The five residents sat around the breakfast table with Zola in her high chair. The house had definitely reverted to its full frat house status, since Derek Shepherd had moved out.
Cristina was sipping on hot tea and snacking on some crackers and cheese. Meredith was feeding Zola her morning cereal. Jackson was chomping down on a hearty omelet, while Lexie was having cereal and April munched on a sandwich. Zola looked around at this ragtag band of residents. This was her family – her momma, her auntie Cristina, her auntie Lexie with the long, straight, dark hair, Jackson with the pretty green eyes and April, a perky creature with red hair. There was also the man with the nice, dark hair and the bright blue eyes, who came to play with Zola every day in the day care. She was sure that he was her family, too because he kept saying that he was her daddy.
"Is that all you're eating?" Lexie asked Cristina.
"Shouldn't you be eating more? After all, you are carrying twins!" April added. "I'm surprised how little you're showing."
Cristina could only tolerate April in small measures but she had learned to live with the chief resident's perkiness because April handled the assignments of the residents and she needed April to be on her side so she could avoid Owen at work.
"I don't feel very hungry this morning. I have a little tummy so I stopped wearing the extra small scrubs and moved up to the small sized scrubs. Gives me more room to hide it."
Jackson looked up from his omelet and asked, "How long are you planning to keep this a secret again? I mean, you're not showing much now but there will come a time when you can't hide it any longer."
Cristina looked at him, "Hey, I am a skinny bitch. I think I can hide it for a good while yet."
The other four residents looked a little bit doubtful at that pronouncement.
April ventured carefully, "I know we agreed two months ago to keep your secret because you didn't want any of the attendings to treat you any differently but…..I have to ask about Dr Hunt, in particular."
Cristina says, "The agreement is for all of the attendings, including Dr. Hunt."
"Yes," April said, "but he is your husband and the father of these babies. Besides, he has been asking me every day about you and it is becoming harder and harder to lie. I think he has figured out that I am the weakest link in this house. I can't even look at him – those piercing blue eyes make me feel like he is looking at my soul."
Cristina sighed, "If Owen asks you again about me, just tell him that I am fine and walk away, quickly."
Lexie added, "Derek asks me about Meredith and Zola all of the time. Gosh, I wish it wasn't so complicated."
Meredith replied, sadly, "He walked out on me. He has to be able to understand why I did what I did. I am sorry about what happened with the trial but nothing I did would change the outcome or the results of the trial. If he wants a life with us, he has to forgive me."
On that somber note, everybody finished up their breakfast and headed out to their cars. April, Lexie and Jackson drove away, leaving Cristina and Meredith to deal with strapping up Zola in the other car. Cristina placed Zola's bag with her food, toys and diapers on the back seat. Zola clapped her little hands together in glee.
They drove to the hospital in silence, knowing that their husbands would be up on the second floor mezzanine, staring at them. They arrived at the hospital and Cristina carefully strapped Zola and her carrier on to the front of her body. Little did Zola know that she was a "belly blocker", camouflaging any sign of Cristina's baby bump. Meredith picked up their bags and they headed into the hospital.
As expected, their husbands were there on the second floor mezzanine, looking down at them. It always bothered Owen to see Cristina carrying Zola. If she could do this with Zola, he thought, why couldn't she do it for our child? His heart ached, when he saw her, but he felt so sad and angry, every time he thought about her terminating the pregnancy.
Zola was dropped off at day care, then Cristina and Meredith headed off to their separate surgeries. Cristina was again working with Teddy, who was incredibly happy these days, now that she and her tumor patient husband, Henry, were now living together. Meredith was working with the Chief mainly, since he understood how her actions in the trial were meant to help Adele. He hated to see that Meredith and Derek were at odds. He always had a soft spot for Meredith and he hated to see her in such anguish.
Cristina and Jackson were assisting Teddy with a valve replacement. Cristina felt a little bit light-headed but she fought through it. Jackson noticed her discomfort and asked if she was alright with his eyes. Cristina nodded but she wasn't really sure herself. She was just hoping that the surgery would be over soon.
After the surgery, Jackson and Cristina began walking to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. The lightheadedness was back in full force and she was starting to see spots. She knew she was going to pass out and said softly, "Jackson, I'm going to faint. Please catch me."
With that, he caught her before she hit the floor. He picked her up and ran into one of the exam rooms to place her on the table. Lexie and April, who were nearby, saw Jackson, running with Cristina's limp body into the exam room.
"What happened?" Lexie asked in a panicked tone.
"She passed out. It could be that she didn't eat much this morning but we have to be sure. April, page Dr Stone 911 emergency. Lexie, get me the smelling salts," Jackson said, trying to stay calm but his heart was beating at a rapid rate.
Unbeknownst to the three residents working on their friend, the Head of Trauma was passing and glanced through the blinds and was shocked to see his wife on the exam room table, with her three friends fussing over her.
Owen flung open the door and shouted, "What the hell happened?"
The room became dead silent.