The nurse placed the dark-haired baby girl in Dr. Owen Hunt's arms. "You look like your mom," he said, as he stroked the baby's cheek. The baby looked very peaceful. "Certainly a lot quieter than your mom is."
"And here is your baby boy," the nurse said, as she placed the second newborn in his arms. His son was completely bald, unlike his sister with the lush, dark hair. He couldn't believe it. The children he had always wanted were in his arms.
He stepped into the delivery room, since Kathy was still there. "Thank you so much, Kathy," he said. "They are beautiful."
"I am glad that they are both healthy," Kathy said. "Pretty glad it was a C-section. That would have been pure torture to birth twins the natural way."
"Do you want to hold either of them?" Owen asked, politely.
"Oh, no," Kathy said. "They are your kids. I don't want to bond with them or anything like that. I did carry them for nine months but they are your kids."
"Thank you again," he said. "I know it hasn't been easy, Kathy. Especially since you have your own kids and your husband to take care of."
"That's fine, Dr. Hunt. I was well compensated for it. But I really don't do it for the compensation. I do it so people can have their kids," Kathy said. Two nurses put out their arms to take the babies from Owen.
"We have to give them a check-up," one of the nurses said. "You will see them a little later." Owen reluctantly handed them to the nurses.
"Bye, babies," he said. He also said goodbye to Kathy, the gestational surrogate who made his dreams of having a family come true.
He left the delivery room, grinning from ear to ear. He needed to call her to tell "her" what had just happened. He turned the corner so fast that he bumped into Dr Meredith Grey.
"Whoa, Owen, where are you going with that speed?" Meredith said. She noticed the smile on his face. "You seem very happy."
"They're born," he said. "The babies have been born." Meredith laughed and gave him a hug.
"I am so happy for you," she said. "This has been a long time coming."
"I have to call her," he said. "I have to tell her that they're here."
"I am sure that she would be happy to hear it," Meredith said. "Congratulations. I will pop up a little later in the nursery to see them. By the way, have you names for them?"
"Yes," Owen said. "The boy is Benjamin and the girl is Victoria."
"Lovely classical names," Meredith said. "I think she would like them."
"I hope so," Owen said. He found himself in an on-call room. Thankfully, it was empty and there were no interns in there, doing the dirty deed.
He lay back on the bed and began to think over the events of the last year that had led him to this moment when he became a father.
When Cristina, his former wife and the love of his life, had been given that amazing opportunity in Washington, DC, he had told her that it was something that she could not pass up. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and he encouraged her to take it. She was so brilliant and had so much to offer to the world of medicine. He knew he could not hold her back.
They had spent that one last night together, clinging to each other for the last time. They had made love in his trailer, just the two of them out there in the woods. When they woke up the next morning, he drove her to the airport, where she told him that she had left something for him.
"What, you left me a gift," he said. "That is very nice of you but you didn't have to. I don't need anything."
"Yes, you do need something that you have always wanted," she said. "Meredith will tell you about it. Just go to the hospital and she will tell you about it. But you have to do your part."
"My part?" he asked. He was totally confused.
"Yes, your part is very important or it will not work," she said. "Meredith will explain everything. I have to go now. The security line looks very long." They gave each other a passionate parting kiss before they said goodbye to one another. He watched her until he could see her no more. He felt an overwhelming sadness and so empty inside.
He drove to the hospital where he had Meredith paged to Conference Room 6. He was going to be based there for the rest of the day, working on the hospital budget. He had pulled out his files from last year's budget. He hated doing it. He groaned, loudly because he hated numbers. It was just something that had to be done.
He was grateful for the knock on the door. "Come in," he said. Meredith stuck her head in.
"You paged me?" she asked.
"Yes, yes," he said. "I dropped Cristina off at the airport this morning and she told me that she left something with you for me. I don't know why she just didn't give it to me herself."
Meredith smiled. "Well, what she left for you isn't something she could physically hand to you." Owen was perplexed.
"She kept saying that I had to do my part," Owen said. Meredith let out a big laugh.
"Yes, you do have to do your part," Meredith chuckled. It was fun teasing her Owen but she had to tell him the truth.
"Owen, Cristina knows how much you want kids. So she decided to donate a few eggs to the cause," Meredith said.
"Eggs?" he repeated. Of course, his first thought was of chicken eggs. Then, he realized what Meredith was actually trying to say.
"Oh, my God, she left me eggs!" he exclaimed. "How? When?"
"She has been planning it for a while, preparing her body to harvest the eggs. She left about 10 eggs for you to use," Meredith said. Owen was totally dumbfounded.
"She did this for me," he finally said.
"Yes, that's why you have to do your part to have the eggs fertilized," Meredith said. "You know what you have to do, Owen. A Playboy magazine might help in the effort. When you're ready, please contact Dr Ramos. He knows what to do."
"Okay, Meredith," he said. She turned to leave but turned back right around.
"There's another thing, too. Cristina and I have been interviewing prospective gestational surrogates. We think we have found one that would be appropriate. Her name is Kathy Welles and she's married with two kids. She seems to have the right attitude for this. We've already discussed what sort of compensation would be necessary. Here is her number," Meredith said, tearing off a piece of an old budget to write down the number. "She is expecting your call."
When she left, Owen lay back on his seat. He still could not believe that Cristina would do this for him. She really did love him.
He did call Kathy Welles and met with her. Cristina and Meredith were right. She did have the right attitude. She wanted to help someone else have the baby of their dreams. Plus she said that her two pregnancies were some of the best times of her life. She had enjoyed it, thoroughly.
The first time they tried, they implanted two embryos into her. He was disappointed when it didn't work. Then, they tried a second time. Again, it was a failure. The third time was the charm. He had been getting frustrated because he only had a limited supply of embryos.
Kathy was indeed a wonderful surrogate. She attended all of the doctors' appointments. Owen was there when they found out he was having twins. He was also there when they found out the babies were a boy and a girl. He had been overjoyed.
In preparation for the babies, he had finally moved out of the trailer and had bought a family-friendly house with lots of bedrooms and a big backyard.
That had been months ago and now, he was the father of two beautiful babies. Babies that would not have been possible if it weren't for her.
He called her number. It rang four times.
"Come on, Cristina, please answer the phone," he said to himself. He was getting impatient. He needed to speak to her. Then, he heard her voice.
"Owen," she said. "Hey, how are you doing?"
"Doing well," he replied. "They are here. The babies are here."
"Oh, my God. I am so happy for you," she said. "Are they healthy?"
"They look it. They took them away to do their check-ups. I am going to see them in the nursery, later," he said.
"So you've arranged to go on a leave of absence?" she asked. "It is going to be a lot of work the first couple of months."
"Yes, Derek is going to take over while I am off," he said. "And my mom is going to move in with us to help me take care of the babies."
"That's good, Owen," she said.
"You know she looks like you," he told her. "She has lots of dark hair. Her name is Victoria."
"She does? That's nice," Cristina wasn't sure quite what to say. "Don't tell me – the boy has strawberry blonde hair."
"Nope. Totally bald. His name is Benjamin. I was totally bald, too, when I was born," Owen said. "I guess we will have to wait and see." They both laughed.
"Send me some pictures," she said. "I am really curious to see what they look like."
"I will do so, as soon as possible," he said.
"Thanks," she told him.
"No, it's me who should be thanking you. It is the greatest gift ever, Cristina," he said. He knew she had done it out of love for him.
"You're welcome," she told him. "Well, you know how much I love you."
"Yes, I do," he said. "I feel the same."
"Oh, I am being paged here," she said. "So I have to go, now. Congratulations, Owen and don't forget to send those pictures. Bye."
Owen listened until she hung up the phone. He missed Cristina like crazy. He knew she was doing great things in Washington, DC. But in his heart and mind, he always knew that one day, she would be back for him. He just knew it.
THE END
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. This was a one-shot and I hope you liked it. Thanks.
