A/N: I want to thank everyone for the amazing feedback I have gotten. I am so glad everyone is enjoying the story. Without further ado...

Mark was still smiling to himself as he walked away, chuckling internally at Derek's discomfort. His best friend was one of the most self-assured men that he knew, but put him within ten feet of any Shepherd woman and he became ten years old again. Checking his watch, Mark began to jog to the on call room he knew Lexie was occupying. When he reached the door, he eased the handle open quietly in case she was sleeping. She had been in the hospital since the previous morning, and Mark had missed her while he had his last vacation day.

When he entered the room, he saw her curled up on the bed, her hands tucked up under her chin, like a little girl. He gently closed the door behind himself, and walked over to the bed. Sitting on the edge, Mark gently shook her, "Lexie, wake up."

Lexie groaned, causing Mark to grin. "Come on, wake up."

"You better be here for sex," she muttered. "Otherwise, go away."

Mark laughed. "And to think, I used to believe you were so good and innocent."

"I am good and innocent," Lexie replied, rolling over to face him. She smiled when she saw the look on his face. "Good morning."

"Hey," he said.

"Don't you have a surgery?" Lexie asked, looking at her watch.

Mark nodded. "I am going now."

"You don't want to be late."

"Well, they can't very well start without me," Mark grinned.

"Oh," Lexie said, blushing. "Right. Sorry, my brain is still a little fuzzy."

Mark laughed. "Well, try to remember this. I am going to be home later tonight, probably around nine. Derek's mom is here to inspect your sister and we are having dinner out somewhere."

Lexie rolled over. "Hmph, I always knew you would leave me for another woman."

Mark laughed. "Don't worry; I am sure I will come home with my virtue still intact."

"You better," Lexie said, still facing away from him. Mark loved the soft way her voice sounded when she was joking around with him.

Lexie then rolled back over and said, "Did you tell him?"

Mark shook his head, "I was about to and then…"

"Then Mama Shepherd arrived," Lexie finished.

"I'll tell him, once she goes home, no need to overwhelm him all at once," Mark said.

"Does this mean we aren't moving into your apartment this weekend?"

"Our apartment," Mark corrected. "And yes, we are; I don't see any reason to delay. Derek will find out soon enough. My hope is that he will be so overwhelmed and relieved when his mother leaves that he won't care about the tiny detail of us moving in together."

"That's diabolical," Lexie said, grinning. "I love it."

He grinned back at her. "I thought you might." His pager went off then. "Gotta go. Noses to fix, lives to save."

Lexie laughed.

Mark kissed Lexie's head. "I'll see you later."

"Good luck on your surgery," Lexie murmured closing her eyes to try to drift off to sleep again.

The last thing she heard before sleep claimed her was, "You make me happy, Lexie."

***

An hour later, the door to the on call room banged open, and a heavy body bounced onto her bed. "Wake up Lexie!" Sadie's voice trilled.

"What does everybody have against me getting sleep?" Lexie asked as she opened her eyes.

Sadie laughed. "Nothing at all, I just haven't had a chance to talk to you for a while and I wanted to know how everything is going with that sex god you are sleeping with."

Lexie laughed, propping her head up on her arms. "Good, things are going good."

"What? That is all I get?" Sadie asked. "After our wonderful plan worked like a charm?"

"Your plan," Lexie said. "Besides, things had resolved themselves by then anyway."

"Admit it," Sadie said. "You have loved working with him all day, everyday."

Lexie blushed. "You are right, I have."

Sadie smiled. "Good. Now…how's the sex?"

"Sadie!"

"What? I am just curious if he lives up to his reputation as the best thing between the sheets here at Seattle Grace."

Lexie smiled to herself. "Believe me when I say that his reputation merely scratches the surface of all things Mark Sloan."

"Bloody Hell," Sadie said, fanning herself. "I am going to need details. Can your boy toy spare you tonight?"

Lexie nodded. "He has to go to this dinner with Meredith and Dr. Shepherd."

"That's right," Sadie said. "Death told me about that. Perfect then! We can go to Joe's and you can give me all the naughty details."

Lexie laughed. "That might require a lot of alcohol."

"That is something Joe's has no shortage of," Sadie replied. "Until later," she said, as she sailed out the door.

***

When Mark arrived at Meredith's, he was immediately pulled in the door by a harried looking Derek.

"You have to help me," he said to Mark, as he all but pushed him into the living room.

Mark shrugged out of his jacket. "What is it?"

"I am in hell," Derek said. "Mom and Meredith are in the kitchen, and I think they are going to come to blows at any minute."

"She doesn't like Meredith?"

"Hates her would be an accurate description."

Mark tried not to laugh. "I am sure that is not true; she is probably giving her a hard time because of how much she liked Addison."

"Whatever it is," Derek continued, "We have to do something. You need to take the focus off her. Distract my mother, do anything, just keep her and Meredith from all out war."

"Aw, Mark, there you are," Carolyn said, walking into the living room. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"My surgery got bumped back," Mark explained, "I only just got out."

Carolyn nodded. "Well, the important thing is that you are here now. Come into the kitchen with me and help me cook, like you used to. I am afraid Derek's Meredith doesn't know a thing about hand-rolled pasta."

"Sure," Mark said. He then mouthed "Derek's Meredith?" to Derek, and tried not to laugh when Derek shook his head in defeat.

When Mark entered the kitchen, he grinned at Meredith who was downing a glass of white wine at an amazing speed. "Big Grey," Mark said, "And how are you this fine evening?"

Meredith glared at him, causing Mark to smile all the more. He then rolled up his sleeves and moved over by the stove with Carolyn.

"So," Carolyn began, "Do you have brothers and sisters, Meredith? Derek told me that your mother died recently."

"No," Meredith said. "No brothers or sisters."

Mark bit the inside of his cheek hard, trying not to yell at Meredith. Luckily, Derek did it for him. "What about Lexie and Molly?" He said, his voice conveying his disapproval.

"Oh," Meredith said. "I have two half-sisters," Meredith clarified. "From my dad's second marriage. We didn't grow up together."

"I see," Carolyn said, her voice conveying that she didn't see at all.

The front door slammed at that moment, and two voices began carrying down the hallway.

"I left it in the kitchen," Sadie was saying. "I'll just be a minute."

"I'll come with you," another voice said. It was Lexie.

They walked into the kitchen together, and both came up short.

Lexie became flushed almost immediately, while Sadie didn't look phased at all. "Oh, hey Death," Sadie said casually. "I left my phone here last night. Do you have it?"

Carolyn's eyebrows shot up. "Death?" She said, looking at Meredith.

"It's a long story," Meredith said. "A long complicated story with many parts that I am sure you do not care about."

"Mom," Derek said, cutting in and attempting to distract Carolyn from her prey. "This is Lexie, Meredith's sister." Derek put his hand on Lexie's back and propelled her into the room.

Lexie smiled hesitantly at Carolyn, conscious of the fact that this was the woman who Mark saw as a mother. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Shepherd," she said, extending her hand. Carolyn took it and smiled at Lexie. Lexie continued, "I am sorry to have interrupted your evening, I thought you had all gone out to dinner."

"How did you know we were getting together at all?" Meredith asked. "I didn't tell you."

Lexie froze, and lifted her panic-stricken eyes to Mark's. Mark realized then, that he was going to have to say something.

He opened his mouth to speak when Sadie said, "I told her."

"Oh," Meredith said, frowning. She didn't look convinced.

"Why aren't you joining us for dinner, Lexie?" Carolyn asked.

Lexie blushed and stammered, "Oh, I wasn't going…that is I wasn't…um…"

"Weren't you invited?" Carolyn asked, looking sharply at Meredith.

"It's okay," Lexie said. "I am heading to Joe's with Sadie." Her voice was soft, as if she didn't want to cause trouble.

Carolyn's eyes looked warmly at Lexie. "Nonsense. Derek has told me about that bar, and it does not have food that could possibly be described as dinner. You will eat with us. You're invited too…?" She looked at Sadie.

"Sadie," she said, giving her name. "But that's alright. I was meeting other people at the bar. I should probably go." Sadie then grabbed her phone off the counter where it had been sitting.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Lexie asked, not sure of what to do.

"No, you stay here and have a family dinner." Sadie shot her a wicked grin. "Should be fun."

Lexie shook her head at her, as Sadie left the kitchen.

Mark was trying not to look at Lexie, he felt so exposed here with his mom and Derek, and he didn't want them to see how he felt. Mark knew that what was going on with him and Lexie should not come out like this. He didn't want to put her in that situation.

"Lexie, tell me," Carolyn began, "Did you grow up near here?"

Lexie nodded, and smiled shyly. "With my parents and my sister," she said. "But then I went away for college and medical school."

"Medical school?" Carolyn asked. "Are you a doctor too?"

"I am in my first year of the surgical intern program at Seattle Grace," Lexie said. "I was going to do my internship at Massachusetts General, but…" Lexie trailed off. "It was better that I come home and be close to my family."

Carolyn nodded her approval. "It is good that you value family, there is nothing more important," she said, looking pointedly at Meredith.

Lexie saw where this was going, and quickly jumped in, "Yes, I was so grateful too when I discovered that Meredith was at Seattle Grace. She made my transition so much easier than it could have been."

Carolyn looked surprised and then smiled at Meredith, "That is good to hear."

Meredith looked at Lexie gratefully, and mouthed, "Thank you."

Mark watched all this with interest, amazed at the way Lexie was able to smooth things over. There was something about her which automatically put people at ease. Mark smiled to himself, as he stirred the pasta.

"I think it's done," he said to Carolyn.

She smiled. "So is the sauce. Good, let's eat."

After dishing up the food, they all moved into the dinning room where Lexie had somehow ended up next to Mark while Meredith and Derek were at the ends of the table.

"So, Meredith, have you decided on a specialty yet?" Carolyn asked.

"No, not yet," she replied. "I am leaning towards Neurosurgery, though."

"Of course you are," Carolyn replied.

Derek took a gulp and finished off his glass of wine and then poured another.

"What about you, Lexie?" Carolyn asked.

"At the moment I am leaning towards Plastic Surgery," Lexie said.

Four pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on her.

"You are?" Meredith said in shock.

"I didn't know that," Derek chimed in.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mark asked her quietly.

Lexie tried not to look at Mark, even though he was the only one she wanted to look at. "I have been thinking about it for a while," she said to Meredith. "Ever since M—" She blushed. "Dr. Sloan, I mean, did that surgery to make Mrs. Patterson speak again. It was so amazing, to create something and to give woman back her chance at a life. I am not so sure I would care to focus on the cosmetic aspect, but I do like the reconstruction possibilities."

The table was quiet. Mark felt like he was bursting with emotion, and he wanted to tell Lexie exactly how wonderful he thought that was, but of course he could not say that. So instead he said, "Well, I think you have potential in Plastics, Little Grey." Under the table he squeezed her hand, hoping that she understood.

Lexie looked down at her plate and smiled, and Mark knew that smile was meant for him.

Carolyn cleared her throat. "Well, I think it is admirable that you want to help people, Lexie. Mark must be a very good teacher."

Lexie blushed in earnest then. "He is, Mrs. Shepherd, he is."

Mark cleared his throat. "Pass the wine, would you Derek?"

Meredith dug into her food, hoping that was the end of the questions for a while. Derek gave the wine bottle to Mark and started talking about the clinical trial he and Meredith were working on. Mark poured the wine, and Lexie pushed her food around her plate.

But Carolyn, well, she looked back and forth between Mark and Lexie with curious speculation in her eyes.

A/N: Review Please!