A/N: New chapter! I've split up the last four days they spend together. This is the first two. Enjoy!
Compromise
Three Months
Owen walked into the apartment, bogged down with grocery bags, and looked oddly at his wife as he used the heel of his foot to push the door closed. She was seated in front of the coffee table, stacks of books spread out with brightly colored post-it notes sticking out from the pages. The stack of the notes resided beside her hand and she tossed him an absentminded greeting as she peeled off a neon yellow one and marked another page.
"What are you doing?" he asked, walking into the kitchen and setting down all the bags.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm studying."
"For what?"
She straightened up and said, "Oh, I don't know, maybe the impending birth of our child?"
Owen grinned. "That's a lot of post-it notes you've got there."
"Well, there is a lot to mark. This is like the ultimate test, Owen. MCATs? Boards? Doesn't even compare to this. We are bringing a person into the world." She became spooked by her own little speech and turned back to her books as she muttered, "I need to study." Her gaze returned to him for one moment and she added, "You need to study."
Eyes returned to their book.
Owen chuckled softly to himself and sat beside his information-cramming wife. "This is something you learn by trial, Cristina."
She snorted and said, "I am not going to do trial and error with our kid."
"That's how most people do it."
"Most people read the baby books. That is why they exist," she argued, pointing at the piles of baby knowledge. "And they make the books for a reason, Owen. The reason is to be read."
"Most people do not go through them with post-it notes and highlighters."
"And that is why so many diaper rashes happen!" Cristina enthused, using this as evidence for why her reading of the baby books was superior. He suppressed a grin as she continued. "If people read the baby books thoroughly they would know how to avoid diaper rash."
"Watch your diet and make sure to change their diapers enough?" Owen offered.
"Exactly," she said with a succinct nod. "And don't cover the diaper with plastic pants. See, our baby is never going to get a diaper rash."
"I knew all of that without the baby book," Owen told her with a straight face.
"Doesn't count," she said immediately. "You're a doctor meaning you should have known it already."
Owen laughed and stood up from the couch. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before saying, "I got you that ice cream you wanted."
"Oh good," Cristina said earnestly, her attention pulled from the studying at the prospect of Cherry Garcia ice cream.
Owen grabbed the pint and a spoon, and then went back into the living room, handing to her. She popped the top off happily and dug her spoon into the ice cream. She put a large spoonful into her mouth and closed her eyes almost reverently as she swallowed.
"If I could marry Ben and Jerry, I so would," she said solemnly.
"You'd have to divorce me first," Owen reminded her, settling beside her on the couch.
"That could be arranged."
He looked over at her and asked, "You'd leave me for Ben and Jerry?"
"And a lifetime supply of this," she added, pointing at the pint. "In fact, I probably would have a lifetime supply of all the flavors. Now, that would be a fruitful marriage. You won't even give me surgeries."
He laughed. "You do realize that Ben and Jerry do not actually exist, right?"
"Minute detail," she tossed off.
He shook his head and moved back into the kitchen to continue unpacking the groceries while Cristina continued her pre-birth studying, spoon in one hand, Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia in the other.
"How is my godchild doing today?" Meredith chirped, falling into step beside Cristina.
"Your godchild had me puking all morning meaning you need to stop being so damn cheery."
"Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine."
"When am I ever a ray of sunshine?" Cristina asked pointedly.
"Good point."
"I need to cut," Cristina lamented. "I need to get my hands dirty because once this comes out it'll be over for me."
"No it won't," Meredith told her.
"Someone has to stay with the baby. Can you really picture Owen staying home?"
"No, I can't," Meredith admitted. "But you guys will work something out. It's called compromise. It's part of a marriage."
"Is it a part of your post-it note?"
Meredith smiled. "Yes, it is a part of my post-it note. A vital part, actually. Just talk with him. I'm sure he doesn't expect you to give up everything. He knows you better than that."
"Cristina," Owen said jovially, coming up to her as she read over a chart. "I have a surgery for you to scrub in for."
She looked up from the chart and asked, "How are we going to juggle work and the baby?"
She had a knack for bad timing and he rubbed the back of his neck as he proposed, "Why don't we talk about this tonight?"
"Because I can't be a boring mom," she said, her fingers curling around the chart. "Surgery is my life, Owen. And, I know this baby will become a big part of my life, too, but I can't give it up completely. I can't."
"You won't have to," he assured her. "We'll work out our schedules once the baby is here."
She sighed and flipped the chart shut. "What if I'm phased out? Thwarted by my vagina?"
He smirked. "You will not be thwarted by your vagina." He put his hands on her shoulders and told her, "You are a remarkable surgeon, Cristina, and the Chief knows that."
"And you won't make me become a boring stay at home wife?"
"I'll become a boring stay at home husband," he told her with a grin, pulling her to him and brushing his lips against hers.
"You know," she murmured, turning her face up to his. "I almost feel like we can do this."
"It's because we can," he answered. "Now, would you please scrub in for your husband's surgery?"
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the little glimpse into the pregnancy! Next chapter should be up in a day or so. Once again, it is already written. This story is like crack for me, lol.