Everyone Has Secrets

Chapter 20

"Mom, I just got back home. Are you at the hospital?" she spoke into her phone as she sat in the back of the cab with Brian.

"Yeah, I'll be here till late. I didn't think you'd be back yet, is everything okay?"

"I... I just needed to come back," she whispered, feeling her words catch slightly in the back of her throat, "I'll come and see you tomorrow morning?"

"Okay, I'll clear my morning."

"Thank you," she murmured before hanging up the phone, leaning into Brian's side.

"Okay?" he asked, his arm moving around her with a gentle squeeze.

"Just tired, and I'm not sure what state I left my apartment in," she laughed slightly, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I'd say it can't be that bad, but I never know with you," he chuckled, running his fingers through her hair.

"Hmm... mean," she murmured, closing her eyes.

"Don't sleep here," he nudged her gently, "we're almost there."

The cab pulled up outside her apartment, and he paid the cab driver before she could even think to do it. She climbed out and grabbed her suitcase from the trunk, setting it down and pulling up the handle as Brian moved to stand beside her, his hand resting at her lower back.

He took the suitcase from her and walked inside with her, keeping his other hand at her lower back as they got on to the elevator.

"Bed?" he asked gently, his hand moving around to her side.

"Yeah, bed is... bed sounds good," she yawned, covering her mouth as she leaned into him.

"I'll take the bed in the guest room?"

"Oh, it's," she looked up at him, suddenly feeling a bit more awake as her eyes slightly widened, "it's not a guest room anymore."

"What..." he frowned slightly, before a look of realisation came over him, "Oh, Meredith..."

"I had it finished, as a surprise," she whispered as she stepped back from him and they got off the elevator, "I planned to show you after New York, but then..."

"You didn't..." his hand reached toward her, "You kept it decorated?"

"No, I couldn't," she shook her head, catching a stray tear with the back of her hand, "I couldn't take it all apart."

"Can I see?" he asked.

"Oh," she breathed softly as she unlocked the front door, taking off her coat and hanging it up, "I think... yeah, I mean, yeah."

She moved toward the door, her hand hovering over the handle as she chewed on her bottom lip. She slowly opened the door, switching on the lights to the nursery, a room she hadn't been into in a while. She stayed in the doorway as he stepped inside, and he didn't say anything as he examined the light blue room that was frozen in time.

To anyone else, they'd have probably thought a newborn was due to be brought home any day. She'd barely touched anything in the room after she'd come back from being in Sacramento with him, and she had no plans to change any of it now.

Her eyes drifted over the room, feeling the familiar stabbing pain in her chest that she always felt when she was in his room. She stepped inside, taking a sharp breath as she moved to stand beside Brian next to the oak-stained wooden crib.

"It's perfect," he murmured, his hand drifting over the side of the crib, and she didn't miss the glisten of tears in his eyes.

"I wanted it to be perfect," she whispered, her own eyes tearing up as she wrapped her arms around herself.