Meet the Parents
chapter 2, by...me. Greyeyedgirl.
Summary: Cristina and Burke continue in Alabama as they visit Burke's mother. What happens when a flame from Burke's past and a secret of Burke's mother makes it out into the open? Cristina and Burke, yeah I said it CRISTINA AND BURKE. : )
"Rise and shine, Cristina."
Cristina frowned into her pillow, her eyes shut forcibly. "Go to hell."
Burke let out a little laugh, shaking her gently. "Come on."
"And burn..."
"Cris-ti-na," Burke said playfully.
"And scorch-"
"Cristina!" Burke pulled the blanket off her, tugging lightly on the T-shirt of his she was wearing. "My mother made breakfast."
Cristina sat up, rubbing her eyes, her hair a mess. "What time is it?"
"Four-thirty. That's two-thirty at home, though."
Cristina stared at him in shock. "People in Alabama get up at four-thirty?"
Burke laughed, sitting next to her on the bed. "The restaurant opens at five-thirty. I think Mom's idea of 'a couple days off' has turned into-" He broke off at Cristina's groan, as she leaned her head against him. "Do I want to hear this story?"
Burke smiled, nodding to himself, as he bent his head to kiss hers. "Probably not. And I don't really want to tell it."
"Oh, fantastic, then," Cristina said, rolling out of bed. "Did she make something heavy? 'Cause I don't know what I can eat this early in the morning..."
"Fried eggs and blueberry pancakes."
Cristina grimaced, bending down to find her suitcase from where she'd shoved it under the bed the night before.
"I wanted to show you something today. I thought you might like it."
"What is it?"
"Just...somewhere I used to go. When I was little."
Cristina smiled, sitting on her knees on the floor as she snapped open her suitcase. "Okay."
"Mom'll be at the restaurant all day, so we have the whole day to ourselves."
Cristina smiled again, glancing up at him. "Good."
Burke rolled onto his stomach on the bed, looking down as he watched her pull out a sweater. "You won't need that."
Cristina looked up. "Hmmm?"
Burke laughed. "This is Alabama. Very hot state. You won't want a sweater."
Cristina looked down at her suitcase, putting the sweater back. "Right." She pulled out a sleeveless T-shirt instead. "This okay?" She asked, smiling.
Burke smiled back. "Perfect," he said, flashing his teeth at her. She smiled, looking down and biting her lip. She looked back up. "Got any coffee?"
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"Mmmmmmmm." Cristina laughed. "Alabama is a hot state."
Burke laughed, cradling her on the bed. "Am I ever wrong?" He murmured in her ear.
"Guess not," she whispered, smiling as he kissed her neck, pulling the blanket over both of them.
"You hungry? We could go eat lunch, I could show you around the restaurant."
"Mmm--ohhh...Yeah, yeah that sounds great." Cristina moved closer into him, nuzzling her hair against his face. She felt him kiss her head. "Love you," he whispered.
It still made her pause, her pulse quickening, but she managed a smile, turning her head back so he could see. "Yeah."
Burke smiled, a small one, but it was still there. "I guess we should probably get up."
"Probably," Cristina said dryly, grinning, as Burke tightened his arms around her. "Or not."
Burke laughed, kissing her head one last time, reaching over her for his T-shirt. She smiled tiredly, letting out a soft yawn. "At least it's not four-thirty," she mumbled. Burke turned to smirk at her, kissing the side of her head, before pulling his shirt on. "It's a very, very hot state."
Cristina laughed, leaning over the bed in search of her clothes. Burke smiled slightly, waiting for her to lean back up before handing her her wrinkled t-shirt. "Thanks."
Burke kissed the side of her face gently, softly massaging her neck. "There's somewhere really beautiful I want to show you. You'll like it."
Cristina smiled to herself. "I don't do well with nature."
Burke laughed. "No, me neither. But this place is nice, and you won't get dirty, I promise."
Cristina grinned, feeling his hands travel down her spine. "Well, you're never wrong."
"That's my girl." Burke laughed, kissing her quickly on the cheek, as she reached absently for her jeans. He turned away, putting his shoes back on, then laid backward, as she leaned her head back against his chest. "Do you mind if we just lay here for a while?" Cristina asked, yawning. "I want to see your place, I really do, but I'm sort of...jet lagged."
"It's fine," Burke said smiling, encompassing her body in a soft embrace. "I'm tired too, we can take a little nap, then grab lunch, then I'll take you there."
"Kay," Cristina murmured, nuzzling her head into his T-shirt. "Love you," he said. "Mmmhmm," Cristina said smiling, as he reached gently and wrapped her hand in his.
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Burke and Cristina walked into Sam Burke's restaurant twenty-five minutes later, him laughing as he held the door for her, she turned her head to say something slyly to him. He wrapped his arm around her, looking at the ground and grinning, she smiled contently. He looked up, planning to find a table to sit at, when he caught sight of someone standing not 12 feet away, and stopped altogether.
"Burke?" Cristina asked, looking at him, obviously concerned. He cleared his throat, snapping back to reality, and attempted to usher her past the small dark woman just in their path. "Burke?" Cristina asked again, confused.
"PRESTON? Preston Burke? Oh, my god, what are you doing here?" Lindsey Hartley had caught sight of him, and she stared at him with a mixture of shock and happiness as she took in his appearance. Cristina stared at her, confused. "Burke...?"
Burke cleared his throat again. "Cristina, this is Lindsey Hartley...an old friend of mine from school. Lindsey...it's nice to see you again. What are you doing here?"
"Didn't your mom tell you? I'm waitressing here. No, wait, back up-What are you doing here? Are you here to stay?" Lindsey beamed up at him.
"Oh, no, we're visiting, I wanted Cristina to meet-Oh, of course, you don't know." Burke paused. "Lindsey, this-" he looked down at Cristina. "Is Cristina Yang, my girlfriend. She lives with me in Seattle."
Lindsey inspected Cristina with mingled surprise and interest, forcing a smile on her face. "Sounds serious."
Burke smiled at Cristina, hugging her closer with his arm. "We've been together for a while now. We work together."
"Oh, are you a doctor, too?"
"An intern," Cristina said, her voice confident, as she looked Lindsey carefully in the eyes, recognizing the expression there. "That's how me and Burke met. It's really nice, actually. I'm with him at home and at work."
"Wow, sounds tiring. Sometimes people need an escape, right?"
Cristina shrugged, wrapping her arm around Burke's waist. "It's not like that with us."
Burke looked down at her, slightly surprised, then a look of comprehension crossed over his face. "If you'll excuse us, Lindsey," he said, trying not to laugh. "It was nice seeing you again."
"Wha-wait! How long are you two in town?"
"Just until tomorrow night," Burke explained, smiling. "Then we're going to Los Angeles so I can meet Cristina's stepfather and get to know her mother."
"Oh," Lindsey said, staring at Burke. "Wow. It is serious." She forced a smile, shaking Cristina's hand, before Cristina and Burke turned to grab the only empty table in the restaurant, a small booth in a corner in the back.
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"Soooo. Was she your girlfriend?"
Burke laughed into his french fries. "Of course not. That's why I thought it was so funny that you were jealous."
Cristina took her hand away from where she'd been about to steal one of his fries. "Jeal-I wasn't jealous!"
"'It's not like that with us?' I had no idea you were so utterly fond of my company." Burke smiled as he sipped his cappuccino.
"I do like being with you."
Burke continued to smile. "Of course you do. But you don't want to be around me all the time. You like being with Grey, and Stevens, and O'Malley, too."
Cristina paused, looking down at her cheeseburger. "You seriously weren't ever her boyfriend?"
"Never. We were friends in grade school, in high school she took an interest in me, but I was more interested in my grades and my trumpet-playing than girls."
"Your trumpet playing?"
Burke beamed. "You're dating a proud former member of marching band, concert band, regular band, as in band class... Jazz band, and Pep band."
Cristina stared at him. "You're kidding."
Burke smiled. "Nope."
Cristina took another of his french fries, using her mouth to cover an inappropriate smirk. "Well, whatever made you so good with your lips."
Burke laughed, drinking from his coffee again. "Whatever gets the job done."
Cristina smiled, playing with her food, and Burke's face grew serious.
"But seriously, Cristina...it wouldn't have mattered even if I had dated Lindsey. I'm with you now. I don't care about anyone else. And I would never, ever do anything to hurt you. I don't want to be with anyone else. You're more than enough for me to handle."
Cristina was quiet as she looked down at her mocha latte. "Yeah. I know. You're just not the kind of person who ever...Who cheats."
Burke looked at her. "You're right. I'm not. But with you, that's an 'especially.' I'm not attracted to anyone else. I only want you."
Cristina smiled a small smile. "Good."
Burke smiled back, as he carefully pushed out the anger at his mother, and concentrated on what he was planning to do.
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"You should have told me you hired her."
"What does it matter, Preston? The factory she'd worked at since high school was closing, she needed a job, I took her in. She's a good worker, Preston."
"Am I supposed to fall for that? You've wanted me to be with her since we were little! Thought it would be so cute, your best friend's daughter with your little boy...I tolerated it in high school, Mother, but shoving her in my face like that? I'm with somebody, and you know how serious I am about her, obviously, so-"
"I know." Sam looked down. "Obviously you have feelings for Cristina, strong ones, because you've never been one to make rash decisions, but-"
"I know what I'm doing. I know what I want."
"I know you do. I'm sorry. You're leaving tomorrow night, just forget about it. I just thought-seeing Lindsey-might stir something in you, something to change your mind...You really would make a perfect couple dear, she's so sweet..."
"I'm in love with Cristina. I've never loved Lindsey. Not like that. And I'm asking her to marry me. How could you have tried to take away the best thing that has ever happened to me?"
Sam looked down, ashamed. "I know. I'm sorry. Really. If you really feel that strongly about her...I know. I want you to be happy. And I do like Cristina. I see how happy she makes you. You're...different. You're glowing."
Burke smiled a tiny smile as Cristina's face flowed into his mind. "She's amazing, Mom. That's why I asked you for the ring. I...I really do want to spend the rest of my life with her." He laughed slowly.
Sam smiled. "If she's what you want, then go get her." She paused. "I'm sorry about Lindsey."
Burke paused, looking at his mother's face. "It's okay. I know how much you wanted me to be with her. But with Cristina...I just..." He stopped, smiling. "I forgive you." He leaned in quickly, giving his mother a brief hug. He frowned suddenly, his head turning. The sound of the shower had stopped. "I guess Cristina's out. I'm going to get to bed, it's getting late, and I know she must be tired, she's still shaking the jet lag. I was going to take her to the place I used to go when I was little, but we were both tired, and after the brush in with Lindsey..."
"I'm sorry, Preston."
Preston nodded. "It's okay. I'll see you in the morning, kay, Mom? Love you."
"Love you too, Preston. And I'm stopping by Aunt Kiri's for the ring tomorrow morning. It'll be all set before you go."
Burke grinned. "Thanks, Mom. I gotta go." He kissed her quickly on the cheek, before making his way towards the stairs to the bedroom.