heard the doorbell ring and ran to it. When she found her mom and bother at the door, she jumped in their arms with a tight hug. "Mama, Danny!"
"Oh, pequenina, I've missed you so much." Her mom answered, tears in her eyes.
"I've missed you too." She whispered in her hear, as she focused on her brother. "Danny, God, you never stop growing!" Daniel laughed and hugged her even tighter, her leg pumping slightly into his prosthetic.
As they pulled back, her mother asked in a tone of secrecy. "Where's the boyfriend?"
"Yeah, I heard we're meeting George. Then I'll actually get to make fun of you for being all smitten." He smiled at his big sister.
"Well, about that, his father and brothers sort of kidnapped him this morning. He promised he'd get here ASAP, but apparently there's some sort of turkey hunting tradition that he hates..." She explained, as she guided her family into her new home.
——
Some time later, Izzie, Burke and the Campos sit at the dinner table.
"Who's supposed to be here, again?" Her brother asked.
"That be Meredith, George, Cristina and Alex." Izzie intervened.
At her mom's slightly judging look, she explained. "You know how doctor's hours are, momma, they probably got held back at the hospital and George is probably still with his dad."
"Bem, não é a melhor primeira impressão a namorado da minha filha chegar atrasado..." Her mother complained to her daughter in Portuguese, as Burke and Izzie stared at her in confusion. ("Well, it's not the best first impression that my daughter's boyfriend is late...")
"Momma, no Portuguese at the table, come on. Besides, it was the same thing with dad, remember?" Daniel interfered, Helena shooting him a thankful look.
"They'll be here soon, don't worry." Burke reassured and rushed to change the subject. "So, Daniel, what are you studying again?"
"I'm a junior in high school. Not like my sister that, at nineteen, was halfway through med school." He joked, the attending shooting her an impressed look. "I am thinking about following finance or something of the sorts in college, though."
"Oh, not another surgeon then." He smiled at the boy. "How old are you again, Helena?"
"She's 21." Her mother answered for her. "My Lena's always been really smart, but imagine our surprise when we found out her IQ was a couple of points higher than Einstein's!"
The short girl giggled at the conversation, Izzie shooting her an anxious look. "They'll show." Lena whispered to her friend.
Just then, George and Cristina came through the door, Helena standing up with a jump. "Momma, Danny, this is Georgie and Cristina."
After introductions were made and they sat back down, George sat next to Helena, the girl extending his hand in comfort, as her mother stared at the boy harshly. Lena's boyfriend shifted slightly in his seat, clearly intimidated by the woman.
"So, George, you're late." She accused.
"Momma!" Helena protested, as her brother watched in amusement.
"Yes, hum, ma'am, my... my brother... he shot my dad in... in the... hum, in the butt and I... I took him to the hospital... I'm so very... I'm sorry ma'am." He mustered up, turning redder by the second as Helena squeezed his hand.
"Fine, then." She took a sip of water. "Just so we're understood, if you hurt Lena I will make you regret it, understood?" The woman threatened, her face stoic.
"Hum... yes... yes, ma'am." He gulped, Helena's eyes wide open.
"Ok then." The mother's face relaxed into a smile. "Now that I've scared you, I can be nice." George let out a breath as Daniel chuckled out loud and Cristina tried to hide her smirk.
"I brought booze." Cristina announced, putting some wine on top of the table.
"Ok, then, let's... let's just eat." Izzie announced and trays started going around, the table full of stories about their time at the hospital and Helena's childhood.
——
At the end of the day, George and Daniel chatted as Helena and Ana, her mother, watched. The boy had seemed to enjoy the man's company.
"He seems like a nice boy, Lena." Her mother commented. "He gets along with Danny, too."
"He is. I know you usually give my my partners a hard time, and I appreciate that you are protective. But he's like my best friend, momma. Even if we weren't dating I'd still want him in my life. I really do like him, you know." The girl told her as her mother pulled her into a hug.
"Then I like him too, pequenina."
——
Word count: 2489
AN:
Ok, I know I'm a bit biased since I wrote the character, but I really enjoyed Daniel. Would you like to see more of his of the Campos in general on the future? Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, the GIF at the beginning of the chapter is supposed to be Daniel.