"Once again, Dr. Yang, it is an honor to have you here in Boston," The Chief of Surgery smiles broadly.
"I'm honored that you invited me to scrub in." Cristina rubs her slim hands together. "We're going to make history with this surgery."
"Indeed." The Chief consults her tablet. "The surgical teams are scrubbing in now and the patients are being prepped."
Cristina checks the time. "I'm going to call home and then I'll see you in the scrub room."
"Looking forward to it." The Chief smiles before leaving Cristina alone in a conference room.
Cristina pulls out her phone and dials home.
"Hi Mommy!" Mallory answers, loud and cheerful.
"Hi sweetie." Cristina smiles warmly. "I got your message that you wanted to speak with me?"
"Uh huh." Mallory sighs dramatically. "I found out that Rachelle is having an 'Alice in Wonderland' birthday party too! I can't have the same theme!"
Cristina frowns. "When is her party?"
"Tomorrow! Everyone in our class is going! They'll laugh at me for having the same theme the next day!"
"Well, if you think you can pull something together in two days, then change your theme. Run it by your dad first."
Her daughter pauses. "Can I have any kind of party that I want?"
"If Daddy can get all the shopping done, sure." Cristina checks the time. "Mal, I need to go scrub in soon."
"I saw you on the news! Grandma said her church prayed for the babies to be separated and for you to build them good strong hearts."
"Thank you. Can you put Daddy on the phone?"
"Okay bye!"
A few seconds later, Owen answers. "Hey. How is it going?"
Cristina exhales. "I can see it in my head, exactly what I need to do. There are two other Harper Avery award winners scrubbing in with me. These twins could not ask for a better team."
"I know you can do it." Owen lightly coughs. "Did Mallory tell you about the party?"
"Uh huh. Just change it to whatever you can pull off in a couple of days."
"Okay." Owen sounded cautious. "Are you sure?"
"C'mon, you built an operating table out of a Humvee! You can handle a birthday party!"
He chuckles. "Anything for my girl."
"Look, I gotta go, love you."
"Love you!"
oOoOo
As the first team begins the separation surgery, Cristina goes over her notes and the scans. She reviews the pieces specially designed and crafted to be part of the new hearts. Finally, it is time for her team to take over.
She approaches the specially designed operating table, where her patients await. Thoracopagus twins, fused from the upper thorax to the lower bellies. No surgeon has ever successfully separated a shared heart. Cristina Yang is ready to make history.
oOoOo
Twenty hours later, the post-mortem meeting is complete. The parents have been consoled and the media can't stop posting about the failed surgery. Weary, Cristina brushes aside everyone and leaves the conference room. "You did your best." "It was a solid effort." "Nobody could have saved them."
She knows that her colleagues mean well, but she also knows that she failed.
"Dr. Yang?" One of the doctors approaches her. "We're, uh, going to this bar nearby, and-"
"I can't." Cristina checks her watch. "I have to get to the airport soon, for the red-eye to Seattle. My daughter's birthday party is tomorrow morning."
As Cristina packs up her notes, she thinks ahead to the weekend and the party. Mallory's birthday presents are ready at home, in case her flight is delayed.
"Can I have any kind of party that I want?"
Cristina's eyes widen. She gave permission for Hurricane Mallory to have her way in a birthday party theme. The girliest girl who decorates with handfuls of glitter and sparkles and rainbows.
"Any kind of party?"
"Oh crap," she mutters.
oOoOo
Yawning, Cristina approaches the baggage carousel at the Seattle airport. She quickly grabs her suitcase.
"Hey stranger." Meredith approaches her and hugs Cristina. "Nice to see you again."
"Hey." Cristina yawns again. Then she blinks as she notices Meredith is wearing a plastic tiara. "Um, your Highness?"
"It's for the party!" Meredith's smile fades. "I'm sorry about the surgery."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay." Meredith grabs her suitcase and hustles Cristina to the door, where the Shepherds' minivan is waiting.
"Hello." Cristina buckles herself next to JoJo, who is dressed in a poufy purple dress with a matching tiara. "Nice dress."
"Thank you." The blonde girl smiles up at her.
Cristina twists around to look at Robbie, in the seat behind her. He's wearing a baseball uniform. She turns so that she's facing front again. "What is the theme of the party?"
She can see Derek glancing at Meredith with amusement.
Her friend coughs. "You didn't know that the party had to change?"
"I know it isn't Alice in Wonderland any more." Cristina turns to look at JoJo and Robbie again, puzzled.
"Mallory is really excited about her party," Meredith says, with forced cheerfulness.
JoJo rolls her eyes. "Maybe she'll be lucky and nobody ruins her party by messing up the cake and the presents and the games and the decorations-"
"JoJo," Derek cuts in. "It was very nice of Mallory to invite you to her party. We expect you to be a good guest and leave the past in the past."
"You're just going to spend all your time with Chloe anyways," Robbie mutters.
"What is the theme of the party?" Cristina repeats.
JoJo smirks and smooths her dress. "I'm not allowed to tell you."
"Meredith?" Cristina's voice is stern.
Her friend smiles very brightly. "Allegedly, you told Mallory that she could have any kind of party she wants."
Cristina sighs. "I did."
"I understand that the setting is still Wonderland, so that Owen didn't have to buy new decorations," Derek said. "We just had to get new costumes."
Cristina looks at Meredith and JoJo, then shakes her head. What has she done?
oOoOo
With trepidation, Cristina enters her house, followed by Meredith and her kids. Cristina looks at the Wonderland decorations and sets down her suitcase.
"Mommy!" Mallory runs from the downstairs bathroom,dressed in a green gown. Her red hair is a mixture of ringlets and crimped hair, three times its normal volume. She flings her thin arms around Cristina. "I knew you would make it!"
"Happy Birthday!" Amused, Cristina touches Mallory's hair. "What is this?"
Mallory steps back and twirls, letting her hair fly. "I'm Princess Merida!"
"And such a pretty princess." Meredith bends over and hugs Mallory. "Happy Birthday!"
"Happy Birthday." Robbie hands Mallory a wrapped gift.
"Thank you!" Mallory turns to JoJo and pauses. "Thank you for coming to my party."
JoJo nods. "Happy Birthday, Hurricane." Mallory's little face drops.
Cristina walks into the living room, already set up for the party.
"Hey!" Owen runs downstairs and kisses her. "Welcome home. Sorry about the surgery."
She briefly grimaces before kissing him again. "Who did Mallory's hair?"
"Auntie Megan did!" Mallory spins around again.
"And what is the theme?" Cristina steps back and looks at Owen. He's dressed in a black t-shirt, black pants, and black boots.
"Princesses and Heroes!" Mallory jumps and down. "In Wonderland!"
"What?!" Cristina glares at Owen. He grabs her elbow and guides her into the kitchen. Mallory follows them, twirling.
"I know what you're thinking," Owen says, speaking quickly. "You told Mallory that she could have any party she wanted and this is what she asked for.!"
"Princesses?" Cristina sputters. "PRINCESSES? I did not raise any princesses!"
"Now as you know, Princess Merida is the best archer in Scotland," Owen reminds Cristina, eyes twinkling. "Surely you want your daughter to be the best at something?"
"Of course." Cristina sighs. "But she's a princess and I do not do princesses! I will not have a living room full of sexist gender roles!"
"Tell Mommy about the marriage thing," Owen prompts Mallory.
"Yes!" Mallory stops twirling and pauses, regaining her balance. "If I, Princess Merida, get married, I choose who I marry. That way it isn't sexy."
"Sexist," Owen corrects, before checking his watch. "You're not allowed to use the word 'sexy' until you're 18. Come on, Cristina, we don't have a lot of time to get changed."
"What do you mean, 'we'?" Cristina demands, following him up the stairs. "I am not dressing up as a princess."
"I know!" Owen pauses outside of the nursery. "Want to see Diego and his outfit?"
"Sure." She opens the door and turns on the light. Sleepily, Diego turns over in his crib.
Quickly, Cristina reaches in and picks him up. She feels a thrill as he grins at her. "I definitely missed you, little fellow." She looks at his bright red and green costume, hanging by the crib "Robin?"
"Because I'm Batman!" Owen grins boyishly. "He's my sidekick."
"Now I know why you went along with the theme," she grouches.
"Come on," Owen takes her into the master bedroom. Cristina follows, still cuddling Diego.
Owen pulls a garment bag from her closet and unzips it, revealing metallic blue and gold. "This arrived by courier two hours ago. Very expensive but anything for you."
Delighted, Cristina laughs as he pulls out a gorgeous costume. "I finally get to be Wonder Woman!"
"Who is an Amazonian princess and a hero!" He grins at her. "Now get changed because Mom is on standby to do any tailoring you need."
"You're a hero." She kisses him. "Thanks for a non-pink costume."
"Mom!" Chloe runs into the room. Cristina sees a flash of blue and white before her oldest child hugs her.
"Hello my big girl." Cristina steps back and looks at Chloe. She gasps to see that Chloe is wearing dark blue scrubs and a lab coat. Cristina sees her own name tag pinned onto the coat. Unexpected tears prick her eyes. This girl of mine ...
"I'm dressed as you because you're my hero," Chloe smiles shyly. "Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Cristina hands Diego to Owen, then wraps her arms around Chloe. "I am honored."
oOoOo
One hour later, surrounded by small loud children, Cristina adjusts her headpiece and smiles. Mallory at age seven is a consummate hostess, circulating with her guests and wildly proclaiming she is the best archer in the world. Diego is perched on Owen's shoulders, holding onto the bat ears and giggling at the colorful costumes surrounding them.
And Chloe, whom many see as quiet and solemn, is letting her snarky side show.
"Hello," Chloe says to Maggie and Callie. "I'm Dr. Cristina Yang. I've won four international awards in medicine including the Harper Avery award. I have also won seven national awards and there are two surgical techniques named after me. I am a Cardio-thoracic Goddess." Cristina's so-called friends laugh and high-five her daughter.
"It's uncanny," Megan chuckles, handing her a drink. Her sister-in-law is gorgeous as a very pregnant Catwoman.
"I don't sound like that," Cristina mutters, before sipping from the glass. "Vodka cranberry? Thank you."
"I thought you could use it. You had a long surgery yesterday and now we're surrounded by a horde of children." They look around at the guests. "If I had done 'Princesses and Heroes' when I was seven, everyone would have been princesses or Charlie's Angels. Look at all the little Princess Leias here. We have Serena Williams and Meghan Markle and Taylor Swift and that girl dressed as Malala with the Nobel Prize nailed it. Lots of good role models for my little girl." She touches her baby bump.
"Fine, fine, it's not completely sexist." Cristina drinks again. "I never would have condoned the theme."
"And you never would have your own very sexy Wonder Woman outfit," Owen says, behind her. He discreetly squeezes her butt. "I think my next birthday should also be 'Princesses and Heroes'."
"Oh hell no."
oOoOo
A few hours later, the last party guest departs, and clean up commences. Mallory is still running around the house, this time picking up her Nerf arrows.
"You look tired," Evelyn tells Cristina. "Why don't you put Diego down for a nap and take one too? Nathan and I can handle clean up."
"We're helping," Chloe says. She gestures to Farouk, who is holding a garbage bag.
"Thank you for helping with the party," Cristina tells her mother-in-law. "I mean it."
"It was fun!" Evelyn hands Diego over. "Now go rest."
Exhausted, Diego falls asleep during his diaper change. He makes a small grunting sound as Cristina places him in his crib.
Stretching, Cristina goes to the master bedroom and flops down on the bed. She grabs her phone and starts checking her messages.
Everyone is talking about the failed separation surgery. Grimacing, Cristina turns off the phone and stares at the ceiling. She hears Owen entering the room.
"I don't know how Batman does it," he mutters. "Dressed in rubber all the time, it's like a sauna."
"He's not real, you know."
Owen laughs. "He's as real as Wonder Woman." He leans over her and pulls off his mask, his hair sticking out and sweaty. "What's wrong?"
"I failed." Cristina closes her eyes. "I thought that I could do it. I failed my patients. I failed their parents."
"You were brave to even try." He lies down next to her and strokes her hair. "Everyone knows that their condition was not survivable."
"I thought that I had prepared for anything," she sighs. "I thought that there would be enough time for me to build the hearts while they were on ECMO but they were so fragile. Their little valves couldn't handle the pressure."
"So you'll write a paper to pass on what you've learned, and you'll be better the next time and others will use your knowledge too. There will come a time when someone can separate a shared heart and it could be you holding the scalpel."
"Or one of our kids."
"You're a hero." Owen kisses her forehead. "You save lives with your innovative approach to medicine. You're strong. Derek wouldn't have been at the party without you."
She turns to look at him. "You've pioneered more surgical techniques than I have, and Seattle Grace's disaster response plan is the template for hospitals all over the globe. And you somehow gave Mallory her dream birthday party on very short notice. Well done."
"Mom helped," he answers. "Mallory took over a lot of the details, especially the food. She found a local bakery to do superhero cupcakes after a few minutes on Google. And she's only six ... seven."
"Don't be humble." She grasps his hand. "Your sister is here because you gave her part of your liver. You're a hero to her, and to our whole family." They kiss.
Suddenly, Cristina laughs. "Did you hear Chloe tell Nathan that he was allowed to touch my Harper Avery award? We've got a true smart ass."
"I wonder where she got it from?" Owen grins.
She smiles. " We have three months to plan for Diego's party. Lucky him, his first birthday will be with a family."
Owen kisses her shoulder. "I think his party theme should be trains."
"You're just saying that because you want a train party."
"So?"
They laugh, lying together on the bed. Cristina runs a finger along Owen's jaw, feeling the familiar stubble of his beard. He is her hero. He appeared on a cold and dark night and rescued her. He helped her through trauma and brought much love and joy into her life. Without him ... she would still have won all her awards but she would be lonely. And she'd still have that stupid icicle stuck in her.
Her pager buzzes, interrupting her thoughts. Sighing, she looks at it. "A hero's work is never done."