Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.

Lexie never thought there would be a day where she didn't want to go to work. She loved being a surgeon. It was who she was, it defined her. Or at least it did, until she became a mother.

Now, on what was supposed to be her first day back after twelve weeks of maternity leave, she didn't want to be a surgeon. Not today at least.

All she wanted was to stay at home with her baby boy, who was currently asleep in her arms, just as he had been for the last few hours. Lexie couldn't put him down. She hadn't even left the house, and her separation anxiety was already evident.

Mark knew that Lexie was struggling with leaving Michael. He had seen how hard it was for Callie to leave Sofia, and he knew it would be worse for Lexie.

She had been diagnosed with postpartum depression shortly after the night she never came home, and while it had earlier manifested itself through severe detachment from her son, it was now manifesting itself through severe separation anxiety.

Mark didn't have it in him to pry their son from her arms, as he could see just how terrified Lexie was. She was quite literally shaking as she stood at the bottom of the stairs, unable to take the last few steps toward the door where he was waiting with the car seat.

"Lex, honey, we have to go." Mark encouraged lovingly, hoping that he could eventually coax her into letting Michael out of her grasp.

"Mark, I... I can't do this." Lexie stuttered, trying not to cry as her baby boy slept soundly in her arms, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. "I can't leave him. I'm his mother... What if he needs me and I'm not there!"

Mark sighed internally. There was absolutely no way that he was going to manage to talk Lexie down anytime soon, which meant that they would both be late for work.

"Lex, you know you can go and see him whenever you want. He's just going to daycare, he's going to go sleep for most of the day and then come home with us tonight, he'll be fine."

"Please don't make me do this Mark. I'm not ready. I just need some more time. Maybe a couple more days, a week possibly."

"Lexie, you've already been on maternity leave for three months. Can you honestly say that you haven't missed it? Just a little?"

"I can't leave him."

Had it not been for Meredith stepping in at that moment, Mark knew he would never have been able to talk Lexie down.

"There's my favorite nephew!" Meredith cooed, scooping Michael out of Lexie's arms. Lexie looked for a moment as though she was about to protest, but a sharp glare from Meredith stopped her. "Lexie, I'm going to put Michael in his car seat now, okay? And then you and Mark are going to put him in the car and drive to the hospital. Then, Mark is going to be the one to take Michael out of the car and carry him in to the hospital. The two of you will drop him off at daycare, and Mark is going to hold your hand as you leave, so that you are able to leave. And then you are going to be on Derek's service and do something cool like clipping an aneurism or removing a tumor. And then you are going to get your lunch and go to the daycare to see Michael while you eat. While you are there, either me or April will be there with you, to make sure that you leave after lunch. Then you are going to go do more awesome Neuro stuff until it's time for you and Mark to pick up Michael and come home. Okay?"

Holding back tears, Lexie nodded. Meredith placed a still sleeping Michael into his car seat, buckling him in and making sure that he was secure.

Mark took Lexie's trembling hand in his, rubbing his thumb across its back to sooth her. She was already crying. Michael was her baby, and it felt wrong for her to leave him with someone else who wasn't Mark or Meredith or one of his many other aunts and uncles. It felt wrong to leave him with someone who was almost a stranger.

Mark brought Lexie's hand up to his lips and gently kissed it, not knowing how else to soothe her. Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite of its intended calming effect.

"No, I can't do this. Meredith, give me my baby." Lexie demanded forcefully, attempting unsuccessfully to pull away from Mark.

"Lexie..."

"No Meredith. Give me my baby right now."

Finally breaking free of Mark's grip, Lexie practically lunged towards Michael's car seat, unbuckling him and holding him close to her as he continued to sleep, blissfully unaware of his mother's anguish.

"Hey sweetheart." Lexie whispered into Michael's little ear. "Mommy's here."

Mark and Meredith looked at each other, both having absolutely no idea what to do.