AN: This is my first attempt at fanfic, so please be kind. Also, please don't give me grief about any of the medical stuff because I know nothing about medicine. I have an MBA not an MD. This follows after the Season 7 finale.

Maybe it was the chubby hand that kept poking her face or the gurgling sounds of baby breath in her face that woke her up. Cristina opened one eye and then the next, to see Zola's smiling face, just inches from her own. The baby was already in Cristina's bed, making herself comfortable.

"Can you watch her for about 15 minutes? I need to take a shower," Meredith said from the bedroom doorway.

"No problem," Cristina said, "Zola and me will get along fine, aren't we, baby?"

In the two-and-a-half months that Cristina had been staying at Meredith's house, occupying Alex's former bedroom, she and Zola had become great friends. After all, she was Zola's godmother and the baby was such a happy creature that it was a joy to have her around.

Zola was now nearly nine months old and was growing so fast, starting to crawl and get into things. She loved her blonde Momma and her dark-haired Auntie Cristina with the big, bouncy curls. She grabbed a fistful of curls in her tiny hand and tugged on them, with all of her baby strength.

"Ow, Zola! Not so hard," Cristina softly scolded the baby, who just giggled. "In a couple of months, Zola, you're not going to be the only baby around here."

Her words brought her back to the day of her scheduled appointment to terminate the pregnancy. She had been in her eighth week. She had this uneasy feeling all day about the termination. In the two weeks, since Owen had kicked out of the firehouse, she had barely spoken to him. Their acknowledgement of one another was polite and totally professional. She had no reason to be in the pit because April, as chief resident, had done her the favor of assigning her on other attendings' service, so they saw very little of each other during the day.

She had woken up that morning, second-guessing herself. When she had her miscarriage four years ago, she had cried and cried. She had convinced herself that she did not want the baby and had scheduled the termination but nature won out and ended it for her, instead. Yet, she found herself inconsolable at the loss of the baby. Was it just her hormones acting up or was she truly mournful at what could have been? Was she going to have the same reaction now, as she did then?

Those thoughts kept rushing through her head and as she passed the OB/GYN department, she impulsively stepped in and asked the receptionist if she could have an ultrasound. The bespectacled, redheaded receptionist said that she was in luck because Dr Stone had an appointment open because the patient had cancelled.

Dr Evan Stone was a kindly older ob/gyn doctor with graying hair, ruddy cheeks and blue, twinkly eyes. He had done many a delivery and there was nothing more wonderful to him than to bring a new life into the world. He looked at the petite surgical resident laying on the table. She seemed rather anxious and he attempted to calm her nerves.

"So Dr Yang, you had an ultrasound two weeks ago with Dr Fields. Why do you want one so soon?" he asked.

"I'm a little bit anxious because I'm a doctor and I know how many things can go wrong, especially if you look at my medical history," Cristina lied. The truth was that she hoped that this would help her make up her mind that she could actually go through with the abortion, that afternoon.

"Okay, then," Stone said, "here we go." He placed the wand on Cristina's stomach. He gasped and then smiled broadly.

"Well, look at that, Dr Yang. Do you see what I see?" he nodded, excitedly.

Cristina looked at the image and saw the two unmistakable gestational sacs.

"Twins," she squeaked. "But, we didn't see that in the last ultrasound."

"Well, it's a good thing you decided to have another exam. Sometimes, they don't show up so clearly earlier in the pregnancy. Everything looks fine with them. Let's see if we can hear their heartbeats."

And then Cristina heard two distinct heartbeats on the Doppler. She felt shell-shocked. Two babies, she thought, two freaking babies.

Dr Stone then started mapping out a series of appointment dates for the next seven months and handed her a sheaf of literature on pregnancy, as well as a bunch of pre-natal vitamins. Cristina nodded but she wasn't hearing anything that he was saying.

It was only when he said, "Dr Hunt will be very excited" that brought her back to reality. She grabbed all that he had to offer and mumbled something about a surgery, as she pelted out of that exam room.

She raced to call Meredith, who was still on suspension from the incident with the Alzheimer's trial.

"Hey, Cristina. About this afternoon, I will be there to take you home after the appointment," Meredith said on the other end of the line.

"Meredith, it's twins!"

"Twins?" Meredith sounded shocked. "Does that make a difference?"

"It's hard enough to terminate one baby, but two babies? Gosh, I don't know what to do," Cristina said.

"Do you need sometime to think about it?" Meredith asked. "You know I will support you in whatever you do but given how much I have struggled this year to conceive, I think a baby is a blessing. But I am still here for whatever you decide."

Cristina nodded to herself She needed some time to think about it. She cancelled the appointment and after much thought and many sleepless nights, she never rescheduled it again. She and Meredith had decided that she could do it.

"Are you going to tell Owen?" Meredith asked.

"Not right now. He did kick me out of the house and to be honest, I really don't want to deal with him right now," Cristina said. "Every time I look at him, I just feel so angry and hurt at the same time. I think I just want to burst into tears. We will have to tell Lexie, April and Jackson because I really can't hide it, when I am hugging the porcelain queen every morning." And thus, the secret was kept among the five residents. That was two months ago and Cristina was presently four months pregnant.

Meredith's voice interrupted Cristina's reminiscing. "Thanks, Cristina, for looking after her. Okay, Zola, let's get you changed and then we can all go to the hospital."

Cristina handed over Zola, got out of bed and started to get ready for the day.