A/N: Hello! This one took me a bit. Luckily I also have the next chapter written so posting should go a bit more smoothly. Btw- those who watched the episode this week. Where the hell were C/O moments? Except for that one at the end-zero :(
Those People
The hospital was moving at a snail's pace, the pit experiencing minimum turnover and the surgeries slow. For once, Cristina appreciated the pace. Sam had finally started sleeping through the night but for the past few days he had suddenly decided to pretend he hadn't. Night after night, she was woken up by his cries. Her and Owen took turns checking in on him, but even when Owen took him she couldn't fall back asleep.
She made her way into the resident's lounge and found Meredith hunched over a magazine, steaming cup of coffee beside her hand. Meredith looked up at the door opening and her face was drawn.
"You look like crap," Cristina said, sitting opposite her.
"I am exhausted," Meredith sighed, closing her magazine. "At least it's slow today."
"You know," Cristina said slowly. "I'm the new mother. I'm supposed to be the exhausted one."
"I'm ovulating," Meredith explained. "And since Derek and I are trying to get pregnant, well, we've been trying every chance we get."
"Uh huh."
"And I mean every chance. I'm sore in ways I didn't know I could be sore."
Cristina scrunched her nose and said, "Mer, I get that I'm your person but please never tell me anything like that again."
"Sorry," Meredith said offhandedly, taking a long sip of her coffee. "So, how is little Sam doing?"
"Suddenly deciding not to sleep through the night," Cristina answered. "Which is just awesome, of course."
"That sounds just about as bad as my constant sex."
Cristina gave her a look and said, "I would give anything for constant sex. Anytime Owen and I even attempt it once, Sam starts to cry. It's like he senses it or something." She propped her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand. "We've become boring."
"No you haven't," Meredith assured her. "You're Cristina Yang and Owen Hunt, Mr. and Mrs. Badass. There is no way that you are boring."
"We've eaten Hamburger Helper for dinner every night for the past week. I'm surprised he hasn't divorced me over it, yet."
"Hey-I have an idea."
"Does it involve hiring a personal chef?" Cristina asked. "Because I would really just settle for someone to do the dishes."
"Let Derek and I take Sam tonight."
"And?"
"And you two can have a night out," Meredith suggested. "You've been complaining about how you never have time alone with Owen, anymore. This is the perfect opportunity!"
Cristina smirked and said, "You just want to play with my kid all night."
Meredith shrugged. "What can I say? His utter fascination with a moving fan is amusing."
"You guys really wouldn't mind?"
"Nope," Meredith chirped. "And I will be able to successfully shun my husband's advances from roughly 7-10. I am a happy camper."
"That is a viable sex window?"
Meredith frowned and said, "Any time is a viable sex window."
Cristina caught Owen before he headed into surgery and happily told him, "You are taking me out for dinner tonight."
He looked down at her with lips curled in amusement and said, "I am?"
"Yep, Mer and Derek are taking Sam for the night, therefore, there is no reason why we can't have a night out."
"Meredith and Derek are taking Sam?"
Cristina nodded. "Mer offered, I accepted. Now, where are you taking me tonight?"
"Do they know how to take care of a baby?"
"Owen, they're not incompetent."
"But they're not parents."
Cristina waved off his question with a flick of her hand and said, "I've seen Mer with Sam a bunch of times. She can handle it. And Derek has the hair that always distracts him. It'll be fine."
He hesitated for a moment but then admitted, "It would be nice to have a night to ourselves."
"Exactly," Cristina said brightly. "So, you think of a restaurant. I will find a snazzy dress. And if you play your cards right, we might just end this night naked."
Finding immense satisfaction in the look that then flashed on Owen's face , Cristina turned on her heel and headed toward her patient's room.
"Okay, so formula is in the fridge," Cristina instructed, walking around the kitchen as she pointed at the various locations of food. "Mashed carrots and peas are in the cupboard. He usually spits up the peas but if you do the airplane, sometimes he will eat them."
"The air plane?" Meredith asked with a grin. Cristina nodded and said, "Yeah, you know-" She pretended to hold a spoon and moved her hand in a zipping motion in front of her. "Airplane-get it?"
Meredith chuckled. "Yeah, I just wanted to see you do it."
"Ha-ha, very funny. Try to pay attention so that my kid doesn't starve."
"I know where you keep your food," Meredith told her with an indulgent grin. "I have babysat Sam before, you know."
"Have him in bed by eight," Cristina said. "We shouldn't be out much later than ten."
"Alrighty," Meredith said, nodding succinctly. She watched Cristina buzz around the kitchen a bit more and studied her outfit. Casually she asked, "Is that a new dress?"
"No," Cristian said offhandedly, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
"Okay, now I know something is up," Cristina said, looking up from the paper. "What is it? Do you not like it or something?"
"You look nice," Meredith said, her lips curling into a devious grin. She glanced obviously at Cristina's bit of cleavage and asked, "Hoping to get lucky in a bathroom stall tonight?"
"Oh shut up," Cristina clipped.
Owen walked into the kitchen, Sam in his arms, and asked, "You almost ready, Cristina?"
"Yeah, I am just writing out a few numbers for Mer and Derek." She pushed the sheet toward Meredith and explained, "Both our cell numbers and the number of the restaurant, call if you need anything."
"We'll be fine," Derek said. "You two have fun."
"No kidnapping our baby," Cristina joked lightly, walking over to Owen and kissing Sam's cheek. "If they try anything, Sam, just scream really loud."
"I'm assuming Cristina walked you through everything," Owen said, handing Sam over to Meredith who basically ignored him as she cooed at the child. "I will take that as a yes," Owen said, smiling at Cristina. "Alright, we will be back before ten."
"Before ten," Cristina repeated, shaking her head as they walked out. "We really have become boring."
"I don't remember that dress," Owen said, gazing at his wife across the table. He let his eyes rove over the dress's silhouette and her cheeks flushed. Curling her fingers around the stem of the wine glass she said, "I've had it for a while."
"It's nice," he said. "I appreciate the view."
His eyes dipped obviously to her cleavage and she snorted, taking a sip of wine. "Look at us, like horny teenagers."
"What?"
"Yes Owen," she said slowly, leaning forward. "That is cleavage you are staring at."
He chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Okay, you're right." She nudged his leg with the tip of her shoe gently under the table and told him, "It's okay, I don't mind. I like being checked out by my husband."
"Well good. I suppose that should make me feel good."
She grinned. "Damn right it should."
They were both silent for a moment and Cristina gingerly said, "They're okay, right? We shouldn't call?"
"No," Owen said, shaking his head. "They're fine. You're the one who told me that this afternoon, remember?"
She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. He watched her and smiled softly, shaking his head. While he had looked forward to spending a night with just his wife, he found her worrying too endearing to ignore, despite him knowing Sam was perfectly fine. When he had slipped in the bathroom ten or so minutes earlier, he called the house to check up on Sam. He was fine, predictably preoccupied with Derek's hair and spitting up peas on Meredith.
"Call," he said with an indulgent grin. Cristina's face relaxed as she grabbed her phone off the table and dialed. He listened to the one sided conversation, watching Cristina nod her head and ask the usual questions. He sat up a bit straighter when she said, "Oh, he did? Really?"
She shot him a look and he feigned innocence, giving a noncommittal shrug. She hung up the phone and set it back on the table. Immediately she asked, "Why didn't you tell me you called like ten minutes ago?"
"You didn't ask." She scrunched her nose in annoyance. "And would you have taken my word for it?"
She had to admit he had a point. "Fine," she conceded. "Where did you make the call, anyway?"
"The bathroom."
Her lips pulled into a slow grin as she said, "You checked up on our son in a bathroom. Why does that not surprise me?" Her smile dimmed as she said, "And I just checked up on him here at the table."
"And?"
"We've become those people, Owen. Those people who aren't able to be away from their children."
Owen shrugged and said, "Is that such a bad thing?"
"From the moment I've gotten here, he's all I've been able to think about. I've been thinking about whether or not Meredith will let the formula come to room temperature or if they will know to put his bear on his left side when he sleeps." Owen reached across the table and covered her hand with his own. "I'm supposed to be here with my husband, but I can't shut my brain off."
He smirked and told her, "I knew that about you a long time ago, Cristina."
She laughed, curling her fingers around his. That was the thing about Owen, he understood her. There was never some character trait that she could bring to the surface that he had not already recognized and accepted. It had been terrifying at first to have someone who could see her, read her so well. In the end, it was the most rewarding.
"We're those people," Owen conceded, squeezing her hand. "But I think that's pretty awesome. I never thought I would get this far, Cristina. I never imagined myself getting to the point of a family. Becoming settled. But now, because of you, I have. And I think it's pretty great that I snuck a call in the bathroom and you just did one at the table. It's what people with families do. It's what parents do."
She smiled softly and said, "So, we're those people?"
Her smile was contagious and it captured him as he nodded and said, "Yeah, we are."
A/N: Cue to aaww. Yes, this was cheesy. And I loved every dairy-filled line :D
So...I have a little preview for next chapter. Seattle Grace gets a visit from one of the foremost cardiothoracic surgeons. Any guesses as to who it is?
