Chapter 1

(This is set 3 years after the final scene in Phoebe Grey's College Life. Phoebe is 25 and Nathan is 26. Nathan and Phoebe are both working at Seattle Children's Hospital. Nathan as a trauma and emergency doctor, and Phoebe on the trauma, burn, and ortho psychologist. They are not yet engaged or married, but live in Escala together. It is December and they have been dating for 9 years.)

(Phoebe's POV)

I wake up to Nathan's alarm at 4 am. He has a surgery today. I groan and roll away from him on my side. Nathan quickly silences his alarm and climbs out of bed heading into the bathroom. I hear the shower turn on and head back to sleep. I get up at 5 and head into the kitchen. I have to be at work at 7.

I start brewing the coffee and make two bowls of cereal for Nathan and me. I cut up a bowl of fruit and put it on the table. This is our normal routine on the days we work. It is tiring yet rewarding. I make Nathan's coffee just how he likes it and put it in front of his bowl. I sit down and turn on some light music. Nathan walks out shortly after in his scrubs with a jacket on. He looks good enough to eat.

"Morning baby," Nathan says and kisses my lips.

"Good morning, Dr. Moore," I say and he smiles. I can't believe he is a doctor.

"What does your day look like, Ms. Grey?" He asks as I take a sip of my coffee.

"Well let's see, I have rounds, and meetings, then I will chart for a bit. Have lunch with my very sexy boyfriend if his schedule allows. Then I will visit the new kids on the floor that need me, and then head down to the ED," I say. "What about you?" I ask.

"I have two surgeries then I will make my rounds which I think we have two cases together today by the way. Then I will have lunch with my girl, and be on call and chart," he says and I smile.

Nathan and I have overlapping patients, so sometimes we will be on the same case. It just depends on who needs me and where he is. Right now we have two patients that we are both assigned to.

"Remember we have dinner with Ava and Andrew tonight, they are coming over at 7:30," I say and he nods.

"I know, can you believe they are getting married in the new year?" he asks and I shake my head. Andrew proposed this past May and their wedding is in January. I am Ava's maid of honor and Nathan is the best man. It is so crazy.

"I can't believe it," I say.

"And you're sure you don't want to invite Teddy tonight?" He asks and I sigh looking at him. He puts his arms up "I was just asking, babe it has been almost a month. You're parents are heartbroken. Just think about for me?" He asks.

"Fine, now go I will clean up you're going to be late," I say as he puts on his coat. He leans down kissing me.

"I love you, I will see you in room 21 at 10," he says and kisses my lips. I sigh as he leaves and start cleaning up our mess.

Teddy and I haven't spoken in a month. Due to the fact that he and my best friend Olivia had been dating for three months behind my back. I was betrayed and hurt by both of them. I haven't spoken to Olivia either.

My parents have been trying to force us to talk to each other, but I am not ready. FIrst he screws my sorority sister and then he dates my best friend and doesn't tell me. That is not what a good big brother does and I know that. I will talk to him when I feel ready and that isn't today.

I take a quick shower and get ready for work. I put on a dress pants and blouse. I slip on my heels and start on my makeup. I straighten my hair and grab my coat heading out for work.

I get to the hospital and head into my office. I hang my coat up and fire up my laptop. My caseload today is pretty heavy. I have my first patient in 15 minutes. She is a 6 year old who needs support for having her healing scar from having a rib protrude from the skin checked.

Nathan was the doctor on the case, but he doesn't do the checks he comes in every few days. I have no clue if he will be the one checking her today.

I head down to her room and knock on the door. "Addison is it okay if I come in?" I ask her. She looks up from her coloring and nods. Her parents work so they aren't able to be with her during the day.

"Hi Phoebe," she says. I let my patients call me by my first name just so they feel more comfortable with me.

"Hi sweetheart, what are you coloring today?" I ask her.

"A donut," she says and I smile looking at it.

"That's a really good looking donut," I say and she smiles.

"Becky, the nurse, told me that you didn't eat your breakfast this morning," I say.

"I wasn't hungry," she says and looks at me then the breakfast tray on the table.

"Remember what Dr. Moore said Addison, we have to eat to be able to take the medicine that makes our chest not hurt ," I say and she nods.

"Where is Dr. Moore?" She asks me. I smile that is usually the question I get from the kids.

"He is working," I say and she nods.

"I don't want the doctors to touch my chest," she says talking about her scar. It usually causes a lot of discomfort for her when they poke at it.

"The doctors have to check if it is getting better, and to make sure no yucky stuff gets in," I say and I can tell she starts to get worked up.

"When are they coming?" She asks.

"They'll be here in a couple of minutes, but I want to talk to you about what we can do while they check your chest," I say.

" i want to play the hair salon game," I say and she is talking about a game on the hospital Ipad. I get it out of my bag and turn it on.

There is a knock on the door and a nurse peeks her head in. "Addison, Dr. Moore is here to check your chest," she says and she comes in to help him.

Addison immediately starts crying and I internally sigh. Usually I get to get her distracted before the doctor and nurse come in.

"Addison, sweetheart Dr. Moore isn't going to touch your chest yet, remember?" I ask her and she keeps crying. Nathan checks her lungs first.

Nathan is talking to the nurse about his plan. "Addison look at me," I say and she does.

"We are going to take a big deep breath okay?" I ask her. She nods and together we breathe in and out. I have her repeat this until she is no longer crying. I signal to Nathan and the nurse to hold off for a second. They watch me.

"Can you tell me what made you so upset?" I ask her.

"I I I don't want Dr. Moore to touch my boo boo," she says.

"I know sweetheart, but he has to. Remember how we said we were going to play hair salon. Can you pick a customer for me?" I bring out the distractor.

"Her," she says and points to the girl. We play for a little bit until I know she's calm. I motion for Nathan to get started.

"Addison, her hair looks great," Nathan says as he bends down looking at the iPad screen.

"Thank you," she says.

"Addison, I'm going to undo this side okay and I'm going to put my listener wand to your chest is that okay?" He asks her. Explaining how he's going to listen to her breath with his stethoscope.

"Okay," she says.

"You can keep playing while I do it okay?" He says and she nods going back to her game.

Nathan undoes the side of her hospital gown. "It's going to be a little cold," he warns. She is fully distracted by her game. He puts the stethoscope on different parts of her chest and listens.

"Okay Addison, can you lay back for me?" he asks and she looks to me.

"It's okay here let's move the ipad," I say and as she lays back I put the ipad by her head so she can play with it. Nathan puts on gloves and washes his hands. He comes back and starts to peel back the bandage.

He checks out the scar feeling around. When he hits a certain spot Addison begins to cry and pull away.

"No more," she cries.

"Addison, remember what we talked about? We have to let Dr. Moore check your chest," I say and she shakes her head.

"No more," she cries. Nathan looks at me and nods. He puts the bandage back on trying to calm her.

"Okay Addison we can be all done, do you want a sticker?" Nathan asks her. Her face lights up and she nods out of his white coat he produces two. An Elsa sticker and a Moana one.

"Moana," she says and smiles.

"Here you go," he says. He bends back down and checks out the iPad.

"Addison, do you think you could do my hair like that?" He asks. She giggles and looks at him.

"No silly you're a boy, you don't have long hair," she says. Ah gender identification for a 6 year old.

"Why not? What about pink long hair," he asks and she giggles shaking her head.

We both walk out of her room. Nathan looks to me. "She is going to have to have the bandage replaced, and the wound cleaned. That will happen this Wednesday. She may need support for that," he says and I nod writing it in.

"Thanks Dr. Moore," I say and he smiles. His pager beeps and he looks at it.

"See you in room 12 in an hour?" He asks and I nod. We aren't allowed to show PDA or anything so I smile and shake his hand.

I go back to my office and make myself another coffee before going to a quick meeting. I have to duck out of the meeting early because I have an appointment with a patient. I head into their room and see him. He has been a pretty difficult patient. He is 16 and was found beaten in a park. He was hanging with the wrong crowd and they ended up robbing him.

I knock on his door and he doesn't respond. Protocol says to go in after 20 seconds, but I was 16 once. I knock again trying to give him the opportunity to be in control. "Cayden can I come in?" I ask.

"More time with a shrink what did I do to deserve this?" He says sarcastically. I smile and sit down near his bed.

"How are you feeling today Cayden?" I ask him.

"Fine," he says. "Same as every other day you've asked," he says and I nod.

"On you chart it says Dr. Moore is discharging you in the next couple of days, are you ready to go home?" I say and he nods.

"Home? Yeah you could say that," he says and I smile.

"So have you thought about what you are going to do when you get discharged? Maybe some changes you are going to make?" I ask.

"Same things I have always done. Play xbox and hang with the boys," he says and I nod.

"Are these the same boys that left you alone in a park bleeding?" I ask. He laughs and shakes his head.

"You wouldn't get it, doc," he says and I nod.

"Well can you explain it to me then?" I ask.

"These boys, they uh do me good help me out with stuff," he says and I nod.

"Like what kind of stuff?" I ask.

"You know a place to live," he admits. I nod and write this down. Social services is already on his case and found his parents. They basically paid the medical bill and did everything they could to get us out of there.

"Where do you live currently?" I ask.

"Well my pops and Grace live in Greenwich," he says and I nod writing this down. Greenwich is a really nice suburb. Grace is the step mom. He disclosed this earlier. "But uh I usually stay down off 7th with my boy," he says and I nod. That is a very sketchy area.

"Why don't you live at home?" I ask.

"Would you want to live with a blonde bimbo that has the intelligence of a brick?" He asks.

"Are you talking about Grace?" I ask.

"What do you think?" He asks.

"When did Grace move in?" I ask him.

"A year after my mom died," he says and I nod. This is new information.

"Did your dad talk with you about her moving in before she did?" I ask and he shakes his head no.

"That must be very frustrating," I say and he nods looking away.

"When was the last time you talked to your dad?" I ask him.

"When he told me if I couldn't respect Grace then I needed to leave his house," he says and I nod. "About 7 months ago," he says and I nod.

"Have you ever tried talking with your dad about her and how you feel?" I ask him.

"No we don't do that kind of stuff," he says and I nod.

"Maybe you could write to him," I suggest and he looks at me confused.

"Well if you don't talk to him then maybe you could write him a letter. You told me you and your dad were close before. Maybe if you write to him and arrange a meeting time you guys could talk things out. You are a bright boy, Cayden. You don't need to be hanging out with those guys," I say. I pass him a letter kit I made. It has two mail stamps, a pen, a pencil, paper, and an envelope.

There is a knock on the door and Nathan walks in. "Well my time here is up, if you need anything Cayden have Nurse Jenna page me," I say and he doesn't say anything. Right as I am about to walk out Cayden stops me.

"Phoebe… um thank you," he says and I smile. I walk out.

I head to my office and start charting. Nathan walks in after about an hour and sits down in front of my desk. He has his Seattle Children's zip up jacket on. "Hey, give me one second," I say as I finish typing. He looks around on my desk. I have a picture of my dad and me. I have a picture of the Cruz kids, Nathan and me, and my family.

I have my degrees and certificates hung on my wall behind my desk. I have drawers full of toys and activities for the kids and teaching tools.

"Okay, do you want to grab lunch at the cafe?" I ask.

"Sure baby," he says. I stand up and walk around my desk. He stops me and leans down kissing me.

"You are the best at your job you know that?" He asks and smiles.

Nathan and I get lunch and sit by a window. "How has your day been?" I ask him.

"It's been good, my surgeries went well and I finished my rounds up pretty early," he says and I nod. He asks about my day.

"I have had a pretty good day. I got two new cases that I'll visit after lunch," I say and he nods.

"You know room 12 he started writing in whatever you gave him," Nathan says and I smile. He is talking about Cayden. He just can't say his name because of Hippa laws.

"That makes me happy," I say and he smiles.

"You're doing a great job," he says and smiles.

"Thanks babe," I say.

After lunch I visit more patients then head down to the ED. I talk to a couple more kiddos before heading up to my office and gathering my things. I head home at around 6. Nathan won't leave til around 6:30.

When I get home I shower. This is my usual routine just to make sure I get the hospital germs off me. I blow dry my hair and put on jeans and a long sleeve. I am making dinner for everyone tonight. I decided on lasagna and Italian salad.

I put on my cooking playlist and start making the food. Nathan walks in as I'm layering the lasagna.

"Hey babe," I say. He walks over and stands behind me kissing my neck.

"Hi Pheebs," he says. "Can I help with anything?" He asks. I shake my head no.

"You just go get cleaned up," I say and he nods smiling.

Nathan showers and gets dressed he comes out and grabs himself a beer from the fridge. He starts picking at the charcuterie tray I have out. I smile and look at him as I wrap the tray in tinfoil to put in the oven.

"You better leave some for the guests," I say and smirk.

Ava and Andrew come up and let themselves in. Ava runs to me and hugs me like she didn't just see me three days ago. "Hi little cuz," she says and I smile.

"Hi soon to be wifey," I say and glance at her ring. She is glowing truly. She just seems so happy.

I hug Andrew and he kisses my head. "How are you, Grey?" He asks and I smile.

"I'm having a really good day," I say and he smiles. They sit down and I get Andrew a beer and Ava a glass of white wine. I get myself a Glass too.

We all sit and pick at the appetizer and talk. Andrew says he saw my dad today and my dad told him to tell me to call him. I laugh and shake my head. I call my dad every day. He just freaks if I don't do it by 3 pm.

"Are you guys ready for the wedding?" I ask them. Ava looks to him and smiles.

"I think we really are all the planning is done. All that's left is to just actually do it," she smiles. I feel a ping of jealousy. I almost regret telling Nathan I don't want to get married right away. Because now that I see Ava doing her planning I want to. I'm ready to marry Nathan.

"I'm also ready for my bachelorette party," Ava says and I laugh. I have planned a weekend in Vegas for the bridesmaids. It should be interesting.

"Oh good lord," Andrew says.

"Where is your honeymoon?" Nathan asks.

"We are going to the Maldives," Ava says and we smile.

"That will be amazing," I say.

"Hopefully," she says and we smile.

The oven beeps and I get out the salad and the lasagna. We cut it up and serve it with the salad. We sit at the smaller dining room table and cheers before eating. I think the food is pretty good and everyone else tells me so too. I've been working on my cooking skills. They've gotten pretty good.

"Ava how is work? Any new free louis stuff for me?" I ask and she laughs.

"I tell you to come out to my office everyday to get stuff," she says and I smile.

"I have a job too, remember?" I say and she smirks.

"Well actually I did bring you a wallet and a sample of our new perfume. Andrew doesn't like it, but I think it smells great," she says and andrew raises his eyebrows.

"I'll be sure to wear it next time I'm at Grey House," I say and everyone laughs.

"So Nathan how is work cutting open kids?" Ava asks and I drop my fork.

"Ava," I say and she smiles.

"That was insensitive how is surgery?" She asks and Nathan smiles.

"I love my job, it really is a dream," he says and I smile hearing him talk about it.

We finish up dinner and everyone helps clean. We have a couple of more glasses of wine before they head home. Sawyer takes them of course because both of them are boozed up. Nathan and I sit on the couch each with a drink. I turn the fire on and Nathan wraps an arm around me.

"Are you ready for it to be our turn?" He asks. I look up at his beautiful face.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You know, are you ready for us to get married?" He asks and I smile.

"I think we both are. I'm so in love with you Nathan Moore," I say and he smiles leaning down and kissing me. He takes my wine glass and sets it on the table along with his beer and climbs on top of me.

We do it on the couch, then the hallway, then our bed. This boy makes me feel love sick.