9.

April walked in the hospital with a confident demeanor. She realized that since she's Chief Resident she must exude the presence of a leader; she can't let them see when she's weak or else they'll be able to take advantage of her and push her around; that's not acceptable for a woman with her position. Also, she had a feeling that today will be a good day. She didn't have to worry about Robert because everything between them seemed to be fine. She appreciated the idea that he was being old fashioned about asking someone out on a date. She smiled at the thought of that.

As she approached the locker room, she passed by two nurses.

"Yes, she's the one; planted one right on the lips. It was intense," one nurse whispered to the other. April simply rolled her eyes.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Chief Resident, herself," Karev said as she walked in the locker room.

"Alex, don't start with me right now."

"What? I'm merely congratulating you. I mean, you got what we all have been competing for, for months, maybe even more."

April was surprised. He seemed quite genuine about his greeting. "Well, thank you, Alex. Even if I didn't get the job, I'll still be okay. You, Meredith, and Christina also deser-" he cut her off.

"But I was right though…"

"Right about what?"

"Right about what I said before; you sleeping your way to the top," he said bluntly.

"Ugh, excuse me? I didn't slee- wait, are you talking about Rob- I mean, Dr. Stark?"

"Yeah, I know what happened last night. Wow, April, really?" He shook his head and chuckled.

"Okay, first off, I'm not sleeping with Stark. Second, he's a nice guy and third, it's none of your damn business." She put on her scrubs and left Alex standing there.

When Robert woke up, he was relieved that he didn't have to work today. He didn't have to deal with the constant whispers that he knew was going to happen; thanks to what happened last night, but he wasn't complaining.

Typically, on his days off, he usually goes to the country club, meets some of his friends and spends a good portion of the day golfing or playing tennis. Today was different. He wanted to finish his conversation with Melanie. After pouring a cup of coffee, he dialed her number. It rang four times before someone finally answered. It was Grace.

Hello?

"Melanie?"

It's Grace, actually. Who is this?

"Hi Grace," he paused before he could introduce himself. His daughter was talking to him and he didn't exactly know how to start a conversation with her. "It's Dr. Stark. Is your mom there?"

Uh, yeah, she's actually walking in the kitchen now. "Mom, Dr. Stark is on the phone," he heard her say.

Hey, Robert, heheard Melanie's voice on the other line now.

"Are you off today?"

No, but I don't have to go in till six, so I have time. Do you want to, uh, continue our talk?

"Yes, that's why I called. But if you're busy, we can do it another time…"

No, no, no, I'm not busy. I just have to find a sitter for Grace.

"You don't have to do that… bring her with you," he suggested.

Are… are you sure? Where are we going?

"Yeah, she is my daughter," he said easily. "We'll, uh, have some breakfast."

Robert offered to pick them up and they had breakfast at the country club he usually goes to. Breakfast wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be. Of course, Grace didn't know the truth so it was just a regular day out with her mom and her mom's co-worker that she actually got along with. Robert learned a lot about her. She played tennis, she went to drama camp, and she was always on the honor roll. Grace excused herself to go watch a tennis match at the court.

"She's terrific, Mel," he commented in awe.

She smiled, "I know, she amazes me every day. She may be stubborn at times, but she's truly wonderful and I'm grateful that I have her."

"I wish I could say the same thing," he said bluntly before he took a sip of his coffee.

"I know, and I'm sorry," she sighed.

He shook his head, "no, no, you're not getting off that easy. I'm still mad at you for what you did."

"Oh, come on, Robert. We… I, I mean I…" she corrected herself when she saw his glare. "…I can fix this right now. I'll tell her the truth right now."

"No, no, don't do that; not just yet. I want her to get used to me; get to know me a little bit better before she finds out."

"Alright, alright. But do you forgive me?" She gave him the sorry look and smiled innocently.

Robert couldn't say 'no' to that look. Her charms worked on him a while ago, and it still works now. Of course, he doesn't have the same feelings for her as he did ten years ago, but he did care for her.

He rolled his eyes in defeat and sighed. "Of course I forgive you. Although I still think the reasoning of your departure was stupid, I can't stay mad at you for long, I mean, you are the mother of my child."

Melanie grabbed Robert's hand and squeezed it and they smiled at each other. They let go when they saw Grace approach the table.

"Mom, can you sign me up for tennis practice here? This place is awesome!"

"Well…" Before Melanie could answer, Grace held out a piece of paper.

"Mom, I already have the papers here and all the information is on it."

"Well…" She looked at Robert hinting that he should take over and make the decision. "I'll have to think about it."

"Melanie, I think this is a good idea," he added. "She did say that she liked tennis earlier, and I'm a member so, maybe I can add her on my membership. That's if it's okay with you, of course," he looked at Melanie.

"Oh, my God, mom, that would be perfect. What do you say?" She pressed her hands together, pleading. "Please, mom." She smiled innocently. Just like her mother, Robert thought.

"Oh, okay."

Grace jumped up and down with joy and gave her mom a hug, then Robert, much to his surprise, but he liked it.

"Thank you, Dr. Stark," she told him.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." He smiled. He liked that feeling, the feeling he had for Grace. She may not know that he's her father, but to him, he knew and it felt great.

Robert and Grace went to the front desk and took care of the membership to the country club. Melanie was glad the Grace liked Robert not knowing that he was her father. She hoped she'd still feel the same way when she finds out the truth. She didn't want to put a lot of worry on that matter; she was just glad about what was happening right now that she couldn't help but smile.

Then, Melanie suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her abdomen. She's been experiencing pain like that for a while now, but it came and went and it lasted for a little while, so she didn't really worry about it. But this time it was worse and it remained for at least a couple of minutes. She held the pain to herself and it would eventually go away. She pressed on her abdomen and quietly gasped, trying not to attract attention her way. It now went away and Grace ran towards her.

"Mom! I'm a member. I can come here whenever I want! Dr. Stark said he'll take me on his day off next week."

Still recovering from the pain she hugged her and weakly said, "Oh, honey, that's great."

"Mel, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I felt a sharp pain earlier, but I'm okay now."

He was uncertain about her answer. He brought them back home, but before Melanie got out of the car, Robert turned to her and said, "hey, I know you said you were okay earlier, but you gotta get yourself checked out. You know, to make sure you're okay." She nodded.

"Oh, another thing," he called out as she got out of his car. "If you ever need someone to watch Grace, I'm… I'm here so…"

Melanie thought about it and she liked that idea. "Well, I do have to work tonight. Now that you offered, and you are her father…"

He shook his head, "I'll watch her; just bring her over to my house."

He gave her his address, she waved goodbye and he drove off.

April finished her paper work and she just sat there thinking about Robert. She hasn't seen him all day, it was probably his day off, she thought. She just sat there tapping her pen. Tap, tap, tap, tap, and tap. She kept looking to see if he would walk by, but no. Lexie sat next to her. "He's not here you know, if that's who you're thinking about, and I know that's who you're thinking about."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I looked at the surgery board, and Robbins and Redford have all the surgeries in Pedes today. So stop daydreaming." She laughed. "You know, I can't believe you did that last night. It took real guts April." She chewed on her twizzler.

"I wasn't planning on doing that; I just wanted to talk to him."

"Ah, talk… I see," she said in a teasing tone.

April rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you, whose service are you in all this week?"

"I'll be alternating between Altman and Hunt," she recalled.

April nodded, "Do you want me to add Sloan on that list?" She said with a condescending smile.

Lexie's eyes widened, "you wouldn't!"

She held up her charts and papers. "I'm Chief Resident; try me," her smiled widened and walked off.

"Chief Residency made you evil!" Lexie called out and bit on her twizzlers.

April looked back and kept smiling as she walked off.

Meanwhile back at Robert's house, he sat at his desk googling possible conversation topics for tonight when he'll be looking after Grace. This was unusual to him because he works in pediatrics; he makes a living dealing with children. The only thing different is that Grace is his daughter.

He found the internet absolutely useless, filled with mostly fabricated material. He can't believe he's actually going there for parenting advice. He shut off his laptop as soon as he saw the names Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, and Taylor Swift. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. There was only one option left; calling the last person he thought he'd ever call for help in this situation.

Hello? Arizona answered.

"Hey, uh, this is Robert… Stark."

Yes, Dr. Stark, how may I help you?

"Are you busy?"

I wouldn't consider it busy, but I'm on my shift, why?

"I need to talk to you… I'll buy you lunch," he offered.

Actually, I just bought my lunch. I'm heading to my office right now. I usually eat lunch with Callie, but it's her day off and she's with Sofi- He cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't care." Arizona rolled her eyes; she took no offense to his comment.

You said you wanted to talk… so, talk.

"Can't we talk in person? It's kind of a longs story."

Well, come here at the hospital. You can watch me eat my lunch.

"Is that my only option?"

You are so lazy! Oh, do you have a webcam on your laptop?

"Yes, but do I look like the type that would video chat," he said in a repulsed tone.

Arizona sighed. You know what? If you want to talk to me, you have to come here. Bye. Dr. Stark. She hung up the phone.

He got to the hospital about ten minutes later and headed straight to Arizona's. Nurses had to take a double look to see if it was really Robert. They weren't used to seeing him in the hospital in casual clothing; in fact, they usually would just avoid him. He knocked on her door and entered. She was taking a bite of her salad when he sat down.

"Well, it's nice to see you in normal day to day clothes, Dr. Stark," she said to him complementing his jeans and black Lacoste polo and Sperry boat shoes. "So, what was so urgent that you needed to talk to me?"

"This is staying between us." She nodded in agreement. He didn't know where to begin, he tried to compose his thoughts, but they seem to keep getting jumbled in his head. "Grace is my daughter," he eventually said, sparing himself from beating around the bush. Arizona stared at him trying to process what he just said.

"Whoa, whoa, what? You can't be serious. Really?" He nodded. "How did this happen?"

He rolled his eyes, "well, Dr. Robbins, if you'd paid attention to anatomy class; when a man and woman-" she cut him off. "Okay, thanks Dr. Sarcasm, no details needed. Does Grace know?"

"She was pregnant when she left that day ten years ago. She just told me yesterday, and no, she doesn't. I want her to get to know me a little better."

"Wow, what a week you've had: successful surgeries, a kiss from April Kepner, and now you have a daughter! Hey, maybe she can babysit Sofia sometime," she suggested.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of babysitting, I'm watching her tonight and I don't exactly know what to do. Maybe I can talk to Mark about this or something." He'd heard stories about Dr. Sloan, in fact all he's heard stories about all the staff, including him, when nurses gossip and pretended not to care.

"Mark! I know I may not be the expert, but what could he possibly know about ten year old little girls!"

He thought about that idea and shrugged, "you're right," he admitted.

"Exactly! Okay let me think. Oh, the new Justin Bieber DVD is out; maybe you can just let her watch that all night…"

"You too? And I thought the internet was bad."

"Wait, you googled babysitting tips?" She was surprised to find this out and in turn laughed. "Oh, Dr. Stark you're funny."

"Yes, I googled!" He scowled. "I don't understand how this is so difficult and confusing. I make my living working around children!"

Arizona sighed. "Well, first of all, she's your daughter and she doesn't know it yet, so of course it's awkward for you; second, the children that you see on a daily basis are either on meds or high up on anesthetics on surgery or toddlers who can't speak. And third, this is the first time you're being a dad. You were a dad ten years ago; you just didn't know it so you didn't have the time to prepare yourself." There was a brief silence. "Go on… say it," Arizona teased him.

"You're right," he conceded.

"Ah, I love hearing those words."

"Well, thanks for your help, Dr. Robbins," he said as he stood up and headed for the door, but Arizona stopped him.

"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going? We're not done yet, sit down, Stark," she pointed at a chair. He knew better than to argue with Arizona Robbins. He took a seat. "So, April Kepner…"

"Oh, no, that we are not talking about."

"Come on!"

"Can't I keep just one part of my private life, private?"

"Uh, after that little kiss last night? No. The whole hospital's been talking about it. So, what are you gonna do?" She said as she took a bite of her muffin.

"You'll see," he said standing up and headed for the door.

"You're a different man- a changed man," she said as she pressed her hands on her heart and smiled.

"Whatever you say, Robbins," he waved her off as he left her office. Much to his surprise, he saw April walking from the other direction. He stopped her and let his impulse do the talking. "Friday night at eight; I'll pick you up." He smiled and kept walking.

April couldn't help but check him out as he walked away. She liked that look on him, the casual look. It makes him just a regular guy. This day couldn't get any better, she thought. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she giggled. She bit her lip as she smiled, she was clearly delighted. With that, she continued to walk and looked at her papers, but couldn't get the smile off her face.

That night, Melanie dropped Grace off at his place and Robert unwillingly rented the Justin Bieber DVD. The hell with it, he thought. It was worth the shot. She looked at it in disgust. "No offense Dr. Stark, but do I look like I'd want to watch this garbage?"

He looked at her in amazement, "oh thank God! Well, I don't have much for you to do here, I mean there's the TV, but make yourself feel at home." He wanted to go back to his office, but stopped himself. "Hey, do you want to get something to eat?"

She looked at him, "yeah, sure."

At the restaurant, Robert used the time to get to know Grace and vice versa. They talked about their likes and dislikes. When she talked, he'd look at her eyes, her green eyes. He was just fascinated by her. She briefly mentioned that she wanted to be a doctor just her like her mom and work with children. "It's in the genes," he said. "I guess so," she replied not knowing what he really meant.

A moment later a man approached their table. "I'm sorry interrupting, but is she your daughter; because she's really pretty."

"Oh, she's -" Grace cut him off. "Yes, I am, and thank you." Robert nearly spit out his drink. The man briefly introduced himself as a photographer from a children's modeling agency. When he left Grace turned to Robert, "I'm sorry, I just said I was your daughter because I don't think you'd want people knowing that a man like yourself is babysitting on a Tuesday night," she explained.

Robert snickered, "oh, well thank you."

"By the way, thanks for letting me stay over your house, Dr. Stark. That's really cool of you."

He smiled and said "it's no problem, no problem at all." They had a lovely dinner and when they got home she went straight to the couch and watched TV until she fell asleep. Robert happily carried her over to the guest bedroom and tucked her in. He looked at her for a while and thought how wonderful she is, how wonderful his daughter is.