IT'S UP!!! YAAAAAAAY! I think I may be more excited about this than you guys lol. Anyway, I wanted to get this up for you guys. I'm afraid it's a little bit short, but I needed to set the scene a little. Hope you enjoy it. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update (3 other fics+non-fic writing+school+laziness), but I will try to get another up soon-ish.

Cristina Yang couldn't remember the last time she hadn't been completely exhausted. As a surgeon, sleep is never a priority. In med school, her hours were spent studying and even in schools before that she always put work first. There was always the urge to strive harder and do better to do the best she could, because that's what Cristina Yang was: the best.

The heart always fascinated Cristina. Its rhythmic beating was the center of the body's function. Without the heart, the body could not survive. It was the strongest and most important of the organs and that's why Cristina loved it so much; it was the best, like her.

Cristina did have a heart, contrary to popular belief in the hospital. She had learned when she was young how to quiet the heart in order to get the work done. While others hesitated with indecision, Cristina used nothing but her mind to push forward and succeed.

There were four people who had the power to unlock Cristina's heart. One was Preston Burke, the first person Cristina had ever truly cared about enough to use the word "love". The second was her current love, Owen Hunt. The third and fourth were her son and daughter, twins Ryan Owen and Rachel Cristina.

The twins had been unexpected and probably unwanted at first, but now, six months after their birth, Cristina couldn't imagine her life without them. And she found herself to be surprisingly happy with Owen. They were living together in a house that they'd bought that was not too far from the hospital and were acting like a real family. Never had Cristina imagined this sort of life for herself, but now that she had it, she found she kind of liked it.

But that didn't change the fact that she was exhausted.

In addition to her constant urge to overachieve at the hospital and prove that she belonged on the pedestal among the Cardio Gods of the world, she was a new mother and was discovering its difficulties every day. Owen suffered too, but not as much as Cristina was.

Meredith experienced this sort of martyrdom first-hand when she visited with Cristina one night they were both off. Owen and Derek were stuck in surgeries at the hospital and so it was just them and the twins at Cristina and Owen's new house.

"You look worse than I do," Meredith commented. She was sitting on the couch beside her friend, turned sideways with her elbow rested on the back of the couch and her hand holding up her hand. Her other hand held a glass of wine. Cristina turned to glare at Meredith and reply with some smart remark, but was distracted by the baby monitor on the table suddenly coming alive with sound. Cristina groaned and sank into the couch cushions.

"I'll go," Meredith volunteered after a minute. She stood and stretched, setting down her glass of wine on the coffee table. Cristina gave her a raised eyebrow look, to which Meredith responded with a shrug. "Derek's been talking about kids."

Meredith left the room without waiting for a response, leaving Cristina confused and slightly afraid for her children's lives. She began the countdown in her head: Five…four…three…two…one….

"Cristina! I need some help in here," Meredith's voice called from the baby monitor. Cristina rolled her eyes and slowly climbed off the couch, taking her time going down the hall into the twins' room. "He won't stop…she won't…he….Which one am I holding?!" a panic-stricken Meredith Grey cried as soon as Cristina became visible in the doorway.

"That would be Ryan, and he's probably crying because you're holding him wrong," Cristina said warily, walking across the room and taking her son from Meredith's hands. "Like this. And you're an excellent godmother, by the way. So glad we chose you."

"Aw come on, cut me some slack, they're twins!" Meredith defended. As Cristina nurtured her son, who distinctly looked like his father except for the mess of black hair on his small head, Meredith leaned over the edge of the other crib and played idly with Rachel as she slept soundly. Rachel looked just like her mother.

The two women remained in the twins' room even after Ryan's crying had subsided. Cristina sat in the rocking chair with her son and Meredith leaned against Rachel's crib. Before long there was an outbreak of noise from the living room; Owen and Derek had arrived.

"Cristina?" Owen called.

"We're in here," Cristina answered. Owen entered the room first and threw a quick hello sideways at Meredith before going to his girlfriend's side and taking Ryan into his arms. Derek didn't enter the room fully, but hovered in the doorway.

"Meredith, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said quietly to his wife. Meredith, who had been watching Owen interact with Ryan, turned her head curiously and followed Derek into the hallway.

"What's up?" she asked worriedly. Something seemed to be bothering Derek and he took a long time before answering.

"Tonight when Owen and I were leaving the hospital, I saw…someone coming out of the Chief's office…."

"Who?" Meredith was growing impatient with Derek's hesitancy. He looked over her shoulder into the twins' room where Owen was bent over to deliver a kiss to his girlfriend. "Derek, who did you see?"

"Burke," Derek replied sullenly. Meredith's jaw dropped and she turned around to watch Cristina and Owen as well, thinking about how much this would impact her friend's life.

Burke was back.