A/N: Many, many thanks to my beta reader mwgrl2000 for her excellent feedback and support!

The alarm on Owen's watch went off at 6am. He rolled over so he could reach where it lay on the floor and turned it off. He scooted himself over a little further so he could roll himself over onto his hands and knees so he could stand up. Getting up off that air mattress was awkward as hell and he was glad nobody was around to see it, he thought as he stretched his arms up to the ceiling. Cristina had taken their old bed with her to Alex's and he didn't want to order a new one until he had a permanent place to put it, so he was making due with an air mattress. It had only been 10 days, but he didn't think he could last much longer. He was grateful that he wouldn't have to.

Owen brushed his teeth and got dressed, then grabbed his water bottle and headed out for his morning run. When he got back, he took a shower. While he ate his breakfast, he caught up with current events on his tablet. Normally, when he was done with breakfast he would head to the hospital, but today was different. At 9 o'clock, he was going to show his mom the house. THE house. He was sure it was the one he wanted, he just wanted to let his mom take a look at it first.

He already knew what his mom would say-it was too big and it needed too much work. He didn't think she would be able to talk him out of it, but having someone else come and see the house just seemed like something you should do. He also couldn't deny that there was a chance that in a few years as she got older that she might live there for a while. It was no coincidence that the house had a full basement that could easily be converted to a garden apartment.

Since he had time to kill, Owen decided to get some work done. The board wanted him to join them in their meeting at 10. He would be presenting some of his findings from the medical supply research he had been doing and he wanted to go over his notes.

Finally, at 8:30, Owen couldn't wait anymore, so he got in his truck and headed to the house. He would be there early, but he didn't care. He could spend the extra time looking around at the outside of the house and making plans. Every time he visited it, he came up with more improvements he wanted to make. It had so much potential. He had relished restoring the firehouse and this would be like that times ten.

Owen loved the firehouse, he really did, but part of him was ready to get out of it and that wasn't just because of the air mattress. He was very proud of how he had transformed it, but it was also full of memories. It had been the first and only home that he and Cristina had shared alone, together and even though a lot of the items that had filled it were gone or boxed up, there were reminders of her everywhere. He was constantly reminded of her snarky comments. "We don't need to close off the bedroom," she'd said. "There's nobody else here!" and "How the hell are we supposed to have shower sex in a bathtub with feet?!" Owen smiled to himself as he remembered how they had worked that one out.

Being there without her was the definition of bittersweet. He hadn't been able to handle living there alone when she had been far away in Minnesota, but this time he was holding onto hope and tried to use those memories as inspiration. He tried, but it still got to be too much at times and he found himself sleeping at the hospital more often then he should, (which had something to do with the air mattress, too).

Owen pulled up in front of the house, but instead of getting out and walking around, he sat in his truck, lost in thought, as he'd been prone to be lately.

It was strange being near Cristina, but not near her. He saw her every day, but they only spoke to each other when work required it. Their relationship was strictly professional. He couldn't help wondering if he had done the right thing with that plan he had come up with. As much as he knew his mom was right, that he needed to move forward and let her decide if she wanted to be with him, in the end he just couldn't cut her loose completely. The night before he talked to her, he had tossed and turned. He had debated between letting her go and begging her to stay, and finally settled on something in between. He wished he hadn't given her an out, and yet, he wanted her to know that she had a choice. He wasn't worried about her finding someone else, though- not after the look of relief she had gotten when he assured her their break would not involve dating other people.

He'd thought about that conversation a lot during the last ten days. He had no doubt that she loved him and wanted things to work out for them. She had resisted the plan at first, which he had expected, but she had also agreed to it more quickly than he expected. He had been surprised that she had been surprised that he was intending to adopt Ethan by himself. He just didn't feel like he could ask her to be a mother when he knew so well that it wasn't what she wanted. Unfortunately, Meredith had spilled the beans before he'd been able to fully think through and plan how he would approach her with his thoughts about Ethan. Ten days later he still wasn't sure what he could have said to make things turn out differently. He had expected the conversation to be rough and knew there was a chance that she might break-up with him over it at first. She might have adjusted over time and come to accept it and figure out how much she wanted to be involved, or she could have decided she wanted out.

Of course, Ethan was a moot point, now, and he had to figure out how to figure out if he wanted kids. That was turning out to be much easier said than done. He had started making inquiries into foster parenting, but based on his research it could take months for that to come to pass. It frustrated him, because he was determined to stick to his part of the plan. That included figuring out the kid thing and taking stock of the rest of his life to see what he wanted.

He had made the timing of the plan so short because he didn't want to be separated from Cristina for too long. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't know about the kid issue by the end of the one to two month 'non-friend' phase. He hadn't put any time limit on the 'friend' phase that would follow, and he was starting to be afraid that if it took him too long to be sure about what he wanted, they could be stuck as friends forever and that was a horrible thought. Also, what if he decided that he really did want to have kids and she refused to be with him because of it? She wasn't comfortable with the idea of her or him or them having kids and he wasn't sure if that would change. Even though the outlook seemed bleak, he also had faith that their love could conquer anything. It had up to now.

All he could do at the moment was stick to the plan, flawed though it was. He had made some progress already. He wanted a house- that had been an easy decision and surprisingly easy make come to pass. He just wasn't sure what else he might want or even what he should be considering, but surely those other issues would be easier than the kid issue.

Just then, the real estate agent pulled up and parked behind his truck. The two of them stood on the front lawn and chatted until his mom pulled up a few minutes later.

His mom smiled brightly at him as she got out of the car, but as soon as her eyes landed on the house her face fell. It was exactly the reaction he had expected.

"Hi, Mom!" he said to her before kissing her on the cheek.

"Hello, honey," she replied with a tight-lipped smile.

After making introductions, the three went on a tour of the house. It was a large Victorian style house that was over 100 years old. The previous owner was an old bachelor who had inherited the house from his parents. He had spent the last several years living primarily on the ground floor. He had been an engineer by trade and had been something of hoarder when it came to electronic equipment. He had decided to retire down in Arizona and had managed to clear out most of his stuff, but couldn't be bothered to make any other improvements to the house. In fact, the last time the house had been renovated was in the early 70s, as evidenced by the liberal use of mustard yellow and avocado green.

Owen's mom was quiet for most of the tour. As they walked through the house and the realtor described the features, Owen would chime in with some of his plans. He was going to expand the living area on the second floor and install French doors out to the balcony. He was going to build a walk in pantry in the kitchen. He was going to expand the patio in back and put in a fire pit, etc, etc.

When they were done with the tour, Owen walked his mom to her car. Before he had a chance to open the door, she pulled him into a hug. "That's a lot of house, Owen," she said as she pulled away. "Five bedrooms and four bathrooms?"

"I know. I know it's huge and I don't know how I'm going to fill all those rooms, but I look at the house and I just see potential. I don't know, maybe I'll just fix it up and sell it eventually and hopefully make a profit."

"That's going to be a really big project, Owen."

"I know," Owen said.

Ruth shook her head, "My boy always did like a challenge."

Owen smiled as he opened the door for her to leave. As she drove away he looked down at his watch. "Damnit!" he exclaimed. He had a board meeting in 15 minutes and he was going to be late. He quickly apologized to the real estate agent. They had planned to spend some time going over some numbers, but there was no time, now.

He jumped in his truck and headed toward the hospital. Since it was the middle of the morning and there was no traffic, it only took him ten minutes.

When he got to the hospital, he practically ran into the building. He took a detour by his assistant Eileen's desk. He slammed his briefcase on her counter a bit too hard. "Sorry," he said with a sheepish look, then he popped it open and took out a large stack of papers and set them on her desk. "These are ready to be filed. Thanks- and good morning!" He snapped the briefcase closed and turned to leave.

"Where?" Eileen demanded.

"Excuse me?" Owen said, turning around.

Eileen waved her arm around her desk and after a moment Owen realized she was gesturing toward the several file boxes that were stacking up in it. "I don't have any more room, Dr. Hunt. You've got to find somewhere else for me to put all this stuff."

Owen looked around and nodded. "I'll figure out something, somewhere for you to keep more files." He started to slowly back away. "Soon. Promise."

"It better not be far away from here!" Eileen called out as he turned and bolted away, then she mumbled to herself, "I'm not walking halfway across the hospital to file all this crap."

As Owen strode down the hall toward the conference room, he felt his phone vibrate. "Damnit!" It was someone from the DSHS. He stopped in his tracks and spun around. He needed to take this call, but where? On his second spin around, he saw it- stairwell.

"Owen Hunt," he said into his phone as he ducked into the stairwell.

"Mr. Hunt?"

"Yes."

"This is Sheila Ross from the Department of Social and Health Services. I am calling with regard to an inquiry you made regarding adoption?"

"Yes, well, adoption, but more likely foster parenting right now, but I'm just about to step into a meeting. Is there any chance you could call me back between 2 and 3 this afternoon?"

"Yes! Of course! I'll talk to you then."

"Thank you." Owen hung up the phone and turned toward the door, then stopped. He thought heard a noise from the landing up above him. He walked as quietly as he could toward the railing and looked up. He heard a gasp and saw the top of a head with long brown hair disappear over the railing.

"Hey!" he called out. "Is that you, Wilson?"

He paused and heard the door on the landing above close. "Great," he grumbled to himself. "Freaking impossible to have any privacy in this place." Those interns, or residents as they were now, were notorious gossips and he was sure his business would be spread all over the hospital by lunchtime. He looked at his watch. No time to chase her, he had to get to the meeting. He left the stairwell and walked swiftly down the hall toward the conference room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in!" he heard Callie call out.

Owen stepped into the room. "Good morning," he said. They had left the chair at the end of the table closest to the door open for him. He sat down and looked around the table. When he got to Cristina their eyes locked for a long moment. Finally, he cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "I want an office," he declared to the board.

Cristina was having trouble keeping up with what Owen was talking about. It was seriously boring and she was distracted by watching him-watching his lips move and his hands gesture and his lips move and his eyes dart around to room trying to engage his audience. She liked the way his mouth looked when he said 'statistically significant.' Every now and then she pretend to take notes on the notepad she had propped up against the table in front of her. So far she had written 'Owen Hunt,' 'Cristina Yang,' 'Owen Hunt,' 'Something about medical supplies,' and 'I'm hungry.' She knew that the stuff he was talking about was important, it was just really, really boring.

She swore she could hear quiet snoring coming from the phone in the middle of the table. Since Meredith was still on maternity leave, she had called in for the meeting. Derek was technically still on leave, too, but he was in the area running errands and decided to stop in. Cristina was pretty sure he was regretting it about now. He was sporting his signature glassy, checked-out stare.

Owen looked good. A little tired, but that didn't surprise her. It had been ten days since he had moved back into the firehouse and he had spent half of those nights at the hospital, not that she was keeping count. She wondered if it was hard for him to be at the firehouse without her. She wondered if he was sleeping on their old couch, even though his feet would hang off the end. She wondered what kind of place he was looking to move into. She would ask him if they were friends. It frustrated her to no end, not knowing. She missed him. Here she was relishing the excuse to stare at him for an hour. As nice at is was to see him, it was frustrating that she couldn't walk over there and shut him up by putting her lips on his.

It also frustrated her that she didn't know exactly what she should be taking stock of. She wanted to be the best cardiothoracic surgeon on the planet and she wanted to be with Owen, but only if he could be happy and fulfilled with her. She wondered if he was going to decide he wanted to have kids. He did want them, she knew he did deep down. What would she do when he realized and decided it?

She was snapped out of her reverie when Jackson spoke. "Thank you, Doctor Hunt. I move that we approve all of the suggested medical supply changes that Doctor Hunt has proposed. All in favor?"

"Aye," said four voices in the room and one on the phone. Cristina hit Callie with her elbow.

"Aye!" Callie said, looking a little confused. Her mind had clearly been elsewhere. Cristina saw Owen smile at her, then duck his head down. He was so cute when he did that.

"Meeting adjourned!" Jackson said with a smile. Arizona popped out of her chair first and made a beeline for the door. Things were still frosty between her and Callie. Jackson shook Owen's hand, then left. Cristina made her way around the table to where Derek was. He looked completely exhausted. She stood awkwardly next to him while she listened to Owen and Callie as they walked out together.

"So, Torres, it seemed like you were less than riveted by the section about gauze pads."

"Oh, no," Callie said. "I was so utterly, incredibly enthralled, that I blacked out for second there at the end."

Owen laughed. "That's funny because gauze pads was the very first thing I talked about…" They had walked out of the room and were out of earshot. She looked at Derek, who was standing there staring at his phone.

"Do you think she remembered to hang up?" They both turned and looked at the phone in the middle of the conference room table.

"I'm still here!" Meredith called out from the phone. "Just had run to the restroom after we took the vote. Did I miss anything good?"

Cristina leaned over until she was practically lying on top of the table so that her face was right by the phone. "Just some witty banter between Callie and Owen. How are the Z's?"

"They're fine. Both napping."

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, too? I mean, isn't that the cardinal rule of new motherhood, sleep when the baby sleeps?"

"Oh, well, um, there may have been some, uh, sleeping…" her voice trailed off.

Cristina laughed. "I knew it! I'd know that snore anywhere!"

"I didn't- I don't snore anymore!"

"Oh, you do," Derek chimed in. "Not as loudly as you used to, but you still do."

"Oh, whatever. You- you-" Meredith groaned then sighed. "You can just think of your own snappy comeback, Mr. I-don't-snore."

"So, what do you think of Owen wanting an office?" Cristina asked. "I mean isn't that weird? He always loved being up and around and in the thick of things. Why would he suddenly want an office?"

"Well," Derek butted in again. "As some people get older, they develop a greater desire to put down roots and be more-" Cristina picked the phone up off the latch and sat back in the chair.

"I mean, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but it is kind of, I don't know, out of character for him." Derek rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.

"I'm off of speaker phone, now, aren't I?"

"Yep, and Derek has left the room."

Meredith chuckled. "I'm not sure what it means or if it's a sign of anything. I mean, you could just ask him."

"I can't, we're not talking right now, remember?"

"Oh, right, that's right," Meredith said. She paused for a long moment. "Why is that again?"

Cristina sighed. "Sleep, Meredith. You really should get some sleep while you can. Derek is probably on his way back there to annoy you as we speak."

"He lets me sleep."

"I know, I know. I'll talk to you-" she glanced up and saw Alex and Jo down the hall straight ahead having a heated conversation. "What is that all about?" She mumbled.

"What? What happened?"

"Alex and Hairball are having some kind of fight." She watched them for a moment. "Jo is definitely having a meltdown and Alex is trying to talk her down."

"What?! Can you hear anything?"

"No, they're too far away."

"You gotta find out what that's all about and call me back. Or text me!"

"Okay, okay," Cristina said, "and if you hear anything about why Owen wants an office-"

"No," Meredith said. "He'll tell you when he's ready and trying to nose into his business defeats the purpose of you taking time apart-"

"I thought you didn't remember!"

"It all came rushing back to me," Meredith said. "You're being a little obsessive, and-"

"Fine, fine, whatever."

"Okay," Meredith said. "So, 'no' to Owen gossip, but 'yes' to Alex gossip."

"Got it. Oh, wow, Hairball is sobbing into her hands and Alex is awkwardly patting her on the back…and now they've parted ways and he's coming this way- bye!" Cristina hung up the phone and ran to the door, then stopped and casually strolled through it just as Alex approached.

"Hey, Alex!"

"Hey." He turned to the left and kept walking. Cristina scurried over and fell in step beside him.

"How's it going?"

"Fine."

"What was all that going on back there?"

"Jo was freaking out because she got caught eaves-dropping."

"Ooooo! Who was it? What did they say?"

"Hold on." Alex's phone had buzzed twice. He reached in his pocket and pulled it out then read a text. "I can't tell you," he said.

"What?! Why not?"

"Because."

Cristina scoffed. "Who was text from? You were about to tell me- was that text from Meredith?"

"No comment."

"It was! It was, and that means it was Owen that she overheard, so what did she hear? Come on, tell me. I know your little girlfriend told you."

"She is NOT my girlfriend."

"You say that now, but-"

"No. It was a temporary, ill-advised exploration and it is over, now." Alex had turned and glared at her when he'd said 'ill-advised.'

"Okay, sorry, whatever, so what did she hear?"

Alex stopped walking and turned and looked at her. "Meredith is right, Cristina. Give the guy the space he asked for. I'm not going to tell you what she heard and I'm going to make damned sure Jo doesn't tell anyone either- least of all you." With that Alex stormed off. Cristina didn't follow him. There didn't seem to be any point.

They had stopped walking in front of a nurses' station. She turned toward it and saw that one of the new residents was sitting there with his arms folded and his head on the desk.

"Happy!" Cristina said, with a totally intentional shrillness. Shane jumped about a foot off the chair, then scrambled to stand up.

"Yes! Yes, Dr. Yang. What can I do for you?"

Cristina crossed her arms and studied him. He looked over-tired and under-groomed. She was willing to bet that he hadn't left the hospital in at least 3 days. He smiled awkwardly at her.

"No!" she said, holding up a finger. "That," she gestured toward his face, "is not right. That's completely pretend-happy. Why aren't you happy-happy?"

Shane let his face and his shoulders slump, then he plopped back down into his chair.

"Come on, spill." Cristina was determined to get information out of somebody today, even if it had to be this lowly first-year.

Shane sighed. "I always wanted to be a neurosurgeon just like Dr. Shepherd. I thought things were going along fine, but then kicked me off his service because he said I didn't have the natural talent for neuro. Then, he picked Heather to be his protégé." Shane said that last part with particular disgust. He slumped even further down in his chair.

Cristina felt pity for the kid. It was bad enough that he was into neuro and idolized Derek, but she couldn't imagine what she would have done if someone had told her she couldn't be a cardio-goddess.

She folded her arms the counter and leaned forward. "Listen to me," she said. "Being kicked off neuro is the best thing that ever happened to you." Shane dropped his eyes to the floor.

"Come on," she said. "You're with me, now." She turned to leave and took a few steps before stopping. She looked back. Shane was still sitting there looking at her with a confused expression. She shook her head and walked back to the counter. "Fooollllllooowwww mmmmmeeee," she said. "Now!" she said sharply. "Come on!" She turned and strode the hall. After a moment, she heard footsteps running toward her, then falling into step behind her. She smiled to herself as she and Shane walked toward the lobby.