They had gotten back to Meredith and Derek's just in time, arriving at the house just minutes before Derek, Meredith, and the kids got home. They all ate dinner together, making a plan for the Christmas Eve party prep. For some reason Meredith had thought it would be a great idea to do most of the cooking and baking for the party, which Lexie didn't quite understand since Meredith was not a cook. But with help from her and Mark, she was definitely feeling better about the scenario.

Once Meredith and Derek took the kids up to bed, Lexie brought down the bags of gifts that she had bought that afternoon to wrap them. She'd stationed herself in front of the fireplace and had the gifts spread out around her, along with wrapping paper, ribbons, scissors, and tape. It was organized holiday chaos, which was her favorite type of chaos.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and immediately threw herself over the gifts, before craning her neck and seeing that it was Mark. He chuckled as she straightened herself and smiled at him. "I thought you might have been Zola," she whispered as he made his way over to her. He sat down on the couch, his leg brushing against her arm as she readjusted herself on the floor.

"Yeah, I've often been told that I have the gait of a two-year-old," he teased.

Lexie rolled her eyes and shoved at him while he laughed. "I didn't want to take any chances."

"This is quite the operation you have down here," he said, gesturing to all the gifts and wrapping supplies. "I just stuck my stuff in gift bags."

Lexie laughed. "I just…I loved being able to rip into a gift on Christmas morning. And I love the act of wrapping a gift. It's so precise. It reminds me of surgery sometimes, in a weird way. So I always like to take my time. My mom loved having perfectly wrapped presents under the tree."

"Well, I don't know how much help I'd be in the wrapping department, but maybe I can interest you in some hot cocoa?" Mark asked, standing up.

Lexie beamed. "Ooooh yes, please! That sounds perfect!"

Mark busied himself in the kitchen with the cocoa as Lexie started in on her first gift. It was for Derek – she'd gotten him a new vest for when he went fishing. When Mark came back over with two mugs of cocoa in hand, she was debating about the perfect ribbon choice. "Green and gold or red and gold ribbon?" she posed her question to him as he sat on the couch again. He handed over her mug of cocoa and she grinned happily at him, taking a quick sip and sighing in contentment.

"Red and gold, definitely," Mark said firmly, and Lexie grinned up at him, nodding. "So your mom was the one who got you into Christmas?"

"Yeah. She always made sure that we had such a wonderful time at Christmas. Some of my favorite memories of my childhood are from Christmas." Her smile dimmed somewhat. "The last few years have been hard without her. I lost most of my Christmas spirit without her around. But once Zola's adoption went through, I feel like it all came back. And now with Bailey…I love Christmas again." She finished the ribbon on the gift and held it up for Mark's perusal.

He grinned and nodded, giving it his seal of approval and Lexie set it aside. She looked up at him, her head cocked in curiosity. "You said that you didn't get to do a lot of this sort of stuff growing up. What were Christmases like in your family?"

Mark shrugged, taking a sip of cocoa to stall for a moment. "Not like yours. My parents weren't really Christmas people…or family people. They'd throw these big elaborate Christmas parties and I'd make an appearance, but then I'd spend the rest of the night upstairs with my nanny. We'd open gifts on Christmas morning, but usually my mom was hungover from the night before and my dad was on a business call."

Lexie frowned. "I'm sorry, Mark."

Shrugging again, he smiled softly at her. "My favorite Christmas memories are when I got a little older and I got to spend Christmas Eve with Derek's family. They'd have their cousins over and there was always a lot of food and laughter…Mrs. Shepherd always made sure that I had a present or two to open at their house. The Shepherds always treated me like one of their own."

Smiling up at him, Lexie bumped against his leg again. "I'm glad that you're here with us this year, Mark. Definitely time to have some good Christmas memories again."

He grinned down at her. "It's shaping up to be a great Christmas, Lexie."

He leaned in slightly and Lexie shifted more fully towards him, both of them grinning at each other for a moment. The stairs creaked slightly behind them and they jumped apart, both glancing towards the stairs. But the stairs were empty, no sisters or toddlers interrupting. Lexie laughed quietly, tucking her hair behind her ear and scooting back, picking up Meredith's gift and started to wrap it.

"When did your mom pass away?" Mark asked quietly.

Lexie kept wrapping as she answered. "Right after my intern year. Complications from the hiccups. Insane," she murmured, shaking her head. "My parents were still in Boston and I was out here. Mer was a resident. My dad…had a hard time after my mom's death. So, I moved back out to Boston to help and to complete my residency at Mass Gen." She looked up at him and smiled softly. "But he's doing a lot better now. So, I think it'd be fine if I moved back here for a fellowship. He thought it'd be a good idea, actually…he's even been talking about the same thing. He and Meredith always had sort of a fraught relationship, but with the kids…I think he'd like to get to know them. And Mer seems open to it."

Mark nodded. "After today…I can see why you love Seattle. It never really won me over when I visited, but with you as a tour guide…I see what you like about it."

They stayed up for a few more hours while Lexie wrapped gifts, chatting about their lives. Finally, Lexie finished and stretched out with a triumphant groan. Mark smiled and stood up, offering his hands to her to help her up. She over-estimated her balance when she stood and ended up falling towards him, bracing her hands on his chest so she didn't completely faceplant into him. Mark chuckled, his hands going to her hips to steady her. "We've got to stop doing this, Lex," he murmured playfully.

Lexie just grinned up at him, before patting his chest gently. "I'll see you in the morning, Mark," she whispered, her eyes soft as she watched him.

His eyes darted briefly to her lips before he cleared his throat and took a small step back. His hands fell from her hips and hung loosely at his sides. "Yeah. See you in the morning, Lexie. Do you need any help cleaning up?"

She shook her head. "No. I've got it. Thank you though. Sleep tight."

"You too," he said, his voice slightly rougher than it was a second ago. He turned on his heel and headed back upstairs, as Lexie watched him go.

Author's Notes: Oooooooh things are heating up! :P Love to hear what you think of the story and if you're enjoying it! Next chapter will be up this weekend.