Thank you all so much for your generous reviews!! I was so pleasantly surprised to receive so many reviews! :D Sorry for not being able to reply personally, but I really appreciate each and every single review!
As for what I mentioned earlier about Mark Sloan being a father….have you guys seen the promos for the next episode of Grey's ? ;)
Noah!' Mark called out in exasperation. He looked around him and saw to his dismay that there were children all around. How was he going to spot the boy in a sea of children? He slowly walked towards the playground, carrying Katie firmly in his arms, hoping that Noah might have found his way there himself and is now playing with the other children. He scanned the playground once…twice….three times… for any sign of a boy with McDreamy hair, but no such luck.
Mark is starting to panic now. What if something had actually happened to Noah? What if he had been kidnapped? How was he going to explain this to his wife? How was he going to explain it to his best friend and sister-in-law? They would all kill him, he'd better be prepared for his own funeral.
'Excuse me' he interrupted a lady who was sitting alone on a bench. 'Have you seen a little boy of about four running about here? He has thick dark curly hair, he was wearing a light blue T-shirt with black pants…'
The lady shook her head in reply. He got a similar response from several other parents…..
Finally he sat down on one of the benches and sighed in defeat.
Katie, oblivious to the situation, gurgled happily at Mark as he placed her on his lap.
'Wanna help me find your brother?' Mark asked sadly. 'Where could he be? Your parents would kill me if I can't find him.'
Katie looked up at Mark, her huge green eyes sparkling at him and her golden curls brushing against his chest.
Reporting to the police would be the next best thing to do, he decided.
Just as he was about to leave to the nearest police station, he felt a pat on the back.
He turned around….and saw Noah with an elderly lady. 'Hey, is this your son? He just appeared in front of me and started asking me lots of questions.' She laughed. 'Quite an inquisitive fellow, I must say….'
Mark quickly grabbed Noah's hand, barely uttering a word of thanks to the lady. He vowed never to let his nephew out from his sight ever again.
'Come let's go home' said Mark. He had enough for the day.
'But Uncle Mark, I want to go play in the playground! I haven't played yet!' Noah retorted.
'No…you've been a bad boy. I'm sure your parents taught you not to speak to strangers. So no….you're coming home with me.' Mark's voice was stern.
'But Uncle Mark….I want to play….please….please….' Noah looked up at him with his blue eyes pleading.
Something in Mark's heart softened, and he couldn't point out exactly what it was.
'Ok…'
'Yay!!!'
Mark soon found himself spending the next hour or so in the playground, pushing the children on the swing and watching them play, happiness evident on their faces.
'Harder, Uncle Mark, push Harder!!' Noah cried out.
He slowly began to think that maybe looking after children wasn't so bad after all.
A couple of hours later
The trio were back home, with a load of groceries, which included icecream and teddy bears(for Katie) and transformer toys (for Noah).
The phone rang and it was a call from Lexie in the hospital, saying that she was being detained to scrub in for yet another surgery, and she wouldn't be home until night.
Needless to say, Mark wasn't pleased, and they ended up having a slight argument on the phone.
When Mark returned to the kitchen, he gasped at the sight that greeted him. Noah was biting into an ice-cream sandwich he had somehow made himself. As he bit into the sandwich, the icecream spilled out sideways onto the table. There were breadcrumbs everywhere.
'Noah!' he cried out.
'Uncle Mark- I maked sandwich for you as well!' said the boy, grinning, his lips white from the icecream.
He pointed to a plate on the table where there was another icecream sandwich. It didn't look appetizing , with the icecream already melting and leaking sideways.
Mark's first instinct was to yell at the boy for making a mess. But somehow he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Instead he found himself saying 'Why Noah- that's very thoughtful of you….thank you!'
And bit into the sandwich. Which didn't taste so bad after all.
Evening, after dinner
Katie was already tucked into bed after her shower. Which turned out to be a near disaster, as Mark had never bathed a child before. The little girl kept on splashing bubbles onto his face, and dirtying his clothes in the process.
Now, Mark and Noah were sitted in front of the TV, channel surfing. Mark finally stopped at Discovery Home & Health, where they were showing a segment from an earlier season of 'Jon and Kate Plus 8'.
' Whoa….a lot of babies' said Noah suddenly.
' Yeah….they're sextruplets, meaning six of them being born at the same time' explained Mark.
Noah's eyes widened. 'How they make six babies at one time?'
'Well….in their case, six embryos have been fertilized at one time…..' How was he going to explain the concept of IVF or hormonal treatment to a four year old?
Noah was silent, as if accepting the explanation.
After a while, he spoke again….'Uncle Mark…how babies being maked?'
Mark looked down at his nephew in surprise. 'Hasn't your mommy or daddy told you?'
Noah shook his head vigorously.
'Well…you can ask your mommy and daddy then, when they return.'
'But…I want know the answer now!' Noah's lower lips were curled in a pout.
' Ok then….' Mark sighed.
'Well, you see, a baby is being made when a tadpole swims up a river and meet with an egg.'
'Oh…so babies in rivers?'
Mark groaned. He cursed his best friend for leaving him to do this dirty task.
'No…the tadpole is actually from the daddy and the egg is actually from the mommy.'
Noah's eyes widened.
'So daddy put tad-ole and mommy put egg in river? And then they meet?'
'Argh…you're hopeless…' said Mark, causing Noah to giggle.
__L____________________________________________________________________
At night
'And so they lived happily ever after' said Mark, closing the book titled 'The Frog and the Princess.'
He had been begged by Noah to read that story to him for his bedtime, to which he unwillingly relented.
He looked down at his nephew to see that the boy was already fast asleep. He pulled the blanket over the boy up to his chin and was about to leave the room, when he saw his wife standing there, leaning against the door.
'Lex, when did you come back? I didn't hear you…'
Lexie smiled at her husband. ' About 10 minutes ago. You know, you are good at this. I saw you reading the story to him.'
' I don't know.' Mark sighed. 'He had to literally beg me to read to him.'
'So how were the children? Were they good? Naughty? Did they cause you any trouble?' Lexie said giggling as they made their way into their bedroom.
Mark decided against telling her about how he almost lost Noah at the playground.
'Yeah…they're good.' he smiled. 'Noah even made me an icecream sandwich…
'Good, that's good.' Lexie smiled back. 'I see that you've everything under control. See, I told you that you could be good at this if you try.'
Mark suddenly pulled her close to him.
' You know Lex, come to think of it, maybe I can be a father and take care of my kids after all. Spending the day with these Sheperd kids made me realize that maybe I'm ready to have one of my own…'
Lexie's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she just heard.
' Am I hearing things? Mark…Mark Sloan wants to have children?' she teased.
' Shut up.' He smiled at her. 'I'm being serious now.'
Before she could answer back, he silenced her with a long passionate kiss.
And their night was filled with passion, and filled with hope that maybe, just maybe, nine months later they might have a little one of their own to look after.
Hope you enjoy this….please do review- reviews are very much appreciated!! Do let me know also whether you want me to continue, at least an epilogue?