Chapter 36:
Author's Note: I wrote part of this chapter while Teddy and Henry were dating. Therefore, there is a mention to him being alive and well in one of these scenes. Let us all pretend, please, because I refuse to cut him out of the story the way Shonda did. Enjoy:
. . .
Annabelle Susan Sloan
Born December 2nd, at 12:43 PM
18.6 inches, 5.72 pounds, at 36 weeks
. . .
"A baby," Lexie whispers in awe, holding what she knows Arizona would call a 'tiny human' in her arms. "We made a baby." She looks up at her husband, an uncontrollable grin spreading over her face. "Us two made a baby."
"That we did," Mark replies, sneaking into bed beside her. "She's beautiful." He grins down at his daughter. "We are incredibly talented, you and I. Look at her."
"She's perfect."
Mark tilts his head, staring down into his daughter's pale face. "She…doesn't quite look like either of us, though, does she?"
"It'll come," Lexie replies without worry.. "Just wait till the baby fat fades a bit." She touches her daughter's doughy cheek. "I'm sure she'll end up having your nose or ears or something."
"And she'll have your chin or mouth or hair."
Lexie bends closer to their daughter, a smile spreading over her face. "She sort of has your eyes, though." She looks up, alternating glances between her husband and their offspring's pupils. "They're blue like yours."
"A bit," Mark replies, studying them as well. "But hers are darker."
"She's so pretty," Lexie whispers, leaning her head against Mark's arm. She feels his chest expand and contract slowly as he takes a deep breath.
"She's beautiful," he repeats after a moment, bending towards her and kissing the top of his wife's head. "Just like you."
. . .
3 PM
. . .
"Everyone alright in here?" Derek asks, knocking on the door. "Little Grey, are you decent?"
"I'm decent, Derek," Lexie laughs. "You can come in."
"Laughing already?" He asks with a grin, pushing the door open. "Things must have gone well," he comments. "Tell me, does the baby have all its fingers and toes?"
"Yes, of course," Lexie replies.
He comes to a stop at the foot of her bed with a wide smile. "How are you?" He asks quietly, serious now.
"I'm great," Lexie smiles. She glances to her husband, sitting in the chair beside her. He hadn't looked up when Derek walked in, nor when she'd looked over to him. His eyes were on his daughter, and Lexie couldn't have been happier at his preoccupation. "We both are."
"And where is the little guest of honor?"
"Right here," Lexie replies as Derek approaches her bedside to stand beside the couple. "She's asleep," Lesxie warns, holding out her arms towards her brother-in-law.
Derek glances at her. "You sure? You want me to…?"
"Take her," Lexie urges him, reaching further to deposit her daughter safely in her uncle's arms. "I know you won't drop her or anything."
"Yeah, and if you do, I'll kill you," Mark replies, finally acknowledging their visitor.
Derek glances to Lexie with an amused smile. "Don't you love this protective side of him?" He asks, nodding toward Mark. "It makes him so relaxed and easy to live with."
Lexie laughs. "Right. This is only half of it. I've been living under strict orders for the past month that I'm not to move, lest something—god forbid—happen to the baby."
"Mock me all you want," Mark replies, "but you know you love it that I'm concerned about your well-being."
Lexie smiles indulgently at him. "I do."
"You named her Annabelle, right?" Derek asks, staring into the little girl's sleeping face.
"Yes," Lexie replies.
"That's a pretty name." He glances to his sister-in-law. "You pick it?"
"No," Lexie smiles. "Mark did, actually."
Derek turns around to look at his best friend as he rocks their baby in his arms. "You?" He asks pointedly. His shock rings clear through the tone of his voice. "You?" He repeats. "Really?"
"What?" Mark replies, crossing his arms. "I can't come up with good names for my own daughter?"
"I just wouldn't have thought…" Derek trails off, smiling at his best friend.
"Well, you are just constantly underestimating me, aren't you, Shepherd," Mark smirks. "Let this be a lesson to you."
"Oh, god," Derek notes, unable to hide a grin, "I'm taking life lessons from Mark Sloan. I would have bet my life just a day ago that that never would be happening."
Mark laughs, about to reply, but Lexie beats him to it.
"Speaking of bets," she cuts in hurriedly, directing her words at the neurosurgeon expertly cradling her daughter. "You didn't bet about this, did you?"
"Bet?" Derek repeats, stares at his sister-in-law blankly. "Bet about what? What are you talking about?"
Lexie smiles in relief, chuckling softly at his confused expression. "Nothing," she replies. "It's just—when Mark and I got married, you and Meredith had a bet…"
"Oh, that," Derek replies, a grin spreading over his face. "Nah, we didn't this time. Damn," he mutters with a chuckle as the door opens behind him. "That would have been a good one."
"Knock-knock," Arizona says, mimicking the light tap of her fist on the wood of the door as she pokes her head in. Callie's face appears a moment later, looking over her wife's shoulder. Arizona glances from Lexie to Derek, smiling at the baby in his arms. "Are we interrupting?"
"Not at all," Lexie replies, waving them inside.
"I actually have to run to surgery," Derek replies, checking his watch. He walks back to Lexie's bedside, depositing the newborn carefully back into her arms. "Congratulations, Little Grey," he says with a soft smile.
"Thanks, Derek," Lexie replies.
"Meredith had to leave to pick Zola up from school, but she'll probably be back soon and stop by, if that's okay?"
"I'll look forward to it," Lexie calls, just before her brother-in-law disappears out into the hallway. The door has just barely closed behind him when Derek feels an arm link itself through his and a familiar voice speaking beside him.
"I want my hundred dollars back," Meredith mutters in his ear.
"I thought you were picking up Zola," Derek replies, ignoring her greeting, and keeping his voice just as low as he walks towards the elevators.
"I did," Meredith replies as the elevator arrives. "And then I dropped her off at a friend's, liked she asked me to this morning."
"I don't remember her asking me," Derek replies.
"You can't remember one minute to the next," Meredith smirks. She pulls away from him when the elevator door close, holding out her hand and leveling him with a serious stare. "Now quit stalling and pay up." She grins at her husband's disgruntled sigh.
"Fine," he mutters, digging into his pocket to pull out his wallet. He reluctantly passes her the bill that had been tucked in the back of his wallet for the last year. Meredith grins, snapping the crisp paper between her fingers and holding it up to the light.
"Vengeance is sweet," she grins, turning to meet her husband's eyes. "I knew it would be a girl."
"Yeah, whatever," Derek mutters, looking away as Meredith laughs, lifting the bill to the light again just to screw with him.
"Don't flash it around those two," he warns. "They're under the impression we were only eagerly awaiting the baby for sentimental reasons."
Meredith laughs as the elevator bings. "Don't they know that one of us always has an ulterior motive?"
Derek grins, stepping off. "You would think they would have learned that by now, wouldn't you?" He glances over to his wife as he heads to the OR. "You gonna stay and watch?"
"Maybe for a half-hour or so," Meredith replies, putting the money in her pocket.
He nods, stopping right outside the scrub room and turning to her. "Go visit Lexie when you leave, then. I told her you'd stop by."
"I will." Meredith grins. "Now that I'll be able to fully appreciate my winnings."
Derek just rolls his eyes, turning and heading into the scrub room without another word while Meredith smiles to herself and makes her way to the gallery.
. . .
"So how are you?" Arizona asks with an eager smile, coming to a stop at the foot of her colleague's bed and looking the other woman over closely. "Did everything go okay?"
"It went fine." Lexie smiles. "As Derek would put it, she has all her fingers and toes."
"That was nice of him," Callie mutters with an eye roll, moving to stand beside her wife.
Lexie laughs quietly, tilting her daughter in her arms so the two women can see her from the foot of the bed. She motions for them to come closer, an easy smile on her face. "Here, you guys can have a look."
Arizona and Callie shuffle forward slowly, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the baby. "Oh, wow…" the blonde trails off, staring down at the little girl once they're close enough to see her.
"She's beautiful, Lexie," Callie says softly, smiling at the child in her friend's arms.
"Thank you," the brunette replies quietly. She glances to the side, catching her husband's eye with a small smile.
"Do you know how long you're taking off?" Arizona asks when she looks back up to meet her coworker's eyes.
"Arizona," Callie snaps, elbowing her.
"What?" The blonde replies, turning to her wife for explanation.
"She just gave birth," Mark answers from his spot a few feet from Lexie's bedside before Callie can. "Robbins, come on. Give her some room to breathe."
"It was an innocent question," Arizona tells him.
He smirks, shaking his head. "Sure it was, boss."
Lexie shakes her head. "Ignore him, please."
"Oh, is that what you do?" Arizona chuckles.
Lexie chuckles, grinning, as if to say, You have no idea. "I'll probably be back by the middle of January," she replies. Arizona nods seriously before bending towards her.
"You know," she informs the new mother quietly, "you can weasel a lot more than six weeks out of me."
Lexie grins. "Thanks, Dr. Robbins, but I think I'll be okay."
"I'd take her up on it if I were you," Mark notes casually from beside her.
"Seconded," Callie adds, stepping to his side. "Six weeks?" She repeats when Lexie looks at her for explanation. The Latina grins, nodding at the baby in her arms. "You'll want more than six weeks with her, won't you?"
Lexie smiles back, but shakes her head nonetheless. "Like I said," she replies, turning back to her boss, "I'll be back by mid-January."
"Okay, fine," Arizona replies, knowing when to give up. "But when the time rolls around," she adds seriously, "just give me a call and I'll speak with the Chief about giving you a few more weeks' leave."
"I will, don't worry," Lexie smiles. "But don't wait by the phone."
"You sure married a stubborn one," Callie notes in an undertone, nudging her friend with an amused smile.
Mark grins, only half-listening to Arizona as she launches into some ridiculous story about one of her patients. Instead, he watches his wife, who's holding their daughter close all the while, glancing down every few seconds, and looking back up with a smile on her face. "What can I say?" He mutters finally, his warm blue eyes flicking to Callie's. "I like a challenge."
. . .
4 PM
. . .
"Tired?" Mark asks a half-hour later, sneaking into bed beside his wife.
"So tired," Lexie murmurs back, squirming until her body rests comfortably against his.
"I can take her," he offers, reaching for the swaddled child lying in her fatigued arms.
"No, no, I've got her."
"Let me take her," Mark replies, slipping the baby out of her arms against her light protests. "Sh," he murmurs to his wife and child. "Go to sleep."
"You've stolen my firstborn," Lexie mutters, already half-asleep. "Right out of my arms."
"I'll give her back," Mark smiles. "Plus, she's barely two inches from you." Lexie smiles at this. "A fact that, I'm sure, you will come to regret when she starts howling," Mark adds when he sees the look on her face.
"She doesn't howl," Lexie replies, her eyes falling closed.
"Oh, sorry, that was you screaming before?"
"Quiet, you," Lexie mutters through a yawn.
"Sleep, love," is his only reply.
. . .
4.30 PM
. . .
"Crap," Mark mutters, cringing when a sharp cry pierces the silence of the room. "Hey, Annabelle," he murmurs to the child in his arms. "Be quiet, okay? Shh." He sighs shortly when his words prove to have no effect, quickly climbing out of the bed and heading to the door. He glances over his shoulder as he opens the door, relieved to see that Lexie hadn't woken up yet. Just as he's shutting the door behind him and turning out into the hallway, he almost runs right into his sister-in-law.
"Hey, Mer," Mark says with relief.
"Hey," Meredith smiles. "How are you? What's up?"
"I'm good." He glances down at his still-sobbing daughter. "She started crying, though, so I wanted to get her away from Lexie before she got woken up. Could you…?" He glances back towards the exam room.
"Oh, yeah," Meredith replies immediately, already stepping toward the door. "Of course."
"You're sure?" Mark asks, surprised by her automatic answer.
"Mark," Meredith smiles, "I have literally nothing to do today. I'm all yours." She nods to the small child. "I can take her, you know, if you want to sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted, too."
"No, no," Mark shakes his head and holds back a yawn at her reference to sleep. "I'm fine. Just, uh, could you watch Lexie till the baby calms down a bit?"
"Sure."
"Thank you, Mer," he replies, already walking away.
"Hey, Mark," Meredith calls before he can get too far.
"Yeah?"
"Congratulations," she smiles.
"Thanks, Big Grey," Mark grins back. He turns back to his daughter a second later as she lets out another boisterous scream. "I'll see you later," he calls to his sister-in-law before hurrying down the hallway.
"Hey, Belle," he whispers as he heads to the elevators. "Stop crying, little girl. It's okay. You're alright, I promise. Things are fine." She cries again, a high-pitched screech this time, and Mark sighs in relief when the elevator door close around him. He's sure he was only seconds away from receiving angry glares and half-hearing disgruntled mutterings. Wanting to avoid that for as long as possible, he hits the button for the sixth floor, and attempts to quiet Annabelle's screams as the lift travels upwards. She's still crying when the doors open, though, so he goes to one of the only semi-soundproof places he can find.
. . .
"So, Belle," Mark begins over her screams a minute later. "I am going to show you something very interesting today." He climbs the stairs, pulling open the door with one hand. He walks to the window of the small room, looking down on the crowded space beneath them. "You see that little boy there?" He asks, pointing to the infant in the middle of the room. "He's got Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which is a very serious medical condition. It means that the left side of that little boy's heart isn't working right. He can't get any blood into it, and if Dr. Hubbard down there and Dr. Altman and all the others aren't able to fix it in time, he might not live." He glances down at her crying face. "But I'm sure he will," he assures her quickly, as if she knew what he was saying and understood the concept of death. "Wendy and Teddy are very good at their jobs and they'll make sure that little boy gets back to his parents. He'll be fine."
He smiles down at his daughter, moving to lighter tone. "Aren't we glad you didn't have that, huh? I'm sure either your mother or I would've had a heart attack, and then we'd need to have two heart surgeries." Annabelle hiccups through her tears suddenly and her father pauses. "Surgery, huh?" Mark grins. "You like that word? Sur-ger-y. That's when you cut people open to see what's wrong with them so you can fix it. That's what your mom and I do for a living, you know. We're surgeons. Sur-geons," he enunciates. "Your mom works with little kids. Just like you, hm? Just like you. She fixes all their problems and cures all their illnesses and then they're back to their parents, good as new."
He tilts her in his arms, letting her head rest on his right bicep. "Want to know what I do?" He smiles. "Oh, of course you do. Well, I get to work on a whole range of people. Mostly the people I see are adults, but sometimes I get teenagers and kids, too." He smiles down at her. "I've worked on little babies like you, as well, you know. Little tiny babies with little tiny arms. Can you believe that? I put a baby's arm back on." He reaches under the blanket she's swaddled in, squeezing her arm very gently. "Right back on after it came off. Just a little sewing—" he mimics using a needle "—and it was as good as new. Just like nothing had ever happened." He glances down at her, a slightly worried look in his eyes. "You know, I hope I never have to see you in an operating room, little girl," he murmurs, sitting down in one of the chairs for viewers. "I don't know what I'd do." He tilts his head to the side.
"Well, that's a lie," he admits a second later. "I do know what I'd do. And what I'd do," he smiles down at her, "is insist on being in the room. No one's operating on my kid without me being there. And your mother, obviously," he adds. "Though I'd probably have to get security to hold her back, I doubt she'd let anyone but herself operate on you. But between me and you—" he bends down to look his daughter in the eyes "—I wouldn't want her performing surgery on you. It'd be too dangerous. So, I suppose… we'd watch. We'd attempt to stand out of the way while yelling instructions. And then Richard would kick us out. As is his right," Mark adds. "And then we'd sit up here, right where you and I are right now, and we'd watch through this big glass window. And we'd wait. And we'd hope and pray and wish that you'd come out fine… But in the end, we wouldn't have to bother, would we? Because you're never getting hurt and you're never going into surgery and you're going to stay perfect and tiny forever." He picks her up, holding her in front of him with a wide smile. "Aren't you, little girl? Huh?"
"Sloan, is this really appropriate entertainment for your newborn?"
Mark looks around his daughter, setting her in his lap and chuckling softly when he sees Teddy Altman glaring up at him. He can see a smile hidden beneath her scrub mask, though, so he knows she isn't angry. He walks over to the intercom, pressing it.
"Who said it was entertainment?" He asks into the speaker. "I'm teaching this kid the facts of life." He pauses, grinning down at the cardiothoracic surgeon. "And since when do you know anything about raising kids?"
"Oh, excuse me?" Teddy questions, her eyebrows raised. "Was that a hint, Mark?"
He shrugs. "I'm just sayin', Altman… You're the only one of us left who doesn't have kids." A smirk spreads over his face. "You better get on that Henry of yours and hurry it up already."
"Right," Teddy laughs, stripping off her gloves and her scrub mask. "I'll get on childbirth just as soon as Hell freezes over."
He grins before nodding towards the gurney that the orderlies are now wheeling out of the operating room. "Hey, is the patient alright?"
Teddy nods. "He'll be fine. The surgery was a success."
"Congratulations. That's, what, the most complicated heart surgery in the book?"
"Thanks," Teddy grins. "And yes, it is."
"Well, if the show's over, I'll be going." He glances down at Annabelle, who's finally stopped crying. All that's left on her face are half-dried tear-tracks, which Mark quickly brushes away with his fingers.
"Hey," Teddy calls. "Before you go—"
"Yeah?"
"Congratulations to you, too."
"Thanks, Altman."
"And pass it on to your wife, as well."
Mark smiles. "I will."
. . .
Lexie Grey Sloan blinks awake, surprised to find herself alone in her hospital bed. She quickly finds that she isn't quite alone in her room, though, as her eyes fall on Meredith, who is sitting beside her bed in one of those hard hospital chairs. "Mer?" Lexie asks groggily.
"Hey," Meredith smiles. She gets up, passing her sister a cup of water. "How you doing?"
"I'm fine." She sips the water as Meredith returns to her seat. "I take it someone's made off with my baby?"
Meredith smiles, canting her head towards the door. "I think Mark's walking around with her. She was crying before."
"She was?" Lexie's eyebrows pull together worriedly. "I didn't wake up. I should have woken up. Right? I'm her mother. I should know if she's upset."
Meredith shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll wish for the day you didn't wake up to an infant crying in a week or two. And anyway, Mark got her out of here pretty quick. He wanted you to rest."
"That's apparently all I'm good for," Lexie grumbles.
"Your body has just been through a trauma, Lexie," Meredith informs her patiently. "Is it really so bad that he wants you to take it easy?"
"Trauma?" Lexie asks with a laugh.
"Childbirth is plenty traumatic," Meredith chides.
"Yeah," Lexie agrees. "That bit did suck."
"'That bit?'" Meredith quotes with a laugh. "Your labor lasted over half a day."
Lexie waves a hand. "It's already left my mind."
"Oh, how quickly the infants take over," Meredith muses.
"Right, like you didn't fall head-over-heels for Zola when you brought her home," Lexie smiles. "I saw that nursery, you nesting freak. You must've spent months on it."
Meredith opens her mouth to reply, but before she can, they're interrupted by the door opening and Mark walking back in. "Hey," he says. "You're up."
"Oh, yeah. Just for a few minutes though." She nods, unable to hide a smile, to the baby in his arms. "I see you've been showing her off."
"Just up and down the halls," Mark replies with a matching smile. "She was crying and I didn't want her to wake you."
Lexie smiles warmly at him, tearing her eyes away as she sees her sister stand up in her periphery. "Mer?"
"I better go," she excuses herself. "I should find out how Derek's surgery is going."
"Oh, right. Wish him luck for me."
"Sure," Meredith replies. She stops beside Mark, bending down to get a look at the newborn. "Bye-bye, Annie," Meredith coos at her goddaughter. She wiggles her fingers in a tiny wave. "Bye-bye, little girl."
"See ya, Mer," Lexie calls as she walks out the door.
"So," Lexie says after the door closes, turning to her husband.
"So," Mark replies, adjusting his hold on his daughter in his arms without looking up from her face.
"Mark?" Lexie calls, smiling at his preoccupation.
"Hm?" He murmurs, his eyes still fixated on his daughter.
"I'm here, too," Lexie calls, waving a hand.
He furrows his eyebrows, leaning closer to his baby. "You hear something, Belle?"
"Very funny," Lexie mutters. Mark chuckles at the annoyance in her voice, finally looking up to meet her eyes. "Come over here," she tells him.
He walks slowly to her side, resting against the edge of the bed and cradling their daughter between them. Lexie sighs softly, leaning her head against his back as she stares down at her newborn.
"How did you get her to stop crying?" She asks softly a moment later, after basking in the silence of the small room.
"What?" Mark murmurs. "Oh, I talked to her."
Lexie wrinkles her nose against the back of his shirt. "Baby talk?" She asks sourly.
"No, I just kind of… lectured, I guess. I took her into an empty gallery where she wouldn't bother anyone else and told her what was happening in the OR."
"She saw surgery?" Lexie replies, awed at the idea. Mark turns his head, grinning at her.
"She saw surgery," he confirms proudly. "And learned about Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome."
Lexie grins. "Starting big, I see."
"Only the best for this little girl," Mark smiles. "Teddy says congratulations, by the way."
"She talked to you? What about the surgery?"
"Oh, we came in late. They were done within a half-hour of us arriving."
"Was it successful?"
"Yup."
"Good." Lexie sighs happily a moment later, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I love you for doing that, you know," she whispers softly.
"What, getting her to stop crying?" He shrugs. "It was no big deal."
"No, I mean…" Lexie grins. "Taking her to the gallery. Mark, that was brilliant."
"I took her to the quietest place I could find," he excuses.
"Yeah, why wasn't anyone in that gallery, by the way? I thought someone would've kicked you out if she was that loud."
"Oh," Mark replies. "Well, there might've been a sign that said the gallery was closed for that particular time slot. But, as you know, I have selective eyesight."
Lexie chuckles knowingly. "Yeah, you only see what you want to see."
He smiles at her. "So I'm seeing twenty-twenty right now, aren't I?"
Lexie shakes her head with a happy smile, leaning her forehead against his shoulder. "I love you," she whispers softly.
. . .
Author's Note: Please leave me a review! The next chapter will be the last. We've come so far, everyone! :')