Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.

Lexie woke up screaming that night, a terrible pain ripping through her entire body. Meredith, Derek, and Alex were racing through her bedroom door moments later.

"Lexie, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Meredith asked frantically, praying that her sister was not going into labor five weeks early.

"Something feels wrong." Lexie cried.

It was Alex who noticed the bruising as Meredith was doing an exam of Lexie. He began laughing.

"Dude, your kid broke your rib."

"What?" Lexie exclaimed.

"You're due soon." Alex explained, still chuckling. "Your kid turned to prepare for delivery, so now his feet are close enough to your ribs that if he kicks hard enough he could break one. I've seen it a couple times before, and heard even more stories of it happening. You're fine, you'll just need to have it taped and then wait for it to heal."

With that, Alex left Lexie's room, and while he was incredibly amused by what had happened, he was also grateful that Lexie's son hadn't decided to make a premature entrance into the world. Despite how badly his own relationship with Lexie had ended, he really did want the best for her.

Mark was working the night shift when Lexie came in with Meredith. Seeing her, Mark was immediately terrified. Sofia has been born incredibly premature, and while his son would be much better off being born five weeks early as opposed to Sofia's seventeen, the thought of having another one of his children in the NICU was unbearable.

"Lexie are you alright? Are you in labor?"

Glaring at him, Meredith snapped, "She's fine, your son just broke her rib. She's not in labor, so you can go back to work and leave her alone."

Lexie wouldn't even look at him, which felt like a knife in his heart. She was clearly in pain, and yet she didn't want him near her.

Sighing, Mark walked away, knowing that he needed to respect Lexie's wishes, no matter how hard it was.

Lexie was thankful that it was April who came to tape her rib, and not Callie. Meredith stepped out for a moment to give her some privacy, and Lexie burst into tears.

"Lexie, you're fine, your son is fine, why are you crying? Are you still in a lot of pain?" April asked worriedly.

"No, the pain is manageable now. I just really wish Mark was here."

"I can page him for you if you want."

"No. He doesn't get to just swoop in when he wants and then leave me the rest of the time. If he wants to be here then he needs to be here, not just when it's convenient for him."

April sighed, pulling her friend into a hug. She couldn't imagine what Lexie was going through. She wanted to see her friend smile.

"Hey, do you wanna know a secret?" April asked Lexie, trying to distract her from the pain she was feeling. "I kissed Jackson."

"What!" Lexie exclaimed, shocked by the news. "When? Where? Are you two dating? I mean you live together and everything, but I thought you two were just friends?"

"It was a few weeks ago. We both had the day off and I was trying to teach him how to cook, and well, it kind of just happened."

April was blushing furiously, but it was worth seeing the excitement on Lexie's face at the thought of her two good friends getting together.

"So are you two a couple now?" Lexie asked, unable to contain her excitement.

"Um, no, not exactly. We haven't really talked about it, but things are definitely different."

"April! You need to talk to him! He's so perfect for you! Don't let him get away!"

April smiled. "Yeah, he is kind of perfect."

Unknown to Lexie, Mark had not gone back to work. Instead, he was pacing outside the room she had been put in for overnight observation, which had earned him a sharp glare from Meredith when she had left her sister's side to call and update Derek.

But truthfully, Mark didn't care. He would take all the angry glares thrown his way if it meant that he could be close to Lexie, could know that she was alright, and be at her side if she needed him.

That was what mattered. With Lexie's due date just five weeks away, Mark knew that he was running out of time to get back on Lexie's good side.

He knew that Lexie was right. He had prioritized Sofia and Callie over Lexie and their son, and he was ashamed of himself for it. He knew that his priorities needed to be Sofia and his son, and then Lexie, and then his job, and then Callie, but with the craziness of the past few months he had lost sight of this.

Meredith still hadn't returned when April slipped out of Lexie's room. Seeing the desperate look on Mark's face, she sighed.

"She wants you to be with her, but at the same time she doesn't want you to be there just because it's convenient for you now. She's hurting. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. So if you're going to go in there, then you had better be prepared to be there for her. Not just now, but always. Because she doesn't deserve to be treated the way you have treated her these past few months."

With that, April walked away, leaving Mark to choose whether or not he was going to go into Lexie's room and face his mistakes and own up to them, or walk away and hope for the best.

There was no question about it. Mark knew he had to go in. He owed it to Lexie and to their son to try to make up for the pain he had caused.

Lexie glared at him as he entered her room. "I said I was fine. You can go back to work."

"Actually, you didn't." Mark replied, pulling up a chair next to her. "Meredith did. And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to simply leave you while you're in the hospital."

Lexie rolled her eyes, wishing she could roll over into her other side so she didn't have to see him sitting there next to her. But alas, her broken rib prevented it. It was almost ironic. Her son had kicked her so hard that he had broken her rib, and now she was in the hospital with her son's father, who she hadn't spoken to in weeks, refused to leave her side. It was as if he had found a way to force his parents to be in the same room with each other. Yep, definitely ironic.

Sighing, Mark took Lexie's hand in his. Gently, he lifted it to his lips, placing a feather light kiss on it, before stroking it with his thumb. "Lexie, please. I know that what I did was wrong. I should have been there for you, and I wasn't. I keep screwing up everything when it comes to you, and I don't want to. I want to be with you! I want to make you happy, see you smile, hear your laugh. I would do anything to make it up to you, but I don't know how. I meant it when I told you that I love you. I will always mean it. I meant it when I told you that I wanted you to be my wife. I still do. And I mean it now when I say that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and will do whatever it takes to make up for all the pain I have caused you. Please Lexie, just let me try."

"Mark..." Lexie began, the tears in her eyes threatening to overflow, "I can't. I can't be with you. I was willing to try again, but nothing changed. I have to put myself first now, because I'm about to have our child, a child that I will be raising primarily on my own, regardless of how involved you may be. You just don't get it. Sophia has three parents. Our son has two. When you aren't with Sofia, she still has two parents. But when you aren't with me, our son only has one. You've put me in a situation that I never wanted to be in, one that I didn't ask for, and you did so without a single regard for how my life has changed. I wasn't ready to be a mom. But then, I found out about our little miracle. And I was. I was ready to be a mom, and to be your wife, and to start our family, our life together. Then you tell me about Callie and Sofia, and suddenly I'm not ready again. Because I'm not ready to be a single mom, to be without you, to give up on the picture I had created of our future. Then we spend months fighting and avoiding each other until Sofia and Callie almost die. And suddenly, we are once again trying to make it work, but nothing has really changed. And now we are back to the fighting and avoiding each other. So no, Mark, I can't. I can't do this anymore!"