Mark and Izzie had arrived home at five in the morning to get some much needed rest after the longevity of the previous evening. They'd both fallen into bed, completely exhausted by the night's events, and were asleep within minutes, Mark's arm curled around Izzie's waist as her head rested against his bare chest.

It was ten o'clock when Mark was awakened by the shrilling of the phone on Izzie's nightstand. He ignored it, hoping that she would pick up the receiver since it was resting on her side of the bed. She stubbornly groaned, though, pulling the comforter up and over her head to muffle the intruding noise. Mark sighed, his eyes squinting open to peer at his sleeping wife. "Iz, get the phone."

"Mph," Izzie mumbled incoherently, adding a pillow on top of her head and nestling deeper beneath the duvet.

Mark rolled his eyes as the ringing continued, grudgingly turning over so that his body was stretching over Izzie's as he picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

As Mark chatted with the unknown caller, Izzie moaned irritably, realizing that she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep as long her husband continued to speak in an obnoxious proximity to her ear. She tried to stretch her tired muscles but was only able to move slightly because Mark's body remained spread out across hers as he talked quietly on the phone.

She knew that he was talking to someone from the hospital from the one-sided conversation she was forced to listen to. Eventually he instructed the caller to rearrange his schedule for the day, agreeing to reschedule a surgery for one o'clock before hanging up the phone. Izzie sighed dramatically, settling beneath the duvet cover and closing her eyes, relaxing her body as she tried to lull herself back to sleep.

Moments later, though, Mark yanked the comforter from Izzie's grasp, pulling it from her body and wrapping his arms around her waist. She couldn't stop the small smile from spreading across her face as she slowly opened her eyes, biting her lower lip lightly as her gaze connected with his.

"Morning," Mark said with a grin, bringing his lips down to her shoulder as he nipped at the soft flesh, pushing aside one of the thin straps of her tank top as his mouth sought her clavicle.

She tilted her head to the side to give him better access to her skin as his lips trailed further down her body. "We're seeing Addison at one," she said softly, trying not to giggle as his beard ticked the top of her chest.

"Hmm?"

"I have a checkup with Addison at one o'clock."

"Oh, okay," he said distractedly. "I'll reschedule my surgery for one thirty."

As Mark's lips trailed lower, Izzie smiled blissfully, but she reached over to the nightstand and took the phone in her hand. "Do it now," she told him, pushing the receiver in front of his face.

He pushed her hand away, trying to ignore her as his mouth continued to caress her body. "I'll do it later."

Izzie squirmed beneath him, pushing the phone towards him again. "Mark," she said warningly.

Mark looked at her disbelievingly, his eyes filled with humor. "Iz, I'm trying to feel you up. What's your problem?"

She grinned sheepishly, placing her hands on his cheeks and pulling him upwards so she could kiss him. "I have a lot to do before I go to the hospital," she told him apologetically as they broke apart, and then she easily slipped out from under him, standing up beside the bed.

He rolled over onto his back, watching her walk across the room and pick up her robe that was hanging on the inside of their closet door. "Like what?" he asked curiously, placing a pillow behind his head so that he could sit up.

"I'm going to make breakfast first, and then I'm going to go through some of the boxes with Ben's old baby stuff to see if there's anything Meredith can use for Jack." Mark simply smiled at her from his position on the bed, suddenly looking more like a proud parent than a lustful husband. Izzie furrowed her brow at the change in his expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Mark shrugged a bit. "I'm just glad that you're trying to fix your friendship with Meredith," he told her casually.

She stared at him for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. "It felt good to be with her in the delivery room yesterday. I didn't realize it before, but I've really missed her."

Mark smiled. "I know you have."

She returned his smile, and then turned toward the door. "I'm going to go through the baby things in the attic and throw what I need in the wash, and then we can go ahead and go to the hospital. I want to go see Jack and Meredith before my appointment, and I want to make sure I have enough time to talk to Addison about the baby."

"About our baby, or about Jack?"

Izzie rolled her eyes. "About Addison's baby."

Mark sighed. "Iz, I think you should let Addison tell you about her pregnancy when she's ready."

"Mark, she's one of my best friends. She's going to want to talk to me about it."

Mark shook his head. "She and Alex might not want people to know yet; a lot of people decided to wait to tell their friends about a pregnancy. I think that you should wait for her to talk to you about it."

Izzie stared at him for a moment, seemingly contemplating his suggestion. Eventually she nodded. "Okay."

He narrowed her eyes in her direction. "'Okay, I'm not going to ask her about it,' or 'Okay, shut up Mark, I'm still going to do what I want'?"

Izzie glared at him. "Okay, I'm not going to ask her about it," she replied with a huff. "I do have self control, you know."

An amused laugh escaped through Mark's lips. "If you say so."

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Alex walked up to the window of the nursery, standing beside Derek as he gazed proudly at Jack. "Hey," Alex greeted, staring at the slumbering infant through the glass.

"Hey," Derek replied, though he didn't take his eyes off of his son.

Alex stared at him from the corner of his eye for a moment, suddenly envious of the man as he watched in awe as his son slept. Alex sighed, forcing a smile as he tried to push the twinge of jealously to the back of his mind.

"He's got your hair," he observed with a bit of humor.

"I know," Derek gloated.

Alex laughed. "He really is a great looking kid, Derek. You and Meredith did great."

"It was all Meredith. God, you should've seen her, Alex. I hated what she was going through, but she was incredible. The whole thing was just…well, let's just say that it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Alex smiled knowingly. "Yeah, Addison said both of you held your own in the delivery room."

Derek shook his head. "I don't know about that. I was scared out of my mind."

"Well, you'd be surprised at what I've seen. All first-time dads are scared, but some of them just can't handle the pressure," he said with a grin. "When Izzie was delivering Ben, they had to call me into the room to help coach her because Mark couldn't even stand up half of the time. Dude, you should've seen him. He was as white as a sheet."

As Derek stared at Alex with amusement, Izzie and Mark walked over to where they stood. "You know, Karev, I think that information is supposed to be protected under doctor-patient confidentiality," Mark said grudgingly as they approached the window.

Izzie rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that you were not the patient that day," she said sarcastically, and then grinned at Derek as she placed her arm around his shoulder. "Hey Daddy, how're you feeling?"

Derek beamed proudly at her, once again shifting his gaze to Jack, who was beginning to wake up. "Incredible…amazing…elated. I've never felt so happy in my life."

Mark smiled at him as he stood on his other side, sandwiching Derek between himself and Izzie. "He does kind of look like you, but I have to say that his face definitely has more of Meredith's features," he observed with a serious nod. "Lucky boy . . . he really dodged a bullet there."

Derek laughed at Mark's teasing, but nodded agreeably. "Yeah, I'd say he got the best of both of us."

They all turned around when they heard mumbling behind them, and they found Cristina and George walking toward them. "So it's true then?" Cristina questioned as they approached. "She finally exploded?"

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Cristina, Meredith had her baby."

George grinned, seemingly giddy at the new addition. "I want to see," he said excitedly, pushing his way between Alex and Izzie. "Aw, he's cute," he cooed, tapping his finger on the glass in an effort to gain Jack's attention.

Cristina, too, walked over, feigning disinterest, but the sparkle in her eyes and her slight smile when she saw Jack easily betrayed her attempt to look indifferent. "Yeah, he's alright," she admitted.

George's grin suddenly widened as the six of them stood in a line, peering through the window of the nursery as Jack began to squirm beneath the blanket. He put his hand beneath his lab coat, pulling out cigars and holding them up proudly. "I bought them from the gift shop," he told them. He then looked at Izzie and Cristina regretfully. "Sorry, but I only have four," he revealed. "I only got them for the men. You know, because they're…manly," he said, suddenly sticking out his chest. "Cigars are for manly men."

Izzie shrugged, trying to suppress a smirk. "Its okay, George, besides the fact that I'm pregnant, I'm going to see Meredith anyway," she told him, turning to Cristina. "Do you want to come with me?"

She nodded, sparing one last glance at the infant on the other side of the glass. "I didn't want one of your stupid cigars anyway, Bambi. I mean, you got them from the gift shop," she told him with a laugh, and then turned away to walk towards Meredith's room.

Izzie patted George on the shoulder, trying to nurse his wounded pride. "Its okay, George, I'm sure they're great cigars," she assured him before rotating around to follow Cristina. She paused, though, spinning back toward Mark. "Remember, one o'clock!"

"I'll be there," he said, rolling his eyes as she reminded him about her appointment for the fourth time that morning. When she was out of earshot, he turned back to the other men. "Women," he muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, women," George said, shaking his head.

"They can be crazy," Alex interjected, briefly thinking of Addison's emotional rollercoaster from the night before.

"Yep," George agreed.

"But for some reason, you just can't live without them," Mark said, shaking his head in bewilderment.

Derek smiled, looking back at Jack. "You can say that again."

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So I realize that was pretty short, but I didn't want to get into the next scenes until chapter 22. All I can say is enjoy the fluff while you can.