Baby Grey (Grey's Anatomy) ABANDONED

One hundred and thirty seven

Archie woke up before anybody else in the house. He was lying in bed with his mom, his aunt Mermaid and uncle Alex, the three of them sleeping soundly. Mom had one arm under Archie's head, with Meredith on the other side of Archie, flat on her stomach. Uncle Alex was behind mom, one of his arms resting on mom's arm, like he had been holding her to reassure her he was there for her all night.

Archie carefully crawled to the end of the bed, dodging stray legs as he clambered off the mattress and onto the floor. He crept out of the room, the door slightly ajar because of Alex checking on the babies at some point. Archie slipped out, heading down the hallway.

Amelia's bedroom door was open, with Amelia and Maggie asleep on the bed. Maggie's bedroom door was open, Jackson and April asleep in there with baby Harriet in her crib.

Archie headed towards the attic stairs, walking quietly upstairs so he could check on the others.

Zola and Henry were fast asleep on Zola's bed, Bailey and Rue were fast asleep in their beds, and the three younger girls were still asleep in their cribs. Archie grabbed some clothes from his, Bailey and Rue's bedroom and headed downstairs, getting changed and then brushing his teeth and washing his face. Archie left the bathroom and headed downstairs.

Jo and Steph were asleep in the playroom on the sofas, and Richard was asleep in the spare bedroom downstairs. Owen was asleep on one of the living room sofas, while Addison and Bailey slept on the other two sofas, cups of coffee long forgotten on the table, showing Archie they'd stayed up later than he had.

Archie headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing the milk and putting it on the side. He climbed up onto the side and opened one of the cupboards, grabbing three bottles out of it and putting them on the counter. He poured milk into the three bottles, then put them in the microwave and pressed for thirty seconds.

Archie put the milk away, then moved towards the coffee pot. He grabbed the filter from the back and added more water into it, putting it back in the machine carefully. He put more coffee grounds into the coffee filter, pressing the button to start the pot.

"Hey, little dude," Jo whispered, walking into the kitchen and rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Making the bottles and coffee," Archie said.

Jo just stared at him. This was Erin's morning routine, and Archie had always been the only kid to get up with Erin early every morning and do this with her. He was doing it without Erin, because nobody else but him should do his and his mama's morning routine.

The microwave beeped and he pulled the door open, taking the bottles out and feeling the side. He nodded, then screwed the lids on tightly and held them over the sink sideways to make sure they wouldn't leak on the babies. He squeezed drops of milk from each bottle on his wrist to check the temperature, then nodded again.

"I'll take them to the kids," Jo said, taking the bottles. "You sit down, okay? I'll make us some cereal when I come back," she said.

Archie nodded, moving to sit at the island. Jo hurried upstairs and gave the bottles to the three girls who were just starting to stir awake, then headed back downstairs and knocked on Arizona's door to tell her she'd given the girls their bottles.

She headed down to the kitchen again, making two bowls of cereal and a cup of coffee for herself, a smaller one for Archie. She put it in front of him with a small smile.

"Do not tell anybody. I'm cool aunt Jo, and it's only a little bit," she whispered.

A real smile flashed on Archie's face and he nodded.