A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! All of the reviews give me warm fuzzies! Here is the longest chapter yet, by far, but just a warning, it is simply a fluff filled filler.

Chapter 21

"Meredith and I got a going-home present for the babies," Lexie chirped, bouncing into Izzie's hospital room as she was packing up. Mark was busy filling out her discharge papers and the babies were resting peacefully in their car seats. Mark had gone out the day before and purchased a double stroller with a blue car seat and a pink car seat that clipped in. Izzie smiled and took the brightly colored bag Lexie held out. She pulled out a cute little pink velour sleeper.

"We figured you'd be a little short on a really cute outfit to bring Katie home in, so we went and picked this up for her," Lexie explained. Riley was already dressed in a little Yankees onesy with a floppy matching baseball cap. Katie was still in the hospital shirt.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Izzie exclaimed. "This is adorable. I'm so glad she doesn't have to go home in that fugly little shirt. I would have sent Mark to get something, but as much as I love him, I so don't trust him to pick out clothes for our daughter."

"Of course not," Lexie agreed. "He's got a Y chromosome. Do you need help with anything? I've got the rest of the day off."

"I think we're good," Izzie said, adeptly changing Katie into her new outfit. "Alex is at the house setting up Katie's crib. He and Mark went and got duplicates of all the bedding and stuff to match Riley's. We've got a bunch of plain white and yellow little onesies that'll work until I can get to the store. At this point, I just want to get them home."

"Your wish is my command, my love," Mark said, entering the room. "You and our lovely children have been officially discharged by OB and peds."

"Well then let's get these little stinkers home," Izzie said, reluctantly sitting in the wheel chair that Tyler brought in. Mark pushed Izzie's wheelchair while Lexie brought up the rear with the babies.

MIMIMI

Late that night, Mark entered the softly lit nursery to find Izzie sitting in the chair, nursing Riley. Katie was peacefully sleeping in her Uncle Alex-assembled crib. The weak light from the lamp behind the chair cast a halo around Izzie's curls and cast enigmatic shadows around her and their son. Mark had woken up a few minutes ago to find her missing and he had known immediately where to look. The babies were well behaved. They had played a little when they arrived home, but for the most part they had just ate and slept all day. Although he had watched her nurse the babies every time they were hungry over the past 2 days, the sight of her nursing their children still filled him with this overwhelming mixture of tenderness and possessiveness.

"Hey, beautiful," Mark greeted her quietly.

"Hi," Izzie murmured. "He has your appetite."

Mark chuckled as he walked over to crouch beside her. "Thank you, Iz. For giving me such an amazingly precious gift."

"Hey, we made these little treasures together," Izzie reminded him. "We're a family now."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "And our family is going to get even bigger on Friday. I still can't believe our parents are coming."

"Mark, we've both survived some of the worst tragedies life can throw at us," Izzie said. "I think we can handle our parents."

"Just promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Promise me we'll never do anything to make our kids dread our visits like we dread our parents'," Mark requested.

"So not possible for them to dread us as much as we dread our parents, even if we tried to screw up," Izzie vowed. "But we'll survive."

MIMIMI

After a short argument, Izzie agreed to order whatever clothes she thought Katie needed on-line since they both felt that they shouldn't take the babies out of the house for a while. Friday came around sooner than either Mark or Izzie expected. They spent most of the week bonding with the babies and making the cozy little nursery into a two-baby room. Thankfully, the babies were fairly routine and slept as much as newborns could be expected to sleep, especially at night.

Mark woke up Friday with a sense of dread. Izzie was already up and getting dressed when he finally decided to crack his eyes open.

"Mark, time to get up," Izzie encouraged, sitting down on the bed beside him. "The babies will be up soon and your parents flight gets in in two hours and my mom will be here in three."

"I don' wanna!" Mark whined.

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Izzie teased. "Come on, it won't be that bad."

"Fine," Mark grumbled. Izzie kissed his temple and then flitted out of the room.

When Mark got out of the shower and threw on a pair of khakis and a light blue golf shirt, he went in search of Izzie. He checked the nursery, but the babies were both sleeping peacefully with no sign of Izzie. He was walking towards the stairs when he saw a blur flit into the biggest guestroom. Mark went to stand in the doorway of the room. She was wearing a pre-pregnancy pink baby doll dress and her fell in gentle waves around her face, although she pushed it behind her ears as she plumped the pillows. He couldn't help grinning as he watched Izzie fuss and move and straighten the room.

"Ok, bathroom has fresh towels, sheets are fresh, lunch stuff is ready," Izzie mumbled to herself.

"Who ya talkin' to?" Mark teased. Izzie jumped in surprise.

"You scared me!" she exclaimed in annoyance.

"You need to be resting, not rushing," Mark chastised.

"I just want everything to be perfect," Izzie explained. "And fretting and rushing keeps me distracted from the fact that you are going to have to meet my mother and I'm going to have to meet your parents."

"Everything will be fine," he soothed. "And if it's not, we have two shields of cuteness in the other room that could thaw the coldest hearts."

"I hope you're right."

MIMIMI

Mark stood in the lobby of the airport, waiting for his parents. Through the crowd, he spotted his father's iron colored hair and his tall, upright frame pushing a trolley full of expensive looking luggage. Beside him, his mother minced along in her chic tweed suit and perfectly styled bob. Mark didn't move to greet them; he let them come to him.

"Mark," his father said, formally, holding out his hand.

"Dad," Mark returned, shaking the proffered hand.

"My you're looking…prosperous," his mother said, turning her cheek up to him. Mark dutifully kissed her make-up coated, plastic surgery enhanced cheek.

"Mother, you look lovely, as usual," he said politely. "Well, why don't we head to the car? Dad, do you need any help with the bags?"

"No, thank you," his father replied, just lead the way to the car. Inwardly sighing, Mark led the way to the Mercedes S55 AMG that was waiting in the parking garage.

"This car isn't your usual mode of transportation," the elder Sloan commented.

"Well, when you have a family to drive around, Harleys really aren't the most practical things to own," Mark returned, helping his father to load the luggage into the car.

A few minutes later, Mark was driving away from Sea-Tac airport in a completely silent car.

"So, tell us about this girl," his mother broke the silence.

"Well, her name is Isobel Stevens, but everyone calls her Izzie. She's a second year resident at Seattle Grace. That's how we met, at work. She's an amazingly compassionate, kind, beautiful young woman and I love her," Mark said firmly.

"How long have you known her?" his father asked.

"Um, pretty much since I got here," Mark replied. "She was roommates with Derek's girlfriend and she was an intern when I got here, so we were kind of thrown together."

"What on earth possessed you to actually settle down and have a family with this girl?" his mother asked.

"Izzie's the type of girl I've always wanted to be with, Mother. She understands me and she makes me want to be the best that I can be. She doesn't have any expectations except that I love her."

"But to have children? So soon?" His mother sounded slightly disgusted.

"We didn't plan on having children, it just happened. To be honest, we didn't know we were having twins until we were in the delivery room. Katie kind of snuck up on us."

"Katie?" his father asked.

"Yes, my daughter, Katherine, we call her Katie," Mark clarified. "She hid behind Riley during all of the ultrasounds and their heartbeats were completely in sync. She's just as beautiful and sweet as her mama."

His parents were silent for a moment.

"Why did you name her Katherine?" his father asked.

"Izzie named her actually," Mark replied. After a shared look, his parents let the subject drop for the moment.

MIMIMI

Izzie had moved the babies to the playpen in the living room. She was pacing the length of the living room when she heard the Mercedes roll up. She rushed over to the hall mirror to make sure she looked presentable and then went to open the door.

Mark and an older version of Mark were unloading several suitcases from the trunk of the car while a well-dressed woman of indeterminate age was studying the outside of the house. Izzie pasted on a smile and went to meet them.

"Hi!" she called. "I'm Izzie! Welcome to our home!"

Mark smiled at her, relieved to have back up. "Izzie this is my mom, Margaret Sloan, and my father, Mitchell Sloan. Mother, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Izzie Stevens."

"Izzie, a pleasure to meet you," Margaret said graciously, shaking her hand.

"Don't I recognize you from somewhere?" Mitchell asked, shaking her hand as well.

"Um, you might have seen some of the ad campaigns I modeled for to work my way through college and med school," Izzie said, blushing slightly.

"Come on, Dad, I'll show you and Mother up to your room and then you can meet the babies," Mark interjected, trying to avoid any awkwardness. Carrying the largest of the suitcases, Mark led the way up the staircase.

"This is a lovely house, Mark," Margaret commented as they walked down the hall. "Who was your decorator?"

"Izzie was, actually," Mark replied. "She went through an extremely intense nesting phase when she was about six months along and she decorated the entire house."

"Really?" Margaret said neutrally.

"Well, this is your room," Mark said, leading the way into the impeccable pale yellow room. "The bathroom is next door."

"Thank you," Mitchell said. "We'll be down shortly."

Mark nodded and headed down to the safe haven of Izzie and the twins.

MIMIMI

"Now, where are my grandchildren?" Margaret asked as she and Mitchell joined Mark and Izzie in the living room where they were each holding a child.

Smiling, Izzie motioned for her to come take the third spot on the couch. When Margaret was settled, Izzie moved the baby so she could get a better look.

"This handsome little devil is Riley Aidan," Izzie told her. "He's the oldest and most definitely his father's son."

"He certainly looks like Mark did as an infant," Margaret agreed.

"And this little angel," Mark said, "is the little princess of the house, Katherine Anna. Riley, Katie these are your grandparents."

"Oh, she is a beautiful baby," Margaret cooed. "She looks like a little doll. She's so tiny."

"She was four weeks early and her big brother hogged most of the room in the womb, but she's sturdy," Izzie explained.

"Would you like to hold her?" Mark asked his mother.

"Oh." Margaret looked surprised. "Um, yes, certainly."

Mark got up and gently transferred Katie into her grandmother's arms. Margaret held her a little stiffly, but studied her with obvious affection. "Did you know I haven't held a baby since your sister was born?" Margaret asked quietly. The awkward silence was only broken by the babies' small gurgles and squeaks.

"Mitchell?" Izzie said. "Would you like to hold Riley?"

Mitchell looked cold and distant. "No, thank you. I'm not very good with babies."

Mark opened his mouth to lash out at his father, but before he had the chance, the doorbell rang.

"That's probably my mom," Izzie said, standing up. "Here, Mark, take Riley. I'll go let her in."

Izzie adeptly passed Riley to Mark and hurried to the door, surreptitiously fussing with her appearance.

Taking a steadying breath, Izzie opened the door. A haggard looking woman in a well worn, but neat dress stood on the doorstep looking supremely uncomfortable.

"Hi, Mom," Izzie greeted her cheerfully. "I'm so glad you could make it. Please, come in."

"Hello, Cricket," Barbara Stevens said, kissing her daughter's cheek. Izzie was pleased to note that the smell of smoke and alcohol that permeated her childhood memories of her mother were noticeably absent. "My, this is an awfully big place you have here. It's nice. Very cozy."

"Thanks," Izzie replied. "Mark picked it out and then I decorated everything during my spare time. Well, come on into the living room. Mark's parents are here as well. They flew in from New York to see the babies."

Izzie led the way to join the Sloans. Mark stood up when they entered the room, still cradling Riley in one arm.

"Mom, this is my boyfriend, Mark Sloan," Izzie said. "That little bundle of joy he's got there is Riley."

"Pleased to finally meet you, Barbara," Mark said, holding out his free hand. "Izzie always talks about you when she's on one of her baking streaks."

"My Cricket certainly has talent in the kitchen," Barbara said modestly.

"These are my parents, Margaret and Mitchell," Mark introduced. Barbara politely shook hands with Mitchell and nodded politely to Margaret, who was still holding Katie. "And then Mother's holding little Katie."

"Oh, let me see one of my grandbabies," Barbara exclaimed. "I couldn't believe it when Izzie told me."

"Here, you can take Riley," Mark said, shifting the baby into his grandmother's arms. "He's our more outgoing one."

"He's certainly a handsome boy," Barbara cooed, sitting down in a chair with the baby. "He's going to be the spitting image of his father and grandfather. Hi, Riley, I'm your Mimi."

"They're such good babies," Margaret commented. "Do they ever cry?"

"Oh, believe me, when they're hungry or wet, they'll let you know," Izzie replied, chuckling a little. "But for the most part, they are very happy babies."

"Katie's a lazy bones. We have to wake her up at night so she can eat," Mark added.

Margaret and Barbara continued to ask all the appropriate questions about the babies. Mitchell just sat on the far side of the room in stony silence.

A/N: Wow, that one kind of wrote itself. Part one of the family meeting is through. Part two should be a bit more…shall we say interesting? PLEASE REVIEW!!