She caught sight of him rounding a corner, she yelled his name again but he didn't stop. She quickened her pace as much as she could, running out of breath and stamina right before she got close enough to grab him by the forearm and used all her force to turn him around to face her. "Owen, please let me explain." She pleaded.
He scoffed at her, " Theres no need to explain anything, your actions speak volumes."
He swigged his arm in the air trying to release her hold on him and refusing to meet her gaze. He was must stronger then her and wasn't afraid to roughhouse with her, his anger and hurt overshadowing any thought that he might accidentally hit and hurt her. He pulled his arm from her strong hold and turned his back to her and started walking away again.
Ugh, Cristina thought, would you just let me explain the damn situation before making conclusions.
She ran after him again relentlessly, refusing to back down. She ran as fast as she could and actually passed him slightly and stopped right in front of him, her gaze meeting his and with her hand firmly planted in his chest, making him stay put, she finally began to speak and actually be heard.
She took a couple deep breathes trying to calm her heart rate. Owen stood there and planted both his hands on each side of his hip and let out a defeated sigh. This explanation better be good, he thought.
"How can you think that I would ever choose to have another mans baby when I denied you the opportunity to be a father? Even if I knew that you had moved on and you were married and had a family, and if one day I changed my mind and decided I wanted to be a mother, my guilt over the abortion, over the demise of our marriage and the end of the love we had between us, that would of hindered my ability to let myself be happy." She forced back tears and pleaded with her eyes for him to believe her. "Even knowing that you had the family you always wanted, I still wouldn't be able to get pregnant by another man, I wouldn't be able to do it even if I wanted it." His tense posture and grim features softened as she spoke.
"Then how do you have a baby?" He asked with confusion.
She shrugged her shoulders and ran a hand through her hair. "It's a very long story." She sighed, and was about to continue but Owen was too impatient to let her collect her thoughts.
Owen looked at her apprehensively, "I have time." He said simply while folding his arms over his chest and impatiently waiting for a reply.
"Whatever your thinking, I promise you it's not half as bad." She began, "I had a patient who was a regular at the ER, she kept coming in after overdosing, she had a drug and drinking problem and was a prostitute, her name was Leah and she had no will to live, she was purposely poisoning her body and she had idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy to top it all off."
"I tried to help her, I wanted to encourage her to want a better life for herself, she would come in so often and I would always be paged because of her pre-existing heart condition, after a while, we sort of developed a weird relationship, we obviously weren't friends but we had a mutual understanding. She opened up to me and as time went on, I ended up opening up to her too."
Cristina looked up at Owen and after he gave her a nod to continue she began speaking again.
"Then one day, she comes in the hospital and tells me she's four months pregnant, it was too late to abort the baby but she wanted nothing to do with it, she didn't even know who the father was. I told her that I didn't have kids and didn't want one and that's why my marriage fell apart, I shared things with her but I never thought she would of used it against me. But then one night I'm at the bar close to the hospital and I get called in, when I arrived I was told that Leah came in that night but she overdosed and died and there was nothing anyone could of done, but they were able to save the baby .
"I was devastated by her death, and just as they broke the news to me, a state appointed lawyer came in and gave this..." She said while reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper. She handed it to Owen while saying, "I hold onto this wherever I go, it makes me feel close to Leah."
She handed him the letter that Leah had left for her after she passed away and watched intently as Owen read it, his facial expressions conveying the exact emotions she felt every time she re-read the letter.
Owen started reading the letter and was so touched by it, he had to force down a gulp in his throat but couldn't stop his eyes from becoming glossy with tears. He thought the letter was beautiful and couldn't believe the turn of events that ended in Cristina being a mother, something he could of sworn up and down that he would never live to see. But here she was, with this heartbreaking story and this beautiful little girl who looked like a hybrid of Cristina and maybe even him. It was disheartening to know that it looked like a baby they could of made together.
He took a deep breathe, his chest rising and then falling heavily, his emotions were running wild.
"Wow." He muttered in disbelief. "This is unreal, like something you read about but never actually imagine it happening." He said.
"I know, sometimes I can't believe it myself." Cristina sighed, "But I can't imagine my life without her either, its almost like so awoke apart of me that had died long ago, she made me believe in things again." She said while staring into Owen's eyes. She couldn't help the flutter in her heart when she looked up at him, he had that look in his eyes, like the time when he was admiring baby Sophia and how cute she was.
He looked at her lovingly, almost unsure if this was a wild fantasy or dream that he was having. He couldn't grasp the fact that she was a mother, that she had taken on that responsibility, and the way her face softened while talking about her daughter made his heart melt. He desperately wanted to be a part of their lives, Owen was a man of faith and believed in destiny, he was certain that the events that occured while they were apart were cultivated to lead them right back into each others arms.
"Can I meet her.?" He asked while folding the letter back up neatly and giving it to Cristina.
A huge smile formed on her lips, "Of course you can meet her." She answered as they stood in the middle of a hallway smiling stupidly at each other, not caring for a minute about anyone or anything in the world except for the two of them.
Owen couldn't help it, this moment was too special and precious, and standing in front of him was the love of his life who, now shared the same hopes and dreams as him, he needed to seize the moment and seal it with a kiss. He closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her waist before ducking his head and giving her a tender kiss.
After they broke away from the kiss and shared a few more, oblivious to anyone else around them, they began to go find baby Teagan so she could be introduced to Owen.
After searching for a while, they finally found Teagan huddled around a group of people in the attendings lounge, including Zola and Bailey, who seemed to be mesmerized by the little baby who looked like a doll. Sophia was also there petting Teagan's head like she was a puppy.
"There you are!" Minka said, "Teagan has been such a good girl, I think she is enjoying all the fuss being made over her." She said smiling
"Cristina, you have a baby!" April exclaimed while standing and giving her a hug, the greetings and hugs were endless, as Callie and Arizona rushed to welcome back their friend while Jackson passed the baby back to Meredith and stood up to give Cristina a hug and a kiss.
"The story is incredible, they should write a book or make a movie about it!" April continued.
"Yes, April we get it, its almost unbelievable, but so is getting in a plane crash and having a gun pointed to your head while operating on your best-friends husband but, hey, guess what? that all happened too! " Alex said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.
"Alex, the only reason why its not unbelievable to you is because you knew about it while we didn't." Meredith chimed in while holding Bailey up so he could duck his head and give the baby a kiss.
"Who is this?" Minka said while nodding towards Owen.
"This is Owen, he is the Chief of Surgery here." Cristina replied.
"Owen?" She repeated while a huge grin appeared on her face, "Like your ex-husband Owen?" She asked.
Cristina nodded while perching her lips together, looking rather uncomfortable.
"Well you didn't tell me he looked like that!" She exclaimed with a smirk, "Cristina, when you find a man like this, you don't let him go." She said in her heavy accent while using her hand to showcase him like he was a prize on the price is right. Chuckles resonated in the room while Owen turned a few shades of red and Cristina merrily stared at him with a mischievous look in her eyes.
Meredith sensed that they would probably want some privacy, "Well, I bet Owen wants to meet Teagan so we will all leave and give you guys some time alone." She said while standing up and signaling for the others to do the same. She wanted her own time to catch up with Cristina and patch up their relationship but she figured it could wait, what was important now was fixing something that they thought was kaput forever, she was sure now more then ever that Owen and Cristina would work it out, they had too, it was inevitable now.
Everyone got up and left, Meredith was escorted by Minka who offered to help her with the two kids, and Alex handed the baby to Cristina before leaving them behind. Cristina easily rocked the baby in her arms which caused Teagan to give a great big smile her mothers way. Owen couldn't believe how amazing she looked with a baby in her arms, it was so natural, it was a sight for sore eyes, he thought.
"She's such a happy baby most of the time." Cristina stated, "Except when she has a dirty diaper or when she's hungry, the girl loves to eat." She said smiling down at Teagan who giggled as if she knew what Cristina had just said. "Yes, you do." Cristina said unknowingly being way too mushy for her standards.
Owen just stared at the scene mesmerized before Cristina broke him out of his trance and asked if he wanted to hold the baby, unable to form coherent sentences, he just nodded and waited for Cristina to place the baby in his arms.
Owen holding a little baby girl was such an endearing and breathtaking scene, the stark contrast between such a big and muscular man holding such a small and precious baby made her emotions run wild. She chastised herself for turning into such a damn softie but couldn't help the feeling of contentment while watching him cradle the baby in his arms and gently place kisses on the top of her head and her very chubby cheeks.
Having this baby in his arms, Owen finally felt like he was complete, I could get used to this he thought. It was such an indescribable feeling and he didn't want it to end. Teagan relaxed in his arms and even smiled and occasionally giggled at him when he made a funny face or talked to her in his baby voice. They sat there for what felt like hours just musing and gushing over how perfect Teagan was, and they both silently thought about how the three of them looked like the picturesque family.