Meredith and Derek walked through the door after a long day at the hospital. Meredith bounced Zola on her hip and walked into the living room where Lexie sat reading a book.
"Look ZoZo, it's your Aunty Lexie! Go say hello." She placed Zola on the floor and watched her toddle over towards the couch. Lexie startled at the sound of Zola's giggle. Her face was pale as she looked up from her book into Zola's big eyes. Truthfully, Lexie had been sitting on the couch for the past three hours and had rnot made it past the first page. Her mind was too busy racing after the news she'd received that morning.
"Hey pretty baby," Lexie cooed, lifting Zola onto her lap. "What am I gonna do, baby girl?" she whispered into her ear. Zola just giggled.
April rushed into the living room, pulling on a cardigan, followed closely by Jackson. The pair looked flustered.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked helpfully.
"Nothing!" April replied, a little too forcefully.
"We're just late for work," Jackson explained.
Meredith glanced at the clock on the wall, "No you're not, you've got more than enough-"
"My watch must just be fast then alright!?" April burst out. Jackson just shrugged at Meredith, Derek and Lexie as he ushered April out of the door.
"Well that was strange," noted Derek. He moved towards the couch and flung himself down in exhaustion. Meredith left to start dinner.
"Well, you can have the baby," Lexie passed Zola over to Derek. "I have to go see Mark."
"Take Zola with you." Derek pleaded with a sigh.
"Uh-uh, not this time buddy!"
On the drive to Mark's apartment Lexie had gone over what she was going to say in her head a thousand times. She'd imagined the conversation ending in thousands of different ways. Sometimes Mark was overjoyed and other times he wanted nothing to do with her. In some of the scenarios they ended up together and in others he broke up with her. Before she knew it she was knocking on Mark's familiar door, the same thing she'd done a thousand times before, but this time it felt like her heart was going to jump out of her throat. She straightened her blue jacket and fiddled with her hair nervously. Lexie jumped as Mark opened the door. Before she could utter a word he'd pulled her close and kissed her. At first she wanted to break away, to spill the words that were swirling in her mind and get it over with. But she couldn't do it. Partly she feared what would happen once the words were out there and the other half just wanted to make the most of her last time with Mark.
Mark let his hands wander along every inch of her body. Lexie shuddered as his hands ran over her stomach but only for a second. They moved as one towards the bedroom. By the time Mark lifted Lexie onto the bed they were both panting. Lexie's coat had been removed somewhere along the hallway and Mark's shirt was now hanging over the end of the bed. Mark had just lifted Lexie's shirt and was passionately kissing her soft torso when they were interrupted by a baby's cry.
"Oh God, I'm sorry," apologised Mark, running his fingers through his hair. "It's my night with Sofia." He sat up but Lexie put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him back down.
"Don't worry, I'll get her." She said. She kissed him lightly before putting on his shirt and slipping quietly out of the room.
Lexie tiptoed back into Mark's room, baby in arms. "Miss Cranky Pants wouldn't go back to sleep," she whispered, cocking her head down at Sofia. Mark smiled as Lexie stretched out her arms and offered him Sofia. "No, you keep her. A baby looks good on you."
"Umm, okay." Lexie muttered, her heart now beating so loud she was sure Mark must be able to hear it. Lexie climbed into bed beside Mark and let herself snuggle into him as he put an arm around his two girls. Sofia didn't stir, just blinked up at Lexie.
"Stroke her hair, she likes that." Mark told Lexie.
Lexie gently ran her thumb back and forth across Sofia's soft head. She smiled up at Mark, her heart still pounding. He smiled back at her in reassurance.
"Mark…" Lexie uttered. There was a brief moment of silence before she continued. "Did you mean what you said the other night, about having kids and getting married?"
"Of course. But I didn't mean to pressure you. I'll wait. When you're ready we'll do everything we planned, but not a moment before that."
Lexie turned her head and kissed his cheek. He was so considerate of her and she loved that. He'd grown up a lot since his daughter, Sloan Riley, had torn their relationship apart. Lexie had too. It made her feel like they might just be able to survive the bombshell she was about to drop.
"And what if I'd caught up to you? On the kids thing, I mean."
Mark stared at her for a second, processing what she'd just said. A moment later his eyes lit up in recognition. "You're saying you're pregnant?"
Lexie nodded, biting her lip nervously. "Yeah, I'm pregnant Mark."
"How the hell did you get us into this position… again!?" Mark joked but seeing the hurt look on Lexie's face told him she didn't see the funny side. "I'm sorry, Lex. I'm thrilled. How do you feel about all this?"
"I don't know. It's like my life is a runaway train and it's just passing right by every single station. I feel like I've travelled five years in the space of one day. And I've been riding this runaway train all day feeling helpless, but right now, here with you I barely notice everything flashing by the window so fast. I need you Mark. I can't do this without you. Please—"Her voice cracked with emotion.
Mark silenced her gently by placing his finger on her lips. "Shhh, Lex, I'm not going anywhere," he promised her. "I'll be on board this train with you every step of the way."
"I love you." Lexie said simply as he held her even tighter and kissed the top of her head. She rested her head on Mark's shoulder and stayed like that until both she and Sofia fell asleep. Mark watched over his little family, feeling like the happiest man on Earth.