Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy

Chapter Twelve

"You signed us up for what?"

Lexie Grey blinked as she looked at Mark in surprise. Her ex-boyfriend grinned as he showed off the colorful flyer to her. There was a large image of a stork carrying a baby on the front.

"I signed us up for lamaze! Isn't that genius!?" Mark insisted, shaking the paper he just found on the cafeteria bulletin board. "I was reading that new baby book last night and it suggested that this is one of the first things you should sign up for."

"Mark," Lexie began, reaching out across the table to gently place a hand on top of his free one. "You…I'm not the one pregnant. You got that, right? Why…Why would we sign up for lamaze if neither of us is giving birth?"

"Well, because, I don't know," Mark trailed off, shrugging. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Could help Meredith if she wakes up early."

"Meredith's done a lamaze class before– when she and Derek set up Bailey's birth plan," Lexie pointed out. "For me and you, this is insane."

"Almost as insane as you trying to guard our home from a bear."

"I was not guarding– oh, why do I even try?"

"Look, it'll be a great way for us to get into the parent mindset. We have to prepare for the worst," Mark said. The two were currently on their lunch break and Mark had three or four baby books set up around their table. "And this class is for everyone. Even couples who have surrogates go."

"Alright, if it'll make you feel better, I'll go," Lexie said as she leaned against her chair. "Only if you explain to Zola where babies come from."

Mark scowled at this. In recent days, since they told Zola and Bailey they'd be older siblings, Meredith and Derek's oldest has been extremely interested in understanding where babies come from. "Don't make me."

"Don't tell her the truth, obviously, but we need to come up with something to keep her at bay," Lexie reminded him as she dug a spoon into her fruit cup.

"Look Little Grey, my parents never explained to me where babies came from. I learned the hard way– by catching my parents," Mark replied hotly, gesturing sharply with his hands. "I was raised by animals."

"Oh my God."

"And you wonder why I have trauma."

"Well, let's not raise these kids like animals and come up with something simple," Lexie shot back. "Besides, this'll be good practice for you."

"Practice?" Mark snorted.

"This won't be the first time we'll have to give them a little white lie," Lexie pointed out. "They're kids, they're gonna ask us stuff that we're going to have to stretch the truth for. Not everything, but some things like sex."

"Gotcha," Mark said, nodding. He shrugged. "I'll think of something, I guess."

"As long as you don't traumatize her," Lexie chided before taking another bite of fruit, causing Mark to narrow his eyes at her. "Anyway, onto more important things, did you receive news from your lawyers or they're taking care of everything?"

Mark grew quiet at the mention of the lawyers. They were currently in quiet discussion to possibly sue the hospital board or maybe come to a settlement. It was something Mark was mostly handling until now.

"Yeah…They're proposing attacking Owen, which I don't feel comfortable with," Mark said, scratching the back of his head. "I think the best bet would be to go after the board. Maybe find some sort of settlement or something. I have my guys on it. Gotta talk to Arizona and Callie later too."

"Alright, sounds good. I just want everything to do with this plane crash to be history," Lexie muttered, causing Mark to quietly nod.

Mark watched as Lexie drew into herself. Whenever the plane crash was mentioned, it was something Lexie wanted to avoid like the plague. She didn't like talking about what happened and neither did Mark, but he worried about her. He worried if they should be talking about it more, but then again it was a touchy subject with the kids though too. They tried to be as open as possible with Zola and Bailey, but like Lexie said– they were kids. They needed to minimize what they said so they wouldn't scare the kids too much.

"I gotta run," Lexie announced, clearing her throat. "I guess I'll see you later for lamaze then."

"Yep. Six o'clock sharp," Mark said, snapping his fingers at her. Lexie just rolled her eyes and chuckled before leaving the plastic surgeon all alone.

With that, Mark finished his own lunch and headed out to find Avery to finish up on the case they were working on. He thought about maybe texting Julia to see how she was doing and if she was excited for their upcoming date, but decided against it to not seem too over zealous. Mark liked Julia. She was someone to keep pleasant company and someone interested in family life and didn't seem to mind his whole situation.

"Mark! Mark! Mark!" he whipped around to see Callie running eagerly up to him and throwing her arms around him.

"Woah! Torres. What's up?" Mark questioned as they pulled apart.

Callie was grinning ear to ear. He could see Arizona was close behind him with a soft smile on her face. "Or I should be calling you Uncle Mark…"

"Uncle Mark….Uncle Mark!? You got approved!?"

"Yep!" Callie squealed, clapping her hands together. "The social worker is going to do one more check around the house but we've been approved to take Sofia in! Oh Mark, I cannot wait for you to meet her. She's sweet as a button and she's about a year younger than Zola so they can play together! I'm sure they'll get along good!"

"Zola is going to be thrilled," Mark said, placing his hands on Callie's shoulders. "I'm so happy for you, kid. You and Arizona."

"Thanks, Mark," Arizona replied, giving a genuine but small smile. While Arizona was slowly getting back into place, she wasn't the same woman they once knew her. There was the obvious trauma of losing her leg, but she seemed to be keeping her mind occupied with the introduction of Sofia into their lives.

"I can't wait to meet her," Mark added.

"Thanks. She's such a doll," Callie said, her eyes sparkling with all different kinds of possibilities. It's something Callie had dreamed of for awhile– starting their family and having children. This would be a good start for her and Arizona and maybe a way for them to reconnect.

"You know, you should come to the lamaze class with Lexie and I tonight," Mark remarked, causing Callie to raise her eyebrows and Arizona to frown in confusion.

"Lamaze…?"

"Yeah. To prepare for the kid," Mark said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I think ah we're good," Arizona responded. "But we'll ah let you know?"

"Sounds good." Mark gave them both a thumbs up to which Callie chuckled at as she and Arizona gleefully made their way down the hallway. It'd been the happiest he'd seen the two of them since the crash and was hoping this would be a way for the two moms to find a way back to each other.

"What's this I hear about lamaze?"

Mark turned to his side to see Jackson Avery looking at him with amused eyes. "Lamaze? Really?"

"Yeah. I don't know I convinced Lex to do it with me," Mark said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Could be a fun way for you to meet some single women. Plus there's free food."

"Free food?" Alex Karev echoed, walking in. "Where?"

Later that night, Lexie Grey walked into the room where the lamaze session was being held. Almost immediately, she saw Mark standing there talking to some new prospective dads. And then, she saw right behind him were none other than Jackson and Alex. Alex was too busy rummaging through the buffet they had while Jackson tried to talk to one of the women there.

"Ah…Hi guys," Lexie said, her voice laced in confusion. "Mark, what are they…?"

"Avery's here to pick up women and Karev is here, I don't really know why Karev's here," Mark explained, jerking a thumb towards Alex who had a mouth full of food.

Lexie blinked. "Okay then, never mind I asked..."

"Alright, everybody, I think we're ready to get started," a blonde woman with her hair in a ponytail announced as she clapped her hands together. "So get with your birthing partner and we shall begin."

Lexie watched as all the couples began to get into position with each other. Many of the pregnant women sat right in front of their partners.

"Come on, birthing partner," Mark nudged Lexie's arm gently, motioning to a yoga mat on the ground.

"Birthing partner?"

"What, you want me to partner with Avery? We're going to be the ones dealing with this baby, may I remind you," Mark said, tugging at her arm. "Come on."

"Oh. Alright." Lexie got down in position as Mark sat right behind her. She stiffened a bit, but relaxed after a few seconds. She forgot sometimes how it used to feel, being so close to Mark. The way they'd sit like this sometimes late at night and just indulge in simple pillow talk. It used to be something rather intimate and almost natural– now, as familiar as it felt, it also felt like she was cross a territory she did not belong to.

"What are we supposed to do?" Jackson questioned, looking around as everyone gathered with their partners.

"I don't know, but that chick is my ex," Alex muttered, motioning to the instructor with his thumb.

"Really?" Lexie's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah. Forgot about her." Mark nodded his head in recognition. "Dr. Lucy Fields. She was an OB here. Got fired after a little spat with Webber at the time. This must be what she's doing now, surprised to see her here."

"Yeah. Me too," Alex mumbled. "Jo ain't gonna like it one bit when she gets here."

"Jo's coming too!?" Lexie frowned while Mark shrugged.

"And so might Callie and Arizona. Arizona thought I was nuts, but I think Callie wants to come and watch."

"Oh God."

"Why don't we go around and do introductions," Lucy announced crisp and clear. Her eyes immediately locked with Lexie's and she made sure to smile extra wide. "What about you guys, you're new here, aren't you?"

"Ah yeah," Lexie squeaked out, looking back at Mark. "My name's Lexie. This is Mark he's my ah…Well, Mark."

"Hiya," Mark greeted in a chipper tone, waving at everyone else.

"And I'm not really the one who's pregnant. My sister is, but we're going to maybe take the baby in," Lexie rambled, her cheeks growing flushed. "But ah not that we don't want to it's up to if my sister wants the baby or not–it's complicated."

"It is complicated but we want to bring this new child into the world with all the proper resources," Mark cut in, making sure to exemplify his charm and well-liked nature. It also didn't help that his cologne, the same one she got him for Christmas over two years ago, was pungent in her nose.

"That's okay. We have a lot off unusual couples that come in here everyday. Bringing a child into this world does not require your circumstances to be the stereotypical nuclear family," Lucy proclaimed before turning to none other than Alex and Jackson. Alex immediately waved at her sheepishly while Jackson turned a little red in the face. "Well, well, well, Alex Karev…I didn't know you were due."

"Ah yeah, actually I am," Alex lied, the panic evident on his face. "With my partner. Yep. Pregnant."

Lucy's eyebrows raised. "Really? Is this your new partner?" she gestured to Jackson who looked irritated now.

"Yep it is!" Mark exclaimed loud and clear, causing both men to narrow their eyes at the plastic surgeon. Just as he said that, Jo walked through the door trying to gather her things. "And there's the surrogate now!"

Jo looked very caught off guard by this announcement while Alex threw an arm around her and Jackson. "Yep…We're just oh so very happy to be here and learn about ya know, the miracle of life and stuff."

That seemed to only piss off Lucy as she went to ask for the introductions of the new couple. Meanwhile, she left a puzzled Jo even more confused and a bickering Jackson and Alex.

Lexie smacked Mark on the chest while he couldn't help but laugh. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know. Seemed like the perfect opportunity to make Karev and Avery squirm and I took it," Mark replied smugly, causing Lexie to shake her head at his idiocy. "Besides, they needed an excuse to stay here anyway."

"Brother," Lexie muttered to herself.

The rest of the session went rather well. Mark and Lexie learned a lot about other parenting things which was helpful like certain things about newborn sleep patterns and feeding schedules. Of course, they'd have a village to figure it out, but oddly, Lexie was a bit happy that Mark signed them up for the stupid thing. Made her feel a little more at ease that they were doing the basic things correct. She didn't need a class to reassure her that, but in a weird, distant way, it made her confidant in her own parenting skills.

"What happens if this baby comes and we have to name it," Mark said once the class was over. It was now the part of the class where people lingered and socialized with one another. They met a few new parents.

"Name it? We don't even know yet if it's a boy or a girl," Lexie pointed out.

"I don't know. I was just curious, if you had to name the baby, what would you name she or him?" Mark asked curiously.

"I don't know," Lexie confessed, biting her lip. "If it's a girl, something to do with Meredith. I'd want that baby to know her mother was strong and did love her, for however brief Meredith knew she was pregnant with her…As for a guy, I don't know. Any names you knew Derek liked? Meredith was always iffy about names."

"Derek was always good at coming up with these names at the end," Mark said. "When Bailey had been born, he was the first one to suggest naming him after Miranda for saving Meredith's life during that complicated pregnancy. Meredith just suggested Derek for a first name and they compromised. Zola was her given name, to which they obviously kept, but her middle name is Carolyn after Mrs. Shepherd. They wanted Zola to have some piece of their family in her name."

"What about Derek's father? What was his name?" Lexie pondered curiously.

"Christopher," Mark told her gently. "I'm sure Mrs. Shepherd would love that one, but Nancy already named her firstborn son that and Liz with Christine for her daughter. It could definitely be a middle name though."

"We'll think of something if we need to, but we are not there yet," Lexie declared.

"Alright. I just want us to be prepared for anything bad," Mark remarked. "We've already been through so much…"

Before Lexie could say anything more, Callie and Arizona came walking into the room. The neurosurgeon swallowed hard when she saw Arizona. It'd been so long since the two of them even discussed or talked about what happened. Another piece of the puzzle she's been so desperately trying to block out. All she could see was Arizona's bone sticking out of her leg–

"Hey, Lex," Arizona said, smiling gently at her.

"Hey, Arizona," Lexie shot back while Callie greeted Mark enthusiastically. "I heard about Sofia. That's so exciting, congrats! I'm sure you and Callie are thrilled to have a kid around."

"Definitely. Sofia's a ray of sunshine," Arizona said, a genuine smile appearing on the PEDs surgeon's face. "She's going to make things a lot brighter around here. We're planning on grabbing her all the different kinds of stuff animals and toys after work…It's going to be good."

"That's great. I'm happy for you," Lexie told her sincerely. There was a brief paused before Lexie felt enough courage to ask. "How's your leg doing?"

"It's gone, but I'm doing good," Arizona answered. "A bit of a challenge, but I'm walking on it now and I should be fully able to go back to work sometime later this week…How's Meredith?"

"Still in a coma," Lexie said, biting her lip. "Still in a coma and Cristina, still haven't gotten a word out of her."

"Last I heard Owen was having a rough time getting through to her," Arizona mentioned. "I hope she gets out of it…"

"Me too," Lexie replied, nodding her head.

"Hey, hey, hey! No glum smiles today!" Callie cheered, throwing arms around both Lexie and Arizona. "We get our baby tomorrow! This is a time to celebrate!"

"And as much as I would love to celebrate, we should really be heading home with our little tots," Lexie mentioned, gesturing to Mark who nodded in agreement.

"Gotta get home and ready Zola her new favorite book or she'll spend the rest of the night knocking at my door to read it," Mark remarked. "That kid is so precise about what she wants."

"Alright. Well, we'll see you guys soon," Callie replied, giving them both hugs before heading out with Arizona. After biding Jackson, Alex, and Jo goodbye, they headed back to the home in a sort of stillness. They talked to the kids and made sure to indulge in their jokes and their stories, but something felt off to Mark. He could tell by the way Lexie was sitting, her posture all messed up, that she was in some kind of mental battle with herself.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked after dinner time as they put the dishes away.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little lost in my head right now," Lexie replied as she began to place some of the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

"Don't be. What's there to be lost about?" Mark questioned, a little ignorant in his question, but the neuro surgeon didn't say otherwise. "Come on, lash back me. I know how much you like to."

"Mark…"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mark shot back to Lexie who just sighed.

"i just haven't really dealt with the plane's aftermath that well," she confessed to him, leaning partially against the counter. "There's so much trauma I kind of just lock away and when I have to confront it, all I want to do is just shove it further down….I don't know if this is too much of a heavy conversation right now."

"I don't think it's heavy. We kind of have shared trauma, this is something we could discuss," Mark pointed out. "This is something you can always talk to me about…You know that, right?"

"I know. I know," Lexie ran a hand through her hair and slumped a bit. In all the time that Mark had known Lexie, she never looked more tired than she did in that moment. The way there were dark circles under her eyes and the raggedness in her frame. She was still beautiful to him, but he could see the emotions wear starting to show in her once positive and optimistic glow.

"Maybe you should consider talking to someone," Mark suggested slowly. "Like a shrink."

"A shrink? With what time?" Lexie mentioned with lackluster. "Between work and the kids I feel like I don't even have time to breathe."

"You'll find time. Plus, it's free to do it at the hospital," he explained as he threw a dish towel over his shoulder. "If I have the ability and gall to go see one, so do you."

Lexie quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "You go to therapy?"

"We went over this already– I had a pretty traumatizing childhood," Mark pointed out. "I had to cope with it somehow besides being a major man whore and using it as a sob story to pick up chicks."

"What is wrong with you…?"

"A lot. Look, think about it," Mark said. "And in the meantime, we both have this weekend off. We're going to take Zola and Bailey to the Zoo or something."

"I thought you had a date with Julia?" Lexie remarked.

"I do, but I can reschedule. You guys are more important," Mark insisted. "Besides, we all need a little family outing. Take the stress off everything."

"Thanks," Lexie whispered while Mark reached over to press a chaste kiss to the top of her head.

"Keep your head up, Little Grey. You're not alone in this," he reminded her. "Now, I gotta go tuck Zola into bed and solve this baby question. I'm thinking, Martians instead of the stork."

"Mark..."

He laughed before walking away to bed, leaving Lexie chuckling, but also feeling a little more at ease inside.