Kids from One Alpha

Chapter 16: Ethics

The phone in Serena‘s kitchen was ringing. She had just gotten back after her rounds at the hospital, and Dana was already back with the kids. She had them in the bathtub. It was a relief to Serena that she didn‘t have to immediately jump into “mother” mode. She did rush to the kitchen without even taking her shoes off, picking it up while tossing her keys onto the counter. “Hello?” she asked. “Serena, it is Adriana,” the familiar voice on the other line said. “Adriana, hi, how are you?” she asked. For a moment, she had the desire to question Adriana about hiring Dana, but she heard the kids laughing and splashing in the bathroom, Dana‘s soft voice murmuring to them. She really was quite good with them! “I‘m well, thank you,” Adriana said. “I take it you are settling in well, seeing as you came in for an unscheduled shift today.” Serena chuckled. “I hope that‘s alright,” she said. “I wanted to check on Carson, and once was there, I figured I‘d make myself useful.” “Any time,” Adriana said. “We can always use more hands. The reason I‘m calling is because I‘d like you to come to my office tomorrow morning so we can touch base and talk about what‘s next for the hospital.” “Tomorrow morning?” Serena asked, thinking quickly about whether or not she‘d planned anything. She couldn‘t think of anything off the top of her head. Technically, she was still supposed to be settling in, but she had already started work on her own, so it made sense that Adriana would be giving her more work. “Yes, how about, ten o‘clock?” Adriana asked. “I‘ll be there,” Serena assured, nodding even though Adriana couldn‘t see her.

“Great, see you then. Have a good night,” the other doctor said. “Good night,” Serena repeated before hanging up. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. Serena went back to her front door, sliding her shoes 1/5 off and hanging her keys on a nearby hook. When she got upstairs, Dana already had the kids in their pajamas. “Mommy, you‘re home!” Olivia said, jumping off the edge of the tub and hugging Serena. She smiled, bending down to kiss her daughter‘s head, and holding out her arms to invite Oliver in for a hug: “Did you have fun at daycare?” she asked. “I beat everyone else on the monkey bars,” Olivia said, beaming proudly. Serena kissed her cheek. “You‘re so strong,” she said. “How about you, Oliver?” “I drew with chalk,” he said. “That sounds like a lot of fun,” Serena said. “They were both on their best behavior” Dana assured. Serena looked up at her and smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I can put them to bed if you‘d like to relax yourself,” she offered. Dana grinned. “I‘ll be downstairs if you need anything,” she said. Serena put the twins to bed, reading them a book that Olivia let Oliver pick. It was rare that Olivia let Oliver take the lead. She was the more dominant of the two. Their conversation about books with the Alpha must have had an impact on her. Serena was pleased to see how perceptive her children were, and she loved that, even with how different they were, they would still be kind to each other.

had her stethoscope and lab coat, to look more official. Coffee in hand, she headed to her first official day on the job. Adriana‘s office was on the first floor of the hospital. Serena knocked on the glass paned door. Adriana looked up from the files on her desk and waved her in. Serena took a seat across from Adriana‘s desk. “Good morning,” Adriana said.

pack gets a physical, annually. It includes a full blood panel work and a physical exam. It takes several days to get through everyone, even with all hands on déck.”

of file folders towards Serena. Serena took the files and held them on her lap. She opened the top folder to see Logan‘s name printed at the top of the chart. She had been contemplating the likelihood that Logan really was the father of her children. There were certain signs that pointed in that direction. Though she hadn‘t slept

lab for paternity testing against her twins. Ethically, and as a doctor, she knew it was a bad decision. She was bound to do no harm. Lying to a patient, running a blood test based on her own selfish needs…it wasn‘t ethical. It wasn‘t that selfish though. Her twins would need to know who their father was, eventually. If it was Logan, he had the right to know too, and she didn‘t want to make that confession without being absolutely sure. It wasn‘t the best idea, but it was the only way she could be sure. If she didn‘t when she got around to telling Logan, he could demand a paternity test anyway. She thought it would be a lot more horrific