In the weeks after the accident, Amelia gave Owen space. Space to deal with parenthood being violently shoved onto him, after the death of his friends. Space to grieve Jenna and Leo ... in whatever way he processed grief. She had no advice for him. No good advice, anyways. Losing Derek had led to a relapse, after all. She worried that Owen might start drinking heavily but according to Meredith, he was doing okay.

She wrote him a note and slipped it into his mailbox. It was lame, but she wanted to express her sincere condolences. All she could give him was ink on paper. And space.

So he learned to parent his surprise daughter on his own. Amelia knew he'd be a good father. He certainly always had words of wisdom for her, and he had given her many an epic speech. Even when she was stubbornly fighting his attempts to "fix" her, she knew he was right. And she was wrong about so many things. It was better to stay away.

Then Owen returned from sabbatical a changed man. He greeted her with a polite smile, instead of that pained expression she had grown accustomed to. It was like ... he had truly moved on. And that cut her like a knife.

She thought that seeing him with his new daughter would rip her apart. Proof that they would never be together again. But the day that he brought Heidi to the hospital... that was the day that Amelia began to have hope.

It was stupid Karev's fault. He caught her watching Owen proudly present the baby to Arizona and Maggie. They oohed and ahhed over her while she smiled from ear-to-ear. Amelia stood yards away, clutching a tablet and unable to tear her eyes away.

"You know," Alex lightly coughed. "Hunt is a really good father to that little girl."

"I know," she muttered. "That's the daughter of his best friends, of course he's going to give her the very best in everything."

"It doesn't seem to bother him that they don't share DNA." Alex glanced at her. "Maybe you don't have to have a baby..."

Stunned, she stared at Alex. He smiled briefly before walking away.

Alex had ruined everything. Because now Amelia was drawn to Owen, all over again. It was pathetic. She started obsessively checking his Facebook profile, for every new photo he would post of Heidi. He took the most adorable selfies with her, damn it. And he had never been one for selfies.

The worst was that Amelia could see herself in those pictures, making a happy little family of three. But she wasn't really in them. So she 'liked' the pictures, to show that she was okay with his new situation. He continued to be cordial at work, so ... he didn't hate her, right? He never mentioned divorcing her .. so there was still hope, right?

Ever so subtly, Amelia tried to insert herself into his life again. She would manipulate cases and surgeries to spend more time with him. Sometimes she would drive by the house on the weekends, hoping to see him playing outside with Heidi. She started wearing her wedding ring again. He didn't seem to notice.

It was Meredith who tried to crush her fragile hopes and dreams. Of course it was. They were driving home from the hospital and Meredith just had to interfere.

"Amelia, I think you need a new hobby," Meredith said. Their eyes met in the rearview mirror. "Stalking Owen isn't healthy."

Maggie choked on her coffee while Amelia fumed. "I am not-"

"Oh yes you are." Maggie wiped her chin clean. "That burn victim this morning didn't need a Neuro consult, come on."

"What, I'm supposed to stop caring about him?" Amelia protested. "He's my husband, Leo and Jenna were my friends too-"

"You didn't even go to the funeral!" Meredith rolled her eyes.

"... because he was in shock and I don't know how to deal with death ..." Amelia scowled. "Okay, fine. I want him back. Happy?"

"No," her so-called sisters said in unison. Then they laughed and bumped fists with each other while she pouted in the backseat.

"I don't understand why you wouldn't make a baby with him," Maggie said. "I mean, we've seen him naked. We've all seen that he has the right equipment for the job."

Meredith howled. Amelia kicked the back of her seat.

"In fact, you've ... experienced his manhood," Maggie continued. "And from the sounds we couldn't help but overhear, you enjoyed his-"

"And here we are," Meredith said, pulling into her driveway. "Enough about Owen's penis." She paused. "I don't understand why Cristina is in Zurich."

The following Saturday, Amelia found herself driving in his neighborhood again. It really was a good place to raise a child. Low crime rate, excellent schools ... she felt a deep pang inside. And she turned the corner that led to his house.

Owen was doing yardwork with the baby strapped to his back. She slowed down. He looked up and their eyes met. Crunch.

Amelia gasped and looked in front of her. She'd run into the back of his truck, which was parked on the side of the street. Her hood was crumpled.

"Oh God oh God oh God." She clutched her head and closed her eyes. I am pathetic.

Owen knocked on her window so she rolled it down.

"You okay?" His voice was full of concern. He was wearing a denim shirt that really brought out the blue in his eyes. Heidi stared at her over Owen's shoulder.

"Uh huh." Amelia winced. "I am so sorry ..."

"I think my bumper will be fine." He walked over and assessed the damage. "It's just a few scratches. Now your car ..."

Amelia lightly banged her head on the steering wheel. Stupid stupid stupid.

"Don't do that." Owen gestured for her to back up, so she did. He looked at the front of her car and shook his head. "Did you get collision coverage like I told you to?"

She sighed and shook her head.

"Come on inside." He turned and walked towards the door. Amelia meekly followed.

He poured her a glass of water, then unstrapped Heidi. Amelia sipped the cool liquid, as Owen heated up a bottle. She sat and watched while he fed his child.

Owen deftly burped the baby, then kissed her cheeks. Amelia smiled at the scene in front of her. He was made for this.

"So why are you here?" Owen's tone was neutral.

"I thought I would ... come by and say 'hi'...She lifted up her glass. "We could ... have some water together?" She smiled, hoping to rekindle a happy memory.

He raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you stop the eighteen other times you have driven by this house in the last two months?"

Oh crap. Amelia breathed in deeply. And decided to go for it.

"I miss you," she blurted out. "And ... I wanted to see how you were doing, with the baby, who is adorable by the way. You take good care of her."

"She's my family now." He cradled the baby, who was looking sleepy.

"And who am I to you? Am I still your family?"

He stared at her in surprise. She tried to patiently wait for him to say something.

He looked away first. "No. No, you're not."

"You haven't filed for divorce-"

"-Because a drunk driver took away two very good people and I owe it to them to make their daughter the center of my universe. I've been busy." He snorted. "You left. You stopped being my family when you left without an explanation."

"I want to make this work-"

He scoffed in disbelief.

"I don't want to be pregnant again but I do want to be a mother and she needs a mother-"

"No." Owen stood up then, his face was grim. "She needs a parent who uses their words instead of running. And maybe I'm not the greatest at speaking but I'm working on it."

"Owen-"

"Are you serious?" He was turning red. "Do you think that because I have her now that I'm okay with you running away, that you can just come back and make yourself at home without even giving me a reason why you changed your mind? Are you that naive?"

Damn, he knew her so well. Too well.

"I'm sorry." Amelia stared at the glass in her hands.

"I'm going to put her down for a nap and then I'm going to call a tow truck. You should call someone to come get you." With that, Owen left the room.

Tears started to run down her face. It can't be over. She could hear his voice on the phone.

Shaking, Amelia stood up. Slowly she walked down the hall, as he concluded the call.

"Please." Her voice was choked with emotion. "I want to be your family again..."

Owen looked at her, his eyes steely. "I already have one child to take care of," he said. "I don't need a second." Then he turned and went into the nursery.

Slowly, Amelia turned around. She walked into the kitchen and stared at the now empty glass sitting on the counter.

She stood there, letting the tears fall. Her phone beeped. She took it out of her pocket and saw that Maggie had texted her.

She unlocked the phone.

Stay where you are. Owen called us and we're coming to get you. We're coming as fast as we can.

Robotically, Amelia walked to the front door and let herself out. She walked over to her car and pulled out her few personal belongings. Then she sat down by the fire pit and waited. The spring breezes moved through her hair. A familar SUV pulled up to the curb. Amelia couldn't move.

Maggie leaped out and ran to her. "Come on." She tugged at Amelia's hands, pulling her to her feet. Amelia followed Maggie to the vehicle and got in the backseat. Meredith was behind the wheel and her kids were strapped into their car seats.

Meredith reached out and squeezed her knee. "We're taking you home."

Amelia turned and looked at the house one last time. "Okay."

Author's note: I wrote this thinking that the season 13 finale might go in this direction. This was cathartic. Thank you to Lovemesomeowen for the beta reading.

There is more Parentverse fanfiction to come!