CHAPTER 10

Parenthood seemed to suit the three couples perfectly. Being surgeons at one of the best hospitals in the country, their work schedules were very hectic. But they always made it a point to keep some time and attention aside for their children every day. The parents were also delighted to witness their little toddlers' various development milestones.

One day, Derek had just reached home, exhausted after spending 8 hours in the OR successfully operating on a teenager with a large, complex spinal glioma. After eating the delicious dinner that his wife had prepared, he sat down on the couch and switched on the TV to watch a video of Zola and Chris playing in the nursery. Meanwhile, Meredith was sitting beside him, trying to put their two kids to sleep.

Meredith: I was so sure that Chris was going to take his first steps this morning. I could feel it. I even sat at a distance and held his favorite teddy bear in my hand, but he still didn't walk towards me.

Derek: He's highly inspired by Zola. He's not going to do anything on cue. He's going to surprise us, just as his big sister did. And this time, I'm not going to miss it. I'm going to be ready with the camera and film the entire thing.

Meredith: Hmmm. But why aren't our two munchkins sleeping?

Derek: Just walk them around. I would've done it myself but I'm too tired to walk.

All of a sudden, Chris made an attempt to stand on his feet and walk towards Meredith.

Meredith (jumping up from the couch): Oh, Derek. Where's the camera? Turn it on, now.

Derek picked up the camera which was lying on the coffee table, turned it on to video mode and focused it on his son. Chris walked a few steps on his own, unsteadily at first, and then fell down on the soft rug underneath. Meredith was about to go pick him up, but Derek stopped her from doing so. Zola had seen her little brother fall. Being the protective elder sister that she was, she went over to him, held his hand and helped him to get back on his feet. Then they both covered the short distance between them and their parents together, hand-in-hand. Meredith and Derek beamed broadly at their two children. It was the cutest scene ever, the best part being that Derek had been able to film the whole thing this time.

Later that night, at the Hunt-Yang household, Owen and Cristina were woken up from their relatively peaceful sleep on hearing the sound of Madison crying through the baby monitor. The pair had decided to take alternative turns to get up and go to the nursery to change and feed the twins whenever they started crying in the middle of the night. Although it was Cristina's turn to get up, Owen decided to fill in for her as she needed the rest more than he did. She had had a very busy day at the hospital, handling a heart-lung domino surgery on her own.

Cristina (sleepily): Just a second. I'll get up.

Owen: No, stay in bed. You're tired, Cristina. In fact, the word 'tired' would be an understatement to describe your state right now. I'll go and see what's wrong with Maddie.

Cristina (thankfully): Are you sure?

Owen: I'm positive. You just go back to sleep.

Owen walked off in the direction of the nursery. He entered the room and found Maddie in a very distressed state, her face red with all the crying. He picked her up and found out that she was just hungry. So, he took a bottle of milk from the fridge and heated it up to the correct temperature. After feeding her, he settled into the old rocking chair with his beautiful daughter in his arms and started singing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' to put her back to sleep. Cristina was standing at the doorway of the nursery and secretly watching the whole scene with a bright smile on her face.

Owen: Hey, baby girl. I know Mama always puts you to bed, but you'll have to put with me for a night. Are you ready to close your eyes? Okay, beautiful, here I go. The itsy-bitsy spider…Went up the water spout…Down came the rain…And washed the spider out…Out came the sun…And dried up all the rain…And the itsy-bitsy spider…Went up the spout again. Mama and I love you both. Goodnight.

The next morning, Cristina woke up early to surprise her husband by preparing breakfast for the both of them. She entered the kitchen, fixed her IPod headphones into place and started cooking breakfast while simultaneously dancing to the music that was playing in her ears. When Owen woke up and came out of their bedroom, the sight that he witnessed caused him to burst out into a laughing fit.

Owen: Cristina, what are you doing?

Cristina: I'm making breakfast.

Owen: You don't cook.

Cristina: I do. Sometimes. Here, try this. Eggs cooked almost entirely with my left hand. I know it will turn out to be delicious, and you will ask me to make some more. But no can do, honey, because there aren't any more eggs.

Owen (opening the fridge after eating the scrambled eggs): There's nothing else to eat in the fridge. I'm hungry. What about this cheese?

Cristina: Oh, that cheese is very old. And don't worry, I just ordered pizza.

Owen: For breakfast?

Cristina: I didn't have anything to eat last night. I came home at midnight and straightaway climbed into bed. For me, it's dinner. It's a very, very late dinner. So, don't eat the old cheese. Pizza will be here any minute.

Owen (smiling): Okay then.

Later that afternoon, Mark, Lexie, Callie and Arizona decide to go to the hospital daycare to spend their lunch break with Susan and Sophia. The whole time, Callie and Arizona looked on helplessly as Mark and Lexie were having the inevitable debate about whether their daughter's first word would be 'mama' or 'dada'.

Mark: I'm telling you for sure, her first word is going to be 'dada'. Because she's daddy's little girl, isn't she?

Lexie: Well, her mommy is the one who carried her in her womb for nearly six and a half months and who she came out of. So, the chances are pretty high that her first word is going to be 'mama'.

Callie: Would you two just quit this argument?

Arizona: Yeah, let Susan say what she wants to say, at her own pace and by her own will. Stop trying to sway her cute little mind in your favor.

But their attempts to put an end to this dispute were futile. Susan's head started turning left and right several times. It seemed as though she were watching a table tennis match between her parents while hearing the words 'mama' and 'dada' being repeated over and over again. All of a sudden, Mark and Lexie stopped fighting when they heard a word being spoken by their daughter, which appeared to be a combination of the words 'mama' and 'dada'.

Susan (speaking softly): Ma-da.

Lexie (smiling): Did she just speak for the first time ever?

Mark (laughing): Yes, she did. And her first word was 'ma-da'?

Callie: Well, Susan knows how to make her both her mommy and daddy satisfied, doesn't she?

Lexie (laughing): She sure does.