Title Three against one
Author: NCIS1990
Rated T
Disclaimer I don't own Grey's Anatomy or it's characters.
Summary: What I think it would be like if Mark and Lexie had been around through the whole custody storyline. Spoilers if you haven't seen the second half of Season 12.
Chapter 1
SCENE: MARK AND LEXIE'S APARTMENT
(A very pregnant Lexie is making a sandwich when a very unhappy Mark comes in.)
Lexie: (Looking at him.) Well, I'd ask you how your day was but-
Mark: She has a lot of nerve!
Lexie: Who?
Mark: Callie.
Lexie: What's wrong? Tell me what happened.
Mark: Penny has been offered a fellowship in New York.
Lexie: Oh, that sucks, Callie seemed so happy finally and then her girlfriend moves on her.
Mark: No, Callie's not upset because Callie wants to go with her, and she wants to take Sofia with her.
Lexie: What? For weekend visits?
Mark: Oh no, she had pamphlets of schools she wanted to enroll Sofia in, one of the schools even called me and Arizona after receiving the application Callie filled out without our knowledge. It was like it was already decided and Arizona and I have no input in it.
Lexie: What? That's insane. She can't do that.
Mark: Well, in her twisted mind she can. In her twisted mind it's okay to move our daughter across the country with her without considering our feelings.
Lexie: What are you going to do?
Mark: Arizona and I talked about it and we're going to get a lawyer.
Lexie: To what, make sure Callie doesn't take Sofia out of Seattle?
Mark: No, for sole custody.
Lexie: Huh?
Mark: Well, for Arizona and us it will be joint custody but as far as Callie's concerned it would be sole custody.
Lexie: Wow.
Mark: I know you hate the idea.
Lexie: No, If you guys feel this is what's right I'll support you I just want to make sure you're not being too haste about this and not making this decision just out of anger.
Mark: I hate this too, but I just don't see another way. I've been going over this in my head all day and I just keep seeing the determination in Callie's eyes. She is determined to do this no matter how it affects anyone else, including Sofia. Her whole life is in Seattle, is it fair to uproot her life so her mother can chase her girlfriend across the country? A girlfriend she's only known a few months. A girlfriend who she isn't sure is going to last. It's too soon in the relationship to tell and then Callie would have uprooted her and Sofia's lives for nothing.
Lexie: Wow, you're right you have thought this over.
Mark: Just to let you know, I'm going to try to make sure it doesn't, but if this goes to court I'm going to try to leave you out of this.
Lexie: That's very sweet but I don't think you have any control over that. I'm your wife, I'm Sofia's stepmother, she spends about 33% of her time in my care. I braid her hair before she goes to school, I help her with her homework, I play dolls with her and I read her a bedtime story. I love her as if she's my own. I'm in this up to my ears. And no matter what I'll handle it because I don't want to see Sofia move across the country anymore than you and Arizona.
Mark: (Smiling and kissing her.) It amazes me everyday how amazing you are. I don't deserve you.
Lexie: I know, but I love you anyway.
Mark: Ha ha. (He kisses her again.)
THE NEXT DAY AT THE HOSPITAL
(Lexie is doing paperwork at the Nurse's station when Callie walks up to her.)
Callie: Hi.
Lexie: (Glancing at her.) Hello.
Callie: I'm guessing you heard.
Lexie: Yes I did.
Callie: Can I at least give my side of the story?
Lexie: What? You think Mark left something out to make you look like the villian?
Callie: What if it were you Lexie? What if you got a great opportunity somewhere and you wanted to take Mark with you?
Lexie: That's different and you know it. Mark's my husband Callie, we've built a life together and no matter when and where we're going to live it together. But, and this is a huge but, if I were to be offered something I would sit down with Mark and look at things from every angle. And a big part of that is the family unit that's been built between the five of us in the last five years. I would never ask Mark to walk away from Sofia or expect him to take her away from you and Arizona, nor would I want to. No matter how big the opportunity is family is the most important thing.
Callie: But Penny didn't ask me.
Lexie: Oh, so when she told you she was going to New York she didn't ask you to go with her?
Callie: No, she did.
Lexie: So, when she asked you to go to New York with her she didn't think about how that would affect Sofia, how that would affect the family that was built and was working. God, we may have been an untraditional family but we were a family that was loving and there for each other.
Callie: We can still be there for each other Lexie.
Lexie: Not if someone in the family is going behind people's backs and making decisions for their child that they had no right to make on their own. That they totally disregarded the other parents in favor of their personal needs. And it's all just so she can chase her girlfriend who she's only been with a few months across the country.
Callie: How long Penny and I have been together is irrelevant. We live together, we love each other.
Lexie: Are you guys going to get married?
Callie: That's kind of personal.
Lexie: Well, have you at least discussed it?
Callie: Not yet, it's still too soon.
Lexie: But it's not too soon to uproot your's and your daughter's lives to move across the country for her?
Callie: Come on, long distance relationships never work, if we were together we'd have time to figure that out.
Lexie: And what if you can't? What if this is a relationship that's meant to last only a few more months? Where does that leave you and especially Sofia? That would mean she would have had to leave her family, her friends, the only life she's ever known so her mother could be with her girlfriend who didn't turn out to be the one.
Callie: I'm Sofia's mother, I know what's best for her.
Lexie: Mark and Arizona are her parents too, and they don't seem to think this is best for her. So that leaves the question do you really think moving Sofia across the country for only a year is what's best for her, or is that what you keep telling yourself to justify your selfish actions? I have to get to a consult which is probably a good thing because I don't think you would like the words I have to describe you right now. Now, whatever else you have to say, you can say it to our lawyer.
(Lexie picks up a chart and leaves.)
LATER IN THE CAFETERIA
(Lexie is eating at a table when Mark walks up with a tray and sits down next to her.)
Mark: So, I heard you and Callie exchanged words.
Lexie: (Groaning and putting her head in her hands.) I'm so sorry, she wanted to give her side of the story and I just wasn't having any of it.
Mark: Hey, it's okay. You're upset too and you have every right to be.
Lexie: Yeah, but now Callie will probably decide to bring this up in court and I'll come out as the crazy hormonal stepmother who no child should be around.
Mark: I don't think that's true, especially since you decided to walk away before you used the words to describe Callie that she wouldn't like.
Lexie: Sometimes I think the nurses carry around tape recorders all day.
Mark: Seriously though, she could try to paint a bad picture of you but it would be moot because anyone who's seen you with Sofia knows what a loving, caring and amazing stepmother you are and how much you love her and how much she loves you. That's all that's going to matter.
Lexie: Well, either way I told her anything else she had to say she could say to our lawyer.
Mark: By the way, tonight the lawyer wanted to meet with us to discuss the case.
Lexie: Will you be late for dinner?
Mark: No, I'm talking about you too, this is your case too. If Sofia's in my custody she's going to be in your's too.
Lexie: Well, I know, I just thought you and Arizona would be named as the parents and I would only be able to give my testimony.
Mark: You're Sofia's parent too. Biology doesn't matter here. Arizona's just as much as a parent as Callie and I and so are you. You really need to regard yourself as an important member of this family, because you are.
Lexie: No, I know I"m part of the family I just didn't think I was as significant because I wasn't there from the very beginning like you three. I didn't spend a lot of time with Sofia until we got married.
Mark: Maybe you weren't there at the beginning but you've been there everyday for the last five years. All Sofia knows is you being there. You were the one there when she had the chicken pox and you tried everything to distract her from the itching so she wouldn't scratch. You were there when she needed a bumblebee costume for her preschool recital. You've been there for every birthday and every first day of school and you're the first person she goes to for a hug if she has a nightmare. Sometimes I think she loves you more than she loves me.
Lexie: Not possible. (She kisses him.) Thank you. Okay, so, what time's the meeting with the lawyer?
Mark: At 8.
Lexie: I'm off at 6 so that sounds good. I just need to stop by the craft store to get a poster board for Sofia's school project.
Mark: Okay, I'll see you then.
(She kisses him agian, picks up her tray and walks away.)
LATER THAT NIGHT AT MARK AND LEXIE'S APARTMENT
(Mark and Lexie walk in with Lexie carrying the poster board.)
Lexie: I think that went well, do you?
Mark: (Chuckling slightly) For the millionth time, yes. The lawyer thinks we have a good case.
Lexie: I just hope she doesn't think my answers were forced or that I wasn't being genuine.
Mark: Lex, you need to stop worrying about this, you sounded genuine because you were being genuine, you love Sofia like your own and the lawyer could see that. I think it helped when you walked in with Sofia's pink poster board.
Lexie: Well, I didn't want to be late and I was walking from the craft store.
Mark: See, you didn't want to be late for a meeting you knew was important carrying a poster board you're going to use to help Sofia with her school project this weekend. And you were talking so passionately about how excited you are to help her with it. There was nothing but sincerity. Okay, don't worry.
(He kisses her head.)
THE NEXT DAY AT THE HOSPITAL
Meredith: No.
(She goes to walk away but Callie follows her.)
Callie: Meredith, please, I need your testimony.
Meredith: No, I'm not doing it. And I can't believe you're even asking me this.
Callie: We've been friends for years, you've seen me with Sofia more than anyone besides Mark and Lexie and Arizona.
Meredith: Lexie's my sister and Mark's my brother-in-law. Do you honestly believe I'm going to offer testimony against them? Especially since I think they're deserving parents who shouldn't have their child taken away from them.
Callie: And you think I deserve to have Sofia taken away from me?
Meredith: I didn't say that. But if I were even going to think about testifying against them I would have to believe you're doing the right thing and to be honest with you Callie, I don't. So you're going to have to find another witness.
Callie: I didn't even want this, they're the ones who started hiring lawyers and talked about going for sole custody first.
Meredith: Only after you decided all on your own to take Sofia to New York with you. You acted like their opinion didn't matter and applied Sofia to schools behind their back. You seem to have lost sight of the fact that you're not Sofia's only parent. Mark, Lexie and Arizona share custody they have a say in how Sofia is raised and since you ignored that they had no choice but to take legal action.
(Meredith walks away and Callie groans as Penny walks up to her.)
Penny: Everything okay?
Callie: Meredith won't be a witness. And Alex refuses to take sides. All I have is Owen right now.
(Just then she sees Dr. Bailey walking by.)
Callie: Bailey hey, I'm glad to see you.
Bailey: Don't bother buttering me up I already agreed to testify for the Sloans and Robbins.
Callie: If this is about the other day-
Bailey: It's about me thinking you're making a damn fool of yourself. I don't think Sofia should be taken away from you but I think you're letting your needs get in the way of your personal and professional life.
Callie: The job is not that bad-
Bailey: But it's a huge step down in your career. I just hope this whole mess is worth it. I hope Dr. Blake is worth taking a step down in your career and breaking apart the beatiful family you once had for your little girl because at the end of this you can't take this back.
(Bailey walks away.)
Penny: I'm sure she's just upset.
Callie: Bailey doesn't say anything she doesn't mean. She thinks I'm making a mistake.
Penny: Is that how you feel?
Callie: I wouldn't be going through all of this if I thought it was a mistake. But I'm not worried, I know Sofia belongs with us and there's nothing they can do.
A COUPLE WEEKS LATER IN COURT
(Lexie is being questioned by Callie's lawyer.)
Callie's lawyer: Dr. Grey-Sloan, how long have you been married to Dr. Sloan?
Lexie: We just celebrated our fifth anniversary last month. Sofia wanted it to be special so she made her specialty. PB&J (laughing) it was perfect.
Callie's lawyer: You got married just three days after getting engaged, is that correct?
Lexie: Yes.
Callie's lawyer: That seems a little rushed.
Lexie: Well, we had dated on and off for years before that.
Callie's lawyer: Yes, but by my understanding at the time of the engagement you weren't even officially together. In fact right before hand Dr. Sloan had been romantically involved with a Dr. Julia Canner, is that correct?
Lexie: Yes.
Callie's lawyer: And just before you got engaged you two were involved in a plane crash, is that true?
Lexie: Yes.
Callie's lawyer: So, how do we know you didn't just get married after a brush with death?
Lexie: (Glaring at Callie.) I love Mark Sloan, there was never a doubt in my mind that he is the one for me. But I got with him when I was young and I didn't feel like I was ready for the things he was ready for. That's what caused our break-ups in the past;. But after that plane crash I realized that I was ready for anything as long as Mark was by my side. And I wouldn't trade the last five years for anything. When I got married I didn't just become Mark's wife I became Sofia's stepmother and I have loved every minute of it. I love her just as much as I love the child I'm carrying and that's never going to change. I would do anything for her. So you can question a lot about me but if you try to question my love for my children you're fighting a losing battle because I would die for either one of them.
Callie's lawyer: Uh, no further questions your honor.
LATER THAT DAY
(Lexie is sitting on a bench outside the courthouse when Callie walks up to her.)
Callie: Um, court should be starting up again in a few minutes.
Lexie: I know I just came out here to gather my thoughts.
Callie: Listen, I'm sorry-
Lexie: Is that how you've seen the last five years? Just a spontaneous decision Mark and I made after a near death experience.
Callie: No-
Lexie: Really? Then what was all of that in there? Your lawyer didn't come up with those questions without that idea being planted in her head and I'm willing to bet it was you that planted the seed.
Callie: Lexie, you know I think you're a great stepmother-
Lexie: But you weren't expecting us to last. You think we're going to wake up one day and believe our marriage was just a sham, a decision we made on a whim.
Callie: No, it's just, when you and Mark got married it was so sudden-
Lexie: And you supported us! You were there by Mark's side in the hospital chapel, you listened to us say our vows, you saw the love we have for each other. And now you call that into question to try to paint us as immature idiots who make decisions without considering how this would affect the people around us, especially Sofia. You knew we wouldn't have done anything if we thought it would affect Sofia's life negatively. Hell maybe I'm wrong, maybe you faked this happy family unit because you were Mark's best friend and you had to be civil. For all I know you still wish he had married Julia.
Callie: No-
Lexie: I hope the defenses you had your lawyer come up with helps you sleep at night, because I don't think you're going to have a lot of friends after this. We would have never done to you what you did to us in there. God, you even had your lawyer imply that Arizona wasn't a real mother to Sofia because they weren't blood related. I'm so glad my sister wasn't in there for that because you implying a person couldn't be a parent to a child who wasn't biologically their's would break her heart.
Callie: Please don't tell Meredith that, I really don't think that-
Lexie: Then you shouldn't have implied that! You know what, I really hope for your sake your relationship with Penny works out, I really do. Otherwise you would have alienated anyone who's been nothing but a friend to you for nothing. I hope you're proud of yourself because when all is said and done you will never be able to take any of this back.
(Lexie walks away from her.)
A LITTLE WHILE LATER BACK IN COURT
(Callie's lawyer is now questioning Mark)
Callie's lawyer: Dr. Sloan, Dr. Grey-Sloan is your first marriage, is that correct?
Mark: First and only.
Callie's lawyer: Please don't take offense to this Dr. Sloan, but you're quite a bit older.
Mark: Well, George Clooney is older than me and up until a few years ago he was a bachelor.
Callie's lawyer: (Chuckling) I see your point. But a few years ago you had quite an infamous reputation around the hospital, in fact didn't the nurse's band together to create Nurse's United against Mark Sloan?
Mark: Yes, that was a low point in my life.
Callie's lawyer: Yes, you had quite a few of those in your life, including when you had an affair with your friend Derek Shepherd's first wife.
Mark's lawyer: Objection, relevance.
Judge: Sustained.
Mark: I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but that doesn't mean I'm a bad father. In fact one of the reasons I had kids later in life because I thought I was too selfish to be a father. I thought I would do nothing but screw up. But being a father means the world to me. I love my children with all of my heart and like my wife I would die for them. So like her if you tried to question that you would be fighting a losing battle. True, I didn't think I was the domesticated type way back when, I used to think giving somebody a skin graft was the greatest feeling in the world. But when I go home and I see Sofia helping Lexie make dinner and Sofia runs into my arms and gives me a hug and Lexie gives me a kiss, that's the greatest feeling in the world. It's a life I wouldn't trade for anything.
Callie's lawyer: (Sighing) No further questions, your honor.
LATER FOR THE JUDGE'S RULING
Judge: Before I give my decision I want you all to know it wasn't easy. Never in my career have I come across not one, not two but four parents who love a child as much as you all love Sofia. But I have to think about who here has her best interests in mind. This doesn't affect what I think of your parenting skills. With that said, I hearby award sole physical custody of Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres to Mark and Lexie Sloan and Arizona Robbins. Dr. Torres you are permitted visitation with your daughter as well as one overnight visit a week. This overnight visit will depend on Dr. Sloan's, Dr. Grey-Sloan's, and Dr. Robbins' schedules. I'm very sorry Dr. Torres, like I said this was not easy. Case dismissed. (She bangs the gavel.)
(Callie starts crying as Mark, Arizona and Lexie hug. Penny puts a hand on Callie's shoulder but Callie stands up and walks away.)
A LITTLE WHILE LATER AT SOFIA'S SCHOOL
(Mark and Lexie are standing outside waiting for Sofia to be let out of school.)
Mark: Are you okay?
Lexie: (Forcing a smile) Yeah, why?
Mark: Because you've been quiet since we left the courthouse and I know when you're lying.
Lexie: (Sighing) Don't get me wrong. I know we made the right decision and this is what's for the best. I just wonder, how are we going to convince Sofia this is for the best?
Mark: She's still going to see Callie, it's not like Callie's going to disappear from her life.
Lexie: I know, but she's going to have questions and I don't know how we're going to answer them. She's going to notice she's not seeing Callie as much as she used to and she's going to wonder why.
Mark: Hey, we're going to figure it out. Remember a couple of years ago when her goldfish died?
Lexie: Yeah.
Mark: Well, we didn't know how to tell her about that, it was before Derek died so Sofia had never had a loss like that before. So we sat her down and we told her about fishy heaven and how Goldie was up there swimming with all of the other fishies and it was happy.
Lexie: Well, that's actually what my Mom told me when I was little and my goldfish died.
Mark: Well, she knew what to tell you because she was your Mom and she had good instincts on what she could say to make you feel better. That's inside of you too, you know what to say to Sofia to make her feel better after a nightmare or if someone was mean to her at school, we'll figure this out too.
Lexie: (Sighing) You're right. You always know just what to say.
(She wraps her arms around him as the kids start coming out of the school. Sofia walks out and smiles when she sees Mark and Lexie.)
Sofia: Daddy, Lexie!
(She rushes over to them.)
Lexie: He sweetie, how was school?
Sofia: Good, people loved my project, thanks again for helping me Lexie!
Lexie: You're very welcome.
Sofia: Can I help you make dinner tonight?
Lexie: Well, I was just thinking about getting a helper to make dinner with and I thought "Who's the person I know who's best at that?".
Sofia: Me!
Lexie: That's right, you're the best helper ever.
Mark: Come on then, let's go home.
(They all get into the car and drive away.)
LATER THAT NIGHT
(Mark answers the door to see Callie, he goes to close the door but Callie stops him.)
Callie: Mark wait, can I just see Sofia?
Mark: It's 9:45, she's in bed.
Callie: I won't be long, it's Friday night, she can get up for a few extra minutes.
Mark: You can come by in the morning.
Callie: Please, it's been a really bad day-
Mark: You think it wasn't for us? Just because we got sole custody doesn't mean we enjoyed the process.
Callie: (Sighing) I know, you're right, I shouldn't have brought all of that up in court-
Mark: You're right, you shouldn't have, and as someone who's made a lot of mistakes in my life let me tell you you can't take it back. You're going to have to learn to live with it and give people time to forgive you.
Callie: We've been best friends for years-
Mark: So, you think you can just walk all over me and I'm going to take it? Best friends don't do what you did to me and Lexie and Arizona today. I know I was a lousy best friend to Derek but I did eveything I could to get his forgiveness, you're just going to have to do the same. Come back in the morning.
(Mark closes the door before Callie can stop him.
A/N: I know, I really have no business starting another story but I was thinking what it would be like if Mark and Lexie had been around for the custody storyline. It's not going to end the same way because I found it ridiculous that because Sara Ramirez wanted to leave the show that meant that Arizona all of the sudden let Callie take Sofia to New York. Eh, I guess it's better than killing off yet another character. Let me know if I should continue