Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy belongs to Shonda Rhimes & Co.
Owen opened the door to find Cristina holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers in one hand and a large shopping bag in the other. The birds were chirping on this beautiful morning and the morning sun created a halo around Cristina. Owen squinted to adjust his vision on the staggering beauty that stood in front of him.
"I'm sorry I'm late," rushed Cristina. "I couldn't find a damn place that was opened at 7:30 except for Seattle Grace."
Owen shook his head, still unable to wipe the cheesy smile off his face. He stepped forward and grabbed her face with both his hands and planted a firm yet soft kiss on Cristina's lips. "It's okay, we're just setting the table," reassured Owen. He glanced at Cristina's full hands. "What's all this?"
"Oh, just something for the boys. Thought I shouldn't show up empty-handed," answered Cristina. She let Owen grab the flowers but gripped the shopping bag, not wanting Owen to put any unnecessary strain on his body.
A waft of buttery blueberry pancakes, crispy bacon and fresh brewed coffee greeted Cristina inside the house. "Mmmm." Cristina took in the comforting scent of classic breakfast foods. "Smells delicious."
"Cristina, is that you?" Karen came out of the kitchen with Joel crying hysterically on her hips. "Jo, jo!" Karen distracted Joel from his crankiness by pointing to Cristina, "Cwis is here!"
"Waaaaah!" Cristina flinched from Joel's deafening cries. Joel fidgeted in Karen's hold and turned his head to the pointed finger. He dropped the bottle in his mouth, leaned towards to Cristina and with his short stubby arms, reached out, asking to be held.
Owen raised his eyebrow, curious as to how Cristina would react. Cristina met Owen's bemused expression and felt challenged by his eyes. She dropped her bag and reached out to take Joel out of Karen's hold. Luckily for Cristina, Joel latched onto Cristina, masking her awkward hold on Joel. He immediately dug his wet face onto her curls cascading down from Cristina's shoulders and quieted down.
Cristina met Owen's eyes with confidence and gave him a smug smile. However, instead of the playful defeated expression she was expecting from Owen, she was met with tenderness and love in Owen's baby blue eyes, as he openly stared at her, taking in the whole picture. Cristina gulped as she realized she woke up the father in Owen. "Sorry for being late, Karen," Cristina broke from Owen's stare. "I-I don't know why Joel likes me. Babies usually hate me and I'm horrible with them," she continued and glanced at Owen, making sure to drive this point to him.
"Oh, I think I might know why," Karen cautiously started. "I realized this when I was reading him a bedtime story the other night." Karen cleared her throat. "Jo has this unnatural obsession for… lions."
"Oh…" Cristina stood with her mouth opened in shaped of an 'O' realizing for the first time Joel's clenched fists holding tightly onto a wad of curls. Owen busted into a hearty laughter as Cristina shot him a look that could kill.
"Pancakes are amazing, Mrs. Hunt," said Cristina while unable to stop stuffing her mouth with the crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-buttery-on-the-inside pancakes.
"Oh, I'm so glad you like it," said Mrs. Hunt with a satisfied smile on her face. "Please do have seconds. You can afford to gain some weight."
"I second that," said Owen, while rising to get Cristina seconds. Cristina stopped Owen from getting out of his seat, "No, it's okay," while pointing at her plate, which was still filled with food.
Owen nodded, realizing his short train of thinking. Cristina gave a light squeeze on Owen's thigh, silently showing her appreciation.
"This was Owen's favorite food when he was a little boy. Sometimes he insisted having them for dinner. You wouldn't believe the tantrums he threw at the dinner table," explained Mrs. Hunt.
"Mo-om," Owen hurriedly tried to stop his mom and Karen from sharing embarrassing childhood stories.
Cristina laughed envisioning a stocky boy with bright red hair and blue eyes, sitting at the dinner table filled with a feast of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, with tears streaming down from the absence of blueberry pancakes at the table. "Please do share more," insisted Cristina.
"Ooo, mom what embarrassing stories should we share? There's way too many to choose from," said Karen, while laughing at Owen's intense eyes screaming no. "Oh, I know a good one. Prom!"
"Noooooo," Owen groaned from his seat and tried to put on his best 'I'm serious' face. "Don't you dare."
"No, go on. Besides, I'm the one who has to deal with him later. It's okay," Cristina assured Karen.
"Okay, so," Karen blatantly ignored Owen. "Owen was obsessed with this girl in high school for 3 years, as in call 5 times a day and hang up, wait for her after class and run away when she came out, and write Romeo and Juliet love poems. But funny thing is, he never told her. The whole school knew but Owen was blind as a bat thinking he held the secret to himself. It's cute now but boy, was it pathetic then."
"Haha, sounds a bit stalkerish," Cristina laughed at this unsightly description of Owen. The Owen that she knew was forward and direct. He was incapable of holding his emotions at bay and always acted before thinking of consequences. It was a fresh perspective on Owen as a teenager. Owen took a sideways glance at Cristina, gauging her reaction, and also couldn't help but wonder how Cristina was in high school.
"Well, eventually she found out and to everybody's surprise, she asked Owen to be her date to prom. He came into the house that day fist pumping and all, so excited I swear, I thought he was going to jump out of his skin," said Karen. "So he broke into his money that he saved from his summer job and bought himself a really nice tux and probably a box of condoms, prepared to lose his virginity that night."
Owen groaned loudly this time, knowing where this story was headed. "Aw, this isn't going to be a happy ending is it?" asked Cristina, feeling bad for this Owen she never knew. "So what happened?"
"So night of, Owen waited for her to arrive. We all thought it was weird that she was picking him up but he insisted those were the plans. So 15 minutes passed, then 30 minutes, then 1 full hour passed. Owen was losing it at this point. Not knowing what to do he eventually stepped outside the house to wait. He came back 2 hours later, still in the exact same state and stormed into his room. Waited 3 hours and she never showed up," explained Karen, with a gleam in her eyes, getting to the final part of the story. "The following Monday, Owen goes to school and gets greeted by Laura and her friends and they shower him with ice cold slurpees! Well… turns out Owen, having been a complete dimwit at this girl thing, Owen was supposed to pick Laura up. She ended up waiting for him before her girlfriends came to rescue her. So there goes their love story and how Owen did not lose his virginity prom night."
"Wow, that was very stupid of him," said Cristina. "Isn't it a rule set in stone that the guy picks up the girl for prom?" incredulously asked Cristina.
"Okay, still here, ladies," Owen pointed to himself in case they weren't aware he was sitting right in the conversation as well. As he stood up to clear the table, he ducked his head behind Cristina and placed his hand on the small of her back, drawing her to him. He whispered in a low growl, "I was not a virgin by the way."
Cristina snickered and turned around, lips mere centimeters away from Owen's and looked at him with her feisty eyes, "Like hell you weren't," she teased as she got up to help Owen clear the table.
"Come to bed," pleaded Owen from the bed.
"I said hold on," said Cristina, while grabbing the heap of clothes from her chair to throw in the laundry basket. "I'm cleaning."
"You couldn't clean last night?" complained Owen. He was tired from the trip to the airport and found it hard to move around and Cristina refused to stop moving since they got home hours ago.
Cristina swallowed the ball of annoyance she felt rising from within. "I was tired," she snapped in a tighter tone than she intended.
Owen caught his tone of neediness and remembered his promise to be a good patient. "Sorry…" he offered and sighed. He just wanted to hold her in his arms. It felt like an eternity since they had shared the same bed at home. Actually, it had been an eternity and this was the first chance they had in over a month to be at home, together, in each other's arms. He did not think he was asking for too much and rather found Cristina to be insensitive by her taking her time.
Cristina opened Owen's bag and started placing his clothes in his dresser. She felt Owen to be extremely needy and could not come up with the reason why. She realized Owen had been quiet for 5 minutes and she turned around to find Owen propped against the headboard, with his eyes closed. Cristina sighed and felt bad at having ignoring Owen's pleas to get in bed with him. She dropped the clothes onto the cleared chair and climbed into bed. She sat perched next to Owen, body turned sideways to meet Owen's closed eyes.
Owen felt the weight shift on the bed but did not bother to open his eyes. He was still bothered by Cristina's behavior and was not as willing to give in just yet.
Cristina noticed the frown on Owen's brow and silently smiled, fully knowing Owen was not sleeping and just upset. She scooted closer and ran her hand down his jaw, lightly scraping against his stubbles. Owen still kept his eyes closed. Cristina smiled and leaned forward, lightly brushing her lips against Owen's tightly pursed lips.
Owen was surprised to feel Cristina caressing his face. He was further taken aback at the light touch he felt across his lips. His face loosened and allowed his lips to relax. Cristina saw the wider surface on Owen's lips and pressed harder this time, taking turns to taste his lower then upper lip. Owen relented and eagerly welcomed the taste. His arm naturally found a hold around Cristina's waist and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. They broke apart for air as Owen stated, "Finally," into Cristina's mouth and grabbed her once again for another taste.
They broke apart and Cristina snuggled next to Owen, lightly draping her hand across his chest. Owen placed his hand over her dangling hand and stroked with his large thumb. "You're so stubborn," he finally broke the silence. "Like a lion."
"Shaddup," Cristina silenced Owen. "I was busy putting away your clothes and FYI– lioness, not a lion," she corrected him.
"Lioness," Owen pondered. "Suits you damn fine," he said with a smirk, couldn't think of another animal that suited her better than a lioness.
"Roar," Cristina, by verbatim, imitated the sound of a lion, causing Owen to loudly chuckle, and plant a kiss on her forehead out of affection.
"When did you lose your virginity?" Owen couldn't help but ask.
"Before you," answered Cristina.
"I told you, I wasn't a virgin then," corrected Owen. He couldn't bear the thought of Cristina lessening him as a man. "Karen doesn't know this, but I actually lost it to one of her friends. Wasn't a relationship or anything. Was just quick and dirty."
"Oh, is that when you knew you wanted to become a trauma surgeon?" asked Cristina.
Owen smiled, ignoring Cristina's smart-ass comment. "So… you?"
"Prom," answered Cristina. "Well, night of the prom to be more specific. I ditched prom and went on a mini-trip of my own."
Owen nodded. He hated asking Cristina questions about her exes which spurred ugly emotions inside whenever he thought of Cristina with another man. However, curiosity always got the best of him as he could not help but ask at these such times. "Boyfriend?"
"Uh, yea, if you want to call it then," replied Cristina.
"Serious?" asked Owen, trying to gauge Cristina's past relationships.
"No, summer fling," explained Cristina.
"Good," answered Owen, satisfied with Cristina's answer not wanting her to hold the man she lost her virginity to in a special place. "Dammit," Owen muttered in frustration.
"What is it?" asked Cristina.
Owen sheepishly answered, "I don't know how long I can last with you in bed and not able to… you know… do it with you."
"Sex," Cristina filled in Owen's words. "We're adults and we're allowed to say the word sex and fucking."
"Language, Cristina," Owen was never the one to talk crude to Cristina about sex, unless during the sex.
"Whatever," said Cristina. "I'll try my best and not be so hot in front of you. Although I can't promise anything," she wiggled her eyebrows and stroked his chest, teasing Owen.
"Ah," groaned Owen. It had been way too long since he had been inside Cristina and the mere thought of it was getting his body heated and created a reaction. He took Cristina's arm off his chest and said, "Okay, that's enough." He gently pushed Cristina so there was a space between them.
"How selfish, making me come to bed one minute and pushing me away the next," jokingly pouted Cristina, fully understanding Owen's frustrations as she was just as frustrated as he was.
"Hello, Dr. Yang," greeted Dr. Webber. "Please have a seat."
Cristina puzzlingly looked around the room noting the numerous authoritative figures that were in the room. Burke was sitting at the head of the table, with Dr. Webber right besides him. The Chair and Vice Chair of the Board, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Gates, were sitting directly across from Dr. Webber. Derek was also joining them on the phone. Cristina took a seat next to Dr. Webber.
"I'm sure you're wondering what this is all in regards to. It's good news, so relax," assured Dr. Webber as he started the meeting. "As you know, our hospital is in shifting gear right now. We are looking at options as to how to regain status to Seattle Grace since the shooting and we asked Dr. Burke to come in to fill the role as the Chief of Surgery for the time being."
Cristina nodded, fully aware of the changes Seattle Grace was attempting to regain their status.
"And of course, your solo surgery, successfully saving Dr. Shepherd from a GSW to the chest, definitely did not go unnoticed by me and the other attendings," continued Dr. Webber. "I brought it to the attention of Dr. Burke and Dr. Shepherd and both agreed before we went to the Board with this proposal. Proposal has been accepted and we're here to offer you a future at Seattle Grace."
Cristina still remained unsure what was being spoken at the table.
Dr. Webber nodded to Mr. Fox to continue with the proposal.
"The Board has interviewed everyone in this room, along with Dr. Avery, the two nurses and the anesthesiologist who saw the surgery first hand. We are all in consensus with our offer. Starting next term, we would like to skip you up a year to start as a fifth year resident. We strongly feel you are at least two years beyond other residents and time and lives would be wasted keeping you as a fourth year resident. You will have one solid year of learning under your belt and at the end of the year will have the option of continuing your residency or starting your career as an attending."
Cristina's mouth dropped open at this proposal.
Mrs. Gates went on, "We will offer to speed up your residency program with the condition that immediately after your residency is over, you will sign with Seattle Grace as a heart surgeon for at least 5 years. We cannot offer you Head of Cardio within those years but I remain confident you will prove us you deserve to be Head in those five years."
Dr. Shepherd then spoke on the phone, "Knowing you, Dr. Yang, your immediate concern is who will be teaching you at this hospital. I am stepping down as Interim Chief of Surgery. With Meredith's pregnancy and the months of healing time I will need, I have decided it is best for the hospital, for my family and for everyone else involved."
Dr. Webber spoke next, "I know 5 years of commitment seems a long time, especially with our cardio department not being as strong as it once was when you started. Therefore, we have offered Chief of Surgery to Dr. Burke. Together with you and Dr. Burke leading our cardio department, I have no doubts that we will once again take the top spot and hopefully become 1, a ranking we have yet to achieve, with the cardio wing under you and Dr. Burke's guidance. And of course, package will be generous."
Cristina's head was spinning as offers were being thrown right and left. A bit shaken from the offer, she turned to look at Burke who had remained silent. Burke directly met Cristina's eyes. It was apparent this news conflicted Burke just as much as Cristina.
The whole room followed Cristina's gaze to Dr. Burke who still remained silent despite being at the head of the table. He opened his mouth for the first time and stated, "I have accepted the position as Chief of Surgery and I'd be honored to have you as a student again."
Cristina frowned as she contemplated the situation before her eyes. 'Dammit,' she thought, 'conversation with Burke was unavoidable after all…"
*Let me be clear that I do not know if it is realistic or not about the skipping residency thing. But hey, my reasoning is if a third year resident can operate solo on a gsw under those circumstances, I don't see why not. And it is Grey's Anatomy after all... This is my last plot and I'm slowly winding down the story. This story should wrap up in 2 or 3 more chapters. I am also really proud of finishing this chapter before I go out to enjoy the fireworks at the Hudson. Yay! Thanks for reading and reviewing, and happy birthday to US of A!