A/N: Here we are again, my lovely readers! So buckle up and prepare yourself...review and let me hear your feels! Thank you all so very much for your support that has made this story possible so far!

The next morning, Mark boarded his flight to Boston from Seattle around six in the morning. He knew that when he arrived in Boston, it would be the middle of the afternoon with the time difference and the cross-country flight time, so he settled in his seat and relaxed while they were boarding the other passengers, putting his seat belt on when instructed to before they were moving toward the runway to take off. Mark got comfortable and eventually dozed off a few times, in between thinking about where he was going and who he was going to see. He had sent a few messages to Arizona before takeoff letting her know that he was going out of town for two days and to call if they needed anything at all and to call Derek if there was an emergency situation that he couldn't get to right away.

He had spent the majority of the previous night thinking about what he would say to Lexie and how he would react if she was pregnant. On the one hand, he was upset that she had kept it from him, but at the same time…he knew there had to be a good explanation as to why she would have. After all, this was Lexie and she never did anything without reason. So he tried to keep an open mind about that as they were flying over the country, but there were still so many lingering questions that he wanted answers to and wouldn't get until he talked to her face-to-face. And he knew that he was somewhat ambushing her since he didn't tell her he was coming, but he didn't really have time to warn her.

When they landed, he got up and grabbed his carry-on bag, which was all he had brought with him since the trip was so short, and got off the plane. He walked down the hallway into the airport before going to rent a car, grabbing the keys he was given and found the car parked in the garage. This model had GPS in it, which Mark was grateful for, because in his hurry…he forgot to look up how to get to Mass General from the airport. So he loaded up and got in, getting directions before driving off toward the hospital where he knew Lexie now worked.

He parked the car out in the parking lot where most visitors parked after arriving and came inside the hospital, going up to the information desk, figuring that would be the easiest way to find Lexie in a place as big as this.

"Excuse me," he said, looking at the receptionist. "I'm looking for Dr. Alexandra Grey. Could you please tell me which floor she's working on today?"

"Are you family or of any relation?" the receptionist asked.

"We're friends from Seattle. I'm Dr. Mark Sloan from Seattle Grace – Mercy West Hospital, where Dr. Grey used to be employed before she came here," he told her as he turned on the charm, holding up his own badge from the hospital with a smile.

The lady looked at his badge before clicking around on her computer and looked up some information. "It says here that Dr. Grey is working up on the Neuro floor, which is the sixth floor. Just go down this hall here and take a left. The elevators are right there. Go straight up and take a right when you get off and it'll lead you right to it, unless Dr. Grey is in surgery."

"Thank you. You ladies look lovely this afternoon, by the way," he said as he left, surely making a few of them blush as he took the directions to the elevator and got in, pushing the button to go up to the sixth floor.

While he was waiting in the elevator, he took a few deep breaths to prepare himself for this. It had been three months since he had seen Lexie in person and about four weeks since they had chatted on her sister's iPad, so he had no idea what he was talking into as the elevator dinged and he stepped off, going to the right. There was a nurses' station right up front, where he could see several nurses, interns, and a few residents standing around. But there was one resident that he knew who she was without even having to see her face. The dark hair, curled as it fell down her back, and the same little stance she always had when she was standing and doing charts. There was no one else it could be but Lexie Grey.

And from where he stood, she still looked exactly the same to him. No trace of pregnancy or even weight gain, which confused him. So there he stood for a few moments, trying to figure out how to approach this situation…why he was even here without telling her he was coming, but before he could even think, she began to turn around and he saw it. The unmistakable bump formed under her scrubs. She was pregnant…and from the looks of it, more than four or five months along. Mark stood there, rendered speechless and completely immobile.

"Mark…" Her voice sounded like something out of a dream as he looked at her, seeing the complete surprise in her deep brown eyes as she realized he was standing there.

His vocal cords would not form words as he just stood there, staring at her and then down at the bump underneath her scrubs, realizing that this was really happening. Lexie Grey was pregnant. With his child. And that hit him like a brick wall as he continued looking between her eyes and the swell of her stomach.

"You're…you're here," she said, biting her lower lip while moving her hand protectively to her stomach. "In Boston."

"Lex…" he began, but there were really no words that he could form to describe everything he was feeling at once. Shock. Fear. Amazement. And wonder. All rolled into the undeniable feeling of confusion and some anger.

"We should…we should talk," Lexie said, glaring at her interns to make them all scatter since they were staring at them like they were part of a train wreck that had just rolled into town.

Mark nodded in agreement, still fumbling in his head to find the words to say everything he was feeling. He had never before been rendered this speechless, with the exception of one night long ago, when an intern showed up to his room at the Archfield and began to strip, demanding that he teach her. That seemed like a lifetime ago now as he followed Lexie into the nearest private room before she shut the door and looked at him.

Finally regaining some of his composure, he scratched at the scruff on his chin to his neck and looked at her. She looked absolutely beautiful, just as she always did before, but somehow everything had shifted and she looked even more radiant because she was pregnant.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, knowing it was the first question he had in this entire situation.

"I…I wanted to," Lexie began before going into one of her full-scale rambles. "When I first moved out here, it was to get the hell away from you because I couldn't stay in Seattle and watch you father a child with someone else. And then I felt like crap all the time and then my period was really late so I took a test and it was positive. So I flew out to Seattle when I was ten weeks pregnant to tell you and…"

"How far along are you now?" he interrupted her, albeit a little more sharply than he intended to.

"Twenty-two weeks." There were tears in her eyes; enough to kill him right then and there.

Twelve weeks ago, Lexie had been in Seattle. But twelve weeks ago, Mark Sloan became a father when Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres was delivered prematurely and Callie, his best friend, was on the verge of death after the accident that nearly cost them both their lives.

"Callie…that weekend," he said, realizing the timing of everything as Lexie nodded.

"You were distraught, worried sick about Callie and the baby, so I didn't think it was wise to add another thing to your plate until you were in a better place." The tears in Lexie's eyes were now coming down her cheeks as she tried to wipe them away to stay strong. Lexie was always trying to be strong, which was one reason he loved her as much as he did.

"And now?" he asked, his tone greatly softening.

"I was going to fly out to Seattle the first weekend I had off…after I heard that they released Callie and the baby from the hospital. This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have over the phone or even video chat…this is personal, so I wanted it to be in person. Because…this is your baby too and I know how you felt about having your daughter kept from you for eighteen years. I would never do that to you, no matter how upset I had been or angry when I first moved here."

The anger in Mark's heart greatly lessoned as he realized how much all of this had affected Lexie too. He could see the guilt written across her face and the pain she had been in over the decision to keep this secret from him. The Lexie he knew and loved would have never kept this from him forever. So without even thinking, he moved forward and took her face in his hands, leaning in and kissing her with everything he had. All of the pent up feelings of love for her that he had repressed for months now were flooding out as she didn't fight back, but instead moved her hands into his hair to bring him closer so her stomach touched his. Their kiss was passionate and slow, heated and unreserved until she broke it apart for air and laughed out loud.

"He kicked…" she gasped, looking down at her stomach.

Mark caught what she said and looked at her. "He?"

She held her hand to her stomach and took his, moving it along until he felt a distinguishable thud against his hand. "Whoa…"

A smile came through her tears as her eyes met his. "He…it's a boy."

Mark stood in awe of Lexie as she told him the news about having a son. He was having a son with Lexie and he had just felt him kicking for the first time not even a minute earlier, which was a humbling experience for him since he hadn't been able to feel Sofia kicking before she was born. But right here and now, he could feel his and Lexie's son kicking, which brought a tear to his eye. Lexie held his hand to her stomach and looked in his eyes.

"I never intended to keep him from you, Mark," she explained. "I know you would have wanted to be there, but Callie and Sofia needed you. I didn't want you to feel torn between me and them when they were in the hospital fighting to stay alive."

Looking down into her eyes, Mark knew that she was being sincere and that this meant a lot to her because she had done it out of love for him. And respect to the commitments that he made to Callie and Sofia both, as a best friend and father.

"He…he's healthy?" he asked softly.

Lexie nodded. "Perfectly. He's growing fast and he's just…he's beautiful."

Finding all of this out had Mark reeling with emotion. At first, he had been angry and upset she had kept this from him, but now he could see how she had wanted to tell him all along, but the circumstances had never been right for her to do so. And he could never blame her for that because she had been trying and struggling with that decision since she made it the day she showed up at Seattle Grace – Mercy West when Callie and Sofia almost died. He could see all of that written on her face.

"Lex…come home," he pleaded after a moment, moving one of his hands to brush his fingers along her cheek. "Let me take care of you and the baby."

"What about Callie and Sofia?" she asked, keeping her eyes on his. "You can't just forget about them and I – I have my job here, Mark. I quit Seattle Grace – Mercy West, so I doubt I can get my job back. Plus, it wouldn't look good to switch hospitals again during my residency. And I don't even know what we are…and…and it's complicated."

"I can be there for all of you," he insisted. "Sofia will be with her moms a lot until she's a lot older, but I'm gonna be there for her just as I promised I would be all along as her father. But this is my son, so I want to be his dad too. And I miss you."

"You were always leaving me behind – with Sloane and again with Callie and it hurt so much because I loved you and didn't want to love you anymore. Then I came here to get away from you, only to find out that I was pregnant with your baby," she went on, pulling back from him and gesturing with her hands as she often did when she was frustrated or trying to make a point. "I was terrified because this changed everything…again…and I wasn't ready for this, but when I heard his heart beating that first time…it hit me. I wanted him, so I decided to do this and was going to tell you, but everything got so ridiculously messed up and I've been doing this all alone!"

The tears running down Lexie's face broke Mark's heart. She had kept that inside for so long and he knew that she needed to get it out. He watched her take a shaky breath before she looked at him again. There was a moment of quiet between them while he searched for what to say, if there was anything he could really say. So many things were left unsaid between them when they last broke up and he knew she had the right to tell him how she felt because it was his mistake that pushed her away, twice.

"I meant what I said…when I said I didn't hate you," she finally said, her voice calmer and more collected than before.

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you did hate me," he said, finding his voice again. "But I never stopped loving you Lexie, even after you had left and I knew you weren't coming back."

"Mark – I don't know if I can come back to Seattle," she said, looking down. "We tried being together twice and it didn't work. And I have a job here. A life here that I've been building for myself and the baby…"

"But your family is in Seattle," he countered, trying anything he could to make her see reason. "Derek and Meredith? And you are a brilliant resident that needs to be taught by the best because you have a bright future."

There was a moment, when Mark looked at her, that he could see that she was struggling with everything he had just said. And he hoped it would be enough to possibly convince her to come home where she belonged.

"I just – I don't know, but I have to get ready to scrub in on a Craniotomy in thirty minutes," she quickly replied. "But I get off around eight. Can we…talk then?"

Mark couldn't say no as he nodded and let her get going to her surgery. For a while, he sat in that room and thought about everything that was hitting him at once. Lexie Grey, the love of his life, was carrying his son. And seeing her pregnant had just amplified all of his feelings for her that were already there. Yet he was still worried that she wouldn't ever come back and that they would forever be stuck in a limbo of trading off custody of their son, which he didn't want. He wanted her to be close by and for them to raise their son together, but it would be a matter of trying to make her see that he still cared about her and that he was willing to make the changes in his life to keep her in it too.