Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy

Chapter Thirteen

"Can we wake him up now?"

"Try not to startle him. We don't want to give the old man a heart attack for his birthday, Zola."

"Unca Marky!"

Mark Sloan's eyes flew open and was met with the three eager faces of Lexie, Zola, and Bailey. Zola was bouncing up and down on the bed while Bailey gurgled beside her. Lexie was smiling with amusement as the now forty-year-old Mark sat up in his bed.

"We brought you breakfast," Zola chirped as she motioned to the tray Lexie was holding. There was a plate of scrambled eggs, a cup of coffee, and some pancakes poorly shaped like Mickey Mouse. "I helped Aunt Lexie flip the pancakes and we brought it to you because you're old now."

Mark frowned at this and ruffled Zola's hair. "Watch it, squirt."

"But I also made you this card, Uncle Mark, and we also got you a present for later!" Zola continued eagerly. She had to be more excited about his birthday than himself.

He chuckled and pulled Zola into a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Thanks, kid. I love it."

"We have tons of excitement planned for you on this monumental birthday, so get ready," Lexie teased.

"Guess I got to," Mark replied lightly, causing Lexie to nudge him in the ribs.

"Come on, it'll be a good day. You see," she sung as she ushered the kids out of the room, leaving Mark to his own devices.

After eating a great breakfast, Mark carried on like it was any normal day but indulged in any of the kid's excitement for his birthday. For Zola and Bailey, he'd allow anything. They had surprised him with a cookbook and a new blender– something he'd been dying to get and only confided to Lexie about. As for the rest of the day, Mark Sloan wanted his 40th birthday to be as normal as possible.

"Happy birthday!"

"Callie!"

Callie Torres couldn't contain her excitement for her best friend. Things seemed to finally be looking up– Sofia was now a member of their family, she and Arizona were finding their old rhythm, and there would Mark's surprise party later that night. Callie grinned to herself as she wrapped her arms tightly around him and gave Mark a quick hug before pulling away.

"Keep it on the down low, not everyone needs to know," he insisted as he straightened out his white coat.

"You're such a drama queen," Callie remarked. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Am not. I'm at that point in my life where birthdays like this are pointless," Mark rambled. "I'm forty. I'm old. I get it."

"Hey, you know what they say," Callie sung. "Forty is the new thirty!"

"Bullshit. Forty is starting to feel the pains of being middle-aged and having to deal with all sorts of things you never wanted to," Mark ranted. "Regretting past decisions, missing your youth–"

"You are full of such shit," Callie shot back. "Look, enjoy today. I know Lex has a wonderful plan for you and the kids. Enjoy them. Hey, enjoy Julia."

"Lex?" Mark quirked an eyebrow. "Since when are you calling her Lex?"

"Since I got drunk with her and we tried to fight off a bear," Callie replied. "Besides, Lexie does make some lovely company. I see why you went after her."

"Look, as long as you two aren't planning on giving me something massive party, it'll be a good day," Mark insisted.

"It has to be bigger."

Lexie Grey came home about thirty-minutes earlier to work on the celebrations she had for Mark. Of course she earned an earful from Dr. Morrison before doing so. He made a whiny remark only to have Lexie tell him to shut up or she'd sick Amelia on him.

"I think the decorations are enough, Lexie," Jackson pointed out as he looked around at the sea of balloons and streamers.

Avery, Alex, and April, who had time off, had come over to help Little Grey for the big celebration she planned. They were setting up balloons and cake and all sorts of fun birthday things.

"No, I agree with Lexie. This needs to pop out more," April said as she let her mind wander. She began to walk forward and move around some of the furniture so it was set to her perfect image. Lexie didn't mind too much since April was always so anal about how everything looked.

"You guys are ridiculous," Alex muttered to himself as he played with one of the balloons for the party.

"You're just angry because someone got into a fight with the mrs," Jackson shot back.

"You and Jo are fighting?" Lexie asked curiously.

"It's none of your business," Alex insisted.

"They've been talking about marriage," Jackson filled in, causing the PEDs surgeon to throw his friend a dirty look.

"Marriage? What about it?" April questioned curiously.

"Nothing that any of you can help me with," Alex grumbled as he fiddled with some of the streamers for the party. "Just that…Jo isn't ready to get married, which is fine, but part of me thinks she doesn't want to get married at all."

"Did she tell you why?" Lexie asked.

Alex shook his head. "No. Every time I asked why, she'd respond with an open ended question…Look, we don't have to get married tomorrow, but I do love her. A lot. I want to marry her one day. She means the world to me and I guess with all the death that's been surrounding us lately, I don't want to have any regrets."

"That must've been one of the sweetest things I've ever heard come out of your mouth, Alex Karev," April commented in surprise.

"Don't get used to it," Alex retorted, carrying out his usual grumpy glance.

"In the meantime, we need to get this place ready," April exclaimed as she began to pester Alex about the decorations, leaving Jackson and Lexie on their own.

"So, you're going out of your way for a person you're not in love with," Jackson commented wryly, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Could you not?" Lexie narrowed her eyes at Avery. "Because I can start up with you."

"I'm just saying," Jackson said. "You're doing more than Julia and she's the one he's supposedly dating."

"Julia's helping. She's helped me set up to pretend like she's taking Mark out for a birthday dinner," Lexie said shyly.

"What happens when Mark pulls up here and sees the surprise party?" Jackson added. "Did he want one?"

"I don't know, but Mark deserves something nice today. He's been through a lot," Lexie insisted. "He lost one of his best friends. Someone who was practically his brother. He's raising his children. He's been really supportive with everything, especially my new job. Don't think I don't know he's been letting you take over more responsibilities."

Jackson shot her a surprised look. "How'd you know about that?"

"Because I'm pretty observant, Avery," Lexie challenged. "He's been doing that so he can stay at home more with the kids. Any time something comes up, whether it be I get stuck at work or someone needs to pick Zola up from soccer practice, he tells me 'don't worry, Little Grey, I got the kids.' He's been putting me first this whole time. So, I want to give him something back. Something to show him I appreciate everything he's done to help."

"That's actually sweet of you," Jackson muttered.

"I don't know, he deserves something special," Lexie trailed off, biting her lip. "And I know he's not too excited about this birthday which is why I only invited our close friends. No more than 20 people just so it's not too overwhelming. He likes to pretend he's this hot shot who's always social but I know in reality he's a homebody. He likes being surrounded with those he can trust."

Jackson smiled gently at this. He paused as he went back to blowing up some more balloons. "Although, I will say it was really nice of you to fly Sloan up here."

Lexie cocked her head and looked at him suspiciously. "And how do you know about that?"

"Amelia mentioned it. I know she's picking her up at the airport as we speak," Jackson said, grinning widely. "Mark hasn't seen her in months."

"I know how much he didn't want to worry her about everything going on because she was finishing up her semester, but now she's on a break and wants to spend some time with her dad. See that he's okay," Lexie explained.

"That's more impressive than any gift Julia could give him," Jackson said slickly. "Just saying…"

Lexie rolled her eyes as she went back to the decorations. Although, Jackson could swear he saw a small smile appear on her lips.

Flash forward a couple of hours later, Mark Sloan was very surprised to see all of his friends at his home. He'd been expecting a quiet night with Lexie and the kids, maybe some cake, and then dinner and drinks with Julia later on.

"Happy birthday!" everyone shouted as he entered through the front door.

"Aw come on guys," Mark said as they all cheered for him. Zola instantly rushed forward and hugged onto his legs. "You didn't have to do this."

"You only turn forty once, Sloan," Webber commented as he came forward to clasp the man on the back.

"Besides, you deserve this," Julia added as she walked over to press a kiss to his cheek.

"I hope this is the only surprise of the night," Mark said lightly as he turned around to take a look at everyone. He instantly spotted Lexie standing amongst them with a big smile on her face. She was wearing a simple black dress, but it was a black dress he was familiar with. She'd worn it one dates before. It was one of her evening gowns that always got him in a tizzy.

"Well, you're going to have to live with just one more."

Mark frowned at the familiar voice and whipped to the side to see Sloan Riley, his daughter, standing right in front of him. She had a big smile on her face as she waved at him.

"Kid! How are you!?" Mark exclaimed, bringing her into a bear hug. "It's been so long! I missed you."

"I missed you too," Sloan said, hugging him tightly.

"How'd you even get here?" Mark wondered out loud as they pulled apart.

"Lexie," Sloan answered simply, jerking a thumb at his partner. "She updated me on quite a bit."

"You two have been talking?"

"We've been in contact," Lexie said, smiling gently. "I thought it'd been a long time since you've seen your own daughter and well she agreed too."

"Especially since you insisted I didn't need to come to your aid after getting into a plane crash," Sloan commented dryly with eyebrows raised. This had Mark smiling sheepishly.

"Hey, we're here together now," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "To which, I want to hear all about how this semester went..."

As the night rolled on, things were going pretty great. Lexie found that everyone was enjoying the party, especially Mark. He was smiling and she could tell how happy he was to have his daughter back and to be surrounded by everyone he loved, but something was bothering him. Something Lexie couldn't quite put her finger on yet.

"Aw, look at them," Callie said to Lexie, nudging her in the side. Zola and Sofia, her new best friend, were seated on the sofa in the living room. They were both slowly falling asleep as they watched some Disney movie Arizona put on for them. Bailey was sound asleep in his crib upstairs at this point and probably wouldn't bother them until the early morning– he was starting to sleep very regularly throughout the night. It wouldn't be long before Lexie and Mark were going to try having him sleep in a 'big boy bed.'

"They're too precious," April said, sighing happily. It was nearing the end of the night and everyone was starting to trickle out. The redhead leaned against her paramedic fiancé's shoulder. "I can't wait for us to have a ton of those, Matthew."

"Me too, sweetheart," he said, pressing a kiss to April's forehead. Meanwhile, in the corner of her eye, Lexie could see Jackson with a sad, hurt look on his face. She didn't hate Matthew and she knew Jackson didn't either, but his heart was in another man's arms. It was something that was hard to be happy about.

"Thanks for the great party tonight," Callie added as Arizona went to get a tuckered-out Sofia. "But we should probably go and put Sofia to bed."

"Tell Mark we said happy birthday," Bailey said as she and her husband, Ben, started to make their way out the door.

"Where is Mark?" Callie questioned curiously, looking around for her best friend.

"He's with Julia," Sloan said, answering their questions as she came forward. "I was going to say goodnight but they seem to be in the middle of something."

"In the middle of something?" Callie and Lexie made eye contact in concern.

"Nothing too serious. Just some stupid quarrel," Sloan said before letting out a big yawn. "Which, I'm probably going to head upstairs and head to bed if you don't need any more help cleaning up, Lexie. I'm exhausted from that plane ride."

"We should be good down here," Lexie insisted. "And if not, that's why we have the morning."

Sloan chuckled. "Well thanks again for everything, I'm so glad I got to be here."

"We're glad you're here too," Lexie agreed.

"Alright, I'll see you guys in the morning," Sloan said, waving at them. "I can take Zola up to bed if you want?"

"Honestly, that'd be fantastic," Lexie said. "Besides, she was so excited for your visit I'm sure she'd love for you to be the one to read her a bedtime story tonight."

"It'd be my honor," Sloan responded happily.

As Mark's daughter brought Zola up to bed and mostly everyone cleared out, Lexie shared another worried glance with Callie.

"Make sure he's okay. We don't need his fortieth birthday to end in misery," Callie said to her in a low voice.

"Agreed. I won't linger, but I'll keep an eye out for him," Lexie vowed.

Callie smiled back at this before heading out, bidding a thank you with Arizona. Soon, the house was quiet again except for the muffled discussion coming from the back porch. Lexie tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help it and she worried if something between Mark and Julia transpired.

She was about to head up to bed herself when there was a "Fine!" echoing into the night. Lexie paused and heard the sound of a car door slamming and an engine buzzing off down their driveway. Quietly, she made her way over to the back porch to get a better look at Mark. He was standing stiffly, by himself, with arms crossed over his chest.

"I know you're there, Little Grey."

"I'm not trying to spy, just see if everything is okay," Lexie said gently.

"Everything's fine."

"Doesn't seem like it from my end." Lexie was persistent, Mark knew that.

"It's really nothing. Julia and I got into a stupid little fight," he said, trying to shake her off. He took a deep breath as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So if you don't mind, Little Grey, I just want some alone time."

Lexie paused and was about to respect Mark's wishes, but she knew him. Deep down, she knew him better than anyone else and knew these were the signs that he was about to go dark and twisty. "Mark…Can I ask you something?"

"Lexie–"

"Why have you been dreading today?"

Mark blinked and watched as Lexie inched forward. "You don't have to tell me why you and Julia fought but why have you been so distant? Are you seriously that scared about getting old?"

"Truthfully, a bit, but that's not why," Mark confessed, biting his lip. "And I really don't want to talk about it. I didn't want to talk about it with Julia and I don't want to talk about it with you either."

"That's why you two fought?" Lexie inquired. "Whatever it is, it's bothering you. I know I'm just me but…If you need something, I'm here, Mark. You can tell me."

"It's not that simple," he countered.

"I think it is. Remember how you're telling me all the time how you're always there for me," she continued.

"Funny, Julia yelled at me for being too close to you. Maybe she was right," he said, shaking his head.

"What?" Lexie frowned and looked at her ex-boyfriend with a puzzled expression. "That's why? Because we're too close?"

Mark shrugged, choosing to stay silent.

"Is she serious?" Lexie only grew angrier at that this. "Why? She thinks I'm a threat? We're supposed to be close! We're raising kids together. Is she nuts!? I mean, look we don't feel that way anymore about each other but at the end of the day we're partners. I don't know how many times we have to repeat that to each other but we are in this together and she has to accept that…"

"You don't have to be that harsh about her," he said, trying to defend her.

"No, I do, because it's all of us or none," Lexie stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know it isn't an easy thing to ask, but we are a family and any significant other of ours has to understand that."

"Julia has a good heart, she didn't mean it like that..." Mark trailed off, sucking in a deep breath.

Lexie could sense something more was pinching at him. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"No."

"Mark..."

"I really...It's just...Lex, I…" Mark trailed off, taking a deep breath as he tried to hold it in all together. She could see the tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. "Derek didn't even make it to forty-one. I complained about being forty when my best friend will never see fifty. He will never turn sixty and never see his grandchildren. He'll never be seventy or see if he could've made it to eighty. No, my best friend, will forever be forty. I am here, alive, when the best of us is not."

Lexie brought a hand to her mouth as she watched Mark turn to her. The tears drizzled out of the corner of his eyes and down his cheeks. The survivor's guilt evident.

"Oh, Mark," Lexie whispered, reaching out to grab his forearm. "You know Derek wouldn't want you thinking that way."

"But I can't help it." Mark let out a humorless, bark of a laugh. "It's been eating me up and…I miss him. I miss him so damn much, Lexie. The fact that he's not here, it's selfish, but I wish he was here to celebrate this with me. He should've been the one gifting me with prune juice or adult diapers or some stupid prank. He would've been teasing me all week…"

Mark Sloan let out a small sob as his body started to shake. Without thinking, Lexie reached up and brought him into a bone crushing hug. She could feel his tears hit against her shoulder and it only made her hug onto him tighter. She could feel his heart pounding against his chest and right through hers. She tried to soothe him the best she could, despite the tears welling up in her eyes. She whispered words of comfort to him and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. Her fingers reached up and stroked the back of his head, something she had gotten him to find comfort in years ago.

They were like that for a couple of moments. The two of them embracing each other like they'd done many times in the past couple of months. Slowly, once the sobs dwindled down, Mark and Lexie gently pulled apart from one another.

Something in that moment, the feeling of Lexie's cheek brushing up against his and her understanding brown eyes boring into his ice blue, Mark couldn't help it as he reached down and kissed her.

It startled both of them. Lexie instantly pulled away and blinked excessively like a cartoon character. Meanwhile, Mark's cheeks grew red and he began to fumble on his words. "I shouldn't have…I'm sorry…I just–"

That's when he was cut off by Lexie's lips smashing against his. Maybe it was the alcohol that night or the emotions, but the two of them could not help it as Lexie ran her hands through Mark's salt and pepper hair. Mark pulled her tightly flushed against him and deepened their kiss.

"Are you sure?" Mark asked.

"Very," Lexie whispered.

Mark then hoisted her in his arms, allowing Lexie's legs to wrap around his waist as they made their way inside the house. Their repressed feelings and passion expelled all at once as they carried out with this overdue confession...