Day one
"I heard from Alex." Meredith announced as she sat down next to Cristina in the cafeteria.
"Good." she said, eating. "What did Evil Spawn say?"
"He's coming back. But he's got someone with him." Meredith answered her, stealing a chip from Cristina's tray.
"You mean Izzie."
"No, I mean a kid."
"A what?"
Meredith nodded. "Apparently, he has a son named Kyle and Izzie's his mother."
"But what about her?"
"He didn't tell me."
Day five
"Cristina, can you go to the airport to get Alex and Kyle? I was supposed to but I've got an emergency."
"What? Mer! I'm not a taxi-driver, I am a surgeon! Can't Evil Spawn take a cab? I..."
"Please, Cristina. I promised him one of us would be there."
Sighing, Cristina finally agreed.
When she saw Alex in the crowd, she greeted him with a smirk. "Good morning, Karev."
"Yang." he nodded as a greeting. "Kyle, this is Cristina, one of Daddy's friends. And this is Kyle, my son."
"Hi, Kyle." she never was too fond of kids, but with Kyle she basically had to be nice.
"Hi." he didn't let go of Alex's hand, but he didn't look shy. "I'm five years old. Do you have any kids?"
"Uh, no." she answered, scared of the idea.
"Are you a doctor too, like my dad?"
"Yeah, a surgeon."
"What kind?"
Alex smiled, happy that his son found Cristina cool enough to talk to her. He usually didn't consider the people he didn't like.
"A cardio-thoracic surgeon. It means-"
"You're a heart surgeon."
"... Yeah."
Day seven
"Hi, Cristina."
She turned around, and saw Kyle sat on a chair. "I'm waiting for Dr. Bailey to come back. She was looking after me."
Cristina nodded.
"What are you doing?" he asked her curiously.
"I've just prepared a patient for surgery, and now I have to operate on her."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She has heart failure."
"And what's that?" the kid kept on asking.
Cristina glanced at the woman behind her. "I don't have time to explain that to you now, because I have to go." she started to walk away towards the elevator, but the kid's voice made her stop one more time.
"Can I come with you?"
She walked to him and knelt down at his level, putting her hands on his little shoulders. "Kyle, Dr. Bailey and your daddy would be really scared if I just took you with me. You need to stay here."
"We can ask them then! I'm sure Daddy won't mind, Cristina." she pleaded in his adorable voice.
"I don't have time, Kyle. Maybe another time." she stood up quickly and ran away to the OR, ignoring Kyle's sad face playing in her head.
Day fifteen
Cristina clenched her teeth annoyed when she heard a knock on the door at seven am on her day off, and she walked fast towards the door with a lot of inappropriate insults on the tip of her tongue. They all stayed stuck there though, because when she opened she saw Alex with Kyle asleep in his arms.
"Cristina, I am so sorry." he apologized. "It was supposed to be my day off but my lawyer contacted me and I really need to sort out this thing... Can you watch him for the morning? He'll be sleeping until at least ten anyway."
She rolled her eyes but reluctantly nodded, pointing to her bedroom where Alex set his son.
After he left, she tried to fall asleep again without success.
x
She felt movement in the bed, and put away the magazine. Kyle was rubbing his eyes tiredly and a little confused.
"Hi Kyle."
He instantly opened his blue eyes, setting them on her. "Is that your house?"
"Yep. Looks like you'll have to stay with me for a while." she walked to the window to open the shutter, and she realized it was pouring. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes."
"Come on then." she helped Kyle jumping off the bed and lead him to the kitchen. "What would you like? I don't have much." she usually didn't have breakfast.
"Can I have waffles?" the kid said as he climbed on a chair.
"Hum... I don't know how to make them."
"Mmmm... cereals?"
Cristina chuckled. "Cereals it is, then." she took a cup and a spoon, placing them in front of Kyle. "Oh, look, I have chocolate cereals." she winked.
As soon as Cristina poured him some milk and added the cereals, Kyle took a big scoop of his breakfast. "Yummy!"
x
"Kyle! What are you doing?"
She ran to the kitchen counter, seeing the little boy sat on it playing with his toy cars.
"You can't climb up there, it's dangerous!" she scolded him as she put him on the ground.
"Sorry." he mumbled, looking in his feet.
"Kyle? You could have fallen down. Just play on the floor, okay?"
He nodded, walking to the couch and sitting down. "Will you please play with me?"
Day seventeen
"I heard Alex talking on the phone." Meredith whispered when she approached Cristina. "He was talking to Izzie, and he said something about divorce. What the hell happened to them? They were happy when they left Seattle."
"I don't know." the Asian shrugged, walking away.
x
"Hey, where is Kyle?" she had a bet going on with Meredith about who'd find out first about Alex and Izzie.
"With his sitter; I don't like bringing him with me at the hospital. I think he gets bored."
"Well, wait until he's older. If he's like you, he'll go to juvie. If he's like Izzie, he'll become a model." Cristina smirked, and Alex threw her an angry look.
"He told me he had fun with you the other day."
"Oh."
Day twenty-eight
"Cristinaaa!" Kyle let go of Alex's hand and ran fast towards his 'friend'. "I made you a drawing!" he claimed happily, showing her the picture with a proud smile.
The woman looked down at it, and smiled. Kyle had drawn some trees and a swing, and in the middle of the garden there were Alex and her with a dog. Cristina recognized the animal, because Kyle had told her one day that back in Portland they had a dalmatian.
"Nice picture Kyle." she smirked. "You draw well."
"It's for you!" the kid exclaimed when she tried to hand it back to him. "I did it for you. I even wrote my name, see." he showed her his name, on the right corner, almost covered by the free grass. "Daddy helped me write it, but I almost did it alone! If you show me how to write your name, I can write you 'for Cristina' on te drawing."
Cristina, despite the awkwardness of not knowing what to say or do, smiled. "Alright then. I'll show you."
She took a black pen out of her pocket, and lifted Kyle up to the nurses station. She grabbed a post it and started writing, as Kyle observed her intently. "So, the first letter is a C. Then there's the R, even if most people write it with an H before. But in my name there's no H, but just an R and then an I. Then; S, T and I. You write an N, and you end with A. It's a pretty long name." she told him.
"Yeah."
"Oh, he's a smart kid." Alex interrupted them with a grin, kissing his son's head. "He'll be able to write it in a flash."
"Let me try!" Kyle exclaimed, grabbing the pen from Cristina's hand.
"Make sure to put Kyle's picture in a place where he can easily see it – or he'll think you don't want to be his friend anymore." Alex whispered in Cristina's ear as they watched the child write.
Day thirty-six
"Cristina, I need a favor." he told her quickly when she opened the door.
She rolled her eyes, but took Kyle from his arms. "How come Meredith can never watch him?"
"She probably can, but your apartment his closer to mine than her house. Plus, my kid thinks she's boring."
Cristina laughed, glancing down at Kyle. "Okay, but you owe me, Karev. Really owe me. And if they page me, I won't ever ignore the page."
x
"So, what do I have to do to thank you?" Alex asked some hours later crushing on her couch with a beer in his hand.
"Just answer a simple question." Cristina stared at him.
"Shoot."
"What's with Izzie?" she asked.
Alex snorted. "Non of your damn bu-"
"You owe me. And your son is in the other room, watch your mouth."
Alex raised his eyebrow.
"Well, it'd be a shame if such a good boy grew up like you."
This time, he rolled his eyes. "Me and Izzie have just got divorced. She left. Okay? There's really nothing else to say."
"When?" she simply demanded.
"Nine months ago. Kyle doesn't talk about her. I know he remembers her – it hasn't been that much time – but he doesn't talk about her. Not that I want him to." he added after a brief pause and a quick sip of beer.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I stopped loving her the moment she walked away from our son." another sip.
Day forty
"Can't I just stay with Cristina, Dad?" Kyle whined with a pout.
"No, Kyle. I already told you. Your sitter will be here at any minute."
"I don't like her." he told his father.
"You haven't even met her yet." Alex sighed.
"But what if I don't like her?"
"Well, then I guess you can see if Cristina is free. I'll you her number next to the phone, okay? I think she's working, though." he gave him his half smile.
"Okay, Daddy. Can I call her anyway?"
"Nope, just if you need her. And if something happen, have the babysitter call me or call me by yourself. I taught you how to."
x
"Hi Cristina!"
"Kyle?" Cristina stared at her phone, surprised.
"How are you? I wanted to talk to you!"
"Oh, yeah I'm fine Kyle... what about you? I saw your dad here at the hospital, who are you with?" she glanced at her watch; her shift was ending in three hours.
"With a sitter." the kid made a grimaced. "I don't like her." he whispered.
"Don't you? And why?"
"She isn't much fun. She wants me to eat a strawberry jam sandwich."
Cristina chuckled, knowing he didn't like jam. "Just tell her you don't like it, silly."
"I want your cereals." he whined.
"Another day, Kyle. Be patient."
"My mommy always made me huge cakes." he said in a sad voice, and Cristina stayed silent.
"Kyle? Do you miss your mom?"
"Huh-huh."
Cristina wasn't sure if that was a no or a yes, but her heart skipped an heartbeat anyway. Poor little boy.
"I can learn how to make cakes. And muffins." she assured him.
"Can't we just send away the stupid babysitter?"
"Nope."
Day fifty
"Daddy!" Kyle yelled, running to him. Alex immediately picked him up and made him swirl in the air.
"Hey little man, you had fun at the hospital daycare?" he had had to take him there since his sitter had the flu.
"I didn't stay at the hospital daycare." the kid giggled. "Cristina made me watch a surgery! We went up to the gallery and she explained it all to me – and Meredith gave me her chips.
"Where's Cristina."
"Surgery." Kyle rolled his eyes, and Alex thought that he never did it before he met Cristina. "She went with me to the elevator but then I saw you and I ran to you so she left with her patient. Her patient was nice Daddy, I talked to her! She was a nice old woman who looked like Granny..."
Day fifty-two
When Cristina opened the door of her apartment, she already knew she'd see Alex and Kyle. But, this time, the little child wasn't asleep in his father's eyes, but he was sobbing at his side. Alex, on the other hand, had an incredibly angry expression, that almost made her shiver.
"Hey? What happened?" she waited for an answer that didn't come right away. "Kyle, come inside." she took his hand away from Alex's and lead him to the living room, where she sat on the couch with the boy in her arms.
"Alex?"
"Izzie is here." he fumed. "I'm sorry, I know that I've been annoyingly demanding lately. I'm always here asking you to look after my son when all you want after a day at the hospital is just relax. I'm sorry. This is the last time, I promise. It was just unexpected. I have to talk to her, at least. I don't know what I'm gonna tell her but I have to talk to her."
x
"Kyle? What do you remember about your mother?"
"She's pretty." he mumbled, her face buried in her neck. "And she makes a lot of cakes. And she always talks. And she fights with Daddy. A lot."
"Do you know that she loves you?"
The boy sniffed noisily. "I dunno."
x
"I made her leave. I told her she's a heartless and useless bitch and I made her leave. I don't need her. Kyle doesn't need her. And she's just a bitch. And a crappy Mom. An awful wife. I, I made her leave, and I hope it's for good."
Day sixty-nine
"I hadn't realized it before." Alex put down his patient's chart as Cristina picked up hers.
"What?"
"I haven't seen Hunt since the day I got back here."
Cristina started at him for a few seconds, then she lowered her eyes. "He left. He went back to Iraq or Iran or Afghanistan, I don't know. With Dr. Altman."
"Oh. I'm-"
"If you tell me you're sorry I'll hurt you Karev."
Day eighty-two
"Kyle, stay here buddy. I'll be right back, as soon as I can."
"Where's Cristina?" the kid rubbed his eye sleepily.
"I don't know. Stay here. Try to sleep." Alex covered him with a covert. He hated to be paged in the middle of the night, because he had to wake up his son and take him to the hospital with him, even if he had school the following day. He also hated to leave him alone in on-call rooms.
"Hey Mer!"
"Hey. You were paged too?" she asked with a tired smile.
"Yeah. Look, do you have something to do? Could you watch Kyle for a while?"
"Uhm, I only have fifteen minutes." she replied.
"Better than nothing, I guess. He's over there." he started to walk away, knowing he had to hurry. "Oh, have you seen Cristina?"
"OR 2, she just scrubbed in."
x
"I had a bad dream." Kyle's voice stopped Meredith as she exited the on-call room. She really couldn't stay more.
"I can leave the light on." she suggested, biting her lip.
"I'm scared."
Meredith hesitated. "What did you dream?"
Kyle's eyes widened in horror. "I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because it would become true!"
"Oh. Okay, I see. But I really can't stay now, Kyle."
"Where's my daddy?"
"He has work to do, kid. I'm sorry."
"I want Cristina."
x
"Cristina! Why have you already scrubbed out? It's been less than half an hour!"
"The patient die... what are you doing here with Kyle?"
"He had a bad dream and wanted to see you." she explained. "I was taking him up to the gallery."
"Oh." Cristina knelt down in front of the child, and opened her arms. "Hey, come here. It's okay. You're awake now." she kept cuddling him softly until he fell asleep.
Day ninety-seven
"Mother's Day is coming, and I'm scared of what Kyle will think or ask me."
"And you're tell me because...?" Cristina glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, taking the glass of iced beer to her lips.
"Because he likes you. So as I was saying... I never really explained to him why his mother left, so-"
"You never really told me that either."
"Well, I..." Alex stuttered slightly, taken aback. He didn't think she'd care, but on second thought she was clearly curious.
"We kept fighting." he said, shrugging indifferently. "And one day, she said she couldn't take it anymore. She said I still saw her like the dying-of-cancer wife – which I didn't – and that what we shared wasn't love anymore. She said she had gotten a job in Tacoma and the second after she was kissing Kyle goodbye and was out of the door."
Cristina stayed silent for a while. "You could just not tell him that it's Mother's Day."
"He knows." Alex told her. "His teacher made them write a poem for their mommies at school."
"Well, that sucks."
"What do I do?" he drank the last sips of his drink.
"Make him talk to her at the phone. She's still his mother."
Day one hundred and six
"Hey Kyle, what did you do today?" Cristina smiled at him warmly.
Kyle shrugged, letting his schoolbag slip to the floor and heading toward an elevator.
"Kyle, what are you doing?" she followed him slowly, a little concerned and confused.
"Cristina."
She turned towards the man. "Alex, what happened to Kyle?"
"I made him talk to Izzie this morning." he told her. "I don't know what that bitch told him, but he hasn't talked since then and he doesn't want to play or eat or watch cartoons on TV. He almost hit another kid at school."
"Oh. I see. Kyle?" she grabbed his hand softly but firmly and knelt down in front of him, running her hand through his short brown hair. "Hey mini-Alex. Look at me." she put a finger under his chin to make their eyes meet. "Listen to me. I love you. Okay? No matter what. It's not your fault, that your mommy left. Do you hear me?" when he hesitantly nodded, she nodded too. "Good. Now, smile for me? I like your smile. Good, you're a lovely boy. Do you want an ice-cream? Come with me." as she was about to stand up, Kyle leaned over and threw his arms around her neck with a giggle, making her heart melt.
x
"I told Kyle that I love him."
"So what?" Meredith looked at her curiously.
"I don't know, he's a kid. He's Evil Spawn's kid."
"Oh, it doesn't mean anything."
Day one hundred and thirty-four
"Cristina!" the five-year-old dodged a few doctors who were in his way, and kept running to his friend. "I made my team win! I scored three points all by myself!"
"Oh my God, wow! You're a winner! I'm proud of you." she lifted him up and kissed him on his cheek. "We have to celebrate."
"I agree, if it doesn't involve junk food. You're spoiling him." Alex stuck out his tongue, causing Kyle to giggle.
"What then?"
"As soon as your shift ends, I'm taking you two to the restaurant."
Cristina smiled in agreement, and Meredith, a few steps away, frowned in surprise.
Day one hundred and seventy
Cristina woke up as soon as the sun rose in the sky. Its light invaded her room, causing her to stir and then stretch. She slowly got off the bed, her eyes still half-closed, and walked to the kitchen. She picked up from the floor one of Kyle's books, and a few seconds later she almost stumbled on his toy car. Yawning, she placed them both on the table, next to the kid's favorite breakfast bowl.
Then, she realized it was quite strange that he had a favorite bowl at her place.
Day one hundred and eighty-five
At six, when her her night shift started, she was too sleepy to actually pay attention on what everybody was saying or doing.
By lunch time she was starving, but she did listen. Not carefully though – and she only caught what concerned surgeries and patients.
At eight am next day, at the end of her shift, she had a huge desire of slapping Dr. Alex Karev across his face, hard.
x
"Alex. Michael. Karev!"
"Oh, whoa." he threw his arms up in the air, stepping back quickly.
Cristina throw him a glare and hit him lightly on his chest. "You had no right to do that."
"But I did, Cristina, I did have the right! He can't leave you for the army with another woman and then come back like nothing happen to get you back! He deserved to be punch... Thank God you were not there."
"Yes, because I would have punched you!" she paused. "I'm going home now."
"Give Kyle a good morning kiss?"
Cristina sighed. "Fine."
Day two hundred and thirty
"Go away!" Cristina turned around at the loud sound of the kid's voice, and worry invested her when she realized he was supposed to be at school.
"We're gonna see Daddy now, okay?"
"Izzie." her eyes and voice were as cold as ice as she stepped closer and pulled Kyle towards her.
Her blonde ex-friend stared at her blankly, she watched as her own son hid his face in Cristina's scrubs.
"I take it you and Alex are together?" she asked, her eyes shooting fire everywhere as her mouth showed a defiant and evil smirk.
"We're not, but it's none of your business. You left, remember?"
"Wow," Izzie exclaimed. "You really have changed, haven't you?"
"So have you, I feel like I don't know you anymore. Have you taken him from his school?" she felt the need to hold the little boy even closer.
"Yeah, I figured I could spend a few hours with him. But he started crying so..."
"Alex will go mad with worry."
"I'm his mother Cristina, I'm allowed to pick him up."
"Oh are you, Izzie?" Cristina snorted. "Does Alex have full custody or not?"
The blonde clenched her fists.
"Kyle? Are you sure you don't wan to come with Mommy?"
"He's sure." Cristina snapped as soon as she heard him whine. "I hope for you Alex won't see you."
She quickly leaded the boy through the hospital's hallways, to a place she hadn't been in a lot of time. Years maybe, She recalled telling Owen she loved him in there.
"What are we doing?" Kyle's small voice was heard.
"Nothing, we'll stay here for a while. So you can smile again?" it wasn't really a question, but a sweet incentive for the boy to forget about Izzie.
Immediately, she started tickling him playfully, letting go of him only when she decided his giggles were loud enough. Then, she allowed him to settle in her arms and she started cradling him.
Day three hundred
"What am I supposed to buy him? He's five! Well, almost six, but that's not the point. What do I buy a six-year-old boy for his birthday?" Cristina paced the room almost wildly, pressing the phone on her ear so hard that it felt like it was burning.
"I don't know Cristina!" Meredith shouted; she was trying to balance the phone on her shoulder as she buttoned up her jeans.
"You're really helpful, Mer." Cristina commented dryly, finally stopping to pace.
"Cristina, just go look into a toy shop."
x
She didn't go to a toy shop. She went to the supermarket because she needed milk – and she saw it. It was in the kids' unit, where mothers could buy clothes and toys without going to the mall with their crying children. It was simple, white, just a little hoodie which she knew would be perfect for Kyle. He wanted to be a doctor, like her and Alex, so what was better than a hoodie with a scalpel and scrub cap on it?
x
"Do you like it?" she asked him anxiously.
Kyle laughed, throwing his arms around her neck and placing a sticky kiss on her cheek. "Yes, thank you Cristina!"
Day three hundred and forty
"Can we go go-carting?"
Cristina turned around. "I... I don't think so."
"Why?" Kyle looked at her with puppy eyes, and Cristina rolled her eyes.
"It might be dangerous, and I don't feel like taking the responsibility if you get hurt. Do you understand? You can go with your Dad?"
"But I want to go with you." the kid whined, embracing her legs with his arms.
Cristina hesitated for less than a second. "I can come too. As long as your Dad is there."
Day three hundred and sixty-five
"Cristina, why aren't you Daddy's girlfriend? If you're his girlfriend, you can be my Mommy. I want you to be my Mommy.
x
"Daddy?"
"Yes kiddo?"
"I talked to Cristina. She said that maybe she could be my Mommy, if you convince the new heart surgeon to let her operate aaall day."
x
"So?"
"So what Karev?" despite the fake harshness in her voice, she smiled and held back a chuckle.
"I convinced the new cardio God to let you scrub in. You did... five surgeries if I'm not wrong. One of which lasted more than seven hours. You've been in this hospital for I don't know how long and Kyle and I miss you."
She stopped, turned and faced him. She cupped his face with her hands and looked into his eyes firmly. "I hope it's worth it, Evil Spawn." she used his old nickname.
"Shut up Yang." he pulled her closer.