A/N: This chapter is a bit of an interlude. It's not directly related, it's just a chance for me to get Cristina and Owen talking and closer to being on the same page about kids and their relationship. I don't see either of them as villains in this relationship. Both of them want valid things, but they went about the wrong way in canon, so this is a chance for them to try and have an honest conversation like they never did in canon.
"Why did you page me in here?" Owen asked as soon as he saw who was in the on-call room.
Cristina raised an eyebrow. "Surely you have a couple of minutes to talk to your wife."
Owen sighed. "Fine, but we have to hurry." He sat down on the edge of the bed beside Cristina.
Neither of them spoke for a long moment, the silence broken only by the sounds of people walking and talking outside the door. Cristina stared at the floor, Owen at the ceiling.
"Why won't you talk to me?" Cristina demanded finally. "Every since Meredith and Derek adopted Zola, you've barely talked to me."
"What about me?" Owen snapped back. "You aren't exactly going out of your way to make time for me these days!"
"I paged you in here!"
"I'm surprised you did, considering you're babysitting all the time!"
"Is that what this is about?" Cristina's eyes widened in surprise. "You're mad because I'm spending time with Meredith's kid?"
"You hate babies so much I'm surprised you even want to look at her!"
"I don't hate babies," Cristina scoffed.
Owen laughed disbelievingly. "You don't hate babies? Cristina, you – you"
"This is about the abortion." Cristina moved to the end of the bed. "You're mad because I had an abortion and now I'm enjoying spending time with Zola!"
"That could have been our kid! Ours, Cristina, that you could have been holding and I could have been cooking for and we could have come home to! Our! Child!"
Cristina shook her head. "Don't you get it?" she said. "I love spending time with Zola because she isn't mine. At the end of the day, I can give her back to her parents and come home to you." She turned to look Owen in the eye. "I only have so much to give and right now it's split between you and the hospital. If I want to be a great surgeon – the best cardiothoracic surgeon – I can't have a child."
Silence reigned in the on-call room.
Owen nodded. "You're like Ellis Grey."
"What?"
"Meredith told me – gave me this speech – about how she was raised by someone like you. You're going to be great. You are great. But there's no room in that greatness for a family."
"You're my family." Cristina moved to take Owen's hand. "You, and Meredith and Derek and Alex. Bailey, Webber, all of them. Zola. That's my family."
Owen sighed. "I made a vow," he said. "That vow didn't include children. It included you. And I said I'd support you and be there for you." He took Cristina's hand. "I love the thought of having children," he said, "and I'm sorry I punished you for not sharing that."
Cristina's eyes were bright when she nodded. "Thank you."